In a complex, dynamic, fast-changing environment, companies must strive for superiority in order to survive. Competitive edge cannot be achieved or maintained by setting goals based on past or even present performance. Benchmarking is a management practice that can be used to pursue excellence. It does this by identifying, comparing and emulating best practice wherever it occurs. Read More: Benchmarking as a Strategic Business Tool Benchmarking is defined as a continuous systematic process of evaluating companies recognized as industry leaders, to determine business and work processes that represent best practices and establish rational performance goals. It is a search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance. It illustrates how good a company currently is in comparison to its competitors, that is benchmarking analysis demonstrates what others are doing as well as what others are achieving. Benchmarking analysis is an integral part of the organizational improvement process and it Continue reading
Modern Management Concepts
The Emergence of Frugal Innovation
The old innovation paradigm was called closed innovation which was based on the strict control of successful innovation. Under this view, organizations generate their own ideas, develop them, finance them and support them on their own. In short, companies maintain complete control of all aspects of the innovation process and inventions are kept highly secretive. Traditionally many organizations followed this model and it worked well for most of the twentieth century. However, over the years a number of factors have led to the erosion of the closed innovation approach. First, due to an increase in the mobility and availability of highly educated people, large amounts of knowledge leave the research laboratories of many companies. Second, the availability of venture capital has increased significantly in the recent past making it possible for promising ideas and technologies to be further developed outside the organization. Third, other firms in the supply chain began Continue reading
Differences Between Social Entrepreneurship and Business Entrepreneurship
Before understanding the term social entrepreneurship, we need to firstly understand what traditional business entrepreneur itself is. An entrepreneur is an individual who owns a firm, business, or venture, and is responsible for its development. In order to do so, he or she will manage the resources he had. The aim of a traditional business entrepreneur or commercial entrepreneur is to generate profits from the risks and opportunities he or she is willing to take. A business enterprise therefore would be an entity that is owned by the business entrepreneur to achieve business goals that have been set by the entrepreneur. Social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. The definition of social entrepreneurship varies from a narrow definition to a wide one. Under the narrow definition, social entrepreneurship is basically the action of Continue reading
Advantages and Disadvantages of Starting Up a Business
Currently, the development of market relations implies a free and equal coexistence of various forms of entrepreneurship and sectors within each type of ownership. A special place in the international economy at this stage belongs to start-up businesses. These are small enterprises that do not require large initial investments and guarantee a high rate of turnover of resources that can quickly and economically solve the problems of economic restructuring. The formation and saturation of the consumer markets are the key elements in the current destabilization of the economy. It should be noted that for a highly monopolized economy, the small business acquires paramount importance since it makes a significant contribution to the development of a competitive environment. However, there are both rewarding advantages and serious disadvantages of starting a business, which need consideration. If a person plans to open a business, it is important to consider the upcoming possible gains Continue reading
Crowdsourcing – Definition, Applications, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Since the advent of the internet and the emerging of user-generated media, for example, You Tube and Wikipedia, the process of sharing information has become an easy task, because of the great interaction tools that are provided by the internet. Currently, through the internet organizations and individuals can outsource most of their research work, market surveys, and even seek external assistance in solving critical organizational problems using processes such as crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing was first used to determine the degree of influence of the collective mind on a single business. It is believed that crowdsourcing is the process of doing work by a variety of contractors without any contracts, in most cases, online. Unlike freelance, the use of human resources is suitable for solving more labor-intensive tasks that require a considerable number of performers and time. Thus, the most precise definition of crowdsourcing is information technology, which combines interested people and Continue reading
Importance of Stakeholder Engagement in Business
Stakeholders are all those people or businesses that are essential for a company, because they contribute to keep it afloat or in operation. They can be affected if their expectations or needs are not met. There are three interested parties: suppliers, customers and investors. Each of them is an indispensable part. Without its essential contribution, the business could not be sustained or built. Suppliers provide the input, customers are those who consume our products and refer us to new prospects and investors or owners, contribute their capital for the sustainable development of the business. Stakeholders can benefit or be harmed by any action or decision taken. That is why every business or company must identify them and know their needs and expectations to fulfill them. Since above all, they are the ones that contribute in a special way to our business. Stakeholders have increasingly become an essential component of business Continue reading