The Success and Failures of Diversification Strategies Essay

The Success and Failures of Diversification Strategies - Essay Example From the study it is clear that in order to examine the corporate strategy of diversification, it is important to gain an understanding of the concept. Looking at the theories and types of diversification potentials allow for a developed knowledge of this business strategy. As well, looking at firms who have diversified and the eventual results will further the investigation. Specific examinations of General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway in comparison with Tesco, HSBC, and Vodafone will allow for examples of diversified interests to reveal how these strategies are successful or without success.As the discussion stresses  DuPont is considered the leading pioneer of diversification. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 in the United States limited the ability of a corporation to grow through acquisitions and mergers. In 1916 DuPont became the target of an investigation that was pivotal in the future of the strategy of diversification. DuPont, however, did continue to grow through the additions of  chemicals and paints to its gunpowder. The Cellar-Kefauver Act of 1950 made it more difficult to achieve vertical and horizontal integration, thus promoting more diversifications that were the beginnings of the conglomerations. New tariff policies that grew through the 20th century also encouraged companies to turn to diversifications strategies in order to compete with foreign imports that were cheaper and impeded the progress of companies that depended on the products that were not available.

Weekly Journal #5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Journal #5 - Essay Example o focus on individuals and inner desires or feelings that shape behaviors as Cognitive Behavioral Theory remain to concentrate on how human cognitions affect their behaviors. Another key point learnt from the weeks reading is that Psychoanalysis constitutes the theory used by first family therapists. As demonstrated by Nichols (2013), many other theories and approaches to family therapy followed or developed from Psychoanalysis. From the perspectives of an experienced counselor, the frameworks of Psychoanalysis and Cognitive Behavioral Theory are not much apart. This means that it is easier to merge and manipulate the two techniques subsequently in treating a family. As explained by Nichols (2013), Psychoanalysis theory concerns with self-psychology and object relations theory to detail how people relate to each other, underlying expectations in every relationship and how fulfillment or failure affects emotions and behaviors of individuals. Simply interpreted, Psychoanalysis investigates how human relationships affect their self-understanding and emotions. Cognitive Behavioral Theory on the other hand generally emphasizes the need for attitudinal change to maintain change in behavior (Nichols, 2013). Again, this technique seems to center on emotions and inner desires of individuals as elements to regulate to cause positive and functional behaviors that maintain family dynamics. From the understanding, a cou nselor can just combine and merge the two techniques in treating a family. This will help to focus on individuals and families at relevant times as suites therapist’s strategies and goals. One of the insights that this week readings have elicited is that Psychoanalytic Theory and Cognitive Behavioral Theory share significant attributes with Experiential and Strategic Theories of family therapy. this is insight is due to fact that when deeply analyzed, the focus of the theories end at understanding emotions and inner desires of individuals, and their effects

The Smooth Transition Into Adulthood Essay Example for Free

The Smooth Transition Into Adulthood Essay In this research report it will be proven that in order to have a smooth transition to adulthood, the completion of developmental tasks must occur. This is a stage when parents and children must separate one another so that young adults can accept emotional responsibility for themselves. Without the co-operation of both the parents and young adult the success of this transition can be long drawn and less effective. According to the Family Life-Cycle Theory, three developmental tasks must be mastered for this to happen. These tasks detail that; young adults must form an identity separate from that of the family of origin, young adults must develop new intimate relationship with peers outside the family and lastly young adults must make their first tentative commitment to a career or workplace role. With the co-operation of the young adult’s parent’s situations such as; parents becoming overly attached to their children and parents becoming too involved with a child’s life can easily be avoided. If a parent becomes too heavily attached to their child, the success of the young adult’s transition into adulthood is jeopardized. This type of behavior causes negative effects on both the parent and child as the parent will have a much harder time having to let their child go at one point, this creating more emotional pain for the parent later on (Holloway, 2002). For the child, this type of attached behavior robs them of their poetical freedom. Holding the young adult back from completing the Family Life Cycle transition phases of discovering a separate identity from their parents and developing new intimate relationships (Holloway, 2002). Creating new and different intimate relationships is an exciting part of becoming an adult. At this time in life people begin to learn what they are looking and expecting out of a potential partner (Holloway, 2002). The interference of a parent when choosing a mate limits the young adult’s choices when searching for a mate, restricting their options of exploring and discovering for what they are looking for in a mate (Holloway, 2002). A parent’s involvement within intimate relationship hinders the young adult smooth transition into adulthood as they can no longer fully complete the second stage in the Family Life-Cycle Theory of making new intimate relationships outside of the family. In conclusion becoming an adult is a large step in any young persons life. The co-operation and support of parents and guardians is very important in ensuring a smooth transition into adulthood for the young adult. Yet it is imperative that parents allow their children to begin to develop on their own, creating a new self-identity, developing intimate relationships and making their first commitment to a job on their own.

Study Of Culture And Globalisation Management Essay

Study Of Culture And Globalisation Management Essay Why does culture Matter? Globalisation creates one of the most important achievements in todays world; the ability to trade internationally. Understanding cultural differences will only increase the success of companies going aboard. Each country has different currencies and behaviour norms. When global companies are born the workforce becomes diverse. Cultural understanding is a key part to a successful business. Globalization provides better opportunities to companies investing in a new market. The internationalisation of business has exposed firms to a large range of norms for doing business. This essay will show how Wal-Mart, one of the biggest retail chains, deals with cultural difference when opening its doors to Japans Market. Wal-Mart cannot directly transfer its corporate culture of low-cost, high -bulk model, hugely successful in US, to Japan. Wal-Mart is moving into a completely new market, and as such they must enter the market as a blank canvas. Roger Mark clearly states that in order to have global success, its no longer enough to have a hot new product that will save time, or a novel idea that could revolutionize an industry. You also need to understand the cultural values, behaviour styles, negotiating techniques and business practices of the country where you are doing business. Wal-Mart and Japan have different habits. Wal-Mart is moving more to cutting the middleman and forcing stores to remain open for 24 hours. The Japanese culture is based more on fresh produce and has high demands for perishable goods rather than processed food. The Japanese are known for their high demand of quality goods and high income. Wal-Mart is trying to force their low cost high bulk and low quality products on the Japanese market. The company must wonder if their own corporate culture is enough to solve the problems with diverse cultures. If the company itself does not understand the cultural differences it faces can it reap the benefits? Culture is comprised of both value and norms. Culture is a social interest which clearly identifies people interest, thoughts and behaviours. In order for Wal-Mart to survive they must manage cultural diversity because this is in many stages of the internationalization of the business and in all form of the market entry. When entering a new market the business needs to adapt to the specific taste of local people. Wal-Mart cannot deliver the same layout of stores throughout the world, they must adapt to Japanese culture. According to Kurt Barnard It was a dumb thing for Wal-Mart to do. By not understanding cross-cultural influences and not changing the format of their stores to fit cultural differences, Wal-Mart will be unable to compete in foreign markets. Wal-Mart needs to move away from Ethnocentrism and adopt a Polycentrism approach when entering a new market. Fast franchise like McDonald learned their lesson in India. Today McDonalds has localized its products to suit its consumers taste and to recognise the local culture, t herefore creating regional flavours for particular markets. Culture plays an important part on how global companies operate. Wal-Mart needs to adapt the taste of its host country. If we consider the Japanese culture we can clearly see that their living space is much smaller than the average American house, therefore the high-bulk model will not relate to them. Wal-Mart must understand their behaviour first in order to respect the local culture of Japan. What do Japanese people consider as good quality in service and product? Once Wal-Mart determines this it can use the information to better sales campaigns and business interactions instead of using one approach that they believe works everywhere. The firm must determine the countries norms and values, and therefore have a cross- cultural awareness between the Japanese and American cultures. Japanese culture is based on community, family and being part of large group. This is not the same as the American way of life. Global companies need to know that half of business acquisitions fail because they do not input measures that deal with cultural differences. Wal-Mart acquired a Japanese business. Taking over a Japanese firm is the best way of understanding the culture of the Japanese. Why did this not work to Wal-Marts advantage?Companies must require the knowledge of the local culture and the way of doing things. People respond differently to gestures and signs. One of the issues Wal-Mart faced was language barriers in Japan. Wal-Mart is using English-speaking executives to run a retail operation that heavily depends on a detailed understanding of domestic culture. In Japan Harmony is the key value in Japanese society, so when they communicate with each other they use non-verbal expression. Global companies must understand that languages can influence the business in so m any ways. Language is the most important aspect to the business success because this should unlock local societies. Wal-Mart knew full well that entering markets like Japan through acquisition brings together employees from Seiyu with employees from Wal-Mart who speak different languages. They should have adopted a language that can be related to local people. Ideally the international managers in Wal-Mart should be Bi-multilingual. Most American firms tend to slow down their English rather than study the language of Japan The American companies that have succeeded in Japan have done so by using Japanese executives and allowing a significant amount of autonomy. Wal-Mart however seems to be making the same mistake it did in Germany, relying too much on American executives, and not enough on local control. We can clearly see that all Global Companies are faced with many problems which range from language, pricing and culture collisions because cultural differences shape the use and in terpretation of words. Edward hall drew a useful distinction between low and high context cultures. Many Asian countries are seen as high cost cultures. Japanese culture finds it difficult to say no compared to the Americans who are straight forward. Business needs to be aware that problems will naturally arise when high and low cost culture businesses get together. The model is useful in understanding why different cultures might communicate differently because High context south Asian culture companies differ so widely from their low -context western cultures. When companies go global their main objective should be to handle any difficulties to do with culture because once mistakes are made they are hard to fix. This will only destroy the global company operation in the host country. All corporations must have multicultural awareness because it is a vital aspect to a successful business, and you must know the particular industry you are entering. If you do not do this the success of the business is slim. Wal-Mart must HYPERLINK http://www.filination.com/blog/2009/03/14/china-business-strategy-walmart-chinese-culture/localize and do things the Japanese way by encouraging local branch decision making, building local supplier contracts and using local promotion schemes on the other hand Wal-Mart was more focus on doing things the American Way. Wal-Mart did not consider the taste of Japanese people. HYPERLINK http://www.filination.com/blog/2009/03/14/china-business-strategy-walmart-chinese-culture/National culture has a powerful influence on peoples interpretations, understandings, and assessments of those with whom they work-Cultural values can affect decision making, managerial style, interpersonal trust, teamwork, and the role of women in the workplace, among other issues. In order to have successful entry Wal-Mart needed to collect correct and accurate information. Managers in Wal-Mart should undertake An intercultural training course such as Managing Inter national Teams or Managing International Mergers and Acquisitions will give international managers involved in a merger or acquisition the insights they need to develop an effective working culture that plays to the strengths of their multicultural teams and maximises the cultural benefits of their companys acquisition. Japanese Culture is completely different to the Wal-Mart American culture. Cultural dimensions can provide details allowing global companies to deliver the best cultural system with a great outcome. Identifying the main cultural dimensions groups through attitude, values and norms can influence companies success. Geert Hofstede (1984) clearly stated that culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another. Wal-Mart adopted a management style that did not sit well with the Japanese people. Wal-Mart persuaded Seiyus management in 2004 to dismiss 25% of headquarters staff, including 1,500 employees and managers. That kind of mass firing happens rarely in Japan, which places a premium on social harmony. And when the firing is done at the behest of foreigners, it takes on added negative connotations. Wal-Mart should determine the cultural attitudes of the employees. Research shows how national culture can also affect the workfo rce in an organisation. Wal-Mart did not use the Greenfield Investment, which involved entering a country without a partner from the host country. Wal-Mart did the opposite so it should be fully aware of the effect of the Japanese culture. It is up to the managers in a corporation to understand culture. Hofstedes research looks for sub cultural and regional differences, industry differences and differences arising from the organisational culture. Power distances generally mean people will accept unequal distribution of powers. In the Case of Wal-Mart you can see that it is more homogeneous compared to Japan, therefore they need togive more power to local managers and their supplier-network. Japanese power distances are lower so Management should decentralise. Americans do not accept power distances so the American workers in Wal-Mart at the Japanese branch should input empowering systems. Japanese hold harmony as a social ideal, patience as a personal virtue, and hierarchy as an ess ential organizing principle. Americans, in contrast, hold freedom as a social ideal, action-orientation as a personal virtue, and equality as a fundamental organizing principle. We have seen that the Hostede model such as individualism versus collectivism and feminine versus masculinity help categorize as well as identify cultural differences. If we take individualism versus collectivism you will know that Americans are more independent and have self -determination compared to Japan where the workforce work in groups. In order to solve this issue Wal-Mart should develop group goals and policies that relieve stress. The Japanese people also believe power should be controlled by society, even though this model does not present detailed analyses of individual cultures. This useful research shows the role of cultural differences which is useful for international management. These are challenges many managers will face in todays global markets because not managing culture effectively can stop growth as well as production. The use of the concepts of cultural dimensions such as those of Hostede and Trompanear provide the means to construct cultural clusters of countries or subcultures within and across countries. These clusters can be used to identify areas which need development in order to reduce problems caused by cultural differences. For example advertising can use this model to make adverts relative to certain cultural dimensions. Wal-Mart needs this because once Seiyu was taken over it became a whole new store. Yes Wal-Mart provided low cost products but the high quality products that the Japanese are used to disappeared. Wal-Mart should clearly see how different their culture is compared to Japanese. The bad thing about these models is that they assume that culture does not change and they develop serotypes. The cultural theorists base their research on the management of the company rather than the national culture. Wal-Mart must show consideration and care in dealing with cultural differences both inside and outside the organisation. Japanese people are willing to pay top prices for goods of high quality. Wal-Mart should ensure that their global company service as well as product meets the standards of the people living there. Care must take place amongst managers regarding the relationship between the home and host country in terms of working practices. Firms need to be sensitive to culture because if they dont it can cause failed joint ventures as well as misunderstandings. Their cultural differences need to be respected across borders. Employees in the organisation must be aware of norms and the general customs when entering the host country. Businesses need to understand the impact that cultural differences have on the career progression of their employees and on communication and decision-making, Firms can solve the problems of cultural difference by engaging in cross- cultural training. S ome researchers have stated that Wal-Mart is way behind the knowledge of the locals taste. One of the reasons that failed Wal-Mart internationally is when it attempt to transport the companys unique culture and retailing concept to each new country. Gilman (2004) asserts that in Wal-Mart overseas expansion, it has been trying hard to launch the supercenter concept, therefore the corporate culture does not match the national culture. Understanding cultural difference allows managers to develop policies to manage cross cultural activities. In this essay we have seen that internationalisation of a business has exposed the business to different norms when crossing cultural borders because more firms move away and enter new markets. A comparison between National cultures is important. We have seen the clash in the national cultures between countries as well as the corporate culture. We can clearly see that how culture plays an important role in the success of a global company. The theory clearly compares how companies like Wal-Mart try to impose the same norms on all its foreign markets. The approaches to solving cultural differences clearly assume that firms will be given advantages. Culture should be the heart of the organisation because we can clearly see that it determines the success or failure of the firm. It is up to the employees in the organisation who exist within the corporate culture to understand the outside environment culture because we must see culture as ever changing. In order to solve the problem with c ulture we must learn to adapt. The company needs strategy development in order to overcome the hurdles caused by cultural differences. We can clearly see that every country and region has their own culture; therefore global companies must have a good understanding. Culture is clearly the way of life for people so it is only natural that companies leave their ethnocentric culture where they basically see only their own culture rather than the Polycentric culture. This creates conflict as we have seen in both corporate cultures as well as national culture. In order to overcome such problems global companies need to acknowledge the diverse culture around them. No more assumption and judgment because people learn culture through what they are taught. It is only natural for global companies to put in effect strategies allowing them to adapt to the cultural changes. If we take the company Coca Cola strategy which changed the sweetness of their soda to meet the consumers taste buds in diff erent countries. They did not neglect the needs of the local people; they therefore have the full respect of their culture and history. We have seen how cultural theories like Hofstede can allow global companies to take into consideration the cultural cluster that effects society but the problem with this theory is more based on how the organisation can improve culture difference inside the global company rather than the environment outside the organisation.

Card readers :: essays research papers

1. OPEN EEPROM Just what it means - open a saved EEPROM image 2. SAVE AS This has 3 options (different ways to save the image of the card) a. NORMAL HEX b. ASCII ENCODED HEX c. BIN FILE 3. VIEW This has 5 options:. a. ATR INFO- this is a break down of what is in the ATR of your card b. HU MAP- this is a map of where different data is at on the hu image. c. TIER DATA- is the data from the different tiers on the card d. EEPROM DUMP- is what you see after you read the card and then pull it. e. MESSAGE WINDOW- is the first thing you see when you put your card in. 4. EEPROM This has 7 options: a. CLEAN EEPROM - This is what you do when you want to clean any data off your hu image b. CLEAR PASSWORD - This is what you use to clear the pass word from a card that has one on it. c. CLEAR IRD - This has two options: 1. UMMARRY- this will unmarry the card to use in another ird 2. SET TO VIRGIN- that is what it does. d. CMD 90 BLOCKING - This has two options 1. TURN ON 2. TURN OFF e. FIX ATR 4TH BYTE - This is for IVAC cards. f. PATCH FILE - This has two options. (also used to patch a file into your image or card) 1. NORMAL HEX FILE 2. EXTREME HEX FILE g. CAM/ZKT TOOLS - This has three options 1. STORE CAM/ZKT 2. PATCH CAM/ZKT 3. SAVE CAM/ZKT FOR H CARD E. CARD - This has 5 options a. CHECK ATR - will do just that. b. UTILITIES - This has 6 options 1. CHANGE AREA- this is to change time zone, zip and locals byte 2. CLEAR PASSWORD 3. CLEAR IRD - This has 2 options under it aa. UNMARRY bb. SET TO VIRGIN 4. CMD 90 BLOCKING - Again has two options aa. TURN ON bb. TURN OFF 5. FIX 4TH BYTE 6. READ USW - This tells you what your USW is. c. READ CARD - This is always the first thing you do....read your card. d. WRITE CARD - This has two options 1. CURRENT EEPROM - This will write the current EEPROM image that you have loaded. 2. HEX FILE - This will write a hex file to the card

Revolution :: essays research papers

Revolution   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Destruction of statues, screaming in the streets, rash actions, hasty decisions, and adrenaline-influenced outbursts. Prim and proper, fancy meetings, organized schedules, time for tea, and the thought of perfection. Total opposites are bound to clash at sometime or another, and for America, that time was now. The movie â€Å"Revolution† shows us movingly and realistically how the Revolutionary War was led up to, how the years of battles continued, and how finally victory was attained.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poor King George III had no idea what hit him. All of the colonies now had their own governments to lean on, their own Declaration of Independence already being passed out among the people, and their own â€Å"volunteer† army. The famous â€Å"Liberty or Death† was their cry. No more repression for the people of America, they believed that God was on their side, and it was time for freedom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the battles began, first they were tiny squabbles that were simple and not messy. But as time passed, so did being civilized, anything and everything that would hurt the enemy in any way that could be done, was done. For that reason, on top of others, hospitals were needed. They were lacking in every department except for amputation. But since sanitary conditions were impossible, almost all had their wounds infected, and would die from the aftermath of that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During battles there was always a flag present. No matter what happened, there was always someone carrying the flag. As soon as someone would get taken out, another would run and pick it up to show that you just can’t keep a good man down. Also, when people traveled in and out of battle areas, they would need flags to show their business and whom they supported. For example, if a wagon came in that brought rations for the colonists, they would first need to pay a toll, have an American flag, and a white flag to show they weren’t in battle. But usually, and unfortunately, in the heat of madness and testosterone, those battle codes were not heeded.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fighting tactics were primitive. It usually was to make the other army move back a smidgen, take a break, then try again to kill, kill, kill. For the British, when a battle was won over a colony, they would parade through the streets with the remaining soldiers, the wounded and captured American soldiers. Any person who didn’t support the British was taken prisoner and was used as ‘examples’ for the others.

Living in 1900 or 1750?

Between the years 1750 and 1900, there were many important changes to agriculture, transport and education. These were generally for the better yet perhaps didn't affect everyone to the same degree. Looking at each we will see if everyone's life was changed for the better. Looking firstly at transport, it can be seen that by 1900 transport had improved greatly, instead of everyone walking and riding bikes people could go on a steam boat or train. The railways were excellent as it meant that fresh food like fish could be delivered and people could go to the seaside whereas before people who didn't live near the sea couldn't get food such as fish as there was no way for fish to travel. Also people from the country could never go to the seaside or go out on day trips as the only transport that they had was themselves or bikes , but in 1900 they could go nearly anywhere on the steam train. Most people's lives were changed for the better but it wasn't cheap to ride the train so it didn't help poor people at all. Secondly, when we look at education in 1900, it has also improved. In 1750 very few children went to school and those children who did were from very rich families. Hardly any children could read or write except those who were rich enough to go to school, whereas in 1900 nearly everyone could read and write because school was compulsory for all five to twelve year old children, both boys and girls. By 1900 there were ten universities in England, five in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Ireland. Nearly everyone's lives changed for the better, as most people could read and write so they could get decent jobs. Thirdly, while we look at agriculture we can see that it has dramatically changed. Agriculture in 1750 was based on the British Empire. The cattle and livestock were from the places in the British Empire and so were all the crops. But in 1900 the British Empire had developed rapidly so there were many new and exotic crops for Britain to eat. It changed peoples live for the better as they had a more balanced diet with lots of new fruits and all other crops. Also working conditions changed a lot during these years. In 1750 there were very little industries which were known as cottage industries as they worked in small workshops next to there homes. Whereas in 1900 there were loads of huge factories instead of small workshops. In 1750 there was hardly any pollution if any but in 1900 the air was full of pollution because of the factories. The factories in 1900 were illuminated and had safe guards on most dangerous machines. I think in some aspects it had changed for the better but in others it hadn't. It had changed for the better because it was safer and the factories produced loads of goods but there were lots of pollution. Medicine in 1750 was appalling, nobody knew anything. There were know vaccinations or anything, but in 1900 anaesthetics and antiseptics were developed so now, most patients didn't die of shock. Also Louis Pasteur had discovered that germs cause disease, this led to vaccines being developed for diphtheria and other diseases. Also sewers were installed and the water supplies were a lot better, this cut back the amount of germs around. This changed everyone's lives for better as the vaccinations were available for all. I would rather live in 1900 as the way of life is a lot better. Louis Pasteur had discovered that germs caused disease which helped develop vaccinations. I would like to live in 1900 as school is compulsory so nearly everyone can read and write.