Exam paper on business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exam paper on business strategy - Essay Example Its limitation is that two firms of same industry with MBV- strategy do not grow with similar pace despite opting for similar options. For example, firms opt to sail the ocean for being the safest alternate without sailor in the team while ignoring mountain-ing for being less attractive alternative despite having skilled mountaineers. RBV based strategy ignores the demand side of the business. It relies solely on the endogenous aspect and ignores the exogenous factors’ effect on firm. Hence, to void the limitation, firm has lent support from both views complementing each other than contrast. Apple Inc’s success is the strategy being combination of both views. For instance, team with innovative skills exploited the market factors that welcome changes in new dimensions; hence giving hit products like iPod, iPad. ANSWER 3 Greiner’s Theory (1972) refers that firm growth is a subset of six phases each comprising of stable growth followed by a challenge before entering the succeeding phase. It suggests that phases occur in series; therefore, predictable challenges (evolution) to be accounted in a predictable way (revolution). Firm initially grows with creativity and establishing position in the market and after some time it faces challenge of leadership crises. This challenge requires professional management for further growth. Growth in second phase continues to expand with direction and increase in scale hence, leads to issues in managing thing by few personnel. Evolution of structural change mainly with delegation of power becomes the need to maintain survival. Upon delegation development, firm grows through third phase for some time and lands to the control crises. It now requires business to strengthen connections among the business -units to maintain growth in single direction with co-ordination and monitoring. 4th phase of growth through connectivity ends up to red tape issues and bureaucracy. These issues hamper growth again requiring man agement to induce collaborative culture than centralized control. Collaborative culture results firm fostering with more of matrix and team based structures but also ends up once firm has exploited maximum of the internal capabilities and faces internal growth crises. Evolution from this crisis requires firm to shake hands with complementary organizations to maintain growth. This sixth stage growth, recently added, refers to merger, networks, alliances, outsourcing etc. Growth rate in phases vary from company to company and even within company from phase to phase. However, longer the phases harder it will be implement transition by catering crises. ANSWER 4 Resources and Competencies held by organization are all not of equal strength when evaluated on the yardstick to provide firm a competitive advantage against competitors. Strength of the Resource Based View refers that resources and competencies that possess value, rarity, inimitability and non-substitutability characteristics, a cronym as VRIN, are of immense importance to organization. Organizational strategy aligning VRIN-resources and competencies with external environmental factors form the foundation of success. Successful organization such as Wall- Mart (Strong Supply Chain), Tesco (UK national and supply Chain), Apple (Innovative Human Resource), Starbucks (expertise in providing premium flavour of coffee) have profited globally upon strategically by

Australia Essay -- essays research papers

Australia- Trade and Immigration Background As Joycelyn has mentioned Australia's having greater and greater interaction with its Asian neighbours, through the areas of trade and its active role in the regional trade organization - APEC. Despite its location, Australia can hardly be thought of being an Asian country. Not so long ago, Asian were looked down upon, with a mixture of fear because of the communist aggression, pity because of their poverty, and contempt, as they dumped cheap and poorly made products to do Australian workers out of job. For decades, high prohibitive tariffs blocked the imports of Asian goods, and a 'White Australia' policy fenced off Asian migrants. However, the situation is reversed in the past 2 decades. With East Asia being the fastest growing economy, and the development of regional trade blocs in their traditional trading partners such as the EC and NAFTA that tend to emphasize internal trade, Asia becomes Australia's single most promising opportunity. And now, Australia is eager to be Asian. Trade (See overhead - Exports) In 1994, some 60% of Australia's total exports equivalent to more than 60 B A$ went to Asia. While Japan remains to be their largest trading partner, S Korea replaced US to take the second place. But at the same time, Australia's share of Asia's total imports is declining, down from 3% in 1985 to 2% in 95. The main reason is that Asian countries are trading more among themselves, and importing more hi-er value-added products, rather than the common Australian exported commodities. However, steering towards value-adding industries is not easy. Besides infrastructure and labor reform, Australian manufacturers will become head on with some of Asia's most efficient operations. Anyway, Australia has shown its committment to free trading. The former Labor government has committed to cutting the average tariff for most imports to 5% by 2000, compared to 20% in 1983. And the trend towards a more open economy will be continued by the new Liberal-National gov't. Most domestic business will not survive under such open competition, but Australia sees this as an opportunity to reshape its manufacturing base to become narrower and deeper, and more competitive. They see an ideal picture of Australia importing cheap manufactured goods from Asia instead of making expensive ones at home behind tariff, and Asia buying mineral... ...or a tv program 'Embassy' which he claimed was mocking Malaysia. Australia also got into diplomatic problems with certain authoritarian regimes for critizing their behaviors. Its relationship with Indonesia is always tense for its criticisms of Indonesia over human rights, corruption, and the status of East Timor. Even Singapore didn't like Australia's comment on its harrassment of the Asian Wall St Journal and other newspaper. As other Asian countries all share similar culture and values, Australia with its western nature would easily be labelled as intruder. And they all understand that Australia's friendliness towards Asia is economically driven, it comes out of the mind, not the heart. Moreover, some of them even suspect it of acting as a stalking horse for western interests. Malaysia proposed a regional East Asia Econ Caucus which will exclude the US and Australia, and this is clashing over with APEC in which Australia and US are active participant. So, how can Australia manage its odd man role in the Asian region? Should it go for Multiculturalism or a melting pot policy like the US? How can it balance its relationship with its neighbours while preserving its western values?

What is sociology, anyway? Why bother to study it?

The aspect of sociology mainly relates to the study of the human behavior, existence, and individual characteristics based on the collective perspective of the society. The importance of this field in science generally manifest in many ways varying from the views and interpretation of the person involved. In reply to the read article regarding a personal reflection towards sociology, this writer clearly understands that the author of the said article greatly appreciates the value of the aspect of sociology with its manifestation towards the said author’s life. Read also  Sociology and Social Integration. Parts of his realization are greatly inclined towards the aid of sociology for understanding the human behavior in the society and discovering the individual characteristics of each person in a collective perspective. By the inclusion of the sociological concepts, the author of the article was able to understand the individual differences in terms characteristics, behavior, intellect, and others relevant to his successful merge in his society. In agreement to the ideas presented of the author of the read article, indeed, the aspect of sociology explains that the individual differences of each person is rooted on the influence of numerous factors in the person’s development. Realizing this fact, it is important to acknowledge these factors in understanding the personal characteristics of each individual such as his or her opinion, values, perspective, behavior, and actions. Among these influential factors are the concepts of family background and culture wherein the former has changed significant in the present. Other than the traditional type of the family unit, new structure have already emerged in the present namely the extended and nuclear or modern type which also have significant influences in the personality development of the person involved in these family unit. The dominant culture existing inside the family also becomes a fundamental factor in the individual characteristic thus, should also be considered in the sociological analysis and understanding. Indeed, the factors of family background and culture significantly affect the development of individual personality and characteristics relative to understanding the differences of each person inside the collective group of their respective society. Being part of the broad field of sociology, indeed, it is important to consider this scientific field towards achieving development in the aspect of understanding social relationship and individual differences inside the organization of human society.

The Rabbit Proof Fence By Philip Noyce - 1665 Words

Philip Noyce`s film ‘The Rabbit Proof Fence’ (2002) and Jill Ker Conway`s autobiography ‘The Road From Coorain†(1989), discuss and compare many of the same themes which express the importance of ‘home’, and its significance to the protagonists of the texts. The Rabbit Proof Fence follows the journey of three young indigenous girls who were taken from their homes in 1931, as apart of the stolen generation. Conway’s autobiography is a personal reflection of her up brining in rural Australia, and how her life changed when she was forced to move into the big smoke. They both utilise the explicit nature of discrimination in Australia, against indigenous Australia as a major narrative drive. Both texts illustrate the themes of transition of†¦show more content†¦Conway had found the transition to be overwhelming and difficult, as the lifestyle is very different in the city compared to the farm life that she was used to. Conway realises the significance rural Australia was to her up bringing, as she describes the landscape of New South Wales in compelling detail. With its plains and endless horizons, its ever-present red dust, its emus and kangaroos and kookaburras. Conway recalls that the land is like â€Å"a kookaburra feeding St. Jerome or accompanying St. Francis. They belong to a physical and spiritual landscape which is outside the imagination of the Christian West.† The writer suggests that landscapes have a powerful role in identity. Moving away from home to a foreign place is closely related to the experiences, which the three girls from ‘The Rabbit Proof Fence’ had endured. You can only imagine how hard it would be for the native people of Australia. Who have been living off the land for thousands of years and expected to be required to leave their homes. The rabbit-proof fence is a versatile symbol of home throughout the movie. For example, when the girls first encounter it on their trek to Jigalong, they embrace it passionately with the camera cutting to an emotional scene of their mother (Ningali Lawford), holding the fence, hundreds of kilometres away, even over distance, the mother and her children are still connected. This powerful scene enhances the ideaShow MoreRelatedSymbolism In Rabbit Proof Fence1306 Words   |  6 Pagescontrast that divides Australian society. The volume of this irrational prejudice through the perpetuation of dominant western ideologies depicted Aborigines as treacherous and unscrupulous. In contrast, the riveting Rabbit Proof Fence film released in 2002 and directed by Philip Noyce, eschews bigotry by illuminating a dense history of racist and distorted Aboriginal representations. Furthermore, it chronicles the ordeal of the Stolen Generation which included abducting half-cast Aboriginal children;Read MoreDiscuss the Symbolism and Motifs in the ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. What Do They Represent and How Do They Contribute t o the Story?968 Words   |  4 PagesRabbit Proof Fence Discuss the symbolism and motifs in the ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. What do they represent and how do they contribute to the story? The film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ conveys the importance of family, belonging and country to the Aboriginal people and provides the audience with an insight of the division between the Europeans and the Aboriginal people. The Director, Philip Noyce displays these themes by the use of symbolism and motifs. Symbolism is the use of one object to represent