Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

In addition to the customized data system, CRM is the study of relationship marketing (Vuorinen, 2010). Accounting and statistics concepts Total Quality Manager (TQM), Balanced Scorecard, and Statistical Process Control (SPC) are compatible with the framework.

Originating in the 1990s, CRM solutions have become a fundamental business implementation. Derivative software includes territory management, contact management, opportunity management, budgeting, planning, sales analysis, optimization, forecasting and other business applications. Such sales knowledge management is indispensable to implement a winning sales strategy.

In short, CRM helps manage all client information guiding subsequent sales, advertizing and customer service. Fruitful customer relationships are a central pillar of marketing. An example of such communication enabling software is Sage SalesLogix v7.2. Sage Group, Oracle and SAP are the world’s largest suppliers of accounting and management software. Sales reports and white papers claim that instituting the platform confers a strategic business advantage to an organization. In the competitive business world, where customization is the only way to stand out from the crowd, an outselling edge is welcome.

A non-happy customer. Illustration by Elena

Aside from the marketing mix (the Four Ps: Place, Product, Price and Promotion), marketing teaches that one cannot create needs; only shape existent needs into marketable human wants. Perhaps, managers’ needs called for CRM solutions to better organize businesses and reach their target sales goals.

Briefly, the software can be conceived of as a business intelligence tool destined to be a prosperity increasing mechanism. Certainly, its borderless nature appeals to international business.

Market research is the process of strategically gathering and analyzing data; an example is IDC research. Operational CRM permits sharing of customer input across the enterprise, consistent with the theoretical construct of information capital (Vuorinen, 2010).

An increasing number of companies adopt CRM business management solutions (Kao, 2007). Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is the personal hygiene and small hardware industry. Procter & Gamble is a major player in the FMCG market. Gradually, marketing turned into a more social undertaking and prompted the changes. The aim shifted towards a relationship built between the customer and the corporation that is rewarding to both parties.

CRM management and CRM software may be prerequisites for long-term business profits. A potential drawback is internal confusion. Specialists recommend installing corporate and individual brand CRM. To function, the process must retain central control, thus all top managers at higher organization levels must be on board.

Customer-oriented, CRM may help to retain current clients at a lower cost than recruiting new consumers. Academics have documented this technology driven business processes improvement.

References:

• Kao, Y. C. (2007). Corporate CRM – the influential factors and difficulties facing the FMCG industry: A case study of Procter & Gamble. Master’s Thesis. The University of Nottingham, International Business.
• Vuorinen, T. (2010). Quality development of CRM facilitated business processes. Master’s Dissertation. Aalto University, School of Science and Technology, Faculty of Electronics, Communications and Automation.

Neural Correlates of Happiness

The Neural Correlates of Happiness

Hedonia (Pleasure) + Eudaimonia (Meaning) = Happiness

– Aristotle

What is happiness? Some equate the notion with love and interpersonal harmony. Others try to study it scientifically. Although indispensable to establish corresponding neural correlates, scientific inquiry is complicated by the state’s subjectivity (Kringelbach and Berridge, 2010).

Brunori (2003) brings up an interesting point, mainly that relational goods can, by definition, only be enjoyed in the context of relationships with others. Illustrations include social approval and recognition, sense of belonging, friendship, companionship and other concepts requiring reciprocity. Positional goods act as their counterparts, implying a zero sum game.

Baguette magique. A comic book style pretty girl sheds some light on happiness. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

More neuroscientifically, Khalfa et al. (2005) address the question from a distinct point of view, centering on brain regions involved in the recognition of sad and happy melodies. The authors assert that both neocortical and subcortical structures are recruited. Also, in the experiment, unhappy tunes elicited activity in the left orbito- and mid-dorsolateral frontal cortex, contrary to the valence lateralization model. In line with the theory, the left frontal cortex is the one usually associated with happiness, while negatively valenced stimuli rely to a greater extent on the right hemisphere.

Further, previous work (Blood et al., 1999) has stated that cerebral regions linked to musical pleasantness [consonance vs. dissonance] were: the right para-hippocampic gyrus, subcallosum cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex and frontal pole regions. Differences of stimuli and subjectivity add to the complexity of such studies.

References:

• Blood, A., Zatorre, R., Bermudez, P. and Evans, A. (1999). Emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant music correlate with activity in paralimbic regions. Nature Neuroscience, 2: 382-7.
• Brunori, L. (2003). Relational goods in society, mind and brain: Between neurons and happiness. Group Analysis, 36: 515-25.
• Khalfa, S., Schon, D., Anton, J. L. and Liegeois-Chauvel, C. (2005). Brain regions involved in the recognition of happiness and sadness in music. Brain Imaging: NeuroReport, 16 (18): 1981-4.
• Kringelbach, M. L. and Berridge, K. C. (2010). The neuroscience of happiness and pleasure. Social Research, 77 (2): 659-78.

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen (Elena). All Rights Reserved.

Black Creek, Part V

The Black Creek Pionneer Village, Part V

This open-air heritage museum was opened in 1960, and it can be seen just west of York University and southeast of the Jane and Steeles intersection. The village overlooks Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. The Black Creek Pioneer Village is a regular destination for field trips by schoolchildren from the Greater Toronto Area.

The museum is operated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. B. Napier Simpson, Jr. (1925-1978), a restoration architect in Ontario devoted his professional life to raising public awareness of the importance of heritage conservation including the Black Creek Pioneer Village project. Here and in other parts you can find over photographs of the Black Creek Pioneer Village which may awaken your interest to visit it.

All the pictures have been taken by Elena.

Built with a timber frame and board and batten finish this house was used by several farmers in the community to butcher livestock.

Because storing large quantities of meat was difficult in a time before refrigeration, farmers often worked together sharing the meat from one animal at a time.

The Black Creek Village Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Toulouse Geese: A massive, heavy goose with both sexes being grey. Originally bred in Southern France from a dark variety of Grey-Lag goose, the Toulouse is also known as the wild European goose. Rare Breeds Canada now lists the Toulouse as a “rare” breed with fewer than 499 breeding females registered in Canada.

The village is operated by historical interpreters and craftspeople housed in the restored buildings.

Henry Snider's Cider Mill c1840 Original Location: Keele Street & Finch Avenue. It's vertical board on timber frame, built by Henry Snider in Elia on the banks of the Black Creek. This mill could produce about 500 gallons of cider a day but was used to produce cider for the Snider family and friends and was not in commercial production.

These home had plenty of space for families which had usually up to ten daughters and sons.

Clydesdale Horse: Settlers brought heavy horses with them, including the Clydesdale to pull ploughs, wagons, and carts or to provide power on sweeps, treadmills, and other farm machinery.

Of all the heavy horse breeds, the Clydesdale is the lightweight and the most intelligent.

Settlers' houses had plenty of space for the occasional visitors or hired hand.

The kitchen with its fireplace was probably the most important room in a log cabin.

Laskay Emporium 1856. Original Location: Laskey, Ontario (King Township). The general store and post office that Mr. Joseph Baldwin built in 1845 served customers well into the 20th century.

Finding a Job with a Psychology Degree

Finding a Job with a Psychology Degree

A lot can be said about psychology. With its many and varied branches, psychology is a fascinating subject. For instance, cognitive psychology looks at cognitive processes, thinking and learning, including thinking about thinking or metacognition. Alternatively, child or developmental psychology follows the individual across the lifespan. Conversely, perception and neuroscience concentrate on the brain and pinpoint the neural correlates of cerebral activity.

Finding a job in psychology is like waling through the night and hoping for a miracle. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

However, no matter how interesting the topic of conversation, many psychology students find it difficult to find a job once they graduate. Thus, once they finish their studies in psychology, many students find the following options open to them: continue in academia with graduate school, teach English overseas, or take on some entry-level jobs in customer service or in the secretarial/administrative realm.

Psychology

Psychology is a fascinating subject! Much has been written on the topic, both in academic literature and by bloggers on the internet. Indeed, for recent research and peer-reviewed journal articles, one is directed to online databases such GoogleScholar, PsycInfo and MedLine. Alternatively, informational Websites such as www.grandquebec.com (in French) and www.provincequebec.com contain many references and discussions of the matter.

But what is psychology? To avoid repeating what has countlessly been regurgitated by keen students on their first psychology exam, psychology is mostly a method of analyzing human behavior, emotions and thought processes in a scientific (or pseudo-scientific according to skeptics) manner.

The social science is further subdivided in countless disciplines. For example, neuroscience studies the brain, social developmental psychology focuses on the interactive and interpersonal development of individuals throughout the lifespan, whereas a course in cognition (or cognitive psychology) concentrates on learning, memory, mental schemas and other metaconcepts.

Many parents, or nowadays, often grown children themselves, often ponder which major to choose for an undergraduate degree for a perspective graduate. Interestingly, employers, as evidenced by a famous critique in the prominent Harvard Business Review publication, often look for skills outside the scholarly realm when making hiring decisions. In fact, human resource managers tend to cite experience and previous employment references as key factors when deciding whether a candidate is a good fit for a position. Still, it goes without saying that a professional degree in law, medicine or an MBA (graduate) combined with an industry license or certification, usually open more career paths, than concentrations in the liberal arts. Nonetheless, some recruiters argue that a bachelor degree in the liberal arts remains a good way to enter today's competitive job market.

In the West, the discipline can be studied at most universities, colleges and other public or private institutions of higher learning. As a general rule, to become a psychologist one must complete graduate level studies, write a successful thesis, participate in laboratory research (as a study designer or experimenter) and pass a state mandated exam, or meet other prerequisites as established by the official order regulating the profession in the community where the person wishes to practice. However, psychological studies may also lead to entry-level jobs in counseling and related fields, as well as business (i.e. industrial psychology).

“If you discovered something that made you tighten inside, you had better try to learn more about it.” (Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle) Illustration: Megan Jorgensen.

Industrial Psychology

Industrial Psychology

and Organizational Behaviour

The purpose of the present essay is to briefly discuss industrial psychology. Indeed, industrial psychology may be viewed as the psychological branch which interrelates psychology and business. Further, industrial psychologists, similar to organizational behaviour specialists, study relationships and interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, employee morale and motivation, workplace conditions and so on.

Psychology is a social science studying the brain and behaviour. Psychology covers a very vast field and remains present in most life areas. For example, let’s take the example of Molly, a hypothetical girl, and follow her throughout a day of adventure to look at how psychological influences are present in her life.

Thus, Molly wakes up at precisely 6:00 am. But where does she wake up? Presumably, Molly wakes up in a bed, in a house within a city. Sociology and society aside, the workplace relations and interdynamics which allowed for the construction of the furniture and dwellings’ materials. Such descriptions comprise the realm of industrial psychology and organizational psychology.

Certainly, IQ or Intelligence Quotient, has been widely discussed and documented in the academic literature. Still, many psychologists today point to another dimension of quantitative intelligence measure – EQ or Emotional Intelligence. For instance, the ability of managers to motivate employees greatly depends on emotional intelligence, but what is emotional intelligence? A definite answer remains to be found.

Industrial Graphics. Credit picture by Elena

The multiple intelligences theory outlined in cognitive psychology, states that aside from other dimensions, there is interpersonal intelligence. To illustrate, interpersonal intelligence has to do with how well one understands one’s own mental and emotional states. Similarly, to draw a parallel to another theoretical construct, the ability to delay gratification has been cited by psychological studies as an even better predictor of success than IQ in some cases. Interestingly, this construct has to do with the ability to motivate and distract oneself, which is a plausible prerequisite to in turn motivate others, a crucial skills for effective and efficient managers.

Moreover, numerous books on business and entrepreneurship mention the importance of confidence, self-esteem and self-coaching. Likewise, self-help books offer countless advice as to how to persuade or impress at job interviews. Still, the bottom line may not be so simple. For example, public speaking is a common fear for many people. Alternatively, Power Point presentations remain an invaluable skill sought by employers and investors alike in many business venues. Along these lines, it seems that being able to self-talk oneself out of feeling anxious presents an advantage from the job market and commercial success points of view.

In contrast, neuroscience sheds light on yet another aspect of human thought – neural substrates. Thus, neuroimaging studies, such as fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and ERP (Event Related Potential), show that the amygdala is the brain correlate most often associated with emotions such as fear and anxiety. Further, the main difference between fear and anxiety, is that fear is a response to perceived, yet real, dangerous and/or threatening stimuli, and is therefore an adaptive mechanism. Conversely, anxiety refers to unconfirmed dangers, sometimes simply perceived but unsupported by facts, and can thus be maladaptive. In fact, in extreme cases, such as GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder), pervasive anxiety may severely hinder a person’s functioning in their daily routines.

Moreover, from a more theoretical perspective, human perception of their environment is also based on mental schemas. Along these lines, mental schemas are psychological representations one holds of the world and environment in which one evolves. Consequently, psychologists suggest that persons are motivated by positive and negative mental schemas they hold about themselves. Thus, individuals tend to be motivated by the drive to achieve a positive, desired self-image and, in contrast, by avoidance of a negative self-representation they fear. Thus, in other words, people strive to become the ideal they believe (or at least wish) they can be, and by avoiding the failure they fear to become in the worst case scenario.

By the same token, fear of failure may be such that it may lead to a self-handicapping mechanism. The theory is described in psychology courses as a person who, for fear of failing, does something to deliberately (albeit not necessarily consciously) sabotage an undertaking they do not think is feasible. An example may be a student who is terrified of falling an exam, so in order not to blame themselves later on, they go on a hunger strike and binge drinking phase in the weeks leading up to the test. Then, at least in their mind, once they fail to pass the examination, they can rationalize their failure attributing it to nutritional deficiency, and not to lack of will power or self-discipline to study. Furthermore, some psychologists claim that this serves a purpose of ego-protective mechanism. Finally, the aim of the present paper was to attempt to discuss psychological theory from an industrial psychology viewpoint, as it applies to today’s job market and the workplace.