...Business--It's Role in Today's Society Bus 100 In today's fast paced and technology driven society business is changing by the minute; as well as how we conduct and do business on foreign and a domestic level. A business is defined as any activity that provides goods and services in an effort to earn a profit. The role of business in the economy is huge especially when analyzing its impact when there is a lack of job availibity and household revenue. Lets take the economic breakdown in 2008 when we were in a recession as an example. During the economic downfall of 2008, the economy took a huge hit and from that came a rise in the loss of homes, jobs, and income. A decline in each of these critical areas resulted in a loss for the nation because if people are unable to find work then in turn they are reluctant to spend money; decreasing the flow of revenue into the economy. This all ties into business. If businesses are successful then there is a positive trend in the economy and the same can be said of the opposite. All was not lost though, in 2008 with the economy in a downward spiral we still had 19% of american adults who were involved in entreprenur activity by managing or starting their own company. Alot can be learned about entrepreneurs by studying the entrepreneurship era, one the four eras of business. During this time individuals were "self-starters", working and promoting themselves. The production era which was in the...
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...GE’s Two Decade Transformation: Jack Welch’s Leadership Submitted by: Group 11 When Jack Welch took over GE as CEO in April 1981, GE comprised of a complex diversified conglomerate consisting of 10 overlaying groups of 46 divisions and 190 departments all supporting 43 business units. GE was already considered as a bench mark for its sophisticated strategic planning and management practices. But at that time US was facing recession, an economy of high unemployment, high interest rates, and strong U.S dollar. So Welch set in motion a series of changes that were to radically restructure the company over the next few years. Welch set the target for each of the businesses to be number 1 or 2. He laid down a three circle concepts in which each business was categorized as core, with the priority of investing in productivity and quality, high technology, with the purpose of having an edge over competitors and services, to add outstanding people and to make contiguous acquisition. He also followed a ‘fix, sell or close’ policy under which many businesses were sold. The money which was collected through sales was invested in acquisition. He tried to make GE more lean and agile which resulted in a highly disciplined de-staffing process. He chipped away bureaucracy, laborious strategic planning system was scrapped and instead real time planning system was bought in. Hierarchy was removed and confined to four levels and made all businesses to report directly to himself. Due to this drastic...
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...Question no. 1 - Discuss the challenges facing Starbucks in 2010 Motives of Starbucks’ internationalization Exploring internationalization motives of Starbucks represented by a number of factors, including proactive and reactive factors, provides a better understanding of the reasons for the company’s decision to expand to foreign markets. Proactive motives are related to the firm’s motivation to take advantage of new market opportunities. While reactive motives represent that the firm responds to environmental changes and pressures in its domestic market or in foreign markets and adjusts the activities over time. (Hollensen 2011; Czinkota et al. 2009) Seeking growth and exploring new market opportunities are major proactive motives of Starbucks’ internationalization. Moreover, decision-makers are likely to explore first those overseas market opportunities perceived as having some similarity with the opportunities in their home market. At a later stage of internationalization Starbucks strived to make use of economies of scale which enabled the company to rise more rapidly on the learning curve and reduce production costs. (ibid) Major reactive motive for initial stage of Starbucks’ internationalization is represented by physical and psychological closeness to Canada that was the first foreign market for the company. Another reactive motive of Starbucks’ international expansion is saturation of the domestic market. The case study mentions...
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...in Dublin having no more than 100 employees. CRH exists in a very competitive environment; prices between competitors are very similar and loyalty is built with customers through always delivering expectations on time. Sony Corporation is based in Japan and is a conglomerate business with interests and products in many different fields. CRH and Sony both have very different traditions and management systems which results in both companies having different strategies and ethics which will be explored in detail throughout this essay. In 2009, CRH released results highlighting their second successive annual reduction in overall income. The main reason for the considerable drop in income was because of the current state of the economy at the time: suffering from the worst worldwide recession since the 1930s. There were other external factors associated with this such as the social aspect where people were more hesitant to spend money due to the price hikes almost everywhere. This didn’t just only affect CRH, Sony also fell victim to the recession - recording a loss of £720 million for the year ending March 2009. This loss was unexpected for Sony - considering it was only their second loss since the late 1950s. In light of the recession, both companies were affected and income was considerably lowering with expectations of the following year to be worse than the current year. Furthermore, other factors have also played a small part in affecting both CRH and Sony financially such as...
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...Exploring the prospects for U.S-China trade With the significant development of economy, China has already exceeded Japan, becoming the second largest economic entity in the world. From 1949 to the present, China's economy grew annually from 4 to 10 percent. There is no doubt that the export contributes a lot to China’s GDP; meanwhile, United States just replaced the European Union, turning into China’s largest trade partner last year. It is obvious that China and U.S. are closely connected in the modern economy. Since U.S. and China are inextricably linked, I would like to analyze the trade between U.S. and China in this paper, and find out what are influencing the value of trade between the two countries. First of all, there are some economic concepts that need to be explained. China has a favourable balance of trade, which means nowadays China exports more than imports; however, U.S. has run a trade deficit every year for more than thirty years, which means U.S. imports more. The import and export are always connected with the exchange rate. For instance, if you are exporting and your local currency becomes strong then your products become more expensive for your buyers. If you are importing and your local currency becomes weak then the products you are importing become more expensive. As we can see, China is exporting more to the U.S., so I would assume that one of the reason why U.S. would import more from China may be the exchange rate of China’s currency Yuan is slumping;...
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...the sale of a broad range of products. These lines of business include: an online bookstore, DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably the Amazon Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer—and is a major provider of cloud computing services. The majority of Amazon’s sales are products sold by Amazon, although many are from third-party retail sellers and consumers that sell their products from the comfort of their own home using Amazon.com as a platform. Amazon was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It has direct international operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Last year Fortune ranked CEO Jeff Bezos as its Businessperson of the Year on the back of the company's stellar growth, especially in its Amazon Web Services and Kindle divisions (CNN Money, 2013). The company continues to take on a variety of competitors, going after Netflix's streaming services, Google and Apple's tablets, and brick-and-mortar stores across the country. There is even talk of an Amazon smartphone. Since 2004, Amazon has begun to rapidly expand its web services arsenal. Products such as Amazon EC2...
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...Case Analysis Intel Corporation: 1968-2008 Case 6 Name: Po-Hsun Lo ID: 11018704 Date: 01/22/2012 Abstract Intel, the leading manufacturer of microprocessor since 1985, possessed 77.46% worldwide share of microprocessors for personal computers in 2007. Revenue of Intel kept increasing even during the recession of 2007, and Cost of goods sold reduced from 2005 to 2007. Such overwhelming performance pushed its major competitor, AMD that was expected to lose $1 billion on sales in 2007, to the edge. Although Intel had ruled the microprocessors for PCs, the growth of PCs market started showing slump, which meant exploring new market is getting importance to Intel. Corporation Overview Founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore in 1968, Intel started business by manufacturing dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) based on the technique from Fairchild. Besides the two founders, big part of early success of Intel was attributed by Andy Grove, one of researchers hired as Intel founded. Andy was charged as director of operations, so he had designed the first manufactory of Intel producing in competitive cost. His attributions and performance resulted in that he was named CEO in 1987 and positioned CEO until 1998. His management philosophy was detail oriented; everything must be constantly checked, especially about driving down cost and speeding up development processes. Therefore, Intel is always leading on product innovation in microprocessors industry. Intel strongly grew...
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...STRATEGY in the SPECIAL ISSUE NEW WORLD The 10 Trends You Have to Watch | by Eric Beinhocker, Ian Davis, and Lenny Mendonca AFTER A FULL YEAR in heads-down crisis mode, to the evolving role of business in society. Here we discuss how the crisis may affect their trajectories, and we address the implications for strategy. Some trends, we argue, remain firmly on track, but uncertainties are cropping up around others. We also see signs of new forces emerging, which we will be exploring in more detail in the months ahead. The overall picture is of an altered business landscape. It does seem there will be no going back to the precrisis world. hbr.org Are these the right trends to watch? Share your thoughts with the authors at landscape.hbr.org. business executives are looking again to the future. As they reengage in strategic thinking, many are struck by a sense that the world has changed: The turmoil was not merely another turn of the business cycle but a restructuring of the economic order. Is that impression accurate? To answer this question, it is necessary to examine the underlying forces that shape the business environment and to look for discontinuities. McKinsey & Company tracks the most important of these forces, from the growth of emerging markets Lorenzo Petrantoni Eric Beinhocker is a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company’s economics research arm, where he leads research on economic, management, and public policy issues;...
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...quotes/ chapters for all levels Review book at end of AP curriculum for review Questions raised: 1. How did industry and European-style countries called nation-states—rather than highly developed agrarian empires like China and India—come to define our world? 2. How has the gap between rich and poor increased? 3. How and why have European ways of organizing the world come to dominate the globe? 4. Was the Rise of the West a temporary blip? Scope: Global look (but especially Europe, China and India) 1400 -1900 Chapter by chapter breakdown: Intro “In the space of just 200 years, the world has seen a great reversal of fortune: where once Asians held most of the economic cards, today it is primarily Western countries and Japan.” (p. 2) Concepts addressed/ introduced in chapter: Globalization Enlightenment Communism Nation-states French Revolution Weber-Protestant work ethic Disease Industrial Revolution “modernization” Exploration/ Encounter “Progress History” Colonialism Renaissance Capitalism Slavery Modes of Historical Inquiry Comparative units of analysis Definition of Eurocentrism State legitimacy Concept of Pentimento (p. 8) Ecological analysis Historical inquiry – multiple causality (contingent, accidents, and conjunctures) Chapter 1 Material and Trading Worlds Circa 1400 “The Chinese, for example, had a long history of contact with these kinds of people [nomads], and in fact had come to classify them into...
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...IMPACT OF GLOBAL RECESSION ON READY MADE GARMENTS INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH IMPACT OF GLOBAL RECESSION ON READY MADE GARMENTS INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH Prepared for: Dr. Muhammad Ziaulhaq Mamun Course Instructor Research Method (K301) Prepared by: Nabeel Khan (ZR-29) Farwah Tasnim (ZR-40) Rasheeq Rayhan (ZR-45) Sayan Muhammad Rafi (ZR-48) Rafat Shamim (ZR-51) Ishmam Rahman Abedin (ZR-53) Bushra Barkat (ZR-54) Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka June 30, 2012 30 June 2012 Dr. Muhammad Ziaulhaq Mamun Professor Institute Of Business Administration University Of Dhaka Dear Sir, Here we present the report “Impact of Global Recession on Ready Made Garments Industry of Bangladesh”. In this report we tried to analyze the current RMG industry scenario and the various factors associated with it which have been influenced by the global financial crisis. We believe our report will facilitate strategic planning for both the decision makers in the market and identify possible counter measures and new possibilities. We hope the report meets your expectations. We will be glad to answer any query about the report. Sincerely yours, Nabeel Khan (ZR-29) Farwah Tasnim (ZR-40) Rasheeq...
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...The Five Forces Framework The five forces model by Michael Porter focuses on analyzing the key aspects that are essential for entering new marketplaces. He defines the industry as 'the group of firms producing products that are close substitutes for each other' (Porter, 1998). Prior to exploring any new marketplace and business line, it is essential that a profound structural analysis be performed. The forces that determines the ultimate potential and threats for competitions for an industry are 1. Competitive Rivalry 2. Threat of Entry 3. Threat of Substitution 4. Bargaining powers of Buyers 5. Bargaining power of Suppliers Textile Industry Analysis Industry Overview Pakistan is the world's 4th largest producer and 3rd largest consumer of cotton. Because of its plentiful, indigenous cotton supply, the textile industry is central to the Pakistani economy and is both a source of employment and a source of exports. Pakistan's industrialization began in the 1950s with the textile industry at its center. The Textile and Clothing Industry has been the main driver of the economy for the last 50 years in terms of foreign currency earnings and jobs creation. The Textile and Clothing Industry will continue to be an important engine for future growth of the economy; there is no alternative industry or service sector that has the potential to benefit the economy with foreign currency earnings and new job creation, especially if synergy is developed amongst different...
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...situation analyses analyzes the prime factors of the current organizational situation, which are of use and which should be looked forward to improve its international perspective. Further the paper discusses its basic market strategies while entering in any foreign market in which is focusses on analyzing the market and culture in depth and the collaborating partner so as to keep a sync with its values. The organizational barriers discusses the various obstacles and barriers that come in the way of any company while going international and how Starbucks has overcome them with great effieicncy. Various recommendations to Starbucks have been quoted at the end of this paper to mention the key areas of concerns for Starbucks including economic recession and the imbalance in revenue generation across markets for Starbuck. Introduction Starbucks...
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...{draw:frame} Abercrombie and Fitch Case Study 4/21/2010 Executive Summary: Abercrombieand Fitch was Founded as a High Quality sporting goods store in 1982 by David Abercrombie. Abercrombie Co opened its first store in Manhattan, New York with the intention of providing high quality equipment to an elite segment of the market. Throughout the years, Abercrombie and Fitch Co has proven itself to be able to adapt to the constant changing retail market and has slowly evolved in the retail giant we are familiar with today. Abercrombie and Fitch currently employ a focused differentiation strategy where they target customers ages 12-25. Instead of using conventional methods of strengthening their brand through advertising and a squeaky clean image, A&F instead takes full advantage of controversy and word of mouth advertizing in order to gain their customer base. It is through A&F’s unorthodox methods that they have been able to establish themselves as a highly desirable, high quality apparel retailer and due to these factors they are able to charge a premium price for their products. A&F’s current strategies have helped them to not only establish themselves in the United States, but they are now poised to expand into the global market. With the recent opening of flagship locations in Tokyo, London, Milan, A&F now has a solid foothold to tap into the Western European and Asian Markets. With the potential in these foreign markets, A&F should realize high levels of growth...
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...Impact of Shale Gas Production on the Market Fundamentals and Energy Security of Certain Countries ICCG Think Tank Map: a worldwide observatory on climate think tanks IMPACT OF SHALE GAS PRODUCTION ON THE MARKET FUNDAMENTALS AND ENERGY SECURITY OF CERTAIN COUNTRIES Ekaterina Zelenovskaya, ICCG 1 Impact of Shale Gas Production on the Market Fundamentals and Energy Security of Certain Countries Impact of Shale Gas Production on the Market Fundamentals and Energy Security of Certain Countries Ekaterina Zelenovskaya, ICCG Abstract The world’s unconventional gas base such as tight gas, coalbed methane (CBM) and shale gas are estimated to be as abundant as conventional gas resources. The recent start of shale gas production in the North America has significantly influenced major regional gas markets around the world. This article intends to examine the impact of shale gas production to the situation with the energy markets and energy security of particular countries, such as United States and countries of Continental Europe. 2 Overview of Shale Gas Production Activities and their Impact on Regional Energy Security Shale Gas and Energy Security Energy production and use have various environmental implications since energy represents about 1 65% of global anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions. The general belief/opinion is that fossil fuels will remain the dominant source of primary energy in the following decades. However, natural...
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...action affected parties would take during the period. Regardless of the changes, such a large and important company as BHP would have to study the potential changes and start, if necessary, reformatting their financial planning/strategies and other control processes. These would have to be looked at on a whole organisational level; ranging from the BHP hierarchy all the way down to the smaller subsidiaries in order to accurately gauge the potential effects of the changes in the market. BHP put itself in a really good position early in the piece with its sensible investment strategy. BHP management identify, as they did in previous year reports, the need for caution whilst guiding such a large company through the current global recession. This recession equated to a slowing of activity in the commodities market which would have been a...
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