...1. Zappos believes that “if you get the culture right, then most of the other stuff- like great customer service or building a long-lasting, enduring brand- will happen naturally.” This implies a good culture will increase the employees’ dedication to work and thus improve the overall quality of business which refers to “the other stuff” from the above citation. A strong organizational culture can solve “apathy” (one of the core problems organizations may face) by giving members an organizational identity, energizing them, and facilitating commitment. By definition, if an organization cannot deal with the problem of apathy, it will collapse and fail in achieving common goals beyond individuals. Zappos cited a study which found happier people were more engaged in their job and therefore Zappos encouraged managers to socialize with their team members outside work. Zappos’ success in dealing with “apathy” is also revealed in its unique décor of offices, evidence of the employees’ efforts to “create fun and a little weirdness”. The “waves, hoots, cheers, and even, literally, bells and whistles” show Zappos people’s enthusiasm and energy at work and that the 10 core values are integrated into its employees’ work and life. In the case of Catepillar, which is a manufacturing company, apathy can easily arise because many parts of the job are repetitious and tiresome since manufacturing is most likely to take place on the assembly line...
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...In what ways does Zappos’ culture help and/or hinder the company’s performance? * As an organization grows, it is imperative to have quality talent. Zappos strength was in its hiring practices that focused on organization-fit apart from skill-fit. With a strong people oriented culture already in place, they were adept in judging the fit based on the criteria they created for the culture which in turn led to long term success for the employees. This vision reflected in their extensive hiring practices. * Their strong culture paved the way to become a marketable brand on its own in the industry resulting in talent pool augmentation. * The biggest advantage posed by their strong culture was the ease of buy-in among the new and current employees which resulted in better assimilation and integration of their core principles and vision. The culture was pervasive at all levels of the organization that buy-in was evident in a short span of time. * The culture at Zappos made it possible for the management to delegate and share responsibilities among the peers. This was evident in the vision created by the CEO of a boundary-less organization. * Their egalitarian culture and empowerment aided them in being innovative and helped the management in tapping and maximizing the creative potential of their employees. This was evident in their strong emphasis on cross-training of employees as part of the new hire process and at making it available for various career enhancing...
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...Professor McCammon 4/8/2013 Zappos’ Case Analysis 1. What are Zappos’ core competencies and sources of competitive advantage? How sustainable are they? What role does corporate culture play in these questions? I identified quite a few core competencies within Zappos that allow them to distinguish themselves from their competitors. First off, they have a very unique return policy, such that they allow the customer 365 days to return the product, in addition to paying for the customer to ship the item back to them. They also have a much faster web interface, as well as extensive online product information. Adding to the technical side of things, Zappos’ also has trained call center operators, and the ability to call toll free. Aside from all those traits, Zappos has really focused on their customer service, and being “a service company that sells shoes.” They are always striving to WOW their customers, or just make sure every customer they deal with is more satisfied with their company as opposed to another. The CRM that Zappos is using is also very successful in making the customers say WOW. Such a strategy of using technology to organize and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support helped Zappos get a 75% repurchase rate with their customers, which is another reason their sales are constantly improving. The company’s culture is about growth, both personally and professionally. Because of this company culture, Zappos executives are continuously...
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...Zappos is an online retailer that specializes in footwear and clothing, but sells merchandise ranging from cutlery sets to bedding. Its mission is to have the best selection of merchandise and the best customer service possible. Founded in 1999 by Nicholas Swinmurn, Zappos has transformed from a pipe dream project with headquarters set up in a cramped apartment to a multi-million dollar company that debuted on Fortune Magazine’s list “ The 100 Best Companies to Work for” at number 27, the highest place a company has ever debuted. [10] With headquarters now set up in Henderson, Nevada and a distribution center next door to the UPS world hub in Shepardsville, Kentucky, Zappos has not let this success go to its head but instead has strived to make itself the best company in its field as well as the best company to work for. Behind this unrelenting drive for success is Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. After investing money into the startup of Shoesite.com, Hsieh became co-chief executive officer beside Swinmurn in 2000. [4] Since then, Hsieh has been focused on creating the perfect work environment that will foster a group of employees that can not only make decisions independently, but also enjoy coming to work. In order to do this, Hsieh created the 10 Core Values of Zappos. [12] This list includes: * Deliver WOW through service * Embrace and drive change * Create fun and a little weirdness * Be adventurous, creative, and open-minded * Pursue growth and learning ...
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...QA Concept Introducing LoadRunner • Why should you automate performance testing? • What are the LoadRunner components? • Understanding LoadRunner Terminology • What is the load testing process? • Getting Familiar with HP Web Tours • Application Requirements The Power of LoadRunner • Creating the Load Test • Running the Load Test • Monitoring the Load Test • Analyzing Results Building Scripts • Introducing the Virtual User Generator (VuGen) • How do I start recording user activities? • Using VuGen’s Wizard mode • How do I record a business process to create a script? • How do I view the script? Playing Back Your Script • How do I set the run-time behavior? • How do I watch my script running in real time? • Where can I view information about the replay? • How do I know if my test passed? • How do I search or filter the results? Solving Common Playback Problems • Preparing HP Web tours for playback errors • How do I work with unique server values? Preparing a Script for Load Testing • How do I measure business processes? • How do I emulate multiple users? • How do I verify Web page content? • How can I produce debugging information? • Did my test succeed? Creating a Load Testing Scenario • Introducing the LoadRunner Controller • How do I start the Controller? • The Controller window at a glance • How do I modify the script details? • How do I generate a heavy load? • How do I emulate real load...
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...Preparing Business Scenario Analyses The following general guidelines may be used in preparing for an oral or written business scenario analysis and presentation. There may be several feasible courses of action regarding the solution to any case. It is more important to concern yourself with the process of problem definition and isolation, analysis, and evaluation of alternatives, and the choice of one or more recommendations, rather than trying to find a single answer. Very often, the right answer is the one that you can propose, explain, defend, and make work. • The Process of Analyzing a Case 1. Read and study the scenario thoroughly and efficiently. Read the scenario once for familiarity, noting issues that come to the forefront. Read the scenario again. Determine all the facts, making notes about symptoms of problems, root problems, unresolved issues, and roles of key players. Watch for issues beneath the surface. 2. Isolate the problem(s). Get a feel for the overall environment by putting yourself in the position of one of the key players. Seek out the pertinent issues and problems. 3. Analyze and evaluate alternatives. a. Once the problems and issues are isolated, work at gaining a better understanding of causes. In what area of the unit do the problems exist? Why? What caused them? Examine and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the unit’s processes (e.g., planning, communication), human behaviors, and/or exhibits (e.g., financial statements,...
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...PEST Analysis One way of planning your business is to undertake a PEST analysis.1 PEST analysis involves looking at the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological factors that could affect your business. Every business needs to consider a range of external forces in order to take decisions. For many people imagination is very limited and is coloured solely by their own experience and personal beliefs. This can lead to wish fulfilment or a refusal to see reality or recognise the critical changes that are happening in the world around them. It can also lead to grabbing short-term solutions that, if they do not exacerbate problems, certainly ignore the longer term. In the business world pressure is often applied to take decisions quickly, acting on judgement and instinct rather than careful analysis. There are many driving forces in the external environment that might impact on your business. These can be categorised as: • Social; • Technological; • Economic; • Environmental; and • Political. Social forces Social forces include, for example, changing demography and education, etc. The population in Western Europe is relatively static, but the age bands are changing. The number of older people, for example, is growing rapidly. Technological forces Technological forces are changing dramatically quickly. What effects will this have on your production, marketing and distribution plans? Depending on your market, technology might either raise or lower entry barriers...
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...Fall 2015: Industry Analysis in Emerging Markets Your role in this analysis is to work with your team and to look at emerging technologies. From autonomous drones to emergent AI to 3D printers, you are going to research and get a better understanding of our fast-approaching technological future. Scientific American compiled the Top 10 List of Emerging Technologies for 2015. You can start here, but you are not limited to these technologies. You must choose an emerging industry, and will analyze the history of this technology and its industry, the trajectories of the technology, the key competitors, and the trends in the market. The end goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the industry, the competitive landscape, emerging trends to watch in the future, and an overall assessment as to the attractiveness of this industry. Your final deliverable for this project will be an in-class presentation, due April 26th. 1) What SIC/NAICS code does your industry fall under? 2) Describe your industry- a. Provide a brief history of your industry. (You may use a timeline in a separate appendix) b. List and describe the characteristics of the products your industry offers in the marketplace. c. Who are the key competitors in the industry? d. What are the main differences between the products offered by key competitors? e. What strengths & weaknesses (capabilities, complementary resources, related intellectual property, etc.)...
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...http://www.mysensex.comPESTLE « Pestle Summary: India | Main | Pestle summary: USA » 03/28/2009 Pestle Summary China Well, I guess this is where I get controversial, at least a bit. There are others who have predicted that China was in for a tough ride over the past few years, but they mostly got ignored, or were proven wrong by events. And, to a certain extent, if you cry doom long enough you'll always get proved right, given the laws of entropy. So this is a bit 'faux' controversy... This is the introductory note taking exercise for a Pestle analysis of China, drawn on conventional internet sources such as Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook and Nationmaster. China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.34 billion people. It has the third largest GDP, with $4.84 trillion, behind Japan and the U.S. Like India, the currency and conditions make it useful to look at some statistics using Purchasing Power Parity, which bumps up China's GDP to $7.8 trillion, which would move it ahead of Japan. It also is the second in the world in annual military spending, although that needs a bit of context, as the world's number two spends about 15% of what the world number one (USA) spends. But with PPP, that looks like more money, and insofar as it is used to pay salaries, rather than buy Israeli rocket parts, PPP is valid in this context too. China is badly governed by the Communist Party, and in my five-year Pestle forecast I will be making the case that misgovernance will...
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...McCauley, COO * Hugh McCauley, COO of Riordan has sent a service request to us. The service request SR-rm-022 stats that Riordan wants to make improvement on their current HR tools. They are currently using a variety of HR tools and would want’s us create one integrated application. To do this we will have to do a system analysis of their current system. An analysis will be made with recommendations to upgrade and consolidate their system. * The service request is basically a project statement. This is a document from the customer who clearly states what the project should deliver and outline the high-level work required for completing this project * (SR-rm-022). Riordan Manufacturing has 550 employees worldwide and has projected earnings of $46 million. It is a fortune 1000 enterprise with $1 billion in excess revenues. It is wholly owned by Riordon Industries and based in San Jose , California. * . We will use the joint application design (JAD) for our system analysis, this should help keep the analysis efforts to a minimum. Fact finding is at the core of system analysis. Interviewing of individuals who understand the current system and any known issues, including future activities needed. To do this observation of how data is handled and how this is used for their jobs. Through study of the documents, policies, and procedures in reference to the system. * Interviewing and gathering...
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...29th, 2013 Angela Lucente Planning For People Job analysis is an important process, any organization used to use it in order to collect information and data about required skills, level of education, work environment, responsibilities, and the duties to create a job description, recruiting plans, and performance development planning (Susan M. Heatfield, 2013). Once job analyses are updated as described, a summary of the results is normally prepared in writing in the form of a job description (Wayne F. Cascio, 2010). According to my reading chapter five about job analysis process. There are some topics I felt comfortable with, such as alternative perspectives on jobs. This topic add to my knowledge many information and explained how jobs are important to organizations, what is the highly unusual jobs that some organizations required it, and distinguish job analysis form job design (Wayne F. Cascio, 2010). On the other hand, I struggled with topic job requirements because there are many methods created in order to study job requirements and none of them alone is sufficient. Thus, it is essential to integrate this methods to obtain the results of the tasks and duties of a job (Wayne F. Cascio, 2010). It is not that easy to implement the methods of job analysis, such as job performance, observation, interview, critical incidents, and structured questionnaire, those are the most five common methods of job analysis and each one of those takes time and effort to achieve desirable...
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...------------------------------------------------- Running header: Job Analysis Methods ------------------------------------------------- Abstract Examination of different methods utilized to create a comprehensive job analysis, including advantages and disadvantages of all approaches. There are several methods that can be utilized to create a comprehensive job analysis. A job analysis provides a better understanding of the positions within an organization, which will allow the recruitment process to be more focused, consistent and thorough. The first method that can be employed to create an effective job analysis is the Critical Incidents Technique. This technique identifies circumstances that arise in a current position, what action was taken, and the consequences of the action, to identify the effective and ineffective behaviors in job performance. These critical situations are documented by interviewing former jobholders, supervisors, or by reviewing documents and logs from the job. Job duties are examined, and then critical incidents are identified to determine poor or good performance issues related to a specific job requirement. This technique is useful for covering job events that may not be covered in a general job description. Identifying atypical circumstances that may arise in a position can aid in finding a candidate that would be an ideal fit. Reviewing these critical incidents also enable the recruitment process to be shaped to include more pointed questions...
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...to accomplish that soon, also technology is to expensive. Other companies building autonomous cars said that they are working on vehicles that will be able to safely make that switch. Volvo says that it expects to have its cars tested on city streets by 2020. The Google management team faced several questions. Should Google continue to invest in the technology behind self-driving cars? How could Google's core software-based and search business benefit from self-driving car technology? As large auto manufacturers began to invest in automotive technology themselves, could Google compete? Was this investment of time and resources worth it for Google? Environmental Scanning (external and internal analysis): PEST Analysis After reading the case study Google car I have used the PEST analysis model in which the following was concluded: 1. Political Factors: Government’s regulations on automobile transportation are one of the major aspects in Google's car that have legal barriers. Due to that most of the governments do not have specific laws for self-driving vehicle and there are no federal standards for autonomous cars special permission in all US states adjusted for road test. Laws need to be adapted to accidents liability for insurance purposes. 2. Economic Factors: Cost is a concern, due to the investment in technology required to be adapted to cars an estimated of $150,000 in equipment. The consumers are not willing to spend more than $3,000 for autonomous driving applications...
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...implementation actions you recommend should be explicit and thoroughly explained. Occasionally, careful evaluation of implementation actions may show the strategy to be less favorable than you thought originally. A strategy is only as good as the firm's ability to implement it effectively. Therefore, effort to determine effective implementation is important. Process Issues You should ensure that your presentation (either oral or written) has logical consistency throughout. For example, if your presentation identifies one purpose, but your analysis focuses on issues that differ from the stated purpose, the logical inconsistency will be apparent. Likewise, your alternatives should flow from the configuration of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified by the internal and external analyses. Thoroughness and clarity also are critical to an effective presentation. Thoroughness is represented by the comprehensiveness of the analysis and alternative generation. Furthermore, clarity in the results of the analyses, selection of the best alternative strategy, and design of implementation actions are important. For example, your statement of the strengths and weaknesses should flow clearly and logically from the internal analyses presented. Presentations (oral or...
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...BLEND TWO COUNTRY ANALYSIS ITALY Task: You will carry out an analysis of Italy today in order to have a general idea of its current state of affairs. To do this you will visit several sites to gather the necessary information. This information should then be transferred in note-form onto the table below. You will then use these notes to give a short, informal presentation during the following class session. Procedure: You will use a well-known analytical tool: THE PEST ANALYSIS. Although this tool was originally created for the business environment, it is now used in many sectors to analyse organisations, projects and systems. STEP ONE: WHAT IS A PEST ANALYSIS 1. First you need to find out what a PEST analysis is: Go to http://www.rapidbi.com/created/the-PESTLE-analysis-tool.html#political Read quickly through the information and write short answers to the following questions: What sort of picture does a Pest analysis offer? Why is it important to take these factors into account? What are some common uses of the Pest? In what situation might you use a Pest in your own professional context? The Table below gives some of the indicators which may be relevant for each category. Can you think of any other factors to consider? Add them to the corresponding column. PEST ANALYSIS TEMPLATE Political / Legal Economic Social Technological - Government organisation / attitude - Economic growth (overall; by industry sector) - Income...
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