Strategy implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategy implementation - Essay Example In Andrews’ definition, there appears to be a clear division between strategy formulation and its implementation. It is at the implementation stage that resource allocation becomes crucial. This is in keeping with the classical or planned model of thinking about strategy. In the more recent, process, or resource-based view (RBV) of strategy, when speaking of the competitive advantage of a firm, scholars stress the importance of ‘resources’ and ‘capabilities’ available to it (Amit and Shoemaker 1993). It is commonsensical to argue that the strategy implementation of an enterprise is predicated on the availability (’command’) of resources and capabilities of the firm. Resources are held to be available business-wide, while capabilities are the skills and abilities developed within and specific to the firm. Resources alone therefore, are not in themselves sufficient to gain a ’sustainable competitive advantage’ for a firm. Cap abilities, often in the form of patents, and expertise developed in-house, and not easily replicated by outsiders, are equally, if not more important. It is too simplistic to separate strategy implementation from strategy formulation, since a strategy has to be adaptive and evolving, while keeping at the forefront the ends and goals that need to be met for the business to remain viable. Barney (1991), supported by a number of other researchers, claimed that a firm’s key resources needed optimally to conform to the following criteria.

Summary about the book Boston tea party Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary about the book Boston tea party - Essay Example The story talks about how the United States of America walked its way into the top of the western hemisphere and settled in a country that has become the most powerful nation in the world. Philbrick explained in this book that the issue of race, religion and violence has always taken center stage in American polity. Nathaniel Philbrck uses the account of William Bradford and Benjamin Church to describe the story of the Mayflower. The book is the story of a ship and its journey on a large and stormy sea into a land that nothing much was known about. Mayflower talks about how the Pilgrims came to settle in New England, the risky ocean crossing that they embarked upon and the sharing of the first Thanksgiving. He gives the true story of the Pilgrims and their tragic but heroic experience at the ocean. Philbrick described how a group of Pilgrims endured the raging of the storms in order to find a very suitable place to worship. The Mayflower ship clumsily moved through winds and storms f or sixty-five days. According to Philbrick, â€Å"For sixty-five days, the Mayflower had blundered her way through storms and headwinds, her bottom a shaggy pelt of seaweed and barnacles, her leaky decks spewing salt water onto her passengers’ devoted heads.† (3). There were 102 humans and 2 dogs in the ship and Phulbrick explained that they were not the usual group of colonists that people are familiar with. They were neither noblemen or servants, but a group of men, women and children who were ready to sacrifice their lives in order to have the assurance that they could worship their God as they pleased. The arguments that the Pilgrims put forward for embarking on such a deadly voyage was that God was in support of their emigration to America (Philbrick 259). Philbrick dedicated a chapter to Thanksgiving with a good account of the events of the feast that lasted for days. The people that took part in the Thanksgiving feast were 100 Pokanoket Indians and 50 colonists. Philbrick noted that the Pilgrims did not originally arrive at Plymouth Rock as people have been made to believe. They first arrived at an Indian graveyard, the Pokanoket tribe had been hit by a strange plague that weakened majority of their population and they did not have the strength to fight against the Pilgrims. The Pokanoket tribe had no other choice than to make peace with the Pilgrims. It is clear from the description of Philbrick that the Thanksgiving feast did not take place in November, but by the end of September or October. There is a possibility that the men that took part in the Thanksgiving feast went fowling for their Thanksgiving feast. The Thanksgiving feast that took place at the fall gave the Americans a glimmer of hope as the events that took place during this period gave signs that things would turn out for their good (Philbrick 104-108). The book talks about how the Pilgrims or people that could be described as religious refugees landed in Plymouth Harbor du ring a period of catastrophe for the Native Americans. The Native Americans had to struggle with an alien disease that was brought into their lands by the European fishermen and this drastically reduced their population. Philbrick talked about the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanaoags. The Pilgrims were led by the belligerent military officer, Miles Standish while the Wampanaoags were led by the enigmatic and scheming Chief Massasoit. The Wampanaoags were

Disaster in Franklin County Essay Example for Free

Disaster in Franklin County Essay The role of the major public health personnel, including the public health nurse, is to provide the public with accurate information, and to assure the community, as well as ensure the immediate safety and well-being of the members of the community, while being competent compassionate and accessible. The public health director was contacted by the incident commander to attend the incident briefing due to immediate and long term public health impacts. The fire chief gave report concerning how many people were confirmed dead, what time it occurred and what county(s) were affected. He made the public aware if any hazardous materials had been released and where and whether the hazardous materials team had been dispatched. He also notifies the community of areas of flooding, and any impassable roads and the roads that are closed, as well as any power outages, and possible long term problems that may occur from power loss such as water contamination, and food loss due to spoilage. The fire chief also informs the public that the plan for search and rescue has been initiated. The public health staff had previously had National Incident Management System (NIMS) training. The deputy director sets up the incident command center and does the head count of available responders. The most ideal personnel were not totally available; there were an appropriate number to set up section chiefs and command staff. The chain of command that was used in the simulation consisted of the Public Health Team which included the County Public Health Director, Environmental Health Specialists, and Community Health Nurses, as well as Franklin county staff members, mental health, and social workers, which allowed the community health nurse to have resources available that were used to deal with situations that were outside the nurse’s scope of practice included reporting to EOC well treatment hazardous waste removal. Actions taken by the community health nurse when she encountered possible emergency situations during the door-to-door interviews was to Calm and triage families and offer reassurance and instruction on safety. The public health personnel had to deal with multiple problems both during the initial period and after the immediate danger had past. Actions taken by the community health nurse to help the people who were interviewed cope with the situations after the flooding were: to advise them to stay at shelter where there is electricity and food to contact Environmental health specialists for toxic waste To contact Social services to address immediate needs and resources. To arrange for instruction on safe use of generators in English and Spanish. To make arrangement for medications to be delivered the next day. Techniques that were used or could have been used to calm the fears of the people interviewed are to use short and concise statements. Perform active listening and confirm statements by repeating it back to the person being spoken with, use confrontation avoidance, and De-escalation. The other nursing personnel could be prepared to help in responding to a similar emergency with a much larger affected area (e.g., the effect of Hurricane Katrina). Through the development of a well-organized disaster response plan. Public health staff requires National Incident Management System (NIMS) training. Emergency preparedness training should be performed at least every six months. There needs to be a method of communication in case power lines, towers and electricity are not available; have a backup system in place and know where they are located (e.g. include, walkie talkies, Morse code and emailing). Community nurses should have car stock that includes protective gear (PPE) such as N-95 mask, barriers for CPR, gloves, biohazard containers and isolation gowns. Knowledge of the basic steps that are needed to take to ensure patient safety, such as safe evacuation, and early notification will help prevent unnecessary casualties during emergencies (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. www.ahrq.gov/prep. Accessed July 21, 2006. References Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cpheo1.sph.umn.edu/fcs/index.asp Health Care: Public Health Emergency Preparedness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/prep

An Introduction to the Skoda Company

An Introduction to the Skoda Company The two cyclists, who were known as Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement, are considered as the founders of Skoda Company. The two cyclists were used to design and produce their own bicycles and eventually it was established as Skoda. In 1925, Skoda was established in Czechoslovakia and gradually, it was expanded towards Eastern Europe by producing cars, farm ploughs, and aero planes other than bicycles. Skoda has to cope with hard times in company history such as war, economic problems and also the changes in the political environment. While the Skoda is grown up internationally, there was a requirement of a strong foreign partner. By, 1990 Volkswagen AG had dominated by joining Skoda. Volkswagen AG is known as the leading car manufacturer in Europe by manufacturing variety of branded products such as Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi (Skoda Auto, 2011). The remarkable thing is the Skoda UK is selling Skoda cars through its independent network of certified dealers. 1.2 Business as a transformation process In common, there is an input and output can be clearly identified in a business. Input may consist of working force, entrepreneurship, capital and land. Output may be goods and services. Therefore, the process of transformation is common for all the organizations and most of the time, output can be considered as a combination of goods and services (Oxford University Press 2007). For an example considering the hospitality as a business foods and beverage can be the goods they serve and the lodging may be the service they offer. The critical thing is to be produce outputs which may worth higher than the inputs. In financial terms, it is known as the profit in relation to the organizations which are expecting profits. But, in the case of non profit oriented organizations such as schools and hospitals other indicators are used to measure the progress. Transformation may differ from business wise. The critical thing is to implementing innovative methodologies of value addition for the pro ducts and services while cost cutting (Oxford University Press 2007). Value addition can be done by manufacturing outputs that the customers are ready to pay money more than usual price. Since the brand name may be incorporated with customers lifestyle and preferences, effective branding result in improved sales. For an example, plain pair of shoe can be marketed to a higher price by branding it with brands like Nike or Addidas. Chapter 2 Organizational audit and the business environment 2.1 Organizational Audit Organizational audit is critical for a business to meet the following objectives. To analyze the businesss organizational framework, procedures and flow chart. To investigate the contest between the job descriptions, responsibilities and the flow chart of the business.    To emphasize the unsatisfactory aspects of the current structure of the business. To define development paths for improvement of the business. To satisfy these objectives organizational audit is being done by analysis of existing data, summary reporting, individual interviewing processes and analysis of raw data gathered through the surveys. Organizational audit is crucial for a business to cope with the business environment. 2.2 Business environment It is believed that business transformation process may not occur in a vacuum. Firms are driven in particular frameworks and subjected by the business environment. Business environment can be divided in to two. Micro Macro Micro environment consist of individuals or organizations which the business deal with a regular basis. It may include customers, employees, distributors and suppliers which are known as the stakeholders. That all components may have the direct involvement of the business activities and it can be affected by the actions of the business. Therefore, it can be concluded that micro environment play a vital role in the success and the behavior of a business. The macro environment may consist of factors which are lying outside of the direct control of the business. It includes economy, policies of the government and also the social changes. Since these macro factors can primarily change the environment of a business one individual business can rarely do much on its own to shape them. Theoretically, the macro environment can be analyzed by using PESTEL analysis. (Scott, 1982) Chapter 3 The PESTEL analysis for Skoda Company PESTEL Analysis PEST analysis is the methodology of analyzing the macro environment in most of the countries. But, the expanded PEST model which is known as PESTEL is commonly used in UK (CIPD, 2009). PESTEL is stand for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal analysis. It describes the outline of macro environment in relation to the business environment. Referring to the political factors, it consists of policies implemented by the government such as the involvement in the economy. It also includes what kind of goods and services to be produced and the priorities in relation to the business support. The political decisions may play a vital role for some businesses which are related to education health and also in the infra structure facilities. Considering the Skoda Company, the changes in laws and regulations such as accounting standards, taxation requirements and environmental laws and legal power of the foreign states may affect on their business especially in the international trade. Therefore, it is critical to monitor the governments policies and regulations in a continuous manner. (Lynch, 1999) Economic factors may include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates as well as the inflation rate. Those are the factors that may have the potential to make effects on operations and decisions. Referring to Skoda, interest rate may affect its  cost of capital. Therefore, it determines the extent of the growth of the business and expansion. Exchange rates may affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods. Social  factors include cultural aspects, health perception, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Changes in social factors influence in the product demand and operation. For example, aging process may generate smaller and less-willing workforce .This may lead to increasing the labour cost. Therefore, referring Skoda to cope with these trends there should be various management strategies to be adopted. For an example, it should be more concerned on age limit of the workers when recruiting new workers. The factors such as rate of technological changes, automation and the technical inducements altogether considered as technological factors. Those factors may influence with the outsourcing decisions, market entry barriers and efficient production level of a company. When considering the Skoda, it is producing branded motor cars. Therefore, technology should be their main focus. Because, it creates opportunities for new products and product improvement in relation to the marketing. As the technology advances, new products may launch. (Scott, 1982) Ecological and environmental aspects such as weather, climate, and climate changes can be considered as environmental factors. Those factors may especially influences industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness of the potential impacts of climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer, both creating new markets and diminishing or demolishing existing ones. Discrimination law,  consumer law,  antitrust law,  employment law, and  health and safety law can be considered as the component of the legal factor. These factors can influence with the operation process, cost of production and the demand for the products. Legal aspect mainly focuses on the effect of the national and world legislation. The Skoda Company receives all the rights applicable in the nature of their business and every inventions and product developments are always going into the patented process. I.e. Audi, Skoda. The PESTEL factors are combined with external micro-environmental factors and internal drivers in relation to the business. Furthermore, it can be explained as opportunities and threats in a  SWOT analysis. Chapter 4 The SWOT analysis for Skoda Company SWOT Analysis SWOT is stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths can be described as internal components of a business that lead to its growth. Weaknesses can be identified as the attributes that will make disturbances business or make the business susceptible. The external conditions that could lead to future growth are known as the opportunities in SWOT. Threats are described as the external elements which could make negative effects on a business. (Lynch, 1999) To recognize its strengths, Skoda gathered information through researches from both customers and also from the reliable independent surveys. For an example, annual JD Power customer satisfaction survey had questioned the vehicle owners about their feelings on their vehicle for last six months by using questionnaire for about 20,000 owners. According to the results Skoda dominated in the top five car manufacturers for last 13 years (JD Power 2010). Not only that, in 2007, Top Gears survey revealed that among the 56,000 viewers Skoda dominated as the number one car manufacturer (Top Gear 2007). According to those results, Skoda found that the company excelled at satisfying its customers when focusing the owner experience rather than on sales alone. Almost all of Skodas customers would recommend Skoda branded vehicle to others, means that Skoda had a distinctive strength. As a result, Skoda manufactured cars that their customers could enjoy, rather than simply maximizing the sales. The refore, Skoda branded themselves as a quality product that satisfies its customers. Skodas analysis showed that in order to grow the business required to address issues about how the small company fit into the highly competitive market. An out-dated perception of the Skoda brand, related to the companys Eastern European origins, contributed to the business small size. By 1999, Volkswagen AG ownership had changed this negative attitude about Skoda. But, in 2006 brand Health Check revealed that the weak and neutral image in mid market range is still existing when compare to the Ford, Peugeot and Renault like brands (UK Branding 2006). Though, Skoda still deficient of a strong appeal, it is realized that the company needed to reduce the defensive campaigns exemplifying what the brand was not and begin new campaigns illustrating what Skoda had to offer. The change was simple and Skoda knew that its owners were satisfied with their cars. Skoda had realized that its rivals marketing approaches are mainly focused on the product itself. But in contrast, Skoda tends to focus its attention on emphasizing the owners experience with their cars and the customers satisfaction with Skoda vehicles. This SWOT analysis may lead Skoda to distinguish its product from its competitors. Considering the UK market, there are 50 different car makers selling around 200 vehicle models. To survive in this large and competitive market, Skoda needed to ensure that its message would not be lost or drowned out within the crowded environment. As a result, Skoda had manufactured seven different cars such as city car, luxurious car, and family car addressing different market segments with subsequent levels of pricing. Chapter 5 The planning for a business and implementation a new strategy 5.1 Strategic planning, Tactical planning and Operational planning Depending on the PESTEL and SWOT analysis, the business plan for the business should be created by the management of the business. Planning process can be identified as three phases such as strategic planning, tactical planning and operational planning. Strategic Planning can be considered as a long term planning attempted by senior management of a business. I.e. the executives. It involves making decisions which will work toward reaching an organizations mission and vision statements. Tactical planning it the mid term planning. It may range from months up to about two years. This involves middle management those who plan strategies to achieve a businesss strategic goals. In contrast, operational planning is routine planning handled by front line managers. They may report to middle management and enact the leg work of the strategies developed by middle management to achieve strategic goals. 5.2 Implementation of the new strategy Novel business strategies are designed to improve the overall utility of a business, its employees and increase profitability of the business. But change may be troublemaking and can be costly within its own context as employees deal with new procedures, information technology, products or an organizational matrix. To reduce the cost, disturbances and negative effects of implementing new strategies, it should implement a strategy for implementation. Essentially, a well planned and accomplished implementation plan may lead to reduce confrontation to the changes. The process of implementing a new strategy can be identified as six major steps (Kaplan and Norton 2010). Split the new strategy into smaller portions. Aware the employees about the map of change Create and post a scorecard for the new implementation, helping as a cheerleader to employees throughout the process that success is reasonable step wise. Acquiring the feedback regarding the new strategy at each stage by employee surveys. Request customer satisfaction. Doing the correct adjustments in the new strategy, time scale and goals based on feedback and customer satisfaction. 5.3 Conclusion With the concentrated study of the PESTLE, the Skoda Company will continue to emerge and develop if they manage to find solutions in different challenges that the entire organization might face in the future. Since the external environment is extremely complex and dynamic it is important to conducting the PESTEL in a regular basis. Practically, it may not possible to identify almost all the significant changes in the business environment. But, still they may able to find some of those critical changes through their assumptions and that will lead them to take the correct decision in the future. At present the PESTEL structure is further expanded as STEEPLE and STEEPLED by considering the ethical and demographic factors. Therefore, it may be important to stick to this latest model, because in some businesses those factors considered to be critical. To improve its performance, it may be needed to conduct a brand positioning examination by obtaining market research data from both interna l and external audits, allowing Skoda to conduct a SWOT analysis.   Skodas SWOT analysis may facilitate the company to reveal that customer satisfaction by purchasing their products. Not only that, it also reveals that the brand was no longer seen as a poor, outdated car, the company was able to operate within a position in the market, and that a change in public perception was very important to Skodas ability to expand within a highly competitive market. SWOT analysis makes the raw information which may gathered from a survey in to an order therefore, it may support managers to investigate both internally and externally. Therefore, it may also highlight the key internal weaknesses of a business, and also the strengths what the management should be alert on their business. Depending on the SWOT and PESTEL analysis, it is required to implement a new business strategy. The critical thing is to implement that new business strategy without disrupting the business.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner :: Sound fury william Faulkner Essays

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury is a novel that depicts the loss of traditional Southern values after the Civil War. This corruption is shown through the Compson family, whose notions of family honor and obsession with their family name are the driving force in severing all the ties that once held them together. Mr. Compson tries to instill these notions into his four children, but each is so occupied by their own beliefs and obsessions that this effort results in a house that is completely devoid of love and consumed by self-absorption. Caddy is perhaps the most prominent figure in the novel. The three Compson boys obsess over her, looking to her as a mother figure and source of love and understanding but ironically, it is Caddy that serves as the family’s downfall. Engaging in sex and getting pregnant, Caddy not only shames her family but also tramples all the ideals of the old South, as does her daughter after her. Quentin relies on his knowledge of Souther n codes to provide order, yet Jason cares only for himself and his personal gain. These traits are pivotal in explaining Faulkner’s purpose, using one family’s corruption as a symbol of the downfall of the old South. Time is also an important concept in Faulkner’s novel. Time’s influence on human interaction and thought is depicted through the three Compson boys. Benjy, who is mentally retarded and has no concept of time, uses his disability to escape the Compsons’ obsession with their name and honor. Quentin meanwhile is obsessed with the past and is trapped in these thoughts, eventually committing suicide to escape the ticking of time. Jason concentrates only on the present and future, believing that time can never be wasted and letting greed consume him. Time’s influence on the family also helps to showcase the novel’s purpose as it slowly eats away at the family and further contributes to its corruption. Though The Sound and the Fury is about the downfall of the old South, Faulkner uses the Compsons’ servant Dilsey as a symbol of hope for the future.

Constitution Position Paper :: essays research papers

The falls of this country are due to the Articles of Confederation and a weak centralized government. To correct this, a strong national government will need to take its place. The majority of this delegation wishes to accept the Constitution as the new federal government of the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many good arguments were brought up during the proceedings such as William Paterson’s view of revising the Articles and proposing the union of the states as merely federal. Alexander Hamilton’s idea of a supreme executive serving during good behavior or life with veto power over all laws. Both of these were rejected. Paterson’s plan because there are too many faults with the Articles and Hamilton’s idea because it is too close to a form of monarchy. The most accepted idea was by Edmund Randolph and James Madison. In it they proposed the government be broken up into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial; and each branch to check and balance each other’s power. This centralized government would have the power to veto laws enacted by state legislatures. The majority of the delegates voted on a supreme power national government over the federations being an agreement resting on the good faith of its members.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The many problems in the Articles of Confederation that led us to throw it away rather than to amend it were its inability to tax, no national court system, no executive to enforce acts of Congress, lack of regulation of foreign and interstate commerce, amendments with consent of all states, and the fact that the articles are only a firm league of friendship that is non-binding. There are too many changes to me made to have the state legislatures vote on it. The result would be no changes for the legislatures stand to loose power. The only way that changes will be made if we start new.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many new issues came up with the Constitution and they were settled. The issue of legislation was fixed with a bicameral legislature with two houses where one is represented equally by each state is allotted two votes while the other is based on population. How slaves would be counted was settled where every five slaves counted as three persons.

George Washingtons Rules of Good Behavior

Janet FinchamAssignment # 8George Washington’s Rules of Good Behavior, ca. 1746HIST, 1107-USFEBUARY, 13, 20131. What did Captain Clark’s loud order of â€Å"all hands up and at their oars† cause the Indians to do? My peremptory order to the men, and the Bustle of their getting to their oars, Alarmed the chiefs, together with the appearance of the men on shore as the boat turned. 2. Why were the men {including Lewis and Clark} Awake all night?Peter Cruz at, our bowman, who could speaker mama, informed us in the night that the mama prisoners informed him we were to be stopped, we showed as little signs of a knowledge of their intentions as possible all prepared on board for anything which might happen, we kept a strong guard all night, no sleep. 3, what incidents and/or information might have led Lewis and Clark to the conclusion that of September 27?Captain Lewis with a guard, still on shore, the man who steered, not being much accustomed to steer, passed the bow of the boat, and the pirogue came broadside against the cable and broke it, which obliged me to order, in a loud voice, all hands up and at their oars. 4. What did the Indians do the morning of September, 28, 1804 and how did Lewis and Clark resolve the situation? Made many attempts in different ways to find our anchor, but could not: the sand had covered it, from the misfortune of last night our boat was lying at shore in a very unfavorable situation. . Why do you think Meriwether Lewis was so specific and detailed in his decryption of small and large wolf and the grizzly bear? Captain Clark thought he would weigh 500 pounds, for my own part, I think the estimate too small by 100 pounds, he measured 8 feet 7 ? inches from the nose to the extremity of the hind feet: 5 feet 10 ? inches around the breast: 1 foot 11 inches around the middle of the arm: and 3 feet 11 inches around the neck, his talons, which were 5 in number on each foot, were 4 3/8 inches in length, he was in good orde r. 6.What impression did the grizzly leave with Lewis and why did the bear leave that impression? Saw a brown {grizzly} bear swim the river above us, he disappeared before we could get in reach of him , I find that the curiosity of our party is pretty well satisfied with respect to this animal. 7. How does Sacagawea contribute to the expedition? Her labor soon proved successful, and she produced a good quantity of these roots. 8. Do you think she was appreciated or treated as† one of the boys â€Å"? YES because she contributed roots for dinner. 9.Considering the importance of the â€Å"corps of discovery â€Å"why do you think that Jefferson planned the journey in secret? Do you think he was correct in doing that? The square wife to taboo busied herself gathering the roots of the fennel called by the snake Indians YEAR –PAH for the purpose of drying to eaten on the Rocky Mountains, those roots are very palatable either fresh roots boiled or dried. †10. Do you think that you would have volunteered to go on the adventure? Yes why or why not? Because I like adventures, I love to explore wilderness it’s very interesting to me and you can learn different life styles.