17th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 17

Can you think of an organization that has ‘implemented high risk strategy’ that has resulted in success (why was it high risk at the time and why was it a success – was it good luck or good judgment)?

Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation who designs, develops and sells the electronics, computers and software. The company went through many reforms during the stages. The company had series of failure products launched in the market. The company was at the point of bankruptcy.

Many reforms were done during the period of 30 years.  It made many innovative products to get click by customers. The apple used high risked strategy to make the product where it produced the great innovative products I Pod  I phone, I Mac, and I pad.

After the development of the products the company had many hit product to match the need to the customers. The customers were loyal toward the company products. Company became the third in mobile market and second in world's largest information technology company after Samsung.

The company sued Samsung for copyright issue. It was not only the good luck but the great judgment made the company.

Now, do the same for an organization who embarked on a high risk strategy that resulted in some sort of failure (why was it high risk and why did it fail- bad luck or poor judgment?)

Kodak company one of the largest organizations in photographic industry in the world. Kodak Company has been an American multinational imagining and photographic equipment, materials and services company.

Kodak Company is best known for the photographic film products and it has dominant position in photographic film since 20^th Century where it had the market share of 90% in sales of film in USA.

Kodak struggle financially in 1990s as it has heavily invested on the photo film machine. The company made a high risk strategy to improve the film quality but the market had taken the turn. The company despite of invented the core technology used in digital cameras but have a missed the decision on the changing its company into filming to digital world.

                                             http://philebersole.wordpress.com/tag/eastman-kodak-co/

The company which was the leader in the film photographic industry was lead down by the wrong decision taken at the time where company sales decreased tremendously. Digital photograph replace all the film photography.

With the lesson learned the company started to invest on the digital world where the company started to come back and compete with other companies. It could not make it's way as it has done before 1990s. The company who was holder of 90% share had sold many patents to groups of companies.

The company must have had made the immediate investment in the digital world soon as to keep the market steady and client toward its boundary. It old client who was loyal toward the company was force to buy another product.

Kodak. History of Kodak. (Online) Available at :< http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Our_Company/History_of_Kodak/Imaging-_the_basics.htm> [Accessed on: 26^th March 2013]

Mui, Chunka,. 2012  . How Kodak Failed. (Online) Available at :< http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/01/18/how-kodak-failed/3/> [Accessed on: 26th March 2013]

Ali, .2012. An introduction to Apple Company. (Online) Available at :< http://hookingtech.com/an-introduction-to-apple-company/> [Accessed on: 26th March 2013]

Wikipedia,. Apple Inc. (Online) Available at :< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.> [Accessed on: 26th March 2013]

16th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 16

1.In your own words and using referenced quotes describe the difference between organic growth, merger & acquisition and strategic alliance.

Organic Growth

"Organic growth represents the true growth for the core of the company. It is a good indicator of how well management has used its internal resources to expand profits. Organic growth also identifies whether managers have used their skills to improve the business." – Investopedia

Organic growth can be stated as the expansion of the firm operations with the effort of internal resource of the firm without collaboration.

Merger

"The combining of two or more companies, generally by offering the stockholders of one company securities in the acquiring company in exchange for the surrender of their stock." – Investopedia

Merger is generally combination of two companies which forms a single company where new company has its new market strategy and new share in the market.

  

Acquisition

"A corporate action in which a company buys most, if not all, of the target company's ownership stakes in order to assume control of the target firm. Acquisitions are often made as part of a company's growth strategy whereby it is more beneficial to take over an existing firm's operations and niche compared to expanding on its own. Acquisitions are often paid in cash, the acquiring company's stock or a combination of both." Investopedia

 Acquisition referred as the when one company is taken over by another company where taken over company has been implemented the strategy as per other company. But the acquired company still remains independent company in the market.

   

Strategic Alliance

 “An arrangement between two companies that have decided to share resources to undertake a specific, mutually beneficial project. A strategic alliance is less involved and less permanent than a joint venture, in which two companies typically pool resources to create a separate business entity.” Investopedia

Strategic Alliance is referred as the mutual agreement between two or more firms work together toward common objectives of aims.

2.Give an example of a company that has grown through a) organic growth, b) merger or acquisition and c) strategic alliance

Organic growth example: P & G (Procter & Gamble Co)

Merger example:  America Online and Time Warner formed AOL Time Warner, and Sony and Ericsson

Acquisition example:  Google Acquired Android, and  IBM Acquired SPSS

Strategic Alliance example:  Philips and BenQ , and Siemens and Huawei Technologies

3.Briefly discuss the merger between Britvic and AG Barr. What advice would you give to the new Board?

Merger between Britvic and AG Barr

The two giant companies of UK merging together and becomes the biggest company with 1.4 billion pound, Britvic and AG Barr in the beverage industry.  There are many positiveness and negativeness in the merger of the two companies. The advice to the new board are:-

·         Development of new product with the taste of consumer requirement.

·         Promotion of the company after merger.

·         Effective communication and team work is needed.

·         Both specialized on the each filed.

·         Market research needed in the new company.

Investopedia, Strategic Alliance. (Online) Available at: < http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/strategicalliance.asp> [Accessed on 12th March 2013]

East west alliance. Some Examples of Relevant Strategic Alliances. Online) Available at: < http://www.ew-alliances.com/RecentAlliances.pdf> [Accessed on 12th March 2013]

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company; 2010 . Organic growth business definition. (Online) Available at :< http://business.yourdictionary.com/organic-growth > [Accessed on 12^th March 2013]

Investopedia, Organic Growth. (Online) Available at: < http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/organicgrowth.asp > [Accessed on 12^th March 2013]

Investopedia, Acquisition. (Online) Available at: < http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/acquisition.asp> [Accessed on 12th March 2013]

Yarow, Jay., 2011. The Dumbest Acquisitions In The History Of Tech. (Online) Available at: < http://www.businessinsider.com/bad-acquisitions-2011-8?op=1> [Accessed on 12th March 2013]

Investopedia, Merger. (Online) Available at: < http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/merger.asp> [Accessed on 12^th March 2013]

Reybern , Stan., 2010.  The 12 Biggest Mergers in American History. (Online) Available at: < http://www.billshrink.com/blog/6834/the-12-biggest-mergers-in-american-history/> [Accessed on 12^th March 2013]

15th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 15

 Why has this artist been so successful? What are her key sources of sustainable competitive advantage?

• Think about her unique resources and core competencies, think about how she has responded to changes in the external environment, why is she difficult to imitate?

Madonna is a very famous artist who has been ruling the music industry more than 30 year. She is not only singer but writer , actress, dancer, entrepreneur, songwriter, record producer, film producer, film director, fashion designer, author as well as philanthropist. She is considered as one of the most sensational singer in modern days. She has ruled and gave hit songs more than 30 years. She has also implemented the strategy to overcome the change which helped her to sustain changing market. 

She did not only stick to one kind of music but where she put her interest on different arenas. She became the style icon, awarded on the movie "Evita" and also was the most featured on MTV, remarkable performance at MTV VMA.

What strategy directions could the artist pursue over the next ten years to continue her commercial success? 

Market Penetration	New products and services
Diverse age group	Charity and other social activities.
Musical Tour to increase customer	Encourage the people to come to music industry
Music with different taste according to people desire
Market Development	Conglomerate Diversification
Promote by advertisement	Show in Foreign Countries
Development of new talents	Collaborate with foreign artists
Buy a competitor company
Collaboration with Music Artist to meets the taste of different buyer.

Reference:

Bio True Story ., 2013. Madonna biography. (Online) Available at :< http://www.biography.com/people/madonna-9394994?page=5> [Accessed on March 5^th 2013]

The top tens, 2002. Top ten controversies of Madonna. [online] Available at: < http://www.the-top-tens.com/lists/controversies-madonna.asp > [Accessed 5^th March 2013]

Flavor of success, 2010. Madonna – the spicy dessert. [Online] Available at: < http://flavor-of-success.com/success-stories-madonna-the-spicy-dessert/> [Accessed 6^th March 2013]

14th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 14

In your own words and using referenced quotes, describe the difference between “business unit level” strategy and “corporate level” strategy.

Business strategy:

"An integrated and coordinated set of commitments and actions the firm uses to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting core competencies in specific product market." Quizlet

Business Strategy is the only concerned with the implementation of the particular business or product in the market and gaining competitive advantage.

  

Corporate Strategy:

"The overall scope and direction of a corporation and the way in which its various business operations work together to achieve particular goals." Business Dictionary

Corporate Strategy is the decision that are taken in regard to the direction of the an organization as a whole. It affects the overall firms.

The difference between Corporate strategy and Business Strategy are:

·         Corporate strategy is broad where are business strategy is narrow focused.

·         Corporate strategy is developed by senior level like board of director where as business strategy is formed by managers.

·         Corporate strategy affects entire organization where business strategy is concerned with specific business only.

Discuss the corporate parenting style of Virgin group

Virgin group one of the well renown organization which has made it's investment in various sector of products and services such as travel, music, holiday, airlines, mobile telephony and many more. The organization has more than 200 companies working under its management with a low parental control. Due to decentralization the company has actually had good performance as a individual company.

The CEO of the Virgin group has a good relation in the public and leadership quality has strengthened his relation amongst the internal and external people. He has a good public relation. Virgin group has been successful in the most of the portfolio.

Reference

Business Dicitionary. Corporate Strategy. Online) Available at :< http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/corporate-strategy.html> [Accessed on 3^th March 2013]

Quizlet. Business level strategy. (Online) Available at :< http://quizlet.com/9755373/business-level-strategy-flash-cards/> [Accessed on 3^th March 2013]

Virgin Atlantic confident of prospects despite big FY2009/10 loss; CAPA center for aviation.[Online] Available at: http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/virgin-atlantic-confident-about-future-prospects-despite-big-fy200910-loss-32681 [Accessed on 2 March, 2013]

About Virgin; Virgin.[Online] Available at: www.virgin.com/about-us [Accessed on 28 Feb,2013]

Virgin history; Virgin. [Online] Available at:< www.virgin.com/virgin-history> [Accessed on 28 Feb,2013]

Guru focus, 2003. Daniel Leob reports new top position Virgin media. [online] Available at: <http://www.gurufocus.com/news/211837/daniel-loeb-reports-new-top-position--virgin-media > [Accessed 28 Feb 2013].

Group Video

Group Video on Apple Inc.

Link for group video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92yhVGLaMgQ&feature=youtu.be

10th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 10.


1. In your own words and using referenced quotes    describe what is meant in strategy by Organisational Purpose‘ and describe what is meant by Corporate Social Responsibility.

Organization purpose can be referred as the key reason why an organization exists where as every organization has its own purpose, values, ethics and their functioning.  Organization makes decision to implement it in an better manner. When the organization make decision it put forward the strategy for effective driving of an organization purpose then it is called Strategy by organizational Purpose.

Corporate Social responsibility can be referred as the responsibility of an organization has toward the society for the betterment. Initialing the campaign like cleaning the street, minimizing the pollution, providing the employment opportunities and etc.

“A company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates. Companies express this citizenship (1) through their waste and pollution reduction processes, (2) by contributing educational and social programs, and (3) by earning adequate returns on the employed resources” Accessed from BusinessDictionary.com

2. Should organisations focus more on profit and shareholder satisfaction or responsibility and stakeholder satisfaction? Discuss your own thoughts but try to support your ideas with theory or example.

Every organization first thinks about the achieving it’s goals which is backed by the profit maximization. While considering the for the long run period of time reputation is most important. As long as you have good reputation one can in cash it any point of time. Good will of an company or organization can be achieve only by using CSR system.

Just imagine an organization only aims to achieve more profit and satisfy its stakeholder in same time it has been polluting the environment and affecting the huge number of people. We can see that the organization is not responsible toward the society. Ultimately it would not only decrease the goodwill but also the profit of the company decreases.

Most of the companies have started to adopt corporate Social Responsibility as it has long term effect on society. Like we can take an example of most emerging company named Sherpa Pvt. Ltd where the companies has provided the employment to many housewife. They also have provided them better wages where the company has been able to earn the credit by its Handmade product and employment of housewives.

3.Write about your experience with today‘s case study. What answers did you give to the questions?  What did you think of the CEO?

 The case study was interesting to study as it provide information about the CSR. 

What are Pepsico‘s strategic objectives?Why does the firm exist?

Reform the Products

Expansion of product Internationally

Advertisement of the product.

Warehouse for the agents

Delivery on prompt method

Effective bond amongst the Distribution line.

Existence of firm as the company has provided the stakeholder as well as employee with satisfaction result. It  only focused on it's line of business and has always been fair toward the consumers.

What are the possible Strengths and benefits of strategy?
Strength and benefits of strategy is provide goods services to the people and mainly focuses on creating it's image. Corporate Social Responsibility has help to aim at the longterm goals in building and organization. At the end it is the end consumer who decided companies gain and losses. It has mainly aimed in helping the society.

What are the possible weaknesses and disadvantages of the strategy?
Weakness of this strategy as per the article provided was
Has invested in the calorie drink with the aim of providing the consumer with betterment where the strategy fails to show its performance. In the same time there was decrease in the profit which also indicates that company's strategy has failed to meet the expectation of shareholders. Some point of time always the strategies are not on the right track.

Do you think the organization has the right balance between profitability and responsibility?
I feel the organization has maintained the balance between profitability and responsibility. It has maintained the balance in different sector of product including in the drinks as well as the snack market. The company has been updated with latest product and technology with keep the customers need on mind. 


Reference:
Corporate Social Responsibility. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Available at : www.wbcsd.org/work-program/businessrole/previous work-soical-repsonsibility.aspx (Accessed on 9th Jan 2013)

TakingITGlobal,. Corporate social responsibility. [online] Available at : < http://issues.tigweb.org/csr?gclid=CKmLvav4zrUCFct56wodjnYAng > [Accessed 9th Jan 2013].

9th Week Journal

Learning Journal Week 9.

1. In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what is meant in strategy by the ‘Resource-Based View’?

According to Business Dictionary " A management device used to assess the available amount of a business' strategic assets. In essence, the resource-based view is based on the idea that the effective and efficient application of all useful resources that the company can muster helps determine its competitive advantage.”

The Resources Based View is a method of viewing the firm which in turn of approaching toward the strategy. It is the resources which are combined together which makes a firm different from one another.

2. How might you undertake ‘Internal Strategic Analysis’?  What models would you apply and why? Where would you go to find the information you need?

Internal Strategic Analysis focuses on the identifying the strength and weakness of an organization so that it can meet the demand of the external environments like threats.

I would apply on following models

Value chain Analysis

MC Kinsey Seven S Analysis

Resources and Competence Analysis

VRIN

It would help to find out the strength and weakness of an organization which would help to analyze on which sector the organization should work hard.

We can find the information from Primary sources as well as secondary sources. We could also contact the organization expert to help to find the information by small questionnaire.

3. Talk about your group video work. How is it going so far? Do you have a plan? What are you most worried about at the moment?What is going well?!

We have made a team of 5 people in a group. We have divided each one of the person to do one of the task. We choose to do a presentation on Apple Inc Verses Samsung. All the information has been collected which has to sorted out now.

Our main concern is how to present the video and how to shoot the video. Our team has been moving on plan and team work has been effective.

Reference:
Resource based view, Business dictionary. Available at:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/resource-based-view.html#ixzz2Gy7L7awF [Accessed on: January 4, 2013]

Management study guide, 2008. resource based view. [online] Available at: < http://managementstudyguide.com/resource-based-view.htm > [Accessed 2^nd January 2013].