Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is the sixth largest automobile maker in Japan; it was founded in 1970 and is ranked 17th in the world motor vehicle industry by production (Mitsubishi Corporate website). The company has recognized the need to have good governance and good relations with stakeholder and the public.
Mitsubishi is respected for its strong corporate social responsibilities (CSR) policies and have the aim of building a prosperous and sustainable relationship with society. This paper gives an account of the CSR policies the company espouses.
Detail s of CSR policies of a Mitsubishi
The company established a full office to deal with corporate citizenship in April 2004; the office is called Corporate Citizenship Promotion Office: the office was given the mandate of enacting policies that the internal business a chance to improve its processes so as it reduces any adverse effect on the people. The office operates under an acronym called STEP, which means
S: Support for the next generation: the focus is on developing young people to improve their future
T: Traffic safety: the company has traffic rules training programs where it teaches drivers, potential drivers and schoolchildren on how to be safe; in line with safety, the company makes reliable vehicles
E: Environmental preservation; the company has embarked on some environmental conservation policies and activities
P: Participation in local communities: the company has resources set aside to address some needs in the community like health promotions, schools buildings and stocking, promotion of games among others.
The department internal policies include:
Adopting fuel efficient production methods like use electricity instead of coal when heating, this is estimated to reduce its in factory emission by 20%
A project to develop electric motor vehicles is in an advanced stage
The company has embarked on improved technology on it vehicles to ensure that they are fuel efficient
How are these policies enacted?
The company internal department of corporate citizenship is responsible for looking at CSR policies; the section of business reports to a Business Ethics Committee, which among top management of the company also is composed of external experts in different areas like environmental conservations, ethical business and community development experts.
The success of the policies are evaluated by third parties who offer the management a review of the success of the programs; third parties undertake research on the environs and advices the company on the position it holds in the community as well as how it can improve and sustain relationship with societies.
Japanese environmental conservation department produces business statistics information; Mitsubishi has been honored as one of the most ethical business in the country, it is seen as a leader in sustainable business development.
Past successes
In October 2000, the European Union came up with recycling policies to be respected by the vehicle manufactures in the company, they were called ELV recycling policies, since then Mitsubishi Motors Europe (MME) and its subsidiaries are leaders in implementing the set strategies.
According to the ELV recycling strategy, companies could only be licensed to work in the larger European country if they complied with the set levels. Before a new model is registered for sale in either United Kingdom or France, it required to have at least 95% recyclable level.
In 2005, the company had targeted to reduce carbon emission from each car it produces with 20%; to reduce the emission, the company aimed at improving fuel efficiency in their cars. In line with the efficiency improving, the company targeted to have a full production of Electronic vehicles (EVs) and production of engines that can use fossil fuels; the move was thought to have a 50% reduction of emission in the company. The company has launched some EYs; currently the company is producing flexible-fuel vehicle and bio-ethanol cars, which have increased the perception that customers hold on its products.
Conservation of water is another move that the company has embarked on. According to the 2009 social corporate report, the company had managed to conserve and recycle 50% of the water it uses in its production (Mitsubishi Corporate website).
The company has received a number of praises from governmental and non-governmental organization; according to US Environmental Agency report of 2009, the company was setting pace to environmental conservation. According to the companys environmental report 2009, Mitsubishi has reduced its water wastage by 50%; this is through recycling and proper water use.
The recycling is seen as a move to conserve the environment in line with EU environmental rules and Kyoto protocol. To address societal issues from a global angle, the company has developed EMVs (electronic motor vehicles); during a visit to the Okazaki district, corporate citizenship was praised for the efforts; it was seen as a fulfillment of Stockholm environmental conservation agreement fulfillment.
Locally the company embarks on various activities they include tree-planting programs, youth education (the education is on various issues like traffic rules, environmental conservations and entrepreneurship), health camps, scholarships and waste management programs.
Global corporations are entities legalized to run their businesses which offer or deliver their products or services in more than one country. In order to ensure effective coordination of business in these corporations, virtual teams are formed.
Virtual teams refer to a group of persons, who come together to form a team and members are distributed geographically and they are required to work together using electronic means of communication (Alberto, 2003). These teams rarely meet face to face. Virtual teams are of three kinds; software, product or banking teams which are differentiated by their geographical location, functions or cultural boundaries (Alberto, 2003).
While a corporation is setting up a virtual team, it should consider the following factors; time zones, culture diversity, communication, trust and leadership. These factors determine the quality of coordination by teams and if not well managed they can be issues. In this paper, we examine these issues (factors) which virtual teams of different global corporations face.
One of the major issues facing Virtual teams is Time zones and are calculated using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) mostly, by either adding or subtracting hours. Different areas experience different time zones, although some countries may be geographically far apart from each other but experience the same time zone, for example San Juan and Montreal.
Time zones pose a big challenge to virtual teams, especially if team members are working in different time zones, for example one team member in New York and another in London, working on the same to deliver a product or service at a given time (Allison, 1990).
Due to time difference one team may be unavailable when problems arise at a one given time, which could lead to mistrust between teams. This is because only one team would be working to resolve the problems which crop up at that given time. Such a scenario can repeat itself and the result is that one group could always be left out in activities involving solving of problems, hence create a feeling of marginalization.
This pattern can lead to conflicts whose main cause is difference in time zones (Allison, 1990). Such conflicts can lower the effectiveness in performance of virtual teams.
In order to solve such a conflict, the leadership should ensure that external time zone differences are well measured and their impacts observed. This would ensure that no team is left out in solving of problems due to unavailability caused by overlapping time zones (Espinosa).
Another issue that affects virtual teams is that of diversified cultures which emerges as a result of different nationalities. It has both positive and negative impacts on the performance of teams. Culture diversity includes; different individualism values, languages, nationalities and country of origin or birth.
When skills, perspectives and talents of different teams from different backgrounds are combined can produce excellent results (Sandy, 2006).
Diversity produces a great value as a result of increased flexibility, creativity and innovation. Diversified experiences and perspectives enhance the ideas and information collected by a team and as a result great outcomes are achieved inform of networking and resources to the corporation (Sandy, 2006).
Diversity or culture has negative impacts on a virtual team. These negative include difficulty in communication, lack of cohesion or togetherness, misunderstandings and conflicts. Creation of sub groups in and out of a given culture leads to misunderstandings and conflicts in different cultures. Such sub groups comprise of people of the same culture, which means interaction with other cultures is closed out (Alberto, 2003).
Such groupings lead to decrease in interpersonal and communication skills amongst teams which in turn lower performance of teams and level of satisfaction.
These groups also lead to high turnover as a result of less attraction amongst team members. In and out groups also lead to poor communication which can result to less cohesion and social togetherness or integration. As a result diversity leads to poor performance of a team (Sandy, 2006).
In order to ensure healthy relationships amongst team members, the leadership should make a wise decision on the mode of communication to be used. Use of media communication, electronic tools of chatting and telephone conference is some of the modes which reduce diversity differences and groupings (Allan, 2003).
The reason is that it reduces face to face conversation which in turn increases cohesiveness, social integration and reduced conflicts which in turn enhance performance and satisfaction (Sandy, 2006).
Communication and language issues are also an important factor in enhancing performance a virtual team. Effectiveness of a virtual team depends on the quality of its communication. Media communication and texting are the most used forms of communication but their effectiveness can not be compared to that of face to face communication (Sirka et al, 1999).
This is because texts lately have many symbols, shortcuts and pictures which pass given information. Failure to understand such aspects may lead to lack of communication. Communication impacts the effectiveness and performance of virtual teams both positively and negatively.
On a positive note, communication in a team ensures fulfillment of goals and performance of duties. It is also an important factor in ensuring strong bonds of cohesion and reduced conflicts through commitment, loyalty and participation by all team members.
Communication helps a team to understand the task it is performing and at the same time encourage exchange of ideas (Sirka et al, 1999). Effective communication ensures the well being of a group by promoting healthy relationships and interaction amongst team members.
Lack of effective communication can lead to deterioration in performance and effectiveness of a team. Ineffectiveness in communication can be as a result of language barrier, culture or diversity, unclear messaging and distortions.
This can lead to conflicts, lack of coordination, reduced competitive advantage and success and friction in a team (Thompson, 2011). Language barrier can be as a result of different cultures and nationalities. Language barrier leads to polarization of ideas, mistrust, division in the team and suspicions.
To ensure effective communication rare face to face gatherings can reduce some of the challenges of communication in future. Use of code of conduct is used to ensure total functionality of individual members and reduced delays.
To ensure effective encoding and decoding of messages, members are discouraged to use non-text forms of communication like emotional icons, jargons or picture messages. In order to reduce language barrier, a common language is used, mostly English (Sirka et al, 1999). Also use of gestures and interpreters as well as translators can enhance communication.
Trust is an essential aspect in a virtual team and its main aim to make the team work. Trust in a team ensures that there is increased security and confidence in a team, promotes openness and effective exchange of information. Trust also brings team members together despite the physical distance between them. In his study Sirka, refers trust as the glue of the global workspace (29-64).
Trust also enhances sense on moral duty which increases willingness of team members to assist one another because they feel obliged to. Mistrust in a team may lead to conflicts which in turn will reduce the performance of a team. Mistrust hinders the ability of a group to explore its full potential, deteriorated interpersonal communication and decreased sense of reliability (Sirka et al, 1998).
Incase mistrust occurs, the team is advised to be involved in team building and solve problems together. Team building usually helps in assessment of each members ability, motivation and successes. Solving problems together will enhance commitment of an individual member to work. Also involving the team in occasional face to face gatherings clears mistrust which may have come up (Sirka et al, 1999).
Another very important issue facing virtual teams is that of leadership. Leadership can be challenging considering that a leader should oversee and coordinate activities of different teams globally.
To ensure good performance of a team, the leader should be able to motivate team members, encouraging member to be disciplined and organize social activities which promote face to face interaction, trust and communication (Timothy, 2002). Effective leadership should prepare team members for different situations that may occur in the group.
A leader should be able to recognize contributions of all members regardless of the magnitude. A leader should be a mentor and law enforcer. Due to physical limitation, a leader may not be in a position to observe team members physically.
This calls for creativity in leadership to ensure a virtual observation of members (Amabile, 1997). Ineffectiveness n leadership may lead to mistrust and poor performance. Leaders need to be trained in order to acquire the skills required in leadership (Malhotra, 2007).
In conclusion, virtual teams form an important part of global corporations. All these factors (discussed) need to be considered and carefully implemented to ensure that virtual team does not fail in its duties (Amabile, 1997). All the issues discussed impact the performance of a team which in turn affects the competitive advantage and success of a corporation.
References
Alberto, J. (2003). Team Boundary Issues across Multiple Global Firms. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19 (4), 157-190.
Allan, J. and Anne, W. (2003). Language management in multinational companies. Cross Cultural Management, 10 (2), 37.
Allison, S. (1990). Social decision heuristics and the use of shared resources. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 3, 195-204.
Amabile T. (1997).Motivating creativity in organizations: On doing what you love and loving what you do. California Management Review, 40 (1), 39-58.
Malhotra, A. and Majchrzak, A. and Rosen, B. (2007). Leading virtual teams. The Academy of Management Perspectives ARCHIVE, 21 (1), 60-69.
Sandy, D. (2006). Group decision and negotiation. The Effects of Cultural Diversity in Virtual Teams versus Face-to-Face Teams, 15, 389-406.
Sirka, L. and Kathleen, K. and Dorothy, E. (1998). Antecedents of trust in global virtual teams. Journal of Management Information Systems, 14 (4), 29-64
Sirka, L. and Kathleen, K. and Dorothy, E. (1999). Communication and trust in global Virtual teams. Special issue: communication Processes for Virtual Organizations, 10 (6), 791-815.
Thompson, L. (2011). Making the team: A guide for managers.Northwestern University: Prentice Hall.
Timothy, R. and Dorothy, E. (2002). Leadership effectiveness in global virtual teams. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18 (3), 7-40.
This article highlights how an entity created a niche for itself in the corporate world. Patagonia, the entity in question was founded by Yvon Chouinard and operates in the sporting sector. Yvon turned his passion for outdoor and adventurous activities into a viable business venture. Subsequently, he embarked on a path which has culminated in the creation of an entity that has challenged conventional corporate philosophies.
The article also details the impacts of research, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship skills in Yvons business. This has allowed the entity to deviate from the strategies adopted by most corporations. As such, Patagonia has become the ideal corporation, which has established a balance between capitalism and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In most corporations, capitalism and the need to generate profits has resulted in the erosion of values on which entities were based.
Yvon has adopted a radical approach in corporate management. He is unwilling to compromise on numerous policies that Patagonia has adopted.
Most entities begin as private companies. Nonetheless, they go public once they become a force in the market. This is a path which Yvon is unwilling to pursue. Such a corporate choice would change the policies of the organization in entirety as the management would focus on maximizing the shareholders value rather than undertaking policies which will benefit the clients in terms of value delivery.
The entity has diverted from convectional human resource management hence; employees are key stakeholders in the organization. Moreover, the organization has adopted a culture, which is relevant to the organizations industry. This is crucial for motivating employees and leaving a long lasting image in the clients minds in regard to its culture and services.
The model adopted by this organization has created a precedent that many organizations cannot emulate. The current corporate world is dominated by large monopolistic entities that make it tough for small organizations to break into the mainstream market. Patagonia, via its inspiration founder Yvon, provides an example of how small entities can establish a market segment that large entities cannot take over.
I believe that creativity and innovation will be central to the success of smaller entities. An example of an innovation in Patagonia is the development of swim suits that are more comfortable and attractive. These qualities denote some of the customers main concerns. The large entities have been unable to reach this milestone, giving Patagonia a competitive edge.
The above accomplishments are also attributable to partnerships with various entities in the polyester and cotton production sector. Yvon has been brilliant at establishing strategic partnerships, which have spurred Patagonia forward. Such partnerships have given this entity a competitive edge that many entities in the sector cannot achieve.
Based on the strategic, managerial and operational decisions that Patagonia has implemented, it would only be logical to acknowledge Yvons skills in corporate matters. He has been honoured by many institutions for being a key player in transforming corporate governance. He has realized this by leaning away from corporate governance that is primarily motivated by capitalism.
The ideas postulated in the passage have multiple applications in real life. Many potential investors face questions such as how do I start a business? Which sector is the most profitable? How will my business perform against the powerful businesses? The article answers these queries by revealing how Yvon turned his passion into a viable commercial venture. The ideas in the passage reveal how he addressed those queries. In real life, potential entrepreneurs should invest in sectors that they are passionate about.
Conclusion
I have noted with concern that many other important issues of corporate governance have taken precedence over profitability. These issues include conservation of the environment and CSR. The entity spends large amounts of its revenues on such undertakings. Such policies would be treasonous in the current corporate world. The radical approach to management adopted by Yvon has contributed massively to Patagonias success. Moreover, its failure to go public has enabled Patagonia to retain its corporate innocence.
In this research project, the proposal will dwell on the strategies that the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation uses in its bid to ensure optimal employee performance. The paper will offer the best strategies to ensure optimal performance of the employees. At the beginning, the paper will provide an intrinsic proposal after which it presents the research problem.
After this, the research will authenticate researches that have been carried out on the topic, besides presenting a comprehensive literature review to establish the present stand on the topic. Finally, the research proposal will deliver the final outcome which will be include proposals on the best ways to overcome the problem, reflect upon it, and finally present the most appropriate alternative approach that will minimize or solve the problem.
Research background
The problem is the need to incorporate training and development as part of the human resource management policies of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). Currently, the human resource management department have policies that do not optimally reinforce training and development among the employees. As a result, the company loses its engineers to its competitors due to lack of a successful training program.
Besides, the company does not have a very clear career path for the employees. In many jurisdictions, it is mandatory to have an independent training and development management function in an institution. Reflectively, design and skill development are the nerve centre for skilled and competent labour force.
Unfortunately, there are scenarios where the human resource management department of the ENEC is not very efficient and therefore fails to take up key control issues in time. There is no proper schedule for periodic and continuous employee training and development within the ENEC, which has a quantifiable module for tracking the feedback and level of engagement among the employees.
As a result, it is almost impossible to monitor the performance of each employee against the set targets. Besides, the lack of training and development may be attributed to low employee morale and redundancy at the organization.
It is therefore necessary to establish the most appropriate and sustainable training and development strategy for the ENEC to monitor and micromanage its employee productivity as is the case at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Research problem
Despite the fact that the ENEC spends several millions in training seminars and internal programs, the training modules have not been modified to fit within the organizations corporate culture.
Therefore, this research paper will establish the most appropriate approach that the ENEC should adopt to improve on its training and development strategies. The ENEC will greatly benefit from appropriate training and development strategies, which translates into better employee growth and development, affirmative action, and client satisfaction.
Rationale of the research
The need for employee efficiency in the ENEC necessitates more research in the area of management styles and their impacts on organizational performance within the UAE. It is for these reasons that the research will attempt to provide a framework for organizational performance as directly influenced by the type of management strategies at the ENEC.
From the business point of view, the ENEC will be in a position to double its current labour output and will spend less time in constant replacement of the employees who resign. From the personnel engagement and motivation point of view, the ENEC will be in a position to provide better career paths, opportunities for personal and organizational growth, and motive employees to perform optimally.
At the end of the research, the ENEC, which wants to further improve organizational performance and increase its commitment to efficiency, will have mechanisms that it can use to decide on the most appropriate management style.
Research aims and objectives
This study attempts to explicitly review the human resource management strategies in the ENEC and their impacts on the quality of employee performance feedback. The primary aims and objectives of this research paper will be;
To provide sufficient information to the human resource management department of the ENEC on the real management problems that has facilitated the occurrence of poor performance among the employees.
To establish the views of the employees of the ENEC on the level of job satisfaction within the current training and development programs.
To establish the link between the current output of the ENEC and the scope of its human resource management strategies.
Research questions
What is lacking within the training planning at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation?
What factors of human resource planning has not propelled the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation to its optimal success route?
How does the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation deal with different challenges with its employee training planning?
What could be the reasons behind constant employee resignation, despite the attractive remuneration packages?
Significance of the research
This research will assist the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation in the UAE to implement effective employee management strategies that promote efficiency and sustainability of employee performance feedback. It will be a compilation of best human resource management strategy practices.
The study will also provide recommendations on how the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation can effectively manage its employee performance in order to guarantee employee satisfaction.
Research methodology
Research methodology encompasses elements like research design, study location, target population, sample and sampling procedures, research instruments, pilot testing of the instruments, data collection process, and data analysis procedures.
These elements will be discussed in a more coherent manner. It must be noted that this section is very important to this study due to the fact that it gives the methods used to collect the primary data from the source.
This research will be conducted using research survey study approach. The researcher chose the qualitative approach rather than a quantitative because the scope of the research is focused, subjective, dynamic, and discovery oriented. The qualitative approach is best suited to gain proper insight into the situation of the case study. Besides, qualitative data analysis is more detailed than a quantitative one.
Moreover, this approach will create room for further analysis using different and divergent tools for checking the degree of error and assumption limits. The researcher will dispatch 120 questionnaires as part of the quantitative survey. The research will be declared effective when 80 questionnaires are fully filled and returned.
This research will target senior and junior staff at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The research will target to interview 6 participants. The study will opt for open and close-ended questionnaire in data collection since it is economical on time, finance, and energy unlike qualitative method which may not be economical especially when the sample size is put into picture.
In the collection of data procedure, the research will adopt a drop and pick module for the sample population. Each respondent will be given a time frame of a week to respond to questions in the questionnaire. Where necessary, further clarification will be accorded to participants.
Data Analysis
The collected quantitative data will be coded and passed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version seventeen. In the process, cross tabulation will be used to compare and contrast perception on the effectiveness of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporations training program.
In order to quantify the relationship between the independent and dependent variable, ANOVA will be essential besides figures, charts, and tabular representation of correlation analysis.
Expected findings
It is anticipated that the human resource management strategies, that will be recommended, will ensure optimal performance and sustainability of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporations labour function as have been the case at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
The improvement in employee performance will be quantifiable through comparing the past employee performance feedback of the company with the performance after six months of implementation.
Following a security data breach at Target Corp, the retailer will face several lawsuits for monumental losses incurred by banks and customers. Trustmark National Bank and Green Bank NA filed complaints against Target and accused it and Trustwave Holdings Inc. of failing to secure customer information effectively, which resulted in the theft of nearly 40 million payment card records and 70 million records related to customer addresses, phone numbers and other contact details (Stempel, 2014).
According to the two financial institutions, they incurred costs from informing their clients about data theft, providing new cards, and compensating falsified transactions. There are possibilities that losses could increase if hackers use all the data they obtained from Target.
The two financial institutions seek compensations for unspecified damages, but with massive financial consequences to Target and Trustwave. Losses from such a security breach could run into billions of dollars. The retailer will face several lawsuits. The lawsuits will be also likely to affect any third party, which handled Targets data security services.
Personally, I believe that Target should improve data security. For instance, Target confirmed that it received warnings of the security breach, but failed to act on them. Moreover, the retailer knew that its electronic payment systems were weak, but it did not take any action to improve them. Such attacks highlight negligence and the need for any retailer to act on any breaches and be prepared for possible attacks. Target will face possible class action lawsuits.
For instance, nearly 40 million transactions and 40 million clients could have been affected by the security breach. The affected customers may come together and sue under a class action lawsuit. Trustwave must also account for its failure to update Targets security system to meet the industry standards.
Reference
Stempel, J. (2014). Target, security auditor Trustwave are sued over data breach. Web.
The specific problems I am seeking to overcome are caused by the present systems and procedures failing to cope with the increase in activities and transactions. As such, the homegrown systems, which have been in operation since the inception of the corporation, are no longer working as required.
Similarly, the corporation needs to address the rising numbers of complaints launched by the suppliers and the customers. The present systems and the stopgap procedures, which the company heavily relied on, have impeded production. Also, these procedures and systems have resulted in unintentional penalties, which are both unproductive and not easy to rectify.
The new expansion plans
Since its inception, the company has been expanding rapidly. Currently, the company has more than three thousand five hundred employees. The companys operations are situated in eight states in America and England, France, and Germany. In the next coming years, the company plans to expand its operations to Spain and Australia.
The expansion plans will be made possible by the ERB system from SAP. SAPs system is necessary for New Wave Corporation because it will aid it in addressing the challenges that have prevented it from becoming an integrated corporation. As such, the ERP system will ensure that the corporation attains a structural and architectural base before it plans to implement its expansion plans in the next four years.
When a company is planning to expand its operations, it will need additional employees to collect and stock up merchandise, manage the operations, and come up with effective business (Compare Business Products 4). Contrastingly, an expanding company, will require a few individuals to undertake financial reconciliation and data entry tasks.
Thus, New Wave Corporation will greatly benefit from an ERP system during the expansion phase. As such, the system can complete the above tasks with accuracy for the reason that it utilizes data in its database (Laudon 45).
The objectives and strengths of an ERP System for a company
To meet the objectives of our assignment, our team has conducted research focused on the primary suppliers of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. During the research, the team chose the SAP Company as the best provider of a comprehensive ERP System that would effectively achieve our objectives regarding the implementation of an enterprise-wide MIS system for the New Wave Corporation.
Our objectives were to incorporate the internal and external data flows utilized by the company using a solitary and inclusive solution. Another major objective was to enhance the flow of data between every interior business function at the same time, supervise the connections to external stakeholders. Usually, point systems utilized by small corporations waste information technology resources.
On the other hand, the ERP system normalizes the utilization of one function to manage an entire corporation. Through this, the company does not only enhance its productivity but also reduce the total cost of ownership. Ultimately, the company will lessen its operational costs and enhance its prosperity.
How and why of how the SAP Sales & Marketing module will benefit the company
According to the manufacturers, the SAP Sales & Marketing module has several benefits to companies (SAP 1). As such, New Wave Corporation will be able to offer modified and significant experience at every stage of their sales and marketing journey with the help of the module (Nah 123).
The company will get unparalleled information about its customers by utilizing the Big Data analytics offered in the module. Generally, the module benefits to the company can be categorized into data-driven marketing, agile marketing, commerce, engaging customer benefits, and digital solutions benefits (SAP 1).
Concerning data-driven marketing, the module merges client markets information into a solitary view. By doing so, it exposes concealed information that can be utilized in coming up with appropriate marketing choices.
Similarly, the marketing-driven suite checks social response and identify with the voice of the market, expose developments in customer behavior and compute insight about brands, alter audiences into clients with the use of Big Data, and creates a precise subdivision with the help of concurrent information, analytics, and detection tools (SAP 1).
To achieve agile marketing, the module will enable the company to respond rapidly to changing market opportunities. Using agile marketing operations, the company will quickly come up and organize marketing assets, manage and make more efficient all marketing and sales actions, and carry out automatic and multi-wave promotions on multiple channels (SAP 1).
Similarly, the company will expand results-driven agendas with the use of promotional templates, precisely aim at a segment audience during promotions, and enhance procedures by lessening digital asset replication and guaranteeing brand compliance.
Equally, the module will enable the company to engage their customer experience (SAP 1). The above practice will be achieved by delivering creative and tailored customer experiences in all digital and conventional marketing and sales channels.
Through this, the company will coordinate reliable customer experiences and smart communications within its channels, attain an end-to-end help for marketing and sales actions, carry out multi-wave promotions through the media, and obtain behavioral facts to convey targeted and pertinent rewards. Similarly, the company will come up with modified offers and loyalty agendas that allow clients to be brand supporters and influence investigative dashboards for an instantaneous knowledge of reward acceptance rates (SAP 1).
Concerning enhancement of commerce, the module will enable the company to offer a high-tech and reliable buying understanding for its B2C and B2B clients. Through this, it will make the most of the conversions and proceeds attain consumer-grade multi-channel trade know-how, attain a national outlook of product facts to be utilized across channels, control the order lifecycle by use of a solitary and central hub, and attract more sales owing to the use of mobile buying connections.
SAPs module offers digital marketing and sale solutions (SAP 1). The above solutions will enable the company to investigate and control Big Data within its marketing channels. By doing so, it will be able to attract clients with pertinent and tailored experiences instantaneously.
In general, the solutions will enable the company to tailor customer knowledge, expose deeper insights about clients that illustrate how to enhance more returns within every channel, reinforce customer interactions within the touch points to enhance devotion and minimize service costs, and recognize high-value marketing and sales prospects and transfer data-to-insight-to-action quicker.
Concisely, the system will enable New Wave Corporation to attain cross-functional integration, transactional competence, and appropriate and precise coverage during their expansion era. Over the last few years, the company has several complaints from their suppliers and customers. Because the company has ambitious expansion programs over the next coming years, these complaints are expected to increase if the system is not adopted.
With the use of the system, if the client or a supplier agrees to a quotation for merchandise, the sales team can easily translate the quote into a sales order using a computer. Whenever the stipulations of an order necessitate pre-payment, SAPs system will be adjusted by electronic means to generate the commencement of financial records of receivable invoicing functions.
Concerning operational viewpoint, the order will be accessible to an MRP or DRP2 tool, which generates or purchases recommendations (SAP 1). Based on the above illustrations, it is apparent that ERP will help New Wave Corporation automates most of its sales operations. Through this, it is clear that the process of expansion will be made easier.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be noted that the project identifies the specific problems that should be addressed by New Wave Corporation Company if they wish to successfully expand their operations. As such, the homegrown systems, which have been in operation since the inception of the corporation, are no longer working effectively. Similarly, the corporation needs to address the rising numbers of complaints launched by the suppliers and the customers.
I believe that with the adoption of SAP Sales & Marketing module, the company can tackle the above challenges. As such, the company will be able to offer modified and significant experience at every stage of their sales and marketing journey with the help of the module.
The company will get unmatched information about its customers by utilizing the Big Data analytics offered in the module. The system will enable the company to attain cross-functional integration, transactional competence, and appropriate and precise coverage during their expansion era.
Figure 1: an ERP system
Works Cited
Compare Business Products. A Smarter Path to ERP Selection. 2012. Web.
Laudon, Jane Price. Essentials of management information systems: organization and technology in the networked enterprise. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
Brazilian Petroleum Corporation (Petrobras) is a semi-public multinational energy company headquartered in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in South America by market capitalization. It was founded in 1953 and has since then remained an important oil producer, with a production capacity of more than two million barrels of oil per day (Bamato, 2015, para. 10). By November 2014, it was ranked the sixth-largest energy company in the world in value (Bamato, 2015). In addition, the company exports mechanical technologies import natural gas from other South American countries, especially Bolivia, and invests in oil exploration in Africa and Asia.
In September 2010, the company conducted the largest share sale of US$ 72.8 billion on the BM&F Bovespa stock exchange, making it the fourth-largest company in the world by market capitalization. However, Petrobras has very low liquidity because of the accumulated debts (Bamato, 2015). Its debt stood at US$170 billion, and it was forecasted that the debt might escalate further. The company faced risky exposure to bond markets and lacked public trust as it had not published its audited accounts. Investigations revealed that the firm was in the midst of grand corruption scandal that involved prominent Brazilian politicians and businesspeople.
The Main Facts of the Case
The company, because it was state-backed, had for a long time enjoyed a monopoly in the Brazilian oil industry and financial security in the eyes of shareholders and watchdogs. The Petrobras executives plotted with construction companies Odebrecht SA, Andrade Gutierrez, and others to enormously overbill the oil firm. They were also involved in money laundering activities. The money gained was used as bribes and political payoffs for company executives, politicians, and political parties. Current estimates put the bribes received at a whopping US$ 2 billion. The whole scandal cost Petrobras a loss amounting to US$ 16 billion (Eliza, 2015). The company had duped its investors by misrepresenting its operations and monetary situations while soliciting billions of dollars from them.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores Independents, the PwCs Brazilian member, is alleged to have played a role in confirming Petrobras financial reports and ignoring warnings. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of Petrobras investors, was astonished that the fraud had gone on for years under PwCs watch. PWC had constantly endorsed the integrity of Petrobras internal controls and financial reports. Watts (2015) describes the scandal as a case of institutional corruption, criminal conspiracy, and massive fraud on the investing public (p. 2). The company and PwC failed to provide financial reports that truly reflected its financial position, subjecting its stakeholders to great financial risk. Thus, the company executives committed two types of fraud, i.e., misappropriation of company assets and misrepresentation of financial statements.
According to Bamato (2015), the scam involved senior politicians, including the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who once served as the head of the Petrobras board of directors. Others implicated in the scandal included former Downstream Director, Paulo Roberto Costa, Bernardo Freiburghaus of Oderbracht, and other executives from Petrobras and partner firms (Bamato, 2015). The immediate financial implications of exposure to the scandal were a drop in its bond and share value, inability to refinance projects for the next fiscal year, unemployment, and economic slowdown in the country. The investigations did not only pose reputation risk to Petrobras, but they also caused defamation and contractual risk for companies doing business with the firm.
The Petrobras Case and the Fraud Opportunity Triangle
The fraud triangle describes the factors that drive someone to commit a corporate crime (Cressey, 2011). It consists of three aspects, namely, the perceived non-shareable need, apparent opportunity, and rationalization (Cressey, 2011). The pressure to meet a certain need that is beyond ones ability may motivate an individual to ponder committing an illegal act, such as stealing or counterfeiting a financial statement as a way to solve a personal or professional problem. Opportunity indicates a method by which one can commit an economic crime and solve his problem secretly with a low risk of getting caught. Additionally, the fraudster has to justify the crime to himself or herself in a way that makes it an acceptable act.
The motivation was the driving force behind the Petrobras scandal. The top executives of Petrobras had special financial incentives to dishonestly receive kickbacks for giving inflated construction contracts and bribes to politicians so that they vote in line with the ruling party. Greed and political loyalty could have been other factors. The elected officials appointed some of the companys top executives. The opportunity to commit fraud existed as the company enjoyed state support and renowned state officials were among the beneficiaries of the filthy loot. The culprits were the top executives who had powers to override the internal controls in place to commit fraud. The rationalization most likely used by the offenders was that much of the proceeds were used by politicians and the ruling political party to campaign in anticipation that the government, once elected, would pay off the money without the investor being involved.
Reasons for Committing Fraud
According to Eliza (2015), corruption in oil companies had in the past resulted in blatant inaction due to highly institutionalized venality and lack of regulatory infrastructure against corporate crime. The executives were appointed by the elected politicians in the ruling party and had government protection against any possible follow up. It is reported that a former Petrobras manager had alerted the current CEO, Maria das Gracas Foster, and other executives about the irregularities, but the company, through its spokesperson, denied that Ms. Foster, a close ally of the President, was aware of them (Segal, 2015). Therefore, the scandal involved collusion between politicians and the top management of Petrobras to falsify the firms accounts and release incorrect financial reports.
Measures to Curb Corruption of This Nature
Lack of rules to control graft have both political and economic consequences since corruption leads to stunted economic progress as large chunks of money are directed towards illicit outflows rather than legal business operations. Retarded economic growth is as a result of companies registering losses, reduced government revenue, low foreign investment in the country, and minimal investments in welfare programs. There is a need, therefore, to set in place measures to control scams like the Petrobras scandal.
The first measure is to come up with a mechanism for ensuring that competent board members, managers, investors, and engineers are fairly appointed to protect the companys activities from political influences. The organization should also establish a robust regulatory structure and regulatory institutions that are capable and efficient in handling such cases. The other foundation that should be put in place is a stricter supplier management process aimed at ensuring transparency in the procurement of goods and services. Only companies with verified compliance and integrity instruments are allowed to take part in the tendering process.
Organizations should limit unilateral decision-making and encourage collective decisions at all levels. In addition, firms should establish an external, independent specialized reporting channel to embolden people to report any signs of anomalies in financial dealings. Organizations should establish internal commissions comprising of investors, audit, legal, and compliance divisions to investigate possible cases of fraud and corruption. The involvement of the audit area in company executive board meetings is necessary to provide audit plans from the start of the project endorsement process.
Judicial Measures Taken
The inquiry into the Petrobras saga has led to the impeachment of over a hundred individuals linked to the company. The treasurer of Workers Party, the ruling party, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, having been convicted of receiving payoffs from Petrobras contractors and allotting them to the member of the ruling party (Kennedy, 2012). The former Odebrecht AS presidents, Jose Aldemario and Agenor Medeiros, were sentenced to 16 years in prison each for similar crimes. Others arrested in connection with the case were Marcelo Odebrecht, the current head of the Odebrecht group, and Otavio Azevedo of Andrade Gutierrez. The Petrobras scandal was a large and complex scheme involving national and multinational companies and up to date, investigations are ongoing to bring more suspects to book and recover assets that were lost in bribes, kickbacks, and money laundering. For those who have been convicted, the verdict is a deserved one considering the repercussions of their actions on the Brazilian economy.
An old adage goes by stating that the customer is always right. This statement literally means that any business whether a service provider or a goods vendor must endeavor to learn, understand, and appreciate the fact that the aim of its existence is to satisfy the needs of the customers, hence justifying the pricing of its products. The area of customer satisfaction can never be overemphasized. However, unfortunately, it happens to be the least articulated of all the areas in many businesses (Keaveney 78). This paper discusses the Service Blueprint of the corporation; a food retail chain that specializes in the sale of chicken.
Service Blueprint diagram.
Why
While it has widely been known for its flagship product; chicken, there has been an increasing concern due to the number of complaints on customer service delivery at various outlets. This paper discusses the Service Blueprints of the corporation in order to reveal the areas which need improvement and/or complete makeover to actualize the real claim of tasty chicken. It also discusses the areas of potential failure in the Service Blueprints and offers suggestions on how improvements can be made in these areas.
Physical evidence and customer experience
It is commonly said that it takes 30 seconds for an average human being to form an opinion on a certain matter. In light of this, the first impression on any client or a potential customer is critical (Verhoef 35). The concept of cognitive dissonance states that a dissatisfied customer will tell of his/her dissatisfaction with the product or service to at least fourteen people, while a satisfied customer will share his/her positive experience with only four persons. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to pay a lot of attention to the customers impression. After a visit to one of the outlets, the following report was made concerning the state of physical evidence and the customers experience.
Experiential aspects
These are factors that have a direct influence on the customers experience. They play a major role in creating the much needed first impression on the customer and also ensure that the customers expectations are at least met or even, better, surpassed. The experiential aspects include the personalized packaging, e.g., The Bid Daddy, Wicked Zinger, Fully Loaded, or the BBQ Rancher Box Meal. It also includes the staff uniforms, staff-customer interaction, etc.
Collecting these experiential aspects contributes to the ultimate customers satisfaction through the feeling of met expectation. Since there may not be one dominant aspect that results in the shots on customers satisfaction, it is necessary to use them collectively so as to meet the customers experience as a whole rather than a one aspect offering (Richard 22).
The store design
This is another important aspect of the physical nature of the business that helps in meeting customers satisfaction. The store design presents an outdoor internal decor aspect that provides the attraction and an atmosphere of ambiance to create a homely environment for the customers. This aspect also plays a major role in promoting customers loyalty and provides the outlet with a branding aspect for marketing in order to have an excellent store design that is distinct from all other industry peers and competitors. The outlets corporate color provides a trademark that no other competitor has.
Informational Aspects
Informational aspects have to do with the kind of information relayed to the customers either for promotional purposes or for mere routine messaging. The importance of the informational aspect of the service is that customers are able to be kept abreast of the latest offers and/or all the changes in the product/service delivery. Informational aspects also provide a platform on which customer feedback is relayed to the management. The companys customer relations department should always provide in-house ways for customers to express their complaints while offering a public platform for them to air their compliments. It should, however, be noted that customers may not find it very useful to have too much information at their disposal since much information derail decision making.
3 potential fail-points
The study revealed three potential fail points, namely wait-time, customers exposure of the store and other customers, and the employee-customer interaction. These will be discussed below.
Wait-time
This is the time that elapses between customers entry into the outlet and the complete attendance and service delivery to the client. The research showed that many orders had taken over two hours to process though they comprise single products, such as chicken. This issue, if not addressed well, may cause a potential customers disloyalty due to inefficient order processing.
Customers exposure to the store and other customers
On several occasions, observations have been made where the employees at the backstage behaved in an unappealing manner. A case is that an employee was seen squeezing a pimple while handling food. This creates an impression of poor handling of food and may cost the company its reputation if such behaviors are persistent.
Customer-employee interaction
This is a potential fail point since many employees have been reported rudely to react to customers requests. This presents an attitude of lack of care and poor customer service. Claims were made about cashier having thrown debit cards to the customers and angrily reacted to customers raised concerns.
Possible solutions to these potential fail-points
Several alternatives have been proposed to address these potential fail point issues.
Solving the problem of wait time
A lot needs to be done in order to increase efficiency in customer service and order processing. With the advanced technology, the management should be able to offer online booking so as to begin order processing prior to customer arrival. This will significantly reduce the wait-time since the customer will only come only to submit the payment and collect the orders. It can also help in reducing the customer-employee conflicts that arise when the employee is handling several matters at a time. This will eventually increase the quality of service offered to the customers.
Customers exposure to the store
This problem will be solved by ensuring that the back and the front stage operations are distinct from each other. It will further reduce the conflicts that may arise due to the customers exposure to the activities happening at the store or in the kitchen which the customer may find unwelcomed.
Customer-employee interaction
This potential fail point comes into play whenever the customer fails to understand his/her role in ensuring self-satisfaction. In most cases, the customers who do not understand their role in ensuring satisfaction often find themselves in constant conflict and confrontations with the employees. It is important for customers to understand their role in service delivery as well. Customers who understand their importance are more likely to experience satisfaction since they play their role in ensuring that they will be satisfied.
Works Cited
Keaveney, Susan M. Customer Switching Behavior in Service Industries: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Marketing 50.1 (1995): 71-82. Print.
Richard, Loreto. Applying Demographics to Business Strategy. The Impacts of Demographic Trends on Your Business 12.1 (2010): 11-34. Print.
Verhoef, C. Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer Retention and Customer Share Development. Journal of Marketing 17.2 (2003): 30-45. Print.
External Trends Facing the Strategic Managers at Kohls
The first and real threat that kohls corporation is facing is stiff competition from other departmental stores. J.C Penney has matched Kohls in every dimension. It has made its stores easier to navigate and match with one of the strengths of Kohls corporation. J.C has also strategized in the Kohls stronghold and has lowered its prices to counter Kohls business activities in these areas. J.C Penney was ranked higher than Kohls in at least two areas due to its strong web presence, and influential private-label brands that generated strong profits.
Other stores such as the Old Navy and American Eagle have shifted from trendy teenage fashion toward clothing that appeals to moms. Kohls corporation targets moms with children, who earn an average income. Therefore, when the other stores venture in the same business they pose a challenge to Kohls.
Other departmental stores have come up with ways of dealing with long checkout, missing lines or vague product information, out of stock products, incorrect price tags, and scarce sales staff. These challenges, however, have been handled remarkably well by the Kohls strategic team. Another external trend that affects Kohls corporation is price fluctuations due to economic factors such as the recession.
It is essential for the strategists at Kohls to have a contingency plan in case such challenges occur in the future in order to have a cutting edge over its competitors. It is crucial for these strategists to spot these trends early by conducting a survey. A survey helps to collect ample information about the market and ensures that one understands the market better. The strategists may also use questionnaires to identify what the target group preferences are. Other methods of gathering information about the market include observation and interviews of the targeted group.
Types of External Information Required
Strategic decision-makers in Kohls corporation require one to know the tastes and preferences of the targeted group. This helps the strategists to formulate their structures and come up with products at the right prices in order to increase sales thereby increasing its profits. The strategists should also enquire about the problems the consumers are facing about their products. This will help them come up with resolutions that are crucial to have an edge over their competitors.
For a manager, one requires information about the competitors prices and strategies. This helps in coming up with the best prices and strategies to counter their competitors activities. A manager also should enquire about how the customers perceive the workers and services the customer receives. This helps in the improvement of the services by the stores.
Scanning and Assessing the Environment by the Kohls Decision Makers
The decision-makers in Kohls corporation have done a splendid job in assessing and understanding the market environment for its products. The decision-makers have researched extensively the problems facing its customers. They have also come up with ways that are working extremely well for Kohls departmental stores. Kohls decision-makers understand their target group that mainly consists of moms who earn an average income per year and are making sure that their products are appealing. The decision-makers have also looked into the competitors strategies and understand them quite well and, therefore, have developed measures to counter any strategies deployed by their competitors aimed at challenging them.
Conclusion about Opportunities and Threat from the Case
There are many challenges to any business entity, and Kohls departmental stores are not exempted. It is, therefore, necessary and beneficial to understand the market conclusively in order to capitalize on the business opportunities available and curb any challenges that exist. Understanding the target market and the competitors extensively help a business entity achieve its goals and gain higher profits.
Durable Vinyl Siding Corporation (DVS) is a leading manufacturer of vinyl siding products for home and commercial buildings. The company experiences high record sales year on year, topping $250 million in 2006, which was 15% higher than in 2005. Although this is the case, it is facing increasing operating profits which is eating into net profits of the company, originating operations in the company that the management is seeking to put under control. In our case, we will consider procurement department operations and point out what the company can address to arrest the rising costs.
Organizational changes
Organizations come with changes, and it is important that these changes are well articulated. Organizational changes are bound to happen. The changes should be taken well so that the overall structure comes out well. The company added staff almost every year and who have proved from the analysis that they are a burden to the payroll. The staff has over the past been assigned as buyers of products of the specific group but this has to change with an immediate effect.
The company can do restructuring by doing a critical job evaluation to see what job skills are needed and keep them and those who are found to be redundant have to be let go immediately to reduce the wage bill. Having a lean workforce that can multitask and be able to deliver more efficiently is important. The remaining staff to be trained on how to use the computer system in inventory control. Apart from restructuring, the stocked raw materials that are in the warehouse can be enough for the number of months mentioned. No new raw materials should then be ordered until about the time needed to free up warehouse space.
Computerization changes
The procurement computer system can be upgraded to serve more roles in controlling the procurement of all raw materials and keeping sales records. Currently, the warehouse is full to capacity, forcing the company to procure storage services elsewhere. Procurement can be systemized to be notifying management about the need for raw materials as, and when it is needed to reduce over-procuring to ease space at the warehouse eventually reducing costs of hiring more capacity for storage.
Benefits of e-commerce to DVS
E-commerce can benefit the company in three ways majorly. The company can be able to shop online by comparing prices of raw materials in the market from various sellers before making a buy decision. On making the decision the company will pay for the goods online. The system can also link with a logistics company that can be procured online free and tendered to deliver the goods to the company when needed. This will eliminate staff members who have employed specifically to procure a transporter. The company can also advertise the product on the companys website and enable shoppers to place orders. After placing orders deliveries are made. This can also mean minimizing the over-dependence sales staff, therefore might mean no hiring in the foreseeable future.
Recommendation on the use of SKUs
I would strongly recommend the use of computers and e-commerce for all the 5000 SKUs purchased to track down the stock in order as peruse. The system by the computer will eliminate manual labor that has been used in the past to control the usage. The computer will in due course of time help to reduce unnecessary SKUs and bring it to manageable quantities and give management a cost-effective strategy to control costs. The warehouse is full and major costs saving can be realized when these unnecessary stock are brought down to small quantities able to serve the production for a foreseeable future.
Strategies for maintaining service levels
Sales have been somewhat growing in a trend that can simply be interpreted using the sales figures over the past 20 years. The business figures from the last twenty years can be an asset to use to predict future business growth in terms of sales. Using the sales figures for a foreseeable future will inform the number of raw materials needed to produce the amount of output that will make the sales. Then the company will order the raw materials according to needs. It can be divided into months to determine the need for raw materials each month.
The company will not need extra staff to do the analysis to come up with the figures. It can be done by computer software with one staff member inputting the figures for the computer to analyze or at an inventory control unit where when products are sold to the market the computer system can be storing daily sales which will be compiled at the end of the month, for example, to give a final tabulated report to be issued to the management to use to make informed decisions at a cost-effective manner. The system will be tabulating raw material as they are used in the factory flow when they are picked from the warehouse.
