Concepts of Throughput Accounting and Theory of Constraints

Financial Management

Kaizen – Understanding the Japanese Business Philosophy of Continuous Improvement

Operations Management

Role of Leaders in Shaping Organizational Culture

Management Principles

Organizational Culture – Development and Importance

Management Principles

Five Important Organizational Cultural Models

Management Principles

Business Competition – Meaning and Types

Meaning of Competition To a particular business, competition usually refers to firms that market similar or substitutable products in the same geographic area. In general, the term business  competition refers to the rivalry among businesses for consumer dollars. For example, the manager of a fast food outlet in an airport views all other fast food outlets near the airport as competition but probably does not think fast food outlets in other geographic areas as competition. In general, all the fast food outlets near the airport compete for passengers’ dollars. In developing and implementing a marketing program, an organization must consider the types of business competition in its markets and assess the actions of its competition. Types of Business Competition The number of organizations that sell a product may affect the strength of competition. When there are many business selling a particular product, for example, price considerations and product differences are Continue reading

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ADL Matrix – The Arthur D Little Strategic Condition Matrix

The ADL Matrix or Arthur D Little Strategic Condition Matrix is a Portfolio Management technique that is based on the Product Life Cycle (PLC). It is  developed in the 1980’s by Arthur D. Little, Inc. (ADL), one of the best-known  consulting firms,  intended to help a company manage its collection of product businesses as a portfolio. Like other  portfolio planning matrices, the ADL matrix represents a company’s various businesses in a 2-dimensional matrix.  It is a structured  methodology for consideration of strategies which are  dependent on the life cycle of the industry.  The ADL approach uses the dimensions of environment assessment and business – strength assessment ie. Competitive Position and Industry Maturity. The environment assessment is an identification of the industry’s life cycle and the business strength assessment is a categorization of the company’s SBU’s into one of five competitive positions, these five competitive positions by four life cycle stages. Continue reading

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Case Study of IBM: Employee Training through E-Learning

“E-learning is a technology area that often has both first-tier benefits, such as reduced travel costs, and second-tier benefits, such as increased employee performance that directly impacts profitability.” – Rebecca Wettemann, research director for Nucleus Research In 2002, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was ranked fourth by the Training magazine on it’s “The 2002 Training Top 100”. The magazine ranked companies based on their commitment towards workforce development and training imparted to employees even during periods of financial uncertainty. Since its inception, IBM had been focusing on human resources development: The company concentrated on the education and training of its employees as an integral part of their development. During the mid 1990s, IBM reportedly spent about $1 billion for training its employees. However, in the late 1990s, IBM undertook a cost cutting drive, and started looking for ways to train its employees effectively at lower costs. After considerable research, Continue reading

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4 C’s of Contemporary Marketing Mix

The contemporary market has developed with the approach of more prominent customer-centric marketing conditions. Companies’ main focus is to work with consumers, identify their needs, and design products according to their needs. We can see a shift towards personalization, interactivity, and genuine, direct discourse with the client. These changes have made way for innovation, customization, and networking. These new methodologies permit marketers not only to build a relationship with the target group but also to recognize the constantly changing consumer behavior. Moreover, it has also enabled the markets to react quickly to their competitors and anticipate future market trends. Hence, all these developments have provoked the advancements of new theoretical approaches that deal with specific rather than general marketing issues and situations. It’s further feasible for companies to interact with and administer the consumer better with the help of digital platforms. Contemporary marketing incorporates the following marketing mix in the Continue reading

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Case Study: The Merger between Daimler and Chrysler

DaimlerBenz AG of Stuttgart, Germany, and the Chrysler Corporation of Auburn Hills, Michigan, surprised the business world at a press conference in London on May 7, 1998, when they announced their “merger of equals made in heaven.” This major cross-border transaction, with an equity value of $36 billion, was the largest merger of its kind to date.  Robert Eaton and Jürgen E. Schrempp, co-chairmen of DCX, announced their expectation that this deal would be “not only the best strategic merger or the best prepared merger, but also the best executed merger.” Daimler-Benz Chief Executive Jürgen Schrempp had concluded as early as 1996 that his company’s automotive operations needed a partner to compete in the increasingly globalized marketplace. Chrysler’s Eaton was drawing the same conclusion in 1997 based on two factors emerging around the same time: the Asian economic crisis, which was cutting into demand, and worldwide excess auto manufacturing capacity, Continue reading

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7 Important Quality Control Tools

Quality Control (QC) is a system of routine technical activities, to measure and control the quality of the inventory as it is being developed. The  Quality Control system is designed to: Provide routine and consistent checks to ensure data integrity, correctness, and completeness; Identify and address errors and omissions; Document and archive inventory material and record all QC activities. Seven Quality Control Tools An organization can be made better by applying proper quality management and quality management tools and techniques. The following seven quality control tools are considered basic tools for achieving quality. Tools Techniques Checksheet Departmental purpose analysis Pareto diagram Poka-yoke Histogram Fault tree analysis Control chart Design of experiments Scatter diagram Quality function deployment Statistical process control Flowchart Failure mode and effects analysis Cause and effect diagram Benchmarking The above basic tools are classified under 2 categories “Data Acquisitions” and “Data Analysis”. Check sheet, Histogram and Control chart Continue reading

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