Internal And External Factors Of Companies - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Internal And External Factors Of Companies. Answer: Companys Overview The company JB Hi-Fi was founded by Mr. John Barbuto (JB) in the year 1974, the company operates the trade from a single store in East Keilor, Victoria. the founder of the company follows the simple philosophy which says that the aim of the company is to offer the specialist variety of the Hi-Fi and recorded music at Australias lowest prices. JB stores provide the worlds leading brands of Computers, tablets, TVs, Cameras, Hi-Fi, speakers, Car Sound, Home theatre, portable audio and much more. Along with this the company also provide the largest range of games, recorded music, TV shows, DUD music + Blu-Ray at the lowest process so that the customer can buy the products from the stores or through online (JB Hi-Fi, 2017). The company is known because of its cheapest price of the products, convenient location, a wide range of the products, best brands and the personal service from the experienced specialist staff. The sale of the products in the year 2016 was more than the past few years. For instance; total sales up 8.3% to 3.95 billion, comparable sales up 5.4%, EBIT up 10.1% to $221.0 million, Net profit after task up 11.5% to $ 152.2 million and earnings per share up 11.5% to 153.8 cps (JB Hi-Fi, 2017). Environmental analysis The environmental analysis is used to identify or to determine the internal and the external factors that can create an impact on the working of the company or can influence the organization while making the strategic decisions. The analysis is done to assess the level of threat and the opportunity that the company is having across the borders (Fernie, Fernie, and Moore, 2015). JB Hi-Fi makes use of the PESTLE analysis as it works as an analytical tool that is used by the company while making the strategic business planning. It is a strategic framework used by the company for assessing the external factor influence in their business. PESTLE analysis includes political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental factors. All these factors can affect the working of the company but there is one of the factors that work as a huddle for the company that is a political factor (IEDU, 2017). Impact of political factors on company Political factors play a vital role in analyzing the factors that can create an impact on the JB Hi-Fi Limited. These factors consist of the changes in the legislative, policies and the laws formed by the government. The political factors impact the company while making the long-term profitability objective in a certain market (JB Hi-Fi, 2014). The company is currently operating the business of retailing in more than dozen countries and this shows that the company has been experiencing the different types of the political system risks. The company is facing the issues in many of the countries and then also the company is able to achieve the success in the retailing industry. The company analyzed the political factors in the retail industry before expanding the business (Fern Fort University, 2017). It is suggested to the company to the analysis below given certain aspects while entering the market or country. The company should find the country where they can find the political stability and the importance of the retailing sector in the country's economy. The political factor involvement in business can create an impact on the working of the business and especially the retailing sector. The JB Hi-Fi should consider the trade regulations and the traffic related to the retailing might affect the expansion of the business in the potential market (Fern Fort University, 2017). The pricing strategies or the pricing regulatory mechanism for retailing can affect the revenue of the company so the company should cross check these factors before expanding the business. Wage legislation such as minimum wage and overtime wages criteria of the market can affect the working of the company. The safety regulations related to the retailing sector can affect the working of the JB Hi-Fi and this is the reason which makes the company to analysis this factor before doing an expansion. The work regulation might vary from company to company in the retailing industry so the company analyses the work regulation of the market or the country before expanding the business (Root, 2017). In Australia, there were some of the political issues which show the real-life experience faced by the company. For instance; the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) was reduced from 30% to 25% which might lead to a reduction in the prices of all the products provided by the company to its customers to attract the customers. This shows that the company took the step considering the political condition of the company and according to the political factor company brought the changes in the strategy to enhance the sales and revenue of the company. CSR (Corporate social responsibility) and ethics The CSR (Corporate social responsibility) is a form of the corporate self-regulation integration into a business model (Korschun, Bhattacharya, and Swain, 2014). CSR is the business approach that contributes to the sustainable development by delivering social, environmental and economic benefits to all the stakeholders of the company (Servaes, and Tamayo, 2013). Each and every company understand their responsibility towards the stakeholders and the society. Similarly, the JB Hi-Fi fulfills its responsibility towards the environment and the social responsibility. The manager of the company knows that they have to fulfill their responsibility towards the community and the stakeholders; if the company is able to fulfill their responsibility then the company can get the funds easily for the expansion which leads to the growth of the company (Tai, and Chuang, 2014). The company has launched the program so that they can fulfill their responsibility towards the community. The name of the pr ogram is helping hands, through which the company is motivating the employees to contribute and this make the youth realize that they are responsible for the welfare of their community (JB Hi-fi, 2017). Helping Hands JB Hi-Fi Company knows the vital importance of the social responsibility to employees, suppliers and the customers being the leading retailer in Australia and New Zealand. The company established a new program known as Helping Hands in the year 2008 through which the company can easily fulfill its social responsibility towards the community and the stakeholders. The directors, executives and the employees of the company directly donate the amount to the charitable organization. The company works with the ACF (Australian Charities Fund) in Australia, so that company can develop and maintain the program smoothly in Australia (Australian Charities Fund, 2017). The motive behind the formation of the program- Helping Hands allows the employees to donate to 9 charity partners through weekly basis deductions from the payroll. In Australia: - The programs involve more than 4,700 employees which are approximately 68% of the employees of the company in Australia, each of the employees of the company making the contribution to the program weekly. There are many partners who are donating such as The Song Room, Bush heritage Australia, Medicins San Frontiers, Red Kite, ReachOut.com, Australian Animal Welfare league, Fred Hollows Foundations and many others (JB Hi-Fi Solution, 2017). In New Zealand: - The JB Hi-Fi came into the existence in the year May 2012, hence it includes 210 employees (Approximately 43% of New Zealand office employees). These employees do make the contribution every week for this program. Several New Zealand partners who support the program by contributing to the program consist of Shelter Box, Plunket, Forest and Bird and many others (JB Hi-Fi Limited, 2013). Change for change The change for change represents the donation boxes that are kept by the company across all its stores in New Zealand and Australia. To collect the amount from the customers, JB Hi-Fi though to keep the donation boxes in the store near the cash counter so that people can easily find it. The company collected approximately $50,000 amount from the Australia stores and in total last year company raised approximately $ 485,000. Last year the boxes were introduced in New Zealand as well and they collected approximately $ 25,000 (JB Hi-Fi Limited, 2013). The company identifies the responsibility to give back to the society and community. JB believes workplace giving or donation is an effective and efficient way to perform the responsibility towards the society. The company has approximately 6,000 members of the company who contributes to the program on a weekly basis which is approximately 81% of our staff nationally. The company is proud that the company is getting the support from the Australian Charities Fund to achieve their goal of No. 1 Mdonors by 2020. To achieve the objective successfully the company matches staff contribution dollar-for-dollar as the company wants to double the positive impact on community and charities. Organisation culture The organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, beliefs, and values that govern how the people behave in the organization. Every company wants to maintain a smooth organizational culture that helps the company in operating the business activity correctly (Babnik, et.al., 2014). JB Hi-Fi wants to maintain the unique culture in their organization by promoting the donation. The thinking, opinion and the views of the company are totally different which make the organizational culture of JB Hi-Fi unique.The company follows positive organization culture along with this the company supports the innovative technology and creativity that shows the companys culture. The company follows the smooth way for the communication, the managers of the company communicate with their employees and ask for the improvement in the plans formed by them to attract the customer and meet their expectations. The communication is the base of the organizational culture; this communication makes the e mployees feel respected and valued. This enhances the morale and motivates the employees of the company which leads to the growth in the productivity of the company. The productivity opens ways for the growth and opportunities of the company. Apart from the company promote the activities related to the donation and also promote the employees to support them which show the other side of the culture of the JB Hi-Fi. The company is forming partners to achieve their responsibility and their mission towards the donation programs, this gives a glimpse of the culture of the organization. Personal Insights Quiz Criteria Serial Number 1-Strongly Disagree 2-Disagree 3-Uncertain 4-Agree 5-Strongly agree I like the thrill and excitement from taking risks. 2-10 I prefer managers who provide detailed and rational explanations for their decisions. 2-11 If a persons job performance is inadequate, its irrelevant how much effort he or she made. 2-12 No persons needs should be compromised in order for a department to achieve its goals. 2-13 I like being part of a team and having my performance assessed in terms of my contribution to the team. 2-14 I like to work where there isnt a great deal of pressure and where people are essentially easy-going. 2-15 I like things to be stable and predictable. 2-16 Analysis and Interpretation 2 (2-10) + 3 (2-16) + 1 (2-12) + 2 (2-13) +5 (2-14) + 5 (2-15) + 3 (2-11) = 21 As it is clear the scores of the 2-11 and 2-16 have been switched and the total is 21 out of 35. The score of the 21 or lower shows that my preference for the organizational culture, according to the score the organization culture is more comfortable in a mechanistic, formal, rule-oriented and the structured culture. this preference of the score is mostly linked with the large organizations and the government agencies. Considering the survey, the lower the number of the survey shows the stronger preference for the type of the culture. Review The company is leading in the retail sector and the company is achieving success and making a profit. Being an employee it is going to be a pleasure for working in the company who is leading, as this is the good opportunity to start the career. The organization can guide the employees for their future growth and for achieving their personal knowledge. JB Hi-Fi helps the employees in enhancing their knowledge related to the concepts along with the creativity and innovation. Conclusion The report shows the business activity that is followed by the selected business JB Hi-Fi. The company is leading in the retail industry in both the countries; New Zealand and Australia. This proves that the objective of the company is to achieve the growth and success. Further, there is a discussion about the external factors that can affect the working of the company. One of the factors is discussed in the report which is Political factors; this factor might affect the decisions of the company (Mordon Inttelligence, 2016). The organizational culture of the company is discussed in the report and according to the survey, the employee shows their preference for the organizational culture. The analysis and the interpretation of the survey are included in the report. The Quiz analysis is done which show the total score of 21 which is favorable and fulfills my preference. References Australian Charities Fund, 2017, Helping Hands at the Centre of JB Hi-Fi Culture, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.1mdonors.org.au/case-study/helping-hands-at-the-centre-of-jb-hi-fi-culture/ Babnik, K., Breznik, K., Dermol, V. and Trunk irca, N., 2014. The mission statement: organisational culture perspective.Industrial Management Data Systems,114(4), pp.612-627. Fern Fort University, 2017, JB Hi-Fi Limited PESTEL Environment Analysis, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://fernfortuniversity.com/term-papers/pestel/nyse4/6096-jb-hi-fi-limited.php Fernie, J., Fernie, S. and Moore, C., 2015.Principles of retailing. Routledge. IEDU, 2017, Internal and External Environment Factors that Influences Organizational Decision Making, Retrieved 15 December 2017, https://iedunote.com/organizational-environment-elements JB Hi-Fi Limited, 2013, Annual report for the financial year ended 30 June 2013, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://member.afraccess.com/media?id=CMN://3A392967filename=20130812/JBH_01432775.pdf JB Hi-Fi Solution, 2017, JB Hi-Fi Helping Hands, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://solutions.jbhifi.com.au/project/helping-hands/ JB Hi-Fi, 2014, Empowering culture that has a positive outlook on the challenges presented by the current economic conditions", Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Reviews/Employee-Review-JB-Hi-Fi-RVW4880156.htm JB Hi-Fi, 2016, JB Hi-Fi Full Year 2016 Results, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Documents/Company%20Announcement%20-%202016%20Full%20Year%20Results.pdf JB Hi-Fi, 2017, About us, Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study-support/referencing/harvard JB Hi-fi, 2017, Corporate Social Responsibility, JB Hi-fi, retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.jbhifi.com.au/General/Corporate/Consumer-Matters/Corporate-Social-Responsibility/ JB Hi-fi, 2017, JB Hi-Fi Solutions, retrieved 17th December 2017, , https://www.jbhifi.com.au/General/Corporate/commercial-solutions/solutions-sales/ Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Swain, S.D., 2014. Corporate social responsibility, customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees.Journal of Marketing,78(3), pp.20-37. Mordon Inttelligence, 2016, Retail Industry in Australia Major trends, Growth and Opportunities (2016 - 2021), Retrieved 17th December 2017, https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/retail-industry-in-australia Root, G.N., 2017, Five Components of an Organization's External Environment, Retrieved 15 December 2017, https://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-components-organizations-external-environment-17634.html Servaes, H. and Tamayo, A., 2013. The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness.Management Science,59(5), pp.1045-1061. Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility.Ibusiness,6(03), p.117.

Factors Effectiveness of Delta Plc Team

Question: Discuss the factors which contributes to team effectiveness within Delta Plc using the team effectiveness model? Answer: Factors Effectiveness of Delta Plc team Team size: With the help of evaluating the team size of delta Plc , managers and owner are able to maximize its productivity in order to ensure high level of team effectiveness. The greater the team members within the team of delta Plc the more would be man power resources would available for fulfilling the objectives of the company (Montana and Bruce 2008). In order evaluate whether the team is too large or too small for the specific project, member work together and examine whether the existing task has been efficient has been done or not. Feedback: Efficient communications strategy plays crucial role in developing the effective teams. In order to understand the scope of goals, delta Plc manager need to take feedback from their employees which will again influence the company to make decision making by keeping this in mind (Noe, 2013).. Feedback system helps to enhance the communication gap between the management and the team. Work review: Work review is another major factor which influences for effective team composition. With help of work review, managers of the delta Plc would be able to understand whether the team is performing as per their standard or not (Price, 2000). Work review will reduce the formal conflicts resolution in cases where team cannot effectively resolve the conflicts internally. Interviewing team members: lastly, interviewing the team member would also bring the effectiveness within the team. For instance, delta Plc would conduct an interview after the finishing the task where the series of question would be asked to the team members about their task and members that would increase the effectiveness within the team some of the question (Price, 2000). Some of them are tell me about a team project that you worked on, describes the project that required input from people at different levels and tell about the time when you feel worked with difficult team member would bring best within the team. Reference list Montana, P. J.; Bruce H. (2008).Management. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Noe, R. A. (2013). Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Price, A (2000). Principles of human resource management: an active learning approach. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Mccarthyism, Miller, and the Crucible free essay sample

Reasonable doubt was all that was necessary to accuse and sometimes convict someone of UN-American activities in the late 1 asss, early sasss. This period of time was known for McCarthy-?a time of extreme anticommunism, lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy (McCarthy). The United States pledged to contain the spread of communism globally, as well as locally, and did what it could to keep this promise. Americans began to fear that communism was leaking into the media, government, arts, schools, and other areas. This was called the Red Scare (Brinkley).One writer that used his era as a basis for his play, The Crucible, was Arthur Miller. He was able to capture the panic and mere insanity of many Americans in an allegorical way. The crusade against subversion played a significant role in the following: the actions and tactics of McCarthy, the reasons why Miller and other artists were targets Of McCarthy, and the relationship Of his play The Crucible to the events of the late sasss to the early 1 sass (Brinkley). We will write a custom essay sample on Mccarthyism, Miller, and the Crucible or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Senator Joseph McCarthy used many tactics to persuade Americans to oppose communism and indict those who supported it.Communism had angle shape, and Americans were worried that people in the U. S. Would start leaning to the far left like several other countries such as the USSR and China (Checkers). In order to prevent this, the Congressional House UN- American Activities Committee (HUGH) was founded. The Committees purpose was to investigate those organizations and individuals it deemed UN-American. They first went to Hollywood because the movie industry was considered corrupted. Ten individuals, called the Hollywood Ten, were asked to testify against other Holly. DOD residents who were questionable unionists. Some of the Hollywood Ten refused to answer the Yuccas questions so they were charged with contempt and sent to prison (HUGH). The Federal Loyalty Program was also established at this time in order to question the trustworthiness of federal employees. Many were questioned and fired with the reasoning that they were considered a threat to their employers. State and local governments wanted to rid themselves of all kinds of subversives (Checkers). On February 9, 1950 in Wheeling, West Virginia, the crusade against subversion took a significant radical turn.Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy gave a speech, and in it he stated, l have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five [people] that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department(Enemies). This was a very bold move by McCarthy because he was outright accusing over two hundred of his fellow co-workers of communist activity. Over the next few years, McCarthy became very well known for his bold tactics to expose alleged communists.Most Americans ere too afraid to stand up to him, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower (McCarthy). Eventually, however, people who were being affected by McCarthy began questioning his harsh tactics and his objectives concerning communism. McCarthy affected people of all races, ethnicities, and professions. The American people were terrified of communism, yet the Truman administration did nothing to curb these fears. People lost their jobs, not only because of heavy investigation by the HUGH, but also because private employers felt obligated to follow the Hijacks warnings.The Hollywood Ten as not the only group of people that were questioned in Hollywood; they were just the ones who refused to testify in court. Nine others, however, agreed to cooperate with the HUGH (HUGH). Many artists, both in literature and in the movies, incorporated McCarthy in their work. Arthur Miller was one of these individuals. During this time, Miller wrote his play, The Crucible. Critics liked it, but they were afraid to admit it due to the controversial plot (Miller). Because of this controversial plot, Miller was asked to appear in court, under the belief that he would not be asked to name names.However, he was asked to reveal names of fellow co-workers and friends. Because he would not reveal any information, he was found guilty of contempt and was given a fine and a sentence of 30 days in prison (a year later, this ruling was overturned). Nevertheless, his famous work, The Crucible, was an original piece of innovative intelligence based on the House Un-American Activities Committees actions over alleged communism in Hollywood paralleling themes to the Salem witch trials of 1692. The Crucible was a very significant allegory of the events of the late 1 asss and 1 asss.Those accused in The Crucible and those accused during the McCarthy hearings were found guilty with little evidence. One would think that such outrageous accusations, with so little proof, would easily be dismissed. In both times in history, the people that were being affected were scared and could find no other way to cope with the fright than to place blame on one another (Miller). The innocent were accused and put in a melting pot where they had to make a choice whether they would give in and continue placing blame or stand up to the hypocrisy.Their careers and lives were unjustly ruined. Hysteria was the central theme of Millers play. Hysteria disposed logic and allowed people to believe that their neighbors and friends, whom they had always believed to be respectable people, were committing ridiculous crimes. As Reverend Paris, the detested local preacher, used the witch hunt to his benefit, Joseph McCarthy used anticommunism to his. Both striver to strengthen their positions in society. The Crucible was Millers modern day version of the Salem witch hunts that he himself participated in (Salem).The worldwide threat of communism undoubtedly had a great impact upon society in the late 1 sass to the early 1 asss, including the actions and tactics Of McCarthy, why Miller and Other artists were targets Of Mica rhythms, and the relationship of The Crucible to the events of the era. This threat of communist activity in the U. S. Led to the unjust persecution of many prominent and well-respected individuals. A similar fear existed in Salem in the late sasss. This fear triggered the loss common sense in many high positioned persons. The excuse of reasonable doubt led to innocent Americans destructions]both personally and socially.

Analysis and performance for football Essays

Analysis and performance for football Essays Analysis and performance for football Essay Analysis and performance for football Essay I feel that Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers currently playing, so I have decided to base my analysis of performance on him. One of the reasons why Torres is an extremely strong player is because he has very good agility. He is able to change direction and speed very quickly, enabling him to dodge players and get past them. Weaker players are not able to do this because they don’t have good enough agility. An interval or fartlek training session would be appropriate to help weaker players improve at changing speeds. Torres also is good at all aspects of the game and can show a variety of techniques; for example dribbling, passing, turning with the ball, tackling and shooting. He is at the autonomous stage of learning a skill, therefore performing the skill becomes natural and involves very little thought, unlike the stage intermediates would be at which is associative. Intermediates would need feedback to progress and to get to the autonomous stage, which only the best get to. Torres also shows he has motor skills by moving and controlling muscles effectively in order to sprint and get the ball. This is related to co-ordination – as soon as players with good motor skills see the ball, their body automatically repositions themselves to be in the right place. He shows he has cognitive skills by thinking about where other players are positioned in relation to him and deciding what to do with the ball. It also helps him to use space effectively, by running off the ball to create space and then to move into space later on. Torres has gross motor abilities of speed, stamina and explosive strength. Speed is important so he can beat players to the ball and then keep it. Someone playing in a less advanced team would not have a high enough level of skill to be able to dribble with the ball at speed and keeping it under control. A good practice session for this is to use a rope ladder, and to get the players to step both feet in and out of each section as quickly as possible. His stamina (including muscular and cardiovascular endurance) enables him to keep performing to the highest standard for the full 90 minutes. I think this is a weak aspect of my own game. To improve, I could go for regular long low intensity runs to improve my cardiovascular endurance. Finally, his explosive strength helps him to make sudden sprints for the ball. This also requires good fitness, and intermediate players may not have the required endurance to be able to do this for the full 90 minutes. A good practice to improve explosive strength in football is to use fartlek training, where you do a low intensity jog and then a short sprint continuously. Torres’ recovery time is also very important, as it must be quick so he is able to use his explosive strength to the highest level all the time. Psychomotor abilities are also very important for Torres, especially reaction time (in order to respond quickly to intercept the ball) and aiming (so the player can pass and shoot accurately). A good practice drill to improve reaction time is where two players stand by cones a few metres away from each other. The ball is placed in the middle, and when they hear the whistle they have to run towards the ball and the first person to get to it has to get past the other player. This not only improves reaction time, but also the first touch on the ball and explosive strength. Unlike intermediate players, Torres has the ability to make the skill he is performing more self-paced, which is something I am unable to do. For example, when trying to get past a defender, he can decide when to complete the skill because he has great control over the ball. For learners or intermediates, then the skill will be more externally paced, because they are not completely in control. Football includes lots of open skills. For example, before performing the skill, you have to take into consideration where the other players are positioned, what the surface you’re playing on is like and what is happening at the time, for example, if you’re in the attacking half or the defending half. You constantly need to adapt what you’re doing to suit the changing environment. It is best to learn these skills in a closed environment in order to get the basics right, then move onto an open environment so you can improve and get ready for a game situation. Football also involves interactive skills because you are constantly interacting and having contact with other players, and you need to work as a team in order to win the game.

Strategic Management - GE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Management - GE - Essay Example However, the company has been faced by law suits and product recalls that affect customer confidence (About Sustainability at the BSR Conference, 2008). GE aims at selecting suppliers with more competitive prices, services, and quality and provides relevant training (Immelt, Govindarajan & Trimble, 2009). In order to remain competitive, GE requires the suppliers to have quality service, and to keep up with the latest technologies. On the other hand, supplier may use take advantage of these requirements their products. The buyers can also influence the profitability of existing enterprises through their ability to lower or increase prices on the products or service. Since GE is the leader in most industries, the bargaining power of the buyers is restricted due to the company great control (Zimmerman, 2010). Even though GE has diversified in various businesses, however, GE has a competitive advantage over other firms due to innovation. The entry barrier in the high-tech industries for new entrants is very high. Thus, it decreases the threats of a new firm, for this reason, risk of replacement is also lower Immelt Talks. Jeff Immelt oriented leadership has changed the internal environment of GE with a lot of positive feedback from the staff (Kenny, 2009). His approach is based on long-term profit growth. This strategy utilizes three stakeholders’ strategic elements such as managing strong trading patterns, increasing growth efforts, and increasing business portfolio (Kaye &Yuwono, 2003). This strategy is based on several factors including customer focus, globalization, growth platforms, technical leadership, and services. GE has currently diversified in various segments including aviation, energy infrastructure, transportation, home and business appliances, healthcare, and GE capital. Diversification has allowed the company to have stock for the long-term. Each of GEs segment provides valuable solutions as well as products to the global economy

Lady in the Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lady in the Water - Essay Example From the essay "Lady in the Water" it is clear that this film is the story which was a spontaneous and unplanned story told by the writer and director of this film, M. Night Shyamalan to his children. But when this kids’ story came in form of the film, it has not become a mere kids’ story. It was because some of the scenes shown in the film are not suitable for kids. Fairy tales can work effectively on pages as well as on screen. They take you in the world of fantasy and imagination. â€Å"Lady in the Water† also has the same attributes. It is a complex and fantasy-filled bedtime story. It is the story based on the current situation. The story conveys the message to the adults who have lost their capacity for deep thinking due to materialism and excess of individualism. According to the writer, we have lost our capacity of deep listening. Today we are surrounded by the bogus stories which are actually far away from reality, especially on television. These stories contain a certain amount of violence, and horror as well as humor. But the real purpose of the bedtime story cannot be attained in television programs. According to Christian Hamaker, "The film is often inspirational, contemplating the worth of humankind, showing how those who are emotionally deadened can be reawakened by a power beyond themselves, and demonstrating how the bonds of a loosely knit community can be strengthened in a common cause. †¦ Although not quite on par with some of the director's earlier work, Lady has its rewards." (Christian Hamaker, July 20, 2006). The power for cherishing goodness by defeating the evil things is there in every human being. Once it gets awakened, the evil has to be defeated. Every human and every living and non living thing on the earth have occupied with divine soul. But unfortunately the materialism of life has made us to forget the divine qualities in us. The water in the film is associated with purity so as the aquatic creature. Again here there is an essence of Hindu theology of incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In the troublesome period, to save the mankind, Lord Vishnu, one of the prim e Hindu Gods incarnate himself and became a fish. This incarnation is known as Matsya (Fish). In this film also Story comes from water to assist mankind. Thus the water is associated with purity, sacredness, innocence while the land is associated

Contemporary relevance of Porter’s Five Forces to corporate strategy

Contemporary relevance of Porter’s Five Forces to corporate strategy Introduction Porters Five Forces introduced back in 1979 by Michael E. Porter from Harvard University in his first book Competitive Strategy. It becomes international best seller, and considered by many to be a definitive work on corporate strategy. The book itself had been published in nineteen languages and re-printed almost sixty times, changes the way business leaders thought and remains a guide of choice for strategic managers the world over. It has become an important tool for analyzing an industry structure and strategy process [Morrison M., 2008]. Porters work has had a greater influence on business strategy than any other theory in the last half of the twentieth century [referenceforbusiness.com]. The tool provides a simple perspective for assessing the position and competitiveness of a corporation or business organization within the industry. Porter points out five forces which the upturn and downturn, will affect the profitability and existence for a corporation or business organizatio n. Business leaders and managers might be interested in this paper for the purpose of this paper is to discuss the contemporary relevance of Porters Five Forces to corporate strategy. An attempt also being made to find what is missing from this model related to corporate strategy in current business environment. In so doing, a comparison will be made between Porters Five Forces and another tool for corporate strategy. Another assessment made concerning the business environment in Porters era and current business environment. Porters Five Forceshttp://wiki.telfer.uottawa.ca/ci-wiki/images/e/e4/Porters.gif The development of this framework is based on the idea of attractiveness of an industry. As for the attractiveness itself, is determined by the profitability within the industry. More profit means the industry is more attractive and low profitability means a low attractive industry. The way of thinking in the model is to achieve a better competitive position against other players. The competitive advantages developed from strengthening the own position within this Five Forces. The Five Forces framework is based on microeconomics. It considers supply and demand, substitutes and complementary product, and the relationship between production volume and cost of production; also the market structures such as monopoly, oligopoly, or perfect competition. Threat of new entry The chances in which new competitors can enter the market and drive the current players price down. The threat to entry depends on six major forces of barriers which Porters describes as: economics of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, cost disadvantages independent of size, access to distribution channel, and government policy. The decision of the new-comer also pretty much influenced by their expectation on the existing player. If the incumbents known for previously fought vigorously to new entrants, or possess such substantial resources to fight back (such as excess cash, unused borrowing power, available productive capacity, or clout with distribution channel and customers), the new entrants will likely to have second thought on entering the market. This also happened if they know that the incumbents seem likely to cut the prices. New entrants fear more also when the industry growth is so slow so that newcomers can gain volume only if they take it from the incu mbents. Bargaining power of supplier Another force Porter mention in the model is how powerful the supplier to drive up the prices of is corporate input. The term supplier includes all sources of input that are needed to provide the product. A supplier of group is powerful when it is dominated by few companies and more concentrated than the industry it sells to. The products are also differentiated or unique means relatively no substitutes for the particular input so that it built up the switching cost. The power of supplier also increase when there is a possibility for the supplier for integrating forwards in order to obtain high prices or so. Also when the industry is not an important customer of the supplier group or when it is not obliged to contend with other products for sale to the industry. Bargaining power of customer Similarly, bargaining power of customer settle on how powerful is the customer can impose pressure on margins and demands. Buyer are powerful if it is purchase in large volumes and/or the product it purchases is standard or undifferentiated, means they can always find alternative suppliers. Customer will also become more powerful if the products it purchases from the industry form a component of its product and represent an significant fraction of its cost, in other words, the customer become more price sensitive. Furthermore when they know that the company earns low profits, which create great incentives to lower its purchasing cost; and when the industrys product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers product or services, then the bargaining of customer increase. More threat comes from the possibility of the customer to integrating backward and has the ability to produce the product themselves. Another factor mentioned by Porter is that customer will be more prices sensitive w hen they recognize that the industrys product does not save the buyer money. He gave an example of logging of oil wells, where an accurate survey can save thousands of dollars in drilling costs, therefore affect the market price. Substitute products The extent of which substitute product can be used in place of one product. Porter highlighted the characteristics of substitute products that deserve the most attention as those products that are subjects to trends improving their price-performance trade-off with the industry product or are produced by industries earning high profit. Porter also said that substitutes come into play when the competition within industry increases which lead to price reduction or performance improvement. Jockeying among competitor for position within industry This factor describes the strength or the intensity of competitiveness among the existing players within the industry. High rivalry limits the profitability of an industry. Factors that shape the intense rivalry in a industry are: (a) payers are roughly equal in size and power (b) the growth of the industry is slow, precipitating fights for market share (c) lacks of differentiation and switching cost of the products (d) strong willingness to cut the price either because the fixed cost are high or the product is perishable (e) high barriers to exit the industry (f) capacity is normally augmented in large increments, and (g) diversity of strategies, origins, and personalities of the rivals. Other than the intensity, the dimension basis in which the rivalry takes place also reflects the strength of the rivalry such as price, products features, support service, delivery time, and brand image. Whether the competition takes place in the same dimension, or the rivals converge to compete on same dimensions. Strategy Crafting What do you want to achieve or avoid? The answers to this question are objectives. How will you go about achieving your desire results? The answer to this you can call  strategy. William E Rothschild, Former General Electric Corporate Strategist, CEO of  Rothschild Strategies Unlimited LLC Corporate strategy is about how a firm or business organization should make a decision of series of steps to achieve the desired goal. To create the best decision, the decision maker must be able to analyze the current and expected factors associated with internal as well as external environment. With strategy, one company can be more prepared and comfortable to operate on the market, because good strategy should have examined all the forces involved in business activities. Strategy planning can be developed in three levels, which are: company level, business unit level, and functional or departmental level [Morrison M., 2008]. Corporate strategy Æ’Â ¨ concerned with overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This level of strategy concerned with the selection of business in which the company should compete and with the development and coordination of the portfolio of business. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by the investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a mission statement along with the formulation of visions and goals. It also decide on how business unit to be governed; through direct corporate intervention (centralization) or through autonomous government (decentralization). Corporate strategy also seeks to developed synergies across the business units. Business Unit StrategyÆ’Â ¨ is concerned more with how a business competes successfully in a particular market. It concerns strategic decision about choice of products, meeting needs of customer, gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new opportunities or market, etc. The strategic issues is about developing and sustaining a competitive advantage for the product and service that are produced. Functional or Departmental Strategy Æ’Â ¨ the strategy level of the operating divisions. It is concerned with how each part of the business is organized to deliver the corporate and business unit level strategic directions. The functional units translate them into discrete action plans that each division must accomplished for the strategy to succeed. Operational strategy therefore focuses on issues of resources, processes, people, etc. Functional units involved in higher level strategies by providing input into the business unit level and corporate level strategy, such as providing information on customer feedback. Business environment in current era Current business environment much likely to be characterized by more dynamic market situation. The digitalization and globalization contribute to this dynamic movement. The power of information technology (IT) grows more and more each day. And as it grows, all players in the market can have access to more information. The world is flat, globalization made great improvement in distribution of logistics and communication, enable all business to operate globally. Meanwhile, the customers have the chance to shop also on a global level, and compare the prices globally. The trends and demand now changed as the increased commoditization in so many areas. Companies now must be able to differentiate themselves by give more value for their products. One way to do that is by improving customer experience, through the improvement in the service area. Customers now want individual service and attention, and have high expectations for the goods and services they buy. Other tools for corporate strategy David P. Baron nonmarket approach: 4Is Business environment consist of market and nonmarket environment. An effective corporate strategy must be able to facilitate both market and non-market goals of the company. In relation to this, Baron introduced his 4Is, with emphasis on non-market environment. This framework together with Porters Five Forces formed the integrated strategies. The nonmarket environments are social, political, and legal setting that affects the interaction of the corporation outside and in conjunction with, the market environment. Barons define the characteristics as four Is. The first is Issues, of what nonmarket strategies address. Issues in nonmarket environment cover the regulations, proposed laws, court judgments, etc. Second is set of relevant institutions for the particular industry. Regulators or government is usually always become the relevant official body that affect a corporation decision making process. NGOs are also another example of institutions. Interests are individuals and groups with preferences about the industry. Baron includes this factor to address the identity and goals of those with a stake in the issue. Also information concerning with what the interested parties know or believe about the relation between actions and consequences and about the preferences and capabilities of the interested parties. This factor let us to think, what info needed to reach the goal? what is persuasive for the other parties? Prejudices, rumors, state reports, almost all public relations stuff is included in this factor. SWOT model Æ’Â ¨ covering external and internal forces Another tools being used for corporate strategy is SWOT. SWOT models addressing the internal and external forces. The Strength defines what characteristics impose by a company that can be used to keep hold on the market or even expand it. Weakness is really the opposite, this factors is any kind of lack the company has that can affect its existence in a bad way. Both strength and weakness is internal factors. Meanwhile, the external factor is covered by the Opportunity and Threat. Opportunity discuss about all issues or current condition of the environment that can give a better chance for the company to improve the operation. The threat talks about all threatening situation from the environment in which the company operates. More of this are, opportunity and threat, be explored more in Porters Five Forces model. Contemporary relevance between Porters Five Forces and corporate strategy Any organization, especially ones dealing with corporation or business environment realize that their success depend on both internal and external factors. With his Five Forces, Porter tries to emphasis on the most important or most influencing forces to the business profitability and existence. The competitors, the new entrants, new substitute, also the bargaining power of both supplier and buyer covered most aspects of a business activity. Indeed, Porters Five Model focuses heavily in competitive strategy, which is essential. To be specific, the Five Forces, mentioning competition, are related more to analysis of external forces from the market environment of the strategy. Of course, all business organization will always seek the best way to maximize corporate profit and determining the attractiveness of an industry. This is a need that will always be in managers mind in every industry, from every era. Therefore, through his model, Porters tries to give a framework that can help the decision maker to create a strategy where enable the company to stay in the market, defend their current position, and even grow the market size. It supports the decisions about to enter or to exit from an industry or market. As a business leader, it is important to understand the competition in the industry. The model can be used to compare the impact of one competitive force on our own company and to the impact on the competitors. With the knowledge of power and intensity of competitive forces, the strategy can be developed in way that gives the company options to influence the forces to improve their own position, such as new positioning or differentiation of product. It also gives the details on how to prevent the new entrants. Not only new entrants, the strategy should be able to cope with the substitute product that is getting more and more accessible now for the customer. Bargaining power of supplier and buyer is more relevant to supply and demand. It is essential to know which side of supply and demand equation our business is referring to. The framework tells us how profitability can be affected, in good way and in bad way from the context of industry rivalry and competition. It creates to positi on the firm to leverage its strengths and defend against the unfavorable effects from the five forces. Generally speaking, the model talked about the profitability and survival of a company. Referring to the definition of corporate strategy, Porters Five Forces seems irrelevant. Corporate strategy designs the grand strategy for the company grand purpose. And almost no company has a mission statement for to be the most profitable or so. Most company longing for sustainability; to be able to hold on success for a long term period. They achieve this by creating more value through their business, managing portfolio business, and developing business units; things that we dont learned through Porters Five Forces. Profitability is just one way to get to the grand purpose. That is the reason why, for the grandiose strategy of a company, to be based on only Porters that is focus on profitability, is unadvisable. The strategy such as focus and differentiation for competitiveness can be implemented at business unit level strategy to create competitive advantage. It may be relevant in corporate l evel as for the interest of stakeholder, indirectly. When the business unit strategy is achieved the desired goal, which most likely to be more profit, this is also will considered as favorable by the investors. Corporate strategy also concerned about the development and coordination of portfolio of business. The complexity that portfolio has cannot be found in the Porters model. Multi-variance product, multi-company in different industries, all this density of current market environment made Porters Five Forces become less practical. Other relevance is the dimension of competition. It is something that decided at the corporate level. Porters mentioning that based on the competitive advantages, we must choose the dimension of competition and it is best to create a battle field in that dimension, not in other dimension. This is about knowing our company competitive advantages and where to compete and win over the rivalry. What others are missing? Porters Five Forces did not describing the other external factor like regulator and social environment of the company. Porters Five Forces made based on the economic situation on the eighties. During early eighties, the economic situation is more stable and predictable development in industries compared to today dynamics. It is also characterized by cyclical growth and also by strong competition [D. Recklies, website]. Thus, in Porters era, the main objectives of many business organization or corporation are profitability and survival. Porters model focuses on analysis of the actual situation of companys customers, supplier, and competitor; and predictable development from new entrants as well as substitutes. Global and networked markets, as mentioned previously, force the business players to think more in the corporate strategies. Now, it is not enough to only position oneself as a price-leader or quality leader. Competitive advantages now comes from the ability of the company to de velop a way to maintain the relationship with more mobile customer and also to manage the networks that could be located in other part of the world. Porters Five Forces treats customer and supplier as third parties, which they no longer are. Corporate, suppliers, and customer now have extended relationship. And how this relationship managed is not less important than competitive advantages, because it creates values which harder to obtained and maintained than profits. This side of Porters Five Forces, lack of value-adding analysis made Porters Five Forces is less applicable in corporate strategy. In addition to that, in spite of always strengthening position within the industry with competitive advantages to compete against the competitor, co-operation with competitor by mergers and acquisition is also one way to maintain the existence and survival of a business organization. Hence, this model cannot keep up with dynamic situation in the current business environment. Globalization and digitalization Porters did not include how technology developed and that it is a strong force on competitiveness. Whereas, Porter did not explicitly mention it as a force, but it IS there. New entrant and new substitutes could mean that the competitor could have innovations background. New machines can affect the bargaining power of supplier too, in example. Not to mention how information spread unbelievably fast, and wide, around the internet. Experts coined the term of internet economy for this decades in which internet have been so embedded in everyday life. Various e-business applications have strongly influenced almost all industries. The development of the information system gives new opportunity for players from outside industry to chance the basis of competition in a market. Porter did not mention how technology will affect the competitiveness. The difference is that on Porters era, technology is something more like a tool to implement the change. But now, with its more rapid growth compare to eighties, technology has become a most important driver to a change. Non-market environment Needless to say, nonmarket environment, as brought up by Baron, also one important forces that must be considered in crafting the strategy. Any kind of corporation or business organization must dealing with social, politics, and legal arrangement, directly and indirectly. Of course, Baron extended work from Porters Five Forces expected to be able to give the best model to develop the so-called integrated strategy. Dynamic market structure Porters model assumes relatively static market structure. Yet, todays market is far from static. Dynamic market entrants, supported by more technological breakthrough, may change the entry barriers, the business model within short time. The model also assumes that all companies always try to get competitive advantages and win over other player in the industry. The dynamic market structure have new way of thinking of survival than to compete and kill each other. It is designed to analyze individual business performance. It is not considers strategies such as synergies and strategic alliances (mergers, acquisition), electronic linking of information system of all companies along a value chain, virtual enterprise-networks or others [D. Recklies]. This model also cannot assist the more complex structures of industries. The analysis cannot cope with multiple group products, by-products, and segments. And narrowing the focus only in one industry is too risky in todays corporate strategy. T his model also not yet considering that sometimes it may be possible to create new market than compete in the existing market. Nevertheless, later in his paper on 2008, he includes how technology is one factor that can greatly affect competitiveness and rivalry in an industry. Not only had that, he also included other factors such as government and complementary product that can affect the companys profitability. In this paper, he also mentioned how a change in industry structure shifts each of the five forces. In general, Porters Five Model has some limitation in todays market environment application and on its relevance with corporate strategy. In relation to corporate strategy, Porters model might be a little help for defining in which dimension or market out company wants to operate, although this dimension might be converted again once the strategy derived to business unit level. However, with all the lack Porters Five Forces had, the model is not completely obsolete to current business. Porters is an economist, so the model is basically the simple way of how he describes the microeconomics. He describes the attractiveness of the industry that is influenced by the five forces. This is also explains why the model always repeat and focusing more in profitability; for economics talks about profit maximization. Even now, business still operates in five forces framework describes by Porter. The model enable the decision maker, the managers, to think about the environment surrounding their i ndustries in a structured way, easy-to-understand way as a starting point for further analysis. Conclusion In summary, while Porters Five Forces seems less reliable concerning the current competitiveness in the industry (in terms of technology or innovations involvement), it is still manage to help strategic focus of the company in profitability and survival within the industry. The models assist more in business unit level strategy and less applicable in corporate strategy level. Corporate level strategy talks more about value which we hardly find in the Five Forces. Yet, indirectly the success in business unit level strategy supports the achievement of corporate strategy. Porters Five Forces is still relevant to current strategy planning, yet today business players must considered more things such as the growth of globalization and technology and how it will affect the other factors, if not creating its own forces. The tremendous growth of technology nowadays cant be separated in any aspects of life, and that including corporate strategy. However it might be, technology leads to innovation which will influence the every step a company have to defend its market and even expand its market. Certainly, a corporate strategy should not be carelessly made without take note of the non-market environment. In addition to that, examination on the nonmarket environment also should be conducted to support the strategy on market environment of a company. Another kind of analysis also may be needed to examine the dynamic state of markets. Porters framework becomes one of the tools in developing a strategy, maybe as a starting point, but not the most important or the only model being used. A good strategy never should use only one or few model as a basis.