General Motor (GM)

Introduction

General motor (GM) is the largest as well as the most diversified automobile manufacture in the whole world. Currently, the company operates over 387 facilities which sums up to 400m square feet of space in at least 37 states. It has about 650,000 workers who assist in producing over 8m vehicles and various component sets for selling in multiple states (Reiner et al, 2014).  The core business activity of this firm is marketing of vehicles. Within its structure, there is the world facilities group (WFG) which is a multibillion dollar service enterprise responsible for providing various manufacturing facilities for all the manufactures of vehicles which are marketed by GM.

Regardless of the above consideration, the company has diverse distinct competencies in the motor industry. For instance, the company is eying the manufacturing of hybrid automotives. This is to say that its main objective or core competency is the designing and manufacturing of high-voltage battery. This electrification technique will comprise of pure battery electric automobiles, hybrid of various types, plug-in hybrids as well as other fuel cell automobiles (Reiner et al, 2014). This will continue to be the breakthroughs for the company’s technology.

Nevertheless, GM has a wider core competency in manufacturing of SUVs and Trucks. With the application of modern technology, the competitive advantage for the company whilst manufacturing the SUVs and trucks comes from the manner in which the vehicles are efficient to use unlike that from other firms. For example, these vehicles have an efficient towing capacity, handling, and fuel economical. Equally, the SUVs have more horsepower hence increasing its speed. This then remains to be the code for the continuous demand for their high margin vehicles.

Nonetheless, it can be illustrated that the strategies that the company used in the past have greatly contributed to its present distinct competencies. For instance, the strategic positioning through partnership as well as merging with other firms is the most critical determinant of its present and future current financial performance (Holstein, 2009). Partnership as well as consolidation enables each marquee to be focusing on its major competencies while excluding cost redundancies. By availability and taste, the auto markets are still inefficiently regionalized. Presently this makes the GM Company to continue to be not only both larger but also better positioned unlike its major rivals.  On the other hand, in case this company continues to be executing its existing strategies competently, then it means that it will be highly favored to hardly outdo its rival Ford and Daimler-Chrysler (Neil, 2010).

Other than that, it is recognized that the strategies that are pursued by GM are giving it the opportunity of building on its distinctive competencies. As a way of taking advantage of such opportunities, as well as establishing further the GM as the leading manufacturer of automobile in the world, its initial strategies has resulted into more advantageous ones. For example, so as to continue matching the aggressive price cutting of Ford Company, in the long run it will win that market share battle since it is relatively stringer in terms of cash flows, profitability, and liquidity (Holstein, 2009).

It will also move aggressively to the republic of China through opening some joint venture. This will basically be Daewoo plant which will be domestically manufacturing a wide range of Daewoo automobiles. It will thus become the dominant car builder in China. Moreover, it should be noted that the opportunity associated with this is that Daewoo China will remain to be a money pit for the coming three years. The long term benefits that will come from taking quick action on this front are hard to overstate. This is to imply that, for this company, opportunities of this scale are exceptionally rare in a mature automobile production industry (Fernandez & Shengjun, 2007).

The last strategy will arise to foster the companies distinctive competencies is the need for merging with Toyota. The reason for this is because, usually, the economies of scale remain to be effectively infinite in the automobile industry.  Thus issues that deal with failure of merging are prone from the management but not the industry fundamentals. The core competencies of Toyota will end up matching the shortcomings of GM. Similarly, its weakness will ultimately fit the strengths of GM. Therefore, the potential cost synergies from this strategy will remain to be spectacular hence enabling its management authority to build newer competencies (Neil, 2010).

Despite the above added advantage which will arise from enjoying its economies of scale, there are a number of factor which keeps on limiting GM distinctive competencies in the automobile industry. For example, the alternative energy movement is the GMs biggest weakness. This is because, the alternative energy or hybrid trend has already commenced in other automotive industries, but the GM is still one step behind this competition in terms of the manufacturing of alternative energy automobiles (Dunne, 2011). This has resulted to numerous problems such as loss of market share as well as decline in its profit margins. This then means that in case it desires to be successful from this point forward, the management must ensure that the company is both hybrid friendly and fuel efficient too.

Other limiting factors include perennial difficulty in engineering and designing successful automotive products, average production line efficiency, and absence of globally desirable luxury exhibition area.

Reference

Reiner E, Jargosch & Joseph J, (2014). General Motors Company (GM) Patent Landscape Analysis – January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2013. IPGenix LLC Press

Holstein, W. J. (2009). Why GM matters: Inside the race to transform an American icon. New York: Walker.

Neil B, (2010). Factors Affecting the Decisions of General Motors and Chrysler to Reduce Their Dealership Networks. DIANE Publishing

Fernandez, J. A., & Shengjun, L. (2007). China CEO: A case guide for business leaders in China. Singapore: Wiley.

Dunne, M. J. (2011). American wheels, Chinese roads: The story of General Motors in China. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons (Asia.

AMERICAN EXPRESS SMOKING CASE

American express consideration of the policy of smoking employers seems to be farfetched even the reality emanating from the effects is quite clear. The rationale we see here is the adoption of a non-faction issue which should never be deemed part and parcel of job obligations. There are a number of several issues related to the ethical principles which can be adopted by American Express just to make sure that they make a sound decision on this issue which it will go a long way in affecting the personnel performance. Personal virtue and religious injunction carry a huge junk in a number of several key factors, managers are encouraged managers as well as employees to make their decision based on the ethical point of view (Janofsky, 2006). According to the principle of personal long-term, self-interest means that one should consider various things before taking action which you have no authority whatsoever (Azfzal, 2010). This can look like putting selfish interest first rather than the job itself you have been hired for but in consideration of what really makes us happy. The principle which requires us to abide by the law in the context itself has little representation in the moral standards of the society but as personnel, we are not in any way allowed to violate the existing law (Janofsky, 2006). American Express should be considerate enough to see that it does not infringe either side again is it legal to hire smokes? The answer is yes or merely no depending on the facts you give. The American Federal law seems to be void to tackle this question straight forward, it clear that unlike race, gender, ethnicity and so forth smokers are not in the anywhere near the category of protected class. Conversely, big organizations which happen to have several branches cutting across different states have been discriminating lifestyles and we hope America Express should not join such bandwagon. The freedom of discrete privileges states that employee would not ever any step which it would infringe the rights of the other.

First of all, American Express should consider the fact that ethics comprises a set of moral principles that is bound to define what could be right or wrong for a person. Society includes the employees which their decision will also affect them economically and socially, what difference will it incur in hire nonsmokers from the ethical accountability perspective (Janofsky, 2006). This might be the framing of the issue in regards to social responsibility will mean that American Express will incline to focus on benefits to the firm itself and society left aside. The individuals will have minimized cost and burden which might cause discomfort for a while, indeed, we want to drive the health care cost down but I am certain that this will not go down alone. How about setting up fines and time frame for these smokers so as to avoid constant wrangles, for sure it is discriminatory not to hire smokers (Azfzal, 2010). Let us acknowledge the fact that it a personal choice and the smokers who obviously are aware of the effects of it, it is an ill-advised choice but at the end of the day, it is personal; the choice which ought to be respected.

Reference

“Right to Smoke?” CFO, February 2006, 54; M. Janofsky, “Ban on Employees Who Smoke Faces Challenges of Bias,” The New York Times

1. Azfzal, “Smokers Need Not Apply: Is Hiring Ban Trend of the Future?” The Christian Science Monitor, 17 November 2010, http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2010/1117/Smokers-need-not-apply-Is-hiring-ban-trend-of-the-future [accessed 4 March 2011]; M. Hennessy

Ethical Business

What kind of leader will you be?

I would like to be a leader who is enthusiastic about the work and the entire organization so as to be self driven and motivated in achieving the organizational goals (Ciulla, 2014). I would like to be a leader who is trusted and respected by the members of the organization by bringing innovative ideas helpful to the organization.

What kind of a follower will you be?

I would like to be a follower who is motivated to work for the better mate of the organization by carrying the organization on my shoulders to achieve the best of the organizational goals. I would also like to be a follower who is reliable and loyal based on my duties and towards my leaders (Ciulla, 2014).

How ethical will you be in your workplace and as a citizen?

To observe ethics at my place of work, I will ensure to be honest to the duty assigned to me by performing to the expectation (Ciulla, 2014). By being honest, the organization shall attain the expected out of the workers thus making the organization successful.

Discussion questions

There exists a conflict between development of an economy and environmental sustainability (Great Britain, 2004). Economic development led to environmental decline and this cannot be sustained forever. Economists argue that the growth rates of the economic activities may not continue indefinitely on a planet with limited resources with less capacity to deal with pollution. Additionally, in striving to ensure economic development, the environment is being affected.

The role of ethics in environmental sustainability is to address the global problems that are affecting the environment and at the same time ensuring economic development (Great Britain, 2004). The role of ethics here is to ensure economic progress with environmental conservation put into consideration.

References

Great Britain., & Great Britain. (2004). The sustainable development strategy: Illusion or reality?. London: Stationery Office.

Ciulla, J. B. (2014). Ethics, the heart of leadership.

Unit 2 discussion

Response 2

Hello class

 The corporation is one of the best financial services to a number of global clients who have over estimated 200 billion in terms of asset and more so in the market capitalization by 2014. The way they envisioned their statements is another exemplary things they have learned and still guard as their pride to prosperity. The company is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina indeed mission statements are not just mere writings to be memorized but also to be acted upon and the significance of it given more efforts it deserves (Pearce & Robinson, 2015). Nonetheless, they have been cons to this and equally pros too, they are capable of shaping all organizations cutting across profitable and nonprofit organizations. The one big advantage of BB&T is that it makes the company personnel feel like they are at liberty to diversify what they got and well skilled for alongside with the classic mission statement. The building blocks outlined in the philosophy of the corporation is a sure way of shaping success in any company. That is one of the importance that cannot go unnoticed (Pearce & Robinson, 2015). Adhering to these very values will cast a shadow of success not only to the company but to the individual employees who are part of the company products too.

BB&T has a value driven organization, it is arguably one of the very few financial institutions who have clearly demarcated vision and mission statement we have in America. For the longest time thy have relentlessly maintained their stated values and for that reason, each and every employee is familiarized with the company goals being reflected in the mission statement. The commitment to clients, personnel and stakeholders is real however, it could have been better for the management to always embrace ethicality at all levels. Sometimes it may be crazy to achieve some things but with persistence and order, you will surprise those who thought otherwise. At the top notch of the corporation is to make a better universe to live by in regards to being vibrant economic and financial shapers (Pearce & Robinson, 2015). By tagging along developing each other and finally gaining moment in terms of work fulfillment BB&T would have to face the right side. Similarly, employees who are valued by their company and they are aware of the significance of them being at job and side effects of them not actively participating in company growth.

Reference

Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2013). Strategic management: Planning for domestic & global competition (13th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

The deal between Renault/Nissan and Samsung Motors Inc. (SMI) announced in April 2000 and still functioning today.

Part 1

On 21 April, 2000 Renault an automaker based in France came to an agreement to acquire Samsung Motors based in South Korea which was its second major acquisition in Asia for that Year. Renault which had acquired 37percent share of Nissan hoped that by taking over Samsung Motors it could be able to challenge the South Korea market leader, Hyundai, by securing 10 to 15 percent of the automobile market in the nation (Tagliabue, 2002).

The micro-economic environmental factors that affect any organisation include the competition, the suppliers, customers, marketing intermediaries and the creditors. The micro environmental factor that affected the Samsung Motors was the creditors (Marrewij, 2007). The company had been unable to pay its debts and thus became insolvent and its management was undertaken by the creditors. Thus the creditors had to come to an agreement with Renault Automaker so that it they would pay the debt burden. The insolvency of this company presented an opportunity for Renault Company to find its footing in the Asian market and more so in the South Korean market (Tagliabue, 2002). As opposed to buying a company that is a competitor or one that is regionally close, which normally consume a lot of time and is capital intensive, buying such a company out of insolvency is a faster alternative that gives an optimum price (Roberts, Wallace & Moles 2012). The interest in acquiring insolvent company arises from the fact that restructuring it and a going concern is a central to the statutory framework. The stakeholders more so the customers and the employees are aware of it and become involved in the process and this will largely lead to reduction of any possible damage to the image of the company. The takeover may also be aimed at ensuring maximum satisfaction of the claims by the creditors and also maintaining the same workforce in the company (Roberts et. al 2012). The other micro-economic factor is the competition in the market. The competitive environment dictates that no company enjoy monopoly. Each company will encounter competition in form of other differentiated products in the same industry that is brand competition (MOTIS, 2007). Thus the Renault Company used the acquisition agreement as a strategy to enter the South Korean market which is largely controlled by the Hyundai Motors. The acquisition was aimed at enabling the Renault company win over more customers. Thus its need of expansion would be arrived at quickly because of the maintenance of the same staff the acquired company and also be able to reach to new customers and segments of its products. Renault aimed at acquiring a percentage of 10-15 of the automobile market share in South Korea (Tagliabue, 2002).

The macro-economic environment includes the political, legal, cultural and economic environment. The economic environment largely affected the motor industry in the Asian market in particular the 1998 economic crisis that hit the region hard. All businesses are influenced by local or global economic factors prevailing, which determine the interest rates, fiscal policies and generally the profitability of an organisation. The prevailing economic climate or conditions determine the behaviour of the customers, organisational stakeholders and the creditors. An economy that is experiencing recession will mean that customers have low purchasing power (Marrewij, 2007). The prevailing economic crisis of 1988 made the Samsung Motor Company to run into bankruptcy and this was a major issue that lead to the acquisition. A company that is a global player has be informed on the economic conditions across the borders and should ensure that it apply a strategy that will protect and enhance its business through the prevailing economic conditions across the world. Renault Company took advantage of favourable economic conditions in South Korea which motivated it to take over the ailing Samsung motors in order to position itself in the Asian market.  The Korean market was recovering rapidly after the crisis which saw about 910,000 new vehicles being bought in the year 1999 and this represented a potential market for the French company to venture (Tagliabue, 2002. Renault Company also wanted to keep up with the market trend where Western carmakers were entering through acquisition and mergers where such companies acquired stakes into the Asian car industry mare so in Japan.  DaimlerChrysler had acquire a stake of 33 percent in the Mitsubishi and generally the past two years had seen seven of the 11 Japanese carmakers linking up with foreign partners in various levels(Tagliabue, 2002).

Part 2

A merger or acquisition refers to the combination of two companies or more into one company or corporation that is different from the previous companies. In a merger, the process involves a lot negotiation between two companies before their combination takes place (Roberts et. al 2012. The combination of Renault and Samsung Motors can be termed as mergers because the combination process involved a lot negotiations between the creditors of Samsung Motors and Renault companies. Both companies considered the merger to bring about benefits as it would result to availability of customer and commercial bases to both companies after combination. The merger will result to various complications but the available potential for synergies overshadows such challenges.  There are various rationales makes companies to merge. On such rationale is strategy. This rationale utilizes the opportunity for merging to achieve its set objectives. For instance, a company may merge with another with an aim of expanding into a lucrative market where it may lack may lack another legal way in interring into the market (Lubatkin, O’Neill, 1997). The Renault Company could not enter into the South Korean on its own since the market remained tightly closed to cars from foreign carmakers. It would have served it will to merge with a local firm that already has presence in the market. A company may be forced to merge with another unmerged company in order to gain a competitive position in that particular market or region. This scenario is likely to happen more in markets that are largely dominated by big players a good example seen the South Korean market where Hyundai control and its partners control more than 70 percent. In most cases the merge is mostly motivated by the need to respond to similar merges by competitors. This case is well explained where the merge between Renault and Samsung Motors came after various western car makers had merged with the other car makers in the Asian market and more so in the Japanese market. The other rationale for this strategy is the financial necessity. This applies where a company like Samsung Motors has found itself in a financial crisis involving bankruptcy or strategic misalignment which leads to loss of value and consequently, the loss of shareholders confidence. Another rationale for applying merging strategy is management failure.  The management strategies may include a lot of errors involving alignment or there may be significant changes in market conditions at the time given for implementation. This means a change in the direction of the company to a different objective due to change in factors such as the demands of the customers and the competitors strategies. Such cases may present a scenario where a company’s current strategy has moved off the strategy track required to address the changes and the only solution is to merge with another company that will offer the assistance required to correct the variance in the strategies (Lubatkin &’Neill 1997).

This strategy is associated with various risks. The first such risk is associated with the capital markets. Merging of companies implies diversification more so in management. When the income streams of two firms are combined, it also means there will be diversification of stockholders and an increase in unsystematic risk – which is the sensitivity of returns relative to the whole market, and it is determined by the cost of capital (Lubatkin &’Neill 1997). Different managerial styles and the control systems present a threat of layoffs arising from consolidation of similar departments, differences in compensation and the rules imposed on the acquired firm may bring about inefficiencies that contradict the benefits of the merger. The strategy may also face an integration risk where incorporating the operations of the merging firms may prove to be a difficult task due to the resulting new company inability to attain the desired objective of cost-saving from economies of scale and synergies.  Another risk is the possibility of culture clash between the two merging companies. The conflict of cultures and personality clashes may derail the performance of the new company. If the cultures of the two companies are incompatible due to management practices causing conflicting behaviour, there is the risk of losing the best employees, the integration period may become prolonged and messy and the company may finally fail to capture the value of the merger and synergies (Chui, 2011).

Part 3

Integration of culture is considered to be a development of a meaning that is jointly shared which enhance co-operation between the firms that are being joined.  If cultural clashes still exist between two joining firms, it means the cultural integration has not been well achieved.  This integration should reduce collective resistance by creating mutual consideration, developing a common language as well as a better understanding of on another.  Without acculturation being created between the two firms, there are minimal chances of merger and acquisition to be a success (Zhang, 2010). Compatibility of different cultures between Renault and Samsung motors imply that there was cultural similarity. For the merger to be successful, the decision makers should identify a potential partner that represents a match of both strategy and culture. The corporate culture and the national culture are more likely than not to affect the performance of the newly formed company. The corporate culture can be explained in three ways which include: the way an organisation deals with its customers, the manner in which employees treat each other and the way in which the managers and leaders in an organisation develop, reward or motivate the employees. The most noticeable attributes of   corporate culture includes aspects such as manner of dressing, relationship between people, how customer queries and complaints are responded to, and the way employees view their performances. These aspects help to identify the behaviour patterns that usually make up the corporate culture.

Corporate culture is seen as a make or break issue after the merging of companies because culture to a firm is what personality is to a person. Thus if corporate culture is poorly considered it can lead to failure of the merger (Pascal, 1999).  Renault Samsung experienced a sales increase of 70 percent in the first seven months of the after merging of Samsung Motors and Renault as compared to the same period of the previous year. The chief executive of the company Jean Hurtiger attributed this success to the maintenance and the use of corporate culture and the heritage of the Korea. Renault Samsung had become a multinational company that combined the 112 years of France’s Renault history, the technological capabilities of Nissan and Samsung motors of South Korea.  The management of different cultures after merging can thus be used as a system that an organisation uses to select the general patterns, solve the conflict that may arise, in conversion of negative factors to make them positive and obtain the value of synergy arising from the culture after the merger (Deloitte, 2009).  The fundamental principle of this culture management is to respect and understand the other culture, acknowledge the significance of good communication and adapt to any changes. The firm should integrate its culture with strategic significance and this is effectively done through communication. Synergy can be achieved if the subsidiary company is treated like an independent company that makes its decisions according the circumstances prevailing locally. Thus the local culture is respected and the employees of the company are recruited locally. However the best model that seems to have worked well for Renault Samsung is integration of both cultures.  As pointed out by the Chief Executive, the multinational aspect of this company does not refer to the country it originated from but to its unique culture formed by bringing together cultures and management that are different.  It involved a combination of the human resources of high quality that existed in Samsung Motors, the management practices of Renault which was very innovative and, as previously noted, technological competitiveness of Nissan Company (He-Suk, 2010). The company noted that by combining these competitive aspects coming from the three sources, it managed to attain a quality that was leading in the industry, the relations labour management became smooth which resulted to a 10 year rapid growth.  Another culture that arose after the merge is that Renault Samsung does not have any labour union, but an organisation that serves as a representative of employees which became an advantage to it.  Unlike other car making companies that are locally based, some of whom experience strikes almost annually, Renault Samsung has managed to avoid disputes relating to labour such that its employees have not engaged in any form of industrial action since the new company emerged in the year 2000. It went further to receive the Prime minister’s award for coming up with a model that used a new culture in the management of labour (He-Suk, 2010).

Although the integration of tasks and the social –cultural combination are different conceptually, none is independent of the other.    The factors in integration of the socio-cultural aspects like employees’ commitment, shared identity and trust help in transferring the strategic capabilities and the sharing of resources. A successful integration of both nation and corporate cultures facilitate satisfaction of employees, the quality of interpersonal relationship between employees of combining firms which will translate to better performance of an organisation (Deloitte, 2009).

Part 4

The movement of foreign exchange rates can have a significant effect on the how mergers flows internationally. In the cross border markets of the world, a strong relationship exist between currencies and the capital markets, and the relationship is seen in the acquisition deals done and the stock markets. The conditions of the currency market are also closely related to the capital markets. Movements or variations in the rate of exchange can make the firms of a country to become cheaper or more expensive to bigger firms from other countries that are willing to buy those (Bruner & Bruner, 2004). However, conventional  analysis of economies argue that in as global market that is highly integrated , the assets real returns on assets will be normally equal across the said countries. According to Stein and Froot (1997) there is a link between the changes in currencies and the buyers’ wealth, in that countries that whose financial situations are good due to their strong currencies will attempt to initiate direct foreign investments.  The thus found that there is a strong relationship between foreign direct investments and the movement of the exchange rate. Ravenscraft and Harries (1991) also argued that there exist a strong relationship between the variations of exchange rate and effects of announcement of cross-border acquisition. This implies that firms in countries with substantially strong currencies are likely to go for acquisition of firms in countries whose currencies have not appreciated much (Bruner & Bruner, 2004).

This case is clearly seen in the deal between Renault and Samsung motors where Renault originating from France, a country with stronger currency targeted acquisition of Samsung motors which originates from South Korea which was among the countries whose economies were greatly hit by the 1998 Asia economic crises and whose currency was weaker. This made the acquisition relatively affordable to Renault. The stronger currency also meant that Renault had a higher value relatively than Samsung Motors. Another aspect is that debt which is denominated on the basis of the target firm is quite attractive to the acquiring firm since it is cheaper. The bid by Renault valued Samsung Motors at ataW620 billion which was well below what the creditors of Samsung motors had anticipated, a value of W1.1 trillion (Tagliabue, 2002). Thus, the deal turned out to be a good for Renault but not so good for the Samsung motors creditor. The creditors had realised that if they lost this buyer they were unlikely to get another one. This was a good gamble for Renault Company since it only had to initially offer 78% of the funds. The variation in currencies between the countries of the two firms had a huge advantage on the Renault put of the deal.  In terms of the debt, Renault did not have much to lose unlike the Samsung creditors. If Samsung did not make any money it would lose a lot in terms debts owed to creditors while Renault would only lose W85 (Tagliabue, 2002).

References

Bruner, R. F., & Bruner, R. F. (2004). Applied mergers and acquisitions.107

Chui, B (2011).A Risk Management Model for Merger and Acquisition. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, Vol. 3, No. 2

Deloitte, (2009). Cultural issues in mergers and acquisitions; Perspectives on the people side of M&A.1-6

 He-Suk, C. (2010).Mixture of cultures at Renault Samsung hones competitiveness. The Korean Herald. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/user.HOME/Downloads/Mixture%20of%20cultures%20at%20Renault%20Samsung%20hones%20competitiveness.html

Lubatkin, M. O’Neill, H (1997). Merger strategies and capital market risk. University of Connecticut. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 30. (4), 665-684

 Marrewij, C. (2007). Macroeconomic Determinants of Cross-Border. Mergers and Acquisition. Tinbergen Institute and Erasmus University Rotterdam.13-49

MOTIS, J. (2007).Mergers and Acquisitions Motives.  University of Crete.10-18.

Pascal Clerc (1999). Managing the Cultural Issue of Merger and Acquisition. The Renault-Nissan case.

Roberts, A., Wallace, W., Moles, P. (2012).Mergers and Acquisitions. Heriot-Watt University.13-46

Tagliabue, J. (2002).Renault Agrees to Buy Troubled Samsung Motors of Korea. International business .New York Times. 1. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/user.HOME/Downloads/INTERNATIONAL%20BUSINESS%20-%20Renault%20Agrees%20to%20Buy%20Troubled%20Samsung%20Motors%20of%20Korea%20-%20NYTimes.com.html

Zhang, R.(2010) .Cultural Integration in Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions.10-22

The new Sparta smart watch.

After keenly observing and evaluating the current market, the new Sparta Watch will be introduced. Many of the people who buy fashion watches which are branded are between 18 and 38 years of age. This will be the target market for this watch. The new product will be innovative and its marketing will involve extensive advertising, and wide distribution so as to reach the target market and fetch as much revenue as possible. The product will be launched with a penetrative price of $45 and will be targeting to gain a market share of 5 percent initially. The wide distribution will be aimed at having a constant growth in the market and more so ensure that the expected impulse buying by fashion lovers is attained.

The Sparta watch has stronger benefits than the current markets being offered in the market. To achieve the set objective the new product will offer unique features in terms of variety in design, and will use an android operating system that will have an enhanced network connection and the capability get social media notification and this will better than the available watches in the market. The smart watch application will consist of sensors and smaller screen. This an opportunity to explore since very few to no smartwatches in the market can offer such features simultaneously at a very low cost. The general aim is to provide consumer watches and that can also add up as an industrial timing device. It will be based high skills in making of timing movements of high quality and casings made of coated metal or plastic casings. It will be made of different varieties for men and women in terms of design with different colours and appearance.

The market will directly compete with other branded watches on in fashion but the unexploited market for watches noted after the market analysis. After the analysis, the buyers who are over 38 years bought less than 45 percent of the fashion watches that are branded. The largest purchase frequency was observed in the age bracket of 25 -30 years who buy 70 percent more watches that the average buyers. Thus this group will be categorised in one segment and the advertisement efforts will be directed more to this group who normally have a higher purchasing power than the rest. The purchasing pattern is also expected to be different among various genders. The young women in the age bracket of between 18-30 years will be expected to purchase more intensely and thus will be considered to be a different segment. This is a group which is likely to be very style conscious. The female in the bracket age of between 31- 38 years will be considered to be a different segment , it will be the second most important segment since it is expected to purchase more of the new product than any other age- gender segment.  The pattern of purchase also showed that men tend to buy more similar manner and so this group was in a single segment.

This branded smart watch is expected to outperform most of the competitors in a 5 years’ time. Though there are 12 competitors who concentrate the market, the new Sparta watch is aimed at attaining more than 50 percent market share within a period of five years. The strength of the product will be the new innovative features shown in the product design and our experience in distribution of other electronic products. The only weakness that need to be overcome is lack of experience in distributing products in jewellery stores (Kyaw, 2015). This will be overcoming by using our experience in distributing other fashion electronics.

Security, privacy, ethical and legal issues related to digital information world and marketing.

There have been a rapid growth in the internet and the World Wide Web into something that involve a lot of people. Most of the issues arising from the internet use results due to the fact that it is shared  among the services providers , the users and others such that the there is a dependence on each person on another. The difference in this kind of sharing is determined by ones character, expectation for others and their own activities. Privacy is one of the most important aspect in security of information. This issue arises out of  many cases of firms that collect, sell or swap information like a sellable commodity. The ability to gather information, combine various facts coming from different sources and join it with other data has brought about databases that could not be previously set up. This is despite existence of laws that task the information carriers, in this case the organisation processing data, the responsibility to guard the confidentiality of information obtained from customers (Sojer, Alexy, Kleinknecht, & Henkel, 2014). The other security issue is identity theft that occurs where such information for personal identification like credit card number is used to commit fraudulent activities and associated crimes. Ethical matters in digital marketing relates to e-commerce. E-commerce on the other hand relates to issues web tracking and also the privacy of customers. Marketing firms can track the movements of an individual through a scrutiny of cookies and soft wares used for tracking. Programs like cookies cause a lot of privacy concerns. The end users may install cookie cutters and related programs to somehow control the cookies. Privacy issue may relate an employee of a firm tracking a buyer’s information on their electronic systems of payments. A firm may install monitoring systems in their computer systems to check on the activity of employees that may be malicious (Sojer et. al 2014).

Some ethical and legal issues resulting from e-marketing concerns the self-regulation. They are centred on the role played by formal as compared to how free market operates. This issue is whether the private firms are able to introduce self-regulation measures and solve problems relating to customers’ privacy violation. The firm may lack the incentive to instil self-regulation or such regulations may be insufficient in deterring violation of privacy. Another ethical issue involve online marketing firms using recorded streams of user ticks to develop the profile of users for purposes of marketing. A challenge presented by digital information on marketing ethics is intellectual property ownership, the freedom to express oneself and collection of data relating to underage children. Another unethical business practice is using spamming as a means of advertisement. When it is used in this manner, a message is sent to a lot of interest groups or newsgroups which are not related to the ad.  There is also the issue of spoofing that involve using websites or email to impersonate corporations or individuals (Carpenter, 2013).

References

Kyaw, H. (2015).Marketing Proposal and Strategy for New Xiaomi Product.6-12

Sojer, M., Alexy, O., Kleinknecht, S., & Henkel, J. (2014). Understanding the Drivers of Unethical Programming Behavior: The Inappropriate Reuse of Internet-Accessible Code. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 31(3), 287-325. Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=abd9c040-64d0-4c06-a4d6-735b49b3797e%40sessionmgr104&hid=122

Carpenter, K (2013).Ethical Issues of Online Advertising and Privacy: University of Tennessee Chattanooga.2-9.

Work Place Ethics

Introduction

            Ethics and personal behavior in the work place are very crucial in the employment contract. This is because the two factors are very significant in ensuring the profitability of an organization (Ferrell et al, 2010). It is vital to note that just as performance, motivation and team work are critical to ensure the success of an organization; these two factors ensure that a company is up and running. Every organization has a set of rules and regulation and a code of conduct that all employees must conform to and are handed out especially in the personnel handbooks (Icheku, 2011). Creating an ethical culture in the work place is of great significance as it ensures integrity and loyalty to the customers and to the organization itself.

Case scenario

            In this case, there is lack of workplace ethics and behavior. This is because the fact that the figures in the invoices are higher than usual; then it means that there is presence of fraudulent activities. It is also evident that the number of invoices is more than the usual number. This explains that there have been transactions that have been carried out without the knowledge of the office manager. In this case the company manager can be said to be working out of his job specifications when purchasing products. In this case the office manager is not able to report such fraudulent activities to the people necessary because there are no provisions for such. This then means that if the issue is not reported he will be deemed responsible for all those transactions and answer to the board of directs. It is also possible that he may lose his place at the company if he reveals the same; however, the principles of ethics require him to report the occurrence.

Ethical decision making

            It is vital to note that there are various principle in the ethical decision making process. The greatest approach in the process of decision making is considering the impact of the decision to the decision maker (Icheku, 2011). This will show the manner in which the decision that is to be taken will affect the employees and the organization as a whole. Once the understanding of the decision is achieved then it gives a better plat form to carry out the decision (Icheku, 2011). It is also critical to note that before a decision is made, one has to research the facts that face that decision. In this stage consultation is key in order to avoid making biased decisions (Icheku, 2011).

• Self interest

            This is one of the key principles in ethical process of decision making.  In this case the moral authority is determined by an individual or the culture if that individual (Dolgoff et al, 2012). This is to mean that an act can be deemed to be morally right if it serves the interests and needs of the individual. This is in most cases done in cases where there is the authoritative style of leadership (Dolgoff et al, 2012). The opinions of others especially the employees do not matter as long as the management is contended.

            This can also be explained as determined the moral aspect of an act in relation to social culture. This principle is very efficient in cases where all the staff in a particular organization is from the same culture and identify with the same beliefs (Ferrell et al, 2010). This principle is disadvantageous in multi cultured organizations because truth, justice and rights are denied to people from a different culture. This is because what is termed to be morally right in one culture may not be morally right in another.

• Utilitarianism

            In this case the moral authority of an act is determined that the consequences that follow this act. This is to mean any act that that has more benefits than costs is termed to be morally right (Ferrell et al, 2010). This is a principle that is very practical in cases where there are limited or fixed resources. In business, this aids in decision making to ensure the common good for the company. In most cases, this objective is normally quantified numerically in terms of profits and losses to mean that any decision that would bring in profits is more preferred than that which will make losses (Ferrell et al, 2010).

            This principle’s main objective is profits without caring the process in which these benefit are made. This can be seen in forms of leadership where the management is only concerned with profits and results (Ferrell et al, 2010). Most utilitarian’s explain the benefits and risks as contentment of preferences where the financial benefits and more than the financial costs.

• Universalism

            This principle explains that moral authority is accorded to the extent in which the intention will treat all people involved with respect (Werhane, 2013). In this case all people are treated the same and accorded equal respect; this is to mean that there are exceptions or special cases. In this principle the interests of the people involved are considered as a priority (Werhane, 2013).

             This principle helps to ensure that objectives are morally sound and also focuses on the motive of the decision maker allowing them to practice respect for all people (Werhane, 2013). Critiques explain that this principle lacks the practical usefulness and effectiveness especially in companies whose sole purpose is to make profits (Werhane, 2013). It can also bring about conflict in cases where there is question about the decision that brings more respect to people.

• Human rights

            These are the entitlements that people receive at birth. These are in most cases concerned with issues pertaining life, health, choice and self-respect. In this case the moral authority is determined by the rights that are accorded to people (Icheku, 2011).  It is vital to note that rights take precedence over the utilitarian principle. This is because the dignity of human beings and esteem are deemed as to be of much good.

            Most businesses tend to sway along with the utilitarian principle; however, the top management of any business is always aware that for any decision that is made, the rights of the people must override (Icheku, 2011). Nevertheless, it is also critical to note that some people may ride in advocating human rights with an aim of attaining selfish interest.

• Fairness and equality

            This principle allows for cases where the moral authority is established when resources such as material goods and opportunities are equally distributed to all people (Icheku, 2011). This principle is one that provides national foundation of justice in many countries. In business, this principle has much weight on the aspect of hiring because anyone that is qualified has a right to work (Icheku, 2011). However, in cases of profit making companies this principle has no much effect because the general good is for the growth and development of the company.

            In this case the CEO of the company needs to be reported because the interests in selfish and personal gain. It is evident that the actions do not by any way improve the company. According to the principle of the utilitarianism process of decision making, the sole objective is to benefit the company (Ferrell et al, 2010). In this case the costs are more than the benefits then to mean that this principle has not been applied. The scenario is also devoid of the universalism principle because the office manager in this case is not being treated fairly. The principle demands that all people should be accorded respect (Ferrell et al, 2010). In this case the office manager is responsible of paying the invoices and not the CEO. This also affects the integrity of the company’s CEO due to the cases of dishonesty in dealing with the purchases. It is also evident that accountability is lacking in the organization. This is because accountability is what allows people to be upright in relation to work ethics. It is vital to note that people who portray the attribute of accountability are normally honest which is not shown in the company.

Conclusion

            From the above information it is vital to note that decision are a critical part of any organization and therefore should be taken seriously. The process of ethical decision making process is also significant in making healthy and informed decisions. However, the principles of this process may vary from one company to another depending on the objectives and purpose of the organization.

References

Top of Form

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2010). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and     cases : 2009 update. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Icheku, V. (2011). Understanding ethics and ethical decision-making: Case studies and   discussions. Xlibris.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Werhane, P. H. (2013). Obstacles to ethical decision-making: Mental models, Milgram and the    problem of obedience.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Dolgoff, R., Harrington, D., & Loewenberg, F. M. (2012). Ethical decisions for social work         practice. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Bottom of Form

Deal Between Renault Nissan and Samsung Motors

Renault Nissan

            The Renault Nissan coalition is an automobile company with partnership between France and Japanese. The Renault automobiles are based in Paris and France whereas the Nissan are based in Japan (Loska, 2013). It is vital to note that these two companies have been strategic partners since the year 1999. The coalition has approximately 460,000 employees and has over eight major brands all over the country. Statistics state that the company sold over 8.5 million auto mobiles all around the world in the year 2013 (Loska, 2013). It is evident that as at the end of the year 2015 the coalition was the world’s leading manufacturer of electric vehicles. Statistics state that they had sold over 300,000 electric vehicles (Loska, 2013).

            It is vital to note that the coalition between Renault and Nissan cannot be termed as a merger or an acquisition. This is because the two organizations came together as a result of a cross sharing concord and union (Peng, 2009). This formation and make up was exclusive especially in the automobile industry in the early 1990s combination tendency and with time served as a replica for the general motors and Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Peugeot, and Volkswagen and Suzuki. The coalition has tremendously grown to a point where it has made additional associations with other companies in the auto mobile industry (Loska, 2013).

            As discussed above, the coalition is a tactical and planned partnership and due to the significant shareholding speculations; each company has a financial interest on the other (Smith, 2010). Despite that, it is clear that each company has been maintaining individual products and brand name and independent business cultures. Economists state that Renault has 44.3% stake in Nissan Company, while the Nissan Company has a 15% stake in Renault (Smith, 2010). It is evident that many companies in the United States have taken the same terms of coalition, however, many reporters state that if only the two companies made a merge then that would be a bold move in the automotive industry (Smith, 2010).

Samsung automotive

            The Samsung Company is renowned to have been developing camera type of cars since the year 2006 ad has exported its products to countries from all around the globe since the year 2013 (Gruppe, 2010). The company has made it sure that it has the technological capabilities to grow from the development of camera components for cars such as lenses and sensors to the mass production of these elements. It is vital to note that the company is more specified into manufacturing electronic components for the autonomous vehicles (Gruppe, 2010). It is evident that the company is the only one that possesses the latest technology for the manufacture of such elements as they have become much sophisticated as days go by.

            It is vital to note that the automotive industry is now getting into the era of vehicles that are defined from software. This is to mean that the automotive software and the hardware competences will in time become one of the most urbane and complicated platforms (Gruppe, 2010). This is to mean that with time the automotives will not only have complex software but will also have the ability to communicate with one another and also with other forms of infrastructure (Gruppe, 2010). This is one of the major visions of the Samsung automotive company. It is evident that the company had very high sales in terms of smart phones and the venture into automotive modules is an aspect of growth and development (Gruppe, 2010).

Renault Samsung automotive company

            The French manufacture of automotives is the first organization to venture into the South Korean market and buy Samsung Company (Peng, 2009). This acquisition happened in April 2000 immediately after the Asian financial crisis. The Samsung Company first became a subsidiary of the Renault Company and also bore its name. However, Samsung has a minority ownership (Peng, 2009). The Renault Samsung motors has various products including different models of cars, electric vehicles and other crossovers. The negations between Samsung and Renault began by the end of 1998 and by September 2000, Renault had bought 70% stake of the Samsung Company (Peng, 2009). One of the major reasons as to why, Renault bought Samsung was because Samsung had prior financial assistance from Nissan and by the time the Asian crisis took place, Renault were the major stake holders of Nissan (Peng, 2009).

            After the acquisition the results of the company began to improve in terms of sales and revenue. The company later became an export manufacturing company (Stahl & Mendenhall, 2005). Some of their markets were in Europe, Russia, Mexico, and Ukraine among other countries. In the year2005, the Renault Company increased its stake by 10% and in 2009 the two companies agreed to use the brand name Samsung until the year 2020 (Gruppe, 2010).

            It is vital to note that there was a lot of pressure from competitors in the South Korean market; Hyundai and Kia as they were the dominant automotive companies (Stahl & Mendenhall, 2005). Reduction of sales was highly experienced in the year 2010 pushing the Renault Samsung motors sales down by 2.9%. The declining trend was experienced also in the following years by a percentage of 43% and this also affected the employees and caused a reduction by 65% (Stahl & Mendenhall, 2005). In order for the company to increase their sales, they invested $160 million in exporting some of its products like the Nissan Rogue and also to better the production levels. By the year 2015 the total sales in the South Korean market increased up to 1.5 million items and since then the company has been modifying some of its products in order to fetch markets in the world market. It is vital to note that the company manufactures over 300,000 cars annually in different models.

            Statistics state that the demand for the Renault Samsung motors has greatly increased especially in the unite states. This can be seen from the fact in which the company was asked to increase the production of the Rogue sport by approximately 300,000 units to be sold in the states (Aras & Crowther, 2009). As a result of this, the company’s plant that handles this model of car is expected to increase the production output by 12% (Aras & Crowther, 2009). This has enabled the company to be among the leading companies in terms of revenue. It also has a positive effect o the economy of the country. The company has helped the country to have a high gross domestic product even due to its exports to other countries (Aras & Crowther, 2009). This has caused the government to favor the company and help to ensure that is the dominant automotive manufacturer company.

            It is vital to note that the deal between the Renault and Samsung companies have increased job security for the employees due to the increased production rates (Stahl & Mendenhall, 2005). It also boosted the local companies that provided spare parts by enabling then to expand their facilities and their human resources (Stahl & Mendenhall, 2005). The increase in production has also helped to increase the rate of employment as many individuals are securing job opportunities in the different plants.

            It is evident that Renault Samsung motors is a company that owns approximately 70% of its networks and are owned by the employees (Loska, 2013). This is done in order to ensure that the company is a going concern and also to enhance growth and development. It is vital to note that the acquisition of Samsung motors helped the company to improve on their design and automotive development. The Renault Samsung motors is aimed at attaining 15% of the market share and also to ensure a noteworthy and a lasting presence in the South Korean market (Loska, 2013). It is also vital to note that the company is aimed at providing customer satisfaction and also ensure that they are leading in the competitive market from all around the globe. The company has been able to attract numerous customers by the fact that the provide quality service and network (Loska, 2013). Most of their products especially the SP5 is very prestigious in terms of styling and therefore attractive and appealing to the south Korean customers. The interior of the automotive is also made of quality products; it is irreprehensible and perfect with the unique handling and comfort. This is one of the models that have enabled the company to stay ahead in terms of competition (Smith, 2010). The products help to create a good corporate image of the company to other countries when their products are exported. The company looks forward to being the Renault’s focal point in Asia and also to improve their products thus allowing the growth and development across Asia (Smith, 2010).

            There various reasons as to why Renault came together with Samsung motors. One of the key issues is the fact that Samsung motor company was facing closure after the Asian financial crisis (Fitsell et al, 2007). This is to mean that they needed financial assistance. As state above, the company had sought assistance from Nissan in order to cater for its expenses in growth and development. With time, Nissan and Renault came together with Renault having the bigger percent of stakes to mean that they were the major owners of Nissan (Fitsell et al, 2007). As a result of this, the Samsung Company was purchased by Renault on behalf of Nissan. It is also evident that Samsung is a leading manufacturer of automotive components and therefore Renault took advantage of this. This ensured that Renault Samsung motors was able to manufacture automotives while Samsung manufactured the software and hardware required. This helped to ensure that the cost of production had gone down (Fitsell et al, 2007). As a result of this, the merger enabled the companies to make increased profits and also increased the market share.

            It is evident that Samsung is renowned for manufacture of electric and electrical appliances and this brought about a good corporate image (Aras & Crowther, 2009). This was advantageous to Renault as it would help to build its own corporate image. This can be seen by the fact that the mergers agreed that the brands of the companies would bear the brand name of Samsung until the year 2020. It is also critical to note that the two companies merged as contenders (Aras & Crowther, 2009). This is to mean that they were competitors in the market and therefore this ensured that they both have competitive advantage over other companies in the same industry. The two companies built up each other; this can be seen by the fact that the companies were from different geographical locations and the merging created market for them. For instance Renault is a French company that sought its market share in South Korea (Aras & Crowther, 2009).  Samsung Company also had preference for Renault and not other companies due to its image to customers. This therefore meant that the coalition would be of benefit to both the two companies. The acquisition of Samsung was also an advantage to the automotive industry that was crumbling down (Aras & Crowther, 2009). This was because the Samsung Company did not have the ability to run on its own and therefore the merger created a future for the automotive industry in South Korea. Some of the major weaknesses that Samsung was facing before the acquisition were lack of profit orientation, minimized number of customers, weak cross functional lines, lack of a sense of urgency and lack of long term plans (Aras & Crowther, 2009). Some of the strengths that the company brought along to Renault Samsung were global reach, advanced products in technology, leading manufacturing systems and increased market share.

            It is clear that the main aim of the acquisition was increased profits and revenue, growth and development in automotive design, and being the lead in the automotive industry (Yu & Lee, 2002). From the information provided, it is clear that the acquisition led to increase in productivity. Sales and marketing was also improved due to the fact that Renault had very strong dealers while Samsung had the opposite (Yu & Lee, 2002). The acquisition brought a balance in the sales thus maximizing profit.

The association between Renault and Samsung can be termed as a limited Liability corporation. It is vital to note that this type of corporation has a blend between the partnership and corporate structures of governance (Yu & Lee, 2002). This can be seen by the fact that Renault has bought a larger percent of Samsung; however, Samsung experiences minority ownership. In the United States this form of corporation is the form of partnership for many companies (Yu & Lee, 2002). This form of partnership is more advantageous than any other type of corporation because it is well suited with companies with majority and minority ownership.

            This limited liability company has both characteristics of a corporation and sole proprietorship because there are several owners. However, the extent to which the owner owns the company is what determines the level of involvement in processes such as decision making. It is also evident that associations in the limited liability company follow written down agreements as for the case of the Renault and Samsung companies (Yu & Lee, 2002). It is clear that the two companies wrote an agreement that the two companies would use the brand name for Samsung for a particular period of time.  It is also clear that this form of association is mostly for companies that have mutual benefit from one another. His can be seen from the mutual relationship between these two companies (Yu & Lee, 2002). It is evident that Samsung has been providing software components for the company whereas Renault has been financing Samsung since the Asian crisis.

            It is also evident that such associations allow taxation on the partnership and therefore the members included share the taxes all together. This allows for effective distribution of profits and losses in relation to the percentage of ownership (Fitsell et al, 2007). There are various risks associated with this form of association including liquidity risks and credit risks. However, the two companies have been able to correlate very well and major on the maximization of profit (Fitsell et al, 2007).

            It is vital to note that when powerful companies merge or form a coalition, they are faced with the challenge of ensuring that they are committed to ensuring that the venture is successful (Fitsell et al, 2007). The corporate culture that is built between Renault and Samsung is the reason behind their success. This is because of all ten cars that are sold all around the globe two of them belong to the alliance (Fitsell et al, 2007). It is also evident that the association has increased the financial stability of the two companies. The culture of each company is protected by both because the success of one company depends on the other. In this case the coalition requires performance on both companies (Fitsell et al, 2007).

            According to experts, joint business ventures are undertaken depending on the facts that brought the alliance together. This is to mean that they are no analytical discussions concerning the blending of the corporate cultures of the different companies (Gruppe, 2010). This is because the objectives tend to be blending the cultures easily. It is also critical to note that the information between these two companies is shared effectively in order to reduce competition from other companies in the same industry. This is because there is limited competition between Samsung and Renault and therefore they work as one (Gruppe, 2010).

            This alliance has enabled and ensured the successful marketing of their products all over the world due to the brand names. The strong corporate culture between the companies also ensures that there is long term certainty of the coalition (Gruppe, 2010). The alliance between the two companies invested $176 million in production of products that would be sold in the American market. This was done in order to take advantage of the favorable exchange rates in Korea and also the agreement (Smith, 2010). In the year 2014, it is evident that the company experienced a decline in the amounts of revenue to the decreased rate of the Euro. As a result of this the sales reduced by 5.1% as a result of the exchange rates. This brings into the play aspect of the movement in the exchange rates. It can be said that this movement was both of advantage to the companies because where the exchange rates were higher the sales were higher and vice versa (Smith, 2010). This movement also allowed to the exportation of the products.

Conclusion

            The alliance between Samsung and Renault was for the good of the automotive market. This clearly shows that they created a large market for the automotive industry especially in South Korea. It is also evident that these two companies ensured that they have competitive advantage over other manufacturers in the same industry.

References

Aras, G., & Crowther, D. (2009). Global perspectives on corporate governance and CSR.            Farnham: Gower.

Fitsell, T., Williams, R., & Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. (2007). HSBC's guide             to cash and treasury management in Asia Pacific 2008. Hong Kong: PPP Co. Ltd.

Gruppe, B. (2010). Samsung: Samsung group, Samsung S5, Samsung Sm3, Bada, Renault           Samsung motors, Liste Der Samsung – mobitelefone, Omnia. General books.

Loska, T. (2013). Strategic alliances: The renault & nissan alliance- celebrating 10 years of        synergies. Place of publication not identified: Grin Verlag.

Peng, M. W. (2009). Global strategy. Mason, Ohio: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Smith, R. (2010). Alpine & Renault: The sports prototypes 1973-1978. Dorchester, Dorset,           England: Veloce Pub.

Stahl, G. K., & Mendenhall, M. E. (2005). Mergers and acquisitions: Managing culture and        human resources. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Business Books.

Yu, C., & Lee, K.-W. (2002). Introduction to international studies. Seoul, Korea: Ewha Womans             University Press.

Part-timers benefits

It is with great concern that the number of part-time employees is growing at a faster rate than ever before in the CPA firms. This has ignited a lot of questions on whether the part-time workers should offer the employee benefits or not (The Balser Group, 2013). Offering those benefits brings a competitive advantage while on the other hand it comes with a responsibility of high cost of maintenance. In order to determine whether the part-time workers should enjoy the benefits or not, there are several factors that need to be carefully considered in order to maintain a balanced recruitment needs against a tight budget before it. These factors are discussed below in our efforts to assist Alan in making a wise decision (Fulton-Calkins, Rankin & Shumack, 2011).

One of the factors is the size of the firm. This strategy will favor small firms since it gives the small firm a competitive advantage over the large firms. Large firms are less flexible majorly when it comes to getting hold of top-notch employees (Fulton-Calkins, Rankin & Shumack, 2011). When the part-timers are encouraged, they may end up joining the full-time workers hence motivating all the workers at large (Lincolnshire, 1985).

Alan should also consider the hours within which the part-timers operate. He should set a minimum number of hours of working per week so that the benefit they shall receive is proportional to their contributions (The Balser Group, 2013). He should also put a limit of the total hours which a worker should work before they are eligible for the benefits (Montgomery & Cosgrove, 1993).

In the case of health insurance, Alan should weigh out the contribution of each worker. Alan is allowed to demand more contribution from the part time workers which is accompanied by a strict observance of their working hours. On the same knot, he should filter out specific benefits particularly for the part-time workers (Zolna, 2015). For instance if full-time are rewarded with regard to 20 hrs of working, it makes sense to provide the part-timers to reward them based on the number of hours worked.

The nature of benefits should also be considered. Alan should start off with part time benefits that are somehow easy to handle and less expensive. Some of these less expensive are flextime and telecommuting that are highly valued by the employees (Zolna, 2015). Alan should also consider free food for both full-time and part-timers. This may be backed up with small gift cards, movie tickets and restaurant certificates among others (Fulton-Calkins, Rankin & Shumack, 2011). Despite their simplicity the motivate workers to work harder and hence the company grows to a greater extent.

In my opinion, the part-time workers should be offered with the employees’ benefits both the 401(k) plan and the health insurance plan (Fulton-Calkins, Rankin & Shumack, 2011). This is because the 401(k) plan will involve contribution/s majorly from the employees whereby workers save and invest a portion of their paycheck before the taxes are out. In the case of health insurance, Alan should embrace this but within a regulated forum. For instance, he may set a minimum duration after which the part-time employees should have worked in order to enjoy the benefit.

Offering benefits to part-time workers should not be ignored because there are other gains that the company earns from the same. First it gives the company enough potential to compete with its competitors (Lincolnshire 1985). Offering benefits also attract the part-timers to work as full time workers and hence acting as a motivating factor. As much as Alan may try to offer these benefits to all workers, the specified conditions should be upheld.

Reference

Formun Üstü

The Balser Group. (2013). Mandated Benefits: 2014 Compliance Guide. Wolters Kluwer Law and Business.

Zolna, G. (2015). BENEFIT CONSIDERATIONS FOR PART-TIME, TEMPORARY AND SEASONAL EMPLOYEES. Benefits Magazine, 52(11), 42-47.

Formun Altı

Formun Üstü

Fulton-Calkins, P., Rankin, D. S., & Shumack, K. A. (2011). The administrative professional. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Formun Üstü

Montgomery, M., & Cosgrove, J. (1993). The effect of employee benefits on the demand for part-time workers. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 47(1), 87.

Formun Üstü

Lincolnshire III,  (1985)  Benefits for part-time employees. Hewitt Associates.

Formun Altı

Formun Altı

Advertisement in Pepsi Company

            Advertisement not only means public promotion but is also resonating with people’s experiencing and leads them to thoughtful consideration (Drewniany & Jewler, 2014). Any company that combines advertisements and marketing is successful. This paper will be speaking about such companies while drawing examples from one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, which is Pepsi.

             Each year the company brings famous celebrities to make advertisements on their behalf. To celebrate the monkey’s year, Pepsi made three small episodes, and Liu Xiao Ling, an actor was directly involved in the creation of such advertisements (Young, 2001). In the episode, he gives some stories from his family rarely know by people.

            The microfilm evokes memories of many people who have seen the television series of the Journey to the West which accompanied them through the golden youth thereby reminding the audience on their childhood experiences (Wu & Jenner, 2011). The advertisement has caught the attention of many people and has been of help to increase customers for the Pepsi Company. The advertisements are normally accompanied by funny pictures that normally capture the audience. An example is given of Monkey King throwing stones into a pool thus creates thousands of waves; this action touches the hearts of many viewers thus causing them to have golden memories (Wu & Jenner, 2011). This story would then be reflected into the memorable cans. The episode attracts such a powerful nostalgia through its touching story with undying themes of family duty and constancy and ideas that revolve around Chinese society (Wu & Jenner, 2011).   

            For many generations the attributes granted to the monkey King such as the duty to bring happiness was embraced by many people (Young, 2001). This is because as discussed above many people identify with the occurrences that happen for the monkey king. The advertisement showing the happy monkey memorable cans is an aspect in which the company has used to bring the happiness home to all individuals (Young, 2001). The famous stars and renowned leaders posted the photos about the memorable cans, and said bring happiness home in the year of the monkey. This acted as a point of influence for the company even to attract customers (Wu & Jenner, 2011). This created a call to people and this created an awareness of this model of advertisement. Due to the fact that these form of advertisement had become popular to most of the users, the company declared that the memorable cans would be given out as a gift to people who visit their website (Wu & Jenner, 2011).

            After the promotion period this form of advertisement had become increasingly popular especially as a result of the spring festival Gala (Young, 2001). This event has the largest audience from all around the world. This created much atrocity and scandal when they realized that the famous monkey king would be appearing at the festival (Young, 2001). This is because the star identified with their childhood as seeing him again would be an appreciation for the famous sat who managed to get into the hearts of many (Young, 2001).

            It is vital to note that not all advertisements catch people attention and emotion leading to thoughtful considerations like the Pepsi microfilm. According to Mr. Zhang, when one steps up to cast a film, their life also identifies with that. Such advertisements have been passed over generations and the aspect of evoking people’s memory has been the focal point in this advertisement (Wu & Jenner, 2011).  

Conclusion

            Strategy and content is what that makes up a good advertisement. This is to mean that companies should ensure that they pick an advertisement that is closely relevant to the theme and purpose for which it is intended. To put much emphasis, they should also touch the heart amd mind of the viewers.

References

Young, E. (2001). Monkey King. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Wu, C., & Jenner, W. J. F. (2011). Journey to the west. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

Drewniany, B. L., & Jewler, A. J. (2014). Creative strategy in advertising.

MELLON FINANCIAL

 Introduction

Mellon financial corporation is one of the largest financial management firms in the world which was founded in 1968. As the bank continued to grow, it remained to be the major driving force behind the huge majority of the mass production revolution more especially in the Midwestern U.S. Despite that one, in 2007, the bank changed its name to The Bank of New York Mellon after merging with the Bank of New York (Carlis & Ryan, 2010). This then made it to become not only the largest security servicing firm but also top ten asset managing firm in the world.

The two banks along with the State Street ended up following essentially similar evolution. All of these strategies were initially large diversified service providers for financial matters especially in any corporate banking space in all the areas where they were located. Regardless of that, extreme competitions in the corporate loans as well as the retail banking business ended up showing them a throw away of their entire daily banking operations in favor of what was perceived as being relatively more stable fee based business (Carlis & Ryan, 2010).  This is to imply that the rationale for this strategy was aimed at mutual investment management in the form of funds as well as other accounts which were separately managed.  Moreover, with the asset servicing, the aim was to offer mutual and better improved services for instance stock transfer services, corporate trust, and depository receipts.

In connection to that, the timing of their merger, 2006, was also an added advantage for their business. This is so because, regardless of the regulatory changes and other business economics of this time, the financial services industry remained to be consolidating rapidly. This then means that the alternative for this was to help the two businesses to avoid the need of looking for other partners to merge with in the near future in case they did not enter into that deal. This was also not to leave then with competitive disadvantage in case two of their large competitors would have combined.

According to Carlis & Ryan, (2010) the other benefits which were to be realized from the strategic rationale of the two parties include things like efficient back-office processing, monitoring, and control of the financial activities. This in return was to have a huge costs fixe component which would be spread over relatively higher volume hence lowering the operating costs. There joint offering of insurance services, investment and banking products would be tailored in turn to offer advanced packages designed for the purpose of meeting the needs of their customers.

Regardless of the competitive advantages that were perceived to rise as the two companies were to merge, still there were other impediments for the deal. For instance, there were constraints to be encountered especially when they required amalgamating some vital, compatible, as well as incompatible computing systems of the two financial institutions.  Moreover, the management authority had witnessed some business merging successfully, the combination of The Bank of New York and Mellon financial corporation was relatively tedious because capturing the entire value of the energies was not only risky but was to take a considerable work (Carlis & Ryan, 2010).  Equally, during the negotiation of the deal, the management team as well as the board of directors for the two parties encountered significant distrust for each other.

Regardless of the above impediments, the two firms managed to enter into a contract. Thus we can say that deal worth doing given all of these barriers. The reason for that is because, first it should be noted that merging with The Bank of New York was a wise idea since it is the oldest banking corporation in the U.S which then implies that it has managed to withstand all of such barriers in the banking market. Conversely, this will be advantageous because initially, it has enabled the two companies to come up with the largest security servicing company in the world as well as an efficient asset management firm. This then mean that as they will continue providing better and improved banking services, they have the capacity of enjoying their economies of scale regardless of these barriers (Carlis & Ryan, 2010).

Reference

Carliss Y.B & Ryan T, (2010). Mellon Financial and The Bank of New York. Havard Press

            Introduction

    Crocs Corporation incorporated in 2005 on 15th April and it is engaged in the development, manufacturing, design, global marketing, and distribution of accessories and casual footwear. Crocs inc. is a corporation that deals with manufacturing of footwear which has recently moved beyond foot wears into other collections (PRIDE, & FERRELL, 2010).  The corporation was founded by seaman Scotts, Hanson Lyndon, and Baedeker George. Crocs Corporation is a world leading firm in the innovative manufacturing of foot wears for all individuals with more than a billion dollars revenue annually. The corporation offers different shoe collections as it holds more than three hundred footwear season styles.  The company utilizes the growing technology in achieving quality, innovativeness as well as customer’s satisfaction. The company’s manufacturing sites, stores, sales, and outlets are geographically scattered and therefore the corporation’s operations can thus be termed as decentralized (PRIDE, & FERRELL, 2010).  The corporation operates in four market segments on its geographic operation nature which include Asia, America, Europe, and Japan. The corporation distributes its sales in more than 90 countries via international and national distributors and retailers to their consumers which are thus accomplished via its operating stores and outlets in different locations (PRIDE, & FERRELL, 2010).

            Marketing is thus accomplished by utilizing the footwear stores designed for families, traditional retailers, the internet and independent channels. The corporation’s products are divided into three offerings which include active, casual and core lifestyle (PRIDE, & FERRELL, 2010). Since the corporation continuously deals with changing collections of wears it requires skilled employees, skilled sales individuals, innovative facilities, technological machines as well as expertise knowledge. Therefore, the corporation has the necessity to update its supply systems, marketing tools, and strategies. The corporation requires increasing the manufacturing sites t different geographical locations in order to increase its market share by gaining competitive advantage in those markets that have not been explored (PRIDE, & FERRELL, 2010).

1. A) Develop a More Aggressive Marketplace Positioning Strategy

 The current situation in the corporation is that it is facing issues with production and operation flexibility..  This is because it deals with different nations with distinct outlets and some distributors are slow which lowers sales in those markets. The corporation has however been able to maintain flexibility in differentiation and switching styles (BOSE, 2010). Differentiation is hard to attain and therefore switching costs may affect the corporation since the consumers may adopt substitute thus reducing the share market of the corporation.  Croc has a flexible supply chain within all seasons as it is able to manufacture quickly and ship the products to the retailers. The flexibility of retailers has however not been achieved as the outlets delays supplies thus limiting several outlets to adjusting to new orders and products.  There is a large number of competing corporation in the footwear industry in order to gain a greater market share and this can only be achieved once the corporation has gained efficiency (BOSE, 2010).  This is, however, pressuring the corporation to lower its prices in order to sustain the competitive advantage.

            The competitors of the crocs corporation are Nike Corporation, Timberland LLC Corporation and Decker’s outdoor corporation. The corporation leads in production as well as sales because of its diversity in production as well as low prices of its products unlike the competitors who focus on a particular product range which are characterized with high prices. The corporation holds an essential ability of competitive advantage is efficiency in customer orientation, supply chain, responsive delivery of yields to the targeted place at the right moment (HUGOS, 2011).  This is the capability of the Crocs Corporation which helps it maintaining its capability as it helps the corporation in adjusting to changes experienced during operation and all the risks involved. The corporation experiences problems in gaining knowledge about the market trends as the information that it accesses is not always updated and accurate.  The top managers of the corporation lack updated knowledge on the best practices as they are unwilling to adapt to changes (HUGOS, 2011).

            The corporation can adopt different market positioning strategies like distribution, low or higher pricing strategy, affinity and particular demography (BLYTHE, 2013).  Higher pricing strategy may help the crocs corporation in their competition develop a perceived value since it is currently working under low pricing strategy.  In addition the company can try to adopt particular demographic strategy because trying to involver everyone in the products may be appealing and therefore the corporation can try and incorporate more of children or even women to increase their sales. Since the corporation has a common denominator they can therefore position the corporation in the market to play the loyalty role under the affinity strategy (BLYTHE, 2013).

            The corporation also experiences issues in adopting low costs of purchasing materials. This is because the operation management of the corporation is not able to accurate make adjustments on the amount of inventory required (JACOBY, 2010). The corporation adopted a standardized and an efficient procedure of processing where production is made depending on the demand. Although this helped the corporation in2007 as it held the highest profit gross in the footwear industry the corporation incurred huge costs in inventory as operations.  The corporation, therefore, needs to adopt a strategy that will enable it to minimize the costs of inventory as well as the operation cost (JACOBY, 2010).  Responsiveness is also a major challenge for the corporation as it is highly required to meet the increasing demands in the market on accurate time.  Since the corporation is customer centric   fast responsiveness is highly required in the process of the supply chain. This will, therefore, help the corporation in understanding the market trends changes and customer needs. This strategy will also help other corporation in gaining the capability to create additional stocks in different seasons thus creating a competitive advantage via a market responsive and agiler supply chain (JACOBY, 2010).

The Croc Corporation can adopt the following aggressive strategies in gaining a market position,

1. a) Brand positioning strategy
2. b) Expand market strategy
3. c) Defend market strategy

            These marketing approaches are aggressive in establishing a market position in distinct ways which have different importance when utilized appropriately.  The company can, therefore, utilize the best suitable strategy based on the current problems which may, therefore, yield different benefits in the competitive international market. This, therefore, is required depending on the benefits that the chosen strategy holds (BLYTHE, 2013).

            Brand position strategy is an effective strategy which entails defining the conceptual market location in which you want to target the minds of the consumers (BLYTHE, 2013). In order for the strategy to be successful the strategy mist is relevant to the consumers, be defined in a unique form in order to overcome competition and the objectives set for the strategy must be attainable in a given time period.  This strategy helps in minimizing the relevancy of the customers through competitive distinctiveness and minimization of the value of the brand.  The strategy, therefore, helps in achieving those benefits that the corporation has in mind which will help in overcoming the market problems which exists (BLYTHE, 2013).

            Expand market is another strategy that the corporation can adopt. This strategy involves entering into new markets in order to increase the market share (BLYTHE, 2013). This strategy helps in exploring opportunities of those markets that have not been captured by the competitors.  This strategy additionally helps in gaining fresh consumers through the attention created in the fresh markets.  This additionally helps in increasing the corporation’s revenue from the expanded market (BLYTHE, 2013).

            The other strategy is defending the market. This involves the process of developing the corporation’s brand in order to stand order against the competitors (BLYTHE, 2013). This, therefore, involves improving production by utilizing innovations and technological advances in order to attain quality. This van also is achieved by understanding the needs of the consumers and the existing trends in the market in order to adopt measures which are aimed at satisfying the needs of the customers. The strategy will, therefore, help the corporation in increasing the consumer-centric objective because it provides necessary information to the corporation (BLYTHE, 2013).

1. b)

            The manufacturing and the distributing departments in the organization are faced with distinct problems where the systems and equipment that are provided are inadequate and slow because they are not fully advanced (Ailawadi, Harlam, César, & Trounce, 2006) . The corporation, therefore, requires adopting better equipment which will help the corporation in increasing the production as well as the sales. This, therefore, leads to operation with outdated information of suitable management practices (Ailawadi, Harlam, César, & Trounce, 2006) .

            These advanced devices additionally require god management in order to prevent environmental and health problems. The corporation is therefore forced to adopt environmental friendly equipment in order to enable the corporation in meeting the high demands from the clients (JIANG, & LIU, 2012).  Since the corporation produces seasonal products it is necessitated to develop strategies which would help in meeting high demands in high seasons. This can thus be achieved by an advanced management of demand strategy which is the supply process of chain management which is effective in managing the abilities of the customers by stating the improvement need (JIANG, & LIU, 2012). Operational management of demand is, therefore, crucial in ensuring that the corporation collects the required information.  Reduced variability, measure performance, conduct forecasting of sales and performance of the corporation and increase the flexibility of the products and services (JIANG, & LIU, 2012).

            Since the increase of product diversity the corporation’s sales increased by 20% where the shoe wears products provided 60% of the total collection of the profit (Crocs, 2013).  The segmentation of the market, therefore, enabled the corporation to tape more market by ensuring that production was fully increased. Product diversity is, therefore, essential in ensuring that the corporation achieves effectiveness.  This is because the product ranges are crucial in attracting a range of clients who become fully dependent on the yields of the organization. Financial viability analysis and forecast help the organization in determining the amount of products that required being produced within the range of finances that the corporation has (Crocs, 2013). This is effective in avoiding budget constraints and material limitations and this can thus be achieved by highly trained employees. The Crocs Corporation can, therefore, adopt skilled designers who will help the corporation in   creating unique products and therefore the consumers can buy them from the commercialized means. Therefore introducing powerful tools in ensuring that production of the Crocs Corporation is better helping in exploiting higher turnovers for the corporation than the current tools. This is because the tools are essential in exploiting markets and distinct designs which help the corporation in attaining a competitive advantage (Crocs, 2013).

1. c)

            Online marketing in attending to the needs of international customers helped Crocs international in growing its market.  The corporation has prioritized marketing by offering huge finances in marketing foot wears (Crocs, 2016). Online marketing has helped the corporation in increasing its sales by double digits in international markets.  In 2015, the corporation sales reports indicated a sale worth $ 37.7 million and in 2014 the corporation had reported a sale of up to 31.1 million dollars which was influenced by online marketing and online selling. In 2015, six of the corporation’s e-commerce benefited from the online investment as stated by the Andrew Re the corporation’s president (Crocs, 2016).

            After expanding to international market the business started on a low note because it was not accurate that the marketing strategy would be successful (Crocs, 2011).  Most of the crucial strategy that the corporation adopted before expanding further was offering training programs to employees involved in marketing in order to acquire better online marketing skills. In additions, employees were also trained in the processes of manufacturing which helped in acquiring more advanced equipment for productions as well as uplifting those market segments that had largely been affected by poor marketing strategies (Crocs, 2011).

            The fresh business ranges of the business as well as different products that they produce through their website by utilizing mail orders which are effective in attracting more customers by incorporating online superfluous net and intranet abilities (Crocs, 2013). Intranet of the croc corporation involves the utilization of internet modernization which s utilized privately. This, therefore, means that the login requires a password in order to secure. This strategy, therefore, helps the corporation in setting employees information which includes the communication strategy as well as well beings programs (Crocs, 2013).  This helps the corporation in attaining efficiency because it eradicates difficulty of storing information which thus boosts the workflow of the corporation.  In addition, this strategy has helped the corporation in attaining privacy as it is effective in encoding information (Crocs, 2013).

            The superfluous net is the extension of the existing net which allows the corporation to visit websites for other organizations (Crocs, 2011). This, therefore, allows all the individuals included to access information which may not have been communicated to the directly or indirectly. This is in that the corporation posts information where the suppliers are able to access and get self-services requirements.  This helps in attaining efficiency in the management of inventories as the suppliers are able to acquire information which helps them in delivering the right quantity and quality of required materials (Crocs, 2013).

            The utilization of the superfluous net by Croc Corporation will help in enhancing the capability of the market more because the strategy incorporates every individual involved including potential clients (Crocs, 2013).  This is much safer as it helps in maintaining privacy as information is not displayed to the public. Since the main aim of the corporation is to embrace the attention of international markets superfluous strategy is more suitable because it help I serving both domestic and global markets without fail.  Market segmentation in fresh market is also effective in promoting online sales because individuals will get products information which is based on their particular market thus increasing networks in the markets.  This will boost the communication between the segment market and the main corporation. Market segmentation will also reduce marketing expenses in fresh countries and online marketing is not attached to barriers of boundaries (Crocs, 2013).

1. d)

            Products quality, quantity and achieving full satisfaction are interlinked and should, therefore, be achieved together.  The corporation is therefore required to deal with the existing issues in order to achieve customer satisfaction in order to boost their revenue earning (JIANG, & LIU, 2012). This can, therefore, be achieved by employing specialists to engineer sales. This specialist is therefore required to provide prior sales and technical sales to the customers. This is by proposing issues that need to be adjusted and how best the issues can be handled. This is therefore aimed at satisfying the customers. This strategy, however, fails to work as most of the customers fail in believing in them as they are less satisfied. This is because of errors that are generated by the strategy (JIANG, & LIU, 2012).

            The corporation deals with a large number of distinct suppliers from time to time which is one of the issues that affects customer orientation strategy (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015).  The corporation fails in making good relationships with the suppliers and that is the reason why they keep changing suppliers which lead to changes in materials quality and quantity. The corporation clients are thus not fully satisfied with the products as they keep changing within a very short period (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015).

The croc corporation can adopt a different strategy in developing marketing promotion campaign. This strategy involves customer

Customer-centric marketing

Visual structured marketing product marketing

Social media marketing approach

            Customer centric strategy by utilization of social media would be effective because of the advancing technology and the growing adoption of online marketing through social media platforms such as twitter and Facebook.  Visual centered marketing would work best by utilization of Instagram which is best when it comes to visuals advertisements (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015).  The corporation aims at being customer-centric in order to achieve customer satisfaction and therefore marketing in a friendly and in a customer-oriented approach would thus help in attracting as well as delivering quality.  The corporation can, therefore, focus on quality production because that what helps in achieving satisfaction. These strategies will, therefore, help the organization in reducing the marketing and production cost which are associated with quality production (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015).

1. e)

            Internal lean inventory in essential in ensuring that  the utilized inventory is minimized, deliveries are made  in time,  quality is enhanced o good time , the flexibility of production is maintained , minimum waste ids generated and this helps in ensuring that  improvement in manufacturing is continuous.  On the other hand, agile manufacturing ensures that inventory buffers are sustained, maximum efficiency is achieved (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).  Lean production and agile manufacturing processes work on the distinct operation principles in that Lean production ensure that production in the organization is not slowed down as products have to be delivered on a good time to the outlets. In addition, the productions outlets are made flexible in that the organization is fully able to produce goods that are diverse which leads to obtaining range customers thus increasing the market (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014). The agile manufacturing helps in providing information to the organizations customers, cooperate with all the operations of manufacturing in order to achieve a more competitive advantage leverage different individuals as well as the available information (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).

            Agile manufacturing is, therefore, essential when dealing with mass production because it helps in increasing knowledge to the customers as well as the organization. This is achieved effectively because the strategy focuses on breaking down the production by ensuring that production is customized (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014). Therefore manufacturing agile that needs to be changed is an enterprise of the scope and production customization. This change will be essential in ensuring that the products and services are fully customized which will help in ensuring that quality is fully achieved. In addition flexibility of production has to be changed in order to achieve efficiency of the customized products.  Information gathering should additionally be transformed to fully ensure that the provided information is reliable and is effective in achieving quality, quantity and reliability (Abraham, & Lodish, 1990).  The corporation should change the internal lean by focusing the operations on the factory and the corporation should also focus on smooth production. Moreover, the corporation should emphasis on proper utilization of resources by enhancing mass production (Abraham, & Lodish, 1990).

1. f)

            In today’s world, an organization must act fast and adequate enough in reacting quickly to the customer demand changes and accomplish this with little inventories (Manik, Gupta,  & Jha, 2015).  Those days that the manufacturing corporations would pile stocks are long gone because these processes caused erratic and long times which were associated with high manufacturing and operational costs as they required too much working capital. When inventories are piled up in large quantities they absolutely become obsolete before they are delivered for sales. Too much inventory is, therefore, unhealthy for the organization because they cause organization system’s problems which may thus require deep rooting. This may, therefore, involve poor and inadequate forecasting, poor product specifications, poor quality and poor scheduling of the productions operations (Manik, Gupta,  & Jha, 2015). Prolonged lead times necessitate long range forecasting and they are associated with inaccuracy. This is demand if what the customers are demanding is not exactly what was forecasted the purchased inventory, therefore, ends up piling up in the warehouse which becomes expensive for the organization since it has to utilize additional funds to purchase different inventories to meet the demands of the customers. This may come in low range thus reduce production which may thus prevent the organization from meeting the needs of the customers (Manik, Gupta,  & Jha, 2015).

            In order to reduce the amount of inventory Crocs Corporation, therefore, needs to reduce the heavy inventories to provide some capital for distinct inventories.  This can, therefore, be achieved by implementing inventories reduction because inventory management is not adequate (TODOR, 2015).  The corporation, therefore, requires purchasing inventories in smaller portions to ensure that the management is eased and therefore a number of inventories that the corporation purchases can be managed freely. This will, in turn, reduce the production costs. The corporation is therefore required to re-engineer its production. This will help in managing the delivery cycles more accurately to achieve speed, cheaper and better ways f making their deliveries.  This is accompanied by business processes rethinking in dramatic forms which lead to the purchasing amount of inventories by eradicating the urge of buffers of inventories. This, therefore, leads to increased products quality as well as developed customers services which in turn yield greater satisfaction (TODOR, 2015).

            Product quality is measured by the satisfaction of the consumers.  In order to fully achieve this organization is therefore required to understand the needs of its clients before planning for production (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015). This is essential as the organization is fully able to develop strategies that will best accomplish the stated objectives. The customer must, therefore, focus on being customer-centric which will thus provide manufacturing guidelines in order to achieve quality before quantity. Improving the management of the supply chain is also essential in reducing inventory, reducing cost and increasing the quality of production.  The Crocs company can, therefore, achieve these by streaming the general chain of supply which will reduce inventory, develop market time, free most of the capital set for the operations, bring the market segments together, reduce the operations costs and increase the profitability rate for the organization (Breiter, & Huchzermeier, 2015).

            The organization as part of the world leading manufacturing organization should allocate necessary resources in the objective of spending up the delivery order cycle in order to improve the general chain of supply which will lead to more clear results (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014). The organization should also establish computer links with their customers as well as suppliers to generate them with openings on all the operations. Through the provided openings the suppliers can establish when the customers are in of the products which will thus enable them to restock the inventories. Supply streaming, therefore, means that the manufacturers are able to reduce buffers of inventory decrease the time used in inventory delivery thus achieving important reductions in costs (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014). The organization should additional improve its scheduling of production because poor scheduling results to high inventory utility, undeveloped customer service, and erratic output.

            Proper scheduling, therefore, helps the organization in increasing quality of its output by reducing cost as well as inventory.  The organization can additionally utilize pull demand-based strategy as the demand of the consumers should not be based on long based forecasting because it may yield undesirable results (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).  This may, therefore, lead to increased costs because the inventory that the organization purchased may have changed with time.  This, therefore, requires properly engineered process order in the process of reduction the cost of production by reducing the amount of inventory. Effective metrics performance is also crucial because the strategy helps in measuring the effective efficiency (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014). Reduction f the times of cycle helps in cutting down the costs as well as reducing the production inventory because it leads to reduced predictability, improved services to the customer and improved quality of output.  The Crocs corporation, therefore, needs to stream all the operations aspects in the delivery processes orders which will require the organization to maintain all the support duties (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).  Developing of flexible and durable manufacturing strategies in setting up long production approaches which will help in maintaining high costs of production even when the demand decreases. 

            When an organization operates under inflexible production strategy it is required to maintain high costs of productions. This may, therefore, lead to inefficiency because the organization is therefore required to utilize more capital due to the high number of inventory requirement (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).  Therefore in order to boost the responsiveness of the clients, reduce inventory and decrease the costs of operation flexibility is required so that the corporation can freely respond to the changing trends in the market as demand. This leads to more improved output because the organization is fully able to concentrate on quality in relation to the customer’s needs (Ekinci, Ulengin, & Uray, 2014).

1. g)

            In order for the Crocs organization to achieve product quality as well as the reliability of the products, it is necessitated to define the management mechanisms of quality in the organization (Hardy, 2006).  This can, therefore, be accomplished by beginning with   planning for the development of products, developing the stated products, developing design mechanisms and customer services and sales manufacturing. This therefore involved the process where the organization defines distinct roles, authority as we’ll as the responsibility of products and services to the customer’s quality by establishing directions. The corporation is therefore required to develop a framework that will incorporate all the manufacturing aspects which will lead to increased production which is associated with reliability and quality of products (Hardy, 2006).

            Based on the management of quality system the organization can thus implement measures in order to improve services and products quality (Malik, & Guptha, 2013).  This measures may include appointing of an executive who will e fully in charge of the quality of the product  as well as working safety the individual will, therefore, be required  to improve and coordinate the efforts of customers in order to ensure that the demand responses are well responded to. Each of the operational units of the business should have a quality officer appointed to supervise initiatives. This will, therefore, ensure that all the units utilize the given laws on inventory and quality production (Malik, & Guptha, 2013). 

            Quality management of the output production helps in ensuring that the organization is fully able to maintain quality without fail. This, therefore, means that trust is built between the organization and the customers (Malik, & Guptha, 2013).  This helps in ensuring that production is fully able to sustain and satisfy the needs of the organization.  In addition, the corporation should also segment its production to ensure that the management of quality is well handled.  This helps in evaluation of the utilized inventories in every unit and also accounting for all the utilized costs.  This also helps in ensuring that quality is fully attained because production management is done in smaller portions which are thus associated with efficiency (Malik, & Guptha, 2013).  Therefore, when quality is attained in every unit this, therefore, means that quality of the general organization will thus be attained without fail.  This will help in increasing the reliability of the products since e organization will thus be able to make quality in the organization consistency.  This will help in building connectivity between the customers and the products as this is the main strategy of ensuring that quality of the output is achieved (Malik, & Guptha, 2013).

The organization may additional offer training programs to the employees to ensure that they fully understand the importance of quality production (RIZLY, 2016).  This will, therefore, help the employees to focus on improving productions as they will be given duties based on their abilities to handle the given processes.  Job specialization will, therefore, be crucial in ensuring that quality is observed and given priority (RIZLY, 2016). This is because product reliability may not be fully achieved without attaining quality first as clients are satisfied with the product when it is fully able to meet their general needs consistently.  Providing training will also ensure that the employees are able to utilize the operational equipment with hesitating.  This helps in ensuring that operations run as scheduled and this helps in reducing the delivery times which are aimed at reducing costs of manufacturing and the cost of purchasing inventories (RIZLY, 2016).

            In order to achieve reliability and quality, the organization is therefore required to promote improvement initiatives on quality in order to fulfill their promise of quality (RIZLY, 2016).  This can, therefore, be achieved by developing strategies and implement policies to guide the decision-making the process as the policies are thus aimed at measuring effectiveness as well as quality.  These policies should, therefore, encourage the development of the business plans which are customer oriented by deciding which policy will achieve the customer oriented objective in an adequate way (RIZLY, 2016).  The organization should, therefore, achieve this by utilizing the feedback from the customers on the available products which helps in developing fresh ones. Evaluating the given information helps in the creation of quality products which enhances quality.  Moreover, the corporation can adopt its unique design to ensure that the given designs are well formulated to help in meeting trends styles and seasonal demands which will help the organization in fully meeting the needs of individual’s maximum in a repeated mode (RIZLY, 2016).

            In conclusion, Crocs are associated with competency in its supply chain. The corporation is additionally associated with advanced technology which helps it in adoption unique designs thus achieving a competitive advantage. It is, therefore, clear that the corporation has largely invested in marketing and promotion strategies which are effective.  However, the corporation has greater chances of investing in products diversity to increase its revenue and also access untapped markets.  These strategies will thus be essential in ensuring that the cost of production is lowered and the inventories are reduced further.  Purchasing raw materials of suppliers will, therefore, ensure that the prices of the products are pushed to a beneficial level. This is mainly because the corporation aims at reducing the prices while increasing its revenue. The corporation strategy of segmenting the market is an effective one because it has helped the organization in determining the needs of customers based on distinct markets. The corporation has also been successful in maintaining large production which helps in satisfying all the segments in the international markets. The corporation, however, fails in marinating a good relationship with the suppliers which is essential in achieving quality. The corporation should build strategies that will ensure that the relationship between the corporation the organization and the consumers is enhanced to decrease the costs of operation and increase efficiency and customer satisfaction.

            I, therefore, recommend that the Crocs Corporation can fully adopt online making and promotion to increase its market base by increasing its supply.  This will help in providing products to markets where the corporation has no physical outlets where it can thus create retailers to market and sell the brands.   The corporation should do this to eliminate the issues of delivery and reduce the inventory costs as well as marketing costs. This will additional help the corporation in accessing trends from the fresh markets that holds greater developments potentials. This is because according to the organization reports, the organization has not fully adopted online marketing in international markets. In addition, the corporation is required to implement different measures which will help in ensuring that the production requirements are met.  This is in regard to the objective of increasing the quality of products in order to boost the satisfaction of the customers fully. The corporation additional adopts measures that will help in attaining the customer-centric objective. This is because the objective will ensure that the corporation focuses on customer satisfaction by producing quality.  The corporation has however done an excellent job of compounding its functions which help in saving time and cost this eliminating the risk of closure. The aim of the organization is to reduce the costs of inventory and the operational cost well ensuring that they achieve quality. This is, therefore, essential because the in order for the organization to develop quality strategies have to be set to ensure that the operations are directed t the benefits of the customers.

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