External Environment Analysis Essay Example for Free

External Environment Analysis Essay The Coca-Cola Company owes the success of its internal operations to its principles of corporate responsibility. The firm has incorporated an apt ethics program; this will guide their employees, and ensure them growth, achievement, and satisfaction for their jobs. In order to make this possible, The ideology of corporate responsibility is moderated and promulgated by the Public Policy and Corporate Reputation Council. The Council is comprised by a group of senior managers from each beverage and bottling company in the industry. It ascertains the risks and opportunities that each company in the industry encounters. The PPCR Council advises beverage companies in their employee management and operations. Feasible business strategies are generated in order to achieve growth and progress for beverage companies like the Coca-Cola Company (The Coca-Cola Company,2008). The firm believes there is no Coke without the presence of its prolific employees, which is the major force behind more than satisfactory results for the growth and progress of the company. Its operations are bolstered by innovative thinking, unique perspectives, and operational excellence of the workforce, which sustains profit margins of the firm as well as its image. With this in mind, the company recognizes the crucial role of its workforce plays in its worldwide operations. The Coca-Cola Company puts a premium on job satisfaction. The firm ensures that the Coca-Cola workplace is an environment where people can generate excellent input and augment their performance while enjoying what they do (The Coca-Cola Company,2008). Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Supplier Power Coca-Cola’s suppliers have been clamoring for increased prices for raw materials used in manufacturing their products. Usually, these suppliers are responsible for the prices of raw materials to increase. Suppliers have gained the notoriety of manipulating the cost of raw materials, which generates a deliberate effect on the firms part. Suppliers are more manipulative whenever the number of suppliers is low. This gives the handful of suppliers to raise the price of raw materials, which in turn leaves firms line Coca-Cola’s no further options to purchase commodities of lower cost. An international brand like Coca-Cola’s is usually responsible for improving the working conditions within their factories (Foust, 2006). The firm provides the much-needed technical assistance, which help augment the performance of both factory workers and shop floor employees. Buyer Power Buyer power is also considered the spending capacity of the consumer. In the athletic shoe industry, the buyer power is strong. This aspect simply states that the buyer or the consumer has always has a â€Å"say† on the price of particular good. Furthermore, buyer power is considered crucial due to the fact that it has a deliberate impact on the industry. However, softdrink companies like Coca-Cola’s has a discreet mutual arrangement regarding the aspect of buyer power. These intangible mutual contracts between the firm and its consumers have been apparent for quite some time now (Foust, 2006). Firms have been empowering consumers to augment their buyer power. Buyer power has a relationship with supplier power as well. A firm like Coca-Cola’s opines for the cost of raw materials it acquires from its suppliers. Buyer power is quite a delicate matter to elaborate on. The asymmetry between the buyer and the industry generates a bevy of discrepancies, which contributes to an inconsistent market condition and prevents forward integration. Barriers and Threats of Entry Perennial rival companies like PepsiCo and RC Cola are not the only ones who pose a threat for the company. Neophyte softdrink companies both domestic and international are always attempting penetrate the industry will also have a deliberate effect in the industry. The outcome will be a fluctuation in percentage of the market share of softdrink companies. Coca-Cola’s does its part through studying potential market segments to entice. Firms that tend to enter and exit a market are subjected to nominal profits (Foust, 2006). Competitive Rivalry Coca-Cola’s always strives to survive in a competitive industry through the aid of its competitive advantage. For the plethora of softdrink companies, competition always matters in order to bolster profitability. Coca-Cola’s augments their advertising and marketing strategy by its charismatic approach to its advertising. The global softdrink industry is highly competitive (Foust, 2006). The company has to compete with national and domestic retailers such as discount store chains, department stores, independent retail stores, and internet retailers that cater to a particular market segment of similar merchandise. The company has encountered stiff competition in Asian markets, which range from regional to national chains. Threat of Alternative Products Substitutes The apparent threat of alternative or substitute products is a common adversity for Coca-Cola’s. A number of softdrink companies have always attempted to overwhelm Coca-Cola’s s market share through attempts in cheaper price movements in order for consumers to consider other brands aside from Coca-Cola’s. The subject of price elasticity surfaces whenever the price change of an alternative product affects as the demand for such product. The industry where Coca-Cola’s thrives is saturated by a bevy of substitute products, which to tend to constrained the ability of these companies to make an increase in prices. The softdrink industry is always sporadic and innovative in terms of manufacturing products, which can draw consumers to purchase their products. The outcome is a letdown in sales for the Coca-Cola Company (Foust, 2006). Reference The Coca-Cola Company. (2008). Governance Ethics. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/citizenship/governance_ethics. html The Coca-Cola Company. (2008). Engagement. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. thecoca- colacompany. com/citizenship/engagement. html Foust, D. (2006). Queen of Pop. Business Week. New York: Aug 7, 2006. , Iss. 3996; pg. 44 Foust, D. Byrnes, N. Gone Flat. (2004). Business Week. New York: December 20, 2004, Issue 3913: page 76

Night :: essays research papers

Night The Halocaust, a horrible time for the world. Just as any war is. War is the single most destructive thing our world has. It can take the lives of millions of people in just a few seconds.War however may seem bad from the perspective of many people, but it is even worse from the perspective of a single person. A boy for instance, trapped between two opposing forces. Elie for example has lived through this. A boy of only 15, how much he has suffered through. During the course of the book Night it is obvious that Elie lost faith in his god. "For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless his name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Poerful and terrible, was silent. what had I to thank him for?" (31). This is Elie's first sign of losing faith. In his mind he wondered how a god, so great and wonderful hasn't helped out his people, But rather let them see how cruel people can be. Elie said this after he had witnessed babies sent to their doom in a pit of fire. How could he not ask his god why he hasn't done anything. A boy of 15 years old should not witness this, nor should anyone witness these acts of hatred. "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever." (32) From that moment on, Elie had no reason to believe in God. The flames which Madame Schachter had spoke about on the train. If only they realized it sooner. God, the most important role in human civilization was going to let the slaughter of innocent people go on in his world. Many people lost faith during this time. The sight of someone being beaten infront of you, but knowing that if you help, it'll be even worse for you. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things even if I am condemmed to live as long as God Himself, forever. Never. (32) Something so powerful it could murder a once very religous boy's faith forever. He would never be able to turn back like he once did, to ask God "Why?". God lives

Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy Essay

â€Å"Balanced Scorecard† is the tool for motivating and measuring business unit performance with four perspectives – financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. These days, it becomes so complicated and complex to navigate competitive environment, thus some people figured out that balanced scorecard could be used as the tool for linking multiple strategies. It contains both financial and non-financial measures. It was revealed that the measure should include both outcome measures and the performance drivers of those outcomes. It turns out that there are strategic measures for the four perspectives each. First of all, Financial performance measures define the long-run objectives of the business unit. Business units can be categorized into three different stages simply – rapid growth, sustain, and harvest. During rapid growth stage, businesses make rational amount of investments to develop and enhance new products and services. During sustain stage, they still attract investment and reinvestment, furthermore they are demanded to earn magnificent returns on their invested capital. During harvest stage, they only focus on maximizing cash flow back to the corporation rather than investment. Moreover, there are financial themes that can be linked to the strategies – revenue growth and mix, cost reduction/productivity improvement, and asset utilization/investment strategy. Secondly, in the Customer perspective, managers identify the customer and market segments. It includes customer satisfaction, customer retention, new customer acquisition, customer profitability, and market and account share in targeted segments. Customer retention defines that retaining existing customers in the segment is the way for maintaining or increasing market share in targeted segments. Customer acquisition identifies acquiring new customers as the way. Customer satisfaction is the matter of meeting customers’ needs and it is the measurement of the feedback. Customer profitability means that businesses want to measure not only the satisfaction of the customer, but also the profitability that customers can evoke. Thirdly, in Internal Business Process perspective, executives identify the critical internal processes in which the organization must excel. It enables business unit to deliver on the value propositions of customers in targeted market segments, and to satisfy shareholder expectations of excellent financial returns. On the other hand, it means there are the process that customer need turned into customer need satisfaction through innovation cycle, operations cycle, and post-sale service cycle. Fourthly, in Learning & Growth perspective, it identifies the infra-structure that the organization has to build to create long-term growth and improvement. It comes from three sources that people, systems, and organizational procedures. As I mentioned above, it has been the trend to link and mix multiple scorecard measures into a single strategy. The multiple measures on a properly constructed balanced scorecard should consist of a linked series of objectives and measures that are both consistent and mutually reinforcing. The scorecard should incorporate the complex set of cause-and-effect relationships, outcomes & performance drivers and linked to financial. Cause and effect relationships can be expressed by a sequence of if-then statements and pervade all four perspectives of balanced scoreboard. It can be described as the process â€Å"employee skills(learning & growth)→process quality/process cycle time(internal) →on-time delivery→customer loyalty(customer) →ROCE(financial)†. Outcomes and performance drivers reflect the common goals of many strategies, as well as similar structures across industries and companies. Therefore, a good balanced scoreboard should have a mix of core outcome measures and performance drivers, that’s why businesses care both outcomes and performance drivers. Even though the strategy should have to emphasize both financial and non-financial measures, in the sense of improving business unit performance, we have to consider financial measures little bit more. Ultimately, causal paths from all the measures on a scorecard should be linked to financial objectives. In conclusion, the balanced scorecard is more than a collection of financial and non-financial measurements. It is the translation of the business unit’s strategy into a linked set of measures that identify both the long-term strategic objectives, as well as the mechanisms for achieving and obtaining feedback on those objectives. This thesis could be applied on the Metro Bank case and National Insurance Company case.

Europe and the New World New Encounters - 4462 Words

Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500-1800 On the Brink of a New World ⠝â€" By the 16th century, the Atlantic seaboard had become the center of a commercial activity that raised Portugal and Spain and later the Dutch Republic, England, and France to prominence âž ¢ the age of expansion was a crucial factor in the European transition from the agrarian economy of the MA to a commercial and industrial capitalistic system. The Motives ⠝â€" Contact w/non-Europeans remained limited until the end of the 15th century Fantastic Lands ⠝â€" Europeans had always been curious about lands outside of Europe Economic Motives ⠝â€" Although Muslim control of Central Asia cut Europe off from the countries farther east, the Mongol conquests in the 13thc†¦show more content†¦armada defeated a combined fleet of Turkish and Indian ships and began to impose a blockade on the entrance to the Red Sea to cut off the flow of spices to Egypt and the Ottoman Empire ⠝â€" Goa became the headquarters for p. operations throughout the entire region âž ¢ The p. conducted raids against Arab shippers In Search of Spices ⠝â€" In 1511, Albuquerque sailed into the harbor of Malacca on the Malay peninsula âž ¢ He thought it would help destroy the Arab spice trade and provide the pw/a way station on the route to the Moluccas, aka the Spice Islands âž ¢ Their attempted takeover of the area resulted in a struggle b/w the p and ms ⠝â€" From Malacca, the p launched expeditions further east, to China and the SI âž ¢ there they signed a treaty w/local rulers for trade âž ¢ Within a few years, the p seized control of the spice trade from ms and got profits for the p monarchy âž ¢ The p empire remained limited b/c they lacked the power, population, and desire to colonize Asian regions ⠝â€" Their success was mainly due to guns and seamanship Voyages to the New World ⠝â€" the sp attempted to reach the same destination by sailing across the Atlantic. Their resources enabled them to establish a bigger empire than the p The Voyages of Columbus ⠝â€" He felt that Asia could be reached by sailing west instead of east New Voyages ⠝â€" John Cabot explored the New England coastline under a license from Henry VIII. PedroShow MoreRelatedThe Silk Road And Its Effect On Every Aspect Of People s Lives1615 Words   |  7 Pagesdeclining in the late 14th century B.C. . Its origin dates back to the Han Dynasty where the Silk Road was used to reach out to surrounding cities and empires to develop alliances for trade. The original purpose for The Silk Road was to link China to Europe through trade and for political reasons, but later on merchants discovered that the route provided safer travel for carrying merchandise from place to place. Not long after merchants and nomads began trading, did cultural diffusion and cultural interconnectednessRead MoreThe Importance Of The Crusades788 Words   |  4 Pageshow they work to support their own empire. 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