Assignment Question
This assignment is counted as 30% of your final weighted mark for the class. The assignment task is to produce a research project proposal using qualitative research methods. Your proposal must cover the following areas (the weightings indicated are to give you some idea of how much we expect you to cover against these different criteria):
1) A context or background to the topic and selected issues. This should explain what the project is about and provide a justification for your choice. Why do
you want to carry out research in this topic area and why is it an important topic to look at? (10%).
2) Objectives or key research questions within the topic. These should set some parameters or boundary to your research. What are you trying to achieve or
find out through your investigation? It is important to set boundaries so that your proposal has an appropriate level of focus and is viable. (15%)
3) Relevant literatures and sources of information. This should not simply be a list of sources or readings but an indication of key authors and studies in the
area: you should evaluate the sources and give some justification for your topic selection. This should include critical appraisal of at least 4 relevant
academic journal articles that you have read (20%)
4) Correct Referencing: Both Citation and References should be in Harvard Format. (10%)
5) Research philosophy, Research Design and Methods you intend to use in order to gather the information and/or generate data or results for investigating the topic and answer your research objectives. You must outline and justify your
choice of methods. For instance, if you plan to survey some subjects as part of your research explain how you will select these and how your sampling and
methods help meet your research objectives. If you plan to model secondary data, explain the selection of data and plans for modelling (40%)
6) Timetable and plan of the main phases of the project over the allocated period of time, which you should assume will be up to 6 months, and an indication of the resource requirements. Remember you are the principal resource! Identify the critical stages of your plan taking into account the time it might take to complete different phases. (5%)
Further points:
• The proposal should cover the research which is related to China, Japan, Korea or MENA region
• The proposal should be relevant to the courses related to the international management degree. You can also address economics, organisational, or
development studies.
• Use the output from each session to build up your proposal.
• You should not only explain why you have chosen your method (for example, merely choosing Qualitative isn’t sufficient) but also how you select what and who to research.
• The proposal should be around up to 3,000 words long.
• Normal warnings on Plagiarism apply!
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Read: Naomi Klein, Capitalism vs. the Climate, The Nation (November 28, 2017)
here is the link for this article https://www.thenation.com/article/164497/capitalism-vs-climate#
FOCUS on the second half of the article where she offers “a quick-and-dirty look at what a serious climate agenda would mean in the following six arenas:
public infrastructure, economic planning, corporate regulation, international trade, consumption and taxation.”
Answer the following question
Naomi Klein summarizes her article, “Responding to climate change requires that we break every rule in the free-market playbook and that we do so with great urgency. We will need to re-build the public sphere, reverse privatizations, re-localize large parts of our economies, scale back over-consumption, bring back long-term planning, heavily regulate and tax corporations, maybe even nationalize some of them, cut military spending, and recognize our debts to the global South.” Elaborate and explain.
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construct a conclusion that offers the reader an opportunity for further thought,
employ segues and transitions that move the reader through the paper,
employ the use of the third person point of view,
demonstrate skills gained from the first two projects as it relates to focus and organization, evidence and format, and style, and cite sources using MLA conventions.
Assignment:
In Project 2, students will be asked to compose a polished essay of 1000-1200 words that asserts an arguable thesis and is supported by research.
After researching, developing an understanding of both critical reading and historical perspectives, and learning to extend personal interests into
researchable ideas (and arguable claims), students will combine these skills to write a thesis-driven, research-based essay. This essay should provide
background on the topic (context), evidence to support the claim, counterarguments/refutations, and a conclusion that offers the reader something for further thought (a forward-thinking conclusion).
This project helps to prepare students for the type of research writing they will be asked to undertake in 1102.
This assignment will be evaluated using the FYC rubric.
Role of Research:
Students should use research as (1) support for their theses and (2) a way of acknowledging and incorporating counterclaims. Students should incorporate 4-6 sources.
Writing Process:
Early Draft
The early draft should be an outline or other organizing draft that includes a preliminary thesis, a list and brief explanation of major points (including
counterargument), and a working bibliography.
Important notification : the early draft should be solved in this PDF file https://usflearn.instructure.com/courses/984319/files/32934171/download
What this means that the early draft should be solved in that outline provided ,
Intermediate Draft
The intermediate draft should be a working draft that includes the thesis, all major points, evidence to support these points (including in-text citations),
counterclaims, and a works cited page. This draft should be 800-1000 words.
Final Draft
The final draft should be a 1000-1200-word polished essay in which students articulate an assertion about their topic with which a reasonable person could
disagree and address counterclaims. Students should ensure that their claim is fully supported with paraphrased, quoted, and summarized material drawn from appropriate credible sources cited using MLA.
According to Farley v Skinner, damages for mental distress, disappointment and similar injury caused by a breach of contract will only be awarded when mental satisfaction was part of a specific request or undertaking.
Discuss.
Word limit: 2000 words (includes footnotes). Do not include a bibliography. Sources must be cited in accordance with OSCOLA.
This is an essay question. The usual points on approaching such a question apply. You are invited to discuss the quotation. You may agree or disagree with it and you may do so with or without qualifications.
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This Trading Blocs paper should be based on
1. a brief introduction to trading blocs
2.a short over view of each trading bloc a)GCC. b)EU. c) NAFTA.
d) APEC.
3.comparison of mentioned(in second point) trading blocs
(compare, contrast and critique)
(deep explanation for these types of blocs and their roles economically, politically and their impacts on the globe)
4.a brief overview of the future of each of the trading bloc and trading blocs more generally.
Use at least three (3) quality references Note: Wikipedia and other related websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
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INGLOTs micro and macro Environmental Factors facilitating Competitive Advantage.
Order Instructions:
INGLOT, during search I found that you already have term paper on INGLOT, like below question
1. Outline firm-level (micro) and country-level (macro) factors contributing to the development of INGLOT’s competitive advantages and discuss their sustainability.
2. Develop INGLOT’s strategic plan for the next five years with a concrete outline of recommended geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification.
Internal and external environmental factors are very important for an organization which needs to explore new markets and facilitate growth. This project looks at the case of INGLOT, and analyses how it can enhance its growth as a result by strategically planning and looking at its environmental factors that have so far given it its current competitive advantage. In the micro environmental factors, suppliers, customers, and consumers are considered. These are the major contributors to its competitive success so far. Economically, INGLOT has also been at an advantage because it is financially stable, a factor which many companies have been longing for. There is a sample five year strategic plan for INGLOT, which will be effective in ensuring that its goals are met.
Introduction
The competitive advantage of a company is usually supported by many factors available in its internal and external environment. Some companies are blessed with some features that are not present in others. If these factors are used effectively, the company will be in a better position to be at an advantage. INGLOT, from the case study, is one company that has had the opportunity of being at an advantage better than its competitors. Unfortunately, this competition is very stiff, and to ensure that it is not overthrown from its position in the market, INGLOT will have to adopt a few changes by engaging in geographical expansion, evolving its business model, and diversifying its products. These are some of the measures, which will ensure that INGLOT’s competitive advantage is maintained or improved, but not any other way. Therefore, this paper champions the thesis that geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification are major players in enhancing a company’s competitive advantage.
Micro and Macro Environmental Factors facilitating Competitive Advantage
Micro Environmental factors
The micro environment of a company is represented by the suppliers, customers, employees as well as the competitors. These are the factors which can have an effect on the performance of a business. INGLOT is a company which managed to greatly benefit from such factors as their competitive advantage was increased due to their presence. The company’s cosmetic products were in high demand, as a result of this great presence of customers; the company had a better competitive advantage since it could chose to either extend its presence in one of the over 40 countries, or penetrate a new market anywhere in the globe (Fox 2010). This micro factor presents an opportunity for better competitive advantage since it provides many opportunities for the company to increase its profit margin. When there is a very high product demand, the company may decide to increase prices and act as the price setters since it is already clear that the loyalty of consumers is achieved. This advantage it has over its competitors makes it difficult for the latter to price their products higher than that of INGLOT (Ming-Jer, Kuo-hsien & Wenpin 2007, p. 104).
The company has managed to appear as one of the best in producing quality and most innovative cosmetics. This factor has resulted to a high number of suppliers who want to be associated with INGLOT. Suppliers will want to become partners with a company which is performing at its peak as this will also mean a high profit margin on their part. If a product is in high demand and is among the top in the industry, the suppliers see a great opportunity for high sales with bigger returns (Fox 2010). This high number of suppliers who wish to be partners of INGLOT has also enhanced the company’s competitive advantage since it has the chance of having more than enough suppliers, most of the other companies struggle to find suppliers who are willing to take their products to the consumers. The availability of many suppliers gives INGLOT an opportunity of choosing from the best performers, so that it can be guaranteed that the products will sell and not just be stored (Matwiejczuk 2013, p. 268). From all the applications received from suppliers who want to be franchisers for INGLOT, approximately 95% are declined. Unsuitable experience is one of the many reasons why suppliers are turned down (p.1). New stores whose owners are not experienced in the industry may not perform so well since it takes time for them to catch up with issues such as effective decision making and marketing strategies.
INGLOT requires a distributor who will also take extra steps to market the cosmetic products so that the consumers will increase. INGLOT is a global business whose products are distributed far and wide. Some new markets may not be well familiar with the products, which is why the supplier needs to have the necessary skills to facilitate effective marketing so that the sales are increased (Mizuki 2014, p. 78). Underfinanced business plan also contributes to an application of franchising being declined. It is worth ensuring that the supplier has financial security as this is what will guarantee that they can deliver as expected. It can be frustrating to realize that the supplier who a company relied on has gone out of business for financial reasons. This is a major setback as the company will have failed its consumers by not providing the products needed. Some suppliers are declined because the position of their stores is not appropriate. Products need to be within easy reach for consumers so that they can be displayed as well. INGLOT also gained its competitive advantage as a result of the media. INGLOT never paid so much attention to media advertising as this was considered expensive and ineffective. Fortunately, the products of this company still became famous and were positively discussed over many forms of media.
The competitors also contributed to its competitive advantage through various ways. In this industry, the customer segment is characterized by a desire to acquire high quality products at affordable prices. There were many innovations which were facilitated by the introduction of novel products which ensured skin comfort, unlike the previous products. Hence, product differentiation is very important for a company to get a competitive advantage over the others. A factor that puts INGLOT at an advantage is that it knows of all competitor activities. By knowing what the competitor is planning, how it plans to react to certain changes in the environment, and some of the challenges it faces, INGLOT will always be a step ahead.
Macro Environmental Factors
As an international business, INGLOT is also faced with various political macro environmental factors. Fortunately, despite all these factors, INGLOT still manages to be at the top since it has many stores all over the world. The taxes charged for the distribution of these products to other parts of the world will therefore be recovered through a sale of products at a profit (Henrekson, Johansson & Stenkula 2010, p. 278). Not all countries have similar policies, therefore, it may be expensive to distribute in one country, and very cheap in another. This is a step which INGLOT has chosen to take so as to benefit from all angles. This company has always financed its growth from internal cash flow only. Therefore, it does not depend on stakeholders to any extent. This is also a benefit which improves its competitive advantage since most of the competitors depend on stakeholders for financial support. This is a proof that this company is financially stable and can therefore deal with economical challenges effectively (Şeitan 2014, p. 77). This stability is very important for any company which wishes to grow and prosper. This is why, whenever INGLOT wants to open up a new store or simply grow its product base, nothing financial will stand in the way.
INGLOT Five Year Strategic Plan (2014-2018)
Executive Summary
INGLOT is a cosmetic company which was started in communist Poland back in the 1980s by a young chemist, Wojciech Inglot. At this time, the vision of this young chemist was to offer consumers a range of affordable cosmetics prepared from the highest quality ingredients. This factor was completely absent in Poland even after years of centralized socialist planning. Today, after many years of operations and supplying quality cosmetic products, this company still finds the need to try and make various changes here and there. There are three major factors which are required: geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification.
Mission Statement
To always be the leader in the production and distribution of highest quality yet affordable cosmetic product all round the globe.
Vision Statement
Within the next five years, this organization intends to become one of the most treasured innovative leaders in the industry, creating dynamic partnerships that will enhance the growth of beauty in vibrant communities.
The mission and vision statements were created along with the participation of company staff and stakeholders as well. A factor which was unexpected was how overwhelming the response was. Generally, the mission statement translates to mean that when INGLOT achieves the highest rank in the industry, the position will be maintained at all costs. The products provided must always be of high quality and still be made affordable to all different communities in the world. Not all countries are of the same social status, hence when offered the products with the same level of expense, it may not work. The vision statement, on the other hand, is a look at how INGLOT hopes its future will turn out to be. This company hopes to be the best when it comes to innovation. It hopes to be the producer of new yet comfortable products for consumers. With the help of dynamic partnerships, the company will be in a better position to offer the products directly to the consumers.
Values
These are the company principles that are meant to govern staff behavior and how business is conducted. The authority of INGLOT is expected, in the next five years, to demonstrate the following values, internally and externally in equal measure.
Customer focused: Products must always be delivered to the customers on time. Employees are required to treat each other, as well as each and every customer with respect. If a customer presents a customized idea which may seem off, the employee is expected to politely offer suggestions without ruining the company’s reputation.
Integrity: All the activities of INGLOT must be ethical, trustworthy, and honest. There must be a clear indication on each cosmetic product and the type of customer it suits. This may be in terms of skin color, skin texture, and other similar factors. The ingredients used in the production of the cosmetics must also be honestly indicated in the packaging so that the consumer will be aware of what is present in the content.
Initiative: The Company must always be willing to take risks. For example, expanding stores by entering into a new market is a good example. It may be unclear of the performance but if there is potential, then a risk needs to be taken. In every organization, problems are bound to occur. This company will always address such issues by dialogue and coming up with solutions.
Teamwork: Collaborations will have no restrictions, and can therefore be internal and external. Strategic partnerships and relationships will be encouraged as these will eventually benefit INGLOT.
SWOT Analysis
To be able to plan for the future effectively, this company must also acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
The first point is how the company depends on its internal cash flow to grow and develop. Financial stability is efficient and advised for any company. The current economic conditions affect almost all companies, and the few who have the chance to become stable must treasure the factor (Şeitan 2014, p. 78). The recession has really affected many countries; hence many are still struggling with it. INGLOT, on the other hand, benefits since it can easily access adequate resources to run its business operations. For example, inventory needs to be maintained so as to ensure a timely supply of the required goods. A company which is not stable, but instead relies on stakeholder support cannot do so become it is not clear when the finance will be available. Business requires sufficient funds to make payments to their employees and managers. Without enough payments, employees will feel underappreciated and thus the company will have trouble maintaining its skilled human resource. Without employees, the performance of a company is also affected, and this may lead to great losses.
Another strength of this company is its differentiated products which are also in high demand. When a product is in high demand, it is clear that it will definitely be appealing to consumers since they are the ones who need it. A high product demand gives the company a better opportunity to charge fairly higher prices without affecting its customer base. This increases the overall profit margin which will be beneficial for the company. INGLOT has already expanded its operations to the international level. This is also another reason why it has a better opportunity than other companies. By going international, it means that the company will be dealing with more customers than in the usual country level. Hence, there will be more sales which will ensure a faster return for the products.
Weaknesses
Weakness for this company is that is that it does not pay much attention to traditional methods of advertising. Advertising is a marketing strategy which has proved effective for many companies. This is because it continues to inform the public of the product along with its benefit which is unique to what other companies have to offer. Not investing in such an option is really affecting the performance of INGLOT because the numbers of people who know about it are not as much as it should be if advertising is used.
Opportunities
This company enjoys opportunities presenting themselves daily. With the availability of a large customer base, this company enjoys an opportunity for growth in any country it prefers. Along with the presence of financial stability, this company has a better chance of actually exploring these new opportunities in the unexplored markets. Many regions around the world have not yet been exposed to these products. Since they are of high quality but are offered at cheap prices, chances are high that it will prosper. Therefore, there is a better opportunity for INGLOT to continue its growth and cover all of Europe. Africa also has a lot of growth opportunities. INGLOT is already established in countries such as South Africa and Libya.
Threats
One of the threats of this company is the presence of taxes, which may be required during the process of distributing its products to other countries. Then again, not all policies are similar in the countries. Certain types of products may be very expensive compared to others. Such a difference in product taxation can pose a great danger to the profit margin of this company especially because policies change from time to time.
Goals
The goals of this organization are numerous; however, the major ones within the next five years are three. One, INGLOT hopes to have achieved a geographical expansion by around 50% of the untouched regions. A properly managed geographical expansion ensures that a company reduces costs, gains a better access to new untapped markets, gains a better position in acquiring required talents, and fuels a company’s growth (Etgar & Rachman-Moore 2010, p. 8). This is why INGLOT will strictly follow this plan. The scenario will be assessed to ensure that all factors are clear. Not all scenes, which present an opportunity for the business, will be successful. To ensure that the project does not fail halfway, it is better to first look at various important factors, which will affect the company products. If everything seems to be under control in the chosen destination, then the project can now take place.
Second, INGLOT hopes that its current business model will have evolved into something that is more sophisticated and effective. Although the current business model is profitable, it is still important for it to evolve so that its profitability is maintained. During this evolution, a business can easily fail if it was not well prepared. There are three reasons, which may cause a business model to evolve, including technology disruptions, commoditization, and competition (Nisa & Ravichandran 2013, p. 94). Competition is the major player and contributor to the other two reasons. When competition is very stiff, a company finds an urge to evolve so that it is always at the top of its competitors. This is why INGLOT wants to evolve. Therefore, the first step for this evolution may be by enhancing product differentiation. Although this is already effective, it needs to be taken to the next level by ensuring a diversification of all available products (Hutzschenreuter & Horstkotte 2013, p. 710). Thus, consumers who have unique desires will frequently find what they need. Another way is by creating room for a start of the creation of new kinds of products which are not yet handled by the company. There is a very wide range of cosmetic products which can also sell better when associated with the other products of INGLOT (Makadok & Ross 2013, p. 510).
Conclusion
With the help of the strategic plan, INGLOT will be better prepared to act accordingly so as to ensure that the focus is not lost. A SWOT analysis is also important because it ensures that the company is aware of the factors making it be at the top, and those which are threatening that position. The operations of a business need to be in line with its mission and vision statement
References
Etgar, M, & Rachman-Moore, D 2010, ‘Geographical Expansion by International Retailers: A Study of Proximate Markets and Global Expansion Strategies’, Journal Of Global Marketing, 23, 1, pp. 5-15.
Fox, JJ 2010, How To Be A Fierce Competitor : What Winning Companies And Great Managers Do In Tough Times, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, eBook Collection.
Henrekson, M, Johansson, D, & Stenkula, M 2010, ‘Taxation, Labor Market Policy and High-Impact Entrepreneurship’, Journal Of Industry, Competition & Trade, 10, 3/4, pp. 275-296.
Hutzschenreuter, T, & Horstkotte, J 2013, ‘Performance effects of top management team demographic faultlines in the process of product diversification’, Strategic Management Journal, 34, 6, pp. 704-726.
Makadok, R, & Ross, D 2013, ‘Taking industry structuring seriously: A strategic perspective on product differentiation Taking industry structuring seriously: A strategic perspective on product differentiation’, Strategic Management Journal, 34, 5, pp. 509-532.
Matwiejczuk, R 2013, ‘Logistics Potentials in Business Competitive Advantage Creation’, Logforum, 9, 4, pp. 265-275.
Ming-Jer, C, Kuo-hsien, S, & Wenpin, T 2007, ‘Competitive Tension: The Awareness-Motivation-Capability Perspective’, Academy Of Management Journal, 50, 1, pp. 101-118.
Mizuki, K 2014, ‘Relational View: Four Prerequisites of Competitive Advantage’, Annals Of Business Administrative Science, 13, 2, pp. 77-90.
Nisa, S, & Ravichandran, N 2013, ‘Business Model: Concept and Evolution’, Amity Global Business Review, 8, pp. 92-98.
The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture
The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture
Order Instructions:
The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture
Recent research stated that “[c]companies with an established organizational culture that includes strong capabilities for change, commitment to innovation and a high level of trust have a significant advantage” when attempting to adopt a strategy of broad-based corporate sustainability (Eccles, Perkins, & Serafeim, 2013). Yet an Ethics Resource Center (2012) survey found that 42% of respondents felt their organizations exhibited signs of a weak ethics culture with a low degree of trust and transparency. Organizational leaders should have a strong incentive to identify and address any disparities that exist between their organization’s current culture and a productive healthy one. They must understand the impact they can have as leaders in facilitating an organizational culture, determining the necessary steps to build that culture, and taking the necessary action to create a healthy organizational culture.
To prepare:
Begin searching for scholarly references about the relationship between leadership and organizational culture. Reflect on the leadership characteristics and skills that are useful in promoting a healthy organizational culture. Also, consider the leadership styles that promote a healthy organizational culture. Think about the impact on organizational culture of how a leader responds to specific situations, such as crises. Reflect on how a leader might use power to promote a healthy organizational culture and how a leader can promote ethics in a healthy organization.
The “To prepare” is intended to aid in your reflection upon how the various leadership theories and other topics relate to organizational culture. However, you are free to analyze other facets of the relationship between leadership and organizational culture.
Compose an 8-page word document, comprehensive scholarly analysis of the role leadership plays in shaping an organizational culture.
Your paper must contain ten scholarly resources. Your paper should adhere to the APA Course Paper Template.
Learning resources.
• Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
o Chapter 12, “Team Leadership” (pp. 287–318)
Ayman, R., & Korabik, K. (2010). Leadership: Why gender and culture matter. American Psychologist, 65(3), 157–170.
Eagly, A. H., & Lau Chin, J. (2010). Diversity and leadership in a changing world. American Psychologist, 65(3), 216–224.
Ilies, R., Judge, T., & Wagner, D. (2006). Making sense of motivational leadership: The trail from transformational leaders to motivated followers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(1), 1–22.
Van Velsor, E., & Leslie, J. B. (1995). Why executives derail: Perspectives across time and cultures. Academy of Management Executive, 9(4), 62–72.
Abrhiem, T. H. (2012). Ethical leadership: Keeping values in business culture. Business & Management Review, 2(7), 11–19.
Cuilla, J. B. (2011). Is business ethics getting better? A historical perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(2), 335–343.
Hartog, D., & Belschak, F. (2012). Work engagement and Machiavellianism in the ethical leadership process. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(1), 35–47.
Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 124–134.
Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 421–449.
George, B., Sims, P., McLean, A. N., & Mayer, D. (2007). Discovering your authentic leadership. Harvard Business Review, 85(2), 129–138.
Maner, J. K., & Mead, N. L. (2010). The essential tension between leadership and power: When leaders sacrifice group goals for the sake of self-interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(3), 482–497.
Raven, B. H. (1993). The bases of power: Origins and recent developments. Journal of Social Issues, 49(4), 227–251.
Sandra:
SAMPLE ANSWER
The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture
It is widely agreed that leadership forms, shapes, and embeds organizational culture, and in turn, contributes to the long-term effectiveness and productivity of an organization. Organizational culture sets the context within which the employees in a firm strive for excellence and work together in realizing the goals of the company (Yafang, 2011). An organization’s culture is characterized by the collective set of habits and values that condition actions of members within it. It is the written and unwritten rules of how a company’s employees work with each other, customers, and stakeholders (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). Culture becomes ingrained over a period as a response to the actions and style of an influential leader (DeRue & Ashford, 2010). There is also a common hypothesis postulating that culture plays a significant role in the ability of the firm to execute its own strategic plans successfully. Moreover, successful leaders shape the organizational culture instead of allowing it to shape the company. A strong culture which exhibits a well-targeted and effective set of behavior patterns and specified values, forms the basis for an organization to perform better.
The systems approach posits that organizations have an identity, the enduring distinctive character of the organization as reflected in the values, symbols, traditions, as well as in the way the organization translates and interprets its environment (DeRue & Ashford, 2010). Leaders, in this regard, are the architects of the identity of an entity, how an organization makes sense of its environment and work, relationships that matter, feedback that counts, and available information. At the same time, the views and behaviors of the organizational leadership are, in turn, shaped by the norms and boundaries of the organization (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). As such, the organization’s ability to manage identity confirmation in work groups is likely to achieve higher cooperation. Again, convergence around the collective identity enhances the organizational commitment, strengthens the organizational culture, and mobilizes cooperation.
Shaping the organizational culture is a comprehensive, methodical, and integrated approach to shifting the it from the top management and leadership to the bottom levels (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). Therefore, building a healthy, high-performance culture entails changing the behaviors of teams and individuals that constitute the organization. Personal transformation is the foundation of a cultural transformation. DeRue and Ashford (2010) posit that creating a thriving, high-performance culture that is aligned with the company’s values, goals, and vision is a vital strategy for success. Shaping the organizational culture is a journey that requires a well-coordinated and integrated approach. The process requires an integrated approach starting from the top and then embedded throughout the entire organization. A leader cannot, therefore, shape an organization’s culture in isolation. When done correctly, shaping of the organizational culture can be very successful, rewarding, and stimulating process.
Culture happens by design or default and is notably a critical aspect of the company’s business strategy and competitive advantage. Shaping the organizational culture requires a complete and comprehensive approach to change, with an awareness of and emphasizes on some key principles such as purposeful leadership, personal change, and focused sustainability (Aitken, 2008). The leadership must own and lead the process of shaping the culture. They need to have a clear, compelling purpose for the organization and for themselves coupled with a powerful business rationale to inspire a thriving organizational culture. Just like any other business strategy, the process requires to have resources and a systematic execution plan. Culture needs to be explicitly defined through values and behaviors and at the same time modeled by the senior team. There is a need for the company’s employees to unfreeze existing habits and to make personal behavior change on an emotional level through insight-based learning in natural work teams to shift thinking and in turn reinforce change (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). People must understand the need shaping their culture. The process requires momentum, energy, and critical mass in order to engage all employees, since cultures are likely to resist change. Institutional practices, performance capabilities and drivers, and systems need to drive towards the desired culture in terms of communication, measurement, training, rewards and reinforcement, HR practices, performance management, and physical layout.
Several studies have highlighted the correlation between leadership strategies, the effectiveness in leadership role, and the impact that leaders have on others (Yafang, 2011). Leadership has a role in shaping the organizational culture while the culture in turn shapes leadership. Both leadership and culture drive performance. Organization culture is very crucial in terms of creating a healthy working environment and in promoting and communicating the goals and vision of the organization to employees. This, to a great extent, influences employee’s job satisfaction and motivation (DeRue & Ashford, 2010). Effective leadership styles and culture form the basis for employees to make greater contribution to team collaboration and communication, and will be motivated to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Research has demonstrated the relationship between leadership behavior and work satisfaction of employees (Eagly & Lau Chin, 2010). Leadership behavior and job satisfaction depend on the organizational context. Culture is a socially learned and transmitted aspect by the members providing the rules for behavior within organizations. Organizational culture is, therefore, supposed to guide employees in understanding what is expected of them including values, assumptions, and values about their work. The core values in a company begin with its leadership and then evolve into a leadership style. The other staff members are guided by the behavior of the leaders and the values. Once a strong, unified behavior, beliefs, and values have been developed, a strong organization culture then emerges (Ilies et al., 2006). When leaders are able to appreciate their function in maintaining the organizational culture, they are able to maintain a consistent behavior of the staff and to reduce conflicts thus creating a healthy working environment.
Research has revealed the close correlation between organizational culture and leadership, as well as between leadership styles and performance. Evidence demonstrates that the relationship between leadership effectiveness and leadership is mediated by cultural congruence (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). In describing organizational culture, it is important to highlight the various aspects in terms of the visible organizational actions and structures such as facilities, procedures, and actions. The other aspect is the one of expounding values manifest in public images of the organization such as goals, philosophies, and strategies. The third level consists of basic assumptions, perceptions, feelings, and thoughts. The visible elements created by a company act as the objective organization culture while the two other elements are related to subjective organizational culture. In order to function successfully, leaders need to balance between the different roles and competencies.
The rational goal model, which focuses on the director and producer roles, is a directive and goal oriented. The primary roles of this approach are those of the director and producer (Aitken, 2008). As a director, the manager provides direction and is expected to provide clarification of expectations through goal setting and planning. The leaders are supposed to be decisive initiators capable of defining problems, generating solutions, clarifying tasks, giving instructions, and establishing rules and procedures. The producer, on the other hand, is expected to increase production and to facilitate goal accomplishment. A producer has high motivation and energy and can accept responsibilities, maintain high productivity, and accomplish stated goals. The internal process model focusing on coordinating and monitoring roles as a leadership style is conservative and cautious (Aitken, 2008). The role of the manager is to keep track of the activities and to ensure that people follow the rules and procedures. A monitor is entrusted at analyzing all the facts and details. The human relations model of leadership styles concerns facilitator and mentor roles. This type of leadership is supportive and concerned. The roles of the facilitator are to build cohesion and teamwork (Aitken, 2008).
The transformational leadership theory emphasizes on the need for motivational leaders to articulate vision and direction, strengthening culture, and valuing and nurturing their staff, thereby enhancing performance. The transformational leadership approach strives to promote fellowship effectiveness (Jones, 2012). Distributed leadership identifies the need for the top leadership as part of a wider leadership capability. Although the distributed leadership approach recognizes the need for the top leadership, it champions for leadership in practice stretched over the situational and social contexts of the organization (Eagly & Lau Chin, 2010). In this model of leadership, the efforts of the leaders is a product the leaders thinking and behavior, the people, and the context. This model posits that strong leadership is characterized by the top leadership relinquishing power to others in the system, and recognizing interdependency. The systems approach identifies leadership as taking place in multiple systems whereby every organizational member is a member of that system. Leadership is practiced in different ways in these systems and is determined by the complexity of the work within that system. Leaders in complex systems that characterize today’s business environment are expected to provide clarity of purpose and expectations and to provide congruent and consistent decisions. The leaders also have a duty to guide on the system’s boundaries and expectations as well as to help the system make sense of the context within which it works (Jones, 2012).
Organization culture can be described as the framework that is used to guide decision-making and to resolve problems within the organization and in its external environment. Organizational culture depends on communication, shared interests and goals, collaborations, and social interactions among the employees (Eagly & Lau Chin, 2010). The main challenge for the leaders is, therefore, to influence and energize others to embrace a shared vision within the culture. They must be able to lead others into emulating and supporting the actions and behaviors that establish a strong, positive organizational culture that is capable of thriving and forging ahead into the future. According to Jones (2012), some of the effective leadership behaviors that would foster a healthy organizational culture include being a mover, empowering others, fostering good communication, building trust, managing conflict, and performance evaluation.
Leaders ought to apply several techniques geared towards molding a healthy organizational culture. These techniques involve adopting and integrating effective leadership behaviors and acting as a mentor by sharing knowledge and expertise gained from experience. Leaders as role models provide guidance in regard to value-based behaviors and standards of conduct (Latham, 2013). The leaders should also establish a shared vision, guide and motivate staff, and boost communication among the staff. By nurturing a sense of self-worth and commitment, leaders are able to develop an empowered organization.
Empowering others is a crucial recipe to realizing the great potential and creativity in them. Through empowerment, people feel significant and are willing to make a contribution to the company (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997). This is because they know that their contribution is important and valued by others in the workplace. Another important role of the leader is to unify. This entails creating a team of staff working towards a common shared vision. This can be achieved through a two-way communication between the leadership and the employees. When people feel empowered, in the workplace they take full responsibility of situations. They conduct themselves with a sense of personal power and control, flexibility, as well as trust from the leadership. In an organization where employees feel empowered, they take full control, responsibility, and charge of programs to achieve the organizational goals creating a culture of commitment and responsibility where everyone is committed to achieving the purpose.
Fostering good communication is a critical element of the organizational culture and acts to facilitate quality outcomes (Latham, 2013). For leadership to realize a healthy organizational culture, they must ensure that there is regular and comprehensive communication among the staff and the leadership. In addition, there is a need for timely and accurate flow of information among all the stakeholders of the company. Effective communication as such allows all those involved to express their opinions, receive constructive feedback, and resolve conflicts.
Leaders striving to create a healthy working culture ought to develop a culture that supports trusting connections with individuals and groups within the organization (Avolio et al., 2009). Leaders can achieve this by being accessible, listening actively, and keeping in touch. By inviting others to contact them, leaders show their trust, availability, and willingness to focus on their concerns. Consequently, people know that they are valued and respected when they are listened to.
The authority and power of the leaders may be established in many ways, and the sources of power may either be positive or negative. A positive organizational culture focuses on the ability of the management to establish a positive authority (Eagly & Lau Chin, 2010). Leaders can achieve positive authority by establishing reward power and influencing others to follow their guidance in holding valued rewards. Consequently, they can establish referent power by socializing with employees and demonstrating various admirable traits that influence the followers to perform on the basis of a desire for approval or admiration. In addition, they can establish expert power by gaining expertise and knowledge and by encouraging the staff to learn and gain from their experience. Notably, to manage organizational culture so that it supports the core values and believes entails understanding and recognizing the conflicts and dynamics within the organization (Latham, 2013). This helps them to understand and effectively diagnose issues related to organizational culture. Conflict management is, therefore, a critical component of a healthy organizational culture. Conflict and differences are inherent aspects of an organization, and effective leaders view them as an important source of vitality.
In conclusion, it can be argued that managers and leaders play a very crucial role in influencing an organization’s culture. Culture serves as the foundation for all the systems, strategies, and processes in a company. Leaders have the central role in shaping the culture in an organization. Successful leaders are able to develop a positive and healthy corporate culture for their organization by motivating the employees to perform at a higher level, establishing positive authority, and promoting open communication.
References
Aitken, P. (2008). ‘Walking the talk’: the nature and role of leadership culture within organization culture/s. Journal Of General Management, 32(4), 17-37.
Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 421-449.
Belias, D., & Koustelios, A. (2014). The Impact of Leadership and Change Management Strategy on Organizational Culture.European Scientific Journal, (7), 451.
DeRue, D., & Ashford, S. J. (2010). Who Will Lead And Who Will Follow? A Social Process of Leadership Identity Construction In Organizations. Academy Of Management Review, 35(4), 627-647.
Eagly, A. H., & Lau Chin, J. (2010). Diversity and Leadership in a Changing World. American Psychologist, 65(3), 216-224.
Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The Work of Leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 124-134.
Ilies, R., Judge, T., & Wagner, D. (2006). Making Sense of Motivational Leadership: The Trail from Transformational Leaders to Motivated Followers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(1), 1-22.
Jones, D. (2012). The Way We Do Things around Here: The Role of Leadership Teams in Shaping Progressive Organizational Cultures. Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Psychodrama Association Journal, (21), 53.
Latham, J. R. (2013). A Framework for Leading the Transformation to Performance Excellence Part II: CEO Perspectives on Leadership Behaviors, Individual Leader Characteristics, and Organizational Culture. Quality Management Journal, 20(3), 19-40.
Yafang, T. (2011). Relationship between Organizational Culture, Leadership Behavior and Job Satisfaction. BMC Health Services Research, 11(1), 98-106.
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Students may refer to the relevant rules from Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, sections of the Civil Procedure Act 2005, and to relevant cases in their answers to the following questions. Students must specifically identify and name the relevant provision they are referring to.
FACTS UPON WHICH QUESTIONS ARE BASED
During the course of defamation proceedings between M as plaintiff and Channel X as defendant in the Supreme Court of NSW, a number of interlocutory issues arise, as set out below. A jury has already found that two programmes televised by the defendant carried certain imputations defamatory of the plaintiff, namely that he had sexual intercourse with boys who were under the age of 18 years knowing them to be so aged, or deliberately refraining from asking them how old they were. Both the Statement of Claim and the Defence have been amended, so far, three times by consent.
The Plaintiff has consistently complained to both the Defendant and the Court (on each occasion when the matter has been mentioned) that the Defendant really does not have a defence known to the Law and that it is merely defending these proceedings in the hope that the Plaintiff will exhaust his resources and, in effect, “give in”. The Plaintiff has become particularly vicious in his attacks on the Defendant in this regard since the jury found in his favour about the defamatory imputations. On the last occasion when the matter was in Court the Defendant’s Senior Counsel was overheard to say to the Plaintiff’s Senior Counsel: “Look here, old chap, either your bloke puts his money where his mouth is about striking us out, or he accepts that my client is going to pursue a public interest defence until the last breath of its Managing Director”.
The Defendant has now advised the Plaintiff that it wishes to once again amend its Defence to take into account new evidence that has come to its attention as a result of all the publicity that has been generated by this trial. The Plaintiff complains bitterly that this is unfair to him as it will cause a further adjournment of proceedings that have already been running for four years and will increase his costs as well as exacerbate the personal stress that these proceedings have caused to him. But for this proposed amendment, and the other issues referred to both above and below, this case would have been listed for hearing in three months from today.
The Defendant has issued a subpoena to produce documents to the NSW Police Service (“the Police”). The Police have been conducting a criminal investigation in relation to the Plaintiff’s activities for many years, but no charges have ever been laid. The subpoena is in the following terms:
“All records (i.e. files, documents, correspondence, memoranda, statements, statutory declarations, affidavits, records of interview, transcripts of interview, file notes, computer printouts, audio and video tapes) relating to investigations carried out during the period 1990 to date by the NSW Police Service into the following matters concerning the Plaintiff, M:
1. allegations of paedophilia against M;
2. allegations that M had engaged male prostitutes who were under the age of 18;
3. allegations that M had engaged in other criminal activities;
4. any association M had with CJF;
5. allegations that M had engaged in homosexual intercourse with 13 named persons;
6. allegations that F2 has made about M’s sexual conduct at a named Club;
7. the search of M’s home by Police in May 1994;
8. all records of investigations carried out under the supervision of three named Detective Inspectors;
9. any other relevant document wheresoever held.”
Discovery had been ordered against Mrs M, the estranged wife of the Plaintiff, and who has been joined as a party in her own right in these proceedings. The categories of documents sought include photo albums. Mrs M, who is separately represented by Counsel, has filed a number of affidavits in which she deposes that she has given a full list of documents presently in her possession, custody and power. In Schedule 2 to an affidavit of discovery she states:
“The Plaintiff M has retained a number of documents but I am unable to obtain these documents even though they are clearly mine (either solely or jointly with the Plaintiff) as they are held by the Plaintiff or his legal representatives. On or about 3 months ago the Plaintiff came to my home, took several photo albums, and said to me words to the effect: ‘I’m taking these photo albums.’ I have neither seen the Plaintiff nor these photo albums since then.”
The Defendant seeks further discovery from the Plaintiff. This time the Defendant seeks an order that the Plaintiff provide discovery of documents falling within the following categories:
• Category A: Trust account records relating to any Solicitor’s Trust Account conducted by the Plaintiff in the period 1 January 1990 to 30 December 2002.
• Category B: Diaries or calendars operated by, for or on behalf of the Plaintiff in the course of or relating to any solicitor’s legal practice conducted by the Plaintiff in the period 1 January 1990 to 30 December 2002.
On the basis of these facts answer the following questions as succinctly as practicable. Please remember, this is an examination about civil procedure and dispute resolution, not an examination about defamation law and practice.
1. Is there anything the Plaintiff can do about the Defendant’s proposed further amendment of its Defence? What is likely to happen if the Court needs to adjudicate about whether or not to allow a further amendment? (10 marks)
2. Does the Plaintiff have any options available to him arising out of his concern that the Defendant really has no defence? What can the Plaintiff do and what are his prospects of success? (15 marks)
3. Are there any concerns arising out of the subpoena to the NSW Police Service? What are they, and what would you do to raise these concerns? Ignore any issues of standing to complain. (10 marks)
4. What issues, if any, arise out of the affidavit of Mrs M in relation to the documents she has discovered? (10 marks)
5. What issues arise from the discovery of documents within Category A and B? Do these documents have to be discovered? (15 marks)
please only use Australian jurisdiction , and please answer the five questions , please use the questions and headings
SAMPLE ANSWER
Is there anything the Plaintiff can do about the Defendant’s proposed further amendment of its Defence? What is likely to happen if the Court needs to adjudicate about whether or not to allow a further amendment?
Options Available to the Plaintiff
The plaintiff has options to counter the defendant’s proposal for amending the defense. First, previous proceedings demonstrated that the defendant intends to delay the progress of the case in order to drain the plaintiff’s resources. This is a window of opportunity for the plaintiff who should provide evidence that his/her resources cannot withstand further delay (of the court proceedings). It is likely to favor the plaintiff because the court had ruled in favor of the plaintiff earlier. Furthermore, the defendant is quoted to have revealed intentions of draining the plaintiff. Thus, providing evidence in terms of resources spent in previous proceedings is a smart move to counter the defendant’s amendments. The plaintiff should also consider examining any incriminating information that is present in the documents falling under category A or B. If nothing incriminating is present in the documents, the plaintiff should cooperate with the defendant and provide the requested documents.
What would happen In case of Adjudication?
There are three main principles that govern interlocutory issues. These include the presence of a serious case, the possibility of an irreparable harm, and the balance of convenience (New South Wales, 2005). The three principles reveal that the court is likely to rule in favor of the defendant if adjudication occurs. This owes to the amount of evidence provided by the defense provides the capacity to convince the judge that it is a serious case. The second principle is qualified by the introduction of Mrs. M who has a separate legal counsel. Ultimately, the balance of convenience is qualified by the possible damage from failing to grant an injunction. In short, the adjudication is likely to adjourn the case if the defendant tables the new defense.
Does the Plaintiff have any options available to him arising out of his concern that the Defendant really has no defense? What can the Plaintiff do and what are his prospects of success?
The plaintiff stated that the defendant has no evidence and intends to drain Mr. M’s resources. It follows that the plaintiff has the following options on the aforementioned claim. First, the defendant could use history from previous hearings to illustrate that the defendant never had any evidence, but has only been delaying the final ruling. Furthermore, the statement of claim has been amended thrice, which indicates the defendant lacks a stable defense. It is notable that the defense provided possible sources of information that formed the basis for their proposal to change their defense. Considering this, the plaintiff should review the documents and prepare by looking for loopholes that can fight the defendant. Mr. M should also check for information that could incriminate him in the proposed defense.
The plaintiff is likely to turn out successful after proving that the history from the defendants is questionable. Crosschecking through the evidence will also equip the plaintiff with a motion to convince the court that adjourning the hearing is not an option. This is because the defendant’s history proved to be focused on adjournment. As mentioned before, the court had ruled in favor of the plaintiff on defamatory imputations. Thus, the plaintiff is likely to turn out successful, unless the defendant makes a moving argument.
Are there any concerns arising out of the subpoena to the NSW Police Service? What are they, and what would you do to raise these concerns? Ignore any issues of standing to complain.
The issues arising from the subpoena to the NSW police include, allegation that M had engaged with underage prostitutes, M’s sexual conduct at a named club, and allegations that M had homosexual intercourse with thirteen named inmates. There are additional issues, which are meant to taint Mr. M’s character, but may not be valid in the current case. The fact that allegations such as Mr. M’s engagement in other criminal activities emerge highlight the aforementioned notion. These issues may not be connected to the current case, but are only meant to taint Mr. M.
In order to raise these concerns, the defendant should connect the case, the plaintiff’s mannerisms, and the allegations. It is simple to connect allegations of sexual misconduct to the case. However, connecting other allegations will be difficult owing to the main dispute involving the warring parties (sexual defamation). The defendant should not only connect sexual allegations to the case, but should connect all allegations to the case. Doing this will convince the court that the plaintiff has mannerisms that forced channel X to disregard defamation as a possible complain from Mr. M.
What issues, if any, arise out of the affidavit of Mrs. M in relation to the documents she has discovered?
The affidavit of Mrs. M results in issues of trust. It is difficult for the court to trust Mr. M following the presentation of the affidavit from Mrs. M. The affidavit indicates that Mr. M has denied Mrs. M possession of items, which duly belong to her. Furthermore, the affidavit indicates that Mr. M snatched some photos from Mrs. M and denied having seen the photos. Considering the purpose of an affidavit (New South Wales, 2005), it is reasonable to assume that the allegations made by Mrs M are more likely to be true. Especially, if the affidavit was made before the plaintiff filed a case. This owes to the reality that an affidavit is at times made voluntarily. If that is the case, then Mrs. M did not intend to harm Mr. M, before the plaintiff filed for a case of defamation against the defendant. Considering all the possibilities, Mrs. M’s affidavit could land a heavy blow to the plaintiff.
What issues arise from the discovery of documents within Category A and B? Do these documents have to be discovered?
The discovery of items in Categories A and B raises a number of issues. The documents in category A results in the possibility that the plaintiff was not defamed. If the defendant proves that funds between the plaintiff and the underage boys were exchanged then the plaintiff will lose the case. The documents in category A could also be used to prove allegations that Mr. M engaged in sex with under age prostitutes. In short, documents in category A are focused on sexual issues surrounding Mr. M. Ultimately, documents in category B could help the defendant to provide evidence of the plaintiffs sexual involvement with underage boys. These documents do not have to be discovered. However, whether they are discovered or not will depend on the defendants argument in court.
You are going to write up a case study for a company that uses technology in the workforce. An internet/library search will give you a good idea about companies that have case studies on technology. In terms of the selection of the company, you could use one that is listed throughout the textbook or one from any of the articles you have read. No one is to do Apple, Iphone, Dell, Nike as everyone likes to do them, you will all be competing with each other. Try to choose a company that no one else will think to do.
When writing a case study analysis, you must first have a good understanding of the case study. Before you begin the steps below, read the case carefully, taking notes all the while. It may be necessary to read the case several times to fully grasp the issues facing the company or industry.
Once you are comfortable with the information, begin the step-by-step instructions offered below to write a case study analysis.
Here’s How:
Investigate and Analyze the Company’s History and Growth. A company’s past can greatly affect the present and future state of the organization. To begin your case study analysis, investigate the company’s founding, critical incidents, structure, and growth.
Identify Strengths and Weaknesses Within the Company. Using the information you gathered in step one, continue your case study analysis by examining and making a list of the value creation functions of the company. For example, the company may be weak in product development, but strong in marketing.
Gather Information on the External Environment. The third step in a case study analysis involves identifying opportunities and threats within the company’s external environment. Special items to note include competition within the industry, bargaining powers, and the threat of substitute products.
Analyze Your Findings. Using the information in steps two and three, you will need to create an evaluation for this portion of your case study analysis. Compare the strengths and weaknesses within the company to the external threats and opportunities. Determine if the company is in a strong competitive position and decide if it can continue at its current pace successfully.
Identify Corporate Level Strategy. To identify a company’s corporate level strategy for your case study analysis, you will need to identify and evaluate the company’s mission, goals, and corporate strategy. Analyze the company’s line of business and its subsidiaries and acquisitions. You will also want to debate the pros and cons of the company strategy.
Identify Business Level Strategy. Thus far, your case study analysis has identified the company’s corporate level strategy. To perform a complete analysis, you will need to identify the company’s business level strategy. (Note: if it is a single business, the corporate strategy and the business level strategy will be the same.) For this part of the case study analysis, you should identify and analyze each company’s competitive strategy, marketing strategy, costs, and general focus.
Analyze Implementations. This portion of the case study analysis requires that you identify and analyze the structure and control systems that the company is using to implement its business strategies. Evaluate organizational change, levels of hierarchy, employee rewards, conflicts, and other issues that are important to the company you are analyzing.
Make Recommendations. The final part of your case study analysis should include your recommendations for the company. Every recommendation you make should be based on and supported by the context of your case study analysis.
SAMPLE ANSWER
SUN Microsystems Case Study 2
Background
The company was founded following the conception of a workstation based on UNIX by Andy Batchtolsheim, a Palo Alto graduate student, which he dubbed “68000 Unix System” in a project of networking named Stanford University Network. In the month of February, 1982, his colleagues, Vinod, Bill and Scott inaugurated the SUN Microsystems company from the initials of Stanford University network. In 1992, SUN introduced the world’s leading multiprocessing desktop computer, the SPARC station 10 system, which was the first in the competition of desktop performance. That very year saw them ship the most multiprocessing UNIX any other vendor ever did in history.
The other key products of the company include Sparc microprocessors, Solaris operating system, the famous java technology as well as the Jini technology that enabled any kind of device to connect to the network in the form of plug and play. The company also enjoyed revenues going up to 1.3 billion dollars from server sales in 1996, and topped in the 1998 quarterly sales by 16 billion in the technology frenzied internet boom (Afua & Tucci, 2013).
Competitive and Industrial Analysis
In the analysis of the company, Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT analyses will be very effective to help bring out the various factors that the company is currently facing. By design, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis helps in carrying out the assessment of the external environmental effects that an industry will have on any firm towards serving of customers and profit making. On the other hand, SWOT analysis is a tool that has the potential of analysing both the internal and external forces that may affect the company, in this case, the SUN Microsystems and the computer industry. Both may be used in a combination to analyse the current state of the company as well as come up with the most appropriate move for it to achieve the competitive advantage over its respective rivals (Burrows, 2010).
SWOT Analysis of the Firm
This analysis will help in establishing the current position of the firm in the computer industry as well as the internal as well as the external forces that hits it (Sun Microsystems 2009 Annual Report, 2009).
Strengths
The firm has the most stable server platform even than that of Microsoft.
The company has been able to establish a research and development division, which helps it keep up with the constantly changing and advancing technology.
It has forged several corporate alliances with other companies such as Advanced Microsystem Devices Inc. (AMD).
Its service revenues are constantly increasing, thus, increasing its bargaining power and the ability to expand and capture new markets.
Weaknesses
The end products and services of the company tend to be comparatively expensive, hence, locking out some of the potential customers.
The company has a major weakness on their product marketing platforms as they mainly use the internet (their web site), which is quite selective as only the users of the internet may be able to access their new product adverts.
It had a period of negative revenue from the period between 2001 and 2005.
Opportunities
The company has the potential of furthering the Java open source.
It has the advantage of the new CEO, with the new management and marketing strategies.
It has the ability to outsource internationally, hence, widening its market scope.
Threats
It faces competition from Linux, which is more open.
Microsoft Windows poses a major threat to the company as it offers much more capabilities than the firm’s OS products.
The UNIX server can be made by the company’s competitors
The PC Research and Development currently being carried out by IBM poses a very great challenge to the company.
Porter’s Five Forces
This tool takes into account five different forces in the determination of the strengths and weaknesses of a firm: substitutes, rivalry, threat of new entrants, suppliers and customers. Porter shows that through the analysis of the attractiveness of the company with respect to the forces, it is possible to come up with strategies that give it competitive advantage over its rivals. For Sun Microsystems, the following analysis may be established (Afua & Tucci, 2013).
Substitutes
There is a very strong threat posed by substitutes based on the grounds that there is constant evolution in the computer industry. To help counter this challenge, the company has greatly invested in the Research and Development, which ensures constant innovation. In the year 2006, the company invested as much as $2 billion.
Rivalry
The industry in which the company is has gained very tremendous competition over the recent past with the technological advancement and the numerous firms that have risen and produce the sane products. The company is facing competition from the top companies manufacturing servers such as, IBM with about 31% of the market share, Dell with 10.5% share and HP with 29.6% share (IDC, 2009).
Threat of new entrants
The industry has a relatively good barrier advantage to the new entrants based on the grounds of the obstacles involved: the costs involved in starting a business and brand loyalty. Most clients tend to stick to particular brand names and convincing them to try out new products tend to be very futile. As such, the chances of facing threats from new emergencies are very minimal in the industry (IDC, 2009).
Suppliers
The company’s supplier base is very unbalances since the company is trying to diversify on its suppliers and the needed supplies. For instance, there is high supplier power in the computer chip market since there only two dominant manufacturers of CPU. In 2003, for instance, AMD got into an alliance with Sun Microsystems whereby it was to use Opteron of AMD in its servers (King, 2008).
Customers
The customer power of the firm is currently very weak as a result of constant cost fluctuation, complications in the switching of software and hardware platforms, software and hardware needs as well as the proliferation of networking. A real scenario case is the pressure that Microsoft has put on its clients to upgrade their software or go elsewhere, for instance, the deadline that was given to the US Army by Microsoft to upgrade their OS to Windows XP latest by 1st October, 2005. This leaves a customer at the dilemma of deciding on whether to move to a new company or stay (King, 2008).
Recommendations
The principle market objective of the company is the small business owners and large corporations. The company should take advantage of its workstation product in order to increase its profit. The company has currently started teaming up with Wal-Mart in an effort to reach out to the small businesses, however, the workstations are not being sold in the stores, but over the internet. To increase its sales of the workstations, the company should start offering them in the stores rather than purely online (Burrows, 2010).
The second move for the company is to take advantage of the open-source software sale. So far, the company has made Solaris OS available for download as well as free download of Java (King, 2008). Lastly, the company’s website is currently concentrated mainly in its performance rather than advertising of its products, making it difficult to surf the website to get to the item desired for purchase. It is, therefore, recommended that the company balances between its performance and advertising.
References
Affua A. and Tucci T. (2013). Internet business models and strategies (2nd ed.). New York: Mc Graw-Hill.
IDC (2009). World Wide Server Market Shows Growing IT Investment Across Platforms, According to IDC. Retrieved on [25th June, 2014] from http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp.
Cloud computing is a model computing network where an application program manages and runs on connected servers instead of a local device such as a personal computer. Cloud computing is a process that runs on several connected computers uniformly or at the same period of time. This concept is known as virtualization.
Microsoft problems stem from the knowledge that their competitors like Apple and Google have outsmarted them in the development and advancement of the cloud connectivity application software and they are tracing them from behind instead of leading from the front the way they are used to. Apple seems to be many years ahead of them in terms of research that they (Microsoft) have opted to purchase Skype in an effort to gain lost ground.
It’s cheaper to operate a mid range server than a windows server while the marginal costs for Microsoft are still higher.
The costs reduce 10 times
The marginal revenue for office 365 is $6 per month per employee = $120 per month or $1440 per year. For 8760 hours @ 10 cents equal to $876. Now for 2000 people it would be 12,000 per month and the costs of Microsoft license and hard ware. Office 365 is more profitable than Microsoft.
Microsoft acquisition of Skype was an effort to improve its financial position from the inherent threat of cloud computing through mergers and other acquisition activities. Complimentary companies increase the competitive nature of companies while also expanding its products to the global market. Skype is a soft ware that is available for free and facilitates voice and visual communication between computers over the internet. It was founded in Luxemburg in the year 2003. The major strategy of Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype was the reduction of the cost of improving and building its internet phone which targets to improve its competitive advantage in IT innovations globally. Microsoft has developed its current X-Box console, Lync of IP telephone services and outlook to compete effectively with its major rival Google. Skype has alliances with Facebook, Comcasts among others. Microsoft targets to utilize all these connections to its advantage in an effort to outdo its major challengers. (Hausmann & Hidalgo, 2011)
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are companies that specialize in developing and selling the software. These soft wares are designed for specific niche markets or mass market. For example oracle products may be incorporated in other soft wares through ESL (Embedded Software Licence) (Popp and Meyer, 2010)
The future development of ISV is under threat as Microsoft has opted to purchase Skype a soft ware program that facilitates telephone and visual communication from the owners of the soft ware instead of requesting a similar one from ISVs shows that it’s harboring a sinister motive and its questioning the ability of the ISV to develop such a soft ware. If I were an ISV I would be seeking the attention of other platforms like IBM or better still develop independent soft ware’s that work like Skype in the market. (Deventer, Imai, Mesler, 2004)
I would invest more in cloud connectivity and acquire more companies like Skype that facilitate cloud connectivity and invest more on research and development and also on its infrastructure.
References
Deventer, D., Imai, K., Mesler, M. (2004). Advanced Financial Risk Management, An Integrated Approach to Credit Risk and Interest Rate Risk Management. John Wiley & Sons
Popp, K.M. and Meyer, R. (2010). Profit from Software Ecosystems: Business Models, Ecosystems and Partnerships in the Software Industry. Norderstedt, Germany: BOD
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