Marketing Strategies of IBM Essay

Introduction This study aims at examining the use of theoretical marketing approaches in the practical business scenario. In this domain the marketing strategy of IBM has been considered on empirical grounds. It is by the use of marketing theory and concepts that the study evaluates the marketing strategies of IBM and its role in fulfilling the firm’ overall goals and objectives. Four specific aspects of marketing strategy evaluation are assessed in this study. Initially the proceedings are related to the importance and the use of information in successful marketing strategies by IBM. This is followed by a discussion on IBM marketing strategies in relation to its organisational strategy. The paper also makes an analysis of the application of IBM marketing strategies in global context. Lastly e-business strategies of IBM in the marketing domain are assessed. Evaluation of marketing strategy of IBM International Business Machines Corporation, better known as IBM, is a multinational IT company involved in the manufacture and retail of computer hardware and software applications, and IT consulting services. Employing the best talents in the industry, IBM is today the largest as well as the most profitable information technology employer in the world. Despite of the adverse economic conditions, the firm achieve a significant increase in its net revenue and income in 2008 compared to previous years. Well – devised and efficient marketing strategies have been the key to IBM’ global success. The company strongly believes that devising effective marketing strategies requires making appropriate decisions that can well enhance all kinds of competitive advantages and can create all kinds of new sources of value for the purpose of improving the organisational revenue growth. According to Luq Niazi, Leader of Strategy and Change at IBM, â€Å"when the leaders of an organisation think about their business as components, it becomes clear which ones they need to own – and which they do not†. This clearly indicates the great emphasis that IBM places on the performance and  decision making capabilities of leaders in devising effective marketing strategies. In addition, the firm also considers understanding the requirements and needs of customers as crucial for developing effective marketing strategies. Understanding the innovative demands of customers lies at th e core of developing effective marketing strategies. Based on IBM’ market share and dominance in the IT industry, the firm can be aptly described as a ‘market leader’. Being a market leader, an important marketing strategy which IBM uses against its competitors is the defensive marketing warfare strategy. The defensive marketing strategy involves the firm employing tactics to maintain its market share. There are several tactics that firms use for defending their market share, such as fortification, counterattack, mobile defence and strategic retreat (Ries and Trout, 2005). Being the courageous market leader that IBM is, the firm adopts the best defensive marketing strategy which is â€Å"self attack†. IBM’ strategy is â€Å"cheaper and better than IBM†. Aware of IBM’ tactic, customers wait for IBM’ new prospects as they know that the Big Blue will constantly introduce new and better products which makes the firm’ own products obsolete. Another key marketing strategy employed by IBM for sustaining its market leadership is product differentiation strategies. Product differentiation can be achieved using a variety of factors such as distinctive products, reliability, durability, product design etc (Kurtz and Boone, 2006). IBM uses a product differentiation strategy based on quality of performance. In line with its quest for further growth and market leadership, the firm adopts a diversification strategy. The importance of IBM’ growth strategy has heightened in the current economic situation with companies in the computer industry having faced a massive drop in the industrial production and productivity of computer hardware and the future growth for this segment also appearing dim. In such a context, IBM has strategically reduced its exposure to hardware by diversifying into software and services. IBM also realises the importance of maintaining good relationships with its customers and in line the firm lays great emphasis on trust – based marketing strategies. Trust based marketing strategies stress on the need for organisations to gain ethical hold over consumer dealings and also be honest and open about its products and the services. For IBM, adoption of this strategy has been very effective in developing its brand  identity and image. In all of its marketing activities, the firm strives at building customer trust and loyalty. Importance and use of information in IBM marketing strategy The importance and use of information is vital for gaining success. In line, IBM adopted the strategy to take up Social Networking to the work place. It is an absolute means of sharing ideas, complains and letters of appreciation in public. By means of adopting networking opportunities, IBM established its strong hold over competitive market. It is through the provision of Social Networking (SN), that IBM established its commitment to technology and developed an enterprise – wide SN mindset. IBM is the first major IT supplier that has got potential provisions for SN and is in the process of changing the entire enterprise along with a credible application to address the market. By means of investments made in the SN domain, IBM has gained enough market strengths in the enterprise lineage, global services, deep pockets and above all in gaining loyal customers. By success of SN, IBM proved to be a fine player in the domain of information networking. The proceedings have added many advantages to its organisational global services. SN for enterprises have been implemented with enough marketing strategies and this is what is providing IBM with technical expertise in the field of organizational/adoption issues. The launching of more facilities related to SN are relevant to the competition of the market. The launcher came up with a new idea and launched it much before the though had developed in anyone’ mind. The second big thing to the adoption of marketing strategy is the IBM’s mindset in the launching of Lotus Connection. It is an information networking process with collaboration-centric approach to SN and helps in information sharing and uninterrupted workflow. By few minutes of exploration anybody can well get hold over its functionalities. IBM kept it easy and user friendly; the basics of marketing strategies. When it comes to the use of information system in IBM, the adoption of unique kind of marketing strategies is predominant. The basic approach is in being innovative and adopting something that is very user friendly and easy for the customer to adopt. Complicacies in the same field can lead to failure of  the same. This is the reason that IBM lays emphasis over making it simple, easy and sharing more than the consumer can expect. Once there is a kind of trust and sense of being facilitated gets into the consumer, he hardly will opt for any other company and this is what IBM believes to the core. Application of innovative ideas in the field of information sharing units can be of great risk, but under the marketing strategy of IBM, this risk has been taken again and again with enough success. IBM marketing strategy in relation to Organisational strategy The strategic effectiveness of an organizational strategy can be measured using SWOT analysis. This is a structure that figure out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a particular company. Incorporating the Johnson and Scholes’ model for corporate strategy into this structure creates three success criteria for evaluating a firm (Rifkin, 2001). These are as following; Suitability can be assessed to identify the factors that will support the strategies. Feasibility is all about the adoption of executing the strategy into practical field. Acceptability is something that will determine the reactions that the organisation will receive by the execution of the strategies. At IBM, employees are greatly encouraged to initiate creative marketing tactics. The application of SWOT and the Johnson and Scholes model proves that IBM has got enough potentiality in developing well crafted assessment about itself. Its main strength lies in identifying its weaknesses. The approaches are all very professional and the marketing persuasions are well structured as per the organ isational structure. As per the declarations made by the official site of IBM, the basic marketing strategy in relation to organisational strategy adopted by IBM is more concerned about the proceedings led by HRM. The perspectives of organisational dealings are strategically adopted to meet the demands of HRM. The typical business culture of IBM is customer centric and in hence a substantial amount of responsibility is placed on the HR department. It has been marked that on traditional ground many IBM executives along with aspiring general managers are selected for the purpose of improving sales force and market oriented projects. It can be well marked as Samuel J. Palmisano, the current CEO, IBM; initially joined the company in the position of a salesman. With his determination and marketing strategies he achieved the position that he currently occupies (Spooner, 2002). Though it  is unusual for a CEO’s profile, but in IBM, growth of the organisation and the people working for it are directly proportionate to performances led in the field and the adoption of the marketing strategies which respond adequately to competitive pressures. Global context in IBM marketing planning In the global context, IBM has proved itself as a strong contender by managing to sustain in the most difficult situations. It has overcome the twists and turns it initially faced in adjusting to the ‘bricks-and-clicks’ business structure. Overcoming all the hurdles IBM is now achieving milestones through the advantages forwarded by brick-and-click enterprises. It is through this enterprise structure that IBM has transformed into a major player in terms of getting hold over global marketing plans. Its formulisations are inclusive of creating a global brand blueprint. It is a mode that usually gets expressed locally and after attaining some success approaches on global grounds. IBM always follows the process of establishing central framework and then architects the relevant consumer experiences to gain consistency with the brand. IBM always concentrates in gaining single view from its consumers and that helps in assessing the risk factors of global marketing strategies (R ometty, 2001). In order to meet the diversified point of views, IBM follows the structure noted below; Process of analysing the context of ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ the appropriate and relevant customer data can be collected. This is an approach that is done under the provision of practical market survey. The means to create absolute governance framework with special attentions led over management policies and overall practices. These are the sources that are collected through the purpose of encouraging customer centricity added by the scope to safeguard customer privacy. Approaches led by institute consistent processes for target customer is the next step. In this process the relationship led by the management across all the domains of sales and provided services of the organisation are scrutinized professionally. The process of appointing efficient team leaders and strong management initiators. IBM also appoints a leader who can perform as a single customer advocate and is very much accountable for all the sorted touch points. The marketing strategies adopted by IBM to meet global demands and competitions are well inclusive of a robust infrastructure. It has the provision for optimising flexibility and  a hub-and-spoke architecture for collecting consumer demands on global arena. There is also well marked acknowledgement for all the innovative ways adopted by the partners of IBM. Developments attain by the partners of IBM in global terms is also directly related to the marketing strategies followed by IBM. IBM understands the fact that partners can add much hold over the local market and can reach the consumer with more in-depth formulations. This is the reason that they believe in developing capitalized relationship with these partners for future opportunities. IBM and e-business strategies The motive of any electronic business is to efficiently meet consumer demands through internet networking. The internet provides a medium for businesses to reach out to customers globally at very low costs. It is an exclusive means adopted through the dealings related to information and communication technologies. In case of IBM the role of e-business is very strong. Through e-business strategies, IBM is equipping itself with all kinds of external activities and is applying determined relationships for respective business dealings; with individuals, diversified groups and corporate clients. According to ‘Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?’; a book by a former CEO of IBM, Louis Gerstner (2003), IBM’ approach for e-Business strategies is handled by specialised e – business teams operating under IBM’s marketing department. It is through its e-business strategies that IBM is able to link its internal as well as external data processing systems with greater efficiency and flexibility. E-business helped IBM in reaching closer to its consumers, conveying the message of reliability and in urn enhancing customer loyalty to the brand. The proceedings led by IBM for the development and implementation of e-business concentrate on the diversified functions occurring through electronic capabilities. IBM is also a part of the entire value chain proceeding for more profitable dominance over the local as well as global market. There are some predominant sectors where the e-business strategies are applied to gain more trust and money from the consumer. These activities are noted below; electronic purchasing supply chain management processing orders electronically handling customer service cooperating with business partners These proceedings add special technical standards in the e-business structure of IBM. The firm also utilises e-business strategies to exchange of data between its partners and associate companies. As a matter of fact the e-business strategies of IBM are not much different from the other marketing strategies. The basic difference however depends over the expansion of management for sending and receiving contracts from the consumer. It is under this strategic implementation that IBM has adopted many local dealers to be a part of its services. These dealers are of course selected through some professional modes. The reputations of these dealers are marked by IBM first before offering the partnership. In terms of services for each product sold through e-business, IBM provides appropriate training to all those people who are a part of this structure. With strategic planning IBM is also into the dealings related to integrated intra and inter firm business proceedings. Conclusion From the above discussions, it can be derived that the marketing strategies adopted by IBM are built on the structure of trust – based marketing, defence marketing warfare, product differentiation and diversification marketing strategies. It is through the appropriate use of these theoretical approaches that IBM has established itself very strongly in the traditional marketplace as well as in the burgeoning online marketplace. IBM strives at fulfilling the needs and expectations of its customers and in enhancing customer trust and loyalty. The products and services provided by IBM can guarantee their utility to the customer’s satisfaction. In a nutshell, IBM is a courageous risk – taker that places great emphasis on innovative ideas for further growth. In line, the firm explores the consumer’s domain through proper hold over local and global proceedings. References Emerson, W.P. (1996) Building IBM: Shaping the Industry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Gerst, Louis V. (2003) Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Leading a Great Enterprise through Dramatic Change. Harper Paperback Ham, A. and Rastelli, L.G. (2002) Marketing – Essential techniques and strategies geared towards results, John Wiley and Sons Inc, USA. IBM Global Business Services, http://www-935.ibm.com/services/uk/index.wss/home [retrieved on 19th Nov. 2009] Kurtz, D. L. and Boone, L.E. (2006) Principles of Marketing, 12th edn, Thomson South-western, USA. Ries, A. and Trout, J. (2005) Marketing warfare, Pearson, UK. Rifkin, J. (2000) The Age of Access, Putnum Books, New York Rometty, Ginni (2001) Five marketing tips for the digital age. http://www.935.ibm.com/services/au/index.wss/ibvstudy/igs/a1006209?cntxt=a1005848 [retrieved on 19th Nov. 2009] Spooner, John G. (2002) IBM meets lowered estimates. Staff Writer, CNET News April 17, 2002 http://news.cnet.com/IBM-meets-lowered-estimates/2100-1014_3-885259.htm [retrieved on 20th Nov. 2009] Find out more from UK Essays here: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/marketing-strategies-of-ibm.php#ixzz3JFUjpwpr

Neolithic Revolution Essay

The Neolithic Revolution was a fundamental change in the way people lived. The shift from hunting & gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations. It was a revolution of achieving social and technological advances, while economic, political, and social changes resulted from the rise of cities, allowing the ability to support an increasingly large population. Therefore, the Neolithic Revolution led to the seven traits of civilization. Prior to the Neolithic Revolution’s transformations, people were forced to hunt for their own food. This resulted in humans following their food sources’ trail, whether it be hunting an animal, or essential natural resources. Because of the fact that people were constantly shifting from area to area based on their food, this labeled them as nomads; people who did not have a permanent home or residence. Due to the lack of food, there was a small population. Then, gradually, the Neolithic Revolution began to take place at different times and different places, a time period where humans shifted from gathering and hunting food to producing it. People began domesticating animals to provide food, as well as plants and crops, which varied depending on climate. As a result of domestication, agriculture began to take form. Agriculture is the farming of animals and plants, which made life easier and enabled people to remain in the same place. These were some of the building block s for civilization that took place during the Neolithic Revolution. Agriculture led to villages because farming encouraged the formation of larger and more stable communities than had existed before Neolithic times. Most hunting humans moved in small groups containing no more than 60 individuals who could not settle in a single spot lest the game run out. With settled agriculture the constraints changed. Communities developed around the cleared and improved fields. Now that food was plentiful and able to be harvested, population strongly increased. With more people and a lack  of diverse jobs, specialization of labor was developed when men and women became artisans, growing increasingly productive and creative. This occurred since farmers grew all the food, and not everyone had to be a farmer. Gradually, humans became innovative and improved quality and numbers of their products. People were slowly yet steadily continuing to progress towards the seven traits of civilization. Specialization of labor began to then lead to the seven traits of civilization. As villages evolved into cities and became more complex, many new jobs developed. For instance, officials gathered taxes, engineers planned irrigation systems, and soldiers defended city walls, resulting in government and military. As life in cities grew increasingly complex, people began to keep permanent records and developed writing. Other humans became skilled artisans who devoted their time to crafts such as baskets, metalwork, or pottery, while others built large public works such as temples or buildings. This was the development of art and architecture. Religion then resulted from things people could not explain, with early civilizations which had formal religious institutions that included ceremonies, rituals, and other forms of worship. As urban societies developed institutions and specialized labor, a social order developed based on people’s occupations, wealth, and influence. Due to their experience with agriculture, humans of the Neolithic Revolution then improved their farming systems and advanced their personal resources to be more productive. As shown, all of the seven traits were a result of the Neolithic Revolution, and led to civilization. The Neolithic Revolution caused the seven traits to take effect. If it weren’t for those traits, we may still be undeveloped nomads today. Having taken a huge step towards modern society, the early humans who lived during the Neolithic Revolution were hard at work in learning how to start a civilization. They have given up their nomadic days and discovered the advantages to settling down in one area. No longer were lives at risk every day. The Neolithic Revolution was the first step in building a modern society where humans can live in peace and not worry about betting on their lives for days’ worth of food and finally able to rest their minds without worry. The Neolithic Revolution was a crucial part of human history and  without it, we would not have civilization.

Should the gun laws be strikter Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Should the gun laws be strikter - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, many people support strict gun control that includes background checks and mandatory handgun registration; even though, it may hinder law-abiding citizens from owning guns. There is need for strict regulation of firearms manufacture and sale in order to intensify gun safety and limit delinquents from obtaining firearms and includes also policies aimed at preventing youngsters from accessing guns to lessen their violence with guns(Gallup Summary 10). Proponents of firearm restriction believe that it improves public safety since it encourages great responsibility among gun owners and offer police great method of tracing stolen firearms (Newport 11). However, antagonists maintain that the scheme is not viable stating that it forms an expensive and additional federal bureaucracy. In July 2012, Colorado experienced dreadful mass killing in a movie theater, and many of the guns including assault weapons and semiautomatic handguns used by recent mass murders were obtained lega lly, similar to the AR-15 assault rifle used to blast victims in the dark movie theater. Many people support strict gun control since most of the reported, violent gun shootings occur in the public place (Newport 6). Majority of the public favor restriction of guns to people convicted for publicly displaying firearms in ways that are threatening; moreover, people favor restriction for concealing and carrying a firearm without permit. The support for strict firearm restriction has been strong in the past few years; with majority of people endorsing police permit for a person who needs to purchase a gun. Thus, the promising response for the shooting would be one that emphasizes the keeping of guns away from criminals and dangerous people. Furthermore, a wide range of measures that regulate firearms and strictly punish people who violate gun laws should be put in place, especially after the unthinkable nightmare at Connecticut elementary school (Carlson 2). Even though, strict gun cont rol has high chances of succeeding if framed as crime control instead of gun control, the NRA (National Rifle Association) lobby thrives on controversy and does not compromise. Tightening faulty federal background checks ought to be top priority, since no serious individual would object to coordinated and computerized record checks that hinder the sale of firearms to domestic-violence misdemeanants, felons and people formally deemed to be mentally ill. Enactment of reforms may not deter determined school shooters from accessing weapons from the black market. Even with an improved background check system, the system could have failed to hinder the Newtown shooter from accessing his mother’s legally obtained gun, since mass killers tend to be young men with deranged minds but who prepare carefully. Moreover, according to Barrett (41) some of these criminals have clean records prior to committing such offences with some obtaining guns from friends and relatives; nevertheless, fi xing background checks are worth doing, since they may deter some criminals and imposition of the 2nd Amendment rights would be minimal. The wake of elementary school massacre in Newtown Connecticut, there was a renewed ban on assault weapons with proponents

Discussion Board Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discussion Board - Coursework Example However, the human resource management must make an informed decision pertaining to the award of discretional benefits. The early retirement of employees has merits and demerits to an organization. Therefore, the management must be certain that a decision taken will lead to benefit the organization. The move usually helps in the reduction of anxiety concerning post-employment benefits. Moreover, the initiative benefits the firm given that it spends fewer employees compare to post-retirement benefits. The payment for time not worked affords the employees time for sick leaves, vacations, holidays and bereavement time (Beam and MacFadden, 2010). The benefit is ideal given that it indirectly boosts the performance of the employees. Moreover, it also acts as a performance appraisal time. The work of the employees is reviewed while they are away; hence, the payment for time not worked is a benefit to the company. Additionally, the paid vacations provide the employees with time for rejuvena tion and reflection on their goals while working in the firm. The premium pay also motivates the employees because it is a direct compensation for working in adverse conditions and working for long hours. Therefore, discretionary benefits boost the performance appraisal of employees. Specialized insurance benefits are offered when the clients are faced with emergencies. The benefits enhance a client’s financial security and preparedness for future events. The employment insurance benefits help the clients who have lost their jobs inadvertently. Employees can lose their jobs due to many factors, including a shortage of work and massive layoffs especially during organizational restructuring exercise. According to McCall (2014), specialized insurance benefits are also awarded to the employees when they have no alternative pertaining to the job vacancies. Additionally, clients can be guaranteed outpatient care when the insurance benefits pertaining to health care

William Hill Plc acquired 624 betting shops of Stanley Leisure an Coursework

William Hill Plc acquired 624 betting shops of Stanley Leisure an Evaluation - Coursework Example The researcher states that there are different forms of growth approaches that companies generally follow. Typically if a company wants to make growth, then in such circumstances the company has two choices whether to go for an organic growth or to go for acquisition or a combination of both. For organic growth, the companies generally expand their business operations by opening up new branches, adding up new product lines etc. On the other hand, for acquisitions, the companies generally purchase an existing business such that the company owns that business and in this way it brings expansion in its existing business operations. Capital budgeting is a tool which is used to evaluate the financial viability of the projects whether in the form of organic growth or in acquisitions. In this technique the future cash flows are estimated including both the outflows and the inflows pertaining to that project after which net cash flows are computed. Those net cash flows are discounted by a re levant cost of capital of the company to arrive at the present values of all the net cash flows. Those net cash flows are then summed up to obtain the Net Present Value of the project. The NPV is then used as a tool to decide whether a project is feasible or not such that if the NPV figure is positive, then the project should be accepted and if it comes as a negative figure, then that project is advised as not to be accepted. Capital budgeting also has some other related criteria for checking the viability of the projects. ... The NPV is then used as a tool to decide whether a project is feasible or not such that if the NPV figure is positive, then the project should be accepted and if it comes as a negative figure, then that project is advised as not to be accepted. Capital budgeting also has some other related criteria for checking the viability of the projects. Those criteria include Internal Rate of Return, Profitability Index, Discounted Payback and other similar techniques. Most of these techniques work on the basic principle of discounted cash flows. These financial projections and the computation of NPV are generally prepared by the finance departments of the companies and they are used for internal reporting purposes. Those kinds of information are not disclosed to the general public because these valuations can certainly influence the share price of the company as there are likelihoods that investors may welcome those valuations and in this way share prices can be increased. If the valuations are not consistent with shareholders’ expectations, then there comes a decline in the share prices. If the projects are not likely to influence the existing operations and financial results of the company, then the shareholders might remain indifferent as to which way they should react. In case of acquisitions, generally when the terms and conditions of the purchase are settled, then some of the details of the proposed acquisitions are disclosed to the shareholders. The company does not provide them the comprehensive financial prospects and projections of the acquisition deal, rather it provides the necessary information to the shareholders such as purchase price, amount of goodwill, total amount of synergies that can be obtained from the acquisition, the capital

Final exam Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Final exam Questions - Essay Example -Training and development of human resource: The analysis is used to examine the employees’ needs in training and development of processes. The variation between the actual and expected output influences the degree of training required by employees. It also enables in determination of training tools content, and equipment to be used in training and those training methods to be put to use. -Employee compensation management: job analysis plays a key role in determining payment packages, benefits, variable and fixed incentives and extra perks of employees.   These payments depend on the  responsibilities and duties, position and job titles involved in specific jobs.   Job design: The key purpose of analysis is development   in human recourse efforts and releasing the best output. It assists in designing, enriching, redesigning and adding or cutting back extra duties and responsibilities in a specific job. This ensures employee satisfaction  as well as increased human output In lateral career path, employees move to equivalent duties and responsibilities in an organization. This move is usually with a similar job title and salary range at a similar level. In this career path, the employee’s job responsibilities change hence affording the employees new chances. The company should notify all the interested and qualified workers through internal memos. The notification should include job title, description and relevant qualifications for each. It should also notify employees the method of applications, deadline of application and the dates of interviews. All the application letters should be checked and sorted. The application letters that meet the criteria of selection should be listed and applicants notified. The applicants who did not meet the criteria for selection should be notified politely. It eliminates those candidates that fail to qualify as per the criteria set by the organization. The candidate is

Race and gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Race and gender - Essay Example Political access is a matter of social class, too: although all individuals, regardless of their social status, are granted the individual right to vote and express their political interests, political power opportunities directly depend on social status. Therefore, social status and position is the direct prerequisite for meeting one’s economic and social objectives and the principal factor of one’s individual and professional success. The growing number of women in the labor force has already become a routine reality. More and more women are becoming executives, entrepreneurs, and specialists in various fields of professional performance. The reasons why women seek to increase their participation in the labor market are varied, but there are at least five common factors that make them choose their housework orientation and enter the labor market. First, female participation in the labor market has already become the source of â€Å"enhanced† social status and even prestige among women (Lim 204). Women consider their participation in the labor market as status enhancing and want to be perceived as advanced members of their society (Lim 203). Secondly, better access to education drives women to become employed: for many of them, their participation in the labor market is the principal instrument of professional self-realization. Third, female participation in the labor market is an additional guarantee of their independence and autonomy. Fifth, women’s increased participation in the labor force helps to resolve the ongoing conflict between female productive and reproductive roles – put simply, women choose a definite path of individual development, which they are willing to pursue (Lim 204). Some occupations are predominantly female, whereas some are predominantly male. These differences in professional male-female domination are not easy to explain, but several answers are possible. First, individuals