Nadler Tushman Congruence Model Essays (Examples)

This would give accurate financial position of the business entity at the end of the financial year. Skype Limited would also measure performance of the group by evaluating on how the objectives of the groups meet the needs and preferences of the market. This would give the ideal position of the business entity within the market segments (Gomes, 2010).

Individual Level

What are some of the key individual functions?

One of the key individual functions that enhance the performance of Skype Limited is the role of the chief executive officer. He ensures that all operations and processes of the business entity are in line with the mission, vision, and goals of the company. He oversees implementation of new strategies and technologies in order to address the ever-changing preferences of the market segmentations. In order to this, it is necessary to have information about the market and the industry. This would…

Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model Analysis of Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market, Inc. is one of the admired organizations in the modern economy through implementation of quality strategies towards the achievement of its goals and objectives. The strategy of the organization focuses on the need to enhance quality and efficiency in the provision of products and services to the consumers. This strategy of the Whole Foods Market, Inc. is under the differentiation strategy in accordance with the Porter's three generic competitive strategies. The inputs at Whole Foods Market consisting of organizational environment factors, internal resource factors, and historical tradition factors are highly congruent with the company's strategy.

Whole Foods Market's Strategy

Whole Foods Market, Inc. is one of the admired organizations in the modern economy through implementation of quality strategies towards the achievement of its goals and objectives. In the process of executing its functions and obligations, the organization faces various challenges…

In the short run, the company has an uphill battle to establish itself in a tough market -- Palm's past successes in the industry are almost irrelevant at this point -- but in the long run the potential exists for HP/Palm to develop game-changing technology.

The overall strategic fit therefore is only partially congruent. Internally, the three factors are congruent with each other. The resources, environments and histories of these two companies are complementary of one another. HP has experience in fighting tough battles in personal computing, and the combination of the two firms' technologies, brands and customer bases should be successful. The missing element is strategy. In this case, there are a lot of assumptions that HP makes with respect to the value of Palm technology. The strategy rests on this key resource input being highly congruent and relevant to the external environment. If it is not congruent with…

Input Diagnosis

The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model evolved out of open systems theory as a tool for organizational diagnosis (Falletta, 2005), and is arguably the most complete tool available, in that while complex it has the ability to capture the subtlety and nuance real world corporations. Performance in this model is dictated by strategy, culture, structure, work and people. The key is that these different variables should all be aligned towards a single, unified strategy. If that is the case, the organization will have a higher level of performance, because the different organizational inputs are complementing each other. Where there is misalignment, resources are not working in a synergistic way, and the result is a lot less effective. (MindTools, 2014).

The organizational diagnosis under the congruence model requires the user to have a high level of knowledge about the organization. A tool has been developed, known as the diagnostic funnel, that…

Business

Selecting an OD Model

Determining which OD model should be used to examine a firm will require consideration of the different available OD models and assessment of which is most likely to meet the needs of the analyst. Invariably, whichever model is chosen, the quality the analysis will be based on the quality of the input information and skills of the analyst, rather than simply reliant on the tool itself (Mintzberg et al., 2011).

There are a number of choices. The 7 S's model has some advantages; with the seven factors this provides a relatively simplistic approach towards examining an organization, with the different factors providing a comprehensive analytical framework. However, the structure does not provide for a high level of integration of the different factors, so may not be the optimal model. A similar fragmented approach to different factors may be seen in many of the other models,…

Business Studies

Assessment of Whole Foods Market Outputs with the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model

The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model may be used to analyze the performance of an organization, looking at the output across three different levels; the organizational level, the group level and individual level. XCG been undertaken an analysis of Whole Foods Market, and after determining that this model may provide them with the most useful information for an analysis of the company, the analysis needs to be undertaken, using the information that is a ready been collected.

Outputs at the Organizational Level

The firm is a retailer of healthy, organic food, therefore the first output achieved through all of the stores, with the sale of food to its target market. This output is achieved through the company's role as a middleman intermediary in the supply chain. The firm identifies and purchases products from upstream suppliers, including local organic farmers…

Business

Outputs at Whole Foods Market

Organizational Level Outputs

Group Level Outputs

Individual Level Outputs

Is There Congruence?

Whole Foods Market is one of the preeminent organic food retailers in the U.S. The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model provides an effective framework for The Excellence Consulting Group (XCG) to analyze the organization, and assess the outputs to determine how the performance of the firm stacks up against the goals. The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model examines outputs by looking at three levels; the organizational, group, and individual level. Examining these outputs will also allow an examination of the overall congruence that is archived by the firm.

2.

Organizational Level Outputs

At an organizational level there are a number of outputs. As Whole Foods Market is a retailer of organic healthy food, the first and most apparent output is the sale of the firms' products to its customers. This is an output that is the…

MSFT Skype

The Nadler Tushman Congruence Model is an organizational diagnostic tool that can help to provide insight into the underlying reasons why a company is or is not enjoying success. For Skype, this model is ideal for understanding the transactional aspects of the company, most particularly how Skype can be made to be profitable. It is important for Microsoft, if it is to keep the core Skype business going, that this business is profitable. The model focuses on inputs, throughputs and outputs. Right now, some outputs are healthy, such as market share and customer base, but other outputs such as revenues and profits could be improved upon. The model should help to deliver insight about potential ways to improve the lagging outputs. . Generally, the conclusion will be to find elements of the inputs and throughputs that are not congruent with the desired outputs.

The claim that arises from…

Organizational Outputs -- Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model

Company Summary: Nutrisystem, Inc.

A supplier of weight management products and services, Nutrisystem was founded in 1972 and has headquarters in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Nutrisystem customers reside primarily in North America, but pre-packages products are sold through the Internet, by telephone, on QVC television shopping network. The company manufactures four specific weight management programs, including: Nutrisystem Women, Nutrisystem Men, Nutrisystem Select, Nutrisystem D. program which is a low glycemic program for people with type 2 diabetes; Nutrisystem Silver; Nutrisystem Flex which is a 28-day program; and Nutrisystem J. Diet, which is a 14-day program that is sold in Japan. In addition to the pre-packaged food programs, the company offers online tools and counseling to support weight management.

Company Outputs: Nutrisystem Inc.

The company's value proposition is: Well-positioned brand in a large addressable market with a proven and effective weight loss system.

Organizational outputs. Nutrisystem employs…

Sears

The Nadler Tushman Congruence Model "is based on the principle that performance is derived from four elements: tasks, people, structure and culture" (MindTools.com, 2011). The company's performance can be explained by analyzing these different elements of the organization. At Sears, the performance in recent years has been disappointing. Under heavy pressure from discounters like al-Mart and Target, warehouse stores like Costco and category killers like Home Depot and Lowe's, Sears has struggled to maintain its customer base. The company has seen its revenues and profits decline steadily over the past five years (MSN Moneycentral, 2011). The company's balance sheet, while not unhealthy, is also weakening, with debt becoming an increasingly high percentage of the firm's capital structure.

The Nadler Tushman Congruence Model implies that the reasons for this poor performance can be explained by the internal phenomenon at Sears. Essentially, if the work, strategy, people and structure are not…

The ways in which they manage their dealer network dictates in part the degree to which the company will achieve its objectives.

The final critical input group for Harley Davidson is resources. As Harley's demographic has aged, its consumers have become more demanding in terms of features and ease of maintenance. This has resulted in the development of a key resource - technology. Harley Davidson typically acquires technology rather than developing it. For example, they formed a joint venture with Porsche for expertise in engine emission compliance. This illustrates that although Harley Davidson's research and development program is focused on incremental improvements, other motorcycle manufacturers are driving the industry in terms of technological advancement, forcing Harley to keep up at least a little bit.

Therefore, developing such joint ventures and other partnerships is a means crucial for Harley to acquire needed innovation. Of all the most important inputs, technology is…

HP Palm Outputs

In the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model, outputs comprise everything that derives from the organization's activities. Thus, there are many categories of outputs. These include financial outputs (revenue, costs, profit), operational outputs (products, efficiency), human resource outputs (wages, benefits, employee turnover) and market outputs (market share, stock price). The congruence model seeks to explain a firm's relative success by analyzing its output performance in the context of the organization's goals. hen the organization's inputs are aligned with its goals, it should be expected that the outputs would also be congruent with the goals. If the outputs are not congruent with the goals, the organization has not been successful, and at that point the inputs and throughputs need to be analyzed in order to determine where the organization failed. This paper will focus on the outputs at Palm, in particular those that are determined to be most important to the…

JAKKS Pacific’s Strategy

JAKKS has largely been seeking to expand and further consolidate its position in the market via strategic acquisitions and offering of numerous classes of products that appeal to a wide client base. As a matter of fact, from the company’s internal analysis, one of its key strengths is the production and marketing of a wide array of products. This the company accomplishes via the numerous licensing agreements it has in place with well-known toy character trademarks. In essence, JAKKS Pacific “designs, produces, markets and distributes toys and related products, pet toys, consumables and related products, electronics and related products, kids indoor and outdoor furniture, and other consumer products” (Reuters, 2018). However, the company spends little on R&D efforts, unlike is the case with some of its key competitors such as Mattel. The differentiation strategy would not fit too well with JAKKS Pacific’s strategy as it calls for…

Nadler Tushman Inputs

Google has a young organizational history, but that is part of what shapes its culture. The Google website was launched in 1999, just 15 years ago. Since that point, the company has done nothing but grow rapidly, and the result has been impressive. Google has come to dominant Internet traffic, and advertising, to the point where traditional advertising media often struggle. Further, Google has become a leading innovator. It has large market shares with Chrome and Android, and many of its websites as well.

Google's youth is actually a strategic asset, a key input in the Nadler Tushman Congruence Model. First, its industry is one characterized by a rapid pace of innovation. To lead that Google has adopted a different culture and organizational structure that most other companies have done. It draws on its brief history of innovation to inspire the people working at the company, and…

Nadler Tushman Outputs

In the Nadler-Tushman congruence model, there are three different levels of outputs. The first level is the financial, and on that measure Google has done very well. The company has increased its revenue and earnings substantially since its inception, such that it now earns $59.8 billion with net earnings of $12.9 billion. The Google balance sheet is freakish, with $58.7 billion in cash and equivalents. So the company literally has more money than it knows what to do with. This situation is actually not great for shareholders, as they get a fairly low return on capital. The stock is trading over $500. The book value of the equity is $87.3 billion and the company's market cap is $346.7 billion, which indicates that the shareholders are generally getting good value for their investment in Google. The earnings are so high that even at this valuation, Google is trading…

Nadler Tushman

esources and environment are two the inputs in the Nadler Tushman congruence model. The company's strategy should reflect, among other factors, its external environment and its internal resources. The environment for Google is generally positive. Google operates in an environment characterized by a rapid pace of technological change. Thus, there is considerable emphasis on innovation as a means of maintaining competitive advantage. Over the years, Google has added a number of different methods to drive traffic, including expansion of its content offerings and the introduction of Android and Chrome, as a means of leveraging innovation to achieve its desired outputs.

The environment is also highly competitive, because Google operates in the advertising industry. The company must compete not only against other online advertisers, but Google must also compete against conventional media. While it uses its data superiority to outcompete traditional media there is little doubt that winning advertiser…

Whole Foods Market

Which Organizational Diagnosis Model Is Best to Use at Whole Foods Market

Open Systems Theory

Weisbord's Six-Box Model

McKinsey 7S Framework

Likert System Analysis (1967)

High-Performance Programming

Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model

Methods to use this Tool

Analyze each key element separately

People

ecognize the people that can help to get the work done and help in accomplishing the goals of the organization

Organizational Structure

Culture

Analyze how these Elements Interrelate in the Organization

Plan to Create and Maintain Congruence

Issues of Whole Foods Market

Poor Working Conditions

Failure to Support Farmworkers

Best Model to esolve Issues of Whole Food Markets

eferences

Introduction

In this modern competitive era of rapid transformation and advancement, new organizations must be evolved and developed continuously. More effective learning processes need to be adopted and goal setting and planning processes must be learned and time should be spent to improve and advance the goal-setting…

Org Diagnosis

Organizational Diagnostic Models

Falletta (2005) outlines several different organizational diagnostic models. The first such model is the Force Field model, developed by Kurt Lewin in 1951. In this model, an organization remains in as state of equilibrium until it is shifted out of that state by a driving force that overcomes the restraining forces. The current state then becomes a problem (Falletta, 2005). This model can be used to explain what situation an organization is in, and even how that situation came about. The downside is that it provides little in terms of information about how the company can move to its new equilibrium point. But Lewin's model explains how companies enter into an equilibrium state. The company's current equilibrium has still allowed for steady gains in revenue and profit based on growth, but stability in profit margin (MSN Moneycentral, 2014).

Leavitt's model is a somewhat different representation…

The result of this is a company that consistent meets its objectives for cost reduction, growth and profits.

orks Cited

Faletta, Salvatore. (2005). Organizational Diagnostics Models: A Review & Synthesis. Leadersphere.com. Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://www.leadersphere.com/img/Orgmodels.pdf

Nadler, David; Tushman, Michael & Nadler, Mark B. (1997) Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture. pp. 28-39 Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://books.google.com/books?id=pemtYXc1Y1gC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=nadler+tushman+congruence+model&source=web&ots=QI3cHfVfu&sig=LO7-ujjwO6zj0ebfkBwQxDkBcBM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result

Cawsey, Tupper F. & Deszca, Gene. (2007). Toolkit for Organizational Change. Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://books.google.com/books?id=4MMwBA8p-aIC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=nadler+tushman+congruence+model&source=web&ots=bjMrF2z1C&sig=oai_PqK3gQ3OZDFPvyKtT-frQYY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result

Lundberg, Annie (2002). al-Mart: IT Inside the orld's Biggest Company. CIO Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://www.cio.com/article/31174/al_Mart_IT_Inside_the_orld_s_Biggest_Company

Bradley, Stephen & Ghemawat, Pankaj. (2002). al*Mart Stores, Inc. Harvard Business School. 9-794-024

Video: Is al-Mart Good for America. PBS. Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/

Faletta, Salvatore. (2005). Organizational Diagnostics Models: A Review & Synthesis. Leadersphere.com.

Nadler, David; Tushman, Michael & Nadler, Mark B. (1997) Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational…

Skype competes as a differentiated player in the VoIP industry. The company's business model is based on free distribution of its software, and then encouraging users to sign up for a payment plan that covers usage. The company's technology was once innovative but has now been commoditized (Blodget, 2011). The company was recently purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion (Saporito, 2011). The value of the company derives not from the software but from the company's 170 million-strong user base.

The company's strategy therefore relies heavily on throughputs. The most important input for Skype is the technology, which is now common. The technology allows users to interact with each other, using text messaging, voice or video calls. The company charges for this service, but still loses money. The main input for Microsoft is the user base. ithout the massive user base, Skype has little intrinsic value and little means of generating…

Skype MSFT

In 2010, Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion, and at the time many observers were unsure of what value Skype had for the software giant (Bright, 2011). According to some, Skype's core VoIP business is subject to commoditization (Ricknas, 2008). Another issue that Microsoft must address is Skype's business model. Prior to the purchase, Skype had filed for an IPO and the filing documents reveal some major financial issues for the company. hile it states that part of its strategy is to attract more users of both free and paid products, its income statement indicates that the users of free services are not making enough paid contributions to cover the cost of servicing them. Although the Skype user base was growing year-over-year, the company's profitability was declining. The company lost $1.4 billion on revue of $381 million in FY2007, turned a small profit in FY2008 and then proceeded…

(Schmidt, 2012)

A good example of this can be seen with Whole Foods discussing how they are meeting these long-term objectives with the firm stating, "We believe that companies, like individuals, must assume their share of responsibility as tenants of Planet Earth. We actively support organic farming, the best methods for promoting sustainable agriculture and protecting farm workers / the environment. We also aim to protect the environment by supporting alternative sources of energy and recycling or compositing our waste. We are actively involved in our communities by supporting food banks, sponsoring neighborhood events and contributing at least 5% of the total net profits to charities. Our vision of a sustainable future means our children and grandchildren will be living in a world that values human creativity, diversity and individual choice." This is illustrating how Whole Foods Markets is dedicated towards specific groups that share similar performance goals and standards.…

(Colvin, 2013) (Frankel, 2013) (Meador, 2009) (Patton, 2012) ("Porter's Five Forces," 2013)

The buying power of suppliers is illustrating the way Whole Foods is seeking out other producers and whole sellers. That can offer them with a wide selection of products and services. This is helping the company to expand their product line and to offer alternative brands. That is cheaper and has the same standards for quality inside the store. (Colvin, 2013) (Frankel, 2013) (Meador, 2009) (Patton, 2012) ("Porter's Five Forces," 2013)

Identify the most critical inputs in each of the first three categories and justify why they are critical. Also explain what effect the inputs from one category have on inputs from the other categories. How well does the strategy fit with the environmental, resource and historical inputs you identified?

The critical inputs are showing how Whole Foods is concentrating on creating a unique product. That is designed…

The problem is that the people who are in charge of these activities are not very good at what they do. They are simply being outcompeted by other individuals in other organizations.

The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model implies that when there is a high level of congruence between the activities at the individual, group and organizational levels, the company should succeed. Palm is an interesting case study because it counters the Nadler-Tushman model somewhat. The members of the firm are working with a high level of congruence, but they are simply not successful in their endeavors. Consider the distribution question. If the company wants to dominate the industry, it should have a national carrier. It does. But the choice of national carrier was suspect, and the types of distribution deals with Verizon and at&T left something to be desired. Likewise, Palm advertising connotes a high quality product. They are sending the…

The seven variables that have been termed as "levers" by the authors all start with the letter 'S'.

Following are the things included in the seven variables:

-Strategy

-Systems

-Staff

-Skills

-Structure

-Shared values and -Style.

Structure is explained as the skeleton of the organizational chart or an organization. Strategy has been identified by the authors as the path or plan of action that is taken in order to achieve some goals and target over a period of time. Systems are defined as the routine process and procedures that are carried out within the firms. Staff is further divided into the personal categories within the firms (e.g., engineers). The skills refer to the capabilities possessed by the staff that is working within an organization. Style is defined as the way in which the managers behave or act in order to achieve the organizational goals. Shared value variable basically comprises of…

The third important environmental input that Palm will need to analyze and consider is the technological elements. Other than being a consumer-driven industry, this is also a technology-driven market and achieving the declared corporate strategy depends a significant deal on whether Palm can deliver new technological solutions for its users, solutions that will allow the clients to benefit more efficiently from the products that Palm offers.

Other important environmental inputs that can be considered are the socioeconomic factors, notably the way that the global economy is likely to evolve in the future. An economy that will continue its recession is likely, at an aggregate level, to diminish individual incomes as well, which will leave a lesser portion of one's total income be allocated for investment in technologies such as Palm smartphones or other mobile devices.

2. Resources. With the acquisition of Palm by HP, the resources category of the key…

This is also true for inventory turnover. As significant as the impacts of all of these outputs can be on the organization, when improvements are made to multiple outputs, the impact is magnified.

Furthermore, these outputs all contribute to another crucial output for al-Mart, the profits. Profit is the ultimate output for al-Mart, and all of their other key measures relate directly to this objective. Many other outputs at al-Mart, for example staff turnover, intergroup collaboration, or even customer satisfaction are less directly correlated with improvements to profits. Thus, they are not considered to be outputs of equivalent importance to those described above. Those inputs have a high level of congruence with one another. They support one another and combine with each other easily to improve the bottom line.

In areas where the key outputs do not come together, they complement one another. hile improvements to same store sales will…

Organizational Diagnosis of Palm

Palm Computing had reinvented the hand held computer market overnight with the line of PalmPilot and similar devices geared to the mobile gadget industry. According to Clancy (1999), "Palm Computing ultimately sold faster than the videocassette recorder, the color TV, the cell phone, even the personal computer that was its great-grandfather. Introduced in April 1996, within 18 months Palm Computing had shipped more than 1 million units of the handheld and some estimate there were 2 million Palm devices shipped in 1998 alone." (Clancy, 1999)

Such incredible demand for Palm Computing's products were a function of the brilliant and innovative management and design team that launched and built the company. The two prominent executives of the company, responsible for developing product and marketing, and product releases, were Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky.

According to Clancy (1999), "In Hawkins, Silicon Valley has one of its most independent,…

improved, significantly, my ability to understand how the different components of an organization come together to produce outputs, both positive and negative. From the perspective of the manager, it is critical to understand what the components of an organization are, how they work, and how they can be changed to change the organization's outputs to something more desirable. Gaining exposure to the wide range of organizational diagnostic tools, and methodologies for understanding both the internal and external environments, will help immensely going forward in my education, and in my career as well.

I have always felt that I could manage at a front line level, but this course gave me the ability to see the organization from the CEO's perspective, not in terms of base actions but in terms of broad strategies. Knowing how executives place emphasis on specific elements of the organization to achieve their intended results is something…

MSFT Skype V

Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion, and immediately critics of the deal questioned the value that Skype could bring to Microsoft (Bright, 2011). Skype was plagued with old technology that it did not even develop itself (Ricknas, 2008; Kharif, 2009). The company's 2009 SEC filing revealed that its financial condition was terrible. hile the company has been rapidly increasing its user base, less than 10% of users are paying customers and the rate at which paying customers are growing is slower than the rate at which customers in general are growing. There are two feedback loops that are critical to Skype, one of which is negative and one of which is positive. These feedback loops can be identified through the analysis of the company's business and financial statements.

Making a Case

The key balancing feedback loop at Skype is that which keeps the company unprofitable, and this…

corporations, Skype is setting benchmarks by embracing the Nadler-Tushman's Congruence Model. Skype is focusing on various variables that may be a source of influence on its success of embracing change. This means that Skype has the capability to understand the challenges experienced by organizations in the process of introducing change. Skype has used the Nadler-Tushman's Congruence Model to develop several strategies that will ensure that the organization will detect any changes in the external environment. The company achieves this through well-organized interactions within its subsystems. Skype has enhanced its payment methods and the capability of its development through embracing a new payment strategy. This payment strategy is much cheap compared to other softwares; it is convenient for Skype a user.

Alternatively, Skype has embraced another convenient strategy of working together with other partners. This helps the company to realize opportunities for revenue as well as improve the experience of customers.…

Unlike many other corporations, Skype has embraced Nadler-Tushman's Congruence Model. In this case, Skype's looks at the various factors that influence the success of different changing processes. By doing so, Skype has been able to understand the different dynamics that an organization experiences when changes occur. Through this model, Skype has come up with various strategies to ensure that its interaction with other subsystems can detect or scan other changes in the external environment. There is a payment strategy that has enabled Skype shape its payment methods and enhance its capability developments. This has made it convenient for its users to use it more than other softwares, which have higher payments.

On the other hand, Skype has collaborated with other partners as a convenient strategy because it helps them in realizing revenue opportunities and improves customer's experiences. There is also a marketing strategy, which to Skype is a service strategy,…

Business

First discuss the organization's strategy and classify it according to Porter's three generic competitive strategies.

Then identify the most critical inputs in each of the first three categories and justify WHY they are critical. Also explain what effect the inputs from one category have on inputs from the other categories. How well does the strategy fit with the environmental, resource and historical inputs you identified?

Make a Case for your proposition as to how the Key Inputs support (are congruent with) the trategy. pecifically make a claim: "The inputs at kype consisting of Organizational Environment factors. Internal Resource factors, and Historical Tradition factors are, [highly, partially, or minimally] congruent with the company's strategy."

Introduction

kype offers product uniqueness. This is one of Porter's competitive strategies. kype has, in fact, received a reputation as being a highly unique company and indeed it works on being innovative and is constantly producing…

organization 25 employees worked, em-ployed, a -employer organization . Using congruence framework, analyze organization 12 components model: history, environment, resources, & strategy (inputs); task, informal & formal organization, & individuals (throughputs); individual, group, & organizational outputs; feedback loop.

Organizational congruence

The congruence model as put forth by Nadler and Tushman (1980)

suggests that organizations need to have a particular degree of consistency and fit for twelve components in order to achieve success in their strategies. They define congruence as how well the various components within the organization fit together. This means that for any organization, the components that lead to the effectiveness of the model need to be of high quality in order to fit with the others. It can be argued that the congruence model suggests that inputs for the organization must match outputs through making an efficient transformation process and feedback loop. These are the four major categories…

HP Palm

Generic Strategy

Porter's generic strategy typology highlights that firms succeed either by being a cost leader, a differentiated producer or by being a niche player, again with either a cost or differentiated focus (QuickMBA, 2010). Palm's approach is mass market, and the company is essentially competing as a differentiated player. ith its proprietary operating system and lack of ultra-low price points, Palm is clearly adopting the same differentiated strategy with which it had considerable success in the handheld computer industry.

Key Input Factors

The three input categories are environment, resources and history. To be a differentiated producer in the smartphone industry, Palm needs to have a strategy that is congruent with the key factors in each. The most important environmental input is the competitive environment; the most important resource is marketing ability and the most important historical factor is the company's brand. These three key inputs will be…

This benefits both the company and its customers.

The sales and marketing department has a great responsibility in reaching the company's objectives. This department is in charge of establishing the pricing strategy that influences the company's general strategy. The department's employees must ensure that the price is sufficiently high in order to reach the financial targets of the company, but affordable for the company's customers. Also, the success of this department is represented by the fact it has managed to develop and maintain a strong relationship with the country's most important wireless carriers.

The financial department must ensure that the company's resources are allocated to the areas that require them. The successful outputs of this department can be observed in the company's financial statements that report income increases.

The research and development department has clear objectives to reach. In order to become the leader in this industry, Palm must introduce…

Generally, online students need to have a high level of self-motivation for their studies. Being aimed towards the adult, working student body, Strayer attracts students who are not motivated only by the subject matter of their studies, but also by what this can mean in terms of their self-development. This extra level of motivation is encouraged by the structure and aims of Strayer University. This relates to the individual needs and goals variable.

Each student entering the university has a specific goal for furthering their studies; they wish to improve their careers or themselves in some way. This serves as motivation to not only complete, but also to excel at their studies. This is so for both online and campus students. Lecturers in turn are motivated by the needs of these students to deliver excellence in the material that they offer learners, in order to ensure excellent student performance not…

Perau Victor

Technology in the Business Environment Exam

The central tenet of Carr's perspective is that contrary to popular belief, information technology is the latest in a series of broadly adopted technologies that have reshaped industry. Furthermore, though fast-adopting companies gained advantages initially, now IT is merely a commodity input as availability increases and cost plummets much like the use of the telephone and electric power. Carr advocates a defensive posture for IT management -- spend less and focus on vulnerabilities, not opportunities. Langer addresses the same issue, however he takes a more opportunistic and ambitious perspective on IT management advocating a philosophy of adaptive organization. He argues that much like IT is a dynamic field, its management must also be flexible and ready to change. To critique Carr's perspective that IT is a fixed commodity, IT is instead as per Langer a driving force in innovation which leads to…

It has been mentioned above that staff are chosen on the basis of the field expertise as well as educational excellence (Strayer University, 2010). Staff and faculty are dedicated not only to the teaching and learning process, but also to the students themselves. Input by these individuals concern the clients directly, and is provided in the form of direct service. All staff are available for consultation outside of classroom hours, to provide extra help to students who need this. In addition to such personal communication, education is also provided in a practicable way, so that students can use the education they receive immediately within their existing workplace or when entering a new profession.

Groups are identified both internally and externally. Within each campus, the University has functional groups in the form of various faculties, including Business and Management, Liberal Arts, and so on, to cater for each subject field offered.…