marketing

Introduction

Marketing has become different today than it was in past times due to the different changes in global business and new marketing strategies which raised the methods of trade worldwide and made business companies compete on high levels and try different innovative marketing trends in order to get a good position in the global market. The current report is discussing marketing and its segmentations in reference to an article which is peer reviewed and written by Goyat, (2011) about the basis of market segmentation as this report is using other articles to critically analyze the current article showing how it presents marketing issues such as the role of marketing segmentations, traditional segmentation bases, benefits of segmentation and the variables used for segmentation. The report is also evaluating segmentation using other two articles with reference to the Omani market segmentations and examples on this with a conclusion that gets an overall idea of the presented report.

Summary

The bases of marketing today is change as it is considered the most important element for ensuring success as this makes businesses try to find innovated marketing strategies to invade the market. An important market strategy is marketing segmentation which means to divide the market to segments of consumers with different needs. There are traditional segmentation bases for the market such as geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation. Segment analysis uses traditional dimension reducing techniques as cluster analysis for recognizing many segmentation bases. The main steps of the need based market segmentation are needs based segmentation, Segment Identification For each needs-based segment, assessing the attractiveness of the segments, evaluating segment profitability and making segment positioning for each segment.

There are benefits for segmentation of the market including the benefits companies gain such as the increased competition among market segments as segmentation diversify customers and business companies try to produce goods that are distinguished according to each customers category as they suit their needs and demands which raises competition and bring to the market many new brands. Segmentation can also suggest new trade trends to reach customers better. The study can suggest new segmentation areas such as the Enneagram technique that depended on studying customers behaviors and psychology in order to make new segmentations. Theoretical foundation of market segmentation can be useful in segmenting the market in a way that ensures competitive advantage. 

An evaluation of the article on segmentation using other articles

The current article of Goyat, (2011) suggests many things related to market segmentation such as the importance of the traditional techniques in identifying the segmentation bases such as the various categorical data analysis tests that can be applied to assess the surrounding environment and measure the customers' needs; these methods are effective in identifying the nature of the market, consumers behaviors and needs as according to Thomas, (2007), these traditional techniques have proved its effectiveness in realizing the way customers think and what needs are changing but Thomas, (2007) added some more techniques such as enlarging the area where the tests are made as this increases the scope of competition among companies and gives them more information, he referred to the geographic segmentation as a common way in market segmentation these traditional techniques depend on and mentioned that the geographic segmentation can be a way to other segmentation techniques. Goyat, (2011) didn't focus too much on the geographic segmentation and stated that it can be used with other segmentations such as the behavioral segmentation that can tell how to address customers through their behaviors. Lynn, (2011) also discussed segmentation bases and discussed the same segmentation techniques adding that the market should be segmented according to a wide range of variables that can depend on the business type, the market and the customer and that they can be changed when needed. Thomas, (2007) added other market segmentations such as media segmentation, time segmentation and price segmentation.

Goyat, (2011) referred to the steps in market segmentations such as choosing a product category for study and finding a basis for market segmenting as he referred to the importance of creativity and managerial insight to achieve that step and to how to make a segmentation plan for doing the third step which is selecting segmentation descriptors for variables identifying and after that the fourth step which is analyzing the segments to find risks and opportunities in each market to go to the fifth step which is selecting the target markets. Premkanth, (2012) explained these steps in a simplified way as he simply referred to the degree of customers satisfaction in deciding the steps by investigating a number of factors that tell how far customers satisfaction can decide the steps of segmentation as he referred that customer satisfaction is related to the marketing mix and they can decide the steps of segmentation. Lynn, (2011) discussed the same matter referring to a number of market attributes that can state the steps of penetrating the market and segmenting it according to the types of variables that identify the customers' needs and then to list literally hundreds of different variables, analyzing them, and gradually preparing the list to see which ones of those variables produce segments or groupings of consumers that are most useful.

Goyat, (2011) was good in setting the bases of market segmentation strategy by referring to four major customers' characteristics which are the geographic, the demographic, the psychographic and the behavioral. He clearly explained and presented this issue by providing examples for the different variables related to those characteristics such as region, population density and climate related to the geographic segmentation, age, gender, family size, income and education and others related to the demographic segmentation, he referred to variables related to the psychographic segmentation including interests, activities, opinions, values and attitudes and to the behavioral segmentation such as benefits sought,  usage rate,  brand Loyalty,  user status,  readiness to buy and  occasions. Thomas, (2007) confirmed the previous segmentation variables of Goyat but he added the media segmentation, time segmentation and price segmentation as he tried to tell that using the media can be more helpful in segmentation the market as it can reach new areas of audiences, he also tried to focus on time segmentation which is less common but can be effectively used for making a brand image at a very certain point of time when feeling customers need that brand image, he referred to the price segmentation as it depends on people's incomes in different areas and how they can react to a product according to its price as there are segmentations that should be made for the luxury goods and brands for example and others for lowest income customers. Lynn, (2011)confirmed the opinions of Goyat, (2011) but had a different opinion that says that demographic and psychographic variables are poor predictors of brand choice although they are preferred by many businesses in market segmentation. 

Goyat, (2011) discussed how companies should be careful in identifying the suitable market for them and for their products as segmentation should be carefully made in order to raise profits and reach competitive advantage. This was also approved by Thomas, (2007) but he added that there are some mistakes companies make in segmentation such as segmenting a segment and overlooking the bases as this can lead to targeting people instead of profit. Lynn, (2011) also referred to that conclusion added that change is better than stability even there is a good level of success as stability may be dangerous so market segmentation should be liable for change.

An application of the evaluation to the Omani market

Oman is a Gulf country that has many different businesses beginning from simple trailers and to big oil companies and each business has its method in the market segmentation strategy. Oman's geographic is distinguished and can provide many opportunities for businesses to segment the market to areas as its capital Muscat is known as a tourist place preferred to begin business by many international companies.  Oman shares borders with the Republic of Yemen to its south-west, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west and the United Arab Emirates to the north. It has sovereignty over a number of small islands in the Oman Sea and the Strait of Hormuz such as Salamah and Her Daughters, as well as Masirah and the Hallaniyat Islands in the Arabian Sea which makes market segmentation is easy by following the needs of the people in Oman. Its demographics also tell that it can be segmented as its population is big and they are of good income in addition to the different education segments the country has. People's behaviors in Oman can also provide good segmentation bases as most people like shopping which makes it a good place for trailer businesses and international luxury brands. People's behaviors are also referring to a high purchasing level as Gulf people prefer to purchase new innovated products and also using new shopping strategies such as online shopping and there are many shopping sites online where Omani people can online purchasing what they need. (Omandimographic, 2016) Oman is a country where businesses can make use of the psychographics in Oman such as people's interests, opinions, values and attitudes as people in Oman can be classified to traditional and modern people and this can be mixed with their demographic characteristics such as age, gender and others as when businesses target those age categories between 18 and 35 they can find new innovated ideas and modern life lived by the Omani youth where many new products can be marketed there and targeting those categories by providing them with new creative types of goods and products that suit the lifestyle they are leading such as mobile phones, tablet devices and their accessories as well as other relevant products that the Omani youth is seeking today. Other categories of segmentation bases include older people who seek traditional products and handicrafts that are very expensive today and they can be relevant to the Omani traditions and give people a touch of the past. According to the previous analysis, Oman is a country where new segmentation bases can be effective to be used such as price segmentation and time segmentation in order to target special society categories as there are different nationalities and incomes in that vivid country. (Omaninfo, 2016) 

Conclusion and Recommendation

In conclusion, it is good to refer to the different methods and strategies in market segmentation as there are traditional ways of analyzing the market and focusing on the different segmentation bases such as the main characteristics of customers which can be clear in the main four categories including the geographic segmentation with its basic elements such as area, place and space, demographic segmentation related to the different age, gender, income and education characteristics and the behavioral segmentation that relates to people's interests, attitudes, values, interests and tradition. There are other market segmentation strategies that can depend on time segmentation, price segmentation and media segmentation in addition to building a brand that suits the needs of the customers and attract them. It is recommended that business entities can make deep analysis t the market and customer needs in order to identify how to segment the markets they are trying to invade as the successful analysis can ensure a good strategic marketing plan based on the segmentation system followed by the company and this can in turn ensure success, profit and competitive advantage. It is also recommended that the Omani market should be studied deeply by any company that seeks success as the segmentation of the market needs continuous change and this can update the product types and present new segmentation categories to the Omani market.

Managing across cultures

It is important to realize the need for managing a work environment that is characterized with multicultural forces as this means to apply new leadership styles that can find solutions for the problems relevant to cultural diversity. The diversity of cultures in work environment can lead to different fights and misunderstandings as a result of the change in languages, religion and other issues. This means that communication may be difficult within employees and each other. Then management should be able to discuss the different problems with employees and focusing on what they really suffer and need to feel satisfied with their jobs. 

mobilizing Orpic

Introduction

Orpic is a company that tries to reach success and competitive advantage which makes it gives care and interest to innovation and creativity as being basic elements of success today for any business organization. Innovation and creativity are very important for helping the organization achieve its organizational success and goals as creativity and innovation can work as shortcuts for many long tiring tasks as they can provide instant easy solutions for many problems and can provide new methods for achieving missions and tasks of the work. Management and leadership require creativity and innovation for changing the organizational behavior to reach better high working performance levels and apply new technologies and new techniques in the business and production as this can lead to better outcomes related to the business, production, customers and human resources of the organization. The organization suffers different blocks to the proper achievement of creativity and innovation as there are barriers that work against achieving creativity and innovation and they represent great challenges to the organizational development so there should be effective solutions to face such barriers and challenges including individual blocks to creativity such as social and cultural blocks, concepts, beliefs and ideas that work against innovation and change as well as fears form change and the criticism resulting from applying it or the lack of effective communication within the work environment, individuals and employees and their leaders. (Gomez, 2007) This case study aims at analyzing the climate of Orpic and investigates its ability to provide creativity and innovation to be applied by employees in the organization effectively and checks the management's abilities in doing this and in encouraging human resources to be creative and innovative using different techniques and methods for developing the organization. This is done by discussing the relevant literature and referring to the most important evidence based experiences in relation to how to face the blocks to creativity and innovation. 

Analysis

Orpic is an oil company that is based in Oman and has an Omani business that is prevailing in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf representing a developing leadership and a modern organization that has different plants for aromatics as well as polypropylene in addition to the company's refineries that produces oil products for being marketed inside and outside Oman. (orpic, 2016) Creativity and innovation are two main important concepts that the organization is trying to apply currently in order to reach higher performance levels and to save much effort and cost as they are inserted within the strategies and styles of management and leadership in addition to production and marketing operations and the organization is doing well in spite of some challenges resulting from the different blocks that hinder the way to creativity and innovation achievement as they are either social, cultural or individual blocks. Davial, Epstein and Shelton, (2007) discussed how business organizations can apply innovation and creativity in spite of the different blocks found in the organization and they referred to the ability of leaders to adapt the work environment to face such barriers and how leaders can encourage employees to face their individual blocks to creativity and to use the different structured techniques for being dare enough to apply innovative ideas and creative suggestions. In orpic, the leadership is wise enough to realize the blocks to creativity and has effective teams that do different researches and apply different models and structured techniques for facing such barriers.

In our organization, there are many successful and failing attempts to apply creativity and innovation and by referring to the literature, this can be seen according to Proctor, (2010) as he confirmed that any organization that seeks effective application for innovative transformations should at first analyze and assess its organizational creative climate and find out how far it is able to apply creative ideas and make full use of them without being hindered by the different blocks, they depended on a category element attribute model that can be used by business organizations for assessing the business environment and climate and evaluate it to check and identify the different blocks to creativity and innovation; they explained that the model is based on eight categories to assess the creative climate of the organization and they are the characteristics of the work, the support of management, co worker support, safety levels, different resources, risk taking, processes, diversity and the systems. This view was confirmed by Isaksen, (1993) as he asserted the idea of the creative climate but in a different way as explained that achieving an innovative change in an organization can be done when the leadership style is innovative and has a large area for accepting change as he referred to an example which is the transformational leadership style. Orpic is advantaged with a transformational leadership style as employees are encouraged to provide and apply creative ideas and innovative projects as the company is able to take risks after deep studying for it and leaders focus on facing social and individual blocks by applying new technologies and new structured techniques such as brainstorming and computerized techniques. An example is the new petrochemical products the company produces and encourages employees to innovate in them as those employees receive great encouragement from leaders and are motivated in a good way by appreciation, recognition, promotion and prizes.

Orpic is trying to be innovative but in fact the obstacles and blocks to creativity in the organization are too many and they work against the efforts done to raise the innovation level in the organization according to Isaksen, (1993), there is a framework that can be used for business organizations creative climates and this framework includes different concepts for creativity that explain the real meaning of creativity, relevant concepts, how to reach it and how to develop it within the business organization. In Orpic, creativity needs development and the blocks to creativity including the attitudes of some employees against it make it hard to apply any creative idea, in Orpic, there is a shortage in understanding the nature of creativity and employees have great fears about taking risk and implementing it as employees are not sure the results will be good and effective so they hesitate in suggesting any new project, product or a marketing idea and there are some managers who themselves have individual blocks to creativity and don't encourage employees to be creative or innovative. In Orpic, there is also a lack of proper motivation climate that provides enough encouragement for those employees who do well and provide effective creative ideas as the transformational leadership still lacks transformational motivation that focuses on better motivation styles and methods that can raise the morale of those creative innovative employees as they can for example receive special grants and scholarships to increase their educational background or to be trained on a higher level on innovation and creativity in the field of oil production. Cropley and Cropley, (2015) discussed the psychology of innovation in business organization and how the organization's human resources management should focus on spread that innovation culture and raise the employees' morale to be innovative by encouraging the good innovative ideas and apply them in order to make innovation a culture and a value that human resources have.    

In developing any business organization, there should be a great role for creativity and innovation as being the same all the time can leave passive impressions on customers and can reduce sales and reduce the quality of services in comparison to other companies. Hogan, (1995) related organizational development to creativity and innovation as he discussed how to achieve organizational changes to develop the business and make new successes in the market. This was also confirmed by Flaherty, (2008) but he added that to reach effective innovations and apply creative ideas, there should be deep analysis for the organizational ability to generalize such innovations and how human resources management is able to drive creative change and urge employees to apply it; he discussed how behaviors of the human resources should include creative idea generation and he referred to a model for rephrasing the mechanism for generating creative ideas via leaders who can make sure that the organizational climate is suitable for creativity by ensuring that risk taking is well studied and success is ensured. Orpic is well doing in achieving studied risk taking analysis as well as in human resource management that ensures engaging most employees in innovation and creativity climate as budgets and resources are well measured in relation to the business abilities and potentials but there should be stronger plans based on applying a variety of structured techniques for facing any possible challenges to creativity and innovation. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, creativity and innovation are basic elements for the success of any business organization; they can achieve any required changes that can help the organization reach higher levels of success and competitive advantage as there are some innovative ideas and projects that make the work go better and save much effort and cost to achieve what costs higher using traditional methods as creative ideas can distinguish the business in the market and help employees provide the company with the best they can do. This is good but there are usually blocks to creativity that hinder it.  Orpic is a company that is trying to do well on the innovation paths and tries to apply new creative climate through choosing the transformational leadership that can engage the company's human resources within the creative and innovative business climate but the company is hindered by some blocks to creativity and innovation that may be resulting from some employees or leaders who resist changes and fear risk taking but the company is following different structured techniques to face these challenges such as brainstorming, training and using computerized techniques to develop the business and help human resources provide creative ideas that can be applicable.  

 Recommendations

Orpic is highly recommended to do more researches in the field of innovations and creativity of oil production and marketing as the company is still in its first steps of innovation and creativity but it has made good successful innovations. The organization needs to apply new frameworks and new structured techniques that are able to face the blocks to creativity and enable employees to take risks and apply innovative ideas. Transformational leadership in Orpic needs more understanding as transformations require a suitable climate for creativity and a work environment that encourages effective communication between leaders and employees in order to ensure that employees can discuss their ideas without fears with their bosses and that they can be encouraged to apply that ideas and add benefits to the business organization they belong to; this can raise the employees' morale and retain them to the organization that they have positive ideas about its future in business as business future is related to creativity and innovation.

Operation Management

Introduction

Operation management is very important for any company that needs to improve its position in the market as it has many areas that requires to be focused on by the organization. The current paper is a critical analysis and discussion for three areas of operation management in ORPIC company which are quality, location and human resources and job design. The paper also provides a critical analysis of the relevant activities of ORPIC to the three operation management areas suggesting ways for improving performance. The paper also provides a critical evaluation for how the five performance objectives will enhance the company's competitive advantage. The case is ORPIC Oman which is a great Omani company in the oil filed in Oman and in the Arabian Gulf. The company has different refineries in Sohar and Muscat in addition to the plants related to the company for producing aromatics and polypropylene and for producing chemicals, plastic and petroleum products that are used in Oman and in other countries. (orpic, 2016)

Discussion

Orpic gives much interest to quality in all the activities of the company; this applies on the products the company delivers to the oil market related to the way they are performed and the last materials delivered to customers as there are quality specifications and measurements that need to be cared for when manufacturing and delivering such products. The quality standards Orpic follows are always identical with international standards of quality as the company is keen on ensuring high quality levels in all its plants and refineries so as to ensure a high quality product and high quality levels of safety and efficiency in manufacturing processes. Contracts, delivery dates and energy usage are all under high quality specifications known and agreed internationally as working in petroleum and oil products make it important to raise the levels of safety and quality in all the activities of the business. Local and international relevant laws and legislations are all regarded by the company in production processes because general and particular safety measurements are highly considered and followed by the company through a very precise quality control. Inspection operations are always done over products before delivery to ensure quality as unneeded or poor products are not delivered to the market and discard. According to Hiraishi and Nyenzi (2016), quality is a main business component for success and managing quality should be made by special teams who understand methods of quality assurance. This was confirmed by Brennan, (2012) who added that all activities related to production have to be set under high levels of quality to ensure competitiveness. In Orpic; this is really done and the quality teams always ensures quality in all production and delivery procedures in addition to a supervision team that compares levels of quality to international standards such as ISO and SQ systems to ensure the date of validity and accurate data and specifications about each product.

The second operation management area in Orpic is location, the company considers it very important in order to reach competitive advantage as locations where the company's activities are done are highly carefully chosen and this includes the work environment and the different facilities needed to be existed in these locations. According to Kumar and Suresh, (2009)location is very important for business organizations that seek success and high levels of competitiveness as location decision should be made after studying the locations where the business is going on and identifying the conditions that make it a good location for successful businesses. In Orpic, the company depends on a specific location strategy and sets a number of conditions and specifications for these locations in order to ensure safety and comfort of all stakeholders. The company also chooses vivid places for building its plants and at the same time to be away from harm others such as its Sohar plants and refineries in Muscat and in Mina Al Fahl. The company also chooses these locations in a way that reduces cost and ensures profits. Wild, (2002) confirmed that the location should be well chosen to suit the type of business and should be equipped with the needed facilities for making the business easy and effective. In Orpic, the location strategy of the company ensures enough and suitable facilities to be existed in all its locations as equipments are always to be ensured and existed at the time of needing it. The company also gives interest and care for delivery locations and transportation used in it in order to deliver products in the correct locations agreed on in the contracts with clients. Locations in Orpic are chosen based on its location strategy for finding locations that can reduce in costs of delivery and transportation as the company's plants and refineries locations are connected in an intelligent way that ensures this. The company's supply chain locates the best materials and stores them in the most suitable locations to ensure their safety and quality. Location is also regarded in distributing the products of Orpic as the company chooses Oman and other areas in the world where the company's products are highly needed. 

Regarding the third area of Orpic's operation management; it is human resources and job design. Orpic gives this area great care and interest as the company considers its human resources and job design as a basic asset that deserves to be invested in. Talents and special employees are usually sought by Orpic to ensure having the high efficiency workforce and this begins from selecting to recruiting. According to Wild, (2002), any business organization that wishes to succeed and reach competitive advantage is in need for having motivation for its human resources and should ensure that its human resources are on the right and proper jobs where they can feel satisfied and appraised as this can help the organization reduce the conflicts and turnover rates in it and retain the employees who can benefit the organization more than others. Wilson et al, (2013) confirmed this and added that there should be specific strategies for retaining and motivating employees as jobs should be well designed and roles should be well portrayed to each position in order to ensure effective operation management. In Orpic, human resources and job design receive a great part of interest as the company gives much care to interpersonal issues, satisfaction and motivation in addition to making the proper analysis that enable management to choose the most suitable employees to be recruited in the company and then there is a retention plan that depends on motivating and recognizing employees. Job design issues include making the needed analysis for requirements of recruitment such as analyzing the shortage after retirement or quitting and preparing the layouts related to each job to state clearly the requirements of the new jobs and who is best suiting them. Orpic management tries to find creative solutions for different conflicts and encourages effective communication between its human resources and their managers in order to maintain high retention of employees.  

Orpic can improve its organizational performance by many ways such as focusing on its decision areas and identifying each of them deeply in order to improve it and reach better level of performance in this area. According to Shaheen et al, (2013), Orpic can improve performance if different analysis are made to operation management areas such as analyzing quality and deciding its real level and then to compare this level and details of quality application with levels of quality in other organization working in the oil field and producing the same products and try to find out weaknesses in the current quality level in order to improve them. This can be applied on other different areas of operation management such as human resources and job design and location and others. Improvement of performance can also be applied on different areas of the business such as packaging, delivery, distribution and promotion as the company has to develop its operations and encourage employees to improve their performance which in turn improves the organizational performance as well. Employees also need to be trained in order to gain more skills and experiences that enable them to be more efficient and effective which improves performance.  

The five performance objectives can enhance the company's competitive advantage as according to Greasley, (2007) when a business organization defines its operational performance objectives; this helps it recognize them well and find measures to check if they are met and then to identify methods to  improve and accomplish them in is working environment based on each operation management area. The five objectives are quality, speed, dependability, flexibility or costs.

Quality Performance Objectives

Quality performance objective can help the company improve its quality levels not only based on quality measurements and specifications but on seeking quality in all details and activities of the business as products should meet the functions they are manufactured for and should meet and exceed customers' expectations. Orpic should make investigations about its products and find out customers' expectations in its products in order to improve the quality of the products and meet them. Quality should also cover service such as delivery and durability of the products and should be of good value to their prices to reach competitive advantage in the market.

Speed Performance Objectives

Speed objectives are those objectives representing the rate that sales quotes of the company are generated with and the rapid the company delivers its products at. Speed can also refer to any operations and activities that are timed and needed in specific deadlines as these deadlines should be exactly met by the company and it also refers to times of producing and manufacturing certain products and the time needed to achieve each procedure of manufacturing. Opric can apply this through time management schedules included within its operation management systems.

Dependability Performance Objectives

Dependability here as a performance objective refers to the degree of the company's ability to manage its operation in an dependable way which means to keep all the business operations to be done dependably such as time of delivering products, following certain set procedures, achieving goals, working according to the set objectives and follow designed missions in order to meet expected performance and exceed it as well.

Flexibility Performance Objectives

This refers to the different operations of the organization and how far it is flexible in dealing with clients, requirements of different products and in making the products adaptable and adjusting to the markets' needs as change can help in improving the company's performance. For example, in Orpic, the company can check the market needs and be flexible in adding new oil products and making them suitable to the needs of the market and customers as this level of flexibility can raise sales and increase customers' trust in the company.

Costs Performance Objectives

Cost performance objectives represent the unit cost variations as a result of the change occurring in the volume of products based on the variety of delivered products in the market and on the demand on products as the company has to produce more varied products to boost the market and should be able to manage cost with price units in order to achieve reasonable success and profits. Neely, (2007)

Conclusion

In conclusion operation management is a very important part of any business organization because it can help the organization succeed and reach competitive advantage if all areas are properly dealt with by the management. Orpic company in Oman can deal with its operation management areas such as quality, human resources and job design and location in a way that ensures success and competitiveness. Organizational performance can be improved by focusing on the different areas of operation management and making the required analysis for them and to compare them with other competitors in order to improve any weaknesses in them. Performance objectives can help the business succeed and can enhance the organization's ability to reach competitive advantage if each of them is well managed and met.