Time Management

One of the most frequently mentioned problems of businessmen is encapsulated in the phrase, “If I only had more time…” This concern is a common problem among all busy people. It seems that no one has enough time. Time is the most precious yet most limited resource of the businessmen. It is a unique quantity-the businessmen cannot store it, rent it, hire it, or buy it. With its supply being inelastic, it is totally perishable and irreplaceable. Everything requires it and it passes at the same rate for everyone. While important throughout the life of the venture, time is particularly critical at start-up and during growth and expansion of the venture. No matter what the businessman does, today’s ration of time is 24 hours, and yesterday’s time is already history. What is Time Management? Managing time means investing time to get what you decide you want out of life, including Continue reading

SWOT Analysis of DELL Computers

As one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world, Dell Computer Company has grown tremendously since its incorporation in 1984 by Michael Dell. Dell’s Direct Model, which is largely responsible for the success of the company, provides a fast, cost-efficient, and customer friendly means of production and distribution. Now, in a market that is ever changing, competitors are challenging Dell with new and unique products in an effort to overcome the superiority of the Direct Model. The growth and development of laptop computers is a primary area in which Dell can work for continued success, despite the threats posed by its competitors. SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis provides a basis for crafting a strategy that capitalizes on the company’s resources, while taking advantage of the best opportunities, and defending against the threats to its well being. In developing a new laptop computer, Dell would like to target Continue reading

Relationship of Organizational Structure with Strategy and Culture

Relationship between Business Strategy and Structure Business Strategy primarily refers to the road-map laid out by an organization. The principal objective of strategy is to ensure that an organization achieves the set targets in order to sustain and grow in an increasingly competitive world. On the other hand, a structure is the manner in which the internal resources of a company get connected with each other. More specifically, structure is concerned with different groups that can be formed within an organization. For example, an organization having a functional structure will operate through the different functions such as Marketing, Finance, and Manufacturing. Business Strategy is the main driver that decides the structure an organization. Also, in case the structure of a company is not synchronized with its strategy, then the company may not be able to achieve the set targets. For example, a company with a diversified product portfolio and has Continue reading

What is a Master Budget?

Budget provides comprehensive financial overview of planned company operation. A company’s objectives budget is the overall financial plan showing expenditure of the available funds. A company’s budget is driven by the aims and objectives of the company as well as what it can actually accomplish. Many variables in a business can be budgeted which includes sales, output, cost- (variable and fixed), profits, cash flow, capital investment. Budget should be SMART, that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and with time bound otherwise budget will be ineffective. Strategic objective of the company is the first factor that needs to be considered when formulating budgets because unaligned budget with strategic objective lead to failure. The next step of budgeting is identifying the limiting factor that the organization is faced with which is known as constraint which may be a limit on the number of goods a business could sell (demand is limiting factor) Continue reading

Choosing Business Strategies and Tactics

There are a few steps that have to be taken to ensure that the choice of Business Strategy made by an organization is sound. Firstly there should be the realization that resources and capabilities have to searched for and located and the search has to be systematically made over each of the functional areas including Marketing, Production, Sales and Finance. After this is done, the feasibility of using these resources individually or collectively has to be determined. This is a serious exercise and should involve senior and top management. A firm may have manufacturing skills in plenty, but if the challenge facing the company is to increase market penetration, priority will have to be given to strengthening the marketing and sales functions and provide them with the lions share of the operating budget to achieve the company’s aims. Another requirement to kept in mind, is that skills and capabilities identified Continue reading

Business Tactics

Business Tactics are specific operating plans which are part of and fit into the larger strategic plan. In warfare, tactics are plans made to fight and win battles. Strategy is the larger set of plans to win wars. Similarly business tactics can be viewed as short term plans to achieve smaller goals – also called targets- and are part of a larger strategic plan to achieve long term goals. A useful way of viewing tactics is to consider them as linking elements between strategy formulation and strategy implementation. There are two types of primary tactics viz. Timing Tactics and Market Location Tactics. Timing refers to the order in which a firm makes market moves in relation to its competitors. A firm may choose to be first in the market with a product or new features to an existing product. This is known as a first mover tactic. Usually a firm Continue reading

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