...Carlson Companies, a private company known for its existence in marketing, business, leisure travel, and the hospitality industries, has over 180,000 employees across the United States. Carlson Shared Services, the Information Technology (IT) division, provides services to its internal clients and thus must support a wide range of applications and services. In 2002, the IT division decided to implement a storage area network (SAN) that in turn would meet the six (6) goals established in order to meet the needs of a growing company. In this paper we will take an in depth look at Carlson’s implementation of the SAN by 1) assessing how the Carlson SAN approach would be implemented in today’s environment; 2) comparing the pros and cons of consolidating data on a SAN central data facility versus the dispersed arrangement it replaces; 3) evaluating the issues raised from the Carlson SAN mixture of equipment from a number of vendors and determine the management options for dealing with this type of situation; 4) justifying the reduction of administration and management of storage networking through Carlson’s IP SAN; and 5) assessing how cloud computing could be used by Carlson instead of a SAN. Carlson SAN Approach The Carlson SAN approach in today’s environment can be assessed by the preparation, impact and benefits obtained by Carlson in using such an approach. Carlson established six (6) essential goals reliant on data and applications that would ensure the IT services provided continued...
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...Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies Shonia L. Murphy Dr. Bennett Strayer University Bus 499 Introduction Any public limited company can grow through the process of either organic growth or internal growth or through the process of merger and acquisition. In the following pages two different public limited companies listed in the United States are taken. One of the animation companies has international exposure and a history of merger and acquisition and other solely operating in USA with no history of merger and acquisition. Discussion Walt Disney Company which is commonly known as Disney is an American diversified multinational company that is headquartered at Walt Disney studio in Burbank California. In terms of revenue the company is largest in the world. The business was established by Disney brothers namely Walt and Roy Disney in the year 1923. The company was a leader in the animation industry before it diversified into other ventures. Pixar on the other hand was formed in 1979 by George Lucus and his recruit Ed Catmull. The company was renamed as Pixar when Steve Jobs acquired majority stake in the company in the year 1986. After the demise of Walt and Roy Disney the company lost the initial success that it had with animation films. It was in this time that a series of animation films that were produced by the company did not farewell at the box office and the company suffered losses. On the other hand Pixar’s computer...
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...Executive Summary The article applies PESTEL and five- forces analytic methods to analyze opportunities and threats of Westpac Bank Group in general and competitive environments. Specifically, in general environment, the key perspectives are political and economic factors. However, faced with strong substitutes and rivalries, Westpac would focus on those great threats. In addition, the report demonstrates the visions and missions of the company, indicating the Westpac’s objectives. Then, SWOT analysis is used in the company’s strategic management, which discovers the strengths including company’s infrastructure, great reputation, staffing level and the weakness covering capital risk and low profitability. Moreover, five categories of resources, namely financial, physical, reputational, technological, human resources are discussed. Furthermore, several specific strategies would be presented to gain company’s further objectives and achieve better development. Finally, some recommendations will be suggested to the company, enhancing Westpac’s business operations and development. 1.General environment As one of the big four banks in Australia, Westpac Bank is unavoidably affected by macro environment, faced with several opportunities and threats. Specifically, in terms of political and legal factors, although lots of financial policies and regulations are made to support better Australian banking industry reforms, excessive regulatory interventions may confine Westpac development...
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...group has attempted to achieve both global scale and decentralised local presence, with component businesses divided into several thousand profit centres, with remarkably few corporate managers at the top, or at Headquarters. English is the designated company language. A strategy of mergers and acquisitions in order to achieve market leadership and, in selected markets, global dominance, has since characterised the company. BCC: The nature of the business BCC now employs more than 200,000 people and last year total sales amounted to US $28,300 million. The group is organised in five Business Segments: Power station design and build Power transmission and distribution Industry systems and building systems Transportation Financial services The five Business Segments are then subdivided into about 50 international Business Areas. Within Power Transmission and Distribution, for example, there are Business Areas responsible for cables, transformers, high voltage switchgear, network control, network installation and low-voltage apparatus. 2. Structure of BCC A simple distinction can be drawn between globalised and decentralised multi-national companies: Globalised Multi National Corporations Two types of globalised multi national corporations can be identified: those that centralise policy making at the corporate head quarters, called ‘ethnocentric’ corporations those that...
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...Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010 Report prepared by Bruno Arnaud Executive Summary Coke and Pepsi have competed for more than a century for the world’s beverage market share. In all this time they have executed many different strategies and taken various decisions concerning the future of their companies. However, during this period, they had always experienced an increasing domestic carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumption. Now, that the CSD consumption is declining, and the non-CSD consumption is growing, what should Pepsi do next? And how might Coke respond? Which strategies should the smaller competitors follow? I recommend Pepsi to pursue the market for its new non-CSD products, with sport and energy drinks, water, juices, teas, and snacks, while also focusing on its world expansion for the CSD and non-CSD market. Coke will, of course, do the same, while the smaller competitors will try to focus on each of their specific niche but also internationally. Analysis Why is that the concentrate producers have been so profitable? The concentrate manufacturing process involved relatively little capital investment in machinery, overhead, and labor. Also, one concentrate manufacturing plant cost between $50 million to $100 million, but can cover a very large geographic area (“as large as the United States”). Their most significant costs were for advertising, promotion, market research and bottler support. So, they heavily invested in their trademarks over time, and...
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...this time, the company was striving to be the low-costdifferentiator in the health food space. This is evident in the claims that Wild Oatsoffered better products at better prices than Whole Foods, its top competitor.Currently, the organic/health food market serves a relatively small number of grocerybuyers. By streamlining processes, introducing more private label brands, investing inIT, and centralizing buying, merchandising, and pricing, Wild Oats is striving to attaincost leadership in its market. In other words, a focused low-cost approach is beingused. This is not an attractive position for Wild Oats because traditional grocers, withmore buying power and more efficient processes, are beginning to enter this high-growth market. Whole Foods, the market leader, has promised a pricing war to combatthe threat of Wild Oats expanding into its territory, pointing out that its company is better equipped to handle such price attrition. To combat these threats and the subsequenterosion of sales growth, Wild Oats is planning on opening several large prototype storeswith increased food offerings - especially goods with higher margins. Also, thecompany is offering its private label brands through several online retailers and selecttraditional grocers. With the entry of mass...
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...activities either fully or in part to minimize costs and other operation limitations that they face in the American health sector (Ho 2007). Thus, many hospitals merge to boost their market share, acquire more patients with a view of expanding their operations and achieving greater profit margins than those firms that are run separately. Effects of hospital mergers on healthcare costs A number of researches have been conducted on the American health expenditure using a sample of American hospitals from hospitals association in the country. In comparison, independent hospitals were useful as a control sample. These two groups of hospitals gave divergent information that was weighed against national hospital expenditure records. Findings of such studies reveal that merging of hospitals have the potential to cut down on costs of operation in similar to hospitals that operate in isolation but manage their costs effectively (Kaiser Family Foundation 2004). Additionally, very little proceeds accrue from merging of hospitals let alone not increasing influx of patients in merged hospitals. Moreover, hospitals operating independently often register remarkably increase in the number of patients relative to merged hospitals. Most scholars have eluded that consolidating healthcare services would enhance coordination of operations and improve efficiency in service delivery (Ho 2007). Thus, patients would be served faster and discharged at minimal costs possible. Besides, through regional...
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...Ronald Reagan was the 40th United States president that served from 1981-1989. In his 1985 State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan called upon Congress and the American people to stand up to the Soviet Union, what he had previously called the “Evil Empire”. From this State of the Union came the well-known Reagan Doctrine of 1985. This doctrine defined American interests around the globe and its determination of preventing communism from expanding. “The Reagan Doctrine proclaims overt and unashamed American support for anti-Communist revolution. It is intended to establish a new, firmer--a doctrinal--foundation for such support by declaring equally worthy all armed resistance to communism, whether foreign or indigenously imposed.” (Krauthammer, 1985). A situation that required the United States diplomatic efforts during President Reagan’s time in office was the rapidly growing expansion of the Soviet Union in East Asia, Indies and the Middle East. Another situation was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which had begun in 1979. Previously, the Carter administration had little hesitation in coming to the aid of Afghanistan after the invasion. At the time, the United States had the understanding that the Soviet Union would eventually become Middle East and would be able to gain control of the oil fields. Two events increased U.S.-Soviet tensions: the suppression of the Solidarity labor movement in Poland in December 1981, and the destruction of an off-course civilian...
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...Nintendo’s Wii Case Analysis SUMA11 Sec F Business Policy July 24, 2011 CASE ANALYSIS Nintendo’s Wii COMPANY NAME: Nintendo Corporation Limited. INDUSTRY: Video Game COMPANY WEBSITE: (www.Nintendo.com) COMPANY BACKGROUND: Nintendo was founded in Japan in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, originally they sold playing cards called hanafuda cards, a popular card game in Japan, after few decades in 1983 they became as a video game company, creating the first video console known as NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), with the advances of the technology they continue improving their systems and realizing more advanced consoles, in 1990 their release an improved version of the NES, the super NES (SNES), then in 1995 they created another console positioned as the #2 in sales at that time behind the first Sony playstation, the Nintendo (N64). The GameCube console was released in 2001 to compete with the new generation of video games like Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft XBOX and Sony Playstation 2, with very popular games like Mario Bros and Sonic, converting the characters of these games part of their image. In 2006 they created the Nintendo Wii, an extraordinary console with a great innovation technology; with a motion sensor allowing the user to play moving the remote control in the air adding realism and interaction between the user and the videogame. The other great characteristic of this console is the internet capabilities, Nintendo Wii was the first console...
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...president. Despite Mexico having a smooth transition to democracy, many Mexicans were later disillusioned on the lack of major changes that didn’t take place after the political power shift from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to PAN. In 2012, Mexico’s political power shifted back to PRI after PAN had taken office for two recurring presidential...
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...Introduction : From ancient Pharaohs to modern-day Presidents and Prime Ministers, leaders who belong to dynasties are a common feature of the political landscape.Just as in the case of family-run,the existence of dynastic leaders raises the question of whether they are good or bad for economic performance at the country level. Political dynasties have long been present in democracies, raising concerns that inequality in the distribution of political power may reflect imperfections in democratic representation. WHY DYNASTY? The characteristics of political leaders matter depends on how much discretionary authority they employ. In particular, if executive con- straints are weak, selection through dynasties could be important, especially if leadership competence is transmitted across generations through either nature or nurture. Moreover, dynastic selection of leaders based on their competence will result in a positive correlation between economic perfor-mance and having a dynastic leader in o¢ ce. Dynasties will also become established and survive based on economic performance. Selection through Dynasties We use an extremely simple adverse selection model to illustrate the main ideas and to motivate the empirical test. While there are many simplifying features built into the model, it is based on two core ideas: (i) internal controls (executive constraints) lowers the economic cost of having incompetent leaders (ii) if internal controls are ab-sent, then performance-related selection...
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...internationalistation plans forward and spread its footprint in the developing world. It seemed a logical step since the second most populated country was showing rapid economic growth similar the scene when Haier achieved success in China. Favorable market conditions: I. 8.3% GDP growth in 2003-04 and similar expectations in subsequent years. II. Rising disposable income. III. Relatively low entry barriers in white goods market. IV. Growth of home appliance sector at a rate between 11-14% annually for the period between 2000-04. Growth expectation of > 20 % for 2005-10. V. Low penetration in home electronics. The biggest category color TV stood at 21.3% and refrigerators at 16.!% only. Haier wanted to become a top 3 appliance brand of the expanding Indian economy in seven years and to garner 20% of India’s white goods market in five years. Also there were plans to set up a factory specifically for making refrigerators ( also to be used as a R&D center) and another color TV factory. Ans 2. Haier’s entry strategy • Developed a local sales network, launched media campaigns, acquired a manufacturing facility and rolled out products that were thought to be appealing to local market. • For the first couple years low end goods were sourced from local manufacturers and high end goods were directly imported. Like importing handsets, split ACs and high end TV models like plasma and flat screen from China and assembling color TV via local Indian manufacturers. • Acquired 40 acre factory...
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...expansion strategy on the company and to determine if such a strategy is sustainable. Methods: We used data extracted from financial statements and applied sustainability ratios such as the DuPont ratio. Results: Bed Bath & Beyond will greatly benefit from pursuing its expansion policy in both the short and long term. Key Words: Sustained long-term growth, excellent customer service, promote-from-within policy. Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Business, Operating and Expansion Strategies 3 Consistency in Strategy and Potential Changes 5 Current Performance and Keys to its Current Success 6 Competitors 7 Strouds 7 Lechters 8 JC Penney 8 Linens ‘n Things 8 Competitive Analysis 9 The Bargaining Power of Suppliers 9 Bargaining Power of Buyers 9 The Threat of New Entrants 9 Threat of Substitutes 9 Industry Rivalry 10 ROE and DuPont ratio analysis 10 3-Point DuPont Ratio 10 5-Point DuPont Ratio 10 ROE and growth rate 11 Strategic Considerations and Recommendation 12 References 13 Appendix A 14 Appendix B 14 Appendix C 14 Appendix D 15 Appendix E 15 Appendix F 15 Appendix G 16 Executive Summary Team United is an external independent consulting group hired by the board of directors of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) to review and analyze the company’s business, operating, and expansion strategies. We are analyzing BBBY’s current financial and strategic situations, and its ability to expand. This is the finalized report that...
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...extremely high profitability, due to their high level of sales, and the low level of expenditure needed to maintain the sales levels. The 7 series however is a model in decline in terms of its lifecycle. It is found at the ultimate destination of all products, a ‘dog’. The production does have market share, but its desirability is waning and its performance relative to its competitors is not what it once was. The market for the 7 series however, is still performing well. This means that BMW should, and will review the model with a view to re-launch in the near future. The above products are all fairly settled. Many of them have been being manufactured for many years now with several re-designs and re-launches. BMW has however recently begun expanding its portfolio, and the result of this is some new star and problem children. One of these stars is the X5. The X5 is a new market area for BMW. The 4x4 market can be extremely profitable, especially the ‘On road’ 4x4 products. This market is very large and growing, and BMW have made an attempt to get a slice of the cake with the X5. The Z3 and Z8 are very similar products. They are both small sports cars, differing in the Boston Matrix in terms of market share and price. The Z3 is a star, but the Z8 could be described as a problem child. More affordably priced than the Z8, and with a larger share of the growing market, the Z3 is a product beginning to mature and generate a...
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...CASE STUDY ANALYSIS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Define the Type of Organisation and the Industry it operates in? ABL Limited is a beverage and snack company operating in the Australian Non-Alcoholic beverage market. ABL has a decentralized organizational structure and is listed on the ASX. ABL is looking at expanding into the Australian bottled water manufacturing industry. The major segments of the Austalian bottled water manufacturing industry are still water 74% and sparkling water 24% value 963m litres in 2011 Value Chain Analysis Water Treatment Bottling & Packaging Distribution Retailer Supply Labeling 55% 26.8% Wages 12.1% Depreciation 4.1% Utilities and Rent 1.8% Segments Analysis: The Life cycle Stage of the Industry The Australian bottled water industry is in a growth phase. The industry has evolved since 1990 out of the soft drink manufacturing industry and is achieving a high rate of growth as seen in table 4 where Bottled water is expected to grow from 13.3% of Non-Alcoholic beverages to 17.4%. Consumption per capita of water is also expected to grow in the future as well as revenue from sales of still and sparkling water. A recent report by the Global Earth Policy Institute concluded that global consumption of bottled water rose by 56.8% to 164 billion litres from 2007 to 2011. Growth phase is further evident by a net profit rate of 16.3% which is high. . Industries Future Growth ...
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