Introducing change and improvements regularly in various business processes has become one of the basic conditions of survival in a competitive global marketplace of today. However, even when the importance and necessity of change is understood by many its implementation in practice is associated with a set of substantial challenges caused by a range of reasons such as loss of power, fear of unknown, job security, economic factors etc. (Zimmerman, 2011). This article analyses and evaluates diversification strategies implemented in Ford Motor Company by its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alan Mulally. Ford Motor Company is global auto manufacturer that employs about 164,000 members of workforce in about 70 plants worldwide (Annual Report, 2011). The article covers three main themes: main drivers of change in Ford, key changes introduced by Alan Mulally, and an analysis of change management style of Alan Mulally. Main Drivers of Change in Ford Motor Company By 2006 when Alan Mulally was appointed Ford President and CEO there were a set of stark drivers of change. Specifically, at the time among other issues “Fords major problems was consensus management in the process of designing automobiles” (Herbold, 2011). For example, Ford Fusion sedan introduced in the same year was not equipped with navigation and side air bags, despite the fact that most of the competitor cars of the same class were equipped with such accessories. Analysis conducted by Mulally has identified that the main reason behind such a practice was high level of involvement of finance department over the design and functionality of cars (Fuller, 2011). In other words, in order to bring down the costs of manufacturing, finance department have been asking engineers and designers to be engaging in excessive cost saving when designing cars and equipping them with technological gadgets and functionalities.…
The definition of the concept of time has been associated with ambiguities and even contradictions. For instance, time has been described as “time nothing more than the occurrence of events in sequence, on after another” (Olpin and Hessen, 2012, p.167), and “a resource that, when lost or misplaced, is gone forever” (Kerzner, 2009, p.286). The definition of time management has been offered as “the process of skilfully applying time to finish and perfect a specific activity within time constraint” (Harris, 2008, p.22). However, there is no single definition of time that fully captures all aspects of the concept. Becker and Mustric (2008) divide time into two categories: quantitative and qualitative. It can be specified that “quantitative time is seen to represent time as quantities, that is, time can be measured and counted into seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, and years” (Wu, 2009, p.5). Qualitative time, on the other hand, is associated with a meaning of an activity the time is spent on. Similar to the concept of time, there are varying opinions amongst secondary data authors regarding the definition and role of time management. For instance, it has been noted that “time management is about taking charge, carefully, consciously, purposefully – not shrinking from difficulties, but engaging them” (Kristan, 2010, p.4). Moreover, some secondary data authors also note that “time management is not an end itself. It is the means to an end. When linked with setting and meeting goals it provided a way of getting really high achievement out of individuals and others with whom they come into contact” (Pearson and Thomas, 2010, p.49). Marquis and Huston (2009), on the other hand, disagree with the term of time management, and argue that time cannot be managed in any ways, but rather individuals can manage events in their lives in…
Strategic marketing can be defined as “identification of one or more sustainable competitive advantages a firm has in the markets it serves (or intends to serve), and allocation of resources to exploit them” (Business Dictionary, 2012). As opposed to short-term view on marketing, strategic marketing calls for a structured and strategic approach in formation of marketing objectives, as well as, selection and implementation of marketing techniques and communication channels in order to achieve these objectives (Avasarikar and Chordiya, 2007). Practical benefits offered by strategic marketing include searching and identifying competitive edge for the business, easily clarifying long-term and short-term marketing objectives, obtaining guidance for operational decisions, and gainig a strong sense of the purpose for the company (Egan and Thomas, 2012). Strategic marketing process is divided by Cant et al. (2009) into three steps: planning, implementation, and evaluation. The planning step in strategic marketing process involve such activities as analysing current situation, setting specific goals, and formulating strategies that would assist in achieving these goals. Importantly, analysis of current situation in the marketplace should be undertaken with the primary aim of identifying gap in the market and sources of competitive edge for the firm. During the implementation step the chosen strategy is implemented on a practical level and all of the necessary financial and human resources are secured and attracted for this purpose. Unforeseen circumstances may occur during strategy implementation step that can create substantial challenges for management (Burrow, 2008). These difficulties may result due to the changes in the marketplace or inefficiencies associated with the formulating of the marketing strategy. The last step, evaluation deals with analysing the outcome of strategy implementation and comparing results against goals that have been set during the planning step. One of the main objectives at this stage can be specified as identifying…
The principle of prioritising involves categorising tasks and goals according to the level of their importance and urgency, and giving priority to the most important and urgent tasks amongst the others (Hansen, 2011). This principle has been addressed by Covey (1990) in a comprehensive manner. Specifically, Covey (1990) introduces the time management matrix in the following manner: Square 1 Urgent and Important Square 2 Important, but Not Urgent Square 3 Urgent, but Not Important Square 4 Not Important and Not Urgent Time management matrix Covey (1990) recommends that people should primarily concentrate on important tasks in order to reduce the numbers of urgent tasks. In other words, within the Time Management Matrix illustrated above, Covey (1990) argues that concentrating on activities within the Square 2, reduces the numbers of activities within the Square 1. Moreover, according to the author, activities within the Square 3 need to be delegated, whereas activities within the Square 4 need to be avoided altogether. It has been stated that “priority setting is perhaps the most critical skills in good time management, because all actions we take have some type of relative importance” (Marquis and Huston, 2009, p.189). Kennedy (2004) urges to comprehend the differences between efficiency and effectiveness in managing time and states that efficiency relates to deal with assigned tasks in an appropriate way, whereas effectiveness involves choosing appropriate tasks to deal with. References Covey, S. (1990) “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” Fireside Hansen, C.K. (2011) “Time Management for Department Chairs” John Wiley & Sons Kennedy, D.S. (2004) “Time Management for Entrepreneurs” Entrepreneur Press
Goal setting, as an effective time management principle has been mentioned by Harris (2008), Boone and Kurtz (2010), and others. The importance of time management plan has been stressed by Harris (2008). Specifically, the author states that “when the management is not capable of drawing the correct time management plan, it may result to potential work related issues” (Harris, 2008, p.12). Pearson and Thomas (2010) consider goal setting as a compulsory condition of effective time management and praise the motivational aspects of this principle. According to Boone and Kurtz (2010) goals, aims and objective to be set by individuals has to meet the SMART principle, where the abbreviation stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. References Boone, LE & Kurtz, DL (2010) “Contemporary Business” John Wiley & Sons Harris, J. (2008) “Time Management 100 Success Secrets: The 100 Most Asked Questions on Skills, Tips, Training, Tools and Techniques for Effective Time Management” Lulu Publications Pearson, B. & Thomas, N. (2010) “The Shorter MBA: A Practical Approach to the Key Business Skills” Bell & Bain
The Model of Goal Directed Behaviour has been developed on the basis of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This model “views the fundamental components of the theory of planned behaviour with respect to goals rather than behaviours” (Hagger and Chatzisarantis, 2009, p.36). Desire plays an integral role in The Model of Goal Directed Behaviour in a way that it is perceived to be stronger predictor compared to attitudes and subjective norms (Sutton, 1998). Explaining application of the model in practical levels Erasmus et al. (2001) explain that markets need to study primary desires of their target customer segment so that product and services can be developed to satisfy this desire or give the perception of satisfaction of the desire. References Erasmus, A. C., Boshoff, E. and Rousseau, G.G.(2001). “Consumer decision-making models within the discipline of consumer science: a critical approach”, Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences. 2001(29) Hagger, M. & Chatzisarantis, N. (2007) “Social Psychology of Exercise and Sport” McGraw-Hill International Sutton, S. (1998) “Predicting and explaining intentions and behaviour: how well we are doing? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, pp. 1317-1318
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
The Theory of Trying promoted by Bagozzi and Warsaw (1990) focuses on the assessment of trying to act. In other words, in theory of trying “an attitude toward a reasoned action is replaced by an attitude toward trying and an intention is restricted to an intention to try” (Carsrud et al., 2009, p.155). In theory of trying Bagozzi and Warsaw (1990) divide goals into two categories: intermediate and end-state goals. In relation to this theory Gould et al. (1997) have identified two main reasons of why consumers may fail to try to consume. Firstly, consumers may fail to consider the options available to them. Secondly, consumers may consciously refrain from buying for various reasons. References Bagozzi, R. & Warsaw, L. (1990) “Trying to Consumer” Journal of Consumer Research 17, (2) pp. 127 – 140. Carsrud, A., Brannback, M., Elfving, J. & Brandt, K. (2009) “Motivations: The Entrepreneurial Mind and Behaviour” in Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind: Opening the Black Box, editors Carsrud, A. & Brannback, M.
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
The cognitive approach to consumer behaviour perceives individuals as ‘information processors’ (Ribeaux and Poppleton, 1978) acknowledging the impact of environment and social experience in the processing of information. The development of cognitive psychology in general is credited with the introduction of Stimulus-Organism-Response model by Hebb in 1950s. According to Stimulus-Organism-Response model there is a linear relationship between the impact of stimuli on inactive organism, and as a result of the impact the organism responses in a certain manner (Cziko, 2000). However, this model has been subjected to criticism, notably by Tyagi (2004) and Kahle and Close (2006), and the criticism relates to the idea that Stimulus-Organism-Response model does not take into account the past experiences of the organism. References Cziko, G. (2000) “The Things We Do: Using the Lessons of Bernard and Darwin to Understand the What, How, and Why of Our Behaviour” Massachusets, MIT Press Kahle L.R. and Close, A. (2006) “Consumer Behaviour Knowledge for Effective Sports and Event Marketing”, Taylor & Francis, New York, USA
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
According to behaviourist approach to human behaviour is depended to external events, and importantly, a specific pattern of behaviour can be learned because of external factors (Wiedmann et al., 2007). Advocates of behaviourist approach refer to famous behavioural experiments involving dogs and the impact of external environment on their behaviour conducted by Pavlov (1849-1936) to justify the validity of the approach. However, Schiffman et al. (2007) argue that while to behaviourist approach to human behaviour has adequate level of relevance to modern marketplace it is not able to explain the issues of consumer behaviour thoroughly on its own. References Schiffman, L., Hansen H. and Kanuk L. (2007) “Consumer Behaviour: A European Outlook”, London: Pearson Education Wiedmann, K., Hennigs, N. and Siebels, A. (2007) “Measuring Luxury consumer perception: A cross-culture framework”, Academy of Marketing Science review, 2007(7)
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour
The economic man approach to consumer behaviour perceives consumers to be highly rational and adequate engaging in economic transactions in a beneficial manner for self-interest (Tyagi, 2004). According to this principle consumer rational behaviour includes being aware of all alternative options, as well as, having knowledge of advantages and disadvantages associated with each option (Kahle and Close, 2006). Blackwell et al. (2006) adopt a sceptical approach to the level of applicability of economic man theory in today’s marketplace in practical levels arguing that nowadays consumers are more tempted to make ‘irrational’ purchase decisions due to the highly sophisticating levels of marketing strategies. References Blackwell, R., Miniard, P. and Engel, J. (2006) “Consumer behavior”, Mason: Thompson Kahle L.R. and Close, A. (2006) “Consumer Behaviour Knowledge for Effective Sports and Event Marketing”, Taylor & Francis, New York, USA Tyagi, C. and Kumar, A. (2004) “Consumer Behaviour”, Atlantic Publishers, US
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Consumer Behaviour