...Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War Sun Tzu's The Art of War is the most famous work on military operations in ancient China. Being the oldest military treatise in the world, it is one of the greatest cultural legacies of the Chinese nation. Sun Tzu's The Art of War is a classic on military operations and the most influential in the world today. Sun Tzu or Sun Zi (孙子) is traditionally believed to be the author of The Art of War. Sun has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of the Art of War and as a legendary figure. Historians have questioned whether or not Sun was an authentic historical figure. Traditional accounts place him in the Spring and Autumn Period of China (722–481 BCE) as a heroic general of the King of Wu who lived c. 544—496 BCE. Scholars accepting his historicity place his supposed writing The Art of War in the Warring States Period (476–221 BCE), based on the descriptions of warfare in the text. Traditional accounts state that his descendant, Sun Bin, also wrote a master treatise on military tactics. Historians have questioned whether or not Sun was a real historical figure. According to traditional sources, such as the 2nd century BCE biography written by Sima Qian, Sun was born in Qi (now Shandong Province) during the Spring and Autumn Period of China (722–481 BCE). His real family name is Tian, but the last name of Sun was given by King of Qi State to his family when his grandfather, a general for Qi...
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...1.0 Introduction International Business Machines, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" (for its official corporate color) was incorporated in the State of New York on June 16, 1911, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. Now, the chairman and CEO of IBM Company is Samuel J Palmisano. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. IBM has been well known as one of the world's largest computer companies and systems integrators. With over 388,000 employees worldwide, IBM is one of the largest and most profitable information technology employers in the world. IBM holds more patents than any other U.S. based Technology Company and has eight research laboratories worldwide. The company has scientists, engineers, consultants, and sales professionals in over 170 countries. IBM employees have earned Five Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, five National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. IBM competitors IBM's main competitors are Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) and Dell (DELL) but each of these companies has a different focus area. Dell makes most of its money on PC and server hardware, while Hewlett-Packard is more diversified as the leader in PCs and Imaging & Printing as well as offering IT services. Since IBM relies heavily on...
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...Freedom, equality, justice and power are the foundation of leadership. Today's world is filled with diverse groups of people; they have different cultures, nationalities and personalities. Because of this diverse environment we deal with change very often, in the workplace, school and at home. John Maxwell once said, "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." A leader means someone who has ability to lead a group of people, someone who people follow and idolize. And leadership is one of the rare and precious human capitals, especially in today’s society. Without leaders to guide and shape decisions society, the world will be mess up. Leaders are usually respect by youth, people in same age, and elders, they may make some bad choice sometimes, but they still deserve these respect. By being a leader, a person can have many different options to take. People are not born like a leader, but the options they got through the growth make them became leaders. If people have quality to know what are freedom, equality, justice and power, they must became a good and effective leader soon or after. Freedom is to live without any shackles. People are born free; they have free to speech, write and think. “Freedom is not a matter of choice, it is a destined path, an undying yearning for the peace of one's soul until attainment.” (Churchill, 2003) Good leaders can give another people freedom while give themselves freedom. Free is the easy word to say but...
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...War in the Office: A comparison of “Art of War” and “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us”. Many major theories and teachings from the non-business world can be learned and successfully applied just as effectively as those skills learned in the business work place. I became more and more convinced of this statement after reading two relatively similar books on the topics of War and personal success. Although both topics seem farfetched and distant from each other they happen to contain a lot of similar themes and ideas. Contrary to what the title suggests, the main point of the “Art of War” is to convince readers that in times of war or conflict, information and knowledge are the greatest weapons one can possess. Many individuals tend to look at the book in the wrong light simply due to the fact that it has the word “war” in its title. Scholars believe that the Art of War was written around 2,500 years ago. Sun Tsu (the author of the novel) was a high-ranking military general who took his endeavors as serious as any other high profile military figure. The business based novel I selected (book #2) to read is titled “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us”. Drive is written by Daniel H. Pink, A critically acclaimed writer and Yale/NorthWestern university professor. While both books are similar and contain elements of non-fiction advise. “Drive’s” central argument is that “Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose” should be the three most practiced areas or fields...
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...“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not to fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also duffer a defeat...” (Giles, 1910) Ancient Chinese military general, Sun Tzu made this well-known statement. In relation to foreign policy analysis, it is important to consider about the best of one’s strengths and weaknesses. After all, we’re humans and it is in our nature and interest to want the best for ourselves. Humans are greedy and self absorbed. National leaders want to try to maximise national welfare or develop eventual benefits in a system where there are a growing number of states that want to increase control on an international scale, as well as to uphold their own interests. So that when it comes to decision-making, lawmakers are able to take advantage of this knowledge in order to make more effective policy decisions. The aim of the text is to establish the idea that decision making made by national bureaucracies, leaders and individual members of the government body has the capability to influence and impact decision making upon other international decision making systems. Sometimes, decisions are made for the best although it does cause misunderstandings and inconveniences. It is important to understand and accept the cultural and historical reasons of another state as to why they decide to make particular decisions. These decisions can draw meanings and can be used to make sense of other...
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...Int. J. Production Economics 72 (2001) 181}199 A survey of manufacturing strategies in China-based enterprises David J. Robb *, Bin Xie Department of Management Science and Information Systems, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China Received 13 December 1999; accepted 7 September 2000 Abstract We present the results of a 1997 study exploring the manufacturing strategy of 46 plants (foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and wholly Chinese-owned enterprises (WCOEs)) located primarily in the Beijing}Tianjin area. Semi-structured interviews using a questionnaire in English and Chinese were employed to: (i) identify current activity (practices and emphases) and future trends in manufacturing, (ii) compare and contrast FIEs and WCOEs, and (iii) identify how practices correspond with performance on various competitive objectives and overall performance. Fundamental di!erences were found between FIEs and WCOEs both in terms of practice and priorities (the former emphasizing 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. competition on time/delivery, and the latter various aspects of quality). Keywords: Operations strategy; Production management; Delivery performance; Empirical research; Cross-cultural adaptation 1. Introduction Following calls for more `groundinga to undergird and advance the "eld...
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...korporatat shumëkombëshe Përkufizimi i MNC | Firmat shumëkombëshe lindin për shkak të kapitalit është shumë më i lëvizshëm se punës. Që të punës dhe lëndëve të para inputet lirë janë të vendosura në vende të tjera, firmat shumëkombëshe të krijuar filiale atje.Ata janë kritikuar shpesh si korporatat arratisur.Ekonomistët nuk janë në marrëveshje se si duhet të përcaktohet korporatat multinacionale ose transnacionale. Korporatat multinacionale kanë shumë dimensione dhe mund të shihet nga disa këndvështrime (pronësinë, menaxhimin, strategjisë dhe strukturore, etj)Në vijim është një ekstrakt nga Franklin Root, Tregtisë Ndërkombëtare dhe Investimeve | Kriteri i pronësisë | Disa argumentojnë se pronësia është një kriter kyç. Një firmë bëhet shumëkombëshe vetëm kur kompania selisë apo prind është në pronësi në mënyrë efektive nga shtetasit e dy ose më shumë vende.Për shembull, Shell dhe Unilever, i kontrolluar nga interesat britanike dhe holandeze, janë shembuj të mirë. Megjithatë, me provë të pronësisë, shumë pak shumëkombëshet janë shumëkombëshe. Pronësia e shumicës së MNCs janë uninational. (P.sh., Smith-Corona kundrejt Brothers rasti)Në varësi të çështjes, secila konsiderohet një kompani shumëkombëshe amerikane në një rast, dhe secila është konsideruar si një shumëkombëshe të huaj në një rast tjetër. Kështu, pronësia nuk ka rëndësi. | Kombësia përzierje e menaxherëve selinë | Një kompani ndërkombëtare është shumëkombëshe nëse drejtuesit e kompanisë mëmë janë shtetas të disa...
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...ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL PORTER’S GENERIC STRATEGIES AND ITS USAGE IN A GLOBALIZED BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THESIS - BACHELOR HONOURS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DIANA MARIA CAMACHO ARIAS TYPE OF DOCUMENT: DISERTATION TO OBTAIN THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR HONOURS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION APPROVED BY UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO – FACULTAD DE ADMINISTRACION INSTITUTION: ÉCOLE INTERNATIONALE DE MONTPELLIER FRANCE, MONTPELLIER, MAY OF 2009 ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL PORTER’S GENERIC STRATEGIES AND ITS USAGE IN A GLOBALIZED BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THESIS - BACHELOR HONOURS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DIANA MARIA CAMACHO ARIAS TYPE OF DOCUMENT: DISERTATION TO OBTAIN THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR HONOURS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION APPROVED BY UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO – FACULTAD DE ADMINISTRACION TUTOR: TIDIANE AW INSTITUTION: ÉCOLE INTERNATIONALE DE MONTPELLIER FRANCE, MONTPELLIER, MAY OF 2009 DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to every person that has allowed it to be possible with the critics, to the teachers and tutors that have awaked in me the interest in this topic and also the passion for the businesses strategy, to my family that has always supported me to achieve my goals and to develop myself as a human being and also as a professional, and finally but not less important to Gabriel that has been a huge support to bring this dissertation to a satisafactory end. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the following...
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