Manage in a Foreign Land

Selection of team members

In order for the company to achieve success in the expansion into the South American market, there is a need to consider the various potential candidates for the assignments of the various duties and responsibilities associated with the operations. To attain this, the selection of the right team members will be based on the evaluation of the potential members. The selection process will involve the evaluation of technical skills, leadership skills, personal competence and the succession plan. The team members will have to possess the required areas of competence to ensure their skills match the tasks at hand. The team members should portray leadership skills and competences based on the kind of business the company will be involved and must align with the company’s organizational culture (Borstorff, Harris, Field, Giles, 1997). The individual should, therefore, possess the ability to team work and manage change in a new business environment. Personal competences will involve determining personal characteristics which have been proved to be very essential in the transition to overseas markets. This will enable to determine ones emotional stability, flexibility, sociability and even personal autonomy (Borstorff et.al 1997). The succession plan involves personal development and the selection criteria will target those individuals with a need to gain broader experience that will provide an opportunity for senior-level advancement.

Teamwork organization

 To have a well organized team for the accomplishment of the overseas assignment, there will be a set mission and goals which will provide an overall direction towards which efforts will be focused to succeed in foreign markets. The goals will be narrowed to specific tasks which will be assigned to the team members. Team leadership will also be an important aspect so that functions are performed effectively. The leaders or supervisors will coordinate and direct activities of members assess their performance and motivate members. This will ensure that there is good organization and the establishment of a positive working atmosphere. An important step in the process is providing adequate communication to members and especially in a different country where there is a need to learn what others believe about new brands. Effective communication enables the clarification and acknowledgement of information and hence improves understanding in the teamwork. In addition, the decision making process will involve the identification of a problem, determining the decision criteria and alternatives will be weighed against it to arrive at the right choice. To manage personal and task conflict, the decision making process will have to be consultative especially in the allocation of resources, while developing and implementing policies and applying various procedures determined. Frequent meetings will be necessary in the facilitation of communication in the decision making process. The need for self-management will be emphasized so that individual team members can become effective self-managers. Self-management skills are very essential part of personal competences that enable one to fulfill their assigned obligations in a team and corporate with others so as to succeed in a new business and market environment (Harries, 2008).

The challenges expected to be experienced in the Southern America borders on the mobility barriers, the talent environment, compliance environment and a new business environment. These challenges are expected to impact on employees’ performance and expectations and to deal with them there is need for viewing this as a strategic opportunity and learning experience.  As a strategic opportunity, the plan will involve selecting managers who are conversant with the Southern American environment in terms of business or general regulations. The strategy will also involve development of mobility programs that will offer support for strategic opportunities in the development of the company’s means of adapting to the new environment. This will go hand in hand with learning experience where the assignments will majorly involve focusing on the long-term development of employees. The employees will be provided with an opportunity to develop new capabilities in achieving their goals. In so doing the various challenges that they may face in a new environment will be overcome. Tailoring of talent management programs will cater for the different needs of every member in the teamwork. This will be more important in helping employees develop a career path long before they are assigned any foreign responsibilities. 

To address the cultural differences that may affect the achievement of team objectives and goals, the plan will involve being sensitive culturally and promotion motivation and creativity through a flexible leadership (Anbari, 2003). The flexible leadership will involve recognizing the cultural aspects of all the team members and accommodating the attitudes of all the team members taking part in business operations. The team members may be required to carry out their tasks while making value judgments on what to do on the basis of information not related to their own cultures.

Translation completion timelines

Communicating with team members during the selection process – 2 weeks

Meeting with the selected employees who will be transferred – 1 week

Completion of the recruitment plan and initiation of role assignments – 2 weeks

Completion of staffing of the newly formed team – 1 week

Identifying the essentials for the selected staff mobility – 1 week

References

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions

Since financial statements are deemed as being neutral, they actually present accurate and clear indication of the objectives of the firm over certain duration. This is to say that the management authority of the enterprise will have the capacity of assessing this information in order to make decisions. These financial decisions will comprise the determination of the firm’s capacity of freeing up any existing resources or just obtaining additional credit (Mancini et al, 2013).

Conversely, the financial statement definitely includes the net worth that is based on the company’s assets and liabilities, expenses, earnings and operating budget. As much as it will be used in making decisions regarding the company’s future panning, expansions and so on, the data and the figures to be portrayed by it are based on the market at that period (Mancini et al, 2013). This means that it has the capacity of changing quickly depending on the market. Because of this, its management authority should not assume that maybe the previous financial data has the clear picture as the existing one.

Nonetheless, decision making is the key step in expanding the firm. This then means that the numbers indicated by the financial statement will ultimately indicate how the firm earns per year in sales. Since the returns from its economic activities may fluctuate, it implies that the financial planners of the company should be in the position of identifying a pattern over years of sales and expenditure figures (Marsh, 2012). For instance, the management authority of the company may decide to come up with a pattern of increased returns when sales are to be made. This is beneficial because it will reveal the potential of the firm which puts the managers in predicting the future trend in the market.

Additionally, since the financial statement will become a continuous analysis of the company’s performance in matter pertaining to its future planning and decision making, it reveals its budgets (Watson & Head, 2010). In other words, the figures shows how much wiggle room the firm has to incur in launching its products, expanding its existing office size or developing some sort of marketing campaigns  (Marsh, 2012). In the process of determining the amount of cash which is available at that time means that the firm will not incur extra other than the budgeted amount.

With respect to the above illustrations, financial statements are to be heavily used in making sound investing decisions. This means that this fundamental analysis will depend on various financial statements for instance income statement, balance sheet and so on for decision making.  This then means that investors will have sufficient time in understanding the history and the current financial health of the company (McLaney, 2011). In return, the fact is that the investors will not be subjected to any accounting information which has been already filtered based on the current condition of the company.

Moreover, reliable accounting information will serve as a practical function of the company. It means that beyond compliance and regulatory hurdles, these statements will aid the managers in creating budgets, understand the perception of the public, and track the company’s efficiency as well as analyzing its performance (McLaney, 2011). This will ultimately boost the development of long-term and short-term strategies. Consequently, since the information contained in the financial statement illustrates all the items contained in the various financial statements, they are the integral part of decision making. This means that as much as decision making is concerned, they will be used in measuring the revenues generated as well as the expenses which were incurred during the accounting period (Gary & Curtis, 2014).

                                                Cash budget

                                 For year ending December 31, 2016                                                 

Bibliography

Mancini, D., Vaassen, E. H. J., & Dameri, R. P. (2013). Accounting information systems for decision making. Berlin: Springer.

Marsh, C., (2012). Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers, Kogan Page, London

McLaney, E., (2011). Business Finance, Financial Times, / Prentice Hall

Watson, D., & Head, A., (2010). Corporate Finance Principles and Practice, Financial Times / Prentice Hall

Gary, A.P & Curtis, L.N (2014). Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers. Cengage Learning Press

Earned value measurements

The report shows the task as being behind schedule and even over budgeted and is expressed in terms of cost variance.  

The planned value for the project is 550 hours. On assessing the actual progress using the activities completed referred to as 0/ 000 method , it can be calculated that we only have completed activities that are worth 350 hrs of the budget for the whole task.  Similarly, the actual expenditure of the same activities that have been completed is 480 hours. In the language of earned value, the result is Planned Value totaling to 550 hours, 350 hours representing the Earned Value and the actual cost being 480 hours. From this analysis, it can be shown that basically the project is behind schedule in that what is earned is less than that which has been planned and the actual is more than earned meaning that the budget limits have been exceeded. This data is to be used by all the members of the project team and who are responsible for work management to have an understanding of schedule performance and cost in the entire lifecycle of the project. This will enable the highlighting, early enough, of schedule and cost issues and hence offering enough time for minimizing impact and providing a real opportunity for recovery plan development where necessary. In addition, the measurement of these values can provide data which can be used for the purpose of future forecasting on how the project with turn-out eventually. This can be done through cost estimation at completion and total duration forecasting.

How to determine project status

When determining the next project status, there are various aspects that you should consider. You should check whether the project will be delivered as per the expected time, whether the budget allocated for the project is sufficient to complete it entirely and whether the delivered results will match the expectation of the users. In addition, the report should consider whether the quality offered by the final results is enough to cater for all the user needs.

In measuring the status of the project, there is a need to track is the state of affairs of various project dimension but the objectives of the project should be defined first in order to measure against them.  These dimensions to measure include the budget, schedule and scope since they are the basic constraints that are set out at the beginning of the project and the shareholders have agreed on them.  They will determine whether it is a worth business course to continue with the status. They are very important items to be monitored as they largely contribute to the satisfaction of all stakeholders and even meet the business case (Makar, & Lawrence Technological University,2008). Moreover, the project can be budget and on time and still fail due to various flaws in the designing process and hence you should add quality to the rest of dimensions that should be measured.

 The other aspect to be measured is schedule to determine the extent to which the milestone dates sets are being achieved. To determine whether the goal is being met, there are other indicators which should be considered which may suggest any risk the schedule may face.  These include the accuracy of work estimates for the tasks which have been completed, mean time of opening issues, resolving issues and longest open issue concerning the project. The budget should also measured to ensure the agreed upon project cost is met in the remaining part of the project (Kerzner, 2004). In fact, all the measurement of the various aspects should be done on a weekly basis.  The training on Earned Value Management can be carried out through the use of various materials such as programs, video and case studies which provide throughout engagement of an individual in an entire session. This makes it possible to apply the learning to the project as soon as possible. In addition, Online EVM Training can be used for providing regular instruction on the measurement of various metrics used in the project management. These programs can make use of metrics such as Baseline Schedule and Project progress. Planned Value refers to a budget baseline that is time-phased and results from the baseline schedule. This involves the translation into monetary terms.  Project progress involves the measurement of actual cost and also the percentage so as to obtain periodic data (Kerzner, 2004).

References

Makar, A. J., & Lawrence Technological University. (2008). Assessing critical success factors in earned value management. (Dissertation Abstracts International, 69-12.)

Kerzner, H. (2004). Advanced project management: Best practices on implementation. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. 312

The Home Depot

The Home Depot company mission is to offer a “one-stop shopping for do-it-yourself” to its customers (Ton & Ross, 2009). This would provide a wide home improvement stores and a broad products and tools selection with staff clear focus on the customers which is evidenced by the philosophy of “whatever it takes to develop and” maintain customer relationships (Ton & Ross, 2009). On the basis of Porter’s Competitive Strategies, the Home Depot operated in an industry that is highly competitive, with threats of new entrants seen to have informed the adoption of various strategies by the firm’s management under Nardelli and flake. This is clearly indicated by the number of smaller competitors in this industry as shown the presence of various hardware stores like Ace Hardware and Value Hardware and other independent stores that maintained corporative among themselves. Though the Home Depot Company was the leader in his market, it faced stiff competition among the various competitors especially Lowe’s and Wal-Mart that had the capability to influence on pricing and the marketing strategies to adopted.

 Large suppliers have the ability to influence on the pricing, customer services and quality with an aim keeping value o themselves (Daft & Armstrong, 2015). The availability of other influential suppliers in the home improvement industry means that there was threat of substitutes but due to its sheer competitiveness, size and marketing strategy, the firm is able to shed off the stiff competition and, therefore, wields a lot of power. Wal-Mart, the leader in the US market and Lowe’s are powerful competitive forces to Home Depot, which makes the rivalry among them to be very tough informed by the customer base with access to a variety of substitutes in the market.

Prior to the arrival of Nardelli, the firm’s major strategy was based on decentralization which aimed at giving as much autonomy as possible to the stores managers in carrying out the operations in their own stores. Autonomy was the main operating goal of the company which offered more time to the stores managers in interacting with customers at the sales floor. The aim was to have the managers consider the items being offered to the customers and whether they would meet customers’ needs. This way the needs and preferences of the local market would be met through an organizational design whose intention was to encourage responsiveness and innovation across the stores (Ton & Ross, 2009). Decentralized organizational structure also meant that there was limitation on the communication among the store managers which limited their ability to negotiate deals.

 Employee’s development was a responsibility placed on the individual’s stores managers who would determine their salaries and depended on knowledgeable full-time personnel. Upon the arrival of Nardelli, the firm strategy shift to centralization, this shifted the focus of the firm to enhancing the core. The firm’s strategic design was marked by the introduction of changes in merchandizing more so the modernization of the technological structure, IT systems and the inclusion of a new inventory management system.  The strategy changed the manner in which the firm interacted with its environment and its customers, and clarified on the goals of the firm. The strategic goal shifted to improve everything we touch which touched on the fundamentals of retail functions including vendor management, merchandizing and the operations of the stores (Ton & Ross, 2009).  Selecting a strategy and design helps in keeping people focused towards the mission and operative goals set in the organization (Daft & Armstrong, 2015).

Before Nardelli

• Many departmental -stores
• Decentralized decision making
• Relaxed Hierarchical structure
• Horizontal communication

Post Nardelli                                                              

Dorminant vertical structure

Complete hierarchical structure

Vertical communication

Centralized decision making

The external environment refers to those elements existing outside the organizational boundaries and can potentially influence on part or the entire firm. It comprises of territory staked out by the firm for it in regard to products, services and the market it usually serves or more specifically the external sectors the firm has interact with in order to accomplish the goals it has set (Daft & Armstrong, 2015). The Home Depots external environmental factors which affect its operations and achievement of set goals include the competitive, technological, and economic and market factors. The competitive environment is represented by a highly fragmented industry which has sales divided among the various players such as the lawn and garden, hardware, paint and wallpaper stores and also the home center stores (Ton & Ross, 2009). The effects of this environment on the firm is indicated by the fact that independent stores were losing market share to the growing big box stores which means that Home Depot was prone to the  expansion of such stores.  

The competitive environment is also characterized by major competitors of the firm who include Lowe’s and Wal-Mart firms (Ton & Ross, 2009). The technological factors comprises of a highly active media coupled with a rapid change in environment. The media, indicated by the televised program by ABC which popularized the DIY-ing into the new millennium across the industry indicates how the technological environment can influence the market. Technological environment is also indicated by the adoption of technology by the rival firms such as Wal-Mart in their operations ahead of Home Depot. The economic environment of the firm is shown to be very inconsistent. After the housing boom that saw home improvement outperform many of U.S retail sectors, there was a deteriorating housing market which negatively affected the retail market for home improvement products.

The stakeholders of Home Depots mostly comprises of the various stores that are majorly autonomous in their operations but cannot survive without the appropriate relationship with the other stores and the mother Home Depot. This relationship needed can be termed as both collaborative and institutionalism. The autonomy among the firms is witnessed in the way the stores carry out their operations differently without having to consult the senior management of Home Depot in strategy or decision making. For instant, the regional purchasing offices entered into negotiations separately with suppliers which saw the agreements varying from one region to the other. Furthermore, individual stores managers decided on mechanizing, promotions and displays and in the determination of employees’ wages (Ton & Ross, 2009).

The merchandizing function for every station depended on how the manager viewed the local market given that the local needs of customers were better understood by them. The lack of a shared relationship in administration has prevented the firm from utilizing an opportunity to reduce on costs and thereby improve on gross margins. The collaborative networks are built through the joining of the stores in the utilization of similar distribution strategy so that to reach out to the customers.  There is a need to have a common agreement with all the suppliers so that even if costs are not kept at a similar level, it is maintained at a considerable point.  Institutionalism provides legitimacy to a stakeholder which implies that better performance is achieved (Daft & Armstrong, 2015). The interrelationship would provide consistent working environment especially for employees since wages would be harmonized across the stores hence reducing operation costs.

Core competences refer to the company’s functions or work processes that are directly relate its mission and goals (Hamel & Prahalad, 1990). These competences build competitive advantage to the firm and allow managers to work effectively across the boundaries of an organization and direct the resources of the firm towards the exploitation of opportunities. It also refers to the technological aspect of the firm which offers it a competitive advantage over its rivals in a highly competitive market. Home Depots’ core competences before the Nardelli’s arrival were mostly related to the decentralization organization design  which placed more emphasizes on service to customers as a way of retaining competitiveness over its rivals. Such enabled the stores managers to use their intuition in determining local customer needs and serving them appropriately.

The technological changes introduced by the new leadership shifted the focus of core competences to making the existing operations sound and profitable. The focus was not on enhancing the core a part of the strategy aimed at improving existing operations. The heavy investment in technology ensured there were improvement in labour productivity, and a clear focus in precision, measurement and quantitative analysis to have better results in operational processes efficiency. The End Accuracy and Service Transformation which ensured touch screens were present at point-of –sales terminals and the installation of various technologies such as self check registers enhanced the firm’s capability in providing customized products (Ton & Ross, 2009). In adoption of the new technological infrastructure, IT systems that comprises of new inventory management system , the firm was able to translate the core competences into competent products and services that is indicated in the increased sales and profit margins.

The changes in leadership to bring in Nardelli as the new top executive meant the need to resolve a crisis in Home Depot which places the organization in the collective development stage. This is a stage which is marked by changes in leadership and the establishment of departments along a hierarchy of authority, the assignment of job responsibilities and a start in division of labor (Daft & Armstrong, 2015). Nardelli designed the organization hierarchy where stores managers have to report to the top executive and thereby creating hierarchical system of leadership. The changes in the other levels of management are indicated in the personnel changes at both the store and corporate levels (Ton & Ross, 2009). The replacement of the fired managers was dome through the recruitment of individuals with military experience. In addition, the leadership under Nardelli aimed at having all the management levels of the organization are pulling towards a common focus, hence the introduction of the centralized strategy in the firm.

 The program adopted in the implementation of these changes was aimed at selecting participants carefully and ensuring new comers are trained on the culture, practices and analytics methodologies of Home Depot (Ton & Ross, 2009). This shows a firm that is in the process of overhauling the whole leadership by bringing in people who are capable of delivering results, acting strategically and driving excellence throughout the organizational systems. It appears the aim was to eliminate any crises existing in the management. The autonomy which had been enjoyed by the managers of the stores is now diluted by the introduction of a hierarchical leadership which requires accountability to the top executive. At this development cycle, there is an occurrence of autonomy crises characterized by the requirement by top managers that all sections of the organization are coordinated with an aim of pulling together. 

The organizational culture or the Home Depot can be attributed majorly to the leadership methodology both before and after the hiring of Nardelli as the new top executive of the firm. Previously, the ethical behavior in the organization depended on personal responsibility, which was depicted by the autonomy guaranteed by the stores managers. The freedom to make decision at the local level, including recruitment of employees in accordance with the requirements of the individual store, meant that they had the capability to influence on the culture of the overall firm. Upon his arrival, Nardelli introduced an organization design that demanded more responsibility and discipline in carrying out the operations of the firm. The need for centralization introduced a cultural requirement that was not welcome to all the employees who deemed such a system as interfering with effective decision making process. The results was the a resistant or a reaction change to the cultural change from one that required, minimal corporate discipline to the demand for higher discipline in terms of productivity and efficiency.

The cultural change was aimed at enhancing coordination across the firm so as that efforts are directed towards a single focus in provision of products and services. Organizational culture has to reinforce the needed strategy and structure in order to succeed in its environment. Where there is a wide spread consensus on the importance of certain values, the culture of an organization is strong and quite cohesive. However, this seems to be absent in Home Depot results of which is high criticism both internal and externally driven by poor performance of the share prices. The culture of an organization is determined by the existing structures which in turn determine the decision making process (Daft & Armstrong, 2015).

The changes introduced by under the leadership of Nardelli impacted on the culture and the structure of the organization. There are various types of changes that are bound to impact on the organization and comprises of products and services, technology, culture and strategy and culture. These changes can provide a competitive advantage to the organization and re normally quite inevitable (Daft & Armstrong, 2015). Nardelli instituted various technologies to ease in the operations processes and aimed at changing the technological infrastructure, IT systems and a modern inventory management system. The structural changes informed the introduction of new culture and comprised of personal changes, improvement of labour scheduling and a centralized management style. The changes in the structure and strategy involved a top- down approach to management which reduced the autonomy of the stores managers so that they could report to the top management. These were real changes introduced by Nardelli, although some of the bordered on innovation. The introduction of new metrics for performance measurement can be said to be leadership innovation aimed at influencing the achievement of the firm’s set goals.

 Changes are normally resisted and the fact that the introduction of new rules and procedures serves to indicate that. This is because of existing barriers to change which comprises of too much focus on fear of loss and the failure to focus on the benefits that arise from the changes (Daft & Armstrong, 2015).   To an extent, I agree with the new changes introduced by the new leadership under Nardelli, given that discipline in performance was lacking in the entire management system. The introduction of performance metric led to increased sales and margins. The only shortcoming that needed improvement was the lack of focus in customer service.

References

Ton Z., Ross, C.,(2009).The Home Depot,Inc.

Daft L.D., Armstrong, A. (2015). Organization Theory & Design

Hamel, G., Prahalad, C. (1990).The Core Competence of the Corporation. Retrieved from: http://globex.coe.pku.edu.cn/file/upload/201606/27/1756365219.pdf

Integrated Legal Business Strategy

            The world is globalizing and thus acting as a driving force to the change that is being witnessed in most of the companies and corporations as well as in organizations. All these business sectors have realized the crucial role that is played by the legal potentials in the success of a business. The incorporation f the legal systems in the business strategy has attributed to the ongoing success of the business and much understanding on the significance of working in collaboration with the legal counsel. Over time most of the managers have viewed the law as a hindrance on the managerial decision making process primarily viewing the process as an issue of expense and compliance (Shearer et al 2007). However the perception has changed with time as there has been an increment in the adoption of the strategy by many companies and there have been good results from those companies. These companies in their implementation of deploying the legal systems in their legal departments have helped to shape their legal environment and hence they have been able to safeguard a long term competitive benefit. These legal systems formulate a pathway that the business has to follow so as to realize these benefits and to have a high value of strategic impact. These legal pathways that a company may choose to follow include compliance, evasion, prevention, significance and transformation. Therefore the company should be able to find the most appropriate legal path to follow. This is influenced by the manager’s mind-set towards the legal systems, their level of understanding on law, the capability of the legal department to work well with the managers so as to attain the company’s strategic objectives. This paper therefore will discuss on the issues that are facing the Wal-Mart company in United States which are not yet resolved and the institutions to be involved in the business strategy and the information that they need so as to be able to solve all these issues.

            Wal-mart is one of the largest retail companies in US and is listed among the top fortune companies. However, the company has been affected and is still being affected currently due to some unresolved issues. One of the issues is on labor. The company has an economical labor wage compensation performance, their over reliance on part time laborers and unfair shift scheduling program. As a result of these conditions the employees’ environment is un-conducive and this results in the creation of discord among the employees (Hayden et al 2002). As a result of these harsh conditions, labor unions are viewed as necessary to be established as it would help to fight for the rights of the employees. The company therefore uses force to carry out their activities as they cut on costs through pushing of the available boundaries so as to achieve what they want. This has resulted to the fall of the company as a victim of lawsuits as it is sued for huge amounts of cash. The company has therefore prohibited the formation of unions by their employees as they are well aware of their unfair labor systems. This therefore denies the employees the right o voice out their ideas and opinions within their workplace and hence they are subject to oppression by the company (Hayden et al 2002). Automotive separation of Wal-marts employees who want to be in a union is one of the current issues facing Wal-mart. This is one of the great mistakes that the company is doing and in the long run it will affect the performance of the company the company is expending much on the lawsuits as the employees fights back. This makes the company to ruin their reputation as well as credibility.

            The Surrounding environment issue is also one that currently affects the performance of Wal-mart company. Aggressiveness is essential in any corporate business strategy. However, Wal-mart has an un-healthy aggressiveness in their market place which seems o be more of ruthless. This is because the company seeks to benefit themselves without consideration of other business people within the community and this destroys the entire community. Wal0mart usually comes in a community and they usually cause the shutting down of businesses and later they proceeds into other regions (Hayden et al 2002). They pride themselves in offering job opportunities for the surrounding community but the truth is the community only works there as their local stores are closed down. This has not been received well by most of the communities and hence any attempt of the company to open up a new store is opposed greatly by the surrounding community as they are determined to lock out the retail giant out of their society.

            Though the company is trying hard to pride themselves in the green economy, they are still faced with environmental issues. The company has been releasing million tons of carbon four oxides which are hazardous onto the environment as they result in the depletion of the ozone layer hence resulting to climate variation. The company is also responsible for the high production of low quality goods that encourages waste production hence polluting the environment and the scenic beauty. They are as well involved in the construction of large sized warehouses stores. The company consumes huge amounts of energy and this may result to depletion of the energy as it is extremely used. The increasing number of retailers leads to increment n industrialized agriculture where intensive farming practices are carried out. This results to an overexploitation of the available and limited natural resources with increased pollution while small farmers and businesses are forced out of their businesses. Through the high rates of organic chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and insecticides, and the high consumption of water and the air pollution there is a high risk on the habitats as well as on the public health of the local people.

            Employers are important stakeholders in any organization and they are even more crucial. This is because of their implicit knowledge and commitment which helps the company to improve on innovative strategies. Through the company allowing the employees to have a legal labor representative in the company through the union of employees is very essential in solving issues to do with employees. Thus the employees have opportunities to voice out their viewpoints and thus allowing a strong working relation within the company hence good performance.

            The company should therefore transform from being more systematic but rather utilizing the social planning techniques using legal social officials. They should be able to organize brainstorming gatherings so as to be able to identify the various issues affecting them. In these sessions the company will be in a position to retreat so as to persuade the executives and all the stakeholders to share a common interest (Hayden et al 2002). As the company operates several focus groups, they will be able to understand the stakeholder’s perceptions and this will enhance them to be able to build up a consensus hence future development. Thus the company will be able to organize and design strategies where stakeholders will be incorporated in the entire process thus allowing them to accept and adopt any possible strategy (Tricker 2012). The core goal of this strategy is to foster collaborated understanding of the issue and encourage an integrated commitment to various ways of settling it.

            The company should also ensure that they follow the value legal path where they aim at improving the environment in which they operate in as this is essential. Our environment is very important and hence Wal-mart should ensure that they get legal advice from the legal environmentalist who would recommend on measures of reducing carbon emission and waste emission. This would help in the reduction of wastes onto the atmosphere and even underground systems. This will help in the safeguarding of the habitat’s and public health hence resulting to a healthier society. The company should therefore implement sustainable utilization measures and much of recycling of the already used resources such as water so as to reduce the water usage.             The company should also provide education to the farmers persuading them to use inorganic material s so as to increase their production. This will as well reduce pollution emission.Wal-mart therefore needs to collect adequate information on their community, employees and the environment to which they are suited on. The company may decide to carry out a research on the number f the local populace, the nature of the environment surrounding the company and the needs for employees. In doing so, the company will be able to fully understand the level and extent of intervention that is needed so as to solve the problems effectively. The uses of successful legal strategies starts by understanding and elaborating the business approach and later transform approaches into actionable strategies that can be utilized in the management of the company’s performance (Tricker 2012). As the company’s leadership executes objectives, educates all the stakeholders and measures the performance index then change and improvement in the company will be realized (Mair et al 2012).

Conclusion

It is therefore important to note that professionalism is required for a successful planning and in the drive for execution hence most firms are turning out to be non-attorneys. Wal-mart Company should therefore have a wide acceptance of the legal systems as this would help in influencing their administration and as a result their performance. There have been tremendous losses following the many laws suits that he Wal-mart Company has spent on due to the occurring and unresolved issues. These issues are not hat complex and therefore they can be easily solved through the integration mechanisms f the legal system in the company’s system. This has helped in easier solving of problems for most of the companies and hence Wal-mart should also try out this method.

References

            Top of Form

            Hayden, P., Lee, S., McMahon, K., & Pereira, M. (2002). Wal-Mart: Staying on Top of the Fortune 500. Corporate Strategy and Public Affairs Lecture, the Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University, Washington DC.

            Mair, J., Martí, I., & Ventresca, M. J. (2012). Building inclusive markets in rural Bangladesh: How intermediaries work institutional voids. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 819-850.

            Shearer, R., & National Knowledge & Intellectual Property Management Taskforce. (2007). Business power: Creating new wealth from IP assets. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley.

Tricker, R. I. (2012). Corporate governance: Principles, policies and practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

HOW THE GOVERNMENT GRANTS AFFECTED THE SALES OF ELECTRIC CARS IN THE UK FROM 2011 TO 2016

Introduction

    Transport is regarded as one of the main sources of emission of the greenhouse gasses which destroys the ozone layer hence resulting in a global climate change. This has therefore raised concern in many countries and hence most of these state governments have established and implemented some of the measures that would help in the reduction of emission of the transport department. According to the clean power policy, it advocates for the breaking of the dependency rate on fuel by the transport department and thus it sets output together measures that would help in facilitating the development of a single market for the alternative oil fuel for transport in Europe (Hawes 2014, pg 5). However, the government of the United Kingdom is persuading the citizens to use ultra low emission types of vehicles. The adoption of these electric cars will involve the use of both the pure EV as well as the plug-in hybrid means of transportation through the integration of various incentives that are operated by the government’s office for reduced emission of the vehicles. This involves the plug-ins incentives of all means of transport. The government also puts into consideration the availability of the unrestricted charge locations as necessary so as to encourage many citizens to uptake the plug-ins ULEV’s which leads to the establishment of its plugged in places plan. The purpose of this paper is to analysis how the government grants helped the electric car sale in the UK from 2011 to 2016. The paper will also present and discuss the policy of the government grants and the UK electric vehicle market since the government policy realized. It will finally analyze how the government grant increased the sales of electric cars in the UK.

Identified issues:

    One of the universal issues that draw growing concern is climate change, transport is responsible for 23% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (IEA, 2015). In the UK, road transport accounts 21% of the overall carbon dioxide emission thus destroying the ozone layer and hence influencing the climate change (Hawes 2016, 31).The UK government successfully encouraged people buying electric cars with the plug-in grant, the total registration of plug-in electric cars in the UK has risen from 1,082 units in 2011 to 28,188 units in 2015 (SMMT, 2011 and 2015). However, the sales of ultra-low emission vehicles are not likely to meet the 2020 target. This study will help to find out the success factors, which affected the electric car sales and assist in meeting for the subsequent greenhouse gas emissions target.

Contribution

    In carrying out this research, it will serve as an eye opener to most of the manufacturers in the car assembly industry as they will be able to realize the effects that the government grants has in the industry. Thus they will be able to increase their production so as to meet the increasing demand for the electric cars. However, the manufacturers of fuel based vehicles through the research they will realize the many reasons as to why they should shift their production into electric car manufacture so as to be competent in the assembly industry. The potential people, however, will be able to realize the policies put in place for the acquirement of the grants in the UK. In the understanding of the way that the government offers the grants to all who have met the conditions required by the government, many will be able to apply for the grants and this will continue increasing the sales and widespread adoption of the electric cars. This will also help in the realization of other grants that comes along with the electric vehicles such as the grant towards the purchasing price and the installation expenditures of charges near one’s places (Hawes 2016, 31). This research, therefore, will offer a basic forum of persuasion on the purchase of electric cars that are cheaper to run and environmentally friendly instead of the continued use of the traditional fuel vehicles which save an individual’s money and make the UK a better place to live in due to the clean environment.

Research aim:

 The aim of this study is to analysis how the government grants helped the electric car sale in the UK from 2011 to 2016.

Research objective 1:

To evaluate the policy of the government grant and the UK electric vehicle market since the government policy realized.

            The government policy for the PHEV AND BEV was established by some national and local government as a financial incentive. The grant that started in January 2011 aimed at reducing the upfront cost of eligible cars. The grant was 25% of the total cost which is $ 7,450. The purchase price was increased to cover up to 35% of the recommended retail price. The government grant was eligible for both the private and the business fleet buyers in order to make sure that a high number of people benefited from it. The subsidy by the government allowed people to buy the vehicles at discounted prices. In April 2014 the government issued a full grant of GB 5,000. This will ensure that the diesel and the petrol vehicles have been minimized in order to lower the carbon dioxide emission (Conlan et al 2016, pg 44).

             The importance of the electric cars is to eliminate the dangers caused by the other vehicles. Transport sector can be regarded as the highest pollutant as it makes the quality of the air worse. Reducing the pollution is one key element that the government aims at achieving. The grants aim at facilitating the purchase of ultra-low emission vehicles. The grant has also led to innovation research and development. There has also been the creation of a framework that has created a recharging network of PHEV. Performance standards have also been set high by the electric cars as they have been able to deliver an emission reduction in which the grant has facilitated in replacing them. Air quality has been enhanced as a result of the grant as it has reduced air pollution. The grant has also extended to the transport sector as it has enhanced the upgrade of buses that has further reduced the nitrogen oxide which they produce. This has increased the demand for the electric cars making the UK market have a significant number of electric cars (Conlan  et al 2016, pg 49) .

Research objective 2:

To analyze how the government grant increased the sales of electric cars in the UK.

            As a result of the government grant in the UK the sales of electric cars has increased by 120% within a year. This means more that 45,000 cars were plug-in and the hybrid vehicles are on the road. The number of electric cars has doubled according to the government information. The increase in the car sales translates into a 2 % rise in the sale of traditional cars over the same period. In the year 2010, a phenomenal growth was recorded as there were only 134 electric cars on the road. The grant accelerated the growth rapidly from the year 2011 in which offered up to 4,500 off the price. Despite the tremendous mark, there are more petrol and diesel engine vehicles on the road in the UK.

            The best-selling electric car is the Nissan Leaf as well as hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander. Due to the increasing demand for the electric cars in the UK, the market can be considered to be at a tipping point. Every year thousands of motorists have recorded the need to switch to electric cars due to the cars capability, performance, and reliability that comes with electric motoring (Hawes 2014, pg 5). The grant has played a significant role as it has enabled more than 90% of the daily driving needs thus the mass of EV adoption. However, technology poses a threat to electric motoring. Battery capacity has been further enhanced by the electronic motoring up to 50 % of its original life. This has lead to an increase in charging stations and other great incentives

Literature review

            The UK government after realizing the effects that the fuel vehicles have on the environment, they sought to offer a framework in which the electric vehicles and all the low emission means of transportation can grow. Thus the government planned for an infrastructure so as to encourage and accommodate the electric vehicle growth. It, therefore, set forth the different grant flows which they incepted in 2011 and they have been ongoing up to 2016 and there has been a tremendous increase in the number of sales of the electric means of transportation. The de-carbonization process of both the private as well as the public vehicles is viewed as quite an essential measure in assisting the UK in the successfully attainment of climate change requirements as well as the improvement of air quality and especially in places such as London (Hawes 2014, pg 5). The government, therefore, believes that the most appropriate measure of mitigating climate change is the shift in the transport sector from the fuel vehicles into electric means of transport. Therefore the government is convinced that better planning on infrastructure through the distribution of grants to public authorities, businesses as well as the public will help in the improvement of infrastructure. It thus makes distinct vehicle grants available for both the public as well as private means of transport. The government also ensures that they convey locally focused correspondence of funding incorporation with the assembly industry as a part of the go ultra low town plan (Hawes 2016, pg 5).

Research design

            The methodology to be used in this research will include the longitudinal review of the impacts that has been posed by the plugin places since the introduction of grants in 2011. This will be used as the basis of this paper as it will help in the reviewing the impacts across the years since the inception of the grants to date hence coming up with informed results. The use of the secondary data will also be essential in this research as it will help to provide data that was collected earlier on in the United Kingdom and the sales recorded before the inception of the government grants and after its introduction. This will thus enable easier analysis and comparison as it will inform on both the supply and the demand of the electric cars before and after the introduction off the governmental grants and the impacts received since then. An exclusive use of the government data will be required as it will provide statistical data on the number of electric vehicles in the consequent years hence allowing easier analysis. Driver and vehicle licensing agencies data will be also essential as it will provide the statistical data on the electric vehicles on the road. Primary data collection, for example, the interviewing and questionnaire methods are also essential for this research. The interviewing method will be used in interviewing the environmentalists and environmental analysts on the environmental status since the inception of the governmental grants on the electric cars. This will provide a professional analysis which will be useful in the research. The use of questionnaires that is, written questions to the various electric vehicles in the UK will provide the sales of the electric cars and they will determine whether the number of sales has risen or not. Random sampling methods will be used whereby a few samples of the charge infrastructural systems in every location will be undertaken randomly.

Ethical and accessibility and timeline

            The government of UK has the responsibility for so many services that affect the conditions in which the citizens live in.  These conditions can affect the length as well as the quality of the lives of the people and hence the government must find intervention and mitigation measures that would prevent or even reduce these influences. The emission of harmful gasses by the fuel vehicles through transportation process raises concerns to the government as the public health is affected by the release of these noxious gasses from exhaust fumes onto the atmosphere hence causing respiratory disorders. Therefore as the government offers grants to the UK citizens, they help in solving these ethical issues that are raised due to the use of the fuel based vehicles rather than the electric vehicles (House of commons communities and local government committee 2013, pg 5). Accessibility is also essential as the government has a responsibility to ensure that all citizens in the UK have equal access to these grants. Therefore the government ensures that they provide free parking and free charging places available to all at all charging points in most of the cities of the UK. The research will take two months where the first month will be used in the data collection and in the sending out of questionnaires while the second month will involve data analysis and presentation.

Conclusion

            It is thus important to note that subsidies offered by the government of UK have tremendously supported the uptake of the electric means of transport in the UK since 2011 and up to date. Thus the study shows a clear that the recharging behavior is determined by the charge point’s location and therefore the government has come up with grants that would help in the installation of charge points. The sale has increased over time and this has enhanced the establishment of a clean environment in the UK.

References

Hawes M. (2014). The UK automotive industry and the EU. Retrieved from:

https://www.smmt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/SMMT-KPMG-EU-Report.pdf

Conlan, B, Fraser, A, Vedrenne, M, Tate, J & Whittles, A (2016). Evidence review on effectiveness of transport measures in reducing nitrogen dioxide. Crown publishers. Retrieved from:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat05/1605120947_AQ0959_appendix_1-evidence_review_on_air_quality_effects_of_transport_measures.pdf

Hawes M (2016). ultra low emission vehicles guide. Retrieved from:

http://www.smmt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/ULEV-report-final.pdf

House of commons communities and local government committee (2013). The role of local authorities in health issues. Authority of the House of Commons London. Retrieved from:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmcomloc/694/694.pdf

Comparing Mr. Clean and Get Clean Household product

    Have you noticed that many companies do a great job of conditioning the populace

through commercials? Most of these advertisements usually use advertisements as one of the major ways in which they capture people’s attention as they use captive images and language while presenting goods of interest to the people. This makes me wonder! I was looking at a TV commercial and I saw two ads promoting cleaning products, I was amazed because this is something I use often as part of my weekly cleaning regimen. This paper, therefore, will compare and contrast Mr. Clean and Get Clean household products advertisements. The paper will present and discuss some of the key elements of advertisements such as the weasel words used in commercials to trick and get consumers to buying the products, ways which the chemicals in cleaning products are causing harm to our health and environment and why It might better and safer option to use natural products.

    Most advertisers use weasel words in their ad as a common marketing goal to attract people rather than ask them to think deeply about something. Weasel words are used in many different ways whether it's to sell a product, inform or educate others .in the both cleaning ads with Mr. Clean and Get Clean I noticed quite a few weasel words has been used. In an article, “With these words I can sell anything” written by William lutz (26) he stated that the weasel word is more often than not so strong and impressive that you overlook the weasel words such a faster, help, and focus only on the dramatic claim such as to get rid of and quicker . These keywords usually go unnoticed by consumers because it's easier to get caught up looking at pretty packaging as oppose to paying attention to words being used to promote the product.

    The advertisement uses weasel words. In most cases, “whenever advertisers want you to stop thinking about the product and start thinking about something bigger, better, or more attractive than the product, they use weasel words such as “like” so as to change the perception of their customers towards the product ( William lutz 68). Interestingly as I look at both cleaning ads closely the main objective was to aid in keeping the house clean, however: what I find really amazing was that while Mr. Clean ad claims to get rid of dust, grease and grime in “just a minute”. It also claims to dirt free your entire house and all that's in it including floors, doors, walls, and halls. As stated in the advertisement, Mr. Clean will also magically dirt free a kitchen sink faster than a sparkle and clean a windowpane sash more rapidly than a flash. As stated in the advertisement. But in actuality can a cleaning product really clean a house so immaculate in such a short space of time? In most instances, extra effort is needed and results can only be achieved within an extended period of constant use? Get Clean household cleaning product was a bit different than Mr. Clean.

    The introduction of Getting Clean ad basically spoke about the toxic waste that has been generated from using common household cleaning products which are both harmful to us and our environment (Hughes n.p). Get Clean household product then claim to be safer for the home and the planet, it cleans the home, laundry, dishes, tough and gentle job it also claims to be safe, powerful, green and smart. According to the ad, it doesn't contain the harmful ingredients found in other products.

    The ad is clearly inspirational as it is all inclusive. It not only addresses the needs of the women but also addresses the needs of the fathers, dogs, children and youths in the different rooms of the house. This is a shift from the cleaning detergents ability to clean everything and being able to clean every room. This is more specific and is more realistic as it shows the actual use of Mr. Clean cleaning products. Hence it shows the brand’s richer aspect with legacy and an iconic asset that people can own and connect with. The use of a popular jingle from a recognizable and older jingle helps the consumers to relate with the modern jingle and it can, therefore, spin for generations. Therefore this jingle helps to create an impression that the cleaning product is new and improved. Most adverts are designed in a way that it captures the eyes of the consumers and persuades them that the product has gone through some changes all for the betterment of the product whereby these changes are based on only some small changes in their products. Therefore the small changes made on the jingle closely look a lot like the older version of the advert but with some little changes in the lyrics of the jingle. This is a total indication of the high level of creativity that is so essential in capturing people’s attention. The jingle is however based on the home cleaning products that are founded in brand uniqueness and heritage and is also based on the consumer's conducts hence the advert is quite unforgettable to all. The Mr. Clean cleaning products are essential as they have a multi-purpose function of permanently cleaning away odors with molecules that chemically fasten odor constituent part (Lentini n.p).

    Mr. Clean household cleaning product advert linguistic solution is interpreted as a visual sign so as to connect the brand name with that of the products attributes such as power and strength. This gives the Mr. Clean product brand name that cannot easily give the wrong impression about the product to the consumers. The visual symbol in the advert, therefore, has an artistic eminence that symbolizes a clear commercial articulation of the business strategy (Jones np). Thus the advert uses a visual of a versatile muscle man which is essential in creating a brand character for the household cleaning product that is distinctive from its competitors. This visual is essential as the consumers picture images more accurately and quickly than they can remember the words if used in the advert. The use of color white in the visual of the ad reflected purity that shows the consumers how the cleaning products were capable of making the rooms to be pure, sparkles as well as hygienic. The use of the brawny male clothed in white reinforced the brand's name that is Mr. Clean who is featured as respectable, pure as well as hygienic and hence presented the attributes of power and strength of the cleaning products (ZebraLineDesign 0.52).

References

    Hughes, Janice. “Hazards of Household Cleaning Products.” Hazards of Household Cleaning Products, 2012, retrieved from:

www.shareguide.com/hazard.html

    Lutz, William. “With these words, I can sell anything.” Reading pop Culture: a Portable Anthology, Bedford/St.Martin’s, Boston,2013

    ZebraLineDesign. “Amazing Mr. Clean Advertisement With Catchy Vintage Music And Motion Graphic Design.” Online Video Clip. YouTube,11 July 2013.Web.6 December 2016

    Jones C.W. advertising tools and techniques appropriated to construct the global brand Mr. Clean. IASS publications & NBU publishing House, 2016. Retrieved from:

http://www.iass-ais.org/proceedings2014/view_lesson.php?id=31

    Lentini N. P&G revamps Mr. Clean for a new generation.media post-publication, 2016. Retrieved from:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/279423/pg-revamps-mr-clean-for-a-new-generation.html

Business Ethics: Beyond Corporate Responsibility

Brief Overview

Corporate social responsibility is not the sole driver of business growth. Social innovation and sustainable development are critical aspects of business growth. Sustainable development and corporate responsibility have slowly taken shape through great strategies and implementation of policies. Business and NGO’s have partnered in many areas in order to achieve common goals, especially with corporate responsibility (Hartman, DesJardins & MacDonald, 2014). In today’s business world environmental sustainability and social responsibility have become the core business competencies. The changes experienced in the organization are as a result of political context, market economics, and the environmental challenges. Organizations have become more complex and multi-dimensional in order to achieve their objectives and be more efficient.

Strategic Issue

Unilever is a multinational organization that has been successful. Its success can be attributed to its strategic management assignment that has been implemented across its branches in various countries. The company profile has embarked on a personal and home care as well as edible and refreshment products to become the world most know and trusted brands (Hartman, DesJardins & MacDonald, 2014). Its vision element has earned it the respect and love as it has touched many lives. Its objective focuses on the touching the lives. Its mission element focuses on satisfying the needs of the customer that makes them feel and look good. Its brand identification and differentiation has played a significant role in the competitive market making it have a competitive advantage over its competitors (Hartman, DesJardins & MacDonald, 2014).

Key Problem

CSR is deeply coded in Unilever. However, CSR can be viewed to be a source of pressure to the organization. This is because of its wide scope and areas that can be treated to be of social responsibility. The big challenge comes with the execution of the plans in an approach that can truly deliver the lofty ambitions of the organization (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2016). The key problem comes with striking a balance of the society benefits and the business benefits. This is because of the propaganda that faces such noble courses. Partnering is a significant issue that affects Unilever due to the potential and quite questionable reputation that the organization may get.

Key Issues

Despite the great success, Unilever is faced with some key issues. Risk management is an issue that poses a great potential impact on the company performance due to the political risks in various countries, natural disasters, changing consumer tastes and the supply chain disruption that comes from the private-label brands. Customer relationships are an issue that comes as a result of operating in the toughest marketplaces of selling branded products (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2016). Sustainability is a tough challenge for Unilever as it aims at reducing the environmental impact as well as increasing positive social benefits. Supply chain risk is an issue that as the chain is exposed to possible difficult events of environmental, physical disturbances and manufacturing accidents.

Analysis and Evaluation

Hindustan Lever Limited HLL in India is a company that has been committed to the society. Its financial report is an indication of the strength of the company. For the year ended 31st March 2016, Unilever profits have increased by 4 % that is equal to 331.94 Rs. Billion (Hindustan Lever Limited, 2016). This is an indication that the organization has a wide clientele base as more people are buying the products. Unilever reduced by 6 % which is equivalent to 40.82 RS Billion (Hindustan Lever Limited, 2016). However, personal products increased by 7 % equivalent to 97.72 RS Billions. Life boy is a detergent that has gained significant recognition by the consumers due to its nature that aligns with the consumer need of germs protection. This can be seen in the sale and the detergent segment by 1 % that translates to 150.53 RS Billions. Internally Unilever grew by 4 % in India which is equivalent to 312.33 RS Billion and by 1 % outside India which is equivalent to 19.23 RS Billion (Hindustan Lever Limited, 2016). It's positive cash flows are as a result of the organization increase in total assets. The financial report is a clear indication of that Unilever is a strong company.

Unilever success has been achieved through sustainability. Management competence has played a significant role in its success. The management has ensured talent management in the organization. This has been driven by the force of recruiting people with a purpose in the organization. The workforce is a key to growth ambitions. This means looking beyond profits by a way of having an emotional connection with the people, allowing employees to be brand ambassadors as well as giving employees a chance tell their stories on platforms such as LinkedIn (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2016). Unilever has also focused on empowering people rather than forging partnerships. This has been played by business ethics, sustainability and equality. Its purpose through the brands has made sustainable living a common place for all. This is because of the intrinsic value that consumers can derive from its products. The marketing strategy of Unilever has played a significant role in its success. Its market penetration runs extensively in North America, Europe, and Asia which extends its product innovation (Kapferer, 2012). Its market development, diversification strategies have resulted in the expansion of its market. Monitoring and control by the company have created a balance in the financial, customer, internal and innovation perspective.

One of Unilever challenge is the recycling label failures. Its packaging is mostly in plastic that in most cases end up being dumped rather than recycled. This goes against the company environmental sustainability is it is hazardous to the environment (Kapferer, 2012). Unilever has also faced power failure that has led to wasteful use of haste. This was a result of the rivalry with P&G that saw the company lose more than $45 billion sales (Kapferer, 2012).

Recommendation

Unilever has to embark on strategic objectives that will help the corporation aim at establishing additional products that can retain its customers by advancing to their expectations. It should also focus on striking a balance between the company and CSR. This should be done through keen consideration of the benefits that the society will derive from the corporation and still not exert pressure on the business. Environmental sustainability should be on the forefront of the organization in order to maintain a reputable public image. This comes as a result of the accusation made that the company does not adhere to recycling policy. In order to enhance its growth, the corporation should target more market segments for the health and beauty conscious people through healthy and beauty care products.

Action Plan

Objective: To enhance business growth through sustainable development and social innovation

Step 1: Widen market segments. This will help in catering for the beauty and health conscious people further leading to growth.

Step 2: Consider the benefits of recycling the plastic packaging materials used. This will indicate the company to be committed to environmental sustainability

Step 3: form alliances with reputable firms. This will facilitate the CSR objective of the company.

Step 4: Build strong customer relationships. This will play a significant role in maintaining customer confidence of their products.

It is true to say that implementing the strategies will not be a smooth sail as there are unpredictable events that may happen especially in the toughest markets. However, with a determined management team, the plans will be implemented and executed in the right way in order to realize the organization growth beyond CSR.

Reference

Hartman, L.P, DesJardins, J., & MacDonald, C. (2014). Business Ethics: Decision Making For Personal Integrity &Social Responsibility. McGraw-Hill Irwin

Hindustan Lever Limited (2016). Annual Financial Report 2015-2016. Retrieved from https://www.hul.co.in/Images/annual-report-2015-16_tcm1255-482421_en.pdf

Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2016). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization.

Kapferer, J.-N. (2012). The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. London: Kogan Page.

Section 1

Executive Summary

M-Sim is a local smartphone developer corporation that will be involved in the provision of a full spectrum of smartphone product development.  The  corporation  has been  incorporated  in  developing and running  a fresh smartphone product development in  the highly  competitive global  smartphone  market.  Currently technology corporations are mainly focusing. Presently  the  corporations that are mainly involved  in the manufacturing of smartphones  are  primarily  aiming  at  developing  highly  priced and innovative  smartphone products.  However  there is  not an independent   corporation  that  is  developing smartphones  that  meets the  innovative needs  of consumers  with  lowered  prices.  It is good to note that the smartphones manufacturing materials are currently characterized by low prices because their uses have grown recently. Offering   affordable products will work to provide the corporation with high profit from the venture.  The local   market is very vibrant and this will help in the creation of brand awareness thus gaining an increased consumer market.

Uggla and Filipsson (2009), states that a corporation strategy is an incorporation of mission, vision, approaches, assets as well as consumer bases of the entire business among the engagement of additional things.  This therefore implies that the strategy of business can thus be termed as the main driving factor of attaining business efficiency.  to be precise  Every business  generally requires the  employment  of a strategy  in  the quest of  promoting  the degree to which  it qualifies in attaining success. O the hand Verreynne and Meyer (2010) , contends  that  the aspects that are responsible  in  determination of  the  competitive advantage of  any business  is the  business strategy.  Therefore in this case the business will be D-Sim a smartphone development corporation that will be situated in the in the domestic market (Verreynne and Meyer, 2010).

Smartphones have revolutionized the area of communication both in the local and the international market.  This has thus transformed the manner in which individuals   perceive communicating.  In the traditional ground smartphones   for a long period remained out of possession for most individuals   due to the associate of increased prices.  Due to this smartphones corporations have invested much efforts and resources into establishing innovative ways of offering high capacity of products. This has thus resulted in the development of highly technological and innovative products that are characterized by high prices. The smartphone market is doing very well locally and globally and thus for a fresh business a well-developed strategy is necessary in gaining a competitive advantage. In addition this requires the utilization of value and price competition in order to gain an increased number of consumers. This will additionally work in creating awareness of    the corporation as well as the products it offers. For a fresh technology and innovative corporation beginning in the global market will be accompanied by several challenges. This is the reason why the corporation decided to begin in the local market to develop and gain consumers loyalty.  In addition  the global  market requires the corporation  to be  have  high  funds which may  prove to be a challenge for the corporation as a starter (Uggla and Filipsson, 2009).  

The business  strategy of the smartphone product will  be grounded  on  the  management method  and  employment of strategies  in enhancing  uniqueness  and recognition  of the  corporation and the product.  The business will directly adhere to a participative approach as the interesting management kind.  On  the other hand  the corporation will be offering  unique  smartphones products and  the products related  services such as the installation of  all the Applications that  each  consumer requires in the quest of promoting   recognition of the  business  in the targeted consumer  segment  and market.  The  company’s guiding  principle of the smartphone  development business  is grounded  on  ensuring that the business end up  becoming the dominating  smartphone developer  domestically through   the  development of  unique smartphone products  and the additional  services that will be offered  to the target  consumers.

D- Sim corporation  will be smartphone corporation  that will basically  focus on  attracting consumers  from  distinct  consumer  levels from  the local  setting.  It is factual that the population of smartphones users has risen by 18% in a single year.  More of the locally situated smartphones corporations are currently focused on acquiring more consumers in the international market.  The corporation will thus be situated locally strategically through offering products that are characterized by unique décor, sizes as well as features.  The corporation  will be focusing of  offering to the local  consumers  unique  experience  through the presentation  of elevated  promotions  which will cater for the needs of the local market which will facilitate  the increase of a competitive advantage.

In addition the corporation will focus on unique theming and designs of all the products in enhancing products uniqueness.   The corporation  will   only  be offering additional services that are  related to the products such  as  installation of  application  in order  to  increase  the ability of the corporation  to  concentrate in producing  and developing the  products to  the maximum level. 

The current local market is characterized   by trends changes which range from, consumption, tastes and preferences. This therefore means that the corporation must meet all the needs in an innovative way without fail.  Focusing on the needs of the corporation will work in ensuring that the corporation is not overtaken by any other business. In addition the market is characterized by established products and therefore being strategic is the best for the corporation to be success in this particular venture.

However regardless on the fact that the corporation will be focusing on the domestic market, it will be involved in researching for the global market need.  This will help in developing the products even higher in ensuring that there is efficiency.  There is not a specific   smartphone corporation that seems to be generating a supportive market for domestic consumers and thus D- sim will work in enhancing its unique nature.  For this reason the   corporation will attract more consumers within the specific local market.

The corporation  projected sales  in the first five years of  operations  are  estimated  to  develop  with no less than 10% which will direct reflect  in the  company’s  net profit.  In starting  the  smartphone development  business  the  corporation will  require  approximately $ 100,000 where   assets will consume an approximation of 20,000 dollars to 28,000 dollars  and  the examining will be used  for expenditure.  The capital for beginning   the business will be obtained from individual saving which will be 40% and the rest will be obtained from business loans. The mission of the  corporation  is to  enhance better  relations with consumers  through the promotion of  uniqueness in  smartphone products developing and  offering of  related services to  the  provided products.

Section 2

Section- 2 A

Compile a business vision about the type of product or service you think your company needs to develop. Next, describe the business values and corporate values that you want to create.

As a result of competitive global market, the business has an opportunity to develop a tangible product called ‘SMARTPHONE’. This is a popular product which has been brought by the new technology. It is a product which is recognized by all people and it is associated with many benefits which people enjoy in their daily life (Zheng & Ni, 2006). The vision of the business in developing a Smartphone is connecting people and creating a sustainable growth. According to the research  from the global market,  this is a necessity  product  for  all generation  and there is a high demand as users  use the product to update information, checking mail, product purchase  or in other words people stay in touch with Smartphone for their  daily businesses (Zheng & Ni, 2006). It is important to note that this product is widely recognized not only by ordinary people in their daily lives but also in organizations. For example, salespersons use GPS software to make sales on time, identify traffic delays and alternate route. They are able to access vital information and customer data. The Smartphone connects the business with new prospects and new contacts through networking tools such as Linkedln (Zheng & Ni, 2006).

The business values or core principles are:

Open culture and communication- In this organization, there must be open and honest communication so that operations can be done effectively. Openness will increase morale, commitment and hence increase productivity. More importantly, openness will create strong relationship, effective team, transparency and innovation. Through an open communication, people should learn how to create an open culture based on reinforcing support, motivation, encouragement and diversity (Tocquigny & Butcher, 2012).

Passion- Passion is an important core value which means that all organization members should be committed to achieve organization vision, mission and goals. People should have a sense of calling so that there can be a path for creativity and innovation. Let us be focused and have that desire of achieving excellence. Note that passion wills bring satisfaction, motivation and energy and it will elimination disruption.

Making difference- People should be committed in their work in order to compete with global markets and make a difference. Leaders should motivate the workers and creative a good working environment will availability of resources. Team members should have self-discipline, consistent and be ready to learn from mistake (Tocquigny & Butcher, 2012).

 Trust- since our vision is to connect people; team members should have trust and encourage meaningful relationship and loyalty. Note that communication is very important and thus people should be honest in sharing information whether good or bad. Note that trust boost morale, collaboration, persuasion and motivation.

Determine the need for the new product or service. Next, provide an overview of the market you intend to enter, and defend why this market is ripe for the introduction of this product or service at this particular time.

In the global market, our ideal targets customers are young people as market research has shown that majority of users are young people (age 14-25). I believe that there is a need to develop this product as it will bring a higher future growth for the business.  This is the high time to enter in the global market and meet the demand   of target users as research shows that there is a high competition of Smartphone brands. Since 2007, the Smartphone industry has been producing Smartphone of all types and the studies and researches show that by 2017, out of the world’s population, 2.6 billion will be users of Smartphone (Funk, & Palgrave, 2002). There is a rapid growth of Smartphone markets and the emerging marketing is growing in a faster rate thereby enjoying the widespread benefit. Currently, Smartphone is the leading market in the telecoms industry and in 2013, sales increased dramatically from 3.6% to 435 million units and the higher sales exceeded the sales of other basic handsets. Apple was the first Smartphone model to enter in the market in 2007 followed by Samsung which entered in 2008 (Funk, & Palgrave, 2002). The two companies and other new entrants have competed for long time and this means that the Smartphone market is ripe but the important thing with our business is to find innovation activities and unique design features.

Why this product? 

Many companies are manufacturing smart phones and they are entering in the global market with a higher force thereby markets are becoming more saturated (Funk, & Palgrave, 2002). Many people particularly young adults stay connected with people in far distances and this is making life easier. The global market research has shown that our target market is effective in terms of customer profile. Out of world’s population, a large number   of Smartphone users are young people, with high income and a higher level of education. Users have a positive lifestyle preference and they have a high purchasing power (Funk, & Palgrave, 2002). This makes us to understand that we need to use effective ways of advertising such as TV shows and magazines in order to keep them connected with our brand. Our target customers have different desires and interest and so the business will have the opportunity to develop different products to meet all needs.

Determine the type of business model you will use for your new business opportunity. Support your response.

The new business will employ manufacturer business model. Our company will   be creating new brands from raw materials. Then, we will be selling our products to the end users to eliminate middle men and minimize distribution channels.  Manufacturing business model will be effective in increasing revenue and minimizing expenses and more important creating customer relation and satisfaction.  The direct business model will help us to compete with other manufacturers and produce different Smartphone models in order to meet the global demand.  The business will gain value through producing brands in large scale and this will make the company name to gain prominence in the global markets.  We will use   different methods of selling brands such as webpage use or website use.  This is an effective method which will bring a competitive advantage and help the organization to maintain its edge in the global market.  Direct model will lead to the approaches called ‘build-to-order’ and ‘just-in-time (Bridgeland & Zahavi, 2009). The former means that the brands will be produced with respect to confirmed order. Build-to-order is effective for specialization and reduction of inventory cost.  The latter is also effective for creating efficiency and minimizing inventory costs. Other important point to note that as manufacturers, we will have a direct control of the cost and eliminate the inventory costs since we will not allow distribution channels to enter in between (Bridgeland & Zahavi, 2009). Through customer connection and firsthand feedback, will be able to evaluate customer experience and improve brands.

Formulate a feasibility analysis, and determine whether the new product or service is feasible. Identify the roadblocks that you will likely face.

The feasibility analysis of the new product is divided in to five areas namely technical, operational, schedule, economic and legal feasibility (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007). In economic feasibility, the product is feasible in that we have evaluated both costs and benefits analysis. The cost forecast such as labor, training and materials has been analyzed together with profit margins. Evaluation of cost and benefit has shown the value of the project.  Generally, the developing cost is affordable and the product is going to be cost-effective.  Technical feasibility analysis in terms of technical resources, expertise delivery method, labor, materials and more is analyzed.  There are clear details on materials needed their quality and price as well the source (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007). There is also skilled and unskilled labor in the manufacturing sector and financial labor. This clearly shows that the product which will be developed is technically feasible. The product is feasible in terms of operational in that the organization environment and internal factors such as culture are effective for product sustainability, producibility, affordability among other parameters. The system of product development is accepted by the law –meaning that the process has met the legal requirement and protection regulations. Last, the schedule feasibility has been estimated, and with the feasibility of other factors, the product development will meet the due date as there is a reasonable timetable (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).  There are fewer threats which will hinder a successful development, and so there is a possibility that the product will be produced on time.

 However, though the product is feasible, the organization will meet some roadblocks. First, while the business will tend to develop a unique product, the production will be hindered by many features and variations (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).  Furthermore, new product with new features will require more time for testing.  Next, the development will delay as a result of doubling or tripling resources. This will lead to an increase of coordination overheads which will then lead to risks and higher costs. Last, with the new product, the company will tend to put focus on Pre-Launch strategies and overlook the Post-Launch. There is a big gap   when presenting the product internally and in the real world (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).  The end user many either utilize or abuser the product and the risks may emerge if the company is not committed to evaluate the feedback and to improve the brand.

Evaluate the data from your analysis, considering the source and time period. Justify the future financial condition of your company.

The product development will require a short period of time with respect to the few processes needed in production. Time period will be determined by different processes namely; the period of idea generation. This is a period of finding sources of idea from customers, competitors and others based on the product. Idea screening- considering whether the product is real, worth and successful. Concept testing which is based on consumers’ view and the definition the product.  Marketing strategy based on reaching the target market, planned price, marketing mix and the budge on marketing. Business analysis used for evaluating and reviewing sales and profits. Test marketing- using controlled panels and simulated tests to speed up tests and last is commercialization-developing new products. At this final process, the company will be at a high financial condition due to its low inventory, high net income, high working capital, operating environmental and fixed assets. In future, the company will have a high working capital out of high sales volume.

Section 2 B.

1. Conduct a competitive analysis in which you explain the sources of competition, the strengths of your competitors’ companies, and the other factors affecting your ability to compete

The first source of competition in our company is the pricing. Due to the cost of production and the sophistication of our products, we were made to sell our products at slightly higher prices than our competitors. The kind of labor and technology adopted for the production process requires that we get enough turnovers to maintain the operating profit at its level best. This is why it is difficult for our prices to lower than a certain point. Our competitors take advantage of this to sell products that are cheaper in both quality and prices, posing serious challenge tour marketing. Another source of competition is the ever changing consumers that require constant research into the types of products that can satisfy their needs (Bridgeland, & Zahavi, 2009). Because our products are sophisticated and take a lot of time and dedication to manufacture, our competitors take advantage of the caning tastes to manufacture fats moving low quality products to substitute our products among the customers. This is because we cannot respond quickly to the consumer needs to take advantage of their changing tastes. Moreover, our competitors thrive well because we do not have strategic alliances while most of them have. The alliances help broaden the market and enhance the image of the company across the globe. As soon as we make the alliances, we shall be able to create a wider source of competitive advantage in the market.

The strengths of our competitors come from the fact that we are a small company that has not got its roots into the global market. The competitors therefore have ways of blocking the customers by making strategic alliances with other companies that are overseas to enhance their product images. Our weakest point is our competitor’s strongest bargaining power and our most serious weakness is the inability to respond quickly to specific demand due to the associated costs. Our competitors take advantage of this and make quick moves to beat us with cheaper products.

2. Provide at least three (3) strategies and three (3) marketing tactics for attracting first-time customers
3. Social media.

Telecommunication development has created a revolution in the marketing strategies, especially with the innovation of the social media. The social community that is available over the internet offers the best target groups for our new products (Funk, & Palgrave Connect, 2002). New customers are available if we do a good marketing through Facebook and twitter, notifying our potential customers what our products can do to them. Young people, who are our main focus, form the biggest percentage in the social network. Social media is more helpful if we want to create awareness to the customers that, indeed, our products will meet their needs. We feel customers and potential customers with hope and objectivity towards our products such that many of them opt to physically visit our premises. Many people today consult social media before proceeding to make their purchase. This is why if we create a good impression over the internet. We will be able to attract more potential buyers.

2. Keeping the existing customers

For a rational buyer, it would be very difficult for him to make purchases from a company that is losing the customers already (Bridgeland, & Zahavi, 2009). This is why we try as much as possible to retain our customers so that they can also help us in carrying the image of our products. The information so spread by our regular customers are significant enough to attract more buyers into our company. One way of retaining customers is to keep resolving as many of the customers issues as possible. This means that most of the times the customers are satisfied staying with us and may feel insecure working with our competitors who do not know how to hand le their issues. For example, one way of maintaining the customers is to provide a longer warranty for our phones. The customers will therefore feel safe using our products and share this with the friends. Moreover the company can also provide other accessories earphones and memory cards alongside the smartphones as promotional tactics.

3. Pilot campaigns

Launching a new product in the market needs much effort since it has strong competitors who are already rooted. Virtual communication with the customers through social media alone does is not enough in making the product known. The company should engage in activities that can enable it interact at personal level with the customers through pilot campaigns and get feedbacks o what is required of the product by the customers. During this campaign, the company can distribute a few of its high quality products to the potential buyers as gifts. If the products so distributed are good, then they will communicate on behalf of the company and the more customers will be available to purchase it. At the same time the company can make the actual sales of the products, but at an offer price, just to ensure that the product is within the vicinity of the potential customers.   The tactics for attracting new customers will include gifts, free samples and general advertisement in the mainstream media (Bernard, & Rambaud, 2007).

3. Determine three to five (3-5) kinds of strategic positions that are available to you for your business plan. Next, determine the types of opportunities the strategic positions bring to your business both internally and externally.
4. a) Strategic alliances

Our company is not into any strategic alliance with any other company abroad and sells most of its products locally and a few in the global market. Procter and Gambler thrives best because of alliances (Tocquigny, R., & Butcher, 2012). However the levels of our sales are relatively god as compared with those of the competitors. If our company gets into strategic alliances with other companies that deal in similar products from other countries, we may be able to expand our market by more than double. We see this as an unexploited opportunity.

1. b) Customer cluster.

We are proud to announce that we are located near most of our customers. This means that if we put the entire inventory in place and other resources that we require for adjustment, we can carry out serious innovations that are geared towards meeting the needs of our customers. The customers already fed up with enough information and the only remaining part is to put resources in place and give them what they require. The company will take advantage of this customer base to expand on its profit by manufacturing products that meet specific needs of the customer.  

1. c) Advance in human capital

Our company for long has been relying on few competent workers to carry out most of the duties of innovation and product enhancement. This has made the volume of production to be lower creating shortage at some point. The company will increase the number of skilled labor to make the overall increased production a smoother transition.

Opportunities from the above strategies

Strategic alliance makes it easier for our products to gain reputation in the regions where they initially had none. The consumer cluster makes it possible to make products that need specific needs of the customers while the human capital is instrumental in carrying out innovations.

4)         Determine the key types of risks your business opportunity will face both internally and externally. Provide strategies to mitigate these risks

1. a) Internal risks

The first risk that the business will face internally is to venture into new products with a strained income. Loss of income may follow if the market analysis was not accurate enough for the customers to respond positively to a high volume of sales. As the business increases its inventories and the human resource, it expends much costs that should translate into a bigger sales volume. The same financial loss may also take place if the business marketing does not meet its target needs yet the customers are already using the free products whose costs are sunk. This is mitigated through a concise market research that is specific to the customer needs.

The company may also lose some of its very innovative employees in case it gets not strategic partnership with other companies. This is because the other company may come with new demands in terms of operation costs and profits. Our company may opt to lay off some of its workers in the process. To mitigate this, the company will not get into any deal before agreeing on such terms that may lead to layoffs. 

External Risk

The most prominent external risk the company faces will depend on the decisions by the bigger smartphone companies to reduce the prices of their products (Zheng & Ni, 2006). This can happen to eliminate other smaller companies. To mitigate this, we will ensure that we maintain our customers through services that are top notch. 

5. Assess the different sources of funding available for funding entrepreneurial ventures in terms of the possible value they can bring to your venture. Next, explain the funding strategy your venture will undertake
6. a) The first source of capital is the contribution by the owners. At least each owner of the company will be in a position to contribute some amount to the company being that they are the brainchildren behind the idea. The membership contribution should cater for more than a third of the total cost.
7. b) Bank loans

We also look forward to borrowing from banks and other financial institutions that will be willing to provide the much needed finance to our company. Development banks and government banks are some of the most reliable lenders. We shall go for the bank that has the best terms of credit being that we also look forward to minimize costs.  

1. c) Grants

The government empowers new investments through funding programs that provide grants to the investors. Our company will cease the opportunity provided by the government by applying for any grants. However this is not a very reliable source of income because there is not guarantee for government funding in case of application. Government funding however, if available are good because they are never repayable.

6. Create a report of operating costs required for your product or service venture, using the Planning Shop’s Business Plan Financial package.

Some of the operating costs that the company will incur include the salaries of the employees, the advertising costs, the R&D charges, insurance premiums, rent, and the innovation overheads (Erera et al., 2013). The company will allocate $ 10 million for the research and development.  The business will allocate finances for the insurance premiums, permit charges, and the licensing fees. A new start-up business needs funds for promoting itself and hence provision for the advertising costs. The company will hire a marketing team to target and attract a broad customer base and helps in maintenance of the brand loyalty. Similarly, the business will allocate funds for hiring, training, and paying the employees.

The costs are necessary for the company to meet its goals and objectives such as growth, expansion, and profitability (Erera et al., 2013). The costs are interrelated, and they are useful in financing the investment project. Conduction of the net present value (NPV) of the investment project is significant to evaluate the viability of these projects. The NPV is computed as the difference between the PV of the cash flows and the PV of the investment project. Other investment appraisal approaches such as the “internal rate of return” and the “modified payback period” as also useful factors in the analysis of the attractiveness of the investment. The table below represents the operating costs to be incurred by the firm.

 Contribution per unit= $100

Contribution margin ratio= 0.8

7. Prepare a break-even analysis in which you explain the report you created in the venture capital group.

The break-even point is a situation in which the company is neither making profit nor losses. At break-even point (BEP), the total overheads equal the revenue. Computation of the break-even is necessary for the business as it helps in making decisions on the levels of the sales for covering of the total fixed overheads and the variable costs. Additionally, the break-even help managers to determine the point at which the enterprise begins making profits.

Break-even Units= Fixed costs/ Contribution per unit (AccountingCoach.com, 2016).

= 600M/ 100

= 6000,000 Units

Break-even sales = Fixed costs/ contribution margin ratio (AccountingCoach.com, 2016).

= 600M/ 0.8

= $750 million

Section 2 C.

1. Analyze the options available for producing the product or service. Next, evaluate which of the available options you can take to streamline operations

With respect to the evolution of Smartphones, product management entails a wide range of management activities whose main objective is streamlining its production process. This ranges from the time the new idea of the product is launched to finally offering an ongoing support to clients who had purchased such a new product (Funk & Palgrave, 2002). As in the case of any organization which conducts product development, either intentionally or unintentionally, the options available is carrying out feasibility study/analysis, product technical design and concept developing and testing is crucial. Out of this three, the following are the one to be considered;

1. a) Carrying out feasibility study/ analysis_ with this, it means that sufficient information is to be collected which will result to the product success. This will involve the extensive organization of private groups which will obviously test a beta version of this product then evaluating the experience in the test panel. The feedback to be obtained is the one which will ultimately communicate the levels of interests of the target market as well as the desired features. Equally, it will assist in determining whether this product has the capacity of being profitable in line with meeting customer needs (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).
2. b) Product technical design_ so as to ensure that its operations are streamlined; there is the need of integrating customer customers’ opinions. In common cases, the product concept or the idea ought to be taken into consideration i.e. must be tasted on a true client base. This is what can assist in adjusting as well as developing the concept. This then means that this option will majorly integrate the results to be obtained from feasibility analyses into the product production process. This then deals with turning the Smartphone production concept into a workable offering and ironing any technicalities encountered. In regard to that, this will foster its marketing, finance and production or operations (Funk & Palgrave, 2002).
3. Determine how the product or service will meet consumer needs

In the process on carrying out the above activities, it means that a lot will be realized i.e. the market trends and the customer views about this product. Firstly, the company will be in the position of understanding the nature of the competitive product already in the market. Next they will come up with tactics which will be aimed at increasing its quality and performance. In the process of doing so, it means that the customer needs will be met through ensuring that the new product are contented with what they paid for (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).

3. Assess at least three (3) types of technologies that will improve the quality of the product or service. Explain how the technologies will help enhance capabilities and customer loyalty.

The continued technological advancement has necessitated the need for carrying out extra research which will assist in improving the quality of Smartphones. The reason for that is because of the desire of competing favorably with other companies in the industry, increasing profit, as well as responding to customer needs (Zheng & Ni, 2006). Because of this, below are some of the technologies that have the ability of improving the quality of the company’s Smartphones;

1. a) Incorporating high quality camera lenses_ since majority of modern Smartphones have in-built cameras of varied strengths, there is the need of extending research for this device so that the company can come up with in-built-high-quality camera lenses for their phones. Moreover, this in turn will aid high quality video streaming.
2. b) In-built projector_ with advancement in technology, it means that the Smartphones the company will be producing will be a question debate since the installation of in-built projectors will basically increase the demand for them as well as their competitive edge (Zheng & Ni, 2006).
3. c) Seamless Voice Control _ although voice control technology has existed for decades now it used to be a crude method. Therefore, having extensive research in this will imply that seamless voice control app will a wonderful tool to the company’s Smartphones.
4. d) 3D screens_ due to the fact that majority of the mobile companies are moving from 2D to 3D future-features-Smartphones, it means that the company should have extensive research aimed at improving their technology will ensure that the products it will produce are also in the same category. Basically, the 3D displays will have to be incorporated with elements of movements whenever it comes to customer interactions with the Smartphones.

With respect to the above, the need of driving brand loyalty is seen as being a crucial strategy. Therefore, with respect to the above technologies, it means that the embattled brand will be luring more customers back through exclusive offering and seamless customer experience whilst using them. These will help the company to win them back hence increasing their loyalty (Bernard & Rambaud, 2007).

Moreover, such technologies will enhance the brand loyalty thus putting the customer in the spotlight. Since it is the key brand loyalty which will keep on telling stories, it increases the customer satisfaction about the quality services they obtain through it. Equally, with it in place, it means that the customer complaints and desires are well catered for. In return, the customers remains to be contented with the company’s products and the desire of using any new product launched in the market from it (Bridgeland & Zahavi, 2009).

4. Identify at least two (2) technology policies that will apply to the product or service initiative. Next, analyze three to five (3-5) ways how those policies that you have identified affect your product or service initiative

With the evolution of mobile technologies, each day everyone is eagerly waiting to see what Smartphones manufacturing companies can offer as well as to the way in which the masses will react to the emergence of these devices. In other words, the new and better smartphones are accompanied by multiple issues that come with technological advancement which is introduced to public use. One of these issues is technology policies. An example of these policies include mobile device acceptable use policy and disclaimer policy

In regard to that, such rules or policies for the usage of Smartphones are much applicable in manufacturing facility as well in working places. The provided information, procedures, examples, samples, and guidelines ensure that there is efficient use of the Smartphones in any setting i.e. at workplace, driving and so on. Thus the objective of this policy is protecting the confidentiality and integrity of the Smartphones technology infrastructure.

Section 3 A

Conclusion and Recommendation

It is very factual that planning is very crucial in ensuring that a business is able to achieve the estimated goals as well as aims.  Through  thorough organization, planning,  supervising, control , development  of  corporate  policies and  operations  and  activities  direction  the smartphone  development is  bound  to achieve  success.  This will be achieved throughout all the operations as well as continuous achievement.  Through the production of   products that are characterized by low prices with increased value the corporation will effectively be able to gain more consumers.  Consumers in the current smartphone are searching for products to meet their needs but this must additionally be characterized by favorable prices.  The corporation will also apply team concepts in controlling and motivating the employees.  This is business the success of the business and particularly an innovative business   human resource is the most significant element.  This is because human resource determines the general performance production of the corporation.  In addition  the local  and the  global market where the  corporation will venture in is characterized  by diversity and thus  managing employees  is the most  significant  process o the business.  The corporation will be focusing on offering advanced products and thus because the market is already flooded by competitors who are well established the corporation will be utilizing price and value competition strategy. The consumers are likely to be attracted by products   that are highly innovative with affordable prices.   The corporation will thus  be able to meet  the need  of  consumes needs, gain  competence to  compete  with  the smartphones developers competitors  and  crate  brand awareness.   In general the corporation will be applying dynamic strategies in overcoming competition. This will help  in enhancing and facilitating  the  coordination  and cooperation  of all those that are involved  towards the  achievement of  the  stated company’s  objectives.

In general D-Sim will be a smartphone development corporation that will mainly be focused on attracting distinct consumers from all income levels.   Given that the corporation  mission  is  enhancing  better consumer relations  through the  promotion of  unique  products  in  services  and  product  provision  this will offer the  corporation a supportive surrounding to  work.  On The vision of the corporation is to is connecting people and creating a sustainable growth. This will be used  by  the corporation  in driving the  development of unique  ad  quality  products and  associated  services  for the domestic market  from  different social grounds.   In achieving all the stated objectives the  corporation  will  be utilizing  numerous marketing  approaches  such as  digital marketing,  the use of social media bases ,  promotional sales  and several traditional  approaches of marketing. This will help in attaining a wider consumer base since what the corporation requires is to create brand and company awareness.  Building a better reputation and brand image will help in acquiring   consumers thus enhancing growth.  In addition since the  corporation  is based  on technology. This will play a significant part in enhancement of business services. Through the corporation will be seeking to offering unique smartphone shopping to all the consumers.  This  is  because  in  the current  market  consumers  can best  be attracted  through offering  unique   consumer  services and relations.  In addition this will help in creating a more developed relation between the consumers and the corporation products. 

In general  the cost of  starting  the business  is estimated  to  be 120,000 dollars  where the assets are expected to consumer 50,000 dollars and  the other  expenses  will  utilize 50000 dollars and the remaining  will  be used in running  the business for a month or so.   Lastly,  after a period of  two years of the company’s  operation  the business will be  expected  to  at last  record a general  sales  of about  180,000 dollars which should end up  to 600,000  in an  operation period of exactly five years of operation.

The corporation is required to utilize effective strategies of marketing in creating brand awareness and building a better reputation for the organization.  In addition team   management should highly be encouraged by the corporation management in increasing better relationships with consumers and employees.  Those will additionally help the corporation in assessing of the involved risks in the market and how it can be overcome.  This will thus require the corporation to priorities though market research to identify trends, consumer needs and the current operations that the competitors are utilizing.  This will help the corporation in producing products that equals to sales which will help in decreasing cost without altering the general operation of the corporation.

Section 3B

Citing from the general definition of the operations of business, the corporation will mainly focus on   generating unique products.   This will help in developing competitiveness as well as the general ability to be productivity.  To start  with  smartphones development  corporation   normally  produce products based on extended periods which results  long whit for the consumers the  corporation will  particularly focus on  producing products  that are characterized  by less production period. Additionally, the smartphone which is D- Sim will work under the strict law as well as regulations compliance with the domestic and national authority.  Through the cooperation with the authority this will work to ensure that there is product and consumer safety as well as protection. D-Sim Corporation through this operation will thus be guaranteed of consumer loyalty as well as the general development.  This thus implies that  the corporation will  aim at  achieving the  entire  operations of the business  in order  to develop  profitability  and  competitiveness.,

In the context of marketing approaches  and a marketing  design  this helps in  the determination and  implantation of  all the changes that  are to be made to the corporation  so that  the corporation can be able to full achieve short as well as long term  goals.  It is good  to note that the main  objective  of a marketing  approach  and plan  ins grounded  on the ability  to enhance  competitive benefits  of the entire business  through satisfaction of all the demands  that are presenting  the market.  In  the  implementation  procedure  of  effective  marketing approaches  as well as a plan  the business is  highly necessitated  to align the  general  objectives and aims  with the  structure  antibusiness performance. However the findings of the marketing approaches are evaluated through those general implications to the business goals.  In the particular case D-Sim will be utilizing a distinct strategy in marketing its smartphone product and the plan will be grounded in achieving all the stated aims. This will assist the corporation in achieving efficiency in the best possible mode.

Section 3C

To begin with a strategy of marketing is the best option for the corporation to achieve efficiency.  This can be regarded  as a model which the corporation will utilize  the best  opportunities in  the  market  in developing the general product  sales  as well as  gaining a competitive position  in  the market place.  In the basic nature marketing analysis are the compositions of strategies that are oriented in developing the market basically.  This implies that the strategies will be linked directly with the goals of the organization.

The primary goal of the organization is to dominate the smartphone local market as well as the surrounding regions through offering affordable, unique as well as quality products related services to the general target market. The  business will  thus be  prioritizing  on  the  technology  market as the best  way of generating  brand  and corporation awareness.  This kind of marketing  can be described  as the procedure of  gaining  out  the local market  as the target  consumers through the utilization of  emailing  as  well social media use.  This can thus be regarded  as  an ideal  strategy  particularly  for the corporation  that prioritizes  on  attaining  connection  and recognition  with consumers  immediately.  Thus  citing  from  this  that  the smartphones  are  seen as  social  grounds  the technology  market  can be  regarded  to be bearing  considerable impact  for the smartphone  enterprise and the market.

On the other hand it can be said social media acts as an ideal marketing approach for the industry of smartphones.  Such sites are the major sites that are applicable for the particular case.  However the corporation is required to ensure that the posted messages are very persuasive and relevant to the market.  This will assist the corporation in full convincing of the consumers thus attracting more.  This will help in gaining cost effectiveness, and easy prediction of results. It is Realistic that social sites can help the business in accessing a wider range of consumers as this works beyond the geographical and demographic boundaries.  The effectiveness of the corporation will thus be achieved  through   market segmentation  as the product will mainly target individuals with low incomes which means that the sales and  convincing the consumers  will be effective and simplified.  Business humanization will be utilized in creating better relation with the consumers as well as good and interactive engagements.

Section 3 D

So that  the  company can be  able to fully control  management systems  implementations  in  the evaluation  of  business technology systems that  implementing  control  approaches.  This system will help in  the development  of  technology dependence which will   help  n  detection of issues  that  may  arise  during the distribution of  products.  This will decrease the threats of information vulnerability.  The manager of the organization is expected to be able to coordinate as well as allocate resources through the measures of data.  However  the management  system   of smartphones  is characterized by different  weaknesses which includes  high cost, delay of manufacturing ,  ineffectiveness vulnerability as  it  requires well developed  aspects as well as  better  operations stands.   With this note the management of the corporation should plan how to control the weaknesses measures as well as risks as this may affect the corporation’s effectiveness.  This can be achieved through the implementation of a system control management.

Verreynne and Meyer (2010), made the declaration that  the  variable  advantage  of  beginning and small corporation  is facilitated  through  the identification of  the major factors that  impacts  the business success.  The corporations vision as well as the mission is based on unstinting entertainment needs. This implies   that all the technological needs in the market must be identified adequately. Such technologies will enhance the brand loyalty thus putting the customer in the spotlight. Since it is the key brand loyalty which will keep on telling stories, it increases the customer satisfaction about the quality services they obtain through it. Equally, with it in place, it means that the customer complaints and desires are well catered for. In return, the customer’s remains to be contented with the company’s products and the desire of using any new product launched in the market from it (Bridgeland & Zahavi, 2009).

            References

Bernard, F., & Rambaud, G. (2007). Product feasibility guideline: From the idea to the market. Göteborg: Chalmers University of Technology.

Bridgeland, D. M., & Zahavi, R. (2009). Business modeling: A practical guide to realizing business value. Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier.

Contribution Margin and Break-even Point in Units Accounting Coach. (2016). Accounting Coach.com. Retrieved 19 November 2016, fromhttp://www.accountingcoach.com/break-even-point/explanation/2

Erera, A. L., Hewitt, M., Savelsbergh, M. W., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Creating schedules and computing operating costs for LTL load plans. Computers & Operations Research, 40(3), 691-702.

Funk, J. L., & Palgrave Connect (Online service). (2002). Global competition between and within standards: The case of mobile phones. New York: Palgrave.

Tocquigny, R., & Butcher, A. (2012). When core values are strategic: How the basic values of Procter & Gamble transformed leadership at Fortune 500 companies. Upper Saddle

Uggla, H., & Filipsson, D. (2009). Business and brand strategy: A framework for integration. ICFAI Journal of Business Strategy, 6(2), 27-42.

Verreynne, M., & Meyer, D. (2010). Small business strategy and the industry life cycle. Small Business Economics, 35(4), 399-416.

Zheng, P., & Ni, L. M. (2006). Smart phone and next generation mobile computing. San Francisco, Calif: Morgan Kaufmann.

Global Expansion

1. What are some specific talent management initiatives that might be used to support a global expansion strategy?

The following are the talent management initiatives which should be used to support global expansion strategy. Next generation leadership, speeding up structural change, and developing talents.

Next generation leadership is very significant or the company, since it can be able the company to determine the course of its future (Rees, 2016). This consequently allows the management of the company to be able to train young leaders who can be able to enable the company to reach its goals in future. Moreover, the company can also be able to predict whatever is likely to happen to its future, thus training leaders who can be able to deal with such issues.

Speeding up structural Change enables the company to acquire new strategies which change the marketing trend of the company, thus enabling the company to beat its competitors. On the other hand, the company gains new strategies which enable it to be able to avoid making losses due to the frequent changes in the marketing trends.

Developing talents consequently allows the management of the company to train young employees to be able to deal with critical issues which are likely to face the company. This therefore allows the company to reduce the costs of dealing with different problems that it is likely to face (Ariss, 2014).

2. What strategies might be used in recruiting global talent and why?

Outsourcing is one of the best strategies for recruiting talent management, since the recruiters will only focus on talented people. This therefore increases the chances of recruiting talented people since they will be interviewed on their talent skills and thus making the work easier for a company (Rees, 2016).

Hiring from within, also enables the company to come up with potential people who can be able to undertake different tasks effectively. This consequently because, the Human resource system of the company knows the talents that different employees have in the company. Moreover, this will also save the company’s costs of hiring and training a new employee in the company.

Competitive hiring, is also another type of recruiting, whereby different employees in the company are asked to carry out different tasks. This consequently enables the company to be able to understand the types of talents that the employees possess. Through this, the management of the company can therefore be able to pick one of the employees from the company and place him or her in a new position, according to his or her talents based on the type of tasks that the employees were competing against (Ariss, 2014).

3. What are some potential challenges in a talent management initiative that might be used in a global expansion strategy? Explain how these challenges may be turned into positive outcomes.

The main challenge in a talent management is poor recruitment methods used by the human resource management. This consequently makes it hard for the talent management initiative to be effective (Ariss, 2014). Moreover, the cost of conducting talent management initiative is relatively high thus making it hard for company to be able to acquire talent management effectively. Poor recruitment can effectively affect global expansion strategy thus making it hard for the company to be able to reach its goals (Rees, 2016). Moreover, the cost of conducting a talent management initiative may also inhibit global expansion strategy since the company cannot be able to move forward as planned. These challenges may therefore be turned into positive outcomes if the company uses outsourcing as a means of recruiting new employees. On the other hand, the company can also look at its total expenditure before determining the amount of money it allocates for the talent management initiative.

Reference

In Rees, G., & In French, R. (2016). Leading, managing and developing people.

In Ariss, A. A. (2014). Global talent management: Challenges, strategies, and opportunities.

Leading and change

Leading is one of the many tasks that many assume to be simple but in real sense it is a very hard task to accomplish. One must be able to possess leadership qualities in order to be able to lead others in the right way, and using the right leadership approaches required. If poor leadership choices are employed, then this consequently means that the type of leadership being expressed is likely to be faced with a lot of opposition from its subjects (Glamuzina, 2015). This therefore results to problems in execution of tasks by the subjects due to the opposition that they will be offering to the leadership. Change, is also another issue which comes with a lot of responsibilities and determination in order to be achieved. If one is determined to change the operation of a certain kind of an organization, then he will be able to do so, simply because of the effort that the person will put in. I realized this while working at Freexe Mills, where I was a team leader of the accounting department (Bérard, 2013). I was supposed to change the way of thinking of my colleagues, and making them into understanding that we were going to be able to, achieve the company’s goals which seemed unachievable. Being the team leader, I was given the mandate to make sure that the goal was achieved after a period of two weeks. The manager of the company believed that I was going to steer the team into reaching the goal within the shortest time span which was two weeks (Dekker, 2013). I was therefore in charge of a team which consisted of the head of different departments in the organization, who believed they could not be able to achieve the given goal within two weeks.

Due to the negative mind-set that the team hard, it was therefore necessary to come up with ways of making the team members to believe that they could achieve the goal easily. I was therefore required to motivate the members and make to have a positive mind-set, thus being able to work towards reaching the required goal within the given timeline (Glamuzina, 2015). Self-leadership was therefore needed in this situation, since I was the only person who believed we had the potential to work towards achieving the goal (Lemons, & Stevenson, 2015). I therefore become much focused and decided to lead by example. Leading by example and being focused really helped in making the members to understand that whatever they thought was impossible could be easily achieved. In most cases, if a leader is focused, then his or her subjects are likely to do the same, simply because the leader is leading by example. This therefore changed the way the team members approached the goal, thus they also became focused. In a situation where everyone had given up, and after becoming focused things really changed, this really boosted my working morale and I was able to understand why leading by example is very significant (Dekker, 2013).

 Changing the mind-set of the members was one of my main goals, since it could really enable the team to work towards achieving the goal, rather than giving up (Bérard, 2013). Due to the effort that I had put in, the members became convinced that we could achieve the goal. I basically considered the change necessary, simply because when one’s self-talk is negative, then it means that the person will not be able to achieve what he or she is supposed to achieve. This consequently means that team members had a negative self-talk, which made it very hard for the goal to be easily achieved. A person with a positive mind-set can be able to put in the required effort in order to be able to reach the desired goal, moreover, a positive mind-set boosts the working morale of a person (Glamuzina, 2015). My main goal was to change the view of the team members, in order to be able to achieve the given goal. I therefore had to convince the members, on how we could easily achieve the goal.  I decided to make the team members to only look at the positive side, since I could not get any support from the management of the company. Each and every morning, before commencing with work, I would give the team success stories, in order to change their thinking (Dekker, 2013). This approach really helped, since most of the members were able to change their way of thinking, thus they were able to view things in a very different way thus making it easy to achieve the goal. Furthermore, I also decided to work with all members of the team in setting our working goals, this therefore meant that all members were equal, hence being able to come up with ideas on how to better achieve the goal. This approach also impacted the team positively, thus making all the team members to work together in achieving the goal (Bérard, 2013).

The approaches that I used were very successful, as they enabled me to be able to change the mind-set of the team members (Dekker, 2013). This therefore saw the team achieving the goal three days earlier than the deadline. To me, this was an achievement, which I had not dreamt of achieving. The manager of the company was very happy with, and he rewarded me for my work. I therefore realized that I had good self-leadership skills, which enabled me to be a good example to the team members, thus making them to work hard too (Glamuzina, 2015). Moreover, I was realized I possessed ethical leadership skills, which made me to empower the team members, thus making them to change their mind-set. I have therefore learnt that, in order to be a good leader, one should act as an example, and he or she should also respect his or her subjects.

A leadership development plan should be capable of spearheading a person into achieving his or her own goals (Lemons, & Stevenson, 2015). This plan therefore focuses on the key competencies which enable a person to be able to focus on the best leadership qualities. Thus, a person can therefore be able to effectively lead others in the right way, and in the appropriate means hence impacting his or her own subjects positively (Glamuzina, 2015).

Reference

Glamuzina, M. (2015). LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND TOP MANAGEMENT'S EFFECTIVENESS: IS THERE A CLEAR-CUT RELATIONSHIP?. Management: Journal Of Contemporary Management Issues, 20(1), 89-131.

Dekker, W. d. (2013). Global Mindset and Leadership Effectiveness. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bérard, J. (2013). Accelerating Leadership Development : Practical Solutions for Building Your Organization's Potential. Mississauga, Ont: Jossey-Bass.

Lemons, R. W., & Stevenson, I. (2015). Turn Effective Practice into Common Practice: Successful Districts Create Systems of Leadership Talent Development. Journal Of Staff Development, 36(5), 18-21.

Organizational Structure Design Variables and Innovations

The importance of considering the contextual variables

Size: it is important to consider the size of the organization in terms of number of employees. This is because; larger organizations will require a complex process, specialization and standardization.  Big organizations also have vast structures and several hierarchy levels (Australia, 2015). Having these ideas, managers will be able to employ specialized operations and create formal organization structure and mechanistic structure which will be suitable for holding many workers. Similarly, small business with require less complex process and avoid creating a mechanistic structure which may cause futility (Australia, 2015).

Technology: The importance of considering technology is that it will allow the business to identify technology in terms of task variability. This means that the organization is able to analyze the number of exceptions in a particular task. For example, tasks with a great deal have high task variability and job with less deal has little task variability (Australia, 2015). Top management will be in a position to analyze what type of technology will be employed to deal with task variability. Other point is that technology is implemented with respect to problem analyzability. This means that organization analyses the process used to solve the problems which occur in task exceptions (Australia, 2015).

Environment: It is important to consider environment in terms of environmental elements which can have impact in achieving organizational goals and environmental uncertainties. For example, mechanistic structure focuses on structural activities and centralized decisions (Australia, 2015).  Organic structure concentrates on open communication and decentralized decisions.  Through understanding the environment, the organization will be able to manage issues which may occur.   

Strategy and goals:  this will help the organization to gain legitimacy and guidelines for making decisions.  Through understanding goals and strategy, organization will fit in both external and internal environment (Australia, 2015). In designing organization structure, it is important to set goals and the strategies which will be used to achieve those goals. This will help organizational members to operate effectively hence increase productivity.

Emerging organizational structures

 Net work organizations: this new structure is flexible and decentralized and managers have the power to control both internal and external relation. Managers can implement the development through creating a social structure of interaction with inter-organizations (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010).  In industry level, new work stricture can also be created through creating technological net works in different geographical areas.

Virtual organization: this is created by having members’ interaction through telecommunication.  The structure has disseminated entities and their task is connected by information technology.

Circle organizations: organization creates a team for 5-15 members and they are assigned task of producing products. Members have the authority to share skills and utilize the resources in producing goods (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010). Members have the problem-solving skills and so they are able to manage the groups and use their own process in the overall project.

Reference

Australia, C. L. (2015). Organization Theory and Design. Cincinnati OH: Cengage Learning US.

Ahlstrom, D., & Bruton, G. D. (2010). International management: Strategy and culture in the emerging

world. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.