How Ford Motor Company Transformed From an e-business to an i-business Research Paper

How Ford Motor Company Transformed From an e-business to an i-business - Research Paper Example They provided individual PCs to all the employees to connect more closely with the consumers. In this way the company managed to regain their position with the help of e-business (Ford’s e-Business Strategy, 2000). Ford’s CEO Jacques Nasser has announced some e-business strategies to get closer to the customers. He has decided to build a customer services program powered by Information Technology to make the suitable car ordered by the customers instead of ending up with a car which could possibly not be sold in the market. He has also announced the launch of AutoXchange website for online procurement of car. Ford has planned to commence their database. Only their customer can log into that database using their password and there they can easily access their information previously saved. In this way their time can be saved (Ford Motor Company: E- Business and E- Commerce Strategy, n.d.). From E-Business to i-business: 1. Internet-worked Market: Internet can be easily us ed as a means of increasing business network. The companies can launch their website where they can campaign for their product, and make people aware of their new business scheme (Redgrave). Ford has already planned to launch their database and website for online purchasing for their customer.

An Expatriate Tour in El Salvador Essay Example for Free

An Expatriate Tour in El Salvador Essay The case provides that John Lafferty has accepted an opportunity to be a Program Officer of the United Nations based in El Salvador. John has previously worked as development economist in different parts of Latin America and his experience and passion for helping refugees make his adjustment to this new environment easy. However, John has recently been married to Joanna, a Human Resource Management consultant based in Toronto, Canada. Although, the couple both agreed to move together to El Salvador, the challenge of the case lies on how Joanna would be able to adjust to a new environment. In preparation for her departure, Joanna studied Spanish and studied Salvadoran history and politics as much as she could. She also contacted a friend, Joan, an expatriate in Guatamela for two years to get feedback about the conditions of living abroad. In a study of Luthans in 2002, he emphasized the importance of cultural learning to avoid premature return by an expatriate. In this case, Joanna should have undergone cultural learning that is specifically tailored for Salvadoran expatriates. This could have prepared her in understanding and accepting the culture and values of Salvadorans. She could have expected living with a housemaid who would serve her and do all the house chores for her. Joanna could have been more comfortable understanding that â€Å"barrios marginales† are generally accepted in their neighborhood and receives only $6 a day. Joanna can mend her situation by learning more about the culture of El Salvador to make her feel more comfortable in her new environment. Upon adjustment, she could find a career opportunity in the UN that is also based in El Salvador where she could practice her HR skills. Joanna’s experience can be valuable in developing a cultural learning program that will help other expatriates. The new employment for John is a great opportunity for him to advance in his career. John’s skills in relating with refugees and his passion to protect them are valid arguments why he should accept the position in El Salvador. John and Joanna may be newly married but their career fulfillment should not be sacrificed. They have to discern well and balance the advantages and disadvantages of moving to El Salvador together or separately. Joanna can decide to stay in Canada and pursue her career as HR consultant. However, the opportunity to experience a different culture and the prospect of gaining a new knowledge in the field of training expatriates are both promising. Joanna should embrace this chance to advance her learning in Human Resource Management. In an article written by Varner and Palmer in 2002, they have identified three factors that can make expatriation successful. These are: 1) integration of expatriation with international operations to attain the organization’s strategic objectives, 2) the training and development of expatriates integrated with organizational goals and 3) the management of the international knowledge expatriates acquired. In this case, the organization that employed John should have provided training to him and to his spouse, Joanna. The training should explain carefully to John and Joanna the situations they may encounter within the organization and its surrounding environment. Further, the organization should have a program for spouses like Joanna that can track her adjustment and assist her in finding a career in a foreign land. It is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that the employee’s spouse and children are comfortable and well adjusted in their new environment. If the employees would have a problem in their families, there is a great possibility that they will discontinue their service with the employer and go back to their home country. Gravenkemper and LaPla (2008) suggested several measures for successful expatriation of the employee’s families: 1. The family of the employee should be interviewed and examined for overseas assignments. 2. Prior to settlement, the family of the employee should be given the chance to visit the foreign land. 3. The organization must select only those employees whose spouse and children are willing to relocate. List of References Gravenkemper, S. and LaPla, L. (2008) Expatriate Assessments. Universal Advisor Issue No. 2. Available from http://www. plantemoran. com/Services/Consulting/OrganizationalDevelopmentPersonnelAssessment/Resources/Articles/Expatriate+Assessments. htm 9 April 2009 Luthans, K. W. (2002) Expatriate development: the use of 360 degrees feedback. Journal of Management Development 21, 10 Varner, I. and Palmer, T. (2002) Successful expatriation and organizational strategies. Entrepreneur. Available from http://www. entrepreneur. com/tradejournals/article/87211787. html 9 April 2009

Malaysian Airlines System analysis

Malaysian Airlines System analysis Founded in 1947 as Malayan Airways, later renamed to Malaysian Airways System (MAS) in 1963 with the formation of Federal Malaysia, is the national flag carrier of Malaysia. With the largest and the youngest fleet size of South East Asia, MAS flies to some 100 destinations across the globe from its primary hub at Kuala Lumpur and the secondary at Kota Kinabalu whilst Kula Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is its main base. MAS is internationally recognised as a five-star carrier. Along with air travelling, MAS is engaged in other related businesses such as airfreight (cargo) and airline catering. This document summarises how the current business model and IT infrastructure has led MAS to its apparent success. Current Business Model Having suffered a loss of RM1.3 billion(b) in 2005, MAS, under the CEOship of Idris Jala, announced a Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) that consists of two phases, BTP1 and BTP2. BTP1, created using Government-Linked Companies Transformation manual as a guide, successfully helped MAS cut losses from a forecasted RM1.7b to RM600 million(m). BTP1 focused on creating yield and cut costs while MAS got rid of non-core assets (MAS, 2006). By selling its main building at KL, reducing its staff size and closing non-profitable routes MAS generated a record profit of RM850m in 2007 (OFB, 2009). Further, BTP1 has helped MAS to increase its customer base by introducing Everyday Low Fares (ELF). ELF offers discounts to 30% of unsold seats on the day of travel (MAS, 2009). BTP1s strategies towards fuel management helped MAS to reduce fuel surcharge from 50-70% on domestic flights. MAS is currently at the second phase of BTP (BTP2). Its main focus is to maintain its 5-star name achieved under BTP1 (MAS 2008). BTP2, launched in the first quarter of 2008 with a focus to maintain a lower cost-structure, has the following goals. [here goes the goals]. Under BTP2, MAS generated a profit of RM180m in 2008, which is a 70% decrease compared to previous years profit (OFB, 2009). In 2009, MAS reported a profit of. However, up until the third quarter of 2010, MAS is experiencing losses (OFB2010). Although 2010 is an unprofitable year for MAS, BTP (BTP1 and BTP2) is a remarkable business plan. It has helped MAS to stay strong and competitive in a situation when fuel, operating and maintenance costs ever increasing. MASs inability to generate profit in 2010 could be related to MAS purchasing new aircrafts. Optimistically argued could be that these are new investments and its return is expected to be observed in the following years. The new aircrafts would help MAS considerably save costs on fuel since these aircrafts have a 17% lower fuel-consumption rate than the existing aircrafts (MAS, 2010). Furthermore, new aircrafts is also a boost to the cargo business. Aircrafts with greater capacity indicates possibility of increasing customer base that would in turn fuel profit generation. Among the ordered aircrafts, some are specifically focused on increasing airfreight business (MASKargo, 2010). Another point that expresses the strength of BTP is establishing new routes to destinations with more likely travellers. As mentioned earlier, a number of unprofitable routes were closed under BTP1. Closing itineraries involve high closure cost sustained due to cutting short agreements and other similar issues. However, the new routes would have its long-term benefits; closure cost would be far less than the profits the new routes would generate. For example, there is an increased number of Middle Eastern travelling to Malaysia. Further, the Malaysia-China routes are with high potential. Under BTP2, MAS has introduced new routes to China and Middle East and is still increasing; a new route to Riyadh starts on December 2010 (MAS, 2010). Additionally, ELF is an incontestable strategy since MAS brand is well known and tendency to choose MAS for a slightly higher price than the LCCs for its excellent services is justifiable. Further, selling of MAS building at KL is another decision that might have enabled MAS to close aforementioned unprofitable itineraries. While MAS was facing losses, the money generated from this sale was available to manage such actions. Additionally, BTP emphasised on maintaining some of its other core businesses. For example, catering to airlines and maintenance services are two potential businesses that would generate profit. Further, KLIA express and transit from KLSentral to KLIA was not closed for this is marked as another profitable business (OFB, 2009). IT Infrastructure The discussion hitherto was about BTPs strengths in non-IT, though indirectly related, areas. However, the fact remains that established IT infrastructure under BTP played a vital role to emerge from the losses MAS was facing. Under BTP, to cope with the changes, MAS underwent from several physical-network enhancements to virtual infrastructure enhancements. As per physical-network improvements, MAS sought the assistance of Nortel- a leading network hardware vendor. MAS purchased Nortels gigabit-switching platforms that support real-time business communication via voice and video (Nortel, 2008). Virtual solutions adopted include Sabres AirVision Revenue Manager (ARM) (Sabre, 2009) and SITAs Reservation Management System (RMS) (SITA, 2008). To improve inter-office communications, MAS employed Avayas Contact Centre Solution (MAS, 2010). As part of MASs Internet enhancement program, it sought Akami to power its main website (Akami, 2009). Further, MAS is seeking IT consultation from Tata Consultancy Services (EI, 2010). All the above-mentioned decisions made by MAS under BTP are interesting and justifiable. Firstly, under a turnaround plan like BTP, which is primarily focused on reviving profitability, it is believable that if the asking requirements were available, cost would come above all. Hence, the preference of Nortel equipments to those by more famous Cisco and HP is justified. Nortel offers 50% cost saving on its product compared to Cisco or other vendors (Info-Tech, 2008). Secondly, although Sabre and SITA provide expensive solutions, the two are renowned in airline industry for providing excellent solutions. Errors in areas such as scheduling and reservation in airlines is unbearable for one slight error could be fatal. Hence, the importance to choose experience over cost in this situation is logical. Selection of Sabre and SITA for that matter is justified. The benefits MAS achieved by Sabres and SITAs solutions were vast. ARM provided business rules automation, automatic ticket pricing based on customer behaviour and competitors pricing, financial evaluation and inventory controlling (Sabre, 2010). Features of SITAs RMS include online reservations, automatic flight scheduling, individual and group booking and customer profiling (SITA, 2010). It could be observed that features of these two systems combined allow automation of almost all the tasks that was done manually. Although MAS utilised KOMMA to do these tasks, it did not have intelligence to forecast or schedule on its own (MAS, 2007). Adopting these solutions could be one of the ways MAS managed to decrease its staff. Moreover, adopting the solutions at an earlier stage of BTP allowed MAS to efficiently forecast into the future and refine the BTP. Introduction of reservation management allowed MAS to introduce e-ticketing. This eliminated its customers to be physically present in one of its offices to book or purchase tickets. Further, it allowed customers to check-in online, check flight schedules and status. Introducing web-based services increased MASs website traffic. One of Akamis solution uploading mirror sites helped MAS to boost website performance and management (Akami, 2009). Mirror sites mean that customers would be accessing a MASs site hosted at a location nearer to the customers location. This mirror would be faster for the customer since it is nearer to the customer. Moreover, mirroring allows load balancing since customers would be literally accessing different websites although linked. SITAs integration platform allowed integration of ARM, RMS and the website (MAS, 2008). SITA has additionally provided MAS with an iPad-based kiosk for reservations and checking-in (SITA, 2010). Certainly, iPad is cheaper than a physical kiosk and hence MAS could now cut costs on the bulky kiosks. The only downfall of the combined solutions seems to be that there is no apparent feature for cargo management. Moreover, introduction of Avaya to its IT applications allowed efficient communication throughout MASs offices located locally and globally. Avayas features include web-based, virtual meetings, presentations and workflow management (Avaya, 2010). Apart from this, MAS signing contracts with Tata consultation indicates that it would be receiving up-to-date IT enhancements and hence would help to stay competitive in the industry. Conclusion In conclusion, it could be said that BTP was a success. Business decisions made under BTP were mostly successful. Implemented IT infrastructure only needs slight improvements such as integration of cargo management. BTP has enabled its website to be its main distribution channel while secondary channels include kiosks based on international airports. Beneficially for MAS, it is the only organisation in the industry with iPad-based kiosks. This is an innovation as well as a cost saver. Overall, BTP and the improved IT infrastructure have transformed MAS from a suffering business to one of the strongest competitor in the industry.

hannibal Essay -- essays research papers

Character Development Comparison/Contrast (BR 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sometimes help is where we least expect it. But when we find the help we are looking for, we will do anything for it. In Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling finds help in the form a serial killer, Dr. Lecter. He helps her in two ways, he helps her solve the case of a serial killer at large, and in the process forces Clarice to face her past, helping her move on. Also Clarice helps Dr. Lecter fill an empty space in his life, which is that of a female companion which he has longed for since the death of his sister. Perhaps it is also that when we find help, we are reluctant to accept it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Silence of the Lambs, Clarice has no choice but to confront her past as she needs information from Dr. Lecter in order to solve her case. As the story goes on Clarice begins to become intrigued by Dr. Lecter and realizes that he is helping her heal. â€Å"Starling cut out the picture of Hannah and put it in her wallet. It was the only thing she saved. She was healing (pg.332)†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Hannibal, Clarice seems to forget that Dr. Lecter is a wanted serial killer. Clarice becomes obsessed with Dr. Lecter. She allows her obsession to overtake her life, â€Å"Some anonymous neighbor printed a sign in gothic letters that read â€Å"Hannibal’s House† and pinned it on her curtain entrance† (258). Clarice becomes so involved with Dr. Lecter that sh...

Compare of Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza Essay

In the land of tandoori rotis and masala dosas, does Italian food have any place? Yes, says the statistics. The pizza industry is really sizzling with hectic activity. The 150 Cr industry growing at an annual rate of 50% is expanding at a frantic pace. Organized food service is characterized by a chain of outlets using a uniform brand identity across all outlets, centralized procurement of supplies, focus on quality, standardization and safety from supplier’s uniformity in product menus across outlets, uniform taste, existence of strong controls and the use of technology. Indian taste buds are demanding more and pizza industry – one of the most intensive industry is all gearing on. People across the country are consuming over three million pizzas a month currently, and the monthly sales figures are projected to double in the next four years. According to industry data, of the total branded quick service restaurant market of over Rs 1,200 crore, the pizza chains contribute around 50 per cent of the sales. Indian perception:- Food diversity in India is implicit characteristic of India’s diversified culture consisting of different regions & states within. Traditionally Indian like to have home cooked meals – a concept supported religiously as well as individual. However with time due to increase awareness and influence of western culture. There is a shift in food consumption patterns among urban Indian families. Social economic change attitude of middlemen. It started eating out and moved to accepting a wide variety of delicacies from world over. Consequently post 1990’s saw many international food chains entering into the country. Liberalization of Indian economy in early 1990 and subsequent entry of new players set a significant change in lifestyle and food taste of Indian. Pizza as a food item as a gained acceptance of Indian palate after multinationals fast food players†¦

Compare of Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza Essay

In the land of tandoori rotis and masala dosas, does Italian food have any place? Yes, says the statistics. The pizza industry is really sizzling with hectic activity. The 150 Cr industry growing at an annual rate of 50% is expanding at a frantic pace. Organized food service is characterized by a chain of outlets using a uniform brand identity across all outlets, centralized procurement of supplies, focus on quality, standardization and safety from supplier’s uniformity in product menus across outlets, uniform taste, existence of strong controls and the use of technology. Indian taste buds are demanding more and pizza industry – one of the most intensive industry is all gearing on. People across the country are consuming over three million pizzas a month currently, and the monthly sales figures are projected to double in the next four years. According to industry data, of the total branded quick service restaurant market of over Rs 1,200 crore, the pizza chains contribute around 50 per cent of the sales. Indian perception:- Food diversity in India is implicit characteristic of India’s diversified culture consisting of different regions & states within. Traditionally Indian like to have home cooked meals – a concept supported religiously as well as individual. However with time due to increase awareness and influence of western culture. There is a shift in food consumption patterns among urban Indian families. Social economic change attitude of middlemen. It started eating out and moved to accepting a wide variety of delicacies from world over. Consequently post 1990’s saw many international food chains entering into the country. Liberalization of Indian economy in early 1990 and subsequent entry of new players set a significant change in lifestyle and food taste of Indian. Pizza as a food item as a gained acceptance of Indian palate after multinationals fast food players†¦

Robert Louis Stevensons Treasure Island for Study

Robert Louis Stevensons Treasure Island for Study Not only is Robert Louis Stevensons ​Treasure Island  one of the most popular childrens books in history, its had a major influence on popular culture portrayals of 19th-century pirates. It tells the story of young Jim Hawkins, cabin boy on a ship bound for an island where the treasure is believed buried. He encounters pirates who seek to overthrow the ships officers in a mutiny. Published as a series in the magazine Young Folks between 1881 and 1882, Treasure Island is notable as a childrens book because of the moral ambiguity of many of its main characters; the good guys are sometimes not so good, and its most memorable character, Long John Silver, is a classic anti-hero. The story has captured imaginations for more than a hundred years and has been adapted for film and television more than 50 times.​​ Questions for Study and Discussion Why do you think Jim goes on the journey as a cabin boy?How does Robert Louis Stevenson reveal the characters motivations in Treasure Island?Knowing that this was a serialized story when it was first published, do you have a sense of whether Stevenson plotted out the entire story before writing, or do you think he changed elements of the plot as he wrote each individual section?What are some symbols in Treasure Island?Is Jim Hawkins consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed character?What about ​Long John Silverare his actions consistent?How easily can you identify with Jims feelings? Do you think this portrayal of a young boy seems dated, or does it stand the test of time?If this novel were written in present day, what details would have to change?Discuss how Long John Silver is or is not a father figure to Jim.Which of the characters surprises you the most?Does the story end the way you expected?How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken p lace anywhere else? Besides Jim Hawkins mother, there are very few women in Treasure Island. Do you think this is important to the plot?What would a sequel to this novel have looked like? Would it be possible to continue the story?