Commoditizing the enterprise MIT Sloan Management Review

Best practices in an industry are identified after close monitoring and evaluation of a company’s performance. Industry best practices play a great role towards company productivity and this makes them to be the best in a company. In addition, they help a company while making key operational decisions at any given time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Commoditizing the enterprise: MIT Sloan Management Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This means that before any company comes up with any decision it must put into consideration the industry best practices. Therefore, it is only after identification of company’s best practices that it could capitalize on them and make the best out of these practices (Conway, 2009). In addition, the practices could be used to reinforce poorly performing practices in a company. Based on the above, I could apply company best practices approach while making decisions in a company. It is appropriate to apply best practices while making decisions because it is possible to benchmark the practices with those related in another industry. This helps a company to grow and attain the standards of the industry it has been benchmarked with. In addition, best practices enables an organization to achieve competitive advantage because it directs its resources to its best practices. Further, best practices play a great part in product development because by adopting the best practices an organization acquires new knowledge. Due to the fact that new practices pertain using the knowledge and skills to apply what an organization can do best it therefore means that the success will be achievable (Dyer Hatch 2004). Additionally, quality improvement in services and products is improved when best practices are adopted in a company. Industry best practices have been applied by Toyota Company whereby the suppliers have teamed up so as to utilize what they can do bes t in order to achieve the company goals. In addition, the suppliers have teamed up with other related departments for instance consultant groups. This is meant to foster teamwork and facilitate sharing of ideas since these are some of the best practices that the company has (Dyer Hatch 2004).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, suppliers are found in different companies and they meet after a while making it possible for them to learn from each other and improve on their operations. The knowledge is shared by all the suppliers and by the time the competitors learn of the new knowledge Toyota is always one step ahead in terms of innovation. On the other hand, industry best practices adoption may be hard to enforce because it is not always easy to identify the company’s best practices.Additionally, it could be hard to tell what best practices are bearing in mi nd that there are too many practices in a company. This could also take a long time since there must be scrutiny of the practices before their implementation. Further, Toyota Company has performed well by utilizing the best practices while making decisions. On the other hand, there could be some barriers that could be incompatible for instance formation of strategic alliances which could be incompatible (Dyer Hatch, 2004). This is however not always the case and in some situations it might be hard therefore making the company encounter substantial losses. When a company opts to divest itself of its noncore functions and outsources them, it gains competitive advantage because it could concentrate on what it can do best. In addition, the company get funds when it divest and hence it could use the funds to pay for the debts or use the fund to carry out it’s tasks just to mention but a few. Further, the company saves time by eliminating repetitive processes which could delay ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s operations. References Conway, D. (2009). Perl Best Practices. Sebastopol: O’Reilly Media, Inc. Dyer.H.J Hatch.W.N. (2004). MIT Sloan Management Review: Using Supplier Network to Learn Faster. Massachusetts.Vol.44.No.3 Retrieved : www.sloan review.mit.eduon 27th May 2013.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Commoditizing the enterprise: MIT Sloan Management Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Ivanov, D., Sokolov, B. V. (2010). Adaptive supply chain management. London: Springer. This essay on Commoditizing the enterprise: MIT Sloan Management Review was written and submitted by user Amel1a to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Honeywell Marketing Plan

Company Description Honeywell has reinvented ‘Life Sciences’ as we know it. Starting out as a humble company in 1885, it has grown to become a corporate giant that deals with everything from cars, to clothing, to providing high-tech components for computers and cell phones. Simply said, Honeywell touches lives around the world every day (Honeywell). Honeywell has adapted to change and has grown to become a leader in many different fields. The company’s continual ingenuity has earned us a spot on the Dow Jones Industrial average as one of only thirty companies represented. We currently employ 115,000 people in over 100 countries, and are a Fortune 100 company with over $24 billion in sales. Total company sales have risen from $12.3 to $23.7 billion, a 92% increase since 1990 (Honeywell). Honeywell has four strategic business units (SBU), Aerospace, Automation and Control Systems, Specialized Materials and Transportation and Power Systems (Appendix 1). The largest business sector for Honeywell is Aerospace which composes 41% of the companies sales, followed by Automation and Control Systems which is accountable for 30%, Transportation and Power Systems and Specialized Materials makes up the final 29% with Transportation and Power Systems leading at 15% and Specialty Materials at 14% (Honeywell). Although Specialty Materials represents the nominal SBU, we see potential for growth and improvement and are confident that we can capture a larger market in this historically sound business. Honeywell’s Life Sciences division has chosen Pharmaceutical Actives as their product line. Figure 1-1, (below) is a chart representing twelve pharmaceutical actives, as well as a description and case number of the active in the product line (Honeywell). FIG. 1-1 Pharmaceutical Actives Product CAS number Quality DMF Manufactured in Acepromazine Maleate 3598-37-6 Vet. Tranquilizer USP/BP.Vet Arklow, Ireland Amitriptyli... Free Essays on Honeywell Marketing Plan Free Essays on Honeywell Marketing Plan Company Description Honeywell has reinvented ‘Life Sciences’ as we know it. Starting out as a humble company in 1885, it has grown to become a corporate giant that deals with everything from cars, to clothing, to providing high-tech components for computers and cell phones. Simply said, Honeywell touches lives around the world every day (Honeywell). Honeywell has adapted to change and has grown to become a leader in many different fields. The company’s continual ingenuity has earned us a spot on the Dow Jones Industrial average as one of only thirty companies represented. We currently employ 115,000 people in over 100 countries, and are a Fortune 100 company with over $24 billion in sales. Total company sales have risen from $12.3 to $23.7 billion, a 92% increase since 1990 (Honeywell). Honeywell has four strategic business units (SBU), Aerospace, Automation and Control Systems, Specialized Materials and Transportation and Power Systems (Appendix 1). The largest business sector for Honeywell is Aerospace which composes 41% of the companies sales, followed by Automation and Control Systems which is accountable for 30%, Transportation and Power Systems and Specialized Materials makes up the final 29% with Transportation and Power Systems leading at 15% and Specialty Materials at 14% (Honeywell). Although Specialty Materials represents the nominal SBU, we see potential for growth and improvement and are confident that we can capture a larger market in this historically sound business. Honeywell’s Life Sciences division has chosen Pharmaceutical Actives as their product line. Figure 1-1, (below) is a chart representing twelve pharmaceutical actives, as well as a description and case number of the active in the product line (Honeywell). FIG. 1-1 Pharmaceutical Actives Product CAS number Quality DMF Manufactured in Acepromazine Maleate 3598-37-6 Vet. Tranquilizer USP/BP.Vet Arklow, Ireland Amitriptyli...

Philosophy of Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Philosophy of Language - Essay Example the study of meaning conveyed with its help. And it was in this aspect of his scholarly activity that contributions of Frege are perhaps the most wide-ranging. Indeed, Frege defined the majority of the primary problems that the philosophy of language had to surmount, formulated most of the fundamental concepts and theories in this field, and set new methodological standards of academic scrutiny for the philosophy of language. On ground of all this, the modern philosophy of language has even been likened to footnotes to ideas of Frege. Of course, already before Frege language was viewed as an indispensable tool employed by our memory to record our thoughts and used as a means of expression of our thoughts to people via verbal communication. But in the end of the nineteenth century some philosophers started to perceive language in an even more fundamental way - as a tool without the understanding of which it is impossible to tackle existing conceptual and ontological problems. It was i n this respect that Frege offered a variety of new insights into the functioning of language and its true significance. He was advancing the view that the very human thought as such is influenced by language as a form of symbolic interaction, and as he was interested in the study of the structure of the human thought he was naturally bound to closely analyse language. This is why we may find in his works so many fine observations that aim to uncover the most elementary principles of language usage (Weiner 2004, pp.1-6, 159-165). One of such subtle themes in works of Frege is his account of indirect speech, which holds an important place within his scholarly system where every seemingly minor linguistic mechanism matters. Let us overview his analysis of indirect speech and try through its critical evaluation to find out whether Frege gives an adequate account of it. First of all, to understand the place of the analysis of indirect speech in the works of Frege we should provide a proper context for its complete understanding. For Frege one of the motivating sources of his linguistic investigations was the dilemma represented by the fact that while language is necessary for us to be able to generate meaningful thoughts, it is at the same time the barrier for the adequate expression of thoughts because, being a sensible entity, language is used to express insensible thoughts. To find a proper reference point for the judgement on the matter of the possible interrelation that may exist between thought and language, Frege formulated two important concepts that lie at the point of intersection between them. The first such concept is the so-called sense that is contained in each expression. Sense of an expression relates to the specific way of formulation of description of an object, conception, or function that a certain sentence aims to describe. We m ay liken the notion of sense to the question 'how' is something expressed in a sentence. Another crucial concept of Frege is the notion of significance, or reference, of an expression, which is the actual object, conception, or function that that expression aims to represent. Similarly, we may liken the notion of reference to the question 'what' does a sentence attempt to tell us. Now, with the help of those two approaches to the analysis of information contained in a particular sentence we can establish that for every meaningful expression there can be only one reference, while there can be different senses that may be used to

The Rise of Blogs in Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Rise of Blogs in Media - Essay Example More important than any other factor, it means that the way of communication is changing. It also means that ideas and opinions are going to be a way of growing on the Internet, as opposed to the polished facts that were seen in mainstream media. The rise of blogs is one which is bringing a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly to those who are in media and communication. While most are excited about the boom in social media on the web, there is also two questions which many should ask. The first is: what does this mean about the information that is available? The second is: where will blogs lead in the future in creating new ways of communication and the interpretation of information. OKeefe, Kevin.   (2010).   "Blogging for Business by U.S. Companies on the Rise."   Retrieved from: http://kevin.lexblog.com/2010/09/articles/blog-basics/blogging-for-business-by-us-companies-on-the-rise-/.    One of the reasons why blogs are popular is because it gives room to design. If you just write a paper, essay or other print communication, you are limited to editing needs. However, with an online blog, you have complete digital freedom to do what you want with color, design and the overall look and feel, all which is a personal expression of what you want to retrieve to others. What most overlook with the designs of blogs is that it refers directly to the communication that you are using for others. Most don’t consider design as a strategic way of making a statement and instead get the best colors or the design that is most convenient. The number one problem with publishing blogs and the designs are used is the desire to put too much in too little of a space. Liquid content, calendars of posts, tag clouds, widgets and RSS feeds are some of the problems that are associated with blog design.  

Working with Leading People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Working with Leading People - Essay Example A few months ago, 63 people applied for the post but only a handful applicants came anywhere near the required standard. Clearly something is not going well. You have been appointed as a HR officer, tasked with improving the standard of recruitment and selection in the company. 1. Prepare a job advertisement for a Marketing Manager for Delicious Food. Delicious Foods UK requires a Marketing Manager to spearhead and executive strategies such as planning, market research, promotions, sales, advertising and PR for the Organization. Candidate should be able to educate and motivate the sales team. Ideal candidate should have at least five years of experience in the relevant field which demonstrates pro-activity, team management and positive sales results. The Marketing Manager will be responsible for key marketing functions like planning marketing strategies, conducting research, advertising and promotions, public relations. The role also involves managing the productivity of the marketin g team and carrying out period reviews of all the marketing activities. 1. Provide an example of a marketing activity that you have successfully carried out in the recent past. 2. What are some of the typical challenges that you face in marketing? 3. Give an example of a situation where a marketing campaign that you handled was not a success. Give reasons. 4. What would be the first few things that you would do if appointed as the Marketing Manager of Delicious Foods? ... Secondly, the preliminary interview would be more comprehensive so that only the best of the lot move to the main interviews. The third step would be to make sure that two rounds of interviews are conducted by senior Marketing officials who would be able to gauge whether the candidate meets the necessary brief. 3. Discuss the legal, regulatory and ethical considerations in recruitment and selection process. As per the employment legislation, an employer is bound to provide certain specific rights to the employee. Therefore, an employer should always provide the right to equality and a workplace without any discrimination (Williams et al, 2010). This should also be applicable during the recruitment process. In addition, many organizations are also likely to face conflict of interest during the recruitment process because of previous associations. Such conflicts also should be avoided and a fair and equal chance should be given to all the candidates. 4. Evaluate the key factors that ar e essential for the success of the recruitment and selection processes in organizations. The key factors that are essential for the success of the recruitment and selection process of any organization include the availability of budget and resources, ensuring that the procedure is carried out with fairness in an ethical manner, detailed process of arriving at job description and role description, comprehensive and evaluative interview process and employee friendly hiring process (Hughes and Rog, 2008). In addition, it is also necessary that these processes are carried out in such a manner that everyone gets equal opportunities. 5. â€Å"One-fourth of interviewers around the world look at candidates' pages on social networking websites to gather information on

The Principle of Fidelity | Comparison to Socrates

The Principle of Fidelity | Comparison to Socrates While some try to escape prison when they are imprisoned for a crime, Socrates argued for his imprisonment. Socrates provides Crito with three reasons for staying in prison, Principle of Filial Piety, Principle of Fidelity and Non-Malificence argument. For the purpose of my argument, I will show how the Principle of Fidelity and Principle of Filial Piety are flawed arguments. In this paper I will outline arguments mentioned in Taking Rights Seriously by Ronald Dworkin in order to show why Socrates should escape from prison. For the Principle of Fidelity, Socrates provides two premises and a conclusion. In his first premise he argues that because he remained in the city of Athens and did not challenge its laws, it constitutes an agreement to abide by its laws (Rodde 23 Jan. 2013). In his second premise he states that as citizens, we ought to abide by our agreements (Rodde 23 Jan. 2013). Thus, if he escapes from prison, he will break the law, therefore, he should not escape from prison (Rodde 23 Jan. 2013). However, I argue that the Fidelity Principle argument is not a fair one on the basis that it assumes that regardless of the laws of a country, if you live in the society you must abide by the societys laws, thus agreeing to the laws as being just laws. Furthermore, the government is appointed and chosen by the majority rule and regulates its laws for its citizens. When there is a relationship built between the state and its citizens, an automatic agreement occurs. While the citizens have a duty to the state, the state also has one to its citizens of treating them justly under the law. Socrates strongest argument is the Principle of Fidelity as he argues that we must keep our promises (Plato 29-30). Nonetheless, Socrates admits that he was put in jail on wrong terms (Plato 29-30). The wrong imprisonment automatically voids the agreement that Socrates has with the state. Because the state broke faith with Socrates by unjustly accusing and sentencing him, why then is it okay for Socrates to break faith with them? Dworkin argues, in practice, the government will have the last word on what an individuals rights areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but that does not mean that the governments view is necessarily the correct view (Dworkin 34). In this phrase , Dworkin argues that there is a difference between moral rights and legal rights and that although we are in an agreement with a government, our own individual rights should not be ignored. By Socrates keeping his end of the promise to the government, he assumes that the government ought to be moral and that the government acts for its citizens: he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the state, and still remains, has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we commend him, and who he disobeys us is, as we maintain, thrice wrong (Plato 30). Here Socrates outlines the rules outlined by the state to its citizens and he argues how citizens must abide by those rules, however, if the state is an unjust state, should one still abide by its rules? Dworkin beautifully shows how an act such as Socrates based on the Fidelity Principle ignores ones moral rights as he argues that an individual who believes that the governments view is always the right view must believe that men and women have only such moral rights as government chooses to grand which means that they have no moral rights at all (Dworkin 34). Here Dworkin explains that by ignoring our moral rights and allowing the state to assign moral rights, we have no rights at all. Therefore, as citizens have obligations that they must meet to its government, the government has obligations that they must fulfill. The state broke the obligations that they had to Socrates by imprisoning and executing him on false accusations, this also showing that the law was flawed and unjust. However, we should not ignore Socrates argument that even though the state broke fidelity with the law that does not mean that he should break faith with the law. While in conversation with Crito, Socrates explains that he is a man of his word (Plato 29), however, he fails to mention that he is binding himself to an unjust law. This further questioning the legitimacy of the Principle of Fidelity as it seems to strongly support some claims while ignoring others. Socrates second argument is the Principle of Filial Piety. Socrates first premise for the argument is that the relationship between a state and a citizen is similar to the relationship between a parent and a child (Plato 29-30). The second premise states that a child ought to obey his/her parents; therefore, a citizen ought to obey the state (Rodde 23 Jan. 2013). However, the Filial Piety is a flawed principle because it is an argument from analogy. Analogies always fail because two features can never be exactly identical. Yet, Socrates assumes that parents orders are always the right orders. Socrates disregards the concept of error and poses the concept of perfectibility on a role that never can be perfect. The notion of perfectibility becomes more problematic when Socrates compares the relationship of a citizen and its state to a child and its parent: in disobeying us he is disobeying his parentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we are the authors of his education (Plato 30). Here Socrates explains t hat the control the state has over his life is similar to the control that parents have over their children. However, by giving the state this sort of power he denies his own rights as a citizen. Dworkin argues that, a man has a moral right to speak his mind in a non-provocative way on matters of political concern and that is an important right that the state must go to great pains to protect (Dworkin 36), this is not the case for Socrates. Socrates exercised his rights as a citizen and was punished, however, according to Dworkins thought the state made a mistake when imprisoning him for speaking his mind. In addition, there is an assumption that the parent (state) has hierarchical power; therefore the child (citizen) is below the law (state). If this were the case, then why did Socrates speak against the state (his parents)? The Filial Piety argument becomes problematic as Socrates contradicts his own actions of speaking against politicians. Socrates argues that he has to obey the law unconditionally because the law has parental rights over him (Plato 30); therefore, he is a slave to the state. Socrates argues that he is a free man to leave if he chooses to (Plato 30-31), but how can he argue that he is a free man if the state who, according to him, have parental roles over him, have subjected him against the law? When can these rights be restricted? According to Dworkin, rights can only be restricted if: values protected by original right are not at stake in this case, if marginal cases are permitted and granting right affects competing rights and if marginal cases are permitted and produces costs to society are beyond cost of granting right (Rodde 28 Jan. 2013). With Dworkins idea in mind, I believe that Socrates has imprisoned himself more than the actual government because he appoints the government as his parents through his own analogies. To conclude, I believe that Socrates should escape from prison because the Principle of Fidelity assumes that a law is always just. While on a moralistic view we may argue that Socrates should not escape from prison based on this argument because he has to show the importance of maintaining his promise, instead by not escaping he ignores the law. For example, laws are created to maintain an orderly society in which punishments are involved, creating a dichotomy between right versus wrong. By only considering the idea of keeping ones promise in his argument, Socrates opens the way for people who have been illegally convicted to ignore the entire law system which is created in order to distinguish between right and wrong, and simply do as the state says to due to a natural binding between the person and the state. He ignores the manipulations of the state and ones desires to live. Also, Socrates argues for the Principle of Filial Piety as an important argument. However, the argument is created on an analogy which cannot sustain itself because Socrates compares his relationship to the state as a parent child relationship, but fails to question the way the state sees the relationship with its citizens. Lastly, Dworkins idea of immoral rights versus legal rights and his limitations of when rights can be restricted highlights how although some actions may be immoral, they are not illegal (Dworkin 35), therefore Socrates should escape from jail. [Word Count: 1474]

Free Song of Solomon Essays: Erotica :: Song Solomon essays

Erotica in Song of Solomon The use of erotica can be seen very clearly in the "Song of Solomon". First of all, one must keep in mind that it comes from the bible so one will not here vulgar things or even words that you know are directly talking about sex. However, if you read closely, you can here the implicit remarks that these young lovers seems to be making, not only about each others body, but also about what each would like to do with the other. The first time that the male of the genre talks about his lover he describes her physical attributes. The most obvious is the description of her breast in which he says, "Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins"(7:3). When you here this statement one can only think that he is referring to her large perky (since she says young) perfectly round breast. When he talks about his lovers thighs, he not only praises them, he describes what the very most upper part of his lovers thighs look like: "the joints of thy thighs are like jewels"(7:1). One can only ask the question of how would this person know about someone's most upper part of their thigh, the part that is right next to the genitalia? This leaves much to the imagination. He also talks about her navel saying, "thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor"(7:2). When trying to interpret this quote, one must first keep in mind the fact that this is taking place during biblical times. During these times it was not proper for people to see, what was then looked at as X-rated parts of one another. Of course the exception to this rule would be if two people were married (or having an affair). So one can ask the question of how would this person know about the size and shape of another person's navel, which is hidden underneath everyday clothes? It seems not only does he know about its size and shape but also how it tastes. Again, the imagination of the reader is allowed to search the options. Not only is there sexual talk about physical appearances, but there is also talk about what will happen when the two of them are together alone. She is at one point looking for him and when she finds him she says that she held him and had him follow her and would not let go, ".