Assignment: Week 10

1. In your own word and using referenced quotes describe what is meant in strategy by "Organizational Purpose" and describe what is meant by "Corporate Social Responsibility".

• 'Organizational Purpose' refers to the primary reason why the organization is in existence. The organization should be able to point out its reason of existence in no more than two lines clearly stating its roles in the aid of humanity and the environment.

• 'Corporate Responsibility' refers to the commitment made by the organizations to its workforce and their families along with the society to behave ethically and improve their quality of life.

2.Should organizations focus more on profit and shareholder satisfaction or responsibility and stakeholder satisfaction? Discuss your own thoughts but try to support your ideas with theory or examples.

Responsibility and stakeholder's satisfaction are equally important as profit and shareholder's satisfaction. Government, employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, trade unions fall under stakeholders where as shareholders are the individuals or the organizations owning shares of a particular company.

I believe organizations should give equal importance to profit & shareholder's satisfaction and to      responsibility & stakeholder's satisfaction. Without gaining sufficient amount of profit the organization cannot function and satisfactory dividends and returns have to be given to the shareholder's in order to ensure investments from their parts. Similarly, the organization has to fulfill its responsibilities towards the society, government, environment and its stakeholders to operate smoothly.

Thus i believe the organization must carry on its functions maintaining a balanced equation between the shareholders and the stakeholders.

Reference

1.      B.Mallen.(2004) Corporate Social Responsibilty(online) http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/definition.php (Accessed on March 6, 2013)

2.      Online library (2013) Organization Purpose (online) http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-organizational-purpose-objectives-36051.html (Accessed on march 5, 2013)

Assignment: Week 9

1.    In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what is meant in strategy by “Resource-Based View”?

• Resource-Based view is based upon the idea that effective and efficient application of all useful resources that the company can assemble helps to determine its competitive advantage.

2.       How might you undertake ‘Internal Strategic Analysis’? What models would you apply and why?           Where would you go to find the information you need?

• Internal strategic analysis includes ‘Strengths’ and ‘Weaknesses’ which mainly focuses in the internal aspects which gives the organization certain advantage and disadvantages during the process of acquiring the fixed targets. Strength is the positive factor of the organization that aids in achieving the required target where as Weaknesses are the negative factors that hinders in the achieving or implementation of any strategies.

          I would apply the following models:

          Industry analysis: It helps in identifying the key success factors of the industry.

          Business Strategy: Is useful in description of business goals and strategies of the firm.

          SWOT analysis: Is useful in analyzing the internal as well as external factors affecting the firms

3.       Talk about your group video work. How is it going so far? Do you have a plan? What are your most worried about the moment? What is going well.

• Our group video is going quite well as planned. Yes we have formulated a plan in which each member is given a specific task. I most worried about how our video will turn out to be. 

REFERENCES:

1.      Akio T, (2005) The Critical Assessment of Resources Based View of strategic analysis (online) http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/ras/04_publications/ria_en/03_8.pdf (Accessed on April 28 2013)

2.      Mind Tools, (2013) Strategy Tools (online) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_STR.htm (Accessed on April 27 2013)

Assignment: Week 8

1.     Complete your strategic grouping diagram for Islington College (task 3- slide 46) and post it on your learning journal- either as a picture or as an attachment.

The list of competitors for Islington College:

1.       KCM (Kathmandu college of Management)

2.       The British College

3.       Softwarica College of IT and E-commerce

4.       Kings College

5.       Silver Mountain

6.       St. Xavier’s College

7.       Lord Buddha Education Foundation

8.       Nepal college of IT and Commerce

                                                    Porter’s 5 Forces Model for Islington College

                                                                                                                                                                                             

To which college does Islington College Falls?

Assignment: Week 7

PESTLE analysis on Big Mart Super Market

PEST/ PESTLE Analysis on  Big Mart Super Market Analyzed by Bipin Bajracharya Date of Analysis    2013-3-29
PESTLE Analysis factors	Your notes	Potential Impact:	Implication and importance
The list below is just to get you started. Remember to put these, and others that you add in the context of the type of organization or business being   analyzed. For example if you are analyzing a small private company the behaviors of a Wall Mart / Tesco or other large international player may well impact on you. If you are analyzing a local authority, government changes will change your priorities.	About your organization. How might the factors listed on the left impact your business or part of the organization?	H - High M - Medium L - Low U - Undetermined	Time Frame: 0 - 6 months 6 - 12 months 12 - 24 months 24 + months	Type: Positive + Negative - Unknown	Impact: Increasing > Unchanged = Decreasing < Unknown	Relative Importance: Critical Important Un-important Unknown
Political ·                     Trading policies ·                     Home market lobbying/pressure groups ·                     Government policies ·                     Government term and change ·                     Elections ·                     Inter-country relationships/attitudes ·                     Political trends ·                     Governmental leadership ·                     Government structures ·                     Internal political issues ·                     Shareholder/ stakeholder needs/ demands	As, Nepal is experiencing tuff time with the political instability and uncertainty, the business sector of the country is affected the most. The day to day strikes in the country is affecting the supermarket to shut down during the business days as well, which directly hampers the supply. Thus, Big Mart needs to take some competitive and strategic steps to overcome this problem.	M M M H M M M M M M H	24+ 24+ 0-6 6-12 6-12  6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12	+ve -ve -ve +ve +ve  +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Unchanged Unknown Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing	Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Critical
Economic ·                     Home economy situation ·                     Home economy trends ·                     Overseas economies and trends ·                     General taxation issues ·                     Taxation changes specific to product/services ·                     Seasonality/weather issues ·                     Market and trade cycles ·                     Specific industry factors ·                     Market routes and distribution trends ·                     Customer/end-user drivers ·                     International trade/monetary issues ·                     Job growth/unemployment ·                     Exchange rates ·                     Tariffs ·                     Inflation ·                     Interest and exchange rates ·                     Consumer confidence index ·                     Production level ·                     Internal finance ·                     Internal cash flow	Though the branches of supermarket are placed in the developed   parts of the valley, it has not yet been able to attract as many customers as the competitors does. The supermarket has to adjust the price of the products according to the inflation and carry out effective planning to fulfill the demand of people from all economic groups.	H H - H H M M M M M M M H M H M M M H H	24+ 24+ _ 6-12 6-12 0-6 0-6 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 0-6 6-12 6-12	+ve +ve _ +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve -ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve -ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Increasing _ Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Unchanged Increasing Increasing Unchanged Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing	Critical Critical _ Important Important Important Important Important Un-important Important Important Important Important Important Critical Important Important Important Critical Critical
Social ·                     Consumer attitudes and opinions ·                     Media views ·                     Law changes affecting social factors ·                     Brand, company, technology image ·                     Consumer buying patterns ·                     Major events and influences ·                     Buying access and trends ·                     Ethnic/religious factors ·                     Advertising and publicity ·                     Ethical issues ·                     Demographics (age, gender, race, family size,) ·                     Lifestyle changes ·                     Population shifts ·                     Education ·                     Trends ·                     Fads ·                     Diversity ·                     Immigration/emigration ·                     Health ·                     Living standards ·                     Housing trends ·                     Fashion & role models ·                     Attitudes to work ·                     Attitudes to people doing certain types of work ·                     Occupations ·                     Earning capacity ·                     Staff attitudes ·                     Management style ·                     organizational culture ·                     Changes to education system	The trend of today’s customers changed to one-stop and bulk shopping. Though the supermarket has managed to place around 25,000 varieties of products, it has not yet been able to draw the attention of maximum people. The supermarket is focusing only on few segments for some specific place. But, the people with different cultural and demands are now scattered   everywhere. Therefore, the supermarkets need to focus on different varieties of product and services.	M H H H M H H H H M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M H H H M M M	0-6 0-6 6-12 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12 24+ 24+ 24+ 24+ 6-12 6-12 0-6 24+ 24+ 6-12 24+ 0-6 0-6 6-12 6-12 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12	+ve +ve -ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing	Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important
Technological ·                     Competing technology development ·                     Associated/dependent technologies ·                     Replacement technology/solutions ·                     Maturity of technology ·                     Manufacturing maturity        and capacity ·                     Information and communications ·                     Consumer buying mechanisms/technology ·                     Technology legislation ·                     Technology access, licensing, patents ·                     Intellectual property issues ·                     Global communications  ·                     Innovations ·                     New discoveries ·                     Research ·                     Energy uses/sources/fuels ·                     Communications ·                     Health (pharmaceutical, equipment, etc.) ·                     Manufacturing advances ·                     Information technology  ·                     Internet ·                     Transportation ·                     Waste removal/recycling ·                     Email ·                     M-learning ·                     E-learning ·                     Collaboration tools ·                     Software changes	The uses of technologies for recording the sales and stock of products are very essential to operate a firm like a supermarket. Big Mart has to be updated with recent technologies to operate and expand its business at a high pace. Though, the facilities like ATM lounge are provided to the customers, it is still lacking to facilitate the customers with “online” services. The supermarket needs to handle such issues to gain competitive advantage over others.	H H H M H H H M M M M M M M H M M H H H M H M M M M M	24+ 24+ 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 0-6 0-6 6-12 6-12 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 6-12 6-12 6-12	+ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing	Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important
Legal ·                     Current legislation home market ·                     Future legislation ·                     Regulatory bodies and processes ·                     Employment law ·                     Consumer protection ·                     Industry-specific regulations ·                     competitive regulations	It is obvious that Big Mart is following the rules, regulations and policies as per Nepal’s government. It is regularly maintaining its   accounts and ledgers on time, which even includes the government tax as well. However, Big Mart is still facing the pressure of intense price war and strong product differentiation. Thus, the supermarket needs to maintain its product price as per the market value.	M M M M M M H	6-12 12-24 12-24 12-24 12-24 6-12 6-12	+ve Unknown +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing	Important Important Important Important Important Important Important
Environmental  ·                     Ecological ·                     Environmental issues o                  International o                  National o                  Local ·                     Environmental regulations ·                     Customer values ·                     Market values ·                     Stakeholder/ investor values ·                     Staff attitudes ·                     Management style ·                     organizational culture ·                     Staff morale ·                     Staff engagement	The supermarket has the probability of disposing the unwanted products with the knowledge of eco-environment approach. They need to be initiative in preserving the environment to develop good reputation among the people.	L M M H H H H H M H H	24+ 24+ 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-12 0-6 12-24 6-12 6-12 0-6	+ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve +ve	Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Increasing Unchanged Increasing Increasing	Unknown Unknown Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important