...To what extent do you agree with the statement that 'e-business is much more than a strategic initiative'? I find particularly interesting Johnsons and Whang’s (2002, p. 413) statement that “nothing has rocked the young field of the supply chain management like the emergence of the Internet”. It indeed rocked, by lowering costs, minimizing the response time, creating new business models, improving logistics abilities and overall improving the service offered to the customer. Gribbins et al. (n.d.) analyzed in their paper how e-business impacted P & G, a major player in the consumer goods industry. From P & G’s e-business and internet “embrace” we can clearly see the impact and results this strategic initiative has on an organization. A few examples of what they have developed: 1. E-stores (e-commerce) platforms, where customers can do purchases online; this approach have brought the organization direct contact with the customer and a global reach and expansion; 2. Supply Chain Information Collection Initiatives which, by sharing effectively information, efficiency is increased, inventory management is kept under control, hence costs are reduced; 3. Transora online B2B procurement e-stores which reduces the customer’s ordering time and purchasing costs and provided a good flow of inventory management, which makes a close to perfection integrated supply chain for all parties involved; 4. Web-based knowledge data bases, to help reduce product development time by creating...
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...Week 5 Discussion Question Do you agree with the statement that 'e-business is much more than a strategic initiative'? In the business environment, competitive advantage has been one of the main components in determining a firm’s survival and a product’s marketability. Organisational have to adapt and adopt changes to meet the dynamic business environment. Example in the fall of Kodak would be a hard lesson for all where they downplay the digital advancement in the photography industry. Thus the emergence of internet and e-business has impacted and propelled a new era in an organisations marketing strategy, Karavdic and Gregory (2005). Most of the Companies which has been successful had incorporate use of internet into their business strategy creating an e-business opportunity. Cavusgil and Zou (1994) stated that a key dimension of a firm’s export marketing strategy is the degree to which a firm adapt its marketing strategy to the market environment. Classic example would be the success of Cisco, Dell, Facebook and Alibaba. All has leverage on internet into their business model or marketing strategies to reach out directly to customers across borders. Thus e-business enables one company performance indicator “speed” to achieve remarkable efficiency improvements. How fast could firm reach out to consumer with new product knowledge? How fast could consumer order reaches me for production? And how fast could consumer pay, company to receive payment and achieve high company’s...
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...Evelyn Bourke CFO, Friends Provident Stephen Carver Media and crisis management expert, Cranfield School of Management Ian Dyson (formerly) CFO, Marks & Spencer Luigi Ferraris CFO, Enel Andy Halford CFO, Vodafone Simon Henry CFO, Royal Dutch Shell René Hooft Graafland CFO, Heineken Juha Laaksonen CFO, Fortum Patrick Regan CFO, Aviva Simon Ridley FD, Standard Bank Hans-Peter Ring CFO, EADS Sue Round Head of Investments, Ecclesiastical Robin J Stalker CFO, Adidas Firoz Tarapore CFO, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Tim Tookey CFO, Lloyds Banking Group Rob Murray CFO, Coca-Cola Hellenic B Document title Additional text In this report Executive summary 2 Contributing to strategy 4 A broader business role 6 Core competencies remain key Future focus on stakeholder communication 10 12 and 18 The CFO’s contribution 14 Staging post or career destination? 20 A toolkit for the aspiring CFO 22 Demographics 26 What makes a CFO 28 Ernst & Young contacts 29 The DNA of the CFO provides fresh insight into what it is to be a CFO today by talking to today’s CFOs. This Ernst & Young report is based on our analysis of a survey of 669 senior finance professionals in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, and a program of in-depth interviews with leading CFOs and finance directors from these regions – allowing...
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...Defining the mission statement for a company is often one of the most slighted tasks in strategic management. It is much easier for many executives to emphasize operational aspects of long-term management activities rather than making sure short-term activities are in sync with the long-term goals. The principal value of the mission statement is its specification of the firm’s ultimate aims. A firm gains a heightened sense of purpose when its board of directors and its top executives address these issues: “What business are we in?” “What customers do we serve?” and “Why does this organization exist?” Ambiguous generalizations are not enough to address these questions. A firm must clearly articulate its long-term intentions if it expects its goals to serve as a basis for shared expectations, planning, and performance evaluation. A mission statement that is clearly articulated can promote a sense of shared expectations among all levels and generations of employees. It consolidates values over time and across individuals and interest groups. The firm’s sense of worth and intent can be clearly identified by outside stakeholders. Lastly, it asserts the firm’s commitment to responsible action in symbiosis with the preservation and protection of the essential claims of insider stakeholders’ survival, growth, and profitability. Learning Objectives 1. Describe a company mission and explain its value. 2. Explain why it is important for the mission statement to include the company’s...
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...Report on Employees Reflection of PRAN Export Limited BUS 400 (Internship) Submitted To: Showvonick Datta Lecturer BRAC Business School Submitted By: Mia Mohammad Irfan (09204036) Date of submission: 9th March, 2014 Letter of Transmittal March 9, 2014 Showvonick Datta Lecturer BRAC Business School Subject: Acceptance of internship report. Dear Sir, It gives me immense pleasure in preparing this report that was assigned to me in fulfillment of my course requirement. This report has been valuable to me as it assisted to unite the practical experience to theoretical knowledge. I would like to mention that I am extremely grateful to you for your valuable guidance, extreme understanding effort and constant attention as and when required in accomplishing the report. I shall be very pleased to answer any query you think necessary as and when needed. Sincerely Yours, Mia Mohammad Irfan ID: 09204036 BRAC Business School Acknowledgement I acknowledge my heartiest gratefulness to all who have extended their hands of cooperation in preparing the report. At first I express my gratitude and acclaim our indebtfulness towards my relevant course instructor Showvonick Datta for his overall guidance, advice and support in encouraging our reponsibilities consciously while creating this report. I would like to express gratitude towards Mr. Faijullah Zisan, Assistant Manager Export, PRAN Export Limited for his assisting approach and effort to provide me the necessary information and...
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...CHAPTER 5 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING AND JOB ANALYSIS CHAPTER OVERVIEW The chapters begins by describing the intensive succession-plan for the new CEO at Quest Diagnostics. The process of human resource planning, and its connection to overall strategic organizational planning is described. Next, key notions are that a firm must know its mission and goals, and its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Then human resources must describe jobs that will perform tasks necessary to meet the goals. Factors to consider, such as the skills of current employees, available tools, and management information systems, are presented in the discussion on how labor supply and demand are matched. Job analysis, which is used to determine the knowledge, skills and abilities required for each job, is described, and the importance of job analysis for almost all HRM activities is emphasized. Finally, current issues in human resource planning, which today must deal with downsizing and rightsizing, are presented. Additional Features of this Chapter Exhibit 5-2 is s sample replacement chart. Examples from various job analysis techniques are provided and Exhibit 5-4 outlines the steps in a job analysis. Exhibit 5-9 gives a sample job description for a benefits manager. “Ethical Issues in HRM” discusses various competitive intelligence activities and the difference between ethical vs. legal. ADDITIONAL LECTURE OR ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS Environmental Scanning:...
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... Matt Marx, and Howard H. Stevenson Managers can use a variety of carrots and sticks to encourage people to work together and accomplish change. Their ability to get results depends on selecting tools that match the circumstances they face. T JIM FRAZIER the primary task of management is to get people to work together in a systematic way. Like orchestra conductors, managers direct the talents and actions of various players to produce a desired result. It’s a complicated job, and it becomes much more so when managers are trying to get people to change, rather than continue with the status quo. Even the best CEOs can stumble in their attempts to encourage people to work together toward a new corporate goal. In 1999, for example, Procter & Gamble’s Durk Jager, a highly regarded insider who had recently been promoted to CEO, announced Organization 2005, a restructuring 73 october 2006 T h e To o l s o f Co o p e rat i o n a n d C h a n g e Extent to which people agree on what they want program that promised to change P&G’s culture. However, not everyone at P&G agreed that such sweeping change was necessary or that the way to achieve it was to reduce investments in the company’s core brands in order to fund radical, new products. The organization rebelled, and Jager was forced to resign only 17 months after taking the helm. The root cause of Jager’s very public failure was that he didn’t induce P&G employees to cooperate–a requirement of all change campaigns....
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...for competitive advantage Acknowledgements Know how: Managing knowledge for competitive advantage is a briefing paper written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The findings and views expressed in this white paper do not necessarily reflect the views of TCS, which has sponsored this publication in the interest of promoting informed debate. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for the content of the report. The main author was Terry Ernest-Jones and the editor was Gareth Lofthouse. The findings are based on two main strands of research: ● The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted an online survey of 122 senior executives in western Europe, 68 of whom were based in the UK. Participants were selected from large organisations with over $1bn in annual sales revenue, and from a cross-section of industries, with a particular emphasis on financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and professional services companies. ● We also interviewed several senior executives and knowledge-management practitioners on the challenges they face in managing corporate knowledge, and on the strategies they have employed to exploit business information for competitive advantage. Our sincere thanks go to all the interviewees and survey respondents for sharing their insights on this topic. June 2005 © The Economist Intelligence Unit 2005 1 Know how Managing knowledge for competitive advantage ...
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... Matt Marx, and Howard H. Stevenson Managers can use a variety of carrots and sticks to encourage people to work together and accomplish change. Their ability to get results depends on selecting tools that match the circumstances they face. T JIM FRAZIER the primary task of management is to get people to work together in a systematic way. Like orchestra conductors, managers direct the talents and actions of various players to produce a desired result. It’s a complicated job, and it becomes much more so when managers are trying to get people to change, rather than continue with the status quo. Even the best CEOs can stumble in their attempts to encourage people to work together toward a new corporate goal. In 1999, for example, Procter & Gamble’s Durk Jager, a highly regarded insider who had recently been promoted to CEO, announced Organization 2005, a restructuring 73 october 2006 T h e To o l s o f Co o p e rat i o n a n d C h a n g e Extent to which people agree on what they want program that promised to change P&G’s culture. However, not everyone at P&G agreed that such sweeping change was necessary or that the way to achieve it was to reduce investments in the company’s core brands in order to fund radical, new products. The organization rebelled, and Jager was forced to resign only 17 months after taking the helm. The root cause of Jager’s very public failure was that he didn’t induce P&G employees to cooperate–a requirement of all change campaigns....
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... Mastering the Management System by Robert S. Kaplan and David P Norton . Reprint R0801D This article is made available to you with compliments of SAP. Further posting, copying or distributing is copyright infringement. To order more copies go to www.hbr.org or call 800-988-0886. Successful strategy execution has two basic rules: understand the management cycle that links strategy and operations, and know what tools to apply at each stage of the cycle. Mastering the Management System by Robert S. Kaplan and David P Norton . COPYRIGHT © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Not long after its successful IPO, the Conner Corporation (not its real name) began to lose its way. The company’s senior executives continued their practice of holding monthly one-day management meetings, but their focus drifted. The meetings’ agenda called for a discussion of operational issues in the morning and strategic issues in the afternoon. But with the company under pressure to meet quarterly targets, operational items had started to crowd strategy out of the agenda. Inevitably, the review of actual monthly and forecast quarterly financial performance revealed revenues to be lower, and expenses to be higher, than targeted. The worried managers spent hours discussing how to close the gap through pricing initiatives, capacity downsizing, SG&A staff cuts, and sales campaigns. One executive noted, “We have no time for strategy. If we miss our quarterly...
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...affecting ABC efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are used to investigate the relationship between ABC and financial performance. Results show that there indeed is a positive association between ABC and improvement in ROI when ABC is used concurrently with other strategic initiatives, when implemented in complex and diverse firms, when used in environments where costs are relatively important, and when there are limited numbers of intra-company transactions. In addition, measures of success of ABC used in prior research appear to be predictors of improvement in financial performance. c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Key words: activity-based costing; new business initiatives; ABC success; structural equation models. 1. Introduction Activity-based costing1 (ABC) has been promoted and adopted as a basis for making strategic decisions and for improving profit performance for over a decade *Assistant Professor of Accounting, School of Business, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX 78520, U.S.A. Tel: (956) 983-7300. E-mail: dcagwin@utb1.utb.edu. †Ralph L. McQueen Associate Professor of Accounting, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, U.S.A. Tel: (501)...
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...links strategy and operations, and know what tools to apply at each stage of the cycle. the Management System by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton NOT LONG AFTER ITS SUCCESSFUL IPO, the Conner Corporation (not its real name) began to lose its way. The company’s senior executives continued their practice of holding monthly one-day management meetings, but their focus drifted. The meetings’ agenda called for a discussion of operational issues in the morning and strategic issues in the afternoon. But with the company under pressure to meet quarterly targets, operational items had started to crowd strategy out of the agenda. Inevitably, the review of actual monthly and forecast quarterly financial performance revealed revenues to be lower, and expenses to be higher, than targeted. The worried managers spent hours discussing how to close the gap through pricing initiatives, capacity downsizing, SG&A staff cuts, and sales hbr.org 1808 Kaplan.indd 63 | January 2008 | Harvard Business Review 6 3 12/5/07 5:32:05 PM | Mastering the Management System campaigns. One executive noted, “We have no time for strategy. If we miss our quarterly numbers, we might cease to exist. For us, the long term is the short term.” Like Conner, all too many companies – including some well-established public corporations – have learned how Gresham’s Law applies to their management meetings: Discussions about bad operations inevitably drive out discussions about...
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...Adeojo, Adeyinka EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE IN AN ORGANIZATION CASE: LASACO ASSURANCE PLC Thesis Autumn 2012 Business School Degree programme in Business Administration International Business 1 SEINÄJOKI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS ABSTRACT Faculty: Business School Degree Program: International Business Specialization: International Business and Marketing Author/s: Adeojo Adeyinka Lawrence Title of thesis: Effective time management for high performance in an organization Case: Lasaco Assurance PLC Supervisor: Miia Koski Year: 2012 Pages: 84 Number of appendices: 8 The main objective of this thesis is to determine the effect of time management on high organizational performance using LASACO ASSURANCE Plc. as a case company. In this thesis, the employees working with the company were sent questionnaires. Their responses were critically analyzed and thus related to the theories. A quantitative approach was used as the methodology. According to the theory, time management is a method for managers to increase work performance effectiveness. Time management is probably not as easy as what it is imagined and expected to be; the term time management means different things to different people. The study brought out the differences between effective time management and time management. It was discovered that the organization has already implemented time management, but it was not effective enough. The test of a hypothesis was conducted...
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...>cases NCRCC: Teeing Up a New Strategic Direction >Abstract NCR Country Club started out as a benefit for thousands of National Cash Register employees. By the late 1990s, those employees were aging rapidly and the core membership needed to be increased. NCRCC offers two golf courses. One is an award winning, championshiphosting course on the PGA tour. But it wasn’t attracting new members, especially younger families. This case is about a membership study done as part of a larger management initiative to evaluate several strategic directions the club might take to expand its membership. www.ncrcountryclub.com >The Scenario Used with permission of Pamela S. Schindler ©2001. NCR Country Club (NCRCC) started in 1954 as an employee benefit of the National Cash Register Co. but is now an open-membership club. This country club located in Kettering, Ohio (near Dayton), hosts two 18-hole golf courses. The NCR South course, a par 71 championship course of 6,824 yards of heavily wooded rolling countryside, the site of the 1996 PGA Championship, the 1986 U.S. Open, and the 1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur, is consistently ranked by Golf Digest as one of the top 100 courses in the United States. The prairie-links style of the North course, a 6,358-yard par 70 course, is considered challenging. In southwestern Ohio, the active golf season usually lasts from May through October. Within a 30-minute radius of NCRCC, the avid golfer will find eight other private golf and country...
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...Strategic Planning: What does it Mean?, and How is it done Effectively? Most business owners or managers recognize that a strategic plan is a directional map for where their companies are headed and how they intend to get there. However, it is much harder for them to understand what goes into the strategic planning process, how the strategy-making task is best performed, and the full impact of the process the planning team goes through to develop the strategic direction of their organization. Strategic planning is best done when a company looks at its past, present, and future in light of its related environment. It is the process of thinking about the company and its related environment as an integrated whole. A process during which an executive "planning team" is organized to consider three key questions on a continuous basis: 1. What is our business? 2. Where do we wish to arrive, and when? and 3. How do we get from here to there? In a personal interview, Karen Poppe, Vice-President of Human Resource Management at Wall Drug, discussed the importance of organizing a strategic planning team to guide the long-term direction of a company. The planning team at Wall Drug consists of six key management people covering finance, personnel, and marketing. Clearly the success of those planning efforts is reflected in Wall Drug's average annual growth rate of 25% over the last five years. What is our...
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