CaseStudy.co.in» Business

Mergers & Acquisitions: Planning and Executing for Success

maddy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:17:26 +0000

Mergers and acquisitions are always challenging, but today’s deals represent an altogether different breed.
When transactions move this quickly and the time for due diligence is compressed, risks multiply exponentially—tempting management to become inwardly focused at the precise moment they should be devoting even greater attention to their customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. With consumer trust and confidence eroding, a sophisticated customer retention strategy is vital. And while shareholders have high expectations for synergy realization, they are also looking for a strong capital base, making a clear divestiture agenda essential.
The right approach can help financial institutions reduce distractions, stay engaged with customers, improve the business model and fend off competitors while accelerating value capture from the deal.
Read more…

Incoming search terms

Lenovo’s Business Strategies

newuser — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:32:09 +0000

In recent years, the personal computer (PC) industry has been developing by leaps and bounds. Global sales of PCs totaled 230 million units in 2006, representing a 9 percent increase over the previous year. Lenovo has a product line that includes everything from servers and storage devices to printers, printer supplies, projectors, digital products, computing accessories, computing services and mobile handsets, all in addition to its primary PC business, which made up 96 percent of the company’s turnover as of the second quarter of 2007 … click here to read ahead

Incoming search terms

World Markets Vs. Economy

vicky113 — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:40:44 +0000

Although economics has many facets, the field is unified by several central ideas. In this article, we will take a closer look at Ten Principles of Economics. There is no question as to what an economy is. Whether we are talking about the economy of Los Angeles, England, or Australia, a healthy economy is based on several distinct variables. Because the behaviour of an economy reflects the behaviour of the individuals who make up the economy.
Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs
“There is no such thing as a free lunch.” To get one thing that we like, we usually have to give up another thing that we like. Nonetheless, acknowledging life’s trade-offs is important because people are likely to make good decisions only if they understand the options that they have available.
Principle 2: The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up to Get It.
Because people face trade-offs, making decisions requires comparing the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action. In many cases, however, the cost of some action is not as obvious as it might first appear.
Principle 3: Rational People Think at the Margin
Economists normally assume that people are rational. Rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives, with the opportunities they have.
Michael Leary of Apex Investment Services says that rational people know that decisions in life are rarely black and white but usually involve shades of gray. Economists use the term marginal changes to describe small incremental adjustments to an existing plan of action.
Principle 4: People Respond to Incentives
An incentive is something that induces a person to act. Because rational people make decisions by comparing costs and benefits, they respond to incentives. You will see that incentives play a central role in economics.
Incentives are crucial to analyzing how markets work. For example, when the price of an apple rises, people decide to eat more pears and fewer apples because the cost of buying an apple is higher. At the same time, apple orchards decide to hire more workers and harvest more apples because the benefit of selling an apple is also higher.
When analyzing any policy, we must consider not only the direct effects but also the indirect and sometimes less obvious effects that work through incentives. If the policy changes incentives, it will cause people to alter their behaviour.
As we go about our lives, many of our decisions affect not only ourselves but other people as well. Now we will discuss the next three principles which examine with how people interact with one another.

Principle 5: Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off
It is easy to be misled when thinking about competition among countries. Trade between the United States and Japan is not like a sports contest in which one side wins and the other side loses. In fact, the opposite is true: Trade between two countries can make each country better off.
By trading with others, people can buy a greater variety of goods and services at lower cost.
Countries benefit from the ability to trade with one another. Trade allows countries to specialize in what they do best and to enjoy a greater variety of goods and services. The Japanese, as well as the French and the Egyptians and the Brazilians, are as much our partners in the world economy as they are our competitors.
Principle 6: Markets Are Usually a Good Way to Organize Economic Activity
At first glance, the success of market economies is puzzling. After all, in a market economy, no one is looking out for the economic well-being of society as a whole. Free markets contain many buyers and sellers of numerous goods and services, and all of them are interested primarily in their own well-being. Yet despite decentralized decision making and self-interested decision makers, market economies have proven remarkably successful in organizing economic activity in a way that promotes overall economic well-being.
Principle 7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes
If the invisible hand of the market is so great, why do we need government?
One reason we need government is that the invisible hand can work its magic only if the government enforces the rules and maintains the institutions that are key to a healthy economy. Most important, markets work only if property rights are enforced. A farmer won’t grow food if he expects his crop to be stolen; a restaurant won’t serve meals unless it is assured that customers will pay before they leave; and a music company won’t produce CDs if too many potential customers avoid paying by making illegal copies. We all rely on government provided police and courts to enforce our rights over the things we produce – and the invisible hand counts on our ability to enforce our rights.
How individuals make decisions, and how people interact with one another make up the many variables of “The Economy.”
Principle 8: A Country’s Standard of Living Depends on Its Ability to Produce Goods and Services
The differences in living standards around the world are staggering. In 2007, the average American had an income of about $37,500. In the same year, the average Mexican earned $8,950, and the average Nigerian earned $900. Not surprisingly, this large variation in average income is reflected in the quality of life. Citizens of high-income countries have more TV sets, more cars, better nutrition, better healthcare, and a longer life expectancy than citizens of low-income countries.
What explains these large differences in living standards among countries and over time? The answer is surprisingly simple. Almost all variation in living standards is attributable to differences in countries’ productivity- the amount of goods and services produced from an employee’s time. In nations where workers can produce a large quantity of goods and services per unit of time, most people enjoy a high standard of living. Similarly, the growth rate of a nation’s productivity determines the growth rate of its average income.
Principle 9: Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money
In Germany in January 1921, a daily newspaper cost 0.30 marks. Less than 2 years later, in November 1922, the same newspaper cost 70,000,000 marks. All other prices in the economy rose by similar amounts. This instance is one of history’s most stunning examples of inflation.
What causes inflation? In almost all cases of large or persistent inflation, the culprit is growth in the quantity of money. When a government creates large quantities of the nation’s money, the value of the money falls. In Germany in the early 1920s, when prices were on average tripling every month, the quantity of money was also tripling every month. Although less dramatic, the economic history of the United States points to a similar conclusion: The high inflation of the1970s was associated with rapid growth in the quantity of money, and the low inflation of the 1990s was associated with slow growth in the quantity of money.
Principle 10: Society Faces a Short-Run Trade-off between Inflation and Unemployment
Although a higher level of prices is, in the long run, the primary effect of increasing the quantity of money, the short-run story is more complex and more controversial. Most economists describe the short-run effects of monetary injections as follows:
* Increasing the amount of money in the economy stimulates the overall level of spending and thus the demand for goods and services.
* Higher demand may over time cause firms to raise their prices, but in the meantime, it also encourages them to increase the quantity of goods and services they produce and to hire more workers to produce those goods and services.
* More hiring means lower unemployment.
This line of reasoning leads to one final economy wide trade-off: a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Although some economists still question these ideas, most accept that society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. This simply means that, over a period of a year or two, many economic policies push inflation and unemployment in opposite directions. This short-run trade-off plays a key role in the analysis of the business cycle-the irregular and largely unpredictable fluctuations in economic activity, as measured by the production of goods and services or the number of people employed.
Click here to download the article

Incoming search terms

Business Strategies : Kingfisher Airlines

newuser — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:54:42 +0000

Kingfisher Airlines launched its domestic air service operations in May 2005.KFA was promoted by UB group and offered a single class- “Kingfisher Class”. KFA successfully leverage the youthful and vibrant image of its kingfisher beer brand and called its airlines as ‘Funliners’ to emphasize the fun-filled experience. Within the first six months of its launch, KFA managed to corner a 6% market share in the domestic air travel mark.

KFA started its operation in May 7, 2005, positioning itself as a budget carrier and not as Low Cost Carrier (LCC).
Following strategies were followed to make it one of the leading Airlines in India.
… click here to read more on Business Strategies by Kingfisher

Incoming search terms

Will Wall Street Redefine The MBA Curriculum?

maddy — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:31:06 +0000

Management courses at business schools have always been the subject of much debate and discussion. Schools have had to modify and adapt to constantly changing economic demands, but 2010 might just be the most game changing yet.
Today, we are well on our way to making core classes on ethics and sustainable business practices a real and relevant part of MBA curricula. While the approach has differed by school—some have made these courses compulsory, others have preferred the electives route—the central concern remains the need for responsible leadership in the marketplace.
Read more…

Incoming search terms

Rapid Internationalization in Emerging Economies

maddy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:02:11 +0000

Extensive theoretical and empirical studies have been elaborated regarding internationalization with the analysis of different features. Investigations have just recently started to explore the firms from emerging economies that have significantly being internationalized. The main purpose of our study is to deepen the knowledge about the companies that internationalize rapidly and we highlight the potential factors that lead to early internationalization and/or continuously rapid internationalization, especially for firms from emerging economies. First, the definition of rapid internationalization is presented and discussed. Second, the driving forces leading a firm to internationalize rapidly are investigated. Specifically, a qualitative research is conducted with the use of a single case study: Suzlon Energy, an Indian company. The information is collected mainly through secondary data. After introducing the existing theoretical framework, we test how it can be applied to our company case. Finally, we develop our conceptual model from the confrontation between the case and existing theories. New findings emerge which complement the existing concepts that are mainly focused on firms from mature markets, early internationalization and outward internationalization.
Read more…

Incoming search terms

Outsourcing Can Do Much More Than Just Cut Costs

maddy — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:02:23 +0000

Companies that successfully create and sustain value year after year are rare. Many try to, but a recent study of 2,000 companies over 10 years by our consulting firm, Bain & Co., found that only one in 10 achieved sustained, profitable growth.
Outourcing and offshoring began as cost-cutting measures, but companies that create real sustained value routinely use them for far more strategic ends–to gain capabilities that they don’t have in-house, or to strengthen capabilities they do have. We have found that 85% of those winners use capability-sourcing broadly and strategically for everything from developing world-class talent to bringing new products to market faster and enabling business model innovation. In other words, they’ve moved way beyond mere cost-cutting.
Read more….

Football Lessons for Managers

maddy — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 05:08:07 +0000

Business managers might think that the football World Cup will be best spent ordering distracted employees to close down the video links and concentrate on their work.But there s much to learn from the tournament about organizing teams and motivating individuals.

The experiences football managers collect through their careers are as intense as any a leader in the commercial world could expect to find and the lessons they learn along the way can easily be applied off the pitch.
Why else would companies continue to reward managers for their own individual performance, rather than that of their team?
To continue reading further Kick (click) here….

What Is Strategic Thinking?: Could It Really Be This Simple?

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:18:36 +0000

In business and in life, we sometimes relate strategic thinking to something very expensive or very clever. In reality, this is not the case! In the academic world, the word “Strategic” is certainly a word preserved for the gurus to use as they please, not to mention as a buzzword to attract the attention of the rich business leaders. A strategy is typically an idea, a style of thinking, which sets a course of action that promises a winning future position.
Read more….

SWOT and sustainable business planning: IKEA Model

maddy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:45:54 +0000

IKEA is an internationally known home furnishing retailer. It has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1943. Today it is the world’s largest furniture retailer, recognised for its Scandinavian style. The majority of IKEA’s furniture is flat-pack, ready to be assembled by the consumer. This allows a reduction in costs and packaging. IKEA carries a range of 9,500 products, including home furniture and accessories. This wide range is available in all IKEA stores and customers can order much of the range online through IKEA’s website. There are 18 stores in the UK to date, the first of which opened in Warrington in 1987. In July 2009 IKEA opened a store in Dublin too – its first in Ireland.
Since it was founded IKEA has always had concern for people and the environment. The IKEA vision ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’ puts this concern at the heart of the business. IKEA has responded to the public’s rising concern for sustainability in its choice of product range, suppliers, stores and communication. It has also spotted business potential in providing sustainable solutions. IKEA’s concern for people and the environment encourages it to make better use of both raw materials and energy. This keeps costs down and helps the company to reach its green targets and have an overall positive impact on the environment.
This case study will show why IKEA believes a strong environmental stance is good business practice.
Read more….