Category: Company

IKEA is a Swedish-based group of a multinational institution that focuses on the design and marketing of furniture, home accessories and kitchen appliances. IKEA began in 1943 in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, and the firm remained the largest furniture distributor globally since 2008. The owner, Ingvar got enlisted by Forbes Magazine as one of the wealthiest globally with assets valued over $ 40 billion. IKEA, the company name, denotes Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, and Agunnaryd (‘ IKEA history – how it all began’, n.d.).

IKEA deploys a modernist technique when designing furniture and appliances, as well as interior designs. Schein, (2013) stated that the firm uses eco-friendly products and methodologies when implementing their tasks. IKEA considers cost control to details, other than continuous product development and operational details, which enabled the firm to reduce its product and service prices by 2% to 3% (This is IKEA, 2017). IKEA’s corporate attributes facilitated their global expansion back in 2010 to many nations. IKEA boasts of a corporate structure, presumed to let the firm alleviate beyond 1 billion pounds in tax remittance between 2009 and 2014 (IKEA Sustainability Summary FY14, 2014).

IKEA manages and overseas 424 stores strategically based in 52 nations, by the end of 2018. IKEA 2018’s fiscal year illustrated that 44.6 billion USD worth of items got sold (Inter IKEA Group Financial Summary FY18, 2018). Schein, (2013) added that the firm’s website reveals over 12,000 product range. IKEA boasted of 2.1 billion visitors to their website in a period of one year alone, from 2015, September up to August 2016. IKEA is remarkably the largest wood consumer in the retail, accounting for 1%. INGKA Foundation owned most of IKEA’s factories and stores before the latter acquired them (This is IKEA, 2017).

Organizational Culture

Vision and Business Idea

IKEA’s vision states that they intend to develop better life daily to a significant number of persons. The firm offers home furnishing items that are uniquely designed. Keyton, (2017) explained that the firm’s prices are relatively affordable to encourage as many potential buyers to acquire those products. IKEA’s vision traverses beyond home furnishing, as they also intend to improve the lives of everyone impacted by the firm.

Culture: Key Values

Togetherness

IKEA’s culture advocates for togetherness. Keyton, (2017) added that the organization believes that when people come together objectively towards the same goals, they win together. A consolidated group yields more results compared to an individual effort from the stakeholders. The culture of togetherness addresses key challenges facing IKEA, as well as gives birth to potential business and growth opportunities both in the local and international market.

Caring for the planet and people

IKEA always yearns to be a positive change advocate in the environment. According to Keyton, (2017), the firm deliberates on measures that protect and safeguard the environment leading to lasting impacts. IKEA considers the present and future generations when it comes to protection of the environment. The firm aims for renewable energy sources and making sure that most of their products are sustainably produced by 2020 (This is IKEA, 2017).

Cost-consciousness

IKEA anticipates that their products and services ought to get affordable to as many people. The firm, therefore, always contemplates on production measures and techniques that make such products cheap to produce without interfering with the quality. IKEA combines sustainability, functionality with low price into one bundle when developing their commodities. IKEA gains competitive advantage by making that their products of high quality, but affordable. Most of their products are easy to fit and come with easy to follow user manuals which buyers spend little time and cost to set up once they purchase.

Simplicity

IKEA follows Smaland heritage which is based on a rational and straightforward means of life. Keyton, (2017) stated that the firm advocates for being as real as possible. The firm ensures that no bureaucracy exists in its business activities. Simplicity makes complex tasks look easy, which makes it possible to cut on production costs and meet customer demands.

Renew and improve

IKEA continually seeks new ways of meeting their customer demands. Each day is an opportunity to improve on the past. According to Schein, (2013), the firm seeks solutions to all challenges faced. Once the firm gets a solution to a challenge, it becomes an inspiration to face future challenges. Innovation makes the firm attain a competitive advantage in the market, even when other firms’ lower prices, they still maneuver.

A difference with a meaning

IKEA does not want to perform their tasks in a conventional manner. According to Canaday (2018), the firm always questions the status quo and make sure that they find new methods of engaging in tasks. With research and development projects, the firm always tries out and experiments new methods in performing duties. Doing the same thing a different way not only creates the possibility of cost reduction but makes the production team innovate new products.

Give and take responsibility

IKEA empowers its staff to take charge of their actions and the environment. Taking responsibility for its people enables the firm to grow and prosper. Through empowerment, IKEA wins the trust of its workers making them forward-looking and positive about the goals and achievement in the firm. The workers contribute towards making sure that all members of the company contribute towards its development.

Leading by example

IKEA believes that leadership portends actions from those bestowed with responsibilities, rather than a position to manage others. Keyton, (2017) proposed that rather than focusing on experience and competence, the company dwells on the value that people bring into the firm. The leaders and managers in the firm are expected to practice what they preach by serving as an example to their followers. In the long term, the firm generates the best from their leaders and followers alike.

People and Planet Positive

IKEA often prefers economizing on resources within their disposal, despite their value. The firm targets on methods that assures them on how to generate more products from relatively few resources. Keyton, (2017) explained that IKEA utilizes its raw materials responsibly to protect natural resources from depletion. IKEA plays a core role in improving the lives of community members they serve. The firm further engages in corporate social responsibility acts like assisting refugees through its IKEA Foundation. Through saving on products, IKEA reduces waste, saves on water, and energy.

Performance

Recent financial analysis reports illustrated that the firm’s profits fell by over a third, despite the firm’s efforts towards increasing its online presence. IKEA further expressed notable effort towards smaller stores within city centers. Pretax profits from the firm reduced by 36% in 2018 compared to a similar time in 2017 (Inter IKEA Group Financial Summary FY18, 2018). IKEA opened an additional twelve retail stores making them grow by 4.7%, together with a 45% increment in online sales.

The profit drop came at a time when IKEA invested 2.8 billion pounds towards e-commerce, a majority of the funding utilized under distribution centers. Within their sustainability efforts, IKEA acquired forests in the United States and Latvia and wind farms located in Portugal and Finland. The firm further noted that it would reduce office jobs by 7,500 to enhance their online business activities, and centralize their operations (Inter IKEA Group Financial Summary FY18).

IKEA, which boasted of well over 160,000 staff working from different regions across the globe would cut their administrative staff within thirty nations within which it operates. The business transformation efforts yielded a negative impact on the financial outcome in 2018’s fiscal reports, but the three-year plan to transform the business remained on course. The plans would let the firm go and invest long term for the coming seventy-five years (Inter IKEA Group Financial Summary FY18).

IKEA’s growth plans target stores in city centers within their key target markets. Canaday, (2018) explained that the firm’s long-term goals include setting up traditional stores in Romania, China, India, and the United States. The stores and e-commerce business require well-equipped distribution centers which would be set alongside the stores to facilitate easy movement of goods and services to their customers.

Management/Leadership

In order to meet the dynamic business and market needs, desists from running its operations in line with a single leadership style. Instead, the firm utilizes a mix of leadership and management styles with the ultimate goal of beating tight deadlines, innovation and sustainability. The firm utilizes parts of a democratic leadership style which enable the staff to form part of the decision making. IKEA’s culture touched on empowerment, and the easiest way to motivate the staff involves taking up their opinions and recommendations. Democratic leadership suits IKEA in meeting its goals and objectives since the firm enjoys strong communication links between the managers and their followers.

IKEA further makes use of laissez-faire leadership to enhance autonomy among their staff. Canaday, (2018) suggested that to succeed sometimes requires that staff are given a free environment to operate with minimal directives and guidelines. However, the firm takes caution towards keeping the staff motivated and incentivized to attain the firm’s goals.

Consultative leadership also applies to the firm. Leading by example culture requires the managers to work alongside the followers. Leading by example requires constant consultation between the management and the staff before the manager leads by example. With regular incentives and rewards, IKEA keeps their staff motivated and aligned with its culture.

Most importantly, IKEA implements a paternalistic leadership style, where the management takes up the perspectives and social needs of their staffs. Keyton, (2017) suggested that the firm acquires employees of all kinds, which boosts their performance and dedication towards the goals. IKEA assured the staff a comfortable working environment. The employees are further consulted on critical issues affecting the company.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the report reveals IKEA’s performance and culture as one of the leading suppliers of furniture products and appliances. The firm’s organizational culture is based on simplicity, empowerment and sustainable utilization of resources. Sustainability makes the firm engage in eco-friendly production like renewable energy sources. The firm further integrates different management and leadership styles to enhance productivity. Among the leadership styles include consultative, laissez-faire and paternalistic leadership.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was very important and crucial to everything as during the times of the 1920s the U.S market itself actually was benefiting and profiting by immense numbers and statistics, making this inevitable crash worse than what it would’ve been, if things weren’t skyrocketing up the board.

Now stocks and their prices rose to levels that weren’t reached before, and because of this the general idea and practice of investing in stocks rose to an intense beneficial level that created some cause of worry, but overall was greeted with happiness as individuals are making good wealth; leaving it to be seen as a very easy and very quick way of making money. Due to this common people spent a considerable amount of their average disposable income and some even went to mortgage their house to purchase stock and try to increase the value of what they doubled down with. As stated, before the Stock Market Crash there wouldn’t been as big of a concern had it not been due to the popularity of stocks because at the end of the decade (1928) there were up to hundreds of millions of shares that were being carried on a margin, making the purchase price being made with loans in order to then have profits be repaid with an ever-increasing share price then came the dreadful decline that started in October 1929. Once this decline began millions of the already overextended shareholders started to panic and irrationally rushed themselves to liquidate their current holdings, however as they thought this to be benefiting themselves it instead increased the decline and cause panic to be more common spread leaving individuals to follow in the same footsteps, and come September and November these stock prices fell 33% (an incredibly dangerous %) and because of this drop it causes a problem of confidence in the current economy among the consumers however worse it was also spread among the businesses as well. This new lack of confidence problem led to consumer spending for durable goods, and business investments to be drastically reduced, then leading to a reduced amount of production industrially and in turn led to a heavy increase in unemployment.

The secondary point that came from this chain of terrible events was the bank panics and the dreadful monetary contraction that ensued. The problem actually occurred after the stock market crash but was directly correlated with it as it only happened 1 year later (1930-1932) starting off with four U.S banks having a large amount of their customers, fearful of their own bank solvency, all trying to withdraw all their deposits in cash. Looked at as irony as the frequent effect of this panic was about to bring the very crisis that these customers tried to protect themselves against, even large banks were threatened by this big panic. This panic and things have gotten worse as by 1933 one-fifth of the banks that existed in 1930 had failed, leading the new Franklin D. Roosevelt administrations to forcefully declare a four-day bank holiday (which having to be extended by three days due to the still concerning issues), during which all of these banks were to remain forced closed until these banks proved their solvency to government inspectors. One of the biggest problems being that due to the result of widespread bank failures there were intense decrease in consumer spending and business investment (even lower than before!) as there were fewer banks to lend money, and as one could imagine as there were fewer banks that means there was less to be lend (partly due to individuals hoarding their money in cash). Shamefully, instead of seeing this problem and deciding to do something smart and better things, the Federal Reserve exacerbated the problem by raising interest rates therefore further depressing lending and intentionally reduced the money supply with their strong belief that doing it would be necessary to maintain the gold standard.

Now, this gold standard was considered to be bigger than both the bank panics and the stock market crash as it spread outward to other countries. Now since during these times the United States was experiencing a continuously declining output along with a deflation in turn the U.S had to run a trade surplus with other countries as Americans were certainly buying way fewer imported goods, and due to this their exports were also very cheap. These imbalances had no choice but to give rise to a significant foreign gold outflow to the U.S which then threatened to devalue the currencies of countries whose gold reserves had been declining. To combat this these foreign central banks attempted to counteract this imbalance by skyrocketing their interest rates, which affected things by reducing their output and prices however while increasing unemployment in their countries. This resulted in international economic decline, the most prevalent being in Europe nearly as bad as the U.S.

Finally, there is also no consensus about the sources of recovery, though few factors also play an obvious role. In general, countries that abandoned the gold standard or devalued their currencies or otherwise increased their money supply recovered first (Britain abandoning the gold standard in 1931, and the United States effectively devaluing its currency in 1933). However, even after the recovery, there are still plenty of things that point to a possible return to that state, so it’s always our duty to ensure such a travesty never happens again.

In today’s world financial assets are very valuable. A financial asset can be described as a liquid asset that gets its value from ownership claim. Examples of financial assets, according to James Chen, include: cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and bank deposits (Chen). Imagine not having to work as hard but still being able to bring in a hefty annual income. The easiest way one can multiply their assets is to invest in the stock market. Nowadays there are many major stock exchanges one can invest in. While your average investor wouldn’t look past the United States stock exchanges, I think that investing in China’s market can make for an incredible asset to anyone. It is very important that everyone knows about China’s market and even more important if they’re thinking of investing in China’s market.

China is projected to pass the U.S. economy in the next decade. Not so long ago, China relied on bicycles as their main source of getting around and now China produces the most cars of any country. How did this happen? Well, their socialistic government has allowed the economy to develop capitalistic behaviors like consumer choice. This example of capitalism is very important to the economy. Consumer choice is why the U.S. market has boomed so much in the last year. Consumer choice allows citizens to buy whatever they want, for instance, many people want iPhones which makes apple a top company. Without consumer choice, companies could not gain capital. With China being fresh into consumer choice means big returns and big companies from China will start to emerge making them an ideal company to invest in. By adding consumer choice, China’s government really made a step in the right direction.

Another reason why their economy is growing is “because of the government’s planned urbanization of the country and massive investment in infrastructure, including commercial and residential skyscrapers, highways, airports, mass transit, and high-speed rail, among other components” (Bowman, 1). Urbanization is essential for any country. Just like back in 753 to 509 BC when Augustus Caesar built Rome. It brought everyone together and everyone could contribute to the economy. To build these massive infrastructures, it takes people to build them which creates jobs and always helps an economy. A city can be a center to where everyone can meet and where many businesses can grow. Like having large shopping centers and restaurants that many people occupy. A city is a symbol of human civilization; it is the people’s economic and political center.

Also, exotic infrastructures can lead to tourism. Tourism can create new jobs. It can help trade, income, and entrepreneurship – especially in small business (Chase). These small businesses can even gain humongous amounts of capital making them prime time investments. With that being said tourism can help a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) because tourists will buy stuff in that country.

China’s GDP growth rate is substantially bigger than the United States’ GDP growth rate. China’s GDP rate is forecasted to be at 6.1% for 2019 while the US’s economy is only suspected to grow 2.2% for the year (Lee, 1; Amadeo, 1). A good economy is a definite prerequisite for a good market, obviously, without a growing economy, you cannot have a rising stock market. For instance, when the GDP of a country is high, firms will be able to give out more jobs because they can afford to pay higher salaries. This can lead to consumers spending more money on products and utilities because more people will have sustainable jobs and will buy more products. This is the basic principle of a market. You need people to make money and then spend that money to keep the economy moving. Another thing people will spend money on when they have a sustainable income is buying shares of stocks in the market. Stocks are a basic supply and demand just like an ordinary product. If people want more oranges, then the price of the orange will increase. In change, if more people want to buy market shares, the market price of that share will go up. On the other end, if more people want to sell shares, the price will decrease. But, without the principle of a growing economy (a positive and high GDP rate) none of this can happen. China’s market is essentially better than the United States’ market right now because its economy is evolving faster and more consumers are more inclined to purchase products. A good example of this is in a younger demographic in China.

The world’s new generation, Generation Z (anyone born after 2000), spends tons of money online or value-added service revenue, but China’s generation is special. China’s Generation Z has the biggest kink to purchasing things online such as virtual gifts, virtual money for in-game currency. Just like supply and demand, more teenagers want video games and this can cause the price of new games to skyrocket. People will also be more willing to purchase these high-priced games because everyone wants them. This is also good for the economy because businesses can find ways to target this audience and make large amounts of revenue. It is really no wonder why China’s biggest businesses are social media companies, because of the fact that they mainly target Generation Z. A very big social media platform from China that everyone enjoys is Tik-Tok. Tik-Tok is owned by ByteDance, who is based in Beijing, China and they are a privately traded company which means no one can purchase a share of their stock. However, they are the highest valued private company valued at $75 billion (Zhong, 1). With a value that high means, they could go for sure go public soon which is great for an investor. Another great example of a big company in China is Tencent. Tencent has many big holdings in many popular games such as Fortnite and Clash of Clans, which many of my friends have spent tons of money on. Finally, another big dog is called We Chat. We Chat is basically a messaging system having 1 billion monthly active users. In summary, the USA hasn’t really developed that big of entertainment-related stocks, which is why China is already a step above the US.

In the article ‘90 Minutes a Day, Until 10 P.M.: China Sets Rules for Young Gamers China’s’ by Javier C. Hernandez and Albee Zhang, China’s largest gaming generates $33 billion in annual revenue drawing millions of users. The Chinese government has recently released new rules helping people with video game addictions, mainly younger people. These laws include of video games after 10 p.m. and no more than an hour and a half of gaming on weekdays. Another regulation announced by the National Press and Publication Administration bans users younger than 18 from playing video games between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. This is planned because the government believes it is responsible for poor academic performance. But how does this affect the market? With Tencent Games being a big holder already it could possibly decrease the market value. Also, with the new regulations of keeping things like virtual items at only $57 a month. These regulations can cause protests from these big video game companies, consumers, and even shareholders (Zhang and Hernandez). Although it is what it is in China and they have to comply with the Government. With that being said their socialist government controls the market and can make changes like this that will affect the economy.

China’s government plays a huge role in their communistic economic system, unlike the United States’ capitalistic economic system. They have some policies similar to the United States despite having unlimited competition between privately owned businesses, they have adopted, the rules that govern a public company in China are different than those in the U.S. For instance, the Shanghai Composite Index is the biggest stock index in China’s market. It is down 40% over the past 10 years but this is because of their government. The Chinese government is very corrupt, which could ruin the Shanghai Composite Index, which is essentially the companies below it. Corruption in China presents business operating or planning to invest in the country with high risks. This can make investing in China’s market very hard because it is hard to tell what is doing well. The government is rigging the market so no one can really tell what is going on. The Chinese government led an anti-corruption campaign that led to many arrests and still influences the business environment. I think that even though China is in a terrible position with its government they can overcome this by just focusing on their strengths including their intellectual abilities.

A big topic that has been all over the news recently is the trade wars between the US and China. In the article, ‘Here Are 5 Cases Where the U.S. Says Chinese Companies and Workers Stole American Trade Secrets” by Paul Wiseman and Michael Liedtke. Back in 2017, The U.S. government started looking at the policies for China’s trade and concluded that the goods coming in from the U.S. to China compared to the goods coming in from China to the U.S was too great. The U.S. then imposed $250 billion in tariffs on China but in return, China issued its own tariffs with $110 billion U.S. imports. This backfires on both countries because companies would mainly have to pay for these extra taxes which would then cause them to upcharge their products. Consumers would then curb their spending and start buying different products. For example, China produces many Apple products and tariffs would cause consumers to stop buying Apple products hurting one of the biggest technology companies in America. Chinese consumers could also suffer in the same way as U.S. consumers because we could imply tariffs to their products which would up the prices for their consumers too. It’s a basic lose-lose scenario for everyone. The trade wars also affect the global economy as well because consumers from Europe to consumers in Africa could want these products as well (Wiseman and Liedtke).

Some can say that China is cheating. They are ripping off U.S companies (like Apple) and producing their own technology to sell for their own good (Wiseman and Liedtke, 1). Just like the United States has Apple, China has its tech giant company called Huawei. Federal prosecutors think that Huawei stole trade secrets from U.S. cell phone company T-Mobile and offered bonuses to employees who managed to swipe technology from other companies (Wiseman, 3). This is a very big problem because it is illegal in some countries. With intellectual property rules in the United States, citizens can’t just go around stealing others’ technology and selling it. Because of this, The Trump Administration proposed to China in order to end the trade war they want China to buy more American products and even tighten up their intellectual property rules. As of right now, China will not come through with the Trump administration’s proposal because just like us they want what is best for their country.

The trade wars also affect the stock market as well because prices rise for companies and fewer consumers will buy their products which mean no revenue for these companies. Also, some investors are scared of their own stockholdings in the market because the trade wars can have a huge impact on the market if it is not resolved soon. However, some companies have been seeing big returns in the last quarter during the midst of the war, the biggest stock exchange (Dow Jones) is up 20% in the last year. Right now, some stockholders are scared it is very much easier to get a bargain on some stocks and investors should be on the lookout for these. This happens because many investors are scared and will sell their shares. A company will then be at a low value which makes it a gold mine.

Financial assets can be very beneficial but it is important that investors know the market before they think about buying shares in the market. China’s government affects the stock market heavily which makes it important to be knowledgeable about recent news in China to know if new regulations can affect your investment. China’s market is on the rise with the new government policies and actually contributing to helping than regulating everything. With China’s GDP growth rate as high as it is, it helps the employment which overall helps their economy as a whole through consumer choice. It is very important that all citizens are informed about China and its stock market because it will affect our world in the future. With trade wars on the rise, there is a possibility that the United States economy could have a recession or even a Great Depression all over again.

References

1. ANTONS, CHRISTOPH, and KUI HUA WANG. “Well-Known Trade Marks, Foreign Investment and Local Industry: A Comparison of China and Indonesia.” Deakin Law Review, vol. 20, no. 2, July 2015, pp. 185–219. EBSCOhost, doi:10.21153/dlr2015vol20no2art519.
2. Amadeo, Kimberly. “What Will the Economy Do in 2019 and beyond?”. The Balance, The Balance, 5 Nov. 2019, www.thebalance.com/us-economic-outlook-3305669.
3. Bowman, Jeremy. “How to Invest in China Stocks.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 3 Aug. 2019, www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest-in-china-stocks.aspx.
4. Chen, James. “The Money You Can’t See: Financial Assets.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 25 Nov. 2019, www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financialasset.asp.
5. Gad, Sham. “Investing In China.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 18 Nov. 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/07/invest_china.asp.
6. John, Chase. “Importance of Urbanization.” UKEssays.com, www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/urbanization-is-an-important-factor-in-modernization-economics-essay.php.
7. Lee, Yen Nee. “China’s Economic Growth Could Fall below 6% in 2020, Says the IMF.” CNBC, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/chinas-economic-growth-could-fall-below-6percent-in-2020-says-the-imf.html.
8. “NATO / OTAN.” What Is NATO? www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html.
9. Stephen, Craig. “Here’s Why Everyone Needs to Care about China’s Stock Market.” MarketWatch, 8 Jan. 2016, www.marketwatch.com/story/why-chinas-stock-market-hurts-so-much-2016-01-08.
10. “Why China’s Tech-Savvy Millennials Are Quitting WeChat.” South China Morning Post, 24 July 2018, www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2156297/how-growing-privacy-fears-china-are-driving-wechat-users-away.
11. Wiseman, Paul, and Michael Liedtke. “Here Are 5 Cases Where the U.S. Says Chinese Companies and Workers Stole American Trade Secrets.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2019, www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-us-china-trade-war-ip-theft-20190221-story.html.
12. Zhong, Raymond. “Bytedance of China Eyes $75 Billion Valuation, Joining Start-Up Giants.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/technology/bytedance-fundraising-toutiao-tiktok.html.
13. Hernández, Javier C., and Albee Zhang. “90 Minutes a Day, until 10 P.M.: China Sets Rules for Young Gamers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/business/china-video-game-ban-young.html

The worldwide stock market and stock exchange is an extraordinary concept in which users which include both individuals and companies alike both invest their money into different organizations, so in due time the amount of investment will increase. This world altering development was first implemented in the year 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, when they officially issued out the first ever documented paper shares, which allowed shareholders in the company, which are essentially the members of a corporation in which they own one or more shares in the companies stock to buy, sell, and trade their stock with each other and investors, which are people are people who input their own money into the stocks of corporations in hopes of future financial gain. This revolutionized the way both people and companies gained money. And one of the best things about the Stock Market is that you don’t necessarily be in any business in order to be a part of it. Anybody above the age of 18 can open their own private stock portfolio and even if you’re a minor and you’re interested in the buying and selling of stocks you can open a so-called custodial account with the permission of the custodial parents. But even though there are many positives of the stock market there are many negatives as well and some which could possibly land you in large amounts of debt or even long sentences in jail.

A very common danger of inputting money into stocks is the constant threat of the value of the stock dropping. Stocks may drop for a variety of reasons. One way which can be seen a lot in the news nowadays is due to customers intentionally refusing to buy the goods and services that a certain company is putting out. For example, the air transportation company known as Boeing has had significant and noticeable decreases in its stock due to two very tragic crashes of one of its most popular models the Boeing 737 Max in the last five months which has left hundreds of customers dead/ or injured. Due to these two crashes customers have since flown less with this plane model which has caused the company to lose a significant amount of revenue. And the loss of this money has caused shares in the company to drop leaving both shareholders and investors alike with less money. This then led to a chain reaction of events with the companies that manufactured the parts of the faulty planes because those companies also began obtaining scrutiny and caused them to also loss money due to the stoppage of production of those parts and the law suits that followed due to the crash. This can example can be seen with a lot of companies, while they not necessarily have to follow the same scenario, the outcome will still be the same. You can also look to the Recall of Romaine Lettuce in California late last year due to an outbreak of E.coli which had contaminated the lettuce causing many of the buyers who consumed it to become ill. The product was recalled, because of this the company lost money and adding on to that they had to pay the consumers that sued them because of it. Those factors where then linked to the loss of money in shareholders and inevitably the investors soon after. And falling stocks can happen at any time for any vast number of reasons. Big or small the decrease of stocks will always be a problem within the stock market.

Another common but something that goes as a virtually unnoticeable danger of the stock market is the manipulation within the stock market, which includes tampering of the market and insider trading of the stock market. Insider trading is the illegal act of trading on the public stock market for personal gain with the help of confidential/undisclosed information that the public themselves doesn’t have access to. This is illegal due to the fact that you’re using information that the public doesn’t have access to and illegal insider trading and laws to prevent them have been a part of the stock market since its beginning but many of them were created due to a crippling stock market crash in the year 1929. Due to this devastating crash the two acts known as the 1933 Securities Act and the 1934 Securities Exchange Act were created in order to prevent anymore stock market crashes due to insider trading. Insider trading is very serious crime due to the fact that it can affect a very large amount of people and because of this it can be come with some very hefty penalties. Those penalties include:

• The maximum prison sentence for insider trading is approximately about 20 years as of the year of 2013.
• The maximum fine for criminally fined individuals is currently set at $5,000,0000 as of the year 2013.
• The maximum fine for any non-natural persons (private or public organizations) is currently set at $25.000.000 as of the year 2013.
• The person or persons involved will have to forfeit all profits gained/ and or any loss of profit that was avoided.

A civil penalty may be placed upon the conducts violator which states that they may have to pay an amount from 1 to 3 times the profit gained or the losses avoided depending on the intensity of the violation.

There is also a significant ban depending on both who you are trading with and how much you trade. Some bans may just be for less than 90 days and some may be a permanent ban from trading stock all together.

Even though there are these penalties for anyone proven guilty of insider trading people are still occasionally caught. They take the risk due to the high rewards of the crime and since it’s difficult to track. The most recent case of recorded insider trading was from Chris Collins who was formerly a board member of an Australian pharmaceutical corporation. He passed on private company information that would affect stocks to his son, who passed that information to his father-in-law. With that information they traded away the stock which ended up making them avoid a potential loss of approximately $768,00. As a result, 2 of the three men are still under criminal investigation and face indictment.

The most threatening thing imaginable in stock market and the world economy alike is the threat of complete stock market crash. A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decrease in stocks across a very large portion of the stock market resulting in the decline of worth of paper currency. Probably the most commonly used example of a stock market crash used throughout history is Stock Market Crash of 1929, the Great Crash, or Black Tuesday. During this time that followed WW I many areas of industrial production became sluggish even with the increased population of citizens moving into the city. This caused investors to rapidly sell their stocks. They were warned many times by the Federal Reserve, but the stock market still continued on. This then resulted in a complete stock market crash resulting in a loss of approximately $30,000,000,000 in the span of 2 days alone. This then led to the largest financial crisis of the 20th century known as the Great Depression and was instantly felt in all markets around the world excluding Japan. The Great Depression caused widespread poverty around many areas of the United States and close to 15,000,000 people were put out of jobs because the jobs could no longer afford to pay them since they also struggled with money. Many citizens had to get food at government run soup kitchens and used stamps to buy grocery rations instead of actual money because the value of paper money at the time was so low. The Great Depression destroyed many lives, jobs, and businesses and plagued America for years after its initial start. And this is all due to the crash of the stock market in a time which is less wealthy and economically involved. So, if a large enough stock market crash was to happen today, the repercussions would be worldwide.

The dangers of the stock market will always be apparent. Nothing can be done to completely get rid of them. All that can truly be done is to make laws making it more difficult for people to actually do these illegal acts and having extra precautions just in case they happen again so the world economy will stay stable.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929#Background
2. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/25743/000138713113000737/ex14_02.htm
3. https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/chris-collins-and-other-high-profile-insider-trading-cases
4. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-insider-trading-is-hard-to-define-prove-and-prevent/
5. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/business/boeing-737-crashes.html
6. https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/news/cdc-declares-romaine-lettuce-e-coli-outbreak-over/
7. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/money-banking-and-investment/insider-trading

Sony Corporation is a multination aggregate company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world’s biggest media combinations with an income of US$88.7 billion (starting in 2008) situated in Minato, Tokyo.

Sony is one of the main makers of hardware, video interchanges, computer game consoles, and data innovation items for the buyer and expert markets. Its name is gotten from Sonus, the Greek goddess of sound.

Sony, as an association, must arrange with the dynamic business they work inside. They built themselves by building up a steady workplace where engineers had significant energy about innovation and could fill in as openly as they wanted, creating dynamic advances and making items that individuals ached for (Mintzberg et al, 2003).

Two new administrators have been named at Sony over the most recent 15 years because of various creating issues, including the advancement ‘pinions’ inside Sony backing off, being constrained into a forceful evaluating system, expanded challenge, losing the skirmish of VHS and Betamax, benefit and deals staying level and the progressing poor execution of Sony films (Mintzberg et al, 2003). The two directors started major key changes with differing degrees of progress; right off the bat Nobuyuki Idei was named and started a noteworthy move from simple to computerized innovation, as there was a conviction that Sony was falling behind the market in this regard. Idei likewise focused on the best position in the sound and visual industry, a general standard in home PC gadgets, and another circulation foundation. He trusted his activity was the ‘recovery of the enterprising soul’ (Mintzberg et al, 2003), trusting it had been lost.

Sony’s issues proceeded and were ‘most clear in its center hardware business, which represents 66% of its incomes’ as the buyer gadgets, for example, TVs, DVD players, and music players went under furious value weight and Sony neglected to think of any more pattern setting new contraptions to help benefits (The Economist, 2005). Idei surrendered after a progression of bumbles and gave control to Welsh-brought world American Howard Stringer, a previous TV official (Dvorak, 2005, p.1). Preceding joining Sony, Mr. Stringer had a recognized 30-year vocation as a writer, maker, and official at CBS Inc (www.sony.net).

Stringer meant to join front-line innovation with exciting content while restoring Sony’s electronic business. To battle the value drops of adversaries Stringer streamlined Sony, revealing a broad rebuilding plan that cut 10,000 positions, shed various unrewarding divisions and items, and endeavored to incorporate basic leadership (Palmer, 2006).

The Co. is impervious to change and has been excessively alright with past progress, bringing about smugness (??). Sony has profited by substantial edges on its purchaser electronic items; be that as it may, these are progressively being undermined. Key near-sightedness and resoluteness with respect to the company’s supervisor choke (??) the association’s capacity to develop and adjust to aggressive dangers through advancement. For instance, clients’ purchasing thought processes have changed and Sony did not react that Sony has no likeness Apple iPod, and the organization neglected to profit from the interest in level screen TVs 2) Competition Sony is losing a piece of the overall industry with whatever is left of contenders (Samsung, Matsushita, and LG) are keeping up and develop the piece of the pie. Be that as it may, Sony must know where the genuine danger is originating from – Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft. Sony has not likeness the Apple iPod, which is majorly affecting the individual stereo market. Samsung is prepared for the introduction of its new 3D TV, in any case, Sony is falling behind its rivals in propelling new items and advancements. 3)Positioning? Sony used to be a ground-breaking power in shopper hardware.

In any case, business broadening into motion pictures, music, and money-related administrations thinks that it’s hard to move with the occasions. The motivation behind broadening into different businesses is to supplement the present center business. Sony may dismiss its center business and kind upper hand while stretching out over numerous different enterprises. Suspicious situating: Sony is asserting the advantage that clients will question what the brand can really convey, for example, the Sony Ericsson telephone and moving into LCD TVs. What’s more, Sony is viewed as hard to grow innovatively prevalent item. 2. System Recommendations Generally, Sony needs to acknowledge esteem movement that centers around the errand of observing what client needs are and afterward building up another item or adjusting an ole item that will address those issues. This methodology makes it conceivable to foresee changes in the necessities and needs of clients and be set up to address those issues as they emerge. All the while, the organization can move or relocate to another method for working together.

Along these lines, it is conceivable to remain in front of contenders, and in some cases catch first mover advantage and make a nearness before others start to see recently creating business openings. 1)Business dimension system Porter’s Generic Strategies are being utilized to show what are Sony’s aggressive position and its situating in the purchaser’s brain. Separation Strategy Though issues exist in Sony, the organization still has a few center capabilities in the esteem chain which it could use to additionally increase its upper hand over its rivals. One center competency is their inventory network the executives, which connects to their capacity to keep up a constant flow of great materials coming in for creation in view of their long haul great remaining with their material providers.

The profoundly organized coordination framework taken care of by re-appropriated firms likewise structures some portion of their center skills, prompting superb stock administration and dependably on timetable generation exercises. Another center competency is their capacity at a task – the moving sequential construction system. They can stretch out beyond the contenders producing process. Besides, Sony has an aggressive innovative preferred standpoint over rising IT firms that are moving into the customer electronic field. In spite of the fact that Sony is falling behind its rivals in propelling new items, the organization has officially acknowledged it and concentrated on extending its PC, Blu-beam Disk-related items, and media stations into center organizations.

Rather than being a devotee, Sony should concentrate on the first mover advantage. What’s more, Sony may likewise offer an arrangement of items that supplement one another (LCD TVs and gaming stage), in this manner enhancing the separation for the client and maybe fulfilling an arrangement of purchaser needs. Finally, to keep up progress with separation technique results, Sony must have exceptionally prepared units to give responsive after-deal administration to guarantee high consumer loyalty. Taking everything into account, the separation methodology would empower the productive utilization of existing innovation and would be perceived by a targeted gathering of people. Rather than battling against contenders straightforwardly or delivering items with comparative highlights, Sony needs to focus on putting resources into and creating highlights that separate an item in manners that make an incentive for clients. Situating Strategy

To improve the potential aftereffects of separation methodology, an item class situating system could be utilized by Sony to make the upper hand dependent on a solitary plan/structure distinction. For instance, to evade dubious situating and influence individuals to trust Sony’s wireless, instead of just situating the items as electronic gadgets utilizing item properties situating system, Sony could change itself and publicize on selling ‘Sony way of life’. The organization could acquire buyer introduction by offering PDA that works with or has a connection to another item, for example, Sony music studio.

A few people are progressively adept to attempt a progressive item, in this way, Sony could utilize the item class situating technique to present new items that contrast from customary ones. Try to discover who are the potential brand switchers or experimenters and discover what it would take to motivate them to attempt your items. 2)Sun Tzu Art of War To monitor Sony’s current piece of the pie and shield its aggressive position, the organization could accomplish the target piece of the overall industry insurance by utilizing flanking resistance and versatile barrier. Flanking defense

Sony is simply starting to understand the significance of items that incorporate customer hardware and IT. This is the more fragile territory of Sony that is inclined to be assaulted. Subsequently, flanking procedure calls for Sony to fortify the flanks, for example, by shaping coalitions with other IT players and expanding the speed at which the organization markets their items, without offering any opportunity to Samsung to assault a flimsier target. Versatile Defence Mobile protection required the development of Sony’s market and area by expanding and differentiating its business (here related business is suggested).

Rather than reacting to a contender’s assault straightforwardly, a versatile resistance includes a rethinking of the business. By distinguishing the developing interest of the dynamic market and expanding a business into music name and online music store, the benefits Sony could be upgraded. Flanking Attack Sony can dispatch this assault on a contender at his frail focuses or vulnerable sides. Programming is a lethal shortcoming of Samsung. Samsung isn’t known as an extraordinary pioneer like Apple that can actually make another market with a notorious item.

Subsequently, Sony could consider upgrading the organization’s picture as ‘imaginative’ and turning into an innovator in the field of programming. The organization could patch up its specialty that directly affects making solid client recognition for the brand – R&D, plan, and advertising. Sidestep Attack Sony could likewise expand into items or markets ignored by different contenders. Such procedure prescribes the organization extend to the less demanding business sector so as to evade head-to-head showdown with different contenders.

It is suggested that Sony could leapfrog into new advances to replace existing items. For instance, Sony has the upper hand in the field of diversion comfort business. Then again, Sony might not have adequate power both in assets and abilities to assault Samsung’s TV business. 3)Corporate Level Strategy: Moderate dimension of broadening – Related compelled that all business share item, mechanical, and dispersion linkages. Venture into monetary administrations made it the firm hard to move with the occasions.

With restricted skill, the inconsequential broadening not just depletes the brand’s asset, as it were, yet additionally redirects the brand center from the center of the brand. Rather, with a related compelled methodology, Sony could share assets and activities between its related obliged business, including gadgets equipment, simulation, programming, and other meeting fields. Operational Relatedness: Sony can make operational relatedness by sharing essential initiates and bolster exercises, along these lines making economies of degree, diminishing danger, and making esteem. Corporate Relatedness: Transferring center skills including administrative and mechanical learning, knowledge and aptitude picks up a quick upper hand over its opponent, as impalpable assets are basic to the business’ prosperity. An excessive amount of reliance on re-appropriating can bring down the helpfulness of the center’s abilities. Vertical Integration: Sony could likewise take part in vertical incorporation to pick up market control. The firm could somewhat incorporate its activities by creating its own data sources (in reverse combination) or possess its very own wellspring of yield dispersion (forward coordination).

Along these lines, Sony builds up the capacity to improve item quality and shield its innovation from impersonation by adversaries. 4)Strategic Alliance The hardware business is flimsy, capricious, and complex. Sony does not have the full arrangement of assets and capacities expected to move into LCD TVs. Sony’s association with Samsung enables the organization to make esteem that it couldn’t improve by acting freely. Sony could likewise utilize other key union methodologies to consolidate assets and abilities from various firms to create the upper hand.

A couple of contemplations incorporate the destinations of vital union, balance chance (culture clashes) against the result, potential clashes between two gatherings and what are the new qualities that can make because of the union. Correlative Strategic Alliance, Diversifying Strategic Alliance, and Synergistic Strategic Alliance Through vertical and even corresponding key coalition, Sony could share a portion of its assets from various or similar phases of significant worth chain to create upper hands.

For instance, Sony differentiated its product offerings by building up a vital partnership with Google to convey new items and administrations with the Android stage. The mix of Sony’s industry-driving item configuration, building, and advancement ability with the adaptability and development capability of Google’s imaginative, open-source Android stage will give shoppers a new experience. Through this collision, Sony will convey new dimensions of availability and web incorporation over our scope of advantages and item classes.

In any type of association, the most vital criteria for progress if trust and duty which result in a successful win arrangement. 5)Changing the Corporate Culture It must be perceived this is the hardest for the administration opposing change, and designing has a tendency to be item instead of market-centered.

wikiHow

WikiHow is an online web page society made up of detailed database information on how-to-use or guides. It is a project for open-source information or materials that include permission to use the product’s source code, development documents, or content. It mostly refers to the open-source model where open-source software is released as part of the open-source software project under an open-source license such as WikiHow.

The purpose of this business or website is mainly to make a profit, to create the most useful how-to instructions in the world so that everyone in the world can actually learn how to do something with updated recommendations in several languages, and also to run social projects.

WikiHow is a single trader founded on January 15, 2005, by Jack Herrick. A hybrid organization that combines elements, value systems, and activity concepts (e.g. social effect and revenue technological revolution) from the government, private and voluntary sectors.

The size of WikiHow business is it counts as a large type of business. It depends on the public registered to make their own manuals or guides. In February 2005, WikiHow had much more than 35.5 million registered visitors and by August 2017, it had more than 190,000 free products and more than 1.6 million registered users.

The scale of this business is now Global. People around the world have been sharing their knowledge about something that other people don’t know about.WikiHow has reached their aims to build the most helpful instructions in the world so everyone in the world can know how to do it with new suggestions in multiple languages and also manage social programs.

McDonald

McDonald’s Company is a fast food business in the United States mainly known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, and also its steak, breakfast items, beverages, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. It has 37,855 + locations around the world making McDonald’s the second-biggest fast-food restaurant chain.

The purpose of this business mainly is to make a profit. Also, they wanted to show the importance of customers in the long term view while keeping the business as having a major impact on their food and drink purchase choices.

McDonald’s is a partnership business established in 1940 as a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, United States. It is owned by two brothers by name of Richard and Maurice McDonald.

They rebuilt the business as a hamburger store and eventually transformed the company into a franchise, introducing the Golden Arches logo in 1953 at a Phoenix, Arizona place.

McDonald’s is a large type of business well-known around the world. In 2018, they had to employ more than 210,000 people which makes McDonald’s the second-largest private employer in the world with 1.7 million employees behind Walmart with 2.3 million workers.

In the beginning, McDonald’s started with only one shop in San Bernardino, California, United States. But now, McDonald’s has grown and it is around the globe in 120 nations and regions, serving 68 million clients every day with 37,855 restaurants throughout the world.

Comparison between WikiHow and McDonald

Activities

Both of these businesses make a profit but with different services. WikiHow is a website that is helping the general public to get to know the instructions on making some things. Whereas Mcdonald’s is a fast food shop that sells foods, beverages, salads, nuggets, and many more.

Purpose

These businesses have the same main purpose of making money for their owners or investors. Other than that, these businesses also have other purposes as well. For wikiHow, they wanted to develop the world’s most helpful how-to guides. Whereas for Mcdonald, they wanted to demonstrate the long-term value of customers to their business.

Ownership

WikiHow is a sole trader which is meant the business is owned by only one person. The owner keeps the income after paying all costs and taxes. However, Mcdonald’s is a partnership business owned by 2 people and more. The owner shares his obligations, income, expectations, and decisions.

Size

Both of these businesses are large types of businesses. WikiHow depends on the public who registered to make their own guides whereas Mcdonald employed more than 210,000 people around the world.

Scale

Both of these businesses are Global types of business. WikiHow is a website that opens worldwide. Their website is open to the public who needs any instructions on how to do anything. Whereas McDonald’s opened 37,855 restaurants throughout most of the world.

Evaluate how a business organization has responded to changes in the business environment

WikiHow is an internet website-style group made up of a comprehensive how-to link database established in 2005 by internet entrepreneur Jack Herrick. It is a collaborative organization founded for a social purpose, a for-profit company, and also a project of open-source material. The site aims to create the most helpful guidance on how to do something in the world.

Nowadays, technology is very important because it is used for almost everything and like it all. In today’s world, people can not live without technological developments like television, mobile phones, computers, and so on.

As the advancement of technology is keenly increasing, wikiHow knows how to respond or deal with technological advancement and the customers. Today, the general public expects a fast and direct response to any of their questions. WikiHow is 24 hours open, a worldwide website that anyone who requires any guidance or wants to know how to do can easily access to the website.

From people accessing the website to the general public who are licensed to give any manuals, Wikihow also can achieve their business goals and manage to reach their profits. When the general public searches for any guides, there will be a pop-out advertisement By pop-out advertisements, they can easily get their profits.

Lastly, WikiHow has already accomplished to respond to the advancement of technology and consumers by ensuring the general public makes use of their websites. More and more pop-out advertisements increased. Most of the public has made a license, before making any manuals or guides to share with the world. Importantly, they have achieved their goals of the business.

The name of the company is Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A doesn’t have an official mission statement but they express their mission and values through a quote that goes, “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted in us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” Their vision statement brings in their religious values and exemplifies their dedication to improving the company and its consumers.

Companies need to have a mission and plan when they start, is so that consumers know what they value. There are so many companies out there that may be great companies, but they don’t support the environment and that can be a big turn-off. Also, knowing what the company is trying to accomplish will help the company better understand the goals and direction they want to work towards. Having a written business plan will ensure that the operational and financial details are all laid out and organized in front of you. This will the company analyze its marketing, sales, manufacturing, and design objectives. Overall, this will greatly improve your company’s chances for success.

In 1946, the Dwarf Grill was opened up by Treutt Cathy in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville. This name was eventually changed to Dwarf House. In 1964, the Original Chicken Sandwich was made, which included two pickles and a toasted butter bun. In 1984, the company established its corporate headquarters which is located in downtown Atlanta. In 1986, Chick-fil-A creates its first stand-alone restaurant on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta. In 1995, they created their trademark known as “Eat Mor Chikin” and created their first advertising campaign. In 2006, Chick-fil-a reaches over $2 billion in sales. In 2014, Truett Cathy passes away at age 93, after leading an inspirational life. In 2015, the sens Chick-fil-A to New York City and creates the largest Chick-fil-A restaurant there, fit especially for the busy life of New York consumers. Chick-fil-A has been opening Chick-fil-A restaurants from coast to coast. (Chickfila)

Chick-fil-A recently stated that they are going to stop sending donations to two organizations that have been known for criticizing the anti-LGBTQ+ community. This means that they are no longer going to donate to select charities such as the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I think that this is a great step in the right direction. Chickifla also said that they want to “divert funding to other hunger, education, and homelessness organizations.” While they might be making this decision, so won’t have as much backlash from the community, this is the next step that has to happen.

Chickfila has been at the forefront of making decisions that have raised suspicions about whether they support the anti-LGTBQ+ community. The CEO of Chickfila, Dan Cathy, revealed that back in 2012, Chickfila donated to, Windshape, an evangelical community that is known to be against gay marriage. Chick-fil-A is a largely y more conservative Christian group since it start in 1946, and has been known not to support gay marriage. I consider this to be a poor ethical decision because Chick-fil-A is a large company with a large following, and any stance they take will affect them tremendously. In a growing century, where all sorts of viewpoints are becoming more progressive, having a stance against the LGBTQ+ community is uncalled for. Consumers now see Chick-fil-A as unwelcoming in some cases, even though their customer service is supposed to be top-notch.

Their big focus on marketing for consumers surrounds the idea of cows. Many of their advertisements involve the phrase, “Eat Mor Chikin.” The logo emphasizes the idea of switching from eating beef to eating chicken, the product the brand showcases. Chick-fil-A focuses on awareness and outreach which has helped them transition from a regional company to a national company. Chick-fil-A doesn’t really offer any discounts, but they offer a quality of food that is unmatched by competitors at a reasonable price. A big marketing push is their annual cow appreciation Day. If you want a free Chick-fil-A sandwich, you can show up on this day dressed up as a cow. Chick-fil-A also has a very strong following on social media, using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Those social media platforms also tend to offer rewards, promote awareness, and showcase events.

Chick-fil-A is highly dedicated to customer service. Workers must work through training them to understand the culture and happiness they are supposed to showcase to represent the brand. Employees learn to keep conversations with consumers, ask if they need anything, and remember customers’ names. Let’s not forget that they must say their pleasure when the consumer has received their food.

Chick-fil-A announced that are no longer using chicken that has antibiotics in it since 2014. This is an initiative to push that at every restaurant across the country, there are no antibiotics in the chicken that is sold. Along with that, there are also animal well-being standards. The chickens are hatched, raised, and harvested domestically in the US. There are also climate-controlled barns, where chickens are cage-free and able to roam. (Chickfila) There are also many regulations that they follow with the production of their chickens.

The average Chick-Fil-a unit made about $4,090,000 in 2017. With this being said there are around 2,300 units. Overall, Chick-Fil-a made 9 million dollars in 2017 alone. To run a Chick-Fil-a unit it can be from $342,990 to $1,992,225 (per month). This includes rent, insurance, inventory, and any additional costs.

I have learned that it costs a lot of money to run a restaurant. To run a Chick-Fil-a, you have to meet certain standards and criteria. I have also noticed that Chick-Fil-a is one of the most successful fast-food restaurants. I think the future of the company is extremely bright. Everyone likes Chick-Fil-a, and it will stay that way.

Chick-fil-A has succeeded in making the company simple. Kindness is a big factor in why Chick-fil-A is doing so well. If they were to change anything about their customer service, Chick-fil-A would just not be the same. If Chick-fil-A were to make any changes they need to be well thought-out and make sense. The menu is something that should, for the most part, always stay the same. Changing anything about the menu could have astrI think their one change should be their stance on LGBTQ+ issues. I know the company is known as a more conservative company. It’s okay not to have certain stances on things, but because of their stance on LGBTQ+ issues, there has been a lot of backlash. Chick-fil-A has been known to donate to many charities that are anti-LGBTQ+ such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Salvation Army, and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

1.1.Background of the Company

MAMEE-Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd is a company of food processing in snack, instant noodles, beverages and confectionery in Malaysia. It was founded in 1971 by Datuk Pang Chin Hin and his partner in Malacca. Currently, they are serving over 50 products including MAMEE Monster snack, Mister Potato Chips and MAMEE Chef. They had penetrated to the international market and exported to over 100 countries around the world. Besides, MAMEE-Double Decker also build manufacturing facilities in Myanmar and Indonesia. All facilities have won awards of ISO 9000s, HACCP and Halal certifications. MAMEE Chef has been rated in the Top Ten Instant Noodle category consistently by the Ramen Rater.

1.2.The CSR strategies or practices

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is how a company handles its business processes to create a positive overall impact on society. To help its organization achieve its goals, MAMEE-Double Decker has adopted some corporate social responsibility strategies.

1.2.1.Yayasan Mamee for dialysis patients

On 1 January 2010, they established Yayasan Mamee and promise to provide initial seed funding of RM2 million. This is a charity that takes care of the needs of underprivileged dialysis patients. They set up a dialysis centre in 2009 with an initial donation of RM800,000 to the construction and maintenance of the facility, 10 dialysis machines and provision of trained medical staff. The total donation reaches RM1 million and they have provided free dialysis care and medications to 13 patients suffering from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and aiming to expand their services to more patients in need by 2011.

1.2.2.Caring for children

MAMEE-Double Decker’s employees and management persisted with tradition by arranging a series of festive visits to orphanage, including Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali in 2010. They gave hampers and ‘ang pows’ to children and spend time with them to bring them happiness. There are also proposals in the pipeline to create a Scholarship Fund to meet the educational needs of deserving school students throughout Malaysia.

1.2.3.Go Green

MAMEE-Double Decker are constantly developing and monitoring their practices on pollution of resources and waste to ensure they have met with emission regulations. In 2010, they led the ‘green’ future by recycling exhaust gases from production plants into reusable energy sources and converted back into power for plants. This method enhances energy conservation and helps to be the basis for balanced development and environmental protection.

1.3.The CSR strategies benefits

Corporate social responsibility strategies are important to a company because it brings benefits to the company, such as improving the company’s public image, boosting employee morale and saving the company money.

1.3.1.Improved public image

Companies that show corporate social responsibility are exposed and praised for their participation. Consumers feel good buying goods and services from companies who help the community. Nowadays, people use social media to get information and share information, including the participation of community involvement. People can know MAMEE-Double Decker established Yayasan Mamee for dialysis patients and helping them.

1.3.2.Boost employees’ morale

Corporate social responsibility not only adds value to the company externally, but it adds value internally as well. MAMEE-Double Decker’s employees and management visit the orphanage during the festival season which can boost morale among employees. They also motivating teamwork which stretches beyond the workplace and makes employees proud of the company their serve. This can be a powerful business strategy and letting the company’s employees connect with the community.

1.3.3.Saves money

Improving energy efficiency may save costs for utilities. MAMEE-Double Decker goes green by recycling waste into reusable energy sources. Recycling and reusing waste can reduce the cost of buying new stocks to produce goods. When the company reduce expenses, they are saving money. Although it only cost a little money to build a green business process, it saved a lot of money over time.

1.1.The Challenges of the CSR

Although corporate social responsibility offers some advantages to the business, the company will also face several challenges when they adopting activities in corporate social responsibility.1.1.1.2.1.3.1.4.

1.4.1.Clashing of business objectives and cause resistance from shareholders

The main goal of a business organization is to generate profit and also shareholders invest in socially responsible companies is to make a profit. Corporate Social Responsibility may allow companies to take into consideration people’s interest when making a significant decision that can lead to conflicts of business objectives. Although some companies make considerable profits from corporate social responsibility, other companies who follow the strategies also tend to be at risk for losses. Since corporate social responsibility has a poor track record of determining enlarged income, creditors tend to resist corporate leaders’ efforts to arrange in this direction.

1.4.2.Competitive Disadvantages

Corporate social responsibility will incur more costs to complete its activities, those companies that do not fulfil the corporate social responsibility will be able to supply their goods to customers in the market at a lower cost. This means the companies that ensure corporate social responsibility are at a disadvantage in the market compared to various competitors. In this situation, the company may need to face many market losses in the short and long run.

1.5.Recommendations

1.5.1.Get back shareholders interested

Company should take the appropriate measure to create a positive relationship among shareholders to implement effective corporate social responsibility activities. Effective shareholders involvement helps to reduce risk and build the company’s brand. However, the viewpoints of the shareholders can influence the goals of an organization. There would be a competitive edge of well-structured interaction with shareholders.

1.5.2.Research new business models

Company should research new business models to help the environment and improving the community. In addition to being the core of the company’s business strategy, corporate social responsibility strategies also require long-term planning. The organization’s staffs and management should know their roles and what to do.

1.5.3.Change the mindset of management

A positive company mindset can boost business to new levels of productivity and profit. The social and environmental contributions of the organization will become more valuable which can encourage more responsible business models. At the same time, it can shift from short-term profit to long-term competitiveness.

1.6.Conclusion

In global business discourse, corporate social responsibility is now firmly established. Corporate social responsibility offers MAMEE-Double Decker benefits at the same time they do encounter certain obstacles. They should find some ways to handle the issues such as get back shareholders interested, research new business models and change the mindset of management.

Introduction:

Saudi Telecom Company is a telecom provider and a digital leader providing telecom services and platforms to help enabling the digital transformation of the MENA region. In order for any company to reach a leading position in the market, there has to be a developed supply chain management to enhance the efficiency and the effectiveness of the integration between supply and demand. Through the supply chain management, STC has developed an end-to-end SCM by developing the supplier system, and creating supplier assessment every year along with developing the procurement process and having customer experience sector as assess the customer satisfaction with the service. Moreover, STC through the technical team in infrastructure sector deals with many international telecom vendors such as Huawei, Nokia, Eriksson, Cisco, etc. For that, the technical team has developed a vendor strategy to control the vendor along with reducing the cost, which promotes and enhances the supply chain management.

Procurement Process:

The procurement function in STC related to three areas, which are marketing, materials, facilities management. The procurement department is also responsible for identifying the sources of supply, negotiating contracts with the vendors and the contractors, Obtaining goods and services for the facilities in all over the kingdom along with STC stores. In addition, the procurement also manages the suppliers through iProcurement System. The iProcurement System is a system that was develop by STC to allow new suppliers to apply through the system to get vendor ID. In order to get vendor ID, STC’s procurement has a long process before they approve the suppliers or the contractors and issue a vendor ID to them. Once the vendor ID is issued and the supplier have signed an NDA document, the supplier can request some data from STC such as the annual demand, the amount spent annually by STC for that specific product or equipment, and then STC signs the offtake agreement with them. Then the supplier would be able to see all the requests for proposal at iProcurement system. STC would receive the proposals from the vendors for any project posted, and then the procurement performance would choose the best value for money, quality. After that, STC will sign a contract with the vendor, where the infrastructure department would be responsible for all the technical work and procurement would be responsible for all the expenditures. On the other hand, it is very common in the telecom sector that a vendor comes with a new solution to a problem in STC network and present to the Infrastructure sector. For example, Ericson came up with a unique solution to help STC network to reach STC customers in areas that they cannot deliver FTTH. Those problems comes during the project and the solution to them costs a lot of money, but the procurement sector plans for those issue ahead.

Vendor Strategy:

The procurement sector represented by Procurement Performance has created a vendor strategy with the technical department “Infrastructure & Operation” to enhance the efficiency of vendors work. The objectives of the vendor strategy was reduce CAPEX / obtain Value for Money, reduce OPEX, mitigate Risk, alignment with Vendor-related stakeholders. The vendor strategy should consider and prepare STC for the evolution of new telecom technologies and services such as IOT, and 5G where many projects will exist. The procurement department purchases from international companies and local companies. For example, IP network equipment, optical fiber cables, and telecom installation equipment purchased from international companies such as Nokia, Ericson, Huawei, and Cisco for Cloud storage equipment. Local content department inside the procurement sector plays a main rule in increasing the purchases from local companies and manufacturers. Nowadays, STC prefers to buy all its products from Saudi manufacturer except the products that no one produces in Saudi Arabia. Some of the products that STC used to buy from a manufacturer in different country is the fiber optic cables and other products that related to civil work where STC used to consumes a huge quantity of fiber optic and pays a lot of money, but now everything is changes. In addition, STC also purchases the sim cards, and In fact, the new method that is done by STC and other big companies in Saudi will help the Saudi economy at the, which was done by having an effective and an efficient supply chain system.

Demand Forecast

STC plans and builds future strategy based on a 3-year forecast. The business unit sector prepares the forecast annually with the coordinating of infrastructure sector along with procurement sector. The business unit studies the customer behavior, and compares it to the previous years and based on that; it foresee the next three demand. The procurement receives the 3-year forecast from the business units, and start planning the procurement budget based on the expected demand along with the distribution of material all over the kingdom. The forecast will also help the procurement department to predict short- and long-term prices, and builds a business case to understand the changes. Moreover, procurement would analyze the operating expenses of the vendors and contractors, and the possibilities of reducing it, since the old data would help. STC builds a forecast depending on many different products and services, such as mobile services, internet services, storage services, and the expansion of the network. They all affect the values in the forecast, whether it will be increasing or decreasing.

Implementation Process:

The implementation process is a technical process that turns strategies and plans into actions, which starts from designing the service and end up with implementing the service. Depending on the requested service by the customer, the duration of any service is different. For example, building a telecom tower for ARAMCO will take more time than connecting fiber optic to ARAMCO offices. To reduce the duration of the implementation process for the telecom work such as towers, fiber, etc. STC has divided the three main cities in Saudi Arabia between the vendors. For example, Khobar and Dammam belongs Huawei, Jeddah belongs to Nokia, and Riyadh belongs Ericsson. STC decided this method to reduce the delay of work that occurred before and to increase the quality of the service, but providing services to the customer as soon as possible. There are many reasons that accuses delay such as, availability of labor, logistics of equipment, etc.

Distribution:

STC has many services to distribute to its customers. Some customers as big companies request a dedicated service, which STC has to provide special equipment, where the installation is in their facility. The company provides the distribution to its commercial & public customers by shipping the equipment or their orders such as sim cards, phones, and others from the warehouse to the customer facility or house. In addition, STC has developed a new distribution strategy to increase the customer satisfaction. The new distribution strategy is to allow customers to purchase sim cards, routers, and phones online through STC application, where it will be deliver to the customer place. This new technique have increased the customer satisfaction about the services provided from STC. Moreover, the customer can rate the service and the driver who delivered the shipment to them. The rating of the service helped STC to identify mistakes of this service and helped them develop it.

Improvement in supply chain:

STC is a big telecom provider and a digital leader in MENA region, which owns STC Bahrain, STC Kuwait, and other shares in different companies. Although STC has the capability over other companies in MENA region, but STC still does not find solution to reduce cost without affecting the quality of service. The cost management department need to find some alternatives to reduce the supply chain cost, which includes material cost, implementation cost, logistics cost, and outsourcing costs. STC might reduce the outsourcing costs by determining appropriate levels of outsourcing. Some outsourcing products will cost much more than if STC start to produce in Saudi Arabia. Cost reduction will help STC to match supply to demand as effectively and efficiently as possible by not delaying the work to the next year budget because of the budget gap.

Conclusion:

Demand and supply are the main drivers of supply chain, and the efficiency and the effectiveness of supply chain management would result in a successful system. STC is a rich company and pays a lot of money to develop the supply chain process. Starting from material purchasing and passing through the supplier management, developing a new strategy to monitor the vendors, implementation process, and ending up with distributing the products to the customers. All of those are important processes in SCM, and having a positive customer experience is the indicator of a successful entity in the telecom sector. Although STC has a successful SCM, but it still pays a lot of money to maintain an efficient system, without caring about the possible chances of reducing the cost without affecting the quality of the service.

CarMax is the largest and most well-known used car dealer in the U.S automotive sector and constantly works to remain relevant and innovative. Consumers in the used car market want an environment that is user-friendly, dependable, and transparent while accommodating their needs. Reliability in the automotive sector is key. Many customers begin their car buying journey online. While others prefer to come in person to the store.

Savvy car buyers enjoy researching information online prior to contacting the dealership. The make, model, trim level, and color of the vehicle can be selected as well as prequalifying for a loan and test drive can all be arranged online. Therefore, the success of the CarMax experience can be due to the digital age. However, challenges do arise with brick-and-mortar locations.

The Carmax SWOT Analysis examines the internal factors of strengths and weaknesses as well as the external factors of opportunities and threats. Carmax uses the framework to benchmark its performance and business as compared to its competitors. As one of the leading brands in the retail sector,

Strengths

CarMax offers a full range of services to attract customers during the car buying experience. The services include extended warranty plans, auto financing, repair, service, and trade-in evaluations as well as wholesale auction options. The company focuses on no-haggle pricing, high-quality vehicles, low prices, friendly sales process, and word-of-mouth promotion.

Sophisticated technology allows CarMax to accurately update inventory to reflect each model category. Presently, there are several locations locally and are increasing globally.

Weaknesses

Although CarMax has strong sales and marketing presents limitations can occur when purchases prices or trade-in prices are not negotiated to current consumer trends. The financials show the balance sheet is not the soundest. However, no had problems have surfaced around servicing the company debt.

Opportunities

The company plans to grow new market by increasing the need for secondhand cars. Options include exporting opportunities to developing countries and participating in auto expos. Used-car prices will increase or remain the same in some models because of demand.

Treats

The company is vulnerable to certain economic conditions that can include credit availability, delinquency, gas prices, interest rates, and discretionary spending. Competition is also a real concern. Both public and private-owned dealerships are in direct competitors as well as private individuals. All substantial changes in retail pricing of used or new vehicles could reduce profit and sales. Any reduction of inventory can adversely affect the growth of the business.

Conclusion

Bottom line, the consumer should fall in love with the product of their selecting. CarMax is committed to satisfying the needs of its customers by providing a seamless car buying experience free from hassle.

References

Source.

1. https://www.carmax.com/why-carmax