Sunday, January 26, 2020

Globalization And The Rise Of Multinational Corporations Marketing Essay

Globalization And The Rise Of Multinational Corporations Marketing Essay Is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. In the world of international business there are lots of strategic options which usually used to measure performance of the business, but here will be using Ansoff matrix on the four (4) strategic options preferable, although each strategic option has its risks involved. 1.1 Globalization and the rise of multinational corporations and branding According to Smith and Doyle (2002): A further, crucial aspect of globalization is the nature and power of multinational corporations. Such companies now account for over 33 per cent of world output, and 66 per cent of world trade (Gray 1999: 62). Significantly, something like a quarter of world trade occurs within multinational corporations (op. cit). This last point is well illustrated by the operations of car manufacturers who typically source their components from plants situated in different countries. However, it is important not to run away with the idea that the sort of globalization we have been discussing involves multinationals turning, on any large scale, to transnational: International businesses are still largely confined to their home territory in terms of their overall business activity; they remain heavily nationally embedded and continue to be multinational, rather than transnational, corporations. (Hirst and Thompson 1996: 98). 1.2 Advantage of globalization Increase competition Globalization has made the competition rises due to technology, most business people has knowledge on how to capture customers by introducing innovation which increase more advantage to consumers, competition is always good to consumers because of the decreases in the price. 1.3 Disadvantage of globalization Terrorism This is one of the disadvantages of globalization, in view of the fact that when different people gathered in one place can create violence, especially murder and bombing, which is not good for business and for country and the citizens. 2.0 FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWTH IN GLOBALIZATION 2.1 The liberalization of international trade The removal of trade barriers has been the source of increasing international trade and changes in customers taste and preference, there has been more freedom of importing and exporting the goods / services exchanged from one country to the other, not only that but also trade protection methods have been minimal such as tariffs and quotas. 2.2 Technological progress Technological advancement has also help to reduce international barriers, most likely the use of internet facilities has more power when it comes to doing business online, its very easy and it can also help to reduce cost of transportation and other fair of travelling. Nonetheless, not only the internet provide such access to consumers but there are such facilities which create product awareness for consumers to see and be able to demand those facilities which encouraged globalization including, application of mobile telephones, satellite communication such as DSTV, global media networks such as BBC, CNN, AL-JAZEERA and VIDEO-CONFERENCING, which helps to lessen barriers to the business such decreasing operating / production cost. 2.3 Cultural awareness and recognition This has increased more awareness and tastes to some consumers; for instance, in the movie industry there are now more recognition on Hollywood, Bollywood and even Nollywood (Nigerian movies) 3.0 THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON BUSINESS ACTIVITY Globalization can not only provide opportunity to business but also there are some risks/threats in it. 3.1 Increasing competition One of the effects regarding globalization is increasing competition in business, such as mobile phones, in China due to high demand of mobile phones they are now trying to imitate products of other mobile companies like Nokia just trying to compete with them, and yes here in Tanzania, there are very high demand regarding Chinese phones due to its affordable price. 3.2 Economies of location This is one of the positive effects when trying to produce more products on location which is much more cost effective due to power of producing in economies of scale within economies of location, like China is the best place to invest since the productions are likely to be more cheaper, that is, the amount to be paid to one America employee could pay almost ten employees in China, that is the reason as to why the whole world prefers China to be a production place. 3.3 Mergers, acquisitions and Joint Ventures, franchises These factors allows business to spread around nations due to the forces joined between one company / country or business just to make sure they grow-up and fasten, for instance Mc Donald has decided to join forces by franchising the business in the world, which is true, has definitely became well known in the business. 4.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE FOUR ANSOFF MATRIX MODELS ANALYSIS Globalization makes alliances an essential part of a firms strategy in order to stay competitive and to achieve superior performance. To better capture global opportunities, firms tend to cooperate with other firms to capitalize on and leverage their limited resources since it is impossible for one firm to do it all and do it alone. Similarly, in order to cope with increasing global competitive threats, firms are likely to form alliances .Based on the classical industrial organization perspective-the market power, firms form alliances to reduce competition and uncertainty. Through such cooperation, companies gain market power that helps alleviate competition and improve its competitive position. The decision to enter into a foreign market can be influenced by globalization which could be willingness of the business people, who are willing to go far just to make sure that they expand their market. There are several ways to enter into a foreign market by using the Ansoff matrix as follow:- 4.1 Market penetration (existing market, existing product) Market penetration is one of the strategies used in the existing customers just to make sure sales are increasing without pooling the product out of the market, nevertheless by using market penetration they could use more activities just to make sure that their existing product is well known around the world, for instance to start advertising in multinational countries just like Dutch advertises their products such as, yoghurts, shampoo, milk and even other products, by advertising even in our country they do create such opportunities for penetrating and creating more demand for those who did not have an idea about their products. This strategy not only penetrating the product but also struggling to retain the existing customer for such product because its not very hard to get customers but retaining those customers is very hard job thus, there are lots of strategies in the world of business one of them is marketing, just to make sure the business is well known. For instance Coca cola company has been doing some of the broadening on its own and some in partnership with other companies (Daniels et al, 2008, p.570) just to make sure the coca-cola brand is well known in the world. The coca cola company has gone so far as to test the market in Singapore, Toronto, and even have the coffee shops. Also Coca cola company has joint venture with Nestle for tea products outside the unites state and a joint venture with Cargill to develop a new sweetener to put into drinks (Daniels et al, 2008, p 571) 4.2 Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: Maintain or increase the market share of current products this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling Secure dominance of growth markets Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require a much more aggressive promotional campaign, supported by a pricing strategy designed to make the market unattractive for competitors Increase usage by existing customers. For example by introducing loyalty schemes (Mike Morrison, 2011) 4.3 Market development (new market, existing product) This is one of the market strategies which involve moving the existing product further in international market so as to gain more customers from international market, not only going across or beyond the borders but also attracting new customers in the same product so as to gain more advantage and even to maximize sales. There are many possible ways of approaching this strategy, including: New geographical markets; for example exporting the product to a new country New product dimensions or packaging: for example New distribution channels Different pricing policies to attract different customers or create new market segments Exporting is example of one of the market entry modes, which use a direct sells, goods can be produced within a country and exported to a foreign countries just to capture new customers with the same products which sold in home country. Example of Coca-Cola when entered the Turkish market, it tried exporting from Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, the result unfortunately was a soft drink price of more than four times what it cost to buy a soft drink bottled in Kyrgyzstan itself.(Daniels et al, 2008, p 575) Product its likely to expand more to the foreign countries and have more customers than the home country, this is due to the fact that in the home country customers could change their taste and preference due to time factor, that could be one of the reason why selling abroad so as not to lose market share, at the same time that unwanted product can be re innovated so as to have customers in the home country, for instance, by trying to change packaging of the products, or even change the name. 4.4 Product development (existing market, new products) This is new products in existing market, this is happening when there is product innovation to address the same market towards ensuring that customers are being more satisfied with innovation of the product, this can be done due to so many reasons like: Product has just gone out of the fashion Didnt satisfy customers due to taste and preferences Globalization issues (Mike Morrison, 2011) When the product has just go beyond the fashion it was meant like, here in our country( Tanzania) there are some shoes which are in fashion at the moment, it seems that all women use to wear such fashionable shoes that is due to globalization technology, we can see on Television through DSTV and other fashion Television. Nevertheless this fashion keeps on changing when time passes they will change that fashion in the sense that in the existing market and customers with more fashionable shoes. Didnt satisfy customers due to taste and preferences in the sense that customers taste and preference keeps on changing due to globalization and free trade. Businesspersons can import and export more goods and services depending upon the needs and requirements basing on customers changing tastes to better reflect customers demand. For instance, Tanzania has green tea of its own, but at the moment there are many brands of tea from other countries with different tastes like lemon, tea and others. Therefore, customers might be attracted to shift from the old brands to the new ones. The business could succeed if there is use of one of entry modes like the coordination between two parties, could be two or more people, companies, or even two countries, joint venture can be formed due to numerous rationale like, technology sharing and product development, market entry for a certain county, and even in compliance for the country legal actions, for instance quotas, taxes and tariffs. For example in case of China, it wholly owns its concentrate plant but has joint ventures with various bottling plants, coca cola ownership in foreign bottling operations has became sufficiently significant that it has set up a bottle investment group within the country.(Daniels et al, 2008, p 570) Joint venture can be of useful for the matrix model for implementing those four strategies in order to persuaded market expanding, for instance developing new market to a foreign countries could diversify profit, and even product recognition like Mc Donalds burger king, is well known all over the world. Globalization issues, here meant that, since it is very free to do international business, the world has just been like a village, China can come in Tanzania and do business with Tanzanian, likewise, people between these two countries can not only do business but can also exchange so many things like ideas on what to do business, how they live in their own country, taboos, cuisine, dress code, these can definitely make customers want to experience the differences. 4.5 Diversification (new product, new market) This is where the market is completely new, and products to new customers. There are two types of diversification, namely related and unrelated diversification. Related diversification means that remain in a market or industry with which are familiar. (Mike Morrison, 2011) The diversification can be divided again into horizontal, vertical and lateral diversification. The horizontal diversification is the extension of the production programs. The vertical diversification is the sales stage stored by products pre order. The lateral diversification is the sales of completely new products, which are within the range of the technology and marketing in no connection. (Mike Morrison, 2011) Diversification is an inherently higher risk strategy because the business is moving into markets in which it has little or no experience. For a business to adopt a diversification strategy, it must have a clear idea about what it expects to gain from the strategy and a transparent and honest assessment of the risks This situation is likely to occur to several situations when moving internationally, diversifying is a good strategy because it help to improve sales by having Strategic Business Units (SBUs) because if one product doesnt respond positively in the market other products might perform better, and that can at least reduce failure of the other products because obviously there would be wastage of resources but can be covered to some extent., or even though business can be diversify by using international entry modes to create brand awareness. For instance, franchising This is one of the market entries which assist market expanding when need to go international, franchisor allow franchisee to use the name of the business so as to expand his/ her market share, this is tremendous fine due to the fact that one can have higher profit for the expansion of sells by using someone elses name and business formulae, For instance coca cola company, if franchise with them, they will surely provide formulae, then franchisee will only have to mix with water to have formulae complete. Another example is from Mc Donalds; franchisee should be provided with each and every aspect which will accomplish the meal with the same taste as if were produced by Mc Donalds company, though it is costly. Not only that but also they could even use licensing to which indispensable part when going global, as a means to penetrate into global market, so as to have legal when it comes to use property of your licensor, for instance intangible property such as patents, trademark, and production techniques. The licensee needs to pay fee to the licensor to be able to have the technique assistance if possible, there it will be possible for licensee to market his/her product by using the matrix model, like selling more of the products outside the home country and diversify the profit Conclusion Globalization controlling the world, the whole world has became such a small world, this situation made people to know good and bad due to expansion of technology, therefore applying Ansoff matrix tools when doing business is the most preferable way to do so since it well analyze how managers should behave when going international. APPENDIX 1.1 THE ANSOFF MATRIX FIGURE http://www.mindtools.com/media/Diagrams/AnsoffFig1.gif

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Chapter 10 Basic Organizational Design

Chapter 10 Basic Organizational Design Once managers are done planning, then what? This is when managers need to begin to â€Å"work the plan. † And the first step in doing that involves designing an appropriate organizational structure. This chapter covers the decisions involved with designing this structure. Focus on the following learning outcomes as you read and study this chapter. LEARNING OUTCOMES 10. 1 Describe six key elements in organizational design. 10. 2 Contrast mechanistic and organic structures. 10. 3 Discuss the contingency factors that favor either the mechanistic model or the organic model of organizational design. 0. 4 Describe traditional organizational designs. A MANAGER’S DILEMMA How can we design an organizational structure that will help us accomplish our company’s goals? Should our structure be tall or flat? Traditional or contemporary? Will our chosen design enhance our capacity to continuously learn, adapt, and change in a dynamic globa l environment? As tomorrow’s managers, many of your students will soon face these questions. In Chapter 10, students learn about various elements of organizational structure, the contingency factors that influence organizational design, and traditional and contemporary design.In addition, they will study design challenges encountered by managers who work in a variety of organizational structures. â€Å"A Manager’s Dilemma† highlights some of the problems in store for Eli Lilly & Company, a major US pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly & Co. stands to lose $10 billion in annual revenues between now and 2016 as three of its major drug patents expire. As CEO, John Lechleiter’s job is to find foster new drug development to replace the projected loss revenue. While other pharmaceutical companies are seeking a merger route to acquire new drugs, Eli Lilly One has decided to revamp the company’s operational tructure into five global business units and create an improved product research and development center. Students should address other organizational design elements Lechleiter might use to ensure that Lilly achieves its goal of speeding up its product development process? From the information presented here, it appears that Eli Lilly’s has adopted a product structure which offers the advantage of being more responsive to changes in the external environment. Eli Lilly may also want to create more teams in their structure as well as take advantage of technology with virtual teams.CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION Designing organizational structure involves the process of organizing (the second management function) and plays an important role in the success of a company. 10. 1 DEFINING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Managers need to establish structural designs that will best support and allow employees to do their work effectively and efficiently. Several important terms must be defined in order to understand the elements of organizationa l structure and design: 1. Organizing is arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organization’s goals.This process has several purposes, as shown in Exhibit 10-1. 2. Organizational structure is the formal arrangement of jobs within an organization. 3. Organizational design is developing or changing an organization’s structure. This process involves decisions about six key elements: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization/ decentralization, and formalization. Chapter 10 examines each of these structural elements. A. Work Specialization. Work specialization is dividing work activities into separate job tasks.Most of today’s managers regard work specialization as an important organizing mechanism, but not as a source of ever-increasing productivity. Exhibit 10-2 illustrates the human diseconomies from division of labor—boredom, fatigue, stress, low productivity, poor quality, increased absenteeism, and high turnover— eventually exceed the economic advantages created by work specialization. B. Departmentalization. When work tasks have been defined, they must be arranged in order to accomplish organizational goals.This process, known as departmentalization, is the basis by which jobs are grouped. There are five major ways to departmentalize (see Exhibit 10-3): 1. Functional departmentalization groups jobs by functions performed. 2. Product departmentalization groups jobs by product line. 3. Geographical departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of geographical region. 4. Process departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of product or customer flow. 5. Customer departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of specific and unique customers who have common needs. 6.Popular trends in departmentalization include the following: a. Customer departmentalization continues to be a highly popular approach because it allows better monitoring of customers’ needs and respo nds to changes in the needs of customers. b. Cross-functional teams, which are work teams composed of individuals from various functional specialties, are being used along with traditional departmental arrangements. C. Chain of Command. The chain of command is the line of authority extending from upper organizational levels to the lowest levels, which clarifies who reports to whom.Three concepts related to chain of command are authority, responsibility, and unity of command. 1. Authority is the rights inherent in a managerial position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do it. a. The acceptance theory of authority proposed by Chester Barnard says that authority comes from the willingness of subordinates to accept it. Barnard contended that subordinates will accept orders only if the following conditions are satisfied: 1. They understand the order. 2.They feel the order is consistent with the organization’s purpose. 3. The order does not conflict with their persona l beliefs. 4. They are able to perform the task as directed. b. Line authority entitles a manager to direct the work of an employee. It is the employer–employee authority relationship that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon, according to the chain of command, as shown in Exhibit 10-4. c. Staff authority functions to support, assist, advise, and generally reduce some of their informational burdens.Exhibit 10-5 illustrates line and staff authority. 2. Responsibility is the obligation to perform any assigned duties. 3. Unity of command is the management principle that each person should report to only one manager. D. Span of Control. Span of control is the number of employees a manager can efficiently and effectively manage. 1. The span of control concept is important because it determines how many levels and managers an organization will have. (See Exhibit 10-6 for an example) 2. What determines the â€Å"ideal† span of control?Contingency fac tors such as the skills and abilities of the manager and the employees, the characteristics of the work being done, similarity and complexity of employee tasks, the physical proximity of subordinates, the degree to which standardized procedures are in place, the sophistication of the organization’s information system, the strength of the organization’s culture, and the preferred style of the manager influence the ideal number of subordinates. 3. The trend in recent years has been toward wider (larger) spans of control. E. Centralization and Decentralization.The concepts of centralization and decentralization address who, where, and how decisions are made in organizations. 1. Centralization is the degree to which decision making is concentrated at upper levels of the organization. 2. Decentralization is the degree to which lower-level employees provide input or actually make decisions. 3. The current trend is toward decentralizing decision making in order to make organi zations more flexible and responsive. 4. Employee empowerment is giving employees more authority (power) to make decisions. . A number of factors influence the degree of centralization or decentralization in an organization (see Exhibit 10-7). F. Formalization refers to the degree to which jobs within an organization are standardized and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures. 1. In a highly formalized organization, employees have little discretion, and a high level of consistent and uniform output exists. Formalized organizations have explicit job descriptions, many organizational rules, and clearly defined procedures. 2.In a less-formalized organization, employees have much freedom and can exercise discretion in the way they do their work. 3. Formalization not only fosters relatively unstructured job behaviors, but also eliminates the need for employees to consider alternatives. 4. The degree of formalization can vary widely between organizations a nd even within organizations. 10. 2 MECHANISTIC AND ORGANIC STRUCTURES Organizations do not have identical structures. Even companies of comparable size do not necessarily have similar structures. A. Two Models of Organizational Design. See Exhibit 10-8) 1. A mechanistic organization is an organizational design that is rigid and tightly controlled. It is characterized by high specialization, rigid departmentalization, narrow spans of control, high formalization, a limited information network, and little participation in decision making by lower-level employees. 2. An organic organization is an organizational design that is highly adaptive and flexible. It is characterized by little work specialization, minimal formalization, and little direct supervision of employees. 3.Under what circumstances is each design favored? It â€Å"depends† on contingency variables. 10. 3 CONTINGENCY FACTORS Appropriate organizational structure depends upon four contingency variables: A. Strategy and structure. The organization’s strategy is one of the contingency variables that influences organizational design. 1. Alfred Chandler originated the strategy-structure relationship. His finding that structure follows strategy indicates that as organizations change their strategies, they must change their structure to support that strategy. . Most current strategy/structure frameworks focus on three strategy dimensions: a) Innovation needs the flexibility and free flow of information present in the organic organization. b) Cost minimization needs the efficiency, stability, and tight controls of the mechanistic organization. c) Imitation uses some of the characteristics of both mechanistic and organic organizations. B. Size and structure. Considerable historical evidence indicates that an organization’s size significantly affects its structure.Larger organizations tend to have more specialization, departmentalization, centralization, and formalization, although the si ze-structure relationship is not linear. C. Technology has been shown to affect an organization’s choice of structure. 1. Every organization uses some form of technology to transform inputs into outputs. 2. Joan Woodward’s study of structure and technology shows that organizations adapt to their technology. She found that three distinct technologies have increasing levels of complexity and sophistication. a) Unit production is the production of items in units or small batches. ) Mass production is the production of items in large batches. c) Process production is the production of items in continuous processes. 3. Woodward found in her study of these three groups that distinct relationships exist among these technologies, the subsequent structure of the organization, and the effectiveness of the organization. Exhibit 10-9 and provides a summary of these findings. LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE As the first female CEO of Avon, Andrea Jung has held that position for a dec ade—the most-tenured female CEO in the Fortune 500. Ms.Jung clearly understands the importance of organizational design in helping her global company prosper in good times and bad. This part of her job is especially challenging considering that 70 percent of Avon’s sales are in developing countries. Ms. Jung has made tough decisions to restructure, refocus, and redefine the company’s strategies and created an organizational design to help it continue its success as the leading women’s beauty products company. D. Environmental uncertainty and structure Environmental uncertainty is the final contingency factor that has been shown to affect organizational structure.Environmental uncertainty may be managed by making adjustments in the organization’s structure. The more uncertain the environment, the more flexible and responsive the organization needs to be. 10. 4 TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGNS A number of different organizational designs can be fou nd in today’s organizations. Exhibit 10-8 summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of each of these designs. A. A simple structure is an organizational design with low departmentaliza-tion, wide spans of control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. . Strengths of the simple structure are its flexibility, speed, clear accountability and low maintenance costs. 2. The major limitation of a simple structure is that it is most effective when used in small organizations. B. As an organization grows, its structure tends to become more specialized and formalized. When contingency factors favor a bureaucratic or mechanistic design, one of the following two options is likely to be used: 1. A functional structure is an organizational design that groups similar or related occupational specialties together. . A divisional structure is an organizational structure made up of separate, semiautonomous units or divisions. LET’S GET REAL: MY RESPONSE Cindy Brewer Customer Contact Channel Manager Sears Holdings Corporation Loves Park, IL Cindy offers several recommendations for Eli Lilly & Company. To better the structure of the organization, she recommends the use of more flexible structures, i. e. a divisional and organic structure, while at the same time including a mechanistic structure to help speed up certain aspects of the drug approval process.Her final recommendation, to ‘create cross-functional teams across the business units to share best practices and key learning to increase the product development process’ is an insightful one in that it leverages the power of teams to aid in the decision making process and at the same time create a learning/innovation based climate. Answers to Review and Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the traditional and contemporary views of each of the six key elements of organizational design. Traditionally, work specialization was viewed as a way to divide work activities into separate job tasks.Today’s view is that it is an important organizing mechanism but it can lead to problems. The chain of command and its companion concepts—authority, responsibility, and unity of command—were viewed as important ways of maintaining control in organizations. The contemporary view is that they are less relevant in today’s organizations. The traditional view of span of control was that managers should directly supervise no more than five to six individuals. The contemporary view is that the span of control depends on the skills and abilities of the manager and the employees and on the characteristics of the situation. . Can an organization’s structure be changed quickly? Why or why not? Should it be changed quickly? Explain. The speed with which structural changes can be implemented depends partly upon an organization’s size. A small organization is usually able to change its structure more rapidly than a larger one because a smaller c ompany has fewer employees who are involved in the restructuring process. However, a large organization can change its structure and often does in response to changing environmental conditions and changing strategies. 3. Contrast mechanistic and organic organizations.A mechanistic organization is a rigid and tightly controlled structure. An organic organization is highly adaptive and flexible. 4. Would you rather work in a mechanistic or an organic organization? Why? Students’ answers to this question will vary. Many students prefer the structure provided by a mechanistic organization, whereas others would be less productive in an organization with structural rigidity. Note that SAL #III. A. 1 â€Å"What Type of Organization Structure Do I Prefer? † addresses whether each of your students would like to work in a bureaucracy (a mechanistic organization).Students might want to revisit this assessment in answering this question. 5. Explain the contingency factors that aff ect organizational design. An organization’s structure should support the strategy. If the strategy changes, the structure also should change. An organization’s size can affect its structure up to a certain point. Once an organization reaches a certain size (usually around 2,000 employees), it’s fairly mechanistic. An organization’s technology can affect its structure. An organic structure is most effective with unit production and process production technology.A mechanistic structure is most effective with mass production technology. The more uncertain an organization’s environment, the more it needs the flexibility of an organic design. 6. Contrast the three traditional organizational designs. A simple structure is one with low departmentalization, wide spans of control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. A functional structure groups similar or related occupational specialties together. A divisional structure is made up of separate business units or divisions. 7.With the availability of advanced information technology that allows an organization’s work to be done anywhere at any time, is organizing still an important managerial function? Why or why not? Although an organization’s work may be done anywhere at any time, organizing remains a vital managerial function because the work that must be accomplished still must be divided, grouped, and coordinated. 8. Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually have negative results for both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not? Studies as far back as 1924 show that simplified jobs lead to boredom.In 1950 other researchers found that highly segmented and simplified jobs resulted in lower employee morale and output. Other consequences of low employee motivation include absenteeism and high employee turnover, both very costly for businesses. ETHICS DILEMMA Shortly after the BP oil spill, B P engaged in a campaign to improve their image including buying domain names that referred to terms like ‘oil spill’ and ‘oil spill claims. ’ A company spokeswoman said â€Å"the strategy is to assist those who are most impacted and help them find the right forms and the right people quickly and effectively. Is this an ethical issue? What ethical concerns do students see in BP doing this? What stakeholders might be affected by BP’s actions (buying the search terms)? In what ways might these stakeholders be affected? While some students may not see this as unethical, there is a question as to whether BP acquired the domain names to better inform the public or to control information access. By controlling information, BP could put their ‘spin’ on events or even keep the domain names idle so that they could not be used by others to distribute negative information about the company actions.Ultimately, with a disaster as large as this one, t here were many stakeholders affected – fisherman, rig workers, hotel owners, management, and employees. Without access to information, these stakeholders may be unaware of their rights to sue or file claims against BP. SKILLS EXERCISE: DEVELOPING YOUR EMPOWERING PEOPLE (DELEGATING) SKILLS A manager’s job is to do things through other people. This requires that a manager learn to trust and empower those they supervise. In this exercise, the author gives five behaviors for effective delegation.Students are to then to read through the scenario and write a paper describing how they would handle the situation described. In the scenario, Ann is already following several of guidelines given for recommendation, by clarifying the assignment and allowing Ricky to participate. In Ricky’s meeting with Bill, he will have to follow his Boss’s lead and follow the recommendations as well. He should first clarify the assignment and what Bill will be able to include (and n ot include) in the manual. It will also be a good idea if Ricky and Bill get other employees’ input on the policy manual – since it will be used by everyone in the organization.Finally, Ricky should establish a feedback channel so that Bill can ask questions and Ricky can keep tract of Bill’s progress. WORKING TOGETHER: TEAM EXERCISE Form groups of three to four students and have each group choose an organization with which students in the group are familiar (where students work, a student organization to which they belong, your college or university, etc. ). Have students draw an organization chart of this organization. Students should show departments (or groups) and especially be careful to get the chain of command correct.Students should be prepared to share their chart with the class. If this is done outside of class as an assignment, it may be a good idea to have students use Microsoft PowerPoint to prepare the chart. PowerPoint has an option to draw organ izational charts in the Smartart menu. Your Turn to be a Manager †¢ Find three different examples of organizational charts. In a report, describe each of them. Try to decipher the organization’s use of organizational design elements, especially departmentalization, chain of command, centralization–decentralization, and formalization. Survey at least 10 different managers about how many employees they supervise. Also ask them whether they feel they could supervise more employees or whether they feel the number they supervise is too many. Graph your survey results and write a report describing what you found. Draw some conclusions about span of control. †¢ Draw an organizational chart of an organization with which you’re familiar (where you work, a student organization to which you belong, your college or university, etc. ). Be very careful in showing the departments (or groups) and especially be careful to get the chain of command correct.Be prepared to share your chart with the class. †¢ Using the organizational chart you just created, redesign the organization’s structure. What structural changes might make this organization more efficient and effective? Write a report describing what you would do and why. Be sure to include an example of the original organizational chart as well as a chart of your proposed revision of the organizational structure. †¢ Steve’s and Mary’s suggested readings: Gary Hamel, The Future of Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2007); Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat 3. (Picador, 2007); Harold J. Leavitt, Top Down: Why Hierarchies Are Here to Stay and How to Manage Them More Effectively (Harvard Business School Press, 2005); and Thomas W. Malone, The Future of Work (Harvard Business School Press, 2004). †¢ Choose one of the three topics discussed in the section on today’s organizational design challenges. Research this topic and write a paper about it. Fo cus on finding current information and current examples of companies dealing with these issues. †¢ In your own words, write down three things you learned in this chapter about being a good manager. Self-knowledge can be a powerful learning tool. Go to mymanagementlab and complete these self-assessment exercises: How Well Do I Handle Ambiguity? What Type of Organizational Structure Do I Prefer? How Good Am I at Playing Politics? How Willing Am I to Delegate? Using the results of your assessments, identify personal strengths and weaknesses. What will you do to reinforce your strengths and improve your weaknesses? Answers to Case Application Questions Ask Chuck 1. Describe and evaluate what Charles Schwab is doing. It is easy for a company to lose sight of their goals.While other lines of business may be potential money makers, going beyond a firm’s core competence can lead a firm into financial trouble. In this case, students should see how Charles Schwab has stayed true t o its primary business – making stock trades for investors who make their own financial decisions. Another goal of Schwab is customer service. In the example of Cheryl Pasquale, we can see how she uses the company’s information system to closely monitor her sales representatives to make sure they are meeting the needs of customers. 2.How might the company’s culture of not buying into hype and not taking excessive risks affect its organizational structural design? Schwab’s conservative culture would foster a simple structure characterized by low departmentalization, wide spans of control, centralized authority, and little formalization. This structure fast, flexible, inexpensive to maintain and has clear lines of accountability. 3. What structural implications—good and bad—might Schwab’s intense focus on customer feedback have? Schwab’s focus on customer feedback would indicate a flexible structure that is able to adapt to meet customer demands.This structure would allow employees to spend more time and energy devoted to improving relationships with customers and possibly provide for exceptions to improve customer satisfaction. On the other hand, building strong customer relationships takes time and money. By paying so much attention to the customer there is the potential loss of efficiency that Schwab has to maintain to keep stock transactions low. 4. Do you think this arrangement would work for other types of organizations? Why or why not? This type of customer focus would not work well for firms that operate on a thin margin.For example, manufacturing firms that operate in the maturity phase of the industry life cycle focus on keeping production costs as low as possible. This arrangement may also not work well in situations where organizations are set up around processes. A New Kind of Structure 1. Describe and evaluate what Pfizer is doing. What Jordan Cohen has created at Pfizer is a network organizat ion. It’s a form of the boundaryless organization structure where company employees concentrate on the important aspects of the job, i. e. hose elements that are related to the company’s core competencies, and other tasks are outsourced to another organization. 2. What structural implications—good and bad—does this approach have? (Think in terms of the six organizational design elements. ) Have students break into groups and discuss how the advantages and disadvantages of using a network organizational structure from the perspective of: †¢ Work Specialization †¢ Departmentalization †¢ Chain Of Command †¢ Span Of Control †¢ Centralization And Decentralization †¢ Formalization Some groups may be assigned more than one design element.For more information on Pfizer’s new structure, go to the web 3. Do you think this arrangement would work for other types of organizations? Why or why not? The network organization design use d by Pfizer has helped to balance recent layoffs the company experienced after a nearly $4 billion yearly budget cut. According to managers in the Fast Company article, the OOF has cut some project costs by 100%. While this program has been a success for Pfizer, it may not be realistic for other companies that either (a) have not experienced such deep cuts in personnel, or (b) have such high personnel costs. . What role do you think organizational structure plays in an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness? Explain. Organizational structure plays a key role in enabling a company to function smoothly, to remain responsive to its internal and external stakeholders, and to adapt to changes in the marketplace. Innovation is facilitated by fewer layers of management, and students have already learned that the survival and success of a company is usually dependent upon its ability to function as a learning organization that promotes innovation.

Friday, January 10, 2020

My Favorite Childhood Memory

As time goes by, there was this event which happened during my childhood keeps grinding in my brain. The one thing which I favor the most was to watch cartoon all day long. My childhood was so much influenced by Disney cartoons. The little girl would always have the thoughts of breaking the TV glass and get into it to join them. Me as the youngest in the family would let myself to play in a place of my own creation with the characters present in the cartoon. My parents were aware of my craze towards the fantasy land and the characters. In a splendid summer, my parents took my other siblings and me to somewhere really far from our home. My siblings and I rushed to the windows of the car to get the best position to view the beauty of newly existed city in our life. It was magnificently beautiful to look at the tall buildings out of the car windows. The pain in the neck was greatly ignored over the breathtaking city as we were had to look up in the air. After the hours of journey, my daddy stopped off the car at our favorite restaurant which has a star on it. Carls Jr. was the place we always yearn for. We had queued at the washroom door to take turn—empting the over filled bladder. Now, all the eyes are helping the brain to glance through the menu board to decide the meal for the hungry stomach. Jr. Meal set was the most appetizing menu for little kids. As usual my lovely elder sister had educated me over my ill table manners since I munched while my mouth opened wide and dinned. Belching sounds were heard among the family members who marked the filled stomach. Before, we jump into the car, mom instructed her kids to drain out the urine as it takes another couple of hours before we hit the destination. Silence was observed in the car except the fine classical music played to help us rest the strained eyes. Snoring and drooling had been part of the journey to a veiled land. The sun shone straight to face forcing us to open the long closed eyes. Eyes were trying to keep focus on a figure standing against the sun. It was mommy, waiting for her kids to awake from their sleeps. On by one, leaped out of the car while blocked by mom and dad from viewing the surrounding. Daddy urged us to close our eyes. Next, we heard mommy saying â€Å"darlings, you may disclose your eyes†. While sun shines happily to us, we hardly could see the place hid over the sun shine. Yet, we identified a great gateway and a castle which always appears at the beginning of any Disney cartoon or movies. It was Disney Land. My siblings and I were jumped freely in the summer warm sky as we were surged with happiness and so much joy. The heart could hardly believe the eyes.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Brave New World By Aldous Huxley - 1518 Words

Giles 1 Attie Giles Lorna Martin AP English August 24, 2016 Brave New World Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a very graphic novel that exemplifies the problems of modern society with a fictional setting that dates far into the future. However, the one feeling that Huxley describes most is the feeling of complete loneliness, even when surrounded by the very materialistic desires that were created for complete joy. This story revolves around one character in particular that portrays the theme of self loathing loneliness the most, and that is John â€Å"the Savage†. John is a mistake of creation, born from two elitist parents from London whose civilization prohibits the natural occurrence of pregnancy. John’s mother thought dead after she was†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœWhy wouldn’t they let me be the sacrifice? I’d have gone round ten times - twelve, fifteen. Palowithiwa only got as far as Giles 2 seven. They could have had twice as much blood from me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (117). That is a line from John that emphasizes the desire that John has to prove his worth to his fellow companions who ostracize him because of his appearance. Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne are lovers from London vacationing in New Mexico. They visit this same Indian Reservation that John resides. Bernard and Lenina are both frightened by the disgust of the lifestyle of this reservation, but during one of the ceremonial rituals they meet John and hear his story on how a caucasian man was born in this society. Soon after hearing this story Bernard realizes that John’s father is none other than his boss from London, who vacationed at this same reservation with John’s mother. Intrigued by this discovery Bernard takes John and his mother away from the Reservation to London as a showcase to world. When they returned to London John’s father is shamed by the fact he has a son, as it is str ictly prohibited to have any natural conception. As John is introduced into this strange new society, he is greatly confused by the culture and customs that are so polar opposite from what he knew. John is quickly given the name â€Å"Savage† and observed like a zoo animal. They require John to stay in London as an experiment to see how an uncivilized being