IT Governance case study

Table of Contents Introduction Frameworks for IT Governance Areas of major focus in IT Governance Challenges to IT Governance Effective IT Governance Recommendation References Introduction IT governance entails aligning IT strategy with business strategies, ensuring tracking of goals and strategies, and implementing strategies that can measure IT performance (Schwartz, 2007). From this definition, we can see that IT governance takes into account interests of all stakeholders. IT governance framework can provide valuable information on performance of IT areas, key areas that need improve, and returns that an organisation derives from implementing IT systems.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on IT Governance case study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are a number of factors that compose IT governance in an organisation. These key drivers include the need to comply with regulations and adopt best practices i n financial and technological. In addition, customers and shareholders have also put pressure on organisations to adopt IT governance (Joisten, Gadatsch and Dirk, 2007). IT governance accounts for the importance of information and IT in the modern economy and organisations. Therefore, IT governance in modern organisations can define success or failure in the information economy. This is because modern organisations depend on information systems than in the past. Stakeholders have expressed their concerns about acceptable use of information particularly personal information. There are also escalating cases of cyber threats from terrorists and hackers. As a result, organisations have identified information systems as strategic areas that require protection through effective corporate governance within the organisation. Frameworks for IT Governance There are several IT governance frameworks available to organisations. Some organisations can develop their own IT governance framework whe reas others use main IT governance frameworks. The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) developed CoBIT framework for IT governance. This is a framework with worldwide acceptance. It has guidance and tool set for IT governance. Auditors have found CoBIT useful in integrating technology for control measures in order to meet certain business objectives. Thus, it serves organisations in terms of managing and mitigating risks (Brand and Boonen, 2004).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The government of the UK runs Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. ITIL has guidelines on management regarding areas of â€Å"service delivery, service support, service management, ICT infrastructure management, software asset management, business perspective, security management and application management† (Schwartz, 2007). ITIL is useful opera tions management of an organisation. We also have COSO framework for internal controls. The Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission developed COSO framework. COSO provides guidelines in areas such as human resources management, external resources, sales and marketing, logistics, legal issues, IT, risks, financial, the enterprise, operation, procurement, and reporting. COSO framework is more of general business framework than IT governance. Another IT governance framework is Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). CMMI has multiple developers from government, industry, and Carnegie-Mellon Software Engineering Institute. CMMI has 22 areas that aim at improving approaches. The framework has appraisal, structure, and evaluation areas. CMMI is useful for application developments, improving services and controlling life cycles of products. Many organisations prefer ITIL and CoBIT IT governance frameworks. However, other organisations also combine different f rameworks to serve specific goals, such as operation, development, and overall areas in their organisations. It is necessary to use frameworks that align with organisational culture and stakeholders’ demands. Areas of major focus in IT Governance We can develop a business case for IT governance and present to the top management. Effective presentation of IT governance should have a team of business managers and IT specialists. This is necessary to convince top management that effective IT governance is crucial for success of business.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on IT Governance case study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This team must develop IT governance roadmap that explains present position and future aspiration of the organisation. This should include benefits in terms of reduced risks, enhanced efficiency and accountability in an organisation. However, we must acknowledge that IT governance is a n expensive exercise, but an organisation should accept such costs and evaluate return on investment (ROI) after implementation. The IT Governance Institute identifies five key areas of IT governance. First, IT governance should focus on strategic alignment. This aims at aligning IT and business for efficiency. Strategic alignment involves planning in areas regarding business and IT with the focus on costs, reporting, and its effects on business goals. Second, IT governance should aim at value delivery to the organisation. This is mainly to ensure that IT department delivers value to the organisation. Value delivery should develop processes that accelerate value proposition and eliminate processes that devalue the organisation. Third, IT governance also emphasises the need for resource management. This can happen through efficient management of employees’ skills. Thus, an organisation can deploy its resources based on skills and demands to serve different lines of business. F ourth, risk management is also an important area of IT governance. This should ensure effective management of IT resources, manage risks, and report on risk issues. Fifth, IT governance also emphasises business performance to ensure balance between business strategies and IT strategies. Performance measures identify contributions of IT to business and management of resources. Challenges to IT Governance Most organisations confuse IT governance with management practices and other IT control measures. According to ISO 38500, IT governance is a management system that directors use. Thus, IT governance accounts for IT resources and stakeholders who want returns on their investment. IT governance has met resistance in most organisations due to costs. At the same time, organisations claim that they have effective corporate governance mechanisms, compliance with SOX standards (Sarbanes-Oxley) and others (Calder, 2009). SOX regulation requires effective financial regulation and corporate go vernance in order to protect investments (Sarbanes Oxley, 2012).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Organisations aspire for success with scarce resources. IT governance requires that organisations align their resources diligently to all areas of business for overall success of the organisation. The challenge is allocating such resources to IT department collectively in order to serve the overall goals of an organisation. Effective IT Governance Most organisations have poor IT governance systems. They tend to introduce IT governance in phases to address certain problems. This approach limits the effectiveness of IT governance. Thus, an organisation should have IT governance design that focuses on overall organisational objectives and performance goals. This process requires participation of top management through resource allocation and support. The process of design also needs constant review as was the case of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA aimed at consolidating its IT governance design. A number of organisations such as JP Morgan, UNICEF, and Carlson companies among oth ers redesigned their IT governance systems in order to meet changes in desirable behaviours. These organisations aimed at achieving balance in business through creating commonality and autonomy of units. This was also a method of creating synergy in the organisation. UNICEF used IT governance to change its operations management and enhance global communication, information sharing, management, and transparency. State Street Corporation used its IT governance to change budgeting through enterprise-wide IT budgeting. The company managed to change perspective to the entire corporation instead of units. Thus, IT governance can promote changes that enhance desired behaviours through redesigning IT governance. Organisations that have effective IT governance have actively involved their top executives. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) must participate in IT governance. Other executives must also support processes and performance reviews. MPS-Scotland Yard and Accenture rely on management committees in enhancing IT governance to achieve improved synergies across the entire organisation (Kress, 2010). According to UPS CEO, Mike Eskew, it is the role of top management to support IT governance decisions (Broadbent and Weill, 2003). Top management usually assist in such decisions because they are strategic goals that organisations need to deliver value to stakeholders. Thus, such decisions become strategic choices to the CEO. Organisations should also be able to make choices among conflicting goals in IT governance. Conflicting goals need clear business principles. For instance, Old Mutual South Africa has developed such principles. Its first principles states â€Å"The interest and needs of the Group/OMSA come first when exploiting technology or when contracting with suppliers† (Ross and Weill, 2002). Conflicting goals come from different units of the business. They can lead to confusion and complex processes. This process requires involvement of key stakeholders to make appropriate choices for business goals. Effective IT governance requires clarification of some exceptional processes. Exceptional cases challenge the status quo of the system. These requests may aim at meeting needs of the business. UPS has exceptional procedures that guide requests for exceptions. The organisation ensures that exception processes be clear to all stakeholders. The process is linear and eliminates all stages that can lead to delays. These exceptional requests also serve as learning points to the organisation in the enterprise architecture (Graves, 2009). Effective IT governance also requires right incentives for its success. Organisations do not align their reward and incentive systems with IT governance. In other words, reward and incentive systems enhance different behaviours. Thus, when an organisation fails to align its reward and incentive systems to its goals, then governance becomes less effective. An organisation that uses IT governance to drive auto nomy, synergy or a combination of both among different departments must also align its incentive and reward systems to fit such approaches. Top executives can work together to design incentive and reward systems that appeal to the entire units of the business. Organisations fail to include IT governance ownership and accountability in the implementation process. The board has the overall ownership and accountability of the system. However, it must delegate some roles like design, implementation, and performance to other individuals for effective implementation and accountability of the process. This process requires some consideration. First, IT governance requires collaboration with other departments such as finance, human resources, and other business units. This is an enterprise-wide approach to IT governance. Second, implementation of IT governance requires participation of all managers for its success. Third, IT implementation is an expensive process. Consequently, organisation s require reliable, compliant, cost-effective, secure, and strategic IT governance for performance. This implies that we have to comprehend what IT can perform and cannot perform to an organisation mainly in relation to business strategies. Thus, people who own IT governance must take responsibility and provide accountability of processes that appeal to all business units. Most organisations leave accountability of IT governance to their CIOs. CIOs also delegate these processes to business units and other relevant departments to ensure efficient design and implementation of IT governance (Hunter and Westerman, 2009). Large organisations should have IT governance at different levels of operations management. This must ensure that IT governance is an enterprise-wide strategy that depends of different units of the business for strategic goals. Organisations with the global presence and different IT functions in relation to departments, divisions, and geographies need different but link ed form of IT governance. This is the case of JP Morgan Chase. The company derives both autonomy and synergy from these layers. Business units create synergy whereas top executives create autonomy through IT governance. However, top executives’ decisions regarding IT governance affect lower level of an organisation. Thus, effective IT governance should focus on enterprise-wide governance due to its effects on other levels of an organisation. Effective IT governance also depends on education and transparent processes. People have confidence in transparent governance processes. Successful organisations such as Google, IBM and Street Corporation among others use their intranet platforms to communicate IT governance to all departments and employees. Leaders must also show their commitments to IT governance through constant communication and support. This also applies to individuals that own IT governance in organisation. Effective communication enhances IT governance in organisat ions. Formal means of communication are effective than other informal channels and effective documentation of IT governance are useful in implementing a workable IT governance. Senior executives who show a clear lack of understanding of IT governance may show their objections to the IT governance. Thus, organisations must review their approaches and reinforce them using communication and education. Recommendation We have noticed the importance of IT governance to strategic business goals of the organisation. At the same time, we have also identified main frameworks in IT governance, challenges that face IT governance, and effective IT governance in organisations. As a result, we can provide recommendations based on the study. IT governance can only create synergy in an organisation through relying on several assets of an organisation. Thus, senior management should focus on governance issues include IT when addressing challenges of the enterprise. Organisations should ensure coordin ation of their IT governance in order to create synergy for the entire organisation. This means that an organisation must align all processes of its operation to create value to stakeholders. This is because focusing on a specific area and neglecting others drain value from the system. IT governance should also create effective processes. Organisations may coordinate IT governance with business units but fail to do so enterprise-wide leading to ineffective system. Thus, IT governance should also be effective enterprise-wide so that an organisation can measure performance and ROI of the IT investments. Organisations should not engage in debating the value of IT governance in terms of costs. Instead, they should embrace IT governance and evaluate its return on investment after a reasonable period. Successful IT governance relies on the support of top executives and all managers. Leadership that fail to support IT governance should remain open-minded in order to understand long-term va lues of IT governance. Organisations can use different frameworks of IT governance for different purposes. This should lead to creation of great value for the organisation. However, the focus among business units should be across the entire organisation for creation of value to stakeholders. Areas of exceptions should not hinder business but serve as learning points of the enterprise architecture. References Brand, K. and Boonen, H. (2004). IT governance: a pocket guide based on COBIT. London: The Stationery Office. Broadbent, M. and Weill, P. (2003). Effective IT Governance by Design. Gartner EXP Premier, 1, 60. Calder, A. (2009). IT Governance Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT. Boise, ID: IT Governance Publishing. Graves, T. (2009). Enterprise Architecture. Bodie, ID: IT Governance Publishing. Hunter, R. and Westerman, G. (2009). Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Joisten, C., Gadat sch, A. and Schreiber, D. (2007). IT Governance. Saarbrà ¼cken, Germany: VDM Publishing. Kress, R. (2010). It Governance to Drive High Performance: Lessons from Accenture. Boise, ID: IT Governance. Ross, J. and Weill, P. (2002). IT governance: An investment. Massachusetts: MIT Sloan School of Management. Sarbanes Oxley. (2012). Sarbanes Oxley: A Brief Overview. Web. Schwartz, K. (2007). IT Governance Definition and Solutions. 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Agar Cube Lab Report Essay Example

Agar Cube Lab Report Essay Example Agar Cube Lab Report Paper Agar Cube Lab Report Paper Hypothesis: I expect to find that when the surface area o volume of a cell reaches a certain level, diffusion alone wont be able to supply the cell materials needed, and as single-celled organisms take in and release substances by means of diffusion across the cell membrane, this process limits cell size. I predict that as the rate of diffusion will be too slow to deliver materials to the center of the cell in the larger cells, it could result in cell malfunction. Variables: The independent variables are the dimensions of surface area to volume ratio of the agar cube. (1 CM, 1. CM,CM) The dependent variable, the variable am observing/recording, is the time of diffusion (Noah turns the agar cube pink as it disperses into it). The controlled variables will be keeping the concentrations of the Sodium Hydroxide constant, to use agar jelly from the same batch. Also, theres the room temperature which is kept constant and the room pressure. Materials: 250 ml beaker Measuring tape Dull knife Stirring rod Phenolphthalein agar cubes (xx CM, 1. CM,1 CM) Hydrochloric acid (1 m) Paper towel Ruler Procedure: 1- Obtain agar cubes and hydrochloric acid from your lab instructor. Cut the bubs so that one has a length of 1. 00Â ±0. 05 CM, another 1. 50Â ±0. 05 CM, and the 3rd 2. 00Â ±0. 05 CM. 3- Examine the cubes closely and then place them in the ml beaker. As we can see the cube with the largest surface area and volume has the smallest surface area to volume ratio. If the surface area to volume ratio gets too small, then the substances wont be able to enter the cell fast enough to fuel the reactions, because the surface area controls the rate of the exchange of materials while as the volume grows larger it will need more materials to enter and exit, in a more quicker rate, therefore waste products will start to accumulate within the cell as they will be produced faster than they can be excreted. In addition, the cells will not be able to lose heat fast enough and so may overheat. This was concluded from the experiment, where as the Agar cube dimension were larger, the rate of diffusion was much mallet from the Agar cube with the smaller dimension, where the last had a larger V: AS ratio than the larger cube. Errors and Improvements: Error Improvement Parallax error, resulting in a misreading in volume. This is caused by reading the volume readings from an angle, thus to solve this error, readings must be read at the human eye level, where the meniscus being measured at and the eye, are at the same horizontal level for accurate reading intakes. The measuring cylinders that were used for the HCI were not divided by the same rate of division. Use the same type of cylinders for all trials, like a limerick cylinder to measure the amount of aqueous (HCI ) more accurately. The sizes of the cubes were not exact as mentioned ( Ex: 1 CM is not exact ) and as a result the results obtained may not be very accurate. When cutting, a more precise instrument must be used. If no other instrument is found, a more sharper knife can be used accompanied with a more specific ruler. Injury of the surface of the cubes due to hard stirring by the rod. Stir at a slower rate for a longer time than stirring hard for a little time, in addition to that a thinner rod can be used for stirring.

Prioritize

Prioritize Prioritize Prioritize By Maeve Maddox Some speakers hate to hear people use the word prioritize, complaining that â€Å"it’s a made-up word that shouldn’t be used.† Prioritize is a fairly new word, coined in the 1950s, and growing in popularity since the early 1960s. Speakers use it to mean: to give priority to to designate something as worthy of special attention to arrange items to be dealt with in order of importance to establish priorities to establish priorities for a set of tasks Here are some examples of its use online: KMT, CCP agree to prioritize service trade agreement How to Prioritize Your Debts Council Approves Two Projects That Prioritize Pedestrian and Bike Safety Four Must Know To-Do Lists To Prioritize Tasks Strengthening parliaments in nascent democracies: the need to prioritize legislative reforms As late as 1982, twenty years after prioritize entered the language, the OED acknowledged its existence, but included an apologetic note, saying, â€Å"prioritize is a word that at present sits uneasily in the language.† Thirty-two years later, the OED site employs the word prioritizing unapologetically in a discussion of the term â€Å"network neutrality†: This concept [network neutrality] has been the subject of much debate in recent years, reflecting something axiomatic for many Internet users; that all data on the net should be treated equally by Internet service providers, without favouring particular formats, products, or web sites by charging extra fees, prioritizing or blocking data of certain types, and so on. Speakers who still want to hold the line against prioritize could replace it with the phrase â€Å"to set priorities†: KMT, CCP agree to set service trade agreement priorities Council Approves Two Projects that set Priorities for Pedestrian and Bike Safety How to set priorities for your debts People who don’t like prioritize shouldn’t use it, but trying to stop other people from using it is futile. I’ll be happy to recommend a much more worthy target of opprobrium. How about the use of gift as a verb when we already have the perfectly serviceable word give: Lands gifted by donors are the foundation of SSU Preserves programs. The Greeks have gifted the world with many things. Teradata in the fall of 2010 gifted the Walton College of Business with a new Teradata 2650 system.   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.Empathy "With" or Empathy "For"?Empathic or Empathetic?

Analysis .... depend on the movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis .... depend on the movie - Essay Example The general public has been separated into intellectuals and proprietors, who live in comfort, and manual workers, who reside in its suburbs and whose single function is controlling the equipment that move the city (Minden & Bachmann, 2002). The movie revolves around two individuals; first, Freder, who was the son of the metropolitan’s chief planner, and second Maria, who is a young female from the working class and thinks that sooner or later a arbitrator will arrive to reconcile differences in the class. After understanding that Freder supports the employees, she believes that he may be the rescuer that she has visualized. â€Å"The most important feature of this movie is that the special effects utilized in this sci-fi classic were pioneering â€Å"at the time of the release and still have the power to amaze audiences† (Elsaesser, 2008). Metropolis features exceptional camera work and set designs that still amaze contemporary viewers with their visual impact - the m ovie has â€Å"cinematic and thematic bonds to German Expressionism† (Prestel Art Press, 1999), despite the fact that the structural design, as represented in the movie, emerges founded on present-day modernization as well as ‘Art Deco’.

Correction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Correction - Essay Example As a function of this interpretation, many carry-overs of this school of thought continue to be pervasively manifest in the United States criminal justice system; as well as many others around the globe. Prior to the development of the classical interpretation of criminology, rehabilitation was not even a term or idea that entered into the mind of most systems; rather, retribution was the main goal by which the system functioned. Seeking to expand some on the rather constrained classical interpretation of criminology which has been defined above, the positivist school sought to analyze and understand the way that internal and external factors, outside the control of the individual criminal contributed to the actions that they perpetrated. Prior to this interpretation, criminals and criminology had functioned under the presupposition that any and all crime was merely the result of poor rational choice and not the result of factors that were ultimately beyond the control of the criminal himself/herself. Finally, the neoclassical approach seeks to incorporate several of the aspects of the classical approach as well as more pertinent and recent theoretical approaches and responses to crime and criminology. Rather than seeking to approach crime and its punishment from the one dimensional classical approach, the neo classical approach seeks to factor in such aspects as social contract theory, drift theory, and rational choice theory (Vito et al, 2007). This neo classical approach is still widely utilized today in criminology and retains a high level of respect among subject matter

Porters National Competitive Advantage Diamond

Porters National Competitive Advantage Diamond Fraser Neave holding Bhd. was incorporated at year 1883 when founders John Fraser and David Chalmers Neave formed a company named Singapore Straits Aerated Water Company in Singapore. Few years later, FN was consolidated and enter the food beverage industry. FN has its own vision to become the leading total beverage company in Malaysia and the region and their mission is to be a world-class multinational enterprise providing superior returns to their shareholders, excellent value for their customers and a rewarding career for their employees. FN Company is one of the Malaysia well known beverage company which the famous product is the isotonic drinks 100plus launched at year 1984. FN produce wide range of beverage that can be classified as soft drinks, dairies, non-carbonated beverages as well as separate business property. They were launching the sweetened condensed filled milk in year 1973, and the acquisition of Nestlà ©s canned milk business in Thailand and Malaysia in year 2007. Other than that FN high quality canned milk was also gain excellent reputation in Malaysia. This product is largely use as beverage mixers in coffee, tea and chocolate drinks and now canned milk has successfully to export this product to more than 20 countries around the world. In addition, the halal certification offers strong reassurance to Muslim customers in the growing Halal markets in the Middle East and Africa. FN Company was awarded The Readers Digest Trusted Brand from year 2005 to 2008, Media Magazine Top 1000 Asian Brands 2007 and so on. It proves that their customer was confident when using their products since they are concern about their health and safety quality. FN Company was continuously improve their quality and brands to challenges the marketplace and to become the leader. FN Company is also well-known company that caring about the social environment and working environment. They implemented and executed various environmental stewardship and launched numerous recycling campaigns in schools to inculcate good environmental habits among young people and thus, create awareness on the importance of recycling. FN Company also set-up a RM1.2 million funds named Chairmans Award to promote educational excellence and to recognize high-achievers among children of FN Groups employees. FN Company has achieved a safety record of zero accident (no loss time accident) accumulated from 1 February 2007 to 21 September 2009 with a total 962 days or 2.3 million working hours. In terms of its environmental compliance incident and achieved zero environmental compliance status. PEST Mission: To be a world-class multinational enterprise providing superior returns to our shareholders, excellent value for our customers and a rewarding career for our employees. Vision: To become the leading total beverage company in Malaysia and the region. Every company has their mission and vision statement served as overall purpose of business. The mission and vision statement above are set by FN. There are external environmental issues have or will affect FN to achieve their mission. These external environmental issues are being categorized according to PEST(EL) model. PEST(EL) model is to analyze the external environment issues of company. It categorized environment issues into political, economic, social, technological, ecological and legal influences. Economic Improving growth prospect of Malaysia, Thailand and the region brings more income to FN as is signals economy are in good condition and peoples are willing to spend hence will increase sales in that particular region. The growth prospects include rising of Malaysia GDP in year 2010 that is approximately 10% compare to 4.5% in 2009 that rise from some major factor of manufacturing industry production with a double digit growth of 16.9% in year 2010. ASEAN countries are growing quick in their economy thus putting FN a favourable factor in growing of profits. FN has built up positive consumer sentiment to their product. For example 100PLUS, isotonic drink that is specialized for sportsmen to retain the metabolism. It is a concept well-built that it is voted number 1 isotonic drinks in Malaysia since its introduction in 1983. That well-built positive sentiment brings others drinks of FN to be well marketable. It is the consumer sentiment to the products enhanced the profitability factor of FN towards other competitor thus is at an advantage in the market. Political Government had put initiative to boost spending of consumer with new economic model (NEM), with this model being pursue, Malaysia economic boost as consumer purchasing power increases and are advised to spend. FN will get benefit by provide goods to be sold to the market hence boosting sales. FN products are all Halal hence are entitled for Halal Hub Tax Incentive. The incentive offered had decreased FN some percentage of tax liability to the government. It made FN more profitable compare to those companies which does not qualified for the incentive. Government has taken back some incentive in year 2009, the withdrawal of subsidy of fuel and sugar has put an impact to FN as most of the FN core businesses needed large amount of sugar which is dairies and soft drink business. The withdrawal of sugar subsidy lower the overall profit of the FN although there is a large improve a sales but the profit doesnt show much improvement as the sugar cost increases. Withdrawals of fuel did also impact on FN as the cost of their internal and external distribution cost increases thus reduces profit. Technological In the beginning of 2011, FN introduced new product, Ice Mountain and it has faster share gain among bottler waters player which established 5% market share in Malaysia. FN launched new beverage Zesta across Malaysia in October 2011.Zesta has remarkably great tasting berry soda flavored soda. It contents the Guarana tropical berries that originate from Amazon, South America. In addition, Guarana tropical berries invigorate the body and mind. Zesta is an extension of our already large array of FN beverages, a beverage that was initiated to complement our existing range of FN brands, creating a transition vehicle for our growing band of consumers, said Dato Ng Jui Sia, CEO of Fraser Neave Holdings Bhd. FN believes that Zesta is the illustration of growing trends for beverage enhanced soda. (Zesta 2011) Environmental Sichuan Earthquake of May 2008 has caused the raw material cost increase and companys profit is affected. Natural disaster is beyond expectation and control of the company. Profit before interest and tax in 2008 grew only 5%. This environmental factor has affected company to achieve their mission. Natural disaster would serve as obstacle that FN provide superior returns to shareholders. Porters 5 forces Today, Fraser Neave Holdings Bhd (FN) has extended business at more than 20 countries worldwide and established itself as a regional player. So that, FN need use Porters five forces model to analysis and understanding the nature of the competitive environment. FN has a lot of benefits from using Porters five forces model. They can ensure that management considers a wide range of potential impacts when devising strategy. They allow the division of the work in environmental analysis and make decision in time. Not only that, Porters five force also developing effective strategies to raise FN profitability, power, and competitive position in an industry. Porters five forces is divided into threat of entry, intensity of competitive rivalry, threat of substitute product, bargaining power of buyer and bargaining power of suppliers. Threat of entry Threat of entry is new entrants into market will bring extra capacity and intensify competition. The strength of the threat from new entrants will depend upon the strength of the barriers to entry and the likely response of existing competition to a new entrant. FN produce two new soft drink FN Clearly Citrus and Zesta were launched in soft drink market at year 2011. Zesta and FN Clearly Citrus are getting customer support and the new produces also have a higher demand from the buyer. Zesta sales would create other competitor have entered the soda market, it will make a threat for the FN affect the market sales. Therefore, FN should defensively competitor who are entered the soda market to creating barriers that new entrants to the market find difficult to overcome. This can ensure the Zesta sales would not affect and ensure the maximize shareholders wealth. FN able to occupy in the Malaysia soda market a very important role. FN have 90% product are using sugar to produce, so that sugars fees occupy more of the material cost. Early government distribution sugar subsidy to sugar supplier that FN can use a lower price to purchases sugar. This can save a lot of unnecessary expenses, so FN can use a lower price to sell them soft drink and dairy product. Government removes all sugar subsidies since year 2011 until now. The serious increase in sugar prices had a major impact, together with the global merchandise cost increase, and led to an inevitable 25 per cent price increase of Sweetened Condensed Milk. This change of government budget makes FN facing a great crisis and bargaining power of supplier. Bargaining power of supplier Bargaining power of suppliers definition with the stronger power of suppliers in an industry the more difficult it is for firms within that sector to make a profit. It is because suppliers can determine the terms and conditions on which business is conducted. When government removes the sugar subsidies, FN need to research and evaluation current sugar supplier what price they giving and analysis the inflation whether FN can accepted. FN should do more research to find another sugar supplier who can provide lower cost to them. FN also facing sugar quality are not same compare with current supplier when choosing a lower cost provided from another supplier. This would make the customer not satisfaction with FN soft drink and dairy product. If FN continue purchase with the current supplier, they should spend more cost with sugar. Then FN would increase selling price to cover back the losses. FN customer would choose another substitute product. Bargaining power of buyer Next, bargaining power of buyer also is a serious problem facing by FN. Bargaining power of buyer sense of the powerful buyer can force price cuts and quality improvement. The government remove sugar subsidy, FN material cost will increase and affect the product selling price to increase. But FN need to concentration of buyer so they cannot random to adjust the selling prince. Buyer also has full information about the soft drink and dairy product market. They should know which company product cheaper, more health and best quality. FN need to hold the customer so they would always improve quality of product and extrusion new product to attract customers attention. Measure FN is a best choice and first choice from customer. This threat is more difficult to control, because FN management need to concentration of buyer and also need to maximize the shareholders wealth. Threat of substitute product Porters 5 forces have indicated that the threat of substitute product is the other firms within the industry has offers similar product with similar benefits for the customer. This threat may affects the competitive environment of the company and influence our ability to achieve profitability. On FN Magnolia have offers Pasteurised Milk and Sterilised Milk. The range of the customers is children and adults. The Pasteurised Fresh Milk can be enjoyed chilled or warm, plain or mixed with other foods or beverages and they innovate into Lo-Fat Hi-Cal Milk provide less fat and more healthier of the Fresh Milk for our body. However, Marigold has offers HL Milk is low-fat milk No.1 in Malaysia. HL Milk has perfect balance of nutrients for everyone in the family and it consists high in calcium and protein, low in fat and lactose and fortified with 9 essential vitamins to supplement healthier lifestyle. Marigold HL Milk is first choice for the customers who are caring health conscious. FN should innovation their milk product provide more healthy to attract or retain consumer choices. Another competitor is Dutch Lady has provided a Dutch Lady Milk powder for satisfy customer needs who want mix it with other favorites coffee or tea and it has a rich and creamy taste and can mixes easily in hot or cold water. Furthermore, Dutch Lady also has provided different formulations to cater to children of different ages to promote their brain development and healthy growth. Therefore, most of the mother would choose Dutch Lady milk products of their children rather than choose FN milk products. FN SEASONS offers soft drink products are leaders in countrys most comprehensive range of consumer, catering to every occasion. The Soya range provides protein nourishment while the Chrysanthemum and Grass Jelly provides healthier refreshment with less sugar let FN SEASONS become best quality and healthy drinks. However, they less favors for the customer choose. YEOS have more favors, such as Lychee drink, Sugarcane drink, Bandung Rose drink, coconut juice, soursop drink and guava drink for the customer to choice. Thence, consumers who are Sugarcane drink lover may change its option to YEOS products. Intensity of competitive rivalry Intensity of competitive rivalry among competitors in the industry try to strive the competitive advantage over the rivals and drives the profit of the rivals firm to zero. The company can gains the competitive advantage by several ways, such as changing the pricing, improving the products differentiation with other and exploiting relationships with suppliers. If can gain more competitive advantage rather than other competitor can increase the profitability of the company. FN only have provided soft drink products and dairy products, appears less competitive advantage compare with others. Nowadays, people more have health conscious when they buying products may choice to buy the products which consists more nutrition. In food and beverage industry also have many company has provide more diet product to satisfied the requirements of the different customers. Like the Dutch Lady Low Fat Yoghurt is a healthy snack and it will enhance the absorption of nutrients, ensuring digestive system stays healthy. It contains Vitamin A,C and E, calcium and Active Live Cultures. In Addition, the Marigold have offer the Yogurt and cultured milk Vitagen which have consists nutrition products for the body. The Vitagen has billions of live probiotic cultures to help maintain a healthy digestive system. Probiotic cultures in VITAGEN can withstand bile and acidic stomach juices and reach the intestines alive to fight harmful bacteria in the intestines. Furthermore, the Yoghurt contains live and active cultureshelp digestion and promote a healthy digestive system and calcium for the development of strong bones and teeth. Marigold also has offers Jelly is a great-tasting double-layered jelly that is filled with fresh fruits. Its cool and refreshing taste makes it great for everyone in the family and contains no preservatives and is a healthy alternative to fruits after a hearty meal. This makes Marigold become Malaysias first and only pasteurised Jelly. This all is key reasons that the consumer may change favors to this type of products. To gain competitive advantage, FN should provide more nutrition products for the customers have more choose. Porters national competitive advantage diamond Porters diamond model suggests that there are inherent reasons why some nations and industries within nations are more competitive than others on a global scale. The argument is that the national home base of an organisation provides organisations with specific factors which will potentially create competitive advantages on a global scale. (Michael Porter 1990) Porters diamond model consist of four conditions of national advantage which are factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries and firm strategy, structure and rivalry. Factor conditions Firstly, discuss about factor conditions. Factor condition is about important elements that exist in a company which lead to national competitive advantage. It can be country specific or industry specific. FN Dairies had constructed plant in Pulau Indah costs RM350 million and will be completed within the second half of 2011. The new plant promotes cutting edge green technology which would have huge gains in water, energy and environmental conservation. With existence of this plant, FN Dairies could be on the top list of worlds largest producers of canned milk. An increase in production line is an advantage of the company. FN had launched a new RM45 million polyethylene terephthalate (PET) monoblock production line which is the first in Asia Pacific. This able to done all the things in only one production line, for example blow bottles, fill and pack all carbonate soft drinks products. FN has the latest innovation and technology that bring advantage to them. With this latest technology, FN can enhance its operations by continuing improve production lines. FN can produce more products in effective and efficient way. In addition, the new machineries increase as the production lines increases. The warehouse management system has implemented to make operation work run smoothly. Besides, the introduction of new sales forecasting tools helps in manufacturing, if sales forecast is low, the manufacturer will produce less stock. Supply chain act as an important role in a business. Without supply, production would not be carried out. Improvement in supply chain lead to high efficiency of production and logistic by upgrade the systems. FN introduce higher level of operational automation and inventory management to ensure the manufacturing process has no error. Besides, the product quality management make sure that the products are in acceptable quality and safety measures are enhanced in order the product would not harm people. Demand conditions Secondly, the demand conditions state that if the local market for a product is larger and more demanding at home than in foreign markets, local firms potentially put more emphasis on improvements than foreign companies. This will potentially increase the global competitiveness of local exporting companies. FN non-carbonated portfolio has slightly increased from 25.4 per cent to 28 per cent in soft drinks business. This represent there is a growing demand for drinks. During the year, FN included fruit teas and juices to its range of soft drinks, and launch new drink called Zesta recently catering consumers of this segment. The ability to innovate, differentiate and manufacture new product lines will bring advantages such as gain more market share. FN Fruit Tree released five new flavours in bottle form which are orange, apple, lychee, blackcurrant and mango. As the demand increases, Fruit Tree has becoming one of the fastest growing categories in Malaysia. The new flavours are the extension to the Fruit Tree cans range and the research shows that consumer preference toward these flavours compared to other brand in the market. FN Holding Berhad has built a new warehouse in Kuching which triple larger than previous warehouse capacity to improve the quality of service and make sure delivery to customers is on time. Furthermore, it utilised advanced warehousing technology such as high selective racking, super flat flooring and Very Narrow Aisleway (VNA) trucks. Related and supporting industries Thirdly, the related and supporting industries mean that when local supporting industries and suppliers are competitive, home country companies will potentially get more cost efficient and receive more innovative products. In February 2010, 100PLUS signed a partnership agreement with AirAsia Berhad, officially sell 100PLUS on AirAsia flights which depart from Malaysia. AirAsia Berhad is a Malaysia top airlines company, being a partner of AirAsia Berhad has a real competitive advantage for FN. This agreement is a big step for division to extend business offshore. Passenger dehydration happened frequently in air travel, with 100PLUS the passenger can get over the dehydration. Support from AirAsia is like an advertisement effect, whenever there is a flight, there is an appearance of 100PLUS. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry Lastly, which are firm strategy, structure and rivalry. Structure and management system can affect competitiveness. FN is running beverage and dairies business in addition to food business too. FN buy 23.08 per cent share in Cocoaland Holdings Berhad. Cocoaland is a major snack food manufacturer in Malaysia. FN is diversifying the business risk to various subsidiaries. FN develop the food business to supplement beverage and dairies business. As the Malaysia grow into high income economy country, the consumption of middle income will increase and food business will be benefited. GE model 3 portfolio business Property Dairy product Soft drink GE business matrix Industry Attractiveness- Market growth rate Business Strength- Brand Strength High Medium Low High Investment/ Growth Soft drinkSelective Growth Selectivity Medium Selective Growth Dairy productSelectivity Harvest/Divest Property businessLow Selectivity Harvest/Divest Harvest/Divest Our business has divided into 3 portfolio and that are Soft Drinks, Dairy Product and Property. First of all we use the market growth rate as our industry attractiveness factors and brand strength as our business factors. Soft Drinks Our main soft drinks business portfolio will be classified at the classes of selective growth. Our company soft drink like 100plus and Zesta was popular in Malaysia; our brand has already helped our company bring certain level of stable income. Our business from year 2007 until 2011 has seems growth constantly that at year 2007 increase 9%,2008 11%, 2009 11%,2010 19% and 2011 grow 12%. At year 2011 the growth has slow down it is because the subsidy of sugar had removed by the government. The impact on FN is their production cost is increase and cause their profitability decline. The attractive of the beverage market will decline and potential competitor will have more consideration to decide whether to or not to enter into soft drink industry. Moreover, Sichuans earthquake causes the prices of the aluminum increase. That mean one of the main direct material has been affect again. Industry attractive will place at the medium due to the problem of sugar subsidy and the aluminum prices arise. Dairy Product Our dairy product will classified at the classes of selectivity. Our company dairy products have included sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, pasteurised milk, UHT milk, juice and ice cream. In year 2007, our revenue on dairy products has significant increase by 102% compare with year 2006 and subsequent increase 38% in year 2008. In year 2009 the revenue of the dairy product decline by 6%, but increase 5% in year 2010. Revenue has constant in year 2011 compare with year 2010. Our dairy product has classified at selectivity, with medium level of attractiveness and medium business strength on the dairy product. Although the product Milo are popular in the Malaysia, but Milo is not own by our company, we just a franchise on it. This will reduce our business strength due to our dairy product not a major player in the market. The dairy product will less attractive for investors consider investing because the deliberate the milk market will very costly. In addition, the cost of tec hnical for hire staff and the cost of technology for produce the dairy product also costly for subsequent production cost. Moreover, the dairy product license also difficult to get approval by the government. New entrant will find difficult to entry, because the market has been controlled and play by a few big competitor. These create barriers for the new entrant find difficult to entry. Property Our property business had generated more revenue in year 2007 compare with the year 2006 by 6%. Revenue for the year 2008 had decline by 24% compare to year 2007. In subsequent two year had increase by 65% and 20% in year 2009 and 2010, but decline again in year 2011. Our property business have classified at selectivity with high level of attractiveness and low business strength. Our company more concentrate in the soft drink product and has no hard to promote our property to the public, not many people know that our business has already enter into it. Our property business has not like our beverage business seemed so successful and our business strength in this industry is low. The property business has high profitability in this industry will attract more investor to entry. Our government encourage removing the old building and build more new business park in order to make our country more prosperity. Moreover, our property business is at growth stage because just introduce into in dustry so do not have strong business strength on the property business. Ratio analysis Revenue of continuing operation continues to grow from 2009 to 2010 by 11.2% and 2010 to 2011 7.6%. In 2010, the revenue is able to grow better than 2011 due to improved economic conditions. Malaysia Government has introduced New Economic Model 2010 helps to boost spending in Malaysia. Profit before interest and tax growth rate also decline from 2010 to 2011, 31% to 14%. The result was affected because of particular division wasnt doing well in 2011. Soft Drink Soft Drink division has current ratio of 1.77 and 1.99 for year 2010 and 2011. It indicated improvement in managing assets and liabilities. The growth momentum of soft drink division has continued. The division has been doing well over the years. It contributes the largest profit to FN. In 2010, the soft drink division was able to generate revenue 21% more compared to last year. Soft drink was delivering higher volume especially during festive periods such as Chinese New Year. In addition, sales volume of 100Plus Seasons have grew more than 20% and reflected strong consumption and growing popularity of the brands. 100Plus generated over 88% of market share in isotonic category and Seasons generated 27% market share of Asian drink category. While Badminton competition Thomas Cup was around, 100PLUS Thomas Cup 1 Million Support Campaign was held for Malaysian to show their support for Malaysian badminton team. Apart from that, the division served as distributor of Red Bull energy drinks in Malaysia and commenced from 1 April 2010. Soft drink volume was able to benefit from Red Bull which contributed 2.2% helps to improve the divisions beverage portfolio. (Annual Report 2010) Soft drink division grew only 16% from 2010 to 2011. The growth rate is eroded due to the reason of Malaysian government has withdrawn the subsidy of sugar and fuel. Therefore, raw material cost has increased and causes the profit margin diminished. Coca-Cola business exits the FN in September 2011 which also the reason of profit margin diminished. However, 100Plus and Seasons still generated volume growth 10% and 14% to benefits the division. 100Plus and Seasons are the leading brands in the division and continue to enhance the divisions beverage portfolio. 100Plus was being promoted continuously as 100PLUS New Thematic Launch in July 2011. Beside, FN SEASONS Nourishing You Malaysia National Consumer Contest held between March and April 2011 to create consumers awareness that Season as healthy brand. The division also has introduced new product, Ice Mountain in Malaysia and it is able to establish 5% market share. The division has enhanced the market share of Red Bull in energy drin ks from 40% to 46.8%. It is because RED BULL ENERGIZING MALAYSIA contest has conducted and grand prize is Proton Saga. In addition, division also has organized 1million Bottle Giveaway consumer promotion. (Annual 2011) Dairies Malaysia Dairies Malaysia division has current ratio 3.07 and 4.14 for year 2010 and 2011. The division has quite high current ratio for both years and year 2011 has higher current ratio because liabilities of division have been reduced. Overall sales volume has improved 7% from 2009 to 2010. The ongoing improvement on global economy had a positive impact on consumer sentiment and consumption. Profit before interest and tax of the division has improvement of 8.4% for the reason that division has enjoyed lower raw material cost during first half of the year. However, the positive effect is reversed by raw material cost was higher during second half of the year. Therefore, an increase in price of sweetened condensed and evaporated milk which causes demand diminished. Dairies Malaysia is having over 62% market share and condensed milk brand is able to strengthen its number 1 position with 24% market share. (Annual Report 2010) Dairies Malaysia doesnt doing well in 2011 because the sales volume has declined 15.2%. More than that, revenue and profit before interest tax also decline 6.6% and 45.8%. Malaysian Government has withdrawn subsidy of sugar which cause the price of sugar increased. Beside, global commodity costs have increased together with impact from sugar cost which cause price of Sweetened Condensed Milk increased by 25%. Price of Sweetened Condensed Milk created inflation pressures to consumers and caused the sales volume declined. Apart from that, the sugar subsidy withdrawn on selective basis by government and create unfair competitive environment to Sweetened Condensed Milk manufacturers. The division was still able to getting 60% market share for both Sweetened Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk markets. (Annual Report 2011) Dairies Thailand Current ratio of division in year 2010 and 2011 are 3.35 and 2.87. The current ratio is considered relatively high but it has decreased because liabilities of division have increased. The sales volume of division has grown 10.6% but revenue only grew 6.6% in year 2010. However, profit before interest and tax has increased 16.6%. Rojana Industrial Estate was operated in December 2009, working as the biggest canned milk manufacturing plant in the region. In July 2010, Dairies Thailand relocated to its Rojana Warehouse Distribution Centre, placed 300 meters nearby to its Rojana dairy plant. Distribution Centre is located to run into the present capacity requirement of the Rojana Plant. It is able to upkeep business growth and future expansion for operations. The division was generating substantial savings of transportation cost. Carnation and TEA POT brands continued to contribute excellent performance to canned milk portfolio. Carnation Sweetened Beverage Creamer (SBC) and Carnation Evaporated Milk (EVAP) have sales growth of over 20 per cent. Carnation Sweetened Beverage Creamer captured market share of 29 per cent while Carnation Evaporated Milk grew three percentage points to record 73 per cent market share. In addition, Bear Brand Sterilized Milk was market leader which captured 98% market share in sterilized milk segment. (Annual Report 2010)<

Business Card Etiquette Essay

Business Card Etiquette: A Must Master Have you ever experienced how mortifying it is when you’re asked for a business card and you don’t have any? Either you forgot to bring one or run out of business cards, this incident is embarrassing both to the asker and to the one being asked for. Habitually forgetting the business cards is the most famous neglect that someone makes when it comes to business card etiquette. In the business world it is important to always remember the business card etiquette as this would speak much of you and the business that you are representing. So, what do we have to be harking backed to when it comes to business card etiquette? First, it is always helpful to have a system to remember to bring a bunch of cool business cards with you every time. Put it in a business portfolio or your purse or desk drawer or a cool business card holder, whichever is applicable and more convenient for you. As one of your most important marketing weapon, a cool business card should always be present in business meetings and basically everywhere. This system would also save you from doing the same mistake that most forgetful entrepreneurs do. The second business card etiquette you should be dredging up on is that it should present creativity. Creative business cards not only state your name, contact numbers, or company logo. The style itself should discourse what kind of service you do or product you provide. You might even want to try cool digital business cards if you’re on the PC or electronic business world. Creative business cards give respect to the card giver and receiver alike. Third thing to consider in business card etiquette is the poise of the card. Cool business cards make the receiver want to keep the card for some reasons like future reference or simply because it is something likable. Either way, cool business cards promote boost in the owner’s individuality. The last and most important thing to ruminate in business card etiquette is the manner on how you present your card. Handing over wrinkled, torn or stained business cards give a reflection on how you see the receiver. This is a big no, especially when you’re dealing with CEOs and managers of companies. Also, it is but proper not to present business cards during personal or emotional correspondence like condolences, get well soons, and even congratulations. So, you can understand that business card etiquette is as much as important as the card itself. Mastering it not only brings potential income to the business but a lasting impression of good reputation as well. Design diaries batch 2 (9-28) 9. China  Travel Depotwww. chinatraveldepot. com Anyone planning to travel along China might want to browse www. chinatraveldepot. com, the official website of the top destination service provider of the country. The site provides information regarding China activities, flights, hotels, tour packages, cars rental, Yangtze cruises, top China tours, prices, and promotions. Basically, what they offer is within- China travel services. But they also provide an option for add- on international travel services by teaming up with Expedia, one of the leading online tour operator in the world. The company also deals with the possibility of customization options and packages to provide the perfect travel destination. China Travel Depot serves over 60 chain stores and outlets located all over China. 10. Extreme Piewww. xtremepie. com It’s up for the hippies to search for the biggest surf, snow, ride, and skate brands online at www. extremepie. com. Nike, Oakley, Nixon, Jansport, Billabong, Converse, Sanuk, Roxy, Havaianas, Element, and Reef are just some of the wide array of brands to choose from. The site features a full assortment of styles that are hip for the current season. Products are categ orized as to usage (by ladies, men, and kids), gift items, and hardware. Extreme Pie offers their customers with a 110% price promise and a good pact of 90 day returns policy(both subject to company’s discretion). The company also gives a deal of free delivery for UK Mainland residents at some point detailed in the terms. 11. Fitness Footwear  www. fitnessfootwear. com If someone is looking for quality footwear, fitnessfootwear. com is a must- visit site for him. Trendy and superior footwear from brands like Adidas, Birkenstock, Reebok,The North face, Under Armor Tactical, New Balance, Havaianas, Merrell, Vivo Barefoot, Fitflop, Hi- Tec, and Saucony are in store at www. fitnessfootwear. com. Another great feature of this site is that it has a shoe size converter for UK, Europe, and USA shoes. Visitors can choose from the variety of Running, Toning, Casual, Outdoor men’s and women’s shoes, insoles, socks, and accessories. To top all that, product updates, promotions, and discounts are given to customers who sign up to the FitnessFootwear. com newsletter. 12. Moonbasawww. moonbasa. us Moonbasa is powered by Mola Group, a China- based company established in 2007, which currently have 800 employees. They specialize in women underwear and clothing but also offer other products such as shoes, handbags, home textile used outdoors and indoors, and Euro- style apparel. They have an elite staff of hunting professionals like Terry Drury, Mark Drury, Jay Gregory, Spook Span, Ronnie â€Å"Cuz† Strickland, Hank Parker, Rick Kreuter, Keith Beam, and more. The company started in the 70’s when the owner, Pete Shepley, experimented with new ideas for bow release aids. From flexible plastic arrow vane to replace the feathers, he trialed to the perfection of his first compound bow. Today, the line of PSE products vastly includes Pro Series Bows, Main Line Bows, Field Ready Bows, Recurve Bows, and a lot more.