The core competence of the corporation and apply it to BBCL Assignment

The core competence of the corporation and apply it to BBCL - Assignment Example They invent new markets and products of superior quality, diversify to stay ahead of their competitors, integrate with other best-performing firms, and form alliances in order to learn what they are not best at besides having a visionary staff, management and a valuable value chain process in their business operations. Firms that lack core competences in their value chain neither survive nor grow. Diversified firms are likened to a tree with its trunk and major branches being its core products, smaller branches being its business units while its leaves being its end products. The critical part of nourishing and stabilizing the tree is the root system which likened to core competences, which consist of a collective of skills and learning to build up over time in all the distinctive parts the company can use to stay ahead of its rivals. It is critical to articulate the strategic intents to the entire organisations .This is imperative in defining the company and its markets, identify projects that will enhance the core competence, allocating resources to help achieve these goals in addition to hiring requisite people with needed skills and knowledge to implement these strategies for achieve its goals. Thus, core competencies takes a corporate view as contrasted to a business unit which only takes in company operating multiple business units with managers always viewing themselves as competitors, for instances, the contrast between GTE and NEC’s performance which was mainly attributed to recognising, articulating and building competence by NEC that gave it a competitive market share than GTE which did not, though it had a larger capital base as compared to NEC. (Prahalad and Hamel 1990, p 1). In today’s business environment that is characterized by stiff competition, speed, low-cost high quality products and blue-sky technology, companies need excellent strategies well planned, chosen, executed and constantly revised to survive, grow and be

Career research report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Career research report - Assignment Example Ways of obtaining this information often eludes the graduates and they end up going back and forth between applications without success. This lack of understanding leads students leads graduates to settle on wrong choices. In my case, I am applying for the position of a sales executive that I saw in an advertisement. I conducted a thorough research into the details of this job including its pros and cons. This report should empower me with the knowledge, from tedious research, that I need to increase my employability in this field. This report outlines the details of the position, the methodology I used to conduct my research and the sources I used. It also analyzes the pros and cons of this career choice; showing the long tern and short term aspects of this field. This report also analyzes the chances of graduates getting jobs as sales executives and the problems they face making this transition. The sales profession, including managers and executives, has been around since mankind discovered they could sell things. The earliest forms of sales include prostitution, which was among the first fields to be recorded as having employed all the techniques used by sales people today. Other examples include the sale of homes and used cars, just to name a few. In the beginning, the field of sales was not as crowded as it is now. Most businesses’ sizes ranged from small to medium; therefore, the sales were handled mostly by the owners. Only in rare cases could one find a business that had employed personnel to aid in sales. The business owners were focused on fulfilling the customer needs by meeting orders and had no need fro sales and marketing. They did not feel the pressure that is present today to branch out their businesses. This was before the industrial revolution (edis.ifas.ufl.edu). After the industrial revolution, businesses had the ability to increase their production and serve a larger client base. From here, the need for sales personnel grew by the d ay. Businesses were branching out to new locations, employing sales executives and managers along the way to spread the reach of their product. Sales executives acted as a go-between for the consumer and the producer and nothing more. Recent trends, however, reveal the use of sales executives to gather information about specific client expectations to help improve product and service quality. Competition has grown through sales executives’ efforts to sell quality services and products. They play a major part in influencing the production process through the intelligence they gather. Sales executives receive training on how to obtain information about their products from the customers. This information is taken to the managers who use it in the production process to increase sell ability of the products. Sales executives offer a great deal of service to these companies, not only through sale of product but also through gathering of information. They are tasked with the duty of answering product questions while out in the field. In doing so, they promote the customers’ confidence in the product and in the company making it. Occupational Research Terms of Reference This research was conducted diligently and following due procedure. The purpose was to understand what it entails to be a sales executive. The research also sought out to determine the skills and qualifications required for employment. It outlines the details of the position,

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer - Essay Example According to the author, Tillman was an ambitious, driven and complex individual who decided to enlist in the US Armed forces despite his lucrative May 2002 $3.6 million NFL contract offer. The September 11 terror attack on the US influenced this decision. While serving on his second tour in Afghanistan, Tillman died while trying to save members of his platoon. Initially, army officials informed his family that his death occurred during crossfire between the platoon and enemy combatants. This information was soon negated by investigations done after the army revealed that a ranger within the Tillman’s platoon shot him. Through Tillman’s story, Krakaeur hoped to shed light on real, behind the scenes experiences of men and war. The public viewed Tillman as a national hero for his selfless decision to enlist in spite of his lucrative contract. Tillman was at the peak of his American Football career when he joined the army. The Cardinals team had offered him a $ 3.6 million, three-year contract, an offer that would cater for all his financial needs and keep him out of harm’s way. On the contrary, enlisting into the army would result in adverse physiological and psychological consequences. The US was recovering from the September 11 terrorist attack, which exposed weaknesses in the country’s counterintelligence mechanisms and sparked a full-fledged war against countries in the Middle East. Choosing to enlist during this time meant that Tillman would be in the frontlines fighting for his life sooner compared to those who enlisted during peaceful times. The country’s former President George W. Bush capitalized on Tillman’s decision to join the army. He used Tillman as a poster-boy to encourage other citizens to enlist and serve their country. Even in death, Tillman proved that he was a national hero. He died in the line of duty in spite of the marred

Analysis of Sustainable Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Sustainable Development - Assignment Example With modern cities being developed on a daily basis, natural factors need to be protected. It is for this reason sustainable development was established (Dearden & Bruce, 2005). Urbanization is the development of urban areas to more advanced infrastructure to suit the existence of human life. Urbanization is mostly influenced by rural-urban migration which has been on the increases in modern years. Urbanization is characterized by huge population to both major and minor cities around the world. With the huge population, the development of these cities has become the major priority in order to make life in these cities comfortable to humans. However, different from sustainable development, urbanization is not environment cautious as technological advancement is its first priority. According to Dearden & Bruce (2005), urbanization only aim is to advance cities and suburbs to suit human existence. Urbanization comes with a lot of problems, especially environmental problems. In the moder n century, many conferences have been convened to address global warming. Global warming is a major factor that comes with urbanization. In urban cities, pollution is a common factor. Pollution from factories and vehicles cause global warming. Urbanization has also led to congestion of urban cities. In sustainable development, there are policies which ensure this type of development is successful. ... With sustainable development problems caused by urbanization can be easily solved. For instance, sustainable development is against emission of waste from factories. In sustainable development, there is the sensitization on recycling waste rather than emission. Additionally, sustainable development suburbs are developed which reduces the rural-urban migration rates. In this case, there will be less congestion in big cities and the growth rate of a whole country can be standard and effective. Lack of urban space hinders the development of a particular area. In many major cities, the development of new projects requires the destruction of already existing projects which is not appropriate. In a new advancement in terms of development, urban space is very important. This problem hinders the success of the younger generation. The future generation will have to use what was developed in the past. According to Dearden & Bruce (2005), this problem will make the future generation dependent o n already existing infrastructure. The authors further argue that the lack of urban space will be the greatest hindrance to innovation and modern technological advancements. Lack o urban space will also lead to the development of substandard buildings. With more population flocking to urban areas, there is an urgent need for shelter and housing. If these populations lack appropriate space for construction of shelter, they will find the least available location and space to put up sub-standard structures. This scenario is evident in many African nations whereby slums are being put around major cities. These slums hold urban dwellers that live below the daily minimum wage.  Ã‚  

Discuss the history of one film teqnique for example montage, Essay

Discuss the history of one film teqnique for example montage, closeups, sound give the argument of three different thinkers on the subject using at leat three - Essay Example First, from its original root of French film practice, the term refers to the identification of the movie's editor. Secondly, Soviet filmmakers used "montage" in the 1920's as method of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning as a concealed message to convey that was not apparent to the scene. Third is the "montage sequence" usage usually done by the Hollywood filmmakers to condense fashionably a narrative segment in a film (Smith 2004). Lev Kuleshov was the first Soviet filmmaker who used the Soviet Montage. For him, it is an art really meant for film editing and cannot be done in other medium. Sergie Eisenstein views this as a tool or an electricity to be used to shock the audience (Risse 2007). This theory of editing innovated from its simple nature to the more intelligent execution being formulated and executed in present international cinemas. The progression of the editing theory varies from different filmmakers' views and responsibilities (Karpenko 2002). History. During the great depression period of Russia from the Tsar catastrophe the artistic flair of Russian filmmakers also rage along with it. Filmmaking that time was encouraged and greatly supported by a Union Socialist leader Vladimir Lenin (Smith 2004). Lev Kuleshov was among the very first to theorize the effectiveness of using film as a medium to convey various relevant messages of socialism. For Kuleshov, editing is like a brick by construction of the building. In this case, it's a shot by shot in order to construct a film (Smith 2004). Between 1919 and 1924, Kuleshov conducted certain montage experiments that eventually then influenced other Russian filmmakers. The necessity to do such was due to the shortage of the stock of the film (Bordwell 1972). In its early period, this method of editing was then called a Kuleshov Experiment. He justified that Montage was more effective in message delivery as viewers can easily discern it by context. Kuleshov explained that visual materials depicted can help the viewers to reach the certain conclusions and messages (Smith 2004). In the 1920's, Soviet filmmakers had their own personal opinions on how to execute montage. It was Sergei Einsenstein, a former student of Kuleshov, who marked a note with his own montage execution (Murch 2001). The remarkable note Einsenstein regarded for the montage as he described it as "the nerve of the cinema". He elaborated that "montage is an idea that arises from the collision of not text to the other, but on the top of the other". With this view, thus Soviet Montage had been noted in film editing from them on (Murch 2001). U.S. film director D.W. Griffith, although not part of the montage school, was one of the credited contributors of Soviet Montage for his own approach of power of editing. He used cross cut editing and codifying film grammar. His works were acknowledge by Kuleshov and other Soviet filmmakers, thus helped them to have wider view on film editing (Smith 2004). Sergei Eisenstein viewed montage as a dialectical medium of creating and conveying meaning. He was merely the first one to develop a system of editing that was not concerned with continuity system's rule and technicalities. He called his own montage as "Intellectual Montage". Intellectual Montage Editing. Sergei Eisenstein believed that editing was the foundation of the

Macro-economical Side of World Price of Wheat Assignment

Macro-economical Side of World Price of Wheat - Assignment Example Normally, when a good has high demand with a given supply, the price for the same tends to come up and when it is demanded by a few, the price tends to come down. But, it is to be noticed that this relationship between price, demand, and supply do not hold good always. There are exceptions to this general rule. However, in the case of commodities that are normally consumed, this rule can be applied. It can be, therefore, inferred that demand and supply are two opposite extremes of the same phenomenon and when it comes together (it is necessary), the price is determined, called the equilibrium price. This equilibrium price ensures that quantity demanded is just equal to the quantity supplied at any time point and this decides the price of that good (Forget 1999, p. 141). In the context of a hike in the price of enriched wheat flour in Malaysia, the following demand-supply model is suggested. The price of wheat here is determined by the forces of quantity demanded and supplied. The quantity of wheat supplied at any time is the amount of wheat that the suppliers are ready to offer at a certain price. Similarly, the amount of quantity of wheat demanded by consumers implies the quantity that consumers are ready to purchase at a certain price. When both demand and supply interact together at a point, the price is determined. This situation is known as the equilibrium price. This situation gets affected when there is a mismatch between quantity supplied and demanded. At this juncture, the quantity demanded does not coincide with what is offered by suppliers and thereby the price reaches disequilibrium. This price disequilibrium gets adjusted by either a price cut or a price hike as the case may be and eventually reaches the price equilibrium. The major reason put forward here for the inevitable price hike is the shortage of wheat in the home market. When there is a shortage of an essential good, the demand for the same would increase as a certain amount of the good is consumed daily. Therefore, when there is a shortage in the supply of wheat in the country, the demand for wheat flour increases and naturally there is an adjustment of price. However, this economic problem can be overcome by shifting the consumption of wheat from enriched wheat to normal wheat. The price of normal wheat will not be affected much as it is abundantly available. Hence, the authorities can proceed with stabilizing the price at a level where the consumers in the home market will not be harmed much. Explain the determinants of the price elasticity of demand as they apply to the demand for wheat. Use your conclusions about the price elasticity of demand to explain what they imply about the revenue that Australian wheat farmers are likely to receive as a consequence of the poor harvests in Australia Price Elasticity of Demand of a good is commonly understood as the degree to which the consumers respond to a change in price. If the consumers are highly responsive that they demand more of the good, when there is a price cut, the good id said to have price elasticity. It is measured by a coefficient. When the coefficient is high, the good is highly elastic and vice versa (Hoag 2006, p. 102).

ZARA Brand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ZARA Brand - Essay Example Its products have various prices depending on their specific design, size and type of product. Generally, their prices are relatively low compared to similar retailers and customers can chose their desired payment methods. ZARA promotes its products mainly through television and print media and sells its products through physical stores. Online orders are also acceptable and customers can choose to pick products in person or order for postal delivery (CNN News 2001). ZARA positions itself to target its customers by offering more products compared to similar products. The company has also capitalised in innovativeness where it produces new products within an extra ordinarily short time and places them in their stores (Tiplady 2006). In this way, they are able to shorten the lifespan of their products leading to a greater success in meeting the preferences of customers Designs that do not sell for a week are withdrawn, orders cancelled and a new design developed – the production of Zara products is therefore customer driven. . Zara positions itself in different ways to target its customers. For instance it provides a variety of items ensuring speed in its marketing. It also ensures its stores are located in places attractive to the customers. It has also established a website where customers can access the various products offered by Zara. Zara retail focuses on the 4Ps which include the product, price, place and promotion according to Peng (2010). In the case of product Zara, management first has to think over the product being launched in relation to its value, positioning, ingredients, target customers and packages. The price of the product is determined based on the quality of the product (whether top or popular), discounts given on many of the products. Zara products are mainly sold in retail stores, online and by specific supermarkets. Zara products are normally marketed online through various marketing tools