British Petroleum (BP plc) is a multinational oil company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. They’re the third largest oil company in the world, and the fourth largest company worldwide measured by revenues. Employing over 78,000 workers around the world, BP’s Human Resources play a very important role in the company achieving success. BP recognized this and in 2010, BP’s executive team agreed a high-level philosophy covering their required practices of performance management as well as a set of guiding principles for rewards, in order to monitor performance and best motivate employees to reach objectives. In hope of achieving individual success as well as team success. Performance Management is a process which enhances the effective management of individuals and teams to achieve high level of organizational performance. When not used effectively, there can be many issues with performance management practices and this is why BP executives have chosen to publish this Continue reading
Management Case Studies
Management case studies are real-life examples of issues and problems found in particular workplaces or business organisations. Case study assignments give the opportunity to relate theoretical concepts to practical situations. Most case studies are written in such a way that the reader takes the place of the manager whose responsibility is to make decisions to help solve the problem. In almost all case studies, a decision must be made, although that decision might be to leave the situation as it is and do nothing.
Case Study of China Telecom: ERP Implementation
China Telecom Corporation, the world’s largest operator of fixed-line communications, was formed when the state owned China Telecommunications Corporation reorganized. China Telecom employs 350,000 workers throughout China, who attend to the company’s operations in domestic and international fixed-line networks; fixed-line voice, data, and information services; and the settlement of international telecommunications accounts. The company has maintained steady growth despite heavy competition from mobile phone services. In 2002, the company became a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). That same year, the United States (US) granted China Telecom a license to provide international telephone and Internet service between the countries. These steps were part of a transition from a traditional state-run enterprise to a modern enterprise based on larger profits and a wider customer base. However, to succeed as an international telecommunications powerhouse, China Telecom had to solve several problems. First, the company required a state-of-the-art IT Continue reading
Analyzing Toyota’s Recipe for Success – The Toyota Way
The fundamental reason for Toyota’s success in the global marketplace lies in the so called “Toyota way”. The Toyota Way is not only about technology and efficiency, it is about doing the right thing for the company, its employees, the customer and the society as a whole. In other words, the incredible success of the Toyota way is a direct result of operational excellence. Toyota has turned operational excellence into a strategic weapon. This operational excellence is only in part based on tools and quality improvement methods made famous by Toyota in the manufacturing world, such as JIT, Kaizen, and one-piece-flow. Although such techniques helped spawn the “lean manufacturing” revolution, tools and techniques are no secret weapon for transforming a business. Toyota’s continued success at implementing this tools stems from a deeper business philosophy based on its understanding of people and human motivation. Its success is ultimately based on its Continue reading
Case Study: The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Uber’s Founder Travis Kalanick
Travis Kalanick is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder of Uber Technologies Inc., a ride-hailing company that revolutionized the transportation industry. He was born on August 6, 1976, in Los Angeles, California. Kalanick grew up in a middle-class family and showed an early interest in entrepreneurship. Kalanick attended the University of California, Los Angeles, but dropped out before completing his degree to pursue his entrepreneurial ventures. He co-founded his first startup, Scour, a peer-to-peer file-sharing company, in 1998. However, Scour faced significant legal challenges related to copyright infringement and was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy. Kalanick went on to found several other startups, including Red Swoosh, a content delivery network, and Uber, which he co-founded in 2009 with Garrett Camp. Under Kalanick’s leadership, Uber grew rapidly, expanding into hundreds of cities around the world and attracting billions of dollars in investment. However, Kalanick’s tenure at Uber was also marked Continue reading
Case Study of Starbucks: An Amazing Business Success Story
American coffee consumption had been on the decline for more than a decade when Seattle entrepreneurs Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl opened the first Starbucks in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1971. By the 1970s, the country’s major coffee brands were engaged in a bitter price war that forced them to use cheaper beans in their blends to reduce costs, resulting in a dramatic decline in the quality of America’s most popular coffees. Accompanying this decline in quality was a decline in coffee consumption, which had peaked at 3.1 cups per day in 1961. As Americans gradually became disenchanted with the store brands, java enthusiasts–concentrated primarily on the West Coast–began experimenting with the finer coffees of Europe that offered richer, fuller flavors. To harness the potential of the gourmet coffee trend in the Seattle area, the founders of Starbucks experimented with the new concept of a store dedicated Continue reading
Case Study: A Phenomenon Called Steve Jobs
Ask any Techno-freak his list of dream gadgets and the odds are high that the list would be populated by products from Apple. Apple has reached to such an extent that these new age Geeks would consider it a sin akin to homicide not to know about Apple! No wonder many people may at least find it better to pretend to aspire for Apple products when in reality they may not even know its functionality! So who was (and is) behind this revolution called the “Apple Revolution” which has managed to dominate B-School case study discussions? (Dear Techno freaks this question is not for you!) The person attributed to this revolution was born in February 24, 1955 to an unmarried couple and was later adopted by a lower middle class family and was named Steven Paul (Steve) Jobs. Even before adoption Steve’s adopted parents had to assure his Biological mother Continue reading