Introduction To Strategic Management Business Essay

Introduction To Strategic Management Business Essay Alfred D. Chandler, an American business historian, defined strategy as follows: Strategy is the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out those goals. Here A. Chandler believes that strategy consists of equal importance to defining objectives and goals as it is to providing the measures for attaining them. Strategic management is a consistent level of managerial activity of setting up goals and tactics and ensures a variety of decisions by the top management to successfully achieve those aims or goals in the long term and at the same time providing for adaptive responses in the short term. This provides an overall direction to an organization. The strategic management process consists of three components: Strategic analysis, strategic choices and strategic implementation. These components are vital in a firm as it appraises the business and industries in which the firm is a part of. It also brings about a healthy competition and helps in defining of attainable goals in present and future and also reevaluates each strategy. The Components Of Strategic Management Process, in its plainest sense, is fixing tactical decisions, evaluatin g the strength and recognizing the critical external factors, which may play a part in influencing the position of the firm and also defining the factors that bring about the implementation of a firm through these components. Different from the classic business planning, Strategic management focus involves Mission, Vision and Out-of-the -box thinking. Top management uses strategic management to describe where and when they would want to position their firm in the industry. Strategic planning helps assess the firms opportunities and threats, exposes its strengths and weaknesses as well as encourages the firm to adapt. A SWOT analysis, strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats, is an excellent way to help develop a strategic plan. Like used by many Fortune 500 companies, these four components pose as the building blocks of a strategic plan for a firms existence. Similarly, PEST analysis (Political, Environmental, Social and Demographic and Technological factors) is a examination of the external marco-enviormental in which in firm exist. It helps to examine the effect of these influences on the firm as opportunity and threat in the SWOT analysis. It is also used for assessing the market rise and fall, and as such the position, potential and direction of the firm. The BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Matrix is a four-celled matrix; it is the most renowned strategic planning tool. It provides a graphical representation for the firm to examine diverse companies in its portfolio. It provides the management with a comparative analysis of firms potential and the evaluation of environment, which it operates in. Organization Structure Organization is a term that can be studied as a process as well as a structure. In a fixed sense, organization is a structure, where a team of people functions and tries to accomplish a certain objective. In the words of Kast and Rosenzweig, structure is the established pattern of relationships among the component parts of the organization. In this sense, the network of relationships among individuals and positions in the firm are refers to as an organizational structure. Organizational structure defines how responsibility, roles and power are coordinated, controlled, how information moves between the different stages of management and how they are assigned. When the most of the decision making power and control over departments and division lie with the top level management it is know as Centralized structure. In a decentralized structure, the decision making power is distributed over the departments and allowing them to enjoy certain degrees of freedom. There are four major components that affect organizational structures, they are, Environment, Strategy, Technology and Human Resource. Environment being are very volatile factor itself, managers will face more problems depending on how fast it changes. Thus, structures need to be more flexible in order to face these changes; this would also suggest the need to decentralize authority. Various strategies would need to utilize different structures. Such as a differentiation strategy would require a flex ible structure and low cost would need a more formal one. Organization structures are also determined by what type of technology is being used. For instance, a company that has an automated operational system would opt for a decentralized structure because the progress of employees would be monitored and the immediate supervisor would be able to provide guidance and when needed. One of the most commonly found structures found within firms is the functional structure, it consist of small units or departments which are grouped or identified by specialty, like finance, IT, logistics, sales, human resource, and so on. This distinguishes the departments by product produce by each unit or geographical region; this enables managers to maintain more control over each group. This structure is based on high specialization and high control and efficiency concept. In terms of effectiveness, the functional structure is most effective in small to medium size firms that only deal with a few produc t and services. A matrix structure is an organizational reporting structure frequently used for project-based teams. This structure uses both departments as well as products as determinates to group teams together; this allows ideas to flow between various parts of the organization. This is a complex structure of reporting relationships and has proven to be very flexible and can respond rapidly to change. It is effective for a large organization with a large number of products and services. Strategic Mapping A strategic group is a concept used in strategic management where companies that are a part of the same industry and provide similar business models and/or similar strategies are grouped together. For instance, the fast food industry can be divided into different fast food joints in terms of pizza or burgers, which can be based on different variables like time, price, presentation, etc. The number and the composition of the groups within the industry depend on the dimensions used to define them. Strategic management experts mainly use two-dimensional grid in order to justify their direct competitors, those with similar strategic models, and their indirect rivals. M. Hunt (1972) devised the term Strategic Group whist analyzing the appliance industry after discovering the high level of competitive rivalry. He the then subscribed this to the subgroups existing the industry. This then caused the industry to undergo rapid innovation, price reduction, increase in quality and lower profitab ility than normal economic models would deliver. M. Porter (1980) developed the concept and explained strategic groups in terms of Mobility Barriers. Value Chain Analysis This analysis focuses on every level of the business that it goes through from raw materials to the final user. The goal is to maximize value at the least possible cost. For one to better understand the activities from which an organization creates shareholder value and competitive advantage, it has been proven useful to simplify the business system into series of value-generated activities, also known as value chain. Michael Porter, in his book Competitive advantage (1985), introduced a value chain model that consists of arrange of activities that was found to be common to a wide range of firms. M. Porter identified these activities and classified them into primary and support activities. The primary activities include Service, Marketing Sales, Operations, Inbound and Outbound Logistics. Theses activities are supported by four components Infrastructure of the firm, Human Resource Management, Procurement and Technology Development. The main goal of the value chain analysis is these activities need to provide a higher level of customer satisfaction that exceeds the cost of them, thus creating profit margin. In other words, the firms margin depends on how effective the firm is on performing these activities efficiently, so that the level of customer satisfaction is sufficient enough for them to pay for the products that exceed the cost of the activity itself. By reconfiguring the value chain a firm may be able to achieve a competitive advantage by providing better differentiation or through lower costs. Value chain activities are not inaccessible from one another but rather one activity often affects the cost or the performance of the other. There may exist linkage between primary activities or between primary and support activities. The value chain analysis is a flexible tool for a firm; its competitors and the industry. It can be used to create or study the competitive advantage on both cost and differentiation. Cost advantage is done through a better understanding and squeezing out the cost from value adding activities and differentiation is achieved by focusing over those activities with core capabilities in order to out pre form the competitors. It provides a deeper understanding of the firms strengthens and weaknesses. The main advantage of value chain is that it is adaptable to any type of business, big or small. However, M. Porters book Competitive Advantage, the value chain is largely focused on manufacturing industry, thus puts off other types of business. Due to the complexity of the value chain analysis and the scope and scale of the value chain has proven to be intimidating, it is time consuming. To understand the firm competitors one must identify and examine the key differences and strategy drivers, hence, needing substantial information. The business information system is not always structured to draw out information easily for a value chain analysis.

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ :: Essays about Jesus Christ

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This verse - John 3:16 - is perhaps the most important in the Bible. Jesus Christ was the son of God, but he was also the son of man. Jesus had a human mother, Mary (see Luke 1:30-31 for example), but his father was God (see John 3:18 for example). Jesus was human, not God. Consider 1 Timothy 2:5:"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" There could not be a clearer statement that Christ was a man. Because Christ was human he experienced all the trials and temptations that we experience. Christ, however was strong enough to resist all temptation and lived a life without sinning - that is without disobeying God."[Jesus Christ] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Christ was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.". (Philippians 2:8) "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:15), or as Paul puts it in Romans 6:23 " the wages of sin is death". Christ never sinned, and therefore did not earn the wages of sin. Therefore God raised him from the dead "having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." (Acts 2:24). The full story of Christ's death and resurrection can be found in Matthew 27 & 28, Mark 15 & 16, Luke 23 & 24, and John 18 - 21. After his resurrection Christ spent some time with his disciples. Then he ascended into heaven. He will one day return from heaven to rule on earth as King. The Crucifixion Jesus Christ lived a sinless life even up to his death by crucifixion. Far from being a way of appeasing a wrathful God for the sins of Mankind the Crucifixion is really an example of God's love toward us. Consider Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.". At first this seems slightly strange: how was God's love manifested towards us through the Crucifixion? Through his death Christ gained forgiveness of sins for all who follow him (see "baptism"). Titus 3:13,14 says "our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity".

case analysis :: essays research papers

Case Analysis For the past two months our sales on copper fitting has almost doubled due to the increasing demand from the market and the competitors ¡Ã‚ ¦ unsuccessful selling promotion. However, the problem rises from the overwhelming demand. Many back orders are just piled up on the warehouse manager ¡Ã‚ ¦s desk, and some of the customers lost their patience with us. What we really need right now is to limit or reduce the abnormal demand from the customers by raising the price of our products, but to gain a reputation from our customers, we should consider completing all the backorders with a original price. In a long term, the solution to solve this inventory shortage still relies on sufficient and on-time supply from our supplies. The main reason causing this tremendous and unusual high demand from the customer is the loosing market share of our competitors. Also, there is a possibility that some customers have the false expectation about the future price of the market. They heard the rumor about the cost of raw copper material might go up, so they predict that the price of the copper fitting should go up as well. Consequently, they start to make more purchases and store more inventories more than usual to save some money after the price of copper rises. After a serious discussion with our marketing and warehouse managers, we found a strategy to solve this inventory shortage crisis. We can purchase overstocked merchandises a very low cost from our competitors, since their business is slow, and they do not have enough cash flow. Since most of our competitors are local, we can save a bundle from the shipping and handling if we buy their products. But the disadvantage of this is that it might confuse our customers, because the products we purchase from other companies have their own logos. It might become an opportunity for our competitors to get free advertisement on their products through our market chain. We can also begin placing big orders to our supplier to prevent future shortage. However, downside of this is the risk for overstock inventory. The price of copper fitting is very hard for us to foresee, if the price of fitting drops due to other companies ¡Ã‚ ¦ new wave of promotions or other macroeconomic influences, then it wil l slow our sales down as well as our cash flow.

power and politics Essay -- essays research papers

Politics and Power Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is not about â€Å"what you do†, â€Å"it is about who you are and who you know†. As employees, we have all heard sayings like this before when it comes to the business world. The â€Å"power and politic† mindset is a direct result of the type of tug of war experienced for millions of years; from prehistoric times through modern day. Ever since Ugha smashed Mugha in the head with a club back in prehistoric times, politics have been around in the workplace. Politics are a subliminal fight for survival and it actually happens in personal lives as much as it does in our work lives. Politics can go hand in hand with power, just as night follows the day. Many of the political situations that occur within a corporation are a result of growth and change. However, part of the task of becoming a viable asset to a corporation is to look beyond the surface and find out where the company is heading as a result of these changes. In this way, employees c an position themselves to be a positive part of the growth and change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Power and politics go hand in hand in the business world today. The likelihood of gaining power often depends on the ability to read and understand politics. Once power is gained, leaders tend to utilize politics to reach long term goals and visions. Pending on the style of leadership, personal agendas may come into play. While personal agendas are not always a bad thing, they are generally set forth with limited perspective and can potentially result in catastrophe. Because personal agendas restrict the flow of communication and constructive criticism, personal agendas are a major contributor to the negative aspects of power. However, there is far more to be gained than lost with regard to power. Power provides a solid structure and a clear expectation. Since people strive to please, measurable guidelines offer a foundation for success. When power is used effectively, appropriate politics can be set into place to obtain a desired outcome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Politics are meant to go unnoticed and usually lie beneath the surface. Recognizing politics is half the battle in learning to handle and deal with them. Once politics are recognized there is an opportunity to benefit personally and collectively. Politics can promote the â€Å"I’ll scratch you’re back if you scratch mi... ... has built its reputation on. (Schermerhorn, John R., Hunt, James G., Osborn, Richard N. Organizational Behavior, pgs 1-31).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What can you do to thrive in a political environment? There’s no magic formula, but common sense, fair play and sound judgment are good starting points. Work hard; absolutely. But instead of keeping your head down, keep your antenna up. Instead of keeping your nose clean and not getting involved in any of the politics, use it to sniff out information and opportunities. Instead of seeing power and politics as dirty words, put them to good use for yourself and others. One thing is for sure, power and politics will always survive in the business world, and it is imperative that we as employees find a way to use them to our advantage, because if we do not someone else will. As it is pointed out in one article, the great philosopher Plato once said â€Å"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber† (Martinez, 2000). References Martinez, M. N. (2000). Politics Come With The Office. Information retrieved on   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  August 27, 2005 from www.graduatingengineer.com

Psychological Factors of the Issue Essay

Psychological factors include motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes. These factors are largely unconscious and that a person cannot fully understand his own motivations. People decide based on what h perceives as dictated by his environment that serves as the stimulus and not necessarily that which is real. In marketing, perceptions are more important than reality. Characteristics of Adolescence Adolescence is often a period of stress and conflict, particularly in Western society. The adolescent confronts a host of new, varied and difficult problems of adjustment within a brief period of time. The adolescent attempts to acquire a sense of identity, a sense of who one is and where one is going. Every adolescent wants to be popular. They commonly think, †What can I do to have all the kids at school like me? † â€Å"What can I do to feel I belong to a group? † â€Å"How can I be popular with both girls and boys? † â€Å"What kinds of clothes will make me feel like I am one of them? † Sometimes adolescents go to great lengths to be popular. In some cases, parents go to even greater lengths to try to insulate their adolescents from the rejection and to increase the likelihood that they will be popular. Students show off because it gets attention and makes their peers laugh. Parents set up elaborate parties, buy clothes for their teens and drive adolescents and their friends all over in the hope that their sons and daughters will be popular (Santrock, John). Dr. Riesman in his study of the basic changes taking place in the American characters during the twentieth century (that is, from inner-directed to outer-directed) found that our growing pre-occupation with acts of consumption reflects the change. This pre-occupation, he noted, was particularly intense (and intensively encouraged by product makers). He characterized the children of America as ‘consumer trainees. ’ (Santrock, John). The adolescent confronts a host of new, varied and difficult problems of adjustment within a brief period of time. Physiological changes – rapid body growth, sexual maturity, increases in sex hormones–often precipitate special conflicts and self-doubts. Almost simultaneously, the adolescent is expected to achieve independence from the family, establish satisfying relationships with peers of both sexes, decide on – and prepare for – a set of consistent moral principles to guide decisions and actions. Fashion, therefore, lures the adolescents to try something new and not get stuck with the traditional ways of dressing and doing things. Back then in the 60s, the clothes that the â€Å"old school† hip hop artists donned were expressions of individuality but they even carried a purpose which was a functional one. The Puma branded sneakers that sported fat-laces and sweatsuits were all the rave back then. The colorful clothing which also had resemblance to the beautiful graffitis on the walls were also very popular back then. The dress-code of being loose and comfortable became a style of dressing which identified all those people as exceptional and unpretentious. Because the people in the ghettos had limited resources, they made the most out of what they had. The style and the fashion sense that they sported spoke of a willingness to create a style of their own despite several constraints (Wikipedia 2004). In the hip-hop culture today, fashion has undoubtedly become more stylish, more pronounced and more accessible in this day and age. It has indeed come a long way in the past twenty or so years. Ever since its inception, it has been proven to be a driving force in the fashion scene. From its modest beginnings in the â€Å"ghettos† of the African-American suburbs of New York, the hip hop fashion has transcended race, culture, gender as well as international borders as you will now see different ethnicities and races who have adopted their own hip hop style. The one thing that will immediately identify a person if he listens to hip hop or not is by the way they dress and what they put on themselves. Today, the hip hop clothing and apparel industry grosses over a billion dollars but despite its popularity among people who have the money to spend for the type of look they are sporting, it is still accessible by even the youngest boy in hopes of making it big in the future as an advocate of the hip hop music and fashion (Wikipedia 2004)

Anti-Discrimination legislation Essay

In hospitals and your local GP people come in each day with health problems asking how the doctors or nurses can help them. With this, the government needs to find a way to protect the workers and patients from any discrimination being made towards them. This is why the government ha made something called legislation where as no one is allowed to discriminate anyone based on the genre, sex, race or disability. There are different types of legislations made based on the different types of discrimination they are. The two legislations that mare made are: The sex discrimination Act 1975: This legislation means that no one, no care worker doctor or nurse is allowed to discriminate anyone based on their gender even if they are female or male no one is to discriminate anyone inside or outside the health and social cafe industry. The race relations NI order 1997/Act 2005: This Is another legislation which means that no person is allowed to discriminate a person based on their skin colour. This is a very common discrimination as people are judging others based on their skin colour and this is why there is a legislation being made against this. This does often happen in the health and social care industry so here are a few examples to explain the legislations in a bit more detail.   For example: The sex discrimination Act 1975: A nurse is giving medication to a patient, but the patient is refusing the medication from the nurse. By now the nurse is getting annoyed with the patient and is now asking why the patient is refusing the medication and the patient replies by saying ‘I do not respect women as I believe men are the stronger sex and women should be our slaves’ by now the nurse is feeling judged and discrimination. For example: The race relations NI order 1997/Act 2005: A care worker has brought in a new person in the care home. This person is new and he wants to get to know the people but every time he/she tries to he/she is ignored and pushed to the side by now he/she is wondering what he/she did wrong. Then one person comes up him/her and says ‘we do not tolerate coloured people and we certainly do not want to be friend’s with you. ’ By now he/she is feeling depressed and upset about hi/her colour. Code of practice: This is the same as legislations, rules being made but however these are rules being made by the organisation like bullying rules and etc. There are laws made by the government to help protect patients and clients from any harm. Despite the fact that these are rules made by the workers themselves and what they think would help the work base. Despite the fact that there are two main types of code of practice in the health and social care industry and those are.   The general social care council (GSCC) / Northern Ireland Social care Code of Practice:   Nursing Midwifery Council(NMC) Code of practice: There are different types of codes of practice made in the health and social care industry and the workers need to make sure that these rules are to benefit the patients and clients. Here is an example of how a code of practice can help the way a nurse may work with her patients. For example: A nurse is going to dress her elderly patient in a residential care home. She is now barking at the elderly lady to get up and now she is bullying her and telling her she is to slow. By now the elderly lady starts to cry and become upset and now the nurse is telling her to shut up and to listen what the nurse has to say. Charter: This is when a patient or client expects something from a care worker. Like a local GP says that each patient will wait 15 minutes each for their appointment. By saying this, this is what the patients/clients will expect from the local GP. There are different policies made by this and here here are a couple of them: For example: A patient has come to the doctors and she is pregnant 7 months. Because she is pregnant she sees a sign that says ‘pregnant women can wait 10 minutes limited for their appointment with their doctor. ’ She expects to be waiting 10n minutes limited for the doctor. She does not intend on waiting any longer. Policies: This is when an organisation works with a individual to ensure that this individual is getting the support he/she is required and his/her health is good. Different organisations make different policies to help make sure that each individual is treated with respect and honour. There is a bullying policy and there is also a sexual harassment policy and a lot more to help make sure that each patient is treated with respect and no one is being treated differently. For example: A patient is in a office making a complaint about the work in the health and social care industry. Whilst picking up his/her medication he had to wait over 20 minutes to pick up his medication. Whilst waiting he told the workers to hurry up, he was getting late for work, but the worker shouted at him and told him to shut up. Now he is speaking to someone. The lady now understands and is making sue that the patient meets his needs and ensures him that she will speak to the workers and something would be done. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Health and Social Care section.

Boiling point of water Essay

Over time, numerous applications for the addition of salt in water have been established and the process of adding salt in water has become a regular exercise wherever water has to be boiled around the world (Bradley, 2006). Purpose The purpose of this project is to study the implications of the addition of salt in the reaction of water to heat. Theory & Hypothesis Upon the addition of common salt (NaCl) in distilled water, it causes the boiling point of the water to rise. As a result, water has to be heated for longer intervals of time as the amount of salt in the water is increased. The hypothesis of this study is to validate whether or not the addition of salt in water causes the boiling point of the water to rise. Apparatus used The apparatus that was used for this experiment comprised of table Salt (NaCl), distilled Water, measuring spoon, stirring spoon, thermometer, electric stove, kettle. Experimental procedure implemented In the first step, the kettle is filled with distilled water and is placed on the electric stove. It was filled with approximately two teacups of water. It is allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at approximately 213 Â °F in normal conditions when no additions had been made to the water. In the second step, the initial sample of water was allowed to cool down until it had returned to room temperature, after which one leveled measuring spoonful of salt was added to the water and the kettle was once more placed on the electric stove to boil. The salt had been mixed into the water using the stirring spoon before it was put to boil. The water was once more allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at a higher temperature than 213 Â °F after salt had been added to the water. In the third step, the water was once more allowed to cool down until it had returned back to room temperature. Once the water had returned to room temperature, a second addition of salt (NaCl) is made. The measuring spoon was used to add another leveled spoonful of salt to the water and was stirred thoroughly using the stirring spoon. The kettle was then placed on the stove once more and was allowed to begin heating up. The water was once more allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at a higher temperature than that which had been observed in the readings taken in step two of the experiment. At all times, special care was taken to ensure that the thermometer did not touch the walls or the base of the kettle and that it was not held above the stove for too lon.g in order to prevent the readings from being altered unintentionally. Observations recorded. The readings that were recorded during the three phases of the experiment can be observed in the following table. Phase Phase Attributes Boiling Point Observed 1 Boiling point for control sample 212. 9 Â °F 2 Boiling point after first addition of salt 215. 6 Â °F 3 Boiling point after second addition of salt 218. 3 Â °F Table 1: Observations made during the experiment If a bar chart was to be made of the three stages of the experiment that were taken during the experiment. We would have the following bar chart at hand. Chart 1: Comparison of observations made during the execution of the experiment Conclusions. From the above experiment, we can conclude that when common salt (NaCl) is added to water, it causes the boiling point of the water to increase. As the amount of salt in the water was increased, a proportional increase was also observed in the temperature that the water required to attain its boiling point. The increase in boiling point was therefore established to be directly proportional to the amount of salt in the water. This also explained the fact that before any salt was added to the water, the water boiled at its standard temperature. We can therefore state that the hypothesis of this experiment stands valid. This would also explain why everyday uses of salt in water such as those recommended in the culinary arts perceive the addition of salt in water (McGee, 1984) as a necessity to ensure that the end result is prepared to perfection through continuous heating. References Bradley, D. (2006, December 27). Salt and the Boiling Point of Water. Retrieved April 27, 2009, from Science Base: http://www. sciencebase. com/science-blog/how-does-salt-affect-the-boiling-point-of-water. html McGee, H. (1984). On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen. Scribner’s. List of Tables Table 1: Observations made during the experiment.