Consultancy in Firms

            Consultancy business has been in existence for years, and it can be referred to as a business owned by an individual or a group of experts who provide professional feedback to an organization or an entrepreneur at a fee. Besides, they are mainly hired to generally offer objective advice that facilitates the realization of goals through proper utilization of resources. This is usually done by making use of skills and experiences or working to improve the organizational structure of the organization (Nordmeyer, 2017). This paper will discuss the roles of a consultant in an organization and describe the distinction that exists between internal and external consultants.

Consultant Roles

            A significant consultant role is to help a firm with specific areas of inclusiveness. Some of the roles that he/she can assume are; educator, resource, or a facilitator, but the leader always remains within the organization (Nordmeyer, 2017). Besides, there are four categories of roles that can be assumed by a consultant. The first one is the overall guidance; where the consultant works together with the inclusiveness committee to plan and execute the initiative, and in this case, he/she can act as a facilitator for the meeting or the process. This will be like an advisory role.

            Also, a consultant can take part in information collection. He/she, in this case, will be required to design and be involved in the data collection, especially for qualitative data in interviews and focus groups. This will be a better choice because they are neutral mostly and thus, and the responses from both the internal and external respondents will be more honest (Linton, 2016). Additionally, a consultant can also take part in the analysis of the firm and identifying areas that need improvement. They usually study the structure of the organization, assess the effectiveness of business processes, and conduct interviews of managers and workers at all levels. In addition to that, they will also evaluate the level of skills throughout the firm.

Furthermore, a consultant can also assume the role of a trainer. For example, employees may require specific specialized skills to perform day-to-day duties (Nordmeyer, 2017). In this case, the role of the consultant will involve assessing employee training needs, then designing and conduction the actual training classes that will enable the workers to acquire the skills they need. Besides, some other functions of a consultant will include management, marketing of products and services, studying computer systems, and make recommendations and provision of auditing, tax, and accounting (Linton, 2016). With this, it is the responsibility of the consultant to maintain a professional code of practice and ethics.

The Distinction between an External and Internal Consultant

Both the external and internal consultants work in an advisory capacity for a firm. However, the external consultant is an entity that is not within the firm, hired to meet a particular goal. On the other hand, the internal consultant works in the quality control department, or the human resource of a business (Reddy, 2019). Thus, they are involved in the daily operation of the organization to improve it by identifying and solving problems as they arise.

Conclusion

Conclusively, consultancy is a unique kind of business that helps in the improvement of firms/organizations through their services. Some of their roles include can developing a strategy guide, giving support to the management, analysis of programs, and implementing projects to promote the improvement of the company. Moreover, there is no such distinction between an external and internal consultant, just that the later comes from outside the organization, and the other is within the business.

References

Linton, I. (2016, November 9). Roles of Organizational Consultants. Retrieved from https://work.chron.com/roles-organizational-consultants-17795.html.

Nordmeyer MBA, B. (2017, November 21). Roles of a Consultant. Retrieved from https://work.chron.com/roles-consultant-8395.html.

Reddy, C. (2019, October 4). Internal vs External Consultants: Advantages & Disadvantages. Retrieved from https://content.wisestep.com/internal-vs-external-consultants-advantages-disadvantages/.

What makes corporations different from individual-owned businesses?

Introduction

  Many factors differentiate corporations from individual-owned business, such as control, liability, taxation, and administration. However, the purpose of the paper is not to look at their different characteristics, but it focuses on finding the nature of corporations that makes it different from individual-owned businesses. The research paper finds that what makes corporations different from individual-owned businesses is their social responsibility and corporate governance. It is essential to understand that all businesses, large or small, have a social responsibility, but corporations are the main target since they are created by law, and therefore they are expected to make profit and  benefit the society. Therefore, their obligation to society is not the same as the obligation of the individual-owned business. In addition to its social responsibility that promotes social welfare and organization interests, corporations differ from the individual-owned business due to their internal and external governance. In other words, corporations have corporate governance that directs and controls the organization. Therefore, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance practices are the fundamental ways that make corporations different from individual-owned business.  These different ways are not only for the interest of the corporations such as profit-seeking, but they also bring efficiency economy through creating socially beneficial endeavors.

 Internal and external corporate governance

 First, it is important to understand that corporations in both developed and developing countries experience corporate scandals such as financial crisis (Filatotchev & Chizu, 591). Such crises are brought by lack of professional integrity and distorted systems. To manage the crises, corporations have improved their corporate governance to strengthen the relationship with entities and corporate boards. Unlike the individual-owned business, corporations have internal and external governance mechanisms. Note that the individual-owned business is just a business that has no legal expense and its managerial decisions are not complicated (Lynott, 28).  The business owner enjoys many benefits such as little costs for set up,  enjoys all the profits,  enjoys maximum privacy,  easy to dissolve, lack double taxation, among other benefits. This means that the business does not require governance or regulatory agencies (Lynott, 28). On the other hand, corporations encounter internal problems such as managerial opportunism, misaligned objectives, and distorted incentives. To address these problems, corporations use internal governance where the board of directors controls the organization by implementing a control mechanism.  For example, the board of directors have the power to dismiss a bad CEO, monitor organization performance, among other activities to ensure that operations meet the shareholders' interest (Filatotchev & Chizu, 592).  Note that corporations have separation of ownership. This can lead to inefficiencies and for this reason, the agency theory states that the boards of directors evaluate managerial performance and monitors managers, and more importantly provides transparency to ensure that the operations align with the shareholders' interest. Unlike the individual-owned businesses, corporations have   external corporate governance. Note that corporations have contractual relationships with other entities such as network patterns, customers, suppliers, among others. The role of external corporate governance is to solve the problems that arise from this relationship (Filatotchev & Chizu, 601). For example, during the process of internationalization, firms encounter problems that arise from control in distribution and allocation of production, exploitation of resources, and other substantial risks. The eternal governance controls the behavioral uncertainties and other microeconomic factors and risks.

 Corporate Social Responsibility

 Individual-owned businesses have less complicated managerial decisions, and they can be considered as a profit-seeking business. However, corporations have other roles that surpass that of seeking profit. In other words, they must maximize social welfare and at the same time, meet the organization interest (Asemah, 45). Therefore, they have a self-regulating mechanism whose role is to ensure that the organization comply with ethical standards and law. Unlike the individual-owned businesses, corporates focus not only on meeting the organizational goals but also to improve the social welfare through activities such as providing high-quality products, increase the marketability, provide reliable products, and transform the society. Even though all forms of business must comply with business ethics, corporations should be in the front line to behave ethically to improve the local community, the life of the workforce, and more importantly, bring economic development (Asemah, 46). A point to note is that corporations do not only focus on making profits, but they consider other factors such as social factors, economic factors, , and environmental factors.  In making decisions, they must add value to these sectors to meet social interest. Note that the act of being involved in the society adds benefits in that corporations gain competitive advantages and enhance their financial performances.

 Conclusion

 Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance are important aspects that differentiate corporations from the individual-owned business. Note that in individual-owned business, the owner only focuses on making profits. He or she is interested in business activities and less likely to engage in socially responsible practices. Even though the owner may build a strong relationship with the community, the major role of the relationship is to increase sales and other practical reasons but not emotional reasons. However, corporations do not perceive profit as the only priority, but they consider their responsibility to society. This includes maintaining healthy lifestyles in the organizations, protect the environment through activities such as the use of energy-efficient properties, comply with the law, among other roles. In general, corporations focus on making a difference in society and in turn, the organization improves performance and gain competitive advantage. Another thing is that corporations have internal and external governance. This means that they have complex structures that require internal and external control. They have internal mechanisms where the board of directors provides internal control to ensure better corporate performance. They also have an external mechanism where the organization addresses problems that arise from the capital market, labor market, investor activities, and more.

Work cited

Asemah, Ezekiel S., Ruth A. Okpanachi, and Leo ON Edegoh. "Business advantages of

corporate social responsibility practice: A critical review." New Media and Mass

Communication 18.3 (2013): 45-52.

Filatotchev, Igor, and Chizu Nakajima. "Internal and external corporate governance: An interface

between an organization and its environment." British Journal of Management 21.3

(2010): 591-606.

Lynott, Bill. “Sole Proprietorship or CORPORATION?” Home-Based Travel Agent, vol. 3, no. 4, Apr. 2008, pp. 28–31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hjh&AN=31656049&site=ehost-live.

Literature review

 Topic: Creating competitive advantage and unity in the workplace

Research Question: How can we turn an upside down business into a profitable organization?

 Introduction

            The biggest challenges affecting today's businesses are competitive challenges and lack of employee cooperation. Today, companies are operating in a dynamic environment that is characterized by changes in technology, law, and regulation, new competitors, environmental uncertainty, among other economic changes. For a business to maintain their competitive position in the dynamic environment, they must compete aggressively. To achieve the aggressive competition, the firms should first conduct a competitive market analysis to understand the market and financial performance of the competitors. After following the competitors in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, products and services, positioning and branding, among other relevant information, the firm should promote cooperation in the workplace. These strategies; knowing the competitors, identifying internal and external factors that affect your competition, and ensuring unity in the workplace will at long last, help the organization achieve a competitive edge.

  Gaining competitive capabilities and competitive intelligence through environmental analysis

  Adom et al., (2016) asserts that it is essential for organizations to understand the external business environment, the changes occurring, and the impact that these changes have on business. One of the elements in the external business environment is the competitive environment. Even though there are other elements as technological elements and political and legal elements, organizations must understand the competitive environment since it is the primary sector that is hindering organization from achieving competitive advantage (Adom et al.,  2016). The author asserts that today, businesses are influenced by various forces, and one inevitable force is competition. All firms, big or small, have direct and indirect competitors.  Failure to understand the competitive environment affects the business in that the organization does not add value to the products, it does not upgrade products, customers do not get more options, and the business remains unproductive (Adom et al., 2016). Thus, the author states that in order to improve the business, it is important to analyze the competitors. Note that the analysis will help understand the industrial environment, identify the competitor's strengths and weaknesses, their competitive strategies, how they achieve success, their customer motivators, their assets and skills, and other relevant information. This information will help the organization come up with a strategy to achieve a competitive advantage (Adom et al., 2016).  An important point to note is that if the organization does not understand the competition, it will end up producing similar products and compete for the same resources. However, once the organization understands the competitors, the organization will be in a position to produce unique products and services, and more importantly, will improve all business performance.  

Bergen & Peteraf (2002) state that the organization should understand all types of competitors; that is; direct competitors- these are companies that produce similar products and services. The competition by these companies is intense in that customers have a higher opportunity to compare product and prices. Other competitors are indirect competitors- these are companies that produce goods and services that are comparable. Consumers believe that the products are different, but they have the same value proposition. The last competitors are future competitors-these are companies that have not entered in the marketplace, but if they enter the market, they will offer an intent competition and take a high market share (Bergen & Peteraf, 2002).  For the business to tackle competition challenges, it is important to understand the external environment. These include the industry and competitors, and the information will help identify the area of improvement, solve the current challenges, and more importantly, achieve strategic success.

Dasgupta et al., (2015) add that for the company to understand the competitive environment and develop strategic decisions, it must have a competitive intelligence (CI).  Currently, the organization relies on business profile information. However, the information is incomplete, and as it lacks facts.  In most cases, the organization derives information from a single data sources which lacks reliability and validity. The author recommends that for the organization to derive sufficient data, it is important to use text mining (Dasgupta et al., 2015).  Note that in gathering competitors' data, the main aim is to understand the opportunities and threats and ultimate make informed decisions. It means that organizations must gather enough data in order to gain competitive intelligence. Note that in the past, competitive intelligence was achieved by analyzing the company performance and derived data from big players. This method is not effective in that there is restrictions, and only a few competitors are found in such a focal firm's domains. The article asserts that the organization can now analyze competitors and derive the information from internet resources (Dasgupta et al., 2015). These sources improve the competitive intelligence in that the organizations will access both primary and secondary data in large quantities. Companies can access hiding knowledge from news articles and social media postings. The author recommends an advanced approach for information extraction, which is text mining. This approach will help the organization identify significant competitors, including direct and indirect compositors (Dasgupta et al., 2015). These sources will increase the company's competitive intelligence and help the company design competitive strategies.

 Cooperation at the Workplace

  Čič & Žižek (2017) assert that lack of employee cooperation in the organization can affect productivity and competition, and lead to interpersonal conflict. The authors assert that in today's labor market, there is four different generations of employees. It is important to understand that these employees have different behaviors which improve business processes, but at times, they may lead to adverse outcomes (Čič & Žižek, 2017). Thus, to avoid conflict among the four generations, the organization should ensure intergeneration cooperation. Note that the generations do not only vary in attitudes, but they also vary in age, race, among other factors. To unify the older, young, experienced, inexperienced, and male, and female employees, the organization must promote intergenerational cooperation (Čič & Žižek, 2017). This entails bringing together all four generations in a joint work to eliminate gap and conflict, encourage career development, and foster knowledge transfer. Note that intergeneration cooperation will expand social networks, and the different generations will help each other, and through the exchange of knowledge, individuals will reduce inter-generation stereotypes (Čič & Žižek, 2017). Leaders should identify the strengths of the different ages and create an organizational culture and supports cooperation. Cooperation should be based on having a common organizational culture, common vision, and valuing diversity. Tinuke (2013) adds that in the workplace, managers should improve cooperation through team building. The latter improves team performance in that the employees work closely as cohesive units. They support each other and plan and make decisions corporately. Thus, managers should not only create inter-generational cooperation, but they should also develop a culture of teamwork through clearly communicating the expectations, and rewarding the teamwork.

 Conclusion

 The literature review has found that a company cannot survive without competition. Big companies are using the latest technology and other competitive strategies to achieve competitive advantage. For a company to survive, it should not fear competition, but rather it should analyze the competitive environment and understand the products, policing, strengths, strategies, among other relevant information concerning other organizations. The analysis will help the organization identify the direct competitors, understand the competitive position, understand competitor's strategies, and select strategy. The strategy will help the organization improve performance and ultimately, gain a competitive advantage. Another important point is that competitive analysis and implementing the best strategies in the organization will not work if there is no employee cooperation. Therefore, managers should bring the four generations of employees into a cohesive unit and create a cooperative culture that entails helping each other, valuing diversity, and working as a team.

References

 Adom, A., Nyarko, I., & Som, G. N. (2016). Competitor Analysis in Strategic Management: Is it

a Worthwhile Managerial Practice in Contemporary Times?. Journal of Resources

Development and Management, 24.

Bergen, M., & Peteraf, M. A. (2002). Competitor identification and competitor analysis: a broad‐

based managerial approach. Managerial and decision economics, 23(4‐5), 157-169.

Dasgupta, S., Xue, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2015). Examining Competitive Intelligence Using External

and Internal Data Sources: A Text Mining Approach.

Čič, Ž. V., & Žižek, S. Š. (2017). Intergenerational Cooperation at the Workplace from the

Management Perspective. Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, 63(3), 47-59.

Fapohunda, T. M. (2013). Towards effective team building in the workplace. International

Journal of Education and Research, 1(4), 1-12.

 High TechMobile Company Plan

Executive Summary

High TechMobile Company will be involved in phone interpreting services and will be based in California, Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA 95054 where it will serve the needs of customers in different markets across the world. As a limited liability entity, the company seeks to redefine the High TechMobile Company by ensuring clients in various regions access high-quality services that fulfill their needs. Similarly, the firm will ensure that the roles of all workers and managers are defined appropriately so that they attain good results in different activities they do. In the last three months, the firm conducted a test marketing initiative that enabled it to examine the viability of the business model and specific issues it needs to consider to achieve positive results. Further, the organization examined regulatory challenges that are likely to affect the way it does business in different locations. Consequently, various sections of the business plan address the factors the organization needs to consider to ensure it achieves its long-term purpose in the industry.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary. 3

Mission. 9

Vision. 9

Purpose. 9

Company Description. 9

Legal Structure. 9

Core Competencies. 11

History of Business. 12

Products-Services. 12

Short Term and Long-Term Goals. 13

SWOT Analysis. 14

STRENGTHS. 14

     High innovative abilities in the organization. 14

     Skilled employees. 14

     Strategic Location that is accessible. 14

     High level of investments that would increase the asset base of the company. 14

     Abides by the Legal requirements. 14

WEAKNESS. 14

     Limited Technical competency. 14

     Low information accessibility. 14

     Poor response to uncertainties. 14

     No legal structure to deal with emerging issues. 14

OPPORTUNITIES. 14

     Expected number of visitors from non-English speaking. 14

     Partnership with international organizations. 14

     An increase in global trade will create more demand for its services. 14

     Artificial intelligence allows the organization to explore new areas of future growth. 14

THREATS. 14

Key Performance Indicators. 15

Sales Performance Indicators. 16

Finance Performance Indicators. 16

Project Management 16

Marketing. 17

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. 17

Product and Service Description. 17

Suppliers and Cost 19

Customer Benefits. 20

Product Life Cycle. 20

Research and Development Activities. 21

Corporate Social Responsibility. 22

MARKET ANALYSIS. 22

Industry Analysis. 22

Market Analysis. 26

Target Market 32

Competitive Analysis. 34

Competitive Profile Matrix. 36

Barriers to Entry. 37

STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION.. 39

Sales and Marketing Strategy. 39

Promotion Mix. 40

Operations Cycle. 44

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT. 46

Organizational Chart 46

Job Titles and Descriptions. 47

Financial 49

Table of figure

Figure 1. Google Maps (n.d.-a) [2953 Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA 95054]. Retrieved July, 30, 2019 from https://goo.gl/maps/Yo1h5d8wy77vdvFZ6. 7

Figure 2. Google Maps (n.d.-a) [2953 Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA 95054]. Retrieved July, 30, 2019 from https://goo.gl/maps/Yo1h5d8wy77vdvFZ6. 7

Figure 3.  showing expected growth of the language services market in the next five years. Source: https://www.nimdzi.com/2019-nimdzi-100/#BUs. 21

Figure 4. United States Tourist Arrivals. 22

Figure 5. Number of international Tourist to Europe. 23

Figure 6. Medium Annual Wage for interpreters. 24

Figure 7. - Language analysis. 30

Figure 8. 45

Table of tables

Table 1. 13

Table 2. 17

Table 3. 18

Table 4. 26

Table 5. 27

Table 6 Competitive Analysis. 33

Table 7 Competitive Profile Matrix. 35

Table 8. 39

Table 9. 43

Table 10. 44

Table 11. 48

Table 12. 49

Table 13. 50

Table 14. 50

Table 15. 51

Table 16. 52

Table 17. 52

Table 18. 53

Figure 1. Google Maps (n.d.-a) [2953 Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA 95054]. Retrieved July, 30, 2019 from https://goo.gl/maps/Yo1h5d8wy77vdvFZ6

Figure 2. Google Maps (n.d.-a) [2953 Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA 95054]. Retrieved July, 30, 2019 from https://goo.gl/maps/Yo1h5d8wy77vdvFZ6

Mission

               High TechMobile Company seeks to offer high quality English, Spanish and Hindi phone interpretation in U.S, Canada and U.K.  Its mission will be driven by values that focus on excellence, fulfilling consumer expectations and being innovative in various activities employees will undertake in the market. The firm seeks to build partnerships with both for-profit and nonprofit entities that allow it to realize its long-term purpose in the phone interpretation industry.

Vision

High TechMobile Company intends to become a symbol of excellence in the industry by allowing its clients to benefit from cutting edge technological solutions and services that improve their lives. Through imparting high-quality skills to its employees, the firm will be driven by best social, environmental, and economic practice standards in various activities it does in the phone interpretation industry and expand into Europe, Asia and Latin America and provide more languages in the next 5 years.

Purpose

The firm’s main purpose is to offer high-quality High TechMobile Company services to a diverse clientele globally. Such an objective requires the firm to assess its competitive advantages that will offer value to its clients in various locations where they are based. In the same vein, the organization intends to partner with vendors and other information technology service providers to ensure it offers consistent services to its clients . Therefore, such a focus will allow the organization to be innovative in various activities it does to achieve better outcomes in its operations in the long-term.

Company Description

Legal Structure

The company will be a limited liability company that will have 2 shareholders whose ties to the company will be defined by a legal contract. In effect, the organization will be involved in various activities that will affect how it obtains revenues in the market it will be operating in. By defining the role of the two managers and employees, the organization will be in a position to take on any challenges that are likely to affect its performance in the industry. In future, the organization might decide if it needs more shareholders to help it acquire more capital to improve its business operations in the industry (Mckeown, 2012). Therefore, all shareholders will be allowed to contribute their ideas in different company meetings that bring about the desired changes in the way the organization operates.

Advantages of limited liability company Legal structure

1. The Legal structure do not have any restrictions on the member show are allowed into the company. In this case, High TechMobile Company will increase its shareholders in the coming years leading to increased level of investments. High investments would lead to high revenues.
2. The legal structure allows High TechMobile Company too have a flexible management system for its success. The success of the company is tied to the company management and the quality of top level managements.
3. High TechMobile Company will have reduced formalities that affect the company operations.
4. The debts in the High TechMobile company cannot affect the shareholders. The business is liable to its liabilities in the operations.

Disadvantages of limited liability company Legal structure

1. Unlike the advantages of limited liability company Legal structure, the structure is quite expensive as compared to other legal structure such as the Sole Proprietorship.
2. It is also hard to transfer the ownership of the limited liability company Legal structure

Core Competencies

The organization will focus on offering phone interpretation services to different clients who seek to communicate with other parties in diverse locations. The service will allow clients to enter special numbers where they would be able to talk to a specific language interpreter who will connect them to another party. It is worth noting that there has been an increase in the number of telephone users who seek to conduct business with people from other geographic or cultural backgrounds who speak different languages (Mckeown, 2012). Ultimately, the organization will make it easy for organizations that seek to contact suppliers, clients, or regulatory agencies in other locations to communicate in a confidential manner. Significantly, the service will make it possible for all parties involved to reach their intended targets more effectively through available interpreters in less than 60 seconds. Significantly, customers will be able to rate the service after their calls are completed to allow the organization to improve its operations in the industry.

The company has developed a strategic plan that ensures company competitive positioning. It is worth to note the core competencies will make the company acquire high level of revenues, high profitability, and high market shares. Among the key competences in the company include the flowing;

1. Ensure professionalism in handling all levels of service. The phone

interpretation should be prompt and accurate thereby gaining the loyalty of

satisfied customers and generating new customer growth.

1. Employment of skilled personnel that ensure effective services deliver to the

customers leading to improved customer satisfaction. Such a step would make the

company more competitive.

1. Reward high creativity and innovation in High TechMobile company that would increase the company performance. Such a step would lead high company performance and competitive advantage.

History of Business

            High TechMobile Company will offer phone interpreting services and will be based in California, Bunker Hill Ln, Santa Clara, CA  95054 where it will serve the needs of customers in different markets across the world. The company has been conducting test marketing in the last three months meant to assess the viability of its business model in the industry. I have decided to start up the company because of the market niche that is in the phone interpreting services. The market has not need ventured and I believe I can make high profits from the venture. Consequently, the approach has allowed the organization to understand the needs of various client groups and how they can be fulfilled by the services it offers. It has gathered information from hotels, conferences, travel agencies and other organizations regarding the best way it can roll out its services to help it achieve its goals in the High TechMobile Company (Ozolins, 2011).  Further, the company has used test marketing to determine the types of product packages it can offer its clients so that their expectations are fulfilled in the long-term. The approach has enabled the organization to understand the costs associated with its operations and some of the regulatory challenges it needs to deal with so that it solves existing problems in the market. However, the firm is still assessing how it can overcome its rivals in the industry to enhance the overall appeal of its brand.

Products-Services

The firm will mostly specialize in business and hospitality phone interpreting services for its clients from diverse locations. The first service will target professionals from various parts of the world who visit the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom with limited fluency in English (Ozolins, 2011). On the other hand, the second service will target international tourism visitors who cannot speak English seeking to book hotels and airlines in the three countries. The third service entails offering interpreting services to hotels, airlines and travel agencies seeking to attract various firms and people in countries where English is not widely spoken. Therefore, the three services will allow the organization to develop a business model that is responsive to most clients to ensure the organization achieves better outcomes in its operations.

Short Term and Long-Term Goals

Short-term goals in the firm will mainly be;

• Increasing awareness about the value it offers to relevant client groups
• Complying with regulatory objectives in all countries where its operations will be based
• Attracting qualified personnel to ensure essential tasks are performed accordingly
• Selecting appropriate technologies and suppliers to enhance its overall performance in the industry.
• Increasing its presence in various local and regional markets
• Achieving efficiency in its operations

The long-term goals of the firm include:

• Expansion into Europe, Asia and Latin America
• Achieving high levels of profitability 
• Increasing the number of services it offers clients
• Getting involved in more complex projects that help it achieve competitiveness
• Increasing the number of partnerships it has in local and foreign markets.

Question 1

Diffusion of Innovation is one of the oldest theories of innovation, developed in 1962, its origin is communication since it aims to give meaning to how an idea gains momentum with time and diffuse. The diffusion of innovation is different from one of the current theories on innovation, Jobs-to-be-done which mainly focus on outcome driven innovation and is built on the idea people buy products to get other jobs done (Correia, n.d). The technology adaptation life cycle is similar to the diffusion of innovation because it seeks to explain why companies with disruptive products and technologies often experience difficulties in the industry the same way diffusion of innovation seeks to explain how an innovation got to where it is, this theory is also built on the diffusion of innovation thus they share the same concept.

Question 2

Creativity and innovation have a major impact on the success or the failure of an organisation. Nurturing creativity and innovation is necessary for the organisation to be able to respond to the advancements taking place in technology, the changing customer needs, the ever changing organisational structures and global issues concerning diversity. Innovation and creativity go hand in hand, for one to engage in innovation they must think of a new idea which requires creativity (Glassman, et al., 2016). Higher learning institutions are now offering Science Degrees in Creative Studies and Graduate Certificate Programs in Creativity and Change Management, the stated goal of these programs is to understand the role of creativity, innovation and problem solving from a theoretical perspective.  This is also to expose students at all levels to cross functional teams with the involvement of all members to bring innovation to the market through cross discipline understanding.  Creativity is based on societal norms and thus finding ways that are different from the societal norms to solve problems will advance the creativity and innovation of an individual (Glassman, et al., 2016). Learning institutions are at the forefront of teaching innovation and creativity and how to apply this knowledge into practices in the real world

Question 3

Research conducted by Kesting, et al., (2016) strongly shows that different leadership styles have different impacts on innovations.  Leadership is very important and plays a vital role in enhancing the creativity of an organisation, devising and launching innovative projects.  Different leadership styles impact the involvement and commitment of the employees differently which in turn influences the climate for innovation management. Leadership entails influencing the attitudes and behaviours and influencing how people interact within a group with a focus of achieving the set goals that are associated with leadership.

Directive leadership style is characterised by practices that are directly aimed at structuring subordinates such as giving guidelines, clarifying policies and procedures and stating expectations regarding employee’s compliance to the rules. In contrast to this leadership style there is participative leadership where decision making is shared between the leaders and the subordinates. However, the final decision making lies with the leaders in both cases and the main difference between these two leadership styles is the extent to which leaders consult with their subordinates in the decision making process. When directive and participative leadership are executed in innovation projects, directive leaders drive innovation by controlling monitoring and instructing, directive leaders often present their subordinates with a framework for decision making that is aligned to their superior vision. Leader who adopt the participative leadership style often succeed in driving team level innovation by getting involved at an early stage, being fully involved in the project the entire time and allowing team members to develop new solutions regarding the innovation project (Kesting, et al., 2016). Directive leadership always proves beneficial while establishing new rules thus deterring innovation and participative leadership stimulated creativity and innovation.

Another leadership style that greatly fosters innovation is the interactive style. This leadership style is defined by leaders encouraging their subordinates to participate, broad sharing of information, ideas and power and motivating employees to embrace different work tasks. leaders who use this style empower their subordinates to be innovative by orchestrating coaching and training while offering them the necessary support (Kesting, et al., 2016). 

Question 4

Innovation is key for the growth of any organisation, they often rely on teams to come up and develop new ideas and solutions that can meet the growing demand in the market place. Innovation is very crucial for the long term success of the business (Henderson, 2017). Innovation is relevant for organisation because it gives them an edge in penetrating markets faster and provide better connections to developing markets which can lead to bigger opportunities. Innovation also helps organisations to develop their original concept. Not only the innovation of new products help organisations develop but also the innovation of new services, process models and functions. An example is Starbucks and Google that have devised and launched game changing innovations in small ways that later contributed to the bigger picture. Starbucks does not use phrases such as small, medium or large cups but has innovated its own language such as grande and venti and its own payment app that is designed with PayPal and for Google one may start a search and later end up using Google Docs or Google Hangout (Henderson, 2017). The ability to resolve critical problems arising in industries and organisation depends on new innovations, innovation is important in allowing an organisation to stay relevant in a competitive market.

Question 5

Innovations are part of the main source of competitive advantage for a company, innovations are very significant for the growth of a company since organisations invest greatly in resources and time to create new innovations that will increase their performance in order to beat competition and satisfy the needs of their customers. There are many factors that are involved in innovation design system; internal and external factors. External factors include; competition, environment, customers and location. The location of an organisation is influenced by the decision the firm makes on where to conduct specific business operations. The decision on where to carry out activities will affect the innovations undertaken by the organisation. The demand from customers is what drives all innovations. An increase in customer’s demand brings pressure for new innovations and even encourages user innovation, whereby customers modify an organisation’s existing product without consent form the organisation and the organisation later adapts the modified product and sells it. Competition is one of the defining characteristics of a market and has a substantial effect on innovation of an organisation, when new firms enter the market competition becomes stiff thus giving rise to new innovations as a result of competitive pressure, these new entrants also enter the market with disruptive models and new innovations (Antonelli, et al., 2012).

Internal factors that affect innovation include; management practices, organisational motivation and resources.  In management practices specific actions and practices that impact innovation includes allowing freedom and autonomy in the work related fields, providing challenges that require to be solved and clear strategic goals. Organisation motivation is the basic orientation of an organisation towards innovation, to foster innovation the organisation ought to have a culture that influences creativity of its employees and one that allows sharing of ideas. Resources are key in creating and launching an implementation, for innovation to take place in an organisation the organisation ought to have sufficient resources inclusive of funds, materials, facilities and information (Antonelli, et al., 2012). These internal factors play a vital role in influencing innovation in an organisation.

Question 6

As a result of innovation attempting to predict the future they come with a wide array of risks even though organisations have dedicated a lot of resources in managing these risks. In order to fully manage these risks organizations should develop their decision model under which they evaluate their respective evaluations. Risks associated with innovation can be dealt with by; first recognising that a model exists and needs to be developed judging the risk it poses and the returns it brings. The second strategy is recognising every innovation model comes with its own set of limitations, the first perspective of limitation is having an incomplete model where the assumption on the model is completely wrong and to solve this a complete turnaround or redevelopment of a new model is required and an incomplete decision model, incompleteness is a limitation all models have since an innovation model  cannot be perfect.  The third strategy is expecting the unknown. The fifth strategy is obtaining all the knowedge that can be gotten on the potential user of the innovation. The sixth and last strategy is considering the infrastructure where the innovation will be placed (Ahmed, 2017).

Question 7

Nurturing talents, every individual has the ability to think creatively, but there is always those individuals with natural talents within the field, these talents are based on the way these individual feel or think. They are capable of leading innovation if their talents are natured. Managing creativity, when a team comes up with a creative idea it is necessary to reward the team with in order to further innovation, when a team feels that their efforts are acknowledged they are more likely to come up with innovative ideas in the future (Oxford College of Marketing, n.d).

Question 8

Climate, which refers to the way a team works together based on shared policies, procedures and perceptions.  Employees are the main source of creativity in an organization and climate is a source of motivation that motivates them towards innovation. Economy is another innovation enable, when the economy of an organization becomes almost equal to what it is investing in an innovative project in terms of resources such as time, knowledge and finance it shows that the innovative project is valuable to the organization (Mikael, 2017).

Question 9

Broadcasting, which is the most common mechanism, which involves publishing an innovative request as a challenge to a vast audience in the hopes that someone with a solution will emerge. Connecting and networking, it is important for companies to develop their networks without an immediate objective to foster collaboration and partnership that may benefit the organization and help with innovations (EsadeKnowledge 2018).

Question 10

Short term focus, Lack of time or resources, lack of proper leadership and lack of systematic innovation processes are some of the barriers to innovation. To solve the challenge of lack of proper leaderships, all leaders in an organization have to understand that innovation goes beyond CEO and all the leaders of an organization have to be involved although engagement starts from the top of the command chain. The lack of resources can be solved by making sure that employees are availed with the necessary tools and requirements that are need to encourage the process of innovation.  Lastly, to solve the problem of lack of systematic innovation processes organisations have to ensure that they don’t put in place rigorous processes that discourage the staff towards innovation but put in places processes that empower employees towards innovation (Loewe, et al., 2006).

References.

Ahmed,R. (2017). Risk Mitigation Strategies in Innovative Projects. In Key Issues for Management of             Innovative Projects. Intechopen.

Antonelli, C., Crespi, F., Giuseppe, S., (2012). Internal and External Factors in Innovation Persistence.             Economics of Innovation and New Technology. 22.1-25.10.1080/10438599.2012.708135.

Correia, A., (n.d). “theories of Innovation adaptation and Real World case analyses. Driving educational             change: Innovations in action.

EsadeKnowledge (2018). 5 mechanisms to promote innovation. Retrieved from;             https://www.esadeknowledge.com/view/5-mechanisms-to-promote-innovation-174880  

Glassman, A. M, &Opengart, R. (2016). Teaching innovation and creativity: “Turning theory into             practice.” Journal of International Business Education 11(2016): 113

Henderson, T., (2017). Why innovation is Crucial to your Organisation’s long term success. Retrived      from;  https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/05/08/why-innovation-is-            crucial-to-your-organizations-long-term-sucess/

Kesting, P., Ulhoi, J. P, Song, L. J., & Niu, H. (2016). The Impact of Leadership style on innovation-a             review. Journal of Innovation Management, 3(4), 22-41.

Loewe, P., & Dominiquini, J. (2006). Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Innovation. Strategy &             Leadership 34(1),24-31.

Mikael, J., (2017).  Innovation Enablers for Innovation Teams-a review. Journal of Innovation     Management JIM 5, 3(2017) 750-121.

Oxford College of Marketing (n.d). 4 Key Drivers of Innovation. Retrieved from;             https://blog.oxfordcollegeofmarketing.com/2015/01/21/4-key-drivers-of-innovation/

Global marketing plan

Industry and competitors analysis tools

It is essential to study the behavior of competitors in order to formulate a strategic global marketing plan. Competitive information will help discover the competitors' weaknesses,   strengths, competitive forces in the competitive environment, as well as the industrial environment (Adom et al, 2016). In industry and competitors analysis, the most important thing to identify is the sources of competition or in other words, the strategic actions that the competitors are using to achieve profitability. However, it is essential to concentrate on powerful competitors since they will bring direct competition. In this case, powerful or direct competitors are companies that offer the products that the business is intending to provide (Adom et al, 2016).  Such organization will have intense competition, and thus, it is important to find out their strategies and objectives, strengths and weakness, the current and future state of the competitors, and the competitors' segmentation strategies. It is also important to look for information such as the branding and image, market research capability, advertising and promotion, among other information (Adom et al, 2016). Note that the purpose of industry and competitor analysis is not to collect all information, but its purpose is to gather the fact and in specific qualitative information. In general, the main aim of conducting the analysis is to understand the competitive market in order to develop strategies that will position the organization in the competitive edge.  Another important thing to understand is that in order to spy the competitors and monitor their business operations, the organization must use the best analysis tools (Adom et al, 2016). The tools will help the organization track the competitors, and more importantly, understand their strategies, and use that information to prepare its global marketing plan. There are many industry and competitor analysis tools, but the tools that can work best in creating a global marketing plan are;

Google Trends- Google Trends allows the organization to predict the future by tracking the company's trend. The organization can view content such as posts, perspectives, and news concerning the brand and other activities (Arens, 2019). I think this tool is the best to conduct industry and competitors in that the organization will access real-time data about the competitor's brand, consumer behavior, changes in interest and special events, and so on. The organization can also use this tool to compare the customers' interest and view the search terms, and this will help to improve the marketing efforts (Arens, 2019). I will use this tool to view the competitors' products and services, technology trends, relevant topics, and search query. This will information will help to identify the locations where products and services are needed, identify new markets, and use the best technology.

Similarweb- the purpose of this tool is to help the organization find the competitors' content, monitor the industry, and understand the competitors' online strategy (Arens, 2019). These are important elements that will help the organization discover the organizations' opportunities, emerging trends, consumer intent, and more information. I think this tool is the best to conduct industry and competitor analysis in that it provides detailed metrics that help the organization to compare the performance (Arens, 2019). More importantly, the tool will allow the organization to view page viewed by visitors, and tool will help identify the source that increases the volume of visits to site traffic. I will use this tool to see the competitors' websites and the traffic overview, including traffic by countries. I will steal ideas from the websites that have high percentages of traffic so that I can boost the visits numbers on my website.

BuzzSumo- This is an important tool that allows the organization to view the competitors' content performance (Arens, 2019). For example, it is possible to see the type of content that makes the competitors' achieve success. This is done by seeing the content that consumers are sharing, and more importantly, the most shared content. I think the tool is the best as it will allow the organization to increase its social media marketing efforts and more importantly, produce the content  that is more engaging and compelling (Arens, 2019). Note that the information of other competitors will help brainstorm ideas and produce relevant and current content that the audiences will share. I will use this tool to find the content that the competitors are sharing on the social media platforms, who are sharing, and the top priority topic. This information will help create a high-performing content that will bring great social traction.

References

 Adom, A., Nyarko, I., & Som, G. N. (2016). Competitor Analysis in Strategic Management: Is it

a Worthwhile Managerial Practice in Contemporary Times?. Journal of Resources

Development and Management, 24.

 Arens E. (2019). 7 Free SEO Tools for Social Media Marketers.  Sprout Social, Inc.  Retrieved from: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/free-seo-tools/

 Based on your classmates’ discussion posts for Week 2, do you still believe the tools that you selected will work best for a global strategy? Why or why not?

            There are various global business tools that are currently used for the purpose of analyzing the perspectives of the competitive edge that exists in the industry.  As much as this discussion is concerned, the truth is that the selection of the Porters five Force framework will have to be perceived to have the propensity of achieving its global strategies. On the other hand, the reason as to why the use of the perceived tools is important because they have the potential of enabling the evaluating as well as assessing the competitive advantage and position that exists in such an industry (Magretta, 2012). 

            In accordance with that, what this implies is the fact that the same protocol will have to take into account the manner in which it aid in addressing the competitive attractiveness and intensity that exists in the market. Moreover, the reason for approving this tool is because it has the potentials of indentifying as well as describing the powers that exist in the modern business marketing world. It is this scenario that has the ability of enabling the company to enjoy the economies of scale as it glows. In addition to that, the reason as to why I just approve the use of such a tool is because it has the ability of enabling the management utility of the company to conduct effective strategic analytical exercises. This in return, will enable the company to become more profitable (Roy, 2009). 

What evidence do you have to support your decision?

            One of the existing evidence indicates that the continued use of Porters five force framework has been realized to enable any business organization to understand where their business powers mainly lies. The reason for that is because it enables the management authority to have the ability of identifying the existing weaknesses, perceived strengths, as well as other proposed means of avoiding business mistakes. In accordance with that, the research indicates that the Porter’s Five Forces has the ability of identifying as well assisting a business to analyze the main five competitive forces which are perceived to have the ability of shaping their industry. Moreover, such a tool is important in identifying the structure of the industry as well as determining the corporate strategies. The same tool can also be applicable to any segment of the existing industry for the purpose of evaluating its attractiveness and profitability (Kurtz et al., 2010). 
How would you refute the people who chose an additional tool rather than one of the tools that you selected?

            As much as there are various tools that can be used, the truth is that the use of the Porter’s Five Forces have been proved to have the ability of assisting the majority of the modern business organizations to have the ability of explaining the reason that makes other business in the same industry to prosper. The same mechanism is the one that have been realized to have the ability of enabling the existing companies to sustain the levels of profitability. Moreover, the effectiveness of using this tool is the fact that it will aid in identifying the structure of the company as well as its marketing strategies (Henry & Oxford University Press, 2011). 
Based on the tools that you selected, provide a brief analysis of your market, using those tools

            As much as the Porter’s Five Forces are perceived to have the potential of making the business to understand the rivalry that exists in such an industry, it is evident that it has the ability of reshaping the prevailing market conditions. The reason for that is because it has the ability of measuring some of the marketing forces that are frequently used for the purpose of measuring market attractiveness, competition intensities, and profitability. Nonetheless, the general usage of the combined global business marketing tools will have to be perceived to have the potential of enabling the customers to understand the perspectives and the competitive strengths of the enterprise (Ronan, 2005).

                                                            References

Henry, A., & Oxford University Press. (2011). Understanding strategic management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kurtz, D. L., MacKenzie, H. F., & Snow, K. (2010). Contemporary marketing, [ECH master]. Vancouver: B.C. College and Institute Library Services.

Magretta, J. (2012). Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press.

Ronan, M. (2005). The Outsourcing Process: Strategies for Evaluation and Management. Cambridge University Press

Roy, D. (2009). Strategic foresight and Porter's five forces: Towards a synthesis. München: GRIN.

Recovery strategy for a failing business

A significant number of businesses fail to meet the objectives set in the implementation phase despite measures taken to ensure that the goals set are achieved. The chances for success are often hindered by the existence of various factors such as agressive competition and lack of co-operation in the workplace.  However, the factors can be overcome and measures can be taken to position the business for success.  To achieve this, it is important to understand how a failing business can go about overcoming challenges in its market environment and become a profitable organization.

Most businesses fail because of their inability to overcome the challenges that exist in the environment they operate in.  The chance for success is further reduced by the lack of unity among employees and the presence of other businesses in the same market competing for resources and the target audience.  This paper will therefore focus on how a business can collect data regarding the environment it seeks to exploit, the challenges therein and the measures that can be taken to overcome these challenges and become profitable.

This paper will focus on the approaches that a business can take to be more competitive and promote unity among employees and the management to bring stability in the workplace.  For it to be succesful, the business must first collect data on the challenges in the environment and come up with strategies to overcome them.  Since employees are the direct link between the business and its customers, creating unity will assist in achieving the objectives set by the company. This will in turn improve the quality of service, giving the business the competitive edge needed to increase sales and become profitable. 

 

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                                                                                                      4

Problem Statement                                                                                                                           4

Two Technologies                                                                                                                            5

Business Requirements                                                                                                                    5

Objectives                                                                                                                                         5

Project Description                                                                                                                           6

Technology Requirements                                                                                                               6

Competitors and Technology                                                                                                           6

Technology One  [Wireless, Mobile Computing, and Mobile Commerce]                                     7

Technology Two [Social Computing]                                                                                              8

Technology Solutions                                                                                                                       9

Technology One                                                                                                                               9

Technology Two                                                                                                                            10

Recommendations                                                                                                                          11

Technology Solution                                                                                                                      12

Overall Benefit                                                                                                                               13

Security Considerations                                                                                                                 14

Security Features                                                                                                                            15

Third-Party Vendors                                                                                                                       15

Internal Safeguards                                                                                                                         15

References                                                                                                                                      16

Decision Matrix]                                                                                                                            18

Introduction

 Strategic Human Resource Management in Adidas Company and Its Effects on Performance

Strategic human resource practices has turned out to be an important ground of research, this new attention on the study has enabled the growth of innovative tactics in managing businesses and human resource. Effecting human resource practices to organizational tactic stresses the need for human resource strategies and approaches to be framed within the framework of general organizational approaches and goals (Wright et al., 2017). It also requires the company to be receptive to the shifting nature of the organization’s external background. It is a tactic which needs clarification and adaptation by specialists to guarantee the most appropriate fit amid human resource corporate approaches and strategies (Mazur, 2014).  Strategic human resource practices relate to precise practices, formal strategies, and viewpoints that are intended to appeal, progress, inspire, and preserve workers who guarantee the actual operational and endurance of the business (Ulrich, 2014).

 It allows strategic judgments to be made that have a key and long-term influence on the conduct and accomplishment of the business. This is done by guaranteeing that the business has the capable, dedicated and well-motivated workers it requires to realize competitive lead (Wright et al., 2017). A strategic human resource practice is an effectual role that gets by with environmental fluctuations. It openly and ultimately profit companies since it alters inactiveness into inventiveness, conducts organizational objectives plainly and inspires the participation of line supervisors (Mazur, 2014).  Strategic human resource practices positively sways firm performance since it causes organizational interrelation, an employee spawned interaction that pushes a corporation headlong, allowing the business to react to its environment while still continuing to grow.

Adidas Human Resource management

 A good illustration of this is with Adidas Company, which is one of the leading brands in the sporting world. Adidas has understood the importance of human resource management for its business success. The company has made tactical changes in the techniques that it uses to manage its employees, by crafting a culture centred on people. This is a culture that recognizes and appreciates the worth of personnel and thus aids them attain their career objectives.

Talent management

As one of the greatest sports brand, the company attracts a large number of great talents from all over the world. The company has developed a talent management program known as ‘Talent Carousel’ the emphasis of this program is to coach the personnel certifying that they are ready for management positions in the future (Pratap, 2019). The company encourages their employees to enrol in the two years program where in the end twenty finalists are selected to start a new global and cross efficient profession. The finalists are given new job roles in new locations where they get the chance to practice their management skills and hence advance in their careers (Pratap, 2019).

Adidas also has a dominant recruitment process in its Germany head office that guarantees that new employees has a personalized worth involvement once they start working in the corporation (Pratap, 2019). This is a unique method of induction which helps in engaging the new employees through a company app where the management engages with the new employees. This engagement is important because it helps the new employees to be guided into their roles which help in reducing complexity during these initial stages.

Employee motivation

Motivating employees is a critical element to help improve performance in an organization; this can be done through good remuneration and recognition (Mazur, 2014).  Adidas believes in training and education as an important element of motivating employees and helping them advance on their skills. Adidas has a digital learning institution which gives all its personnel internationally an access to learning prospects (Doke, 2016). Through this podium, the staffs have the chance of pursuing any course that they want relating to marketing and management. The platform offers the employees a chance to attain additional skills that are required for greater career expansion and advancement.

Adidas has implemented several other programs that act as motivational elements for its employees. One of the programs is the employee stock purchase plan which has so far been extended to countries like China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Doke, 2016). So far over 50% of Adidas employee population has taken part in the program which the company plans to extend to other countries. The company has also opened up a kinder Garten program and also a secondary   care centre which holds about 140 children in its headquarters (Doke, 2016). Doing this greatly benefits its employers who have the advantage of working in a convenient and collaborative environment where their needs both personal and organizational are understood.

Internal communication and work life integration

Commitment of employees is a significant element that contributes to staff motivation. To guarantee that workers do not feel unsatisfied or uninvolved, it is imperative for corporations to use staff commitment programs which help the employees to feel appreciated and also involved in the evolution of the business (Boon et al., 2018). An effectual communication structure is significant for employment commitment and to help form a learning setting. Adidas is very keen on how their manager communicates with the subordinates and this strategy is used to help understand the needs of the employees.

Adidas has what they call ‘monthly touch base’, where the line managers and the employees hold monthly meetings that are focused on performance and development (Wilton, 2016). These meetings are important because they allow the company to understand what is happening within the company and how it is affecting performance. The employees take this space to discuss the issues that affect their performance and how they can be resolved. This motivates the employees to always work hard because they feel valued within the company.

 The company also has a 90 day plan where a meeting is held within the company to analyse the focus of the business objectives and what has been achieved so far (Wilton, 2016). These quarterly meetings greatly help to understand the business needs in regard to competition or in matters of microeconomic situations that affect performance. All this meetings help to improve communication between the managers and the rest of the employees which greatly improves performance within the company.

Performance management

One of the key areas that require focus in any organization is performance management, in order to ensure that employees execute at their finest. Debates and responses are very significant in the management of employee performance, this is what helps to guarantee that workers are conscious of their work objectives and that their individual and structural objectives are affiliated (Ulrich, 2014). Adidas has a collaboration system known as ‘A Live’; this is a platform that gives the employees a chance to share information, to associate effectively and to debate current matters with one another (Wilton, 2016). A Live allows the employees to have access to all learning materials any time of the day in a virtual environment.  The brand also has an ‘Ask the Management Platform’ that gives employees a chance to communicate with the senior management directly on matters regarding business (Wilton, 2016).

Personal needs of the employees have also been considered by the brand, to ensure that the employees live a harmonious work life. Adidas has flexible working hours and offers family oriented services like day care services which ensure that the needs of their employees most especially those with families are well catered for.

Wages and benefits

One of the key elements that contribute to keeping employees happy is fair remuneration. It is very important for employees to receive equal and also fair payments in order to interest and even preserve the finest workers (Ulrich, 2014). Adidas is one of the companies that offer the best salaries and rewards to its employees. Compensation in the company consists of static and adjustable fiscal recompense, non-fiscal reward and other immaterial remunerations (Wilton, 2016). The brand’s Global Salary Management System helps in establishing and evaluating employees’ positions and the value of their work in a market motivated performance based way (Wilton, 2016).

Diversity and inclusion

Diversity is a key motivator of growth most especially in the contemporary fiercely competitive universal market. The corporations that want success in the universal market must support diversity in the manner that they act, reason and even revolutionize (Wright et al., 2017). Adidas trusts that having a diverse personnel and individuals with diverse experiences is significant in guaranteeing that there is an effectual labour force. Diversity in Adidas is an important element that helps in providing to the ultimatum of a diverse customer base in many units of the world. Adidas is hence against judgement based on sex, faith, culture, age, sexual placement and global opinions (Pratap, 2019). The company has employees from all over the world working in its head office, which helps to show its diversified human resource. Adidas holds consistent global occasions like the Global Diversity day which works to encourage diversity and inclusion all through its organisation (Pratap, 2019).

Conclusion and Recommendation

All this strategies have allowed Adidas to have a great Human Resource strategy whose focus is to ensure that its employees are more productive and have high job satisfaction. Work life flexibility is an important factor that helps create a stress free work environment. Employees also need to be often recognized and given a chance to participate in decisions making within the organization. Another important human resource strategy is good remuneration, offering competitive salaries and rewards help in keeping employees satisfied and hence better performance. Adidas has made all these things possible by understanding the need of their employees and employing the most effective motivation strategies. To have an effective human resource it is important to engage the employees, and this has been done effectively by Adidas. Adidas has been doing its best in nurturing a culture where its employees are motivated and satisfied and tis has greatly contributed to its success.

Even though the human resource management of Adidas is effective, there are still some things that can be done to help it become much more efficient. One element that needs to be focused on is in regard to diversification of its product portfolio. Adidas focuses mostly on the developed nations in Europe, North America and some few Asian countries. This means that the brand has not tapped on human resource in the developing nations in Africa which could greatly help the company to grow and get on par with its competitors.

References

Boon, C, Eckardt, R, Lepak, DP & Boselie, P 2018, ‘Integrating strategic human capital and

strategic human resource management’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 34–67, viewed 27 June 2019, <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=128358334&site=ehost-live>.

Doke, D. (2016) ‘Adidas: Where Talent Rules’, Recruiter, pp. 20–25. Available at:

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=112168495&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 9 July 2019).

Mazur, B 2014, ‘Sustainable Human Resource Management in theory and practice’,

Economics & Management / Ekonomia i Zarzadzanie, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 158–170, viewed 27 June 2019, <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=96714070&site=ehost-live>.

Pratap, A. (2019). Human Resource Management and Organisational Culture at Adidas

            Group. Retrieved from https://notesmatic.com/hrm-organizational-culture-at-adidas/

Ulrich, D. (2014, August 1). A New Mandate for Human Resources. Retrieved June 27,

            2019, from https://hbr.org/1998/01/a-new-mandate-for-human-resources

Wilton, N. (2016). An introduction to human resource management.

Wright, C.F., Wailes, N., Bamber, G.J. et al. Employ Respons Rights J (2017) 29: 247.

            https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-017-9308-2

MARKETING BRIEF

PART 1 Industry, Organization and Customer Discussion.

(1.1) Overview of the organization and product/service/idea.

Carrefour is a retail store supermarket that prides itself on its ability to offer high quality products to its customers while still limiting the depletion of natural resources. The company has operations in over 30 countries and has hired about 380000 employees in the 12,000 stores it owns (Carrefour, 2019). After close analysis of the current trends in the company’s market, the marketing brief will focus on attracting more customers to Carrefour by presenting it as an exciting shopping experience that not only meets the customers’ needs but also makes shopping more interesting in the process. The idea will use pricing to attract customers that desire trendy products at affordable prices. Advertisements will also add on to the idea by presenting the company and its products as having the highest quality products in the market (Carrefour, 2019). As for distribution, the company will rely on well-structured supply chains and proper arrangements at the stores to make it easier for the customers to access the products they intend to buy. The key point for differentiation for Carrefour will therefore be organization as it combines goodwill, customer loyalty, brand, and the company image, all of which are areas that the company strives to maintain high quality standards at all times. 

(1.2) Key industry/market trends.

            The major technological shift that could have a significant impact on the company is E-Commerce. Despite Carrefour’s success in uniquely arranging its products at its stores, Ecommerce could affect the target sought especially because it allows customers to shop online without visiting the brick and mortar stores.

(1.3) Organizational ecosystem

Since Carrefour seeks to offer quality products while still preserving natural resources, it has undertaken various activities with its stakeholders to help meet its target. The company has managed to grow new organic bananas from Ghana and has also undertaken an initiative in France where the company uses packaging that is 100% reusable and recyclable (Carrefour, 2019). At present, the company’s major competitors are Walmart and Tesco and despite not collaborating with any of its competitors, the company has managed to maintain a large market share and has enjoyed significant success despite their presence in the market.

(1.4) Customer segment

            The approach will target customers in the ages of between 19 and 70 years; in the middle or upper class in society; employed; and live a lifestyle that allows for shopping at retail stores as well as online (Ofei, 2019). The customer segmentation will rely on influencers such as famous athletes and celebrities to encourage customers to try out the company products. Loyalty points and gift cards will also be used to entice customers. To influence the purchase decision, point of sale demonstrations will be used to give customers a chance to try out some of the products for free. Advertisements will also be used to create awareness about the company, its products and other motivators such as price reductions and special offers on select products.

PART 2 Story or narrative for the idea.

(2.1) Current narrative and value proposition.

At present, Carrefour presents itself as a company that not only offers the highest quality of products and services, but also tries to preserve the environment. From the company website, the company has placed a lot of focus on its commitment to enhancing sustainability of the environment which communicates to the buyer that the company not only seeks to make profits but also look out for the interests of the locals, especially in the areas where it operates in (Jaret et al, 2019). The approach is advantageous in that it helps to establish customer loyalty as the company comes off as invested in the wellbeing of the environment and with the trend to go green, the approach has a positive boost on the company image.

 (2.2) Best narrative for the organization to pursue.

With current trends revolving around advancements in technology, the improved narrative will draw attention to the trendy side of the company that not only preserves the environment, but also offers an exciting and fulfilling shopping experience (Walsh, 2011). The approach will differ from the current digital assets in use as it will encourage customers to use both E-Commerce and physical visits so that customers enjoy their shopping experience both online and in the brick and mortar stores. The advantage sought is to attract customers that prefer visiting stores and also those that are keeping up with trends and prefer online shopping.

PART 3 Current UX and optimization of digital assets.

(3.1) Assess user-experience and optimization.

One element that needs to be improved in order to improve the user experience is the overemphasis on actions taken by the company to preserve the environment. Although the target audience are more likely to shop from an organization that preserves natural resources, their purchase decision is mostly influenced by how shopping at a specific retail store benefits them (Chang et al, 2014). As such, creating awareness on the improved shopping experience and quality of products and services will have a more positive impact on the user experienced compared to an environmental friendly organization.

            The site is however user friendly and creates flow from one item displayed to the other. The user can easily identify the purpose of each action accessible on the site and also allows for user feedback. The color scheme used is also a reflection of the company brand and image which retains the confidence that customers have with the company even online. The message communicated is able to immerse users into a state that prompts purchase and since the site is highly informative, it aids in faster decision making (Chang et al, 2014). The menus and options further enhance the browsing experience as the user gets to learn about the company, its products and also the services offered.

 (3.2) Optimization of the client web site for discovery and search (reference SEO audit).

The client website is easily accessible as it is the first option that shows on Google when you search for Carrefour. This proves that it has a high popularity currency and this makes it easier for customers to locate it on different digital platforms. In addition, there is consistency in the information shared regarding Carrefour which adds credibility to the site, the information it shares and the company in general.

 (3.3) Optimization of digital assets (e.g. Facebook, Instagram).

The company also commands huge following through its online platforms such as Facebook, instagram and twitter. The various social media sites offer a wide range of information depending on what the user is searching for and this offers great convenience (Chaffey, 2009). The followers are also active as there are various comments, likes and users often share information about the company, its product and any relevant news regarding Carrefour.

PART 4 Identify relevant content and contextual placement opportunities.

(4.1)  Relevant keywords/keyword phrases for your target audience.

B2B                                         B2C

Retailer                                    coupons

Retail jobs                               voucher codes

Retail stores                            Promo codes

Shopping                                 online shopping

Clothing stores                        ecommerce websites

Clothes shop                           clothes online

Brick and click                        click and collect

Flash sales                               flash sales

Mobile payments                    mobile shopping

Layaway                                 Layaway

                                                Gift vouchers

Shopping experience

Adventure

Price cuts

Loyalty program

High Rated Keywords

B2B                                         B2C

Brick and Click                                   online shopping

Mobile Payments                    Click and Collect

(4.2)  relevant images for the target audience.

Images and info graphics will be posted on the various online platforms with information about the products and services. The info graphics will contain information such as price reductions, product content and benefits as well as any offers or price cuts given by the company at specific durations.

(4.3) properties, sites, blogs, portals/directories, or platforms, relevant to target segment and that relate to the narrative.

The suitable platforms suitable to the target audience will be selected in accordance with the ease of access, high traffic, frequency of advertising and frequency of use by the target audience. The approach used will be that of advertising whereby the company will inform its target audience about the products and services it offers, location for its brick and mortar stores and the introduction of ecommerce and how it seeks to enhance the customers’ shopping experience (Carrefour, 2019). Sponsored content will also be used where popular sites and web pages will be used to host news, images and relevant information regarding the company and its products.

            Placement will be through social media cites as they are the most accessible through ecommerce as well as through the company website. Images, news articles and catch phrases will be used depending on the sites, all of which will contain a link that redirects the user to the company website where all information regarding the company and its products will be made available. These sites will include; the company website, Facebook, messenger, instagram, pinterest, snap chat, YouTube, twitter, LinkedIn, google plus and yelp.

PART 5 EXPLORATION: Develop an optimization plan to capture consumers’ attention and interest.

• Improvements to the user-experience.

To improve the user experience, the company will create a shot video of customer’s going through the process of ordering for basic items such as groceries through the company’s ecommerce platform. The video will demonstrate the ease and convenience in which the characters order goods and the speed in which they are delivered to their doorstep. The video will inform customers of the ease in making orders as well as the large variety of products to choose from (Walsh, 2011). The video will then be shared in platforms such as YouTube, instagram and also the company website. Another video will be created showing customers enjoying the convenience of physical shopping at the brick and mortar store. Since the company targets both online customers and those that physically visit stores, the approach will suit the needs of all types of shoppers and therefore increase the audience reached.

• Develop recommendations for your client’s web content to increase site ranking and visibility in search results as well as communicate with target audience.

The content created to increase the site ranking will entail key words that will make it easier for the company website to pop up on searches on popular sites such as google. On-site and off-site material will be in the form of texts presented as blogs and press releases. A top blogger will be hired to write the press releases and make them as applicable as possible to the target audience.

PART 6 AWARENESS: Contextual Advertising.

The company will invest in Paid search SEM by creating videos tagged with key words like Carrefour ecommerce and mobile payments. The company will also use in-feed advertising through press releases that will be featured on Facebook, instagram and Forbes. An example will be the press release created informing the target audience of the new ecommerce platform created to enhance the customer’s shopping experience (Chaffey, 2009). Promoted listings will also be used and they will feature advertisements place on google and amazon, lastly, influencer placement where acknowledged bloggers will be used to write blogs and news content about the company’s ventures such as the focus on ecommerce will help to reach a larger target audience. To assess the success of the advertising, number of views, comments, likes and shares will help to determine the reception the advertisements receive as well as the impact that they have on the target audience.

 PART 7 focus on richer engagement and commitment to the product/service/idea.

(7.1) Relationship development via email, text, chat.

The approach will use emails and online chats to engage customers, build better relationships and share more information regarding its products and services. Emails will contain press releases, information about new products and any relevant information that the company seeks to share with its target audience (Walsh, 2011). It will also share images of the company products and customer testimonials.

(7.2)  Proposed mixed reality marketing campaign.

The augmented reality marketing campaign will be in the form of a video showcasing the improved shopping experience that the approach seeks to create. A video is applicable as it is informative and easily shared across different platforms.

PART 8 Performance evaluation plan

Since the goal is to enhance customers’ shopping experience through ecommerce, the evaluation plan will rely on data from the different online platforms used. Customer feedback, advertisement views, shares, likes and comments will create that data needed to determine whether the initiative is effective or if there is need for a different approach. Through ecommerce, Carrefour will be able to each a lager target audience and showcase its products and services as well as how it seeks to improve the customer shopping experience.

References

Carrefour, (2019) “About Carrefour” retrieved from, http://www.carrefour.com/

Carrefour, (2019) “Carrefour and google sign strategic partnership” retrieved from,             http://www.carrefour.com/current-news/carrefour-and-google-sign-strategic-partnership

Chaffey, D. (2009). E-business and e-commerce management: Strategy, implementation and        practice. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Jaret E, Peterson D and Schenck F, (2019) “Business marketing plan: Distribution, pricing, and   promotion strategies” retrieved from, https://www.dummies.com/business/start-a-       business/business-plans/business-marketing-plan-distribution-pricing-and-promotion-  strategies/

Ofei T, (2019) “Differentiation strategy” retrieved from,      https://businessjargons.com/differentiation-strategy.html

Qin, Z., Chang, Y., Li, S., & Li, F. (2014). E-commerce strategy. Zhejiang University Press

Walsh, K. (2011). Preparing your business for global e-commerce: A guide for online retailers    to manage operations, inventory, and payment issues. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Commerce.

What segment of the public transportation industry interests you, and why?

 Public transportation is a beneficial system for individuals and communities. Each transport fulfills the transport demand and supports mobility. Thus, it is important to pay much attention to public transportation systems in order to build a healthy business ecosystem and increase individuals' well-being (Kichline et al, 2017).  I have worked in the transportation industry and what I can say about this area is that public transportation is the cornerstone of the achievement of social objectives or in other words, it promotes mobility, access to basic services, and improves work and studying. Another thing I have noticed is that public transportation systems need changes which means that there is a need to develop public transport due to the internal migration that has caused higher population densities. In addition, the population is aging rapidly which means that there is a need to improve the quality of services to meet the new demands (Kichline et al, 2017). In general, there is a need for development in order to build a strong operating environment and improve accessibility, and quality and safety public transport system.  

Having worked in the transportation industry and interacted with executive leaders, I have gained more interest in public transportation systems. Note that citizens in both local and regional levels need good living conditions in terms of acceptable income levels, and availability and access to local services (Kichline et al, 2017). The citizens expect the local and regional politicians to develop social welfare, ensure economic growth, and society and community development. An important point to understand is that public transport services is one of the factors that improve community welfare and bring growth and development.  I have gained much experience from my past jobs and I have learned that even though public transportation can offer many opportunities, there are various challenges that people living in urban areas encounter. Note that in urban areas, the transportation sector occupy environmental, social and economic areas and the sector becomes responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, among other problems (Kichline et al, 2017). Thus, there is a need for sustainability in public transport to promote beneficial conditions and bring many positive benefits to society.

 The segment of the public transportation industry that interests me is the transit industry. In this area, I have a passion for construction development and paratransit service. What motivates me in liking this segment is the important role of the public transit systems in promoting a nation's growth and improving mobility. From my experience, I have learned that there is a need for efficient movement in order to improve productivity (Bezyak et al, 2017).  According to my own research, there is a need to pay more attention on the transport sector and in the development sector to ensure efficient movement of people, materials, equipment’s, and a safe working environment. In urban areas, the transport conditions are deteriorating. Thus, there should be an expansion of transport infrastructure, comprehensive management, and effective transport policies (Bezyak et al, 2017). However, these can only be achieved through a development strategy. On construction/site development, I am interested in transport infrastructure development to promote economic activities and social well-being. To ensure adequate infrastructure, there must be good site planning which includes the analysis of the land structure (Bezyak et al, 2017). I am interested in the area of site development to bring structural changes and improve the transport system. For instance, I may improve the transportation system by focusing on the deconcentration or limiting the capital-city growth to avoid intolerable transport conditions.

 Another segment of the public transportation industry that interests me is the Paratransit services for people with disabilities. People of all ages need transportation to satisfy their life including access healthcare, engage in recreational activities, access employment, and more (Bezyak et al, 2017). Despite the essential role of transportation, people with disability in America do not get adequate transportation. In 2011, the U.S Census Bureau reported that 36.3 million Americans are disabled and 30% do not have access to adequate transportation (Bezyak et al, 2017). Thus, they are hindered to experience the social environment among other forms of inequalities. I am interested in this segment since I will have the opportunity to address the significant barriers facing people with disability. I am interested in supporting the provision of paratransit services to disabled people to allow them to meet their daily needs.

 I would like to pay much attention to the construction and site planning, and paratransit services.  These two areas will help improve the transportation system and ensure affordable transportation, minimize traffic congestion, boost economic development, and maximize safety (Bezyak et al, 2017). By focusing on these areas in the transportation sector, I will have a closer look at barriers to effective transportation, and find a resolution to the problems. I look forward to bring potential improvements in the transportation sector to disabled individual access community participation. The purpose of having much interest in these areas is because I focus on smart growth development which can be achieved through improving mobility. Public transportation can offer many opportunities and by focusing on these areas, I will make a difference in the transportation sector through bring environmental benefits, economic benefits, individuals' well-being, and transportation benefits (Bezyak et al, 2017). People of all ages will enjoy safer transportation, and carry out economic activity in an efficient way.

References

Bezyak, J. L., Sabella, S. A., & Gattis, R. H. (2017). Public transportation: an investigation of barriers for people with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 28(1), 52-60.

Kichline M., Cozzone K., & Farrell T. (2017). Commercial Landscapes Series: Building Communities with Transit Oriented Development.  Retrieved from: https://planningpa.org/wp-content/uploads/3.2-Chester-Countys-Commercial-Landscapes-Series.pdf