Internationalization and Global Expansion of Westfarmers limited

Introduction The company overview Westfarmers Ltd is amongst the biggest retail chains in Australia. The company was established in 1945 with the objective of providing consumers with high quality and reliable products that met their aspirations of getting value for their money. Because of the firm’s concerted efforts, it achieved exceptional growth and is now amongst the largest listed retail firms and employers in the country.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Internationalization and Global Expansion of Westfarmers limited specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Currently, the firm is highly diversified offering varying products and services to its consumers (Westfarmers, Limited, 2012). Presently, the company’s main objective is to increase its brand awareness within the Australian market and establish itself in the international market. In addition, the company aims to establish and increase its brand loyalty in major Asian emerging markets such as India and China. The main reason why Westfarmers limited is planning to expand and establish into the Indian and Chinese markets is to increase its global market share. Currently many retail chains are expanding globally, particularly in the emerging economies because of the massive potential they provide in terms of constantly increasing demand for consumer goods (Westfarmers, Limited 2012). The reason why India and China continue to remain the major targets for international expansion is the immense potential for rapid economic growth and rise in consumer spending. Currently, the two countries hold the world’s largest and fastest growing middle-class with constantly increasing spending patterns on consumer products. Rapid economic growth and easy availability of natural and human resources at lower costs will enable the firm to operate at low-cost, thereby increasing its competitive advantage. This paper will analyze the inter nationalization policy of Westfarmers Ltd with the basic objective of answering the crucial issue of what strategies it will have to adopt and what actions it will have to take in becoming a major player in the global market. This question will be best answered by deciding and justifying the paths that the company will take while working towards achieving success in relation to its positioning, use of resources and effectively functioning within the institutional frameworks of its chosen businesses in the new markets.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The main objective of this report lies in making the right recommendations that will ensure successful implementation of short and long term strategies in order to increase its market share and thus to achieve financial success in a highly competitive globalized business environment. Situation analysis Company analysis Westfarme rs limited is a publicly listed Australian company specializing in retail chains including super markets and chain stores. In meeting up with its international expansion plans, the company intends to increase its brand awareness and to establish and increase its brand loyalty in major Asian markets such as India and China. Given that the global retail industry is slated to grow exponentially in the next five years, it is beneficial for Westfarmers to expand into China and India, which are currently the fastest growing economies providing massive potential for firms to tap the growing markets in these countries. In Australia, Westfarmers’ market share is robust with expected growth of 1.67% annually and this growth in its market share is driven by the popularity of its brands particularly among the middle-income earners. Westfaarmers has demonstrated exceptional financial results, which is evident from the financial numbers in its balance sheet and financial statements provide d in the Appendix to this paper. It is pertinent to note in this regard that the economies of China and India are also growing very fast because of the increasing size of the middle class that are now having greater disposable incomes to spend on consumer goods. Westfarmers limited is in a strong position to tap this huge potential and grab a larger share of these markets. Westfarmers will use its brands in meeting the demands of the growing middle class in these countries, particularly for consumer goods and once it becomes popular it can hope to become a leader in the retail market. However, the retail industry is highly competitive and volatile because of the presence of major global brands as well as well established local brands, which means that Westfarmers will have to operate in a highly competitive environment (Rawski, 2011).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Internationalization and Global Expansion of Westfarmers limited specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although retail markets in China and India are growing, they are being tapped by many other international retail chains (Aulakh Kotabe, 2007). Nevertheless, if Westfarmers is able to make a strong presence in these markets, it will generate over ten billion dollars of revenues in the next five years. Competitor and industry analysis Porters Five Forces The Porters Five Forces model is highly useful in understanding the competitive environment in which Westfarmers will operate in the new markets (Porter, 2000). Customers will have greater bargaining power because Westfarmers products can easily be substituted by products offered by other retailers, meaning that the company’s position is weakened because of these circumstances. The bargaining power of suppliers is not very high because of the large numbers of companies that strive to supply consumer goods at the lowest possible prices. It is very easy for Westfarmers to swit ch and change its suppliers if their products or services are not in keeping with its expectations. At the same time, it has to be provided that despite the presence of large numbers of suppliers it is not practical to change them frequently (Dunning, 2003). The threat of new entrants is very high in the retail industry, which is why Westfarmers will have to go into additional cost to maintain its brand loyalty and promote new products. Competitive rivalry in the retail sector is very high in view of the large size of the operators and their ability to enter new markets (Wernerfelt, 2009). SWOT analysis The SWOT analysis allows for determining the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, thus providing a basis to work towards removing the weaknesses and making the strengths stronger. In addition threats and opportunities are identified, which allows for the framing of appropriate proactive policies to achieve organizational goals (Davies Ellis 2000, p.1190). The biggest strength of Westfarmers is its market leadership, which allows it to have unparalleled competitive advantage and a strong basis to go ahead with its globalization strategy. It’s already diversified structure allows it to alter its product mix in meeting customer expectations, which results in enhanced sales. The company’s differentiation policy clearly demarcates its products from its competitors.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Staff members are highly skilled and enjoy shared values, which lead to common goals. In addition, Westfarmers enjoys an excellent reputation in Australia because it has consistently provided value to customers (Belin Pham, 2007). A major weakness of the company is that its differentiated strategy is not effectively communicated to consumers. The company distribution channels have not yet fully developed to allow speedy delivery of the products to the consumers. Sometimes, the company’s business model is not adaptable to the changes that might take place in the market particularly in hard economic times when smaller formats may be preferable to the consumers (Porter, 2000). Westfarmers has several opportunities because of the fact that its target market is the largest segment demographically and the growth in the disposable income among the middle class appears to be high. In addition, Westfarmers’ expansionist strategy ensures its absorption and mergers with companie s that offer direct competition (Porter, 2000). Westfarmers has already established strong and long-term relationship with the suppliers thereby reducing most of the supply costs. Therefore, clients’ dependency hitherto established and developed is another opportunity for the Westfarmers management to thrive. Threats for Westfarmers have surfaced by way of the ability of smaller competitors to enter the market with lesser investments, while being able to erode its customer base. In addition to the threats of new entrants, small and medium sized firms and larger corporations offer substitute products. The declining revenue because of such developments may affect the company expansion strategy. China and India, where Westfarmers plans to expand do not have a stable regulatory In addition, the firm is planning to invest in countries with structure, which means there is risk in making such huge investments. The expansionist strategies Westfarmers is a highly diversified company a nd therefore requires strong corporate strategy to expand into the international market. The diversification is in both product and in operations. The company started with a single product line and operation. However, by 2010, the company has diversified into various business operations offering numerous product and service lines. The Westfarmers expansion strategy will enable the firm diversify into more product line as well as the market as the international markets will offer more opportunities for growth and development. The corporate strategy applied by the company Westfarmers is using related corporate strategy where the company is using its operations to expand and remain competitive into the market. Since the company was already in the retail and related industry, the major issue in the corporate strategy is how to put together its operations to boost its combined performance, leverage its value chain fits and establish its investment priorities. The company will use its lon g-term trends in its expansionist strategies including takeovers mergers and acquisitions. Besides its organized franchise strategy, the company is efficient in its value chain management. The company products are distributed to the franchisees stores within the shortest time possible before its competitors. The way the company manages its distribution channels add value and make the corporation be more competitive. The business level strategy applied by the company Even though the company is selling similar merchandise, the products are highly differentiated making the Westfarmers’ products unique and attractive in the market. In essence, the Westfarmers’ products are differentiated from the competitions in terms of price and appearance. Westfarmers ensures that all the products needed by the customers are present in their stores and offer value to the customers. With technological advantage in operations, the company offers products at low cost. In other words, the c ompany products are affordable and are of high quality compared to the competing products. In addition, the company first position in the industry has enabled its products to be sold globally particularly on new markets. The innovativeness in the product line has also increased the company competitiveness in both domestic and international markets. The company functional and entrepreneurial strategy Westfarmers is taking any opportunity to market its products or introduce its products into the market. The company is taking advantage of its efficient supply chain management and distribution to ensure that its products reach the market. In fact, the company well developed supply chain and distribution increases its competitive advantage. The firm uses its supply chain and distribution functions to expand quickly into the new market. The international expansion strategies Westfarmers is dedicated to provide international clients with the best products that would give them the best usab ility experience. The peripherals and services have driven the company to open up its operations in the major emerging markets particularly in China. Westfarmers expansion approach is to create a balance between its exceptional capability to devise and build up its own products that would provide its clients the best qualities that they are looking for and offering solutions to their needs. Together with other expansion policies, Westfarmers keeps on developing and advancing the stage for retailing innovative products as well as offering the best quality and standardized consumer products all over the globe. As a result, the company is planning to open up its operations in China due to the fast growth in GDP and the larger market (Alfaro et al., 2004). Currently China economic growth is surpassing that of US and Japan making the country attractive for consumer product investments. The growing global consumer products market is an opportunity for the company particularly in countries like China, which is experiencing economic boom. Moreover, the huge population and increasing application of Westfarmers’ products by the middle-class generation offer a potential market. Moreover, the innovative capabilities of the company are another opportunity to introduce new products into this large market (Blomstermo et al., 2006). Besides economic growth and market opportunities, the international operations offer an opportunity for the company to produce commodities at low cost (Alfaro et al., 2004). The company’s Chinese subsidiary will operates at low wages compared to that in Australia. In addition, the operations in China will reduce the distribution cost thus enabling the company to offer its products at competitive prices (Chen Mujtaba, 2007). The Chinese subsidiary is strategically located to serve and meet the demands of the locals. In essence, the company is taking advantage of the benefits the foreign country offers towards its operations while ret aining its technological aspects (Anders, 2008). The country operation advantages include the cost of factors of production such as labor cost, factor endowment such as availability of supplies as well as the reduced distribution costs. The technological aspects that the company has to retained include research and development along with the defining managerial procedures (Chen Mujtaba, 2007). Therefore, the company has to come up with an expansion strategy that will ensure the realization of the goals. Various expansion strategies are available to the firm to establish and position within the international market. Entering into the international market comes with increased costs and risks. Therefore, firms must be critical while deciding on the international market entry modes. Firms, while expanding into the international markets can apply several strategies. However, for retail companies such as Westfarmers, franchising, joint ventures and utterly held auxiliaries will be the mo st appropriate. Franchising Westfarmers can utilize the business knowledge of other retail chains acting as a franchisee in host countries to expand the company’s business activities. In this strategy, Westfarmers is supposed to provide capital, technical skills, and business expertise. The firm can use this mode in countries where there is uncertainty in political and economic conditions as in the case of China (Arregle et al., 2006). The uncertainty in the foreign markets makes this mode of entry more suitable for retail chains. The major advantage of this mode is that the company does not need to bear the costs and risks related to development and entry into the new market (Aulakh Kotabe, 2007). The cutback in overheads and threats allied to charters enlarges the corporation’s efficacy in searching for the fresh marketplace. However, the corporation will hardly have any power over the trade dealings mostly where the by-laws call for the businesses to observe the em inence ideals. Moreover, in the circumstances that the franchisee does not strictly obey the agreed rules and regulations, the firm can easily fail in this strategy. Joint ventures This is the most commonly used entry mode by firms including retail chains all over the world (Arregle et al., 2006). The entry mode requires that the Westfarmers form an alliance with similar firm in the foreign country in order to attain the greater position in the market. In most cases, the joint venture involves equal share of costs and benefits (Blomstermo et al., 2006). Nevertheless, the businesses functions as well as operations are regularly detached from the company control. Moreover, the supervisory tasks are analogous and mutual by each corporation. In order to achieve stringent direction and have superior allocation entitlements, Westfarmers will have to devote additional finance to the mutual schemes. The advantage with this entry mode is that risks and costs are shared (Arregle et al., 2006) . In addition, Westfarmers would gain market knowledge from the joint venture firm as well as explore the foreign market with the help of the other firm with political and economic issues put into consideration. With little regard to the conflicts that might arise from the joint venture, Westfarmers take advantage of the local firm’s capability of influencing the local government to allow the company to enter, establish, and dominate the markets. Utterly held auxiliaries This is the best entry mode for the Westfarmers. Utterly held subsidiary mean that the company will have total control of all its operations. In other words, Westfarmers will have to cuddle a hundred percent allotment of the far-off units. For the firm to own a subsidiary, Westfarmers must establish a new entity with full operations into this market or fully acquire an existing firm (Davies Ellis 2000, p.1190). The acquired firm must be well built within the industry. Westfarmers stand to gain a lot from thi s mode as the company can easily promote the products and services. However, there are increased costs associated with this mode of entry (Arregle et al., 2006). Recommendations Foreign investments in India and China are required to be made through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) route by making applications to the respective governments. Because the governments of these emerging economies are too eager to attract foreign investments, they have introduced speedy processes with negligible bureaucratic formalities. Mostly all approvals are given from a single window whereby the investing company can get all licenses and approvals from a single office. Once Westfarmers makes the financial resources available, the approvals to invest in India will be given within two months, after which the company is free to enter and purchase land and buildings and other infrastructure to initiate its expansion plans. It is important to note that entry routes into these countries for the purpose of doing business are very easy and convenient because both economies stand to gain because of the inflow of capital, which will lead to economic development and increase in employment opportunities. The entire process of getting the necessary approvals of establishing and setting up facilities in the two countries will not take more than three months. Entering into the international market comes with increased costs and risks. Therefore, firms must be critical while deciding on the internationalization. Critical analysis of the international expansion strategies will enable the firm establish and benefit from the international markets. The key areas to focus on while setting up business in China and India are land, buildings, infrastructure and availability of resources. Westfarmers will have to do a lot of sourcing of local merchandise, products and food items from within the given countries in complying with the tastes of local consumers. Setting up an effective framework for thi s will take four months because there will be a large number of products and items for which prior sourcing arrangements will have to be made by partnering with local producers and suppliers. Performing cost benefit analysis will go a long way in determining the extent of profitability Westfarmers will be able to achieve with its investments in China and India. The objective is to gain in a new market for which costs will have to be provided for research, cost of production, cost of marketing, wages to workers, costs of investments and other miscellaneous expenses. It is essential to conduct a thorough market research in order to get correct facts about the market and about consumer preferences so that appropriate marketing strategies can be framed for different consumer segments. Conducting market research and getting and applying its outcomes will take another three months, but this is essential for Westfarmers to get a correct picture of the environment in which it will operate. In essence, the company’s corporate strategy will have to be aligned with the market needs of the two countries, which will obviously be different for each region. The next step will be to leverage the value chains that fit well with the investment priorities of the company. This process will take another six months. For any retail company it is very important to frame a well organized franchise strategy because it plays a major role in making value chain management more effective. The next stage for Westfarmers will be to establish an efficient distribution system because international chain stores require implementation of specific techniques to remain competitive. The ways in which the company manages its distribution system will have an important bearing on its market position. Efficiency in value chain management will entail a great deal of competitive advantages for Westfarmers. This process will take four months after which Westfarmers can confidently commence its busi ness operations in the respective markets. The next stage in the business cycle will be the design and implementation of appropriate marketing strategies in order to attract customers. An appropriate positioning strategy will have to be devised by including the most efficient elements of product, price, promotion and place (markets). The objective will be to use the research outcomes in the best ways in order to survive in the competition, win a steady flow of customers in each segment and to retain loyal customers by constantly offering them value propositions for the purchases they make in Westfarmers stores across the country. Designing and implementing the marketing strategy for different market segments can be quite tricky, particularly for retail companies because of the intense competition in the sector whereby customers can switch stores with the slightest provocation by way of being attracted by the propositions of other operators or by being put off with even minor deficie ncies in service. Overall, the implementation of marketing programs will take two months after which their outcomes will begin emerging in terms of customer visits to the stores. Therefore, in these 24 months, Westfarmers will be in a strong position to determine its future course of action in terms of future investments in the two countries. References Aiginger, K 2006, â€Å"Competitiveness: from a dangerous obsession to a welfare creating ability with positive externalities,† Journal of Industrial Trade and Competition, vol.6 no.3, pp.63–66. Alfaro, L, Chanda, A, Kalemli-Ozcan, S Sayek, S 2004, â€Å"FDI and economic growth, the role of local financial markets,† Journal of International Economics, vol.64 no.2, pp.113-134. Anders, P 2008, â€Å"Strategy antecedents of modes of entry into foreign markets,† Journal of Business Research, vol.61 no.2, pp.132-137. Arregle J, Hebert, L Beamish, P 2006, â€Å"Mode of international entry: the advantages of m ultilevel methods,† Management International Review, vol.46 no.5, pp.597-611. Aulakh, P Kotabe, M 2007, â€Å"Antecedents and performance implications of channel integration in foreign markets,† Journal of International Business Studies, vol.8 no.1, pp.145-175. Belin, J Pham, C 2007, â€Å"Global expansion: balancing a uniform performance culture with local conditions,† Strategy leadership, vol.35 no.6, pp.44-73. Blomstermo, A, Sharma, D Sallis, J 2006, â€Å"Choice of foreign market entry mode in service firms,† International Marketing Review, vol.23 no.2, pp.211-213. Chen, L Mujtaba, B 2007, â€Å"The choice of entry mode strategies and decisions for international market expansion,† Journal of American Academy of Business, vol.10 no.2, pp.322-344. Davies, H Ellis, P 2000, â€Å"Porter’s competitive advantage of nations: time for the final judgment?† Journal of Management Studies, vol.37 no.2, pp.1189–1213. Dunning, J 200 3, â€Å"Internationalizing porter’s diamond,† management International Review, vol.30 no.6, pp.5-13. Porter, M 2000, â€Å"Location, competition, and economic development: Local clusters in a global economy,† Economic Development Quarterly, vol.14 no.1, pp.15–35. Rawski, T 2011, â€Å"The rise of china’s economy.† Journal of Foreign Policy, vol.16 no.6, pp.732-746. Wernerfelt, B 2009, â€Å"A resource-based view of the firm,† Strategic Management Journal, vol.15 no.26, pp.2171–2180. Westfarmers Limited 2012, 2012 annual report, Westfarmers Limited In-house publishing, Portsmouth, Australia. https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/ Appendix Wesfarmers Ltd (WES) Balance Sheet Period Ending: 2012 30/06 2011 30/06 2010 30/06 2009 30/06 Total Current Assets 10911 10218 9674 9944 Cash and Short Term Investments 2279 1885 2705 3127 Cash 417 264 237 311 Cash Equivalents 112 97 85 79 Short Term Investments 1750 1524 2383 2737 Total Receivables, Net 2922 2704 2086 1893 Accounts Receivables – Trade, Net 1733 1506 1322 1279 Total Inventory 5006 4987 4658 4665 Prepaid Expenses 133 92 25 68 Other Current Assets, Total 571 550 200 191 Total Assets 42312 40814 39236 39062 Property/Plant/Equipment, Total – Net 9463 8302 7542 6912 Property/Plant/Equipment, Total – Gross 14248 12403 11158 9835 Accumulated Depreciation, Total -4785 -4101 -3616 -2923 Goodwill, Net 16097 16227 16206 16273 Intangibles, Net 4393 4353 4328 4365 Long Term Investments 677 1001 679 410 Note Receivable – Long Term 33 9 28 211 Other Long Term Assets, Total 738 704 779 947 Other Assets, Total – – – – Total Current Liabilities 10747 8722 7852 7561 Accounts Payable 5420 5059 4603 4054 Payable/Accrued – – – – Accrued Expenses 1035 954 – – Notes Payable/Short Term Debt 570 266 205 197 Current Port. of LT Debt/Capital Leases 1051 – 99 437 Other Current liabilities, Total 2671 2443 2945 2873 Total Liabilities 16685 15485 14542 14814 Total Long Term Debt 3881 4613 5049 5535 Long Term Debt 3881 4613 5049 5535 Capital Lease Obligations – – – – Total Debt 5502 4879 5353 6169 Deferred Income Tax – – – – Minority Interest – – – – Other Liabilities, Total 2057 2150 1641 1718 Total Equity 25627 25329 24694 24248 Redeemable Preferred Stock, Total – – – – Preferred Stock – Non Redeemable, Net – – – – Common Stock, Total 23286 23286 23286 23286 Additional Paid-In Capital 24 24 24 24 Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit) 2414 2119 1491 1024 Treasury Stock – Common – – – – ESOP Debt Guarantee – – – – Unrealized Gain (L oss) – – – – Other Equity, Total -97 -100 -107 -86 Total Liabilities Shareholders’ Equity 42312 40814 39236 39062 Total Common Shares Outstanding 1157.07 1157.07 1157.07 1157.07 Source: https://www.investing.com/equities/wesfarmers-limited-balance-sheet Wesfarmers Ltd (WES) Revenue Growth Year over year, Wesfarmers Limited has been able to grow revenues from A$54.5B AUD to A$57.7B AUD. Most impressively, the company has been able to reduce the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 67.75% to 67.26%. This was a driver that led to a bottom line growth from A$1.9B AUD to A$2.1BAUD. This report on Internationalization and Global Expansion of Westfarmers limited was written and submitted by user Ellen Sharpe to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

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Apply the universal intellectual standards and the elements of thought compare and contrast your home culture (iraqi) with US Army culture - Essay Example te management planning in Babylon and training Iraq professionals in object talks, statues and sites to pursue special line of study in Erbil institute. The High respect of Iraq is depicted through the America’s projects who are the heirs to a culture and artistic legacy revere throughout the world. The culture of army profession in U. S is about morals and ethical values. The culture is about the basic elements and fundamental foundation of the profession that is known as trust. The U.S. army cultural value includes duty, loyalty, integrity, homage, integrity, selfless service and individual bravery. These values originate from the central beliefs of American culture. These values describe the depth and substance of American character, which are anchored on the common heritage, sacrifice and history. The Army values of all soldiers are characteristically defined through duty action guide who may be on and off. Moreover, the value shapes the army as a profession, implies what is paramount and influences the daily operations of the army. This value in U.S army guides the personnel’s’ behavior and actions as the United States ambassadors when working closely with partner nations and allies. The primary and most comprehensive strategy for the army commanders before planning for war is to make a judgment to establish war on which they are embarking on; they should not mistake it for, or turn it to thoughts that are alien. Iraq assumed to have ties and support from the Al-Qaeda terrorist groups. There was also unjustified thought that they had mass destruction arsenals because of the country’s programs of nuclear weapon, chemical and biological programs. They also had long-range missile development programs too. This convinced many that Iraq had reconstituted significant capabilities. In the president’s speech before the U.N, in September 12, the year 2002, Bush requested Iraq to disclose, swear and remove all the related weapons of mass destruction and

Ethics and governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Ethics and governance - Essay Example This left Texas City quite vulnerable to a catastrophe. The decision by the key actors in this BP’s case was founded on the need to ensure that the issue of non-compliance to public safety and health issues by oil companies was addressed. According to Campbell and Tom (2005, p. 551); Davies (2006, p. 106-120) corporations which do not subscribe to the appropriate business ethics do so because they have egoistic inclinations. It is imperative to note that failure to uphold ethics also amounts to lack of effective governance within the affected corporations. Ethics and governance issues in corporations lay the foundation upon which virtues within firms are laid. The action by the Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to investigate BP was to audit its safety standards. Hence, this decision was based on the oil fire incident at BP which killed fifteen of its workers and injured a hundred and seventy others. However, the company had ignored this issue for a long time. The report notes that this company was plagued by years of cost cutting which in turn increased its vulnerability to this catastrophe in its refinery in Texas. According to Mortishead, (2005, p. 8); Davies (2006, pp 106-120) the decisions of BP through its management and workers of the company were based on the need to improve its image in the oil industry. From the BP’s case, there are a range of possible consequences based on the report findings. These consequences were changes triggered by the findings in the report. One such consequence is the improvement in the compliance to safety standards by BP and other companies as well. According to Stocker (2005, p. 453-66), in so doing, these oil firms would have to embrace the canons of ethics and governance. In this regard, they shall have to implement fundamental organisational changes to ensure they are virtuous. The other actual consequence is the loss of market leadership position by BP to

Effects of Globalisation on Operations Management

Effects of Globalisation on Operations Management Global operation management in financial institution has seen unpredictable activities in recent years due to global economic downturn and competition for market share. The key element which underpin global environment will be internationalisation and globalisation. Global operation refers to dynamics which affect the world economy and successful integration of global dispersed function or activities. According to Yip(1995) global operation can be refer to, among others global sourcing, to have manufacturing or service facilities world wide or to supply drivers of globalisation including global market, each of which increase competitiveness through increase sales by expanding into new market. On the other hand, Slack, et al (2001) argues that globalization is the opportunities for operation managers to develop both supplier and customer relation in different part of the world. Recent tactics in global competition among organisations require extension of trade internationally by the pattern of foreign direct investment which has resulted emerging newly industrialising nation. In a highly competitive global environment, companies need to set a well define operation objectives and plans to successfully compete in both domestic and global market. This assignment critically analyses the key global operation management techniques adopted by Barclays bank for its innovative process to distinguish itself as a unique global asset management firm offering tremendous service to institution and individuals. Barclays global investors are one of the worlds largest asset managers and the world largest providers of structure investment strategies. The company operation strategy should reflect its position in global, economic, political and social environment. (See Appendix one) According to this assignment there are 8 major key factors for global operation management to be considered below; Global Total Quality Management in service industries (TQM gurus) Global Inventory Planning and Control Management Strategies for Global Change Management Global Operation Design and Process Global Operations Planning, Scheduling Global Distributions and Supply Chain Management Strategy for Global Human Resources. Global strategy for operation Management Global strategies for operation management Operation management is a systematic approach to address all the issues pertaining to the transformation process that convert some inputs into output that are useful and could fetch revenue for the organisation. According to Slack, et al (2001) global operation management is the term used for the activities, decision and responsibilities of operation managers who manage the production and delivered of produce and service. The operation strategy should be part of the organisation total strategy to achieve global dominance. Financial service product faces unique challenges which need customers present during the production and service delivery. This requires Barclays to improve its operation process that will add value to achieve competitive advantage. Strategy for Managing Global Operation Effective operation through efficient use of resources world wide drive towards a globalize economic system. Global market imposes new standards on quality and time requires operation managers to think domestic market and penetrate the global market. To achieve its objectives towards globalization, there should be improve communication technologies and open financial system. The company strategy should achieve adequate utilisation of resource and adequate customer service. This strategy has prove success by positioning itself as customer-oriented organisation and empowering customers world wide to make different choices of innovative financial product to meet their needs. However, global strategy has the following draw backs; To manage multinational operation faces challenges of language and customs difference, different management style and different laws and regulation. The current economic downturn has affected consumer spending and confidence in the banking industries. Complex global operation by multinational faces ethical and environmental challenges. Operation Strategy contents In global operation content, the decision and action should be specific to achieve the objective. The content reflects the four perspectives; Operation strategy as top- down perspective Operation strategy as bottom-up perspective The market requirement perspective The operation resources perspective Global total quality management in financial service industries Total quality management The business leaders face immense pressure in todays turbulent competitive environment thats move forward by globalisation, macro-environment factors and advanced technological growth of internet. The strong market forces within this competitive environment have developed global customers who are more aware of changes in the global market. Total quality management is an important tool in any business to surmount future challenges within the turbulent financial service environment. TQM provides the financial business leaders with a formalised process in setting clear and achievable corporate objectives and at the same time guides the management in planning strategies to maximise resources and to achieve win-win partnership. Total quality management (TQM) is an organization-wide process that revolves around  the Total Quality Triad. It assumes that there is never a state of perfection (Kelada, 1996). Hence, in order to that plans are developed in an integrated manner, three important total  quality principles must be adhered to participation and commitment by stakeholders  and senior management team, employee involvement and continuous improvements to  meet customer satisfaction. Source: Bradford University Total quality management in global financial services environment In the global financial services environment, Total Quality Management (TQM) provides the overall concept that fosters continuous improvement in an organization. The implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS) does not equate to self-generated results. Continual improvement Continuous improvement of the QMS is of paramount importance for meeting and satisfying clients ever changing needs and requirements. The purpose of the project is to identify quality improvement through Kaizen program, performance measurements; benchmarking with appropriate key performance indicators; and essentially designing a balanced scorecard to achieve continual improvement. Practices by non-financial organisation Good practices implemented by construction organizations in strategic partnerships alliances and knowledge management was identified and developed recommendations for improvements to gain competitive advantage in the construction industry. TQM not suitable for financial services environment TQM is not really suitable for any service organisations but it really helps the service organisations to focus on the participation of senior management team, involvement of all employees and managing internal process towards achieving customer satisfaction. Long Term client relationship In global financial services environment business strategy is building on long-term client relationships. Over 90 percent of the work is repeated business from loyal clients. This strategy yields cost advantages, profits, and growth, allowing them to attract and retain investors and thus fuel further growth. Quality Gurus There are a number of writers whose work dominates the quality movement. Their ideas and approaches have stood the test of time and have come to from a body of accepted knowledge, to lead and advise their own movement in quality. They have become known as gurus Crosby Philip B. Deming W. Edwards Feigenbaum Armand V Ishikawa Kaoru Juran Joseph M Oakland john S Shingo Shigeo Taguchi Genichi All the above Gurus have presented their own work on quality management and have made a significant impact on the world through their contributions to improving not only businesses, but all organizations including national governments, public organizations, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and many other establishments and organizations. Global inventory planning and control management What is planning and control? The purpose of planning and control is to ensure that operations are working effectively and the production of products and services as required. There is another purpose of planning which is to minimise uncertainty and risk and a clear view of future forecasting. Financial planning and control It is a well known fact that a successful business helps organisations to generate enough cash in order to cover costs and make some profit. The difference between sales and cost is profit. The businesses are not always expected to be profitable from the very first day but there should be an expected plan for them to become profitable. There should be proper financial controls for all the businesses. The records should be accurate and complete and should fulfil the legal requirements. The tight financial control always helps the financial organisations or any organisation to monitor their current situation and always predict the future environment. The information derived from financial statement analysis can be used to establish future operating goals (financial planning) and to determine how to meet established goals (financial control). Developing pro forma financial statements is an important part of the planning and control processes. Inventory planning and control in financial services environment Inventory planning and control in financial services environment is the method of organising the difference between demand and supply of financial products and services. Inventory control is not a small matter from a financial perspective way. Inventory is really important and major current asset for any business including financial services organisations.  As a result, there are always policies of businesses to keep the inventory as low as possible because too much cash hold up in inventory. The objective of reducing the inventory can be accomplished with modern inventory management processes that are working effectively. INVENTORY PLANNING AND CONTROL Supply The Operation Operations resources Demand The Market Customer requirements Global change management strategies in financial environment In todays world of economic and technological development, the organisations have changed significantly. The change had only been possible through restructuring, technological improvement and merging with other businesses. The most important challenge for the organisations is to implement such change to achieve the behavioural and cultural change that is most likely required to achieve the planned benefits. Behavioural change does not just happen in the organisation. Change will only occur if there is leadership, clear goals and planned benefits for its stakeholders. All of these should be properly communicated in a timely manner. Strategy for Change Three important principles to manage change are: Change management is not the goal in itself: For an organisation to be successful, change management plays an important role. Change management is all about managing the process effectively and leads to an environment where an improvement in performance are realised. The change targets must play an active role in realising the change: Change in projects will identify and successfully communicate the image, therefore letting the employees know that the planned benefits have changed and play an active role in realising those planned benefits. Employees are the greatest asset for any organisation: Employees are potentially the greatest challenge for any organisation. The image or goal of any purpose can only become reality if the employees believe in the project and have the desire to achieve it. Financial services environment In the last decade, financial services sector has undergone major changes. The financial sector is a rewarding field in which there is every chance to make or improve a career, particularly if staff is loyal, hard working and have given the correct back up support. It cannot be ignored that the current process of globalization and market deregulation has often led to restructuring within organisations. If these major changes have been mis-handled, then it would bring job insecurity and resulting increased pressure on work forces, which in turn can lead to higher work related stress, and a possible lack of commitment and motivation. Change requirement in current financial environment Capital, currently, is grossly overvalued. Company objectives are all about maximizing value for shareholders, the providers of capital. This can lead to companies adopting strategies that do not necessarily benefit stakeholders such as customers and staff. The same emphasis on capital, and shareholder value, breeds an unhealthy focus on short-term results. Shareholders of stock listed companies want better results every quarter, leading management to take decisions that are not necessarily in the longterm interests of the company and its stakeholders. This needs to change. Global Operations Design A global operation must be designed to enable efficiency and effectiveness. It must not happen by default. To design is to conceive the looks, arrangement and workings of something before it is constructed. (Slack, chambers and Johnston, 2007). Global operations design consist of process design, products or service design, process technologies and layout design. Process Design Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007; defined process design as the overall configuration of a process that determines the sequence of activities and the flow of transformed resources between them. Process design should reflect process objective. Processes should be designed so they can create all products and services which the operation is likely to introduce. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007) The Volume-Variety Effect of Process Design Normally, the design of a process for a financial services organisation within a country is based on volume-variety. This also applies globally. Process type in service operations Process design will be determined by the volume and variety. When volume is low, there is the possibility that variety will be high. When volume is high, there is the possibility that variety will be low and so there will be standardisation. Professional services provide high levels of customised services based on customer needs. As a result may have high level of variety and low volume. Mass services process have a high number of transactions, often involving limited customisation, example gocompare.com. As a result there will be high volume and so variety may be low. Service shops process are positioned between professional services and mass services, usually with medium levels of volume and customisation. In global operations design, FSO falls within the Mass Services category. This is high volume and less variety. Therefore, there is standardisation. This is because; Uniformity Due to globalisation, there is more movement of people across the world. It is therefore important to create a uniformity of processes so that customers from different part of the world who have seen such a product or services at other parts of the world could easily identify and understand the processes. Cost Saving In FSO, it cost of money to create a process. Some of the cost are the amount paid to consultants and key management staff to design a process to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. Hence such a process is copied by other branches throughout the world to save money. Time There is also a lot of management time in process design. It is therefore better for other branches in other part of the world to copy so that management time will be saved and spent on other activities. Human Resource Management Globalisation has also lead to the movement of staff, especially senior and management staff across the world. To ensure that they fit into the system easily, process are standardised. Global Management Strategy Most FSO now see the world as a global village. For that matter, top management see the world global operation as one unit. As a result, they adopt similar processes across the whole global organisation. Products or Service Design Products and services are often the first thing that customers see of a company, so they should have an impact. A good design is to satisfy the customer. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007). As customer gets satisfied, the organisation can achieve its vision (Lynch and Cross, Performance Pyramid). According performance pyramid developed by Lynch and Cross (Advanced Performance Management, Essential text, 2007); Customers base their satisfaction on quality and delivery time. The organisation bases their satisfaction on process time and level of waste. This is known as level four. As level four is achieve, leads to level three. That is customers becomes satisfied, the organisation becomes flexible to meet customers needs and so productivity as whole increases. Level three leads to level two. The organisation then get market share and high profitability as a result of level three. Finally, the organisation finally achieve its vision. Aspects of products and services All products and services can be considered as having three aspects. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007). That is, concept, package and process. The concept, which is the understanding of the nature, use and value of the service or product. FSO may manage the three aspects mostly through both external and internal environmental analysis by using SWOT Analysis (strength, weakness, opportunity and threat), Porters five forces and Porters Diamond. Supply network design Supply network includes suppliers and customers. It also include suppliers suppliers and customers customers and so on. It is the network of supplier and customer operations that have relationships with an operation. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007). The network has a supply side. That is, network of suppliers, suppliers suppliers that provide resources to an operation. The demand side is, chains of customers, customers customers that receive the products and services produced by an operation. The supply network must be designed to reduce time and cost. The shorter network, the shorter the cycle time and so the delivery time to the customers may also reduce. Process Technology Sometimes, FSO outsource some activities to reduce the supply network to save cost and increase speed. Furthermore, information technology has also help to reduce the supply network by eliminating intermediaries. Example, e-procurement can enable FSO to access a pool of suppliers directly. For the demand side, websites like moneysupermarket.com can be accessed by a wide range of customers directly. Global Operation Planning and Control Most FSO fail because they fail to plan and control their resources globally. The situation of most banks in the current global recession is a typical example. Apart from HSBC and Barclays Bank to some extent, most banks nearly collapse. Northern Rock and Lloyds TSB are a example of failure to plan and control globally. This shows that planning and control are very important because global operation for FSO is a very high risk. Therefore, planning and control is important. This is to ensure efficiency and effectiveness globally. The whole world economy is interlinked. There is free movement of capital across the world. As a result, an economic downturn in one part of the world could affect the rest of the world. Example, the downturn of the housing market in U.S.A. nearly leads to the collapse of Northern Rock as a whole. Furthermore, the current recession in Dubai has affected the Lloyds TSB in the U.K. Some of the things that are planning and control globally are; Capacity Planning and Control This is the task of setting the effective capacity of the operation so that it can respond to the demands placed upon it(Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007). That is how to deploy resources to able to meet demand. That can be termed as flexibility of resource utilisation. Globally, FSO must be flexible enough to cope with changing levels of operation. Failure in capacity planning and control normally lead to delay of delivering on time. As a result, customers get dissatisfied and the long term effect is lost of market share. Some of the factors that may affect global capacity planning and control are; Political Example are; political instability, government regulations Economics Recession, Exchange rate, Foreign exchange control. Social Culture, Religion, Availability of staff Technology Level of technology Environmental Activities of environmental agencies and international policies on  environmental issues. Legal Legislation like health and safety, anti monopoly laws Project Planning and Control A project is a set of activities with a definite start point and a definite end state, which pursues a defined goal and uses a defined set of resources. (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2007). It involves five stages. They are; Understanding the project environment Defining the project Project planning Technical execution Project control Global project planning and control is difficult and risky. This is because, it is very big, it covers wide area, time differences and it may involve a lot of resources. Poor planning and control of project can lead to failure. That is, more resources may be used than anticipated and the project may also not finish on schedule. A project can be planned and controlled by techniques such as critical path analysis and Gantt charts. The introduction of information technology has help to manage global projects. The most popular software for managing global projects is Groupware. Global Supply Chain Management Global operations managers of FSO have to look beyond internal view if they want to manage their operations effectively. This is because, an organisation depends on other organisations for survival and so there is the need to manage the supply and distribution of product and service. Decisions have to be made regarding supply and distribution, to ensure that the needs of end customers are met. That is, supplying customers with the appropriate products and services when needed at a competitive price. The objectives of supply chain management are quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. Internet and mobile phone have helped most global FSO to make relationship between suppliers and customer work more efficiently and effectively. Through internet, global FSO has gained access to wide suppliers and also has used internet and mobile to deliver banking services to remote customers in different countries. STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES Human resources have got a key role in entering in to a new market to find out the risk and opportunity of the market. Human resources are concerned about staffing, recruiting and retain employees, training and development, cultural compatibility, communication and technology, and policies, procedures and structure. As organizations expand worldwide, human resource management has become increasingly more complex and challenging. The global business needs highly skilled and educated people for the operation and the HR management support these people to work as a team. Many companies have developed technological tools to address and overcome the HR challenges. In the global operation the HR managers struggled to communicate with the entire workforce effectively as they are spread all over the world. Many businesses develop innovative tools to communicate effectively to the workforce. Some years before the managers are sending from the headquarters to the overseas business. With efficient HR management many companies recruiting people from local area and employing managers without concerned of their origin. The HR managers have to understand the issues arise in the global operation. Global human resource management mainly focussed on recruiting key professional. By establishing ethical standards and maintain these standards HR involved in the new operation, mergers and acquisition. The human resource management should have a thorough knowledge of companies business strategy, product and services to be successful in global business development. If the HR managers have no business knowledge their role will be limited to administrating and staffing. If the HR takes initiative responsibility for developing resource plans and solution for staffing they will have a key role in global business development. When staffing for global operation the HR management should taken consideration of the timelines of establishing the new operation, the skills and expertise required the long term and short term staff requirement, the availability of local candidate and the position which need to be filled soon. The terms and condition of the employment includes payroll and compensations has to make clear before recruiting the employees. As in the global business many countries have different rules and regulations and its HR managers responsibility to change the terms and condition according to the country in which it operates business. The HR has to maintain a policy to all employees regardless of the place they work. There are four principle alternative between local adaption and global integration. They are international strategy in which knowledge transfer from head quarters. It is suitable for the when there is only few foreign business. The second one is multinational strategy which is local adapted. The next alternative is globalisation strategy which is centralised strategy for all the global operation. The final alternative is the transnational strategy. The HR manager should involve in the due diligence process before acquisition or merger occurs. The due diligence includes analysing the experience and expertise of the proposed merging management, the employment practices and the pay and benefit practices. The consistent HR strategy would improve the efficiency of workforce and can retain trained employees which will reduce the recruiting and staffing cost. The HR should establish a consistent HR strategy as well as a consistent localisation strategy. Without a consistent HR strategy it is hard to recruit, retain and train employees. GLOBAL OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENT All the operations have got scope of improvement regardless of how well they managed. The managers should know their business and need to know how well they are operating at the present. The five performance objectives- quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost can be measure how well they are operating at the moment. The customer satisfaction is other tool for measuring the performance. The performance measures should be compared with a target. The target can be historically based, external performance based or absolute performance target. It can be also done by bench marking which is comparing with own performance or some others in the similar industry. The priority for improvement can be assessed from their performance and importance. The important-performance matrix can be used for this, which is a technique to compare the relative importance and performance to prioritize the improvement. Some other methods are using for improvement, such as break through improvement which is innovation based improvement, and the continuous improvement method as the name says it following the gradual improvement method. The business process re-engineering process is another method of improvement which recommends redesign of process to fulfil customer needs. To improve the operation, it should know the cause of failure of the operation. There are many reasons for operational failure. It could be design failures, facilities failures, people failure like errors and violation, supplier failures, customer failure and environmental disruption. Most of the failures root cause is human failures. As the failures can be controlled and improve the failures are an opportunity. Once the failures cause and effect understand the next step is try to prevent the failure in future. By maintaining the operation with care will minimise the chances of failure. The Total Quality Management could be use to improve the operation, by inspecting, controlling and assuring the operation will lead to improve the operation. The companies are improving their operation and product by experience and learning from the world to be competitive in the global business. The companies have to innovate new product and service to win the world. The traditional operational functions have to be change with the demand of the global economy for multinational organisations. The new technologies and sources able the companies to discover and access knowledge before their competitors. Therefore multinational companies have to act up on quick to the new knowledge they gain to sustain in the industry. The companies need to practice to learn from wherever the knowledge is generated. Once the knowledge is brought together it should be turned as an innovative product service or process which will help in global operation. The globally successful companies have the ability to spread their innovation across the global market. The companies have to obtain wide range of technology and techniques to be successful in global operation. GLOBAL OPERATIONAL CHALLENGE The challenges of operational management are many, but the major challenges are the impact of the globalization of markets, the changing view of the social responsibility, the environmental responsibility of businesses, the influence of technology development on operations management and the emergence of the concept of knowledge management.(Nigel slack, Stuart chambers, Robert Johnston). The challenge for operation is that it has to understand the changes in the economy

Led Zeppelins Houses of the Holy :: Led Zeppelin Rock N Roll Bands Essays

Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy Led Zeppelin is arguably one of the best rock n’ roll bands of all time. They were collectively some of the best musicians ever to play rock n’ roll music, and were also great lyricists. Robert Plant (the lead vocalist) was quoted as saying that for some of the songs that he wrote, he felt that someone pushed the pen for him. Whether some mysterious force was moving his hand or not, one things for sure, Led Zeppelin wrote some timeless masterpieces of music. They were formed from the ashes of British blues-rockers the Yardbirds. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelins official founder) started off as the bassist for the Yardbirds, but eventually moved on to play electric guitar for the band. In 1968 the Yardbirds broke up leaving Jimmy Page the rights to the band. Jimmy went out looking to start a new group and found charismatic vocalist Robert Plant, Roberts close friend and explosive drummer John Bonham, and already famous bass guitar player John Paul Jones. The group hit it off and did a few shows in England before renaming the band Led Zeppelin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat a mysterious band, Led Zeppelin rarely did interviews and did not talk much to the press. For these reasons much of the press did not like them. However, their fans loved them. Led Zeppelin established a strong fan base by means of intense touring from the start of the group’s formation. With this intense touring came a lot of temptation. Led Zeppelin indulged in heavy drug and alcohol abuse as well as a lot of sex with groupies, especially American groupies. Their regimen of intense partying would eventually cause the band problems and inevitably lead to the bands undoing with the death of drummer John Bonham. I feel that Led Zeppelin could have been much more. To many Led Zeppelin fans that might sound crazy, but I truly feel that they had much more to offer the world than they ever got to give. The reason I say this is because they really didn’t have a long career and within a 5 or 6 years of forming the band they started having misfortun e and tragedy such as the death of Robert Plants son, Roberts car accident (which interfered with his touring and ability to perform for a few years), John Bonham’s excessive alcohol use, and Jimmy Pages’ heroin addiction that obviously interfered with their touring and songwriting.