...[pic] Managing Strategically Case No.47: “The Apollo Group” TABLE OF CONTENTS Sections 2 Section a 2 1 Introduction 2 2 Core Competencies 3 2.1 Developing core competencies 4 2.2 Uses of core competencies 4 3 Core Competencies of the Apollo Group Inc 4 3.1 Skilled Workforce 4 3.2 Good Market Share 4 4 Key Success Factors 4 4.1 Product 4 4.2 Customer service 4 5 Strategy Implementation 4 6 Conclusion 4 7 references 4 8 Table Of Figures 4 Sections This report is divided into three sections Section A – Introduction, core competencies Section B – Key Success Factors and alternative strategies Section C – Strategy implementation and conclusion Section a Introduction According to Apollo Group Inc, Corporate Information, “Apollo Group, Inc. was founded in 1973 in response to a gradual shift in higher education demographics from a student population dominated by youth to one in which approximately half the students are adults and over 80 percent of whom work full-time. Apollo's founder, John Sperling, believed and events proved him right that lifelong employment with a single employer would be replaced by lifelong learning and employment with a variety of employers. Lifelong learning requires an institution dedicated solely to the education of working adults. Today, Apollo Group, Inc. through its subsidiaries, the University of Phoenix (including University of Phoenix Online), the Institute...
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...on in recent times on the issue of competency mapping. A lot of resource is spent and consultants are invited to do competency mapping. Competency mapping is gaining much more importance and organizations are aware of having good human resources or putting the right people on right job. Competency mapping is important and is an essential exercise. Every well managed firm should have well defined roles and list of competencies required to perform each role effectively. Such list should be used for recruitment, performance management, promotions, placements and training needs identification. In performing or carrying out work, it is essential that the required job skills first be articulated. This information not only helps to identify individuals who have the matching skills for doing the work but also the skills that will enhance the successful performance of the work. Yet often to perform well, it is not enough just to have these skills. It is also critical to complement the skills with the necessary knowledge and attitudes. For e.g. the necessary knowledge will enable an individual to apply the right skills for any work situation that will arise while having the right attitude will motivate him to give his best efforts. These skills, knowledge and attitudes required for the work are usually collectively referred as competencies. How Is “Competency” Defined in the Context of This Article? Many definitions of the term “competencies” have arisen over the past decade...
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...Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Christie Jones Christopher Zapalski Business Admin. Capstone 5-15-15 I am going to be discussing about corporate and business level strategies for C Company. The paper will also talk about valuing the organization, long-term success, differences in fast and slow cycle. C company was an organization in which they gather, valid, electronic data, automat collections, and retrieval system. The company develop and design, personal computer, electronics and software. They have had success and continue to do so. The business strategy for the company is cost leadership. They want to have success and ensure the competitiveness. C company has a competitive edge with products and prices. They also care about the business – level strategy by success, cost efficiency, and sustainability make this company part of who they are. Differentiation is another business-level strategy. They try and provide different characterizations and features for their products. They would make it low cost while still having high quality products. This all can be done with teho features, image, products reviews and features of the products etc, Theses business-level strategies would help have service, quality of control with production, cost of sales, develop and research, and a place where they could advance the arts that go into the products if you know what I mean. You need business level as well as corporate-level strategy for...
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...1、value chain:ebay success is to contact the buyer and seller market, providing a global new online trading platform, anyone can carry a variety of products traded through this platform. Whether traditional industries and emerging networks must convert a way of thinking, that is, the ability to provide customer value. Competitive forces: The company now sells a staggeringly diverse array of goods and is one of the world’s most easily recognizable and well-known Web sites. eBay is a favorable proposition for smaller sellers to find markets for rare goods, or goods that are otherwise difficult to value. The company reduced posting fees for adding an item online and increased the collection fee for sold items.In August 2008, eBay lowered its listing fees for all sellers offering fixed-priced items under its “Buy It Now” format. EBay adjusted its search ordering system so that highly rated merchants appear first and receive more exposure. Roll out a rating system that made acquiring a high rating a much more time-consuming undertaking, favoring larger sellers with the time and energy to build a favorable rating. eBay’s growth strategy focused on expansion in geography and scope and on continuing innovation to enhance the variety and appeal of products in its sites. 2、Business model:brokerage model:Cyber Age through virtual network platform to bring together buyers and sellers of supply and demand information, coordination of their supply and demand and the payment of transaction...
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...Running head: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ENVIRONEMNT External and Internal Environment Analysis Bharti Gupta University of Phoenix External and Internal Environment Analysis: Mayo Clinic The purpose of this paper is to analyze the External and Internal environmental factors of Mayo Clinic (MC). Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Various types of external and internal factors affect the smooth flow of business at Mayo Clinic. External environment analysis is important in determining the strategy that should be adopted by a business and internal environment analysis is critical to identify the core competences of the business. External Environment External environment (EE) can be broadly classified into three types: Remote, Industry and Operating. Remote environment (sometimes called as macro environment) consists of the forces at work in the general business environment which will shape the industries and markets in which an organization competes (Stonehouse, Campbell, Prudie & Hamill, 2008). Industry environment (sometimes called as micro environment) is the competitive environment facing a business. It consists of the industries and markets in which the organization conducts its business competes (Stonehouse, Campbell, Prudie & Hamill, 2008). Operating environment also called the competitive or task environment comprises factors in the competitive situation...
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...Q1. What are the different approaches to Globalization? Comment on relevance of Swadeshi movement in today’s Globalized environment. Ans. Globalization has become a ‘magic’ word used to express a change in all areas of life from economy to politics or from social politics to culture. Globalization is the growing role of external factors (economic, social and cultural) in the reproduction of all member of a country to form of a single world market(s) without barriers. 'A global shift'; that is, a world being molded, by economic and technological forces, into a shared economic and political arena. Major phase in international relations, which has been established several decades ago, but its formation was not completed by the beginning of the third millennium. However, the public attention it attracted only in 1990. Approaches towards Globalization The Indian companies are adopting the following approaches to globalization- The First Approach is the Reliance approach. Here the Indian company attains global parameters of production but its market focus is mainly domestic. E.g. Bajaj Auto, Hero Cycles, Maruti Udoy, BHEL, Mahindra & Mahindra. The Second Approach is the Sundaram Fasteners route where an Indian Company emerges as a global sub-contractor. The Chennai based Sundaram Fasteners is now a major supplier of radiator to GM. The Third Approach is the one personified by the Tata Tetley deal itself. Taking over foreign companies or investing in the foreign ventures....
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...the increasingly competitive mobile device market. Therefore, thorough analysis of feasibility and compacts of JRD should be done, in terms of pros and cons. Due to limited space, most relevant and significant factors will be discussed. For the positive aspect, JRD can benefit Nokia in the following aspects: Effective Cost and Higher Efficiency: By making use of the competitive advantage for the low labor price in China and Taiwan, Nokia can achieve more effective resource allocation: with less investment to obtain higher efficiency, just as mentioned in the HBR case. Foxconn has a series of advantages Nokia can make use of to achieve higher quality and faster speed to market. Focus on Core Competencies: By outsourcing to Foxconn, Nokia will have more resource to target on core competencies. For the cons, JRD might jeopardize Nokia in the following aspects: Overlooked Costs: The reduced cost from labor wage saving is somewhat overemphasized while other tangible or intangible costs are overlooked. For instance, the training for engineers in Foxconn. The process will take time and man power, and the high turnover could make the cost much higher. Other costs include quality inspection, supplier management, custom compliance and so on. Failure to consider these costs can be hazardous, as in Boeing’s case for 787 Dreamliner. Off-shore Supplier Management: proper amount of internal resource should be allocated for off-shore supplier management. Poor communication and lack of...
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...Stick to the Core—or Go for More? “Cut!” Spike Sanchez stomped toward the stage, his arms waving the music to a stop. Wearing black from head to toe, sporting dark glasses, and sweating under the heat of the lights, he was losing his patience. A highly respected music video director, Sanchez was starting to wonder if taking on this advertising gig was such a great idea. “How many times do I have to tell you to point the logo on the can toward the camera during that move?” On stage was Maygan M, a pop singer whose star had risen in the months since she’d agreed to do this ad. She was a sweet-faced, 18-year-old beauty, dressed in a sequined, midriff-baring halter top, a skintight leopard microskirt, and platform shoes that had already tripped her up twice. She sheltered her eyes from the lights and glared at Sanchez. “Like I can even see the stupid logo,” she whined. “Maybe you could fix it on a computer or something?” “Or maybe you should just do what I say,” Sanchez shot back. “Then we might have some hope of airing this 30-second spot before your 15 minutes of fame are up!” He turned abruptly, strode off the stage, and dropped back into his director’s chair. “Let’s try it again from the top.” Maygan pouted at him for a moment and then flipped her long hair, spun around, and went back to her starting position. Sitting next to Sanchez was Ian Rafferty, cofounder and head of creative services for Advaark, a New York–based advertising agency. “Pretty tough to work with, isn’t...
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...the corporation’s previous products or services on the market, too establish oneself with new, on a from the corporation’s point of view, completely unknown market (Grant). Although the idea of diversification as a strategy for growth and risk reduction is rather old, it was only after 1950 it became popular to let the corporation expand over different markets and product lines. This growth strategy continued to attract more and more companies, until it culminated in the 1970s when it became popular to build conglomerates, that is, companies expanding by adding more and more unrelated business to the corporation, often via acquisitions. In the following decades, the trend of diversification went down, for the benefit of focusing on core competences. This as a result of financial economists and business leaders starting to doubt the value of diversification. One reason for this was the increased focus on shareholder values, which requires transparency, which is difficult to achieve in companies with multiple businesses (Grant). Today...
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...Challenges at the North Australian Pastoral Company Introduction. NAPCO (North Australian Pastoral Company) which is a leading privately owned company in the Australian cattle industry. Company’s main business is high quality beef production due to its experienced manage methods relevant to its long history, about 150 years. Animal husbandry is highly depending on climate and relevant conditions, while in Australia almost all of these conditions can be satisfied which can give NAPCO a good foundation to development. Asian market is firm’s focus not only because Australia is close to it but also associated with other business issues. External environment Demographic Asia and America is two major export destinations of NAPCO’s high quality beef. These area own over one forth of earth population which means they can provide giant market and requirement to company. Although these countries like China Japan and America are more likely have aging population structure, it may hardly influence the beef market due to beef is suit for everyone. Australia is surround by sea and close to Asia which means it’s easy for company to export by ship or plane. According to the income level of the target market like Japan, US, Koear and china, there are stable requirement of high quality beef and no ethic issue can impact people choose beef. Economy After the global economic crisis in 2008, Asian and America has get rid of the negative impact of it step by step, especially Asia. In that...
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...Strategy………………………………………………………..p. 7 Porter Airlines Business Level Strategy………………………………………………..p. 9 Core Competencies …………………………………………………………….p. 9 Competitive Advantage………………………………………...………………p.12 Low Cost Business Level Strategy………………………………………...…..p. 13 Low Cost Business- Level Structure………………………………………………….p. 15 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….p. 17 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………...p. 18 References…………………………………………………………………………….p. 20 Executive Summary Porter asserts that their secret to success relies in combining a low-cost business-level strategy with a focus on higher yield passengers who value premium service (Preville, 2014). The company has been profitable for the last two years, and as a result has been focusing efforts on expanding their domain and customer base. After conducting an interview with an operations manager at the company, Ashley Hammill, I was able to acquire information about the company’s expansion plans, business strategy and structure (See Appendix A). I will be using the information provided by her primarily, with some secondary sources allowing me to go into further detail about the company. This paper will analyze through their expansion plan, how Porter Airlines will effectively utilize their low-cost business level strategy to increase their customer base. Furthermore I will conduct an in-depth analysis on Porters’ core competencies and coordination abilities used to establish a competitive advantage; expanding into how Porter matched...
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...STAFF COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK July 2006 The Charles Darwin University Staff Competency Framework This booklet contains the Staff Competency Framework for Charles Darwin University. The Competency Framework outlines the range of knowledge, skills and attributes required of employees of the University for proficient workplace performance. Application of the framework occurs in the context of an individual’s role, and the recognition that different competencies, and different levels of competency, are necessary to perform a given set of activities. DEFINITION Competency is defined as the ability to perform tasks and duties to the standard expected in employment. A competency standard is an industry-determined specification of performance which sets out the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to operate effectively in employment. Standards are made up of units of competency, which are themselves made up of elements of competency, together with performance criteria, a range of variables, and an evidence guide1. A competency framework describes a set of competency standards for employees and makes the expected knowledge and capabilities of employees explicit for those within and outside of the University. This set of standards has been determined by the University through a process of consultation and benchmarking. Competency frameworks are used by organisations to: • • • • • • Focus workplace performance on the organisation’s vision and values Align workplace behaviours...
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...Core competency means that an individual or a company has a strong basis from which to gain additional ability to do so a specific job.it is a fundamental knowledge ability in a specific subject area or skill set.it is something that a firm can do well and it should provide consumer benefit and it is not easy for competitor to imitate though it provides competitive advantage. While cost savings is important to every company, it is no longer the only driving force in an outsourcing decision. Companies today need to take a broader view of outsourcing by isolating their core competencies, and then chipping away at all the functions that do not contribute to them. When a company starts evaluating their activities for outsourcing potential, any products or processes involved in the company’s core competencies should automatically be off-limits. These core competencies are the most important activities to the firm, so they need to stay inside the firm’s control. Rather than outsourcing these core competencies, a company would want to outsource the non-core, but still significant, functions to experts outside the firm. By doing so, skilled employees are freed up to focus on the core operations - the activities that add value to the product or service. Decision to form relationship: When the decision relates to using an external provider of product or service the question arises whether or not the provider’s service will be needed. If firm has the ability to have a core competency...
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...Exam in Corporate Strategy and Organization Design, Exam number: 300872 Question 1 During Roger Paffard’s time as chief executive, Thorntons’ vertical scope on the entire organization was in general to improve efficiency and to cut down costs. These two focus areas was mainly to be promoted through a structural change of the board of directors, a caretaking process with regards to franchised shops and outlets due to the believe that it was essential to maintain an experience of fresh products, and this was best achieved if Thornton chose and controlled their franchisers with care. Moreover the delivery fleet served the company’s outlets through a 48 hour order delivery cycle. Thornton had taken into review whether it was better to outsource physical distribution but due to considerations that included the fragility of some of the product ranges, difficulties of access to city centers and night delivery and shop security the physical distribution network was kept retained. The general network expansion of outlets through closure of 126 shops and opening of 216 which took the total number of shops from 269 to 359 helped this decision, because this was also a factor to reduced distribution costs. According to the statistics Roger Paffard succeeded in this, during his time as chief executive the number of own shops has increased and the number of franchisees has declined in addition both the profit after tax and the operating profit has been increased in his time as chief executive ...
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...Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Benefits of Hamel & Prahalad’s concept of Core Competence 4 Disadvantages of core competency 6 The concept of Icarus Paradox and its comparison with core competencies 7 Conclusions 8 References 9 Executive Summary This report takes an account of Core competencies that were introduced by C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel in 1990. Evaluating this business concept, its advantages and disadvantages are examined. The report also examines another concept of Icarus Paradox identifying reasons for failures of highly successful businesses. The disadvantages of core competencies and Icarus Paradox business concept have similarities. Introduction Several companies are still struggling to identify the most highly effective approach to compete in global competition. Back in the 1980s, top executives were expected to rebuild and de-layer the organization as a capability to successfully survive in the organization (Harvard Business Review 1990, p. 1). 1990s was the era where these executives were expected to demonstrate their capability of recognizing, harvesting and exploring those competencies that can result in business growth and sustainability. This clearly means that these executives should be capable of rethinking and reconceptualising the organization, altogether. However within a period of last 10 years, there are few examples of companies such as GTE that have successfully positioned themselves...
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