Purchasing Decision of Holmes Students- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about thePurchasing Decision of Holmes Students. Answer: Introduction Demographics involves a study on the population (human) based on aspects such as religion, education, gender, age, the level of income among others. There are different levels in which a demographic study can be conducted that is, internationally, nationally and regionally. Bommer (2005) denotes that these levels are also limited to the specific demarcations precisely geographic boundary, economic boundary, and political boundary. Most fields have used demographic studies in their planning, for instance, the insurance companies have used these studies to make their forecast. However, with the fast rate of development taking place in the world, demographics have lost their popularity since much information is likely to be omitted due to the generalization applied by researchers to judge a given population size. According to Celep (2000, p. 463), the conclusions given are not reliable. On the other hand, psychographics incorporates the attributes of a population that are not tangible such as opinions, culture, and personality. Psychographics are important where studies on decision-making processes are being conducted. The criterion used in data collection varies in demographics and psychographics. For demographics, the set of data used is one which is constant and already designed to serve the intended purpose while for psychographics the data set is self-made to serve the desired specific purpose. Fero (2005) the reason for the data set being tailor made is because the psychographics is not a popular method to study populations. In an institution such Holmes, the students process of decision making which is dependent on their behavior as consumers is critical. Bernerth (2007) points out that a simple definition of consumer behavior would refer to all the steps taken by an individual when making choices as what product to purchase or discard based on their satisfaction. According to Guzeller (2008), the decision-making process which comprises of five stages engages the consumer in learning to gain information about a product which is useful for future purchases. Through this knowledge acquired in a study oriented with cognition, the consumer can decide on the services and products that he or she will buy even in years to come. Cartwright (2006) also denotes that the chronological order of stages involved in the decision-making process is; recognition of need, search for information, an alternative evaluation is done, a decision on purchase is made, a post-purchase evaluation is done. In the first stage of the decision-making process, the consumer who is then a potential buyer develops a need to use a specific product or service (Naik 2004, p143). It is now the duty of the marketers of the institution offering the product to identify it in detail to suit the consumers need. In searching for information which is the second stage in the process, the consumer who has now identified the product to satisfy his need goes ahead to seek information on the particulars of that product Efiltil (2008, p. 8). This stage can take different approaches, for instance, an internal search which would include flashbacks on past experiences with the product and an external search which would include sources like friends, articles, testing of sample products and following advertisements. Normally, if the internal search offers inadequate information, the consumer opts for the latter that is external search. The searches done by the consumer bring about alternative products which in some weight could replace the product that was initially identified. Hong (2001) alludes that these alternatives are evaluated in a distinct stage where the consumer uses objective and subjective criteria to discern which product will satisfy his/her need. In the objective criterion, the consumer may consider aspects such as the fee, prices, and performance. Under the subjective criterion, the consumer picks on the outward attributes like the style and looks among others. The consumer chooses to forego other alternative products and makes an informed decision to purchase a specific product or service. It is important to know that this stage does not imply the real purchase of the chosen product instead it is just a plan made to be implemented. Siegent (2008) also points out that after the consumer has used the purchased service or product, a post-purchase evaluation is done by the consumer through the feedback given to the institution. This paper adopts the use of Holmes as a case study institution where research is to be conducted. We are going to consider the students as the consumers and also as the population under study. Holmes Institute was originally started in 1963 and gained popularity among the colleges because of excellent business courses they offered. The institute due to its outstanding performance was accredited in 1986 as a private college. According to Oswald (2004), a bold step was taken by Holmes to incorporate high school segment to incorporate students all over the world. The Australian institution is now well known for the diversity adopted to deliver quality services in the education system. Holmes Institute also has a provision for students who would opt for vocational studies. What makes this institute stand out among other colleges is an improvement in the quality of education offered. This improvement in the quality of education is in line with the expectation of the market. Methodology The study involved a sample size of 50 participants. These participants were students who had enrolled in Holmes Institute. Before conducting the study, I read the Holmes Institute magazine to get an overview of the task at hand. The magazine has published the review of the institution and various provisions available for students. I administered 40 closed-ended questionnaires to 40 students so that I could gather data on the students opinions concerning the quality of education offered by Holmes Institute. The questions in the questionnaire included; how are the methods used by professors to teach? How effective is the teaching of other sub-courses related to your course? What facilities are available to foster quality in learning? How helpful do academic advisors give pieces of advice? How efficient are the procedures used to register courses in your institution? How is the safety of the institution? How helpful is the institutions health-care center? How easy is it to access libra ry resources? What is the health standard of food served in the institution? How are the accommodation facilities of the institution? How contented are you with extra-curricular activities offered by the institution? How contented are you with rules set by the institution? What is your likelihood of transferring to another institution by next year? What is your likelihood of recommending other students to join your institution? How is your satisfaction with experiences at Holmes Institute? With an aim to collect more data I conducted an in-depth interview with ten students. The questions in the interview were single questions and in a simple language. During the interview, I avoided much formality to encourage the students to open up and share their views. I noted down all the answers given by the interviewees for future reference. Findings The information provided in the school magazine was restricted to the various departments in the college, the programs offered and the general structure of school administration. Holmes Institute has courses in the following disciplines; English courses like business English, Higher education programs like Bachelor of Business and also vocational programs like diploma in accounting. According to Abraham (2000), the requirements to enroll in education programs should vary depending on the type of course and type of student. In the magazine, the methods used by lecturers to teach were also outlined. In Holmes Institute, the lecturers apply the communicative mode of teaching where students are given an opportunity to express themselves in class without the fear of failing to get correct answers. There are also course books made for every class, and this comprises of all the activities required to be done by students. Holmes Institute has provided 20 hours of contact for mature adult stu dents and 25 hours of contact for high school students under preparation. The students taking degree courses in Holmes Institute are under full-time basis. Brandes(1999:150) those taking the degree programs are enrolled in a system where learning incorporates; seminars, normal lectures, tutorials, speakers who are invited to guests and group discussions. The teaching aids involve materials that are audio and visual and analysis which is done in a case study in Holmes Institute magazine; the facilities available for students were outlined. First is the location of the Institution are all its campuses. The central business districts host these campuses. Holmes in Australia has resource centers that have adequate materials needed by students for instance videos, textbooks etcetera (Andersson 1997, p. 449). Delken (2004) points out that there are sections set aside for computers in the resource center. Regarding connectivity, the computers belonging to campuses of Holmes are integrated through a network that is wireless. For easier accessibility, there are webmails given to students. There are also printers in the college for use by students. The accommodation provided to students is adequate with comfortable meeting places and residing rooms and apartments. Holmes Institute has a well-equipped library with favorable policies. The materials present in the library are diverse for use not only by students but also the members of staff. Labeling of different sections of the library is properly done for easier retrieval of information. Education on accessing of various resources in the library is done to help the students especially new students understand how the library operates. The catalog system of the library in Holmes Institute is automated and also manual. For Australian students, t he government plays a key role especially in sponsoring students and giving them loans. Eren (2004) on the contrary asserts that the international students should be self-sponsored. The fee paid by Holmes Institute is flexible. Before new students can begin classes, they undergo an orientation program which is normally done on day one. In the orientation program, students are first welcomed to the institution; they are introduced to various staff and the administration, they are also required to fill relevant admission documents like medical forms, they are taken through the various programs offered by the institution. They are then allowed to choose the subjects they opt to cover in their course; they are given access to computers, shown around the city of the campus and finally the segment of socializing marks the end of the orientation program. Holmes has set rules to guide their students, and all the students are expected to follow them to the letter. Dean (1998) asserts that the classes fixed in the institutions program are compulsory for Holmes students. All assignments given by lecturers are expected to be submitted before the deadlines. The student should pass at least half of his/her course coverage in a span of not less than 20 weeks. All students who dont meet the required attendance which is at least 80 percent of the lectures and those who fail to pass in their course are handed over to the authority which is the government. Erdust (2007) the code of conduct of students in Holmes should be in search a way that it promotes academic progress. Any activity that is not academic-friendly is strongly discouraged. Those who break the rules suffer punishment depending on the seriousness of the case at hand. The punishment might involve deduction of marks in the grade scored by the student or even total deduction of grade attained. In some cases, the lecturer might sound an oral warning to any student portraying a form of misconduct. Holmes (2004) the academic progress is monitored by teacher handling the students. There are segments s et aside to allow students to discuss their grades with academic advisors in a bid to improve their performance. There is a number provided for students to call at any time as they seek for help. This number functions on a 24-hour basis to receive the needs of the students. Holmes Institute has medical centers with competent health personnel. The data provided by the questionnaires was in line with what had been published in the institution magazine. According to the question on the effectiveness of the techniques used by professors to teach, 35 out of the 40 questionnaires supported the methods. 40 out of the 40 questionnaires indicated that Holmes Institute has adequate facility to support learning. As for the benefits of academic advisors, 10 out of the 40 students supported the help offered by the advisors towards the improvement of academics. 40 out of the total 40 students sampled confirmed that the process of course registration was efficient. 40 out of the 40 students confirmed that the state of security in Holmes was paramount. The health care quality was confirmed by 35 out of the 40 filled questionnaires. 30 out of the 40 questionnaires confirmed that library had enough material. 40 out of the 40 questionnaires confirmed that food served in the college was healthy for consumption. 38 out of the 40 questionnaire s confirmed that the accommodation in Holmes Institute is enough. 20 out of 40 questionnaires indicated that the students were not contented with the extra-curricular activities offered by the institution. 10 out of the 40 questionnaires supported the rules made by the administration. 5 out of the 40 students who filled the questionnaires were likely to transfer to other institutions. 34 out of the 40 filled the questionnaires confirmed that students were enjoying their experiences in Holmes Institute. 30 out of the 40 students who filled the questionnaires would recommend their friends to join Holmes Institution. Recommendations Students can be recommended to join Holmes Institute so that they can pursue their courses of interests. This is because of the excellent teaching methods used by professors to teach and the adequate facilities that foster quality education. However, this institution is only limited to a few programs. Efforts to increase the number of courses in Holmes Institute would be of great help to students not only I Australia but the entire world. List of References Abraham, R 2000, Organizational Cynicism: Bases and Consequences Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126 (3), 269-292. Andersson, L 1996, Employee Cynicism: An Examination Using a Contract Violation Framework, Human Relations, No. 49, 1395-1418. Andersson, L.M. Bateman, T.S 1997, Cynicism in the Workplace: Some Causes and Effects, The Journal of Organizational Behavior. No.18, 449-470. Bernerth, J, Armenakis, A.A., Feild, H.S. Walker, H.J 2007, Justice, Cynicism, and Commitment: A Study of Important Organizational Change Variables. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43 (3), 303-326. Brandes, P, Dharwadkar, R. Dean, J. W 1999, Does Organizational Cynicism Matter? Employee and Supervisor Perspectives on Work Outcomes, Eastern Academy of ManagementProceedings, 150-153. Outstanding Empirical Paper Award. Bommer, W.H., Rich, G.A. Rubin, R.S 2005, Changing Attitudes About Change: Longitudinal Effects of Transformational Leader Behaviour on Employee Cynicism about Organizational Change. The Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 26, 733-753. Cartwright, S. Holmes, N 2006, The Meaning of Work: The Challenge of Regaining Employee Engagement and Reducing Cynicism. Human Resource Management Review, 16 (2), 199208. Celep, C 2000, OrganizationalCommitment and Teachers, An Yaynclk, Ankara Cole, M.S., Brunch, H. Vogel, B 2006, Emotion as Mediators of the Relations between Percived Supervision Support and Psychological Hardiness on Employee Cynicism, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 463-484. Dean Jr, J.W., Brandes, P. Dharwadkar, R 1998, Organizational Cynicism. The Academy of Management Review, 23 (2), 341-352. Delken, M 2004, Organizational Cynicism: A Study Among Call Centers (Dissertation), Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Maastricht, Maastricht. Efilti, S, Gnen, Y. ztrk, F 2008, Organizational Cynicism: A Field Research on Administrative Secretaries Working at Akdeniz University.7. Ulusal Bro Ynetimi ve Sekreterlik Kongresi, Karadeniz Teknik University, Trabzon, 1-14. Ekinci, O. (11.03.2009), Are you Hearing Our Research Assistants? Cumhuriyet Gazatesi, pp.17 Erdost, H.E. Karacao, K. Reyhano M 2007, The Concept of Organizational Cynicism and Being Tested of the Related Scales with a Company in Turkey. 15. Ulusal Ynetim ve Organizasyon Kongresi Bildiriler Kitab, Sakarya University, Sakarya, 514-524. ren, E. (2004). Organizational behaviour and psychology of management, Publishing Beta, stanbul. Fero, H. C. (2005). Flow and Cynicism in the Workplace (Dissertation), Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California. Gzeller, C.O. Kalaan, G. (2008). Turkish Adaptation of Organizational Cynicism Scale and Investigation in terms of Some Variables Holmes, L. 2004. Testing Business Students for Practical Intelligence. Http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/sci/1101/blmba1101.htm. Hong, D. 2001. Profs Create Test for mba Applicants. https://www.yalenews.com/articlefunctions/printerfriendly.asp?aid=17453ims Learning Resources. 2004. cat Admission Test. https://www.imsindia.com/cat/about_cat.htm Naik, B, R. Srinivasan. 2004, Using Neural Networks to Predict mba Student Success. College Student Journal 38 (1): 143150. Oswald, F. L., N. Schmitt, B. H. Kim, L. J. Ramsay, M. Gillespie 2004, Developing BiodataMeasure and Situational Judgment Inventory as Predictors of College Student Performance. https://www.io.psy.msu.edu/Schmitt/academic%20success%20prediction.htm Siegert, K. O. 2008. Executive Education: Predicting Student Success in Executive mba Programmes. Journal of Education for Business 83 (4):