Socially Responsible Corporation and Response

The response of the firms that follows corporate social responsibility would be positive. Firms that do not appoint the independent reps after reading this report firms will consider the independent reps to increase their sales and customer base (Schiffman, 2009). Assignment Help With the help of this report all the social responsible corporation will understand the importance of the marketing strategy. Firms effectively follow all the aspect related to the report.

During preparing the advertisement, firms will also consider this report and create effective advertisement plan. Firms will focus on the message that is contained in their advertisement presentation and will include clear message, information, humor etc. in their advertisement (Spoonfed Design, 2008). Firms that work in the U.S. will also focus on this report. Firms that do not follow Occupational Safety and Health Act after reading this report they will follow the OSHA and improve its work environment.

References;
Schiffman, S. (2009). Selling When No One Is Buying: Growing Prospects, Clients, and Sales in Tough Economic Times.USA: Adams Media.
Spoonfed Design. (2008). Retrieved May 6, 2011 from
http://www.spoonfeddesign.com/10-principles-of-effective-advertising.

Service Marketing Mix

Marketing mix is one of the most widely accepted and used concepts in the marketing discipline. Assignment Help It is the combination of stages, elements, and variables that needs effective planning and execution of the marketing strategies and activities (Jefkin, 2009).

The marketing mix for services includes seven P’s such as services or product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. It is also useful to describe different kinds of choices an organization have to market its product or services in the market.

Marketing Practices in Contemporary Environment

According to Kotler & Keller (2006), Marketing practices refer to an organization’s practices for an effective marketing to acquire & retain customers while focusing on high performance and growth of the organization. An organization adopts innovative and unique marketing practices on the basis of market trends and consumer preferences to gain competitive advantage (Kotler & Keller 2006). As best marketing practices, an organization focuses to sell high-quality products and also provides high-quality services to its current and prospective customers. It assists to high-performance and high-growth of the organization in contemporary environment.

According to Blythe (2006), marketing practices refer to those activities and strategies which are used by firms to market their products and services. The successful organizations build and commence new and innovative products and services which are considered to be best in their industries (Blythe 2006). By introducing new products and services, an organization increases its sales revenue and customer base that assist to organizational growth.

As discussed by Onkvisit & Shaw (2004), in current market scenario, identification and implementation of best marketing practices are very critical task to market leaders due to increase rate of competition and changing behavior of consumers (Blythe 2006). For sustaining in global market, multi-national or global companies use different marketing practices those are most appropriate with locality (Kotler & Keller 2006). The organization’s marketing practices vary from nation to nation. As best marketing practices, an organization uses different practices such as customer relationship management, effective distribution system, advertising strategy, attractive and safe packaging etc those are appropriate with localities (Onkvisit & Shaw 2004).

As discussed by Lambert (2008), in highly competitive environment, effective and efficient distribution system helps an organization for timely supply of products and services to its current and prospective customers. With the help of effective supply chain and logistics management, an organization delivers its products and services to its distribution channels for timely supply to end users in an effective way (Lambert 2008). In similar way, as effective marketing practices, organization focuses on attractive promotional and advertising strategy, packaging etc those are appropriate with customers’ preferences and their surrounding environment.

By using strategy for customer relationship management (CRM), an organization can increase the base of satisfied and loyal customers. It assists to increase the brand value of the organization and also assists to acquire new customers (Theaker 2004). For effective CRM strategy, organization provides high-quality products and excellent services to its existing, new and prospective customers.

References
Blythe, J. (2006) Principles & practice of marketing, London: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Kotler, P. & Keller, K. L. (2006) Marketing Management. (12th ed). London: Prentice Hall.
Lambert, D. M. (2008) Supply chain management: processes, partnerships, performance (3rd e.d.). USA: Supply Chain Management Inst.
Onkvisit, S & Shaw, J.J. (2004) International marketing: analysis and strategy. (4th ed). New York: Routledge.
Theaker, A. (2004) The public relations handbook (2nd e.d.). Great Britain: Routledge.

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Multi-Format Strategic Approach

In global business environment, most of companies including consumer goods companies and small retailers prefer to develop a multiple format channel business model. Firms follow multiple-format strategic approach in order to reach more target consumers in different shopping situations and to satisfy several shopping needs of same customers (Berman and Evans 2007).

In order to attain a significant market share and to increase market share, retailers are also establishing multi-format strategies, so that they can give better response to the needs of several consumers group.

Under multi-format strategic approach, small retailers and consumer goods companies are starting to customize their offerings to local markets, straightening different types of stores and making different types of pricing, product, marketing and customer service strategies.

Tesco, Wal-Mart and other manufacturers like apparel maker VF are replacing standardization and localization into multi-format strategic approach. According to case, in the UK, Tesco has built five specialized food formats such as Tesco Superstore, Tesco, Extra, Tesco Metro, Tesco Express and Tesco.com for web shoppers under multi format strategic approach (Tesco in China: Opportunities and Challenges).

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Strategic Issues for Failed Plan

A company has made a strategic plan that has failed due to some strategic issues. The lake of effective sale forecasting is the major strategic issues behind achieving the expected sales and profit and failure of the strategic plan. In this plan, it is possible that formal forecasting techniques are not used by the analysts, so they did not made sensible and rational forecast that made a big difference in actual and forecasted sales and profit (Jain & Malehorn, 2005). Therefore, this plan has been failed and did not achieve the expected sales and profit for the company.

On the other hand, co-ordination is another strategic issue that may a reason for its failure because an effective co-ordination is important to make a successful strategic plan. The senior executives of the strategic plan blamed to other department that shows that there no effective co-ordination among the departments (Bevir & Rhodes, 2003). An effective coordination requires some essential skills in the management that are communication, problem solving skills, evaluation, and collaboration etc. therefore, an effective coordination is essential to make a successful plan. There are several key issues also included in a strategic plan to make it successful such as sufficient resources, skilled management, proper communication, effective leadership and motivation to enhance the employees’ skills.

This plan has failed to achieve expected sales and profit of the company due to some strategic issues, so that it should be scrapped because there are several issues associated with this plan. Firstly, this plan should be scrapped because it includes several issues related to improper execution such as control system of plan (Menawat & Garfein, 2006). This plan could not be executed effectively because it is done wrongly by careless management, so that these issues may create problems to fix the plans in different areas. Secondly, this plan will take a long-time to complete, if it is not scrapped. There are three frames of plans on the basis of time in which long-term plans and middle terms plans take a long time to be completed that may affect organizational objectives and effectiveness. On the other hand, short-term plans require little time to achieve the strategic objectives of the company (Grandstaf, 2009). Third, leadership is a strategic concept that is lacking in this plan, so that it has been failed to achieve the objectives. Thus, this plan should be scrapped.

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References
Bevir, M. & Rhodes, R.A.W. (2003). Interpreting British governance. Great Britain: Routledge.
Jain, C.L. & Malehorn, J. (2005). Practical guide to business forecasting (2nd ed.). Institute of Business Forec.
Menawat, A. & Garfein, A. (2006). Profit mapping: a tool for aligning operations with future profit and performance. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Grandstaf, M. (2009). Strategic Leadership: The General's Art. USA: Management Concepts.

Trend Models

There are three main types of trend models that are helpful to forecast data on past basis. These are linear trend model, exponential trend model and quadratic trend model. Linear trend model has two advantages that are more informative model in nature and has greater power in functional relationship (Anderson, 2001). Assignment Help Calculation of new data is a disadvantage of linear trend models because it has to be done repetitively. Exponential trend model is an important model that has simplicity to use and it is most economical model to collect data. The main disadvantage of the exponential trend model is its excessive simplicity and inflexibility (Brooks & Tsolacos, 2010). Finally, quadratic trend model has certain advantages over the equation because it has fulfillment based econometric criteria such as random distribution, autocorrelation etc. and the disadvantage of quadratic trend model is its instability in open ended category that may be restricted by these categories.


Criteria of Selection of Trend Model

There are four types of criteria that are used to select a trend model for the purpose of forecasting in an organization. Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) is a criterion that selects a nested econometric model. It is a method that solves the model selection problem by giving a mathematical framework (Leung, 2009). It prefers a model that has fewer parameters, so that it can control over increasing unnecessary parameters. Schwarz Information Criteria (SIC) is another criterion that selects a formal econometric model. It has higher penalty in comparison to AIC, so SIC is more appropriate to select the model. Hannan Quinn Information Criteria is use to handicap or penalize performance of a model for its different types of parameters. Option Criteria is a specify model selection criterion that is used to offer options given in the forecast statement (SAS Publishing, 2007).

Suitable Data for Linear Trend Model

A linear trend model is best fit for the simple linear data sets because linear trade line shows that some data values are increasing and decreasing in the graph with a stable rate. In this trend, several data can be used but simple data such as sales of a particular product for different time period is best fit in this model. On the other hand, linear trend model is best model for simple data as it shows relationship between independent and dependent variables that are visualized in the graph paper (Albright, Winston & Zappe, 2008). In linear trend model, researchers use data with their linear function that are estimated from the parameters, so these functions are called as parameters of the model. This model is also fit for simple data as it can use positive and negative both values.

Suitable Data for Exponential Trend Model

Exponential trend model is most suitable model for the data, which values are falling or rising at higher increasing rate. On the other hand, this model cannot use both positive and negative values because it can use only positive values but not zero or negative data values (Anderson, Sweeney & Williams, 2010). It is fit for positive data values because it can compute trend equation without using logarithm and regression analysis that is quite effective for the forecaster, while forecasting. At the same time, this trend model has capability to compute exponential trend equation that cannot be solved by using excel.


Suitable Data for Quadratic Trend Model

Quadratic trend model is used in upward trend data and their values do not appear in the trend equation. These values are estimated and assumed by regression model in the equation. It is best fit for these types of data because these types of trend equations might not be solved by linear trend models (Ragsdale, 2010). This model involves an equation that estimates a variable that is function of other variables like x is function of y but it requires two independent variables in place of one such as y1 and . It is also an appropriate method because upward trend can be followed by downward trend and vice - versa.

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Project Management in Execution Phase

An execution phase of project includes action on the project management plan, keeping project planning and implementing approved changes. A project starts to utilize the resources during the execution phase so that, a firm project can be implemented in the project management process. At the same time, if there is need for changes that are necessary to make a successful project, it is very essential to include in the project (Schwalbe, 2009). A consumer suggested adding a new feature in designing the project that was not the part of the original plan but it is necessary for effective plan. Therefore, it would be included in the plan because; it would be helpful in making a successful plan. In addition, before close out phase of a project, it can be changed to take corrective action in regard to the implementation of plan.

There are some questions that a Project Manager (PM) might have related to implementing change in the project such as need to identify possible consequences (Wysocki, 2011). Firstly, PM wants to know the resources that are important to add the new feature so, he can make an effective and right project. Secondly, how this complex change will be managed in an organized way? A project manager might also raise a question that what problems may emerge with the addition of new attribute? And how they will be resolved? Problem identification is an important tool to minimize project risk. Finally, he/she might identify the impact of adding new feature or attribute in design.


Collecting Requirements of Project

A requirement refers to an explanation of any activity or deliverable. To complete any work there is a need to know its each and every requirement. Project includes various works and to specify implemented obligations (Schwalbe, 2009). A project requires, collection of some necessary requirements regarding effective completion. The project requires a proper assignment that consist several descriptions, like start and end dates of activity and needed efforts as well. A project’s single requirement needs representation of various assignments. Along with assignment it should collect information about several issues that may affect process of project. It also needs functional specification that includes specification of group of worker to complete each assigned activity. A necessary entry of time element is always allocated to a requirement (Kautz, 2010).

The change made on the bases of a customer demand, may face many difficulties that affect whole project’s effectiveness.Assignment Help A change made at the time of execution may suffer with a time taking activity. A change implies towards a complete change process that includes many steps and time. This time taking activity may affect project’s execution. It is difficult to do a complete process by a project manager. It also faces a difficulty to arrange whole resources like employees, equipments, workers etc. Employees may show conflict to change and may deny for work on that task again with whole process. A PM has to plan again for all activities because a change made whole process to change (Baca, 2005).

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References
Baca, C. (2005). Project manager's spotlight on change management. USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Giachetti, R.E. (2010). Design of Enterprise Systems: Theory, Architecture, and Methods. USA: CRC Press.
Kautz, K. (2010). Scandinavian Information Systems Research. Germany: Springer.
Schwalbe, K. (2009). Information Technology Project Management (6th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.
Schwalbe, K. (2009). Information Technology Project Management (6th ed). USA: Cengage Learning.
Turner, R. (2007). Gower handbook of project management (4th ed.). Great Britain: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Wysocki, R.K. (2011). Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme (5th ed.). USA: John Wiley and Sons.

Ethics at Workplace

Ethical consideration is very important at the workplace. It motivates people to work with their full potential and honesty in the welfare of the organization. Following the ethical activities in the organization includes proper allocation of resources, selecting the best man for the job, perform the task ethically, following all the norms and rules of the company and maintain the trust of the employees and the customer (Sims 2003). Ethical consideration helps the organization to retain satisfied employees with it. Additionally, it also provides competitive advantage to the organization as the customers are become more satisfied due to ethical activates of the organization (Westerholm, Nilstun & Øvretveit, 2004).

Also the ethical activities help the organization in achieving its vision and mission as the staff is align to attain the goals of the organization. Ethics create a healthy work culture in the organization that helps the organization to sustain in this competitive environment and generate profits in the long run (Bredeson & Goree, 2011). Assignment Help Performing work ethically results into less pressure on the employees, lesser misconduct in the work and provides greater satisfaction to customer, employees and the organization (Li & Madsen, 2011).

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References
Bredeson, D. & Goree, K. (2011). Ethics in the Workplace. USA: Cengage Learning.

Sims, R. R. (2003) Ethics and corporate social responsibility: why giants fall. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Westerholm, P., Nilstun, T. & Øvretveit, J. (2004). Practical ethics in occupational health. UK: Radcliffe Publishing.

Basic Financial Terms

Finance: Finance is typically a branch of economics that helps in studying the management of money and other assets. It assists to manage and utilize the available economic resources effectively to generate profits (Brigham & Houston, 2009).

Efficient market: In an efficient market the price of every security will be correctly valued depending on the available information. It defines the effectiveness of market operations with minimum friction in transactional cost (Dacorogna, 2001).

Primary market: Primary market is the market from where the corporate are raising new capital with the help of IPO and FPO. It helps the investor to invest their funds as the market is much safe due to less manipulation in the prices (Wilson, 2009).

Secondary market: In secondary market investor can directly purchase the assets from the other investors at the market price irrespective of the assts issue price. All the stock exchanges work as the secondary market for example New York Stock Exchange (Wilson, 2009).

Risk: Risk is defined as the uncertain factor that is included in any decision. It is most important concept of the financial management as investor has to minimize its risk in investment and to generate revenue (Holton, 2004).

Security: Security is negotiable instrument having some financial value and is traded in both primary and secondary market. Its price will be decided on the basis of demand and supply of the security. It can be classified mainly into debt, equity and derivative securities (Klein & Iammartino, 2009).

Stock: Those assets which are purchased to resale it or its derivative in tangible or intangible form to generate profit is known as stock. It helps in determining the profit of any business. It includes raw material, finished goods, payment on account, etc (HM Revenue & Customs, 2011).

Bond: Bond is a debt security that generates revenue for the investor in term of interest. The debt holder has to repay the principle at some later date fixed at the time of issuing bond. It is also known as loan (Maeda, Beck-Woods & Lyman, 2009).

Capital: financial capital is the money used by the businessman to buy the raw material and other assets in order to produce products or services in order to generate income for the organization (Ellis, 2004).

Debt: A debt is the bowered amount given by a party known as creditor to another party, debtor for a fix amount for a fix period of time with floating or fixed interest rate. Debt can be represented by a loan note, bond and mortgage (Hunt, 2004).

Yield: It is described as the amount of money received by the owner of the security. It is applied differently on different types of security such as fixed income instruments, insurance products (Barnhill, Maxwell & Shenkman, 2003).

Rate of return: Rate of return is the ratio of money received or lost on a fixed investment i.e. it is the percentage of amount received on a particular invested amount. It is also known as return on investment (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010).

Return on investment: Return on investment is also same as the rate of return that helps the investor to calculate the profit percentage on any invested amount. It is helpful to understand the overall return of the portfolio if the investor invests in more than two investments (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010).

Cash flow: Cash flow is the amount of cash transected while performing the business activity calculated for a fix period of time by using cash flow statement. The net result found will always be the cash in hand or nil balance (Maeda, Beck-Woods & Lyman, 2009).

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References

Barnhill, T. M., Maxwell, W. F. & Shenkman, M. R. (2003). High yield bonds: market structure, portfolio management, and credit risk modeling. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Brigham, E. F. & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2010). Financial Management Theory and Practice. USA: Cengage Learning.

Brigham, E. F. & Houston, J. F. (2009). Fundamentals of Financial Management. USA: Cengage Learning.

Dacorogna, M. M. (2001). An introduction to high-frequency finance. USA: Academic Press.

Ellis, C. D. (2004). Capital: the story of long-term investment excellence. USA: John Wiley and Sons.

Helfert, E. A. (2001). Financial analysis: tools and techniques: a guide for managers. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.

HM Revenue & Customs. (2011). Stock: meaning of: what is stock? Retrieved September 09, 2011 from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim33015.htm.

Holton, G. A. (2004). Defining Risk. Financial Analysts journal, 6(60), 1-7.

Hunt, A. E. (2004). The debt: a story of a past redeemed. USA: Thomas Nelson Inc.

Klein, P. J. & Iammartino, B. R. (2009). Getting Started in Security Analysisi. USA: John Wiley and Sons.

Madura, J. (2003). What every investor needs to know about accounting fraud. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Maeda, M., Beck-Woods, M. A. & Lyman, J. A. (2009). The Complete Guide to Investing in Bonds and Bond Funds: How to Earn High Rates of Return – Safely. USA: Atlantic Publishing Company.

Sims, R. R. (2003) Ethics and corporate social responsibility: why giants fall. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Westerholm, P., Nilstun, T. & Øvretveit, J. (2004). Practical ethics in occupational health. UK: Radcliffe Publishing.

Wilson, C. (2009). Financial management: principles and applications. Australia: Pearson Australia.

Controlling and It's Steps

Controlling is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing, staffing and directing. This tutorial would be a good homework help for our students studying basic elements of management. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and to take the corrective action so that deviations from standards are minimized and desired goals can be achieved. Control in management means setting standards, measuring actual performance and taking corrective action. It needs to be done at all levels of management.

Characteristics of Controlling

• Control is a continuous process
• Control is a management process
• Control is done in each level of organizational hierarchy
• Control is forward looking
• Control is closely linked with planning
• Control is a tool for achieving organizational activities

Steps of Controlling

1. Establishing Standards: Standards are the stated norms against which actual results are measured. These are the plans and targets that organization has to achieve in the course of business function. Standards generally are classified into two-

A. Measurable or tangible - Those standards which can be measured and expressed are called as measurable standards. They can be in form of cost, output, expenditure, time, profit, etc.

B. Non-measurable or intangible- There are standards which cannot be measured monetarily. For example- performance of a manager, deviation of workers, their attitudes towards a concern.


2. Measuring Performance: The second major step in controlling is to measure the performance. Finding out deviations becomes easy through measuring the actual performance. Measurement of tangible standards is easy as it can be expressed in units, cost, money terms, etc. Quantitative measurement becomes difficult when performance of manager has to be measured. It can be measured only by-

• Attitude of the workers,
• Their morale to work,
• Their communication with the superiors.

3. Correction of Deviation: Comparison of actual performance with the planned targets is very important. Deviation can be defined as the gap between actual performance and the planned targets. Minor deviations have to be ignored. Major deviations like replacement of machinery, appointment of workers, quality of raw material, rate of profits, etc. should be looked upon consciously.

4. Follow through Action: After taking the corrective actions, manager has to review these action whether performance has been improved or not.

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Committee in Management with Advantages and Disadvantages

A committee is a group of people assembled by the management to take decisions or advise on a particular issue. This post would be a good tutorial for assignment help for students studying organisation behaviour.

Committees perform some managerial functions and have their own definite structure. They have some authority and responsibility and depending on that it may be line or staff committee. There are some different types of committees that have been adopted by the organization. If the committee have the power to take decisions and make it done through the subordinates then it is line committee. Line committee is also known as plural executive or executive committee.

And if committee is of advisory in nature then it is staff authority. Committees that is formed temporary and do not have any authority are of informal in nature.

Advantages of Committees

There are advantages with the committee system these are as follows:

• Integrated Group Knowledge: Committees help to bring together a variety views, interests, and expertise together for completion of task. It helps in improving the quality of decisions.
• Representative: Decisions taken by the committee are easily accepted by all departments, because it represents the interest of the entire department.
• Co-ordination of plans and policies: Committees makes all plans and policies involving the activities of different departments. This helps in bringing coordination in all the departments and considering the interest of all.
• Establish teamwork: Committees believe in doing the work in team that leads to conformity of the organization goals. It is further helpful in making personal interaction that builds mutual understanding.
• Participative: Sometimes committees involve the subordinates interest in the decision making process. That leads to bring the participative approach and boost up the morale of the employees.
• Improved Communication: Committees provide more of face to face communication rather than written reports or memoranda. It helps in solving the problems frequently.

Disadvantages of Committees
Some of the disadvantages of committees are mentioned below:

• Expensive: Committees involve large amount of time in taking the decisions and that further increases the cost. It also takes time and cost in preparing the reports and maintaining the staff.
• Compromise: Sometimes decision made by the committee on the basis of majority that is not justified because some of the group members have to compromise.
• Part time job: Work in a committee being part time and an additional responsibility beyond normal responsibilities within parent department, members of the committee may not take the work of committee very seriously.
• Responsibility: Committees dilute the responsibility for a task. No single person can be held responsible for poor results produced by committee.

Coordination

Students while doing management courses, invariable come across questions related to management function. This tutorial on Coordination would provide a good homework help for students while they do work related to management functions. Coordination as a function of management refers to the task of integrating the activities of separate units of an organization to accomplish the goals efficiently. It is regarded as the essence of management. All the management functions planning, organizing, directing, controlling are based on the coordination. It is pervasive in nature and present in every organization.

Techniques of Coordination

Coordination through effective supervision: If the manager supervises the work of his subordinates effectively then it leads to have better coordination.

Coordination through the Process of Organization: Organizing helps in achieving the coordination. Proper delegation of authority at every level will make better coordination.

Coordination by Personal Contacts: If the people in the organization understand each other task through personal contact it will generate coordination.

Coordination through Effective Communication: Changes that have been made in the organization are communicated properly at every level then it will make better coordination.

Coordination by Group Meetings: Group meeting helps the managers to understand the needs of the different departments. Through this subordinates can exchange the ideas, information, and take the common decision that will integrate all the departments.

Mediator to Facilitate Coordination: If the personal contacts between the managers are not proper then mediator will facilitate better coordination. Sometimes general manager is treated as mediator.

External Coordination

Some of the measures should be adopted for making the coordination with external environment

• Managers have to analyze the external environment and should take corrective steps to cope with the external changes.
• Managers have to make good relations with the investors and customers. Interest of both should be highly coordinated with the organization.
• Managers should check its competitive strength regularly and take necessary actions timely.
• Managers should be aware about the technological changes in the external environment.
• Government rules and regulations should also be considered.

Principles of Coordination

Coordination in the organization is based on certain principles

Early Start: Coordination should be kept in mind at the early stage. If all the activities are started with better coordination it will helps in achieving the results efficiently.

Direct Contact: Organization should have interpersonal contacts between different departments either horizontally or vertically. This will help in achieving mutual cooperation and better understanding among the members.

Reciprocal Relationship: It states that all the factors in an organization are related reciprocally with each other. All these factors should be balanced properly.

Continuity: Coordination is the ongoing process; proper balance should be made between day to day internal as well as external activities

Case Study Research Approach

Research strategy works as a roadmap for the researcher to maintain and guide him/her to collect the data by following a systematic way. For the research, different strategies are used by the researchers to collect the data related for solving the research problem undertaken. Case study is one of the methods of research and it is predominately qualitative research based on a single case or multiple cases.

In the case study method, mainly three categories are included as exploratory, descriptive and explanatory case study. These are related with the research methodology or strategy. Exploratory research strategy indicates to explore main topic or point of the interest of the researcher on individual basis. Next, descriptive case study refers to the descriptive nature of the research point or data in terms of available different strategies and particular strategies are included in this type of methodology. Third type of case study is explanatory that shows the close examination of the collected data or research points by surface and deep level.

Along with this, some other case study strategies are available that are used by the researcher to solve their research problem. In this, case study, survey, etc can be used by the moderator or researcher to gather the information of the research. Under this strategy, many methods can be used by the researcher to collect the data. These methods are interview, observation, document analysis, etc. In the interview method, researcher and respondents interact with each other to communicate and identify the views of the participants on the research specific topic.

In the case study, observation of participants and analysis of company’s documentation process and strategies are included. Observation of the participants under the case study assists to maintain as well as foster relationship among the employees of the firm (Hoffmann, 2007).

Research has to decide whether to use single or multiple case studies for his/her research work. If researcher is investing an unresearch area, then single case study is preferable however when researcher wants to build theory, describe some phenomena or test a theory, in this situation, multiple case studies are better.

Case Study limit should be decided from the time and data perspective. It is very important to define what from the case is included and what is not included so that there is consistency in the data collected.

Research should select a precise case study method for using this kind of research strategy.

Departmentation in Organisations

Departmentation in Organisations

This post is about how organisations go about departmentation. Departmentation is the process of grouping the activities into one unit. It implies the division of total work of an enterprise into individual functions and sub functions. It provides the growth and specialization in an organization for the efficient achievement of goals.

Patterns in Departmentation

There are several patterns that are developed for departmentation in the business world. But the most common are

• Departmentation by Functions
• Departmentation by Products
• Departmentation by Locations or Territories
• Departmentation by Time
• Departmentation by Process
• Departmentation by Customers

Departmentation by Functions

It refers to grouping of all the activities on the basis of functions. Basic aim of function departmentation is to simplify the work as all the work is grouped in major functional department. The basic functions are production, finance, marketing etc.

Departmentation by functions may be classified as

Minor Functional Department: It includes those departments that are important for the organization but do not give major contribution.

Major Functional Department: Department that carry basic activities of the enterprise is known as major functional department.

Derivative Functional Department: It is created when manager wants to reduce its span of management. Expansion of activities needs to divide the work in other department and that department is known as derivative functional departmentation.

Principles of Departmentation

Following are some of the basic principles for departmentation in organisations.

Principle of specialization:
Principle of specialization must be followed while adopting the method of departmentation. Duties should be assigned according to the abilities of managers so that they can perform efficiently.

Principle of control:
To maintain the proper control on the workers, it is necessary to that duties must be clearly defined and has proper lines of communication. Evaluation of the workers should be done at regular intervals.

Principle of coordination:
Before adopting any method of departmentation, it is necessary to check that proper coordination must be maintained between different departments. This can be achieved by grouping same activities under one department.

Principle of economy:

Activities of the organization must be grouped in such a manner that it will contribute majorly with the least cost. This will help in bringing economy in the organization and optimum utilization of resources.

Principle of social aspect:
Human and social aspect must be fully considered while taking the decisions to create the department. Local circumstances must also keep in mind while making departmentation.

Organization Functions Affecting Organisation Structure

In the designing of organization structure, managers must focus on various activities related to the organization like, technology, size, philosophy and strategy, departmentalization of functional as product, customers, geographic etc. Each of these factors affect the organization structure. Organization objectives and goals also based on organization functions. Functions like marketing, finance, human resources and production influence organization structure. In large organization, each function is subdivided to achieve right span of control (Liker & Meier, 2005).

Toyota structured is affected by various functions. In functions structures, each person serves a specialized role and handles large volumes of transactions. Functional structures are more effective when an organization does not have a large number of products and services. This is more effective in stable environment that are slower to change. Each functions influences the organization structure, these are:

Marketing functions: Characteristics of the market like income class, buyer behavior, competition and geographic dispersion must be considered in organizing the marketing unit. Toyota distributes product across the globe so they need to develop the effective organization structure. They are focus on trade channels like wholesalers, dealers and middlemen to reach its consumers (Young & Pagoso, 2008).

Human Resource functions: Organization choice of structure according to the characteristics of its human resources and nature of the employment relationship. Toyota prefer highly skilled workforce so they perform their tasks together in groups and teams. Toyota developed organization structure according to the latest technology and create the better and longer relationship with its employees and given them freedom to make important decisions.

Production or Operations functions: Organization structure and size is based on scope of the products and services. Toyota structure is influenced by the customer, customer demand and customer segment of their products and product trends and innovation, technological advantages, manufacturing process. Toyota analyze of company product, history, strength and weakness in prefer of competitor products. All of these factors influence the organization structure so Toyota analyzes them in time to time (Hiebing, Hiebing & Cooper, 2004).

Finance functions: Toyota produces global level products so they need to put huge investments in their structure. Toyota structure is influenced by various financial factors like income of the customers, buying behavior of customers; understand the various stakeholders, economy of the various countries.

So each function influences the Toyota structure and they are developing our structure according to the change of market.

References:
Abramowicz, W. (2009). Business Information Systems: 12th International Conference. Germany: Springer.
Bollingtoft, A., Håkonsson, D.D. & Nielsen, J.F. (2009). New Approaches to Organization Design: Theory and Practice of Adaptive Enterprises. USA: Springer.
Graubner, M. (2006). Task, firm size, and organizational structure in management consulting. Germany: DUV.
Hiebing, R.G., Hiebing, R. & Cooper, S.W. (2004). The one-day marketing plan: organizing and completing a plan that works (3rd ed.). USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Liker, J.K. & Hoseus, M. (2008). Toyota culture: the heart and soul of the Toyota way. USA: McGraw Hill Professional.
Liker, J.K. & Meier, D. (2005). The Toyota way fieldbook: a practical guide for implementing Toyota's 4Ps. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Morgan, J.M. & Liker, J.K. (2006). The Toyota product development system: integrating people, process, and technology. USA: Productivity Press.
Toyota (2011). Toyota Manufacturing UK - Organisational Structure. Retrieved July 29, 2011 from http://recruitment.toyotauk.com/home/org-structure.jsp
Young, F.C. & Pagoso, C.M. (2008). Principles of Marketing. Philippine: Rex Bookstore, Inc.

Organisation Function of Management

Organization can be defined as a system that makes the formal relations among the members of the company and retains the interest of the society as well. It is one of the most important management functions that makes the employees organized and accountable. Organization needs an effective coordination among the members that builds a mutual understanding among them. In the organization, managers required to delegate the authorities and responsibilities to the members for carrying out the assigned task.

Organization as a structure means, it is a hierarchical framework in which the organization assigns the task and responsibility. It is further helpful in identifying the lines of communication and path for the flow of information. Organization structure includes the activity-authority relationship that means organization can be able to know what task should be assigned to whom and how much authority should be given to them. Structure of the organization depends on the type of strategies and objectives that have been adopted by the company. Organization structure is way to an end.

Peter F. Drucker suggests four ways for the formulation of organization structure to attain the objectives. First is activity analysis in which organization needs to identify the key activities and all those areas that needs excellence for the better performance of the company’s objectives. Second is contribution analysis in this step all the activities are divided into four groups i.e. result producing activities, support activities, house keeping activities, and top management activities. Direct revenues are generated from result producing activities while support activities provide contribution towards the overall results. Housekeeping activities contribute indirectly to the overall results and their avoidance can affect the business. Segregation of activities helps in identifying that which activity needs more attention and which is not. Then we come to the third mean that is decision analysis in which authority and responsibility are given to various kinds of decisions based on their character i.e. impact of one decision on other functions, its occurrence are regular or rare. Decisions should be made at the lowest level. Fourth and the last way is relation analysis in which the relation of activity to the another is made and it should be noticed that the critical activity should be placed at the center and should be easily accessible.

Organizing helps in achieving the objectives at least cost in terms of money, pain, time etc. Through the organizing managers can able to do the work with sound management structure and making coordination among different departments.It is further helps in overcoming the limitations of span of management that means organization can able to identify how many subordinates can be handled by one manager depending on their job and ability. And it is also help in formulating the supportive policies apart from the main objectives.

As organization operates in highly dynamic environment whereby technology, political conditions etc. changes day by day in such a conditions it need not to be static. To sustain in the competitive market organization should be adaptive to the moving environmental conditions. Organizations have to redesign the structure according to the changing needs of the external market environment. As the taste and preference of the customers changes after a certain interval then organization have to make further provisions for better services to the customers. And the capacities of the workers grow, changes or sometimes decline with the change in the technology.

Decision Making and It's Steps

Decision Making

Decision making is a process by which a person, group and people identifies various alternative and selects the best one in various alternatives according his objectives or goals, desires, life style, values and so on. Decision is based on knowledge, skills and observable action. Decision making is the most difficult and essential task a manager performs. (Kearney, Richardson & Giulio, 2000).

Decision Making Steps

Decision making is a process which consists of various steps. These are:

Define the problem and objectives: The first stage of decision making is to identify and define the problem or analyze the opportunities. It is the most important step in decision making process. If the problem is not clearly defined or understand then decisions will be not provide the accurate result. In this step, identify the objective and set the goal so it is providing the guideline in the process of decision making.

Gather information: In this step decision maker is gathering data or information for the relevant of decision. The problem-solving process taken enough time to gathering information related to the problem. The collection of information must be analyzed according to the problem (Harvard Business School, 2006).

Identify alternatives: After define the problem, the next step is identifying the various alternatives. This stage is dedicated to finding solutions to identify the available alternatives. In the searching of various alternative decision maker should focus on merits and demerits of the various alternatives and the nature of the problem.

Analyze alternatives: After identify the various alternatives decision maker evaluate the various options. Comparison of various alternatives is based on time, cost, risk and other benefits. Alternative should be timely, acceptable, desirable and ethical so it will provide a good decision result. After evaluate for various alternative selected the best of them (Vermeulen & Curșeu, 2008).

Develop Solution: Every problem suggest more than one alternative solution. This step is done carefully for each alternative solution. The decision maker thinking, values, skills and knowledge will play a crucial role in the analysis and evaluation of the various alternatives and they affect the problem solving decision.

Make a decision: After analyze each situation or alternative, select the best solution. This is the action taking stage. Review all the details of the remaining alternative so that decision will be clear in the mind. If the decision maker has gathered the data and facts, used logic, assumption and common sense than they are easily get a right decision (Huber, 2006).

Implement the decision: Once the decision is selected, decision maker must taken action to implement it in the right way. In this process, every related persons support is necessary in the implementation of decision. Effective implication of decision is solving the problem and given the best result.

Evaluate result: Decision making process is not completed without evaluation of result. This is a form of control of the result. It involves measuring performance result according to the goals and objectives and measure both positive and negative outcomes (Schermerhorn, 2009).
Decision making is a continuous process. If the decision maker follows each step in the decision making process, best possible decision is most likely to come.


References:
Harvard Business School. (2006) Harvard business essentials: decision making: 5 steps to better results. USA: Harvard Business Press.
Huber, D. (2006) Leadership and nursing care management. 3rd ed. USA: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Kearney, N., Richardson, A. & Giulio, P.D. (2000) Cancer nursing practice: a textbook for the specialist nurse. China: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Schermerhorn, J.R. (2009) Exploring Management. 2nd ed. USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Vermeulen, P.A.M. & Curșeu, P.L. (2008) Entrepreneurial strategic decision-making: a cognitive perspective. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Brand Strategy

A brand is a name, image, symbol, and design that give an identity to a product or a company. An effective brand can be established through a plan or strategy. A brand strategy is a planning process that defines company’s position in the market. It includes many activities done by business such as defining the brand idea, brand design, and brand personality (Graham, 2007). Brand strategy can be defined as the process of creating brand identity in the industry. This post could be used by students for help with their assignments related to brand strategy.

Brand equity, brand loyalty, brand awareness are the basic component of brand strategy. Brand equity is significantly related with the brand strategy as it is a process of evaluating market situation for brand. That helps the marketer to create brand identity effectively by analyzing all the aspects of an environment. This involves brand perception, financial performance, satisfaction and overall value etc. (Knapp, 2000). Brand equity also compares the other brands that are available in the same market that helps to implement the brand strategy effectively.

A marketer uses several branding strategies to increase the brand awareness and identity for its product and services. The major branding strategies are as below:

Family Branding: Through this strategy company introduce new product in existing brand. A business go for family branding, when it feels that its brand has a good position in market and customer’s are going to give good response to new product (Kotler, Pfoertsch & Michi, 2006). For example: Sony introduced its product in electronics like radios, televisions, stereos etc. after the success of Walkman (Lamb, 2009).

Product Branding: This strategy is used, where business gives a new brand name to each of its product. It has an advantage that a company is not losing its total control over the brand in case of the failure of any product (Kotler, Pfoertsch & Michi, 2006). For example Procter & Gamble segmented laundry detergent with the name of Bold, Oxydol, Tide, Cheer, Gain, Era and Solo, etc. (Lamb, 2009).

Company Branding: This strategy is used by the businesses as a whole. It denotes that a business use a single brand in all the product lines and industries (Kahn, 2011). For example, Virgin Group has a large and wider product portfolio in different markets such as Finance, Airline, Music, Mobiles etc. (Virgin, 2011).

Manufacturers Branding: This strategy used by the manufacturers rather than distributors to brand the product in a large region. It is introduced by large firms that have good financial position and can take risk of failure in one region. Ford and McDonald’s are the brands that used this strategy for their products and services in the different regions (Kahn, 2011).

The above discussed are some of the important branding strategies that are used by the marketers to create brand identity for their products and services.

References
Davis, J. A. (2009). Competitive Success, How Branding Adds Value. USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Graham, T. (2007). CIMA Exam Practice Kit Management Accounting Business Strategy (3rd ed.). Holland: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Kahn, K.B. (2011). Product Planning Essentials (2nd ed.). USA: M.E. Sharpe.
Knapp, D.E. (2000). The Brandmindset. New York : McGraw-Hill Professional.
Kotler, P., Pfoertsch, W., & Michi, I. (2006). B2B brand management. Germany: Springer.
Lamb, C.W. (2009). MKTG. China: Cengage Learning.
Virgin. (2011). About it. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.virgin.com/

Budget - Types of Budget

Budget

A budget is a financial document or pre-plan of action for organization. It is a systematic process to anticipated the expenses and return for a given period. It’s a plan for managing money. Through this, one can know the expenses against its income (Harvard Business School Press, 2009). By making a budget, one can anticipate that how much money they have and what actions will be taken by this as well as the return over it within given time frame. It is also a useful technique to avoid the unexpected expenses and it leads saving. Business organizations are using budget to analyze the cost-benefit of their business operation. It helps to know that should they continue business operation or not. This post would be useful to students looking for assignment help related to budgets and types of budgets.

Types of budget

Fixed budget: It is financial plan which does not change throughout the budget period as it is also said to be static budget. Generally, the organization where sales volume is predictable use fixed budget. This helps to single level of business activity. It is also used for controlling, planning and evaluating business operations (Grossman & Livingstone, 2009).

Flexible budget: The budget that can be change according to the volume of services of business, said to be flexible budget. It is also called variable budget. It allows adjustment of revenue and expenses accordingly to up and down. This budget provides better management in all circumstances (Shim & Siegel, 2008). It is very useful for business as it can be changed throughout the budget period.

Cash Budget: Cash budget are important for cash management. Cash planning and controlling are undertakes in cash budget. It’s meant to know expected cash flow and outflow during a specified period in the organization. Cash management helps in avoiding to keep idle cash and also unexpected borrowings in business. It is a very important aspect of organization as its help in smooth functioning of business.

Capital Expenditure budget: This budget is related to the long term project of organization. It includes management of those funds, which requires for acquiring long term project in business. It helps in calculating the cost of project as well as the timing of capital expenditure. It’s also list out the sources of capital for financing the project as it increases the cost and time effectiveness of business (Shim & Siegel, 2008).

Program budget: This budget is concerned with the different programs of organization. Research & development, marketing and training are some examples of program activities. It’s majorly concerned with the problem of resource allocation and helps the manager to improve their managerial skills.

Master budget: An organization carries many activities. Master budget involves all operational areas of organization such as sales, production and so on. All the operations of organization are interdependent to each other and also effected to each other. This budget is considered this factor and includes all budgets in one. It is called master budget (Needles, Powers & Crosson, 2010). Master budget is not only flexible but also includes all the operations of organization. If any change occurs, only master budget has to be change. It creates time and cost effectiveness for organization as it’s save time and cost.

References
Grossman, T. & Livingstone, J.L. (2009). Portable MBA in Finance and Accounting (4th ed.). USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Harvard Business School Press (2009). Preparing a budget: expert solutions to everyday challenges. USA: Harvard Business Press.
Needles, B.E., Powers, M. & Crosson, S.V. (2010). Financial and Managerial Accounting (9th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.
Shim, J.K. & Siegel, J. G. (2008). Budgeting Basics and Beyond (3rd ed.). USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Warren, C. S. (2008). Survey of Accounting (4th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.

Steps of Developing Contingency Plan

In the contingency plan development, following steps are followed:

a) Development of contingency planning policies in written format
b) Organize or conduct of the business impact analysis
c) Planning or creating contingency strategies
d) Development of effective information system under the contingency plan
e) Ensure to the effectiveness and success of the contingency plan in terms of testing, training and exercise
f) Support plan maintenance (Swanson, 2011).

So, these steps are followed by the firms under the contingency plan development.

(Source: Swanson, 2011)

Involvement

Development of contingency plan is an important action of the firm due to having base or a hope of success in the adverse condition in terms of failure of the project of the firm. So, to develop effective contingency planning, higher authorities, experienced employees, project manager, etc. should be included by the firm. In other words, key stakeholders of the firm should be involved in the development of contingency planning of the firm. In this, call tree is presented that shows the involved individuals in the development of contingency plan (Swanson, 2011).

(Source: Swanson, 2011)

Importance of Involvement

Involvement of these individuals in the development of contingency plan is important to establish effective contingency plan to turn adverse situations into positive situations. Along with this, it is important to involve whole employees to ensure their support for the high chance of success of contingency planning (Khosrowpour, 2004). Additionally, expert comments and effective communications system is also supported by involving all discussed individuals in the development of contingency plan. In addition, employee involvement and relationship with them is also supported through involving them in the development of contingency plan (Broekhuis & Donk, 2011). Apart from this, involvement of employees helps in identifying new ideas and opinions for developing effective and successful contingency plan.

References
Bowers, A. R. (2011). Clinical Risk Assessment and Management of Service Users. Clinical Governance: An International Journal, 16(3), pp. 1-24.
Broekhuis, M & Donk, D. P. V. (2011). Coordination of physicians’ operational activities: a contingency perspective. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(3), pp. 251-273.
Khosrowpour, M. (2004). Information Resources Management Association. USA: Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Swanson, M. (2011). Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems. USA: DIANE Publishing.