KEY DEBATES IN MEDIA STUDIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

KEY DEBATES IN MEDIA STUDIES - Essay Example The song competition unites all countries that are geographically located on the territory of Europe in attempt to define the best performance with the help of free televoting. Though the quality of the music on the contest is sometimes very disputable (because most singers and bands choose pop as a preferable genre) the overall impact of the event on European society is rather significant. First of all, it is believed to shape the direction and trends in European cultural development as the Eurovision promotes live performance and unique, and that is why non-trivial, show on the stage. Several world famous stars, such as ABBA for instance, first appeared as participants of the contest. However, many viewers claim that the Eurovision can be regarded as a political show first of all because it reflects Europeans` preferences and negative tendencies in perception of certain countries. The contest also demonstrates quite vividly which countries and the nations of which countries have go od relationships and which relationships are tense. Last year the victory of the Austrian contestant, Conchita Wurst who represents herself as a drag queen, set the whole cultural world in turmoil and provoked active debates regarding the relevance and the influence of the event. Therefore, it is possible to suggest the Eurovision is one of the most controversial music contests on the planet which has its political and cultural implications for the population of Europe and its representation in media must be performed with the help of different, sometimes even opposite approaches. In this paper I will try to analyze how media can utilize various tactics and emphasize different priorities depending on its relation to the realms of state and politics and culture. To begin with it is still necessary to create some adequate image of the Eurovision song contest. Most common people in Europe

Festivals and Events. The New Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Festivals and Events. The New Age - Essay Example This concept has become so popular in recent years, however, that there is now the danger of having a glut of such events that are aimed at the same demographic group (Santino, 2009). This has been a most interesting development in regards to the creation of even more specialized festivals and events that are truly unique to one particular geographical region. This is showing great signs of success and is likely to be a trend that will continue into the future. This report at three different such festivals and events in the nations of England, Wales, and Scotland. Focused on will be the background to such events, the type of tourist that is target, and its economic and tourism related benefits that are arising in the region as a result. 2. The Green Man Festival - Wales 2.1 Festival Background The Green Man Music Festival is generally held over a four day period in the Black Mountains of Wales. It has been in existence for only ten years and was formed in response to the increasing d esire to host a truly independent music festival within the region. It is quite an eclectic event that definitely appeals to a particular demographic group. The event was the brainchild one family from Wales, and the festival now truly takes on a family type atmosphere, as many of the visitors come year after year, creating a reunion type atmosphere. The festival itself is designed to have quite an intimate feel to it, yet it has multiple attractions and performers to keep things going around the clock. The location itself is also another unique component of the festival, as it is in the wilderness, yet is only 3 hours away from either London, Manchester, or Brighton, and only 90 minutes away from Bristol. The developers and designers of this particular festival wanted to provide a unique and different experience, realizing that not everyone can travel to multiple festivals each and every year. From the reality that this is one of the only festivals in the entire United Kingdom to h ave a 24-hour alcohol beverage license to the reality that they have developed many options for children to enjoy as well, the Green Man Festival has developed a truly niche market that has positioned itself for future growth despite its young age. 2.2 Linkage to Tourism Development (Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact) The Green Man Festival began as a small and intimate event on the Wales calendar, but today is by far the largest music festival in the country. The first year, the festival attracted 300 people, yet it received rave reviews from most in attendance, and the festival even had to move locations in its second year in order to accommodate all of the interest. Now in its tenth year, the Green Man Festival attracts more than 15,000 people annually, and its economic impact is felt far and wide. While the event itself has grown into four days of music and festivities, permission has recently been granted to allow attendees to remain on the festival ground for an entire seven days (Frost & Laing, 2013). This has allowed the surrounding areas in Wales to benefit from this tourist event as well, as thousands of travelers now descend on the region annually. The Green Man Festival is about more than just music. The organizers of the event have created an event that is known region wide as being non-corporate and ethnically minded. They have

Integrated Marketing Communication Concepts Analysis

Integrated Marketing Communication Concepts Analysis The purpose of any given organizations in the globalised market place today is to create a connecting link with customer, and communicate their brands in the most feasible ways. Creating customer or to be precise building relationship with customers though is not an easy task. It calls for advancement in marketing medium and communication tactics. Organizational operation and their purpose are to create the value chain and build a relationship with consumer through communications and its forms. In such situation the importance of integrated marketing communication can be traced. The primary aim of this report limits its research on the concepts of Integrated marketing communication. The concepts meaning of integrated marketing communication or that which we can understands by any other word such as corporate communication tool or advertisement is aimed primarily at the public via a variety of interactive tools, such as corporate advertisings, its publicity, public affairs, governance besides the compounding management issues and public relations as well as corporate sponsorship. (Luiz Moutinho, 2004, p. 179) These process combined together play an instrumental in todays organization. In that essence, the structure of this report is limited to identify the issues encompassing IMC, as well as to define the idea as to where the object of IMC takes roots from. In doing so, understanding the meaning of marketing communication is important and relevant from a theoretical point of view, which this essay attempt to trace the implication if any through its discussion encompassing IMC concepts that are very much in practice today. Marketing processes is corporation one focal point. Marketing helps corporations to sells their products and services or experts. We have come across the adage all that glitters, isnt gold as well as the saying there is more to things than just meet the eyes. These phrases have more philosophical meaning behind their originations. And when linked with marketing communication for examples there is an interrelated meaning as well, given that consumers today are more aware than ever before. Before deciding on any particular purchase they undertake a thorough outlook as to where the idea of corporation communication links with them. Add to it, we see reason enough that corporation are tying every possible measures to connect with consumers. The adage consumer is king hold true in a sense that consumer does much of the talking; deciding, etc that goes into the making of their purchasing capacity. The better the communication marketing appeal, the greater is the scope for corporation to bu ilt relationship with consumers in the market. The medium used in marketing is meant to reach consumer and communicate to them in the most feasible way. In every sphere of our life somewhat we have come across advertisements, e-mailer in our inbox that brief about a particular product, and all components of brandishing through billboards, etc. besides, we have also come across the point as corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsorship to be precise is the frequent case that we see corporate logo in football grounds and amongst players. Somewhat we wonder also as to what is all about CSR concepts adopted by many corporations today? Question and counter question that we often presume also is that why does communication undertake all these at one go? We can understand that there is a marketing concept behind it all, but the question is why? In that assumption we can speculate that all factor encompassing the one as detailed above have a lot to do with the concepts of integrated marketing communication. But how, and what detrimental v alue does it communicate with consumers in the market? Why does it arise so? Does IMC in any instance provide a sense of belonging with consumers? Yes it does. Generally from our understanding it is considered that marketing itself is a fundamental organizational function. The best way that corporation in the current scenario are marketing their product is through the integration of effective marketing channels or tool to connect and build relationship with consumer in the market. Such mechanism and its concepts that have undergone a change of guards and making inroads in corporation marketing are the integrated marketing communication concepts. It is that branch of the overall marketing process that encompasses process such as planning product promotions, its advertising, corporate sponsorships and the likes. Most importantly the question that arises again is that does an IMC concept impact upon the purchasing power of consumers and their mindset? The answer is yes. There is a grea t many values attached to IMC concepts in the marketing realms, especially in today competitive environment, where only the fittest survives and where technology and different forms of media play a significant role. When we emphasize on these points the importance of IMC can be traced. And it should be clarified herein that the primary focus of this work is to address these three main assumptions:- What is Integrated Marketing Communication? What is the reason behind Corporations favoring IMC Concepts at its Best for Promotional Purposes? What Defines IMC and its Appeals as far as Advertisement and Promotional Objectives goes? Does Embracing the Concepts of IMC is difficult for Corporation To come to this conclusion is rather hard. Thus, it could be prudent that each assumption is discussed separately, as detailed below. 1. WHAT IS INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS? We can define integrated marketing communication in the word of Terence A. Shimp, as a communication process that entails the planning, integration, creation, and implementation of diverse forms of mass communication such as, advertising, sales promotions, publicity releases or press releases and events that are delivered overtime to a brands targeted customer and prospects. (Shimp, 2008) The goals thus are to influence the behavioral conditioning of consumer and their perceptions of things. To sum it up, integrated marketing communication takes an extensive formulation of covering every minute detail that bridges the gaps between consumer and producers in the market, where the media comes in handy to make the connecting links and channelize the same in the most feasible ways. (Shimp, 2008, p. 10) It also should be understood that marketing communications concepts arise from communication and its meaning. Communication as we can understand in simple language is that condition that accumulates together the aspects wherein sharing or exchanging of informations between two parties is made possible. Furthermore, it also links together the components of reaching to the means of communication for an end results, let say the mechanism or tools that are used for the same. Above all, communications in any given standards is not one way; assert learned men and scholars such as Paul Russell Smith and Jonathan Taylor. (Paul Russell Smith, 2004, p. 72) Besides, understanding the concepts of communication also directly register with us and a layman understanding of the same. The overall aspect of marketing communication also is one subset of the subject matter that concerns itself with the concepts of marketing. Marketing communication is a set of purposive activities, linked and coordinated to some degree. (Jain, 2008, p. 1) From this notion and when we come to the conceptualization of the idea behind marketing communication we can readily identify also the substance or the significance attached to it, which we assume organizations are banking heavily as a factor for sustenance and growth, given that marketing processes and its activities in many forms and parts asserts scholars relies heavily on communication formats; wherein such marketing process and procedures is to directly informs potential customer of a product offering or factor such as in creating a brand image in the marketplace and any other process such as customer feed backs in improving processes or products that marketers initiates. In that components accumulated and buildup together thus, marketing research also comes in handy and is effective, (Guy Masterman, 2006, p. 4) and is often looked also as a typical tools for promotional and advertising activities and to connect with consumers. Moreover, what has been the very discussed and augmented point on the subject matter and the very essence of marketing communication also often raises the question as to how marketers communicate with their target markets? Simply put in what marketers actually do in essence is the fact that everything they do is communicates, (Ludi Koekemoer, 2004, p. 1) through proper channels, and by using relevant marketing tools to their advantages for communications. Such a communication process take stage or come to fore because it helps corporation in many ways to bridge the gap of communication with the market or consumers as the case is, and thus good communication is based on an orientation around a dominant, rational big brand idea as corporations calls it, which acts as a tool or platform for creating, involving and sustaining customer engagement. (Micael Dahlà ©n, 2009, p. 2) Comprehending together these notion overall as can be laid emphasis upon we feel that every dynamic organization s today and in the current schemes of things takes an interested approach towards reaching the means to an end for their offering, be it products or services, and marketing communication is thus the most visible of marketing functions (Copley, 2004, p. 1) for reaching such an ends to the result oriented targeted activities, which is also the very salient object of marketing concepts itself and that which we will further evaluate and comprehend the very idea that erupts and that which we can lay out hands on the arguments that arises with integrated marketing communications and its meaning overall as discussed below. 2. WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND CORPORATIONS FAVORING IMC CONCEPTS AT ITS BEST FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES? There can be many reasons for this. As we can understand, the conceptual evaluation of the meaning integrated marketing communication has a lot to do with marketing concepts as one bigger picture of it all. Often we begin to argue in that direction considering a typical organization where advertising is controlled by the marketing department, where as selling is the responsibility of the sales department and the websites is controlled and maintained by IT services. (Graeme Drummond, 2005, p. 149) This is really what composed the conditionality of todays modern organizations. Often we wonder wont such a process interfere with the overall concepts of marketing? And how does things can be assured that consumer get or receives the right and correct message from the company concerned when marketing are integrated in departmental wise? To put emphasis on this notion and this views that arises in that regard, the answer we feel lays in the objective of integrated marketing communication. Integrated marketing communications in all aspects attempts to use together the various communication message or tool used by the organization into one meaningful coherent message. (Graeme Drummond, 2005, p. 149) Add to it, Marketing in the current scheme of things also is in a state of transformation. (Copley, 2004, p. 4) As we are aware, a new era is unfolding in the fields of advertising, promotions, and marketing communications. (Clow, 2007, p. 43) This is true, considering that the presence of media and its advancement have given abundant option available for marketers to bank and capitalize from. In that context, this is also where the very essence and substance of marketing communication comes into play in the overall picture that composed marketing and its principles. 3. WHAT DEFINES IMC AND ITS APPEALS AS FAR AS ADVERTISEMENT AND PROMOTIONAL OBJECTIVES GOES? When we come to this part of the discussion, often the very first question that we encounter with is the importance attached to integrated marketing communication. Does the substantial element attached to integrated marketing communication assist managers and marketers in the promotional processes and its integration? The answer to this point as we can comprehend and build up our arguments and reasoning logically is, yes. As we have already defined the basis of integrated marketing management, we see reason enough that it components is linked to many befitting ends results as a means to an end that marketers emphasize upon. To justify this view firstly, we should try and attempt to understand the role that integrated marketing communications plays in todays organizations and their marketing prospects. The very essence and meaningful conceptualization of the word advertising and its role in integrated marketing communication is looked upon from the broader element attached to it. Take for examples factor attached to advertising within the integrated marketing communication campaigns and its activities must have a consistent look and feel, even though brand advertising to consumers will generally be different from retails advertising from consumers. Yet all such campaigns have their own objectives and purpose. (Percy, 2008, p. 83) This is all about what we can sum up as the very basis and objectives of strategic integrated marketing communications. Scholars such as Peter Drucker said that any business has two basic requirements, one is marketing, and the other is innovations. (Varey, 2002, p. 1) This is true and applicable in today organizations environment as well. But what is innovation in that sense of the term? We feel that IMC concepts have much to be viewed in that point as well. Add to it, consumer in today environment also are more interactive and swift, given that they accepts a wide variety of information from media in many forms and formats. Marketers in that situation have a fair control over what customer and prospects hear or learn about their products. (Don E. Schultz, 1993, p. 43) Thus, on the basis of these points we can emphasize also as to where to trace the significance of integrated marketing communication. The greater instance of the subject matter argument is that even in the current scheme of things advertising agencies are still searching for the best way to incorporate the concepts and practice of integrated marketing communication. (Tom Duncan, 1996, p. 13) To top it all, the nature and scope of advertising in context of integrated marketing communication is simply a means or a marketing tools that helps sells brands of products and help top build confidence in companies and institutions by conveying accurate and compelling informations to customers about the brand, or anything in that regard. (Ludi Koekemoer, 2004, p. 65) 4. DOES EMBRACING THE CONCEPTS OF IMC IS DIFFICULT FOR CORPORATION When debating to this point, the answer is yes and no, given that it depends greatly how the concepts is emulated for practical purpose. On the other hand, corporations with a scope to make a switch towards integrated marketing communication are posed with many barriers. It can be in the form of technological barriers, or cost factor and the likes. This point notwithstanding, it would prudent also that a scholastic point be observed as well to the difficulty as such if any. What scholars have withhold in favor of integrated marketing communication can again be emphasized to the notion wherein it is held that integrated marketing communication plays a vital role in every aspects of marketing process. However, developing and implementing an integrated marketing communication programs is usually a detailed and complex process, which involves many persons as well as extensive efforts. (George E Belch, 2003, p. 69) Thus, such factor when encounter often comes and acts as a barrier when corporations for example are trying to embrace the features of integrated marketing communication. Fair enough, not only the cost factor also comes into play in such a strategic integration, but also the complexities of the process itself, which very often when not strategized systematically can be a dampener of sorts. This is what we can augment are some of the difficulty in embracing the overall features of integrated marketing communication in a standardized and symmetrical manner. METHODOLOGY The methodology adopted in this report is primarily secondary in nature. There have been no specific methods or process evaluation undergone. As a discourse in theoretical terms, the best available secondary resources were dependent upon to emphasize the views and counter view of this paper assumptions and its argument. On a greater note, view in favor of IMC concepts and is adoption is the concentrated focus to align into the assumption and its discourse overall. Thus, most of the resource used use for this research is secondary in nature, where IMC concepts and its literature have been the main source in feeding this project and regimenting the assumptions. DISCUSSIONS From our study and its analysis on the concepts of integrated marketing communication we can understand that the significance of the concepts cannot be brushed aside. It would be wrong to do away with IMC and its practical practices. The fact is that IMC assist corporations survival in many ways, and Helps Corporation building a good rapport with consumers in the market, through advertisements, billboards, corporate sponsorships, public relations and the likes of e-mailer. Effective communications are the building block between a manufacturer and consumers. Often the term consumer is king also very much also come into play in such a scenario. Corporations understand such scenarios, and are doing their best to format their communication and advertising process by initiating the practicality of IMC concepts. Thus, the principle of marketing though make its claims, however, without any pictorial and effective communication marketing often lose its sheen and sheer factor to appeal the general consumer in the market. The presence of many competitors and identical product also greatly impact consumer perception and their purchasing power, we can speculate. Lapses in communication even hurt the relationship and its bounding. The concepts behind IMC and its integration is to bring into force the factor of communication in marketing mediums, so that firms communicates in its variety of forms with consumers, thus bridging the gap in communication as is the case with traditional marketings. Moreover, it also to bring into force the streamlined process, where marketing communication is fostered and facilitated in the most feasible ways and reaches its targeted destinations, and impact upon consumer perception and their connection with any given message that appeals their psychological nature of co nsumers. The better the marketing procedures and its communication, the better is the prospects of the organizational outcome. Besides, sustenance and growth of a corporation also is hugely influenced through the marketing processes that organizations undertake and it can be in many other forms or processes, although central to marketing objectives. CONCLUSION There is great much scope for research in this topic. Given the absence of primary methodology being employed, future research through the use of primary research tools, such as questionnaire, interview and the likes, as it can provide a great significant to the assumptions from an objectively view point. Lack of relevant material though have been the factor of this research and its weakness, yet the fragmented segmentation of the concepts meaning and its discourse have been arranged to get a glimpse of the theoretical point of the subject matter and its assimilation. Taking the overall discussion and when we reflect back to the subject matter we can conclude that IMC concepts are significant to corporation in great many ways. Adopting the IMC concepts and emphasizing on its practicality can be the best ever things that corporation can initiates as a tool for mass appeal, and to get their brandishing and all factors of advertisements in their favor as well as providing consumers in the market a sense of relief to make difficult choices from available products. Thus, building on these points and our understanding of the argument in details abovementioned, we can finally conclude that marketing have many dimensional foregrounds, yet without effective communication much of it is lost in translation. Hence, integration of marketing process with streamlined communication process can be the best ever thing that can mark the transformational change in the favor of marketers. Marketing strategy very often exploit the use of marketing tools, given that there are reasonable point to such integration. Yet, it should not be forgotten that the philosophical and strategic overtones for corporations growth and its sustenance also all depends and ride in direct links with marketing, wherein integrated marketing communication processes is one vital part of marketing principle that bridge the gap to connect with the general consumers in the market.

Urban Legends on the Web Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Urban Legends on the Web Urban legends are fascinating to almost everyone, and it would follow that there would be many websites available for the discussion of them. A simple search turns up thousands of "hits" on the subject, so how do we know which ones to believe? A good research site will have detailed information explaining the confirmation or rejection of the legend. References must be cited, especially when a legend is being "proven" as true. In addition, the site should also be easy to navigate and convenient. In my own curiosity, I have come across two sites that are excellent, the About.com Urban Legend Guide, and the Urban Legend Reference Page found at www.snopes.com, which was created by the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society. In contrast, there are websites (not to mention e-mail chain letters) that perpetuate false legends, and those that just do a poor job of evaluating them. In this category is the Urban Myth Archive, an amateur archive of myths heard in New Hampshire and Monkeyburgers, a site filled with interesting legends, but lacking adequate proof to back the conclusions. The About.com Urban Legend Guide, address, http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/beliefs/urbanlegends/mbody.htm?COB=home&PM=112_100_T, is an invaluable resource for researching urban legends. Upon signing into the page, the reader is given a list of topics to choose from, which always includes currently circulating hoaxes and legends as well as an archive full of information on every conceivable legend and internet hoax. Around Halloween time, of course, there are ghost stories and legends of the past that are explained and critiqued, but I found the most interesting section to be the one on e-mail hoaxes. Every individual with a... ...good research tool, but it needs some more concrete evidence. After all, how can we believe that the author is correct without proof? That is as silly as believing an urban legend just because your brother's girlfriend's cousin told you so. In my search for urban legend sites, I found an incredible amount of information on the net, some of it high quality, professionally presented information, and the rest simply unverified. The truth is that the connection we experience as part of the World Wide Web can either work for or against us. If we choose to evaluate information carefully before we accept it, and, more importantly, before we pass it on to others, the Web is invaluable. If, however, we take the information from a website and assume it is true without adequate proof, we are just perpetuating myths and untruths. This is the importance of critical reading.

Conditions Under Which Decisions Are Made Essay

In that way you already have measures in place knowing that should you be in an accident you will have an alternative transport whilst your car is being fixed. Also when you buy a TV, you are usually given one year guarantee and you can get more years at an extra cost. In this instance you know that should the year be over and you had added two years more, and your TV has a problem maybe in the second year, you can take it back as it will still be under guarantee because you would have added more years to cover it. Risk This is when individuals can define a problem, specify the probability of certain events, identify alternative solutions, and state the probability of each solution leading to the desired result. Like in the case of construction, the construction cost overrun risk has a possibility that during the design and construction phase, the actual project costs will exceed projected costs as a result of weather, supplier’s shortage, labour and subcontractor performance. In this case the probability that this will happen will be dependent on past weather records, and experience of the contractor. A decision is made under risk when a supervisor or superior can list all possibilities of outcomes with the decision that has been made and state the probability of each outcome. There are two types of probabilities, there is an objective probability whereby the supervisor or manager assigns probability based on experience or similar situations and there is a subjective probability whereby the supervisor or manager has little experience with a the decision made or no data at all. This type of probability is based on personal experience or gut feel. For example, a manager decides to spend R2500. 00 on a shoe advertisement believing there are three possible outcomes for the advertisement, a 30% chance the advertisement will have only a small effect on sales, a 50% chance of a moderate effect, and a 20% chance of a very large effect. This decision is made under risk because the manager can list each potential outcome and determine the probability of each outcome occurring. Uncertainty This is when an individual does not have the necessary information to assign probabilities to the outcomes of alternative solutions. In cases of uncertainty the alternative solutions and problems are both unclear. Uncertainty exists when a decision maker cannot list all possible outcomes and/or cannot assign probabilities to the various outcomes. When faced with uncertainty, a manager would know only the different decision options available and the different possible states of nature. The states of nature are the future events or conditions that can influence the final outcome or payoff of a decision but cannot be controlled or affected by the manager. An example of a decision made under uncertainty would be, for a company in South Africa to open a branch say in Zambia producing products that have never been sold in that country. In this instance the is uncertainty as to whether the product will sell or not because they are not sure how the people of that country will receive hence a lot of money will be put in that project.

Process Flow Diagrams Essay

1. Consider the Custom Molds, Inc. case on pages 125-127 of the text. Prepare a process flow diagram of the Mold Fabrication process and the Parts Manufacturing process, showing how they are linked. We will discuss this flowchart in class on March 29. 2. Founded in 1966, DAV is one of the world’s largest insurance companies with locations in 32 countries. Given the description below, flowchart the New Policy Set-up process as it existed in 1996. Individual customers who wanted to set-up a new policy would visit one of DAV’s eighty branch offices or make contact with an agent. They would then fill out an application and sometimes attach a check. The branch office then sent the application package through company mail to the VEG division in Hamburg. In addition, a customer might also fill out the application at home and send it directly to a number of DAV locations, which would then transfer it to the Hamburg operation. Once received, VEG separated the various parts of the application, then scanned it and digitized it. The electronic image was then retrieved from a server and delivered to an associate’s desktop client computer. The associate was responsible for entering the information on the form into the appropriate database. If the information supplied on the application was complete, a confirmation notice was automatically printed and sent to the customer. If the information was incomplete, then another associate, trained to deal with customers on the phone, would call the customer to obtain the additional information. If the customer noticed something wrong on the confirmation notice she received, she would either call a toll-free number or send in a letter describing the problem. The Customer Problem Resolution division dealt with problems arising at this point. An updated confirmation notice was sent to  the customer. If the information was correct, the application transaction was complete. 3. Prepare a process flow diagram of the field service division process at DMI, as described below. Start from the point where a call is received to the point where a technician finishes the job. DMI was a multi-billion dollar company that manufactured and distributed a wide variety of electronic, photographic, and reprographic equipment used in many engineering and medical system applications. The Field Service Division employed 550 field service technicians who performed maintenance and warranty repairs on the equipment sold by DMI. Customers would call DMI’s National Service Center (NSC), which received about 3,500 calls per day. The NSC staffed about 40 call-takers. A typical incoming service call was received at the NSC and routed to one of the call-takers who entered information about the machine, caller’s name, type of problem, etc. into DMI’s mainframe computer. In some cases, the call-taker attempted to help the customer fix the problem. However, call-takers were currently only able to avoid about 10% of the incoming emergency maintenance service calls. If the service call could not be avoided, the call-taker usually stated the following script, â€Å"Depending upon the availability of our technicians, you should expect to see a technician sometime between now and (now + X).† (â€Å"X† was the target response time based on the model number and the zone.) This information was given to the customer because many customers wanted to know when a tech would arrive on site. Call-takers entered service call information on DMI’s computer system, which then sent the information electronically to the regional dispatch center assigned to that customer location. (DMI had five regional dispatch centers with a total of about 24 dispatchers.) Service call information was printed on a small card at the dispatch center. About every hour, cards were ripped off the printer and given to the dispatcher assigned to that customer location. The dispatcher placed each card on a magnetic  board under the name of a tech that the dispatcher believed would be the most likely candidate for the service call – given the location of the machine, the current location of the tech, and the tech’s training profile. After completing a service call, techs called the dispatcher in the regional dispatch center, cleared the call, and received a new call assigned by the dispatcher. After getting the service call from a dispatcher, a tech called the customer to give an expected time of arrival, drove to the customer site, diagnosed the problem, repaired the machine if parts were available in the van, and then phoned the dispatcher for the next call. Sometimes techs did not have the right parts for a repair. When this happened, the tech informed the NSC and the part was express mailed to the customer; the repair was done the next morning.