...Align Technology, Inc. Matching Manufacturing Capacity to sales Demand Align technology Inc has brought revolution in the technology of dentist field by offering that they can straighten patient’s teeth without metal braces invisibly and effectively. They made invisalign system which operates by obtaining virtual image of patient’s teeth, manipulating these images in prescribed increments, creating positives of these positions and then manufacturing plastic thin negatives of teeth for every stage of treatment which as a result was a clear and removable appliance that straighten patient’s teeth effectively. Operations of this system take place in US, Mexico and Pakistan. Issues These were some factors which effect company sales and demand: * Main issue with Align Inc was that the demand of its product becomes less than its manufacturing capacity so that company was not meeting its financial targets. * In US over 200 million people had malocclusion while less than one percent has treatment from orthodontist which results in less demand of their product. * Many of the customers (Orthodontist, GPD) were not interested in switching from traditional way (Metal braces) toward invisalign system. * The cost of the company was too high then its price which leads toward loss for the company. * Company was just marketing and providing training about its product to orthodontist not to the general practice dentist but many of the case were first go to them and stop...
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...18 countries and over nine thousand employees. It became “the second-largest carrier in Canada and ninth largest in North America. It described itself as a ‘high-value, low-fare airline’ with a corporate culture focused on delivering a ‘world-class guest experience’” (p. 1). The role of IT was brilliant is success of the WestJet in the mentioned period. The case shows “IT and its systems gave WestJet a competitive advantage and played an integral part in WestJet’s growth” (p. 1). The case study indicates that aligning the IT and business strategy was a key for success in WestJet. For example, one of the WestJet strategic plan was to start the codeshare that enable two or more airlines share the same flight. Thus, it required an IT move to align the IT with the company strategy. When Smith was hired in 2011, she found “a company wanted to use IT to help it get to the next level. WestJet’s corporate strategy was heavily dependent on the ability of IT to deliver innovative guest product and services, as well as solid operational support” (p. 2). Smith started her work with benchmarking IT and performance experts and found the company has right number of employees and budget compared to the similar industries. Also she found a mismatch in number of employees within skills sets, and half of the systems, operations and procedures were as the industry standard. Then Smith proposed a reorganization based on “internal functions of planning, building,...
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...Align Technology, Inc. is a medical device company who pratices the design, manufacture and marketing of Invisalign, the world’s leading invisible orthodontic product. Invisalign is a series of clear, removable aligners that both orthodontists and general dentists use to straighten their patients’ teeth. By aquiring the precise virtual image of a patient’s teeth, manipulating this image of the teeth in prescribed increments, creating positives of these positions, and then manufacturing thin plastic, invisible negatives of the teeth at each stage of the treatment, the company offered clear, removable appliances that effectively straightened a patient’s teeth. With more than twenty million unique aligners made to date, Align is one of the largest manufacturers of mass customized products in the world. However, the company was still far from profitable, and its technology had not yet been widely accepted as the treatment of choice by orthodontists. The problem being that the demand for Align’s product fell short of its manufacturing capacity and therefore, the company was not meeting its financial targets. With an average selling price of $1,600 per case at an average cost of $1,800 the company would never reach its targeted 50% gross margins by the end of the year (Bowen, p.1). Align is operating under a customizable made to order strategy, while maintaining 20% above demand excess. Align needs to find the correct mixture of demand and supply within its own manufacturing process...
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...ASAD AMIN Align Technology, Inc. Issues Align Technology was facing many issues; there are some factors that effects the cost and sales of the company. * The core of the problem was that the average cost per case was higher than the average selling price and the Company was not meeting its financial targets. * The demand of Align’s product was less than the actual manufacturing capacity and Company’s policy (excess production capacity) to prevent delivery restraints. * The orthodontists had been slower to adopt invisalign and they charge a premium cost. Analysis The average cost of a case is calculated as an average $200 more than its selling price. This is the main cause through which the company was still far from profitable. There were two parts to the challenge of lowering the manufacturing costs: reduce the fixed costs and reduce the variable costs. The company can reduce the cost by downsizing the extra labor from treat operations and SLA mold fabrication (See Exhibit 2). They can devise new technologies and procedures that reduced the variable costs, company can save a huge amount if they practice this thing. However, manufacturing fixed costs were too high because Align Technology had scaled its production capacity far above the real demand just because to achieve high tolerance and high volume manufacturing. The demand for Align’s ingenious product fell short of its manufacturing capacity and therefore...
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... Business Model and Strategic Planning Apple Inc formerly known as Apple Computer Inc which provides corporate Server, MAC OS Systems and Operating System. Apples core product lines are the iPhone, iPod and Macintosh System. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozaniak, The founder of Apple has created the Apple Computer on 1st April 1976 and integrated in the company on 3rd January 1977, in Cupertino California. It has driven the Computer manufacturing market for more than two decades. Mr. Steve Jobs who was expelled in 1985 was return as CEO of the APPLE Inc in 1996 with new Ideas and corporate philosophy. With introduction of successful IPod Player in to 2001 Apple has again proved itself as a Market leader in consumer electronics. Latest era of extraordinary success of the company is in iOS based Apple products like I Phone, IPod slim, I Pad and now I Pad 2. Now a day’s Apple is a biggest technology corporation in the planet with the profits of more than $65 billion. It has about 49,400 employs all over the world. Fortune Magazine most Admired Company in United State in 2008 and in the world in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Apple Vision and Mission Statement Apple, Inc’s vision statement is “Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them.” Explanation of Vision Statement: Apple lives this vision through the technologies it develops for consumers and corporations. It strives to make...
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...responsibilities Backup data scheduling Maintaining equipment status reports Security systems and emergency lighting Operational procedures Environmental controls (Cunningham et al., 2007) 2. Resilience Layers Six Resilience Layers 1. Strategy & Vision 2. Organization 3. Processes 4. Applications & Data 5. Technology 6. Facilities (Goble, G., Fields, H., & Cocchiara, R., 2002) 2.1 Strategy & Vision Business goals & objectives Resilience assessment Assess Risks Assess Vulnerabilities Strategic plan for success Baseline objectives (Goble et al., 2002; A comprehensive, 2007) 2.2 Organization Document roles Responsibilities Accountability Communications protocols Business links Skills critical to organization (Goble et al., 2002; A comprehensive, 2007) 2.3 Processes Process creation Process sustainment Process alternatives Contingency planning (Goble et al., 2002; A comprehensive, 2007) 2.4 Applications & Data Provide reliable data Align disparate data and applications Determine tolerance levels Fault tolerance Diversification Testing end-to-end (Goble et al., 2002; A comprehensive, 2007) 2.5 Technology Resiliency objectives Flexibility Evaluate and align IT investments Identify single points of failure Alternate site considerations Critical hardware and software (Goble et al., 2002; A comprehensive, 2007) 2.6 Facilities Physical and logical security...
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...Technology is ever- evolving and constantly progressing. Understandably, managers have taken a progressive approach to managing by emphasizing on teamwork and cooperation. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, Chapter 7, 2010). The innovation of Steve Job’s influential leadership has had a substantial impact on the fate of the organization and lives of followers of Apple Inc. At Apple Inc., business is slated to be conducted ethically, honestly and also claims to comply with all laws and regulations. There are many methods for evaluating and defining Steve Job’s style of ethical leadership in comparison to others. The Williams Institute Ethics Awareness Inventory Assessment defines one style of ethical leadership as Equity. Beliefs that there are no absolute standards of right and wrong are common with leaders that exhibit an Equity ethical leadership style. How does the management style used at Apple Inc. parallel with that of Equity? Apple has instituted policies not only for Apple employees but anyone doing business with Apple. There are codes of conduct for suppliers of products and conditions are written out for the price of doing business with Apple. “The code of conduct requires suppliers to provide safe and healthy working conditions, to use fair hiring practices, to treat their workers with dignity and respect, and to adhere to environmentally responsible practices in manufacturing. To that end, the code includes standards in areas of Labor and Human Rights, Health and...
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...Judge, 2010). It’s the adjustment made among people, technology and structural foundation which was being established within an organisation for period of time. The fundamental concept is for the employees to comprehend the business environment and its significance for the sustainability of the business organisations (Management of Organisation, 2013). For the assignment undertaken, we will be looking into MOTOROLA which was heralded as one of the global communication leaders at a point of time; we evaluate factors effecting its business environment over the past five years using PESTEL analysis which led the organisation to make specific strategies to remain competitive and relevant in the industry. Motorola was influenced by several changes in its business environment which led company to develop strategic planning to work and collaborate with diverse corporation in the industry in assisting the business to continually innovate and improve their products and gain significant market share. This can be observed through the milestones of changes, since its inception back in 1930 when it was known as Gavin Manufacturing Corporation (Motorola Solutions, 2013). * Motorola Inc. was an American corporation established in 1928, a multinational company in telecommunications located in Schaumburg, Illinois in Chicago Suburb (Motorola Website, 2011). * Gavin Manufacturing Corporation change of the company name to Motorola Inc. in 1947. Since then, it has embarked achieving substantial...
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...advantages of the new HR structure are increased efficiency and cost savings through centralization. By dividing the HR department into separate functional units, it allows Corporate HR to work closely with senior management and align the HR strategy with the overall business strategy. In addition, the new model allows the organization greater flexibility when the needs of the business changes direction or focus. The units would be well equipped to handle the immediate and rapid changes needed for the business to thrive. For example, if the company decides that it wants to invest in new systems that will increase overall productivity, this would require a massive retraining of its workforce. This can be addressed directly through the Solutions Inc. training arm of the organization. Likewise, if, a new benefits program was to be introduced, Services Inc. would be able to quickly retool their infrastructure to accommodate the new program. The Organizational Capability Consultants division will give the HR department a higher profile overall. By having a constant HR presence throughout the organization, it will provide another perspective to corporate, as well as allow employees better access to services provided by HR. Utilizing newer technology such as interactive employee websites and dedicated service lines will answer employee questions quickly, effectively and efficiently, all at a lower cost in the long-term. Question 2: Would managers and employees of an organization...
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...entThe Change Management Life Cycle: How to Involve Your People to Ensure Success at Every Stage +1 (703) 558-4445 • (877) 766-3337 An ESI International White Paper www.esi-intl.com Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4 Why Change?......................................................................................................................... 5 The Elements of Change ..................................................................................................... 5 The Change Management Life Cycle ............................................................................... 7 Phase 1: Identify the Change ............................................................................................. 8 Phase 2: Engage the People .............................................................................................10 Phase 3: Implement the Change ..................................................................................... 12 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................14 References ......................................................................................................................
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...Background Steel Works Inc. is a manufacturer of custom and specialty use steels founded in 1980. Steel Works Inc. has earned a reputation as a high technology provider and within its two divisions, Specialty Products and Custom Products, the manufacture produces annual sales of around $400 million (1993 Figures) (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky and Simchi-Levi 2008). The company is facing the following issues and have appointment a new head of their logistics group, Gary Lemming to address the issues: - Sales are down by 30% - Expenses have increased by 25% - Customers are leaving for other manufactures (loss in market share) - Service levels are low and customer cancellations and backorders are increasing - Inventory levels are very high, resulting in increasing inventory costs Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the following: 1. What are the goals that Gary Lemming has been given by his CEO? How is the current performance impacting on Steel Works’ performance? 2. What are the operational goals and objectives of the Custom Department? What are the operational goals and objectives of the Specialty Department? 3. What are the operational challenges and objectives that Lemming faces from the departments? 4. How aligned are the departments within Steel Works? How do you anticipate that their individual performances align with the strategic goals and objectives of the company? 5. What does the current data tell you about Steel Works Inc. current business performance...
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...Communications, Inc. is a full service telecommunications company based in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It was formed on June 30, 2000 with the merger between Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp” (History of Verizon Wireless). Verizon currently stands as a global leader in in today’s society by its commitment to customer satisfaction and highly innovative technology. Its products and services provide the most convenient and technologically- advanced solutions for its customers by providing both broadband and wireline communications services to a large market, with services expanding to more than 150 countries. Verizon strives to continue as an industry leader by continuously perfecting its products and services to meet the changing needs of its customer base. To guarantee success, Verizon required a solid process for ensuring successful execution of business objectives in planning for advancement of their technology. In turn, Verizon created an exceptional PMO by including best practices used since 2006. The PMO aims to be financially efficient in an effort to support strategies for the organization. The purpose of this paper is to create a portfolio management plan for Verizon that shows how its organizational strategy and project alignment has contributed to Verizon’s success in becoming a “top performer” in its industry. Portfolio Management Process Project Portfolio Management (PPM) allows a company to choose the right set of projects that align with the...
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...Apple Inc. is an international company that focuses in the manufacture of consumer and business computers, electronics and software. The firm was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. It was incorporated on January 3, 1977 and was initially know as Apple Computer, Inc. for 30 years until it was changed to Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007 in order to embrace a more diverse line of production to the market. Macintosh computer was one of the first products of Apple which was released in 1984 and was embraced in the education sector. This flagged progressive variations and greater innovation between the company’s products. Though the innovation and variations were not reached immediately, introduction of Macintosh Portable and electrical equipment such as digital cameras, speakers and television applications failed to gather much appeal in consumer market. This triggered Apple to re-examine their position in the marketplace and Apple linked itself with companies such as IBM, Motorola and Microsoft at some point hoping to increase its sales. This did not work for the company and thus they decided that reinvention of their original products was the best direction to pursue. During the reinvention, Macintosh was transformed to iMac and its success allowed the firm to cast a wider net to include other products and services such as Apple Store, iPod, iTunes, MacBook, iPhone and iPad. Regardless of its downfalls, Apple has become a strong market leader...
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...Enterprise architecture (EA) is a strategic planning process that translates an enterprise’s business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change. The EA program institutes a collaborative, shared planning process. EA teams work with business and IT stakeholders to define a future-state vision in terms of requirements, principles and models. They then compare the future-state vision to the current state, identify gaps and plan investments to fill them. EA is not IT-focused, but business-driven and comprehensive. The future-state vision helps coordinate the analysis of—and develop a plan to harmonize—required changes in business functions and processes, information and data provisioning, technology capabilities and application solutions. An effective EA program will help align IT investments with long-term strategy, reduce risk, deliver higher-quality information and engineer adaptive solutions and technical services. Consider these factors to determine your readiness EA planners must charter the program and ensure that senior leaders support it. They must also establish program milestones, plan ongoing refinements and devise strategies to tackle hurdles such as how to: • Assess EA program maturity, and improve it. • Define EA in a useful way. • Explain the business benefits of the EA program. • Gain credibility and build momentum by picking “low-hanging fruit” projects. • Use EA to improve the quality of information for decision making. Conduct your enterprise...
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...MDCM, Inc. (A): IT Synchronization Strategy Question no 1: Articulate a Corporate Strategy based on evidence from the case Answer: MDCM used following corporate strategies to carry out its business globally: Consolidation Strategy MDCM Inc. used the consolidation strategy primarily by growing into the geographical areas such as US, France, UK etc. The company was aimed to serve the customers in a best way delivering quality products with absolute commitment. They made several acquisitions targeting the non US based companies that had competencies especially in contract manufacturing to help serve the local customers. Moreover, the company became more efficient by outsourcing all the inbound and outbound logistics, thus saving the cost and serving the customers in a better way. McMullen ensured that all the outsourcers hired were the ex-MDCM employees and had been a part of the logistics group for ensuring sincerity and efficiency at the same time. Global Strategy MDCM Inc. being a US based company globalized by acquiring firms in all the major regions of world other than US and started using the global strategy by making its first acquisition of a UK based company in 1987, and made more than 20 acquisitions till mid 1990’s. E-Business Strategy Keeping pace with the emerging global economy and the e-business trends MDCM felt serious flaws in its IT system. And to overcome the inaccurate forecasting, scheduling, inventory and supply chain problems and to make its business...
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