Elements of Sustainable Business Models

Elements of Sustainable Business Models The title of the journal is Elements of Sustainable Business Models which was written by Talonen, Tapani, Hakkarainen and Kari for the research conducted by Kone Corporation and Virike Consulting, Finland. They had conducted a study about the elements contributing a beneficial business model. This research aimed to provide the detailed explanations regarding the complex aspects of business models and the actions or methods required to handle them. The study reveals the failures of some companies such as Kodak and Nokia to plan and implement the effective business models which causes their operations to face big problems and lose in the highly competitive business world. The investigation of the reasons of the failure in planning or implementing business models and the ways to overcome them is very important so that the current and future generation of the corporate leaders or managers can be aware of those issues and raise the possibility for them to implement successful business mod els. The technical product supremacy in the business world of nowadays is no longer enough. Customer experience became the most critical differentiator in the highly competitive business world. This incident made the business competition transforming rapidly from competition of various products to competition of business models. Innovation is playing an important role in business competition. It is not necessarily must be derived through an invention. The technological changes in the production of existing goods, the discovering of the new markets and supply sources, work tailorization and new organizational structure are various innovations that contribute technological advancement. Most of the efforts to replace the technologies will fail in innovation. Value is shifting from products to solutions to experiences nowadays. The products nowadays must meet an expectation or need in order to create great customer experiences. There is no any individual idea or factor that can ensure the win ning in the competition, it requires various elements such as enabling and supporting elements that combined together to create the winning edge. Business model is important because it decides how a company going to approach customers. Adjusting the approach based on the market conditions is not enough because the competitors can do the same thing too. A company needs a wider mindset to make itself extraordinary. A series of continual discussions need to be held between the business and technological experts to come out with a strategic plan which will then be further involves in the planning at tactical level and operational level. The key factor of tactical level is fast decision making in the forever changing business environment. A flexible business model is always better than those rigid funneling and long-span models. In order to enable the success of an innovation for the products, the company needs to ensure people to trust that it is not about something temporary only and the company will make a long term commitment to provide services or helps that might needed for those new products. Many companies would like to rely on their current products in the market rather than continue to make more innovations due to reluctance which is caused by mindset, misleading signals and the illusion of progress. Mindset is the biggest barrier among these three factors, it is often caused by the preoccupied thoughts or offensive satisfaction of a company’s leader about the company itself, behavior of avoiding losses and sunk cost dilemma where people tends to do something which is wrong or not worth it after spent so much on it. Besides that, all the company managers or leaders need to know clearly and accept that no matter how brilliant they had done in their plans and implementations of the business mo dels they might still have high possibility to fail at the end. They need to follow all the disciplines required but at the same time still remain agile and flexible to lower the possibility of failure. As long as they had done all the essential early preparations, failure would not become a disaster for their company. Strategic resilience is what a company needs in order to be successful where company will change according to the conditions of business ecosystem and competitions before it is too late. In order to be resilient, the company needs to get ready for cognitive, strategic, political and ideological challenges. The company leaders should also be aware that workers are still the crucial assets since the system do not do thinking. The title of the journal which is Elements of Sustainable Business Models is not really appropriate since the journal is all about both of the elements and complex barriers for sustainable business models. Our group feels that most of the information given in the journal is believable since the authors had supported it with so many real examples as strong evidences. The authors had made great efforts to help the readers to know and understand about more details regarding business models by inserting many figures and tables into the journal. However, we had found that the figure 2 inside the journal might leads to misunderstanding or confusing of the readers on the first sight because it did not been clearly labelled to show what is the meaning of the size or length of each arrow in the figure. The authors also had been using some words which are not commonly seen such as ‘tailorization’ and ‘tenet’ which might not be understood by many readers. There is a very interesting point inside the journal where the authors state that losses have much larger psychological effect than the same amount of gains on people. We feel that it is really interesting because many businessmen would not notice about that and lower down their fighting spirit when they won in a highly competitive business war. Inversely, if they had lost in a competition they would feel threatened and force themselves to work harder to boost their performance. Besides that, we are strongly agreed with the point of the sunk cost dilemma mentioned by the author inside the journal where people cannot abandon something that they had put so much effort into it. It revealed the real and commonly seen human nature of businessmen where they will normally make mistake by acting emotionally instead of rationally to terminate some projects that would not benefits the company since it had been long running halfway. However, we are disagreed with the statement where the authors says that those companies already facing problem are better off since they are forced to renew because it does not match with the statement of the authors saying that businessmen should be resilient to morph itself before it is forced by a performance crisis. We feel that the companies that only take action after started to face big problems normally would not be succeed because it would most probably always been too late to take any action at that time. There would be only very few companies that might lucky enough to succeed in reality especially in the highly competitive business world of today. As a conclusion, a business model that able to create extraordinary customer experiences is the main key element of winning in the cruel business war of today. Unluckily, every business model has a limited life span and also a surprisingly high risk to be failed in implementing it which somehow might still can be succeed with careful planning and correct timing. The journal can be considered as an excellent journal which might able to influence many readers with plenty of powerful explanations and evidences if all the weaknesses that had been pointed out by us can be modified correctly. The authors may change the title of the journal as ‘Elements and Barriers of Sustainable Business Models’ instead of the earlier one because it is more suitable with the major contents in the journal. On the other hand, the authors should also clearly label in the figure that the length of the each arrow in Figure 2 represents the correct timing of action or process that had been written under it so that the readers can easily understand the figure on the first sight. The authors should also replace those words in the journal which are not commonly seen by most of the readers with some simpler words. For an example, the authors can replace the word ‘tenet’ as ‘principle’ or ‘opinion’.

Boeing Australia Case Study

Executive Summary Barilla is operating in a very old-fashioned distribution system that needs to be changed. Implementing this new JITD will increase efficiency across the supply chain. The system will reduce manufacturing costs, increase supply chain visibility, increase distributors’ dependence on Barilla, establish better relationship with distributors, reduce inventory level and most importantly improve manufacturing planning and forecasting using objective data. This JITD will see Barilla’s supply chain synchronized from manufacturing to end – users.Strategically, the best decision for Barilla is to implement the JITD program. This will allow for greater capability and flexibility to respond to inputs from end-consumers. In the JITD system, each distributor would provide Barilla with data from products that they shipped to retailers in previous days as well as current stock levels for each Barilla SKU. This data would then be used to make forecasting and rep lenishment decisions. The will result in a smoother running operating system and excellent customer service.To prove the credibility of JITD and win over apprehensive customers the involvement of top management will be employed. Within the next six months Maggali and top management team will analyze daily shipment data of the distribution chain. Next a database of historical and present demand patterns of distributors will be created and shipments will be simulated with JITD in place. This system will reduce stock out rates and inventory levels while increasing service levels. Next, experiments will be run at the Pedrignano depot and then the Milano depot.This will establish the credibility of JITD and win over distributors and retailers who are apprehensive in buying into this new system. Approximately ten top managers, from customer service managers to vice presidents, logistics, purchasing, sales and marketing and information technology managers will be involved in the decision m aking, implementation and monitoring of this new system. This will prove credibility of JITD and convince customers that change is inevitable and in this this case the benefits will be mutual. IssuesDeciding whether or not the Just In Time Distribution (JITD) model should be implemented into Barilla†s operations. Barilla is suffering from escalating operational inefficiencies. The company is being burdened by demand fluctuations in its manufacturing and distribution systems. Also, this large weekly variation in distributors orders is increasing overhead costs. Trying to convince internal and external customers of the benefits of JITD Barilla’s customers are unwilling to give up authority to place orders as they please.The lack of faith in Barilla’s inventory management also made some customers reluctant in giving detailed sales data so that Barilla could improve its forecasting demands. Customers perceived this JITD move as a quest by Barilla to transfer power to themselves. Internal customers are also resistant to this change as they as they view this concept to be infeasible and or dangerous. Environmental and Root Cause Analysis There is a growing burden that demand fluctuations are imposing on the company’s manufacturing and distribution system.Vitali has suggested for years that the company implement this innovative JITD which is modeled off JIT manufacturing. Vitali proposed that rather than follow the practice of delivering products to Barilla’s distributors on the basis of whatever orders distributors placed with the company, Barilla’s own logistics organization would instead specify delivery quantities that would more effectively meet end users’ needs and would also more evenly distribute the workload on Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics. This was heavily resisted both internally and externally.External people are saying that Barilla wants power over its distributors and wants to manage their inventory for them. On the other hand, the internal sales and marketing people thinks this JITD is unworkable and will reduce their workload so they see it as a threat and as a result they are putting up a resistance. The variability in demand is as a result of lack of forecasting systems or sophisticated analytical tools at the distributors end. Orders for Barilla’s dry products swing from week to week and such extreme demand strains Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics operations.For example, the specific sequence of pasta production necessitated by the tight heat and humidity specifications in the tunnel kiln made it difficult to quickly produce a particular pasta that had been sold out due to unexpectedly high demand. In addition, holding sufficient finished goods inventories to meet distributors order requirements was extremely expensive when weekly demand fluctuated so much and was so difficult to forecast. Advertising and trade promotions are also intensifying the resistance to implementing this JITD.Distributors have become accustomed to price discounts through volume orders, promotional activities and transportation. Barilla’s sales strategy relied on the use of trade promotions to push products into the grocery distribution network. Distributors looks forward to these promotions and also sales people within Barilla looks forward to giving distributors discounts in this very old-fashioned distribution system. Alternatives and/or Options Implementing the JITD system would prove beneficial to the company and its overall supply chain management.Benefits of this JITD would be reduced manufacturing costs and inventory levels, better relationship with distributors due to increased supply chain visibility and distributor’s dependence on Barilla and overall improvement in manufacturing planning using objective data collected. For sales people this would be a selling tool rather than a threat to sales. Distributors will also see an improved fill rate to retail stores, additional service from Barilla without any extra cost and reduced inventory holding costs.Disadvantages to these are lack of infrastructure to handle JITD, risks of inability to adjust shipments quickly to stock-outs, cost benefits uncertainties, unconvinced distributors and reduction in responsibilities for Sales Representatives. Recommendation It is recommended that Barilla implement this JITD system in its supply chain. The system will provide customers with additional service at no extra cost. It will also improve Barilla’s visibility with the trade and make distributors more dependent on the company.This dependence or vendor management inventory (VMI) system will improve relationships between Barilla and distributors. More important, is the information regarding the supply at the distributors’ warehouses would provide the company with objective data that would allow for improvement in planning procedures and forecasting. In a ddition, distributors will not only improve their fill rates to retail stores but reduce their inventory holding costs. Sales and marketing people will realize that this JITD will be a selling tool rather than a threat to sales.This in the long run improves overall performance in operations. Implementation Maggiali needs to look at JITD as not only a logistics program but as a company wide effort and get top management from both sides involved in decision -making and teamwork. With top management on board, the first implementation will be done at Barilla’s largest DO (organized distributor) the Cortese. Within the next six months Maggali and top management team will analyze daily shipment data of the distribution chain.Next a database of historical and present demand patterns of distributors will be created and shipments will be simulated with JITD in place. This system will reduce stock out rates and inventory levels while increasing service levels. Next, experiments will be run at the Pedrignano depot and then the Milano depot. This will establish the credibility of JITD and win over distributors and retailers who are apprehensive in buying into this new system. An information system will also be implemented to communicate with all customers.SKUs will be barcoded so that they are easily identifiable; that is Barilla’s code and distributor/customer codes. Using this coding system, the company will be able to receive information through any code and also reduce the impact of internal changes in products on DO systems. Barilla’s forecasting systems will be under improvement so that the company can make good use of information received. Monitor and Control There has to be credibility of this new venture in order to convince customers both internally and externally to sign on.In order to reap success in any new initiative top management have to be involved. A team of approximately ten top managers including managing directors, marketing and s ales managers, logistics managers, purchasing managers, vice presidents and information technology managers will monitor the implementation of this new initiative, JITD. Each day customers will send information to Barilla using EDI (electronic data exchange) systems. This information will include; customer codes, previous day’s stock-outs, previous days sales and advance orders for future retailer promotions.This will help Barilla to improve internal operations for the company and customers alike, now that Barilla will be responsible for determining quantities and delivery schedules. This will see a reduction in inventory levels, distribution costs, manufacturing costs, improved responsiveness to distributors demands. Overall efficiencies in the company’s operations will be evident in every link of the supply chain. Monitoring and control will be an ongoing process to minimize inefficiencies in operations.

Families within great expectations Essay

The Gargerys can be described as a dysfunctional, sometimes brutal, family although there is some love as well. The violence at the heart of the family derives from Mrs Joe. She is resentful that she has had to take on the burden of her sister’s orphaned son, Pip.  Mrs Joe is the dominant member of the family – unusually for Victorian times. She isn’t afraid of asserting her dominance by beating Pip, and, indeed, Joe either – all the more surprising since he is the local blacksmith. (This adds some humour to the book.) The discipline is fearsome, abusive, random and excessive. She may enjoy punishing Pip and ‘gets the Tickler’ at every opportunity. Pip’s relationship with Mrs. Joe clearly isn’t ideal. Pip depends greatly on his however. Pip is an orphan, and would quite probably be homeless if it wasn’t for her. Pip knows this and that’s why he has put up with his mistreatment/victimisation, timidly†¦ Pip tries to make the best of their relationship, but Mrs. Joe Gargery is too domineering, a fact respected by Pumblechook. She constantly says that she bought Pip by hand, degrading Pip in the process. There is, however, love in the family too – though it passes strictly between Joe and Pip. Joe comforts Pip, warns him when ‘Tickler’ is about, slips him food when Mrs Joe has forbidden it. There is shelter and a sense of correction can be gained as well. However, like every other ‘family’, there are uses of discipline evident.  Pip’s relationship with Joe is a complete contrast. Joe respects Pip and vice versa. He is proud of Pip for he declares Pip is a scholar after Pip successfully wrote and read a letter. During the beginning of the novel Pip idolises Joe however once Pip has achieved Gentleman-hood he becomes ashamed of Joe. This shown by his apprehension when Joe comes to visit him in London. He also deceives him as to his reasons for failing to call on Joe and Biddy on his visits to Satis house. (We feel that Pip is unfair here, however his love for Magwitch makes up for it.) In contrast Joe stays faithful to Pip, and helps Pip recover after he has fallen ill. This touches Pip. It helps him become less snobbish and more mature. Joe’s simplicity and honesty makes him the real gentleman in our and later in Pip’s eyes. The other relationship in this grouping is that of Joe and Mrs. Joe. Mrs. Joe depends of Joe financially, however Joe’s need or even love of Mrs. Joe isn’t shown. Yet he mourns her passing. Joe’s simplicity and honesty are weaknesses in their relationship. In this relationship however, Mrs. Joe doesn’t brutally punish Joe, perhaps because she’s subtly afraid of him fighting back. A normal couple wouldn’t be in this type of predicament. It also helps our sympathy being lost towards Joe instead of Pip.  The narrator (the older Pip) is very unemotional about the whole ordeal. He seems to understate the actions of the group and is somewhat detached. This implies that he is trying to hide the misery he had in his earlier years. Dickens also uses humour to try and deny the pain he suffered. â€Å"I often served her as a connubial missile† – Mrs. Joe enters the room and throws Pip across the room at Joe. It also understates the pain in a sense.  Halfway through Chapter 2 Dickens uses some more understatement.  Mrs. Havisham and Estella are a mysterious pair of characters. During the beginning of the novel they are portrayed as evil. They raise Pip’s expectations to an unrealistic level. Knowing that he should fail and have more misery.  Miss. Havisham can perhaps be described as cold, ruthless, manipulative and masochistic. She wants take revenge on all men for the wrongs that was done to her by one man. She sits in the clothes she should had worn for her wedding and is surrounded by decaying things a darkened solemn room. She uses Estella cruelly as a porn to exact her revenge. She fails to forget the past and seems to constantly remind herself of the pain she apparently endured.  Early on in the play she delights in the way Estella torments Pip and likes to keep her relatives guessing as to whom she will leave her money once she dies. She continues with her plan to use Estella as an instrument of revenge on the entire male sex until later in the novel she comes to realise she has created a monster. She accuses Estella of being hard and ungrateful but Estella says she cannot give love as she wasn’t given any herself. She tries to undo some of harm she has done by helping Pip with his plan for Herbert and she leaves her cousin Matthew a legacy of Pip’s recommendation. She dies distraught with guilt for what she has done for Pip and Estella. Estella can be best described as beautiful but heartless.  In the first stage of the novel, she is a beautiful young girl. She has been brought up as a young lady, but uses her education to talk down to Pip and make him feel inferior. Estella is cruel to Pip yet loyal to Miss Havisham. She is bitter and twisted due to the strange upbringing she has received by Miss. Havisham. Estella does not fully realise that she is being used by the old woman and that she is, herself, little more than an agent for Miss Havisham revenge. Estella has been educated as an accomplished and sophisticated young lady. She warns Pip time and time again that she has no heart and can never love anyone. She tells Pip that he is only one to be so warned and that she fools of the other men. She seems to become tired of this way of life and is almost self-destructive in her determination to marry such a brutal and ill-mannered man as Bently Drummle. Even Mrs. Havisham tries to persuade her. At the end of the Novell, she is a widow and has little property left. Her hard experiences seemed to have softened her, and she implies that she regrets having rejected Pip’s love for her. She is contrite and humble as she confesses that she realises what she threw away when she rejected Pip’s love. She feels that the best she can hope for is that they can be friends. She is too humble to expect more.   As a whole the two are merely colleagues at the beginning to novel. The young Estella is manipulated and mesmerised, yet she is too young to realise, and continues with her life as is was before. However the end of the novel the older Estella shows her real feelings about Miss. Havisham in an emotional scene. The one who Miss. Havisham has brought up to destroy men’s hearts has now destroyed the remains of hers. Miss. Havisham unsuccessfully uses Estella as her proxy and then becomes guilty. This leads to her painful (as if revenge was enacted on her) demise.  The location of this grouping in inside ‘Satis House’. ‘Satis’ meaning ‘enough’ in Latin. This is ironic as Miss. Havisham clearly doesn’t have enough, she isn’t satisfied. There is something missing in Miss. Havisham’s life, marriage. It was shameful for a woman to not be married the Victorian era. This explains Miss. Havisham’s unwillingness to venture out of the house.  If Satis House was to equate to Miss. Havisham, then it can be described as a prison. It stunts Estella’s growth. Estella is trapped inside of Miss. Havisham. She becomes Miss. Havisham.

Implementations of Customer Relationship Management or Enterprise Resource Planning in a Company Free Essay Example, 2500 words

HNG may come up with a new software product that they may decide to make an open source. The company gains knowledge and expertise from experts and specialists located anywhere around the world for no fee. Such a change in the company helps the business to cut the costs associated with hiring consultants on a vast variety of issues. The horizontal integration of retailers, suppliers and customers is the next shift that will affect the business processes of HNG. Supply chaining, as it is known, enables faster and accountable movement of supply amongst the stakeholders in the supply chain. As the company widens its territorial market, the supply chain also grows. Global standards of managing a successful global supply chain require that the company adopt this process as a method of reducing the frequent frictions between retailers, suppliers and customers (James, 2007). The advancement in technology affects the operations of businesses globally. The combination of these developments c reates a level global market place. Therefore, the progress will oblige HNG to adopt new skills, habits and processes that enable them to maintain an advantage and compete in the global market. We will write a custom essay sample on Implementations of Customer Relationship Management or Enterprise Resource Planning in a Company or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page