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Essays

Given how turbulent global economies have become, the daily lives of workers in all developed nations are more uncertain, stressful and filled with distrust than ever before. It is the challenge before leaders as the…

Michael Dell's leadership of the company he founded shows an innate ability to overcome difficult industry-wide shifts in direction while at the same time being able to completely redefine their business model, reinventing themselves in the process. The intent of this analysis is to illustrate how Michael Dell has architected his company so that his and his team's transformational leadership makes a significant and profitable impact on operations globally. Dell is highly customer-centered and also relies extensively on analytics, business intelligence (BI) and key performance indicators (KPIs). The Dell culture is a complex one that combines the greatest strengths of engineering expertise, financial and cost analysis, customer-based analysis and manufacturing process expertise all integrated into a unified, globally-based strategic platform (Economist, 2001). Driving this culture away from a purely being PC and systems-focused to embracing software, Michael Dell has shown the ability to reinvent the business model if his company multiple times (MacSweeney, 2006). The latest strategies defined in 2009 to dominate cloud computing and virtualization through the unique integration of systems software, hardware and interprocess integration shows how transformational of a leader Michael Dell is (Woodward, 2009). This transformation mindset was evident in how, despite many in the industry claiming his direct sales model that included innovative build-to-order processes, would disintermediate indirect, multichannel selling channels (McCartney, 1995). In fact Michael Dell never actually believed this as he saw the PC industry then and even more today as a very diverse, complex ecosystem that requires a very broad base of suppliers, buyers, channel partners and disruptive innovations to keep it moving forward (Dell Investor Relations, 2012). Michael Dell is a transformational leader in that he can quickly mobilize his company to pursue challenging, very difficult objectives despite economic conditions making the attainment of these goals difficult (Woodward, 2009). His transformational leadership is responsible for several significant innovations in the PC, tablet, laptop and server marketing, sales, production and service processes of one of the most profitable industries globally (Dell Investor Relations, 2012). This paper analyzes his most significant contributions to the PC industry specifically and complex manufacturing in general.

Economic globalization is regarded as an economic reform activity in reaction to the deterioration of the Fordist method of bulk production as well as consumption that was initiated during the latter part of the 1960s…

Current Situation a. Past Corporate Performance

The world is evolving at a rapid pace and this is probably due to the rapid advancements developed by the it industry. Since Information Technology sets the pace at which the society evolves, it is only natural for it…

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts evolved into a leading player in the luxury resort niche in Asia. As part of its strategic growth strategy, Banyan Tree launched new brands that included resorts, spas, retail facilities, and even culturally relevant museum shops. The company is desirous of continued growth, and believes with the new propensity towards globalism that it must manage its brand portfolio and expand its business organization while, at the same time, preserving the strong brand image and distinctive identity of the flagship brand, Banyan Tree.

The Augustin Hotel located in Bergen Norway is the oldest family-run hotel in Bergen. The Augustin "...combine[s] old world charm with modern sophistication." (Hotelgenie.com) Hotel Augustin was built in 1909 in what is…

As the leading provider of consumer, commercial and institutional soap, cleansers, and packaged goods, Procter & Gamble (P&G) (NYSE:PG) has chosen to take a global leadership position in the areas of sustainability and environmental effectiveness. The cornerstone of the strategic initiatives is the development of a thorough methodology for assessing, analyzing, measuring, and reporting corporate-wide performance to sustainability goals and guidelines. P&G has isolated the greatest potential risks to their sustainability objectives as being in their globally-based supply chain (Warner, 2008). To gain greater insights into how they can alleviate the significant risk associated with suppliers, who if not well managed could jeopardize the entire series of strategic initiatives surrounding sustainability, P&G created the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard (P&G, 2010a). The methodology behind this scorecard form the basis of measurement, assessment and reporting systems within P&G today and have since been emulated by other suppliers as well, as their results are quantifiable (Richardson, 2005). Previous to the scorecard being defined, P&G often relied on a wide range of metrics, scorecards and analytics platforms that were never in sync with one another, often causing less-than-optimal levels of quality to be attained (P&G, 2010). There was also a significant level of siloed operations going on, as P&G operates across more than 130 counties and dominates the top-of-mind awareness levels in each national and global market those choose to compete in. While P&G is best known for its marketing prowess, its supply chain and quality management operations, and now its sustainability initiatives, have gained it significant traction in global markets (Joseph, 2010). According to the latest annual reports from P&G, the global soap and cleaning compound manufacturing industry is valued at $54.7B in 2011, growing at a relative flat 3.7% compound annual growth rate through 2012. P&G holds a commanding share in this industry globally, challenged by well-known brands including Colgate-Palmolive, Ecolab and S.C. Johnson, in addition to a few more dozen smaller competitors scattered across geographic regions. P&G competes across many sub-segments of the consumer and commercial cleaning markets, personal care, personal and commercial soap in addition to consumer packaged goods. Of their many lines of business however, P&G faces the toughest challenges in the areas of government regulation and continued government monitoring of environmental performance in the chemically-based production processes it has. Of the several agencies that routinely monitor and at times even fine P&G if they do not comply with government requirements, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often the most rigorous and thorough in their assessments (Joseph, 2010). The costs of non-compliance for P&G can be in the tens of millions of dollars and can also significantly slow down a new product introduction process as well (Warner, 2008). A lack of quality management is such a significant risk for the company that they have chosen to attack it as an opportunity to gain greater lean manufacturing and process workflows into their company. This more aggressive stance on quality management has helped to save the company literally millions of dollars in fines while also setting the foundation for greater performance gains through its green and sustainability-based initiatives globally (P&G, 2010). P&G has also appointed a Vice President of SustainAbility who has the primary role of ensuring all sustainability initiatives and programs are coordinated and work towards the strategic objectives the company has (Joseph, 2010). Not satisfied with the role being within a functional area, P&G has elevated this position to report directly to the CEO, creating a position that has oversight of nearly 75,000 suppliers globally. P&G has also given this person direct accountability for the performance of each product division and brand to the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecards mentioned in this analysis. The integration of metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs) and the use of corporate-wide and by-division Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecards has helped P&G surpass even its own expectations and led to sustainability objectives being achieved (Warner, 2008). The remainder of this analysis includes an assessment of the progress P&G is making on their sustainable business objectives, an analysis of the measurement methods they are using and reporting including the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard, in addition to a series of recommendations and a conclusion.

¶ … leadership in an American company. Specifically it will research former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner and his leadership style. Lou Gerstner served as CEO of International Business Machines (IBM) from 1993 through 2002.

The revenue models exemplified in the following lines are: web catalog, digital content, advertising supported, advertising subscription mixed, fee for transaction, fee for service.