Marketing Principles :: GCSE Business Marketing BTEC Coursework

Marketing Principles A. Definitions 1. ABC ABC stands for activity based costing. This is defined as a method which identifies various activities needed to provide a product and determines the cost of these activities. I would say it is a method of breaking down the process of the business’ activity down to its root components. Then the causes of profit losses can be weeded out. For example, in a warehouse setting in which I worked, there were a few major departments which included receiving, stock dept., pick/pack, and shipping department. Merchandise traveled through the warehouse along this pathway. If say, production (boxes shipped) is down, we can specify the cause using this technique. Instead of just knowing that production is down, we may learn that the receiving dock is backed up , which leads to no merchandise for the stock dept., which results in orders being held up on the flows. Management can then find the cause of the backup in receiving and go from there. 2. ADEA Stands for the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which, according to text, prohibits age discrimination and mandatory retirement. It was established in 1967. It pretty much explains itself. Basically, there cannot be a maximum age for employees, and termination can not be based solely on age. A good example of this would be a mother returning to the work force. They may be frowned upon due to their age. I have read somewhere that people over the age of forty are in a protected class, and cannot be discriminated against by virtue of the law. 3. BARS This stands for Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale. It is defined as a rating technique that relates an employees performance to a specific job related incident. This definition doesn’t really help me. It seems that the procedure is to define certain personality traits that are essential for a certain function, then to rate the prospective employee based on a scale of these trait. For example, someone applying to be a chef would be hired on base on a number of traits, one being prior experience. A ten on the scale would be something like, â€Å"10+ years of experience in a 4 star restaurant†, while a zero would be â€Å"no experience†. The employees â€Å"worth† could be determined by a composite of all these scales.