Prospective on corporate strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prospective on corporate strategy - Essay Example He argues that if these principles are not followed in entirety then a firm would be unable to maintain or enhance its strategic position. The first principle is to develop the ‘right goals’, which means the targets and objectives that are realistic and achievable in real world. For instance, the goals should be defined in a way they could create economic value for customers. This is happened when certain want-satisfying products are developed and marketed that in turn lead to consumer satisfaction / loyalty and relationship building in the long run (Porter, 1996). Profits are viewed by Porter (2001) as a secondary element of strategy because if a firm’s primary aim is profit then it would probably devise wrong policies. The second principle is ‘value proposition’ that refers to promises made by a supplier to its buyers. Indeed, the stronger the value proposition the greater the probability of enhanced strategic positioning. The third principle is â⠂¬Ëœdistinctive value chain’, which means that firms should differentiate their business functions compared to their rivals to support its distinctive value proposition (Hamel & Prahalad, 1990). The fourth principle is to ‘trade off’ certain characteristics during strategy formulation to ensure differentiation. ... Indeed, an organization with weak positioning could not survive, expand and sustain in a challenging, complex and unpredictable 21st century business environment. Task 2 It is worth mentioning that this is a globalized world (an outcome of technological advancements) where competition is intense among business firms due to relatively fewer barriers in entering in corporate arena. Nevertheless, the organizations also enjoy multiple benefits due to these technological innovations because they automate their business process and ensure their virtual presence to enhance their strategic position (inclusive of productivity and efficiency, cost reduction, market reach / share and sales volume). Apparently, it seems as if internet is a very useful tool for any firm (traditional operations) or e-business to attract a large pool of potential customers through web (dot com) presence. However, the first major criticism is that a significantly large number of dot com ventures fail and internet is not extremely beneficial for sales purposes because today it has been used by all entities (Stead et al, 2007). Indeed, every credible small and large business has created a website to facilitate and entice potential consumers towards their products (for example General Motors will not have a genuine advantage on Toyota and Chrysler because every global corporation enjoys online presence). For instance, another criticism is that the online customers are disadvantaged because they could not physically test and validate the products they order online (on web); therefore, they tend to make purchases online mostly from companies that have earned credibility and authenticity in open market and

Economic Opportunities Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economic Opportunities Paper - Essay Example American labor is not sufficient to fill in all these job vacancies and migration of workers from Europe and Asia are encouraged. As such, labor and employment opportunities are open in almost all areas of US. . Many states needed immigrants to add up to their sparse population to spur up the economy. They need workers to mines, factories and fields. These states actively invited immigrants by offering jobs or land for farming. Labor Exchanges were created to promote migration, offering cheap lands for permanent homes and cultivation. In Oregon, for example, Governor L. F. Grover, on August 23, 1870 issued a statement of need for farming population, inviting migrants to own land for residence and for cultivation of variety of products.(Oregon State Archives) Some States, Kansas, for one, made migration part of their business in order to increase their population. They have hired agents in principal seaports in Europe and in New York to communicate with migrant workers. All kinds of assistance are given such as reduced transportation fare, start up supplies, guides and attention to immigrants so they will be able to adapt in their new environment. Kansas was able to increase its population of 107.110 in 1860 to 550,000 in 1870 through immigration. (Oregon State Archives) * Shipbuilding. A lot of workers are needed as ship builder since US is one of the largest shipbuilders supplying the needs of Great Britain. * Iron industry. Iron makers are needed in Pennsylvania wherein the industry made progress and iron exports are developing. Other opportunities are the disparities of income from the migrant’s home country as compared to US make a big difference and enough reason for workers to come. Young and adventurous immigrants have come to US, and upon arrival looked for work and settled in communities where they have relatives and

Case Brief Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brief - Case Study Example While the plaintiff does not have her palimony agreement in writing, because she filed her claim before the enactment of the new legislature, the judge ruled the amendment does not apply to her case. In doing such, the judge further ruled to deny the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint and the defendant’s counterclaims. Barbara A. Botis is the girlfriend of the late Gary A. Kudrick. Botis claims herself and Kudrick were in a â€Å"marriage-type relationship† for the greater part of 32 years after Kudrick divorced his wife. Botis further claims that Kudrick promised to take care of her after his death even though he did not put her in his will. Therefore, Botis seeks palimony- or compensation made by one member of an unmarried couples to another member after separation. Estate of Gary A. Kudrick denies that Botis and Kudrick were ever in a â€Å"marriage-type relationship† and, therefore, the plaintiff is not entitled to any compensation. Furthermore, the Estate seeks its own compensation from the plaintiff for unauthorized withdrawals from a home equity line on one of the deceased’s residences, removing belongings from one of the residences, and refusing to return stolen financial documents. In addition, the defendant later requested to expand the later counterclaim to include fraud, perjury, attorney fees, and punitive damages. Plaintiff stands that her and the late Gary Kudrick met in high school in approximately 1954. Although they initially married other people, after both of their respective marriages ended, they began a committed relationship. In 1976, Kudrick moved into Botis’s residence while still maintaining his own separate residence. They then lived together for approximately eight years before selling her residence and moving into his expanded residence in 1984 of which she claims she invested $17,000. Then, in 1995, they supposedly purchase another home

Fulton's Ice Land Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fulton's Ice Land - Case Study Example Therefore Fulton is trying to adopt some strategies which would increase its profits. Fulton’s current strategy To evaluate the current strategy of Fulton’s ice Land, the 4Cs of marketing is taken into consideration. The 4Cs includes Customer Value, Cost, Convenience and Communication (Crandall, p.57). Fulton’s Ice Land offers indoor staking with a conventional hockey rink surface. Steve operates the staking program and runs a successful hockey program which is accompanied by decent profits. Steve wants to expand his business so that he could allow 700 people at one time in the public session. Steve has 14 public staking session in his ice skating but unfortunately it has not attracted many customers. Out of which the public sessions hold on Saturday and Sunday afternoon has been the most successful, which has recorded an average of 200 people during the winter session. This session has mainly attracted the kids dropped by their parents for many hours and also at tracted few family groups. But the public session operated on Friday and Saturday evening were the biggest disappointment for Steve. This session attracted the age group of 8-14 years and only a handful of young and teenage couples affecting the environment which Steve expected to create for the dating couples and the old patrons. Later Steve limited this session for people of age group above 14 years so to get a better environment for the young crowds. In order to make the skating fun and relaxing Steve installed few lights and music which encourage people to skate to the beats of the music and couples to skate together. Steve basically tried to attract the couples and was successful. Steve hired a local radio disk jockey which attracted many young crowds and couples. Steve realized that it was hard changing the attitude of the people and most of its customers on the weekends belonged to age group of 13 and less. Thus Steve’s effort to attract the teenage and couples did not generate a positive response. Steve’s motive of expanding his public skating program was assumed to attract as many as 700 customers in a public session instead of limiting the use of ice to 12 to 24 players per hour. Steve plans to charge $200 an hour plus concession sale, the two hour public skating would be charged at a rate of $5 per person which would yield up to $3500 for two hours plus a higher concession rate. By operating a large public skating session Fulton expected to earn a profitable turnover. Fulton’s evening session on Friday and Saturday were rated at $5 per person and $1.50 for skate rental. Steve has invested more than $3000 in lighting and about $9000 in promotional activity mainly promoting the rock music radio station which proved to be a failure. Steve operated 14 sessions out of which the public session on Saturday and Sunday were the most successful. The people could choose a session as per their convenience. The kids and families usually arri ved more on Saturday and Sunday during the winter. Fulton Ice Land is situated in the northern part of USA, which is attracted by many Ice Skating rinks; therefore Fulton’s introduction of 14 public sessions would be convenient for the people to choose as per their timings and enjoy the winter with families and friends. Steve used radio as a means of communication in promoting its new offerings, which did not deliver a desired result. Steve spent almost $9000 in promoting the session over rock music radio

Case Brief Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brief - Case Study Example While the plaintiff does not have her palimony agreement in writing, because she filed her claim before the enactment of the new legislature, the judge ruled the amendment does not apply to her case. In doing such, the judge further ruled to deny the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint and the defendant’s counterclaims. Barbara A. Botis is the girlfriend of the late Gary A. Kudrick. Botis claims herself and Kudrick were in a â€Å"marriage-type relationship† for the greater part of 32 years after Kudrick divorced his wife. Botis further claims that Kudrick promised to take care of her after his death even though he did not put her in his will. Therefore, Botis seeks palimony- or compensation made by one member of an unmarried couples to another member after separation. Estate of Gary A. Kudrick denies that Botis and Kudrick were ever in a â€Å"marriage-type relationship† and, therefore, the plaintiff is not entitled to any compensation. Furthermore, the Estate seeks its own compensation from the plaintiff for unauthorized withdrawals from a home equity line on one of the deceased’s residences, removing belongings from one of the residences, and refusing to return stolen financial documents. In addition, the defendant later requested to expand the later counterclaim to include fraud, perjury, attorney fees, and punitive damages. Plaintiff stands that her and the late Gary Kudrick met in high school in approximately 1954. Although they initially married other people, after both of their respective marriages ended, they began a committed relationship. In 1976, Kudrick moved into Botis’s residence while still maintaining his own separate residence. They then lived together for approximately eight years before selling her residence and moving into his expanded residence in 1984 of which she claims she invested $17,000. Then, in 1995, they supposedly purchase another home

Crisis and conflict are inevitable in capitalist economies Essay Example for Free

Crisis and conflict are inevitable in capitalist economies Essay Marx believed that capitalism was doomed, and he developed an intricate analysis of the law of motion of capitalist society to prove it (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). At one level his argument had a moral basis. He argued that the inherent injustices of capitalism lead ultimately to social and economic conditions, which cannot be maintained (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). On another level his argument is sociological: class conflict- between a decreasing number of increasingly wealthy capitalists and a growing and increasingly miserable working class- will lead ultimately to a social revolution (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). To conclude his Final argument is economic, that the accumulation of capital in private hands makes possible economic abundance; yet accumulation also leads to depressions, chronic unemployment and the economic breakdown of capitalism (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). At each level the idea of conflict is emphasized: conflict between ideal reality, between capital and labor, and between stagnation (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). Out of conflict comes change, and in this respect according to Marx, capitalism must give way to another society in which conflict is replaced by ethical, social, and economic harmony. Furthermore, Marx argued that the crisis would become deeper and severe longer as capitalism developed. Student no. Z3220293 However Marxs analysis of conflict within capitalist societies was limited by his theory of the laws of motion. He argued that conflict between classes created by an unequal distribution of wealth, and would ultimately lead to an unsustainable social situation prompting the demise of the world capitalist system. Thus, he perceived class conflict as the fatal flaw of capitalism. However his detractors would argue that conflict of some form exists in all human interactions and thus has existed in all political and economic systems, concluding that capitalism addresses this inherently human conflict in order to avoid crisis. In a capitalist society according to Marx, the two great economic interests are those of a capitalist and worker. These two classes stand opposition to each other, since the capitalist can prosper only if the worker is exploited. In this respect capitalism is only the latest in series of social organizations in which one class exists at the expense of another, stated in the communist manifesto. Marxists would further argue that peoples dominated politically or economically by great capitalist nations now bear the burden of exploitation, poverty and unemployment However as a proof of Marxs errors, his detractors point to the rising living standards of modern nations. The working class has not been subjected to growing misery, and labor unions have gained economic and political power in all major industrialized countries (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). Moreover, the working class Student no. Z3220293 has shared the increased wealth, income, and economic benefits that have been spread widely throughout all social classes. In spite of all the concessions that have been made to the working class, such as social welfare legislation, union organization and higher living standards Marxists contend that the basic defects of capitalism remain, holding back economic growth and postponing the emergence of the abundant society (Fusfeld 2002, p 50). Nevertheless Marxs prediction of the triumph of socialism and the creation of democratic, egalitarian, and nonexplotive society has not proved accurate. Capitalism was placed on the defensive by the rise of communist regimes in Russia and China, and by the spread of socialism through many of the less-developed countries (Fusfeld 2002, p 60). But in most instances, these non-capitalist economies developed authoritarian political regimes, new forms of economic and social inequality, and new aspects of exploitation. Ultimately Marx argued, as Fusfeld states ( 2002) the economy could achieve widespread abundance and produce enough for all, and at that point in human history all people could be completely free, both politically and economically. Further more Marxist economics suggested that capitalism could not achieve this Student no. Z3220293 goal, as it prevented the full development of modern technology and resulted in periodic stoppage of capital accumulation. However, it is evident that under capitalism technology has flourished. More so capitalism has provided the push for new productive industries, as it is a continued to growing and change. Thus such an economy offers more opportunities then a stagnant one. For example China is the manufacturing hub of the globe. Even though China has its roots in communism it is still regarded as an extremely influential capitalist society. Its cities are booming. There are more building cranes in china than in all the United States. Chinas super-highways are filled with modern cars. Its research and development centers are state of the art. At the rate its growing, China will soon be the largest economy in the world. In these respects it is evident to conclude that under capitalism economies have grown and benefited, due to its productive nature. Further more, in a Marx perspective, labor under capitalism is exploited as it is not paid the full value of the products and services it produces. The capitalist employs workers at the current wage rate and works them for as many hours each day as possible, making sure that the value of the workers output is greater than the wage paid (Fusfeld 2002, p 61). This difference between the wage and the value added by the worker, which Marx refers to as surplus value, becomes the capitalist profit. Exploitation of the worker can be intensified, and the surplus Student no. Z3220293 value appropriated by the capitalist can be increased, by an employers efforts to achieve lower wages, longer hours and an employment of greater number of women and children. Marx was correct in some respects, for example developing countries at present are experiencing high rates of exploitation. Women and children whom work in such exploitive environments in china for example for less then a few dollars a day are the truth in Marxs theory. More so, Marx critique of capitalism included a forecast of its inevitable break down. In some instances capitalism has served as an unstable society, which has been suffocated with conflict and crisis. For example the great depression and the 1987 recession. In both instances the economy had if not almost hit bottom. In a Marxist view this could be concluded as the demise of capitalism. However his detractors would argue that conflict of some form exists in all political and economic systems, concluding that capitalism addresses this inherently human conflict in order to avoid crisis. Which in some respects is true. For example on black Monday of the October 1987 when a stock collapse of unprecedented size lopped twenty-five percent off the Dow Jones industrial average. The collapse, larger than that of 1929, was handled well by the economy and the stock market began to quickly recover. More so during the great depression certain strategies were adopted to deal with the crisis. The new deal was the name given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of programs between 1933-1938 with the goal relief, recovery and reform of the United States Student no. Z3220293 economy during the great depression. The new deal had three components, direct relief, economic recovery and financial reform. In these respects one can observe the recovery of capitalist economies and their ability to continue to grow. To conclude it is evident that crisis and conflict is inevitable in capitalism however such an economic system is able to adapt and recover from such conflict. References student no. Z322093 Campbell, D 1996, the failure of Marxism-the concept of inversion in Marxs critique, Dartmouth Press, London Cohen, G A 1978, Karl Marx theory of history, Oxford University Press, London Culter, A, Hindess, B, Hirst, P Hussain, A 1977, marxs capital and capitalism today, Routledge Kegan Paul Ltd, London Fusfeld, D 2002, the age of the economist, 9edn, Addison Wesley Press, Harman, C 1995, how Marxism works, 5edn, Bookmarks Press, Sydney. Worsley, P 2002, Marx and Marxism, revised edn, Routledge Press, London

A Review On The ABM System Information Technology Essay

A Review On The ABM System Information Technology Essay This paper will focus on the benefits of utilizing Activity-based management (ABM) system within the workplace. ABM is defined as: a method of identifying and evaluating activities that a business performs using activity-based costing to carry out a value chain analysis or a re-engineering initiative to improve strategic and operational decisions in an organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Activity-based management focuses on managing activities to reduce costs and improve customer value.  [1]   In order to maintain confidentiality, for the purpose of this paper I will refer to my workplace as XYZ Inc. XYZ Inc. in this instance is a Third Party Administrator (TPA) of employee health benefits. XYZ Inc. sells and administers various insurance products and services to an array of clients throughout various industries. Introduction: Organizations implement Activity-based management (ABM) due to the fact it is believed that this will aid them in making better decisions, improve performance and earn more money on assets deployed. Regardless of ones approach or belief, each organization requires information to make decisions, set priorities, allocate resources and monitor actions taken. ABM systems exist only to meet the information requirement. The information and knowledge gained are of value and benefit only when the information is used to improve the business. This paper will illustrate: where I believe ABM would be useful at XYZ Inc.; how ABM is currently used at XYZ Inc.; lastly, the overall usefulness of ABM. Recommended Application of ABM at XYZ Inc.: ABM information has wide use and applicability in XYZ Inc. There are many uses for ABM information which range from determining product/service costs to evaluating acquisition candidates. I feel that XYZ Inc. would benefit greatly by practicing ABM within its operations. XYZ Inc. would benefit from ABM by implementing its practices: To Determine Product/Service Cost; To Improve Performance of Processes and Activities; To Cut Costs/Downsize Operations; and Various other applications such as: To manage projects, to budget and to support acquisition analysis. Current use of ABM at XYZ Inc.: Currently ABM is claimed to be used in the areas of determining product/service cost, improving the performance of processes and activities and in terms of determining the budget. However, in other vital areas such as: determining when to cut costs/downsize, managing projects and acquisition analysis, ABM practices are not present. These areas definitely require the attention of ABM in order to ensure the best and most informed decisions are made relative to these vital areas of the operation. Although XYZ Inc. collects all the data they need for costing (i.e. Number of Employees to ensure, Insurance Premium Bulk Rates, Geographic Location etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦), they dont use it effectively or appropriately. As XYZ Inc. sole purpose is to undercut the competition and provide the lowest possible insurance premium rates to clients in order to attain their business. This is not allowing XYZ Inc. to effectively price their products/services. XYZ Inc. also receives feedback from its clients and customers relating to problems with its services, pointing to bottleneck issues within the claims reimbursements processes. Again, XYZ Inc. does not effectively utilize the information that is being forwarded to them in terms of how to remedy the issue. Rather in information is just ignored with hopes that the issue will in some fashion correct itself. Lastly, in terms of budgeting, the information collected here is used in a more serious manner. Senior management looks closely and most of ten times solely at expenditures throughout the year; almost instantaneously issuing a corporate update outlining where cutbacks will occur in the upcoming year. Most often times Senior management only looks at the large expenditures without taking into account correlating factors or benefits that may have be attained via the expenditures. Collecting all the pertinent data and utilizing it in a productive fashion, in theory would lead to more effective and efficient operations of the organization. However, when human power and capital is spent to ascertain such data and it is not used in accordance with betterment of the organization, this in turn leads to extreme discouragement and the action of accurate record keeping seems to become more and more pointless, creating a sense of uselessness in a vicious cycle and spiral downward within the organizations efficiency and effectiveness. When data is collected, it needs to be utilized in a fashion whereby everyone involved can reap and clearly see the benefits of attaining the data and using it in an effective and efficient manner for the betterment of the organization. Usefulness of ABM in Specified Application Areas: In the areas identified earlier, I will describe how ABM would be useful within the following applications. To Determine Product/Service Cost: In this area accuracy is required for operational and strategic decisions of product mix, product pricing, product line investments and production alternatives. Most ABM implementations are directed toward product/service cost. However, managers use Activity-based costing (ABC) to determine the actual, true cost of products and services. Organizations use ABC because they believe the understanding of true product/service cost will lead to better decisions of product mix, product pricing and product sourcing. Better decisions lead to increased profits. However, knowing true product/service cost does not necessarily result in better product/service decisions. If an organization is selling all it can at a market driven sales price, there may be no opportunity to increase the selling price or changes the mix of products. In these situations, accurate product/service cost information will force the organization to look at the activities associated with making or delivering an unprofitable product/service. To effect reductions in product/service cost, activities will have to be improved; requiring the implementation of ABM system. To Improve Performance of Processes and Activities: Many organizations use ABM as a structured way to select and examine key activity work processes, which are critical to the success of the organization. Activities are defined, analyzed and assigned a cost, in order to determine an organizations current or as is situation. With an organizations current or as is situation established, activities and processes with high potential for improvement can be selected and the efforts/actions undertaken to realize the improvement opportunity. Through identifying the biggest bang for the buck, improvement can be focused. ABM is also used to monitor the result of improvement initiatives. Through reporting cost and performance of processes and activities, people and teams responsible for improvement have a scorecard to judge the result of effort. The ABM system is used to provide the feedback necessary to sustain improvement initiatives. To Cut Cost/Downsize: Some organizations use ABM to cut cost, downsize, or restructure operations. This is the unfavourable side of ABM. In all actuality, ABM is an effective tool for cost cutting/reduction. In situations where financial returns are unacceptable to stockholders or when survival of the organization is at steak, organizations often take significant cost reduction actions. These actions typically take the form of layoffs, plant closings and idled equipment. Often taken across the board in all areas of the organization, they are rarely effective. Unless the volume of work is reduced, these cost reductions just leave the same work to be done by fewer people. Eventually, the cost creeps back into the organization. Activity-based cost reduction is focused on the activities of the organization. Cut activities, cost will follow. Other Applications: To Budget: To Support Acquisition Analysis: To ensure the future prosperity of XYZ Inc. ABM practices should be adhered to and utilized on a going forward basis. Conclusion: A prerequisite to benefiting from ABM is the willingness to assign responsibility for effecting decisions, actions and changes necessary to deliver the desired benefit. Decisions must be made and actions must be taken. Specific responsibility has to be assigned to reduce/eliminate non-value-added activities, improve value-added activities and reduce or eliminate the associated cost drivers. The value and benefit of ABM can only be measured by the decisions, actions and improvements that result due to the fact individuals were motivated to take action, based on the knowledge and information provided. Implementers of ABM systems should be warned that all efforts to implement an ABM system will be wasted if no one uses or takes action on the information provided. The value and benefit of ABM can be difficult to quantify. The result of some decisions can be difficult to quantify, while others cannot. Expect people to want process improvements to be credited to their project or initiative versus giving the necessary credit to the ABM system which was the driver of information leading to success. ABM information drives and supports all improvement initiatives. It can be difficult to measure and quantify its role in improvement and decision making. Activity-based management measure the result of decisions and improvements, regardless of who or what initiative gets credit. While some organizations view ABM as a tool to support improvement initiatives and decision making. The dollar sign makes this information tool useful. Organizations and managers are bottom line driven, and dollars and cents are the language of business. The dollar sign inspires people to take action. The ABM information system tracks improvements and provides individuals, managers and teams with process-based cost and operating information to judge the result of their decisions and efforts.