How did the protestant Reformation change the relationship between Essay

How did the protestant Reformation change the connection among England and Spain - Essay Example As Franklin (19-21) brings up, the issue of Protestantism was not handily unraveled anyplace. For example, in England, it prompted a bleeding strict war that prompted the execution of Queen Mary on the request for her relative, Queen Elizabeth. Spain, under King Philip, stayed devoted to the catholic confidence and therefore, it upheld the side of England that was supporting catholic confidence. After the destruction of the catholic side by the execution of Queen Mary, political pressure among Spain and England began to fabricate and inside no time, the two countries were on each other’s throat. In mid seventeenth century for example, King Philip of Spain sent a multitude of expert military men to proceed to battle for the side of England that was supporting catholic confidence. This was anyway counter to the activity of England battling non Protestants in Netherlands, which at the time was a state of Spain. These strict wars proceeded for a considerable length of time before ever arriving at a neighborly strategic arrangement. As per William (205), it was not simply political relations between these two nations that were cut off, since exchange was likewise particularly cut off between the two countries. Around then, there was practically no private part and any private organizations that exchanged globally. They were just exchanging locally, and governments were a lot of engaged with global organizations and there were times when individuals would totally rely upon the legislature to import basic things, for example, food and dress. In acknowledgment of this, King Henry of England attempted to assemble a decent connection with Spain, so as to improve the exchange among Spain and England. This was accomplished by the utilization of relationships between the children of King Henry and a Spanish princess (Brans et al. 452). In any case, when one of the children chose to separate from his significant other, this made issues in light of the fact that the congregation (catholic) restricted

Essay --

Medieval times assembling everywhere throughout the world, great number of them has caught the creative mind of guests all through time like the Alhambra. Its normal day by day guests comes to, 6,000 vacationers visit the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Much award has happened as for the Palace of the Lions, one of two mansions that made it all through the first six or seven. What makes it such a rich dig for study is the adequate improved route in enhancement and styling, and moreover its anomalous floor plan and afterward the drinking fountain. While many varying perspectives on the Palace of the Lions have been painstakingly noted and very much bolstered, all agree that the Alhambra is a magnificent mosaic wherein impacts from Europe, the Almohads, the Fatimids, and the Eastern Islamic world can be seen. Rather than giving simply point by point, bit by bit portrayal on of the floor plan and design of the royal residences (which have large amounts of the writing), I will concentrate on a review of the Alhambra, a couple of the interesting highlights of the Palace of the Lions that reflects Arabs societies, and afterward look at how essayists and schol...

What was Mercantilism

What was Mercantilism Revisiting an old high school history lesson on an archaic economic policy is boring. I get that I do.“Why do we need to care about mercantilism, which isn’t even a ‘thing’ anymore?”.While I fully sympathize with the sentiment, here’s the sad answer: because mercantilism hasn’t died.Yes, economists have scoffed at the idea of mercantilism and called it an economic artifact but the truth is, the ideology is far from being extinct. Its ghost lives on.In a recent article by the Washington Post, Trump has been accused of being “stuck in the 1680’s”, as he is still effecting the so-called ancient relic into practice, with his trade policies resembling those of mercantilism.Rebranded and repackaged, neomercantilism is a dangerously active idea of the 20th century which contains the same ingredients of its patron ‘classic mercantilism.As written by columnist Dani Rodrik, “Mercantilism remains alive and well”. And that is why knowing about this theory is so fundame ntally important.You can’t exorcise a ghost you know nothing about.So, open your notebooks and let’s get started.CHAPTER 1: WHAT WAS MERCANTILISM?Mercantilism was a national economic policy that refers to the act of maximizing net exports and limiting imports through means of tariffs.The driving force behind this approach was the idea that the world holds within it a finite amount of wealth and that to be a financially prosperous country, the best way is to accumulate the largest share of worldly wealth.It was a “zero-sum” view of the world, which meant that in any transaction, one party would gain and the other would lose.And that countries had to make financial progress at the expense of other nations. Source: gktoday.inMercantilism advocated for the theory that two components could carry a country to prosperity: few imports and more exports, otherwise known as   “favorable trade balances”.This was set in the belief that doing so would create a net inflow of foreign income and increase the value of the country’s wealth.Mercantilism policies were designed to achieve a current account surplus by controlling the transfer of materials at the borders. At the heart of mercantilism, lay the concept of “bullionism”, the idea that a country’s prosperity could only be measured in the amount of gold that it had. Precious metals were considered as vital organs of a country’s wealth.Bullionism thus created a powerful sentiment: if a country did not have access to mines then these metals should be obtained via trade.To augment the international power that a state held, mercantile policies were enacted to stabilize the influence of a state, at the cost of the rival powers.The logic of this idea can be simply explained by a domino effect: Countries need strong militaries for protection and expansion; these forces need to be sustained via wealth; gold=wealth; to get gold, you need a surplus in trade; you need to export goods and get gold from other countries.Although the official term that referred to this policy was coined much later by Adam Smith, the ideology dominated the countries of Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.It prevailed not only in England, Germany, and Italy but also in Russia, Scotland, and Spain.This policy required the support of larger countries as it could only sustain in environments where there was a supply of raw materials, labor and a market for exports.Countries like Britain, created policies to protect traders and the mercantile system provided protections for merchants and producers.In Britain, for instance, the British used their colonies as the suppliers of raw materials.These materials were then processed into goods by the B ritish industries and exported back to the colonial market.The British created restrictive colonial policies that placed limitations on what countries these colonies could trade with, what goods they could produce and also introduced tax duties.They essentially controlled the economies of the colonies and left the colonists with only one option: buy the goods manufactured by the British.It was an exploitative system that fed on the backs of the colonies that these powerful countries possessed. Source: worldhistoryleverett.wordpress.comMercantilism is a concept that opposes the modern theory of free trade entirely.Free trade advocates that economic conditions are improved through lesser tariffs. Mercantilism, on the other hand, promotes higher tariffs and barriers to entry.As every country was trying to hold the higher trader surplus, countries rarely respected trade diplomacy and did not stick to trade agreements, placing their tariffs of choice, at will.It was used as a funding system of military, national and corporate growth.This system thus heightened tensions between states and created an impetus for warfare.CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY OF MERCANTILISMWe’ve already settled that we don’t like history lessons.That’s understandable.But before you yawn from excessive boredom, allow me to provide you with a counteroffer. Do we like traveling? Europe? Time Machines?If you answered yes to all the three questions then swipe right to this subsection because we’re going to ta ke a short trip through Europe, in the past. Sounds exciting? It is.Because heres an idea that shouldnt come as a surprise: practice differs from theory.Its a completely different playing field to look at things from a theoretical viewpoint and to see them in play, in their active state.That is why, before we delve into the actual policies that are effected when mercantilism is implemented, it is important to take a step back, step into our time machines and see how mercantilism played its role in history.So buckle up kids, let’s take a small visit to the past. We’ve got a couple of beautiful destinations on our itinerary.Destination 1: FranceIf you look to your left, you’ll see the birth of mercantilism in France in the 16th century. France has offered more to History than its Eifel tower.However, the origin of mercantilism has been one of its less favorable gifts to the world.Our first visit is to French named Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of finance.Although mercantil ism started in 1539 as a decree that banned the imports of Spanish goods and restrictions on the export of bullion, it reached its peak under Jean-Baptiste Colbert.His role in the history of mercantilism was so influential that French mercantilism is also known as Colbertism. Colbert supported the economic trade system that would raise the wealth of France through a favorable trade balance. His focus was deployed on implementing domestic policies that would yield positive economic results.So, if you look at Colbert, you’ll observe him doing the following:Implementing perfectionist policies that limit imports and increase exportsEnacting state regulation of production with detailed outlines on how goods should be producedImporting foreign craftsmen and artisans to boost the manufacturing industryReducing internal tariffs and increasing external barriers of trade Source: slideplayer.comThrough these methods, Colbert was able to significantly improve the economic health of France, leading the country to become a powerful European entity.Till free-market economics took the stronghold of the world, Colberts ideas remained highly popular. Destination 2: England A country of beautiful architecture and attractive kingdoms, Britain also possesses many skeletons in its historical closet. One of which is that of mercantilism.British mercantilism rose in the 17th century, with the country employing policies that regulated international trade to heighten exports and discourage the number of imports.Governed by common law and parliamentary power, you’ll notice that England refrained from placing control over the internal domestic economy.Instead, the government made pacts of mutual interest with merchants to increase private wealth and political power.This was done by regulations, subsidies to domestic industries and trade barriers to raise exports and limit imports to the region, thereby raising the influx of precious materials such as gold into the state.The government placed tariffs on imports and gave bounties for exports, to the extent that they even banned the export of certain raw materials completely.An example of this was the enaction of the Navigation Acts.These removed foreign merchants from the trading arena. Instead, through these methods, the British ended up controlling the economies of the colonies forcing them to provide raw materials and trade only with the British Kingdom.Queen Elizabeth promoted the development of naval fleets to shake down the stronghold of Spanish trade, to increase the inflow of gold within the state.There was also focus placed on the expansion of the slave trade with the colonies.The colonies were expected to provide materials such as cotton and rum.In turn, slaves were traded in America and the West Indies for sugar and molasses. Source: s3.amazonaws.com Source: s3.amazonaws.comThe British government, also insisted on trade to be conducted in forms of bullion (silver and gold), so that they may attain a positive trade balance.This left the colonies in negative bullion balances, forcing them to rely on paper currency instead, thereby creating a period of inflation and taxes within these states.CHAPTER 3: MERCANTILIST POLICIESAlexander Gray said, “Mercantilism had three hundred years to run and so it colored the thoughts and actions of every country in Europe”.With three centuries and an entire continent under its belt, it’s nearly impossible to visit every country and see every form of mercantilism in its active state.Although we’ve seen the examples of France and England, let us take a more holistic approach and try to encapsulate mercantilism as a whole, and not in its isolated implementations.The primary principle of mercantilism is to measure the wealth of a country in terms of precious materials, known as Bullion.The econ omic focus is not placed in favor of productivity but rather in the quantity of physical wealth that it has accumulated.In the 16th and 17th century, there was grave importance given to the gold reserves of a country as that was the measure of the prosperity of a country.Furthermore, it was favored that there be a positive balance of trade.This was accomplished by two methods. Firstly, the domestic industry was encouraged and protected. Subsidies were also granted to export industries so they may be able to have a competitive advantage in the global markets.The governments also deployed focus and research into the productivity of domestic industries. Secondly, exports were maximized at the cost of other nations and imports were minimized.The efforts to raise the export-to-import ratio were done by using tariffs. Tariffs were raised and non-tariff barriers were erected on imports. In addition, international natural resources were exploited by the spread of colonies to extract wealth by forcing the colonies to serve raw materials to the parent countries.Overseas colonies were created to be the sole market for the goods the empire country produced.By controlling the economies of the colonies, the empire country benefitted from the wealth and resources of the colonies. Source: msrubinohistory.comAs the idea of mercantilism was placed by the motivation that wealth was finite, efforts were made to minimize the wealth of other nations.At the cost of rival countries, mercantilism created the notion that for one country to have more money, the others must have less.To prevent other nations from increasing their wealth, the powerful European countries struggled amongst themselves to create exclusive trading relationships with weaker states so that no one else could attain their resources.Furthermore, foreign shipping was blocked and trade vessels were regulated so that the rival nations could not have a share in the world.Foreign colonies of other countries were also attacked to capture them so that more territories could be controlled and the market of trade could be expanded.Mercantilism favored countries with a large labor force so that more finished goods could be produced for exports.It was defined that finished products had higher values than other materials, hence, efforts were made to reduce the need for the imports of any product other than raw materials.CHAPTER 3: THE IMPACT OF MERCANTILISMMercantilism was an economic idea that was centered on greed and self-interest.To gain more gold, countries which used this ideology, were motivated by a sense of selfishness, to make themselves more economically stable.When an entire continent is using such draconian policies, there are dire social and economic implications that affect the world.To gain more wealth, these nations used exploitative measures to take advantage of weaker states and fostered tense international relations as they remained suspicious of other countries, who were trying to achieve the same economic results.Hence, spanned over multiple centuries, mercantilism resulted in grave social and economic crimes, that had an impact on the economies and people of the world.Let us take a closer look at some of these atrocities: Source: mrsthompsonhistory.weebly.comCrime 1: Control of Production and Trade As we’ve discussed earlier, mercantilist policies were designed to take advantage of the colonial states.This resulted in social transgressions and was a direct threat to the well-being of the populace of these colonial states.The policy promoted the placement of trade restrictions and productions which resulted in the weakening of the growth and freedom of the businesses that fostered in the colonial world.For instance, the Navigation and Trade Acts of the 16th century forced American colonies to be solely independent of manufactured goods that were produced by the British.The colonies could only export raw materials, and the market of supply was limited to the British Empire.Goods such as sugar, cotton, iron, and tobacco were only allowed to be sold to Britain which limited the trade market for these colonies.Furthermore, they were not allowed to produce finished goods of their own which meant a complet e reliance on the manufacturing industry of England for finished products.These goods have come at inflated prices that robbed these colonies of their financial well-being, making them dependent on exuberantly priced goods that they had to pay hefty amounts of gold and silver for.Furthermore, since these empires wanted to accumulate wealth solely in the form of precious materials, the colonies did not have enough gold reserves to use in their markets.This caused these colonies to start producing paper currency instead, which rose the rates of inflations and taxes, creating discontent amongst the colonial masses.Crime 2: Slave Trade Between the British Empire, its colonies and the foreign markets, the trade relations fostered another dangerous result: the slave trade.In the 17th century, trading ships of manufactured goods were taken from Europe to the west coast of Africa.These trade ships were then filled with “young and healthy” individuals and were taken to the Americas or th e Caribbean where they were sold into slavery.The conditions with which these people were treated were no less than atrocious and inhumane, with people kept in such poor conditions in these ships that most would die in the journey. On the final leg of this triangular route, the ships then carried tobacco, rum and other expensive back to Europe.The colonies were demanded by African imperialists to provide rum, cotton and other raw materials.In turn, slaves were given to America and the West Indies in exchange for sugar and molasses.   Mercantilism promoted the slave trade because it created the sentiment that the slave trade was necessary for the rise in economic conditions.Slaves were treated as property, itemized in itineraries and listed across other transferable goods such as tobacco.Crime 3: Warfare As mercantilism fostered the feeling of being suspicious of ones neighbor, foreign relations weakened and international tensions heightened.Since wealth needed to be taken from other s, mercantilism resulted in the eruption of many wars, as nations struggled to attain the economic monopiles that rival nations had. The Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Franco-Dutch wars were fueled solely by the purpose of mercantilism so that countries damage the economies of other nations.The first Anglo-Dutch War followed the institution of the 1651 Navigation Act, a direct response to an exploitative mercantilist policy.The Franco-Dutch resulted from the commercial rivalry between the European nations and the war resulted in 120,000 deaths and 100,000 casualties- all motivated by the greed of money.The American revolution itself is rooted in the social discontent that was caused by Mercantilism. Mercantilism also became the driving force behind the need of imperialism, to acquire colonies that could provide resources such as gold (Mexico) or sugar (West Indies).This resulted in the spread of European Powers and the control of regions by monopolistic trading companies such as the East India Company.CHAPTER 4: CRITICISMWhile the practical atrocities that came as a consequence of mercantilism is a deterrent enough, the reason that this policy has been turned into a historic relic is also because of the incorrect logical foundations that it has been based on.The economic policy has received serious criticisms over the years, which lead to it’s eventual ‘demise’.The following include some of the major incoherencies in the thought of mercantilism, by Adam Smith and David Hume, founders of the anti-mercantilist agenda.1. Zero-Sum Game:Mercantilism is based on the understanding that one countrys loss is another countries gain.Smith argued that trade should be a mutually beneficial feature and a positive-sum game, where each country gains wealth and benefits from the act of trading. This essentially formed the basis of the free trade model.2. Excessive Importance of Precious Materials:As wealth was measured in forms of gold and silver, the mercantile system has bee n criticized on this aspect.It was refuted that “money” itself was not given the importance that it deserved and instead untenable attention was granted to gold as the primary source of wealth.The mercantilists failed to appreciate the value of exchange as capital.3. One-Way Trade:Mercantilist states placed extensive importance on a favorable balance of trade.However, the notion of all nations being exporters and not importers was illogical and far from infallible.Critics argued that compared to trade balances, it is more important for a country to develop it’s own resources while accepting that it cannot be completely self-sufficient.4. Colonies Did Not Exist to Serve the Empire:The approach was taken by the imperial countries that promoted the exploitation of colonies was inhumane and national wreckage.It was an unsound economic proposition and resulted in economic distress, warfare, and social tension.5. Unequal Distribution of Wealth:Mercantilist policies were designed for advocating state regulation of commerce.This state intervention was criticized as it only benefited the government and the commercial class and did not care for the interests of the entire populace.Smith and Hume argued that commerce should be free and without any restrictions as they believed that people could protect their economic interests better than the state.To assume a conflict of interest between the government and the people of the state was naïve and based on logical fallacies. CHAPTER 5: MODERN DAY MERCANTILISMIt would be convenient to believe that Mercantilism has died and that this ancient policy could have no relevance to the present.However, despite the many illogical grounds that it has been constructed on, in the current century, we can still see the ghost of this theory making its hauntings in the world. Perhaps not as static as it existed in the 16th century, but still with the same purpose and values.Let us consider China for a moment.In the mid-2000s, Chinas economic policy was built around the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country and to be a low-cost manufacturing arena for multinational corporations.However, by 2006, China took a step back and tried to create a China Inc. model instead which was designed to help Chinese firms, even at the expense of foreign investments.This model was designed to allow China to produce higher-value goods within its state and by enacting policies that discouraged foreign competition. Sounds familiar to something that the British did the in the 1700s? Because it is.China has been severely criticized for using mercantilist economic policies such as that of “forced localization” that requires domestic production as a mandate for market entry.China has also indulged in standards and currency manipulation, granted subsidies for state-owned industries and erected unfavorable procurement policies.However, China does not stand alone in its favor towards mercantilist polices. Donal d Trump of the United States has also been accused of using such strategies through his economic policies.The Trump government have created placed trade tariffs on American allies, fostered the notion that free trade deals are not beneficial and that trade surpluses are all signs of economic prosperity.While the republican government cloaks these actions under the needs of national security and other pretenses the fact of the matter remains the same.The United States is employing an economic policy that went out of business in the 18th century.The consequences of these actions by the superpowers are dire and will lead to increased rates, higher unemployment and create a strong move away from free trade, hurting the economies of other countries as well.CONCLUSIONAs economist Steve Hank stated,“Mercantilism was an insidious economic theory that held Europe in its thrall in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries”.A financial policy that carried immense weight for over 3 centuries and t hat resulted in terrible results, is making a brutal comeback.Carried by the support of the most powerful countries of the world, there is an alarm in what ways this economic ghost is preparing to haunt us.

In My Dissertation, I Decided To Adhere To The Guidelines

In my dissertation, I decided to adhere to the guidelines presented by Twining et al. (2016) that a study must follow a qualitative or a quantitative methodology/approach, and that the two cannot be mixed. This decision will affect the way the study is designed and conducted, e.g. number of participants, research questions, etc. Picking one approach over the other, however, will not make data collection exclusive to numerical or non-numerical data. The two data collection methods, both quantitative (i.e. numerical) and qualitative (i.e. non-numerical) data can be mixed but their analysis must be made considering the overall approach of the study (Twining et al., 2016; BaÃ… ¡karada, 2014) â€Å"in a way that is consistent with your methodology and†¦show more content†¦On the contrary, other studies investigating about pragmatic development while abroad or within a gaming experience (Sykes, 2012; Cornillie, Thorne Piet, 2012) follows a qualitative approach and use mostly qua litative data collected through interviews, journal entries, and observations of in-game behaviors. For my dissertation, I decided to use a qualitative approach to describe the data collected, because it will allow me to provide a very detailed description of the experience of each participant of the study. My choice was based on multiple reasons. First, using a qualitative approach I will be able to gather constructive feedbacks from the participants, that will allow me to improve and develop further this â€Å"new† idea of teaching/practicing pragmatic and cultural aspects of a language within a Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Second, I think that following a quantitative approach would not have provided me with enough data to analyze the sample since the number of participants is very limited and the VR experience is just a proof of concept and not fully developed. However, I decided to use mixed data collection methods to have a complete description of the participants. This would not have been possible if I would have used onlyShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Business Eth ic on Organisational Performance14958 Words   |  60 Pagesidentifying and enumerating the ethical characteristics of businesses with consistent positive organisational performance within the financial services industry. 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Social Emotional Development During The First Three Years

Social Emotional Development in the first three years. Social Emotional development is a child’s ability to control his or her emotions by self-regulating. It also is the child’s ability express his or her feelings in the appropriate way. Temperament is the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of a person; natural predisposition. (Temperament | Define Temperament at Dictionary.com, n.d.). Your temperament regulates your social emotional development. When you look at your temperament researchers have found that these nine traits present at birth and continued to influence development in important ways throughout life. (Oliver, 2002). Then there are 3 categories that most people fall into which are easy or flexible, Difficult, active, or feisty, Slow to warm up or cautious. As you can see by understanding temperament, you can work with the child rather than trying to change his or her inborn traits. 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The Dark Side of Customer Analytics Free Essays

string(77) " mining the information and re\? ning IFA’s pricing and marketing efforts\." HBR CASE STUDY AND COMMENTARY How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? The Dark Side of Customer Analytics Four commentators offer expert advice. by Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. We will write a custom essay sample on The Dark Side of Customer Analytics or any similar topic only for you Order Now Harris Reprint R0705A An insurance company finds some intriguing patterns in the loyalty card data it bought from a grocery chain—the correlation between condom sales and HIV-related claims, for instance. How can both companies leverage the data responsibly? HBR CASE STUDY The Dark Side of Customer Analytics COPYRIGHT  © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. by Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris Laura Brickman was glad she was almost done grocery shopping. The lines at the local ShopSense supermarket were especially long for a Tuesday evening. Her cart was nearly over? owing in preparation for several days away from her family, and she still had packing to do at home. Just a few more items to go: â€Å"A dozen eggs, a half gallon of orange juice, and—a box of Dip Dunk cereal? † Her sixyear-old daughter, Maryellen, had obviously used the step stool to get at the list on the counter and had scrawled her high-fructose emand at the bottom of the paper in brightorange marker. Laura made a mental note to speak with Miss Maryellen about what sugary cereals do to kids’ teeth (and to their parents’ wallets). Taking care not to crack any of the eggs, she squeezed the remaining items into the cart. She wheeled past the ShopSense Summer Fun displays. â€Å"Do we need more sunscreen? † La ura wondered for a moment, before deciding to go without. She got to the checkout area and waited. As regional manager for West Coast operations of IFA, one of the largest sellers of life and health insurance in the United States, Laura ormally might not have paid much attention to Shop-Sense’s checkout procedures—except maybe to monitor how accurately her purchases were being rung up. But now that her company’s fate was intertwined with that of the Dallas-based national grocery chain, she had less motivation to peruse the magazine racks and more incentive to evaluate the scanning and tallying going on ahead of her. Some 14 months earlier, IFA and ShopSense had joined forces in an intriguing venture. Laura for years had been interested in the idea of looking beyond the traditional sources of customer data that insurers ypically used to set their premiums and develop their products. She’d read every article, book, and Web site she HBR’s cases, which are ? ctional, present common managerial dilemmas and offer concrete solutions from experts. harvard business review †¢ may 2007 page 1 H BR C A SE S T UDY †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics Thomas H. Davenport (tdavenport@ babson. edu) is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the director of research for Babson Executive Education. Jeanne G. Harris (jeanne. g. arris@accenture. com) is an executive research fellow and a director of research at the Accenture Institute for High-Performance Business. She is based in Chicago. Davenport and Harris are the coauthors of Competing on Analytics (Harvard Business School Press, 2007). page 2 could ? nd on customer analytics, seeking to learn more about how organizations in other industries were wringing every last drop of value from their products and processes. Casinos, credit card companies, even staid old insur ance ? rms were joining airlines, hotels, and other service-oriented businesses in gathering nd analyzing speci? c details about their customers. And, according to recent studies, more and more of those organizations were sharing their data with business partners. Laura had read a pro? le of ShopSense in a business publication and learned that it was one of only a handful of retailers to conduct its analytics in-house. As a result, the grocery chain possessed sophisticated data-analysis methods and a particularly deep trove of information about its customers. In the article, analytics chief Steve Worthington described how the organization employed a pattern-based approach to issuing coupons. The marketing department understood, for instance, that after three months of purchasing nothing but WayLess bars and shakes, a shopper wasn’t susceptible to discounts on a rival brand of diet aids. Instead, she’d probably respond to an offer of a free doughnut or pastry with the purchase of a coffee. The company had even been experimenting in a few markets with what it called Good-Sense messages—bits of useful health information printed on the backs of receipts, based partly on customers’ current and previous buying patterns. Nutritional analyses of some customers’ most recent purchases were eing printed on receipts in a few of the test markets as well. Shortly after reading that article, Laura had invited Steve to her of? ce in San Francisco. The two met several times, and, after some fevered discussions with her bosses in Ohio, Laura made the ShopSense executive an offer. The insurer wanted to buy a small sample of the grocer’s customer lo yalty card data to determine its quality and reliability; IFA wanted to and out if the ShopSense information would be meaningful when stacked up against its own claims information. With top management’s blessing, Steve and his team had agreed to provide IFA with ten ears’ worth of loyalty card data for customers in southern Michigan, where ShopSense had a high share of wallet—that is, the supermarkets weren’t located within ? ve miles of a â€Å"club† store or other major rival. Several months after receiving the tapes, analysts at IFA ended up ?nding some fairly strong correlations between purchases of unhealthy products (highsodium, high-cholesterol foods) and medical claims. In response, Laura and her actuarial and sales teams conceived an offering called Smart Choice, a low-premium insurance plan aimed at IFA customers who didn’t indulge. Laura was ? ing the next day to IFA’s headquarters in Cincinnati to meet with members of the senior team. She would be seeking their approval to buy more of the ShopSense data; she wanted to continue mining the information and re? ning IFA’s pricing and marketing efforts. You read "The Dark Side of Customer Analytics" in category "Essay examples" Laura understood it might be a tough sell. After all, her industry wasn’t exactly known for embracing radical change—even with proof in hand that change could work. The make-or-break issue, she thought, would be the reliability and richness of the data. â€Å"Your CEO needs to hear only one thing,† Steve had told her several days earlier, while they were comparing notes. Exclusive rights to our data will give you information that your competitors won’t be able to match. No one else has the historical data we have or as many customers nationwide. † He was right, of course. Laura also knew that if IFA decided not to buy the grocer’s data, some other insurer would. â€Å"Paper or plasti c? † a young boy was asking. Laura had ? nally made it to front of the line. â€Å"Oh, paper, please,† she replied. The cashier scanned in the groceries and waited while Laura swiped her card and signed the touch screen. Once the register printer had stopped chattering, the cashier curled the long strip of aper into a thick wad and handed it to Laura. â€Å"Have a nice night,† she said mechanically. Before wheeling her cart out of the store into the slightly cool evening, Laura brie? y checked the total on the receipt and the information on the back: coupons for sunblock and a reminder about the importance of UVA and UVB protection. Tell It to Your Analyst â€Å"No data set is perfect, but based on what we’ve seen already, the ShopSense info could be a pretty rich source of insight for us,† Archie Stetter told the handful of executives seated around a table in one of IFA’s recently renovated conference rooms. Laura nodded in agreement, silently cheering on the insurance harvard business review †¢ may 2007 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢H BR C A SE S T UDY company’s uberanalyst. Archie had been invaluable in guiding the pilot project. Laura had ? own in two days ahead of the meeting and had sat down with the chatty statistics expert and some members of his team, going over results and gauging their support for continuing the relationship with ShopSense. â€Å"Trans fats and heart disease—no surprise there, I guess,† Archie said, using a laser pointer to direct the managers’ attention to a PowerPoint slide projected on the wall. How about this, though: Households that purchase both bananas and cashews at least quarterly seem to show only a negligible risk of developing Parkinson’s and MS. † Archie had at ? rst been skeptical about the quality of the grocery chain’s data, but ShopSense’s well of informati on was deeper than he’d imagined. Frankly, he’d been having a blast slicing and dicing. Enjoying his moment in the spotlight, Archie went on a bit longer than he’d intended, talking about typical patterns in the purchase of certain over-the-counter medications, potential leading indicators for diabetes, and other statistical curiosities. Laura noted that as Archie’s presentation wore on, CEO Jason Walter was jotting down notes. O. Z. Cooper, IFA’s general counsel, began to clear his throat over the speakerphone. Laura was about to rein in her stats guy when Rusty Ware, IFA’s chief actuary, addressed the group. â€Å"You know, this deal isn’t really as much of a stretch as you might think. † He pointed out that the company had for years been buying from information brokers lists of customers who purchased speci? c drugs and products. And IFA was among the best in the industry at evaluating external sources of data (credit histories, demographic studies, analyses f socioeconomic status, and so on) to predict depression, back pain, and other expensive chronic conditions. Prospective IFA customers were required to disclose existing medical conditions and information about their personal habits—drinking, smoking, and other high-risk activities—the actuary reminded the group . The CEO, meanwhile, felt that Rusty was overlooking an important point. â€Å"But if we’re ?nding patterns where our rivals aren’t even looking, if we’re coming up with proprietary health indicators—well, that would be a huge hurdle for everyone else to get over,† Jason noted. arvard business review †¢ may 2007 Laura was keeping an eye on the clock; there were several themes she still wanted to hammer on. Before she could follow up on Jason’s comments, though, Geneva Hendrickson, IFA’s senior vice president for ethics and corporate responsibility, posed a blue-sky question to the group: â€Å"Take the fruit-and-nut stat Archie cited. Wouldn’t we have to share that kind of information? As a bene? t to society? † Several managers at the table began talking over one another in an attempt to respond. â€Å"Correlations, no matter how interesting, aren’t conclusive evidence of causality,† someone said. Ev en if a correlation doesn’t hold up in the medical community, that doesn’t mean it’s not useful to us,† someone else suggested. Laura saw her opening; she wanted to get back to Jason’s point about competitive advantage. â€Å"Look at Progressive Insurance,† she began. It was able to steal a march on its rivals simply by recognizing that not all motorcycle owners are created equal. Some ride hard (young bikers), and some hardly ride (older, middle-class, midlife crisis riders). â€Å"By putting these guys into different risk pools, Progressive has gotten the rates right,† she said. â€Å"It wins all the business with the safe set by offering low remiums, and it doesn’t lose its shirt on the more dangerous set. † Then O. Z. Cooper broke in over the speakerphone. Maybe the company should formally position Smart Choice and other products and marketing programs developed using the Shop-Sense data as opt in, he wondered. A lot of people signed up when Progressive gave discounts to customers who agreed to put devices in their cars that would monitor their driving habits. â€Å"Of course, those customers realized later they might pay a higher premium when the company found out they routinely exceeded the speed limit—but that’s not a legal problem,† O. Z. noted. None of the states that IFA did business in had laws prohibiting the sort of data exchange ShopSense and the insurer were proposing. It would be a different story, however, if the company wanted to do more business overseas. At that point, Archie begged to show the group one more slide: sales of prophylactics versus HIV-related claims. The executives continued taking notes. Laura glanced again at the clock. No one seemed to care that they were going a little over. â€Å"Exclusive rights to our data will give you information that your competitors won’t be able to match. No one else has the historical data we have. † page 3 H BR C A SE S T UDY †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics Data Decorum â€Å"Customers find out, they stop using their cards, and we stop getting the information that drives this whole train. † page 4 Rain was in the forecast that afternoon for Dallas, so Steve Worthington decided to drive rather than ride his bike the nine and a half miles from his home to ShopSense’s corporate of? ces in the Hightower Complex. Of course, the gridlock made him a few minutes late for the early morning meeting with ShopSense’s executive team. Lucky for him, others had been held up by the traf? c as well. The group gradually came together in a lightly cluttered room off the main hallway on the 18th ? oor. One corner of the space was being used to store prototypes of regional instore displays featuring several members of the Houston Astros’ pitching staff. â€Å"I don’t know whether to grab a cup of coffee or a bat,† Steve joked to the other s, gesturing at the life-size cardboard cutouts and settling into his seat. Steve was hoping to persuade CEO Donna Greer and other members of the senior team to approve the terms of the data sale to IFA. He was pretty con? dent he had majority support; he had already spoken individually with many of the top executives. In those one-onone conversations, only Alan Atkins, the grocery chain’s chief operations of? cer, had raised any signi? cant issues, and Steve had dealt patiently with each of them. Or so he thought. At the start of the meeting, Alan admitted he still had some concerns about selling data to IFA at all. Mainly, he was worried that all the hard work the organization had done building up its loyalty program, honing its analytical chops, and maintaining deep customer relationships could be undone in one fell swoop. â€Å"Customers ? nd out, they stop using their cards, and we stop getting the information that rives this whole train,† he said. Steve reminded Alan that IFA had no interest in revealing its relationship with the grocer to customers. There was always the chance an employee would let something slip, but even if that happened, Steve doubted anyone would be shocked. â€Å"I haven’t heard of anybody canceling based on any of our other card-driven marketing p rograms,† he said. â€Å"That’s because what we’re doing isn’t visible to our customers—or at least it wasn’t until your recent comments in the press,† Alan grumbled. There had been some tension within the group about Steve’s contribution to everal widely disseminated articles about ShopSense’s embrace of customer analytics. â€Å"Point taken,† Steve replied, although he knew that Alan was aware of how much positive attention those articles had garnered for the company. Many of its card-driven marketing programs had since been deemed cuttingedge by others in and outside the industry. Steve had hoped to move on to the ? nancial bene? ts of the arrangement, but Denise Baldwin, ShopSense’s head of human resources, still seemed concerned about how IFA would use the data. Speci? cally, she wondered, would it identify individual consumers as employees of particular companies? She reminded the group that some big insurers had gotten into serious trouble because of their pro? ling practices. IFA had been looking at this relationship only in the context of individual insurance customers, Steve explained, not of group plans. â€Å"Besides, it’s not like we’d be directly drawing the risk pools,† he said. Then Steve began distributing copies of the spreadsheets outlining the ? ve-year returns ShopSense could realize from the deal. â€Å"‘Directly’ being the operative word here,† Denise noted wryly, as she took her copy and passed the rest around. Parsing the Information It was 6:50 pm, and Jason Walters had canceled his session with his personal trainer— again—to stay late at the of? ce. Sammy will understand, the CEO told himself as he sank deeper into the love seat in his of? ce, a yellow legal pad on his lap and a pen and cup of espresso balanced on the arm of the couch. It was several days after the review of the ShopSense pilot, and Jason was still weighing the risks and bene? ts of taking this business relationship to the next stage. He hated to admit how giddy he was— almost as gleeful as Archie Stetter had been— about the number of meaningful correlations the analysts had turned up. Imagine what that guy could do with an even larger data set,† O. Z. Cooper had commented to Jason after the meeting. Exclusive access to ShopSense’s data would give IFA a leg up on competitors, Jason knew. It could also provide the insurer with proprietary insights into the food-related drivers of disease. The deal was cer tainly legal. And even in the court of public opinion, people understood that insurers had to perform risk analyses. It wasn’t the same as when that harvard business review †¢ may 2007 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢H BR C A SE S T UDY online bookseller got into trouble for charging ustomers differently based on their shopping histories. But Jason also saw dark clouds on the horizon: What if IFA took the pilot to the next level and found out something that maybe it was better off not knowing? As he watched the minute hand sweep on his wall clock, Jason wondered what risks he might be taking without even realizing it. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Donna Greer gently swirled the wine in her glass and clinked the stemware against her husband’s. The two were attending a wine tasting hosted by a friend. The focus was on varieties from Chile and other Latin American countries, and Donna and Peter had yet to ? nd a sample they didn’t like. But despite the lively patter of the event and the plentiful food. Donna couldn’t keep her mind off the IFA deal. â€Å"The big question is, Should we be charging more? † she mused to her husband. ShopSense was already selling its scanner data to syndicators, and, as her CFO had reminded her, the company currently made more money from selling information than from selling meat. Going forward, all ShopSense would have to do was send IFA some tapes each month and collect a million dollars annually harvard business review †¢ may 2007 of pure pro? t. Still, the deal wasn’t without risks: By selling the information to IFA, it ight end up diluting or destroying valuable and hard-won customer relationships. Donna could see the headline now: â€Å"Big Brother in Aisle Four. † All the more reason to make it worth our while, she thought to herself. Peter urged Donna to drop the issue for a bit, as he scribbled his comments about the wine they’d just samp led on a rating sheet. â€Å"But I’ll go on record as being against the whole thing,† he said. â€Å"Some poor soul puts potato chips in the cart instead of celery, and look what happens. † â€Å"But what about the poor soul who buys the celery and still has to pay a fortune for medical overage,† Donna argued, â€Å"because the premiums are set based on the people who can’t eat just one? † â€Å"Isn’t that the whole point of insurance? † Peter teased. The CEO shot her husband a playfully peeved look—and reminded herself to send an e-mail to Steve when they got home. What if IFA took the pilot to the next level and found out something that maybe it was better off not knowing? How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? †¢ Four commentators offer expert advice. See Case Commentary page 5 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢ H BR C A SE S T UDY C ase Commentary by George L. Jones How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? The message coming from both IFA and ShopSense is that any marketing opportunity is valid—as long as they can get away with it. page 6 Sure, a customer database has value, and a company can maximize that value in any number of ways—growing the database, mining it, monetizing it. Marketers can be tempted, despite pledges about privacy, to use collected information in ways that seem attractive but may ultimately damage relationships with customers. The arrangement proposed in this case study seems shortsighted to me. Neither company seems to particularly care about its customers. Instead, the message coming from the senior teams at both IFA and ShopSense is that any marketing opportunity is valid—as long as they can get away with it legally and customers don’t ? gure out what they’re doing. In my company, this pilot would never have gotten off the ground. The culture at Borders is such that the managers involved would have just assumed we wouldn’t do something like that. Like most successful retail companies, our organization is customer focused; we’re always trying to see a store or an offer or a transaction through the customer’s eyes. It was the same way at both Saks and Target when I was with those companies. At Borders, we’ve built up a signi? cant database through our Borders Rewards program, which in the past year and a half has grown to 17 million members. The data we’re getting are hugely important as a basis for serving customers more effectively (based on their purchase patterns) and as a source of competitive advantage. For instance, we know that if somebody buys a travel guide to France, that person might also be interested in reading Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence. But we assure our customers up front that their information will be handled with the utmost respect. We carefully control the content and frequency of even our own ommunications with Rewards members. We don’t want any offers we present to have negative connotations—for instance, we avoid bombarding people with e-mails about a product they may have absolutely no interest in. I honestly don’t think these companies have hit upon a responsible formula for mining and sharing cust omer data. If ShopSense retained control of its data to some degree—that is, if the grocer and IFA marketed the Smart Choice program jointly, and if any offers came from ShopSense (the partner the customer has built up trust with) rather than the insurance company (a stranger, so to speak)—the relationship could work. Instead of ceding complete control to IFA, ShopSense could be somewhat selective and send offers to all, some, or none of its loyalty card members, depending on how relevant the grocer believed the insurance offer would be to a particular set of customers. A big hole in these data, though, is that people buy food for others besides themselves. I rarely eat at home, but I still buy tons of groceries—some healthy, some not so healthy— for my kids and their friends. If you looked at a breakdown of purchases for my household, you’d say â€Å"Wow, they’re consuming a lot. † But the truth is, I hardly ever eat a bite. That may e an extreme example, but it suggests that IFA’s correlations may be ? awed. Both CEOs are subjecting their organizations to a possible public relations backlash, and not just from the ShopSense customers whose data have been dealt away to IFA. Every ShopSense customer who hears about the deal, loyalty card member or not, is going to lose trust in the company. IFA’s customers might also think twice about their relationship with the insurer. And what about the employees in each company who may be uncomfortable with what the companies are trying to pull off? The corporate cultures suffer. What the companies are proposing here is ery dangerous—especially in the world of retail, where loyalty is so hard to win. Customers’ information needs to be protected. George L. Jones is the president and chief executive officer of Borders Group, a global retailer of books, music, and movies based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. harvard business review †¢ may 2007 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢ H BR C A SE S T UDY C ase Commentary by Katherine N. Lemon How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? Customer analytics are effective precisely because firms do not violate customer trust. harvard business review †¢ may 2007 As the case study illustrates, companies will o on be able to create fairly exhaustive, highly accurate pro? les of customers without having had any direct interaction with them. They’ll be able to get to know you intimately without your knowledge. From the consumer’s perspective, this trend raises several big concerns. In this ? ctional account, for instance, a shopper’s grocery purchases may directly in? uence the availability or price of her life or health insurance products—and not necessarily in a good way. Although the customer, at least tacitly, consented to the collection, use, and transfer of her purchase data, the real issue here is the nintended and uncontemplated use of the information (from the customer’s point of view). Most customers would probably be quite surprised to learn that their personal information could be used by companies in a wholly unrelated industry and in other ways that aren’t readily foreseeable. If consumers lose trust in ? rms that collect, analyze, and utilize their information, they will opt out of loyalty and other data-driven marketing programs, and we may see more regulations and limitations on data collection. Customer analytics are effective precisely because ? rms do not violate customer trust. People believe that retail and other organizations will use their data wisely to enhance their experiences, not to harm them. Angry customers will certainly speak with their wallets if that trust is violated. Decisions that might be made on the basis of the shared data represent another hazard for consumers—and for organizations. Take the insurance company’s use of the grocer’s loyalty card data. This is limited information at best and inaccurate at worst. The ShopSense data re? ect food bought but not necessarily consumed, and individuals buy food at many stores, not just one. IFA might end up drawing rroneous conclusions—and exacting unfair rate increases. The insurer’s general counsel should investigate this deal. Another concern for consumers is what I call â€Å"battered customer syndrome. † Market analytics allow companies to identify their best and worst customers and, consequently, to pay special attention to those deemed to be the mo st valuable. Looked at another way, analytics enable ? rms to understand how poorly they can treat individual or groups of customers before those people stop doing business with them. Unless you are in the top echelon of customers— those with the highest lifetime value, say—you ay pay higher prices, get fewer special offers, or receive less service than other consumers. Despite the fact that alienating 75% to 90% of customers may not be the best idea in the long run, many retailers have adopted this â€Å"top tier† approach to managing customer relationships. And many customers seem to be willing to live with it—perhaps with the unrealistic hope that they may reach the upper echelon and reap the ensuing bene? ts. Little research has been done on the negative consequences of using marketing approaches that discriminate against customer segments. Inevitably, however, customers will ecome savvier about analytics. They may become less tolerant and take their business (and information) elsewhere. If access to and use of customer data are to remain viable, organizations must come up with ways to address customers’ concerns about privacy. What, then, should IFA and ShopSense do? First and foremost, they need to let customers opt in to their data-sharing arrangement. This would address the â€Å"unintended use of data† problem; customers would understand exactly what was being done with their information. Even better, both ? rms would be engaging in trust-building—versus trust-eroding—activities with customers. The esult: improvement in the bottom line and in the customer experience. Katherine N. Lemon (kay. lemon@bc. edu) is an associate professor of marketing at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Her expertise is in the areas of customer equity, customer management, and customer-based marketing strategy. page 7 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢ H BR C A SE S T UDY C ase Commentary by David Norton How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? Would customers feel comfortable with the data-sharing arrangement if they knew about it? page 8 Transparency is a critical component of any loyalty card program. The value proposition must be clear; customers must know what they’ll get for allowing their purchase behavior to be monitored. So the question for the CEOs of ShopSense and IFA is, Would customers feel comfortable with the data-sharing arrangement if they knew about it? ShopSense’s loyalty card data are at the center of this venture, but the grocer’s goal here is not to increase customer loyalty. The value of its relationship with IFA is solely ? nancial. The company should explore whether there are some customer data it should exclude from the transfer—information that could be perceived as exceedingly sensitive, such as pharmacy and lcohol purchases. It should also consider doing market research and risk modeling to evaluate customers’ potential reaction to the data sharing and the possible downstream effect of the deal. The risk of consumer backlash is lower for IFA than for ShopSense, given the information the insurance company already purchase s. IFA could even put a positive spin on the creation of new insurance products based on the ShopSense data. For instance, so-called healthy purchases might earn customers a discount on their standard insurance policies. The challenge for the insurer, however, is that there is no proven correlation between the urchase of certain foods and fewer health problems. IFA should continue experimenting with the data to determine their richness and predictive value. Some companies have more leeway than others to sell or trade customer lists. At Harrah’s, we have less than most because our customers may not want others to know about their gaming and leisure activities. We don’t sell information, and we don’t buy a lot of external data. Occasionally, we’ll buy demographic data to ? ne-tune our marketing messages (to some customers, an offer of tickets to a live performance might be more interesting than a dining discount, for example). But we think the internal transactional data are much more important. We do rely on analytics and models to help us understand existing customers and to encourage them to stick with us. About ten years ago, we created our Total Rewards program. Guests at our hotels and casinos register for a loyalty card by sharing the information on their driver’s license, such as their name, address, and date of birth. Each time they visit one of our 39 properties and use their card, they earn credits that can be used for food and merchandise. They also earn Tier Credits that give them higher status in the program and ake them eligible for differentiated service. With every visit, we get a read on our customers’ preferences—the types of games they play, the hotels and amenities they favor, and so on. Those details are stored in a central database. The company sets rules for what can be done with the information. For instance, managers at any one of our properties can execute th eir own marketing lists and programs, but they can target only customers who have visited their properties. If they want to dip into the overall customer base, they have to go through the central relationship-marketing group. Some of the information captured in ur online joint promotions is accessible to both Harrah’s and its business partners, but the promotions are clearly positioned as opt in. We tell customers the value proposition up front: Let us track your play at our properties, and we can help you enjoy the experience better with richer rewards and improved service. They understand exactly what we’re capturing, the rewards they’ll get, and what the company will do with the information. It’s a win-win for the company and for the customer. Companies engaging in customer analytics and related marketing initiatives need to keep â€Å"win-win† in mind when collecting and andling customer data. It’s not just about what the information can do for you; it’s about what you can do for the customer with the information. David Norton (dnorton@harrahs. com) is the senior vice president of relationship marketing at Harrah’s Entertainment, based in Las Vegas. harvard business review †¢ may 2007 T he Dark Side of Customer Analytics †¢ H BR C A SE S T UDY C ase Commentary by Michael B. McCallister How can these companies leverage the customer data responsibly? When the tougher, grayarea decisions need to be made, each person has to have the company’s core principles and values in ind. harvard business review †¢ may 2007 Companies that can capitalize on the information they get from their customers hold an advantage over rivals. But as the ? rms in the case study are realizing, there are also plenty of risks involved with using these data. Instead of pulling back the reins, organizations should be nudging customer analytics forward, keeping in mind one critical point: Any collection, analysis , and sharing of data must be conducted in a protected, permission-based environment. Humana provides health bene? t plans and related health services to more than 11 million embers nationwide. We use proprietary datamining and analytical capabilities to help guide consumers through the health maze. Like IFA, we ask our customers to share their personal and medical histories with us (the risky behaviors as well as the good habits) so we can acquaint them with programs and preventive services geared to their health status. Customer data come to us in many different ways. For instance, we offer complimentary health assessments in which plan members can take an interactive online survey designed to measure how well they’re taking care of themselves. We then suggest ways they can reduce their health risks or treat their existing conditions more effectively. We closely monitor our claims information and use it to reach out to people. In our Personal Nurse program, for example, we’ll have a registered nurse follow up with a member who has ? led, say, a diabetes-related claim. Through phone conversations and e-mails, the RN can help the plan member institute changes to improve his or her quality of life. All our programs require members to opt in if the data are going to be used in any way that would single a person out. Regardless of your industry, you have to start with that. One of the biggest problems in U. S. health care today is obesity. So would it be useful for our company to look at grocery-purchasing patterns, as the insurance company in the case study does? It might be. I could see the upside of using a grocer’s loyalty card data to develop a wellness-based incentive program for insurance customers. (We would try to ? nd a way to build positives into it, however, so customers would look at the interchange and say â€Å"That’s in my best interest; thank you. †) But Humana certainly wouldn’t enter into any kind of datatransfer arrangement without ensuring that our customers’ personal information and the ntegrity of our relationship with them would be properly protected. In health care, especially, this has to be the chief concern—above and beyond any patterns that might be revealed and the sort of competitive edge they might provide. We use a range of industry standard security measures, including encryptio n and ? rewalls, to protect our members’ privacy and medical information. Ethical behavior starts with the CEO, but it clearly can’t be managed by just one person. It’s important that everyone be reminded often about the principles and values that guide the organization. When business opportunities come along, they’ll be screened according to those standards—and the decisions will land right side up every time. I can’t tell people how to run their meetings or who should be at the table when the tougher, grayarea decisions need to be made, but whoever is there has to have those core principles and values in mind. The CEOs in the case study need to take the â€Å"front page† test: If the headline on the front page of the newspaper were reporting abuse of customer data (yours included), how would you react? If you wouldn’t want your personal data used in a certain way, chances are your customers wouldn’t, either. Michael B. McCallister (mmccallister@humana. com) is the president and CEO of Humana, a health benefits company based in Louisville, Kentucky. Reprint R0705A Case only R0705X Commentary only R0705Z To order, call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500 or go to www. hbrreprints. org page 9 To Order For Harvard Business Review reprints and subscriptions, call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500. Go to www. hbrreprints. org For customized and quantity orders of Harvard Business Review article reprints, call 617-783-7626, or e-mail customizations@hbsp. harvard. edu www. hbrreprints. org U. S. and Canada 800-988-0886 617-783-7500 617-783-7555 fax How to cite The Dark Side of Customer Analytics, Essay examples

Road Not Taken By Frost Essays (685 words) - Robert Frost

Road Not Taken By Frost "Robert Frost was one of the United States' best-loved poets. Frost was greatly influenced by his move from San Francisco to New England at the age of 11, his move to England when he was 37, and then his return to New Hampshire a couple of years later" (Knowledge Adventure 2). Robert Frost's inspiration for his poetry came from within himself. His decisions concerning which direction his life would take can be seen in one of his most acclaimed poems " The Road Not Taken". Ultimately he realized, as is expressed in his works, that the road one chooses to take is what builds and defines one's character. It is a life-long decision that one cannot change further down the great road of life. The first two lines of his poem is "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both" (Frost 815). In the first two lines, Robert is standing at the crossroads in life; he wishes that he could go both ways, but in life, you must choose one. He looked down both roads as far as he could see. He wanted to see where the roads led to. One of the roads was well-traveled (the common road that most people take in life), and the other road looked as though no one liked to travel it. Frost took the one that wasn't traveled as much; choosing his own path in life versus the mainstream (Knowledge Adventure). This is a remarkable move by Frost, because he could be an average poet with an easy life, however he chooses the harder road through life. Lines eleven through fourteen state, "And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back" (Frost 816). These lines suggest that he had to choose one morning, of which direction he should lead his life. That morning, his decisions were tough; both of the roads had no footprints, as leading people to believe that no one had traveled the road before. Frost wishes that he could take both paths in life, but one knows that the first path leads to another and then to another; life is always moving forward. He knows that he would never get to go back in life and take the road he left behind, and this is why he chooses the less traveled road. He sees where most people are at in life and that they probably followed the mainstream and took the easy road. This is where he decides that he wants to better himself, and not follow the norm. This is why he took the harder of the two roads. The last five lines of the poem are very significant. Frost writes, "I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" (Frost 816). Frost says that he will be telling this story in the future. The lines also offer the proof that Frost is very sat? isfied with the road or the choice in life that he has made. The last two lines, however sting. The majority of the people in life took the easy road, and in those last lines he directly states that he only prospered well and made a life for himself because he took the harder road, or the rougher choice, and that choice has brought him to where he is today. So in retrospect, when one looks back on his/her life, the road less traveled is actually the road best traveled. You enjoy life more if you take chances and not always follow the mainstream. From the beginning of the poem, Frost knew what road he would take; but everyone is drawn to the easy road. He had a tough struggle deciding which one he wanted to take: road number one--easy life versus road number two--tougher life, but no idea where it leads. It wasn't hard for him to decide which road he wanted to take, so he followed his instincts, and his choices in life is what brought him worldwide recognition.