The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essays

The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essays The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essay The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essay Application Exercise Strategic Management Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), where I am employed, is engaged and exploration, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum product across the country. In downstream product marketing BPCL, has bouquet of products on offer, ranging from Petrol, Diesel, to Aviation Fuel, to Cooking Gas to Auto Lubricants. It is a global major and ranked 225th in the Fortune Global 500 rankings of the worlds biggest corporations for the year 2012. The ChangeOpening up of the Indian economy in the nineties brought with it more competition and challenges to BPCL, kindled by the phased dismantling of the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) on petroleum products and emergence of additional capacities in the region in refining and marketing. Increasing globalisation, new products and services, and innovative marketing resulted in a very market savvy consumer. The production-based success philosophy of marketers was replaced by a customer-oriented philosophy.Bharat Petroleum took cognisance of this situation well in time and took radical steps to keep itself attuned to the changing times, realising that the future belongs to those who listen and adapt to their customers. Application of 7-S Framwork To assess the effectiveness of the implementation approach in BPCL in late 90s, I have applied below the 7-S Framework, which is based around seven key elements of any organisation, with the view that in order for it to operate successfu lly, all the elements in this model must align synergistically together.The factors are split into two groups: hard or soft. The hard elements are those that can physically be seen when in place, whereas the soft are more intangible and cannot readily be seen. Hard Elements| Soft Elements| Strategy| Shared Values| Structure| Skills| Systems| Staff| | Style| Shared Values Shared values are the pinnacle of the model and therefore in any organisation. They form the underpinning culture, strategy, effectiveness and performance, linking to every other element in this framework.They link all that is of the organisation: how people behave, the structure, its systems and so on. Getting this balance right means getting the culture right. In 1996, Bharat Petroleum went through a process of visioning, involving people at all levels, which evolved a shared vision and a set of shared values. Visioning exercise started with the board, facilitated by external consultants. The exercise was extended across the organization in a snowball approach flowing from top management to the junior management, facilitated by the external experts, specifically trained for this purpose.Thus emerged the core of the vision for BPCL which was owned by every management staff. The core of vision as articulated by the organisational members across the organization is given below – Be the Best| Make the workplace exciting| Improve boundary management| Fulfill social responsibilities, be ethical| Apply the best technology| Make systems strong and dynamic| Establish first-class brands and corp. image| Excellent customer care amp; service| Go for excellent performance and operational efficiency| Make people source of improvement|The visioning exercise the provided for articulation and aspirations of the people. The process brought the whole organization out of lethargy, increased the energy levels and expectations on individuals, teams and the organizations. Since, the vision was iterated thro ughout the organization, there was greater buyin for the change. Strategy Bharat Petroleum recognised that all strategic initiatives must conform to the overall vision of the Corporation and improve the economic value.Based on the assessment / visioning exercise carried out across the BPCL, following strategic gaps and opportunities emerged – 1. Collective dissatisfaction with status quo 2. Low customer focus and customer orientation 3. Huge gap between the vision and capabilities to achieve it a. Increase refining capacities to reduce the dependence on other oil PSUs for product support. Invest in refineries to cater to marketing aspirations in south, east amp; north India. b.Backward integration to invest in exploration and production to make up for the margins pressure in down stream activities. BPCL relentlessly worked towards fulfilling these gaps by taking following initiatives – Product Security Initiatives: To improve product security, BPCL acquired two standal one refineries – Kochi refinery (9. 5 MMTPA) in South and Numaligarh Refinery (3 MMTPA) in Assam. Investment in 9 MMTPA refinery in joint venture with Oman Refineries in Madhaya Pradesh to cater to Northern India, where BPCL was dependent on other PSUs for product support.Backend Integration Initiatives: Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL) was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary company of BPCL with the objective of implementing BPCL’s plans in the upstream exploration and production sector. The exploration and production activities of BPRL and its subsidiary companies extend to 26 exploration blocks where they hold participating interests (PI). Of this, 11 blocks are in India and 15 are abroad. Besides India, BPRL has blocks in Australia, Brazil, East Timor, Indonesia, Mozambique and the United Kingdom.BPRL’s total acreage in all these blocks is around 68,000 sq. km, of which approx 89% is offshore acreage. These blocks are in various stages of exploration w ith definite finds. Brand Initiatives: In the highly competitive scenario, it has become imperative to own dominant brands. BPCL introduced new generation branded fuels Speed, Hi Speed Diesel and Speed 97, to introduce premium fuel brands in the Country, keeping pace with the technological advancements in the automobile industry leading to introduction of new generation vehicles.BPCL also recognized the customer need for pure quality and correct quantity of fuel for their vehicles and launched the flagship initiative of Pure For Sure (PFS) offering the guarantee of pure quality and correct quantity of fuel to our customers. The petrol pumps displaying a prominent Pure For Sure signage became landmark destinations. Automotive Lubricants Initiatives: Bharat Petroleum launched the full range of Automotive Engine Oils, Gear Oils, Transmission oils, Specialty Oils and Greases under the umbrella brand MAK, offering range of benefits to the users of present day modern vehicles.Structure Th e older structure was functionally organized. There were mainly four functions – Refineries, Marketing, Finance, and Personnel – each headed by a Functional Director. Other support departments like corporate affairs, legal, audit, vigilance, coordination and company secretary were directly under Camp;MD. Whole of India was divided into four regions and further in 22 divisions. Each region was headed by Regional Manager who was incharge of all activities within the region. Across the marketing function, every individual and role was focused on multiple customer segments.Hence, there was low customer awareness in terms if unique needs of different customer segments and marketing strategy was formulated by people who were far from the customer and had low understanding of customers they were targeting. Thus the old structure had created a bottleneck between strategy formulators and implementers in terms of regional structure and between the field staff and the corporate o ffices and the refinery. The early traumatic experience of huge loss in market share amp; profitability in auto lubricants, after it’s deregulation in 1990, forced the strategists for due reflection.BPCL then embarked upon the journey of restructuring. Bharat Petroleum realised that, in the long run, success can only come with a total reorientation and change in approach with the customer as the focal point. In a proactive move to adapt to the emerging competitive scenario and support the emerging strategy (discussed earlier), function-based structure was carefully dismantled and replaced with a process-based one. This made the company more responsive to its customer needs. BPCL therefore was restructured into a Corporate Centre, Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and Shared Services and Entities.The organisational design comprising of five customers facing SBUs, viz. Aviation, Industrial and Commercial, LPG, Lubricants and Retail and one asset based SBU, viz. Refinery, is based on the philosophy of greater customer focus based on the specific needs of each customer segments. Systems Bharat Petroleum has always been on the forefront of harnessing technology initiatives for BPCL has been on forefront in harnessing technology, maximising efficiency and achieving greater customer satisfaction.Bharat Petroleum became the first PSU to implement Enterprisewide Resource Planning (ERP) solutions SAP. The challenge of SAP implementation was to ensure that all the integrated elements work seamlessly across the length and breadth of the country, including the remote locations. Bharat Petroleum reaped huge benefits of the integrated system in many areas of its operations like, tracking customer-receivables, monitoring credit-management, inventory management, besides easing the operations in a large number of areas. SkillsAs a Strategic Business Partner, HR supports skill-upgradation and multi-skilling of staff by identifying target segment and requirements from each SBU, evaluation of on the job performance post deployment in the job requiring those skills sets. BPCL designed Structured Standard programs’ which is implemented across the organization on BPCL Core Values amp; Culture / Identification and Development of Talent / Coaching Skills / Understanding of PMS Process and its timeliness / Understanding of New Manager Assimilation Process for Senior Managers having experience of handling a team.Impact of training is assessed and evaluated through proper framework. HR designed integrated Talent Management process with 360 degree assessment of all management staff on competencies, engagement and aspiration. Based on these inputs, individual development plans are designed. The purpose of the exercise is to ensure that talent is retained, encouraged and groomed to take over leadership position in near future. Staff Various HR initiatives were also taken by BPCL. Some of them are listed below –Engaging Employees: BPCL realizes tha t event based engagement is not sufficient instead employees needs continuous engagements so that their grievances are addressed, they are hand held, if needed, feel secured and appreciated and get committed to their work and corporation. Performance Planning amp; Appraisal System: PMS system in BPCL facilitates achievement of the Vision and Business Plans of the Corporation and foster development of every management staff, thereby gaining competitive advantage in the industry.The objectives of PMS in BPCL is to create awareness of Corporate and SBU/ Entity goals, translate such goals into tangible objectives and measures at the individual level through discussions between Appraiser and Appraisee, identify managerial attributes/ competencies for each role necessary to achieve the goals, establish a formal process of continuous feedback on performance and identify developmental plans to enhance performance.Manpower Planning: Based on inputs from SBUs / Entities, HR either relocate th e already employed resource from other facility, based on the strength of the employee and the job requirement or initiate the process of recruitment. Career Planning: To bring HR closer to work place, BPCL has embedded HR with each SBU / Entity, who hand hold these set-up in HR matters in consultation with central HR set-up.Every year, embedded HR, alongwith corporate HR to discuss the talent development, career planning of individual staff to decide on inter-functional movement and short to long term career path. Conclusion The Quantitative impact of re-structuring, which placed BPCL ahead of its time among Oil PSUs, has been amazing over the period of time and helped it embark on path of successive progress.

How Fluorescent Lights Affect You and Your Health

How Fluorescent Lights Affect You and Your Health Fluorescent lights are a common light source in office buildings and shopping markets. With the advent of compact fluorescent lights, they are becoming commonplace in most homes as well. Fluorescent lights are less expensive to buy compared to how long they last (about 13 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs) and they are much less expensive to operate. They require a fraction of the energy that incandescent bulbs use. But they can have negative impacts on your health. The Problems There were hundreds of studies done over the last quarter of the last century that showed causal links between elongated exposure to fluorescent lights and various negative effects. The foundation of most of these problems is the quality of light thats emitted. Some of the theories about negative effects or dangers stem from the fact that we evolved with the sun as our main source of light. It is only relatively recently, with the proliferation of electricity, that humankind has taken complete control of the night and interior spaces. Before that, most light came from the sun or a flame. Since flames dont give much light, humans usually woke along with sunrise and worked outdoors or, later in our history, by windows. With the light bulb, we had the ability to do more at night and to work in enclosed rooms without windows. When the fluorescent lights were invented, businesses had access to a cheap and durable light source and they adopted it. But fluorescent bulbs do not produce the same type of light as the sun gives us. The sun produces a full spectrum light: that is, a light that spans the entirety of the visual spectrum. In fact, the sun gives a lot more than the visual spectrum. Incandescent lights give off a full spectrum, but not as much as sunlight. Fluorescent lights give off a rather limited spectrum. A lot of human body chemistry is based on the day-night cycle, which is also known as the circadian rhythm. Theoretically, if you do not get sufficient exposure to sunlight, your circadian rhythm gets thrown off and that, in turn, throws off your hormones with some negative health impacts. Health Effects   There are a number of negative health effects that have been linked to working under fluorescent lights that are theorized to be caused by this disturbance to our circadian rhythms and the accompanying body chemistry mechanisms. These negative health effects may include: MigrainesEye strainProblems sleeping, due to melatonin suppressionSymptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder or depressionEndocrine disruption and poor immune systemsFemale hormonal/menstrual cycle disruptionIncreases in breast cancer rates and tumor formationStress/Anxiety, due to cortisol suppressionSexual development/maturation disruptionObesityAgoraphobia (anxiety disorder) Flickering The other main cause of problems with fluorescent lights is that they flicker. Fluorescent light bulbs contain a gas that gets excited and glows when electricity is passed through this. The electricity is not constant. It is controlled by an electric ballast that pulses on and off really quickly. To most people, the flicker is so fast that it looks like the light is on constantly. However, some people can perceive the flicker even if they cant consciously see it. This may cause: MigrainesHeadachesEye strainStress/Anxiety Additionally, fluorescent bulbs, especially cheaper bulbs, may have a green cast to them, making all the colors in your environment more drab and sickly looking. There is some theory that this, at the least, affects mood. The Solutions If you are forced to work/live beneath fluorescent lights for extended periods of time each day there are a number of things you can do to combat the negative effects. The first is to get out in the sun more. Getting sun exposure, especially for stints in the morning, midday, and late afternoon, can help maintain your circadian rhythm. Putting in some windows, skylights, or solar tubes to bring sunlight into your interior environment can help as well. Short of bringing in sunlight itself, you can bring in a light source with a fuller spectrum. There are some full spectrum and daylight spectrum fluorescent lights on the market that have a better color temperature spread than regular fluorescent lights, so they do help, but they dont replace sunlight. Alternately you can put a full spectrum light filter over your fluorescent bulb or light fixture lens that alters the light coming out of the fluorescent bulb and gives it a fuller spectrum. These tend to give off more Ultraviolet (UV) rays that may cause skin problems, prematurely age materials like plastic or leather, and cause photos to fade. Incandescent lights do a decent job of providing a good spectrum of light that most people respond to well. Another benefit of incandescent lights is that they are a constant light source that doesnt flicker. If you perceive the fluorescent flicker, having a single incandescent light bulb on in the room can be enough to cover the flicker and keep it from affecting you. These bulbs can also balance out any green tint given off by the fluorescent bulb. In some cases, phototherapy, or light box therapy, can counteract lack of sunlight exposure. This is a common treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder and it uses an incredibly bright light for a limited amount of time to help keep your body chemistry regulated. Optometrists have long prescribed glasses with a very light rose-colored tint on them to counteract the effects of working under fluorescent lights, especially in women who are experiencing hormonal problems. Finally, flicker problems can be improved by using fluorescent light fixtures that use electronic ballasts as opposed to magnetic ones.

Merit Award Application Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Merit Award Application - Scholarship Essay Example The National Society of Collegiate Scholars is the only honor’s society in the U.S. that recognizes outstanding academic achievement among first and second year students (Illinoisstate). The NSCS can serve as a launching point for a student’s future academic career by providing a wide array of opportunities for campus student involvement, community service and encouraging student members to become involved in their communities and become leaders in their communities. By becoming a member of the NSCS it demonstrates an individual’s drive for outstanding achievement and personal excellence. Being an active member provides the opportunity learn and grow professionally and personally by being able to share concepts, ideas and visions on how to improve our communities future through community involvement and developing our community and local economy. The scholarship opportunities are an additional benefit of joining the NSCS.

Contract Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contract Law - Coursework Example The element of mutual agreement requires parties to agree on the terms of the contract. It stresses that the agreement must have an offer and acceptance. Finally, the element of consideration required for one party to agree to agree to a specific set of terms at an agreed price. The doctrine of consideration is one of the most crucial and controversial issues in the law of contract.1 It is crucial because for a contract to be valid, consideration must be present. In the absence of consideration, a contract is considered to be invalid and not binding to the parties involved in the contract. This is referred to as â€Å"nundum pactum†, that is, a promise made with no supporting agreement. The two main rules of a consideration are that is required to move from the promisee but does not have to move to the promisor, and it does not have to be adequate but needs to be sufficient. The cost-benefit analysis of contracts aims at making sure that parties do not enter into contracts that they will not benefit in one way or another. The doctrine of consideration has over the years developed as seen in the case of Williams v Roffey Bros. and Nicholls(Contractor)Ltd [1991] 1 QB 1.2 In this case, it is clear that little is needed in a contract for consideration to exist. However, even with consideration, not all contracts are fair, and consideration is not sufficient in dealing with these new problems. The doctrine of duress has become crucial in solving complex business relationships especially in monopoly situations. Economic duress is unacceptable uses of economic power aimed at making the victim submit to demand. Its development has affected the doctrine of consideration. Contracts are considered to be an exchange of agreements or promises between parties, which binds them legally. However, the mere fact that there is an agreement does not make a contract legal. The doctrine of consideration is very crucial yet

Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Example for Free

Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Charitable institutions play an important role in society, now more than ever, as socio-economic issues mount. The essence of charitable institutions is to facilitate the sharing or transfer of resources from those with excess to those who are wanting. The culture of giving emerged as a means of ensuring overall social welfare by pulling excess resources to segments of the population having more than they need to people without resources. Charitable institutions develop fund raising activities and schemes to encourage philanthropy as well as manage funds to translate this into programs for the targeted beneficiaries to fulfill this role effectively and continuously. The philosophy of fund raising for charitable work is that philanthropy plays an important role in democratic societies and fund raising is inevitable to philanthropy so that fund raising becomes an absolute necessity to democratic societies. (Kelly, 1998) Over the years, charitable institutions developed many fund raising processes or systems to ensure the short and long-term flow of funds necessary to support their important function. Planned giving is one long-term fund raising program that emerged. This works by providing donors with the option, other than outright giving, to defer giving to charitable institutions years after expressing the giving behavior, usually upon the death of the donor. This then focuses on assets instead of income as the measure of the capacity of donors to give. (Kelly, 1998) The rationale for this option is to facilitate the passing of assets from one generation to another through a system that allocates assets from their estates to charitable institutions upon their death according to their preference (Harrington, 2004). If people elect to pass their assets to charitable institutions then they can do so through planned giving. This also finds support in the governance system by providing incentives to philanthropy in the form of tax exemptions. II. Review of Literature A. Important Concepts and Definitions in Planned Giving Kelly (1998) conceptualized planned giving as the managed effort by charitable institutions to raise funds from gifts of assets of donors utilizing estate and financial planning processes and tools. The purpose of planned giving is to generate major gifts by offering donors with another option aside from outright giving. This fund raising scheme expands the prospect pool of donors by centering on assets, instead of income, as the determinant of the capacity to give. The sole concern of planned giving is facilitating the philanthropy of individual donors as compared to the other fund-raising efforts directed at the public. Previously, this fund raising method was known as deferred giving because financial benefits for the recipient charitable institution usually are postponed until years after the donor has set-up the gift, usually upon death resulting to the appropriation or management of the estate. The description explained planned giving in terms of the implications to charitable institutions and donors of the benefits from financial planning and incentives for planning giving. Weinstein (2002) defined planned giving, also known as charitable gift planning, as the giving of charitable contributions with some level of professional guidance. Most planned gifts have the effect of reducing the estate taxes, income taxes, and/or capital gains taxes of the donor. Charitable gift planning supports the charitable intentions of the donor while at the same time helps donors better manage their assets for their families and loved ones. Usually, planned gifts are bequests, which mean deferred actual receipt by charitable institutions. Non-profit organizations receive the bequest after the death of the donor. There are also other planned gifts, such as donations of appreciated stock, which accrue current contributions for the charitable institution. This definition focuses on planned giving as a process or system and the manner this works in supporting the fund raising activities of charitable institutions and asset management of donors. Hopkins (2005) explained that planned giving ideally concerns â€Å"long-term capital gain property† (p. 245) that is likely to increase in value. The greater the increase in value, the greater would be the charitable deduction as well as the income from tax savings. Value appreciation comprises a core concept in planned giving so that a planned gift is essentially interest in money or an item of property of the donor. Planning giving involves the transference of partial interest in property based on the concept of property as having two interests, which are income and remainder interest. The income interest from an item of property depends on the income generated by the property at the current time while the remainder interest from an item of property pertains to the projected value of the property, or the property produced by reinvestments, at some future date. As such, the remainder interest is the amount equal to the present value of the property when received at a subsequent point in time, which is higher than the income interest assuming that the property is appreciating. Measuring these two types of interest in property is through the consideration of property value, donor’s age, and the period when the income interest will exist. An income interest or a remainder interest in property could be subject to charitable donation. However, a deduction is almost never available for a charitable gift of an income interest in property. By contrast, the charitable contribution of a remainder interest in an item of property will likely give rise to a charitable deduction with compliance of all technical requirements. This provides an explanation of the manner that the system works and serves as an elaboration of the previous definitions. The explanation also provided a rationale for planned giving since remainder interest, which accrues in the future is usually always subject to charitable deductions when compared to income interest accruing at present. Hopkins (2005) further explained the two basic types of planned gifts. One is legacy or charitable giving contained under a will. This is a gift coming out of the estate of a deceased as a bequest or devise. Planned giving in the form of a legacy works through the inclusion of a charitable institution as a beneficiary of the estate of the donor with entitlement following the death of the donor. As such, this perpetuates the philanthropy of individual even in death. The amount assigned to the charitable institution comprises a tax exemption that decreases the estate tax. The other is a gift made during a donor’s lifetime, using a trust or other agreement. An example is charitable gift annuity that commences when a donor gives a charitable institution a certain amount of money that the institution can use, similar to a premium paid for insurance, but with the condition that a beneficiary receive payment of a certain amount every year. The amount given by the donor is subject to tax exemption. After the payment of annuity ceases such as with the death of the beneficiary, the charitable institutions gains the amount paid and all other interest accruing from its appropriation. This explains the options available to donors, with options supporting the charitable intentions of donors and providing them with convenient options for financial planning. B. Basic Steps in Establishing Planned Giving Program for a Non-Profit Organization Establishing planned giving program for a non-profit organization should involve some basic preparatory steps similar to a business plan in profit organizations. The first step is preparation. This involves an assessment of the capability of the organization to manage a planned giving program to determine areas requiring improvements to accommodate the program. Another must do is obtaining the feedback from the board over the development of the planned giving program since the board’s support determines a successful program. This step also involves a feasibility study to determine whether the intended program meets two criteria. One is whether the leaders and members of the organization together with donors believe in continuing its existence in the long-term and the other is whether donors express their belief in the longevity of the organization through significant gifts. (Barett Ware, 2002) In satisfying these criteria there is a higher probability of success. Second step is planning. This step covers the identification of goals and specific objectives of the program, the changes in organizational structure including the creation of committees and sub-committees and assignment of leadership positions and tasks, the plan for staffing such as part time or full time, the budget to cover all aspects of the program, and the timetable for the phases of the planned giving program. (Dove, Spears Herbert, 2002) These areas should receive focus to cover all planned program to support viability. The third step involves the identification of the program’s core and specific features. The idea of planned giving is to provide givers with various options on the ways through which they prefer to actualize their charitable intentions and manage their assets in the process. This means the need to identify the particular planned giving options that the non-profit organization would make available to its donors together with the details of how these works. (Ashton, 2004) This is for the benefit of the staff who would be directly dealing with donors and for the benefit of donors wanting to learn more about giving options offered by its preferred charitable institution. The fourth step is policymaking. Guidelines and protocols are inevitable in actualizing the planned giving program. Policies should cover issues such as legal advice, confidentiality of information, conflict in interest and authority in negotiations. Guidelines should also thoroughly explain procedures in executing and accepting planned gifts, valuation of donations, according of credit for planned gifts, investing managing and administering of planned gifts, and limitations and terms of planned gifts. Lastly, the policies should also establish the functions and roles of the committees and administrators. (Barett Ware, 2002) The fifth step is promoting the planned giving program to individual potential donors as well as the community in general. There are a number of ways for non-profit organizations to promote their planned giving programs including the handouts or leaflets, newsletters and other widely distributed publications, hosted events, seminars, and personal testimonials or referrals. The important thing is to introduce the program to people as a means of developing interest in planned giving and reaching out to existing donors who could be interested in different options. (Reiss, 2000) The sixth step is prospecting. This involves a two-fold consideration. On one hand, this involves the determination of the likely uptake of the program by considering potential donors including the involvement in planned giving by members of the board themselves. This results to identification of anticipated long-term fund raising position of the organization. On the other hand, this also involves the determination of the impact of the program including the possible issues and problems to support contingency planning. (Rosso, 2003) C. Establishing Goals and Objectives for Planned Giving Program Goals comprise statements of the position or outcome that the organization wants to gain while objectives set out the manner of achieving this position or outcome (Lewis, 2006). Establishing the goals and objectives of the planned giving program also goes through a series of interconnected cyclical processes. The first process is communication and clarification of issues, problems, challenges or opportunities that provide a context for establishing the program. These support the determination of goals. If a challenge is giving options then the goal would be diversified giving options for donors and the objective is the development of a planned giving program. (Lauer, 1997) The second process is evaluation of alternative solutions to express needs and requirements into goals and objectives through measures of success that would also constitute the criteria for evaluating the extent of fulfillment of the goals and objectives. (Lauer, 1997) The third process is articulation by drawing the participation of all stakeholders in providing perspectives over the areas for improvement and drawing consensus on actions (Lauer, 1997).

Five Imporant Events Of The 19 :: essays research papers

Five Important Events of the 1960s Assassinations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the 1960s the world was hit with four different assassinations of some of the leaders in the world who were out to change the way things were. Although some disagreed to the changes that they were trying to do and even threatened them, they still continued to pursue their idea of change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ngo Dinh Diem became the first president of South Vietnam in 1956 he was a catholic who opposed Communism and sought for an independent Vietnam while it was under French power. Although he was viewed as brutal, corrupt, and prejudice against non-Catholics and Buddhists, he did however help make Vietnam an independent country from France and help prevent Communist rule over all of Vietnam. In 1933 Ngo Dinh Diem was appointed Minister of the Interior by Emperor Bao Dai, at the same time during the 1930’s Ngo Dinh Diem began to disapprove of the French rule over Vietnam. He decided to leave the government and follow the many Vietnamese nationalists who were also against French rule. In 1950 he left Vietnam and headed for the U.S. after Vietnam had fallen under rule of Viet Minh in August of 1945, seeing Communism as a threat to his values as a Catholic and to an independent Vietnam. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration fearing Communist take overs in Southeast Asia saw Ngo Dinh Diem as a Vietnamese nationalist capable of overturning Communist Viet Minh. In 1954 Viet Minh defeated the French and he won control of Northern Vietnam, thus splitting the country in half. Southern Vietnam remained under the control of Emperor Bao Dai, who was supported by the U.S. greatly. The U.S. appointed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister under Bao Dai. In 1956 elections were held in South Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem was elected the first president of the newly established Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The U.S. military was sent into South Vietnam to form and train an army for the republic, thus becoming the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). While Ngo Dinh Diem was president he forcibly moved peasants and rural villagers from their homes and put them into controlled settlements in order to suppress Communist activities. He also drafted all males from the villages into the ARVN. As a result of his acts a group called the National Li beration Front (NLF) was formed in order to overthrow his power as president.

CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth Essay

CA Technologies wanted to be viewed as the leader of their business sector, offering quality service while keeping their organization aligned and thriving in a strong corporate culture. However, the leaders of the organization did not agree on how the organization should achieve these goals nor were they confident that their business structure could sustain them. Overall, CA Technologies financial performance is viewed as stable and growing. The organization had shown growth in revenue, income from continued operations and stock holders equity between March 2007 and March 2011. Furthermore, the company had grown their assets and reduced their long term debt during the same time frame (Annual Report). CA Technologies focus was/is creating solutions to contribute to their customers businesses and support them in a challenging IT environment (p2). Their main customer focus was 1000 of the Fortune 2000 organizations that were $2 billion businesses and above. None-the-less as their product line changed so did their customer base, to $300 million to $2 billion sized companies (p1,13). Their customer base is international consisting of companies from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Their consumers come from various industries including banks, insurance companies, financial services, governments, manufactures, technology companies, retailers, educational institutes and health care providers. Their product line consists of service management and assurance, mainframe, project and portfolio management, security, virtualization and automation, and cloud computing (Annual Report). CA Technologies chooses to go to market through their own sales and marketing team and by leveraging partners. They have selected strategic partners to help them enter into new markets, grow their product awareness and integrate different technologies. At the same time they have their own direct sales team to create rapport with customers and to use initial consumer’s feedback to cannibalize on new opportunities (Annual Report). It is imperative that they use multiple ways to go to market because this is a highly competitive industry. At one point the organization’s â€Å"merger and acquisitions team had about 250 to 300 companies on their radar at one time† and in nine months they had acquired nine organizations and within twelve months they had invested close to $1 billion in acquisitions (p11). Some of these organizations are going to be commentators and others are direct competition, none-the-less there is a lot of competition. Furthermore, this market is not saturated as it is changing every day and has potential for new entrants. When the focus is on cloud technology and not their full portfolio, calling cloud technology highly competitive is an understatement. To display how competitive the industry is there is an online newspaper called â€Å"CloudTimes† that has a list of the top 100 Cloud Computing Companies (Martin Tantow). The CRN (online technology cite) goes as far as listing the coolest cloud computing vendors by their business category (CRN). There are several other articles such as â€Å"The Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing†, â€Å"85 Cloud Computing Vendors Shaping the Emerging Cloud† and more (Ray DePena). The buyers have a great deal of bargaining power. With so many organizations offering cloud services and offering to customize their services for customers business needs, there is a lot of competition. The CRN breaks down Coolest Cloud† companies by the top 20 in each cloud specialization. These specializations are: Platform and Development, Infrastructure Vendors, Security, Storage and Data Center, Applications and Software (Mark Tantow). CA Technologies was listed under â€Å"Coolest Cloud† top 20 for security. This specialization may give them a leg up especially in the Security market. On the other hand, if an organization is looking for a generalized cloud function, this may discourage that organization from choosing CA technologies. The suppliers in this situation are the employees and they have an immense amount of bargaining power. With there being hundreds of Cloud companies currently, more starting and existing companies expanding their cloud products, the job market is large. Microsoft alone has reported they will create 14 million jobs from 2011- 2015 due to public and private cloud computing (John Callaham). CA Technologies has 13,400 employees, 4,000 are in sales and marketing and 4,400 employees are in product development (Annual Report). Selling, marketing and product development are the rolls that will be created and that other companies are looking to fill. If not all employees, nearly two thirds of the organization’s employees have a great deal of bargaining power due to the expansion and demand for experienced workers in this field. There are several substitutes to cloud computing and most of them are what organizations were using prior to cloud computing. Some of these substitutes are main frames, networks, and email. The plus is CA Technologies already offers the substitute services. There are many commentators to cloud computing right now that we use every day, for example Microsoft is a complementor to Google.Docs. A company that offers the cloud also has the power to decide what complementors are going to work with their cloud, some of these complementors can be calendars, emails, word processors and many other every day applications. On the Treacy and Wiersema 3-D Chart the organization would fall under the product differentiation and customer responsiveness category. Even though the organization would like to see themselves in the middle of these two categories, realistically, they were not, when this article was written. The case states the organization was functioning vertically in all divisions, which made it difficult to focus on the customer and created inefficiencies in development (p10). With this being said, they would fall closer to the axis between the two categories on this chart. Before the reorganization, the business strategy, organization strategy and information’s strategy were not aligned. The organization was running like a manufacturing company, internally focused (p11). The mission of the organization that can be gathered from the case is that the organization wants to offer superior customer service, to create the most innovative and leading technology in an effective manner and sustain a thriving corporate culture. However, this mission was not achievable because they went to market vertically and that is not what their customers needed. The different structures of the organization worked independently which meant many inefficiencies and repetition in development (p11). The organization was not set up to reach the business needs of superior customer service and creating innovative leading technology effectively. Furthermore, the information strategy was unattainable due to the organization strategy. In the moment of truth the organization decided to reorganize. They created five focus areas to focus the information strategy and product development. Furthermore, they split the organization into 3 main categories which focused on customers, go to market and innovation. The new strategy helped align the business, organization, and information strategy. On the strategic grid, CA Technologies was acting like a factory. They were not prepared to make changes that would be necessary for future success such as creating a prosperous cloud system. They were working on their already existing product line and even showing signs of complacency with that product line. However, once they began reorganizing to a new strategy their organization went into the turnaround phase, splitting the business into a customer innovation focused. This is where they began working on getting the proper structure to create a sustainable business in the cloud revolution. On the grid, the organization would fall in the top turnaround stage close to strategic. Their management is learning new ways to go to market and handle customers and at the same time the business is going to be shaped by their future innovation. Overall, I do not believe that the organization had a choice whether or not to embrace the cloud. By 2011, they had already entered into the market and were seen as leaders in their already existing technology systems. If they backed out at this point, they may be viewed as not willing to move forward with the direction of future technologies. Furthermore, the market is fast and highly competitive, but CA Technologies has an advantage due to their rapport with already existing customers and their seniority in the industry. The cloud made the organization re-evaluate their strategy and now they will be a stronger organization in all categories due to their reorganization. The cloud is not going anywhere; however their legacy way of thinking would not be relevant if they did not move forward with cloud innovation. Bibliography Callaham, John. â€Å"Microsoft: 14 Million Jobs to Be Made via Cloud Computing.† Neowin.net. 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . CA Technologies. Annual Report. One Goal Our Customer Success. Islandia, NY: CA Technologies, 3/2011. Annual Reports-CA Technologies. http://investor.ca.com/annuals.cfm CRN Staff. â€Å"The 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors Of 2012.† CRN. 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . DePena, Ray. â€Å"90 Cloud Computing Companies to Watch In 2011.† Business Innovations. 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . Tantow, Martin. â€Å"CloudTimes Top 100 Cloud Computing Companies.† Top 100 Cloud Computing Companies. 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. .