Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies

Q1

            A union happens when one company presuppose all the incomes and the loss of another company.  The gaining company maintains its identity while the gained companies depreciate. A main vote of the shareholders is gained to approve the union.  A union is a type of possession.  A company can have another through several ways such as buying some or all the companies profits, stocks and its products.  Thus union is another type of possession and is done in the wishes of having an economic benefit.   For such business to be complete, the companies participating must be valuable more than they were.  Some of the possible benefits of the unions and the possessions are such as gaining the economic scale, mixing resources and eliminating loses.  Since unions and possessions are so complicated, it can be very hard to assess the transaction, evaluate the connected costs and benefits so as to sustain the resulting taxes and lawful matters.  In the current international business market, companies have to develop some as to survive thus one of the important way to advance is to partner with other companies or having other companies (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2007).

            For instance, a tool and a die company can buy each other but in contrast, the merger focuses on spreading forward and backward in the chain of distribution on the raw material source or to the proposed customer.  For instance the company of the auto parts producers can buy an auto shop, thus a conglomerate is formed through the union of unconnected businesses. This involves a legal transfer of the costs and must be signed by the stakeholders of the company that is selling its products.  The company that is having these products makes an offer to the aimed company.  The union and the possessors should help the business to cut the business costs and increase the revenue if they are correctly implemented.  That is the action that was taken by the Delta when it gained the Northwest Airlines and the company had a successful incorporation of the different technical systems in that every airline used according to the union.  The Delta employee had challenges of the upcoming computer systems as they had their force to do so while their customers did not take a note of it that the airline worked opposite with others.  The company later had its profits in 2010 although it has been facing some challenges but is on the right business track (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2007).         

Q2

            For the organization that has not been engaged in any unions or possessions, I focus mainly on the business domain.  The main company that is well known not to be involved in merger is the Rent- A- Center.  This is the largest rent to the possessor operator in America which has about 36% of the market share as assessed on the year 2012.  Later in the same year, the company operated on closely 3, 094 company possessed stores globally in Canada and Mexico. The company has high quality and long-lasting products such as the main electronic producers, applications, computers, furniture and all the electronic devices.  These are all under elastic rental buy approvals that permits the customers to have possession of the devices at the finale of the approved rental time (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2007).  

            Rental buy agreements are made to demand to a number of customers by permitting them to have products that may be unable to acquire due to less resources of capital or lack of entrée to tribute. These approvals also focus on the customers who do not have permanent necessity or those who wish to rent rather than buying the products.   According to their website, rent-A- Center had yearly revenue of many billions in 2010 and they seem to have a durable improvement. The company can be the best possessor of other companies such as the best buy which are having the challenge to provide a substitute market and course (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2007).   

Q3

            The global plan is a plan whereby the company sells its goods and services outside the home market.  As it happens with other human actions, plan is a vital factor for the success of any business.  The type of the organization plan that a firm chooses will have an outcome on the selection and the accomplishment of the business level plan.  Based on the company, the global spread gives the chances for new purchases and assets.  In some events, it can happen that even the profit in the companies are degraded in the domestic markets which makes the global spread the only chance for the profits.  For instance the less profits that were in the domestic markets in China was a main reason that the Chinese Consumer electronics company decided to have a plan on the global expansion.  This company has then developed over the past years having new firms and development in its markets have grown in its market basis in their two main consumers of the electronic manufacturers, the American and the European connections (Hill & Jones, 2012). 

            Organizations employ diverse types of global plans so as to advance their profits and this depends on the companies that they are working with, the type of industry they have and the customers that they are selling their products to. The main global business plan is the import and the export of gods and services.  Firms mainly have their financial resources from the global countries that are based on the global approaches.  This is a plan that is used in the main companies in that they import their products internationally at a cheap price that makes its able for the company to give fewer prices in their products.  Based on the international business level plan, the domestic operating country is the most vital source of the competitive benefit.  Companies must start and use the appropriate plans that have the advantage of every cooperating country features.  The success in the producing country permits the firm to have plans in the international markets.  Thus a company develops making the importance of the country’s foundation to lack interest (Hill & Jones, 2012). 

Q4

            According to the company of the Dollar General, it can be said to be the best concession vendor. The buyers of the companies need simple and well reviewed assortments of the products at very low prices in their locations.  The company is amid the largest buyers of the quality brands from America that are mainly trusted by the producers.  The company competencies should mainly consider the satisfaction of their customer needs and their wants in order to have average benefits.  This is done through the business level plans.  Business level plans aspect events that are used to give value to the clients and have a competitive benefit by removing the main competencies in the main personal products and services in the markets.  Business level plan focuses with the company’s position in the industry connected to the participants and to the five features of the participation (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2015).     

            There are four hereditary plans that aid companies to develop a competitive benefit on the industrial challenges.  Industries opt to participate across the wider markets of a main market.  The Dollar general firm is the leadership in costs in that they participate widely based on price.  Price focuses on the domestic competence in order to have a level that will have average benefits and price to the customers so that they can buy the product.  The main organizational strategy level is based on the wider level of the company’s strategic plans while the cooperation of these organizations and its capabilities and the wishes of the shareholders.  This can be called the whole plan level of the firm.  It can be called the huge overview of the company and includes making a decision on which products have market competence and on which geographic regions they are based. As the definition of the market is on the level of the business plans, the accountability for the diversification or the input of more products also falls up on the line of the cooperate plan.  Whether they participate directly or with other companies, the strategic plans applies within the dominion of the company’s level.  The Dollar general company should establish a strategy on the corporation so that they can develop in the global markets.  This plan is focused on winning the wider market share at the expenditure of the short term income (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2015).      

Reference

Hill, C. W. L., & Jones, G. R. (2012). Essentials of strategic management. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2007). Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization; [concepts and classes]. Mason, Ohio [u.a.: Thomson South-Western.

Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2015). Marketing.              

"Evaluate Team Member Effectiveness” -self-assessment.

Q1

            I thought I had the skills of a team player as I have the three Cs which are the dedicated, cooperative and capable. This was not until I took the self-assessment on evaluating the efficiency of the team members; this made me learn how I am as a team player.  It gave me the knowledge that I need to have in making myself better as a team player.  This trial makes no difference as in when evaluated me for six months.  This made me know my strengths and weaknesses and for now I know whether to work on either of them.  This feature works with any team that I involve myself with so as to learn where I am suitable in and where there is a chance to improve.

Q2

 I do not agree with my results as all these ratings seem like they are involved in the formal evaluations and this makes me understand how I am as team member.  This assessment gave me the lowest results though I had good knowledge on the skills and the capabilities of becoming a team player. I did not believe I had these outcomes on the KSAs but I still believe that I don’t know everything but if I get the time to learn and acquire what I am working on, I will try to understand all the good and the weak points of it.  I really like observing on what people do on the projects and see how it is also done in the past, but if I fully appreciate this, I will have the courage to work on the project (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). 

Q3

            Based on the results that I carried out on the team assessment, the strengths of our team was the connection in the team, the capability to work in union and having a connection with one another was a great challenge.  The contribution on our team was great as we had to assign every partner an equal amount of the assignment and not once that we had an issue regarding on what was not assigned.  Strength was the aptitude that kept the some of the members stay in the team, the team partners had a great editing ability as they had to edit and was accountable of putting all the assignments in place, thus having a team member with these abilities kept the team moving. Based on the assignments, we did not have any weaknesses that were visible but we still had some challenges.  As I am the only team member that deals with the Pacific Standard Time, the others deal with the Eastern Standard Time which makes me be behind them on time with 3hours and it becomes so challenging (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010).

Q4

            In the Social mindset of groups, social loafing is the portent of the people that puts less strength so as to achieve a certain goal when they are working in groups than when they are on their own. According to this definition, I have not engaged in social loafing when I am participating in a team.  I do not engage in the social loafing because I as a team member want to sustain by work percentage. I am not in the team so as to exist and participate, but I have to know how to understand and learn.  With that statement, I don’t have the interest and am assured in myself that I can’t participate as I should. This may be known as social loafing but I can’t involve myself as it is hard for me to due to the fact that I do not understand or this will make me cause harm to the team than good (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). 

Q5

Working effectively on a team benefits the workplace as it makes one to work well for the possibility of the works to be completed. I know when one works well with the team, all the diverse personalities balance to complement each other so as to produce the best accompaniment service that gratifies all the participants. Team work makes people from different cultures, backgrounds and different morals to have a common interest of goal and compile the best cleared products (Broxterman & Whalen, 2013).                           

            The ways in which groups grow is based on five stages such as establishing, capturing, and norming, accomplishment and postponing.  The most important stage is establishing, which is the way of developing with personal connections in that the group participants rely on safety, good manners and follow the group leader for guidance and help. The group members wish to accept the group and they have the aim that their group is well known for safety.  The have impressions and evaluations about the equality and the divergences among them and they form future prospects. The behavioral policies are the simple features that avoid disagreement.  The members try to become concerned with the activities and also with one another.  So as to develop from one stage to another, every member must abandon the possibility occurrence of threats and conflict (Broxterman & Whalen, 2013). 

Q6

            Team effectiveness can be known by assessing the productive outcome of the team.  If a person on the team is not putting more effort on the team activities, the development of it cannot take place.  Due to conflicts based on supremacy, rule and the disagreements in the interpersonal connections, many groups do not qualify to be a good team.  Thus effectiveness in the team is evaluated by the group’s results and the produces (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010).     

Reference

Broxterman, K., & Whalen, A. J. (2013). RTI team building: Effective collaboration and data-based decision making.   

DeRosa, D. M., & Lepsinger, R. (2010). Virtual team success: A practical guide for working and leading from a distance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Using Strengths to Increase Motivation

            Why I agree with my results on my level of PsyCap is because I feel more confident when representing my job and its activities.  I make it possible setting the goals in all the activities and contributing to my skills as an employee.  These results have been determined by my high scores in the psycap such as having positive results in the organization, good commitment of staff, wanted behaviors from the employees and their measures of the performance are some of the results that I have made in my self-assessment. 

            My strategies to develop my career in my organization so as to help me move ahead is by being actual on the strengths and interests.  When I look at the people who should increase and develop in my career, I look at the persons with self-knowledge on their strength and passion.  Most of the successful people in any organization have always developed their passion for them to succeed.  When I apply my strengths and interests in my work, my ability is limitless.  Once I clarify my strengths I have the way to successfully reach my goals.  Another strategy is that I am always eager to learn and share my skills.  This is due to the fact that many companies and organizations are changing and invading in new ideas thus they need employees who can not only learn but also share their skills (Luthans, Youssef & Avolio, 2015).

            Those who are eager to share their knowledge with others so as to gain new information earn priceless development to the organization. I also have the plan of building and increasing relationship.  This is one of the greatest skills that one can provide for the company as currently, those who do not collaborate with others are seen as poor leaders.  For those who stay isolated in any organization face failure and should be aware that the current market is becoming competitive, thus the plentiful resource of any market is people.  I should be also ready to change.  This is a strategy that all companies are focusing on.  Those employees who do not want change do not want the best of the company whereas those to tolerate and wait for change are embraced afterwards.   The business people should be aware that change is permanent in any organization, thus one should be comfortable by change keeping them uncomfortable (Luthans, Youssef & Avolio, 2015). 

            Goal settings can be used to up surge motivation and improve the job performance in many ways.  If one has their life goals, the goals are needed to advance the life performance in that a person may wish to sustain the motivational knowledge at all times.  For instance, my goal is to keep my career in my organization moving forward, thus I need to increase or have the motivation so as to meet the goals.  One of the vital needs that can help me in advancing on my performance on my career is having the beneficial motivation in accomplishing my duties.   One may use their goal setting so as to improve their motivation in life but the advancing of job performance is diverse and needs to be done (Nelson & Quick, 2014).

            Some mangers want to satisfy the needs of their employees so that they become content with the pay and their flexibility level.  These factors affect the gratification of the employee.  An employee who is committed is the one that is deeply engaged and invested to their work.  The factors that influence the involving of the employee are different from those that apply to their gratification.  The satisfaction of the employee is the basis on which the employee involvement develops and succeeds.  It is clear that the satisfaction of the employee is the less possible entry fee to be mat for the employee to be fully involved. As on our case here, the engagement of the manager has a huge benefit to the organization, this is because there are all the environmental skills that we have and surround us (Nelson & Quick, 2014).

            Intrinsic motivation theory improves the job performance in the organization as it is a cheaper and a better way that motivates the employees. This motivation is derived from inside the person in that it is a sense of success, responsibility, job gratification and ownership are some of the things that makes an employee feel  that their job performance is making a huge change in their lives as well as the organization itself.  The best way to show the king of motivation is saying thank you which is the best way of appreciating the employees and this improves their long term effect on the employee motivation that giving a cheap token that is later forgotten. The motivation increases the employee’s morale and leads to the organization’s increased productivity.  This means that intrinsic motivation does not cost money (Van et. all, 2012).

            Expectancy theory is one of the motivational theories that suppose that a person should act or behave in a certain way due to the fact that they are motivated on the results that they expect as an outcome of that behavior.  The motivation on the employee’s manners is determined by the outcome of it.  This theory is based on the mental condition such as choice and it explains the process that a person undergoes for them to make the decisions.  This theory highlights the needs of an organization to link rewards directly to the performance and to make sure that the rewards given are those wanted by those given (Van et. all, 2012). 

            Equity theory is a factor that improves the job performance in that it determines whether there is a fair distribution of resources to both the relation of the organizational partners.  Equity is assessed by comparing the rates of the cost contribution benefits for every person. The theory explains that employees seek to sustain equality between the inputs that they bring into the organization and the results that they get from it against the apparent inputs and outcomes of other partners.    People value equity that makes them remain motivated and keeps fairness sustained in their connections within the organization of their co- workers and the organization.  Equity in any organization in the workplace is due to the rate of input on the outcomes which means that inputs are the aids that are made by the employees for the organization (Van et. all, 2012). 

            Self-determination is a motivational theory that deals with the positive feeling and the ways that encourage person’s strengths in that it makes the performance of job positive as people works in positive emotions.  The basis of the self-determination has wide behaviors that make the individuals understand practices and the models that improves and lessens the need of gratification and the full performance of the work that is from it (Van et. all, 2012). 

            The acquired needs motivational theory shows the leaders of the organization how to make change in a change based enterprise. The theory explains that requirements are formed within time based on our experiences.  These needs may affect the performance of the organization more successfully than others and thus affecting our manners in the job performance such as the achievement and power.  The theory states that the people with a strong desire for achievement make the best leaders if they increase the skills that are important to get the best outcome from their partners (Van et. all, 2012). 

Reference

Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2015). Psychological capital and beyond.

Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (2014). ORGB 4.

Van, T. D. M., Moseley, J. L., Designer, J. C., Van, T. D. M., & Van, T. D. M. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations: interventions, performance support tools, case studies. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, a Wiley imprint.

Offshore banking

An offshore bank is a bank that is located outside the country of where an individual is residing. Most of the depositors are usually non-resident in the area of jurisdiction as they are held in foreign countries most preferably in tax haven countries. These accounts provide legal and financial advantages such as little tax and to the extreme no tax, great secrecy, easy accessibility of the deposits and great protection from the local, political and financial crisis[1]. This type of banking is associated with underground economy, tax evasion, organized crime and money laundering activities however offshore banking legally does not prevent individual assets from personal income tax and interest. The requirements of offshore banking are fairly complex and only a few persons are able to meet them[2]. The criteria required do not make a clear distinction between the interest earned between the local mainstream banks and the offshore banking this is because persons in some countries are required to declare any interest in the foreign accounts.

Offshore banks have the right of not disclosing and reporting the income on other tax authorities as they have no legal obligation to do so compared to the onshore banks. Onshore banking is usually structured to suit the local individuals though they are flexible and can hold foreign currency in that they are tailored towards the very specific wants and requirements through product and service portfolio in order to increase the net worth of individuals and business. The offshore banks have some features that are different from onshore banks[3]. Offshore banks are not found in any country as they are only established in countries that have high levels of bank secrecy and privacy laws as they are able to give individuals more freedom to capital regulation in exchange controls by the government. The mainstream banks are usually regulated by the lands central banks which are controlled by the governments in various nations[4].

The onshore banks have lower yield investments to offer compared to offshore banking as they are easily accessible. The high yields of offshore banks are made possible in that the level of risks involved are very high as the money is not insured by the government as it is the case in the onshore banking system. The offshore type of banking offers a bit of mystery compared to the mainstream banks in that they offer anonymous credit cards and a number of accounts[5]. This is not common to the onshore banks as they do not have such laws and regulation[6]. Some governments requires declaration of the foreign income in which if an individual fails to do so there  arises a risk of fines or jail term if they fail to do so which is not the case with onshore banking. The initial and the maintenance deposit of the mainstream banks are much lesser in comparison to the offshore counterparts.

Both onshore and offshore banking systems have some common elements. In order to have an account in the banking system, one should be able to meet the requirements such as identification documents and the address proof[7]. This is a common procedure in both as they also require a deposit amount in order for the account to be active. Both banking systems have rule and regulation that guard them despite their difference in operation[8]. They also have financial risks in them in that they are able to generate interest for the deposits.

Reference      

Maude, David. Global Private Banking and Wealth Management: The New Realities. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. <http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=6511>.

Smith, Roy C., Ingo Walter, and Gayle DeLong. Global Banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[1] Maude, David. Global Private Banking and Wealth Management: The New Realities. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. <http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=6511>.

[2] Smith, Roy C., Ingo Walter, and Gayle DeLong. Global Banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[3] Smith, Roy C., Ingo Walter, and Gayle DeLong. Global Banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[4] Maude, David. Global Private Banking and Wealth Management: The New Realities. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. <http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=6511>.

[5] Maude, David. Global Private Banking and Wealth Management: The New Realities. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. <http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=6511>.

[6] Smith, Roy C., Ingo Walter, and Gayle DeLong. Global Banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[7] Smith, Roy C., Ingo Walter, and Gayle DeLong. Global Banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[8] Maude, David. Global Private Banking and Wealth Management: The New Realities. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. <http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=6511>.

Managing public voluntary programs - the case of vanishing volunteers

The new director considers that there is need for ethics to be upheld in the workplace by those taking part in the volunteer program. She is concerned with lack of proper organization in the program and sees the need to control the activities of those participating in it. This is in contrast to the way the program was previously handled where it basically ran by people who were not professionals. In the previous management, the program was run by the director himself with help of volunteer coaches chosen from network friends and people known to him (Rainey.G). There was no clear definition of how the volunteers were to be included in the management of the program such that anybody that came in was included in the roster without provision of any rules to follow. However, the new director brought in the vast experience she had while working in a similar position. An effective management in any organization should involve the definition of the roles to be carried out by all the members so that there is no conflict (Connors, 2012). After definition of roles the manager should spell out clearly the policies that should be followed by any person willing to be a volunteer. Policies are the general rules that offer guidelines in decision making in various situations (Connors, 2012). The director should also come up with evaluation process to ensure that the guidelines on ethical standards are adhered to by the volunteers such as avoiding any cases of sexual harassment (Rainey.G). The process should indicate corrective actions to be taken in dealing with any unethical behavior or any deviation from the set guidelines.

The case of the volunteers feeling unappreciated for their work is well depicted in the case which can be attributed to the lack of well structures that give work descriptions. Role description indicates the various tasks to be carried out by the volunteers so that to avoid any inconveniencies in running the program. Lack of proper communication can also be attributed to lack o well structured communication process which in turn is connected to the lack of proper job description. This is seen where the director finds continuous calls from the various volunteers who end disrupting her work (Rainey.G). The director should thus be clear on what she expects from the volunteers and similarly what the volunteers expect from her management. This will eliminate the case of the volunteers feeling that set out rules are an indication of the mistrust.

The case shows that lack of involvement of all stakeholders in public programs will lead to opposition even if it meant for the public good. The authorities should thus offer benefits to the volunteers in the program so that the new director can work with a motivated group.

Privatization of public programs- the case of the crummy contract

The election of new county commissioners comes with increased call for contracting out and privatization in order to enhance service delivery in the operations of the county (Rainey.G). This also comes with increased call for budgetary stringency which was a major campaign agenda of the commissioners. The issue at hand for the new directors is how to handle the pressure especially during the impending contract renewal. Efficiency is a significant factor in service delivery since it determines the level of customer satisfaction (Kettl, 1996). The director should thus take into account the public complaints concerning the quality of food offered and the cleanliness of the place around which food I offered.

Since privatization has been considered to be a major factor that will improve service delivery and increase income to the county, the new director should consider how best it should be done. This will ensure there is not conflict of interest, in the case where the county commissioners would want to be part of the investors.  The main aim of any public programs is to provide services. Any strategic action taken should focus more on provision of the best services but not to make profits. The service should be responsive to the needs of the clients. It s expected that in the implementation of such programs issues such as cost cutting are bound to arise. The directors should thus ensue that there is a balance between management and politics so that focus is not shifted from the service delivery to other unnecessary issues (Kettl, 1996). The director should also ensure that principles are laid down to spell out the responsibilities are spelt out in the delivery of services. This will ensure that cases such as littering are done away with. The director should combine effort with the county commissioners to come up with best privatization strategies and carry out an evaluation of the extent to which the service delivery wills be different. This will ensure that the county move away from in the informal management adopted by the former director which led to much deterioration of service delivery.

The case represents how a combination of politics and management can play out to bring down service delivery in the public sector. The authorities should provide an environment that will allow the adoption of strategies that enhance service delivery and give the new director a chance to come up with professional and workable solutions.

Reference

Kettl, D. F. (1996). The state of public management. Baltimore [u.a.: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.220

Connors, T. D. (2012). The volunteer management handbook: Leadership strategies for success. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Leadership discussion

Transactional leaders focus mainly on the institution, management, and the group performance. This leadership style is also known as managerial leadership why by leaders promotes compliance through rewards and punishment. In this style, leaders pay attention to the followers which help them find out the deviation and the faults (Davidson & Mountain, 2012). The leadership style can be used by the nurses as it is very effective in an emergency situation and in crisis. This is because there are well laid a project that outlines how they should be carried in a very specific manner. Unlike in the transformational leadership style, the ones using transactional approach are not interested in looking up to the future as they aim in keeping things the same way (Davidson & Mountain, 2012).

Transformational leadership is whereby leaders work with the subordinate in order to identify the change needed in a particular setting. In a nursing practical setting, this paves a way for change through inspiration due to the execution of the change in the tandem of committed members in the nursing setting. This type of leadership enhances morale and motivation to the nurses and job performance through the various mechanism used (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). The process is made a success as the nurses are given a sense of self-identity to the project and a collective sense of the organization. This makes them take up greater ownership of the work by understanding their strengths and weakness aligning them to various tasks accordingly (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013).

Reference

Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (2013). Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead. Bingley, UK: Emerald.

Davidson C & Mountain A (2012). Working Together: Organizational Transactional Analysis and Business Performance. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Queuing theory and Constant service time model

Queuing theory is used in operational management and its application has both benefits and limitations.  The theory has been used in organizations to assess customer waiting environment, productivity, waiting time and more. First, queuing theory offers scientific understanding of problems and therefore offers solutions to the problems in an optimal manner.   It has capable models which are used to determine the arrival pattern and in balancing both waiting and service costs (Langabeer, 2009).  The theory helps to reduce the waiting time and to effectively utilize the available facilities.  Other advantage is seen as a result of simulation.  Researchers are now able to use numerical solutions to get the approximate answers, change the variables, analyze the results and arrive at queue design optimization. In addition, Queuing theory offers plain language and economic models which mathematicians can use in applying probabilistic distribution.  They can use mathematical terms in modeling complex phenomenon and mathematical equation and then apply the equations in predicting behaviors (Langabeer, 2009).  However, Queuing theory has some limitations in that   the queuing models appear to be complex and the queuing situations have uncertainty which may arise from lack of theoretical probability and process parameters.  Some problems in industries are multi-channel and this mean that  customer may get the service and  the same customer may queue once more and get the service again  and this may bring difficulties when it come to analyze (Langabeer, 2009).  When solving problems, some problems are real life and come from complex situations and this makes it difficult to apply the techniques and after solving the problems   uncertainties are noticed.

Constant service time model is associated with advantages in operations management. First, the model is appropriate in fixed cycle processes for example in automatic car wash.    This is because the service systems are constant and constant rates are certain (Bhat, 2008). Constance service time helps in understanding service system, average waiting time and controlling activities.  The model reduces variability and the customers waiting lines are reduced through creating a constant service time. By using appointments in constant time service, arrival rates moves smoothly and this leads to improvement (Bhat, 2008). There is certainty in constant rates and thus they give variable services rates. The model also provides benefits in Poison distribution which means that there is a successful time in customer arrival which introduces the exponential distribution. Other benefit is that there is a faster services rate than the arrival late which is unknown (Bhat, 2008).

Reference

Langabeer, J. R. (2009). Performance improvement in hospitals and health systems. Chicago, IL:

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Bhat, U. N. (2008). An introduction to queueing theory: Modeling and analysis in applications. Boston:

Birkhäuser.

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies

    Business strategy involves the decisions that the organization undertakes so as to maintain and use its competitive advantage. This may be enhanced by the carrying out of research on the target market, the level of competition and the product line of the company. These business level strategies usually affect the company’s functional decisions which may involve the implementation of some of the changes in the company’s operations. Business strategy will, therefore, ensure that the company is focused on satisfying the needs of their customers and that the company is able to attain profits. This strategy is mainly concerned with gaining competence through the exploitation of the chief competencies.  The corporate strategy involves the identification of the opportunities that lie outside a company’s initial industry. This may integrate the aspect of diversification within the company. This will ensure that the company is effective, efficient, profitable and also competent. This cooperates strategy is only available in the case where the company is in a position to extend and develop a competitive benefit over the two businesses.  Glencore Company is one of the publicly traded companies whose headquarters are located in the Baar, Switzerland. This is a global corporation that leads in integrating the production and marketing of commodities. It has a worldwide operation in production, sourcing, processing as well as refining, distributing, financing and storage of the metals and minerals. It also is involved in agricultural and energy product production.  Customers across the world rely on the Glencore’s supply of products that either is from the company directly or they are outsourced from other third parties. This paper, therefore, will discuss on the business level and corporate level strategy that is used in the Glencore Company to ensure the long-term success of the company (Trask & DeGuire 2013).  The paper will also focus on the competitive environment surrounding the company.

    The company has over time developed different business strategies that it has implemented so as to achieve its objectives. The company focuses on the maintenance of a strong investment and a responsible operation as well. This company, therefore, uses three major business operations so as to enhance it to have a competitive advantage in the competitive environment. One of the business level strategies involves the cost reduction mechanism in the company that is enhanced through the use of the flexible balance sheet in the company. This ensures that the shareholders receive their returns while the entire company is able to sustain the cyclical nature of the natural resources in the industry. The company, therefore, is interested in increasing returns on capital invested and the cash flow within the company. However, on the other side, the company ensures that they reduce their net debts and funding (Glencore Annual Report 2015). Through this strategy, capital is disbursed when necessary with strict and clear defined financial measures that relate to profits and payback. The company’s assets are low cost and are durable which reflects the considerable investment into the existing assets. The company generally ensures that they control costs and generates sustainable functional and capital effectiveness.

    The marketing strategy of the company supports the creation of the increased value as they are able to blend, store and geographically arbitrage. They thus are involved in maximizing their profits and cash flow from the pool of the distributed capital. This helps in the strengthening of the company’s balance sheet which ensures that the company is able to improve their operations and thus they have the competitive edge (Glencore Annual Report 2015).

    The company takes the approach of continuous improvement where they believe in no-end for improvement. This approach enhances the sustainability of the company and good performance as well. The company strongly believes that there is no end in providing quality products.

Thus they continually ensure that they become a better operator than all the other competing operators. The company thus has a better reputation for operating their operations in the right way. The company is committed to operating responsibly and thus they develop and maintain and also strengthen their relationship with all the stakeholders. They thus are actively engaged in an apparent and open manner where it realizes the constructive relationships which are important in their social license to operate. This ensures that they are producing quality products that satisfy the customer’s needs (Glencore Annual Report 2015).

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    Another business strategy is the ability to utilize the human resource in the company. The company is able to utilize the available employees in the company and their overall economy. This ensures that highly qualified workers are employed and the right number of employees is employed so as to meet the goals of the output from the company.

    Cooperate level strategy that the company is utilizing is through its merging approach. The company is merging with the Xstrata Company so as to seize the outside opportunity with an aim of increasing value for its shareholders (Breiding 2012). This merger will ensure that the company is able to diversify on its operations and is also able to increase their competitive advantage with an increase in market value, the uniqueness of the business model and increase in the value chain of the commodities that they produce.

The merger will offer an exciting opportunity where they are able to create an outstanding business which is better able to seizure value from the fluctuating industry underlying forces and hence they are able to redefine their competitive landscape (Breiding 2012). The company will also be able to expand its operations including the positions in the next major mining venture where they will be able to operate in wide range of companies. The company will as well benefit from the merger as they will be able to increase their measure and market situations in the production and marketing of the main products. They will also be able to diversify their products and this will increase the cash flow divergence. This will also enhance the company to be competent in accessing the resources while the operational costs are low thus allowing the company to win contracts as they are able to offer lower prices than their competitors (Breiding 2012).

    It is, therefore, clear that both cooperate and business level strategies are important in any company. Thus as the company has been able to realize maximum profits and cash flow through the implementation of the important and well enabling strategies. Diversification has proven to be the most appropriate form of co-operating strategy that the company has been able to use so as to increase their competence. The merging of the two companies is another cooperate strategy that ensures that the company experiences strategic advantage hence increase the profits and also ability to diversify in their productions and this makes them more competent.  With the right integration of both the corporate as well as the business strategies, the company will be able to make the business and the corporate business unit a success.

    The global competition and the local competition within the environment is a major concern in the operations of the company. One of the main competitors is the BHP Billiton Company which is a potential giant in this business line.

On a worldwide basis, competition is open and even when the company merges with Xstrata they still are not able to compete with the BH Billiton Company (Blowfield 2012).

 The company has better business and corporate strategies which enhance the company to be the leading competitors than the Glencore Company. They have had stable performance over the years that has enabled them to deliver superior margins than their competitors throughout the economic as well as commodity cycles for many years. Their products are low cost and they deal in the diversification of products and services. This enhances their resilience of their cash flow through reduction of their exposure to any product.

This allows them to be in a position of financially operating well and thus they are able to invest in and grow their business throughout their economic cycles. This allows the company to deliver superior long-run value to their stakeholders. The company diversifies on their geography, their market and products which allow them to succeed. The company is also able to develop skills and abilities of their employees and the people who believe in the company’s performance. It is through this ability to differentiate that makes them outstand among their competitors. The company utilizes their employees well through ensuring that they employ high caliber people who are determined in the success of the company and maximization of the profit (Blowfield 2012). This company, therefore, the best in the business and thus leaves the second position for the Glencore Company.

    The company’s position may differ in the long run in both the fast and the slow cycle market. In fast cycle market, the company’s main goal is sustaining competitive advantage through the taking of small steps and also the launching of a counter attack before the opportunity fades away.

Through this approach, the Glencore Company will be in a position to change the status of their competitive environment. With slow cycle market, the company’s competitive benefit will be protected from the imitation for long term duration though the imitation is costly. Hence the competitive advantage in this cycle is more sustainable. Therefore it is clear that if the Glencore Company is not limited to be at position two in the market.

 However, if they are able to implement the small steps in the fast cycle market with the launching of their products and with time they will be able to identify the opportunities in the market where they seize the opportunity for their advantage. Hence the state at which Glencore is today might be totally different from the future. This will only be enhanced through better business and corporate strategies in the business that outweighs that one of the BHP Billiton Company.

References

                Blowfield, M. (2012). Business and sustainability. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

                Breiding, R. J. (2012). Swiss made: The untold story behind Switzerland's success. London: Profile Books.

            Glencore Annual Report 2015

                Trask, A., & DeGuire, A. (2013). Betting the company: Complex negotiation strategies for law and business.

Needs Assessment Sundance Helicopters

    Sundance helicopters are one of the largest companies that deal in the offering of services to their customers. They are made up of a different number of departments which are responsible for different tasks that all helps the company meet their objectives. This paper will focus its argument on the needs assessment of the Sundance helicopters for their problem in the management of their organization that lacks organization, communication, documentation, and training. The first step will involve the gap analysis of the current and the desired outcome followed by the realization of the priorities that are important for solving the problem while the last stage will be involved in identifying the causes of the problems and the solutions and growth opportunities for the company.

    Lack of proper organization in the company is one of the major problems that the company is facing. They are currently unable to organize their employees in a better way such that their duty schedule is perfect and effective. This has resulted in the poor performance of the employees where they are unable to organize themselves well and thus some ends up working for more hours. This results in their fatigue that affects their performance which increase in the accidents as they are unable to pay attention to their roles (Welfeman, 2013). Lack of proper communication is another problem that affects the company’s performance. The company fails to communicate in an effective way to their customers which has resulted in the loss and lack of reliability of their customers. For instance, they have failed in communicating earlier in advance and this has caused so many flights to be canceled thus causing disappointments to their customers. Lack of documentation is another problem that the company is facing as they have not been able to follow some of the important steps that are usually documented and thus they end up being vulnerable to making mistakes.

It is through these mistakes that the company makes so many losses. Lack of training is another problem facing the company as they currently do not focus on the training of their employees.

    The most prioritized solution to these problems is the change in the organization. This is cost effective as the company will only change the way they arrange and distribute their roles to their employees. This will enhance better communication within the company and this will as a result lead to better communication even to the customers. There will be no delay as the company will be able to reduce chances of errors as the shifts and duty schedules will be well organized. Hence all the employees will be able to perform well. With the right organization, the management will also be able to document all the operations thus reducing cases of errors. As the company increases its loyalty to their customers, profits will be realized and thus the cost of training the employees will be able to be catered for.

    The main cause of the poor performance in the company is due to the management difficulties. The jobs are ineffectively carried out and the individual employees fail in their operations hence causing accidents (Daily Mail, 2011). The management is, therefore, inefficient and thus the entire organization of the company does not help the company to attain its goals. Communication is ineffective and this has resulted in a total poor performance of the company.

    As a result of the problems that the company faces, it is quite important for the management of the company to implement changes and new policies that will help in solving their problems and thus allowing them to achieve their goals, mission, and visions. The company should implement the use of work cards that will clearly define the procedure to be taken by the employees so as to guide them in the inspection process (NTSB, 2011). This will help in solving the problems with documentation issues.

Training of employees is another solution that can be implemented in the company (NTSB, 2011). This will help to increase in knowledge and skills for the employees thus allowing them to be effective in their work and thus a good performance as the output. Establishment of duty roster among the employees will enhance in the limitation of time spent on work by the employees (NTSB, 2011). This will enhance them to be able to reduce the risks becoming fatigued and overworked and hence good performance will be expected from them. Employees should be trained on the new policies and procedures implemented in the company so as to allow them to abide by those policies and hence enabling them to work towards achieving the best. Communication is paramount therefore information should be effectively being communicated from the top management to the employees and to the customers and vice versa. This will help the company to be able to satisfy the needs of their customers. Maintenance department being the most important department in the company ought to be taken care of and therefore all the problems that the department is facing should be solved with urgency so as to attain highest profits.

References

            NTSB. (2011). Loss of Control Sundance Helicopters, Inc. (1st ed.). Washington, D.C. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1301.pdf

            Tragedy in Sin City: Newlywed pilot and couple celebrating 25th wedding anniversary among five killed as Vegas tour helicopter crashes into a mountain. (2011). Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071406/Las-Vegas-helicopter-crash-5-dead-Sundance-Helicopters-accident.html

            Werfelman, L. (2013). ‘Inadequate Maintenance’ | Flight Safety Foundation. Flightsafety.org.  http://flightsafety.org/aerosafety-world-magazine/apr-2013/inadequate-maintenance

The four stages of change

Cost plus:  

This stage occurs when the firm has high market dominance and this makes the firm to add a markup in the production cost in order to get a high profit.  The high profit margin increases as a result of change in customers, technology and   market competition (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).  Firms determine the amount of anticipated sales for them to decide the degree of markup.   For example, Kodak Company added a markup cost in the market and this helped the firm to gain a high profit margin. This change impacts the firms positively as it does examine the market competition or other pricing factors but it is a change which is straightforward and it defends the firms’ prices (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014). In enabling the firms to flourish in economic situation, the government supports the economy by raising taxes, enacting tariffs and industry regulation.

Cost management:

 The increase in profit margin as a result of technology, competition and customers forces the firms to enter in stage two which is the cost management to deal   with changes through cost cutting, restructuring, reengineering and downsizing (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014)g.   Firms implement effective ways and activities of controlling the business cost.  In cost cutting, firms   focus on profit increase through cost reduction. Companies use strategies such as product benchmarking; reverse costing, value analysis among other in the cost cutting.   In restructuring, the companies tend to reorganize the structure of the business to make more profit.  Restructuring includes change in ownership structure, financial structure among more which are done by legal advisors or new CEO (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).  Cost cutting is also done through downsizing and this means that the company reduces personnel to increase efficiency and organization performance.  Last method in cost cutting is through reengineering which is a strategy in organization design and analysis.  Reengineering is done to   reduce operational cost, improve customer service and maintain competitive edge.  For example the Kodak Company used reengineering in dealing with economic changes.  The company has effective business process, improvement in productivity and it achieved new advances in technologies.  It changed management and increased employee empowerment and organizations structure in general (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).

Revenue management:

In cost management, companies realize that the process may affect the profit increase and this force the companies to manage revenue.  In revenue management, companies focus on micro-market level to review the consumer behavior   so that they can ensure products and maximize the price. For example, IMB Company focused on revenue management to become the ‘top line growth’ and increased profit (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).   In revenue management, companies offer the right product with respect to customers’ perception; they also offer quality brands at the right time, right place and with right pack.  In this stage, companies focus on ‘top line growth’ where they tend to increase the gross sales (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).

Revenue plus;

In this stage, companies focus on profitable growth and they need a full recovery from economic changes for them to grow and gain profitability.  In the process of revenue plus, companies tend to focus  on  developing the  distributing channels,  simplifying the product lines, shifting the price model,  creating a maintenance plan and manufacturing  quality products.  For example, the Avon Company faced a decline in personnel and hostile threat.  It used the three stages to deal with the changes now the company is using revenue plus to increase growth as well as profitability (Keat, Young & Erfle, 2014).  To do this, it focuses on channel development and quality products such as new cosmetics and younger shoppers’ products.

Reference

Keat, P. G., Young, P. K. Y., & Erfle, S. E. (2014). Managerial economics: Economic tools for

today's decision makers.

Culture and employees selection assessment

Ensuring that the employee’s culture does not have any negative impact on the results of any assessment in a global operation. This is key to ensure that there is no individual whose potential is intimidated because of culture. As a manger it is right to ensure that before any step towards the assessment is taken I would begin with workshops and trainings. This would help in equipping the employees with ways to make healthy adjustments and acquire high critical thinking which would make sure that the individual’s culture doesn’t negatively impact the selection assessment (Browaeys, & Price, 2008).

I believe strongly that cooperate culture and teamwork can be shaped by putting in place working and effective training programs. This will also call for having well equipped and skilled training staffs to help improve the employees in all aspects. Also encouragements like having rewards for those who really show and are actively portraying the teamwork behavior in them (Browaeys, & Price, 2008). Promotions would also work where those employed individuals who demonstrate success within the culture are given the opportunities to hold greater responsibilities. This will encourage more of them to seek improvement to get awards.

The human resource management body also has a part in this as one of the areas it covers. In this case there is much details which goes deep to classification of employees which is important. This includes of categories like parent country, host country and the third country national (Michael, 2012). There is also more emphasis placed in choosing the right candidate to carry out a certain task in the company. This is balancing between sensitivity to practices of local labor and consistency of internal cooperate. This is all additional to what already exists in what have been learnt for the whole week, which is key in ensuring appropriateness in choosing and getting the right personnel to work in a certain docket.

This week a better understanding of what global selection is and how it should be done to yield maximum was highlighted. This is especially on major issues like selection across cultures and how to manage cultural issues in assessment centres (Michael, 2012). There was also focus on the issues associated with creating a selection system where strong social network is key to be considered. This is also where need for cross-cultural skills was emphasized due to the way the workplaces are becoming diverse. This studies are key and in what is expected of managers in the field for optimum outcomes from all employees found fit in different dockets.  

References

Top of Form

Browaeys, M.-J., & Price, R. (2008). Understanding cross-cultural management. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Michael, M. H,. (2012). Handbook of research in International Human Resource Management.

Bottom of Form

Organizational Behavior

            Organizational behavior refers to the study of people’s interactions in groups. This study is mostly applicable when attempting to build more efficiency in the Business Corporation. The ideology for this study is to bring up a scientific approach that can be applied in managing the recruits. The organizational behavioral theories that arises are mainly used maximize productivity from the individual groups’ members. This is by using the theories for human resource purposes.

            There are varieties of dissimilar forms and beliefs of the organizational behavior. The area of study consists of job performance improvements, enhancement of work contentment, endorsing innovativeness and also encouraging leadership. The managers sometimes take up different strategies so as to bring up the achievement of desirable results. These strategies include a reshuffling of the groups, transforming the compensation structures and also making changes on conducting an evaluation of performance. The ideology behind focusing Scientific at behavior and productivity in workplaces is the aim of increasing and improving the value of work an employee can perform. Workers are also viewed to be psychologically and potentially fit with the organization instead of been seen as an exchangeable resource (Hiriyappa 2009).

            Organizational behavior is mainly subdivided two that is micro and macro. Micro OB mainly covers making choices, education, inspiration, negotiation stereotyping and authority. Macro mainly deals with the corporations and its surroundings; also the identity of the corporations’ procedures .It also covers the social movements that manipulate markets and the influence of social networks.

            According to Hiriyappa (2009) findings that are drawn from the organizational behaviors body of research can be used to enable executives and human relations professionals to have a better understanding of the business culture. They are able to understand how culture may enhance and hinder the production and workers retention. They also properly understand how to properly evaluate candidates’ skills and their personality through hiring processes.

            As stated above organizational behavior studies the worker’s interaction within the company, the ethics that guides the corporation to achieve its goal and ways in which leaders learns to understand how culture affects businesses and the steps to be followed during hiring processes.

References

Hiriyappa, B. (2009). Organizational behaviour. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers