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

Organizational Leadership

Organizations play a very important role in societies. From birth to death we deal with organizations, small or large, public or private. Organizations formed by human beings sometimes even control us, dominate society, stifle development or progress, promote growth and change, alter our environmental conditions, and at the same time fulfill our human and societal needs. Their role is multidimensional and dual in nature: they can contribute to the progress and satisfying human needs, but at the same time they can be a major obstacle in fulfilling accomplishments. They are a powerful instrument in governance and the promotion of democratic values. Initially organizations were simple in structure and management, but as they grew larger they became sophisticated and complex in structure and function, requiring managerial skills and techniques beyond the comprehension of many people.  Now here comes the role of the leader who could filter the negative traits and thus Continue reading

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Case Study: Business Innovation Lessons from Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff. A former executive at Oracle, he dreamed up the concept while on sabbatical in Hawaii and India. After noticing the success of consumer websites like Amazon.com, he saw the potential for the Internet to be a goldmine for business consumers and set out on his plan to create his own startup business. After considering a human resources endeavor, his first venture was Customer Relationship Management (CRM), with an idea that his software would be easy to use and inexpensive, a vast improvement over similar items already on the market. Salesforce.com has become a platform for business owners and managers to buy subscriptions for software that has many business applications, like service and support, marketing and, of course, sales. Competitors like Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, etc. that dominated the enterprise software market, locked in almost all the large companies in the world with their Continue reading

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Types of Motivation Theories

Motivation is defined as a general term for any part of the hypothetical psychological process which involves the experiencing of needs and drives and the behavior that leads to the goal which satisfies them. In essence, the motivational theories provide explanations as to why people behave the way they do.  These diverse motivation theories helped identify and determine the myriad of factors that drive people to behave in particular ways. There are numerous motivation theories with more than one may of grouping or classifying them. However, the most common one is to classify them according to four general types, namely: need theory; expectancy theory; equity theory; and goal setting theory. These are considered as the formal motivation theories. 1. Need Theories Need theories buttress the assumption that people have psychological needs arising out of, though going far beyond, basic biological drives like hunger, thirst, sex or the avoidance of pain. Continue reading

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The Social and Cultural Environment in Marketing

The socio-cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors. Socio-cultural forces usually influence the welfare of a business firm in the long-run. With ever changing society the New demands are created and old ones are lost in due course. Thus necessary adjustments are to made in the marketing plan to meet the need need/wants of the target market. The socio-cultural factors that contribute to a change are; Demographics Cultural Influences Environmental issues Animal Welfare Social influences Social and cultural factors influence all aspects of consumer and buyer behavior. The difference between these factors in different parts of the world can be a central consideration in developing and implanting international marketing strategies. Social and cultural forces are often linked together whilst meaningful distinctions between social and cultural factors can be made in many ways by the way the   Continue reading

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The Nature of Strategic Planning

Organizations exist to make contributions to society. An organization is a collective enterprise, a group of individuals that provides society with more than individual enrichment. If it fails to maintain its contribution to society, especially through value creation, it can disintegrate. When an American automobile manufacturer stops providing customers with quality cars, customers buy cars elsewhere, perhaps from a Japanese automobile company. If too many customers buy foreign cars, the American manufacturer can become bankrupt. If a church fails to serve its members, it will lose its congregation. And if a university no longer offers sound academic programs, students will transfer to other schools. Thus when an organization no longer provides beneficial services or products to its stakeholders, society perceives little need for its existence. Strategy is concerned with the grand picture of how organizations serve society, and strategic planning is concerned with how organizations intentionally and systematically make decisions Continue reading

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Synergy Map

The Synergy Map method was developed in 1998 by Martin Eppler. It  can be used to find synergies between various activities or goals.  The synergy map facilitates the visual discussion of the main goals and sub-goals necessary to move the implementation of a strategy forward during a particular time frame. In this method, goals and activities  are defined and prioritized and then introduced into a timing circuit.  The objectives will be distributed on the circle according to their temporal component, ie, short, medium and long term and permanent.  With the connection of the individual targets are shown with arrows indicating the synergies and conflicts.  Each identified goal synergy (i.e., how one goal can help another or how two goals can be used for mutual benefits) and each goal conflict are captured as arrows on the map that connect two goals. The Synergy Map can be used on a personal level Continue reading

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