IBMs Multicultural Multinational Teams Essay - 2041 Words

IBMs Multicultural Multinational Teams South University Online Todays work environment is more complex than it has ever been. With the number of global companies increasing and the competition that has resulted from this business practice, there has been tremendous demand for organizations to improve their workforce practices. The pressures of organizations to be globally competitive has led to drastic changes in the way that business work practices are utilized. Organizations had to develop strategies that increased efficiency, productivity, and also profitability. The resulting changes has shifted the work environment from an individualistic nature to more of a team oriented structure.†¦show more content†¦Once IBM became so wide and diverse the need for an informal, impermanent, and team oriented environment became necessary. Describe the stages of group development these teams should expect to experience. At each stage, make recommendations that will help move the team into the next stage. There are five stages of group development that teams will experience. These stages are all needed and should be anticipated in order for the team to develop, to deal with challenges, to undertake problems, to uncover solutions, to strategize the effort, and to provide the desired outcome. The initial stage involved in the team building process is the forming stage. This is when the forming of the team occurs and the team members are uncertain about what the process will be. This stage is to identify group behaviors, principles and standards and methods to manage behavioral problems. In this stage team members get to know one another and develop opinions about one anothers personalities. The team members are finding out the extent of the mission and how to tackle the opportunities and challenges they will encounter, along with establishing and agreeing to goals. After the group begins to get fairly comfortable with one anothers behavioral characteristics and the details of the p roject are sorted out, the team will begin the advancement to the next stage of the group development. The second stage involved in the team buildingShow MoreRelatedCase Analysis of Lenovo MA IBM PC department3533 Words   |  15 Pagessuccessful overseas MAs suffering from a low profit margin in the PC business and intense competitions from tablet PCs and smart phones, the company is initiating to diversify its businesses. The most famous MA case is the merger and acquisition of IBMs PC unit. In fact, in early 2000, IBM had already represented its willingness to sell their PC unit to Lenovo. Why would IBM sell its renowned PC unit? 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The Women of Bangladesh free essay sample

Low Status and Power Bangladesh is one of the worlds most densely populated countries with 150 million people, 49 percent of whom live below the national poverty line. In addition, child malnutrition rates of 48 percent are the second highest in the world, a condition that is tied to the low social status of women in Bangladeshi society (THP). Even though women constitute almost half of the population in Bangladesh, their status has been ranked the lowest in the world based on twenty indicators related to education, health, marriage, children, employment, and social equality (NCBP). Bangladesh is a very patriarchal society and gender inequality is evidenced in almost every aspect of life. Some studies have shown that the majority of women from rural areas are not aware of gender inequality because traditional beliefs keep them in the shadow of their fathers, husbands, and sons (Hadi). Women are dependent on men all their lives because that is what they know. Their traditions and lack of education keep them pocketed away from society especially in rural areas, where after marriage they are not allowed to leave the home unless accompanied by a male relative. Bangladesh is one of the very few countries in the world in which males outnumber females; this provides strong evidence that there is a problem of missing women. Census data from 2001 shows that more than 2. 7 million Bangladeshi women were missing (SIGI). There are no reliable statistics to quote, so estimates on the number of trafficked women and children are difficult to make. The crime is largely hidden despite its pervasiveness. Nevertheless, a total of 335 women and children were reportedly trafficked from Bangladesh in 2002 (BNWLA). In all fairness, it seems that stating â€Å"more than 2. 7 million Bangladeshi women were missing† from the 2001 census may pose more questions than answers especially considering many rural families do not legally record births, deaths and marriages because they haven’t been educated to do so. Son preference is also prevalent in this society leading to female sex-selective abortions, neglect of girls (compared to boys) in early childhood and abandonment (SIGI). A report released by the U. N. Population Fund in 2000 asserted that 47 percent of adult women report physical abuse by their male partner. Much of the reported violence against women is related to disputes over dowries. Assailants who fling acid in their faces disfigure a number of women each year. Many of these attacks are revenge motivated by rejected suitors. Few perpetrators of these acid attacks are prosecuted due to poor investigation and lack of eyewitnesses (OWP). Reproductive Freedom In Bangladesh, the use of the term â€Å"Reproductive Rights† is very recent. The common understanding of reproductive rights is that women should be able to decide and control their own bodies and reproductive behavior. However, many women living in rural and poor urban settings of Bangladesh are victims of physical, sexual, psychological, and human rights violations (Hossain and Akhter). Pregnant women have many potential causes for serious illness and complications during their pregnancy. Early marriage, lack of proper nutrition, and multiple pregnancies are just the beginning. Abortion is not legal, and many women attempt to induce abortion or get assistance from untrained people in less than sanitary conditions. These factors often lead to sterility and sometimes death. The government decides which contraceptives will be made available to women and often due to lack of education; rural women are unaware of what is accessible to them. Additionally, â€Å"women have to take permission from their husbands to use contraceptives (Hossain and Akhter)†. This means that women, especially the extremely poor, do not have a choice concerning the timing of pregnancies. A highly religious and patriarchal culture keeps women on the role of passivity regarding their own sexual health and those who resist are subject to spousal battering, dowry-related torture, marital rape, arbitrary family planning, and sexually transmitted diseases (Henningfeld 98). Sexuality / Lesbianism There is not much written in news articles or reports about lesbians in Bangladesh. In fact, any references to lesbianism are almost footnotes in ublications regarding homosexual men or LGBT. In the article â€Å"An Analysis of Homosexuality in Bangladesh† by Ashok Deb on the LGBT Bangladesh website, the writer describes how invisible the gay and lesbian communities of Bangladesh are and the prejudices they face. Bangladesh has the second largest Muslim population in the world and homosexuality is forbidden in their culture. â€Å"Although not declared officially like [in] Iran,†¦. homosexuality does not simply exist. The combination of homophobia and heterosexism in Bangladesh keeps the majority of gays and lesbians in â€Å"the closet. Lesbians in Bangladesh are dealt a double blow in regard to their rights; being women in a largely hetero-patriarchy society where women do not have the same liberties as men and being the sexual minority whose sexuality is controlled by society, religion and the legal system. Since the Bangladesh culture essentially prohibits a homosexual lifestyle, lesbians are forced to hide their sexual orientation to protect themselves and their families from physical and verbal attacks and/or community rejection. Thus to avoid social abrogation and rejection, a lesbian opts to marry a male partner†¦ (Deb)†. Such â€Å"invisibility† in culture and denial of sexual orientation can lead to serious psychological issues resulting in depression and sometimes, even suicide. Women’s Work In general, women are undervalued both in the formal and informal labor sectors; formal being the workplace where one receives a taxed paycheck and informal work situations such as contract basis, ‘under the table’ and ‘off the books’ (Burn 92). Bangladesh is one of the worst countries concerning gender pay gap, occupational sex segregation, and gender stereotypes in the workplace. The World Bank’s 2012 labor report states that Bangladeshi women make 12 cents for every dollar a man earns! One of the contributing factors to the wage gap is called the human capital approach. This means that women are credited with less education, experience, and life skills to offer an employer versus that of a man, so they can be paid less (Burn 104). However, the young women of Bangladesh are starting to make changes in their lives and in society. Allowing women to work outside the home is one of the first steps to economic empowerment of women. There are still many cultures, Bangladesh included, where women are dependent on men for everything, but that is slowly changing. Women without access to their own money are more likely to be forced to marry young, have many children, and have little to no education. Young women who are in the workforce have better mobility, access to better education and marry later in life. When these women do get married, they have control of their own reproductivity and are more likely than men to put their money back into their family in the form of better food, homes, health care, and education for their daughters as well as their sons. Additionally, their daughter’s will have an even better education and that will give them the skills to make their own decisions about contraceptives, where to work, when to get married and how to use their earnings (Negash). Investing in the women of today can lead to less poverty tomorrow. One challenge for women in the workplace is sexual harassment. The general idea is as follows: typically, men committing unwelcome/ unwanted sexual advances toward women in the workplace. The sex-role spillover theory posed by Gutek amp; Morash in 1982, suggests that how men and women perceive their roles in life (men seeing women in sexual terms and women trained to see this as flattery and not complain) ‘spills-over’ into the workplace. This leads to a few different kinds of sexual harassment; gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion. Gender harassment is derogatory and insulting behavior toward women. Suggestive comments and physical contact comprise some aspects of unwanted sexual attention and the worst is sexual coercion; sex being required to get or keep a job (Burn 113). However, there is very little written about sexual harassment toward Bangladeshi women in the work force. Unfortunately, several factors contribute to this problem. Women’s unwillingness to report harassment is the biggest one. Reasons that harassment is not reported may be any or all of the following: women are trained from childhood that any talk of the sexual nature is taboo, fear that if they do report the harassment they will lose their job, and worse, fear that they report it and their superiors will do nothing (Siddiqi). The work environment in Bangladesh will not improve until the traditional gender role perspectives are changed by both men and women. Women in Development Households in rural areas of Bangladesh face several major environmental problems. Frequently, access to clean water and poor sanitary disposal contribute to villagers contracting gastrointestinal and other water-borne diseases. In addition, there continues to be loss of natural forest areas due to commercial tree felling for fuel and encroachments on agricultural settlements. Clearly, there is a direct correlation between environmental issues and poverty; the poor are forced to address short-term needs, even if their actions contribute to the long-term depletion of natural resources (Rhaman and Roy). The Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) has incorporated an Environmental Education program in one of its rural development projects, the Comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP). Since its inception, CVDP has been working to establish a strong institutional framework at the village level with the active participation of the members of the communities (M.H. Chowdhury). There are no short cuts in reducing poverty and increasing economic development in Bangladesh. The CVDP encourages local leadership and community participation by addressing rural problems related to development. The program works to implement strategies to empower the women and the poor in these communities. Women and Religion The major (state) religion in Bangladesh is Islam with Hindu in second position. Early Islam history shows that women were important leaders of the religion but now women are limited in their public participation; women can be leaders only in all female groups. It is believed that the teachings of Islam are opposed to using masculine god language and promote all followers as equal and yet Allah is referred to as â€Å"he† and women do not have much of a public role in the religion (Burn 184). Fundamentalist Islam religious practices are very gender segregated; one reason women primarily participate in religious rituals within the home is because menstruation is considered unclean and they cannot enter a mosque or touch the Qur’an until their period is complete and have taken the ritual cleansing bath (Burn184). Men claim that one of the reasons mosques are segregated is that women are a physical distraction, so men and women cannot pray together (Jehanzeb). Contrary to many Westerner’s beliefs, many Muslim women view traditional Islamic dress as a way to show their devotion to Allah, rather than a form of oppression. The use of the hijab (or veil) to cover the hair and the abaya (a long dress or coat and a headscarf) are expressions of women wanting to please Allah and follow Islamic teachings (Burn 185). Women in Politics Although two women Prime Ministers have headed the Bangladeshi government alternately for the past 20 years, this does not reflect the ratios of gender participation in the Parliament or decision-making at policy level. While there have been many men in the ceremonial presidential position, there have been only the two women, Sheikh Hasina or Khaleda Zia, alternating in the most powerful position of the country. However, even though they held high positions within the government, neither questioned the male dominance of politics in Bangladesh or tried to change gendered political structures in order to allow more female participation. Islam plays an important role in both society and politics in Bangladesh. In 1988, an amendment to the constitution made Islam the state religion. To insure their participation and visibility in politics, many female Members of Parliment observe proper female Islamic dress code by covering their heads in public and participating in public religious rituals to show that they were practicing Muslims. It has always been very important to the people of Bangladesh that their statespeople be practicing Muslims (N. Chowdhury, Women and Politics Worldwide). Despite the two top leaders of Bangladesh being female, women’s representation in parliament is small. The quota of reserved seats for women in the Bangladeshi Parliament is 45. These 45 of 300 total seats do not adequately represent the over fifty percent female votership in Bangladesh (N. Chowdhury). Thus, ensuring that women do not have an equal voice in Bangladesh’s politics. Women who are Members of the Parliament from those reserved seats are considered â€Å"ornamental† partially due to lack of participation but mostly because of the patriarchal views of women in the public sphere. Also, women do not run for unreserved seats on parliament for many reasons. Some state they do not have the funding (because their money is controlled by their husbands), do not want to be linked to criminal activities, and some fear for their lives should they win. The political arena in Bangladesh is filled with corruption and many male politicians buy their way into Parliament or use assassins to eliminate competition (F. D. Chowdhury). Unfortunately, neither Sheikh Hasina or Khaleda Zia used the power of her position to further women’s political growth or enhance their political competency (N. Chowdhury). Gender Equality Movements The Bangladeshi Constitution affirms gender equality but women’s rights are often disregarded. Women and girls are disadvantaged in their access to education, health care, and financial assets (SIGI). Islamic Sharia law regards women as â€Å"custodians† but not legal guardians of their children. In the event of divorce under Muslim law, women can only retain custody of sons until age seven and daughters until puberty (SIGI). The husband has the right of unilateral divorce, for no cause at all. The wife has no such right and when her husband exercises his right; she has no redress. Bangladesh’s largest women’s organization, Mahila Parishad, works to raise women’s awareness and provide equality in the laws that govern the country. Twenty years ago, they lobbied parliament to pass an Anti-dowry law due to the extreme violence against married women over dowries (Burn 252). Although this law is in effect, many families in rural areas still observe the dowry as part of the marriage arrangement. Unfortunately, due to extreme poverty and underdevelopment, women’s equality issues are not seen as important issues (N. Chowdhury, Women and Politics Worldwide). Women in the Garment Industry Over 80 percent of Bangladesh’s garment industry workers are women, which is a large increase over previous studies (ILO). Traditionally, garment industry workers have always been men and when women were first hired, the men were not sure they could do the job. Only after watching women in action did that thought change. Breaking some of the typical gender stereotypes, there are now over 200 garment factories in Bangladesh that not only hire women to sew and iron garments but some allow women to move into ‘cutter’ positions, normally a position only held by men (ILO). Still, occupational sex de-segregation has a long way to go. Some of these companies, like Babylon Garments Factory, are making great strides to create family-friendly facilities; a nursery for worker’s children and free medical treatment/ health care on the premises (ILO). However, there is still a lot of progress to be made before women can break through the glass ceiling in the Bagladeshi workforce. Women and Proper Etiquette There are many subtle nuances of proper etiquette concerning Bangladeshi women such as how to greet them, dining arrangements, and proper attire. Greetings usually only take place between members of the same sex and women will really only be met within a business atmosphere; foreign men should nod to a Bangladeshi women unless she extends her hand and address her as â€Å"Begum† (â€Å"Madam†). Public displays of affection, even between husbands and wives, are considered immoral; particularly in respect to unmarried females (Shrestha). Women should not be photographed unless it is certain there will be no objections. Dining will typically be same sex inside and outside of the home. Proper attire for Bangladeshi women includes a Saree (a type of dress), a Hijab (or veil) worn on the head so that no hair is showing with the common hairstyle, and hair worn in a Beni (twisted bun). Use of Western clothing is rare and exposure of cleavage, thighs and arms is discouraged (Shrestha). In Closing Women represent half the worlds population, and gender inequality exists in every country. Preventing half the people on this earth from reaching its full potential is shortsighted. Society in general is hurt when women and girls are deprived of equality (Negash). For the women of Bangladesh, there are still some huge hurdles to overcome concerning the improvement of education for girls, health and reproductive care for women, and basic human rights. Optimistically, the changes that have already been witnessed will continue to spread so the next generations will be met with a promising future.

Hormones Essays (994 words) - Endocrine System, Anatomy,

Hormones Hormones are organic substances that are secreted by plants and animals and that function in the regulation of physiological activities and in maintaining homeostasis. They carry out their functions by evoking responses from specific organs or tissues that are adapted to react to minute quantities of them. The classical view of hormones is that they are transmitted to their targets in the bloodstream after discharge from the glands that secrete them. This mode of discharge (directly into the bloodstream) is called endocrine secretion. The meaning of the term hormone has been extended beyond the original definition of a blood-borne secretion, however, to include similar regulatory substances that are distributed by diffusion across cell membranes instead of by a blood system. . Among animals, the hormones of the vertebrates--particularly those of humans and other mammals--are the best known. Most vertebrate hormones originate in specialized tissues, called endocrine tissues, and are carried to their targets through the bloodstream. Endocrine glands. A major endocrine gland in vertebrates is the pituitary, which consists of two distinct sections: the anterior pituitary (or adenohypophysis) and the posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis). The anterior pituitary is sometimes called the "master gland," because it secretes several hormones that affect the other endocrine glands. For example, the anterior pituitary hormones thyrotropin and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) regulate endocrine activity in the thyroid and the outer region (cortex) of the adrenal glands, respectively. The anterior pituitary also secretes hormones that affect the sex glands. One of these is follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which stimulates egg production in the ovaries and sperm production in the testes. Another is luteinizing hormone (LH). In females, LH works in conjunction with FSH to regulate the female reproductive cycle and the secretion of female sex hormones. In males, LH controls the production of the male sex hormones. Other hormones produced in the anterior pituitary include growth hormone, which is responsible for normal body growth, and prolactin, which promotes milk production in female mammals. Its designation as the master gland notwithstanding, the anterior pituitary itself is regulated by substances called releasing hormones that are secreted by the hypothalamus, the part of the brain located directly above the pituitary. These hypothalamic hormones stimulate--or, in some cases, inhibit--the secretions of the anterior pituitary. The posterior pituitary stores and releases two hormones: oxytocin, which causes the uterus to contract during birth, and vasopressin, which acts on the kidneys to restrict the output of urine. These two hormones are actually produced by the hypothalamus, which is linked directly to the posterior pituitary. Other endocrine glands in vertebrates include the thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, pancreas, and gonads (sex glands). The thyroid produces hormones that control metabolic rate and oxygen consumption. Hormones from the parathyroids are concerned with calcium concentration in the blood, and the pancreas releases insulin and glucagon, hormones that, respectively, lower and raise the blood-sugar level. Hormones from the adrenal cortex regulate glucose and sodium metabolism. Those secreted by the central portion (medulla) of the adrenals affect the heart and the circulatory and respiratory systems; these hormones are important in helping an individual cope with stress. The heart itself releases a hormone-- atrial natriuretic peptide--that helps regulate blood pressure, blood volume, and the salt and water balance within the blood. (see also Index: thyroid hormone, parathormone) The female sex hormones--the estrogens and progesterone--are produced by the ovaries. Together with FSH and LH, these hormones control the cyclical changes in the female reproductive system--the menstrual cycle in human females and the estrous cycle in other female mammals. The estrogens also are responsible for female sexual characteristics. Progesterone is concerned with the maintenance of pregnancy. Male sex hormones--known as androgens--include testosterone, which is secreted by the testes. Testosterone is responsible for the maintenance of male sexual characteristics. Hormone chemistry. Structurally, vertebrate hormones fall into two main classes. Those of the adrenal cortex and the sex organs are steroids, a major class of lipid compounds. Virtually all other known vertebrate hormones consist of amino acids. Most nonsteroidal hormones are composed of chains of amino acids--either short chains (polypeptides) or long chains (proteins). The hormones of the adrenal medulla, however, are composed of amino acid derivatives called amines, those of the thyroid of a single amino acid combined with atoms of iodine. It is believed that hormones achieve their effects on target tissues and organs through either of two mechanisms. The steroid hormones and the hormones of the thyroid can, as a result of their chemical structures, pass through cell membranes. These hormones apparently enter a target cell and combine with an intracellular receptor protein. The hormone-receptor complex then enters the cell's nucleus, where it apparently

The Disadvantages of Socialized Medicine essays

The Disadvantages of Socialized Medicine essays The topic of this paper is how socialized healthcare has disadvantages. Socialized healthcare is in the news today and is proposed by some leaders in both parties of Congress as the answer to insurance and health crises that are becoming apparent in the democratic system in the United States. Unemployment and inflation have made it impossible for many to afford private insurance and it is increasingly becoming the norm for businesses from large corporations to small businesses to not offer their employees health insurance. Today a bill to fund health insurance for underprivileged children is being debated in both houses and the President of the United States has threatened to veto it if it passes. Many people are for some sort of socialized healthcare today, but though the trend appears to be going that direction, there are factors that might be detrimental which must be considered before socialized healthcare becomes the norm. One must conclude that should socialized healthcare beco me part of the governmental system, there would be a few disadvantages that might outweigh its benefits. Great Britain is one nation which has had a National Health Service (NHS) since 1948. This initial experiment was more costly that predicted, the system was overloaded so that one in eight patients waited for over a year for treatment (Carvel, 2007, 2), the drugs administered were limited or unavailable for those who needed them, and the facilities were not up to par (Kelland, 2006, 1). Problems continue to plague the British health system, with government officials skimming funds and research lagging. One of the United States nearest neighbors, Canada, has enjoyed the Canada Health Act since 1984, when it established a publicly-financed, single-payer system and outlawed private health insurance. Although most Canadians approve of their public health system, there are problems such as long waits for specialized surgeries (Duff-Brown 1). Another...

Race and Genetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Race and Genetics - Essay Example Since then it has been a subject of debate whether these differences have a genetic basis. 'The high habitability of intelligence and the difficulties of formulating credible environmentalist explanations' have been pointed to explain the difference. Jensen, A. Robert. Intelligence, Race and Genetics. (1999). West View. The arguments by Jensen that intelligence is largely due to hereditary, including racial heritage raised a lot of discussion. Some of the explanations given by the environmentalists include, bias in the tests, the adverse social and economic living conditions of the blacks, discrimination and prejudice and the historical legacy of the slavery, which has demoralized blacks. (Flynn, 1980) Flynn, J.R., Race, IQ and Jensen. (1980). Routledge & Kegan, P. Sarich (2004) made cogent arguments that white race and racial differences are real. He said that the race as a concept is older than the Colonial Europe. Differences in intelligence correlate to the concept of race. Sarich, V. The Reality of Human Differences. (2004). West View Press. Rushton has divided the population in three groups. Africans and Negroes in one group are referred as blacks, Europeans as whites and East Asians and Mongolians in one group as Orientals. He believes that the race differences start in the womb. The blacks are born earlier and grow quicker. They also achieve a faster sexual maturity, family stability and population growth.Rushton, J. Phillip. Race, Evolution and Behavior. A Life History Prospective. (1997).Transaction Publishers. Rushton describes studies that show a consistent pattern of human racial...Since then it has been a subject of debate whether these differences have a genetic basis. 'The high habitability of intelligence and the difficulties of formulating credible environmentalist explanations' have been pointed to explain the difference. Some of the explanations given by the environmentalists include, bias in the tests, the adverse social and economic living conditions of the blacks, discrimination and prejudice and the historical legacy of the slavery, which has demoralized blacks. (Flynn, 1980) Sarich (2004) made cogent arguments that white race and racial differences are real. He said that the race as a concept is older than the Colonial Europe. Differences in intelligence correlate to the concept of race. Rushton has divided the population in three groups. Africans and Negroes in one group are referred as blacks, Europeans as whites and East Asians and Mongolians in one group as Orientals. He believes that the race differences start in the womb. The blacks are born earlier and grow quicker. They also achieve a faster sexual maturity, family stability and population growth. The Orientals on the other hand have the largest brains and IQ. The difference in the race is both due to genes and environment.

Capital budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Capital budgeting - Essay Example In addition, NPV approach provides a clear indication on how the profits will be obtained, unlike IRR and payback approaches. Therefore, the NPV is the most useful tool in project valuation (Arthur, 2014). Of the three techniques (NPV, IRR, and payback period, the least useful tool to use is the IRR, because discount rate has an inverse relationship with NPV. When NPV continues to increase, the anticipated future cash flows become less valuable and hence making IRR least useful tool to use in project valuation. On the other hand, payback approach is the second least useful tool to use after IRR. The Payback period indicate how long the cash flow obtained from the project will recover the initial capital outlay. In addition, the payback period fails to indicate the amount of cash flow to be generated from the project. However, it is the simplest method of calculating project forecast (Arthur, 2014). The answer would not be the same because a negative NPV will be obtained when cost of capital increases from 14% to 25%. It means that as the cost of the capital increase the return obtained from the project decreases significantly up to a negative (Peterson & Fabozzi,2002). Such decrease makes the project un-profitable and, therefore, it is advisable for the EEC not to invest when cost of capital increases to 25%. If EEC did not save an even cash flow of $500,000 per year, the answer would be the same.The least amount of investment that would make this investment attractive to EEC is $100,000. From the above scenario, the EEC would be willing to pay the supplier $2000, 000. The president of EEC should be aware that if the cost of capital increases as discussed above, the underlying effect is a negative NPV. It means that the project will be no longer profitable to the company (Arthur, 2014). If the expected savings are less than $500,000 per annum, it will be difficult for the ECC to pay its supplier a capital of $2000, 000, and

Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom

Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom Introduction Singapore Telecom (Singapore Telecommunications Limited, referred to as SingTel, AFP) was established in 1879, is a wholly-owned by Singapore government-owned company, it is Singapores largest telecommunications companies. Singapore Telecom to increase strongly in markets outside of Singapore, and a partial stake in the operator, including the Australian carriers Optuss 100% stake in 2000, the British Cable and Wireless Optus, and other shareholders of the shares. Singapore Telecom a majority stake is controlled by Temasek Holdings, the Chairman is Lee Hsien Yang (the second son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his younger brother). Products and Services SingTel is Asias leading telecommunications company, with across wireless and Internet platforms for voice, data services, service-oriented business, as well as home two areas. Singapore Telecom has long been committed to providing customers with the Asia-Pacific regions most high-quality service. Now the focus is on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Company History Over the past decade, Singapore Telecom has successfully completed their high efficiency to the worlds leading operator changes. The company offers a wide range, the price is quite competitive telecommunications services, and global 5000 companies from different countries to provide telecommunications services. Singapore Telecom has already built a large scale in Singapores domestic telecommunications network, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins update the network. In order to enhance competitiveness at home and abroad, the company offers intelligent fixed telecommunications services. At present, the company has been in the world, 15 countries, 23 cities and regions set up operational organs, including China, the United States, Britain, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong and Taiwan. It has a glorious history of 120 years. SingTel aims to be a new era of pan-Pacific region bears the brunt of the true sense of the telecom operators. To this end, Singa pore Telecom will continue to expand with other Asian countries in telecom peers, and the scope of cooperation. SingTels Group CEO is Chua Sock Koong and CEO is Allen Lew. Business strategy Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. owns 7800 million as the users SingTel is Asia Pacific region, excluding China, the largest mobile Internet operators. 1992 companies from the former government monopoly privatized, SingTel in 2003, when the postal service from its opening, the focus is now on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Hopes through a comprehensive and sophisticated international leading-edge technology, and gradually get rid of the public color, sharply turned into a full private sector. Goal is to build a world-class institutions, not only to win the international community for its recognition of science and technology and technical expertise, and quality service and products provided by domestic users have also been positive. Logo New corporate logo by a simple, symbolic of the ellipse, with the two squares. Designed to highlight the companys innovative technology, international affairs and services-oriented. Elliptical lines out of Singapore Telecoms global vision, the two squares on behalf of the emerging digital technologies, while the red and black of a stable and reliable dissemination of messages. The new visual corporate identity and enhance Singapores telecommunications as a global industry leaders pivotal position. From the above mentioned, we understand that SingTel Group is a leading company in the telecommunication industry in the region, due to successful business strategies. Thus, it is important that all organizations understand their strengths and weaknesses before implementing strategies. They should first analyze their goals and operations to see if the current practices are working towards the mission and vision. A companys vision and mission is crucial to an organization, as it paves the way for where the company is headed and what it assumes to provide for its stakeholders. At the beginning of strategic management process, the organization needs to develop its vision statement and mission statement. A vision statement is what the organization wants to become and describe how the future will look if the organization achieves its mission. A mission statement explains what the organization does, for whom and what the benefit is. The vision, mission statements and core values of SingTel are shown in table 1 as follow: Prior to the development of strategy and marketing plans, they should evaluate both the external and internal factors. Hence, the corporate world usually utilizes various strategic tools like the SWOT Analysis that may influence the implementation of plans. Below is the SWOT Analysis of SingTel: SingTel SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of a companys Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The external analysis looks at opportunities and threats created by the environment while the internal analysis looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the company. In strategic planning, the company matches its capabilities with available opportunities and takes action to minimize threats. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) SingTel Group is the leading integrated communications service providers in the Asia Pacific region and their core business operations are located in Singapore and Australia. The company has business in a number of sectors of the telecommunications market in the Asia Pacific region (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Internal Environmental Analysis (Strengths Weakness) Strengths are resources and capabilities that allow the firm to complete important tasks. Resources can be the tangible and intangible assets held by the firm, and capabilities result when the firm integrates several different resources to complete a task or a series of related tasks. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2009) Weaknesses are those actions a company is not doing well or resources a company are lacking. Most importantly each business needs to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses periodically. Strengths and Weaknesses of SingTel are as follow: Strong cash flow Singapores Top Ten Brands 2009 ranked number 6 Exclusive contract with Apple 2008 Right to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) Lack of feasibility of a universal set-top box Lack of contents for local pay TV market Strengths Most of SingTels strategic, operational and financial dynamics are currently improving. This is an indication that the companys current business strategies are proving to be successful. SingTel has a diverse spread of geographical operations. The companys main business activities are focused in Singapore and Australia and partners located in India, Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. The spread of geographical operations will benefit the company, as it will become less depend on the local market to generate revenues. Most of their businesses are experiencing double-digit revenue growth over the past year (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). SingTel captured the exclusive contract with Apple last year, and has since brought in more than 100,000 iPhones, thus increasing the companys revenue, the average spending per customer for mobile data (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Taking sixth position for the Superbrands Survey, which identified over 500 of Singapores consumers favorite brands across 93 categories of consumer products and services demonstrated the consumers choice and trust in SingTels products and services (www.marketing-interactive.com/news/11875). SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) from 2010 to 2012. With the rights to broadcast the EPL, there will be a great potential that sports incline customers from StarHub will switch to SingTel (The Straits Time dated 11 November 2009). Weaknesses As a leading telecommunication company in Asia, the customer service in SingTel has rooms for improvement. Under the current extreme competitive environment, all the companies not only need to provide unique products but also good customer service. Thus, employee training program could be provided in order to handle customers problems effectively. With acquire of the Pay TV license in the domestic market in Singapore, Singapore needs to look at the feasibility of a universal set-top box that will best benefits consumers and align with the government strategic direction. SingTels cable television subscribers complaining about the hassle of having two set-top boxes may be a challenge that SingTel need to overcome (The Business Times dated 4 November 2009). External Environmental Analysis (Opportunities Threats) Opportunities are conditions in the firms external environment that may help the firm reach its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). A marketing opportunity is an area of need in which a company can perform profitably. Opportunities can be listed and classified according to their attractiveness and the success profitability. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Threats are conditions in the firms external environment that may prevent the firm from reaching its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). An environmental threat is a challenge posed by unfavourable trend or developments that would lead, in the absence of defensive marketing action, to sales or profit deterioration. Threats can be classified according to their seriousness and probability of occurrence. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Opportunities and Treats of SingTel are as follow: Global opportunities in mobile communication Rights to broadcast the World Cup 2010 Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne (M1) Australian market strong competition Opportunities Africa and Vietnam are markets in the emerging mobile space, which is definitely worth our interest, and SingTel is actively taking the lead to explore the untapped emerging telecom market. (Harry Suhartono, Nov 11,2009) Singapore and Australia accounted for 54 percent of the groups EBITDA , earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and more opportunities for further growth. With SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL), there will be great opportunities to expand the customer-base for PayTV customers (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Moreover, with the exclusive right to broadcast the next three seasons of EPL, F1, the next opportunity for SingTel is Word Cup 2010. With clinch of the World Cup 2010, SingTel will dominate the Sports channels in the region. Treats With StarHub and MobileOne obtain licenses to sell Apples popular iPhone and their launched on 9 December 2009, SingTel lost the 15th months monopoly. Thus, will likely to face tougher competition in the local market. Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne will be a big treats to SingTels Number One position in Singapore for mobile market in Singapore. SingTels subsidiary Optus is facing strong competition with their competitors in the Australia and maybe affects their leading position and revenges. With the competitive market, SingTel will have to fight against StarHub and MobileOne through price, promotions, and advertising since all three companies main business are in the provision of mobile plans and the sale of mobile phones. Perhaps, SingTel may need to improve the customer service further to create a superior customer service that tag to their brand With the winning of the broadcast rights for the English Premier League, it is expected that loyal football fans will switch from StarHub over to SingTel, especially with the low rate offered by SingTel. Hence, competition is intense and SingTel would need to take on actions to further enhance its Strength whilst working on its Weaknesses. After evaluating the external and internal factors, SingTel started to develop strategies such as launching of Mio TV, which is able to capture more market share and ultimately enhancing SingTels market position. Mio TV is a new technological product in the current market, thus, it is necessary for the company to assess the product life cycle (PLC). Product Life Cycle According to Kotler, every product has its life. The product life cycle concept allows marketer to plan their marketing strategies to manage their product or service through various phases of their product life cycle. The purpose of this concept to establish which phase of its life cycle is and select the best fitting marketing strategies for the product in that phase. Base on Kotler (2000) the product life cycle can be divided into four distinct phases those are introduction, growth, maturity and decline phases. Furthermore, Kotler also provided the following marketing characteristic, marketing objective and marketing strategies within its of the product life cycle phases. Characteristic: according to Kotler, there are existing different characteristic sales, cost, profit, competitors and customer for its stages in the product life cycle. Those can be described as follow Sale characteristics: sales are low in the introduction stages, rapidly increase in the growth stages, peaking in the maturity stages and decreasing in the decline stages. Cost characteristics: the cost per customer will be high in the introductory stage, average cost per customer in the growth stage, and low cost per customer in the maturity and decline stage. Profit characteristic: profits can be none or negative in the introductory stage, increase in the growth stage, and high in the maturity stage and reducing in the decline phase. Competitors characteristic: there is existing only few competitors in the introductory stage, increasing in the growth stage, stable in the maturity and decreasing in the decline stage. Customer characteristic: in the introductory stage has only few customers who call innovators are testing the product, early adopter trying the growth stage, a middle majority testing product in the maturity and the laggard trying the product in the decline stage. Marketing objectives: Kotler also provides differences kinds of companys marketing objectives which linked to four stages of product as below Introductory stage: to make awareness and trial by using an intensive advertising and promotion campaign. Growth stage: to maximize the market share Maturity stage: maintaining market share while profits can be still maximize Decline stage: reducing marketing expenditure of the product during this stage while the aim will be to milk the product. Marketing strategies: the alternative marketing strategies was given by Kotler are related to various stage of the product life cycle as below: Product strategy: a basic product will be offered in the introductory stage, product extensions and warranties will be offered during growth stage, brand and individual product item will be diversified in the maturity stage and the weak model will be phased out during decline stage. Price strategy: the cost plus price will be changed during introductory phase, price will be set to penetrate the market during the growth phase, the price will be set to meet competitive price during the maturity phase while price will be cut during the decline phase. Distribution strategy: distribution will be built selectively during introductory phase, it will be intensive during growth phase, distribution will be further developed during the maturity phase and it will be more selective during decline phase. Advertising strategy: building awareness of product among early adopter and dealers in the introductory phase, building awareness and interest in the mass market during the growth phase, stressing brand differences and benefits during the maturity phase and reduce the advertising level needed to retain hard core-loyal customers in the decline phase. Sale promotion strategy: using heavy promotion to entice trial during the introductory phase, reduced promotion to take advantage of heavy customers demand during the growth phase, increase promotion to encourage brand switching in the maturity phase and reducing promotion to minimum in the decline phase. Limitations of the Product Life Cycle Concept The term life cycle implies a well-defined life cycle as observed in living organisms, but products do not have such a predictable life and the specific life cycle curves followed by different products vary substantially. Consequently, the life cycle concept is not well-suited for the forecasting of product sales. Furthermore, critics have argued that the product life cycle may become self-fulfilling. For example, if sales peak and then decline, managers may conclude that the product is in the decline phase and therefore cut the advertising budget, thus precipitating a further decline. Each customer is more or less free to adopt products for their own needs; this is sometimes called the shopping caddy approach to product adoption. However, in order to attract customer, not only should SingTel understand the PLC, it is also necessary for SingTel to analyze the competition and to be proactive to beat competitors in the current highly competitive market. Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developing Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis) SingTels Competitive Rivalry Singapore Telecommunications Limited is considered as the biggest telecommunication company in Singapore. Singtels services provide for customers with ISP (SingNet), IPTV (Mio TV), fixed line telephony and mobile phone. The second largest in mobile operator and cable television is StarHub, its also the biggest competitor of SingTel in Singapore. The recently moves of these two companies in cable television services have made the impacts on them. This also pointed out the effective strategy that SingTel approached over its competitors StarHub. StarHub used to be right holder of English Premium League, Champion League and it had to pay around US $150 million for the current 2007 to 2009. StarHub has provided attractive packages of television cable that includes so many sport and entertainment channels. Its really an advantage competitive of StarHub to increase its market shares over SingTel. StarHub actually has surpassed SingTel in this area and been really a big challenge of SingTel. However, a fantastic move of strategy from SingTel recently has changed things differently. StarHub has been beaten on bid and SingTel has won the right to be the holder of English Premium League and Champion League for its Mio TV. The ESPN Star Sports channel of StarHub cable networks will belong to SingTel in the middle of 2010 as well. The rights of ESPN Star Sport include English FA Cup, Formula One motor racing, Wimbledon tennis, US Open, Australian Open and US Open golf. These channels are going to Singtel, and this factor will definitely make increasing number of Singtels subscribers. The failure of StarHub in bidding racing is not the end of its Television cable services. StarHubs platform still can present the English football with delayed telecasts matches on Goal TV 1 and Goal TV2 channels for its subscribers at present and future seasons. For Singtel, with the advantages in being the new holder of those channels, Singtel will have a contract of three years period. The contract will start in August 2010 and include mobile and internet rights as well as Television cable services. One thing is considered as promotion of Singtel, it will guarantee to keep the current payment of StarHubs subscribers and will not change anything. It will be Singtel, the company will deliver the English Barclay Premium League matches to Singapore. The ways of viewing live football matches on Television, on mobile phones and internet will be improved by Singtel. It will bring the best services to its football fans. On the other hand, SingTels competitor, StarHub still tries to maintain the best quality sport content to its customer. It now focuses more on shareholders expectations in terms of profits. StarHubs bid for Barclay Premium League was really aggressive. So now they look forward to the time when they can get back to right of being the holder. And StarHub is always a big challenge of SingTel. It could approach the opportunities anytime and get over SingTel in the future. Implication Analysis Impacts on viewers Most of viewers from StarHub will not be happy when they have to change to SingTels Mio TV service for sports channels. The situation will be worst for the customers, who have signed the contract of two years with StarHub for sport package. The English Premium League and other sports content will now not be able to be viewed by them. The subscribers of StarHub need to sign up with SingTel as an addition if they would like to view sports content. When the viewers sign up for Mio TV service of SingTel, they also need to install a SingTel fixed line in advance. SingTel has promised with the consumers to keep the pricing of sport content as the current StarHub rates and will not increase anything. It can be seen that, SingTel is giving a special promotion with special package for sports fans. The customers could subscribe to English Premium League and sports packages only of SingTel if they would like. Impact on Singapores Pay TV landscape SingTel has taken a new step in TV cable service. Now its holding the right of English Premium League and other sports channels, and this will be a very important factor in competing more strongly with other TV providers, especially StarHub. Its really dominance of StarHub when it owns 85 % of market share of Singapore. However, SingTel now will be the only one that brings English Premium League and other sports content to Singapores football fans. Therefore, SingTel is expected to be the number one in providing TV cable services in the future. Impact on Starhub Since the IPTV of SingTel appeared in 2007, it has been a big challenge of StarHub. The development of SingTels IPTV has made StarHubs growth rate decrease to 4% year on year. StarHub had 530 thousand TV subscribers in the first half of 2009 and 250 thousand of them belong to the sports package. So being the winner of the right holder of English Premium League, SingTel will affect StarHubs subscribers so much. Specially, SingTel will attract the attention of football fans directly. However, it is not complete ending for the StarHubs TV cable. StarHub still has other premium content like: Star World, HBO, AXN and so on. The customers also need to sign up with StarHub if they wish to view this content. Among 250 thousand of sports package, 36% of them are expected to switch from StarHub to SingTels service. The rest subscribers are expected to sign up for SingTels sports package and still keep their StarHub service for premium content. Impact on SingTel Twenty three months since 2007, SingTels Mio TV service had grown so quickly, 100 thousand subscribers is the number of SingTel has reached in June 2009. SingTel has captured over 15% Singapore TV cable market. From April 2008 to March 2009, it has expanded its subscribers over its rival StarHub by 79%. Together with the competitive advantage of being the winner of English Premium League and other sports channels, a number of 348 thousand new subscribers will be set for SingTel as an objective to achieve at the end of 2010. This objective will help SingTel to increase up to 42% share of Singapore Pay TV market. However, with the expensive bid like that, its also a long-term plan for SingTel to make IPTV business profitable. SingTel now is holding English football sports and US content pack, but its still not complete. SingTel need to keep its speed of growth and try to take over the premium content of StarHub. It could be the core factor, which can build the SingTels Mio TV cable ser vices perfectly. In the competitive market place, having a competitive advantage means that the firm is using its resources, capabilities, and core competencies in ways that create more value for customers compared to the value competitors products create for those customers. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2007) By launching the Mio TV, SingTel is able to gain a competitive edge, the reasons are as follow: Competitive Advantages One of telecommunication suppler SingTel provides national fixed-line services, mobile services, broadband, IP and internet access, and international telephone services more than 20 countries. SingTel still continue invest in strategic regional markets, including India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh for long term growth. According to the Singapore Telecommunications Report that pay-TV subscriber base around 45,000 mioTV customers in June 2008. Over the quarter, there were some 2,000 net additions. The operator has continually expanded its range, they had further agreements with three Hollywood studios includes Disney-ABC International Television, News Corp units Twentieth Century Fox and Time Warners Warner Bros International Television to raise mioTV channel offering from 20 to 50. It is important for a company to develop their own distinctive competitive advantages. It must be unique, hard to imitate by competitors in the same industry and its create value to customers and benefit to the company. The Singapore-base telecommunication company Singtel has introduced pay-TV services called MIO TV. It has 33-channel mio TV and customers can select and pay what channel they want to watch. Features like the TV program list channel guide let viewers glance program in advance for 30 days. The mio TVs picture-in-Picture feature that viewer wont miss out other channel showing and remain current channel as well. The viewer can preview any video before watching from library of HD movies and video and make pause, rewind and fast-forward all depend on customers. The viewer can enjoy high HD quality playback and control your favorite shows to watch and record just click of a button, you can record your favorite shows even when you away with Remote Digital Video Recording. The viewer can easy to search the favorite program by input keyword through remote control or via the virtual keyboard on the Television, the intuitive search engine offer intelligent results. The viewers can watch Channel NewsAsia, Mom-on-Demand and KBS world and some other available channels on the new mobile service, including the ads on Mio TV, as well as on mobile phone that SingTel selected Nokia phones to offer this service. The competitive advantage should be benefit to company increase shares of market and revenue returns and create value to shareholders, owners and customers. However, the competitive advantage may be imitate by competitors or create different advantages to more value to customers. One of the competitors of Singapore-base telecommunication company Starhub, they provide cable TV as well. But the exclusively offer by SingTel had been rewarded to broadcast UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2009 to 2012. Subscribers can watch live matches broadcasting in Dual Sound both in English and Mandarin. Furthermore, SingTel had picked up a right to broadcast Barclays English Premier League matches and ESPN STAR Sports on Mio TV. According to director of Mio TV Low Ka Hoe said Sport content is an important part of our offering, and this move signifies our ongoing efforts to expand and improve our selection of quality content for our viewers, The world wide service of SingTel is a opportunity for the firm continually invest and expansion in core overseas market of Indonesia, India and new market such as Vietnam and Pakistan and beyond Asia Pacific. Overseas investments are an essential part of SingTel strategy especially in saturated domestic market of Singapore. According to Singapore Telecommunications Report SingTel in June 2008 and its foreign associates shared a total of 197.714 mn, representing an increase of 45% over the year and 8.2% during the quarter. Evaluate strategy base on competitive advantage The firm should create non-replace and valuable competitive advantage through create strong core competencies. Base on competitive advantage, Cliff Bowman and Richard DAveni use Strategy Clock to further explain Michael Porter s generic strategy. The strategy clock represents different positions in a market where customers have different requirements in terms of value for money. The organization may have unique resources that others cannot imitate or obtain, for example, long-term established brand; be a cost leadership by apply price-based strategy or lower-priced strategy. However, in small domestic saturated market like Singapore, managers may take Differentiation strategy or hybrid strategy that provides unique or slightly different products and services from others to customer by pricing slightly higher. The strong and well-established competitive advantages can strength companys capability and strategy decision making. Therefore, Conclusion In account of analyzing the strategy of Singtel, it surly gave the reason that why the Singapore Telecom is Singapores largest telecommunications company. This company has nearly 130 years of operating experience in the successful completion of this period to the worlds leading high- performance carrier changes. In business, SingTel seek a breakthrough innovation, development of local public sentiment for the internationalization of the business to treat the inability to adapt. Of course, these innovations are also based on SingTels own existing resources, it is an international network. More than that, Singtel not only in China for the global 5300 companies in different countries offer a wide price quite competitive telecommunications services, but also SingTel has built its domestic large-scale telecommunications networks, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins to be updated in order to enhance domestic and international competitiveness. SingTels overseas investment is a long-term strategy. Currently, SingTel has expanded to 20 countries and regions, their overseas operations include not only the traditional fixed, mobile phone networks and the Internet, voice data, but also related to satellite communications, submarine cable systems. In the past 10 years, strong adaptability and technical advantages SingTels international strategy is to promote time and time again to be successful. Opportunities always favor those who prepared. SingTels long-term development plan formulated by it can, and be good at the right time, choosing the right investments. The use of a merger or investment to enter unfamili