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Remember by Rossetti Essay - 496 Words

Remember by Rossetti The opening two lines of Rossetti’s sonnet Remember introduce the idea of separation, but whether the speaker’s eminent departure is because she has chosen to leave her lover or because she is dying is not immediately clear. As the poem unfolds, the reader understands that death will divide the couple, and the initial hint of that is the phrase silent land to describe the place the speaker is going. The words seem to define a cemetery or individual grave more than heaven, and silent, in particular, implies a dormant state—an existence and a place that are neither joyous nor painful, pleasant nor sad. The opening lines also portray the speaker’s desire to be remembered, and she requests her lover to†¦show more content†¦Themes Imperfect Love The theme of imperfect love in Rossetti’s Remember is an idea based on the more obvious and often used theme of religion in her work. To a poet so devoutly centered on her Christian faith and love of God, the love of a man must seem second-rate, at best. A question, therefore, arises about her sincerity in the relationship she has with her lover— on one hand, she seems honestly to love him and begs him to remember her when she is dead; on the other hand, she appears a bit nonchalant in her willingness to tell him to forget her just the same. In the beginning of the poem, the love between the couple seems strong, and the overtone of sadness and grief stems from the notion that death is about to tear them apart. But is this notion a fact? Is the woman really dying and, if so, how much time does she have left—a few hours, a few weeks, a year? There is no indication of a time limit, nor is there any reference to what she Style The Sonnet In Victorian England and centuries prior, writing poetry meant writing with formality, adhering to a specific line length, rhyme scheme, meter, and so forth. The sonnet is one of the most popular styles of formal verse, and there are two main types of sonnets—the Shakespearean (English) and the Petrarchan (Italian). In its structure, Remember most closely follows the Petrarchan style, named for the Italian poet Petrarch Francesco (1307–1374) who made it popular. This type ofShow MoreRelatedRemember by Christina Rossetti847 Words   |  4 Pagessquarely into the category of lyric poetry. Lyric expresses the emotions of the poet as well as their thoughts and feelings. The poet is asking their significant other to remember them when they go away, which I interpret as dying. Through the first eight lines of the poem the writer is firm on the wish that their lover remember them, seemingly wishing for them to not move forward, but to keep up a vigil of remembrance of the other. In lines nine through fourteen the writer has a change of heart,Read More Compare and Contrast Remember and A Birthday by Christina Rossetti1914 Words   |  8 PagesCompare and Contrast Remember and A Birthday by Christina Rossetti Christina Rossetti was born in Victorian England and grew up in the pre-Raphaelite era. Coming from a well educated family she drew influence for her poems from her surroundings and experiences. In ‘A Birthday’, she looks at the celebration of finding new love. She is overjoyed because her love is reciprocated and wants to make a new beginning with this man spending the rest of her life with him raising a family. A BirthdayRead MoreThe Works of Christina Rossetti677 Words   |  3 Pagesimportant thing in life. However, that is not the case for Christina Rossetti. Her views on life are very realistic and matter of fact. She believes earthly gifts and human emotions are not important because none of it is permanent. She does not need money or love, and she does not care if she is remembered. Rossetti reveals what is most important to her—her relationship with God, not her relationship with humanity. Rossetti displays what is important to her through her humble plea in â€Å"Song’.Read MoreRemember and Refugee Mother and Child820 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish Literature: Poetry Introduction and analysis to the two poems ‘Remember’: This is a beautiful poem written by the poet Christina Rossetti. Rossetti is known for her contrasting themes of love and death she puts into her poems, ‘Remember’ is no exception. It is quite obvious that Rossetti is talking to a loved one in the poem, most likely a lover. From researching, I have found that Rossetti wrote this poem when she was still in love with Charles Cayley, and also the fact that thereRead MoreChristina Rossettis : Song Essay1623 Words   |  7 Pagesand grief. Love and tragic loss are key themes of the Pre-Raphaelite Art and Literature movement, and ‘Song’ combines the two beautifully in a way that neither glorifies nor portrays a detrimental idea of death and the outcomes it brings. Rossetti uses a variety of natural imagery to beautify the idea of life. She tells the reader to ‘plant no roses at my head’ where the symbol of the ‘rose’ embodies the theme of love, which was key in such a Romantic Era of poetry. Further use of the ideaRead More I have chosen to study the poems Uphill and Remember. Uphill is824 Words   |  4 PagesI have chosen to study the poems Uphill and Remember. Uphill is based on the theme of afterlife. Rossetti was always known to have a strong belief in the afterlife, I have chosen to study the poems Uphill and Remember. Uphill is based on the theme of afterlife. Rossetti was always known to have a strong belief in the afterlife, and symbolises this in Uphill. The poem itself is written in a unique style. A style which I feel interacts the poet and the reader. The poem is an exchangeRead MoreAp English Lit and Comp759 Words   |  4 PagesSahira Younas In the two sonnets, â€Å"Remember† by Christina Rossetti and â€Å"The Cross of Snow† by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the authors address death and remembrance indicating similarities when exploring grieving process but also demonstrate its differences through literary techniques. They both utilized symbolism, imagery, and metaphorical language but showed differences in tone. Christina Rossetti and Henry Longfellow utilized symbolism to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolicRead More Comparison Of Love Poetry: Essay1514 Words   |  7 PagesComparison Of Love Poetry: Rememberby Christina Rossetti, How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and When We Two Parted by Lord Byron The three poems, Remember by Christina Rossetti; How Do I love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and When We Two Parted by Lord Byron, each explore love and loss in their own unique ways. Remember is, as expected from the title, a solemn lament which is a farewell sonnet to her treasured one. How Do I Love Thee? is again a sonnet of love but Read MoreAnalysis Of Remember And War Photographer 1226 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish Literature: Analysis of the portrayal of death in, â€Å"Remember† and â€Å"War Photographer†: The two poems I am writing about today, â€Å"Remember† by Christina Rossetti and, â€Å"War Photographer† by Carol Anne Duffy are both poetical works associated with dying and also within â€Å"Remember† the apprehensiveness of the afterlife. â€Å"Remember† is written in first person, the poet is the speaker, and is contemplating various events which will happen after one has died or a loved one. â€Å"War Photographer† is inRead More‚Äà ²the Poems ‚Äà ²Remember‚Äà ´, ‚Äà ²Piano‚Äà ´ and ‚Äà ²Poem at Thirty-Nine‚Äà ´ All Explore Melancholy Emotions.‚Äà ´ How Far Do You Agree with This Statement?1178 Words   |  5 Pages‘The poems ‘Remember’, ‘Piano’ and ‘Poem at Thirty-nine’ all explore melancholy emotions.’ How far do you agree with this statement? ‘Poem at Thirty-nine’ and ‘Piano’ explore melancholy emotions while ‘Remember’ does not in my opinion. The reasons I do no completely agree is because the three poems all have hidden feelings and meanings. ‘Poem at Thirty-nine’ shows melancholy emotions because it presents the loss of the persona’s father and ‘Piano’ portrays how D.H. Lawrence misses his childhood

Business Strategy Free Essays

THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT [pic] STRATEGIC CAPABILITIES Strategic capabilities are the resources and competencies Vodafone need to survive and prosper. (Johnson, Scholes Whittington 2006, p. 119) Why do we need to understand Vodafone’s Capabilities†¦. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Vodafone’s capabilities will allow Vodafone to achieve competitive advantage over others because Vodafone has something that a competitor doesn’t have, or has difficulty getting. |RESOURCES |COMPETENCES | |THRESHOLD CAPABILITIES |THRESHOLD RESOURCES |THRESHOLD COMPETENCES | | |-TANIGBLE | | | |-INTANGIBLE | | |CAPABILITIES |UNIQUE RESOURCES |CORE COMPETENCES | |FOR |-TANIGBLE | | |COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE |-INTANGIBLE | | (Johnson, Scholes Whittington 2006, p. 118) Threshold Resources According to Johnson, Scholes Whittington (2006 p. 119) threshold resources are needed to meet customer’s minimum requirements. Tangible resources are all means available to an organisation that can physically be observed (touched), such as Vodafone’s HQ in Mount View, Leopardstown, Dublin, it also comprises over 70 Vodafone retail stores and over 30 partner stores in Ireland its phones, its networking and cabling structure (www. vodafone. ie). Intangible resources on the other hand cannot be touched, but are largely carried within the people in the organisation, such as culture, knowledge and reputation (De Wit Merger 2005, p. 113) Unique Resources Unique resources underpin competitive advantage and are difficult for competitors to imitate or obtain. (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2006 p. 119) Again, they can be tangible or intangible in nature. Vodafone offers broad roaming plans to their customers. †¢ Network coverage. Vodafone network is available to other network users in remote areas Competences Threshold competences are the activities and processes Vodafone carry out to meet customer†™s minimum requirements (Johnson, Scholes Whittington 2006, p. 119). Core competences are activities that underpin competitive advantage and are difficult for competitors to imitate or obtain (Johnson, Scholes Whittington 2006, p. 119). We have derived from our analysis, based on the utilization of Vodafone’s resources the following core competences are: †¢ Vodafone Ireland, as part of the Vodafone Group, aims to maximize the tilization of their resources by committing to helping communities and the environment, through their Corporate Responsibility program. ‘The Green Agenda’ is an environmental strategy combining Vodafone’s internal goals with a leadership position; to on their stakeholders the central role sustainability must play in our lives. Vodafone intended to cut CO2 emissions by 30% by 2011. †¢ Charity initiatives: Vodafone Ireland Foundation. The aim is to provide assistance in the form of cash donations, sponsorship and staff vol unteering for Irish Charities. The partnerships they acquire with various charities allow for effective use of resources such as supporting Irelands elite disability athletes in the run up to and beyond next summer’s London 2012 Paralympics Games. Ultimately, corporate social responsibility has been handled extremely well; Vodafone is maximising the opportunities of positive Public Relations, and positive brand perceptions achieved through ‘giving back’ to the community. †¢ Marketing Skills have enabled Vodafone to dominate the Irish telecom industry. Vodafone invests heavily on customer research in order to discover customer expectations, their needs, understand how to effectively communicate to customers. By outsourcing customer satisfaction research to third party suppliers it has enabled Vodafone to provide excellent research capabilities and customer service. †¢ Leadership and Management Styles have a direct impact on organisational culture. Analysis revealed that the Vodafone culture can be described as young, vibrant and dynamic. Senior management have developed Vodafone Ireland as a learning organization by creating career development opportunities for employees with respect to its daily activities. Emphasis is on developing personal capabilities. Cost Efficiency An important strategic capability in any organisation is to ensure attention is paid to achieving and continually improving cost efficiency. This will involve having both appropriate resources and the competences to manage costs. Customers can benefit from cost efficiency in terms of lower prices or more product features for the same price. (Johnson, Scholes Whittington 2006) Delivering cost efficiency is a core Vodafone initiative. During 2011 Vodafone saw European Operating costs reduced by 4% on an organic basis, saving the organisation ? 140 million. A number of factors may impact the prices Vodafone charge and revenue Vodafone receive such as completion, regulatory decisions and legislation on mobile termination rates, international roaming charges and the availability and cost of spectrum. For example in Ireland, the national regulator has proposed auctioning all spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands at the same time as an auction of 800 MHz spectrum in 2011, with spectrum available in 2013. In the meantime, Vodafone’s 900 MHz licences will be renewed until the commencement of the new licences in 2013. Also changes in macroeconomic conditions will affect Vodafone. Vodafone’s VALUE CHAIN Value chain analysis describes activities within and around an organisation, and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the organisation. Johnson and Scholes (1999) outline that one of the key aspects of value chain analysis is the recognition that organisations are much more than a random collection of machines, money and people. These resources are of no value unless deployed into activities and organised routines and systems, which ensure that services are produced which are valued by the final consumer, in other words it is Vodafone’s competences to perform particular activities and its ability to manage linkages between activities which are the source of competitive advantage for the organisation. Infrastructure | | | | | | |HRM |Training and |Development | | | | |Technology |Group Technologies | | | | | |Procurement | | | | | | |Inbound Logistics |Operations |Outbound Logistics |Marketing Sales |Services | | |One Supply Chain |Better understanding of |Multiple Customer |Focus its resources on |Locate a great number of | | |Management to manage most |the Strategic Values of IT|Interfaces to deliver its |local customer |own branded stores to | | |of Vodafone’s |to perform its business |products and services |relationship management- |accommodate customer | | |relationships with |operations more |(web, mail, telephone, and|micro segmentation, |service | | |Suppliers |efficiently and |self service portal) |real-time marketing | | | |Supplier Performance |effectively | |direct distribution plus | | | |management process in | | |aligned partners, such as | | | |place in order to monitor | | |Carphone Warehouse | | | |and review | | | | | | Generic categories of the value chain | |FIRM INFRASTRUCTURE CONSISTS OF ALL GENERAL ACTIVITIES THAT SUPPORT| | | |THE ENTIRE VALUE CHAIN INCLUDING GENERAL | | | |MANAGEMENT, PLANNING, FINANCE, LEGAL AND | | | |QUALITY MANAGEMENT | | | | | | | | | |SUPPORT ACTIVITIES | | | | |HUMAN RESOURC E MANAGEMENT |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF | | | |PERSONNEL THROUGHOUT THE ORGANISATION | | |TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT |ACTIVITIIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF | | | |TECHNOLOGIES THROUGHOUT THE FIRM | | |PROCRUREMENT |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE PURCHASING OF | | | |INPUTS TO FACILITATE ALL OTHER ACTIVITIES | | |INBOUND LOGISTICS |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH RECEIVING, STORING | | | |AND DISSEMINATING INPUTS, INCLUDING WAREHOUSING| | | |AND VECHILE SHEDULING | | | | | | | | | | | | | |PRIMARY ACTIVITIES | | | | |OPERATIONS |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSFORMING INPUTS | | | INTO FINAL PRODUCTS | | |OUTBOUND LOGISTICS |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH DISTRIBUTING | | | |PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO BUYERS | | |MARKETING AND SALES |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING A MEANS BY| | | |WHICH BUYERS CAN PURCHASE THE PRODUCT AND | | | |INDUSING THEM TO DO SO (ADVERTISING, SALES | | | |PROMOTION AND PRICING) | | |SERVICES |ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING SERVICE TO| | | |ENHANCE OR MAINTAIN THE VALUE OF PRODUCTS. | (De Wit Ron Meyer, 2005) Vodafone’s VALUE CHAIN NETWORK Organisations are part of a wider system of adding value involving supply and distribution value chains and the value chains of customers (Lynch 2000). SUPPLIERS VALUE CHAIN CHANNEL VALUE CHAIN CUSTOMER VALUE CHAIN Analysis of the value chain and value system will provide information on value added in the company. Linkages are important to strategic development because they are often unique to that organisation. These linkages may therefore provide advantages over competitors who do not have such linkages, or who are unable to easily develop them (Lynch 2000, p270). (xxxxx) According to Porter, â€Å"fit is a far more central component of competitive advantage than most realise†. BENCHMARKING Benching has quickly come to be a tool not only for comparing a company against rivals on cost but also for comparing itself to others on most any relevant activity or competitively important measure (Thompson Strickland 2001). There are a number of different types of benchmarking, some more useful than others such as Historical benchmarking-which is common for organisations to consider their performance in relation to previous years. Industry/sector benchmarking- which involves looking at the comparative performance of other organisations in the same industry sector or between similar public service providers. Best-in-class benchmarking- compares an organisations performance against ‘best in class’ performance –wherever that is found. One of Vodafone’s key objectives is to deliver value and efficiency from scale, the organisation is continually seeking to improve its cost efficiency against a background of continual price pressures due to competition in the market and regulations. Vodafone uses the Hackett Group, an external independent benchmarking company to gain a better insight into its competitive position in the market place. The Hackett Group, using best practice business benchmarking helps propel clients to sustainable improvements in operational efficiency and effectiveness. Looking at Vodafone from a Cost perspective the company has favourable comparative cost positions in many markets; [pic] (http://www. vodafone. com/content/annualreport/annual_report11/business-review/strategy-in-action/deliver-value-and-efficiency-from-scale. html) SWOT ANALYSIS- STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES Strengths |Weaknesses | |Well defined cost reduction initiative. |1. High customers churn rates. | |Ethical company and in r anking top 20 in Europe. |2. Hard to prevent internal information leakage from | |Close relationships with suppliers and cost efficiency. |Vodafone to competitors. | |Strong market leading position. |3. Outsourcing-Lack of control over service quality. | |Pure cash provisions. |4. Lack of communication between head office and retail | |Excellent brand reputation. |outlets. As a result retail staff may not be receiving | | |adequate training on Vodafone products/services. | |5. Staff forced to be flexible in job design | | |(doubling/tripling work load) which causes quality | | |deficiency. | Appendix 5: SWOT analysis- Key points highlighted THE TOWS MATRIX The TOWS matrix builds directly on the information about the strategic position that is summarised in a SWOT analysis. Each box of the TOWS matrix is used to identify options that address a different combination of the internal factors and external factors. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2006, 347) |STRENGTHS (S) |WEAKNESSE S (W) | |OPPORTUNITIES (O) |SO STRATEGIC OPTIONS |WO STRATEGIC OPTIONS | | |USE THE FIRMS INTERNAL STRENGTHS TO TAKE |IMPROVING INTERNAL WEAKNESSES BY TAKING | | |AVDVANTAGE OF EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES |ADVANTAGE OF EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES | |THREATS (T) |ST STRATEGIC OPTIONS |WT STRATEGIC OPTIONS | | |USING FIRMS STRENGTHS TO AVOID OR REDUCE |DEFENSIVE TACTICS AIMED AT REDUCING | | |THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL THREATS |INTERNAL WEAKNESSES AND AVOIDING | | | |ENVIRNONMENTAL THREATS | (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2006, p. 347) Vodafone’s TOWS MATRIX INTERNAL FACTORS |STRENGTHS (S) |WEAKNESSES (W) | |OPPORTUNITIES (O) |SO STRATEGIC OPTIONS |WO STRATEGIC OPTIONS | |THREATS (T) |ST STRATEGIC OPTIONS |WT STRATEGIC OPTIONS | ———————– Software Suppliers Hardware Suppliers Third Party Service Providers Vodafone Indirect Channels Direct Channel Online Sales Broadband Customer Personal Customer PROFIT MARGINS SUPPORT ACTIVITIES | | B usiness Customer PROFIT MARGINS PRIMARY ACTIVITIES INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS How to cite Business Strategy, Papers Business Strategy Free Essays Application Exercise (Assignment to be submitted) (180 min. ) * Construct a value chain for your department/ division/ company and contrast it over time or vis a vis a competitor, to try and explain the business performance. | | Guidelines for the assignment * Brief introduction of your firm and division. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now * Draw a value chain of your division/company. (as next best choice generic chain will do) Enlist all the activities under the relevant primary and support functions. Show how each activity is being pursued now, and also differently over time, by your firm. (OR if comparison is not over time but with a competitor’s value chain, show how they perform it differently) * Indicate internal links within the activities, if any. Show how the activities of the value chain are linked to company strategy and structure and how these links enhance competitive advantage. (or show the lack of these links and divergence of activities-scope for improvement in value chain. ). Explore external links (eg. lignment of activities with vendors that enhances differentiation. ) * Conclude-Reflect on overall shift in value chain over time OR difference with competitor’s value chain and how that results in difference in business performance. * The assignment submission should not exceed 5 pages| | About VMware VMware is the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, delivers customer-proven solutions that accelerate IT by reducing complexity and enabling more flexible, agile service delivery. VMware enables enterprises to adopt a cloud model that addresses their unique business challenges. VMware’s approach accelerates the transition to cloud computing while preserving existing investments and improving security and control. With more than 350,000 customers and 50,000 partners, VMware solutions help organizations of all sizes lower costs, increase business agility and ensure freedom of choice I belong to the Consulting Services Division of VMware where we carry out the consulting implementation and management of customer projects Vmware’s Value chain is broadly covered as below . The Value Chain Analysis of VMware covers two categories of activities – primary and support activities. The primary activities are most familiar, as it deals with the steps and processes necessary to take the VMware product or service from RD to final customer sale and support. * Suppy Chain Management – covers the identification, sourcing, procurement, and supplier management of the â€Å"raw materials† that comprise the final product or service. Operations – covers the engineering, inventory management, and manufacturing of the final product or service. Note:   any technologies incorporated into the product or service are also included here. * Distribution – covers the entire channel network and partnerships that VMware drives for distributing the key platform product solutions * Marketing and Sales – covers the marketing, merchandising, promotions, advertising, sales, and channel management to get the completed product and service to the end customer. Service – covers the support and maintenance of products and services after they are delivered to the customer. The secondary activities are less familiar, but equally important in supporting product and service scalability. * RD – covers the testing of the product as per the customer specifications, development and roll out of new product updates * Technology Development – covers the supporting technologies, both information technologies as well as other technologies, important for keeping the lights on. Technologies integrated into the product would be covered in the Operations stage. * Human Resource Management – covers the recruiting, hiring, development,and firing of personnel. * General Administration – covers the general admin tasks of the company (buildings, offices, warehouses) I belong to the Services Department function which forms the primary form of activities in the value chain in terms of delivering the value of the virtualization and cloud benefits to customers as per VMware best practices. Compared to our competitor which is Microsoft our services are allinged to be more proactive to customers in the form of Technical Account Manager program. The product profolio that we drive in the Services and consulting space are truly key in giving VMware 84% of the global market share. VMware Professional Services offer end-to-end consulting services for Datacenter, Virtualization Management, Desktop Virtualization and Cloud Services. Our service offerings are based on in-depth virtualization expertise, proven best practices, and repeatable delivery methodologies to help customers realize the full value of virtualization for IT as a service computing models faster, and with less risk. Based on best practices from working with thousands of customers and using reliable, repeatable methodologies, our services are designed to help Assess the current environments, Plan and design solutions that meet the desired business objectives, Build and implement the desired virtualization solutions, and Manage the environment with staff augmentation and performance tuning Regardless of the level of a customer’s virtualization maturity or business need, VMware Consulting Services accelerate the business value of IT transformation to IT as a Service computing models, through virtualization, with less risk compared to our competition which is the key differentiator in our engagement with customers compared to competition. We have provided key differentiators in our Services Value chain which has resulted huge business benefits to VMware the summary of which is as below – Year-over-Year Revenue Growth of 25% to $1. 6 Billion – Operating Margin of 20. 6%; Non-GAAP Operating Margin of 32. 6% – Trailing Twelve Months Operating Cash Flows Growth of 64% to $2. 12 Billion; Free Cash Flows Growth of 53% to $2. 07 Billion Service revenues, which include software maintenance and professional services, were $573 million for 2012, an increase of 35% from 2011. The use of value chain analysis facilitates the strategic management of VMware as an organization. The three main types of competitive strategy are cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Cost leadership is a strategy that relies on lowest-cost production and delivery, while differentiation relies on outstanding quality or product (program/course) features. The focus strategy relies on differentiation or cost leadership for a particular product or market niche. Value chain analysis is a framework that can provide a number of benefits to the VMware management of virtualiation and cloud computing organizations. This analysis help VMware managers of to identify linkages between value activities within the organization, and to think in terms of process rather than function or department. Through analysis of the value system, managers identify potentials for strategic alliances with various actors in the industry value system. Identification of cost drivers and linkage with value chain activities help managers focus on cost reduction and on finding ways to optimize returns throughout the value chain. As well, value chain analysis helps managers understand cost management problems. Failure to see the impact of a decision on the overall value chain will result in missed opportunities for VMware. The value chain framework allows VMware to break down the chain—from basic infrastructure and support, to software development, to customer support and service—into strategically relevant activities to understand the behavior of costs and the sources of differentiation. Profit Margin is typically only one part of the larger set of activities in the value delivery system. Gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage requires that VMware understands the entire value delivery system, not just the portion of the value chain in which it participates. Suppliers and distribution channels have profit margins that must be identified if one is to understand VMware’s cost or differentiation positioning, because the customers ultimately pay for all the profit margins throughout the value chain. Broadly the value chain framework is used as powerful analysis tool for the strategic planning and to build the organizational model ensuring an effective leadership model. The value chain concept is applied also in the individual business unit and is extended to the whole supply chain and distribution networks of VMware. To form a successful product for VMware it is important to add value in each activity that the product goes through during the life cycle. The best possible value can be achieved in the product development process by adding value in each stage. For that it needs all, or a combination of, value chain activities and a proper synchronization among all the related activities. A proper organization is required that contains all the required functional departments to perform these activities and a proper communication approach is required to synchronize the activities of these functional units efficiently. How to cite Business Strategy, Essay examples Business Strategy Free Essays MPM703 Business Strategy and Analysis Trimester 1, 2013 Assignment: Business Strategy Report In this assignment you are acting either as a group of strategy consultants (group assignment), or as one strategy consultant (individual assignment). You have been asked to prepare a strategy report for a business. The first step is to select a business as the subject of your assignment. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now The business can be a publicly listed company in Australia or overseas which is of interest to you or other members of your group, or it may be a large private or family business located either in Australia or overseas. Do not use or refer to assignments completed by students for this unit in previous trimesters. (A record of past assignments is kept on a database). Note also that the requirements of the assignment change from trimester to trimester. The focus of this assignment is on the business level of analysis. Therefore if you select a diversified company then make sure you focus only on one of the company’s business units. The report must be specific and applied to the business. In other words you must apply the relevant concepts and tools of business strategy to the particular conditions and circumstances of the business you are studying. General statements and references to theories and models that are not applied to the business will not add value to your assignment. Similarly, data about the business that is not analysed and presented from a strategic perspective – using the relevant concepts and tools of strategy – is of little value. To help you in this exercise, consider the position of the CEO of the business who will be reading your report and looking for a strategic analysis and recommendation that is practical and specific to her or his business. The CEO does not want to read a broad analysis that could apply to any number of organisations and does not ‘speak’ to their business. Group or individual submission This assignment may be completed either as a group submission (up to 5 people) or as an individual assignment (one person only). Either way, you must sign up in one of the group assignment spaces online. Marking will be done without regard to whether the assignment was a group or individual submission. In other words an individual assignment should be of a similar standard and quality to that of a group assignment. For group assignments the mark will be shared by all in the group. Therefore: 1. Allocate the various tasks among your group members and agree on interim due dates for the stages of work. Make sure your interim due dates allow for drafts to be circulated and edited so that the final submission is of the highest standard. 2. Each group member must make a relatively fair and reasonable contribution to the report, in whatever form or shape that might take, in order to share equally in the mark. In the rare event that there are any issues you should contact me two weeks prior to the report due date so that a resolution can be reached. Report format and requirements The presentation of your report is a critical aspect of this assignment. It is essential that your report is formatted appropriately, and carefully edited and re-edited to achieve a professional standard. Allow time to draft and re-draft your assignment prior to the due date in order to improve the quality of writing and presentation. You must follow carefully the report structure and requirements set out below. 1. Title Page In the title page, you should include: †¢ Title of the report, e. g. ‘Company X: A Business Strategy Report’. Cloud Deakin Group number (whether you are a group or individual). †¢ The names and student IDs of your group members. †¢ Off campus or on campus status. †¢ Date and Unit Code. †¢ Name and postal address for the return of your assignment. 2. Table of contents Include all of the section headings and subheadings used in your report, together with page numbers. 3. Executive summary (Less t han 300 words) This is a one page only summary of the report, written as a series of short paragraphs, outlining your key findings and recommended strategic option. 4. Introduction (Approximately 400 words) This section provides some background and context to your report. Your introduction should include: †¢ A brief description of the reasons for undertaking the study, i. e. the value of undertaking a strategy review of the business. †¢ An introduction to the business and its macro environment and industry. 5. Strategic Analysis 5. 1 Methods (Approximately 200 words) Provide a brief description of the techniques of data collection and analysis used in this section, including an outline of the sources used to gather the data upon which the report is based. Data may be collected from sources within the business (business documents, questionnaires, interviews) and from industry reports, media sources, the World Wide Web and database searches. It is important to describe the types and quantity of your data sources so that the reader can evaluate the quality and validity of the data on which your analysis is based. 5. 2 Business strategy statement (Approximately 300 words) Describe the mission, vision, objectives, scope, and advantage of the business (see section 1. 2. 3 in the text). Summarise these descriptions into a clear and compelling strategy statement in 35 words or less. . 3 External analysis (Approximately 800 words) †¢ Conduct a PESTEL analysis of your business’s macro environment, evaluating whether each of the PESTEL factors are positive, neutral, or negative for the industry. †¢ Provide an overall evaluation of the impact of these factors on growth and consumer demand in the industry. Explain which of the inf luences in your analysis are likely to be the main drivers for change in the future. †¢ Using the five forces framework described in your text, evaluate and briefly describe the key forces at work in your business’s industry environment. Draw a strategy canvas for your business and the two main rivals (see Figure 2. 9 in the text). Describe briefly the three most critical success factors for your business (see pp. 73-74 in the text). 5. 4 Strategic capability (Approximately 400 words) †¢ Describe your business’s strategic capability in the form of a value chain analysis. †¢ Present a SWOT analysis in table form. 5. 5 Strategy and culture (Approximately 400 words) Draw a cultural web of the business (see Chapter 5 of your text and Figure 5. 8). Briefly evaluate the relationship between the business’s culture and its strategy. . 6Strategic direction (Approximately 450 words) Identify and describe the one most viable strategic direction for the busin ess. To undertake this task refer to Figure 7. 2 on p. 232 and the relevant commentary. Explain how your chosen strategic direction allows the business to: †¢ Respond appropriately to the industry and macro environments described in your external analysis. †¢ Match the strengths of the business to the opportunities in the environment, described in your earlier analyses, to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. . Conclusion (Approximately 250 words) This section is written in paragraph form to provide a summary of one key finding from each of the report sections from 5. 2 to 5. 6. 7. References List all of the references referred to in the report. Please note that appendices are not allowed. Requirements Word limit:3500 (excluding the references only) Line spacing: 1. 5 Font size: 12 Contribution to your final mark: 40% Due date: 3. 00pm, Tuesday 7 May 2013 NB. Words in excess of 3500 will not be marked. Assignment submission rules All assignments are to be submitted online, in addition to a printed copy delivered to the Faculty office, or handed in at lecture. For off campus students the mailed hard copy of the assignment is deemed to be on time if sent and post-marked by the due date of the assignment. Please note that the version of an assignment you submit electronically must be the same as any version you submit in any other form. Students enrolled through partnership agreements must submit as required by the unit chair at the partner institution on the due date. Assignments are on time if they are submitted online and in hard copy on the due date. On campus students must submit the printed version in lecture or at the Faculty office by the due date; off campus students must mail their submission on or before the due date to: Assignment Tracking AASD Deakin University Waurn Ponds, VIC, 3217 3Remote students: A student is classified as remote if they are living in a place where it takes more than 3 days for mail to reach Deakin University, Geelong, for example overseas in certain locations. If you are a remote student, you may submit your assignment by email to jaynes@deakin. edu. au If you are a remote student and submit via email, please clearly state your name, student ID number, unit code and assignment number on the email. It is also recommended that you place this information on your assignment as a Footer or Header. The Assignment Tracking staff will print your assignment and place an Assignment Attachment Form onto your assignment. It will then be tracked and sent to your assessor for marking the same day. When returning the assignment, the assignment will be sent by normal postage and not via email. Please do not post another version in the mail if you email your assignment. 5 No extensions will be considered for assignment submission due dates unless a written request is submitted to and negotiated with the unit chair. 6 Assignments submitted late without an extension being granted will not be marked. Plagiarism and other academic offences Plagiarism is the copying of another person’s ideas or expressions without appropriate acknowledgment. Please read the notes on plagiarism in the Unit Guide. How to cite Business Strategy, Papers Business Strategy Free Essays Victorians Secret, in both its’ business and e-business components use a B to C business strategy that focuses on the same market segment and economics in both channels. Strategically the company focuses on individual business processes instead of its’ business model so that it can improve upon some of them with technology as this avoids a primarily internet-driven business model which could affect the sales of their retail locations. Their business processes that support their verbal selling and purchasing activities for their physical locations can be utilized by the e-commerce channel of the business as well as the retail locations which is a strategy implemented in order to reduce transaction costs by improving the flow of information within the company and its’ channels. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now This helps to coordinate the actions for both channels which is useful in maintaining the same brand standards regardless of where the consumer is buying the product. An example of this would be the technique library database the company established which Is shared among all regions/suppliers and includes company standards of design and production. Victorians Secret implements a business strategy that makes use of multiple marketing channels such as their retail stores and e-commerce channel. They utilize a 360 degree approach for the website with channel cooperation regarding their already established physical locations. Victorians Secret strategically avoids channel conflict by differentiating certain products such as best sellers and only offering them for sale from Victorians Secret, In both Its’ business and e-business components use a B to C business strategy that focuses on the same market segment and economics In both the e-commerce channel of the business as well as the retail locations which Is a be the technique library database the company established which is shared among. How to cite Business Strategy, Papers

Issues Management and Influencing Decisions †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Issues Management and Influencing Decisions. Answer: Introduction: The term firms strategic orientation is a very complex term consisting of several factors that both in the category of either external or internal section of the business. What brings out more complexity is the fact that all these factors in concern interact with each other, and this results in an environment of lots of certainties, availability of numerous stakeholders and causal ambiguity as some of the aspects. There have existed managerial attempts that are aimed at exerting pressure on the above forces and this has led to the creation of multiple models that are geared towards the performance of strategic management. As stated above, there has been a lot of challenging in the determination of the role or the essence of strategic management despite the many attempts that have been made to explain the same. Many organization has had a challenge I determination of the organizational prerequisites that they have to put in place so that the organization can run its activities well. The problem is that many attempts by the scholars have not been In a position to bring to the attention of most of the organization manages the procedures they are supposed to follow when performing their tasks and the development of a strategic management role, not forgetting the role of monitoring the environment as well. This research is geared towards, identification and understanding all the forces that are crucial or play a part in an organization environment, both internal and externally. This also explains how the forces end up shaping the organization. The basics of these research are based on the issue management approach which is concerned with intelligence, design, choice, implementation, feedback as the model of decision making. Several models were developed to help solve the problem of strategic management. The intelligence model attributed to Herbert Simon and his fellow researchers was the best since it captured many other sections other than external and the internal environment. Unlike other models that only considered the majoring their argument on the time that should be spent on the design and choice phases of decision making, the Herbert Simon group approach covered all the other sections like the intelligence, design, choice, implementation, and feedback model. The findings were as follows In many organizations, the majority of the managers considered sacrificing most of the time on the design of the issues management and decision-making processes instead of considering other factors like implementation process. There is a need for strategic thinking for every organization as a way of realizing assumptions, identifying signals and classifying them and last generation and testing of hypotheses. The implications of the key findings One of the key findings was there was a need for a strategic thinking. According to Ansoff, today, the level of bringing a change is in a condition that the official and the recognized procedures used for planning seem to be no longer enough to respond to future turbulence in time. This is due to high level of improved technology that has also had an impact on the economic world too. Another reason for slow change implementation is the increasing number of stakeholder that are involved in organized activities in different ways. These implications are evident when it comes to corporate and social responsibilities concerning the nature and the need for a business. The lack of considering the strategic thinking by some of the organization has contributed to the failure of some organization that is good at expectancy of political pressures according to Ansoff. Strategic thinking helps managers in: Understanding the best external environment that favors the organization. Get to know the strongholds and the aims or the set goals of an organization. Be in apposition to realize new opportunities and think of how to make good use of them. Feature the many different ways of coming up with solutions or strategies. Another implication is that the organization led by the managers should consider all the processes that must be involved for a complete IM. This, therefore, calls for strategic planning. Goodstein defined planning as that activity that is done aiming the envisioning and the developing of the major procedures that and activities that a given organization uses to achieve their set objectives. Poor issue management activities imply that the organization has no ways in which it can identify and address fully any rising problem or an opportunity as well. This also implies that its the role of the manager to practice strategic thinking that is a combination of creativity and analytical abilities and these end up resulting in good strategic planning. Recommendations If an organization want to achieve strategic management, they must consider using integrated planning system model that enables the integration of both management and strategic planning.(manading strategic issues in turbulent environment , 2000)Moreover, one of the key necessities is to create authoritative capability in revealing and working with mental models. This is effortlessly said yet not really effortlessly proficient. In the two people as well as associations, they are profoundly established in the oblivious and program schedules that have been created over numerous years. Under generally serene business conditions, where change is moderate and more developmental than progressive, one can contend that SIMS is not as critical and that the current mental models may well be sufficient for the errand. Conclusions Its evident that the management issues have grown to significance levels. (Ansoff H, 1980)Now the basic functions of planning, monitoring, and analysis are being acknowledged as the essential parts of strategic management. A good management should consider providing a good frame work to make effective issues management possible. References Ansoff H, I. (1980). strategic issues management. strategic management, 131-148. Hayes, M. (1985) Developing Managers for strategic Management, in W. D. Guth (ed.), Handbook of Business Strategy, Boston, MA: Warren, Gorham Lamont, ch. XXV. Heath, R. L. and Associates (1988) Strategic Issues Management, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Hing, A. (1990) Issues Management and Influencing Decisions, Practising Manager, 11(1):4244. Hogarth, R. M. (1987) Judgment and Choice (2nd end). New York: John Wiley and Sons. Huber, G. P. (1991) Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures, Organization Science 2(1): 88115. Managing strategic issues in the turbulent environment. (2000). long range planning, 67.