Assignment One
Andre Williams
Strayer University
MKT 500
Dr. Keith Jones
January 23, 2011
Marketing Objectives The main objective of Quality Care Behavioral Services, LLC’s (QCBS) marketing plan is to increase public awareness with a complete marketing promotion that will result in an increase in the total amount of clients served. QCBS currently serves five individuals in a a range of twenty two counties located in west Tennessee. QCBS is expecting a 100 percent increase in the total amount of clients served. West Tennessee currently has 12 behavior support and management agencies that provide services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and 5 that specialize in autism, as well as more than 20 residential service providers. The total amount of clients served by residential providers exceed
4500 with a waiting list that surpasses 2300 individuals that have been evaluated and are in need of services. Many of these future service recipients are located in mental health institutions while others are misplaced in array of nursing homes located in west Tennessee. QCBS has only been in business one year and is anticipating an increase in the budget for the total amount of service recipients served, or an additional $25,000. QCBS marketing initiative has the following objectives. * Maximize limited marketing monies to improve the exposure of their agency. * Increase the operating budget by 50% while maintaining current contracts at competitive prices. * Increase the number of potential service recipients by providing site observations and evaluations.
Strengths
QCBS has various resources that will encourage and support its initiative to increase the total amount of service recipients receiving behavior supports. The owner of the company worked at the West Tennessee Regional Office in the service contract department. While occupying different positions within this office he was exposed to different ways to comply with the financial requirements for providing services for developmentally disabled service recipients in west Tennessee. He also developed personal relationships with co-workers who specialized in other disciplines within the office. Having worked in this office also provided him with an opportunity to build professional relationships with area directors at the 12 residential service providers.
Weaknesses
QCBS does have weaknesses that are considered opportunities. The owner is the only staff at QCBS which results in a limited amount of knowledge in providing services and billing for them. A lack of knowledge could also decrease the number of potential service recipient site observations where the owner has an opportunity to demonstrate a QCBS quality assured daily site evaluation. The owner also has an opportunity in time management.
Opportunities
QCBS has opportunities to improve its market position while providing services for developmentally disabled individuals in west Tennessee. The owner has an opportunity to dedicate more time working toward ensuring quality service visits for the service recipients that
QCBS currently serves. Service visits can be improved by implementing a site checklist that prompts and ensures that a quality visit takes place. QCBS could also get more involved in the community by attending and participating in social events. QCBS also has an opportunity to increase the number of service recipients that it provides services to by 100 percent.
Threats
QCBS is aware of the quality and experience of its competitors. Several agencies that provide behavior supports have been in west Tennessee for over 10 years and have developed trusting relationships with the service recipients they serve. Also, the possibility of new businesses entering the market is a threat because it could have a negative influence on QCBS’s market position.
Applied Behavior Analysis Service
In 1913, John Watson identified observable behavior as the proper subject matter for psychology and stated that all behavior is controlled by environmental events. This was where Watson laid out the stimulus-response psychology that started the movement called behaviorism. B.F. Skinner later clarified the distinction between Ivan Pavlov's respondent conditioning (conditioned reflexes) and operant conditioning, in which the consequence of behavior controls the future occurrence of the behavior. Skinner and others outlined basic principles of behavior, which include reinforcement, prompting, fading, shaping, schedules of reinforcement, etc., etc., etc. These principles comprise the pure science of behavior analysis. It's important to understand that this is the pure science, NOT the applied science. This distinction is made when any science is studied in both pure and applied ways (i.e., physics). When the principles of the pure science of behavior analysis are used to teach (or when used in any applied setting), this practice is called "Applied Behavior Analysis" (or, earlier, behavior modification). This means that the principles used to describe how behavior is lawful, observable and measurable, and has an impact on the environment have been adapted into teaching methods based on those principles (“Brief History”, n.d., para. 2).
Applications of Behavior Analysis
Behavior analysis has proven to be a particularly effective learning tool for helping children with autism or developmental delays acquire and maintain new skills. These treatments include the Lovaas Method and ABA (applied behavior analysis) and utilize techniques such as discrete trial training. The basic principles of behavior medication are often adapted for use in educational settings, the workplace, and childcare (Cherry, n.d., para.7)
References
A brief history of applied behavior analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2011, from http://www.christinaburkaba.com/History.htm
Cherry, K. (n.d.). What is behavior analysis? Retrieved January 19, 2011, from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behanalysis.htm 