Strategy

Introduction

The seeds of idea that once envisioned humans as the prime capital of trade and commerce have now bloomed to their glory with the patronage of digital revolution and globalization. Therefore it is only but natural that they would now command more care and concern, and accordingly the Human Resource Management is now busier than ever to manage this dynamic asset, which is now seen as the prime component of competitive advantage (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, Pfeffer, 1998; Gratton, Hailey and Truss, 2000). Accordingly HRM has to gear up with newer ideas and application and in walked Strategic HRM, which is regarded by the researchers as the “pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable the firm to achieve its goals” (Wright and McMahan, 1992, p.295). Therefore, this essay explores the elements of Resource Based View (RBV) to ascertain about its efficacy as an SHRM of the organization.

The Movement and RBV

The movement on firm positioning began in the 1980-s and it gained momentum with the books like Competitive Strategy (Michael Porter, 1980) and Search of Excellence (Peters & Waterman, 1982), which started generating new waves in the field of strategy with ideas like five forces (barriers to entry, power of buyers/suppliers, substitutes and competitive rivalry). It didn’t take much time for this new wave to culminate into more cogent and cohesive shape, when the concept of “resource-based view” arrived in the scene (Barney, 1991), which improvised the previous researches on this field (Wernerfelt, 1984) and tilted the focus of organizations on the desired internal conditions of an organization. This concept settled for developing both intellectual and physical resources of the organizations as it regarded those components as the real engine for competitive advantage. Thus this new framework defined value in terms of the merit of the resources, where it would either exploit the opportunities or diffuse any threats to the organization, it observed that rarity is another exclusive resource for any organization, and it defined uniqueness as an sharp tool to maintain competitive advantage. This view might have sounded revolutionary at that time, but by now it has become a forgone conclusion that unique elements of a company (be it human ability or its end product) can create a separate identity for it, which cannot be earned by its competitors. Thus the proponent of this concept, Barney, provided a crisp definition of it – the resources that are valuable, rare, unique and non-substitutable, will earn sustained competitive advantage for any organization (Barney, 1991).

Thus resource-based view provided a refreshing platform for strategic management researches, especially the ones undertaken from knowledge-based perspective (Grant, 1996). However, it could not avoid criticism that labelled it as just a tautological wonder (Priem and Butler, 2001) and chased what Barney placed as maxim by saying that the definition of valuable resources lacks definitional dependence and thus the his conclusion, that unique firms possess competitive advantage, remains logically unsatisfying. There were some more criticisms on the ground of falsification theory, but as it happens, at the end of the day, power of an idea rules and so did the concept of RBV. 

Learn which of the following circumstances usually comes before a period of economic contraction?

The Genesis of SHRM

It started with the view of aligning HR with the strategies of the organizations, an idea that had been doing rounds from the 1980-s, as the books like Human Resource Planning (Jim Walker, 1990) or articles on strategies (Devanna et al., 1981) suggest. Together they tried to bundle HRM into a comprehensive and powerful packages of strategy, where it fetched different nicknames for it, like “vertical alignment” (Wright and McMahan, 1992), or  “horizontal alignment” (Beer et al., 1984), according its assembly line and line of action. While vertical alignment harps on an existing strategy and prescribes a specific HRM practice for it, horizontal alignment goes for utilizing all arsenals of HRM into practice by activating all its subsets.

In spite of being ready with solutions for big situations, HRM had to remain contend by playing second fiddle till mid 1990-s, when the researchers like Huselid (1995) substantiated its efficacy beyond any doubt. He demonstrated that the use of a set of 13 HRM practices under the module of ‘High-Performance Work System’ was embedded to all the successes an organization can dream of – lower turnover, higher profits, sales and rise in market value. There was MacDuffie (1995), who too came up with another convincing evidence like different bundles of HR practices leading towards higher performance. All these boiled down to the idea that integrated HR system leads the higher performance (Delery and Doty, 1996).

Pumping RBV into SHRM

There may be apprehensions in applying RBV into SHRM, like the quality of research that prescribes it, or there is a lack of understanding over the concept of fit, save its role between strategy and HRM. Some might even cite the absence of a machine that can measure the amount of resource in a person and put a price tag on each individual on that account. These questions will always be there, but a clear model of application in this regard can serve the purpose better. For instance, one can pick up a practice module like HPWS and check it in detail.

Applying RBV as SHRM

A basic chart of human resource policy (HRP) for any company might look like below:

• Human Resource Policy of XYZ
• Manpower
  Position, Duties, Responsibilities, Personal information, Job specification, Wage scale, Promotional Avenue, Police history,
• Recruiting Process
• Advertisement, Test, Interview, Agreement to Terms & Conditions.
• Employee Compensation
• Annual increments, Promotions on fulfilment of criterion, Medical and other benefits, facilities of Employee
• Cooperative, other permissible benefits from time to time.
• Termination
• Gratuity and other permissible benefits, Notice of three months in advance from either side in appropriate cases, No
• Objection certificate under satisfactory circumstance.
• Employee Training
• At the discretion of Administration
• Integrity Development
• Annual Sports, Annual Cultural Meet, Seminars/Symposia
• Now to implement this basic policy, HRM needs a customized roadmap, and for that matter it can utilize, High-Performance Work System, a new avatar of HRD.

HPWS in Brief

High Performance Work System, popularly known as HPWS is a specific combination of HR practices, work structures, and processes that maximizes employee knowledge, skill, commitment, and flexibility (Bohlander, 2004). It is understood that systems composed of many interrelated parts that complement one another to reach the goals of an organization, large or small. As for example, System design looks like below:

• Work Flow
• HRM Practices
• Support Technology

These are fed with Linkages to Strategy and Principles of High Involvement. Then the process is implemented and the outcome is observed in Organizational and in Employee levels. In short, this package of strategy aims “create an environment within an organization where the employee has greater involvement and responsibility” (Brown, 2006). According to the researchers, this new avatar of HRD started shaping up in the late twentieth century “amid the crunch period of United States manufacturing environment”, when it felt the heat of global competition and realized the need of rejuvenating their manufacturing process (Barnes, 2001). Thus, much in the mould of ‘necessity is the mother of inventions’, HPWS came into being with a set of fresh practicality based on the nuances of human behaviour.

Underlying Principles of HPWS

HPWS starts with three pillars at the outset, like involvement, training and incentives¸ before adding the fourth, support technology; to take off as a full fledged system. Overall it looks like below:

Components of HPWS

The first important component “Involvement” provides the employees an “increased opportunity to participate in decisions” (Barnes, 2001). This becomes possible by sharing information among the members of the organization. Thus HPWS emphasizes on creating a culture of information sharing, where the employees would share the information for the greater interest of the company.

Second component, “Training” gears towards developing the knowledge and skill on the subjects employees deal with. Here HPWS prefers a culture of ‘on-site’ or ‘real-time’ training rather than theoretical knowledge, where the employees would be encouraged to apply new approaches or ideas and to enrich the knowledge bank itself.

The third component, “Rewards” or “Incentives” aligns the goals of the employees with the goal of the organization by utilizing the reward system.  It prescribes to connect the rewards to performance to make both the company and the employee mutually benefited.

The combination of the three in a free flowing manner creates an egalitarian work environment that eliminates the status and power differences, which in turn enhances collaboration and teamwork.

The fourth component is “Technology”, where HPWS wants exploit the advantage of modern technology to make the system further effective.

Critical Analysis of HR Policies and Procedures

The HR policies and procedures of the company primarily evolve out of the needs of its departments, though the policies as a whole are expected to cover the needs of all other vital organs of the company. Accordingly HPWS works on two layers, viz., internal and external – where it ensures ‘Internal fit’ and ‘External fit’. Internal fit refers to the situation where all the internal elements of the work system complement and reinforce one another. In the case of External fit, it refers to the situation where the work system supports the organization’s goals and strategies. It looks like below.

The above diagrams describe how HPWS works in an identifiable pattern, where it takes all affairs of the organization into consideration. Here the strategy works with three basic elements like Competitive Challenges, Company Values and Employee Concerns, which gathers inputs from the internal fit, that comprise of the elements like Leadership, Technologies, Work-flow Design and HR Practices, which work in tandem to produce inputs to external fit and to work on the feedbacks received from it, just like the external fit does. Alongside it takes the help of two methods of analysis, like SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for internal analysis and PEST (Political/Legal Economic/Social and Technological Factors) analysis for external situation.

Basic Components of SWOT and PEST

Strengths

• State of Company brand in local and global market.
• Its background.
• State of relationship with Employees.
• State of growth.
• Employee retention rate.
• Usage of high technology.
• Attitude of company towards improving overall benefit of employees, etc.

Weaknesses

• State of communication gap between departments
• State of irregularity in resource management, selection and training.
• State of interpersonal communication.
• State of logistics in recruitment.
• State of motivation.
• State of team communication.
• State of individual assessment.
• Level of information sharing and idea exchange, etc.

Opportunities

• State of global market.
• Employee base from the perspective of competitive advantage.
• Rapport of management with local and global market.
• State of fund, etc.

Threats

• Increasing state of competition.
• Unionism.
• Inadequate knowledge bank.
• Slow production rate, etc.

The Impact of HPWS

1. Work Flow: Here the two categories of staff carry the workflow of the department, and HPWS helps both the categories to reach the egalitarian stage through unbroken flow of information sharing.
2. Staffing: It incorporates knowledge development by recruiting experts in modern technology and management, besides inducing the policy on team decision making among staff.
3. Training: It identifies four areas of training with special emphases on knowledge development and team training, Keeping in mind the issues like differences between departments and recurrence of legal disputes due to lack of knowledge of handling debatable contents.
4. Compensation: It incorporates a transparent system of Incentive, Gain sharing, Profit Sharing and Skill-based Pay.
5. Leadership: It includes all of leadership parameters to make them aligned with its own underlying principles.
6. Technologies: It intents to utilize both human skill and creativity to enhance the knowledge base and fasten the production process besides enhancing communication among staff-members of the organization.

Recruitment and Selection Plan

Keeping this chart in mind, HPWS takes off by

1. Making a compelling case for change linked to the company’s business strategy.
2. Making it certain that senior and line managers own the change.
3. Allocating sufficient resources and support for the change effort.
4. Ensuring early and broad communication.

Alongside it introduces systematic analyses of the positions on the basis of the company need and creates a detailed job description for each post.

Conclusion

Starting its journey from Personnel Management, the Human Resource Management has walked a long way through the various bends of civilization, all the while evolving with time. However, it required the intervention of a dual impact from digital revolution and globalization to prove the real worth of HRM, which is now gaining grounds with each passing day.  The Information Age has created a plethora of opportunities in every direction and discipline, and according HRM too has geared up to meet the new responsibilities like knowledge management or managing globalization of business. Now intense competitive forces amid global marketplace and a considerable decrease in the availability of knowledgeable and skilled employees place compounding pressures on organizations to gain, maintain, and sustain a competitive advantage over competitors. Amid this environment, both HRM and company need to work in tandem to solve this issue. Thus for a sustained competitive advantage, the companies can rightly adopt RBV as SHRM.

References

1. Barnes, W.F. (2001) “The challenge of implementing and sustaining high performance    work system in the United States: An evolutionary analysis of I/N Tek and Kote.
2. Barney, J. (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of
3. Bohlander, G. & Snell, S. (2004) “Managing human resources” (13th ed.). Mason, OH:    Thomson/South-Western.
4. Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2003) Strategy and human resource management. New York:   Palgrave. Macmillan.
5. Brown, E. (2006) “Implementing a High Performance Work System [online] available    from http://browncg.wordpress.com/2006/08/28/implementing-a-           high-    performance-work-system/ [accessed 7 July 2008]
6. Delery, J. E., ; Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource
7. Devanna, M. A., Fombrun, C., ; Tichy, N. (1981) Human resources management: A      strategic perspective. Organizational Dynamics, 9(3), 51.
8. Gratton, L., Hailey, V. H., ; Truss, C. (2000) Strategic human resource management.    New York: Oxford University.
9. Huselid, M. A. (1995) The impact of human resource management practices on turnover,
10. Management, 17(1), 99 management: Tests of universalistic, contingency.. Academy of Management        Journal, 39(4), 802.
11. Peters, T. J., ; Waterman, R. (1982) In search of excellence. New York: Harper and       Row.
12. Pfeffer, J. (1998) The human equation: Building profits by putting people first. Boston,   MA: Harvard Business School Press.
13. Porter, M. E. (1980) Competitive strategy. New York: New York Free Press.  productivity, and corporate.. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3), 635.
14. Priem and Butler, J. (2001) Tautology in the resource-based view and the implications of           externally determined resource value: Further comments. Academy of            Management Review, 26: 57-67
15. Walker, J. (1980). Human resource planning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
16. Wernerfelt, B. (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5(2), 171-180.
17. Wright, P. M., ; McMahan, G. C. (1992) Theoretical perspectives for strategic human   resource management. Journal of Management, 18(2), 295

Organsations must keep ahead with changing times by adopting new emergence of employee compensation methods and Starbucks. The total compensation received by James L. Donald, at Starbucks is $ 8, 908,636 as President of North America. The compensation includes Basic pay, Bonus, Annual compensation, and other benefits. Starbucks has a huge workforce as part-time and full-time workers who may at regular intervals demand for hike in pay or raise an issue for more monetary benefits.

In such instance, employees are expected to perform with efficiency, by giving regular attendance, attending to customers appropriately and in maintaining a code of conduct, whereby if the management is satisfied, starbucks would improve its compensation to its workers. b. Recommend a strategy for ensuring that the reward system continues to align with organizational mission as the mission evolves. Application of psychology in business, necessitates to choose a particular strategy for reward system.

A simple formulae of reward is: productivity x no. of hours worked ($ 0. 00 per hr) would produce the amount of reward that can be paid to each worker. It can also be analysed here, leisure workers are prone to the areas of lower performance whereas fast and accurate workers are entitled to receive higher rewards with the fact that organization productivity has increased whether it is in handling real time projects, administrative issues or industrial related activities such as factory production, warehousing, or transporting. An effective reward system carries the following in view of both employer and employee.

1. Pay and benefits fulfil the requirements, needs and goals of employee. (. e. g. job security, provides short and long term financial objectives. 2. Employees experience a clear and more improved relationship and in organizational behavior. (e. g. quality work, improved productivity. ) 3. Distribution of rewards are equal basing on past performance and objective criteria bringing a cheerful smile in employees apart from offering a complete satisfaction of business to the employer. “Most organizations have great difficulty with their performance appraisal systems.

Many employees do not believe they are administered fairly. Morgan and Shiemann(1984) show data indicating that 31 percent of managers, 34 percent of professionals and 39 percent of hourly employees rate their performance appraisal process as either “not too” or “not at all” effective”. (Douglas Bray, Applying Psychology in Business, page 360) A survey conducted between the years 1983-1986 indicated that employees are interested in health insurance plans, dental benefits, holidays, pension plan, saving plan, educational assistance, childrens education plan, House rent allowance, and traveling allowance.

In the present times of employment, another research argues that whether high benefits and salaries are major concern for employees whereas intangible benefits of happiness, comfort in work environment and security in job are also a matter of concern even on a low paid salary. “Overall, the research described above suggests that having money is not related to personal happiness per se. However, whether people who have money or not, the amount of importance they place on it can actually be maladaptive.

Indeed, individuals who consider tend to be less happy than those who place less importance on money”. ( James Houran, President & Keith Kefgen, 2007) c. Examine predicted future trends over the next 5-10 years with regard to contingent workers in this industry and suggest ways organizations in the industries can prepare for these changes. Future trends of compensation are dependent on labor and employment policies of government as well on corporate employment policies. “Truth in our ideas means their power to work.

” (William James) There are many challenges ahead in 21st century for economies of nations which rise high with employee productivity, which is why achievement of organization goals, identification of employee needs and reconfiguring employee benefits by segregating skilled workers, knowledgeable workers, professionals graduates (Engineering and science) and unskilled labor is required. Apart from this, introducing flexible working hours, health insurance plans, retirement plans are also of great benefit to employees.

References

Albert E. Schwenk, Jordan N. P. Funtner (2003) Compensation in the Later Part of the Century Accessed February 8, 2008 http://www. bls. gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar06p1. htm Employee Motivation and Work Incentives in the Service Industries Accessed February 8, 2008 http://web1. msue. msu. edu/imp/modtd/33129713. html Executive Compensation Starbucks Accessed February 8, 2008 http://swz. salary. com/execcomp/layouthtmls/excl_execreport_106473. html Books Douglas Bray (1998), Applying Psychology in Business Accessed 9 February, 2008 http://books. google. com/books? id=8Qvx21qA9gcC&pg=PA362&lpg=PA357&ots=1zaRCSKn1v&dq=future+trends+in+employee+compensation&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=cnCTQlbEe5ITrFEw4rA6PoPCFn4

James mcllerney – executive chairman and president and chief executive officer. James Bell – head financial officer, finance executive vice president, executive council member. James Albaugh –vice president who is executive, system of defence executive officer, executive council member. Richard Stephens –human resources senior vice president and administration senior vice president and executive council member. Tod Hullin – public policy senior vice president, executive council member, committee member of corporate contribution.

J Tracy –senior vice president of engineering, and technology and executive council member. Michael lutting – senior vice president, general counsel, executive council member. Wanda low – vice president in the senior position, internal governance head and executive council member. Scott Carson- vice president who is executive, commercial airplanes chief executive, executive council member. Howard chambers –satellite unit interim head, space and intelligence vice president and space and intelligence general manager and chief executive officer of Boeing satellite system globally.

The requirements and expectation of stakeholders are met in order to satisfy their needs. Innovation is emphasized in order to come up with new products with high quality. Key executives communicate with customers and suppliers and involve their work force in all the activities in the company in order to achieve the desired results. The direction is set and followed accordingly in order to achieve the company’s vision. Policies and procedures are followed to know how to do things in order of priorities so that the most important and urgent activity is done first and the rest follows later.

There is improved quality of products and services offered to customers who are sold at reduced costs in order to make customers who are willing to consume the product or service be able to purchase it in large quantities which will make the company increase its sales and in return generate huge amounts of revenue. Aligning programs are organized, goals are set and measures to achieve them are established in order for the company to know where it is heading to and to strive to achieve the objectives of the company and in case of any challenge even if it is finance deficit, the sources of funds will be available immediately.

The company plans all the activities to make sure that nothing is left out without being done to ensure all the programs run smoothly. There are management processes which ensure that the plans are properly implemented for effective running of the company. The company’s performance is reviewed every now and then to make sure that it is not running at a loss and all the work is done properly and in case of any challenge facing the company, it is addressed and solution to the problems are found.

The managers take any actions required for example train employee on how to do better in their jobs and recruit new employees. Employees are recognized and their performance is rewarded and is developed to be more productive. They are also motivated through increase in their salaries and free health care and housing of all employees. Lessons are implemented to teach on better methods of production. There is system review and plans set are improved to meet the current market demand and satisfy customers demand.

Tall vs flat Boeing company is a flat organization because it runs its operations which are connected globally and they depend on one another. It also uses mathematicians to do analysis of shopping patterns. Typical levels of management Near term who is a planner with management skills, he has a job in level 3 of system engineering. he is responsible for the company’s mission. Scheduler is responsible for planning in the company to make sure plans are determined and ways of implementing them are established.

Manager for strategy analysis ensures that sales are made and there is proper marketing to create awareness of product or service to customers and ensure that products are within customers reach. GMD specialist is in charge of project management to ensure the project undertaken is managed well.

8l Net income AVL to common stock ttm 4. 0lB Diluted EPS ttm 5. 205 Quarterly earnings growth (yoy) 60. 50% Most recent quarters revenue and net income figures As by the nine months ended by 30th September 2007 Revenue of ps 447,800,000which represents a decrease of 27. 7%in relation to 6l9, 627,000 in the year 2006 at the same period. The net income for the third quarter in the year 2007 amounted to ps 32,360,000 in comparison with ps 31,699,000 in third quarter of the year 2006. Company’s current stock price

On 26th October 2007, Boeing share price closed at $8l. 9l. This was a range from $83which was high to $8l. 57which was low. This was an average of $82. 29. The stock price would go up in the next quarter because the profits of the company rose by 3%. This rise in profit will attract investors to invest in the company through purchase of shares and when the demand of company shares go up it will result to increase in the price of stock.

References

1. www. boeing. com
2. www. yahoofinance. com
3. Odiorne George; Strategic Management of Human resource; Jossey-Bass, 1984

Barbados is made up of a set of black lines and white spaces. Look at the bar code. You can see that It Is split Into two halves, and each half contended within two thin lack stripes. The diagram shows the pattern of lines for each digit on the bar code. Notice that the pattern for a digit on the right hand half of a bar code is the opposite of tone on the left hand half. Many bar codes today use the European Article Number or MEAN.

This is thirteen digit number which can be used to uniquely identify a product. Using Thebes code shown as an example: The first 2 digits represent the country from which the campanological the product comes.The next five digits represent the company which produced the product.  The following five digits represent the product. The last number is a check digit. This is used to make sure the bar code has been read correctly. The bar codes on products are read by the PEPS tills at the checkouts.

TLS is achieved by using a scanner, which sends out Infra-red laser beams Vela asset of mirrors, enabling the bar code to be read at most angles-when an Item Is passed over the scanner, the black and white parts of decode are detected by the laser, as the black parts reflect very little light whilst tithe parts reflect most of the light. This is converted into electrical pulses whichever sent along the cables to the branch imputer. The branch computer authenticates its stock file for the product matching the MEAN number.

When telecaster is located the price and description of the product Is extracted and sentence to the PEPS till at the checkout which then shows this Item and price on digital display, prints them on a receipt and adds the price to the total. At the same time, the branch computer records that one of this item has been sold. Will look at how this is used for stock control on other pages. When a bar code has been correctly scanned, the scanner emits a bleep. Elf no such sound is made, the tem can be passed over the scanner again until Ithaca been correctly read.

The price items. The scales at the PEPS till are also linked up to the branch computer. All loose fruit and vegetables are weighed at the checkout. Each products a code number which, when typed in at the keyboard, gives the customer description of the product on the receipt along with the weight and price of debauchees. The weight of the product is also deducted from the stock file. As well’s printing an itemized receipt, the printer attached to the PEPS till can also printer name of the super hop, the date and the amount owing on cheeses endeared / credit card vouchers.

This lessens the chance of mistakes as well assimilating the amount of time a customer has to spend at the checkout. Not every customer pays by cash or queue though. Many now opt to pappy a debit card such as Switch or Delta. In these cases the customer’s card is swiped through the card reader which reads the information (such as the accountable and date of expiry) held on the magnetic strip on the back of the card. The latest in store development has been the arrival of smart card readers t topes.

A debit card with a smart chip is placed in the reader and the customer then enters their PIN to authorize the money being taken out of their account. This is much more secure than signing a docket as it cannot be foresighted information is then added to the details of how much the customer has spent and, after checking that sufficient funds are present, used to transfer this amount from the customer’s bank account to that of the super shop. Theocracies is called and works even if together shop’s bank is different from that of the customer.

Most of the time it is seen that the price of the product is sent to the Oppositional when the product’s bar code is read. In the past, every single item had price sticker attached and when a price change was required, new labels had Toby placed over the old ones. This was a time consuming task, as every singlet on the shelves of the product requiring the price change required a Newell. Mistakes were sometimes made and customers over or undercharged. Nowadays there are no price labels attached to products, neither does depreciating of the product show the price.

The only reference to the price of product is contained on a label attached to the shelf where that product situated. These shelf labels are produced by the branch computer and reprinted out in different sizes according to the size of the shelf display for particular product. Special offers such as multiply – “Buy two and get one free” or Link Save -“Buy one product and save 50% on another” could not be offered before identification of Information Technology. As bar codes are scanned, the broncobuster looks for items which are on special offer and discounts the prices.

Visa reflects the image of the world’s largest retail electronic payments network brand providing a medium for processing payments that includes consumer credit, debit, commercial, and prepaid services. The company operates through a network of more than 170 countries and territories facilitating global commerce through the transfer of value and information serving thousands of financial institutions, business establishments, and government entities. Customers across the globe enjoy and trust the Visa cards that they use extensively for making any purchase or transaction.

The global brand recognition of the Visa card has made the company the largest payments company with nearly US$ 3. 5 trillion revenue (Visa Inc website). Visa has been serving the business community worldwide since 1970 and has grown to become the largest secured payment processing service provider. Dee Hock founded Visa Inc in the year 1970 in the state of Delaware. It was incorporated as the National Bank Americard Inc (NBI) that launched the first electronic authorization system followed by an electronic clearing and settlement system.

In 1976 the name was changed to Visa that evolved as a major brand name in the electronic payments industry. In 1983 the company launched a global ATM network providing 24-hour cash access to cardholders. Visa became the first payment card that allowed multiple-currency clearing and settlement thus enabling increased transaction efficiency. Being a pioneer in the concept of electronic payments, Visa strengthened its hold over the financial institutions that partnered with the company to enable swift and secure transfer of value and information among individuals, businesses, and government entities.

The convenience that this service provides to the modern business has added new dimensions and value to the Visa concept. The secured mode of payment options made available by Visa built a confidence for the brand among its customers. Visa adopted new state of the art technology to promote its client needs and generate efficient transaction processing. The chip card specifications, Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV), developed by the company ensured that these cards could be read by all chip card reading terminals.

Visa has incorporated the latest technology medium to ease payment-processing options. Online applications and mobile technology has added new dimensions to the service efficiency of Visa cards. The whole concept of Visa is based on relationship management. Nurturing fruitful partnerships and alliances with globally recognized brand names serves to add value to the service provided to financial institutions, businessmen, and cardholders. A large network of financial institutions, the Visa clients look after these relationships across the globe.

The company has 21,000 financial institutions as its clients currently that issues more than 1 billion card that are used to pay for goods and services worth more than US$ 3trillion through 20 million retailers. (Visa Inc website) These figures relate to a universally accepted and trusted brand name that transcends global barriers and culture. The discussion that follows highlights the brand portrayal and the message that it communicates to consumers in Asia. The evolution of the brand Visa through the years The brand of an organisation is the most valuable asset for any business.

Brand positioning consists of how a particular brand is better and different from its competitors. It assesses the functional aspects of products and services. It signifies the ability to command a position in the consumer minds and distinct its qualities in terms of service value from the competitive brands existing in the industry. Visa has evolved as a major brand recognized globally representing convenience, flexibility, and security of payment processing to millions of customers. Dee Hock the founder of Visa realized the importance of a suitable brand name to promote brand awareness on a global perspective.

The NBI was repositioned in the industry as Visa, a short name with simple graphics that would be instantly recognizable and accepted worldwide. But it is the name Visa that is more widely recognized than the logo. Visa made vital changes to its brand logo design to ensure its success in the 21st century too. To make the logo more prominent the company redesigned the graphics to attract consumer attention. The “V” was enhanced with gold accent to lend an elegance and clarity to the new brand image. The change has some practical benefits to the commercial establishments that have partnered with Visa.

The logo now occupies lesser space as compared to the previous logo and this allows more space on the card for the financial institutions to insert their own design on the card front. The evolved Visa brand has two distinct advantages for the commercial partners and retailers – 1. It offers flexibility of use in different environments ranging from cards, computer screens, personal digital assistants, and shop windows. The use of the logo in varying platforms has added significance and value to the core brand. 2.

The other advantage that the re-modeled brand logo offers to its consumers is the uniformity of look portraying the uniformity of trust and quality of service provided. It brings the diverse payment and information processing services under one brand. The change reflects the growing choice of products and services available while ensuring consistency and clarity across all lines of business. Along with a re-designed logo the card format has also been changed with dove hologram moved to the back of the card along the magnetic stripe to ensure greater safety against fraud.

This also ensures more space in the front for new designs for the commercial institutions. The new design cards were first rolled out in Korea in September 2007. The re-furbished logo has been adapted in the point of sales too that includes ATMs, and shop windows of retailers. (Source: Visa: An evolution in four letters management journal) The Emerging Asian Market The Asian market provides immense potential for Visa products and services with growing number of high net worth individuals in the region. Higher per capita income and increasing gross domestic product has created a huge market niche for Visa products and services.

Rising wages and wealth accumulation combined with higher standards of living are some of the important factors that have offset a greater demand for such services. The ease and convenience of plastic money allows greater freedom of usage and speedy transactions. The past few years have seen a greater number of multinational banks and financial institutions entering the emerging and developing economies of Asia. The market for debit and credit cards is rising with increasing money-spending capacities and rising need for speedier transactions.

Visa Electron is greatly popular in the Asian market with millions of customers opting for debit card facilities. The company has used tag lines “Add power to your ATM card” in television and print ad campaigns for Visa Electron to make the consumers aware of the fact that this card acts both as an ATM and debit card. Popular taglines like “Visa Power” and “Go Visa” used in television commercials and print ad campaigns have also created huge brand awareness for Visa products. Visa distributed window decals and other display materials for shop windows and ATMs to attract customer attention.

The brand visibility of Visa products and services extended with the use of such promotional strategies. This not only ensured consumer retention but also created the need to “Go Visa” within the consumer segment. Despite all these advances and strategic moves being adopted by the company Asia presents a challenging market with diverse cultural and social barriers associated to the use of credit cards and electronic medium. The developing economies of India presents a stiff barrier to using credit cards mainly owing to lack of sufficient funds among the people to pay back the money and collections can prove a little risky.

Rising incidents of online frauds is a matter of concern for commercial establishments placing them at a risk. The consumer too thinks twice before using the credit card and making transactions online. The wariness of the customer is increasing with rising incidence of fraud. This can eat away the market share of Visa. Reaching out to the consumers who are keen to get a credit card is quite easy in these countries but evaluating their capacity to pay back on time can be little difficult. Defaulters pose a potential business risk to the commercial establishments and financial institutions.

Debit cards are better alternatives for such economies where the risk is mitigated. Brand Communication Strategies The brand positioning thus plays a vital role in creating a successful retention strategy. With increased competition in the industry customer retention can be achieved by ensuring that the customer retains the card for longer period of time. Effective retention strategies include client segmentation, market acquisition, customer service, and collections. Knowing the clients needs and alternatives available in the market is vital for any brand to position their product or service.

Armed with this information the next step should be effective use of marketing campaigns and advertising strategies to promote services and increased visibility of the brand. These efforts are targeted towards increased sales and revenue collections that determine the success story of the brand promotion. Visa Inc has adopted numerous partnership strategies in Asia to promote its range of products and services. In July 2007, Visa partnered with Beijing Tourism Administration to launch a program that will select the best franchised Olympics merchant in the city.

This initiative was targeted to encourage the merchants at various locations in the city to expand and increase the acceptance of electronic payment modes. The company launched several ATMs and points of sale across the venues where the Olympics games were to be held. This was done to ensure widespread accessibility of its services to the customers. Visa partnered with Bank of China to install ATMs and point-of-sale acceptance devices at strategic venues. This move resulted in the installation of more than 25,000 ATMs and 76,000 merchant locations in the period between June 2006 and June 2007 (Visa Asia news release).

Aggressive advertising campaigns launched by the company to promote Visa products and services have been an integral part of its brand building strategy. A television commercial featuring the popular Jackie Chan was another move by Visa to promote its services. The campaigns stated that Visa was the only card accepted at the Games and the customer can get a free ticket to the Games by the use of this card. These commercials were used in television, print, and online medium to reach the targeted audience. The Visa advertising campaigns especially television commercials are market development activities that promote the use of credit cards.

The Asian market has two major competitors fighting for market share in the region. Visa and Mastercard are the two prime contenders for the payment processing market. Mastercard too has captured a niche market in the region and have been providing intense competition in terms of advertising and brand push strategies. The television and print ad campaigns of both the brands are paralleled to the ad-wars of Pepsi and Cola. In India Visa has a greater market share than Mastercard since it entered the market in the early 1980s.

Growing economies of China, Japan, Hong, Kong, Taiwan also present a lucrative market for the Visa products and services. Visa Inc has adopted an aggressive and penetrative marketing strategy in these countries to gain consumer acceptance and larger market share. The company has integrated latest technology with an effective promotional strategy to capture the growing online commercial activity. The Visa brand has entered the digital marketplace in a strong way and promises secure payment processing and information processing for commercial establishments seeking profit and revenues on the information highway.

The online presence of Visa payment gateway generates trust and confidence among the users making online transactions. The Visa brand is a formidable brand in the financial market and its association with reputed financial institutions and commercial establishments have created a brand awareness possessed by very few products or services in the market. Carl Pascarella the head of Visa Inc Asia-Pacific operations states in an interview with Adweek editor Michael Schrage “Visa is the brand. We spent a lot of money in brand awareness advertising.

The banks are leveraging that as a credit card, as a non-relationship product. We are facilitating their overall business, their overall relationship with the consumer – providing the infrastructure for remote banking, for remote bill paying for electronic commerce. ” The uniqueness of the business model of Visa lies in their mode of operation and their relationship management with the financial institutions that act as the agents for Visa to the consumer. The perception of banks as stable institutions in the consumers mind plays a great role in defining the success of Visa.

But this can hold true for other similar brands in the market like Mastercard. They too have captured high market shares globally and have been providing stiff competition to Visa, but the brand visibility that is enjoyed by Visa remains unparalleled. Online Application The superior technological advantage that Visa enjoys has created a confidence in the consumers by easing their transaction processing needs coupled with secured and speedy transaction. With growing e-commerce activity people want to access funds and process transactions on their desktop Personal Computers within the reach of their fingertips.

The adaptation to new technology and providing the customers with digital processing over the electronic commerce media is yet another milestone in strengthening brand positioning and customer retention. The Visa can now be used to make bill payments online, purchase grocery over the Internet and home banking. The range of services available to the consumer has no doubt increased the business volume and more commercial establishments willing to partner with Visa. Visa entered into an agreement with JCB, a global payment brand, and leading credit card issuer in Japan, to provide contactless cards in Asia-Pacific region.

The alliance significantly increased the network of acceptance points for both Visa and JCB contactless cards. This move has ensured that merchants accepting Visa and JCB contactless cards will not require separate terminals thus minimizing their investment and benefiting the consumers and merchants through faster and more convenient payment system. Contactless cards do need to be inserted or swiped at point-of-sale terminals. Radio frequency equipped smart cards held a few centimeters from the payment reader enables payments to be made without inserting or swiping.

This mode of transactions ensures that the payments made are more secure preventing frauds and misuse at the same time increasing the speed of transactions. The time of waiting for each customer for transaction processing is reduced by 77 per cent that has resulted in higher turnover at the point-of-sale (smartcardalliance. com). This has revolutionized the payment processing industry and popularized the Visa Wave cards among the financial institutions, retailers and other commercial establishments. Conclusion

The discussion above based on various business journals and press articles from the official web site of Visa offers an introspective outlook on the brand positioning and brand communication strategies adopted by the Visa Inc globally and in Asian market. We can infer that effective brand communication can bridge the gap between the target consumer segment and the product or service offered by the organisation. Visa Inc has effectively reached out to its target audience with the blue, white and gold striped logo reflecting elegance and conveying a message of uniformity in payment processing gateway across the world.

The clarity of the re-designed brand image has lent practical benefits to the commercial establishments and financial institutions that have partnered with the Visa brand. It cannot be denied that the company has successfully positioned the brand as an instrument of trust and confidence among the end users assuring them of secured payment processing. It is this factor that has ensured that the consumers retain their usage of the Visa brand. The success and evolution of the brand in its 30 years of inception is a phenomenal.

The brand has risen to become a global entity adapting itself to new technological changes and innovating the payment processing system in line with advances in business world and changing consumer preferences. Visa Inc has adopted aggressive marketing, advertising, and promotion strategies to increase brand visibility and create brand awareness among the end users. Mutually beneficial alliances with upcoming events and companies in the region have helped in grabbing significant market share. Partnerships with prominent financial institutions and commercial establishments are another stronghold that has pushed the brand in the market.

Effective television commercials combined with print ads and online promotion using catchy phrases like “Go Visa” and “Get the Visa Power” have popularized the brand among the end users. Extensive accessibility through large number of ATMs and points-of-sale at merchant locations has also ensured increasing usage and added to the ease and convenience of the customer. With more people preferring to make transactions and banking online, Visa ensured secured payment gateway to its consumers on the information highway. References: 1. Sicco van Gelder – Global Brand Strategy – Unlocking brand potential across countries, cultures and markets

2. Michael Schrage an interview with Carl Pascarella – Branding digital cash: Visa plans the leap from value exchange to information exchange. Source: British Council Library Management Journals 3. Hot Topic: A brand evolution – Australian Banking and Finance Volume 14 2005 British Council Library 4. e-volve Digital insights for multichannel marketers December 20, 2001 Source: British Council Library 5. Hillary Cassidy, Cards seek more “you” in usage – Superbrands June 4 2001, http://www. brandweek. com 6. The Evolutionary vision of Dee Hock: From Chaos to Chaords – Source: British Council Library Management Journals

7. Karen Gullett, Senior Vice President, Global Brand and Marketing, Visa International, An evolution in four letters – http://www. visa-asia. com/ap/center/mediacenter/hottopics/includes/uploads/VisaBrandingByliner. pdf – accessed on 27th March 2008 8. JCB selects Visa Asia Pacific’s specification for expansion of contactless payments – http://www. smartcardalliance. org/articles/2007/02/22/jcb-selects-visa-asia-pacifics-specification-for-expansion-of-contactless-payments – accessed on 27th March 2008 9. Visa Inc Corporate Overview -http://corporate. visa.

com/av/pdf/Visa_Inc_Overview. pdf – accessed on 27th March 2008 10. 300 days and counting: Visa survey shows mounting Beijing 2008 Olympic Games excitement – http://www. visa-asia. com/ap/sea/mediacenter/pressrelease/NR_SGP_121007. shtml – accessed on 28th March 2008 11. Battle of debit cards heat up as firms scramble for customers – http://www. indianexpress. com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990411/ibu11059. html – accessed on 28th March 2008 12. Chan returns for Visa Olympics push – http://www. marketing-interactive. com/news/4063 – accessed on 28th March 2008

I have read and understood the rules on cheating, plagiarism and appropriate referencing as outlined in my handbook and I declare that the work contained in this assignment is my own, unless otherwise acknowledged. No substantial part of the work submitted here has also been submitted by me in other assessments for my degree course, and I acknowledge that if this has been done an appropriate reduction in the mark I might otherwise have received will be made. Halton Materials was founded in 1985 by its current Chief Executive and major shareholder, John Halewood, to manufacture motorcycle Disc Brake Pads (DBP) for the aftermarket.

At that time, almost all motorcycles in the UK originated from the Japanese “big four” manufacturers and consumable spare parts were extremely expensive. John and his business partner, Ian Woolton, saw that there was a market for less expensive, yet still capable, DBP. As motorcycles are long-lasting, the company attempts to supply parts for all popular makes and models up to 20 years old. Intended customers are the smaller independent motorcycle dealers and repair shops as well as the riders who carry out their own servicing.

These customers are supplied via motorcycle aftermarket parts supply dealers and the small number of national retail chains specialising in automotive supplies. The business has grown steadily and its brand “Two-Stop” is now a significant and well-regarded product in the motorcycle parts aftermarket, not only in the UK but also in the major Western European markets. The business has grown steadily as the small machines, much favoured by Mediterranean youth, move from drum to disc brakes.

Following Ian Woolton’s retirement in 1999, John Halewood took full control of the company and his family own 90% of the shares, the remainder being held by other senior employees. Other finance is provided by their bankers in the form of long-term business loans. Turnover had exceeded 5 million (approx. 2 million pads) for the first time last year (2005) and the business made a satisfactory profit, though John was becoming increasingly concerned by competition from low cost Far Eastern suppliers. Financial information for 2005 is displayed in Appendix I.

With the renaissance of motorcycle manufacture in the UK, the company now has its first opportunity to be considered as an original equipment (OE) supplier. Though, initially, this will only add 150,000 pads to the production volume and pricing for OE products is very competitive, there is only one product specification to be produced. More importantly, success in this new venture will open up opportunities in the much larger European OE market. John considers that entry into the OE market will help insulate the company from the growing Far Eastern competition.

However, OE supply will mean tighter product specification, superior product performance, improved quality assurance and more detailed records. A batch of several hundred samples of the company’s proposed DBP design will need to be produced to obtain type approval from the manufacturer. QC procedures and process capability will be audited by the customer’s own technical experts. Organisation The company organisation is shown overleaf. Nowadays, John mainly concerns himself with the overall strategic direction of the company and liaison with external financial providers.

Day-to-day operations are managed by a team consisting of the other four executive directors and Bob Cronton, the Works Manager. If he is available, John chairs the team though normally his son Tony, the Sales Director, takes on this role. Tony expects to take over as MD in two or three year’s time when his father semi-retires though John intends to remain Chairman for the foreseeable future. There are now 49 employees and the company expects to make the jump from small to middle sized company (>50 employees) during 2006.

Nike Inc. has been dealing with many sports starts, Michael Jordan to name one, in order to promote its products through its marketing strategies; and overall part of the business. With Nike manufacturing products with its cost effective business strategies through factories in the developing nations, criticisms regarding its abuse of child labor have affected its popularity to an extent.

Nike is no more completely recommended by Asians fans and also by westerns followers because of many documental proofs that have been publically shown about low-grade working conditions and child labor. Moreover, criticisms such as the sweatshops has caused problem for the organization which were not handled properly.

This clearly indicates that Nike Inc has not been dealing right with its business strategies. Even though Nike was not solely responsible for the acts of child labor, it had some obligations to fulfill. Secondly, Nike tried only to mention the abuse of child labor, ignoring extreme working conditions thus causing more unpopularity. The company had failed to promote effective public relations with the media globally causing much disrespect among its fans.

Related essay: Nike: Public relations

One solution to the problem was to communicate fully about what had been the source of dismay, trying to rectify it with the expert critics who raised it initially. This would have caused less loss to the company. Secondly, effective public relations strategies should also have mentioned the positive side; the employment provided to thousands who were living in extremely poor working conditions.

With a drastic change in business strategy to counter-back the problem, effective use of Public Relation policies, committing itself to corporate social responsibility, committing to health and safety of employees, creating some benchmark working standards and an informed work place for representatives to audit independently, Nike can turn back the bad times to its favor and gradually recover the lost. Therefore, Nike needs to make changes in its strategies globally.

Reference

Soloman, Jolie. “When Nike Goes Cold.” Newsweek. March 30, 1998

Tim Connor (2001). Still Waiting For Nike To Do It. Nike’s Labor Practices in the Three Years Since CEO Phil Knight’s Speech to the National Press Club. San Francisco, California. Global Exchange.