Johnson & Johnson, founded by Robert Wood Johnson and his brothers James and Mead in 1886, has grown into the world’s most comprehensive manufacturer of health care products and related services for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. Today, Johnson & Johnson consists of more than 250 operating companies, employing approximately 121,000 employees, with more than 50,000 of those in the United States. Johnson & Johnson has operations in 57 nations and sells products all around the world. Johnson & Johnson’s product categories include, but are not limited to: allergy, colds, and flu; baby care; cardiology; dental care; diabetes care; first aid; medical devices and diagnostics; oncology; prescription drugs; skin and hair care; and vision care. The company’s sales have increased every year for since 1946, and in 2006, global sales were $53.9 billion and net earnings were $11.1 billion. Moreover, Johnson & Johnson was ranked ninth Continue reading
Corporate Strategies
Laws statutes applicable to Takeover
Laws applicable to Takeover Clauses 40A and 40B of the listing Agreement the company has entered into with stock exchange. SEBI’s (Substantial Acquisition of shares and Takeover’s) Regulations, 1997. 1. Takeover and Listing agreement exemption Clauses 40A and 40B of Listing Agreement Clause 40A deals with substantial acquisition of shares and requires the offeror and the offeree to inform the stock exchange when such acquisition results in an increase in the shareholding of the acquirer to more than 10%. Clause 40B deals with takeover efforts. A takeover offer refers to change in management where there is no change in management, Clause 40B of listing agreement will not apply. However, sub clause 13 of amendment of Clause 40B also provides an exemption to the scheme approved by BIFR. There is no provision under clause 40B for exemption of non BIFR companies. 2. SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of shares Continue reading
Need of Corporate Vision Statements
A corporate entity needs a vision because “where there is no vision, the people perish”(Proverb 29:18). This quotation from the holy writ aptly captures the essence of vision both at individuals and corporate level. Vision is important in that it guides and perpetuates corporate existence. Vision is viewed as a mental picture of a compelling future situation. It originates from creative imagination, the act or power of perceiving imaginative mental images or foresightedness. Corporate vision could be thought of as related to intuition. This is, however, not to eliminate other sources of corporate vision. Corporate vision can be associated with external agencies imposition of strategy or vision and, they can be deliberately formulated as part of strategic planning process. Notwithstanding the process leading to the emergency of vision, from strategic management perspectives, corporate vision creates a picture of a company’s destination and provides a rational for going there – Somewhat Continue reading
Case Study: Restructuring Process of Volkswagen
As western automobile markets reached saturation, automobile giants like Chrysler and Volkswagen resorted to restructuring. Volkswagen had concentrated on its portfolio restructuring since early 90’s. Volkswagen acquired Skoda in 1991. Volkswagen helped Skoda to emerge out of bankruptcy and Skoda soon became “U.K.’s best loved car”. This in turn helped Volkswagen, whose profits were declining around the same time. It gained access to the little penetrated car market of Eastern Europe. In 2009, it acquired 49.9% stake in Porsche. During recession, Porsche plunged into debts. Volkswagen used this opportunity to gain from its rival, who had a respected brand name globally. Even though the car market has matured in western parts of the globe, Volkswagen has been using strategic acquisitions to grow further. The financial restructuring process of Volkswagen, called as ‘ForMotion’ is well-known. This restructuring process began in 2004. With the commencement of ‘ForMotion’, a number of workers lost Continue reading
The Importance of Core Competencies in Strategy Formulation
Strategy allows an organisation to deliver its vision. To develop a deliberate strategy which could potentially increase the sustainability of an organisation clearly requires the identification of core competencies but often a single strategy is not the answer. Organisations require a headline strategy to fit a brief which resonates the vision but several strategies are required over many departments such as research and development, production and marketing to deliver the main strategy. The process of strategy development is complex and methodology depends on several factors including the availability of resources and the external environment. The first step in strategy development is the identification of core competencies then followed by the the process of leveraging resources so they can be exploited for maximum benefit. Strategy development is a crucial step in attaining competitive advantage but a strategy is only as successful as its implementation. The process of leveraging core competencies therefore Continue reading
Shareholder Wealth Maximization Vs. Stakeholder Interest
Until now, the discussion between shareholder value perspective and stakeholder perspective has still been argued critically. Some people think that stakeholder interest should be superior over shareholder wealth maximization, but others argue that shareholder wealth maximization should be the prime concern. However, it is obvious to realize that shareholder wealth maximization is the objective of a firm and shareholder wealth maximization should be superior over stakeholder interest in the concern of the both shareholder interest and stakeholder interest. Firstly, it is necessary to understand some definitions of shareholder, stakeholder and the theory of shareholder and theory of stakeholder. Why there has been many debates between two theories ? Shareholder is an individual or corporation owning stock in a public or private company. Shareholder decides the membership of the board of directors by making a vote. Maximizing shareholder wealth means maximizing the flow of dividends to shareholders through time – there Continue reading