...Assignment 1a: Identify and document the strategic business units of two firms (of your choice) from different industries. Each firm should have at least three different strategic groups. Also identify the main competitors (strategic groups of competing firms) of each strategic group of the firms of your choice. (max 1.5 pages) International Business Machines Corporation IBM Business Segments: The company’s major operations consists of five business segments: 1. Global Technology Services * Primarily provides IT infrastructure services and business process services, delivering business value through global scale, standardization and automation. 2. Global Business Services * Primarily provides professional services and application management services, with IMB solutions, which leverage industry and business-process expertise while integrating the industry-leading portfolio of IBM and strategic partners, to define the upper end of client-valued services. 3. Software * Consists primarily of middleware and operating systems software 4. Systems and Technology * Provides clients with business solutions requiring advanced computing power and storage capabilities. 5. Global Financing * facilitates clients’ acquisition of IBM systems, software and services Main IBM Competitors: Hewlett-Packard HP operations are organized into seven business segments: 1. Personal Systems Group (‘‘PSG’’) Is a hydride across all IBM SBU 2. Services...
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...1.0 Executive summary A million of thanks to Kolej Poly-tech Mara Kuala Lumpur for the opportunity to complete Workplacement/ Internship at Kometsoft (M) Sdn. Bhd. Followed thanks to Kometsoft’s that welcomed to their Company.The major purpose of this report was to ensure that students can adapt in workplace environment at the Organization or firm culture. This Internship task are will be completed during the semester break (1st November to 31st December). The major findings indicate that students know how to handle projects while working in one organization/ firm. A student must learn and need to stands in their own feet to solve any problem in the organization and try to communicated-well person. As recommendation, this workplacement/ internship program is very useful for the students’ to learn what really happen in one organization before the student finished their course at College/ University. While having Internship, the students learned a lot in time management, problem solving, critical thinking skills and other. Lastly, a lot of thanks as well to everyone who involved manage and evaluate this workplacement/ internship program. 2.0 The Background of Host Organizations/ Main activities and Business Operation Kometsoft (M) Sdn Bhd (“Kometsoft”) was established to promote an open source technology back in year 2003. The establishment was coincides with Malaysian Government encouragement to opt for the open source technology and the policy helped the Company’s rapid...
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...our culture as a whole. We often, as adults, watch in amazement as children dedicate hours to acting as football coaches, designers of empires, controllers of robots, wizards and emperors. In the past, computer games have been dismissed as a distraction from more ‘worthy’ activities, such as homework or playing outside. Today, however, researchers, teachers and designers of learning resources are beginning to ask how this powerful new medium might be used to support children’s learning. Rather than shutting the door of the school against the computer game, there is now increasing interest in asking whether computer games might be offering a powerful new resource to support learning in the information age. This review is intended as a timely introduction to current thinking about the role of computer games in supporting children’s learning inside and out of school. It highlights the key areas of research in the field, in particular the increasing interest in pleasurable learning, learning through doing and learning through collaboration, that games seem to offer. At the same time, the review takes a measured tone in acknowledging some of the obstacles and challenges to using games within our current education system and within our current models of learning. It goes on to propose some ways in which designers, researchers and educational policy makers might draw on the growing body of research in the...
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...Software reusability TERM PAPER Software reusability is generally considered a way to solve the software development crisis. When we solve a problem we try to apply the solution to similar problems because that makes our work easy and simple. Now in this paper I would like to cover important aspects of software reusability. But one thing is for sure software reusability can improve software productivity. Software reuse has become a topic of much interest in the software community due to its potential benefits, which include increased product quality and decreased product cost and schedule. The most substantial benefits derive from a product line approach, where a common set of reusable software assets act as a base for subsequent similar products in a given functional domain. The upfront investments required for software reuse are considerable, and need to be duly considered prior to attempting a software reuse initiative. 1. Introduction Software reuse is the process of implementing or updating software systems using existing software components. A good software reuse process facilitates the increase of productivity, quality, and reliability, and the decrease of costs and implementation time. An initial investment is required to start a software reuse process, but that investment pays for itself in a few reuses. In short, the development of a reuse process and repository produces a base of knowledge that improves in quality after every reuse, minimizing the amount...
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...On-screen characters: their design and influence on consumer trust J.T. Luo Mayfair Artist Ltd, Bolton, UK, and Peter McGoldrick, Susan Beatty and Kathleen A. Keeling Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK Abstract Purpose – Previous research has focused on how trustworthiness can be evoked by the physical design of on-screen characters (OSCs) within the e-commerce interface. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not the OSCs representation, along with user differences, influence, how likeable, appropriate and trustworthy they are. Design/methodology/approach – A web site was created for a simulated online bookseller and 183 people from various countries participated in the experiments. OSC representations were tested under four conditions in the main experiment: facial appearance (human-like vs cartoon-like) and gender (male vs female). Findings – The results suggest that the human-like characters are more likeable, appropriate and trustworthy in general terms. However, when perceived capabilities of OSCs are measured, a mismatch can occur between expectations and capabilities of the human-like OSCs. In fact, cartoon-like OSCs, especially female, had more positive effects on the web site interface. Research limitations/implications – This study was limited to simulations of on-screen scenarios. Future work, with access to the huge database required, could investigate the effects of truly interactive OSCs. Larger national sub-samples would permit generalisations...
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...applying a framework developed by Sureshchandar et al. (2001). An advocated procedure has been used to develop, refine and validate a scale. Data has been collected from 337 customers from the three cities of Punjab (a progressive State of India). The findings of the study demonstrate that five-factor structure as proposed by Sureshchandar et al. (2001) has been refined to sevenfactor construct (consisting of 34 items) representing Proficiency; Media and presentations; Physical and ethical excellence; Service delivery process and purpose; Security and dynamic operations; Credibility; and Functionality. Besides, the study also investigates the relationship between each of the generated service quality dimensions and customers overall evaluation of life insurance service quality. It reveals that among these seven factors, three viz., Proficiency; Physical and ethical excellence; and Functionality have significant impact on the overall service quality of Life Insurance Corporation of India....
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...Psychology, resiliency, hope, theories, emotion, cognition 2. Positive Psychology Areas of Focus in Relation to Interpersonal and Pro-social Behavior Major Principles and Concepts The primary underlying assumption of positive psychology is that psychology should focus on encouraging people’s strengths rather than fixing their weaknesses (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) assert that as a new psychological paradigm, positive psychology rejects the disease model that had been prevalent in psychology and instead viewed human emotions, thoughts, and behavior within the framework of functionality and happiness. Understanding happiness to be the opposite of suffering and to be a universal human desire, positive psychology postulated that those traits and behaviors that facilitate happiness and functionality in the social environment are those that are...
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...Introduction The use of software solutions to support business-critical processes has a decisive influence on the commercial success of the banks. At present, they are faced with the challenge of selecting optimal solutions to fit their particular needs, and implementing them. Information technology is indisputably crucial to the activities of financial service providers. A considerable proportion of funds should be spent on core banking systems, which provide indispensable support for bank-specific business processes. For some years now, banking software has been the source of lively debate. The advanced age of many business-critical systems, as well as their rigidity and complexity, have proven to be a burden to banks. Concern exists that they might no longer be able to meet the demands of today’s market. The triggers of this concern have been software systems that have been in use for a number of years and have been further developed over the course of time; in many instances they have been linked up – as effectively as possible – to bolt-on applications. Many core banking systems have grown up over the years that are lacking in the necessary flexibility, which has been compensated by workarounds. The technical problems that affected RBS Group has caused the banks to rethink their IT strategy. The transformation of the software environment is not merely giving banks the flexibility and agility they need. The use of appropriate applications also constitutes an effective...
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...Part A 1. Coupons Coupons are the promotional tools that can be redeemed for discounts when purchasing goods and services. Normally the manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers issue coupons to their customers through several ways like direct mail, email, and messages. By placing coupons in magazines or newspapers, the company can attract the potential customers to try its product, and they will continue to buy it if the customers like it. Current customers are delighted when they receive the coupons and the gift of savings from company of a product that they buy regularly. Coupons are the special offer and inexpensive form of marketing to persuade consumers to purchase the specific goods and services from specific companies. Due to these facts, the majority of companies would like to use some type of coupon program although competitors are doing it. Besides that, well-designed coupon programs help company to gain the competitive advantages and create brand awareness. For example, Tesco will send the coupons through email or attach in the newspaper to customers. Customers only need to print out or cut out, and present to the cashier when paying the discounted products. (Left) Tesco coupon sample 2. Rebates Rebates, like coupons, offer value to purchase typically by lowering the customer’s final cost for getting the product. Rebate is a type of sales promotion that marketers use primarily as incentives to product sales. Consumers benefit from the lower price...
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...BTEC National Diploma in Business Assignment Brief Unit: 9 CREATIVE PRODUCT PROMOTIONS P2 Version 2 The role of promotion within the marketing for coca cola Clarawiniferd Mesode ( IBSIA) Due date: 31 November 2011 TABLE OF CONTENT PAGES Introduction 3 P2 4/15 Introduction Task 2 p2 was to describe the brand image and how this image is supported through the promotional campaign for one of the company I chose at p1 and I chose Coca cola business or company and we also had to describe the role of promotion within the marketing mix of the promotional mix of the campaign I selected. This was quite an interesting assignment to do and was not difficult as I imagine it to be. Task 2 Promotional objectives * Raising awareness of product. Coca cola raised awareness with the company profile by going all green and also helps increase it sells and more awareness fort his company and its products. * Creating distinctive market presence Global Footprint is a good example of that when it comes to international presence; Coca-Cola easily trumps its rival Pepsi. Coca-Cola's larger global footprint exposes it more too international economic forces, particularly in the developing world. While this led to strong growth through much of the decade, weakness in emerging market economies could easily slow this momentum. Furthermore, because Coke generates...
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...Information Technology used in Barnes & Noble Marco Colon BIS320 March 18, 2013 Keyaan Williams Information Technology used in Barnes & Noble Thesis Statement Barnes & Noble is the nation’s largest book seller and operates one of the top online bookselling operations controlling a solid 30% of the e-book market. However, because ecommerce markets are highly competitive, Barnes & Noble needs to develop a more effective strategy in order to gain customer’s loyalty and maintain the company’s image. As more people turn to e-books, Barnes & Noble needs new IT tools that access and process information faster and provide internal and external information reports that can help the company track processes with more detail. Because the internet has now surpassed all other communication methods, Barnes & Noble has implemented different platforms and collaboration tools to help improve the way they interact with retailers and customers. Introduction Barnes & Noble utilizes information technology to develop and use databases to keep track of the products that it sells as well as to track information related to customer loyalty and customer information. The databases are used to extract customer information to communicate with customers via various means of communication technologies via the internet. Barnes & Noble also uses databases to track internal information and internal processes as they relate to tracking sales statistics and product...
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...Usability Evaluation of a Medium-sized ERP System in Higher Education Brenda Scholtz, André Calitz and Charmain Cilliers Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa brenda.scholtz@nmmu.ac.za andre.calitz@nmmu.ac.za charmain.cilliers@nmmu.ac.za Abstract: The critical importance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in modern business has created a demand for ERP consultants with the appropriate competencies to implement, maintain and support these systems. Education and training programmes have been implemented in order to provide ERP specialists and graduates with the required industry relevant ERP competencies. The majority of these education and training programmes utilise large ERP systems for instructional purposes, however users of these systems encounter usability issues whilst learning to use the systems. The use of medium-sized ERP systems has been proposed for educational purposes as they are less complex and easier to learn than large ERP systems. Empirical studies on the usability of ERP systems, particularly for medium-sized ERP systems are limited. This paper reports on empirical research on the usability evaluation of a medium-sized ERP system. The study identified three categories of criteria and 10 criteria which can be used for usability evaluations of medium-sized ERP systems. The criteria were used in a case study to evaluate the usability of a medium-sized ERP system and to obtain qualitative feedback on the usability of the...
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...Organizational Leadership and Inter-professional Team Development The Patient and Family Care Organizational Self-Assessment Tool (PFCC) for current practice setting will be completed as well as the organization in its entirety. The results will be analyzed based on a one to five scoring system with one being the lowest. The areas where the organization could improve its PFCC care will be discussed. The analysis of how business practices and regulatory requirements impact patient family centered care. A strategy will be created that includes goals and an operational plan to increase PFCC of the organization by improving one of the gaps that’s identified. I will discuss financial implications that this strategy may have on the organization. I will identify potential members for the multidisciplinary team who could assist in improving the identified gap. I will discuss the purpose and scope of the team to include the member’s roles, and importance of diversity within the team. The team will focus in a meaningful way using self-assessment, and awareness of self-reflective techniques. I will use PDAC to monitor whether the strategy was effective in increasing patient and family centered care. Self-Assessment Tool The PFCC tool was used to evaluate Medical Center Health System (MCHS) see attached. Setting Description Medical Center Hospital System (MCHS) is an acute care, not for profit regional 402 bed Level II Trauma Center, located in West Texas of the...
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...Management Accounting Research 19 (2008) 324–343 Operation of management control practices as a package—A case study on control system variety in a growth firm context Mikko Sandelin ∗ Helsinki School of Economics, Department of Accounting and Finance, P.O. Box 1210, FIN-00101 Helsinki, Finland Abstract This empirical case study examines the operation of management control practices as a package in a growth firm context by paying particular attention to the couplings among cultural, personnel, action and results controls. The analysis focuses on two different management control packages in the face of similar contingencies at different points of time. The paper argues that the functionality of a control package depends on internal consistency, specifically on the reciprocal linkages of design and use between a primary mode of control and other control elements. Moreover, it argues that control package variety is driven by the way in which the management responds to functional demands. Two different control packages are considered equifinal to the extent of limited operational complexity, whereas an accounting-centric control package is also sufficient in the face of increasing levels of operational complexity. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Management control package; Control system variety; Internal consistency; Functional demands; Equifinality; Growth firm 1. Introduction This empirical case study examines the operation of management control...
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...affected everybody’s daily life. Computers support and assist almost every single human activity. Traditional Decision Support Systems (DSS) has focused on computerized support for making decisions with respect to managerial problems (Turban 2005). Information is power. Providing significant and updated information is important to an administration because it is committed to promote transparency in school. It is grateful to a certain place that if it is linked to the rest of the world, it means that people could easily access vital information about the school. This set of web information could include data about the events of school or the school history, its vision and mission, its faculty and staff and its plans and programs. In this age of information, almost all fields of endeavor such as education, manufacturing, research, games, entertainment, and business treat information systems as a need. Indeed, every activity in our daily life today requires people to get involved in the use of information systems. Information technology is playing a crucial role in the development of modern society and social life. It has transformed the whole world into a global village. Now social life has moved to online. People are using discussion board, blogs and social networking sites through web-based technology to communicate digitally. World Wide Web, digital library, e-commerce and computer based distance learning have made our life easier. The advancement of information communication...
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