strategy

Google’s True Implications of Quality

Posted on by anthonyt301s12

It seems clear that Google is a company that will last into the undeterminable future. It feels this way because Google develops people with abilities to create and perform at levels that are undeterminable. Google’s strategy seems attainable at the rate which it creates these people. Just recently a former Google Tech Manager was giving a position to head Yahoo Inc. as president and CEO, Marissa Mayer. Marissa Mayer has a great reputation from her work at Google and on the Board of Wall Mart. She is an exceptionally hard working woman who defies the stereotype and brings a special way into encouraging and motivating future women leaders. Her time at Yahoo will not be easy, the company has been in serious reconstruction of it’s strategically pursuance of survival in a world dominated by Bing, Google and Facebook.  For Yahoo adding some previous Google employees would seem to be a good thing for the company. Twitter for example a thriving social media company has taken some on. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Some former Googlers have said they have taken what they have learned management-wise from Google to their new jobs. Twitter’s Mr. Costolo said in January that about 80 to 90 Twitter employees previously worked at Google, the biggest feeder for the start-up, which has more than 900 employees.” Although we learned about product quality, having a quality management system created by employees will most likely create a quality product. Most products even the most innovative ones need a strong functions management team behind it. This is what employees at Google offer. According to the WSJ, “In a 2010 interview, Mr. Armstrong said he also has tried to apply many valuable lessons learned from working at Google under Mr. Schmidt. Those include keeping in mind how much of Google’s success came from a willingness to make bold moves in its early days, as when the company dramatically revamped its AdWords online search advertising program roughly a decade ago, forming what would serve as a key source of revenue, said Mr. Armstrong.” The quality and strategy that former Google employees take away from working at Google is fascinating, I am not sure whether it’s because of their “open” company culture or Google’s continuous education programs, you can answer that in the comments if you would like. But what I have learned from reading about Google is that the characteristics of managing quality are supported by their ability to generate growth through all sorts of demanding tasks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303612804577533073173479052.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories&_nocache=1342557535536&user=welcome

ScannerShirts Blur Airport Body Scan Images.

Posted on by jingjingw301s12

Recently, I went to L.A. When I was waiting at security checkpoint, the U.S Custom officer asked me to do the full-body scanners. That was not my first time to do this; I could not count the times that I have been to this situation. However, I have read an article about this controversial issue that how to led entrepreneur Marc Carey to launch a line of airport underwear for men, women and children. His company, Kentucky based ScannerShirts.com, markets underwear with smiley faces and patriotic symbols like stats and the U.S seal, strategically placed to obscure private parts if the wearer must do the full-body scan. I am wondering, is it ethical to market merchandise that aims to thwart government-mandated initiatives like full-body scans at airports?

However, there are some pros and cons in this issue:

Pro: Full-body scans are revealing invasive and undignified; moreover, merchandise like airport underwear does not prevent security personnel from adequately screening travelers for prohibited devices.

Con: Scanning requires only that travelers stand in a screening room, fully clothed for only 15-25 seconds. Experts claim the extremely low dose of radiation poses no health threat. Furthermore, an item like airport underwear provokes consumers’ worst fears about inappropriate contact.

Therefore, given the circumstances, consumers need to exercise their own good judgment about whether to purchase special travel underwear.

What do you think?

Sources:Fran Golden,”Airport Scanner Blocking Underwear a Hit,” AOL Travel, January 5,2011.

Fashion Forward JCP? Haven’t Seen That in a While

Posted on by swathin301s12

The last time i shopped in JC Penney and left satisfied was when i bought eyeliner that was at a Sephora inside of a JC Penney.  To my knowledge their clothes were so kiddish that they seemed to have two little girl sections located in two different parts of the store.  Instead I went to Kohl’s, Forever 21, or Charlotte Russe.  That is where i shopped.  Recently, however, I walked into a JCP and was immediately attracted to the clothes and in my head I though “When did this happen??”  Take about taking fashion forward seriously.

The new strategy that JCP is taking seems to be working and if sustained it will keep the company growing.  Much of the new strategy has to do with the new executive, Ron Johnson.  Ron Johnson is a former executive on the Apple and Target board of directors. What he has done was bring the store back to the original saying “Giving Everyone a Square Deal”.  You can see it in everything from the new logo to the clothes that are offered at a price that seems very fair.

If the company continues it can turn the corner and possibly become an industry leader in fashion.  I wonder what other Clothings stores can benefit from a little bit of an improvement.

Apple is Taking Over China

Posted on by jingjingw301s12

 

Throughout this quarter, I have learned how firms keep their OM decision areas in line with their completive strategy. That reminds me a firm from global market and it shows us how they do business in other countries.  This is an example from an IT legend-Apple.

 

 

On September 26th in 2011, Apple opens its first retail stores in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Apple realized that Taiwan, Mainland China and Hong Kong are the great market which has a lot of opportunities to expand Apple businesses. Because in Hong Kong, people have vey high demand of smart phones such as iPhone and most Hong Kong people like the Apple products as much as Americans do. However, there were no any Apple retail stores, so people can only buy the Apple products from other local retailers or online stores. Since Apple has slowed the pace of large-store opening in China because there are too many copycats’ stores in the region. Apple also found some fake retail stores in China, but those stores are still cannot impact the sales of Apple.

However, Apple has competitor such like Sony Ericsson, Samsung are the tough for Apple since they already have large market share in mainland China. Even though Apple is a very large company in the global market; they still struggle to expand their businesses in other countries where have too many competitors. In the economic environment, since the Apple retail stores open in Hong Kong, it affects the resellers businesses. It is because the Apple retail store is too powerful in the market. Therefore, the small businesses may be bankrupt because of the new Apple retail stores opened. Nowadays, Apple is one of the well-known and successful companies in the global market; they created many new products which people would follow their idea to develop their businesses. Apple is an example of licensing strategy. They are using the resources from Hong Kong and China such as human resources; Apple established the factories to produce Apple products in China. Moreover, in the sociocultural environment, Apple has a successful strategy to cater for the Hong Kong culture. Hong Kong people require higher demand of great quality services and problem solving efficiency. Thus, Apple provides fast respond for customers’ problems and quality warranty for any Apple products. The strategy of Apple reflected that they have a great sense of Hong Kong culture. In the economic environment, Hong Kong and Shanghai are the developed cities; there have a lot of opportunities for foreign companies. Since there have intense competitions, foreign companies have to face risks and challenges, but they still stand to reap huge benefits in the future. Apple is the one of the big company that wants to reap the benefits from China market.

If you are an operation manager of a famous firm, how could you expand the business in global market? What issue should you concern about? And what competitive strategy will you apply to the global market but except develops the location/competitive strategy, design of goods and services, supply-chain management and managing the quality of products, what else?

 

Source: The Wall Street Journal by Jason Chow, September 26, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576588351297817510.html

 

 


 

Model S has arrived

Posted on by ekaterinar301s12

 

I’m very happy to share with all of you that Tesla Motors delivered their first electric sedan – Model S on June 22, 2012 (Model S Deliveries have begun). That was a very important day for the company because all resources were put into development and production of Model S. Model S is their second, but the first mass-market model. Therefore, company is taking a big risk.

In class we discussed whether it is better to produce a new product or improve the old one. Tesla develops and manufactures electric vehicles with unique design, performance and efficiency and sells its product at a reasonable price. Their product is considered a niche product, because there are not a lot of high performance fully electric cars.

The company is definitely a top innovator in its industry. Furthermore, Tesla is planning to go beyond just producing electric cars and to make a real difference in the auto world. I’m pretty sure the company will be able to accomplish its mission. Why? Because Tesla follows their simple strategy:

  1. Build a sports car
  2. Use that money to build an affordable car
  3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car
  4. While doing above, also provide zero-emission electric-power generation options (http://www.teslamotors.com/fr_FR/node/3917)

There are many reasons that Tesla to succeed. First of all, it is evident that gas prices are rising. We can’t change the price on gas, but we can avoid it by driving a fully electric auto, like the Model S. Consumers are becoming increasingly more concerned with social responsibility by choosing green products. Green isn’t a fad or trend anymore; it’s now an entire economy and way of working. Electric cars are usually not the fastest cars and often, not the best looking. Tesla is different. Their focus on style and emotion is as strong as their focus on innovation and efficiency. Therefore, people who care about style will probably choose Tesla. Do you think Tesla will succeed in their journey?

Strategic Importance of Forecasting and Keys to better Forecasting

Posted on by jinjinl301s12

Since this week we are learning about forecasting so I read an article about it. Forecasting is extremely important for any business from a strategy point of view because having inventory (whether physical or product) at the right time is essential for making profits. A business must buy right amount of raw materials to produce right amount of goods for consumers. If this is not the case then either the business will not be able to serve the customer due to shortage or will have to hold extra products and incur storage costs.

Many companies do not understand the strategic importance of forecasting. Having the right resources available at the right time is essential for efficient functioning. In today’s tough business environment where businesses are trying to save costs it is needed that every penny is saved. Forecasting is one way to save costs as from forecasting only companies can guess the future demand and can manage their resource accordingly. Any mismanagement in forecasting can lead to great loss in both small and large businesses.

All large companies use forecasting when formulating their strategy because without it no decisions can be made. It is true that no one can predict the future accurately but forecasting can give a general idea about future on which present decisions can be made. Forecasting is therefore an important strategic tool for all businesses.

In the article ‘7 keys to better forecasting’ the authors have stressed the importance of forecasting and have given 7 suggestions to make better forecasting decisions (Moon, et al. 45). The article also argues that better forecasting can increase the financial health of a firm significantly (44).

The first key to better forecasting is to understand what is forecasting. The article suggests that forecasting should not be viewed as a computer program but as a management process. The second key to better forecasting is to forecast demand and then plan supply. Many firms restrict their supply forecasts to their capacity. This is not a good practice according to the article as first firms should forecast demand of the product and then plan supply.

The third key is to communicate, cooperate, and collaborate because forecasting involves input from all levels of organization. The fourth key is to not waste time on redundant activities. There are some activities that are performed by many departments and this should not happen because valuable time and effort is wasted on these activities and they do not add value to the firm.

The fifth key to better forecasting is to use tools of forecasting wisely (Moon, et al. 45). Some companies rely on qualitative tools too much and ignore quantitative tools of forecasting. A balance should be maintained between the two tools in order to predict future demand better. The sixth key is to make forecasting important by making people who are involved responsible for their decisions. The seventh and the last key to better forecasting as discussed by the article is to measure performance, feedbacks, and standards (Moon, et al. 45). All these suggestions can improve the forecasting in a firm.

business-forecasting.jpg (400×300)

Works Cited
Moon, M. A., Mentzer, J. T., Smith, C. D., & Garver, M. S. Seven keys to better forecasting. Business Horizons, 44–52, (1998)