Executive Summary

Executive Summary Executive Summary For Wingate systems to work, a relationship marketing model can be used via e-commerce to increase success. To most, it would seem late in the game to begin assessing whether continuous relationship marketing (CRM) can work in e-commerce. In the decade or so since the issue first arose, several things have become apparent, not least of which is that simply segmenting a market to serve different populations of customers, especially online customers, is inadequate. In fact, relationship marketing has been defined, since the 1980s, as â€Å"attracting, maintaining, andin multi-service organizationsenhancing customer relationships,† (Stern, 1997) In addition, â€Å"the reality of customers forming relationships with people rather than [with] goods† is what drove it, and made it a key source of benefits to the firm. (Stern, 1997) For traditional relationship marketing to work as it should in any organization, all other business parameters also need to be in place. Recently, this has been identified in a forward-looking model as a â€Å"holistic, dynamic and dialectical† model. (Chang, 2004) Not surprisingly, this model was developed in an Asian developing economy context. The author noted that local firms in developing countries need to be creative in developing e-business strategies because they are operating in under-developed e-business environments. It that is true for relationship marketing success in developing countries, it should, therefore, be even more valuable to mature organizations operating in mature business environments. E-business is sometimes identified as the â€Å"convergence of digital technology, intellectual property and customer supremacy† (Chang, 2004) and it emphasizes the interconnectedness of both the hardware and human capital functions within any company that wants to be successful in using CRM in an e-business environment. Done right, it will transcend â€Å"the traditional boundaries of space, time, individuals and organizations.† (Chang, 2004) Introduction Despite the dot-com failures of the recent past, few would doubt that e-business is a main driver of the new and future economy globally. It is also safe to assume that relationship marketing began its development when bricks-and-mortar businesses were able to operate without substantial Internet presence. Then, it was ‘relationship marketing, and depended on such things as ‘personal bankers, and ‘personal shoppers, and arguably, within each organization that had added the relationship marketing function, it was viewed as a ‘must have but with little relative impact on the bottom line. However, three things entered the business arena that made it paramount for relationship marketing to become both continuous (CRM) and integrated into the business structures. Those three things were the development of digital technologies, the importance of intellectual property, and â€Å"customer supremacy,† defined as customization of product/service and reduced cycle time. (Chang, 2004) E-business has altered prior relationships so that the complex of digital technology, intellectual property and customer supremacy when integrated with business activities makes conventional rules of business obsolete. â€Å"E-business seems to have the capability to change the competitive landscapes in the traditional industries, create new industries, and affect the configuration and coordination of firm-level business activities, especially such external activities as customer relationship management†¦..† (Chang, 2004) Companies that use e-commerce successfully within the holistic CRM paradigm will necessarily have integrated all these elements rather than treating each as a separate profit center or line item, with convergence merely found on the balance sheet and not in the conduct of the business itself. Background Organizational form, business model and strategy have been considered the framework of commerce. In the holistic viewpoint, there are only two factors, business configuration and business coordination. In this context, business configuration is used to mean the scope of business coverage by a company, what was once known as strategy. Business coordination refers to the style of business relationships both within a company and with its customers and suppliers. (Chang, 2004) If these two components of business are used in a truly holistic manner, the result will be virtually zero distance between customers and suppliers, zero inventory and (near) zero working capital. In short, the relationship marketing function will have made the company—whether a product- or service-based business—into a simply go-between. The profit comes from performing the service of obtaining supplies that become product or service, ‘warehousing that product or service only minimally, and transmitting it to the customer. Obviously, the trick to it all is knowing the suppliers and customers well enough that there is no additional negotiation needed and order and payment change hands almost simultaneously. For this, e-commerce would seem ideally suited. Strategies Intimacy model A second new thrust identified in relationship marketing is the intimacy model of relationship marketing. Personal sales, the traditional basis for relationship marketing, occur in real time. In some respects, so do e-commerce sales, with the difference that they are not happening in a ‘real place but rather a virtual storefront. That advertising—communication through a nonpersonal medium—is essential to e-commerce relationships brings into the equation the theory of intimacy. Some researchers regard evaluation of customer intimacy as a business concept as important as the holistic model. (Stern, 1997) Intimacy theory â€Å"accounts for the influence of emotion in relationships as well as that of cognition (feelings as well as thoughts).† It also allows insight into the deterioration of relationships, and finally, it â€Å"emphasizes the association between relationship stages and persuasive communication that enhances the services firms ability to apply relationship management to advertising as well as to personal sales.† (Stern, 1997) Because e-commerce is a blending of all of these elements, but not in the presence of a ‘live intermediary, it may be useful to consider whether these factors are included in ecommerce relationship marketing today, or only in ‘bricks and mortar settings (Theodosiou, M. and Leonidou, L.C., 2003). Five bases of intimacy in relationship marketing Just as Chang identified two elements to the setting in which relationship marketing can occur and be holistic, Stern identifies five components of intimacy in relationship marketing (Vorhies, D.W. and Morgan, N.A., 2003). Communication and sympathetic listening This includes self-disclosure, a willingness to share personal or attitudinal information. In the relationship-selling arena, the communication will generally be one way, from customer to company. The listener, in this case the company, must provide the sympathetic, that is, non-judgmental, listening. In that way, the customer reveals needs and desires and the company builds trust. So, â€Å"relationships in which a consumer tells all to a non-disclosing partner are perceived as intimate as long as the partner communicates a sympathetic attitude to what is being told.† (Stern, 1997) â€Å"Advertisements aimed at conveying sympathetic listening transform one-way media communication (that is, non-interactive messages) into a representation of responsiveness,† Stern adds. (1997) An example she gives is direct mail and online marketer Lands Ends headline, â€Å"Well knock ourselves out for you.† The copy reads, â€Å"Ever since we started doing business back in 1963 . . . weve done our level best to satisfy our customers. So you can be sure that whenever you call, well do whatever it takes to satisfy you, in our friendly Wisconsin way.† (Quoted by Stern , 1997) Commitment: Bonding with Consumers. A sense of â€Å"weness† is the belief that each member of a relationship is committed to the welfare of the other. (Stern, 1997) As a customer grows accustomed to positive responses in a business relationship, that feeling develops and they begin to say â€Å"my credit card company† or â€Å"my car dealership.† Stern notes that bonding techniques are an increasingly popular marketing strategy for services marketers attempting to establish long-term bonds with consumers so they can be retained. By 1997, it had been ascertained that retention beat prospecting in terms of profitability. (Stern, 1997) This goes so far as to allow a firm to lose money, be design, on a particular transaction in order to retain the customer. In a credit-card relationship, this might include waiving a fee for a late payment when it was clearly an oddity in the customers usual behavior. Caring and Giving Altruism is the watchword here, and not demands for reciprocity, even though it is a ‘relationship. Companies carrying out relationship marketing can activate perception of this by basing decisions and reactions on a â€Å"needs rule rather than an equity rule† to establish a closer mental association. (Stern, 1007) This has been successfully used in financial services POS advertising. Chase Manhattan Bank used a message at the bottom of its ATM receipts that said, â€Å"Chase give you 6 other ways to connect.† (Stern, 1997) So, even though it was an impersonal, practically an online, setting, and the ‘reach out factor was present. But the appearance was that the bank cared enough about all users of its ATMs to offer the information, at least. Comfort (Compatibility) A consumers sense of security in a relationship is central to retention. In dealing with service firms, consumers have been found to â€Å"evaluate their level of comfort†¦. on the dimension of mutual engagement in a joint venture.† (Stern, 1997) The vocabulary of intimacy is used in advertising to create this image. For example, New England Life positioned itself as â€Å"Your Financial Partner,† and showed images of three-generations meeting, conveying an image of long-term relationships. (Stern, 1997) Conflict Resolution and Trust This is a sort of last-ditch tactic in any relationship-marketing program. Although at times conflict may be inevitable, even in a well-maintained relationship, conflict resolution and problem-solving abilities including skill in listening, negotiation, and conciliation are essential to maintaining relationship marketing. (Stern, 1997) How possible this is in an e-commerce setting, especially in a service such as credit, might be problematical. There must, then, be a mechanism to resolve conflicts satisfactorily (Doty, D.H., Glick, W.H. and Huber, 1993). Campaigns: Advertising and Subscription How does a not-so-well known company show what they have, or how does a known company attack new segments seeking more consumer attention? Since the rolls on the net became voiceovers, the consumer retrieves what it wants, and the producer has to be hunted. The advertising model is based on using creative advertising banners and links in very frequented web-pages. Some companies have successfully advertised their new products and services through this system making sure their ads are more creative and attractive for the roaming eyes of the consumer (Gupta, A.K. and Govindarajan, 1991). The biggest winner here though, is the page that offers that space. Search engines like Amazon or Yahoo have made big use of this model. All the services they offer (e.g. chats, games, e-mail, search engine etc.) are for free, charging companies for the use of space for ads on their Web-pages. The more frequented a page is the more it costs to display an ad. Companies starting to use this model are def initely at an advantage for their present position and the its cost. Wingate proposes to use this model to advertise its latest concepts and designs (DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W., 1993). Wingate therefore plans to use the intimacy model and combine it with both the subscription model and the advertising model in order to market its product. The Subscription Model has become a very popular model with a high range of success. By subscribing in any service or company on the net, all your given information is stored on a special data base that is used to classify users. With this data-base that has all the records of visited products and purchases, the providers are able to target the visitors on a more personal basis. An example of this is Hotmail. Hotmail is not only one of the most popular, free e-mail services, but it also belongs to Microsoft. The new way to link the customer to the wanted page can also be manipulated by the new Passport system of Hotmail (Gresov, C. and Drazin, 1997). All the information given in subscription to Hotmail is automatically transferred to other services Microsoft offers. Say you entered, your hobby is to travel, therefore you will get e-mails about travel with new offers on where to fly, it also facilitates one with the advantage of not having to re-enter all their personal details all over again when subscribing in a new company run by Microsoft. This model is very powerful and it does not end there, consumers are followed through their life cycle becoming aware of what the company has to offer to the specific consumers. It is more likely that a father will consider the idea of a family insurance rather than a child. For the child, the company will target for example new bikes. This model divides the segments even further, making sure that the consumer feels special, with not costing much extra. Therefore, it will be important to start a database of existing customers and retain their information in order to provide them with updates of Wingates latest offers and ideas. Furthermore, a website could be setup and advertised to allow individuals to know about this subscription service if they would like to sign up for information. More information about how this concept can be advertised overall is discussed below in the basic advertising model. Controls Wingate plans to budget $3000-$5000 for monthly advertising. The idea will be to run banner ads on various websites for a fee, and to also advertise on pay per click websites such as Google adwords. Other Internet marketing companies can also be hired to keep keywords high on the search engine lists. Below is a chart demonstrating this. References Bielski, Lauren. (2001). â€Å"Making the customer relationship work.† ABA Banking Journal, 93(3). Chang, Steven Tung-lung. (2004). â€Å"A holistic framework of e-business strategy: the case of Haier in China.† Journal of Global Information Management, 1 April. DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W. (1993) The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields, American Sociological Review 48(2): 147-160. Doty, D.H., Glick, W.H. and Huber, G.P. (1993) Fit, equifinality, and organizational effectiveness: a test of two configurational theories, Academy of Management Journal 36(6): 1196-1250. Gresov, C. and Drazin, R. (1997) Equifinality: functional equivalence in organization design, Academy of Management Review 22(2): 403-428. Gupta, A.K. and Govindarajan, V. (1991) Knowledge flows and the structure of control within multinational corporations, Academy of Management Review 16(4): 768-792. Ohung, Sungmi and Mike Sherman. (2002). â€Å"Emerging Marketing: Companies dont need state-of-the-art tools, huge volumes of customer information, and armies of experts to use continuous relationship marketing effectively.† The McKinsey Quarterly, 62+. Stern, Barbara B. (1997). â€Å"Advertising Intimacy: Relationship marketing and the services consumer.† Journal of Advertising, 26 (4), 7+. Theodosiou, M. and Leonidou, L.C. (2003) Standardization versus adaptation of international marketing strategy: an integrative assessment of the empirical research, International Business Review 12(2): 141-1 71.

Psychology Coursework Essay

We have studied various aspects of organization, its structure, strategy, effectiveness, changes and other aspects. Study of organizations by psychologists has attained much importance in recent times. The broad study includes perception, attitudes, motivation, and interpersonal relationships among members. Every organization is a group of members working towards a common goal. Every organisation has a structure and purpose. It may be a social, political, or a commercial organisation or one for any other purpose. Psychologists ‘research in this field assumes much importance so that suggestions can be ade and implemented for obtaining the optimum results . Several theories are proposed with regard to organizations. M L Blum states that group theory views that associations and human affiliations are primary work motivators in a group. He states that the degree of cooperation in a primary group is critical for its success. So we find that all the members’ contribution go to achieve the goal. So it is essential that each member is properly motivated. Regarding the question put forth about the factors inhibiting or supporting performance,  It can be said that a person could have achieved one part of his target but might have not achieved in another of the same task. The major reason for achieving could be motivation. Among the various factors which go to contribute to achievement , motivation has the great role. The very formation of a group brings in motivation in its members. Clifford T Morgan puts in that motivations are inferences from behaviour. We can never observe motivation but can infer their existence. Motivation ,according to him is a powerful tool for explaining behaviour. Incentive motivation like wages, bonus play a major role in the group work. A member has to be motivated according to his needs. It makes common sense to say that When a person’s needs are taken care of, his performance would increase. Various studies have shown that a person may have upto thirty seven needs. Anyway they can be classified into biological and socio psychological needs. The first one is about his body’s necessities like food, nutrition, rest and so on. The next one is about security, freedom, care, recognition, approval , self respect and so on. It can be safely deducted that any achievement or non achievement can be attributed to the above causes. As an Industrial psychologist, his role would be to ensure that all or atleast most of the motivations are taken care of. This would bring in the best results. Having studied the lesson , we have gained in depth knowledge about the various dimensions about groups. The author goes in detail about the need for changes in groups that is, introduction of new ideas or behaviour due to current technological; changes, global competition and so on. It is suggested in many experiments that resistance would occur for adopting any changes. This can be measured by survey feed backs. The most mportant factor making implementation difficult would be insecure feeling among members particularly if the group is one of working group. It may be a fear of losing jobs or fear of inability to cope with the new methods of work. Let us now take the example of failure to perceive benefits stated in the Lesson. as a reason for resistance for changes. This failure is due to lack of information about the changes. The member is unaware of the reasons or the mode of changes. So communication is essential from the highest level to the lowest level and vice versa. The changes proposed have to be iscussed and analysed with all the members . Their views heard and clarified and convinced. . This gives them the feeling of importance. This again goes on to motivate the member. David G Myers emphasizes the need for group discussions where ideas are pooled and discussed jointly. Just hearing to a person’s arguments is of no use. Active participation brings in better attitude change than merely listening passively. Again ,this may bring in more resistance arguments but a thorough debate with proper information will ultimately result in the members understanding the benefits of the change and being convinced . The industrial psychologist has to see that the members are given assurance of their benefits and all apprehensions removed. Let us now imagine what a person would talk to the CEO if just a few minutes are at his disposal. An Assistant Regional Sales Manager would probably assure the CEO on the lines that his department would welcome changes . He would be keen on impressing the CEO in the short time. He would even go to suggest ignoring resistance and going ahead with changes. He would not miss to suggest a salary hike to all along with changes , which would be beneficial to the organization.

Personal Statement My Personal Experience - 2253 Words

The purpose behind this paper will cover my individual experiences getting into the ranks of a Non Commissioned Officer in the midst of my road to transform into a Command Sergeant Major. This paper will serve as a noteworthy report giving positive records of my journey in the mission of boosting my dream and gold to attain the top. This paper will address the positives and the learning experiences I take away as I climb the ladder as a Non Commissioned Officer in the military. It will in like manner depict my part in the midst of this enterprise. To spare the paramount estimation of my experiences, an organized understanding in the midst of this period will contain do’s, don ts and lessons learned. My personal experience as a Non Commissioned Officer in the military and my growth as a Non Commission Officer, my career started on 25 March 1988, it all started with my lifelong dream of being a Soldier. My next-door neighbor was a Sergeant in the Army, every day when he got home, I would sit and chat with him, I was no older than eight years old, I remembered him, saying, â€Å"Curtis, I can tell you will join the service in ten years from now, because every day you produce different questions regarding the military.† Trust me this was every single day would be a series of questions prepared for him when he gets home. I must say that he was the most patient man I had ever met in my life because not once has he ever get tired of me asking him questions, as far as I canShow MoreRelatedPersonal Statement : My Personal Experience866 Words   |  4 PagesMy passion is to help others who have been in abusive relationships and because of my personal and professional exper iences, I believe I possess the abilities to make a difference in someone’s life. The combination of my experiences had provided me important skills necessary to have a career in the helping field. 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VB.NET What Happened to Control Arrays

The omission of control arrays from VB.NET is a challenge for those teaching about arrays. No longer is it possible to simply copy a control, such as a textbox, and then paste it (once or several times) to create a control array.The VB.NET code for creating a structure similar to a control array has been, in all the books on VB.NET that I have bought and online, much longer and much more complex. It lacks the simplicity of coding a control array that is found in VB6. If you reference the VB6 compatibility library, there are objects in there that act pretty much like control arrays. To see what I mean, simply use the VB.NET upgrade wizard with a program that contains a control array. The code is ugly again, but it works. The bad news is that Microsoft will not guarantee that the compatibility components will continue to be supported, and youre not supposed to use them. The VB.NET code to create and use control arrays is much longer and much more complex. According to Microsoft, to do something even close to what you can do in VB 6 requires the creation a simple component that duplicates control array functionality. You need both a new class and a hosting form to illustrate this.  The class actually creates and destroys new labels. The complete class code is as follows: Public Class LabelArray      Inherits System.Collections.CollectionBase      Private ReadOnly HostForm As _  Ã‚     System.Windows.Forms.Form      Public Function AddNewLabel() _  Ã‚     As System.Windows.Forms.Label            Create a new instance of the Label class.            Dim aLabel As New System.Windows.Forms.Label            Add the Label to the collections  Ã‚      internal list.            Me.List.Add(aLabel)            Add the Label to the Controls collection   Ã‚  Ã‚            of the Form referenced by the HostForm field.            HostForm.Controls.Add(aLabel)            Set intial properties for the Label object.            aLabel.Top Count * 25            aLabel.Width 50            aLabel.Left 140            aLabel.Tag Me.Count            aLabel.Text Label Me.Count.ToString            Return aLabel      End Function       Public Sub New( _  Ã‚     ByVal host As System.Windows.Forms.Form)            HostForm host            Me.AddNewLabel()      End Sub      Default Public ReadOnly Property _            Item(ByVal Index As Integer) As _            System.Windows.Forms.Label            Get                  Return CType(Me.List.Item(Index), _  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     System.Windows.Forms.Label)            End Get      End Property      Public Sub Remove()            Check to be sure there is a Label to remove.            If Me.Count 0 Then                  Remove the last Label added to the array  Ã‚                  from the host form controls collection.  Ã‚  Ã‚            Note the use of the default property in  Ã‚                  accessing the array.                  HostForm.Controls.Remove(Me(Me.Count - 1))                  Me.List.RemoveAt(Me.Count - 1)            End If      End SubEnd Class To illustrate how this class code would be used, you could create a Form that calls it. You would have to use the code shown below in the form: Public Class Form1 Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form #Region Windows Form Designer generated code Also you must add the statement: MyControlArray New LabelArray(Me) after the InitializeComponent() call in the hidden Region code. Declare a new ButtonArray object. Dim MyControlArray As LabelArray Private Sub btnLabelAdd_Click( _ ByVal sender As System.Object, _ ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ Handles btnLabelAdd.Click Call the AddNewLabel method of MyControlArray. MyControlArray.AddNewLabel() Change the BackColor property of the Button 0. MyControlArray(0).BackColor _ System.Drawing.Color.Red End Sub Private Sub btnLabelRemove_Click( _ ByVal sender As System.Object, _ ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ Handles btnLabelRemove.Click Call the Remove method of MyControlArray. MyControlArray.Remove() End Sub End Class First, this doesnt even do the job at Design Time like we used to do it in VB 6! And second, they arent in an array, they are in a VB.NET Collection - a much different thing than an array. The reason VB.NET doesnt support the VB 6 control array is that there is no such thing as a control array (note the change of quotation marks). VB 6 creates a collection behind-the-scenes and makes it appear as an array to the developer. But its not an array and you have little control over it beyond the functions provided through the IDE. VB.NET, on the other hand, calls it what it is: a collection of objects. And they hand the keys to the kingdom to the developer by creating the whole thing right out in the open. As an example of the kind of advantages this gives the developer, in VB 6 the controls had to be of the same type, and they had to have the same name. Since these are just objects in VB.NET, you can make them different types and give them different names and still manage them in the same collection of objects. In this example, the same Click event handles two buttons and a checkbox and displays which one was clicked. Do that in one line of code with VB 6! Private Sub MixedControls_Click( _      ByVal sender As System.Object, _      ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _      Handles Button1.Click, _                  Button2.Click, _                  CheckBox1.Click      The statement below has to be one long statement!      Its on four lines here to keep it narrow      enough to fit on a web page      Label2.Text   Ã‚      Microsoft.VisualBasic.Right(sender.GetType.ToString,  Ã‚      Len(sender.GetType.ToString) -  Ã‚      (InStr(sender.GetType.ToString, Forms) 5))End Sub The substring calculation is kind of complex, but it isnt really what were talking about here. You could do anything in the Click event. You could, for example, use the Type of the control in an If statement to do different things for different controls. Franks Computing Studies Group Feedback on Arrays Franks Study Group provided an example with a form that has 4 labels and 2 buttons. Button 1 clears the labels and Button 2 fills them. Its a good idea to read Franks original question again and notice that the example he used was a loop that is used to clear the Caption property of an array of Label components. Heres the VB.NET equivalent of that VB 6 code. This code does what Frank originally asked for! Public Class Form1 Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form #Region Windows Form Designer generated code Dim LabelArray(4) As Label declare an array of labels Private Sub Form1_Load( _ ByVal sender As System.Object, _ ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ Handles MyBase.Load SetControlArray() End Sub Sub SetControlArray() LabelArray(1) Label1 LabelArray(2) Label2 LabelArray(3) Label3 LabelArray(4) Label4 End Sub Private Sub Button1_Click( _ ByVal sender As System.Object, _ ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ Handles Button1.Click Button 1 Clear Array Dim a As Integer For a 1 To 4 LabelArray(a).Text Next End Sub Private Sub Button2_Click( _ ByVal sender As System.Object, _ ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ Handles Button2.Click Button 2 Fill Array Dim a As Integer For a 1 To 4 LabelArray(a).Text _ Control Array CStr(a) Next End Sub End Class If you experiment with this code, you will discover that in addition to setting properties of the Labels, you can also call methods. So why did I (and Microsoft) go to all the trouble to build the Ugly code in Part I of the article? I have to disagree that its really a Control Array in the classic VB sense. The VB 6 Control Array is a supported part of the VB 6 syntax, not just a technique. In fact, maybe the way to describe this example is that it is an array of controls, not a Control Array. In Part I, I complained that the Microsoft example ONLY worked at run time and not design time. You can add and delete controls from a form dynamically, but the whole thing has to be implemented in code. You cant drag and drop controls to create them like you can in VB 6. This example works mainly at design time and not at run time. You cant add and delete controls dynamically at run time. In a way, its the complete opposite of the Part I example. The classic VB 6 control array example is the same one that is implemented in the VB .NET code. Here in VB 6 code (this is taken from Mezick Hillier, Visual Basic 6 Certification Exam Guide, p 206 - slightly modified, since the example in the book results in controls that cant be seen): Dim MyTextBox as VB.TextBox Static intNumber as Integer intNumber intNumber 1 Set MyTextBox _ Me.Controls.Add(VB.TextBox, _ Text intNumber) MyTextBox.Text MyTextBox.Name MyTextBox.Visible True MyTextBox.Left _ (intNumber - 1) * 1200 But as Microsoft (and I) agree, VB 6 control arrays arent possible in VB.NET. So the best you can do is duplicate the functionality. My article duplicated the functionality found in the Mezick Hillier example. The Study Group code duplicates the functionality of being able to set properties and call methods. So the bottom line is that it really depends on what you want to do. VB.NET doesnt have the whole thing wrapped up as part of the language -- Yet -- but ultimately its far more flexible. John Fannons Take on Control Arrays John wrote:   I needed control arrays because I wanted to put a simple table of numbers on a form at run time. I didnt want the nausea of placing them all individually and I wanted to use VB.NET.  Microsoft offers a very detailed solution to a simple problem, but its a very large sledgehammer to crack a very small nut. After some experimentation, I eventually hit upon a solution. Heres how I did it. The About Visual Basic example above shows how you can create a TextBox on a Form by creating an instance of the object, setting properties, and adding it to the Controls collection that is part of the Form object. Dim txtDataShow As New TextBoxtxtDataShow.Height 19txtDataShow.Width 80txtDataShow.Location New Point(X, Y)Me.Controls.Add(txtDataShow)Although the Microsoft solution creates a Class, I reasoned that it would be possible to wrap all this in a subroutine instead. Every time you call this subroutine you create a new instance of the textbox on the form. Heres the complete code: Public Class Form1      Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form #Region Windows Form Designer generated code       Private Sub BtnStart_Click( _            ByVal sender As System.Object, _            ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _            Handles btnStart.Click             Dim I As Integer            Dim sData As String            For I 1 To 5                  sData CStr(I)                  Call AddDataShow(sData, I)            Next      End Sub      Sub AddDataShow( _            ByVal sText As String, _            ByVal I As Integer)             Dim txtDataShow As New TextBox            Dim UserLft, UserTop As Integer            Dim X, Y As Integer            UserLft 20            UserTop 20            txtDataShow.Height 19            txtDataShow.Width 25            txtDataShow.TextAlign _                  HorizontalAlignment.Center            txtDataShow.BorderStyle _                  BorderStyle.FixedSingle            txtDataShow.Text sText            X UserLft            Y UserTop (I - 1) * txtDataShow.Height            txtDataShow.Location New Point(X, Y)            Me.Controls.Add(txtDataShow)      End SubEnd ClassVery good point, John. This is certainly a lot more simple than the Microsoft code ... so I wonder why they insisted on doing it that way? To begin our investigation, lets try changing one of the property assignments in the code. Lets change txtDataShow.Height 19to txtDataShow.Height 100just to make sure that there is a noticeable difference. When we run the code again, we get ... Whaaaat ... the same thing. No change at all. In fact, you can display the value with a statement like MsgBox (txtDataShow.Height) and you still get 20 as the value of the property no matter what you assign to it. Why does that happen? The answer is that were not deriving our own Class to create the objects, were just adding things to another Class so we have to follow the rules of the other class. And those rules state that you cant change the Height property. (Wellllll ... you can. If you change the Multiline property to True, then you can change the Height.) Why VB.NET goes ahead and executes the code without even a whimper that there might be something wrong when, in fact, it totally disregards your statement is a whole nother gripe. I might suggest at least a warning in the compile, however. (Hint! Hint! Hint! Is Microsoft listening?) The example from Part I inherits from another Class, and this makes the properties available to the code in the inheriting Class. Changing the Height property to 100 in this example gives us the expected results. (Again ... one disclaimer: When a new instance of a large Label component is created, it covers up the old one. To actually see the new Label components, you have to add the method call aLabel.BringToFront().) This simple example shows that, although we CAN simply add objects to another Class (and sometimes this is the right thing to do), programming control over the objects requires that we derive them in a Class and the most organized way (dare I say, the .NET way ) is to create properties and methods in the new derived Class to change things. John remained unconvinced at first. He said that his new approach suits his purpose even though there are limitations from not being COO (Correctly Object Oriented). More recently, however, John wrote, ... after writing a set of 5 textboxes at runtime, I wanted to update the data in a subsequent part of the program - but nothing changed - the original data was still there. I found that I could get round the problem by writing code to take off the old boxes and putting them back again with new data. A better way to do it would be to use Me.Refresh. But this problem has drawn my attention for the need to supply a method to subtract the textboxes as well as add them. Johns code used a global variable to keep track of how many controls had been added to the form so a method ... Private Sub Form1_Load( _     ByVal sender As System.Object, _     ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _     Handles MyBase.Load     CntlCnt0 Me.Controls.CountEnd Sub Then the last control could be removed ... N Me.Controls.Count - 1Me.Controls.RemoveAt(N)John noted that, maybe this is a bit clumsy. Its the way Microsoft keeps track of objects in COM AND in their ugly example code above. Ive now returned to the problem of dynamically creating controls on a form at run time and I have been looking again at the What Happened to Control Arrays articles. I have created the classes and can now place the controls onto the form in the way I want them to be. John demonstrated how to control the placement of controls in a group box using the new classes he has started using. Maybe Microsoft had it right in their ugly solution after all!