Discussion broad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion broad - Essay Example Based on the Output KPIs under the second objective, help grow membership, strength of brand identity is considered. However, under attitudinal and behavioral KPIs, there are no measurement tools to show the relevance of the target output KPI, strength of brand identity. In this case, the use of survey questions to identify what effect brand strength has on membership is recommended. Additionally, the behavioral KPIs should show change in page views based on recognition of brand strength. The current lack of attitudinal and behavioral KPIs indicating the role and influence of brand strength on membership merits the recommendation of a survey to showcase the associated impact of brand strength on membership growth (Paine, 2011). Under the third communication objective, the Boston IABC website, a recommendation for Output KIPs targets the number of individuals sharing a common goal that can yield to stronger relationships among chapter members. By simple counting or use of metrics in terms of percentage, output KIPs should be able to show how effective calendar events are at bringing certain members together. Additionally, under the attitudinal KIPs, focus group analysis should be considered to indicate how much of current chapter members attend similar events and how many members have distinct tastes for events. Under the Behavioral KPIs, metrics should be used to determine the rate of change in return visitors. While event registration and activity on social media can be used to strengthen relationships, the rate at which members register for the same calendar events as well as rate of attendance for certain events over others is essential in determining how successful the communication objective is (Paine ,

To What Extent is it Justifiable to Deviate from Fundamental Essay

To What Extent is it Justifiable to Deviate from Fundamental Principles of Criminal Law by Creating Driving Offences of Strict Liability, in the Interests of Maintaining Road Safety - Essay Example Without an iota of doubt, it can be said that the concept of law, and for that purpose criminal law, has come to find a midpoint between these two schools of thoughts by setting principles that both give freedom to people to behave as individual beings and also protect the interest of other people. Typical examples of such rules and regulations that can be identified as directly catering for both the freedom of the bearer and the interest of the holder are driving laws on the possession of insurance and valid driver’s license by car users. Such laws are in place to ensure that as much as people have the freedom to drive any car of their choice, they also have the needed training and security that will put other road users at safety. Notwithstanding the presence of such road user laws, which have been inculcated into existing criminal laws, there are studies and case laws that suggest increases in driving offenses and road user related offenses. This essay has therefore been written to hold a debate on the justification in deviating from fundamental principles of criminal law to create driving offenses of strict liability that will be in place with the interest of maintaining road safety. There are a number of thematic legal arguments that can be developed from the question under discussion. These are considered thematic legal arguments because they seem to raise issues that could be given different legal interpretations, an analysis of which can lead to a successful conclusion on the justification of deviating from principles of criminal law by creating driving offenses of strict liability in the interest of maintaining road safety. These thematic legal arguments have thus been discussed as follows.

Human Resources Management. Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Resources Management. Diversity - Essay Example Diversity is not only in terms of caste, religion but also in other demographic factors such as age, education, gender etc. Here our focus and main concern is age and gender diversity and we strive to find out to what extent are they beneficial or a source of conflict among the organizations. Previously women were not a major part of the workforce, but now the trends have been changing, more and more women are entering the workforce. Acceptance of women is becoming the norm and myths such as women value family more than careers is also fast eroding. Similarly, young graduates are also entering the workforce thus sometimes replacing and at others working under the more experienced person, a myth about these younger people is that they lack commitment. In Australia the facts suggest the same; the population trends are changing and studies also show that the population is ageing and it is predicted that by 2051 around 25% of Australia's population will be aged 65 year or older; and also the number of women in the workforce has increased from 40% in 1979 to 53% in 2004.1 For companies to prosper and create a positive cultural climate they need to strike a balance between young and mature and also the male and female counterparts in the organization. To manage gender differences firstly, the acceptability levels of the women in workforce should be enhanced, besides policies in the organizations should be supportive of women and in their favor; some steps that are taken and should be taken by the companies is that women should be provided equal opportunity as men, there should be laws against bullying, unlawful harassment, career leave and parental leaves for women in times of dire need. Career development programs like men should also include women to develop and focus themselves on the path to progression and move up the organizational ladder. When managing the age diversity i.e. attaining a balance between younger and mature employees, one major factor is giving and taking respect. It should be realized that younger generation takes the organization forward, by providing new and latest views of changing trends and brings young ideas that are more creative; but on the other hand older employees also have their experiences that are far more important in running the organization and is important in keeping the strong cultural bond developed over the years in the organization intact. Older employees should not be replaced by younger employees but should be provided with opportunity in terms of flexibility to serve the organization as it fits with their changing lifestyle which is a requirement for their old age. Besides, they should also always be available to mentor and share their experiences with their juniors. Some Australian companies were observed to be working on areas such as embedding diversity into key employment policies and programs to advance equitable outcomes for women. They are striving to achieve a 95% agreement rate from their female survey respondents that their immediate supervisor genuinely supports equal opportunity by random sampling. The companies have already. Achieving similar rates of promotion for men and women at all levels. And

Effects of Cost Reduction Strategies

Effects of Cost Reduction Strategies 1. Background of the study The selected organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at suburb area of the country. Factory has capacity to provide employment opportunities for over 80 skilled labours. Since year 1995 factory is being manufacturing garments Shirts, Trousers, Jackets, Blouses, Night wear, Babies garments etc for local and foreign market. In order to earn profits, the factory organizes the factors of production to produce garments that meet the demand of local and foreign market. To maintain the profitability of the organization it has become necessary to reduce the cost of the product and increase the quality of the garments. For most purpose of this study is to practically preview cost reduction practice of organizations and effect of the practices in the organization. Cost reduction measures became most significant and prioritize topic in current business strategy due to the prevailing global economical crises. Cost reduction measures address questions about the efficient and effective management. A comprehensive study of practice of cost reduction measures of garment factory and effect of the measures in factory was difficult because of data limitations and managers reluctance to provide data. Inadequacy of available data makes it difficult to state precisely practice of cost reduction measures and effect of that. This is further complicated by the fact that managers hide some information purposely by thinking this information will go to their competitors. 2. Cost Reduction Techniques Cost reduction strategies helped the organization to match its capabilities with opportunities in the market place to accomplish its objectives. To maintain the profitability of the organization and to get the competitive advantage, the management has introduced some cost reduction methods during last two years. Although indirect costs are relatively small percentage of total cost, management equally introduced cost reduction measures for both direct and indirect cost sources. Revealed data proven that organization was able to save over seven millions of rupees during last year. The implemented cost reductions measures as follows, List of cost reduction approaches implemented by the selected organization Production process redesigning Waste management Overtime work reduce Staff reduce Cut off of medical insurance facility Cut off of food facility Suspension loan and salary advance facility Reduce transportation facility Electricity saving measures Cost reduce through limiting Telephone facility Reduce office maintenance cost Stationary and documentation cost reduction Introduction of new production Product development Suspension of organizations annual trip Time saving measures Cost reduces through inventory controlling. 3. Categorization of cost reduction measures 1. Product process related cost reduction approaches Cost reduction by production process redesigning Cost reduction through waste management Cost reduces through inventory controlling. 2. Employee related cost reduction approaches Cost reduction by overtime work Cost reduce by Staff reduce Staff welfare cost reduction Cut off of medical insurance facility Suspension of interest free loan facility and salary advances Cut off of food Suspension of organizations annual trip Cut off of transport facility Time saving measures 3. Administration and office maintenance related cost reduction approaches Electricity saving measures Telephone Reduce office maintenance cost Stationary and documentation cost reduction 4. Customer related cost reduction approaches Introduction of new production Product development 4. Evaluation and Analysis of Cost Reduction Techniques 1 Product process related cost reduction approaches 1.1 Cost reduction by product process redesigning To reduce cost, the organization had redesigned production process. Sequentially to optimize the all manufacturing process, Manufacturing, sample testing, procumbent handling, delivery service and repairer had been redesigned with the concern of best cost, quality, safety, customer satisfaction etc. Designers had been encouraged to watchfully specify part quality by taking into consideration the cumulative effect of part on product quality. Production time was saved by quickly assembling few parts with better quality. Parts are ease of production and commonality with other designs. This method support standardization of parts, minimum use of purchased parts, modular design and standard design features. It has reorganized the building to order and gathering customization. All parts keep available at all point of use, makes it easier for parts to be pulled into assembly which eliminate the unnecessary movements. By ordering less type of parts in large qualities it reduced material over head cost. Organization was able to reduced cost and improves flexibility by redesigning. According to the management, overtime payment amount at the same time as nearly 20% of salary during past few years. It shouldered around 5% of total direct cost. Organization was able to meet customer deadline without doing overtime works as a results of process redesigning. In order to redesign manufacturing process, organization had used expert process development team and paid them amount at the same as 9.5% of annual overtime amount. By parts keep available at all point of use, and eliminating unnecessary movements, one store helpers duty had wipe out without any effecting. Organization was able to save amount at same time as 10.5% of salary and one store helpers salary valued Rs.5, 900/- by process redesigning. This redesigning of the process ensure that how well the features work and had significantly influence on quality, reliability and how quickly new product can be introduced into the market. Consequently cost benefit of the redesigning is much higher than the overtime sav ing and one labour salary. 1.2 Cost reduction through waste managing Increase productivity by eliminating many types of waste. Such as excess inventory and unnecessary handling, time wasting, defects, reworking, material wastage. Waste materials had been sold to domestic producers at very low prices. Organization had started to produce new dresses by using west material especially for the local market instead of selling to the domestic. Theses product are providing at very cheap price and it is good opportunity for the customers. Organization was able to additionally earn at least fifty thousand per month. Because of this decision the domestic people loss their live hood. In order to save time, introduced token system for workers to minimize away from work station ( if any worker wants to go out of work station even to go to toilet or any other emergency they should get permission token from supervisor and when employee back to workstation he should immediately return to the supervisor), and get rid of unnecessary process ( Ex: reduced double stretch to one stitch in some products). To prevent unnecessary interruption organization had introduced proactive equipment / machine maintenance method. On that organization had enter in to service agreement with third party organization which cost was around Rs. Hundred and fifty thousand per annum. With this agreement, servicing organization randomly come and does necessary service to all machines without interruption to normal process. As a result of no any machine take away from process during last year where which frequently experiences early. This decision accelerates production and optimized labour consumption. To ensure the optimum use of machine tool and workstation, one piece flow lines balanced to do the required tasks at each station. This may also help to meet deadlines without doing overtime and terminate the supervisory staff. 1.3 Cost reduces through inventory controlling Inventory controlling is another important cost reduction source. Materials comprise of the 60 to 70% of the total production cost. The various techniques have been introduced to controlling inventory handling cost. Organization had removed non moving stock because non moving stock goes on adding overheads for a period of years and it becomes a blocked inventory. Organization uses classification system. This helps to reduce stock handling cost and organization was able to reduce one store helper service. Cost benefits of these techniques are particularly high. 2. Employee related cost reduction approaches 2.1 Cost reduce by stopping overtime work As it is explained by the Sri Lankan law overtime work is one and one-half times or doubles size payment. Though overtime is high cost source organization had used overtime works for provide high quality products to customers and meet their target. According to the management, overtime payment amount at the same time as nearly 20% of salary during past few years. It shouldered around 5% of total direct cost. The management has stopped over time work and payments. This decision is effected to factory and office employees. This factory had used to pay overtime payment for managerial staffs as well. Top Management has consecutively introduced flexible working hours for the management staffs to success in overtime payment suspension procedure. The organization was able to save money as at least 20% of salary due to the overtime suspension decision. As per managers, no any order or job has been delayed due to this measure and they are getting same output as they got early by working overtime. Employees ware adherent to work overtime and receive additional payment. Consequently staffs misery and labour turnover is increased in the factory. Overtime work is more costly and it significantly effect to the organizations cost structure. In other hand, Humans cannot continually work long hour and their output gradually reduces as they are tired of working long hours. Therefore cost benefit of overtime work rather low. However, organization was able to save at least money same as 20% of monthly salary. As management there is no such a big deference of output comparatively overtime work period and non overtime period. Organization was able to get maximum use of human resources during working hour. One reason for that may be by limit ed employees working hours to 8, employees may give their contribution without exhausted. Though hiring cost increased this is a good cost reduction method. 2.2 Cost reduce by Staff reduce It is observed that salary denoted nearly half of organizations cost. By redesigning production process and introducing production team concept, it was able to eliminate unnecessary job. Organization has terminated 5 labours, one office peon, two supervisors, one assistant manager and two clerks service. Organization was able to save nearly hundred and fifty thousand per month by reducing employees. This decision was a considerable damage to the high job security which was experienced by the employees during last ten fifteen years. This decision adversely effect to the employees moral and face uncertainty. Sri Lankan labour law is not a flexible law and it always facilitate the employee and it gives poor aid to employers. This organization falls to reduced staffs to protect many other employees and the organization. Terminated staffs have been paid one month salary additionally and gratuity. Some of terminated staffs have taken legal action against to the organization on their termination. Organization occurs to pay additional payments for legal officer. Though organization is able to save considerable saving on this measure, addition cost source was initiated as a result of. This situation was raised as a result of unorganized implementation. If prior approval was taken from legal authority this cost sources may not be occurred. Therefore organization was unable to success in cost as expected due to wrong implementation. High job security enhanced staff loyalty and builds a healthy and happy working environment and promoted good relationship among the staff but with this decision empl oyees experienced uncertainty. This may also a motive to increase labour turnover. 2.3 Staff welfare cost reduction Performances of the organization depend on employees enthusiasm and satisfaction with their jobs; all affect the productivity, reputation and survival of the firm. Employees are the main driving force of the organization. Organization believes that employees are their most valuable asset. To enhance staff loyalty and ensure they have an excellent working environment organization had provided verity of facilities for them. Few of them are medical insurance coverage, transport facility, pleasant working environment, Interest free staff loan facility, payment for residual leave, fifteen minis religious memorial period for every day, salary advance if necessary, annual trip and etc. All these facilities help to build a healthy and happy working environment and promoted good relationship among the staff. But organization was urged to cut off these facilities to be success in increasing market competition and global economical crises. 2.3.1 Cut off of medical insurance facility All level employees experienced medical insurance facility. They were paid all their medical expense including hospitalization charges. Medical insurance coverage helps to increase employees satisfaction and promote healthy relationship among employees and employer. Medical insurance coverage was gaining in popularity with staff grade employers and not that much popular within labours. As Sri Lanka is a country which provides free medical service to its nations cut off of medical insurance coverage is not such a big issue for the labours. But that decision was badly affected to the managerial staffs enthusiasm. Organization was able to save over five hundred thousand rupees yearly on this decision. Organization was able to save considerable amount of money which less affected to labours and significant effect to staff grade motivation. However this is a comparatively good cost reduction method of a factory. 2.3.2 Suspension of interest free loan facility and salary advances Organization had provided interest free loan for permanent employees which not more than employees one year salary. Inference period is three year. Other than to the staff loan salary advance also suspended. Management has planned to invest company money in to business promotion. This decision helps to shield the business and it helps to increase stability of the organization. Suspension of staff loan facility is not considerable affect to the managerial staff as majority of the staffs had already taken loan and managerial staffs are more secure in economically than labours. But the suspension of salary advance is badly effect to labours enthusiasm and it may also act to increase labour turnover. Cost benefit of this technique is comparatively low. It is observed that organization was unable to save considerable saving on account of. 2.3.3 Cut off of food Organization provided breakfast, lunch and tea to all level of employees. Majority of employees are poor female. This meal facility helps to maintain their body nutrition level and helped to increase enthusiasm. Some poor girls may come to work without meals and others may have to weak up early morning to prepare their meals as a result of cut off of food facility. Any employees can work on their maximum capacity if theyre mentally and physically fit. Therefore cut off of food expenses can be adversely affected to the output. Organization was able to save at least one hundred and fifty thousand and other hand it may badly affect to the employees effort and moral. Organization experiences comparatively high level of absenteeism after implementing the decision. It can be identified as not good cost deduction method to factory which employed majority female low income employees. 2.3.4 Suspension of organizations annual trip Employees are the most important resources of the factory. The annual trip is corporate team building exercises which helps individuals work better on individually and together. Getting to know each other is a great way for staff to form stronger working relationships. Staffs who are not usually working together have opportunity to bond and is good opportunity for new and shy members to get involved focused task. Further rewarding staff with a fun day out employees feel valued by the employer and more likely to be happy at working and loyal. Getting away from the everyday tasks can gives employees a fresh feeling. It helps to identify staff strength and weaknesses and it helps to provide right opportunities for staff back at the office for them to develop. Build relationship among co-workers. Additionally, staff themselves will learn more about theirs and others strengths and weaknesses. Organization saved around hundred thousand yearly but the saving benefit is comparatively low con sidering the benefit of this team building event. 2.3.5 Cut off of transport facility The organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at suburb area. Public transportation facility of the area is in very poor level comparatively to the urban area of the country. Organization had provided office maintains vehicle for managerial staffs and separate vehicles to transport workers and office staff. There was a not implemented cost reduction measure for managerial staffs transport facility. Organization has employed two buses to transport all employees including staff and workers instead of two busses and van which employed early. Organization was able to reduce transportation cost by Rs. 40,000/- per month by this decision. 2.3.5 Time saving measures It was introduced token system for workers to minimize away from work station ( if any worker wants to go out of work station even to go to toilet or any other emergency they should get permission token from supervisor and when employee back to workstation he should immediately return to the supervisor). This method more scientific and in long run this will effect to staff frustration. It was unable to save considerable saving. Cost benefit of the method is very low. It was advised staffs to warship or prays before working hour which was used to done by the staff after working hour early. By allowing memorize employees to their religion before start the duty management expected to create peaceful and harmonious working environment. This may also directs to meet costumers target without overtime work. This is good time saving method. By adjusting transport vehicle time accordingly, management was able to facilitate employees to continue this exercise. Organization was able to save 350 man hours monthly valid nearly twenty thousand without influencing to employees and devoid of harm their objective. 3. Administration and office maintenance related cost reduction approaches 3.1 Electricity saving measures The use of air conditioners within office premises has been stopped and circular had issued to all staffs by advising electricity saving measures, on that staff have been advised how they can assist to save electricity while working. (Staff switches off computers and lights when they go outside of the work station). As this factory located at damp whether area this issue is not effected to the staffs productivity. Organization was able reduce electricity bill by at least five thousand per month without effect to the output. 3.2 Telephone All telephones unites have been locked and introduced upper limit of monthly telephone charges and if it exceeded particular employee is responsible for the excess. There was no considerable deference between before and after introduced of the policy. As telephone facilities has provided to management staff and they all use that facility for the official mater. Whether limits are exceeded it all uses for the business requirements. 3.3 Reduce office maintenance cost Office and factory cleaning service providers service had stopped and assigned to office peons and helpers. Part time worker has recruited for sanitary service by paying Rs.2,000 per month. Organization was able to save twenty thousand of rupees which they paid to cleaning service organization. Due to this decision labor turnover has increased. Organization was unable to the attained that they maintained early on cleaning and sanitary facility. This is not a good cost reduction measure to the organization. 3.4 Stationary and documentation cost reduction Organization started to use Low price stationeries and strong stationary controlling methods have been introduced. Organization was able to reduce around five hundred rupees per month from this measure. 4. Customer related cost reduction approaches 4.1 Introduction of new production Factory manufacturing garments Shirts/Trousers/Jackets/Blouses /Night wear/Babies garments etc for local and foreign market. It is introduced low material and labour consumption garment to the local market. Organization has been involved in the development of garments for low-price. As revealed it is marketed low cost product with low price. This is a good opportunity for the customers. This is a good accomplishment for organization to win the customers. 4.2 Product development Organization had introduced new dresses by using west material especially for the local market instead of selling to the domestic. Theses product are providing at very cheap price and it is good opportunity for the customers. Organization was able to additionally earn at least fifty thousand per month. The organization always targeted to win the upper income level customers and they had ignored lower income group by producing high quality high price garments. With this development organization was able to catch the low income group by producing high quality garments at cheap price. Organization was able to expand the market rather than limited in to the high income customer group. 5. Conclusion The long-term practicability of an organizations business plan depends on supporting its competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is usually attained through developing new products to improve quality and reduce costs. For most purpose of this study is to practically preview cost reduction practice of organizations and effect of the practices in the organization. The selected organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at out of metropolitan city. Cost reduction strategies helped the organization to match its capabilities with opportunities in the market place to accomplish its objectives. To maintain the profitability of the organization and to get the competitive advantage, the management has introduced some cost reduction methods during last two years. Although indirect costs are relatively small percentage of total cost, management equally introduced cost reduction measures for both direct and indirect cost sources. Revealed data proven that organizat ion was able to save around one million of rupees during last year. The exercised cost reductions measures were, employee related, production process related, customer related and administration and office maintenance related cost reduction. It is observed that organization had implemented cost reduction techniques without doing proper cost benefit analysis. However revealed data proven that organization was able to save over seven millions of rupees during last year. Reducing overtime work, Staff welfare cut off, Production improvement, Introduction of new production, Production process related, Productivity increasing measures, Wastage reduction measures, Electricity saving measures have been successively accomplished the organization goal while employee reducing, office maintenance measures ineffective.

Interesting Facts :: essays research papers

Interesting Facts Got this from one of my daily joke emails. Thought it was interesting enough to share : 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple. Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them use to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired." Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village". There are two credit cards for every person in the United States. Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards." The most common name in the world is Mohammed. The word "samba" means "to rub navels together." The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher. Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots. Until 1965, driving was done on the left-hand side on roads in Sweden. The conversion to right-hand was done on a weekday at 5pm. All traffic stopped as people switched sides. This time and day were chosen to prevent accidents where drivers would have gotten up in the morning and been too sleepy to realize that *this* was the day of the changeover. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo. Dr. Seuss pronounced "Seuss" such that it rhymed with "rejoice." In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never said "Play it again, Sam." Sherlock Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson." More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes. The term, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is from Ancient Rome.

Google Brand Strategy Essay

This paper will give you an inside look as to how Google Inc. has evolved into a multi-billion dollar empire since it was first developed in 1996 by two Stanford University graduates working out of a garage. The paper will also compare Google to its strongest competitors in the search engine, web advertising and mobile phone industries. The paper will also reveal what the key elements to success are in those industries. The paper will also detail the resources and key competencies that Google has to make them the leading internet search engine with over 60 percent of market shares. The paper will also discuss the business model and strategies used by Google to help them become one of the fastest growing companies in history. The paper will also touch briefly on some of the threats and weaknesses they face in the marketplace. The paper will also include a recommendation to Google’s top management to help them sustain its competitive edge and financial success in the industry. Background History and Company Growth In 1996, Stanford students Larry Page and Sergey Brin teamed up to develop a new search engine they named BackRub. They chose this name because of the engines ability to rate websites in relevancy based on metatags and keywords. Backrub was quickly gaining popularity and in 1998 Yahoo’s cofounder, David Filo talked Brin and Page into leaving school to put their focus making Backrub a major part of Yahoo. Backrub was later named Google, which was taken from the word googol. Googol is mathematical term for a number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The founder of Sun Microsystems was the first person to invest in Google with $100,000 in August of 1998 which raised $1 million by the end of September. Google was named â€Å"Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines for 1998† by PC Magazine and was recorded successes at record pace. Google saw potential for profits in other segments of the market and made innovative ideas to gain market share. In 2000, their innovations included wireless search technologies, search capabilities in ten languages, and Google Toolbar browser. Google expanded its product line again in 2004 with the launch of Google News, Google Product search, Google Scholar and Google Local. Google’s index of web pages also grew to more than 8 billion and increased its country domain to more than 15. Google then entered the mobile phone market in 2004 when they created a feature allowing users to text a search request and Google would provide results to the search. Google Earth was created in 2005, which was later enhanced in 2010 when it included an Earth View mode allowing users to view 3D images of various locations at ground level. Between 2005 and 2010, Google also added Book Search, Music Search and Video Search. Google created features for its website to include Gmail software, web-based calendar, web-based documents, spreadsheet applications and language translations to accommodate 51 languages. Discuss competition in the search industry. Which of the five competitive forces seems strongest? Weakest? What is your assessment of overall industry attractiveness? Google has been able to sustain its competitive advantage because of the strong relationships they have built with Internet users, advertisers and websites. In 2010, Google was the most visited website with more than 147 million internet users visiting their site on a monthly basis to search for information. Google’s management believes its strongest rivals are Microsoft and Yahoo, although market share rankings from June 2006, June 2009 and May 2010 showed Google has more than twice their competitors combined. Yahoo was first founded in 1994 and in 2010 held the top third position for most visited search engine site. Almost any information available on the web can be viewed through Yahoo’s portal. Yahoo has many of the same features as Google such as, personal calendar, email, news, weather, television listing and online photo albums. Yahoo has also partnered with mobile phones allows users to search from their mobile devices just as Google has done and the searches performed through Yahoo accounted for 35 percent of the market in 2010. Yahoo’s many features and services have generated revenues from many sources. Yahoo’s relationship with Google goes back to 2000 and has at times been cooperative and other times adversarial. In fact, Yahoo was one of Google’s first customers, but in 2002 they parted ways when Yahoo purchased other companies to develop search engines and since then they have been considered rival companies. Another of Google’s top competitors is Microsoft whose revenues in 2009 were approximately $58.4 billion, with $14.6 billion net income. They were able to make these impressive profits through sales of computer software, consulting services, video games hardware and online services. Microsoft’s computer software Windows 7 and Microsoft office raked in half the company’s revenues in 2009 and most of its operating profits. Their online sales of $3.1 billion showed a loss of $2.3 billion during 2009. The online services generated income came from banner ads on the company’s MSN web site and other affiliated sites, as well as search-based ads displayed with Bing results. Microsoft entered the search engine industry during 2004 in an effort to compete with Google. This happened because Microsoft noticed job postings for Google were nearly identical to Microsoft specifications. Microsoft believed Google was attempting to design software applications that compared to Microsoft office such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Google is well aware of the competitive pressures created by its rival and they fully understand what it takes to hold the competitive edge. They created a strategy that would allow themselves to hold their own against its rivals. In their mind, if the competition could do it, so could they. Competition stems from all sorts of directions for Google. They must compete against their rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft in the search engine industry, new entrants to this industry, the product innovations of their rivals, as well as the bargaining powers their rivals may have that they do not. One of the biggest forces of competition is website traffic. If Google can get more internet users to visit their site over MSN or Yahoo, they will have more bargaining power with advertising sales. Google must also obtain qualified employees with the capabilities to compete with the new and innovative products that Microsoft continues to create. Because the search engine sites are so alike, this causes the rivalry between competitors to increase because the products are less differentiated. What are the key factors that define success in the industry? What are the key competencies, and resources of successful search engine companies? Success in the search industry can be defined by looking at several different factors. One of the most obvious signs of success is revenue growth. Google’s revenues from its websites have grown from $792,063 in 2003 to $15,722,486 in 2009 as stated on its 10-k reports. Revenues from licensing have grown from $45,271 in 2003 to $761,759 in 2009. However the value of their stock reached the high point in 2008 at just over $700 per share and has dropped to below $300 in 2008, gained a little in 2009 and dropped again in 2010 to around $450. Some analysts believe Google’s recent decline in revenue and earnings stemmed from their decisions to increase stock prices in order to achieve revenue and growth earnings that pushed the boundaries of their corporate philosophy of making money without doing evil. In order to be successful, Google must continue to develop innovative products at features to better meet the needs of its customers. They need to offer these products at lower prices than their competitors as well. Have Google’s business model and strategy proven to be successful? Should investors be impressed with the company’s financial performance? How does the company’s financial performance compare to that of Microsoft and Yahoo? Google’s innovative products and business acquisitions have all played a part into their strategy directed at increasing the company’s market share in internet advertising. The addition of these products has increased traffic to Google’s website, and therefore, has given them more opportunities to advertise to Internet users. The strategy to dominate the internet advertising market was designed to be worldwide. China was a market that they were particularly interested in taking over since they have more than 300 million users. Unfortunately for Google, China was not as interested in this and they were faced with challenges from their local search provider, Baidu and the Chinese government. As of 2009, only 31 percent of China’s internet users searched using Google and 64 percent used Baidu. Google’s business strategy included creating new products and features for the mobile phone industry. In 2010, 234 million people owned mobile phones, with 30 percent having internet access from their devices. Google first introduced its Android operating system in 2008 free of charge to any phone manufacturer marketing mobile phones with internet capability. The applications included the operating system had Wi-Fi capability, email, web-based calendar, Google Earth maps, and GPS. T-Mobile was the first to use Google’s Android operating system with the launch of G1 in September 2008. The G1 had many of the same features as Apple’s iPhone, but much less expensive. The Android operating system was extremely successful with its market share, increasing from zero in 2008 to 13 percent in May of 2010. Another area of Google’s business strategy focused on computer software programs used by businesses. Senior management believed the programs would move from local hard drives to the Internet. These is referred to as cloud computing. The market was believed to grow to as much as $95 million by 2013. The move would offer many benefits to corporate users such as lower software acquisition costs, lower computer support costs, and easier collaboration amongst employees in different locations. Google first launched its beta version of free word processing and spreadsheet in 2006 and later relaunched in 2008 to compete with Microsoft’s Office products. In 2008, Google launched its Chrome Browser and Chrome operating system, specifically to accommodate cloud commuting applications. The Chrome browser was created with a multiprocessor design that allowed users to operate spreadsheets, word processing, video editing and other applications simultaneously. Each tab opened a new window so if one crashed the other applications running would not be affected. Also in 2009, Google made agreements with Acer, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo to start production of netbooks that used Chrome OS and Chrome browser to access cloud-based Google apps software. Google’s business strategy also included expanding into the television market. In 2010, Google teamed up with Intel, Sony, Logitech, Best Buy, DISH Network, and Adobe to develop Google TV. Google TV was built on the Android platform, running the Chrome browser to search live networks and cable programming that streamed videos from providers such as Netflix, Amazon on demand videos, and YouTube. Google TV users would be able to use their televisions to browse the web and run cloud based applications. Google’s business strategy also focused on the addition of targeted advertising placed alongside search results on its website. Google Adwords increased annual revenues from $220,000 in 1999 to more than $86 million in 2001. These ads were prices using an auction system, where uses bid on keywords that described their product or service. What are the company’s key resources and competitive capabilities? What competitive liabilities and resource weaknesses does it have? What opportunities exist? What threats to its continued success are present? In order for Google to have continued success in the search engine industry, they need to have resources and capabilities to create competitive advantage over its rivals. Many of theses resources needed for success are intangibles. They included human assets and intellectual capital. This means having employees with experience, education, creativity and innovation to develop new products and features to compete with its rivals. Another important resource is their company image. Google’s 10 principles’ of Corporate philosophy includes â€Å"You can make money without doing evil†. Their image is different from many other businesses. Google believes in conducting business in unconventional ways. They believe their work should be challenging, but fun. The company puts emphasis on team achievement and individual accomplishments that contribute to the company’s overall success. They work in a place where there is great communication and camaraderie in order to have the tools necessary to produced Google users with the information they are seeking. Google also believes being great will not make them successful. They must anticipate the future needs of its user and develop innovate product and services in order to be successful in the search engine industry. Building relationships or alliances with suppliers is another key component of success. These relationships can help to reduce costs and enhance product quality and performance. A perfect example of this relationship is Google offering its Android operating free of charge to mobile phone providers or its collaboration with Sony, Logitech, Best Buy and DISH network to develop Google TV. Some of the tangible resources needed for success include financial assets, technological assets and organizational resources. Google must have cash and marketable securities in order to finance new products and investments as well as pay dividends to its stock holders. Some technological assets are its copyrights and production technology. Production technology refers to the processes used to develop new products to compete with its competitors. Organizational resources included the company’s workstations and servers used in developing these products. Some of the threats that Google faces in the industry include new entrants in the market and product innovations from its competitors. Overall, Google has done a relatively good job in competing with the development of competitors products. They created the Android operating system in order to enter the mobile phone industry and they are developing new applications for cloud commuting to compete with Microsoft office software. They need not worry too much about the entrance of new businesses as they have developed a brand and corporate image that has already earned loyalty from many consumers. What recommendations would you make to Google’s top management team to sustain its competitive advantage in the search industry? How should it best capitalize on its strategic initiatives in mobile phones, cloud computing, emerging markets, and other venues? Because Google’s rivals are competing with relatively the same products, I would suggest to Goggle’s top management to focus in conducting business in an ethical manner that conforms with the business philosophy. They have received much criticism recently because of their impressive revenues growth during the recession. They need to focus on building their brand image that consumers are appealed by. I would also suggest finding ways to offer products and services at a lower price to its consumers in order to dominate the market. With products being so comparable and easily substituted they need to compete on price. It would be in Google’s best interest to focus on the markets in the United States and Canada , rather than in China. China does not want them competing there and they are spending too much time and money trying to get in when there is plenty of opportunity here. The only thing they are gaining from this is bad publicity. It would be in the best interest of the company to put much of their focus on the thing they do best and that is the search engine. Google should stay with the industries they have performed well in, such as search engine and mobile phones. Their biggest competitor, Microsoft, is the leader in innovative products and they will most likely be more successful than Google in the cloud commuting market because businesses are familiar with their products and have already created a following where Google has not. They should focus on the areas they do well in and leave the other markets to competitors. Management needs to add features to make their current products more appealing to consumer rather than looking for new markets to enter. References Thompson, A., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J., & Strickland III, A. J. (2012). Crafting and executing strategy. (18 Edition ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Thompson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., & Strickland, A. J. (2012). Cases m for crafting and executing strategy. (19 ed., Vol. 1). The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Opinions About Online Schools

As today’s society goes on, more and more things are starting to modernize, including how we learn in school. Yes, there is still traditional school (books, pen, paper, etc. ) but even traditional school has some technology. In addition to the changes in traditional school, the way we go to school has become modernized. When in college you no longer have to wake-up and go to a class filled with students, you can get a degree at home in your pajamas! Yep, that’s exactly what I said.Today you can obtain a degree in the comfort of your own home! Think about it. Are online schools really that great of an idea? Yes they provide single parents the ability to get a degree and nurture children, and yes they allow anti-social students to stay within their comfort zones, but are they really helping other college students? My personal opinion is no. I think online colleges are not as rewarding as traditional schooling. First of all, it makes students lazier. They won’t have a reason to leave the house, so they won’t.Attending school online could cause someone to become socially dysfunctional, sluggish, and unaware of the opportunities waiting for them outside of the walls of their home. Online colleges can also deprive students from the movement and experience of an actual college lifestyle. Online schools also leave you wondering if you’re getting a genuine college degree. Sometimes schools aren’t always licensed colleges. Basically what I’m saying is, you could spend lots of time and money on something that’s not even real.There are several creditable colleges out there, but there are also a great number of phony online colleges. Wondering if you really have a college degree or not is something you shouldn’t have to ever think about. Lastly online colleges won’t provide you with as much knowledge for a specific career as possible. There’s just no way you can learn through e-mails and automated instructors. Without an actual instructor to guide you, you will be left alone to search the web for information, and we all know that everything we find on the internet isn’t always true.If you don’t have the proper guidance and materials needed for a subject or topic, it’ll be extremely difficult for you to succeed in a career that requires college knowledge for an entry level job. In conclusion, online schools just aren’t suitable for students who are seeking to get the most out of college. They cause you to get lazier, you’re never sure if you’re attending a creditable school, and online schools just don’t provide you with enough knowledge. Online schools may be appropriate for some people, but for the majority of students I don’t think online colleges are suitable.