The process of making Smart car started in 1994 after a deal was sealed between Daimler-Benz, maker of Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, Swiss watchmaker. A joint venture of the two companies created a firm known as Micro Compact Car AG whose headquarters were located in Biel, Switzerland. After announcing the deal, three co-directors were appointed to head the new company, which was later to be known simply as the ‘Smart’ after moving to Germany from Biel. The directors were engineer and designer Johan Tomforde and financial administrator Christopher Baubin from Daimler-Benz and swatch marketing manager Hans Jurg Schar. SMH (makers of the swatch watches) contributed 49% of the initial capital of 50 million Swiss francs while Daimler-Benz contributed the remaining 51%. The company comprised of two branches namely MCC GmbH based in a suburb of Stuttgart known as Renningen charged with the responsibility of designing the car. Hayek’s SMH Auto SA, was to 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 Coca-Cola: Performance Management System (PMS) and Training
The growth of businesses depends on the strategic plans, goals, values, cultures, and norms implemented within a given institution. Multi-national companies like Coca-Cola have dominated the global markets for the past five decades based on adopting performance management and training principles in running activities since its inception in the beverage industry. The organization has an ongoing process of job clarification and open communications within the workspace, a decision that promotes the productivity of workers and the profitability of the firm at large. Performance management promotes coordination between managers and workers through an open-aided communication approach to achieve organizational objectives. Training employees to align with organizational strategic goals starts with clarifying job responsibilities, workplace expectations, developmental planning, and priority setting. Analyzing the strategies of planning, monitoring, developmental, rating, and rewarding employees at Coca-Cola exposes the impact of performance management systems in improving workers’ performance. The Current System in Coca-Cola Coca-Cola’s management values Continue reading
Case Study: Chrysler’s Merger With Fiat
Among the most attention-grabbing dramas to come out of the Great Recession was the marriage of Fiat and Chrysler. Financed and brokered by the United States government in an unmatched market intervention, the amalgamation brought two outstanding companies together whose histories were strangely similar but whose prospects had recently diverged. Chrysler is an American symbol one of Detroit has framed titanic three in the auto industry. Chrysler is a company with a turbulent history having experienced several cycles of booms and busts. The company fell on hard times and needed a government bailout in the year 1979. Chrysler managed to pay up the government loan and continued to be successful in the auto industry for a better part of the years. This improvement in its activities was under the leadership of the legendary Lee Lacocca. In the mid 1990s, Chrysler was a strong and growing company, and this aspect led it Continue reading
Case Study of Amazon: Management Information Systems for Business Growth
Globalization can be credited for causing significant alterations in the way business is conducted and the increasingly competitive and constantly changing business environment. In many large corporations, it is not easy to detect strategic issues that confront business operations. It is also difficult to develop sustainable programs that steer organizational success. However, the advent of computers and information technology makes it easy to prepare strategic plans that facilitate the growth and success of companies. An ‘MIS’ is a strategic system that aids in collecting, analyzing, disseminating, and storing organizational data in the mode of information required to implement management functions. Management Information Systems (MIS) are concerned with planning for, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management. MIS aids in planning by offering the necessary information that assists in firm decision-making, especially in large organizations where the managers Continue reading
Case Study: Evolution of Advertising Strategies of Procter and Gamble (P&G)
Advertising is an unmistakably unique way of communicating with the target audience that requires a profound understanding of the specific needs of the selected demographic, the specifics of its culture, and a thorough understanding of the issue that the offered service or product seeks to resolve. Though the core purpose, goals, and, ultimately, strategies of advertising a product to a specific demographic have remained the same, consumer culture has changed drastically, which has been reflected in advertising campaigns across decades. Procter & Gamble (P&G) is one of the accurate examples of the specified phenomenon. Specifically, its advertising campaign of P&G demonstrates the shift in consumer culture toward a more frugal lifestyle, while still upholding the status quo in regard to gender roles. The advertisement campaign launched by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the 1940s reflects the described trends quite accurately. On the one hand, there is an obvious propensity toward Continue reading
Case Study: Amazon’s Innovative Business Model Using Information Technology
Nowadays, Amazon is the largest and most popular online retailer. It is known for being the second-largest e-commerce company in the world being outperformed only by Google. During two decades on the market, the firm managed to reach the position of the retailer with the Earth’s Biggest Selection, thus growing extremely popular among customers and enjoying customer loyalty. Amazon is an international corporation employing more than 150,000 people around the globe. Launched as an online bookstore in 1994, the company diversified its assortment so that now it offers a wide variety of products, including video games, software, furniture, electronics, apparel, jewelry, toys, and food. More than that, cloud services and infrastructure, as well as video gaming and music streaming, are provided to its customers.The specificity of the company is the fact that it has several different websites launched and operating in different countries around the globe – the United States, Continue reading