Industries That Being Disrupted By Elon Musk And His Companies

Industries That Being Disrupted By Elon Musk And His Companies

It is said that one of the best ways to learn something is to study and watch the people who are very successful at this task. So, if one was wanting to get better at business and the strategies behind it, a great way to learn would be by studying and learning about some of the greatest businessmen in the world. One of the most talked-about businessmen in the world currently is Elon Musk. Elon Musk is a very hardworking, intelligent man who owns multiple multimillion-dollar companies and is very wealthy himself. By studying him and the way he thinks, people can learn some of the tactics and strategies he uses to make money and run his businesses and apply them to their own lives to improve their own wealth and business knowledge.

Elon’s childhood was far from normal. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa on June 28, 1971, to Errol and Maye Musk (Blystone, 2019). Elon was very different compared to other kids. He always kept to himself, ignored just about everyone, and would constantly zone out. This problem was so bad that doctors originally believed he had hearing problems as a small child (Vance,2018). Musk had a very strong ambition, even as a child. He read at least one book every day in an attempt to expand his knowledge (Adkin, 2019). He got his first computer at the age of nine. At the age of twelve, he first started working with programming, which he taught himself when he made his own video game and sold it for five hundred dollars. The game was called Blastar (Blystone, 2019). Then, at the age of seventeen, Musk decided to move to America by himself. He first moved in with some relatives in Canada and worked at low-end jobs. He also attended Queens University in Kingston Ontario for two years before moving to the United States in 1992 after receiving a scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania. Here, he would obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. To further his education, Musk also attended The Wharton School for the University of Pennsylvania for another year to acquire a bachelor’s degree in science (AstrumPeople, 2019).

Elon owns or is part of multiple companies and has lots of things going his way at the moment. He is currently forty-eight years old and has a net worth of about twenty-two billion dollars (AstrumPeople, 2019). Elon owns multiple companies that range from dealing with spaceships to making flamethrowers, but his first-ever official business was a company called Zip2 that he started up with his brother. This company created a platform on the internet that could offer its customers some additional services. In 1999, Musk would sell the company to AltaVista for three hundred and seven million dollars (Adkin, 2019). With this money, Elon could now focus on some of his bigger and better ideas, thanks to the ability for him to be able to fund them now. Musk’s second company was called X.com until it merged with another company named Confinity to become the more well-known company today: PayPal. This company would become the first to ever create a digital currency. Musk would once again sell this company to eBay for one and a half billion dollars, which he would end up splitting up with other owners of the company (Adkin, 2019). Elon’s next business is arguably his most famous business to date, Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is a car company that only sells electric cars. In 2008, the first model, the Tesla Roadster, was released. It could travel around two hundred miles in one charge (Hoffman, 2012). These cars are known for their simplicity and their technology. As a matter of fact, some of the newer models have the option to come with an autopilot model (Vance,2018). Another one of his biggest companies is the company SpaceX. SpaceX is a company that launches rockets into space. A big reason for the starting of this company is Elon’s fascination with trying to colonize Mars. It is one of his biggest goals in life. The company is located out of Hawthorne, California. Elon has put so much effort into this company specifically that he already has fifty launches planned over multiple years that would cost around five billion dollars and has gotten contracts from NASA for over 1.6 billion dollars (Vance, 2018). Musk is also the biggest investor and chairman of the board of Solar City located in San Mateo, California. He invested over ten million dollars into the company. This company is one of the largest energy suppliers in the entire world. It provides energy to businesses, homes, and governments through solar panels (AstrumPeople, 2019). All of Elon’s companies share a common factor. They all deal with either space colonization, renewable resources, or the internet. This is because Elon’s goal in life is to significantly contribute to things that will impact humanity’s destiny in the future. He is always pushing the boundaries of society for the better.

Elon Musk is so successful and powerful because of a few key strategies and methods he uses. One of the biggest reasons is that he is very good and making products that appeal to feelings and emotions(Dudharejia, 2017). By appealing to their emotions, people are much more likely to impulsively buy your product, spend their money on it without even thinking about it, and even develop a need for your product. Another thing about Musk is that he is always confident that whatever he invests in is going to succeed. As a matter of fact, he is so confident and assured others that what he does will be successful that there is such thing called “The Musk Effect”. This effect has been proven through the fact that every company he has started or joined has had a tremendous spike in success rate as soon as he joins the company. For example, Musk originally had little understanding of cars and rockets, but he was so confident and quick to learn about them that Tesla and SpaceX are now huge companies worth millions of dollars (Dudharejia, 2017). Musk also uses a method of tactical thinking called first principles thinking which reframes a problem to help give a simpler solution. First-principles thinking is when one makes a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further than what it already is. This strategy helps when trying to break down complex problems. An example of this from Elon Musk can be found when Elon first had ideas of making rockets to discover Mars and the rest of space. While doing research, he found out that rockets can cost up to sixty-five million dollars. So, instead of asking himself where he could find an affordable rocket, Musk asked himself what made rockets so expensive. He did more research and found that the materials needed to make a rocket in the market were only about two percent of the actual price of premade rockets. By simplifying the problem he had, Elon was able to reduce the price of building his first rocket by ten times the price of the original pre-built one (MacKay, 2017). Determination is another strong attribute of Musks. He has a drive for success like no other and will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals and get what he wants to be done. When Elon first moved to America and started working on Zip2, he was poor and had nowhere to live, but he did not let that stop him from working. He lived, slept, and worked all in the same office area and had to go shower in the locker rooms of a local stadium (Carolyn F., 2016). Musk is also good at changing the traditional way of thinking. This can be seen in all his companies. For example, Tesla is formed off the idea of using renewable resources to fuel transportation instead of the traditional fossil fuels which are bad for the environment. When first joining in on the rocket business competition, Musk realized that he would once again have to revolutionize how people thought about rockets in order to beat out the big-name companies that had already existed. He did this by introducing reusable rockets, which cut costs tremendously (Carolyn F., 2016). Another simple thing that Elon does is enjoy his current success and reward his hard work occasionally. An example of this can be found when he bought an eighteen hundred square foot condo after he got his share from the sale of his first startup. He even spent one million dollars on a McLaren car for one million dollars (Ahmed, 2016). By doing this in moderation, he can not only enjoy life more, but he is boosting his confidence which helps tremendously in business. Elon is also a major risk-taker. As stated earlier, he moved across the country and away from his family as a teenager. When Tesla, SpaceX, and Solar City were just starting up, Elon invested so much money into the companies that he had to borrow money from his friends just to cover his living expenses (Garin, 2019). Obviously, it looks like all these risks he took worked out for him, but the truth is that he failed lots of times throughout the process. Musk once said that he believed that Tesla would be a failure, but he did it anyway because it was important to him (Garin, 2019). The key to this is that he not only is not afraid to fail, but when he does, he is able to learn from his mistakes to make himself and his companies better all around. A very important business strategy Musk also uses is investing his profits from companies into other companies. By doing this he can generate more ways of income, making him even more money. From the two companies that he has sold, he has invested at least forty-five percent of the earnings off of it into building new companies (Garin, 2019). If Musk had not have invested the money he made from Zip2 into his other companies, he more than likely would not be nearly as popular, wealthy, or successful.

While it may seem that Elon’s life over the past few years has been just about perfect, it is far from the truth. For him to be as successful as he is, he has had to make many big choices on what and where he spends his time. He has sacrificed so much time on his businesses that he has no time for anything else, even his own family. It got so bad that he would eventually end up getting a divorce from his wife, Justine (Adkin, 2019). Another downfall that comes with being the ruthless leader that Elon is, is that he is hated by lots of people, including his own employees. There was a point in time where Tesla was struggling and not doing well. So, Elon had some of his employees working twenty-four-hour workdays. Running all these businesses also puts him under a lot of stress, which he often releases onto his employees. Elon once tasked his best worker at SpaceX, Steve Davis, to take a part that was quoted at one hundred and twenty thousand dollars and build it for Elon with a budget of under five thousand dollars. After working on it every day for over nine months, he finally was able to make it for only three thousand nine hundred dollars. He then wrote Elon an email describing this as the greatest accomplishment of his life, to which Elon responded with a simple ok (Adkin, 2019). Even though Elon’s treatment towards Davis helped to do something never done before, it gave many people a reason to dislike Elon. One of the worst things Elon did though was with Mary Beth Brown, his longtime executive assistant. She worked behind the scenes a lot with all of Elon’s companies to make sure that they were running right and was always by Elon’s side when he needed help. She did so much work that she believed that she deserved a raise. When she asked for one Elon responded by telling her to take two weeks off to see if he could do her job by himself. When she came back after two weeks, Elon fired her on the spot (Adkin, 2019). While Elon’s ruthless mindset is beneficial to him and his companies most of the time, it also comes with some major downfalls.

As seen, Elon lived a very different life from others, which is what it takes to be as successful as he is. By looking at some of the ups and downs in his life, tactics and strategies for not only business but also for life were discovered. The study of how Elon thought and the information on the businesses he owns also helped to unravel new techniques. Sometimes the goal to be successful is hard and will be no fun as seen by Elon’s beginnings. It takes lots of perseverance, sacrifice, and dedication in order to become better. Being successful and wealthy also has its downfalls. People will always be looking to hate and be against whoever is the most successful. Overall, much was learned through the studying of Elon Musk’s life that could help one in starting a business, running a business, making money, and even just life in general.

SWOT Analysis Of BMW Company

SWOT Analysis Of BMW Company

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is a method for identifying organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis evaluates what an organization can or cannot do in terms of both internal as well as external factors. Conducting a SWOT analysis determines the factors that will assist the firm in achieving its objectives. SWOT also identifies the factors that must be minimized or overcome to attain the desired result.

In BMW, we found several of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. For strength, consists of one of the most successful auto brands in the world, advertising, high budget, competence in hybrid and electric cars, geographically diversified sources of income, perfect engineering and excellent driving experience and last is high skilled labour. Then, for weaknesses consist of poor automotive brand portfolio, human resources, unable to meet demand, lack of performance appraisal, increasing debt level, diversification in the workplace, and worker morale is low. Next, for opportunities consist of New Series, Increase profitability by innovation, Autonomous driving technology, strategic partnership, green vehicle, digital marketing and last popularity in developing countries (China & India). Then, as for threats consist of competitor (Volkswagen, Mercedez-Benz, Audi), price factor, increase cost in raw material, chinese car manufactures, economic fluctuations, shortage of skilled workforce, and last is rise in fuel price.

From SWOT analysis, we make an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE). Internal Factor Evaluation consists of strength and the weaknesses. Then, as for External Factor Evaluation consists of opportunities and threats. The purposes from the evaluation is to summarize and evaluate the factors given which will give the highest impact in the organization. Before we make an evaluation, there are FIVE steps that need to be followed which are list down the factor in sequence, assign a weight range from important to very important, assign a response rating for each factor, multiply the weight by its rating for the weighted score, and last sum all the weight score.

Then, from our observation in BMW. In the strength, brands is the highest influence in the company. We know that BMW is one of the most successful automotive brand in the world. Then, as for weaknesses, BMW get the highest rate by poor automotive brand portfolio. Next, for opportunities the highest rate goes to the new series in BMW. We know that BMW always have an idea to produce new series time by time. Then, last for the treats is, the highest rate is in term of their competitor like Audi, Mercedez-Benz, Volkswagen and many more.

STRENGTH, WEAKNESSES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN BMW

Next, move to the opportunities of BMW. The first opportunities that we have, research is by introducing new models of BMW series. They should declare a new models of cars that from a different markets that can target a group of lower class by providing luxury cars that suitable for their ability but still giving them more than what they are expected for their cars. BMW has a chance of producing new models. As for now, people always keep waiting for new models of cars release especially from BMW models. Therefore, a new models car of BMW is expected to match our newly technological advancements from time to time. This is one of the reason why car’s brand need to release new cars often to meet consumer demands or needs, so BMW is one of the good choice to fill this need as people always demanding the new models from BMW.

Then, growth the profit by the innovation make by BMW. From the innovation make, BMW should get a chance to increase their profit of BMW Group. Then, as we can see on the innovation side, BMW has get good relationship with alpine among others to modify the BMW cars to make sure it is more interesting to attract the customers. For example, as we know that in 2012, BMW Group get the highest sales as 1.845,186 Group of BMW vehicle are sold. Then, we can see that any innovation that BMW comes out for their cars, it’s always make people more attract to change for a new models especially for the people who are make BMW as their favorable cars.

Next, autonomous-driving or self-driving technology. With advancing technology, we believe that BMW can make their cars more advanced in term of the driving the cars. We know that now BMW has a very great or good plan for their vehicle to make it as the safest cars, which fully with advancing technology introduce. Other than that, this technology was introduced to make sure people with a BMW car can bring or feel the best experience while driving with BMW cars.

Other than that, strategic collaboration with BMW Group. The collaboration or we can say it as a partnership that make by BMW Group with the other group is one of the main reason or main goals to strength their relationship with the other group. Other than that, BMW can promote their brand around the globe to make it more well-known for the people. Other than that, from the collaboration, BMW also can share what are the innovation that make by them, which bring the customers to purchase their brand. Other than that, BMW also make an agreement with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. in China. The Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. is one of the company that have a great technology and in China this company known as one of the technology leaders. One of the main goals from the collaboration from Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. is to form a BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA). From the collaboration make, who knows BMW can use their advancing technology to put in their brand also. However, other than from Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., BMW also have a partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation and Peugeot Citroen.

Next, BMW also one of the green vehicle. Nowadays, we know that customers becomes more aware about environmental protection and negative thinking of petrol and diesel cars. So that BMW emphasis on green vehicles. It will definitely create the strong position in the future when the firm produce most ecological vehicles, which comply with new reduced vehicle omission regulation. Alternatives fuels can power green vehicle and advanced vehicle technologies include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and many more. Electric cars now have been more popular around the other brands of car and not only in BMW cars. However, for the people who are the fans of BMW car will feel happy if BMW car also introduce green vehicle in the cars. We know that, right now people around the world are more demand on the emissions free vehicle especially for brand cars like BMW. This is because BMW will continually produce cars with a green vehicle. Then, in 2013, BMW had released its first electric vehicle BMW i3.

Then, popularity in developing countries (China & India). China is now the second most important market for BMW Group while India retains number 1 spot in India’s luxury market. Then, if the BMW get popularity their brand in China and India, it will make the sales of the BMW increase time by time because we know that China and India is among the developing countries. Then, when BMW starts operation in India at January 2007, BMW cars start to known around the people at that particular country. Other than that, BMW also record worldwide sales in 2013 and this is one of the great achievement for BMW. The BMW Group also had its best first six months ever at the start of 2013. Then, BMW Group also increased sales by 6% to 954,521 cars including BMW cars and mini cars.

Lastly for the opportunities in BMW is digital marketing. For BMW, with the introducing of digital marketing, customers or people will more aware of the existence of BMW brand. We know that right now people are trying to get any information from the digital marketing platform. This is because, digital technology can attract more people as we can promote our brands at many ways. Other than that, BMW also can promote their brand in their own websites. BMW should make the website for their own company to make it easier for people to search or get know everything about the BMW Group. Then, from the website make it will promote the brands around the world. The, from the promotion make, people will get engage with anything that BMW update about their cars either in term of introducing new models, or in term of the price of the cars, or it can be in term of the strength of the BMW cras compare to the other cars. So, from digital marketing, the company should make something to attract the people to feel interested to purchase the cars

THREATS IN BMW

Then, we move to the threat. Firstly is, competitor. Competitive pressure in the car industry has grown. There are several car brands in the world which investing aggressively in technology, marketing and driver safety to grow their market share. BMW’s competitors are their biggest threat. BMW, Mercedes and Audi have always been in competition producing similar cars. However, BMW has always been on the top but in recent years Mercedes and Audi. We know that each brands had produce cars with better design, technology or the cost itself also each of the brand have their differences but it depends on the people itself which one will make them more attract.

Secondly is price factor. More people will be price conscious one day. In the future, luxury cars will stop receiving as much attention as people will no longer demand on luxury cars. Nowadays, we know that people are becomes price conscious. If the price keep increase from time to time, the people will no longer feel attract to purchase it especially for younger generation as their income still not too large. BMW one of the highest price car in the cars industry and for now the price of the BMW still not too highest but one day the price will rise time by time. Then, at that time, people will considered money they will use for something more valuable and they do not think luxury car are part of their goals.

Thirdly is increase cost in raw material. Cost of raw material are growing for each year that will lead to higher operating cost. If they are facing this issue, due to rise in costs of raw material, it will lead to less profit and higher input costs. As the technology use are more advancing from time to time, so the cost of raw material also will increase. Exactly, BMW wants the best technology for their cars, but increasing cost of raw material will make the cost of the car higher than usual. Then, if the people are no longer afford to buy, the income of the BMW Group will decline from time to time.

Fourthly is Chinese car. They produce cars similar with BMW but with better technology and at lower price. BMW take a plan to joint venture with Brilliance Auto to produce BMW cars to Chinese market. We know that China is the largest market in the world, so the Chineese cars also can make the BMW Group decline their income. However, BMW maintain on China’s luxury car market. Although Audi started, making cars in China but BMW still command a strong following among Chinese car buyers. China is crucial in the race to be the world’s top luxury brand but BMW is still maintain the world’s No. 1 luxury-car brand.

Next, Economic fluctuations. We would never expect the economic fluctuations that will happen. The word have their ups and down in term of the economy sector. For now, the economic still grown but in the future we can’t expect that the economy will fall. If the economy still stable around the world, the sales of BMW cars also will stable. However, if the economy will fall in the future, the sales of the vehicle also will decrease. Moreover, we can’t expect anything from the uncertainty market that will happen. So, not only for BMW brand, the other brands also shoul get ready in terms of economic fluctuation in the industry. Other than that, it will effect on the import & export of the cars. This is because how BMW going to import or export if the economy will fall in the future. It will consume a lot of money in term of import or export the cars.

Then, shortage of skilled worker. When there is shortage of skilled worker, means it will slow down the manufactures of cars. Every industry will get involved with this kind of situation and not only for BMW. Then, in preventing this threat, around 2007, leaders at a BMW train plant in Germany, it were concerned about declines in productivity as their workers aged. They anticipated the average age of workers would rise from 39 to 47. Then, BMW come out with an idea to avoid shortage of skilled worker by developed a pilot project for one of the most labor-intensive production lines with workers to reflect workforce projections. Moreover, BMW Group should come out with a back up plan to avoid the shortage of skilled worker in the future.

Lastly for the threat is rise in fuel price. We cannot expect when the fuel price will arise, but from time to time we need to get ready. However, BMW need to adapt with to the need of green fuel and green machine. Rise in fuel price have a great impact to BMW’s performance, as BMW’s cars are known to be a lot of higher in consumption of fuels. BMW needs to strongly adapt to the need of green fuel and green machines so that it can absorb the potential customers who are looking for green car solutions, especially in the mature markets.

The Problem Of Corporate Surveillance Industry

The Problem Of Corporate Surveillance Industry

Corporate surveillance, the monitoring of a person or a group of people collecting data on others, is in our everyday life. Sometimes we are aware of it but do not really pay attention or care about it until it becomes a bit too much. Should corporate surveillance be allowed?

Learning more about corporate surveillance is important because consumers should be aware that it crosses the line between sharing basic information and invading their privacy. Understanding the concept of corporate surveillance might make people be more careful while visiting some sites or some places. In the world in general 61.2% uses smartphones, and in America, 88% of people use social media. So, we are talking about a tremendous amount of people that are ignorant of their privacy being violated. Although corporate surveillance can benefit in many ways, it should not be allowed.

The definition of privacy has now shifted. Now companies do not care about people wanted to stay discreet about their personal information. This is based on the article Selfie Culture in the Age of Corporate and State Surveillance, written by Henry A. Giroux .“ The author argues that the selfie is not just another fad deeply enmeshed in popular culture. On the contrary, selfies are less about entertainment and vanity than they are symptomatic of a retreat from privacy rights, an intense site for the commodification of the self, and a veritable resource for the surveillance state and its national intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency.” Basically, the author is saying that corporate surveillance is so developed that even by taking selfies companies have information about consumers that should have remained private. Social media is not only about entertainment, it also puts people’s privacy at risk. The “ selfie culture” is now a political problem which people should be aware of and protect themselves from.

Companies now know more about us than we do about ourselves because they keep on spying on us. It is based on “ The New Tech Totalitarian “ written by John Gray. “ “Connected cars” could monitor drivers and lock down a vehicle if users fell behind in their payments for it. Other schemes have proposed that individuals’ health be monitored by “wearable accelerometers”, which would “improve traceability of their compliance” with dietary and medication schedules. As the “internet of things” advances, car dashboards, refrigerators, thermostats, spectacles, and watches will become platforms for advertising. Location data collected from smartphones already record how people travel and shape where and what they consume.” This shows that it benefits companies to spy on consumers because if a consumer tries to steal or is doing something illegal they can easily track him. The same thing applies to criminals, the government can use this information to track a criminal which benefits everyone in this case. In this case, it is acceptable. But there are always two sides to a subject. It does not benefit so much consumers because their privacy has been violated. They should be able to have a say in companies and the government spying on them.

Before it was harder for companies to know about people’s personal information unless the person gave it to them. Now everything had changed, gained more capacity to do collect data. According to “ Privacy Under Capitalism” written by Jacob Silverman, it states, “With the proliferation of networked devices in our homes and on our bodies, our surrounding environments now overflow with sensors and other data producers. Earlier generations saw some forms of governmental and commercial data collection about the home and what goes on in it. Market research, census records, consumer surveys, loyalty cards, credit bureaus, property records—these were common pre-digital data streams, and many still exist in one form or another.” This evidence highlights the fact that compared to the previous generation, now they know everything about us. They have the ability to know your location, activities, who you talk to, what type of music you listen to, etc… Unlike before people had to fill in papers or surveys for companies to know their preferences. Now everything is easier for them because of the increase of devices that we use all the time. It is totally not safe to use our electronic devices because companies always have access to it and it’s easy to spy on us.

However, corporate surveillance has some benefits. Benefits like machines helping you or companies sending you coupons once you apply on one of their sites. It is based on “ Fast Companies” written by Heather Woods from Amazon. “First, smart devices offer exceptional convenience at an unprecedentedly low cost …This isn’t new. Wealthier people have long relied on the labor of others to manage their households and workspaces. Smart home technologies promise similar effects. They can automate chores, including vacuuming, grocery shopping, and even cooking.”Smart devices have been invented to help people in their everyday tasks. These devices even though the companies have access to their customer’s personal information, it is very beneficial for people with special needs. They won’t have to do some home tasks themselves, they could just tell the smart device to. The disadvantage is that like I mentioned the companies will have access to your personal information, like what you tell the device to do or are your preference, more information than what you want them to know about you.

As long as we recognize its advantages, we still have to keep in mind its multiples disadvantage. Companies spying on us as an impact. It is based on “ The Best Of The Left”. According to Best of the left, politicians and some companies use social media like Facebook to target particular groups of people. Its shows that the government and companies are constantly spying on people. They have people’s data and information.

I was not sure about either if corporate surveillance was negative or not. Now I am definitely against it. I believe everyone should have the right to be fully informed about the information collected from them. Do people really care? Are people trying to make changes when aware? People should do more about the situation.

Positive And Negative Aspects Of Utilitarianism In Textile Industry

Positive And Negative Aspects Of Utilitarianism In Textile Industry

Utilitarianism is one of the most established and influential normative ethical theories, that determines right from wrong by focusing on consequences. It states we should strive to generate the greater good to the greatest number of people who stand to be affected by the action. In this essay I will be highlighting both the positive and negative features of utilitarianism in practice as illustrated by David Meeler’s analysis of the global textile industry. Before underlining the positive and negative aspects illustrated in the case study, it is worth noting the significance that the textile industry plays within the country.

The textile industry is one of the biggest employer in the manufacturing sector providing jobs to minorities, women and most locals within small communities. It contributes greatly towards the developmental process of the economy through advancement of small communities.

In the case study analyzed by David Meeler, we see how companies within the textile industry applied utilitarian thinking due to the rising value of the dollar and decline in currencies in Asia which resulted in high cost of producing goods and services and less cost to import from Asia. Companies had make tough decisions to ensure the success of their companies by maximizing the overall long-term benefit for all. In doing so, David Meeler highlights some of the negative aspects arising from the action taken by the companies. A lot of textile jobs were lost due to closure of plants. Therefore, loss of employment equals to no income thus a decrease in standard of living and also creating stress and unhappiness. Furthermore, local business suffered because they were unable to sell goods and services to people that do not have an income and can’t afford it. An increase of imports from Asia drops the country’s GDP. Contributions to charities and church decrease and eventually cease. Last but not least the burden on the local governments are increased causing an increase in taxes cuts so as to support services and career retraining for the lost jobs. (pg 58 – 60).

Despite the negative outcomes listed above, Meelers article illustrates advantages as well. Through imports, the textile industry increases production at a lower cost and increases their profits which gives the companies an advantage in the local and global markets. Low cost goods in the America and stock holder’s profits maintained. Also it brings new employment opportunities to developing countries, increased happiness and improved standard of living. pg 58-60)

In summary, according to utilitarianism we should act in a way that promotes the greater good for the greatest number of people. In David Meeler’s case study, one may ask if the greater good for greater number of people was in Asia or America. However, the article conveyed how utilitarianism has positive and negative aspects when applied in business ethics and also how it can be justified even though it may cause harm to others.

Kellogg’s Company: Swot Analysis

Kellogg’s Company: Swot Analysis

SWOT analysis is an analysis that evaluates the internal and external factors in an organization’s environment. The internal factors include strength and weakness whereas the external factors are opportunities and threats.

Strength

  1. Worldwide Presence: – Kellogg’s is a renowned cereals company that is being manufactured in almost 18 countries and marketed over 180 countries. The company is the most successful and leading producer of cereals that is keeping its pace with global manufacturing and marketing capabilities and has become a prominent company after it acquired Pringles to expand its market share in international snacks. Besides cereals, the company is also a manufacturer of convenience products foods, such as fruit flavored snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, cookies, crackers and frozen waffles. The products of Kellogg’s company are available in different outlets of Qatar and it is seen to be fairly consumed by the population.
  2. Multiple Variants: – Kellogg’s researches in their production of cereals and decides to improve the nutrition of their foods by adding multiple variants to their list. Some of the variants are Honey loops, Choco, Frosted Flakes, Happy Inside, Frosted Mini Wheats, Krave, Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Pop tarts, Eggo, Special K and so on. They have also added Kellogg’s oats or All Bran as a popular breakfast option for the consumers. According to Bhasin (2018), Kellogg’s have studied the consumer habits for breakfast including what they add to their bowl of cornflakes to upgrade its taste and this has brought about them thinking of variations. These variants are not available in abundance in Qatar. However, with cereals like cornflakes and Choco the consumer meets with different breakfast needs.
  3. Brand Values: – Kellogg’s is a very competitive company. Providing ready to eat cereals, the company holds number of values such as balanced nutrition, low fat, tasty and high carb which is advertised as the ideal breakfast for health-conscious consumers. According to Rooney (2012), the world’s largest cereal maker which spends more than $1 billion on brand marketing and advertising is fighting for major brand overhaul by bringing innovative ideas to their product and purchasing Pringles for expanding its global footprint in the category of snacks. With its brand value, the company keeps high-presence in Qatar.

Opportunities

  1. Changing Lifestyle: – The lifestyle of people is changing with the growth of urban population. According to Bhasin (2018), People tend to look for a quick easy made meal in their fast-paced movement of life. Kellogg’s is a company that offers a meal prepared in advance, with no further preparation or cooking required before being eaten. It makes life much easier and saves time. In Qatar, most of the families are shifting from their traditional breakfast preferences to Western breakfasts like cereals. Change of the preferences in the lifestyle of Qatari citizens is the force that results in an increase in the marker share of cornflakes and cereals.
  2. Targeting Hotels & Restaurants: -The company is taking one step in generating their profit in market share and growth by planning to have joint contract with cafes and restaurants. In Qatar, this segment for growth will boost the business of the company.

Weakness

  1. Marketing campaigns: Kellogg’s has always been an appealing company to the consumers for their clear messages of the quality cereals through advertisement. Besides all the praises of the company’s breakfast meal-list, the company also faced criticisms and was questioned by the press for adding high amount of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and salt in and boasting the nutrition value. According to Bainbridge (2013), “Cereal giant Kellogg’s has again been told to withdraw two television advertisements because they are deemed to be marketing unhealthy food to children” (para. 1).
  2. Slow innovation: – Kellogg’s is known to have an extent of competition in the market with its competitors. Despite the fact of competition, the company is slow in diversification and innovation of the contents of the cereals which is one of its weaknesses in the growth.
  3. Lack of Sensitivity to culture: Kellogg’s had cases of neglecting the sensitivity of various cultures while manufacturing their product. Low sensitivity accounts for low acceptance in many cultures. Kellogg’s had to rename their popular Bran buds cereal launched in Sweden because it somehow translated to “Burned Farmer”. They also designed Corn pops cereal box that had insensitive racial connotation and confirmed to change it after a person complained.

Threats

  1. Government Regulation: Kellogg’s had to give in on government regulations when found the use of excess amount of sugar in the cereals. According to Doha news (2013), “The Ministry of Business and Trade has urged Qatar’s supermarkets to remove Kellogg’s Cornflakes from store shelves, saying it is unfit for human consumption” (para. 2).
  2. Competition: Kellogg’s have some notable competitors in Qatari market. Those are Nestle, Quaker Oats Company, Kraft Heinz and so on. The number of cafes in Qatar are increasing and hence people tend to shift to consuming breakfast in café and other food joints.
  3. Customer awareness: Customers are very smart and aware of the products they purchase. With the advancement of technology and urbanization in Qatar, people can easily recognize the pros and cons of any product and how it affects one’s personal lifestyle. Kellogg’s cornflakes were taken out of the shelves in the supermarkets of Qatar when the ministry directives found unhealthy signs unfit for human consumption. Kellogg’s had to face criticisms for adding sugar and was told to take out two of their advertisements. It is because the customers recognized the disparity between the advertisement and product message which resulted into negative word of mouth and had negative impact on the lives of their children.

Promotion

The company of Kellogg’s use effective promotional plans under its marketing mix to keep hold of its prospective buyers. Among the five elements of promotional mix, advertising and sales promotion are the key aspects of the company’s marketing mix. Beside the two elements, packaging is also maintained that must provide a representation of the brand identity and appeal to the target market. Kellogg’s focuses on building a strong brand compared to other brands in the market in order to increase sales. The packages are designed with cartoon characters that makes children more likely to buy the product. It introduces some gift items, some solving games like sudoku, crossword, jigsaw puzzles and some prizes in the boxes of cereal boxes as a promotional tool to target children.

Advertisement: Kellogg’s use repetitive advertising message to reinforce the knowledge of cereals to the customers using whole range of media such as posters, radio, cinema, in the press and most recently on the internet. Its cereals are products are considered low involvement hence they try maintaining the quality, keep the shelves full in any market worldwide and consumers can find them in every supermarket which shows that Kellogg’s is trying to make customers involve in the product and makes them feel that they must purchase. Television is used as the main channel for advertising for an individual brand aimed at a target audience. For instance, the special K edition of Kellogg’s cereal is specifically aimed towards women empowering them and helping them to reduce their weight whereas Coco pops, Frosties are aimed at children and Corn Flakes are aimed at the whole family. The content of the advertisement is depended on the target audience. For Kellogg’s marketing campaigns social media is a great tool where the company shares brand messaging of their innovative cereal meals for different special occasions.

Sales promotion: In order to stimulate interest in buying Kellogg’s cereals, the company uses short-term inducement that results in stimulating sales for that period of time. For example, in Qatar, Kelloggs puts discout on the cereals which makes the customers buy their products. This covers the entire Kellogg’s marketing mix.

The promotional objectives of a company in marketing is basically based on the strategies, aims and goals of its project. The current promotional objective of Kellogg’s originals cereal is customer focus. According to Kellogg’s statement, “It is the company’s objective to grow by using customer focused marketing strategy to serve the needs of their target customers, ‘potential cereals consumers’.” The company is also being recognized with an objective to provide valuable quality products to customers, to grow and to stand out as a leader in cereals market.

A good communication is an essential element for the company to send out the message they want. The leading cereal company Kellogg’s acts as an encoder who strives to devise communication and plans to convey message of the importance of breakfast to their selected target audience i.e. children through multi-platform campaign. For instance, the company has been involved actively in supporting breakfast clubs in schools for many years in the UK. According to Fernandez (2014), Kellogg’s mentioned that they set up a campaign in UK with the message “Wake up to breakfast” with an aim to get back the families in British into the habit of eating the breakfast by primarily targeting parents and families. The goal of the campaign was to reach out directly to the skippers of breakfast and show them how beneficial it is to start a day with breakfast. Kellogg’s through their promotional message wanted to give message to the people that healthy meal is the best option for maintaining good health. Advertisement of the campaign through television as a medium of broadcast in addition to public relation to get messages to the press was an efficient way to reach out the target audience.

  1. References
  2. Bainbridge, A. (2013, July 04). Kellogg’s ordered to withdraw more TV ads. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-04/kelloggs-ordered-to-withdraw-more-television-ads/4799270
  3. Bhasin, H. (2018, March 10). SWOT analysis of Kelloggs – Kelloggs SWOT analysis & internal analysis. Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-kelloggs-kelloggs-swot-analysis/
  4. Bhasin, H. (2018, March 20). SWOT analysis of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes – Kellogg’s SWOT analysis. Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-kelloggs-corn-flakes/
  5. Dohanews. (2013, April 25). Qatar supermarkets remove Kellogg’s Cornflakes from shelves after ministry directive. Retrieved from http://dohanews.tumblr.com/post/48842506715/qatar-supermarkets-remove-kelloggs-cornflakes
  6. Fernandez, J. (2014, October 17). Kellogg’s encourages consumers to ‘Wake Up To Breakfast’ – Marketing Week. Retrieved from https://www.marketingweek.com/2010/07/20/kelloggs-encourages-consumers-to-wake-up-to-breakfast/
  7. Rooney, J. (2012, May 10). Kellogg’s Completes Major Brand Overhaul. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/05/10/kelloggs-embarks-on-major-brand-overhaul/

The Aspects And Peculiarities Of British Petroleum (BP) Company

The Aspects And Peculiarities Of British Petroleum (BP) Company

Today, there are a lot of different industries and companies operating within these industries, each of which has its own special characteristics, history and future potential. Despite the fact that the market is constantly changing and there are new more modern and up-to-date companies that can impose competition on established market leaders, companies with a long history are able to resist new young companies and can make every effort to prevent the loss of their market share. Such companies can be called successful and in order to find successful companies, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the industry, its external and internal factors, as well as to analyze the strategy and work of individual companies, because a very large number of factors affect the success of its work. Periodically analyze the industry and individual companies is very important, as it allows us to identify the most problematic issues that may hinder the further development of the company, as well as to identify possible ways out of this situation, because if the company do not respond to the problems that arise, they can grow very much and then the whole company will suffer greatly from them (Johnson and Scholes, 2002). Moreover, the analysis helps to identify the most powerful aspects of the company within the studied industry and these distinctive features can be used when creating a company development strategy, because the advantages must always be used to improve market positions. Also, the analysis of the management strategy of the human resources has a great value and is very important for any company (Millmore, 2007). In this paper, we will look at the features and distinctive qualities of a British company like BP company.

Human resources are very important for the organization, because today there are a lot of theories on effective management of human capital, which becomes one of the main competitive advantages (Collings and Wood, 2009). Firstly, companies try to lure prospective employees away from their competitors by offering them higher wages and more comfortable working conditions. Secondly, companies invest very big amounts of money in the development of their personnel, willing to get a greater return on their work (Farnham, 2010). All this suggests that companies are trying to develop special models, strategic HR management models that take into account the specifics of the business and find the best ways to manage human resources (Storey, 2007). Among these models, we can distinguish the Guest model and Devanna models, each of which has its own distinctive features, although both of them perform the same business tasks.

Guest model allows us to describe the process of adopting and creating an HR management program as a result of forming a business strategy. According to the model, the HR manager should be guided by the overall strategy of the company, because it is necessary to make decisions in accordance with it, for example, it depends on the overall strategy whether to improve the professional qualities of existing employees or by hiring new personnel who already have the necessary knowledge and skills. It is worth noting that Guest created his own model, in which he pointed out the dependence of the company’s financial performance on the business strategy and HR strategy, which allows us to conclude that both of these concepts play a very important role in the performance of the company. What’s more, these two concepts stand in front of many others, which explains the high dependence, for example, of productivity and quality of services or goods on both the business strategy and the HR strategy. That is why these two strategies must match to each other so that the result is exactly what the company’s management expects to see.

The second model, which is the Devanna model, also suggests that the company needs HR management and business strategy to match, since in this case the company can resist external factors. This makes the two models very similar, but the second model also provides with a third condition, which is the organizational structure of the company, which must also correspond to the strategy and HR management. Most likely, this model is better in taking into account the different characteristics of companies of different sizes, because, for example, the HR management programs of large and small companies will differ significantly, at least because of the complexity and detailed hierarchy in large companies. However, we can’t say that either of the two models is better.

After examining the main models that allow us to link HR management and the overall strategy of the company, we can begin to analyze one of the most important industries of the UK, which is the oil and gas industry. The UK is an extremely important player in the black gold market, as this country produces approximately 1.4 million barrels of oil per day, and it is worth remembering that the total worldwide production is approximately 75-78 million barrels per day.

To analyze the volume of extracted oil in a more detailed way we can study the following diagram:

This influence on the oil market is directly related to the history of the Kingdom, because British companies have always sought to expand their territory of influence and develop new lands. Due to this desire, companies could expand their production, which had a positive impact on the development of the industry. To conduct a more detailed analysis of the factors affecting this industry, we will conduct a study using the modern PEST method.

Politics plays a special role among all other types of factors in this analysis. Today, there are a lot of interesting and intimidating processes related to the UK in the political sphere. Of course, we are talking about BREXIT, which calls into question the preservation of close and warm ties with many members of the European Union, in whose environment the business of the United Kingdom has worked for many years. This political upheaval will inevitably lead to the fact that the country’s authorities will have to re-establish diplomatic relations with many countries and now it is impossible to be sure that the influential position of the UK will remain in the form that we have known it for almost 50 years of being in the EU (47 years to be precise).

Economic factors are also important for this industry. Among the most important are the prices of raw materials produced by companies from the UK, which show extremely high volatility. In addition, due to the turmoil in the oil market, when prices dropped from $ 100+ per barrel to $ 27 and then rose to $ 60-70 during 6 years, many companies experienced difficulties due to the unprofitability of oil at such extremely low values. Such major changes greatly affect the financial stability of companies. In addition, it is important to note the exchange rate of the national currency, which has also changed very much in recent years due to many political and economic news. All this has a certain impact on the oil and gas industry.

Social factors also have great impact on industry, as the working population seeks to achieve better working conditions, pay levels, and much more, and it’s all very negative effect on the profitability level of the companies.

Due to technical factors, the industry is developing on the one hand, and, on the other hand, faces certain difficulties. Today, every year new inventions appear that simplify the production and processing of oil, which can reduce the costs of producers. However, due to the fact that these innovations are beginning to be used by all companies in the industry, the market is experiencing an increase in incoming oil, which increases the supply of raw materials, and in conditions of constant demand, this situation leads to a decrease in revenue due to falling prices for raw materials. Therefore, technological factors have two sides of influence on the development of the oil and gas industry.

In the gas and oil industry of the UK, one of the market leaders is BP, which is known for its long history, which has allowed the company to go through many great difficulties. However, the company successfully copes with all the problems and forms a very good position in the market. Here we can see the market share allocation among the oil and gas industry companies presented in the UK (Statista, 2020):

So, the BP company has a big part of the UK oil and gas industry. This is due to the organizational strategy created by the company’s management. Firstly, the vision of the company is “providing the world with high quality energy’ (BP global, 2019). This means that the company values the trust of its customers and is ready to provide the quality of products that customers demand. In addition, mission of the company states the provision of a range of carbon energy including oil and gas, produced and processed by the most modern technologies, allowing to provide products in the required quality, at the prices that buyers can afford, as well as with additional preferences of buyers, which are constantly being improved, which allows to further optimize production and reduce prices for the offered products. BP company provides a large range of the carbon products used in various fields and for various purposes, which allows the company to have several groups of buyers. The company also wants to provide products that meet the high requirements of consumers, and in the long term, the company plans to develop and continue the process of reducing the cost of production, which will have a positive impact on the price. Corporate goals of the company include “to achieve a target of 3.5 million tons of sustainable greenhouse gas emissions reductions” by 2025 and to rewards 36,000 employees due to emissions reduction (BP global, 2019). Generally, if we summarize all this information, we can get the company’s strategy, which is long-term development, which can help to compete in the oil and gas market.

To indicate the position of the company we can use the relevant SWOT-analysis, which can help us to find out some features of the company. First of all, among the strengths we can indicate the desire to fit the modern ecological standards and even to overperform them. Also, we can speak of the big share of the UK market which helps the company to get big revenue and profit. The weaknesses of the BP company is overall sizes which may the dangerous and uncomfortable while making any innovations as it is hard to control the execution of all instructions. Among the company’s opportunities is the possibility of introducing new technologies for extraction and processing of raw materials, which will have a positive impact on the company’s work. However, there are also serious threats to the company, since due to the ambiguous political situation (mainly because of BREXIT), it is likely that relations with major foreign partners may undergo major changes, which may lead to the loss of key partners and some of the product sales market. As we can see, BP company is a very stable company that can achieve good results and significantly improve its position in the market if managers make the right decisions.

If we study the link between the BP company’s HR strategy and overall business strategy, we will see that they are very strongly linked. This is reflected in many real examples where the company, for example, gives some benefits to its employees for working effectively and achieving the company’s strategic goals (Leopold and Harris, 2009). For example, the company thanks and rewards 36 thousand of its employees for their active actions to reduce the company’s emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, because the company recognizes the Paris agreement on climate protection and want to reduce the negative impact on the environment. As already mentioned, one of the corporate goals of the company is to reduce emissions to 3.5 million tons of gases by 2025. Employees take all possible actions to ensure that the company’s goals are achieved, and the world community understands that the company is ready to fight against air pollution. Although the year 2025 has not yet arrived, and the final goal of reducing emissions has not yet been reached, due to the advance of the schedule for reducing emissions, the company rewards its employees, which gives reason to believe that the HR strategy of the BP company really supports and correlates with business strategies. Moreover, we can analyze this example using the two models described earlier. When creating a business strategy, the company planned a certain level of financial results. In order to achieve the planned targets, the company decides to reward its employees if their actions lead to the achievement of the planned targets (Roper, Prouska, and Chatrakul, 2010). In addition, due to the fact that the company’s organizational structure assumes a clear hierarchy among its employees, they, who have competently cooperated, can consistently follow the orders of top managers and achieve the set tasks (Truss, Mankin and Kelliher, 2012).

BP company, being one of the leaders in the UK gas and oil industry, has a good business strategy that can allow the firm to occupy a large market share for a very long time. The company’s business strategy provides with development in several directions, however, when talking about the potential future of the company, it is necessary to take into account not only the desires and aspirations of the company’s owners and of the top-level management, but also the capabilities, quality of training and motivation of the company’s employees (Rees and Smith, 2017). Since companies have recently become much more appreciative of human resources, as they allow the company to achieve key business goals, organizations are extremely interested in developing a high-quality and detailed HR strategy (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). As we can see in the example of BP, compliance with the HR strategy largely determines whether the company’s goals will be achieved, because it is the capabilities of employees that determine how successful the company will be (Marchington, Wilkinson, and Marchington, 2012). If the company wants all the targets and expectations to be met in the future, it is extremely important to take care of the situation with employees who need to do a lot of work, so that they direct all their efforts in the direction that will allow the company to develop.

References

  1. Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. (2011) Strategy and Human Resource Management. Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 46-68.
  2. BP global. (2019). BP to support investor group’s call for greater reporting around Paris goals | News and insights | Home. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-to-support-investor-groups-call-for-greater-reporting-around-paris-goals.html [Accessed 22 Feb. 2020].
  3. BP global. (2019). Investor presentations | Investors | Home. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/investors/investor-presentations.html [Accessed 22 Feb. 2020].
  4. Collings. D.G. and Wood, G. (2009) Human Resource Management: A critical approach. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.103-121.
  5. Farnham, D. (2010) Human Resource Management in Context: Strategy, insights and Solutions. London: CIPD, pp.24-29.
  6. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. Harlow: Pearson Education.
  7. Leopold, J. and Harris, L. (2009) The Strategic Management of Human Resources. Harlow: Pearson Education, pp.49-57.
  8. Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A. and Marchington, L. (2012). Human resource management at work. London: CIPD Publishing, pp.138-162.
  9. Millmore, M., Lewis, P., Saunders, M., Thornhill, A. and Morrow, T. (2007) Strategic Human Resource Management: Contemporary issues. Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 58-121.
  10. Rees, G. and Smith, P. (2017). Strategic human resource management. 2nd ed. California: Sage Publications, pp.361-402.
  11. Roper, I., Prouska, R. and Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, U. (2010). Critical issues in human resource management. London: CIPD, pp.32-38.
  12. Statista. (2020). Motor fuel market share by brand in the UK 2019 | Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/312071/motor-fuel-market-share-by-brand-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2020].
  13. Storey, J. (2007). Human resource management: a critical text. London: Thomson, pp.24-38.
  14. Truss, C., Mankin, D. and Kelliher, C. (2012) Strategic Human Resource Management. Oxford University Press, pp.119-135.

Tesco Plc.: Company Overview

Tesco Plc.: Company Overview

Introduction

This assessment is for the analysis of the financial statements of Tesco PLC, the British multinational company specialising in the sale of groceries and general merchandise. It is currently the third largest retailer in the world and has spread its shops to eleven different countries. The company has been running for 101 years (since 1919) and was founded by Jack Cohen, beginning as a market stall.

One of Tesco´s main priorities is maintaining and reinforcing a sustainable value, and therefore to grow sustainably.

Tesco has implemented a 5-year plan after accumulating debt, after failing to reach payments to their suppliers in 2014. In their 2019 Annual report they claim to have achieved its goals for a turnaround, having paid dividends for a second year in a row and increase their profit by 34% from the previous year (2017-18). Throughout this process, they have bought Booker, the cash-and-carry chain in 2017. This has allowed the company to provide groceries to trade buyers, and has helped increase its earnings. Their balance sheet has shifted from their total debt of 22bn (pounds) in 2015 reduced to 12bn (pounds) at the end of 2019.

Tesco has so far succeeded with their turnaround and has been steady with rebuilding the company, making specific changes to adapt to the different markets they work in.

Recommendation

Upon reading through Tesco´s PLC 2019 annual report, it has been stated that the company has taken appropriate measures to plan in advance for their company to keep reaching their goals and are preparing for potential disturbances, such as Brexit. Their group sales show an increase of 11.5% from 2018 to 2019, showing that as an overall they are succeeding throughout their different places in keeping sales up against competition.

As mentioned in the introduction, now that the company has succeeded in turnaround, they have placed focus in improving their long term relationship with their closest supplier partners (as well as investing in order to improve the quality of the products), paying off their debts and paying off dividends. Their dividends per share have increased by 92.3% in 2018-2019, from 3.00 to 5.77. A pay-out ratio over 75% is considered very high and that can become a risk to the company if they have to cut their dividends in the future, as that would have an impact of their share price. The company should consider maintaining a distribution of money that is sustainable on the long term, and pay off their debts with caution. Currently the company is aiming to pay off its debt and improve its reputation after their massive debts scandal in 2014. We can see this in the Current Ratio, which when below 1 is considered low, and shows us cash problems. We can see the company is working on improving this, as they are paying off current liabilities and rising the shareholders fund in order to increase the current assets. “This strong financial performance is driven by a strategic decision to manage our business with a long-term focus on four key metrics: customer satisfaction, cash profitability, free cash flow and earnings growth. It also reflects the plans we have delivered this year to create value for each of our key stakeholders – our customers, colleagues, suppliers and shareholders.” (Page 3).

Another example we can look at to reassure the successful forward movement of the company is the operating profit, which has increased by 17.1%. This shows us that there is an increase in the remaining income of the company after paying off the operating expense. If we look at the gross profit margin this can also confirm that, as it shows us the production costs are being covered and an increase in profit from the previous year is still occurring.

The return on the capital employed, from 6.4% to 10.7% in 2019 shows that the investments the company has made are still working to their advantage. These numbers can reassure the company that they are in a good position to expand their investments into their competitiveness, and challenges such as the uneven business rates systems within the UKs market.

If we look into the corporate strategy of Tesco PLC, they have been innovative within their approaches. From making its own-brand products, providing different value and priced products, and expanding their product range into different categories. The chain was one of the first to bring in self-service tills and provide contactless payment to the customers. They have aimed to facilitate the purchases, provide products in high demand, including a variety for different dietary needs, and ease the process of purchase. They have shown the success of this in their Group Sales, which do not include their sales of petrol. They have grown by 11.3%, giving the company a third consecutive year of sales growth. The purchase of Booker has provided 11.4% to the Group sales growth.

An area we cannot dismiss within the company performance is the cuts the company has made in order to increase their revenue. Tesco has promised cost cuts of 1.5bn pounds by 2020, which they have so far succeeded at. The company has cut more than 10,000 jobs and closed a number of stores to keep up to these numbers. They have sold Harris + Hoole coffee shops and its Turkish grocery business, as well as exiting other markets it was previously involved in. The company has made its shareholders and suppliers its priority but it has come to impact the relationship with its staff and the reputation upon the customers who relied on the jobs which were cut, such as the butcher, cheese counter and fish sections which were previously included. The -3% movement in their staff numbers could impact its reputation as a reliable company to work for.

Conclusion

To conclude the Analysis performance and include the recommendations based on it, Tesco Plc has implemented a 5-year plan to which they have succeeded in following and continue to show an increase in their success. As they have included their plans for future complications, such as the Economic impact Brexit will have on their sources and work structures, the company has continued to show a confident approach to their Financial performance. Aside from the cuts they have had to make to staff in order to reach their goals, we can expect that with their continuous success future expansions can be expected and compensation to their losses will be made. They are focused on sustainable value and long term strategic relationships with their shareholders and suppliers, and therefore seem like a valuable company to work for. Upon comparing the numbers in their financial Reports, if they continue to increase the rate of Their operating profit, their revenue and soon to follow, and increase to their assets in order to cover their liabilities, I believe the company has good potential and would be confident to confirm a job in Tesco Plc would be a good opportunity.

References

  1. 2019. Tesco Plc Annual Report And Accounts 2019. [ebook] Available at: [Accessed 19 July 2020].
  2. Has Dave Lewis accomplished all the goals of his Tesco turnaround plan?. 2020. Has Dave Lewis accomplished all the goals of his Tesco turnaround plan? . [ONLINE] Available at: https://twnews.co.uk/uk-news/has-dave-lewis-accomplished-all-the-goals-of-his-tesco-turnaround-plan.
  3. Tesco PLC Preliminary Results 2018/19 . 2020. Tesco PLC Preliminary Results 2018/19 . [ONLINE] Available at: https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/tesco/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=55&newsid=1246774
  4. U.S.. 2020. Tesco to outpace growth at global rivals – study – Reuters. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/tesco-igd/tesco-to-outpace-growth-at-global-rivals-study-idUSLDE71F1LR20110217.

The Meaning Of Companies’ Reputation on The Example Of H&M

The Meaning Of Companies’ Reputation on The Example Of H&M

In the digital age, there are a lot of competition between companies in various fields and maintaining a good reputation and image might be difficult. To appeal to the costumers and market, companies need to care about their product’s quality in addition to keeping their reputation. This is not considered easy, because companies’ reputation can be destroyed in a blink, after building it for years. What happened to H&M company is a clear example of this case.

Firstly, companies need to understand that reputations are never considered a static, but they change due to the demands of a situation. Hence, the difference between companies in dealing with a problem affecting their reputation, because it all depends on the situation, public reaction, and the actions taken from the organization. The term reputation can mean so many things but one thing at the same time. It can be defined as the “Reputation is a precondition for people’s willingness to do business with a company” based on Ettenson & Knowles definition. It is also the “overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general” and as the “recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability”. It is very important because the company reputation affect the public reactions based on their beliefs and impressions.

Secondly, any company’s reputation does not only depend on the visual identity, or the colors and creativity of their logo, yet it exceeds these details even though they also contribute to the consumers’ perception. In general, The reputation of the company represents the general mental image that others have from the audience, customers, investors and employees of the brand, and it is one of the commercial assets owned by the corporation along with its market value, which can turn over time into an important marketing balance on which to build the social and economic position of the corporation. Moreover, companies with a good reputation are always considered more valuable and more able to achieve highly competitive results in the market, and thus can achieve significant developmental towards their goals.

According to the importance of considering the reputation, companies have been competing through many smart and creative methods to stand strong in this industry that keep changing and growing rapidly. One of these methods is the marketing strategies. Marketing strategies have always included a special aspect of the content that the company will provide to the public. This content may be aimed at increasing conversion rates, increasing sales, or increasing visits in the case of websites, online stores, and web applications. The form and nature of the content varies according to the purpose behind it, content to increase sales, for example, may differ completely from the content intended to improve the company’s reputation in the market. Today, content marketing is one of the most prominent aspects of e-marketing and the most present among institutions and brands on different, and on content depends on one of the most famous theories of marketing used today Inbound Marketing. The type of high-quality content that touches the needs of the audience and customers and fulfills their aspirations from the content of the company or brand. Furthermore, the term added value is used in many contexts in marketing, and can refer to any benefit the customer may obtain from the company or the brand, such as discounts and sales, fair price, customer loyalty programs and everything that can be included in the user’s experience with the brand.

To show why marketing is very significant, referring to statistics, 79% of consumers prefer to know the company or brand through content rather than direct ads, 71% of them believe that institutions that provide high-quality specialized content are more focused on their audience, and more interested in building a strong relationship with customers. The more quality the content and the value and provides a real benefit, the better the audience looks at the brand and makes it classify the company with the quality of the content itself. Thus, good content shows to the audience the amount of experience and knowledge your company has in this field and makes them confident that their dealings with your brand are dealings with experts.

Every organization, company and brand has to possess some competitive advantage, distinguishing it from the rest of its counterparts in the market with your company, because this advantage does not exist with your competitors, and therefore in and gives the customer an additional value that makes it more salary if he decides to abandon your brand. On this point, the author Richard Romelt mentioned in his book ‘Strategy Bad Strategy Good’ that one of the important pillars of a good marketing strategy is the exclusive competitive advantage, which is difficult for any of the competitors to reproduce or imitate .

Today, companies operate in markets crowded with competitors, customers, and products. Customers have many options to buy and engage with different brands competing for trust, and then add them to their customer list. Therefore, some people see that it’s necessary for organizations to stop dealing with customers on the basis of a company and a customer, and instead go towards building a strong long-term relationship that give the customer a sense of recognition on a personal level and their relation with the brand, and that they care about customers more than just considering them way to get money. This form of relationship – if the organization is able to work on it well – contributes to building the company’s reputation with the public and expanding its customer base, and improving the brand image as one of the bodies that make an effort to improve the user experience with it and make it more satisfied with the services or products offered. Although the nature and shape of the relationship between the brand and the customer differs from direct human relationships, we must not allow this difference to obscure the ideal image of the company’s relationship with its customers. Companies should focus on the emotional and psychological aspects of the customer’s experience with their products or services, which depends on the user’s experience with the company and what it provides.

However, although the importance of reputation for companies to maintain their place in the market is a very known concept, many companies have ethics issues just as what happened in the H&M incident. Ethics may not be a clear concept, which explains why even high-level companies like H&M can get a mistake when it comes to meeting stakeholder communication expectations, but that doesn’t justify their action. In the past, companies were located between two fires, between what the legal department dictates to them about the company, which says: (Do not admit anything wrong or you will be responsible – and thus the company intends to famously say “no comment”) and what the stakeholders expected from them in clarity and communication transparency. Today, most organizations have realized that the negative impact of poor communication on their reputation will likely be much more expensive than any potential legal implications for accepting the error.

Focusing on the H&M problem, it is true that it’s considered as a turning point to company’s reputation and communication strategy. People were offended by their actions, which they have every right to. A big company like H&M should weight their actions and think twice before launching a product that may offend any culture, race, religion, or any group of people. Not to mention that the problem got bigger and offended a more people because of social media, which made the public more aware of what is going on. That made it difficult for the company to deal with, given that the problem became known in social media in it became hard to control the public reaction.

Gig Economy Workers And Companies

Gig Economy Workers And Companies

INTRODUCTION

This report discusses how Uber company uses Gig economy workers for the working of the company. It will highlight the use of freelance economy by the company and how they maximise their profit without investment and use of flexible working hour employees. It introduces us to the working of gig economy, how companies gets advantage and disadvantaged by it. This will also cover how these kind of workers are adjusted with the full time working employees in the company. It also includes the comparison of Gig economy in my home country, India that with Australia. The company Uber works both in India and Australia and will be great way of comparison between both the countries and how Gig economy issue is being tackled in India. It also discusses how effective the practices of the company really are and what the innovation and practices they can include into the working and inclusion of Gig economy workers. It covers up the recent research and how more people are driving towards the gig economy and flexible work culture. The effect this kind of company and arranging flexible human force by one company effecting the other companies.

The ‘Gig Economy’ is new form of economics system which has challenged the traditional economic system of working for 9 to 5 jobs. This has been a challenge to labour management methods and the human resource department of the companies. The workers have increasingly wanted to have flexibility in work and work for companies or people by task to task basis and the projects they want to. In countries like the UK and USA, the number of people classifying themselves as self-employed is rapidly growing (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2014; Office for National Statistics, 2014). The basis and the uplifiting force of the gig economy is digital platforms and the internet connectivity. Other words used for gig economy workers can be freelancers. There are several examples of Gig economy like Airbnb included in residential sector replacing the hotels, food delivery services like Uber eats , Zomato and Swiggy (India) , cab services like Uber and Ola. This report will focus on the working of Uber and its labour management by the company reason being its wide reach internationally setting up an example for Gig economy.

WORKING OF UBER

Uber was started in 2009 replacing the traditional taxi services by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. (Fall 2016 Sanders & Pattison) Today Uber works as an application which connects drivers and riders for them to reach a particular destination. This way uber provide drivers with a platform to work and they work according to their convenience. Starting up as a taxi service which provides luxury car services has now moved to more affordable cars and also allows cab sharing. Uber receives twenty percent of the total fare. Uber controls the driver working under the company through different means by age limit, model of the car used in particular services.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR VS. EMPLOYEE STATUS

There are different ways to classify if the worker is an employee or an independent contractor, this classification is important and needed to be done by the human resource department for clarification of workers, employers and most importantly governmental bodies.(David Bauer, 2015) It becomes important for managing the human resources because of the government regulation government regulations such as labor laws, employment discrimination regulations, workers’ compensation and social security requirements. (Fall 2016 Sanders & Pattison) Uber doesn’t require it workers to have specific working hours they can choose the working hours they want to , they are not even subjected to have a dress code and have to use their own vehicle for the cab services they provide to riders.

If Uber considered all of its ‘‘active drivers’’ as employees, it would be the 4th largest employer in the United States behind only the Federal Government, Walmart, and McDonald but it considers them independent contractors instead. (Chief Advisor and Board Member David Plouffe 2015) There are no advantages provided by the company to the drivers and this is understood to them. They don’t have any direct contacts with the manager.

PROBLEMS FACED

Uber driver in many areas have to considered as employees as they have to get the quality check of the vehicle they are using. Uber’s software algorithm and quality control standards determine compensation and conditions of employment. (Welcome to the Gig Economy, Austin Zwick, 2017). Rogers (2016) argues that Gig Economy workers do not neatly fit into either category, but because the ‘‘unequal bargaining power’’ between the two—they ought to be classified as employees. Uber has been ordered to pay the national minimum wage and offer benefits, including paid time off. Uber is appealing the verdict by arguing that this does not adequately portray the working relationship between the company and its drivers. (DONALD E. SANDERS & PATRICIA PATTISON, 2016). Given Uber’s valuation at a possible $65 billion or more, any major change in its business method holds the real danger of harming its growth and market position.(Kristen V. Brown, 2016). Also facing crisis in different countries relate to their employment laws even in Qubec, Canada. The other taxi drivers want same laws and regulation for uber drivers as for them. (Wier, Marcel Vander,2017)

  • Various questions arise regarding how to manage and engage temporary labour effectively:
  • How to sift through the ever-growing talent pool of freelancers to locate the best talent?
  • How can companies ensure that freelancers actually have the expertise required? How to ensure the right talent is working on the right tasks at the right time?
  • How much compensation should freelancers receive?
  • How to ensure freelancers are well-versed with company culture, mission, values, history, challenges and procedures?
  • How to strike a balance of protecting company security systems and granting enough access to freelancers to perform their duties?
  • How much training and induction should be provided to a freelancer?
  • How can companies ensure coherence amongst staff with geographically scattered workers?
  • Who will have the ultimate decision-making authority, and how will command chains be structured? (Jeff Leventhal, 2012)

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN UBER

As companies, like Uber begin to introduce freelancers to their workforce, they required increased capabilities to manage them effectively. Talent should be viewed as a strategic investment and like any investment there was a plan in place to engage and measure it to determine a path for future improvement of the company. (DONALD E. SANDERS & PATRICIA PATTISON, 2016).

They successfully use technological innovation to

  • (a) undermine employment laws and other regulation,
  • (b) transfer risk from the industry onto the individual driver,
  • (c) lower wage and labor standards of the industry in the name of competition, which drives up profitability of the firm (Welcome to the Gig

Economy, Austin Zwick, 2017)

One of those at the forefront is Work Market, a platform that manages the entire lifecycle of freelancers and independent professionals, including sourcing, verifying, engaging, managing, paying and rating them. Co-founder of Work Market, Jeff Leventhal believes that freelance management departments will emerge as part of a broader HR function(The Emergence of the Gig Economy, 2016) Uber appears to be a effective model. However, it is upon passengers using the app to pay Uber, not the driver. Uber then pays the driver gross. Most people prefer to be paid gross(, so it is an excellent way for Uber to attract drivers and save on employer National Income Contributions (NICs) too. (Marlowe, Adrian,2017)

There is constant conflict weather the drivers working under are freelancers or the employees of the Uber. While Uber considers them as independent contractors, the legal jurisdiction wants them to have the working rights of employees.

CONCLUSION

While Uber created a successful story under the working of new economy, Gig economy. It has given flexible working employment to a large range of people and has created a great market space and is growing rapidly with huge profits, it has lot of lope holes with the employment strategies, weather they are actual individual contractors or the employees of the Uber company. They have a background check and the vehicle they are using and the company has to be responsible as they are providing work to the drivers and further paying them the gross. Gig is currently being considered within two industry reviews. If, as a result, new methods are to be carved out with special rules in the name of modernisation, to avoid ‘curtains for Uber’, then let us in the recruitment industry have some special treatment too. After all, we invented the fl exible workforce, and it is hard-working, regulated agencies that need the government’s support, to change its approach and simplify the rules applying to them. (Marlowe, Adrian,2017)

REFERENCES

  1. The Uber case: a blow to the gig economy, Nov 5, 2016, https://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquestcom.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/1848081124?accountid=13380
  2. Welcome to the Gig Economy: neoliberal industrial relations and the case of Uber , Austin Zwick , https://link-springer- com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pdf/10.1007/s10708-017-9793-8.pdf
  3. WORKER CHARACTERIZATION IN A GIG ECONOMY VIEWED THROUGH AN UBER CENTRIC LENS, DONALD E. SANDERS & PATRICIA PATTISON , https://search-proquest-com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/1860277041/fulltextPDF/22B48F342BD84716PQ/1?accountid=13380
  4. Uber reflects challenges of gig economy , Author-Wier, Marcel Vander , https://search-proquest- com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/1992262757/fulltextPDF/95135BC5A45946EEPQ/1?accountid=13380
  5. The Emergence of the Gig Economy Thought Leader Paper: Education & Training Policy Team, file:///C:/Users/Pinaca/Downloads/sub30%20Aust%20Industry%20Group_attach1_Gig%20Economy.pdf
  6. How much would it cost Uber to make drivers employees? , Kristen V. Brown , https://splinternews.com/how-much-would-it-cost- uber-to-make-drivers-employees-1793848516

Teamwork In The Workplace: A Crucial Component Of A Successful Organization

Teamwork In The Workplace: A Crucial Component Of A Successful Organization

The goal of a business is to maximize the profits for stakeholders and obtain a lead against competitors, to attain this goal businesses must have a further understanding of all the factors that Contribute to either aiding or further deterring the business from acting correspondently. Employees are Significant to businesses because Employees keep businesses in operation, hence the success of a business is reliant on the workers efficiency. Counterproductivity within employees in the workplace can be assumed to be the greatest Internal Issue that a company faces, however it can be addressed with proper management, since it Influences the efficiency of Individual workers. Integrating Teamwork In the workplace can serve as a proper management approach to combat against counterproductivity within employees in the workplace assuming they have a strong corporate culture.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Corporate culture determines how a business’s management Interacts with their employees based on beliefs. A strong corporate culture can be defined as a business that has a good set of values and practices focusing on both the consumers and employees. Some strategies that a business can Incorporate into their business process to create a strong corporate culture are providing transparency of their goals to their employees, rewarding employees in public and coaching in private, and allowing employee feedback these strategies are methods to display the company’s value for their employees .When a business Implements these strategies into their business process they provide a positive work environment and show their value for their employees which demonstrates improvement in their work because it sets a higher sense of morale . With a strong corporate culture employees commitment to the business is further inclined which makes employees more willing to participate in additional management strategies such as teamwork. The bar graph below demonstrates that the stronger a business’ corporate culture is the more committed an employee is to the company.

Counterproductive behaviors In the workplace come In different forms which include tardiness, theft, fraud, sexual harassment, workplace bullying, absenteeism, and workplace aggression. These types of counterproductive behaviors not only negatively impact the quality of the service/product the business provides but also the surrounding employees morale creating a collective pattern of counterproductive behaviors in the workplace, In addition these behaviors can lead to lawsuits against the business initiated by employees impacted. Consumers perception is influenced by the quality of the service/product the employees provide, as a deduction when the quality of these services/products the employee provides are subpar to the promised standards the business warranted which could lead to tainting perceptions consumers have of the business as well as their decision to further continue a relationship with the company impacting the profits of the stakeholders.

Counterproductivity can be the result of many factors a major factor being a toxic work environment. In a toxic work environment, a business does not have a strong set of corporate culture, so employees focus on their personal agenda rather than the businesses’. Counterproductive behavior is encouraged further by management when they allow the behavior to continue by not enforcing a set of positive practices. Toxic work environments also exist under the conditions that employees have not built an appropriate relationship with colleagues and those in leadership positions, which results in complications in communication. Social learning theory is another contributor to a cycle of counterproductivity in the workplace, social learning theory refers to behaviors being acquired from observing and imitating others around, so when an employee observes a coworker practicing counterproductive behaviors in the workplace and having no sort of repercussions they deem these behaviors as acceptable and imitate them.

Integrating Teamwork into the workplace creates a harmonious environment between employees because teamwork reduces the need for a constant external supervision and allows workers to be managed amongst each other, as a result of a harmonious environment in the workplace there is an employee turnover regarding absenteeism because the quality of work life is improved as well. Teamwork also improves service/quality from employees by having a diverse group in which every individuals feedback is take into consideration creating a new innovative strategy of approaching certain situations. However, it could also be argued that integrating teamwork into the workplace is dependent on the cohesiveness of a team, below is a diagraph of the factors that make up a cohesive team.

METHODS

  • DESIGN: The proposed study will be an experimental design. This experimental design will have two Samples. Sample A will be the control group and Sample B will be the experimental group. Both groups will have the same dependent variables being the average profits each group has made. Sample B will have an independent variable, the independent variable will be Business B enforcing teamwork into their business practice.
  • PARTICIPANTS: In the proposed study there will be 500 participants which will be organized into two samples, sample A and sample B of which will be workers from two separate businesses but of the same industry, Business A and Business B. The range of the age group would be in between the ages of 25-45 , and have worked a minimum of 5 years with the company. Sample A will be a simple random sample of 250 workers that meet the requirements and work for Business A, this business will not enforce teamwork into their business practice. Sample B will be composed of an accumulative of 250 participants that meet the requirement these participants will be placed into random groups for business B, this business will enforce teamwork into their business practice.

REFERENCES

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