Mini Case a. Why is corporate finance important to all managers? * Corporate finance provides the skills managers need to identify and select the corporate strategies and individual projects that add value to their firm. It is also important because corporate finance forecasts the funding requirements of their company, and devises strategies for acquiring those funds. b.
Thus, a management function is derived that tries to address the alignment of IT and business by systematically designing and develop an organization according to its strategic objects and vision. In line with Frederik Ahlemann (2012), this management function, known as enterprise architecture management, is defined as follows: EA management is a management practice that establishes, maintains and uses a coherent set of guidelines, architecture principles and governance regimes that provide direction and practical help in the design and development of an enterprise’s architecture to achieve its vision and
A ‘style’ of leadership is defined and identified by the competencies and skills that the leader applies to guide, facilitate and support the people of the organization in their efforts to accomplish their tasks (Ebiz.netopia.com 2011). This simply means that the ‘type’ of leader is based on the qualities and attributes that the leader possess whilst the leadership style is how that leader deals with a specific situation (Ebiz.netopia.com 2011). Factors that Contribute to a Successful Business Leadership A business’s success, locally or internationally, is influenced by the people in leadership positions. There are various factors that affect business leadership: * Self-Understanding: a leader must know his personal strengths and weaknesses. Only then will he be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his subordinates, and so motivate them in the correct manner (Anderson 2013).
This growth mitigates any negative effects of offshoring. Offshoring also helps a company be closer to its global customers, thereby providing appropriate offerings to its regional market and ensuring speedier problem resolution. Developers and support personnel in the relevant geographies have a better understanding of customers' needs, regulatory compliances and regional preferences, and can better implement the product or provide the service. In addition, offshoring alleviates problems created by time differences, enabling companies to support remote customers too in a virtual 24-7 operation. For companies with constrained resources, offshoring also offers better utilization of capital investments through remote usage in multiple time zones.
Actualizing an arrangement of corporate governance includes the fundamental standards prompting relations between various members, to characterize obligations and guarantee the right operation of the basic leadership process. (Neculai
C. Developing an advantage based on offering more value for the money. * Target is a good example of this strategy. Giving customers more value for their money by satisfying their expectations, while also beating their price expectations is known as a best-cost provider strategy. It is a combination of the two previous strategies above.
Maintaining a competitive advantage or the ability to create a competitive advantage will help ensure the long term success of a firm. Creating a competitive advantage is impacted by the effectiveness of the company’s strategic decisions. Absorptive capacity is the ability of the firm to recognize the value of new technology and apply it. It follows that the higher a firm’s absorptive capacity, the more effective strategic decisions will be. Therefore, there should be a focused effort to find ways to improve absorptive capacity through effective strategic initiatives.
Through R&D, production costs can be significantly reduced to offer competitive pricing and/or increase profitability. By providing newer, better and unique products, companies are able to differentiate and stay ahead of the competition. Companies that invest heavily in R&D are able to release commercial products more quickly and anticipate changing consumer demands more rapidly. They can better assess how long a product
Companies that develop effective marketing strategies achieve high sales volumes at the desired profit margins. A key marketing strategy is the segmentation of the market into parts that the company can analyze. Since customers have different characteristics and various needs, it makes sense to group similar customers together. These groups have common characteristics and needs. The rationale behind implementing such a marketing strategy is that the company can better satisfy the needs of segments of similar customers.
Question 1: Does Food4U, Inc., enjoy any competitive advantages or core competencies? Core competencies or also known as distinctive competencies can be defined as the special attributes or abilities that give an organization a competitive edge (Stevenson & Chuong). In other words competitive advantage is the advantage that an organization has compared to its other competitors which make it gain more sales as well as gaining and retaining more customers. The advantages can be in the form of a few aspects. For example product and service design.