1) Discuss the decision problems (discovery-oriented and strategy-oriented) that managers currently face in this industry.

A discovery-oriented decision problem typically seeks to answer "what" or "why" questions about a problem/opportunity; with the focus often being to generate useful information. A strategy-oriented decision problem typically seeks to answer "how" questions about a problem/opportunity. The focus is generally on selecting alternative courses of action. Managers have to constantly face both discovery-oriented decision problems and strategy-oriented decision problems in the industry. They face these decisions both internally with employees and externally with the direction of the brand. The manager might want to know why sales have dropped in the most recent month. In order to answer that question he or she must conduct the proper research and gather relevant data to answer the question. The “how” question is very important as well. To dig deeper into consumer behavior and understand the root of the consumer decision-making process is essential. With this information a manager can find out how these customers are viewing the products, for example. Trying to solve a strategy-oriented decision problem before addressing the discovery-oriented problems is like trying to build a house without a blue print. It is very difficult to strategize an effective ground game if the mission is not clear and concise.

2) Based on the JD Power study, explain the relationship between price and satisfaction.

The JD Power study notes that price is very important; it’s a concern for most all consumers and affects the way we select products to buy. Though price is very influential in purchase decisions, it does not give us an indication of satisfaction. In the quote provided to us, the study mentions that: “Selecting a smartphone device based on price generates significantly lower levels of satisfaction (808 on a 1,000-point scale) and repurchase rates (18%) than selections based on product-specific reasons such as operating system (860 and 35% respectively).” The answer to satisfaction is not in the price, but rather in understanding consumer attitudes and perceptions.

3) Using the JD study and other articles, identify and discuss 3-5 factors that appear to influence customer’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction with smartphones.

I noticed a ton of factors that influence customer’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction with smartphones. The IDC report mentions that today, half of the total US population uses smartphones. The convenience of being able to interact with anyone, anytime, anywhere, makes phones a more critical tool than ever before. They also discuss the importance of applications in satisfaction, and the varying degrees of usage among them. Over the course of a week, texting/messaging and using Facebook are the most popular interactions we conduct on our smartphones. Ability to text with ease is a major factor. “Me time” is an important category because they are activities we carry out on our phone in leisure time. This can be looking at the SportsCenter app for live scores, surfing the web, and looking at your Instagram or Twitter feed. I really liked the HBR diagram because it shows how we use our phones in very simple terms. Self-expression, Discovery, Preparation, Accomplishing, Shopping, Socializing, and “Me time” (which takes up nearly half of the percentage) are all motivations that lead to why we use our smartphones. Motivations like discovery and preparation can easily be linked with applications like using Google search engine (internet) and a Commercial airline app (booking flights and checking itinerary). Some things that have been proven to cause dissatisfaction in smartphones include lack of quality in the hardware (phone breaking/screen cracking) and a lack of the ability to customize the interface (i.e. iPhone compared to Android).