...PLANNING 1. Why is it important for a firm to study and understand its internal environment? It is important to study and understand the internal environment because it will help the management identify the entity’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The entity may use its’ strengths and foreseen opportunities to be more efficient and effective in competing with others whether it is inside or outside the industry. The entity may also either avoid or reduce the impact from weaknesses and threat and utilize these to improve the entity itself. Studying and understanding the internal environment may also yield the entity’s objectives. After reflecting the entity’s SWOT, the top management will be able to set both short-term and long-term objectives and goals along with which should be done first and which will be the most beneficial to the entity. Lastly, a sound internal environment is one of the greatest factors for an entity to continue in its operations. Like a human, it can do task effectively and efficiently if it’s fully functional, organized, and planned inside and as a whole. 2. What is value? Why is it critical for the firm to create value? How does it do so? Value, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, is the relative worth, utility, or importance of something. It is measured by a product‘s performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay. Creating or assigning value to an activity or to an aspect of the...
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...Resource Based View A question summarizing RBV approach. Definition The resource-based view (RBV) is a model that sees resources as key to superior firm performance. If a resource exhibits VRIO attributes, the resource enables the firm to gain and sustain competitive advantage.[1] What is a resource based view? RBV is an approach to achievingcompetitive advantage that emerged in 1980s and 1990s, after the major works published by Wernerfelt, B. (“The Resource-Based View of the Firm”), Prahalad and Hamel (“The Core Competence of The Corporation”), Barney, J. (“Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage”) and others. The supporters of this view argue that organizations should look inside the company to find the sources of competitive advantage instead of looking at competitive environment for it. The following model explains RBV and emphasizes the key points of it. _ Improve your management style, hire a business speaker According to RBV proponents, it is much more feasible to exploit external opportunities using existing resources in a new way rather than trying to acquire new skills for each different opportunity. In RBV model, resources are given the major role in helping companies to achieve higher organizational performance. There are two types of resources: tangible and intangible. Tangible assets are physical things. Land, buildings, machinery, equipment and capital – all these assets are tangible. Physical resources can easily be bought in the market so...
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...Semester Project: What does it mean to be an Operations Manager in The International Environment Fedorenko Danil 21.02.2013 Introduction Many of the techniques used in Operations Management are essential for the international business consultant. These tools allow consultants to advise companies on selecting the best locations for their facilities, determining the most efficient balance of employees to comprise their global workforce, customizing products to satisfy specific local needs, maximizing the efficiency of the global supply chain, and determining the necessary capacity of local operations. In order to use these tools in a multinational context the operations manager must have a solid grasp on global issues. He or she must be familiar with the firm's overall international strategy and the reasoning that went into developing it. He or she must be must familiar with the critical success factors involved in selecting site locations, the process by which an international corporate strategy is formed, and the changes in the organization that will need to take place in order to implement it. Without a grasp of these concepts the operations manager will not be able to use the tools of operations management to help his or her firm establish a presence in new markets. How OM Techniques can help International Consultants to become better Managers The operations aspect of international consulting should start with a SWOT analysis, an examination of Strengths, Weaknesses...
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... Contents Page Introduction 2 Waitrose Overview 2 Resources and Competences 3 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 5 Level of Competition 5 Threats of Substitutes 6 Threat of Entrants 7 Bargaining Power of Buyers 8 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 8 SWOT Analysis 9 Waitrose Supply Chain 10 Waitrose Value Chain 11 Primary Value Chain Activities 12 Inbound logistics 12 Operations 13 Outbound Logistics 13 Marketing and Sales 13 Services 13 Support Value Chain Activities 14 Procurement 14 Technology Development 14 Human Resource Management 14 Firm Infrastructure 14 Conclusion 14 Bibliography 16 Appendix A 18 Appendix B 19 Appendix C 20 Appendix D 21 Appendix E 22 Introduction As a continuation of the analysis provided in Coursework 1 on the Stamford Waitrose Branch and the Waitrose Company, using PEST(EL) analysis, on the external influences that affect its business. The analysis in this paper focuses on how the branch and Waitrose as company employs Supply Chain Management, Porter’s Value Chain and Porter’s Five Forces business process models to contribute to their position within the highly competitive UK grocery business. To distinguish itself...
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...strategic scheme of a firm. The basic strategic process that any firm goes through begins with a vision statement, and continues on through objectives, internal & external analysis, strategic choices (both business-level and corporate-level), and strategic implementation. The firm will hope that this process results in a competitive advantage in the marketplace they operate in. VRIO falls into the internal analysis step of these procedures, but is used as a framework in evaluating just about all resources and capabilities of a firm, regardless of what phase of the strategic model it falls under. VRIO is an acronym for the four question framework you ask about a resource or capability to determine its competitive potential: the question of Value, the question of Rarity, the question of Imitability (Ease/Difficulty to Imitate), and the question of Organization (ability to exploit the resource or capability). * The Question of Value: "Is the firm able to exploit an opportunity or neutralize an external threat with the resource/capability?" * The Question of Rarity: "Is control of the resource/capability in the hands of a relative few?" * The Question of Imitability: "Is it difficult to imitate, and will there be significant cost disadvantage to a firm trying to obtain, develop, or duplicate the resource/capability?" * The Question of Organization: "Is the firm organized, ready, and able to exploit the resource/capability?" Question of Value The basic question asked...
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...or service that an organization's customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor. Unfortunately, competitive advantages are typically temporary because competitors often seek ways to duplicate the competitive advantage. In turn, organizations must develop a strategy based on a new competitive advantage. When an organization is the first to market with a competitive advantage, it gains a first-mover advantage. The first-mover advantage occurs when an organization can significantly impact its market share by being first to market with a competitive advantage. FedEx created a first-mover advantage by creating its customer self-service software, which allows people and organizations to request parcel pickups, print mailing slips, and track parcels online. Other parcel delivery companies quickly began creating their own online services. Today, customer self-service on the Internet is a standard for doing business in the parcel delivery business. Page 14 As organizations develop their competitive advantages, they must pay close attention to their competition through environmental scanning. Environmental scanning is the acquisition and analysis of events and trends in the environment external to an organization. Information technology has the opportunity to play an important role in environmental scanning. Frito-Lay, a premier provider of snack foods such as Cracker Jacks and Cheetos, does not just send its representatives into grocery stores to stock...
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... | | |Management Information Systems (MIS) Issues | OBJECTIVES After studying this paper, you should be able to do the following: |1. |Explain market segmentation and product positioning as strategy-implementation tools. | |2. |Discuss procedures for determining the worth of a business. | |3. |Explain why pro forma financial analysis is a central strategy-implementation tool. | |4. |Explain how to evaluate the attractiveness of debt versus stock as a source of capital to implement strategies. | |5. |Discuss the nature and role of research and development in strategy implementation. | |6. |Explain how management information systems can determine the success of strategy-implementation efforts. | PAPER OVERVIEW Strategies have no chance of being implemented successfully when organizations do not market goods and services well, when firms cannot raise needed working...
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...1(d).Value Chain Analysis: A Way to profit improvement & cost Reduction Learning Objective 1. how to identify the value added activity 2. how to rectify the non –value added activity 3. application in profit planning & cost reduction INTRODUCTION Competitive advantage for a company means not just matching or surpassing their competitors, discovering what the customers want and then profitably satisfying, and even exceeding their expectations. As barriers to inter-regional and international trade are diminishing and as access to goods and services are growing, customers can locate after identification and «the best of what they want, at an acceptable price, wherever it is in the world. Under growing competition and, hence, rising customer expectations, a company's penalty for complacency becomes even greater. A strategic tool to measure the importance of the customer's perceived value is value chain analysis. By enabling companies to determine the strategic advantages and disadvantages of activities and value-creating processes in the market place, value chain analysis becomes essential for assessing competitive advantage. Value analysis or value engineering is one of the most widely used cost reduction techniques. It can be defined as a technique that yields value improvement. It investigates into the economic attributes of value. It attempts to reduce cost through ...
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...to define strategic management. 2. Understand how strategic management fits in the P-O-L-C framework. 3. Broadly identify the inputs for strategy formulation.What Is Strategic Management?As you already know, the P-O-L-C framework starts with “planning.” You might also know that planning is related to, but not synonymous with, strategic management. Strategic management reflects what a firm is doing to achieve its mission and vision, as seen by its achievement of specific goals and objectives.A more formal definition tells us that the strategic management process “is the process by which a firm manages the formulation and implementation of its strategy.”[196] The strategic management process is “the coordinated means by which an organization achieves its goals and objectives.”[197] Others have described strategy as the pattern of resource allocation choices and organizational arrangements that result from managerial decision making.[198] Planning and strategy formulation sometimes called business planning, or strategic planning, have much in common, since formulation helps determine what the firm should do. Strategy implementation tells managers how they should go about putting the desired strategy into action.The concept of strategy is relevant to all types of organizations, from large, public companies like GE, to religious organizations, to political parties.Strategic Management in the P-O-L-C FrameworkIf vision and mission are the heart and soul of planning (in the P-O-L-C...
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...From Processes to Promise: Ivanka Visnjic Business Models Research Lead, Cambridge Service Alliance Assistant Professor, ESADE Business School How complex service providers use business model innovation to deliver sustainable growth Andy Neely Director, Cambridge Service Alliance Founder members: Judge Business School The Cambridge Service Alliance The Cambridge Service Alliance is a unique global partnership between businesses and universities. It brings together the world’s leading firms and academics, all of whom are devoted to delivering today the tools, education and insights needed for the complex service solutions of tomorrow. About the Cambridge Service Alliance Founded in 2010 by BAE Systems, IBM and the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing and Judge Business School, the Cambridge Service Alliance brings together world-leading organisations with an interest in complex service systems to: • Conduct insightful, yet practical research to improve the design and deployment of high-performance complex service systems. • Create and develop industrially applicable tools and techniques that deliver competitive advantage. • Provide an unparalleled network of academics and industrialists that share experience, knowledge and insight in how better to design and deploy high performance complex service systems. • Develop and deliver public and member-only education programmes to raise the skill levels of organisations. Joining the Cambridge...
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...TITLE Value Chain Analysis for Assessing Competitive Advantage CREDITS This statement was approved for issuance as a Statement on Management Accounting by the Management Accounting Committee (MAC) of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). IMA appreciates the support of The Society of Management Accountants of Canada (SMAC) in helping create this SMA and extends appreciation to Joseph G. San Miguel, of the Naval Postgraduate School, who drafted the manuscript. Published by Institute of Management Accountants 10 Paragon Drive Montvale, NJ 07645-1760 www.imanet.org Special thanks are due to Randoif Holst, SMAC Manager, Management Accounting Guidelines, for his continuing project supervision and to the members of the focus group (including MAC members Dennis Daly and Thomas Huff) for contributing to the improvement of the final document. Copyright © 1996 Institute of Management Accountants All rights reserved Statements on Management Accounting PRACTICE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING Value Chain Analysis for Assessing Competitive Advantage TABLE OF CONTENTS I. II. III. IV. Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Value Chain Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Competitive Advantage and Customer Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 V. The Role of the Management Accountant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 VI. The Value Chain Approach...
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...Chapter 01 Management Information Systems: Business Driven MIS True / False Questions 1. Companies today are successful when they combine the power of the information age with traditional business methods. True False 2. Competitive intelligence is information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors, partners, and industries that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making. True False 3. The information age is the present time, during which infinite quantities of facts are widely available to anyone who can use a computer. True False 4. Technology provides countless business opportunities, but can also lead to pitfalls and traps for a business. True False 5. Top managers use social intelligence to define the future of the business, analyzing markets, industries and economies to determine the strategic direction the company must follow to remain unprofitable. True False 6. A variable is a business intelligence characteristic that stands for a value that cannot change over time. True False 7. Companies update business strategies continuously as internal and external environments change. True False 8. For an organization to succeed, every department or functional area must work independently to be most effective. True False 9. Porter's Five Forces Model outlines the process for a sales strategy. True False ...
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...Business Strategy Name Institution Abstract This paper critically analyses the past and the current market trend, operations, and marketing strategies of Sainsbury’s Company. Different models of analysis were employed to clearly understand the current and previous state of Sainsbury’s. Some of these models include SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, CORE analysis, Porter’s Five Forces model, Key Success Factors, and Ansoff’s Matrix These models help in understanding all aspects that play a role for the success and the failures of the company that include its strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats, and several factors that bolster of hinders the success of the company. I also looked at deep analysis of the success of introducing “Dark Stores” in Ireland. It can be concluded from this study that, Sainsbury’s can successfully enter into Ireland market by introducing “Dark Store”. However, the company will likely face some challenges and competition from other companies in Ireland, but it can counter these by employing different strategies recommended in this study. Business Strategy: Sainsbury’s Introduction The task of the strategy is the most difficult and time-consuming part of strategic management. This task runs almost through all levels of management and should be taken into account in most parts of the company. The specific implementation of the strategy begins with a thorough analysis of what the company should do differently and better for the successful implementation...
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...exceeding RM25 million. Small and medium sized enterprise (SME) is the engine for economic growth. Development of SME brings technology development and employment creation. Michael and John (1998) have noted that relative to larger firms, SMEs are well prepared for facing the challenges of increasing competition and globalization of markets. Planning is usually done first by entrepreneur when decided to start a SME. This is because everything else will be depends on the planning makes by the entrepreneur. A business plan plays an important role in obtaining funds and as a blueprint for the enterprise operates towards success. As Peel and Bridge (1998) and George and Jonathan (2002) reported, there is a strong connection between the success of a SME and its long-term planning. In Malaysia, National SME Development Council (NSDC) was established in June 2004. It acts as the highest policy-making body to chart the direction and strategies comprehensive and coordinated development across all sectors of the economy. Some examples of successful SMEs in Malaysia are Unico Holdings (Unico) and Hockpin Precision Sdn Bhd (HP). A SME have better potential in creating new jobs faster than a larger firm. SME also able to eliminate faster when there is a relatively high failure rate. IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING IN SME According to Maureen (1998), as SMEs grow, they must accommodate their enterprise from aspect...
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...Industry Analysis by Mark Lehrer 6 Rivalry 8 Entrants 9 Bargaining Power of Suppliers / Buyers 9 Two Cases: Breakfast Cereal and Personal Computers 9 Module #3: Value Chain Analysis by Mark Lehrer 12 Module #4: Industry Value Chains by Mark Lehrer 16 Module #5a: Generic Strategies (by Mary Hamilton) 16 Module #5b: Resource-Based View (by Mary Hamilton 16 Module #6: Industry Life Cycle (by Mark Lehrer) 16 Module #7: Competitive Strategy by Mary A. Hamilton 16 Theory 16 Types of Competitive Strategy 18 Offensive strategies 18 Defensive strategies 19 Collusive Strategies 19 Strategic alliances 20 Application 21 Module #8: Business Models by Mark Lehrer 23 Beyond Strategizing 23 Business Models: A Typology 23 Business Models Beyond the Internet 25 Module #9: Corporate Level Strategy by Mark Lehrer 28 Module #10: International Strategy by Mary A. Hamilton 28 Global Opportunities 28 International Strategic Orientation 29 National Advantages 31 Mode of Entry 32 Competitive Performance 33 Module #1: Introduction by Mark Lehrer How can one introduce such a multifaceted subject as strategy? What is strategy? Why does it matter? The concept of strategy comes from military parlance. In the military it is not always enough to be superior in arms or artillery. While superior resources often do provide an advantage, outcomes also depend on how intelligently and coherently these resources are used. This, in turn...
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