Geriatric Health Conditions: Types, Causes and Support

Geriatric Health Conditions: Types, Causes and Support Name: Clare Josephine Montuya Student No: 12001442 Introduction Generally, as we are living in the area of progression, we forget to look back into the ones, who in their prime, have done their best to establish the growing community that we are today. We tend to forget that we age along just like them. From this sentiment alone, we should be able to return the favour by means of answering their needs in a holistic manner and at the same time educating future generations about any problems that may arise from present-day health care so they would innovate means to address them in the near future. Time after time, problems tend to arise not from the premise that people have pre-existing health-related problems but from needs that have been overlooked or unaddressed. This report aims to discuss existing knowledge on common geriatric conditions, support organizations as well as services provided to the present day geriatric population so that rest homes, particularly Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, would be able to meet or exceed the expectations of clients or residents. Task 1 Dementia Dementia is a progressive-degenerative disorder that widely affects the general geriatric populace. It is progressive in a sense that those affected by it tend to develop severe symptoms as they age and degenerative by nature because of degeneration of certain and/or parts of the brain, resulting into changes in cognition, emotion, behaviour and personality. Although this may be prevalent among the elderly, this does not mean that the young adult populace is exempted from such. In present-day society, young adults tend to develop symptoms sooner than they think and tend to disregard the possibility of developing dementia in the long run. A hallmark sign of dementia is forgetfulness or short term memory loss. People as early as in their twenties tend to forget the keys to their room, their mobile phones, their assignments, and all other day to day activities no matter how simple these tasks may seem. But memory loss alone is not enough to diagnose dementia. A person should be able to have memory loss accompanied by four or more of the following criteria: language disturbance, trouble carrying out motor activities, failure to recognize or identify objects and trouble with planning, organising things and making judgments (Perkins, 2013). The severity of dementia can be categorized into mild, moderate and severe. In mild dementia, one can still be independent in carrying out certain tasks though they may tend to have one or two symptoms of it. This is most prevalent in the young to middle adult stage. In moderate dementia, supervision may be required to be able to execute important tasks and most likely some of a few activities of daily living. In severe cases, full and extensive assistance and supervision is needed to carry out activities of daily living. Early Stages of Dementia Early symptoms of dementia may vary in progression depending on the type of dementia presented. Dementia may be categorized into the following: Alzheimer’s disease Short term memory loss is the most profound symptom of the disease. A good example of such would be losing or misplacing things, inability to concentrate or focus, inability to follow conversations, have trouble using the telephone since he or she would tend to forget phone numbers, inability to keep track of recent events at certain times and constantly ask questions for a time because he or she forgot the answer. Another symptom would be having trouble to plan, organize or carry out decisions. One could forget to pay the bills on time or even keep track of certain events in the office and the like. Poor sense of direction is another where one lost his or her way in a mall he or she has visited more than twice in a week. Emotional changes may happen as well, such as increased anxiety, embarrassment in social situations, anger or frustration, powerlessness, suspiciousness, boredom or worse depression. Vascular Dementia Due to any damage or obstruction in the blood vessels in the brain, certain parts of the brain are deprived of oxygen from insufficient blood supply, hence causing damage to certain lobes of the brain responsible for cognition and emotion. Although short-term memory loss is a common denominator for all types of dementia, another significance of this type is the earlier onset of the loss of executive skills. Considered to be an after effect of multiple stroke attacks, it causes a lot of frustration, most particularly the emotional aspect of a person’s well-being. They become overly emotional at most times. In the medical world, a person becomes labile. A person may tend to be furious over a small issue or even cry at something funny. Lewy body dementia Persons suffering from this type of dementia would usually display loss of concentration and impaired judgement. Short-term memory loss is usually present but at its earliest stages, it is way better compared to Alzheimer’s disease. Another unique symptom would be able to have visual hallucinations, which would eventually lead to fear and depression. Frontal lobe dementia The front lobe of the brain is mainly affected in this particular type of dementia due to insufficient blood supply. They may have some similarities with vascular dementia but in its earlier stages, people suffering from such type would initially experience personality changes such as being tactless or breach rules of social etiquette. They tend to have difficulty expressing their feelings and have a problem reciprocating the appropriate response or emotion. Worst case scenario, they express no concern for their surrounding environment. They tend to feel that they are purposeless, so they tend to slack off or feel powerless to do anything. As a result, hygiene would be a concern for them and would require assistance and supervision in carrying out certain tasks of daily living. Interventions Regardless of what type of dementia the person has, dementia in its early stages is not to be taken lightly. Awareness is the key so information on dementia should be disseminated especially to clients and their families who are directly affected by it. This also does not limit to direct family members of the client but also to other health care professionals involved in his or her care. Taking care of the financial and legal aspect in the earlier stages of dementia is one of the many important things to prepare before the client. Security of assets such as having joint accounts, or preparing last will and testament and making advance directives before the client reaches a severe stage of dementia. Another would be to develop a routine for them to do and make these tasks simpler than they used to be. In any case there is a certain routine that they stick to, never break their routine. Providing them references to different support groups and providing access to their services is the best intervention so they could achieve the quality of life they desired. Support Organizations Access to these support groups would be essential to the geriatric populace. Alzheimer’s New Zealand This organization aims to disseminate information and promote high standards of education for people with dementia, their caregivers, families and health professionals. The regional member organisations may offer all or some of the following services: Support through group â€Å"get-togethers† for the person diagnosed with dementia Support group meetings for carers and family members Home visits by member organisation staff or field workers Carer education programmes Volunteer services Day-care programmes Regular newsletters Library – books and audio resources (http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/world_report_2012_final.pdf ) Eldernet This support group provides options to clients as to how and where they want their care delivered. Either they need care delivered in a large community or in the comforts of their home, Eldernet is able to provide links to these services such as list of different residential care homes, rest homes, support services and retirement villages. National Dementia Cooperative The said support group has been created to facilitate sharing of information regarding support systems made available and share ideas to achieve the goals of the cooperative. Age concern Age Concern provides free and confidential Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services in many major cities and provincial areas throughout New Zealand. These services employ professional staff to work with older people and their carers, providing support and advocacy so that older people can be happy, healthy and safe. The services also raise awareness of elder abuse by providing education for aged care workers, community groups, families and anyone with an interest in the wellbeing of older people. There are also other providers of Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services. (http://www.ageconcern.org.nz/ACNZPublic/Services/EANP/ACNZ_Public/Elder_Abuse_and_Neglect.aspx?hkey=df8b9042-ce1e-4d3a-9fe5-861fc17d2ecf) New Zealand Aged Care Association New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA), is a not-for-profit, national membership organisation which represents all parts of the aged care residential sector. Our members provide long and short term residential services to the over 65 cohort. Services include: Long term residential care Rest home care Hospital care Dementia care Psychogeriatric care Short term residential care Respite care Carer support care ACC care Non-weight bearing care Services Residential care This type of service is ideal for clients whose family wishes them to stay for a long period of time. People entering into residential care would normally experience separation anxiety and would be difficult for the staff to establish rapport. As much as possible, an initial assessment for the first 48 hours is made and the staff should be able to gather enough information as to the routine care that they will be able to include in their care. After enough background history or information is gathered, a profile is made as basis for the plan of care. The care plan is then discussed with the family and must be reviewed or updated every six months or when significant changes have taken place. Regular meetings with the family are held every now and then to promote collaboration in the care of the patient. Activities cannot be only limited to the confines of the facility but outings are encouraged as well. A walk in the park, spending the afternoon in a familiar coffee shop or any recrea tional activity that keeps them company. But when it comes down to having outpatient visits to the doctor, a family member must accompany them as they know the history of the patient well than any other caregiver. In any case they wish to have services such as a reflex massage on the foot, or a manicure or pedicure, or hairdresser, these services can be brought from the nearest parlour to their very doorstep. But when dementia gets severe enough that the facility can’t handle, these clients will then be endorsed or sent to a higher level of care facility such as the hospital. End of Life Support Palliative care is an essential care pathway when clients reach their terminal stage in life. This not only applies to the physical aspect but also the emotional, cultural and spiritual well-being as well. Advance directives are made in advance while the client’s cognition is still intact and involve the family as well in the decision-making. Heaps of issues tend to arise from this as well, affecting the delivery of care to clients. One would be medical issues, such as addressing clients with terminal stage illnesses like pneumonia, cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetic ketoacidosis, stroke and more chronic diseases. We should also consider the hydration status and nutrition of each of the clients to ensure that they keep up with their nutritional needs. Another issue to address is euthanasia or â€Å"Death by Dignity†, an ethical issue that is still debatable to this day. According to Perkins, a system called Liverpool Care Pathway was developed to ensure the best p ossible end-of-life care delivered to the individual in the last few days of his or her life (Perkins, 2013). In the care of the terminally ill in the home setting, a private duty nurse can be arranged to assist the family in taking care of the client. Hospices Though this may be similar to end of life support, these facilities specialize in taking care of demented clients with diseases such as cancer or HIV/AIDS. Palliative care is still the main intervention for this facility. Hospitals These facilities offer numerous services open 24/7 to be able to cater to the health needs of patients requiring a higher level of care. In this setting, they require to people to assist in the care of the client. Demented clients who become frail and enter into dementia of a severe kind are most likely to be admitted. Rest Homes In this facility, the residents are more likely to take care of themselves independently but still require supervision and a bit of support from health care assistants. These are privately-owned and offer 24-hour staffing who are trained well in dementia care. A registered nurse may be present but not at all times. They tend to have limited hours to visit and may tend to visit whenever there is an emergency. Advocates Advocates for the demented elderly support their rights to care they deserve in order to achieve good quality of life. They organize and provide information about dementia and share links to certain support groups. They do everything they can to help protect and defend the rights of the client in getting what they want out of the care given. Task 2 On Stigmas of Dementia They say that what you wouldn’t know couldn’t kill you. What if what you thought about dementia isn’t as bad as it seems? What if something you thought was wrong seemed to help at all? Here a few things that you thought wrong about dementia: Social isolation of the individual and their family What it actually is†¦ People shouldn’t look at dementia as something to be ashamed of but rather something that could open barriers of communication. Individuals who suffer from dementia tend to create more bonding moments with their family and their caregivers as well as both family and caregivers collaborate together to give much attention to the needs of the client. Being a resident in a rest home doesn’t mean being confined behind four walls for the remainder of his or her life. Recreational activities in the facilities and getting them involved in support groups help answer the emotional and social needs of the residents and clients. So people should start to see that they won’t be that alone after all. Assumption of automatic loss of independence What it actually is†¦ Dementia, once diagnosed at an early stage, can still be managed since it is in this stage that people can still carry on effectively and independently certain activities of daily living. Although they may be under supervision, that does not mean that independence has been totally taken away from the individual. Health care providers stick to the code of upholding the rights of the clients, therefore independence isn’t lost after all. Unable to make decisions about own care What it actually is†¦ This stigma may be considered granting to it that one is already in a severe case of dementia. Though health care providers and family members tend to make certain decisions on the care of the client, they are still guided by the laws protecting the rights of the client to make health care decisions. If the client has something to say about how he or she wants it to be, then there is nothing they can do but respect it. Therefore, clients can still make decisions about their own care after all. Dissatisfying interactions with the medical community What it actually is†¦ A lot of issues tend to arise from care rendered by caregivers. Proper lines of communication is essential to establish rapport and eventually gain cooperation from the client. Health care providers, especially trained in dementia care, are guided by the ethics in caring for these clients. Though there may be a few reported to have ill-mannered staff, that does not generalize the entire medical community to be the same. Appropriate disciplinary actions will take place and every client has every right to complain about the care rendered to them. Therefore, not all health care providers in the medical community are that mean after all. Uncertainty of support services and treatments What it actually is†¦ Support services and treatments are all just a click away. The internet is flooding full of advocacy organizations and support groups, which allows families and affected individuals as well easy access to the services they desire. If in any case that the internet is not within their reach or when computer literacy may pose as a challenge to the elderly populace, then they can always consult health professionals for referrals to such support groups. After all, there is no harm in asking. Conclusion Awareness is the key to unlock all the possible barriers to the demented client’s right to attain the quality of life they desire. Raising awareness of dementia, especially in its early stages, and eradicating any stigmas surrounding it would be able to help the affected individuals gain access into support systems that are readily available to accept them and advocate their rights to proper care and treatment. As soon as they get in contact with these links of support groups, they could gain access to the services they desired. Cisco Systems: SWOT Analysis and Marketing Analysis Cisco Systems: SWOT Analysis and Marketing Analysis Principles of Marketing Abstract This study aims to provide information on key marketing concepts and strategies adopted by Cisco Systems Inc. It critically analyzes Ciscos business strategies and practices by describing and evaluating its market orientation along with the impact of its marketing practices on business thereby providing an overview of its competitive advantage and SWOT analysis. One of the most vital and comprehensive marketing tools Ansoff Product-Growth Matrix has been implemented for Cisco, identifying its potential development, segmentation and diversification tactics. Porters Five Forces framework has also been included to derive five forces that determine competitive intensity and attractiveness of markets. Ciscos B2B and B2C segments are identified in conjunction with the marketing mix of product, price, promotion and place to support its marketing strategies in order to align it with its adopted business model. Introduction Cisco Systems Inc, a networking systems developer and manufacturer, was founded by two computer scientists at Stanford University in 1984. Cisco went public in 1990. Computers on local networks had not been able to communicate easily with computers outside that network, until Cisco introduced its first commercial router in 1986. Geographically dispersed networks of computers using different networking protocols, were able to be linked together by Ciscos multi-protocol router. Cisco quickly emerged a global leader in networking hardware, software and services, expanding to over 40,000 employees along with annual revenues of $23.8 billion by the end of 2000, although the economic downturn affected Ciscos 2001 revenues and compelled Cisco to layoff close to 14% of its employees (Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2001). Cisco Systems, Inc. is the global leader in computer networking for the Internet. Today, networks form an integral part of education, government, business systems and home communications. Cisco hardware, software and service contributions are used to establish the Internet solutions that make complex networks possible, enabling easy access to information anywhere, at any time, by individuals, organizations and countries. Additionally, Cisco has pioneered the utilization of the Internet in its own business practices and provides consulting services based on its experience and expertise to support other organizations around the globe. Since the companys inception, engineers at Cisco have promptly contributed in the innovation of networking technologies based on Internet Protocol (IP). This tradition of IP innovation endures with the evolution of industry-leading products in the core technologies of switching and routing along with advanced technologies in areas like home networking, security, IP telephony, storage area networking, optical networking, and wireless technology. Cisco offers a broad range of services, including technical support and a dvanced services in addition to its products. Cisco markets its services and products, both directly through its channel partners as well as through its own sales force, to service providers, commercial businesses , large enterprises and consumers. Social responsibility and customer focus are the core values on which Cisco operates as an organization (Cisco Systems Inc 2004). Over time, Cisco has proved its ability to successfully capture market transitions. Commencing in 1997 with the certainty that voice and video would all be converged to one, proceeding to the Network of Networks in 2000 and the network becoming the podium for all related web technologies and the base of customer solutions along with the most recent market transition of collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies. At Cisco, product offerings evolve as per market transitions only to best meet customer requirements. Cisco has emerged from Enterprise and Service Provider solutions to recognizing and approaching customer needs in numerous other segments including Small, Consumer and Commercial. To a large degree, the network has evolved to into a platform for providing one transparent and seamless customer experience. A key aspect of Ciscos culture is connecting and collaborating with others to make the world smaller through innovative technology and use it to enhance life experiences. Thats the Human Network a place where everyone is connected. (Cisco n.d.) Market Orientation Jaworski and Kohli (1996) defined market orientation as the organization wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence across departments, and organization-wide responsiveness to it. Customer and Market Focus In recent years, market-driven organizations have begun to evolve as the new industry giants. The market-driven formula for success in todays marketplace is to produce the right product at the right price at the right time (Bill Barrett 2001). The right product is the one that solves the customers problem and delivers the highest value. The right price is what the customer is willing to pay. The right time is when the customer needs the product. Customer needs and priorities are continuously changing. Therefore, an organization must know how customers wants, needs and values emerge over time to be successful. To gain the desired knowledge of the customer, an organization must focus on the current and prospective markets and customers it serves and put the customer first in every aspect of the organization. Marketing-orientated companies focus on customer needs (Jobber 2007: 6). By including the customer in an organizations mission and goals, market-driven organizations make providing value to the customer a top priority. This commitment to the customer is evident in Cisco Systems mission statement: To shape the future of the Internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for our customers, employees, investors and ecosystem partners (Cisco n.d.) Ciscos market focus begins with its emphasis on delivering unprecedented value to its customers, as well as other stakeholders, including employees, investors, and environmental partners. Ciscos mission statement is consistent with market-driven perspective of serving the objectives of all the stakeholders (Bill Barrett 2001). We believe Ciscos market orientation emphasizes continuous improvement of the processes since information gathering is one of the main characteristics of a market driven organization. As the market demands and customers requirements change continuously, it is extremely essential for such organizations to gather relevant data in all environmental sectors competitive, political, cultural, economic, technological, human resources and most importantly the consumer. Thus, it can be said that Ciscos orientation is rightly aligned with its mission statement./p> Relationship Strategies The market-driven concept suggests that putting the customer first in all aspects of an organization results in satisfying all stakeholders, which challenges the belief that multiple stakeholders often have conflicting goals. Market-driven organizations use relationship strategies to form partnerships and alliances with stakeholders to create synergy and minimize or eliminate conflicting goals. Cisco Systems has formed strategic alliances with suppliers and customers to deliver a customer-centric, total solutions approach to solving problems, exploiting business opportunity, and creating sustainable competitive advantage for our customers (Bill Barrett 2001). Cisco and its partners recognized that their products and services, combined with those of suppliers and customers, created a total solution that was more valuable than the sum of the individual pieces (Bill Barrett 2001). The most fundamental way in which Cisco views its strategy is around the idea of change, and how change aff ects customers. Essentially, it believes that market transitions that most affect customers define competitive opportunities. Change is recognized as endemic and adaptation considered to be the Darwinian condition for survival (Jobber 2007: 6). Cisco prepares for market transitions by listening to customers and by taking risks, innovating and investing 3-5 years in advance of a major transition in order to capitalize on it before competitors when the transition is realized in the market (Cisco n.d.). Ciscos vision and innovativeness can be clearly seen from the above statements that promote its connoisseurship in computer networks and the recent developments of the Internet. Its ability to anticipate and prepare for such market transitions is the key plot of its customers and its own success. Changing needs present potential market opportunities, which drive the company (Jobber 2007: 6). Cisco makes every effort in its power and scope to work towards its vision by its innovativeness which has provided enormous potential market opportunities. This approach is by far one of the largest contributors to its success in the Silicon Valley amongst its competitors in the industry. It has led to Cisco being one of the big names among industry giants like Microsoft, Apple, Sun Microsystems etc. Elements of Market Orientation Customers guide where we go and we stay ahead of market shifts so that we are ready to help our customers evolve, as their industry evolves (Cisco n.d). The customer centric approach is vital to the product development at Cisco. It signifies the presence of market orientation in the organization with respect to the customers needs and requirements that form the basis of marketing strategies at Cisco. Some of the most influential market orientation elements are strategies based on providing value for customers, rapid response to negative customer satisfaction, immediate acknowledgement to competitive challenges, and speedy detection of changes in customer product preferences (Pelham 2000). Cisco has been concentrating on the consumer markets as part of their marketing strategies. It transitioned itsLinksyssubsidiary into a dedicated consumer business group, formed a consumer-focused council, and made key changes in the way it builds consumer products. This change has accentuated Cisco s efforts in building brand awareness among customers worldwide. Cisco has tried to adopt a unified approach to consumer market since it acquired Linksys, a home networking company. It can be seen as a strategy based on creating value for customers and its focus on the much fragmented home networking segment where Cisco had expansion plans due to its belief in home networking being on the cusp of a major market transition. Cisco Business Strategies Reaching Market Adjacencies through a New Management Model Cisco business strategy for the fiscal year 2009 was to address not less than 30 market adjacencies, and they concentrated mostly in those areas where the networking technology and protocols have not seen widespread adoption (Chambers 2009). Emerging markets like India and China have provided Cisco ample growth opportunities and value for their customers and shareholders. In order to capture these opportunities, Cisco requires to move with speed and thought leadership. To accomplish this, they have a new management model based on Councils and Boards which will collaborate to set a long term direction for their business strategy. The council and board members decisions will help the organization to ensure that the goals are aligned throughout the company (Chambers 2009). Capturing Market Transitions Ciscos success also comes from capitalizing on market transitions before they occur. Their goal is to capture these market transitions faster than their competitors by identifying the technologies which play a crucial role in the future of communications and Information Technology. Acting on this differentiated strategy, they made multiple acquisitions in fiscal 2008 2009 (Chambers 2008) including wireless, unified communications and security technologies. Cisco continues to grow through internal development, acquisitions, their global partnerships, and cross-functional teamwork. One area of their differentiated strategy includes a goal of growing each product category in their advanced technologies to capture $1 billion-plus in annual revenue and the number-one market position (Chambers 2008). Providing customer satisfaction is one of Ciscos core values. Creating sustainable customer partner ­ships is a crucial part of Cisco strategy and provides invaluable insight into market tr ansitions. In addition to their technology, Ciscos knowledge of economic development, education, government, healthcare, national security and public safety issues has increased customer trust in Cisco (Chambers 2008). Being close to their customers is they believe the best way to uncover opportunity for the next market transition, long before it becomes obvious to others. Sustained Differentiation across Customer Segments and Geographies Ciscos strategy is made upon four pillars: To capture customer driven market transitions by identifying, investing and positioning. Constant innovation which is enabled through building, buying or collaborating with their partners. Cisco differentiated market approach with their ability to bind together both their business architectures and the technology. Prioritization of initiatives and cross functional teamwork that drive execution across customer segments, products, geographic theaters and value added services. Ciscos differentiated strategy has evolved based on their customer requirements to create sustainable differentiation in the industry and better serving of the needs of all their customers (Chambers 2007). Cisco is continuing to expand their services, product offerings and distribution capabilities to the strategic market. Small and medium sized businesses are increasingly taking on networking technology as they realize efficiencies from their investments in Ciscos products. With the use of efficient networking hardware and software products, SMEs have discovered new ways to work effectively and efficiently (Chambers 2007). From a geographic perspective, Cisco was pleased with the strong and balanced performance they achieved in their four largest theaters. These include European Markets, United States and Canada, Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific. Perhaps Ciscos greatest geographic success of fiscal 2007 was their Emerging Markets Theater, where their revenue grew by 39 percent on a yearly basis (Chambers 2007). Cisco believes that its business processes and collaborative approach to their emerging markets sector have significantly contributed to its growth. Cisco Channel Strategy Cisco is partnering with best in class providers to ensure that their customers receive the highest standard of support and the solutions for its products (Cisco 2009). They consider their partners as an extension of Cisco and their partnerships are truly based on long term commitments and mutual benefits. Cisco is creating market growth through their direct investments, in conjunction with the investment in partnerships which allows them to expand their knowledge, visibility and experience in new technologies. Ciscos strategy is to actively invest in all the major technology segments on a global basis. As with acquisitions, all the investment targets are thoroughly examined and analyzed for both their business and technology. Below are the Cisco acquisitions for the fiscal year 2009 (Cisco 2009). Set-Top Box Business of DVN (Holdings) Ltd.-November 2, 2009 DVN has major operations in China and they are the market leader in digital cable solutions. DVN shares Ciscos vision of performance, scalable and services-rich cable interactive platform extending into every home.Market opportunity for Cisco with this acquisition is cabling solutions. ScanSafe, Inc.-October 27, 2009 The company ScanSafe is a market leader of software services and they provide web security solutions for global enterprises as well as small businesses. By this acquisition Cisco can lead as provider of on-premise content security and their market opportunity from this acquisition turns out to be network security. Starent Networks, Corp.-October 13, 2009 Starent Networks is a leading supplier of IP based mobile infrastructure solutions, targeting mobile and converged carriers. According to Cisco there is an active investment in this market by the service provider, since the global mobile data traffic is expected to double every year. The market opportunity for Cisco with this acquisition is mobility. Tandberg-October 1, 2009 Tandberg is a global leader in video communications. They have a broad range of world class video endpoint and network infrastructure solutions. So with this acquisition, Cisco will expand its collaboration to offer more solutions to a number of customers further accelerating market adoption globally. Tidal Software, Inc.-April 9, 2009 Tidal Software is the creator of intelligent application management and automation solutions. This acquisition will advance Ciscos data center strategy by enhancing product and service delivery offerings. Pure Digital Technologies Inc.-March 19, 2009 Pure Digital, are creators of the best-selling Flip Video brand. They are pioneers in developing consumer friendly video solutions and with this acquisition Cisco can expand in the media enabled home solutions segment and capture the consumer market transition to visual networking (Hooper 2009). Richards-Zeta Building Intelligence, Inc.-January 27, 2009 Richards-Zeta Building Intelligence Inc, they are leading provider of intelligent middleware technology that enables businesses to integrate building infrastructure and information technology (IT) applications over a common Internet Protocol (IP) network, resulting in improved efficiencies, greater energy savings and a reduced carbon footprint. Ciscos market opportunity with this acquisition is physical network security. The Next Market Segmentation for Cisco Cisco has been targeting towards getting a two digit sales growth from the telecommunication sector for the year 2009. Cisco is a market leader in the telecommunication sector and they are very optimistic to realize the target. For Cisco, telecommunication sector is one of the massive market segmentations for their products, especially in the IP technology. Cisco launches 2 to 3 solutions periodically for their technology which consists of updates or some added features as extensions of their current products (Yulyanto 2009). Cisco Key Success Factor After only a few years of its foundation, Cisco became a powerhouse in network technology. It was largely unfamiliar to the average consumer until the dot-com explosion, which resulted in a large customer base, such that it became worthwhile to reach potential decision-makers in a variety of ways. The arrival of the Internet as a ubiquitous part of our lives meant that increasing numbers of small businesses and average consumers rapidly became a part of Ciscos customer base. Both market segments contribute to the addition of extra computers, whether for new employees or for family members who want to surf the web simultaneously, which has driven the demand for simpler networking products that even a non-techie can set up. In fact, sales to small and medium businesses accounted for approximately 20 to 30 percent of Ciscos US$ 18.878 billion in revenue that ended in July 2003 (Cook 2004). While the late 1990s and early 2000s saw an explosion in large computer networks as companies upgr aded their infrastructures or simply set them up for the first time, the next several years likely saw a huge jump in small networks, thanks to the ability of Wi-Fi to share a single broadband connection with several computers without the need to drill holes or run Ethernet cables (Cook 2004). The Impact, Positive and Negative, of the Organizations Marketing Mix Marketing Mix Marketing mix is defined as the tactical tools that the marketers use to implement their strategies mixing the controllableelementsof aproducts marketing plan which arecommonly termed as 4Ps: product,price, place and promotion (Kotler 2008: 202). These elements are adjusted until a balanced proportionis found thatservestheneedsof the customerswhile generatingoptimumincome. Product Product can be defined as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations and ideas (Kotler et al. 2008: 539). Ciscooffers a wide range ofproductsand networking solutions designed for enterprises and small businesses across a variety of industries. They are also addressing their customer requirements in many other segments including commercial and small business. The network has become a platform for providing a transparent customer experience (Insight 2009). Managing the Product Mix Positioning and Repositioning A well planned and executed brand repositioning helps Cisco to increase their brand value along with sales. Cisco is very closely aligned with their corporate strategy, regular investments in their brand positioning or repositioning to always renew the brand significance and maintain its connection with their customers. By brand positioning Cisco has gained enormous benefits as shown below: Brand Measure The branding campaigns conducted by Cisco have lifted its brand equity and helped it to gain shares and grow sales. This has also helped them to strengthen their overall brand recognition and exceed the averages on core brand measures. After the campaign launch, Cisco has been positioned into the security space by lifting their IT security brand consideration by 54% among their tech audience in six months (Slideshare 2008). Ciscos success brand repositioning depends upon their close alignment with their overall corporate strategy which includes product positioning, channel/alliance strategy and acquisitions (Slideshare 2008). Market Share Cisco has strengthened its dominant share in the core market by 72% in switching and 80% in routers. It has also expanded their share in the new products by 6% in messaging applications, 41% in web conferencing and 21% in the video conferencing segments respectively (Slideshare 2008).The market share has been increased for the entire r ange of Cisco security products including their firewall applications, VPN and for secure routers. Jobber (2007: 405) explains Product Strategy as: The emphasis on product portfolio analysis is managing an existing set of products in such a way as to maximize their strengths. But companies also need to look to new products and markets for future growth. A useful way of looking at growth opportunities is the Ansoff Matrix. Cisco Ansoff Analysis Market Penetration Market penetration is the fundamental method of a growth strategy in which the business focuses on selling current products into existing markets. It maintains or increases the market share of current products, restructures mature markets by driving out competition and increases the usage by existing customers (Tutor2u 2009). Acquiring competitors may be one of the major ways of gaining market penetration. It may also be achieved by more aggressive ways of promotional campaigns, supporting it with a competitive pricing strategy and dedicate more resources to selling products. Cisco is known for its innovative products and introduction of those products into the market before its competitors that helps in generating mature markets. Its products like Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Network Analysis Module, Cisco 7600 Series routers, Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Firewall Services Module and many other products have already captured the market (Cisco 2009). It is increasing the market share and customer loyalty through social networking sites, blogs and public interviews. Its main strategy to penetrate the existing market is through acquisitions. It acquired Audium Corporation in June 2006 that gives it opportunity to penetrate into the IP enabled voice telephony market, Cognio, Inc in September 2007 through which it entered into wireless networking, Nuova Systems, Inc in April 2008 that gives it chance to enter into data centers and ScanSafe, Inc in October 2009 that helped Cisco to capture the network security market (Cisco Systems 2009). Market Development Market development can be essentially termed as a growth strategy where the business aims to sell its current products into new markets. Such a strategy can be achieved by venturing into new geographical markets, new product dimensions and new distribution channels. Alternatively, different pricing strategies can be adopted to attract customers and create new market segments (Tutor2u 2009). Cisco recognizes the common strings that exist between sales, engineering, security and marketing groups. Once the main links are identified by its RD Team, it tries to build a suitable interface between the groups which contributes to the companys market development. Develop, Partner or Acquire is the 3 Tier strategy followed by Cisco. It teams up with industrys major companies and then provides persuasive offers to the customers. WirelessLANs, content networking,storage networking, voice over IP and Metro IP includingoptical networking are the extended product dimensions for market development ( Cisco 2001). In addition to this, Cisco is attempting to establish its marketing presence in other potential geographical locations like China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan etc. Product Development Product development can be defined as a strategy where a business seeks to introduce new products into current markets. It requires the development of new competencies and new products which may appeal to the customers (Tutor2u 2009). Existing product lines may be extended to provide existing customers with greater choice. Cisco sets vision and then makes its strategies to achieve its targeted goals. Its strong RD capitalizes the current market situation and then provides customized business solutions according to customer needs and further plans for new products. Cisco has identified four key requirements to increase acceptance in the business world: security, availability, quality of service, and reliability (Payataqool 2009). Diversification Diversification is the advancement strategy where a business introduces new products in new markets (Tutor2u 2009). This strategy involves high risk since the business targets markets where it has no or very little experience. Cisco has started its diversification in the emerging countries that extend from Russia to the Eastern Europe and Middle East that will also include Africa and Latin America. Industries in developing countries still use limited technology despite of having concentrated wealth, less government transparency and the customers willingness to use the most advanced and high tech products and services. The company not only targets to supply advanced networking equipment but also focuses on the target countrys revolution. Cisco has successfully initiated transformation projects in Chile, Turkey and South Africa as part of its diversification strategy (Deign 2009). Managing product over time Product Life Cycle With the dynamic state of todays economy, an organizational change should not only adapt to the current climate, but it must also encourage growth (Wrage 2009). Cisco has followed this by moving from a traditional silicon based organization to a lifecycle business model. These changes are challenging for Cisco since they have more than 60,000 plus employees supported by their 46 data centers worldwide. This new life cycle consists of six separate stages: In the prepare phase it determines the business case and the project requirements. Plan phase develops the detailed project plan describing the resources and responsibilities. In the design phase it details the alignment of business goals and the technical needs. Implement phase delivers the new capabilities with the integrations. Operate phase monitors and reviews the implementations. Lastly, the Optimize phase has a continuous improvement activity of the existing processes (Wrage 2009). So with these steps in place, Cisco has start ed progressing into an organization that is best suited for the service-oriented network infrastructure organization making the cost savings and efficiency a reality (Wrage 2009). Promotion Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the products and persuade the target customers to buy it (Kotler 1999). Promotion is one of the factors which influence the buying behavior of the customer. It helps to inform people about the product and its usage. Cisco is using many means of introducing their products in global markets. They use advertising as the main tool to introduce new products and to connect with potential customers. They advertise their new products and services through public relationship, direct marketing, internet and online promotions. Cisco also uses the social media channels such as networking and blogs as a tool to promote and to extend their products to the larger audience. Cisco follows the following elements for their promotion strategy: Direct Marketing As stated by Peter Drucker (2009), Marketing is not a function; it is the whole business seen from the customers point of view. Direct marketing captures the customers by avoiding intermediaries. Cisco uses various methods to promote their product such as direct mail, telephone, telemarketing, e-marketing and other tools to directly communicate with the customers. Cisco conducts various direct marketing campaigns such as online shopping, cable television infomercials, which helps them in getting the direct response from their target audience and also to meet their demand generation goals. Advertising Advertisement can be defined as Any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor (Armstrong, Kotler 2009:383). Cisco can be grouped under the product oriented advertiser category, which highlights product features, their services and price through various advertising channels as internet, magazines, television and by e-marketing. AIDA Model AIDA is a model generally adopted by the sellers to stimulate the purchase decision of the customers. Attention The element attention, describes the stage where the brand manages to obtain customer attention, informing the customers about the product. This could be either a positive or a negative attention. The next step is to build a relationship with customers by means of advertising which is a prominent tool in the marketing mix. The product is then launched in order to encourage the customer decision of buying the product. Interest In this stage, it generates the confidence in the buyers about the products that company plans to promote. The seller then explains how this product will meet the customers requirements. Cisco as a brand has interested its customers and built the confidence in the buyer about their product interests the customers. Desire In this stage the seller inspires the customer towards the product and then relates the products to their needs. Here, advertising strategies are best suited. Since customers have the choice of choosing their configuration, it stimulat es the desire to purchase the product. Action This phase deals with persuading the consumers to buy the product and explain them the immediate benefits of the product. Advertising and direct ma