Research Korner: Dell Case Studies

Marketing Strategies of Computer Companies

Marketing Strategies of Computer Companies                 An enterprise will not establish its name on its own. Word of mouth among   consumers not enough in reaching the wider market. Extensive promotions are   necessary in catching the attention of the public and getting a larger base of   customers. Thus, marketing strategies are needed to have a more systematic   way of seizing the opportunities for the business.               Marketing strategy is the method of allowing the organization’s limited   resources to concentrate on a course of action that will lead to increased sales   and dominance of a targeted market. Marketing strategy basically identifies the   business’s objectives and goals and how they will be achieved in a specific   period of time. Also, a marketing strategy is a combination of processes such as   product development, promotion, pricing and distribution. It determines the   choice of targeted market sections together with its positioning, marketing mix   and allocation of resources.               It is important to realize for an enterprise particularly for those starting   ones that marketing strategy is one of the biggest factors that would determine   the success or failure of the business. The size and nature of the enterprise is   irrelevant, what only matter is getting the right marketing strategies and the   business will prosper. However, there is confusion between marketing strategy   and advertising. Advertising mainly concerns on attracting possible customers   through commercials and promotions, while marketing strategy encompasses   every aspect on running the business, not only focusing on the behavior of the   market but also on organizational efficiency.               On the other hand, marketing strategies are changing through the times   because of the changing industries as well. Not all marketing strategies of the   traditional industries are applicable to the revolutionary digital industries of the   21st century age. Due to the modern living that is technologically heavily   dependent, the computer industry has been booming ever since. But, the   competition grows as well. Thus, different marketing strategies are developed to   be more efficient in running the business while attracting more customers and   surviving in the tight competition.               Apple Inc. has been one of the most popular computer brands across the   globe. Known for its Macintosh line of computers and related software, Apple has   emerged to dominate the market in the recent decade. The consumers of   electronic industry have been awed by its product such as the iPod, the digital   music distributor iTunes Music Store, and the incredible smart phone iPhone.               Apple is notable for its branding strategy that is about lifestyle,   imagination, innovation, passion and power-to-the-people through technology.   The Apple brand is about simplicity and removal of complexity from life through   people-driven product design.               Also, there is brand architecture viewpoint that maintains a monolithic   brand identity that automatically connotes association with the Apple name. The   prefix “i” is used for consumer products such as iTunes, iPod, and iPhone. While   the “Mac” is used for a large number of Apple’s products referring to computers   such as MacBook and Mac Mini.               On one hand, Dell had different marketing strategy that helped the   company to engrave its name in the industry.               Dell is among the world’s leading computer manufacturers that   transformed and diversified the business industry spanning for over 20 years.   Dell has gained market leadership through its unique approach of separate   manufacturing processes so that the company is not reliant on singular   production for supplier’s chain for equipment. By assigning each regionalized   production, there would be a center for particular computer components to   increase the organizational efficiency and maximize the business infrastructure.               Also, Dell’s product pricing mostly reflects on the affordability of the local   customers. A good example is the production plants based on Xiamen, China   that has been able to provide products and services without incurring additional   costs to price. Location strategy largely affects the aspect of marketing   campaign. The so-called “local Dell” offers cheaper products because it has no   additional costs of distribution. Dell has not concentrated on extensive marketing   campaigns until 1999, when customers from UK filed complaints for the company   not following the guidelines and promises of the Dell’s promotional campaign.   Thus, it moved the firm to adapt the “Be Direct” attitude in dealing with   customers.               Surviving in the tight market competition is a tough fight. But, it would be   easier if the organization is ready and armed with definite plans particularly its   marketing strategies. However, besides the knowledge that is necessary in   running the business smoothly, dedication and commitment is far more important           References:   Marketing Strategies to Sell Computer Monitors, August 2010, http://www.ehow.com   Business Marketing Strategy Essentials, http://www.bizrave.com/   Apple's Branding Strategy, http://www.marketingminds.com.au

Marketing Strategies of Computer Companies

Marketing Strategies of Computer Companies An enterprise will not establish its name on its own. Word of mouth among...

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM   Table of Contents  TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM.. PAGEREF _Toc29163772 \h 2 SWOT Analysis. PAGEREF _Toc29163773 \h 3 Strengths. PAGEREF _Toc29163774 \h 4 Weaknesses. PAGEREF _Toc29163775 \h 5 Opportunities. PAGEREF _Toc29163776 \h 6 Threats. PAGEREF _Toc29163777 \h 7 Strategic Choices of IBM.. PAGEREF _Toc29163778 \h 8 Openness. PAGEREF _Toc29163779 \h 8 Reduction of the Cost of Service. PAGEREF _Toc29163780 \h 10 Justification of Strategic Resources. PAGEREF _Toc29163781 \h 11 Openness. PAGEREF _Toc29163782 \h 11 Reduction of the Cost of Service. PAGEREF _Toc29163783 \h 12 References. PAGEREF _Toc29163784 \h 13 Appendices. PAGEREF _Toc29163785 \h 14 Appendix A: IBM: Background Information.. PAGEREF _Toc29163786 \h 14 Table of Figures  TOC \h \z \c "Figure" Figure 1 SWOT Analysis of IBM.. PAGEREF _Toc217382641 \h 4 Figure 2 Openness Strategy. PAGEREF _Toc217382642 \h 9 Figure 3 Reduction of the Cost of Service. PAGEREF _Toc217382643 \h 10     Introduction             As of now, there are different internal and external factors that are affecting the performance of each and every individual in an organization and the overall performance itself. In addition, it can be seen that those companies that are operating in the global market are the one that are directly affected due to the different changes. The said change is driven by transformation of local and international market such as the financial and economic situation of the world, trends in the local and international market as well as the changing tastes, preferences and behaviors of the customers. All of the said factors are considered as connected with each other, thus creating changes that are important in order to sustain the position of a company in the global market.             As a result, more and more companies are focusing on the process of evaluation of their current position in the local and global market which focuses on analyzing their internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the different external environment factors that can cause threats and opportunities for the company. All of the said factors can be used in the process of decision-making in different activities and plans that are needed to be done in order to ensure competitive advantage and position in the market.   Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM             International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), also known as the Big Blue is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation that is located in Armonk, New York, USA. IBM is considered as one of the few Information Technology (IT) companies with a continuous history that dates back to the19th century. The company sells computer hardware and software and offers different infrastructure services, hosting services as well as consulting services in different IT areas from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. Aside from that, IBM is considered as the world’s largest computer history and considered as the largest IT employer in the world with 355,000 employees (Loyola Institute of Technology & Management n.d.) (see Appendix A).   SWOT Analysis             SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that is use n order to evaluate the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are involved in a project, business venture or in any other situation that requires a decision. Thus, the process of sizing up the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats helps to provide a quick overview of the strategic situation of an organization (Spalding & Case 2007, p. 110).      Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 SWOT Analysis of IBM                                                           Figure 1 shows the SWOT analysis of IBM, showing the current strengths, weaknesses, together with the opportunities that can be exploited and the threats that must be prevented. Strengths             The most important advantage of IBM is its image or brand. This is due to the fact that IBM was the first important player in the industry or in the field. The said aspect gives the company their competitive advantage due to the fact that they have already established a name as well as relationship with their customers. In 2003, IBM topped the study regarding the brand perception of IT services. Buyers of different IT services perceive IBM as the top brand in all vital aspects of the market. The result of the study had showed that most of the 197 respondents and consumers of IT services that were surveyed by Gartner put Big Blue as the top company in the business and IT consulting, systems development and integration, as well as IT outsourcing (Sharma 2003).             Another advantage is the strong global presence of the company. The IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency Services has a worldwide presence across four important geographies and provide consulting services as well as recovery support for the large systems, midrange and even distributed environment customers. In addition IBM brings their customers the convenience of doing business in their customer’s own language and culture because it can help to reduce efforts, time and cost of traveling, that enables an easy access to a business environment where in their customers will be comfortable (IBM).             In connection to the long history of the company, it enables them to get hold of different valuable intellectual property, software, patents as well as ideas due to the fact that they have established and gathered group of people with wide knowledge and skills regarding computers and application of IT. This enables the company to have a vast research and development aspect. Weaknesses             The most important weakness of the company is that it is starting to show a declining share in the market, due to the growing competition in the national as well as global business industry. In 2007, the market share of the company had decline, making HP its leading competitor to gain the previous number one place of IBM in the worldwide market share. HP narrowly beat IBM in terms of worldwide market share, showing a 29.6% points, compare to the 28.9% points to IBM. It is important to consider that HP’s gain over the year was IBM’s loss, which shows that the companies are switching places. However, both of the manufacturers had been able to report positive revenue growth per year (Harushka 2008).             It was mentioned in the strength of the company, that its human resource of work force is considered as the primary factors that drive the success of the company, however, it is always important to consider that too much of everything is bad. Thus, in the case of IBM, it has a huge employee population, and they are all highly paid. The said aspect can affect  the entire operation of the company in terms of the production cost. Aside from that, it can also affect the communication process and management activities inside the company because of the huge population. Opportunities             Currently, there are so many opportunities that can be exploited by the company in order to maintain their competitive advantage and eventually helps to continue the growth of the company in terms of size, sales and market share. One of the most important factors is the aspect of globalization. This can be done by market development, where in the company will focus on looking for new possible market. In addition, innovation is a very important aspect, thus it can be done by have a collaborative or partnership with other IT-related company in order to produce new products that will support the ever-changing needs of the clients. With connection to that said aspect, it will be important for the company to focus on the growing demand of the public and other organizations towards open source software. This is due to the fact that some of the competitors of the company and other players in the software and IT-services industries are offering products and services that are too high that cannot be afford by the clients, primarily those small businesses, but IT is considered as a must in most of the businesses.             Another opportunity of the company is the growing demand for IT and Information Systems. This is due to the fact that most of organizations, companies and businesses in the world are becoming more aware regarding the importance of application of technology, particularly IT in their processes.   Threats             The major threat that must be analyzed by the company is the current changes in the global economic and financial status. This is important because it will affect not only IBM, but also other businesses in the world. As a result, it will affect the individual performance of each and every client of IBM that will affect their buying behavior. The company will be hurt by the slowdown in the Systems and Technology business (Kanaracus 2008).             Another important aspect is the increasing competition. Due to the fact that computer is already considered as one of the basic needs of most of the individual, there are many IT companies that are entering the industry. And although the major competitor of IBM is Hewlett-Packard, it is also competing in some of small players or competitors such as Dell and Accenture.   Strategic Choices of IBM             Based on the said internal capabilities, the strategic choice of IBM must focus on two important aspects: the openness; and the reduction of cost of services. Openness   Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 Openness Strategy                                                       It is important to consider the vitality of the current strength of the company and how it can be used in order to exploit the opportunities that can be found in the external environment. In the case of IBM, the primary strengths focus on the different technologies as well as knowledge that are available for the employees in order to start doing their innovation. In addition, the company also holds a strong team that focuses on research and development of the company.             On the other hand, the primary opportunity focuses on the fact that there is a growing demand for open-source products and services, in addition to that standards in the economic expansion. The said aspect is important due to the fact that customers from different part of the globe are looking for an integrated solution in order to solve their application development needs (Novell 2006).             The said action will be done by different partnership with different IT-related companies that are engaged in developing different open-source software and application. Open source is a human-readable source code that was made available under a copyright license that meets the Open Source Definition, where in it permits the users to use, change as well as improve the software, and then redistributes it. More often, than not, it is developed publicly and collaboratively. The reason behind the growth of demand for open source software is that it enables the customers to save up to $60 billion every year (Rothwell 2008; The Standish Group 2008).             The said strategy will help IBM to focus on the greater demand of the customers, thus, making the company more aware regarding the behavior of the customers. It is also important to consider that the said strategy will help to boost the image of the company towards their customers, due to the fact that the company is helping their clients to save money and effort. Reduction of the Cost of Service   Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3 Reduction of the Cost of Service                                           Figure 3 shows the reduction of cost and services strategy of IBM. The main weakness of the company focuses on the huge population with very high salary or pay. There is nothing bad about offering high salary or payment for the service or effort of the employees due to the fact that it is considered as one of the major driver of motivation inside an organization. As a result, it can help to improve the performance of each and every individual, and then later on reflect on the overall performance of the company. However, due to the different changes that are happening inside and outside the environment of the company, particularly during the time of global economic and financial crisis, it is important to focus on the negative impact of huge population and high salaried employees of the company, even though, they are considered as very talented and skilled employees. The company must focus on the fact that the human resource cost can affect the entire pricing strategy towards the products and services that the company is offering, as a result, the company will not be able to compete in terms of price.              On the other hand, the company can also take advantage of the low labor cost in China. This can be done by establishing production sites and headquarters in China. The per-hour cost for an employee in an American or European plant is between $15 and $30 or evens more, and this is mainly dependent on the decision of the workers’ union in the plant, the location and degree of welfare the plant provides. On the other hand, in China, the average per-hour cost for a worker in a Chinese plant is below 1 dollar, showing a dozen times lower compare to the two first mentioned nations (People’s Daily Online 2004).   Justification of Strategic Resources Openness   The said strategy will help the company to lessen their labor cost that will later on reflect in their production cost. In addition, it can help the company to focus on the competitive advantage that will focus on price differentiation. This is due to the fact that more and more people, especially those from developing countries that are looking for computers and IT-services that are affordable. By doing this, the company will be able to hit two birds in one stone, where in first it will help to lessen their production cost that will help to focus on the pricing strategy of the company; at the same time, focuses on the changing demands and behavior of the customers regarding their products and services.   Reduction of the Cost of Service             The reduction of the cost of services, particularly the outsourcing can help the company to save money or cost in terms of human resource, especially today that the world is facing financial problems. In order to prevent the said future problem regarding the financial negative impact of having huge human resource, it will be important for the company to lessen the number of employees. On the other hand, outsourcing can be applied in order to save time, money and effort. Outsourcing is considered as a contracting activity with another company or person in order to do jobs function. As of now, most of the company is outsourcing in some and different ways. More often than not, the functions that are being outsourced are considered as a non-core activity to the business (Sourcingmag.com 2008). The said strategy will help the company to save money due to the fact that the outsourcing company will be directly responsible in the process of selection, hiring and positioning employees to a given project.     References   Harushka, J 2008, HP Passess IBM in Server Market Share as Segment Booms, Ars Technica, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://arstechnica.com/news .ars/post/20080523-hp-passes-ibm-in-server-market-share-as-segment-bo oms.html>   IBM, Worldwide Presence, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/bcrs/html/worldwide.html>   Kanaracus, C 2008, IBM Q3 Rises, But Signs of Downturn Loom, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.techworld.com.au/article/264158/ibm_q3 _revenue_rises_signs_downturn_loom>   Loyola Institute of Technology & Management, IBM, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.litam.ac.in/companies/ibm.html>   Novell, IBM and Novell Join Forces to Support Growing Demand for Open Source, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.novell.com/news/press/i bm-and-novell-join-forces-to-support-growing-demand-for-open-source/>   People’s Daily Online 2004, China’s Advantage in Low Labor Cost will Remain in Coming Decade, Report, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://engli sh.peopledaily.com.cn/200409/07/eng20040907_156220.html>   Rothwell, R 2008, Creating Wealth With Free Software, Free Software Magazine, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/com munity_posts/creating_wealth_free_software>   Sharma, D 2006, IBM Top of IT Services Brand Perception Study, Silicon.com, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://management.silicon.com/itdire ctor/0,39024673,10006300,00.htm?r=2>   Spalding, G & Case, G 2007, Continual Service Improvement: Continual Service Improvement, The Stationery Office   Sourcingmag.com 2008, Outsourcing – What is Outsourcing? Viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.sourcingmag.com/content/what_is_outs ourcing.asp>   The Standish Group 2008, Free Open Source Software is Costing Vendor $60 Billion, viewed 18 December 2008, <http://www.standishgroup.com/news room/open_source.php>         Appendices   Appendix A: IBM: Background Information

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM ...

Best Practice Vs. Best Fit Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management

Best Practice Vs. Best Fit Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management Introduction             Due to the different changes that are going on in the business world, as well as the realization of different businesses and firms that the employees are considered as an asset as well as important resource of the organization, more and more companies are focusing on planning and implementation of different strategies that will focus on the integration or connection of the human resource with the success of the entire business, together with the process of setting standards, goals and visions.             The strategic human resource management or SHRM is considered as a complex process that is continuously evolving and studied, as well as discussed by academics and managers. It is considered as one of the primary factors that help to improve the performance of the business (Armstrong & Baron 2002). Above all, it is considered as a primary approach in human resource, with connection to the intentions of the organization regarding the future direction that they want to take, thus it focuses on the longer term about the issues of the people and the macro-concerns regarding the structure, quality, culture, values as well as commitment, together with the matching resources for the future needs (CIPD 2008).   Best Practice versus Best Fit Approach to SHRM Best Fit Approach             The best fit approach focuses on the importance of making sure that the HR strategies are suitable to the different circumstances of the entire organization, together with culture, operational processes as well as external environment.  Thus, it focus on the idea that different human resource (HR) strategies have to focus on a given needs of both the organization and its people (Armstrong 2006, p. 138).  Due to the said reason, most of critics and commentators believe that best fit approach is more important and vital than the best practice.             Figure 1 shows the processes and aspects that are needed and included in the best fit approach. It focuses on learning what works, and what does not work, in connection to the organizations, thus, it is up the firm to decide what may be pertinent and applicable in the general terms and what lessons can be learnt that can be adopted in order to fit the company’s given strategic as well as operational requirements.             The process starts with the analysis of the business needs of the firm within its context such as culture, structure, technology and process that indicate what has to be done. Afterward, it can be useful in order to choose and mix different best practices ingredients, as well as develop an approach that applies those that are applicable in a way that is aligned in order to identify different business needs (Armstrong 2006, p. 139).             On the other hand, its flaws focus on the limitation of the search for contingency or matching model of HRM as well as the difficulty in showing their interconnection, as well as the way that changes in one variable that have an impact on others (Armstrong 2006, p. 139). Figure 1 Best Fit Model of Strategic Human Resource Management                                                                                                          Adopted from: (Shields 2007, p. 100)                                             As a result, the best fit approach has a huge appeal to the HR practitioners due to the fact that it positions them as the first-level strategic partners in the process of management decision-making. This is because, the rejection of a one size fits all approach helps to widen the range of good judgment that are available to them (Shields 2007, p. 101).   Best Practice Approach             On the other hand, the best practice approach speculate that there is a exact set of human resource practices that can be applied in almost any organizational context that helps to increase the performance that helps to deliver outcomes that are valuable for all the stakeholders, particularly employees. However, the effect of the performance is said to be stronger and more influential if all of the said practices are packed together in order to balance and harmonize each other, thus create positive synergies between them. As a result, the said approach covers different related prescriptive models of human resource management such as high-commitment, high-involvement, high-performance work system, and mutual gains models (Shields 2007, p. 90).               The best practice approach is based on the idea that there is a set of best HRM practices and that applying them will help to superior organizational performance. The best known set is Pfeffer’s (1994) model that shows that seven important HR practices of a successful organizations which are: employment security, selective hiring, self-managed teams, high compensation contingent on performance, training, reduction of status differentials and sharing information  (Armstrong 2006, p. 65) (see Appendix A).             There are different critics and commentators that are attacking the idea of best practice. This is because the best practice or universalist views by pointing out the discrepancy between a belief in best practice as well as the resource-based view that pertains on the intangible assets that includes HR, which allows the firm in order to do better than its competitors. The major question is how can the universalism of the best practice be squared with the view that only some resources and routines are significant and vital by being rare as well as imperfectly limitable? Aside from that, it is also hard to accept that there is a universal best practice, because one practice that have been successful for one organization, doesn’t necessarily mean that will work on others (Armstrong 2006, p. 65).   Intel in Ireland             Intel is a company that offers products and services regarding convergence of computer and communications technologies, together with the activities that focuses on the manufacturing of chips, boards systems, software and network and communications equipment. As of now, the company holds the 15.3% of the semiconductor market in the world (IDA Ireland 2009).             Currently, the Irish operation employs about 5,000 people that are directly and indirectly in the field or profession of engineering, technical as well as operational activities (IDA Ireland 2009).             Pfeffer explained employment security as vitally strengthen and support the other six HR practices due to the fact that it is considered as unrealistic to ask the employees to provide their ideas, hard work as well as commitment without some expectations of security on their part (Marchington & Wilkinson 2002, p. 179). In connection to this, because Intel is a huge multinational company, it implements and applies a massive hiring and selection process, with the help of the Internet or their web-based tools. This is supported with the comprehensive compensation and benefits package that is designed in order to attract, retain and reward the people that are necessary to help the company to create longer-term growth and profitability (Intel Ireland n.d.). However, the major problem of Intel is its lay off as well as downsizing, as part of development phase. However, Pfeffer (1998) stated that compulsory lay-offs and downsizing weaken and challenge employment security. As a solution, he recommended the following: proportionately reducing the working hours, in order to spread the pain of reduced employment cost in the entire workforce; reducing wages to reduce the labor costs; freezing the recruitment process in order to prevent overstaffing as well as putting the production workers into the sales in order to build up the demand (Marchington & Wilkinson 2002, p. 180). In terms of the selective hiring the organization is clear about the different critical skills as well as attributes that are needed, as well as the choices that are considered as a basis of the said attributes that are hard or impractical to change, as well as to train the people in the said behaviors as well as skills that can be easily learned (Armstrong 2006, p. 64).             On the other hand, the company is not focusing on the self-managed teams that are also important aspect of the SHRM. This is because the company focuses on the hierarchical flow of communication as well as power. Thus, it will be important because it can help the employees to pool their ideas to produce better as well as creative solutions in order to work the problems (Armstrong 2006, p. 64). In connection to the security aspect, it is important to consider the compensation contingent on the performance. The company is offering different benefits and bonus that enables the employee to have motivation. The said compensation is contingent on the organizational performance (Armstrong 2006, p. 64).             In terms of training, it can be said that the company is handling it with expertise; this is due to the implementation and establishment of the worldwide training organization which is the Intel University that focuses on the culture of the company, career and manager development as well as new employee orientation and integration. In addition, in order to encourage education, the company offers reimbursement for work-related coursework, certificates, degree programs as well as foreign language training to the qualified employees (Dell Ireland n.d.).             Furthermore, in order to ensure good working environment, it will be important to focus on reducing the status differentials that enables to tap the ideas, skills as well as efforts of all the people (Armstrong 2006, p. 65).             The most important aspect is the communication and information sharing inside the organization. This focuses on the financial performance, strategy and operational measures that convey a symbolic and substantive message that the employees are being trusted and reduce the role of the grapevine in the process of spreading the humors. It is also important that communication is a great support to team working because it helps to encourage the team members to offer and provide their ideas (Marchington & Wilkinson 2002, p. 184).   References   Armstrong, M (2006), A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, Kogan Page Publishers   Armstrong, M & Baron A (2002), Strategic HRM: the key to improved business performance. Developing practice. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, viewed 6 January 2008, <http://www .cipd.co.uk/bookstore>   CIPD (2008), Strategic Human Resource Management, viewed 6 January 2009, <http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/corpstrtgy/general/strathrm.htm>   IDA Ireland (2009), Intel, viewed 7 January 2009, <http://www.idairelan d.com/home/case_study.aspx?id=244&content_id=13>   Intel Ireland, Intel, viewed 7 January 2009, < http://www.intel.com/>   Marchington, M, Wilkinson, A, Sargeant, M (2002), People Management and Development: Human Resource Management at Work, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Publishing   Rusu, A (2006), Intel to Lay Off 10,000 Employees, Softpedia, viewed 7 January 2009, <http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-to-Lay-Off-10-000-Employee s-34504.shtml>   Shields, J (2007), Managing Employee Performance and Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies, Cambridge University Press       Appendices   Appendix A: Pfeffer’s Model of Best Practice     Adopted from: (Armstrong 2006, p. 65)

Best Practice Vs. Best Fit Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management

Best Practice Vs. Best Fit Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management Introduction Due to the different changes that...

Strategic Business Analysis of IBM

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM   Table of Contents   Introduction.. 2 Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM.. 3 SWOT Analysis. 3 Strengths. 5 Weaknesses. 6 Opportunities. 7 Threats. 8 Strategic Choices of IBM.. 8 Openness. 9 Reduction of the Cost of Service. 10 References. 13 Appendices. 14 Appendix A: IBM: Background Information.. 14   Table of Figures   Figure 1 SWOT Analysis of IBM.. 4 Figure 2 Openness Strategy. 9 Figure 3 Reduction of the Cost of Service. 10 Introduction             As of now, there are different internal and external factors that are affecting the performance of each and every individual in an organization and the overall performance itself. In addition, it can be seen that those companies that are operating in the global market are the one that are directly affected due to the different changes. The said change is driven by transformation of local and international market such as the financial and economic situation of the world, trends in the local and international market as well as the changing tastes, preferences and behaviors of the customers. All of the said factors are considered as connected with each other, thus creating changes that are important in order to sustain the position of a company in the global market.             As a result, more and more companies are focusing on the process of evaluation of their current position in the local and global market which focuses on analyzing their internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the different external environment factors that can cause threats and opportunities for the company. All of the said factors can be used in the process of decision-making in different activities and plans that are needed to be done in order to ensure competitive advantage and position in the market.           Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM             International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), also known as the Big Blue is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation that is located in Armonk, New York, USA. IBM is considered as one of the few Information Technology (IT) companies with a continuous history that dates back to the19th century. The company sells computer hardware and software and offers different infrastructure services, hosting services as well as consulting services in different IT areas from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. Aside from that, IBM is considered as the world’s largest computer history and considered as the largest IT employer in the world with 355,000 employees  SWOT Analysis             SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that is use n order to evaluate the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are involved in a project, business venture or in any other situation that requires a decision. Thus, the process of sizing up the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats helps to provide a quick overview of the strategic situation of an organization (2007, ).             Figure 1 SWOT Analysis of IBM                                                           Figure 1 shows the SWOT analysis of IBM, showing the current strengths, weaknesses, together with the opportunities that can be exploited and the threats that must be prevented. Strengths             The most important advantage of IBM is its image or brand. This is due to the fact that IBM was the first important player in the industry or in the field. The said aspect gives the company their competitive advantage due to the fact that they have already established a name as well as relationship with their customers. In 2003, IBM topped the study regarding the brand perception of IT services. Buyers of different IT services perceive IBM as the top brand in all vital aspects of the market. The result of the study had showed that most of the 197 respondents and consumers of IT services that were surveyed by Gartner put Big Blue as the top company in the business and IT consulting, systems development and integration, as well as IT outsourcing (Sharma 2003).             Another advantage is the strong global presence of the company. The IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency Services has a worldwide presence across four important geographies and provide consulting services as well as recovery support for the large systems, midrange and even distributed environment customers. In addition IBM brings their customers the convenience of doing business in their customer’s own language and culture because it can help to reduce efforts, time and cost of traveling, that enables an easy access to a business environment where in their customers will be comfortable (IBM).             In connection to the long history of the company, it enables them to get hold of different valuable intellectual property, software, patents as well as ideas due to the fact that they have established and gathered group of people with wide knowledge and skills regarding computers and application of IT. This enables the company to have a vast research and development aspect. Weaknesses             The most important weakness of the company is that it is starting to show a declining share in the market, due to the growing competition in the national as well as global business industry. In 2007, the market share of the company had decline, making HP its leading competitor to gain the previous number one place of IBM in the worldwide market share. HP narrowly beat IBM in terms of worldwide market share, showing a 29.6% points, compare to the 28.9% points to IBM. It is important to consider that HP’s gain over the year was IBM’s loss, which shows that the companies are switching places. However, both of the manufacturers had been able to report positive revenue growth per year (2008).             It was mentioned in the strength of the company, that its human resource of work force is considered as the primary factors that drive the success of the company, however, it is always important to consider that too much of everything is bad. Thus, in the case of IBM, it has a huge employee population, and they are all highly paid. The said aspect can affect  the entire operation of the company in terms of the production cost. Aside from that, it can also affect the communication process and management activities inside the company because of the huge population. Opportunities             Currently, there are so many opportunities that can be exploited by the company in order to maintain their competitive advantage and eventually helps to continue the growth of the company in terms of size, sales and market share. One of the most important factors is the aspect of globalization. This can be done by market development, where in the company will focus on looking for new possible market. In addition, innovation is a very important aspect, thus it can be done by have a collaborative or partnership with other IT-related company in order to produce new products that will support the ever-changing needs of the clients. With connection to that said aspect, it will be important for the company to focus on the growing demand of the public and other organizations towards open source software. This is due to the fact that some of the competitors of the company and other players in the software and IT-services industries are offering products and services that are too high that cannot be afford by the clients, primarily those small businesses, but IT is considered as a must in most of the businesses.             Another opportunity of the company is the growing demand for IT and Information Systems. This is due to the fact that most of organizations, companies and businesses in the world are becoming more aware regarding the importance of application of technology, particularly IT in their processes.   Threats             The major threat that must be analyzed by the company is the current changes in the global economic and financial status. This is important because it will affect not only IBM, but also other businesses in the world. As a result, it will affect the individual performance of each and every client of IBM that will affect their buying behavior. The company will be hurt by the slowdown in the Systems and Technology business ( 2008).             Another important aspect is the increasing competition. Due to the fact that computer is already considered as one of the basic needs of most of the individual, there are many IT companies that are entering the industry. And although the major competitor of IBM is Hewlett-Packard, it is also competing in some of small players or competitors such as Dell and Accenture. Strategic Choices of IBM             Based on the said internal capabilities, the strategic choice of IBM must focus on two important aspects: the openness; and the reduction of cost of services.                           Openness   Figure 2 Openness Strategy                                                       It is important to consider the vitality of the current strength of the company and how it can be used in order to exploit the opportunities that can be found in the external environment. In the case of IBM, the primary strengths focus on the different technologies as well as knowledge that are available for the employees in order to start doing their innovation. In addition, the company also holds a strong team that focuses on research and development of the company.             On the other hand, the primary opportunity focuses on the fact that there is a growing demand for open-source products and services, in addition to that standards in the economic expansion. The said aspect is important due to the fact that customers from different part of the globe are looking for an integrated solution in order to solve their application development needs (Novell 2006).             The said action will be done by different partnership with different IT-related companies that are engaged in developing different open-source software and application. Open source is a human-readable source code that was made available under a copyright license that meets the Open Source Definition, where in it permits the users to use, change as well as improve the software, and then redistributes it. More often, than not, it is developed publicly and collaboratively. The reason behind the growth of demand for open source software is that it enables the customers to save up to $60 billion every year (2008; 2008).             The said strategy will help IBM to focus on the greater demand of the customers, thus, making the company more aware regarding the behavior of the customers. It is also important to consider that the said strategy will help to boost the image of the company towards their customers, due to the fact that the company is helping their clients to save money and effort. Reduction of the Cost of Service   Figure 3 Reduction of the Cost of Service                                           Figure 3 shows the reduction of cost and services strategy of IBM. The main weakness of the company focuses on the huge population with very high salary or pay. There is nothing bad about offering high salary or payment for the service or effort of the employees due to the fact that it is considered as one of the major driver of motivation inside an organization. As a result, it can help to improve the performance of each and every individual, and then later on reflect on the overall performance of the company. However, due to the different changes that are happening inside and outside the environment of the company, particularly during the time of global economic and financial crisis, it is important to focus on the negative impact of huge population and high salaried employees of the company, even though, they are considered as very talented and skilled employees. The company must focus on the fact that the human resource cost can affect the entire pricing strategy towards the products and services that the company is offering, as a result, the company will not be able to compete in terms of price.             In order to prevent the said future problem regarding the financial negative impact of having huge human resource, it will be important for the company to lessen the number of employees. On the other hand, outsourcing can be applied in order to save time, money and effort. Outsourcing is considered as a contracting activity with another company or person in order to do jobs function. As of now, most of the company is outsourcing in some and different ways. More often than not, the functions that are being outsourced are considered as a non-core activity to the business (2008). The said strategy will help the company to save money due to the fact that the outsourcing company will be directly responsible in the process of selection, hiring and positioning employees to a given project.             On the other hand, the company can also take advantage of the low labor cost in China. This can be done by establishing production sites and headquarters in China. The per-hour cost for an employee in an American or European plant is between $15 and $30 or evens more, and this is mainly dependent on the decision of the workers’ union in the plant, the location and degree of welfare the plant provides. On the other hand, in China, the average per-hour cost for a worker in a Chinese plant is below 1 dollar, showing a dozen times lower compare to the two first mentioned nations ( 2004).             The said strategy will help the company to lessen their labor cost that will later on reflect in their production cost. In addition, it can help the company to focus on the competitive advantage that will focus on price differentiation. This is due to the fact that more and more people, especially those from developing countries that are looking for computers and IT-services that are affordable. By doing this, the company will be able to hit two birds in one stone, where in first it will help to lessen their production cost that will help to focus on the pricing strategy of the company; at the same time, focuses on the changing demands and behavior of the customers regarding their products and services.          Appendices   Appendix A: IBM: Background Information

Strategic Business Analysis of IBM

Strategic Business Analysis: IBM Table of Contents Introduction .. 2 Internal and External Factors Affecting IBM .. 3 ...