Japanese intern camps :: essays research papers

Barabara ni naru Civilian Exclusion Order No. 79 Effective Friday 22 May 1942 On this fateful day the evacuation of 100,000(+) Japanese immigrants and Japanese American citizens during World War II were forced into incarceration (internment compounds). These compounds were placed inland throughout the Western United States. The Japanese peoples of the greater Seattle and Puget Sound areas were forced to leave their homes, schools, temples (and churches), and shut down family businesses in Seattle’s Nihonmachi (Japantown) community area. In the basement of the â€Å"Panama Hotel†, at the corner of sixth and main street, a time capsule of eight days of diaspora that scattered Japanese American Heritage exsists. Because the Federal government acting upon President Roosevelt’s signed Executive Order 9066, employed agencies including the FBI and the Army, giving those Japanese peoples only eight days to settle their personal affairs while processing them for wholesale evacuation from Seattle’s Nihonmachi community, and forcing their culture into internal exile. The internees were allowed to take only what they could carry with them. All other items were to be discarded or left behind, such as the many personal items placed into suitcases and trunks found in the basement of the â€Å"Panama Hotel. In that darkened basement room, an accidental time capsule, can be seen worn suitcases and trunks adorned with travel tags from Tokyo or Kobe, along with stacks of other household belongings left behind 57 years ago when the American government incarcerated its own Seattle citizens and shipped them via truck, bus, and train to internment compounds like Idaho’s Minidoka and yet closer to Seattle was the Puyallup Assembly Center. More than, 7,000 Japanese spent the spring and summer of in the Puyallup Assembly Center, an internment camp, located on the Washington State fair grounds. They were greeted by barded wire and armed guards and placed into bad housing. The whole fair grounds area was to house 7,000 (+) . Living in every space around the race track and under the grandstands. Japanese men were immediately employed to build and set up further livingquarters, mess halls, and administrative buildings. The living quarters were comprised of barracks that were 15 by forty feet buildings and each divided into 6 rooms, each room was 20 square feet. Each room would house a Japanese family. Euphemistically called â€Å"apartments† the furnishing consisted of army cots, family personal items and suitcases, one window and one light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The apartment walls gave no privacy for they did not reach the ceiling.

Impact of the Technological Advancements of Preserving Food :: Expository Essays

Impact of the Technological Advancements of Preserving Food The consequences of the technological advancements of preserving food in the early days of America are quite profound. In the scope of just 100 years, agricultural business went from being locally owned and operated where goods were produced and sold within the parameters of small towns, to an intricate network of business that spanned the entire continent. Most rural dwellers at the time were self sufficient forn the food that their land provided. This greatly affected the diets, outlook, and consumption patterns of individuals. With an expanded array of foods to choose from, Americans could have a more fine tailored diet according to their nutritional wants and needs. Abundance was the key term, and when there is abundance, there is bound to be creative forces working with it. Now that more food was available to the average person, cooking shifted from being a remedial chore of survival into an art, or hobby. In the late 1800's cookbooks became increasingly popular amongst housewiv es and cooks, which had an impact on what the family ate on a day-to-day basis. Gone were the times of eating bread, salt pork, and corn pone day in and day out, and in came meals tailored to creative tastes. Things like Texas raised roast beef cooked with apples from Washington and sugar from the West Indies was becoming more of a comman and appealing thing. Growing food markets also led to the decline of locally owned and operated farms. Families abandoned their backyard gardening in lieu of the quick and efficient market system. Local farms could no compete with the big-scale farmers outside of the city, who at this time began to seed the future for monoculture food where a plot of land is used primarily for growing one particular crop. With a declining number of people actually working the land, our internal biorhythm clock has been altered and re-adapted to the market economy. Instead of a crop being harvested a certain time of the year, people focused on the time in which the meat man or egg man was going to be in town. With refrigeration also came an increased knowledge in the field of food nutrition. People were becoming more conscious with what they put into their body and the farmers were there to supply. Studies by the American Food Administration began to come out more and more, informing citizens of the nutritional value of foods that influenced their buying.

Three in the Middle: the Experience of Making Change

Micro Switch, founded in 1937 and acquired by Honeywell Inc. in 1950, is a division that has long been known as an innovative industry leader in switches, sensors and manual controls. During the transition from electro-mechanical to electronic and solid state, Micro Switch enlisted the assistance of 49 year Honeywell employee to maintain their competitive edge within an ever changing market. With an internal shake up intended to preserve the organization’s reputation, as well as improve their downward decline, middle managers are left to ponder if â€Å"something had gone wrong, or as this the way a successful change was supposed to feel† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 194, para. 1). Case Summary and Problem Definition Economic issues began arising during the switch from electro-mechanical to electronic and solid state during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The apparent regression was in full force by 1985 and it took two years of plummeting for Micro Switch to enlist the help of Ramon â€Å"Ray† Alvarez in 1897. Alvarez had created a significant track record for himself and thus reinforced this decision. He had not only been a Honeywell employee for 49 years, but also a history of turning around two other Honeywell divisions. Alvarez developed a three year plan to not only reignite Micro Switch’s competitive edge, but to also facilitate performance excellence. Despite his reputation for being psychologically intimidating, Alvarez was able to move cautiously enough in the beginning to gain support from senior managers, but did not necessarily set the tone for factory workers and lower level employees. In this three year plan, Alvarez devised three different strategies to go about achieving this mission. First was to create a mission statement as well as a new vision: â€Å"growth through quality solutions to customer needs† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 194, para 3). Second, was to establish a scrupulous annual strategic planning process that allowed Micro Switch to become more competitive, quicker to respond, and monetarily savvy. Third was the development of APEX, Achieve Performance Excellence, a model that would not only act as the focal point of this change, but would allow Alvarez to continue to fine tune Micro Switch’s strategies during later years. In its first year APEX was intended to encourage nearly 4,000 employees that the change was an urgent matter, and increasingly more necessary than ever before. APEX focused on giving employees specific ways to strive for quality and distinction by creating an employee suggestion system, as well as awards for employees that met performance objectives. Quality and performance was the heart of this transition and by 1990, APEX became much more sophisticated. The Building Block Councils was developed during this time and was comprised of an arrangement of committees and councils. Their primary objective was to encourage division wide involvement in a variety of strategic areas by creating six councils that implemented new standards to their designated area. These areas were the customer satisfaction council, quality council, goals council, awareness council, training council, and recognition council. Upon reading the observations of three high level managers who also served as chairs on many of the new councils, it becomes evident that the plan brought forth by Ray Alvarez in fact had many short comings. The first three year plan focused on symptoms not actual problem and according to Rick Rowe, another Micro Switch director, â€Å"the easy changes had already been made. Now the company had to tackle deeply ingrained behaviors and processes which were holding the division back from reaching its goals† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 200). Alvarez in many ways, did not focus on separating immediate symptoms from the actual underlying problems. Focusing on symptoms may achieve more approval in the beginning, but this will begin to dissipate once people realize that the basic core problem never went away. As indicated above, Alvarez did an exceptional job announcing the change, implementing APEX, and encouraging division wide involvement through Building Block Councils. That being said, the Building Block Councils focused around middle and higher level managers, not lower level employees, and thus lower level employees were not immediately included in the process. This would later change as Deb Massof, a new director brought on by Alvarez and often seen as an outsider, tirelessly attempted to encourage employee involvement. Massof’s initial utcasting was the symptom of an underlying culture clash problem that should have been dealt with right away. When trying to have meetings to get employees involved in the strategic planning process, Massof asserts that she just got blank stares from employees. Lower level employees should have been informed that some things were going to change; according to Massof’s account, it appears as though no one ever actually told them they w ould be doing away with the top down approach. This may have been hindrance in this situation. If this change had been formally communicated, just by some employees hearing this, their involvement and productivity may have increased significantly. Due to the fact that prior to Alvarez, Micro Switch operated under a top-down bureaucratic management structure, and he should have considered that Micro Switch had likely attracted employees that had not only accepted this, but became increasingly comfortable with that approach, as well. However, they did not anticipate this, and this led to a great deal of resistance to the change itself. Massof has indicated that she was eventually successful in developing cross functional business teams, but states that initially thinking independently was exceptionally unusual for nearly all of the employees and most of them couldn’t even comprehend why they were being pressed to do so. Communication of expectations and really communication in general could have improved the efficiency of this situation vastly and could have got lower level employees on board a lot quicker. Case and point, Massof stated that in July of 1990, her unit completed their second strategic plan with no complaining, and brought a â€Å"new level of skill and detail to the task† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 202, para. 3). In addition to this, they were also able to establish benchmarks during their second strategic plan. Measurability is an essential aspect of the change process and yet Ellis Stewart, another Micro Switch director, indicated that his team felt as though they were not able to see any of their progress despite their efforts. What we need is some growth to take advantage of all the work we’ve done† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 204, para. 2). Due to the fact that Stewart’s business unit had not established any benchmarks, short term goals, or measurability to illustrate short term wins, they had trouble maintaining motivation and upholding morale. The next underlying problem is the lack of direction. According to Massof, â€Å"I do think people want to change. They do want to do good. But they’re real frustrated at not knowing what to change† (Leban, Stone, 2008, pg. 200). Without actually saying it, Massof illustrated that there really was not a fruitful plan set in place, let alone one that included employees in the planning stages. Alvarez did a wonderful job creating a sense of urgency with Micro Switch directors, establishing a vision, and goals. The fundamental problem lied not within the â€Å"why† part, the â€Å"why† part was clearly understood. Rather, the main issue is that lower level employees were not steered in the right direction and obviously were not an integral part of the change process as they didn’t even understand what they needed to change. Starting with why is of course important, but the â€Å"what† aspect, arguably just as important if not more, is what actually sets people in the right direction. The next core problem is that the change implemented was not small and manageable. During Massof first 18 months with Micro Switch her highest priority in her business unit was â€Å"making up for fifteen years of no investment and no new products†¦ to compensate for years of neglect; and to start drawing people into both the revitalization process and daily operations in ways they had never done before† (Leban, Stone, 2008, pg. 01). This is hardly what one would consider a small manageable change; Massof’s business unit didn’t even understand their own customers anymore. In addition, there was no use of a project manager or consultants to help them with market research, and thus no one to keep them on track and remind of what the goal actually was. Trying to gain support for the culture shift was a large problem during the change process, and although Alvarez often encouraged autonomy, this was not always the case. The new and improved Micro Switch was expected to perform with a sense of urgency and thus work was expected to be not only that of high quality, but done as quickly as possible. Ellis Stewart, head of Building Block Council on Training, swiftly and efficiently developed a new employee training program known as APEX College, and was reprimanded for â€Å"acting without authorization. † For change to be successful it is imperative there are no wavering expectations and mixed signals being sent and authority must be given with responsibility. Review Alternative Courses of Action, Make Recommendations, and Implement Listed previously in the section above, are ten evident problems and in this section, each problem will be lumped together based on similar underlying issues into five categories, reiterated and then recommendations will be made. 1. The initial focus was placed on symptoms not problems. Changes were not small and manageable. Lack of project manager, etc. Focusing on underlying problems is a crucial step in the change process. Many organizations, who aim to change aspects of their business whether it is internally or externally, tend to focus on the symptoms because of their obviousness. Although as stated previously, tending to symptoms may gain more initial acceptance and approval, the change will fall short in the end as the realization that nothing actually changed, sets in. My recommendation is to dig deep and not look for a â€Å"band-aid† solution, but rather one that tackles deep rooted issues. I also think in this situation, bringing in outside assistance would be increasingly prudent. Analysts, project managers, and other like professionals generally have the ability to point out core, fundamental issues that have either been ignored or simply not accepted by the organization. Meaning that, many organizations suffer from certain issues that become the big elephant in the room that no one talks about, or it’s an elephant that only lower level employees see, but cannot point out due to the organization’s management style. In the case at hand, it seems as though nearly all of Micro Switch employees didn’t even realize many of the issues because they weren’t expected to, and thus because no one questioned it, it was never brought to anyone’s attention. This is precisely why I feel an outsider, who is actually hired and contracted to provide a service that points the underlying problems out would be extremely useful. . Communication was poor and employees were not told the culture was going to change. Employees were not actually an integral part of the change process, despite announcements stating otherwise. The tone of the change process was set, but employees had no direction. (What should be changed what shouldn’t). Lack of Clear Expectations. Communication is essential in many areas of life, and businesses are certainly not the exception. A successful change requires buy-in from staff, and this includes all differing levels of employees understanding their roles. In this case, my first recommendation would be to inform employees of how Micro Switch used to operate, very top down. By Alvarez simply assuming that employees knew that Micro Switch had previously operated under a Theory X type of management structure, he set a number of the employees within the organization up to fail before they could succeed. In some instances, this can be helpful, but in business when time is of the essence and truly invaluable, the stumble that occurred could have been prevented. The next step would be to illustrate what the new Micro Switch structure would look like. This is what is used to be, this what we’re changing, and these are the expectations, type of deal. Now, these things are important notions to communicate, but role understanding is where Micro Switch actually began to see a lot of issues. If employees do not understand what they need to be changing, what their roles are, and what the expectations are, then the change cannot be implemented. Lastly, this should all be communicated verbally, and in writing. Each employee should receive a packet of information and be briefed over and over again about the upcoming changes. After it is made exceptionally clear, each employee should sign a waiver of sorts, indicating that they understand not only why the change is taking place, but more importantly, what their role is in the process, what is going to change, and what the expectations are related to their own job duties. Delegating tasks to help employees during this process is crucial, and therefore communication does not need to be administered by just one individual. Having a plan and communicating that plan would help Micro Switch in terms of efficiency and gaining approval at a quicker rate. 3. Resistance to the culture change imposed was not anticipated in advance. Massof indicated that Micro Switch was in a time warp and their extreme resistant to change was deeply ingrained in Micro Switch’s culture. Resistance in contrast, to the previous issue listed above, is something that should have been assumed. In this case, my recommendation again, begins with communication. Considering the employees’ perspective and asking them until face to face is a question that should be tackled initially to help develop a plan to fill in perception gaps. Resistance is not always a bad thing and in the case at hand, anticipating this could have helped Alvarez really communicate what was going to be changed, thus making the implementation process a lot smoother. After this, tracking perception is vital and although Alvarez attempted to have employee feedback system, it did function in an efficient manner. Not a great deal of information was give about the system, which leads me to believe that it was not very thought out. Resistance can be caused by a lack of understanding, not necessarily disapproval and this proved to be true in this case. 4. Lack of measurability. In any change, measurability is a key factor. My recommendation would be to create project goals and use the scorecard approach. Alvarez did a great job dealing with education, but only dealt with part of the performance aspects. The development of APEX should just be starting point, but how will Micro Switch know if it’s successful if it’s not measured and tested. I would also implement short term goals to prevent loss in momentum, as stated by Ellis previously, employees at all levels need to see growth. This is illustrated through measurability. 5. Lack of authority with responsibility Successful change must be driven by support from top management, involve employees and project managers. I would begin by using a combination of Change Theories E and O thus accepting the paradox between hard side of change and the soft side change. Alvarez left a lot of gaps in his plan, and most his plan involved the softer, internal side of the organization. This issue ties a lot into communication, clear guidelines, and concise expectations; however, it is still important mention on its own due to the account given earlier by Stewart. Follow-up and Evaluate In order to evaluate this process, I would focus primarily on the balanced scorecard approach. This strategic management system enables organizations to focus on their vision, strategy and their measurement. Balanced scorecards also offer a structure for communicating how employees are expected to execute the strategy. Micro Switch employees at various levels felt they had nothing to show for their work. This technique could have cleared up a lot of confusion during the Micro Switch change and increased their efficiency exponentially. In addition to the clarity provided, this system would also illustrate their progress in tangible terms. This process includes four different areas of measurement, financial, customer, internal operations, and learning and growth. Therefore, this measurement system should satisfy the needs of employees at various levels and shareholders well, because as its title indicates, it’s well balanced. This approach indicates that although financial measurements are of extreme importance, they cannot take the place of intangible assets. Following the guidelines of the balanced scorecard approach from this point, I would make the strategy explicit, choose the measures, define and refine, and deal with people. Once these have been established, the work needs to be divided up into two interfaces, differentiation and integration. Differentiation refers to the degree of similarity or difference represented by the design of the work units†¦the way an organization coordinates the work across work-units is the integration† (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 66). Conclusion Although Alvarez did implement some great ideas during the beginning of his time at Micro Switch, the shakeup led many middle managers to ponder if something had gone wrong. In the end, it’s not necessarily that anything implemented had gone array, but rather that there were many gaps in the planning that needed to be filled in. Initially, this wasn’t as evident but as excitement began to dissipate and employees struggled to understand what their new roles were within the organization, the holes in the plan became clearly evident. Developing APEX set Micro Switch on the right track, but left a lot to be desired with the way things were handled (or not handled) internally. By merely adding communication, a project manager, goals, and measurements, Micro Switch employees at various levels would have likely felt a lot more optimistic with the end result.

Standardization versus Adaptation in International Marketing

There has been much debate over implementing a standardization strategy versus an adaptation approach across international markets. There are numerous factors to consider, along with pros and cons of both marketing plans. While standardization is equated with brand consistency, lower advertising costs, and overall synergy, adaptation is often required to address cultural differences for more effective communication and proves that cutting costs does not always facilitate higher profits1.For some time many researchers, such as R. D.  Buzzell in 1968, have concluded that the real question is what marketing elements can be standardized and to what degree2. However, academics support the notion that adaptation is essential to prosper in global markets. 3 And in the instance of advertising to China, the necessity for adaption is ever present. China is a very appealing marketplace to many companies due to its large population and growing economy. Despite the country’s fiscal growt h, there still remains a large disparity between big cities, like Shanghai and Beijing, versus the more inland provinces4.And since the relationship of cultural, political, and economical similarities support the standardization of competitive strategy, treating China as one nation to market to would be a mistake in itself, let along trying to standardize a campaign targeting American and Chinese consumers. Some corporations, such as Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble, have achieved extreme success by targeting the affluent, but there is almost a 90% segment left to infiltrate. 5 This may mean lowering product price point, but many firms still deter from positioning their products to the middle or lower class due to the high advertising costs.It is an overcrowded arena to effectively breakthrough, but this is where adaptation would hold the competitive advantage. Along with the vast disproportionate economies of scale, the psychological and cultural drivers of Chinese consumers are tr ansforming as well. The desire to express their individuality is ever present, especially in the younger generations. Nokia has seen their cell phone sales surpass other brands because of its fashion focus that the other phones lacked6.The want  for basic consumer goods is also overlooked for ones that offer a lifestyle benefit of enjoyment. â€Å"The percentage of households reporting they have DVD players jumped from 7% in 1997 to 52% in 2004. The number of households with computers grew from 2% in 1994 to 13% in 2004, and the number of those with mobile phones jumped from 10% in 1999 to 48% in 2004† (Burkholder). Thus, consumers are more likely to spend their money on technology or fashion as opposed to a household item they may need.Globalization is one of the reasons a new Chinese consumer has emerged. Individuality, brand attitudes, and lifestyle preferences in China are more aligned with Western markets, yet multinational corporations have been disappointed from stan dardized marketing strategies7. The drive to purchase Western products has greatly increased between each Chinese generation as well. In fact, generation Y (18-24) has purchased more tech-savvy devices, used the Internet, and purchased more Western brands than any Chinese age demographic before8.This appears to be more of a reason to standardize advertising campaigns, but despite desire and acceptance of Western ideals and products, the younger Chinese demographic is still very in touch and proud of their heritage9. This dynamic consumer requires research and attention, which denotes an adaptation technique to effectively communicate a marketing plan. There seems to be a general consensus from marketing researchers and intellectuals that standardization strategies are more effective, economical, and should be applied initially.However, consumer behavior and perceptions play an integral role in framing an advertising campaign and this is where a degree of adaptation is essential. Sta ndardizing many parts of a marketing mix is beneficial, but there are certain areas where modification will yield the best results. In order to achieve a working model of international marketing, standardization and adaptation strategies should be applied as see fit. And since China has a particularly diverse set of consumers that makes marketing to the country alone dynamic, an adaptation approach would be advantageous in regards to an international campaign.

How to Become an Effective Manager Essay

There is a lot of hard work and skills that need to be developed to become a real manager. Managers have several skills and talents they learn as they advance in the workplace, not all of them will develop the very simple and basic ability to be an effective manager. They have to do a lot more than just manage finances and give projects. A manager has to teach people and show them in a way to allow them to be the best they can be, so later on they too can advance up through the company on their own qualities. So 1st thing to becoming an effective manager, you have to improve your own leadership abilities and actions that are needed to be a great business leader. I think one of the most essential things that anyone must do is lead by example. We do this as parents, and we are taught to do it as older siblings for our younger brothers and sisters. Too many managers often live by â€Å"do as I say, but not as I do,† as a substitute of setting an example for their employees. If a manager wants hard work, and teamwork from the employees in their company, I think that they themself must first show that they can also work hard, that they are trust worthy, and that they are just as much a team player as their employees. You have to listen to the people you work with. A lot of times employees have great suggestions that get overlooked. Always communicate with them, and make sure they know they can come to you that you have an open door policy. Effective managers will always give credit to an employee who does it. Showing appreciation not only will show them they are needed and appreciated, but also build their confidence and make them always want to do better. Whether it showing them publicly or with a small bonus. When people are appreciated, it will always motivate them to want to perform better. Trusting your employees and giving them responsibility. If you don’t ever allow them to spread their wings and learn new things, where is the growth opportunity for those individuals? Delegating should be done so everyone gets an opportunity to show their potential. Everyone wants to move up, and not be stuck as an entry level employee forever. Trust in them, and give them an opportunity. Everyone has different strengths and weakness that can be used for different jobs. One might type better; one might speak a different language. This is where successful delegation will used to assign the right employee with the right task. Real leaders will show power and self-confidence. And if you are able to display these qualities to your employees again it’s about leading by example. It will in turn inspire confidence in them as well. You have to have a real vision of what your goals and intentions are, and a definite plan as to how you will achieve those goals. Put everything into writing, and go over it with all of your employees during meetings, or one on ones so they are aware of them. Talk to them about what they think, they might have concerns that need to be addressed.

Business Plan for EuroFlorida Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Plan for EuroFlorida - Case Study Example More and more frequently, the "grey gold" of north Europe (Scandinavia, Germany and the UK) are liquefying their assets and moving to south Europe. Their destinations are often Spain and south France. Indeed in Spain a large building industry has started up building "pensioner complexes" to cater for the market, similarly in south France, house prices are rising significantly. Smaller markets in the English-speaking Med (Gibraltar and Malta) have seen very dramatic rises in real estate value. However Apulia (the "heel" of Italy) is a relatively undiscovered region; prices are very reasonable and indeed, for a decade, Apulia was the poorest region of the (old) EU. The infrastructure, however, is excellent, with an airport at Bari, a motorway all the way to Vienna and the European net, excellent train connections within Italy and by ferry to Greece. Climatically Apulia is the second most "blessed" region of the EU, after Portugal's Algarve. Temperatures are, however, not extreme and th e landscape is lush, fertile and green. It is an area of small industry, as well as being extremely rich in culture & history. This plan sets out EuroFlorida objectives and targets for 2009 /10... The Mission and vision: EuroFlorida's contractual obligation is to be able to render Europe's finest service for promising the possession of property in addition to other assisting property business. EuroFlorida's revelation is carrying out property dealings which are unproblematic for all. In order to be able to accomplish this visualization, EuroFlorida will need to present an array of alternative selections to their clientele , this is the element that will make them capable enough to conduct a complete transaction in a way that would be most appropriate to their personal otherwise trade requirements, however be able to equalize this alongside the responsibility towards the government within the Apulia state as a major stakeholder to present a cost efficient resolution. The long term premeditated objectives: EuroFlorida's approach is looking forward towards developing as well as improving the already existing land and property. Together with initiating work over the new found property for providing services, and satisfying the needs of our clientele, along with the by and large desire of carrying out property dealings that would satisfy most of our customers. This matter to be precise will encompass carrying out sales and purchase deals, refurbishing deals, and other property deals that are included in our services. These services in total have been specified time and again within the coming pages of this paper. The management at EuroFlorida has been able to recognize the following major segments. At the same time as the customer dealing system is most likely going to be World Wide Web, the most important dare is within the supply chain.

Marketing concept Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing concept - Assignment Example It will then examine why Beats Electronics used this particular concept and the extent to which it has been forced to accommodate changing trends in consumer trends and the resources that were deployed in marketing this concept and finally the analysis will consider how this concept enabled the firm to enhance on its business performance. Increasingly, firms are placing more emphasis on retaining their customers and often it takes a significant amount of effort, time as well as money in both attracting a new customer. Creating long term customers are seen as most beneficial (Gronroos & Voima, 2011). Relationship marketing is one of the theories which can be used to not only develop but also to liquidate the relationships that firms have with their customers in a manner that not only creates value, but also enhances on the firm’s level of competitiveness (Gronroos & Voima, 2011). Service quality is also another theory that seeks to explain customer value and here the quality of the provided service or product is exactly how the customer wishes it to be. In many instances, customers have a significantly wider speculation of quality which means that firms have to determine the quality in the same manner as their customers (Shamim & Ghazali, 2014). In the case of Beats Electronics, both Dr.Dre and Jimmy Iovine wished to provide the customer with similar headphones to the ones Apple had in the market but with better sound quality (Helm, 2014). Service quality in this instance is made up of two distinct parts which is the expected and perceived service. The perceived quality is made of two aspects: one is technical which is what the customer gets and customers often look to this aspect since it provides an overview of how the firm’s products can provide a technical solution to the problem (Shamim & Ghazali, 2014). The other aspect is functional which strives to examine the