My personal Experience of Globalization Essay

Globalization is process of expanding trade and commerce all over the world by creating a frontier-less market. Although globalization is an economical process but it has many social and cultural aspects in our daily life. For example, I am using a nokia cell phone that was designed in Finland and assembled in China. I am writing this assignment by using a HP laptop that was also assembled in China and designed by USA, and this laptop runs by â€Å"Windows 7† operating system – which is a product of famous US software company â€Å"Microsoft†. I also use Qubee Broadband of Augere Wireless Limited that is owned by a multinational company of United Kingdom. I have a Nikon DSLR camera that was designed in Japan and assembled in China from components made in Japan, Germany, China and Malaysia. I am dependant on several products such as Head and Shoulder (Procter and Gamble-USA), Dove (Unilever-England and Netherland), Tang (Kraft Foods-USA), Pepsi (USA) etc. All these products in my hand is a result of process of globalization.KFC and Pizza Hut are two US based restaurant chain that become popular in our country. Globalization has been associated with a range of cultural consequences. Globalization is increasingly exposing people to different ways of thinking. We know instantly what is happening on other part of the world through satellite channel. Cultural effects of globalization have seen in lifestyle of urban people, selection of apparel, consumption of food and celebration of different festivals or occasions that are not associated with our culture. I celebrate friendship day, watch Hollywood movie and become a fast food lover, which are clearly cultural impacts of globalization. Through the process of globalization the economic interdependence has been increasing day by day. Now Bangladeshi women are the major contributors in national export earnings. In Bangladesh, 77 per cent of the foreign earnings come from the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector and around 80 per cent of the workers in this sector are women. Last year my uncle brought a Reebok jacket from Malaysia that is labeled as â€Å"Made in Bangladesh†. Although economic development is the primary objective of globalization but it also bring many changes in our social and cultural life.

Comparative Analysis on Erp Vendors

School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend K507–Enterprise Resource Planning – 2008 Fall – ERP Project Comparative analysis of ERP vendors: SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Koenraad Adams, Eric Piazzoni, and In-Saeng Suh [email  protected] com, [email  protected] com, [email  protected] edu Abstract This is a study of the comparative analysis on the enterprise resources planning (ERP) vendors, SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. We research on functionalities, cost, features, and target market for each vendor. Keywords: ERP, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, SME 1 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend . Introduction ERP system is an integrated information system to support the business within different organizational parts of an enterprise. The leading global providers are SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. ERP packages are designed to be customizable to concrete needs of an organization and to its legacy systems. The customization of ERP modu les for a concrete user is performed with special tools and using specific or standard programming languages. Due to already mentioned general ERP characteristics, customization and implementation usually require specialized knowledge and significant resources.SAP was founded on April 1, 1972, by five IBM employees. It developed its first product (financial accounting software) in close cooperation with its first customer. The company grew initially around ERP and solidified its market leadership by being a pioneer in the move from mainframe to client-server computing with its R/3 ERP solution introduced in the 1990s. From there, SAP expanded into a much broader set of applications for other functions in the enterprise: customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), product life-cycle management (PLM), and supplier relationship management (SRM).By bundling and integrating these applications, SAP became known for high-quality, comprehensive enterprise solution s, which SAP or SAP-trained SI consultants would then customize. Oracle was founded in 1977 as Software Development Laboratories. The first Oracle program was written in assembly language, ran on PDP-11 and with 128k of memory. The software was never â€Å"officially† released though. Version 2 which was released in 1979 was the first to be released. The company had changed its name by then to Relational Software Inc. Business grew and by 1982 they had changed their name again, this time to Oracle and in 1987 the company went public.Today, Oracle remains one of the leaders in the ERP industry. A few of the firsts Oracle brought us are: ? The first commercially-available SQL-based database (1979) 2 School of Business and Economics ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Indiana University South Bend The first database to support symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) (1983) The first distributed database (1986) The first database product tested to comply with the ANSI SQL standard (1993) The first 64-bit data base (1995) The first web database (1997) The first proprietary RDBMS to become available on Linux (1998) The first database to support XML (1999)Microsoft Dynamics AX is a line of business management solutions that provides financial management, business intelligence, human resource management, project management, customer relationship management (CRM), manufacturing, supply chain management solutions, collaborative workspace, and configuration and development. The Information Technology views quadrants Gartner Consulting produces each year as a type of benchmark to see where each provider stacks up against their competition. In 2007, Gartner released the quadrant on the left.While many will argue that Gartner‘s methods are too simplistic and don‘t give a truly accurate view of what the decision makers face, it is still a good place to start when comparing products. Gartner ranks venders in two areas, Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. Using various qualifie rs based on the rankings, the solutions are places in one of four quadrants: ? Leaders score higher on both criteria; the ability to execute and completeness of vision. Typically larger industry developed businesses with vision and potential for expansion 3 School of Business and Economics ?Indiana University South Bend Challengers score higher the ability to execute and lower on the completeness of vision. Typically larger, settled businesses with minimal future plans for that industry ? ? Visionaries score lower on the ability to execute and higher on the completeness of vision. Typically smaller companies that are unloading their planned potential Niche players score lower on both criteria: the ability to execute and completeness of vision. Typically market fledglings In 2007, both Oracle and SAP were placed towards the bottom of the Challengers Quadrant.This would indicate they have the ability to execute, though maybe not that well as they are towards the bottom of the quadrant , and they don‘t seem to have a great deal of vision. But is that all there is to look at? In this study, we focus on functionalities and features, the total cost of ownership, and target market of the ERP vendors: SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics. 2. Functionalities and Features 2. 1 SAP R/3 SAP R/3 is a client-server based application, utilizing a 3-tiered model, the presentation layer, the application layer, and the database layer.SAP R/3 is structured using its own proprietary language called ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming). ABAP, or ABAP/4 is a fourth generation language (4GL), geared towards the creation of simple, yet powerful programs. SAP R/3 also offers a complete development environment where developers can either modify existing SAP code to modify existing functionality or develop their own functions, whether reports or complete transactional systems within the SAP framework. ABAP's main interaction with the database system is via Open SQL state ments.These statements allow a developer to query, update, or delete information from the database. Advanced topics include GUI development and advanced integration with other systems. With the introduction of ABAP Objects, ABAP provides the opportunity to develop applications with object-oriented programming. SAP ERP redefines enterprise resource planning – delivering role-based access to crucial data, 4 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend applications, and analytical tools. With SAP ERP, we can efficiently deal with business challenges in the following areas: ?End-user service delivery – Ensure that employees can readily access the critical data, applications, and analytical tools they need to perform all their job functions efficiently and effectively while also supporting a shared-services organizational model for human resources, finances, and other key processes. SAP ERP offers role-based access, self-services, and employee interaction center support through SAP Manager Self-Service, SAP Employee Self-Service, Duet and employee interaction center support. Plus, SAP Mobile Time and Travel enables employees in the field to report time and expenses offline. SAP ERP Financials – Ensure compliance and predictability of business performance – so the organization can gain a deeper financial insight across the enterprise and tighten control of finances. SAP ERP Financials automates financial and management accounting and financial supply chain management. The solution also provides rigorous support for corporate-governance mandates such as Basel II and Sarbanes-Oxley. ? SAP ERP Human Capital Management – Optimize the HR processes with a complete, integrated, and global human capital management (HCM) solution.SAP ERP provides this HCM solution for organizations of all sizes and in all industries. You can maximize the potential of your workforce, while supporting innovation, growth, and flexibility. The SAP ERP HCM solution automates talent management, core HR processes, and workforce deployment – enabling increased efficiency and better compliance with changing global and local regulations. ? SAP ERP Operations – Manage end-to-end procurement and logistics business processes for complete business cycles – from self-service requisitioning to lexible invoicing and payment – optimizing the flow of materials. SAP ERP Operations also helps discrete and process manufacturers manage the entire life cycle of product development and manufacturing. The solution automates the entire manufacturing process and reduces costs by controlling and adapting the 5 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend manufacturing process in real time – and increases customer satisfaction by delivering higher-quality products. ?SAP ERP Corporate Services – Helps organizations manage their most costintensive corporate functions by supporting and stre amlining administrative processes in the areas of real estate; enterprise assets; project portfolios; corporate travel; environment, health, and safety compliance; quality; and global trade services. SAP ERP Corporate Services is a complete and integrated solution that maximizes transparency and control, while reducing financial and environmental risks and enhancing safety of employees. ?Performance management – Support the entire life cycle of performance management, delivering real-time, personalized measurements and metrics to improve business insight and decision making. SAP ERP supports financial analytics, operations analytics, and workforce analytics, as well as consolidated financial and statutory reporting; planning, budgeting, and forecasting, strategy management and scorecards, and risk management. 2. 2 Oracle An Oracle database system is a platform with at least one application running n it to access and process the data. Data is stored logically in the form of ta ble spaces and physically in the form of data files. The recommended structure for an Oracle database is the institute RAC–Real Application Clusters. Multiple instances, usually on different servers, attach to a central storage array. This offers better performance, scalability and redundancy for the users. There are various versions of the Oracle database management software. In addition, Oracle divides it‘s product into various editions to track marketing and sales. Enterprise Edition – The full suite of performance, scalability, security and reliability stored on either a clustered or single server. Runs on all standards and available with a large number of applications. ? ? Standard Edition – Provides Enterprise level functions for mid-sized organizations. Sold through Oracles 400 Value Added Resellers. Standard Edition One – low end—minimum five users—entry level package. 6 School of Business and Economics ? ? ? Indiana University South Bend Express Edition – primarily intended for students to learn how to code applications for Oracle.It is small, free and his limited capacity. Oracle Personal Edition – ? High end? functionality but sold to single-use developers. Oracle Database Lite – designed to run on mobile devises. Though this looks like a large number of options, there are really only three true choices and they are based on the size (number of seats) of the organization. Of the other three, 2 are for developers and the other just provides access to database information from a mobile devise. Oracle does, however, offer some other ? flavors? to offer as well.Oracle has grown dramatically mostly through acquisitions. Their product lines include. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? PeopleSoft Enterprise Siebel JD Edwards Hyperion Agile AutoVue Fusion Not counting the other products (PeopleSoft, JD Edwards etc. ) Oracle Business Suites alone have over 140 different applications which can be installed on the ir platform. These include: ? Enterprise Performance Management – A tool which aides in the executive decision making process by supporting a broad range of strategic, financial and operational management processes. Business Process Outsourcing – an application which seems to work as an extranet and allows organizations track the non-core business processes which have been outsourced. ? Customer Relationship Management—tracks what is going on in the sales department. Allows other departments (finance, production) know what they can expect. It will also allow the marketing groups know how effective campaigns have been. 7 School of Business and Economics ? Indiana University South Bend Customer Self-Service Solutions—allow customer place orders themselves without the supplier having to have someone enter the order.This reduces the risk of order entry errors. Production or warehouse groups receive the order right away and can act on it much quicker so turn a round takes less time. ? ? Financial Management Solutions—provides and tracks data for finance operations, governance, risk, compliance, and performance management. Human Capital Management – ? tracks all aspects of the Human Capital needs, from core human resource (HR) transactional functionality through service automation and delivery to complete enterprise talent management solutions.? 1 It provides the needed resources and has proven to reduce the costs. ? Procurement – Insures that the supply chain stays on top of productions needs and maintains the most cost effective method of doing so. Project Management—maintains record of current projects statuses and communicates with those needing the information in order to insure projects are proceeding as they should. ? Transportation Suite—insures shipments reach their destination as well as, ? lowers transportation costs, improves customer service and asset utilization, and provides flexible, globa l fulfillment options.? 2 These are just a handful of the applications available.Essentially, whatever the need, Oracle has a way to meet it. 2. 3 Microsoft Dynamics Financial Management Microsoft Dynamics AX accounting and finance solutions help you track and analyze business information. You can easily manage your general ledger, payables, receivables, inventory, sales process, purchasing, analytical accounting, cash flow, bank reconciliations, fixed assets, and collections. 1 â€Å"Human Capital Management Solutions. † Oracle, The World's Largest Enterprise Software Company. 19 Nov. 2008 . 2 â€Å"Transportation Management. † Oracle, The World's Largest Enterprise Software Company. 9 Nov. 2008 . 8 School of Business and Economics Business Intelligence and Reporting Indiana University South Bend Microsoft Dynamics allows you to manage budgets, create and consolidate reports and look for trends and relationships in any part of the business. Human Resource Management M icrosoft Dynamics allows the management of applicant and employee information: payroll and benefits, skills mapping, recruitment and employee registration, and skills development. In addition the system helps you ensure your organization is meeting government reporting requirements accurately and on time.Project Management Project management and accounting applications allow project managers, accountants and executives to improve their project profitability and adapt to changing conditions. In addition manage resources, forecast costs and budgets, track time, and expenses. Lastly, manage contracts and billing. Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management solutions enable management of customer groups, create and launch marketing campaigns, track customer activity, manage sales and after sales.It also enables automation of many day to day tasks for sales, customer service, field service, call center, and marketing professionals. Manufacturing It provides an integ rated suite of manufacturing applications that give you the tools to plan, manage, and execute a top of the line manufacturing operation. The manufacturing process consists of product configuration, scheduling and shop floor, and supply and capacity requirements planning. Supply Chain Management This improves inventory management, management of single or multi-site warehouses, demand planning, order processing, and online collaboration with suppliers.Collaborative Workspace This extends the reach of business applications, information and process to employees, customers, and partners with role based delivery through a single web-based portal. Configuration and Development 9 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend Customization capabilities enable programmers and system administrators to add new functionality and modify existing functionality quickly and with limited coding. 3. The total cost of ERP ownership Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a significant factor in ERP strategies and decisions.Yet while both end-users and ERP vendors tend to talk about lower TCO and many vendors claim it as a point of differentiation. Three different elements of total cost associated with ERP implementations are actually important: ? ? ? Amount spent on software Amount spent of external services Internal costs Since as the company grows, the number of users goes up, along with the total cost of software and services, one can naturally expect a correlation between size of the ERP deployment and costs. As shown in Table 1, as the number of users goes up, the total cost of software and services also rises.Table 1: Average Software and Services Costs by Company Size Company Size Under $50M $50M – $100M $100M – $250M $250M – $500M $500M – $1B $1B – $5B Over $5B Average # of Users 38 92 195 344 475 2187 3365 Average Software $176,597 $482,941 $695,395 $985,714 $1,364,286 $2,360,577 $2,652,500 Average Service $126,022 $351,374 $ 581,090 $655,263 $1,110,000 $2,081,000 $2,102,778 Average 3 years Maintenance $81,676 $247,554 $443,066 $346,639 $617,735 $1,479,208 $1,163,531 Average total cost $384,295 $1,081,869 $1,719,551 $1,987,616 $3,092,021 $5,920,785 $5,918,809Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2007 Table 2 displays software and service costs by vendor, since the ratio of services to software costs is indicative of both ease of use and ease of implementation. We just adopted a few major vendors, Infor, Lawson, QAD, SAP and Oracle. Table 2: Software and Service Costs by Vendor 10 School of Business and Economics ERP vendor Infor Lawson QAD SAP Oracle Average Software $703,261 $482,500 $633,871 $1,276,667 $1,929,167 Average Service $494,444 $455,556 $463,158 $1,115,323 $1,694,231Indiana University South Bend Average # of ERP modules 11. 0 10. 8 10. 2 11. 9 11. 5 Average Software + Service per user $9,843 $10,521 $9,741 $11,381 $16,882 Average total costs per user $12,773 $11,826 $12,161 $15,067 $20,983 Source: Abe rdeen Group, July 2007 Functionality and TCO remain significant factors on ERP strategies and decisions. The depth and breadth of functionality deployed, along with the cost of software, services, and on-going maintenance combine to provide a price performance of ERP.Table 3 shows the ERP usage and total cost per user per percentage Point of functionality used by three vendors, SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics. Table 3: ERP Usage and Costs per User per Percentage of Functionality Used ERP Vendor SAP Oracle Microsoft Dynamics Average # of Modules Used 12. 4 11. 3 10. 6 Average % of Functionality Used 69. 1% 72. 4% 73. 2% Average # of Users 834 1365 116 Software + Service + 3 Yrs Maint. $702 $513 $607 Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2007Cost Areas of Microsoft Dynamics AX The initial average license price per user for Microsoft Dynamics AX is $3,000. According to Nucleus Research, Inc the average initial license price for a Microsoft Dynamics AX customer was $571,234 with a low of $50 ,000 and a high of $2. 55 million. The consulting average expenditure for Microsoft Dynamics AX deployment was $1,169,745 with a low of $50,000 and a high of $6. 8million. The median expenditure for consulting was $600,000.Pertaining to those customers that made hardware investment, the average hardware costs were $180,188 while the median cost was $84,750 (Nucleus Research, 7). Those companies that invested in the internal personnel for deployment and 11 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend ongoing support for the ERP solution the average personnel costs were $346,667 and the average annual ongoing cost was $192,000. Lastly, training costs on average were $141,375 with one hundred and ninety-five users, twenty-nine hours of training time at a cost of $25 per hour. Table 1.The Average 3-Year Cost of an Microsoft Dynamics AX Deployment Average $571,234 $1,169,745 $180,188 Data Components Average initial license price Average standalone consulting expenditure of customers interviewed Average hardware expenditure of customers interviewed Average number of personnel needed to deploy:4 Average time of deployment:13 months Assumed fully loaded cost of an employee:$80,000 Average number of users: 195 Average training time: 29 hours Assumed fully loaded hourly cost of an end user: $25 Average initial cost of deployment Average maintenance rate: 16% Average initial license price.Average number of FTEs required to support Microsoft Dynamics AX: 2. 4 Assumed fully loaded cost of a support FTE:$80,000 Average 3-year costs of software, consulting, hardware, personnel, training and maintenance. Software Consulting Hardware Personnel $346,667 Training Total Ongoing Costs Software maintenance Personnel $141,375 $2,409,207 $274,192 $576,000 Total 3-Year Cost $3,259,399 Table 2.The Median 3-Year Cost of an Microsoft Dynamics AX Deployment Initial Costs Average Data Components Software $168,000 Median initial license price Median standalone consulting C onsulting $600,000 expenditure of customers interviewed Median hardware expenditure of Hardware $84,750 customers interviewed Median number of personnel needed Personnel $220,000 to deploy:3 Average time of deployment:11 12 School of Business and EconomicsIndiana University South Bend months Assumed fully loaded cost of an employee:$80,000 Median number of users: 120 Median training time: 24 hours Assumed fully loaded hourly cost of an end user: $25 Median initial cost of deployment Median annual cost of license: 15% Median initial license price: $168,000 Median number of FTEs required to support Microsoft Dynamics AX: 1. 25 Assumed fully loaded cost of a support FTE:$80,000 Median 3-year costs of software, consulting, hardware, personnel, training and maintenance. Training Total Ongoing Costs Software maintenance 72,000 $1,144,750 $75,600 Personnel $300,000 Total 3-Year Cost $1,269,950 3. Target market SAP serves 75% of the Fortune Global 1000, but less than 1% of Fortune Global mi llion. The small and medium enterprise (SME) market is a huge opportunity. SAP views SMEs as its main potential source of growth. As of summer 2006, SAP led the midmarket segment, but to reach its goal of having 45% – 50% of order entry from SME customers by 2010, SAP has to address the two most important elements of an SME solution: Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and ease-of-use.SAP‘s offering has higher up-front outlays but lower maintenance rates. SAP aggressively expands SME market via the SAP NetWeaver platform strategy toward the goal of doubling SAP‘s market cap by 2010. It would probably be safe to say Oracle targets anyone interested in purchasing an ERP solution. That wouldn‘t be entirely accurate. It‘s obvious that Oracle has achieved it‘s success by building for the large Enterprise organizations but they‘ve also been successful due to their focus on their platform.Enterprise solutions will probably remain a staple target for the m. However, if you look at the products they are now producing making it easier for smaller organizations to get introduced to their product, it‘s an obvious sign they are seeking more small to medium businesses in their portfolio. The 13 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend Standard Edition One with a price of $180 per user is a sign of that. They also have a suite of ? out of the box‘ applications ready to bolt on once the server is in place.Get the business used to the Oracle environment when they are small at a competitive price, then sell more licenses as your software helps them grow seems to be their motto. I can‘t say that‘s a bad one. At the end of the day, selecting the best solution comes down to preference. Obviously, each solution has strengths and weaknesses. But how do you select a solution when one provider is strong in one area you need while another is strong in another? Additionally, there are more solutions coming on the scene.Smaller companies who may be able to provide a different type of service than what the biggest players offer. Another solution many will consider in the future, especially with the current economic situation, is the growing Software as a Service trend. 3 SAP has already got a jump on the market with their ByDesign solution. At the end of the day, it will have to come down to what solution works best for the business making the choice. 3 Maxcer, Chris. â€Å"Is SaaS ERP a viable model for manufacturing? † Manufacturing ERP software and management – SearchManufacturingERP. om. 9 Sep. 2008. 23 Nov. 2008 14 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend References â€Å"Bit on Gartner‘s Magic Quadrants and 2007 report for ERP Vendors† OracleApps Epicenter. 11 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Compare ERP System/ERP Software Solutions. † Technology Evaluation Centers. 12 Nov. 2008 . Farber, Dan. â€Å"Disruptions in the software fabric. â €  Builder AU – By developers for developers. 25 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Gartner Consulting Web Site.. † Gartner Consulting. 20 Nov. 2008 . Greenbaum, Joshua. â€Å"SAP beats Oracle? Oracle surrounding SAP?Microsoft raking in new customers?. † ZDNet Blogs. 20 July 2007. 25 Nov. 2008 . Hagiu, Andrei, Pai-Ling Yin, Daniela Beyersdorfer, and Vincent Dessain. â€Å"SAP: Industry Transformation . † Harvard Business Journal N/A (2006): 28p. â€Å"Human Capital Management Solutions. † Oracle, The World's Largest Enterprise Software Company. 19 Nov. 2008 . Jutras, Cindy. ?The Total Cost of ERP Ownership. † Aberdeen Group. 17 Oct. 2006. 10 Nov. 2008 . Jutras, Cindy. â€Å"Aberdeen Group: The Cost of ERP Functionality. † Aberdeen Group. 12 July 2007. 10 Nov. 2008 . Jutras, Cindy. The Total Cost of ERP Ownership in Mid-Size Companies. † Aberdeen Group. 12 July 2007. 10 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Magic Quadrant for ERP Service Providers, North America, 2007. † Gartner Custom Newsletter Programs. 11 Nov. 2008 . 15 School of Business and Economics Indiana University South Bend Maxcer, Chris. â€Å"Is SaaS ERP a viable model for manufacturing? † Manufacturing ERP software and management – SearchManufacturingERP. com. 9 Sep. 2008. 23 Nov. 2008 â€Å"Microsoft Dynamics: Business management, financial and accounting software solutions (ERP, enterprise resource management). Microsoft Corporation. 25 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Oracle ERP Benefits and Disadvantages. † ITtoolbox Oracle Knowledge Base. 13 Nov. 2008 . Samuals, Mark. â€Å"Making best use of Gartner's reports – 17 Apr 2008 – Computing. † Insight for IT leaders – business technology news, analysis, reviews and jobs Computing. 12 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"The Real ROI from Microsoft Dynamics AX | Nucleus Research. † ROI Reports, ROI Case Studies, ROI Tools | Nucleus Research. 25 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Transportation Management. † Oracle, The World's Largest Enterprise Software Company. 19 Nov. 2008 . 16

Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up

Executive Summary The case discusses the Royal Ahold’s the major events that led to the demise of a great European company. The case presents some of the key issues in the areas of leadership, strategy, audit and accounting fraud that resulted in their disaster. The case identifies the problems made by the management in selecting the improper growth strategy and incentive plan that encouraged unethical behaviour from the senior management. The events presented touch and highlight management and governance issues, which are so important in managing global companies.After analysis of the cases and financial statements, I have come with questions and concerns on the management and financial statements that could have caught this earlier on. Questions to be asked and process of approving budgets, corporate strategy, risk controls would have raised concerns on the management style. Some of the other recommended actions for board and its various committees would have discouraged the improper management practices. Some of these questions might have surfaced real issues and / or encouraged the right practice.I found various accounting standards, challenges of global audit process; in this case it was led by Deliotte. The CEO’s and leadership growth strategy was the reward and recognition was improper. The number of acquisitions made during the 90s and continuous pressure was put on all subsidiaries to grow the sales by 15% were bad decisions. This alone led to many other problems within the company. The CEO’s growth strategy and desire to quickly grow the company put immense pressure on all other companies and senior management to somehow meet the CEO’s expectation.It all resulted into fraudulent activities and ultimately disaster of great company. I recommend adopting changes to incentive plans, non-financial factors be part of success criteria. In measuring financial success, working capital ratio, inventory days, receivable and payable ta rgets should be part of incentives. Above all, I recommend changes to the board committees and ensuring their work is independent was also important, i. e. audit committee, establishment of HR committee to raise issues and improve the overall organization culture. The case also highlights the issue of multiple accounting standards being practiced in very country.A standard corporate wide accounting standard in Royal Ahold must have been used. Both external and internal auditors must have report ed numbers in a consistent approach. I recommend that auditors had direct reporting to board and should have empowered and trained to look for documentation and management structures in their audit process. Had they dig deep on all areas of concerns of material significance they might have found side letters. I have also highlighted other recommendations including the controls in the accounting standards and in preparing financial papers.Incentive plans and corporate strategy be realistic to avoid unwanted behaviors. Tone of the top management including the board’s, assignment of responsibilities be clearly stated and periodically measured. Student id: 250712690 1 Management Accounting Exam Problem Identification: The case depicts another case of fail of governance and business ethics. This appears to be a fraud and not just accounting mistakes. By 2003, the time of the case, Enron, WorldCom and few others had already identified the need of business ethics and corporate governance.Royal Ahold series of events happened mainly due to greed and unethical behaviour but what really underlies is the objective setting, growth strategy and, rewards recognition criteria set by management. The case also presents issues of cost accounting, in terms of, when to apply the manufacturing rebates. Consolidation of subsidiaries and joint ventures also played a role in this fraud. It also shows bad governance, flaws in external audit, failure of internal audit functions and to som e degree their competency. Leadership strategy: Royal Ahold’s CEO’s strategy of 15% growth year-over-year was very aggressive.The reward and recognition structure around the sales number was improper as it led management of all subsidiaries and other business units to increase the revenue and meet the targets. CEO kept communicating to board and shareholders the expectation around the sales strategy and likelihood of meeting these targets. Consequently, it created a culture whereby senior management were under pressure to meet the sales objective. The senior management and head of subsidiaries must have felt that missing the sales targets is not even an option. Accounting Fraud: The case presents few big issues of accounting.Firstly, the issue is of the incorrect accounting treatment of manufacturing rebates and promotional allowances. My opinion is that rebates cannot decrease the cost of goods unless there is a certainty of getting the rebates. If the rebates are unc ertain they cannot decrease the cost of goods incorrectly. From the case, it appears that management ordered more quantity of goods then they could have sold. They booked the rebates at time of goods received and decrease the cost of goods prematurely. (Assumption: It is not very clear from the case, if these rebates were booked as income or adjusted against the cost of goods i. . decrease in cost of item. I have assumed that Royal Ahold accountants decreased the costs (prematurely as per above paragraph). If these were booked as income, then it is even a bigger fraud and not an accounting error) Second accounting fraud problem is the accountants preparation of Royal Ahold’s parent company financial statements. They consolidated the financial statements including some of the joint ventures when Royal didn’t even had control over them. Royal Ahold did not own more than 50% of these Joint Ventures and did not have the control of the decision making.They created fraudulen t paper work to show they had control on these join venture companies. This is a pure fraud as they created agreements to satisfy auditors and try to hide the real facts. Audit: Both external auditors and internal auditors (and audit committee) failed to detect any of the accounting issues. It could have been missed as accounting standards in many countries is different. External auditors, even though they may all be of Deloite, of one country only audits that country statements, so they may not be familiar what might be happening in other parts of the company.However, the Royal Ahold parent company auditors are responsible to have an oversight of companywide audit and should be held responsible for over -looking these fraudulent transactions. Internal audit and board’s audit committee failed to detect any of the misrepresentation either. On top of that in Netherlands there were two boards (Governing Board and Supervisory Board) and both boards weren’t able to detect o r raise red flag on any of these problems and misrepresentations. Management having two sets of paper work with JV (Joint Ventures) without coming under the investigation shows incompetency of audit functions.Governance / Audit Structure The way the governance and audit structure was laid out at Royal Ahold, there were five different committees and entities were responsible to review accounting and financial controls and practices that could have asked questions and raise concerns (red flags). They were: The governance board, supervisory board, the audit committee, internal audit department and the external auditors. Each should have independently reviewed management controls and financial statements and raise concerns and issues. Raising Red FlagsIn my opinion, the governance structure and audit committees and external auditors were sufficient enough to handle or uncover such fraudulent activities had they been critical, created the right controls, empowered the internal auditors a nd obviously asked the right questions while reviewing the financial statements and other management documentation. As part of board, I would have asked questions following questions, or have acted when seen abnormalities. This would have helped me in identifying issues, concerns and in raising red flags on the Royal Ahold 1999-2001 financial statements.Also some of them are related to mid 90’s management attitude and strategy. Strategy and Growth Approach: The target of meeting 15% year-over-year in sales, especially in US in 2000-01 when economy was in recession should have alarmed the board and internal auditors. They should have investigated how the sales targets are being achieved. It is not easy to meet 15% sales in US food industries under this economic climate. This may have led the management behaviour in meeting the targets.As board member, I would have asked CEO to explain the strategy of rewards and recognition, mainly on top line bonus as it is a wrong choice. (I have personally worked at Compaq during 1999-2000 and have seen the issue of top line bonus and commission on sales. This led to Compaq’s continued crises and eventually it was bought by HP in 2003). I would tried to influence the board and hence the CEO to consider a more comprehensive rewards strategy. From my experience bonus strategy plays a big role in company culture. The other important factor that develops the management attitude is what CEO likes to hear.It seems Royal Ahold’s CEO, Cees van der Hooven, wanted to hear from all his subsidiaries and Joint Ventures that sales targets are being met every quarter. I would have influence the management style and company culture to be protected by changing (or diluting) this approach. CEO’s attitude and leadership style was one of the leading cause of Royal Ahold demise. His aggressive acquisition approach would have resulted in integration issues within the company. As board member, I would have asked the man agement plans on integration and how culture of the organization would not be negatively impacted.I would have created the board HR committee to influence management not to allow the negative impacts on the organization culture, integration within the organization, rewards and recognition be such that it would not have allowed the culture to deteriorate. The cultural issues, integration issues and above all greed among the management team members was uncontrolled in Royal Ahold’s accounting scandal. The growing number of acquisitions was extremely risky initiative; the corporate strategy was carrying high risks at all operational levels including controls, integration that may have led to frauds.Also, this had potential to be a reputation risk as well. In my opinion, board should not have approved such an aggressive corporate growth strategy. Consolidated Statements Although Royal Ahold ownership is less than 50% in some Join venture companies, they showed controlling interes ts in some companies. To me an agreement paper presented by the management is not sufficient. I would have asked the significance of Royal Ahold’s control and ask management which areas of Joint Venture management we have been making decisions on.If we are making decisions, even though we don’t own more than 50%, what are the risks associated with these decisions. As a board member, I would have understood how Royal Ahold has influenced the Joint Venture management. I would have also asked audit committee to understand the management structure of Joint Ventures. Taking a step further, assuming that 20% share would have given Royal Ahold right to appoint a board member on Joint Venture’s Board, I would have understood from the Joint Venture board member (through Royal Ahold appointed director) how the joint ventures decision making process really works.By asking such questions and efforts in trying to understand from the board and management of Joint ventures how the organization is actually structured and working. If Royal Ahold does not have a controlling authority on the acquired company, the company financial statements cannot be consolidated. Royal’s accounting practice o f consolidation will first bump up the revenue numbers. This was purposely done to beef up the revenue figures. This may have resulted bigger bonus for the senior management. Also, the balance sheet would be more attractive to the shareholders (and potential shareholders). To explain this here is simple illustration:Parent Current Assets Assets Total Assets Current Liabilities Liabilit ies Total Liabilities Shareholder's Equity Debt to Equity Ratio Subsidiary Consolidated 3 7 10 1 3 4 4 10 14 4 1 5 3 7 0. 5 1. 5 3. 5 8. 5 3 2. 5 5. 5 2. 3 0. 6 1. 5 As illustrated in the hypothetical example above example, by consolidat ion the debt looks more attractive then it would have looked otherwise in the parent company. The debt to equity shows debt-to-equity of ($1. 5: $1) when consolidated, and ($2. 3:$1) when not consolidated. Similarly, other financial ratios would have looked good with consolidation of financial statements.The consolidation resulted in better financial statements; hence Royal Ahold used this approach. In actual, this should not have used consolidated method. As per the accounting text, Parent when owns an investee company’s 20%-50% should use the equity method of accounting. The equity method would have mainly impacted the earnings on the Income statements. The net income, however, would result the same earnings without changing the revenue numbers. On the balance sheet side, the equity method would only show true â€Å"Assets† number, as per the investments made in the JV by Royal Ahold. The financial ratios (e. . debt to equity or quick ratio etc. ) will not be as appealing as it started to sound with consolidated statement. Risk Controls: As board member, I would have influenced the entire board not to approve the corporate strategy as a budget was too aggressive and unrealistic. As pointed out above, realistic targets are extremely important. If strategy is too aggressive and corporate culture is to share good news with the CEO the unrealistic budgets targets may lead to malpractice and improper (fraudulent) activities. In my opinion it is supervisory board obligation to approve only realistic targets.The corporate strategy in the growth years of mid ‘90s was too aggressive. This has done part of the damage in the culture and mind-set of the senior management that 15% growth is not unrealistic and has created an attitude to meet these targets in any way possible. This encouraged the wrong doings and possible frauds that started to take place in 1999-2001. Although it is not very clear from the case, were there any wrong doing (or activities) in 199798, but in the hind-sight, it appears that some of the issues must have started or existed in that time as well.The board and senior m anagement should actively work on identifying risks to the organization and work on strategies that mitigates the risks. A key here is to have a formal risk assessment process on an annual basis. The assessment is under supervision of the board and results are reviewed by the board. Inventory 2001 balance sheet shows 20% rise in inventory, I would have raises some concerns that might have uncovered the management improper decision to order such high quantity of stocks to get the manufacturing rebates. Accounts ReceivableIn 2001, accounts receivable increased by Euros 605M i. e. 21. 2%. I would have asked questions around the assumptions and likelihood receiving the Account Receivable. More importantly, who owes this receivable to Royal Ahold. This may have been due to the manufacturing rebates included in the accounts receivable. If so, it would have led to the whole issue of management aggressive behaviour on ordering stocks to get rebates. It might have opened up the entire incorr ect accounting treatment of manufacturing allowances and rebates. General ReserveRoyal Ahold is showing consistently on their balance sheet a general reserve item that is over 5 to 6 Billion euros (approx). This appears to be high, I would have asked on what assumptions these provisions are made. It might have uncovered some of the assumptions that are being made by management. This general reserve is in addition to the 1. 5B euros in other provisions. This is should have been a red flag. Other Recommended Preventive Measures Besides the concerns and red flags mentioned above, I would have raised based on what I would have seen.I would have also taken following measures to prevent this from happening. Incentive (Bonus) Structure: The bonus structure cannot solely be based on financial goals. The bonus structure has to base on non-financial goals as well. Within financial goals all aspects to kept in mind when designing the appropriate incentive program. The increase in working capit al (inventory, receivables, payables etc. ) is kept at minimum or in line with the net income. The increase or decrease in working capital beyond the realistic proportion to earnings should be discouraged through the incentive program as well.Audit Committee Structure: The case presents the audit committee and internal audit department weaknesses and signs of some of their inefficient processes and competency issues. Besides reviewing the audit committee performance, monitoring and control issues were also been found. I would have influence the audit committee to have a metrics of internal audit department. This may have encouraged more objectivity of audit functions and may have aligned management controls to the overall governance issues. It is the responsibility of audit committee that internal and external auditors have an open communication.Besides audit of the current financial statements, and review of controls and structures, the auditors must identify areas of improvement i n controls and work on action plan in improving the organization controls and monitoring process. HR Committee As mentioned above, I would have asked board to create HR committee that takes an active role in setting the controls in the organization. The committee should take an active role in reviewing the annual compensation and objective setting. Committee should have taken an independent review of key hiring decisions and management capability on integration and organization culture.Some key decisions in this area should only made by committee after consulting with the management, audit and board’s general direction. IT System: I would have asked internal audit committee to ensure all IT systems are audited to ensure proper controls are in place. Usually, in fraud IT systems controls could have loop holes or management may have the ability to bypass some of the checks and balances and/ or segregation of duties. Consistency in financial Statements Royal Ahold had companies in four different continents and in many countries.Financial statements presentation and laws across the globe are not consistent. US GAPP, Netherlands GAAP, IFSA and others are not standard across all countries where the Royal Aholds companies are in operation. While the fact makes a challenge for the board, it doesn’t give them an excuse of letting things slip. The board should have worked out with internal and external auditors in creating a minimum corporate standard across the group of companies. It is the flaw in governance and leadership to over-look this fundamental point.

Further Law Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Further Law Questions - Essay Example Title III is the Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act, which creates an exemption for making a reproduction of a computer program by activating a computer for purposes of preservation or repair. Title IV contains miscellaneous requirements relating to reserve education, the aptitude of libraries to make transient recordings, web casting of sound recordings, and the applicability of communal bargaining conformity obligations in the case of transfers of rights in motion pictures. Title V is the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act, which creates a new form of protection for the design of vessel hulls.( Digital Millennium Copyright Act ) More complex questions come up when Congress uses its lawful power over commerce to inflict circumstances on the entrance of a product into the torrent of commerce that may have the effect of modifiable manufacture, labor, or agriculture. It may be that Congress lacks the power to enforce such a guideline in the lack of any danger to expressway commerce, but that adequate incompatible set of laws by enough States can create such a threat and thus make the exercise of congressional power lawful. Our government gives room for difficult questions and is liable to Congressional abuse, but the intermittent difficulty in drawing lines does not mean that the enterprise should be discarded. (Robert & Daniel E, 1) Ans 2) There is a huge list which is deemed as copyrightable material , this can be music produced , plays , scripts , CD's , drama's , audio's and other video's , computer software's , Specific product or service names. Factory or business slogan, or name. Etc all sorts of computer hardware and software produced. Ans 3) this law specifically applies to the computer software produced and also distributed in the country. It is considered a criminal offense to copy any such material or redistribute it in your own name. Ans 4) Individuals by law are prohibited from accessing the Services and the Sites and materials accessible over the Services or the Sites from territories where such actions are illegal. They should also agree to meet the terms with all local rules applicable to them in relation to online demeanor and content in connection with their use of the Services and the Sites. Ans 5) 501. Infringement of copyright2 (a) Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 122 or of the author as provided in section 106A(a), or who imports copies or phonorecords into the United States in violation of section 602, is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author, as the case may be. For purposes of this chapter (other than section 506), any reference to copyright shall be deemed to include the rights conferred by section 106A(a). As used in this subsection, the term "anyone" includes any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity. Any State, and any such instrumentality, officer, or employee, shall be subject to the provisions of this title in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity. (b) The legal or beneficial owner

How important are creative thinking skills into Btech National Diploma Essay

How important are creative thinking skills into Btech National Diploma Art and design Level 1 at one FE college - Essay Example l education focuses on the skills of critical analysis, suggesting creating a logical argument, eliminating the incorrect paths and focusing on the correct one. However, there is another kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one. This kind of thinking takes us to a whole new plane of thoughts and resulting possibilities, which though might seem out of sync with times, might nevertheless be the beacons of light to solving the impending problems. Thus creative thinking has to be seen as a skill crucial to problem solving in any sphere of life. Creative thinking is a skill with what we are all born with but decreases as children are exposed to the environment around them. The social responsibility for bringing about the proper blending of creative thinking and critical thinking which nevertheless has its own merits lies on the shoulders of the education system. The study focuses on the need, importance, motivation, systematic efforts and the gaps therein towards development and application of creative thinking skills in FE colleges in general and the Art and design Diploma course in particular and how does training in Art and design affect creative thinking skills. While assessing the literature on the given topic - Creative thinking Skills, How important are they in BTECH LEVEL1 Diploma of Art and Design? , its important to evaluate what has been written both in terms of the Creative thinking skills as a subject as well as its importance in Further education in general and the Art and Design FE courses in particular. It is important to move from literature pertaining to and supporting ideas from a subjective point of view to the specific area of study. The current thinking and efforts on developing creative skills in FE has its basis in the policy papers and resultant initiatives started in the late nineties. The evolution in the thinking and the efforts as well continues

Benefits of American Aid to AIDS Patients in Third World Countries in Essay

Benefits of American Aid to AIDS Patients in Third World Countries in Africa - Essay Example This essay focuses on the health aid that the African developing countries benefit from, especially with respect to HIV/Aids. HIV/Aids is a pandemic due to the high number of people affected by the disease globally. The number of people who lose their lives due to HIV/Aids related complications is also high. This is the reason why the disease needs to be controlled. Although the disease has affected the whole world since its discovery in 1981, it is serious in third world countries mostly in Africa. Most of the developed nations are giving aid to African nations to fight the HIV/Aids scourge. The United States of America has been on the forefront in helping the African countries fight the disease. This paper aims to discuss the benefits of American aid for AIDS patients in third world countries that are mostly in Africa. In 2001, Bill Clinton confirmed the commitment that he had towards the availability of HIV/AIDS drugs. These negotiations, led to the reduction in prices of drugs fo r Africa and other poor regions. Importing policies from the United States were analyzed to ensure that most African countries could introduce the drugs needed. In conclusion, the researcher states that HIV/AIDS is one of the issues that make Africa as a continent lag behind in development. However, with the help that developing countries receive from the United States and other global organizations, the situation is better since there is hope for improvement in addressing HIV/Aids in the developing countries in Africa.

Explain the impact of information technology on the criminal justice Essay

Explain the impact of information technology on the criminal justice system - Essay Example Technical administrative safety /security measures like that security plans, actions, and procedures are the generally practices for the organizational information security procedures. Attentiveness of building actions are concerned by the organizations to a substantially smaller level, on the other hand at the same time these are weighed up as being further efficient organizational actions than technical administrative ones. Information security encompasses organizational features, officially authorized aspects, institutionalization and applications of most excellent practices in addition to security technologies (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). Augmenting power of information technology and computing as well as progresses in data communication and user-friendly GUI (graphical user interface) present criminal justice and law enforcement agency by means of extraordinary capability to get together, inspect, store as well as distribute information and data that is gathered about any case or criminal activity by stakeholders surrounded by as well as outside of administration and criminal justice system (Peterson, 2009). The accomplishment of the information technology for criminal justice system presents enormous benefits like that at the present time we have a technology-driven working atmosphere, rapid and reliable commutation means, fast detection system, these all systems merge to form a very strong criminal justice system. Criminal justice systems have been improved through growing the ability to store as well as process huge amount of data about crimes and associated events. There is enhanced investigative and intelligenc e facility through information technology. They have rapid and on spot right to use to criminal records as well as additional types of appropriate data regarding criminal justice (Peterson, 2009). For criminal justice a policy determined vital to convene the needs of modern and up-to-date shapes of

E-mail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

E-mail - Essay Example But, the US marine's death in the blast of a roadside bomb on November 13, 2004 during a routine foot patrol in the Al Anbar province of Iraq has spared off a debate on his e-mail account with his family staking claim to access its details. The parents' claim that his son's email account should be made accessible to them was bluntly rejected by the Internet giant Yahoo on the ground that it violated the privacy rules (Chambers, Yahoo denies family access to slain soldier's e-mail). The question is whether or not his parents should be allowed access to his email account. The killed marine's father, John Ellsworth, argues that his son's email account, with its complete details, works as a journal for future generations as it provides an opportunity for people to go through the actual words from someone direct on the warfront in Iraq (who owns your e-mails Para 5). Many experts feel that the Yahoo management had acted correctly (Leach 12). But, the father seems to be right going by the utilitarian principles as the act of providing access by the Yahoo to the son's email account brigs about certain utility to the family in shape of happiness. Here, the parents of the killed soldier are guided by the family emotions and sentiments ant that particular act of accessing the son's email account would result in moments of happiness for the 2 family. Utilitarianism, as per the theory advocated by John Stuart Mill, aims at the ultimate utility and happiness of people. It sustains greatly even if one person derives pleasure from the act of others and on the act of his own (Mill, 10). Mill further says that this great act of providing happiness to others stems gradually through cultivation of a noble character. There is no need to make a special mention that noble character builds from the fundamentals of the ethics. Utilitarianism therefore draws its strength directly from ethics and morals. The killed soldier's parents, aghast at their son's untimely death, might have wanted to keep the messages in the e-mail account as memoirs throughout their lives. In an ethical point of view, the parents of the young American soldier should be provided full access of the mail box of their son to make them happy. Further, by making the mail box messages available to the family, Yahoo would lose nothing except being accused by its users of violating the privacy policy. Sure, it can support its case on ethical grounds if it provides access. But, certainly it is not violating the privacy of others. Knowing this full well, the Yahoo management has refused permission fearing that it may lose popular support. One may support the Yahoo's argument under the principles of negative utilitarianism which prescribes promotion of least amount of harm / evil or prevention of the greatest amount of harm / evil for the greatest number (Negative utilitarianism, Para 1). Here, providing accessibility of the e-mail only results in happiness to the parents. Moreover, the question of promoting evil does not arise. The company may argue that by denying the access of the mail box to the parents, it is preventing a possible greatest harm to its greatest number of users. But, the possible greatest harm indicates a hypothetical tendency and the principles of negative utilitarianism can never be applied in this context as it is not a certain ty that providing access of the e-mail would harm

Management data analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management data analysis - Assignment Example Question 6: How many times per week do you deposit waste? The following table shows the results of the survey: Employees Gender Q 1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 1 Male yes 1 1 1 23 3 2 Male yes 2 3 1 45 12 3 Male No 2 3 3 38 6 4 Female Yes 1 2 3 52 4 5 Female No 3 2 3 28 5 6 Male yes 3 2 1 18 7 7 Female yes 3 3 3 27 8 8 Female 3 3 2 33 6 9 Male No 2 3 3 56 17 10 Male Yes 2 3 3 63 21 11 Female Yes 1 1 3 39 2 12 Female Yes 1 1 1 40 7 13 Female Yes 1 1 1 33 5 14 Male no 1 3 3 22 5 15 Male yes 1 1 3 20 18 16 Female Yes 2 3 1 18 4 17 Male No 3 3 3 34 9 18 Male No 3 2 1 50 12 19 Female no 3 2 3 52 19 20 Female Yes 2 2 1 61 13 21 Male Yes 2 2 1 56 4 22 Male no 1 2 3 44 15 23 Female Yes 1 3 3 42 17 24 Female Yes 1 3 1 19 17 25 Male No 1 2 3 26 10 26 Male No 1 1 1 23 3 27 Male Yes 2 3 1 45 12 28 Male no 2 3 3 38 6 29 Female No 1 2 3 52 4 30 Female No 3 2 3 28 5 31 Male no 3 2 1 18 10 32 Female No 3 3 3 27 8 33 Female no 3 2 3 33 6 34 Male Yes 2 3 3 20 10 35 Male yes 2 3 3 63 23 Table1: survey results Null hypothesis: There is enough evidence to show that support for the new waste policy was related to the volume of waste produced prior to the policy’s introduction. Table 2: Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .025a .001 -.030 5.81551 a. Predictors: (Constant), How much waste did you generate on a typical day Table 3: ANOVAa Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression .679 1 .679 .020 .888b Residual 1116.063 33 33.820 Total 1116.743 34 a. Dependent Variable: How many times per week do you visit the central re-cycling bins? b. Predictors: (Const

Group Presentation Essay Example for Free

Group Presentation Essay 1. Watch two of Pal’s commercials. What do they emphasize? After watching two of the commercials for Pal’s you see that they emphasize a lot on how fast their product is made and how popular their food products are too many people including old to young. Pal’s product line consists of a focused group of food, hamburgers, ham and chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, French fries, and breakfast biscuits and beverages, soft drinks, tea, coffee, milk shakes with a unique flavor profile designed to meet their customers taste requirements. Pal’s has developed the ability to effectively integrate manufacturing, service, and retail into its operational systems. They have also learned to apply world-class management principles and best-in-class processes that cause other companies emulate to our systems. 2. What type of waiting line model is found at Pal’s drive-thru restaurants? Pal’s drive-thru facilities have been designed to be efficient and effective. The equipment, facilities, and technologies that Pals uses to meet customer needs are components that serve our manufacturing, service and retail needs through ongoing use of our Benchmarking, Innovation and Product/Service/ Process Introduction processes. Their process layout is designed so that raw materials enter through a delivery door and are worked forward through the store with one process serving the next process in the processing/assembly/packaging line until a finished product is handed to an external customer. The major technologies involved are order taking, cooking, holding, filtering, order delivery, and packaging. They have developed proprietary state-of-the-art technology to achieve product and service quality and to provide efficient product flow. 3. What waiting time do you think is acceptable at a drive-thru restaurant? What order accuracy? I would think that anytime from 5-7 minutes would be acceptable wait time for a drive-thru restaurant. I did some research and it said that in 2011 Wendy’s is fastest once again with an average time of 145.5 seconds, while Taco Bell is second at 146.7 seconds and McDonald’s has the longest time at 184.2 seconds. Though the benchmark brands have not increased their speed over past years, all the operators who commented for  the study say they are working to improve the efficiency of their drive thus so that the speed can improve. Order accuracy should be almost always correct. By getting customer orders correct it will make them have a good experience with your company and they will be happy with your business, making them want to come back. 4. From the Baldrige award data, what is the average order speed at Pal’s and at its best competitor? What other things does Pal’s measure? In customer satisfaction, including food quality, service, and order accuracy, Pals is outperforming its primary competitor. For example, customer scores for quality in 2001 averaged 95.8 percent, as compared with 84.1 percent for its best competitor. Pals order handout speed has improved more than 30 percent since 1995, decreasing from 31 seconds to 20 seconds, almost four times faster than its top competitor. Errors in orders are rare, averaging less than one for every 2,000 transactions. The company aims to reduce its error rate to one in every 5,000 transactions. In addition, Pals has consistently received the highest health inspection scores in its market and in the entire state of Tennessee. Pals aims to provide the quickest, friendliest, most accurate service available. 5. What influence do you think Pal’s name has on customer expectations of service? I believe that the name of a company has a lot of influence on how customers think about them. If you are known for your fast service and good food your name will be popular and be advertised a lot which will help your business grow. If you have a good name you want to keep it and make sure to keep customers satisfied and happy with your service. 6. What factors associated with order completion time are beyond Pal’s control? Pals is exhaustive in its pursuit of useful data, the basis for sound planning and decision-making. Owner/operators also maintain a communications log. They record what they have learned about sales, expenses, customers, staff, products, services, equipment, and suppliers, and they list ideas for improvement. Weekly logs are sent to senior Pals executives, who comb the entries for issues and opportunities to be addressed at formal monthly management reviews of organizational and  business results. Data are gathered systematically at all levelsprocess, shift, individual store, and entire business. The companys enterprise resource planning system, SysDine, is a key tool, generating store-level and company-wide data on sales, customer count, product mix, ideal food and material cost, and turnover rates. This information supports daily operational decisions. It also is used to update Pals Balanced Sc orecard of Core Performance Measures, which links directly to its key business drivers: quality, service, cleanliness, value, people, and speed. Managers regularly review the value of the data collected, and the company employs an outside statistician to evaluate the type of information tracked, how it is used, and how it is collected. 7. How does Pal’s â€Å"drive-thru only concept† affect speed of service? The quick-service restaurant business, the facilities and equipment must be capable, reliable, and sanitary. The drive-thru facility at Pal’s has been designed to be efficient and effective. The equipment, facilities, and technologies that Pal’s uses to meet customer needs are components that have been determined to serve the manufacturing, service, and retail needs by our staff through ongoing use of our benchmarking, innovation, and product/service/process introduction processes. Pal’s has created an environment that promotes continual improvement. Pal’s leadership supports this environment by being a role model for its systematic evaluation and improvement processes. Because of the management-led and organization-wide focus on continual improvement, major results are improving. 8. What are Pal’s core values? How does employee training differ at Pal’s? The companys Business Excellence Process is the key-integrating element, a management approach to ensuring that customer requirements are met in every transaction, today and in the future. Carried out under the leadership of Pals two top executives and its 17 store owner/operators, the Business Excellence Process spans all facets of the operationfrom strategic planning to on-line quality control. Every component process, including those for continual improvement and product introduction, is interactively linked, producing data that directly or indirectly inform the others. Developed with the aid of benchmarking studies, the companys training  processes support improvement in operational and business performance. Owner/operators and assistant managers have primary responsibility for staff training. They use a four-step model: show, do it, evaluate, and perform again. Employees must demonstrate 1 00 percent competence before they are certified to work at a specific workstation. Initial training for all employees includes intensive instruction on effective listening skills. In addition, in-store training on processes, health and safety, and organizational culture is required for new staff at all facilities via computer-based training, flash cards, and one-on-one coaching. Cross training is required of all store-level staff to ensure their complete understanding of all production and service procedures as well as quality standards. Recognizing that most of their front-line workers are first-time entrants into the labor force, Pals management believes it has responsibility to help its workers develop knowledge and skills that can be applied in future jobs. This approach, along with competitive wages and financial incentives, has made the restaurant chain a desirable place to work for high school and college students. Pals has leveraged its reputation by implementing a statistically controlled, talent-based hiring system that helps managers identify applicants with attributes associated with effective job performance and customer satisfaction. 9. How does Pal’s use technology? Pal’s Leadership Team members partner with three information technology firms to maintain awareness of currently available and emerging technologies and methods for making information and data more reliable, accurate, available, and usable. Input from these partners is considered during strategic planning where their data capabilities and requirements are aligned with their business objectives and action plans. At Pal’s, they ensure that hardware and software are reliable and user friendly by using established standards and specifications in the selection of each of the computers and point-of-sale terminals they use in all operations. Their standards and specifications include strict criteria to review reliability and user friendliness. They also test new systems in advance before installing them in all of their stores. During use, they measure and review mean time  between failures on their systems components, and we routinely assess whether they have sufficient redundant backup. To help assure the reliability of the software, they also have strict controls over who can make changes in the programs. Changes are tested and verified prior to being used on a production basis. They review the way their systems perform within operations with the people who actually use the equipment and programs. They also keep abreast of technology changes through their partners, trade shows, and publications. During strategic planning they use this input to analyze how their systems are meeting all current user requirements. They also assess what is needed to support our strategic objectives and action plans.

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay Summary This report deals with one of the leading travel group in the world which has been in operation since the past. It has been considered as the most trustworthy and reliable travel group which offers travel packages to its customers across the world. The travel group is Thomas Cook and is one of the leading travel and tourism agencies in the world. In this assignment, the organisation of Thomas Cook has been analysed taking into consideration the internal and the external environmental factors. A number of the important models such as McKinsey model along with the Pest analysis, SWOT and other models have been used to analyse the organisation. The main aim was to analysis the external and internal environment affecting the organisation. Leadership style has been discussed, and it can been seen that Thomas Cook has one of the cost effective organisational structure and follows a flexible business model so that it can be altered as and when needed. Finally the paper ends with recommendat ion and conclusion which states that the company should work according to the demand of the customers in order to stay competitive and maintain its number one position. Introduction Aim of the Report The aim of this report is to conduct an effective internal and external environmental analysis of Thomas Cook based on separate models. The analysis would help one understand the key competencies of the firm and also the areas where development is needed. Recommendations are also to be provided in due course to enhance the position. Overview of the Organisation Company Size Thomas Cook is one of the biggest companies in the field of leisure and travel and is observed to operate along a large geographical segment pertaining to 22 countries round the world. The company has emerged out to be a key market leader in the leisure and travel category. Thomas Cook, during the financial year of 2011-12 earned total sales revenue emanating to  £9.8 billion from a total customer base of 23.6 million people around the globe (Thomas Group Plc, 2012). Company Structure Thomas Cook operates based on a decentralised structure where the board of directors are responsible for delegation of tasks and duties to subsequent committees and other sub-boards. The structure operates along a top-down or vertical integration fashion in the company (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.53). Main Activities Thomas Cook Plc works along several segments to render value-added services to the customers. The first or the core product segment contains of packaged tourism services where both flights and hotel services are grouped under one bundle and rendered to the customer. The second segment consists of independent packages that help in rendering consumers a larger flexibility in choosing the travel destinations, duration of tour and other value additions. The third product segment focuses on rendering financial support to the travellers in terms of foreign exchange or money transfers and also in tour assurance services. Fourthly the group also operates via retail houses that help in distributing tour packages and offers to the consumers. Finally the group also operates on the basis of online networks where it focuses to serve consumers in European and pan-European markets effectively (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Objectives of the Report As a market analyst and researcher the report to be presented would highlight the strategic potencies and drawbacks of Thomas Cook operating around the world in the travel and leisure segment. The report presented would eventually help the company management potentially address the drawbacks highlighted to develop its performance potential in the future. Analysis of the Organisation Internal Environmental Analysis Employee Engagement Analysis in Thomas Cook The analysis of employee engagement in organisations reflects the manner in which the people involved relate their activities and conduct to the inherited cultures and values of the concern. Thus an employee engaged is taken to be highly conscious of the organisational values and cultures and thereby coordinates with other colleagues to effectively achieve organisational goals and objectives. The level of employee engagement enhances with the level of relatedness the employer has with the employee groups (Vazirani, 2005, p.3). Herein, the module of employee engagement is used to analyse the level of loyalty and reliability of the employees in Thomas Cook. The management of Thomas Cook endeavours to effectively interrelate with the employees involved in different levels to share with them potential information pertaining to changes in organisational strategy and policies. Effective interrelation and communication is carried out by the management both along the web and physical sphere in terms of online chat and electronic mails and circulation of internal magazines respectively. Moreover the employees are also invited to participate in workshops and training programs that in turn enhance their potential to perform in their specific task areas. Further the management body of Thomas Cook from time to time conducts effective surveys to understand the level of interrelatedness of the employees, both new and old to the organisational values and business directives. Survey carried out would clearly hint on the satisfaction and commitment level of the internal people in Thomas Cook. Satisfaction level of the internal people duly enhanced help s Thomas Cook in addressing the changing needs of the consumers and also in effectively reducing the level of staff turnovers in the organisation. Henceforth, employee engagement activities in the company motivate the people to work more productively and thereby augment the revenue and productivity paradigm of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2011; Thomas Cook Group plc-a, 2011). Analysis of Thomas Cook based on McKinseys 7S Model The Model In the McKinseys 7S Model firstly, the management works on the basis of set strategies incorporating the views of many to help arrive at a specific action plan to accomplish end goals. Secondly, the management works on a definite structure to integrate the people working in different levels more effectively to meet end objectives. Thirdly, the organisation works based on a set of policies and procedures in achieving targets set. Fourthly, the concern uses internal people as a key resource in meeting the tasks set. Fifthly, different managers reflect different types of styles in meeting the same objectives. Sixthly, the management needs to share the objectives and policies of the concern with the employees to coordinate the actions taken. Seventhly, the skills of the people need to be enhanced in meeting end objectives effectively and successfully (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.333-334). McKinseys 7S Framework is reflected in the following diagram. Figure 1 (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.334) The attributes of the model would be used to analyse the internal environment of Thomas Cook for they help in setting a paradigm through which the organisational manager gains the potential in drawing the attention of the employees in meeting end objectives. Structure The organisational structure of Thomas Cook is found to be vertically integrated with a top-down management structure. Thus decisions are generally taken by the board of directors and higher management body of the concern and percolated downwards to different organisational levels. However in recent times, Thomas Cook is observed to take resort of a global outsourcing strategy to transfer the finance and accounting services in the hands of outsourced teams to help in cost reduction and organisational productivity (Banham, 2005). Systems Thomas Cook works based on an integrated business model incorporating the designing of both individual and packaged tours and also assisting the consumers in terms of financing and insuring their tour activities. Similarly, the company works in gaining an enhanced consumer base through carrying out its operations via retail marts and also through the online base. Thomas Cook trains its staffs to render effective customer services acting on such planes (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Style The management style at Thomas Cook firstly works in encouraging the growth of organisational diversity in terms of employing people pertaining to different ethnic backgrounds, sex and age differences. Secondly, the management style in the concern promotes growth and promotion based on merits and performance parameters and thereby restricts the practice of discrimination in the workplace (Thomas Cook, n.d.). Staff The organisational management works in effectively recruiting a talented and knowledgeable workforce in the concern. Having recruited a talented and multi-skilled workforce the management works in motivating the people and effectively integrating training them to fulfil the needs of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc-b, 2011). Skills The skills of the internal people are enhanced by Thomas Cook through the incorporation of effective training and performance management programs. Feedback is generated to the employees based on performance appraisal systems to help them address the drawbacks. In 2011, the company invested around à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤9.9 million pertaining to the training segment (Thomas Cook Group plc-c, 2011). Strategy The core business strategy of Thomas Cook is to train its employee base to render value-additions to the service parameters pertaining to the category of independent travel. Further, the management also desires to enhance the financing and business development parameters of the travel related services framework to augment the customer satisfaction experience (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). Shared Values The higher management body of Thomas Cook works on the basis of transmitting potential information pertaining to business and strategic value to the employees pertaining to different levels. Through the above function the company management desires to work as a single unit in helping to achieve end goals effectively (Thomas Cook Group plc-d, 2011). Leadership Style of Thomas Cook Adair (2011) states that leadership style pertaining to an organisation gains effect such that where different individuals and groups are employed to help in achieving a desired task. Herein, the manager is required to divide the entire task among groups and individuals and thereby to monitor and evaluate their performance levels in helping to meet the objectives taken (Adlair, 2011, p.92-93). The same can be represented through the following illustration. Figure 2 (Adair, 2011, p.92) Task Individual Team The leadership style of Thomas Cook reflected that it works on a task based model where decisions taken by higher management are percolated through the management hierarchy along different levels. Task Individual Team Ideal leadership style of Thomas Cook would be where the task is uniformly matched with team and individual pursuits. However, the same is difficult to implement for it means a complete restructuring of the organisational structure. Task Individual Team Thus the ideal style would be to delineate and percolate the entire organisational task along different layers while at the same time encouraging the development of individuals and teams by incorporating them in decision making functions. Organisational Structure of Thomas Cook The organisation structure of Thomas Cook is reflected in Figure A in the Appendix section. Headed by the Board of Directors the company is run by different committee bodies looking after finance, health and safety, auditing and disclosure functions and similar other departments. These committee bodies report to the body of Directors. Similarly the different segments and functions of the company are governed by different boards which are linked therewith other country heads serving different markets (Thomas Group Plc-a, 2012). Human Resource Systems in Thomas Cook Induction The induction program of Thomas Cook helps in introducing the people to the procedures and policies of the company. It also helps in providing guidance to the students regarding aspects of value and culture of the company. Moreover, a buddy is rendered with the apprentices who introduce the aspirant to the task to be performed at different levels along with the values of the company. Effective survey is conducted based on the apprenticeship program where feedback is gained from them to be used for further developments in the induction training rendered. Again, the apprentices are also rendered specific electronic learning modules to enhance the knowledge of the employees in the light of modifications and developments (People 1st, 2011). Appraisal The company conducts effective performance appraisal programs of the people pertaining to different levels in the organisation. Performance reviews of the people in the concern are conducted on an annual basis and feedbacks are generated to the people on that behalf. Development of the people is done through involving them in training programs where the skills sets are honed to meet drawbacks (Thomas Cook Plc, 2010). Communication Internal communication is practiced in Thomas Cook through the holding of meetings by the board of directors of the concern every year on timely schedules. In addition to the scheduled meetings the directors are also responsible for conducting of other additional and supplementary meetings as and when needed by the company. It is observed that on a general note the board of directors holds around 9 scheduled and 10 other additional meetings in the company (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.45). Incentive A host of financial and other incentives and amenities are rendered to the individuals by the organisation so as to effectively retain a productive and highly skilled workforce. The range of benefits rendered range from holiday packages, to shopping discounts and also other insurance and other leave related benefits. Moreover the workplace is made advanced in terms rendering flexible working hours to help the people work more productively. Areas of Development in Thomas Cook Structural Paradigm Pertaining to the structural paradigm the introduction of decentralisation in the organisational ambit has required the company to incorporate information technology infrastructure in the designing of data centres in different regions (Chillingworth, 2010). Leadership Style Paradigm The managers of Thomas Cook are required to adapt to changing situations through training programs rendered based on change leadership models. Similarly, the management skills are honed through incorporation of tenets pertaining to emotional intelligence and qualities to manage stress in the workplace (People 1st, 2008, p.3). Systems Paradigm Pertaining to operation systems and procedures the company is focusing to enhance its relationship with the consumers through augmenting their safety paradigm and suppliers like hotels and air services on an enhanced scale. Moreover the company is also working for promoting a safer and healthier environment through evaluation of carbon footprint (Thomas Group Plc, 2009). Plan of Development in Thomas Cook Kotters Eight Step Model The analysis of the plan of development in Thomas Cook is conducted based on the Eight Step Model presented by John P. Kotter of Harvard. The first three steps focus on analysing external changes, modifying the vision and thereby aligning teams to incorporate the change process. The subsequent three steps focus on implementing the change process through effective communication, empowerment of individuals and motivating people through short-term wins. Finally, the seventh and eight steps focus on sustaining the change rendered and enhancing the impacts of the change through modifications (Kotter, 2006, p.4). The same can be shown in the following illustration. Figure 3: Kotters Eight Step Change Process (Kotter, 2006, p.4) Change Process in Thomas Cook Firstly, the company management created the urgency in gaining profits from the market. Secondly, a team was created through replacements and promotions rendered in the executive body to incorporate the change. Thirdly, a new vision was created focusing on reducing costs, redesigning its organisation structure and enhancing its existing brand image (Linder, 2004, p.114). Fourthly, the management endeavoured to share the vision gained with the employees involved at different levels. Fifthly, employees were empowered to take individual decisions while rendering services to the consumers. Sixthly, a reward system was brought out to effectively motivate the employees to enhance the service quality (Srinivasan, 2009, p.280). Seventhly, the company focuses on gaining hold of talented and effective people that would help the concern achieve its set goals. Communication along the lines is enhanced through holding of training and interactions on a two-way level. Finally, new leadership policies and procedures are brought about by the company management to motivate the people to work in a productive fashion (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.40). External Environmental Analysis No organisation tends to exists in vacuum as each of the organisations is affected by the external environment. The external environment refers to the context in which organisation promotes, provides and also distributes its services. In maximum number of cases, the organisation doesn`t have control or has limited control over the environmental factors. According to Rubrigt and MacDonald (1981), if any of the organisation faces weakness it would become the tendency of the organisation to overlook the opportunity or the obstacles in the market place, also the external environment (Winston, 1985, p. 45). Process of Environment Monitoring in Thomas Cook With a wide range and scale of environmental impacts across the business of Thomas Cook, the operating companies tend to coordinate the performance of the environment locally under the banner of Group Environmental Policy. Thomas Cook is committed in reducing the impact of the environment by way of protecting the environment and the resources and the business usually depends on safeguarding the wildlife, biodiversity and also animal welfare. Market research: In order to monitor the upcoming challenges and trends of the consumer Thomas cook can conduct market research based on the needs of the customers. As the disposable income rise, there arise a shift in the mindset and thus it is required to introduce and act accordingly the customers expectation. Thus doing a proper market research would help the travel agency to stay ahead of its competitors. The company can make a page and share it in social networking sites to get feedbacks about the new schemes and can alter accordingly. Demographic: Thomas Cook is a well known and the oldest travel agency and thus the customers are attracted towards it because of the reliability and experience. Thomas cook can expand its stores where most number of customers visit to attract even more customers. Benchmarking: Thomas Cook has benchmarked the employee satisfaction. The company believe that employee who is engaged tends to perform better which leads to satisfied and loyal customers. Thomas Cook has compared each of the business segments through an employee survey and the rate of response was 64% in the year 2009. As per the survey in 2009 the engagement index was 3.74 as compared to the benchmark index of 3.67 (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Trade publication: Thomas Cook pocket guides covers about 170 destinations and at the same time compact and practical guide for the sun seekers and also for the city breakers. Other guides available for the travellers include driving guides, travellers guide and others. Recently Thomas cook has launched Canadian website which is a conjunction with rebranding of all the retail locations of Thomas Cook across Canada (Travel Trade, 2012). Scenario Planning: Thomas cook has acquired other travel agents in order to stay competitive in the travel agency sectors. PEST Analysis of Thomas Cook PEST Analysis is mainly used to scan the environment. PEST refers to political, economical, social and technological factors (Henry, 2008, p. 41). Thus Pest is used to analyses and scans the general environment surrounding Thomas cook. It is through PEST that the company will be able to detect as well as monitor the weak signals in order to recognise the fractures which shape the environment. Political Factors The UK travel and tourism industry has faced immense pressure from the government as it has introduced tourism tax and has said to affect all the travel and tourism business including Thomas Cook. The travel agents had opposed to the proposal of bed tax which the government had levied  £1 per head per night from the visitors staying in the local hotels. The proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). The potential tax of about 5% to 10% would make England the proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). It is one of the highest taxed holiday destinations in whole of Europe (BHA, 2012). Thus with the rise in tax, business like the local shops, the restaurants and the travel agencies are said to be affected. Economic Factors During the past few years the tourism sector have faced hard times due to challenging economic times and have largely impacted the global travel market but however there are signs of recovery within the consumers. The travel and the leisure sector were impacted mainly due to the consumers disposable income, unemployment rate, fluctuation in the rate of currency and the oil price. All these drives have hugely impacted the travel and leisure industry. The GDP declined by 6% in the year 2009, the rate of unemployment has increased to about 2%, the price of oil continued to be highly volatile. In addition to the above factor, there are other factors which have impacted the global travel market. Global terrorism has impacted the confidence of the consumers from travelling along with the swine flu in Mexico which had similarly affected the travel planes along with an increased taxation the economic conditions seems to get worst. Therefore due to these challenging economic conditions, the t ravel market over the past few years has significantly declined in the travel market (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Social Factors The economy of UK is one of the strongest economy in Europe where the disposable income of the consumers are at a rise and thus the expenditure made on leisure is growing at about 6% and thus has higher level of expectation from the travel and tourism sectors. Most of the people will at least go for one holiday to abroad, thus increasing the demand of the travel and tourism industry. In addition one of the important markets in travel and tourism is the grey market which mainly comprises of older people who are healthy and fit and as such has plenty of time along with funds to spend on travelling (Pearson School and College, n.d, p. 11). Technological Factors Technological factors refer to the use of internet which has allowed the people the opportunity to become much more independent and make plans according to their desire. Thomas Cook aims to be among the top online service provider and it can be done through modified and advanced technologies. Analysis of the Competitive Environment of Thomas Cook The competitive environment is analysed in order to describe the nature of the following attributes. As the environment keeps on changing each of the listed attributes becomes more or less attractive in order to achieve profitable growth rate. Thus the competitive environment of Thomas Cook has been analysed. Figure 4: Attributes in the Competitive Environment (Source: Bigler Norris, 2004, p. 81) Diversity The Thomas Cook Group is committed to provide a workplace which is free from discrimination and that supports diversity. Not only is it beneficial to the employee but also to the company in having a diversified workforce. The organisation provides employee training and monitors the diversity among its employees. Diversity is key strength of Thomas Cook and is an essential part of the business. The company operates in bout 22 countries and thus employs people from different backgrounds and cultures. A diverse workforce tends to create a dynamic as well as innovative culture of the company (Thomas Cook Group Plc-a, 2011). (Refer Appendix A) Rivalry Rivalry is high among the leisure industry as with the rise in the disposable income people are spending more amount of money on travelling which has led to the development of many tourism and travel agencies. As a result Thomas Cook also faces rivalry from other travel agencies such as American Express Company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Holiday break plc (Hoovers, 2012). Buyers The buyers are not given many options to choose from, by the company and thus they need to finalise from the given set of options and thus it can be said that the degree of power of the buyers are low. Hostility The degree of hostility is low to moderate in case of tourism industry. The travel and tourism agencies face from fierce competition but they do not declare an open war with respect to price. The marketing strategy adopted by the Thomas Cook and its competitors are almost the same to attract the customers. The companies compete with each other in all the aspects but do not declare open price wars with the competitors. Cost of Entry The cost of entry into the travel and tourism industry is relatively moderate to high. The capital requirement is usually high and thus creates a high rate of barrier for the new entry in the tourism sectors. Also the market share is occupied by the top leaders in the market and therefore it becomes hard for the new company to form a brand image and acquire a decent market share to compete with the already established firms. Brand recognition also acts as a barrier to the new entrant. Fragmentation The degree of fragmentation is high among the travel and tourism industry. Thomas Cook remains highly fragmented as it had the opportunity to achieve the top three market position. Thomas Cook has targeted gross booking with value of about  £3.5bn (Thomas Cook Group Plc-b, 2010). Turbulence The travel and tourism industry suffers from unpredicted variance and thus the turbulence is also high. With economic downturn and other related factors the tourism industry tends to gets affected to a very large extent and it increases the rate of turbulence. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook SWOT analysis is mainly used by organisation as strategic planning and usually refers to the identification of the strength, weakness along with the opportunities and threats of the organisations. SWOT is conducted to know about the internal as well as the external environment of the company and act accordingly. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook will enable the travel group to know its strength and overcomes its weakness and through opportunity overcome the threats. Strength Thomas cook has a strong brand name and image and is one of the leading leisure travel agencies in the world. It offers various package tours and other holiday components and other services. The group has recorded revenue of about  £9, 808.9million during the financial year 2011 The company has managed to show an increase of about 10.3% from the previous financial year 2010 (Research and Markets, 2012). The group continues to build upon the strengths which the company has created over the years which include strong financial position, trusted brand portfolio and the ability of the company, with its flexible model, to manage the business so that the group is able to meet the needs of the customers in the future (Thomas Cook Group Plc-c, 2009). Weakness One major weakness lies is that with a economic slowdown the travel agencies have experienced a huge break down in the number of consumers travelling from one place to another. This has impacted Thomas Cook Group. Opportunity With a rise in the disposable income of the consumers a huge opportunity lies with Thomas Cook to expand itself into various other countries and help the consumer experience the pleasure of travelling. Technology being an upper hand for the travel agencies, the online market is said to flourish which makes it easier for the consumers to select from various options made available from the travel agencies. Threat Threat lies from the other competitors which has been doing equally well in the travel and tourism sectors. With many travel and tourism agency, the customers gets a wide variety to choose from the best options and this tends to increase the competition among the travel and tourism industry. Also shift in the consumer behaviour also poses a threat for Thomas Cook. Major Challenges of Thomas Cook Thomas Cook has been facing some tough challenges which include financial consolidation as well as restricting. The CEO of the company, Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned which took the company as a surprise. Another set of challenges is the growth of the company through acquisition. Growth by way of acquisition was one of the core strategies together with strict cost in order to improve the profit margins. In recent years Cook had sealed its market entry in Russia by a majority of stake in tour business operator. But at the same time, both internal as well as external problems have increased in Thomas Cook and it becomes a huge challenge for the company to undergo its operation when the environment is not healthy. The demand has slowed because of the weak economy of UK and also its strong focus on cost cutting, UK invested little in IT and product which left Thomas Cook positioned poorly in the market (FVW, 2011). The oldest travel agency has also seen a drop in summer holidays by about 10% which is one of the core businesses of Thomas Cook of sending the families off to destinations like Balearics and Canaries. The shares of Thomas Cook have also slumped to about 86% but still many of the problems of the company tend to persists (Moulds, 2012). Conclusions Thomas Cook is one of the most successful travel agency which meets the travel need of the customers. Thomas Cook is the leading travel groups with flexible business model and also focused strategy and has a team of more than 31000 people who are equally committed towards the vision of the company. It can be said that the company has been performing well in the financial year and plans to do well in the near future but with changing market environment along with the demands and needs of the customers Thomas Cook needs to adapt to new technologies and serve or provide its customers with the wants and requirements. Thomas Cook has been facing few challenges as mentioned and it should take the necessary steps to avoid problems which could hamper the