Fundraising for a charity Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fundraising for a charity - Literature review Example While reviewing a search in EBSCO Host turned up 297 results. Of the 297 results, 6 articles were used. The articles used cane from various different sources. All of the sources used are peer reviewed by a University Library. The articles gave an I depth explanation of popular theories and means of creating a successful charity. After narrowing the search from fundraising to charities, the search performed by EBSCO turned up 210 results. Of the 210 results found, 6 sources were used. The literature chosen to review was peer reviewed only. Many of the sources that were not used contained information that did not pertain to the topic. Other information that seemed to contain biased information was not used. I intended to only use information that strictly pertained to direct theories on fundraising for charities. The findings made for amazing research. The articles gave much insight as to how charities are able to host fundraisers and receive the money that is deeply needed. As described by Ben Goss 2005, Charities must be accountable in order form individuals to want to donate. A person willing to give to a charity wants to know that the charity is not a scam. This leads into another topic that was researched regarding whether or not the charity has positive reviews. An individual can go online and research the charity. The search is likely to find reviews by others whom have donated to the charity. As explained in the journal by Miller 2009, networking is the new way to raise money for charity. Networking allows for those giving donations to go on the charities web page to donate, volunteer and see the charity in action. Seeing accomplishments that the charity has completed is important and a means of proof that the charity is an accountable charity. Accountability can also be discovered by the age of the charity. Most charities are may struggle when first starting out. Many making donations are giving large portions of money and

What were the status and the roles of Jews under Islamic Rule Discuss Essay

What were the status and the roles of Jews under Islamic Rule Discuss 3 issues - Essay Example The Nazi forces had committed many atrocities against the Jews. They burnt the papers, which contained many important discoveries of Albert Einstein. The paper presents an overview of Jews under Islamic rule. Muslims used to support other religion generally. Muslims believe Islam is only the religion. Muslims feel that the Jews are wrong in believing theirs is a god’s religion. Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet and messiah whom Christians are worshipping as god. Christians have paid much attention towards Jews in the west, whereas in Muslims countries, the Jews were given less importance but they were wealthy. Christians and Jews are friendly in Europe with good religions atmosphere. Whereas in Muslims countries the Jews were treated as minority amongst other religions which resulted in they did not become intruded in Muslim areas. It’s every country’s responsibility to protect it citizen’s basic human rights. Human rights violation should be considered as a serious offence, legal and appropriate action should be taken against those who violate these rights. Countries like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and most of the other Islamic countries don’t even consider providing and implementing basic human rights. Jews comes under the minority section and have been given less importance. In Islamic countries the important hurdle is the Shariat1 law. This law prevents basic amenities to the minority sections. According to this law women were not equal to men, they should always be under veil, only her members could see her face, men can marry as any times as they want, women should get married only once and many other stringent laws are under implementation. The Israel and Palestinian conflict has taken center stage in the world politics. It also reflects a fight between the Jews and Muslims and those who are in support with both the religions respectively. It is seen as a war between

RFID in the Context of Customer Services Research Paper

RFID in the Context of Customer Services - Research Paper Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that in the modern business world, there is a need for companies and firms to increase the quality of services they provide their customers or quality of goods and products they produce or manufacture. It is very hard for any company or a firm to regain popularity among their lost customers or improve their position in the market. To make a profit very often means to provide customers with better services. At the same time, a chosen marketing strategy of customers’ services improvement should be developed in compliance with the needs of the company; their assets, potential, set goals and many other internal and external factors. Moreover, with regards to a wide-spread nature of technological innovations, companies implement innovative technologies in customer services. In accordance with research conducted by†¦: â€Å"Technology does more than enable the creation of new or improved services. It may also impro ve consistent service standards of the company, and, what is more, important is to involve the customers in operations through self-service technology†. Therefore, the modern business world needs innovations. To keep pace with the globalized world every firm or company should meet new requirements and follow the developments of technologies. In order to appropriately introduce valuable innovative assets, it is relevant to assess their advantages and disadvantages. An individual-centered approach is high on the agenda in the modern business world. A customer is of crucial importance. The more customers the company has, the greater success comes.

Lowe's vs. home depot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lowe's vs. home depot - Essay Example as become easy for the customers to become aware of the product details including its availability at competitive prices which has precipitated the need to develop a whole new perspective for a new marketing technique. Lowe and Home Depot, both deal into the various aspect of home dà ©cor and accessories meeting all their customers’ home improvement requirements. But the major factor that impacts their sales is the subtle differentiation in the segmented market. While Lowe is more focused towards the needs of its women clients with its accessories for finishing touches on the decorating projects, Home Depot, with its wide varieties of ‘do it yourself’ products caters more to men, contractors and serious DIY customers. Home Depot has a better competitive image primarily because it has wider customer base and more branches spread across region than Lowe. In the current environment of recessive trends and highly competitive business compulsions, it has also realized the need to expand its product line to target extended market segmentation. Indeed, today the markets have been designed to cater to the system as a whole rather than exclusively to the customer. The need has risen so as to accommodate the growing demand from the new market segment that has come up with the advent of new technologies. The inter-dependence of the various elements within the system with its inherent capacity to complement each other has helped establish a market that is sustainable as well as mutually satisfying. While the segmentation helps to create a niche in the market. The mixed segmentation is hugely popular in the contemporary times and gives a big leverage to the companies to plan its market strategy in a more flexible manner and successfully introduce their products in a new market. Customer satisfaction through creative inputs and introduction of people-centric policies and plans that would meet the challenges of the changing social patterns and its changing demands, have

Business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business environment - Essay Example Organizational Mission Organizations are formed to pursue diverse aims depending on the values of the founders and the needs of the stakeholders. Hence, certain organizations may be formed to produce goods while others may be formed to provide services. Some organizations may also be formed with the explicit purpose of earning profits for their owners while others may not have the profit motive as their primary aim (Gaspar et al., 2005, p. 40). Charities such as The Asia Foundation and CARE International define the donations they receive as receipts rather than revenues; hence, their surplus is different from profit. Organizations such as the police force or fire department are public-sector organizations as opposed to private-sector organizations. These organizations are not formed with the intent of earning profits; rather, their purpose is to provide an essential service to citizens of the community (Gaspar et al., 2005, p. 40). The fact that they are owned by the state as opposed to private interests increases their credibility to provide essential goods or services without discrimination or bias to all citizens. Business organizations clearly exist to earn profits. At the same time, they address the needs of stakeholders who help them earn those profits. Therefore, their purpose is to identify a target market and develop goods and services to satisfy specific needs of the target segment. Organizations whose business activities extend the national boundaries are called international business organizations. Their purpose is to earn profits through efficiencies in supply chain and logistics while exploring new markets. However they may be described or categorized, organizations are influenced by their purpose or mission which defines the scope of their activities. The Influence of Stakeholders Due to the rapidly globalizing business environment, organizations have adopted a ‘stakeholder approach’ instead of the ‘shareholder approach’ (Hamilton and Webster, 2012, p. 100). The stakeholder approach encourages organizations to address the needs of those segments other than the owners whose interests are affected by the activities of the organization (Hamilton and Webster, 2012, p. 100). The stakeholders include such varied groups as customers, suppliers, competitors, media personnel, government authorities, regulators, the natural environment and the community. The manner in which the organization conducts its activities affects the interests of these segments. As organizations expand to international business, the number of stakeholders and their obligations increases substantially. Addressing the needs and interests of these stakeholders creates social capital and a positive reputation for the organization (Hamilton and Webster, 2012, p. 100). Some scholars argue that it is also economically sensible for organizations to pursue the stakeholder approach. With limited resources, organizations try to meet the needs of different stakeholders. Through its charitable causes, the Bill Gates Foundation established by the Microsoft founder helps the software giant develop a positive reputation marred by concerns about the competitive strategies pursued by the company. Another organization, British Petroleum (BP) regularly invests in green technology to protect the natural environment from pollution and destruction (BP, 2013). Nestle follows the stakeholder approach through its supply chain. The company supports sustainable

Business Model of Amazon Essay Example for Free

Business Model of Amazon Essay Amazon.com is the pioneering bookstore on the Internet that first opened in July 1995 by Jeff Bezos. The firm offers online shopping services and partnership opportunities such as online search for books, music and video items. The products that they sell include an array of audio, video and book titles. Amazon has one of the widest selections and employs international shipping to virtually every corner of the globe in just a few days. Amazon’s focus is having the biggest selection of free-electronic greeting cards, online auction and millions of books, CDs, videos, DVDs, toys and electronics. They have expanded to different areas of the world, such as Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de, to service consumers outside of the United States. They aim to be a Cost leader in which their firm has lower costs than the competitors. They have employed different Amazon branches in different parts of the world to lower costs. This allows Amazon to ship their products at a lower price from each point of shipment to the consumer. In recent years, Amazon.com has expanded from being just an online bookstore to an all around online shopping experience. They have coined the tag line Earth’s biggest selection. Amazon has diversified into different websites. These are the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), LiveBid.com, amazon.livebid.com, drugstore.com (an online retail and information about health and wellness), gear.com (online sporting goods company), homegrocer.com (online grocery shopping and delivery), pets.com (largest pet supply online shopping site), ashford.com (online luxury and premium shopping) and eZiba.com (online retailer of handcrafted products). Five Forces Model for Industry Analysis New Entrants The online bookstore industry that Amazon.com has pioneered in was, at first, very hard to penetrate. There were different barriers such as distributing capabilities and the variety of the selection offered that are supposed to be hurdled. Amazon successfully solved the tricky parameters as being the first one to get into the whole idea of online retail. With being the first, they had the luxury to set what were the norms for the industry. Factors that may lower these barrier tactics would be a wider selection and the  ability to go to an actual bookstore to exchange or return books or other products. This network of actual retail spaces makes it easier for the consumer to return or exchange the products they were not satisfied with. These handicaps of Amazon were the basis for the emergence of book retail giants Barnes and Noble and Borders in the online shopping industry. Industry Competitors The major competitors of Amazon are Barnes and Noble and Borders. Barnes and Noble is a retail giant offering books and CDs both in their outlets all over the country. It opened their online industry in 1997 and has become the fourth largest e-commerce sites today. Focused largely on the sale of books, music, software, magazines, prints, posters, and related products, the company has capitalized on the recognized brand value of the Barnes Noble name to become the second largest, and one of the fastest growing, online distributors of books. Their advantage to Amazon is the brand name and the availability of actual retail outlets in which consumers could go in to exchange or return products easily. They also have an established book selection based in their retail operations. Borders is another multi-media retail store found in major cities around the country. Started out as a small bookshop in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, it has since expanded into one of the finest bookstores. In 1992, Borders was bought by the Kmart group which further flourished the company into a Multi Media Giant with a wide selection of Audio, Video and Books found throughout the United States. The Online Bookstore industry have become a fierce business which involves discounts, varied selections and fast delivery in which all three companies are challenging each other. Buyers The consumers of this industry can be found in every corner of the population. These are mostly people who have had some form of higher education and have access to the Internet and computers. The segment of online shoppers has increased dramatically in recent years due to the convenience of shopping in the comforts of the home and the accessibility of the Internet. These developments have made it easier for consumers to log on and buy on the Internet. Consumers also tend to compare prices among the retail leaders such that buyers are able to buy products with very big  discounts compared to ones bought in actual retail outlets. The bargaining power of the consumer is based on the competitive strategies of each active firm in the industry. Thus, consumers can challenge one firm for charging more than the other one such that the firm will beat the price of the competing firm. Suppliers Amazon’s suppliers range from the publishing and media houses to electronics’ manufacturers. Amazon buys all their books, videos and audio CDs from the multi media houses and publishing giants such as Time Warner, Doubleday etc. Amazon also has alliances with other bookstores to cover orders that they cannot serve. Substitutes The substitutes for Amazon and other online bookstores are the actual book retailers and music stores such as Barnes and Nobles, Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Sam Goody and other small mom-and-pop outlets. With the rise of online retail, there will be little impact from these substitutes. One impact would be some consumers who would like to hold or listen to their purchases prior to buying and those who are into the whole shopping experience. Barnes and Nobles have jumped into online retail and have succeeded into diversifying into the new e-commerce industry. Industrial Organization Model Degree of Competition Due to the shift of focus for Amazon, it has become the Earth’s biggest anything store. Its competitors have expanded from just online book retailers Barnes and Nobles and Borders to top audio retailers CDNOW.com and online auction house EBAY.com. Amazon has an overall lead of 40% market share against the other online retail firms. Their international business has more than doubled over the past 2 years and this growth increased Amazon’s share in the online business market. Life Cycle Amazon, in it’s first years, had negative income but the rise of e-commerce sites and being the pioneer made the succeeding years led to boom time for them. Their growth period was during 1994 to 1995 when they were the first of its kind in the world. They incurred very high costs in terms of  distributions to customers. Still with a negative income, Amazon went public in 1997 and had one of the biggest IPOs of the time. With investors banking on future positive cash flow for this company, Amazon’s market value soared. Many people caught on with the idea of online shopping, thus, Amazon’s success. Amazon’s success as an online retailer prompted bricks-and-mortar rivals Barnes and Noble and Borders to join in. Competition decreased Amazon’s profitability so in the past couple of years, Amazon has expanded to more than books, audio and video to electronics and other retail concepts. Social Relevance Amazon’s products are marketed for every consumer possible. Books, audio, video and electronics are appreciated by majority of the population especially those who have access to the Internet. Amazon is active in pursuing literacy programs for young children by collaborating with the makers of the Dr. Seuss books. They have actively participated in the Dr. Seuss shops, story telling sessions and Dr. Seuss days. Degree of Globalization Amazon’s strength internationally lies within its networks in major ports and cities around the Globe. Amazon first started out in Seattle but as soon as they have established a niche market, they have opened shop all over the nation and in cities such as London, Berlin, The Hague, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and many more. These branches overseas improves their delivery service to a wide consumer base. Extent of Government Control There has not been many government regulations regarding online retailing. A group of CEOs whose firms that are engaged in such practices have formed an organization called Global Business Dialogue. This GBD group supports the development of a seamless global system that delivers the broadest array of goods and services to the largest number of consumers at the most competitive prices. This work effort will: offer recommendations to the WTO, including making the moratorium on online tariffs permanent; and collaborate with governments to target and eliminate discriminations against, or other non-tariff barriers to global trade in, electronic commerce. This working group will also provide an avenue for the GBDs to consider and promote the  growth of the electronic marketplace in an environment unencumbered by detrimental taxation. Degree of Vertical Integration Amazon’s primary value chain includes purchasing/sourcing, marketing, distribution and after-sales services, which includes returns and exchanges from unsatisfied customers. Their main focus is in the purchasing/sourcing and in the distribution of the products to the consumers. Their investments are therefore, geared towards warehouses in key points of high consumer demand areas and an efficient delivery and distributing system to service all its consumers. Thus, Amazon controls most of its distributing system that spans across borders. Inter Organization of Network Economics Amazon in its efforts to sustain its market leadership in the online retailing industry has tied up with various online organizations. Netscape Navigator and Amazon will offer members of Netscape Netcenter a co-branded storefront where Earths Biggest Bookstore will be easily accessed through Netscape Netcenter (home.netscape.com). In addition, Amazon.com has multi-year exclusive and premier bookseller relationships with 5 of the top 6 sites on the World Wide Web: AOL.com, Yahoo!, Netscape, GeoCities, and Excite. These partnerships widen Amazon’s presence in the World Wide Web. Sensitivity to Business Cycles The Online retailing business has a very quick cyclical growth. Amazon being one of the firsts to venture in this type of commerce are all ready in what seems to be in their decline stage where market share is declining. Therefore, Amazon is expanding to different industries within online retailing. Amazon and other online retailing firms are very sensitive to business cycles due to the speed of technology involved in the services they offer. Dynamics of New Knowledge Generation Online retailing relies on the work of an excellent distribution system. Amazon has invested their money into expanding their network of distribution centers around the globe. They also have investments in creating better technology for tracking orders and giving efficient delivery systems for their customers. Amazon.com has remained on top of the online retailing  business despite the entrance of giants such as Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Their success is attributed to two factors; timing and continuing to invest heavily into the inventory and distribution systems. Amazon, by being the first of its kind, has a big lead over the nearest competitors due to their experience and its reputation as the first movers. Their thrust remains on improving efficient delivery systems across borders and to build name recognition as the number one retailing firm in the Internet. They have also ventured into different retail options to keep that lead. Marketing, Innovative inventory and distribution systems, and name recall have helped Amazon build a sustainable competitive advantage. In order for any online retail company to remain prosperous and income generating, they must invest a lot of time and money into research and development of more efficient operations and distributions systems. This proved to be key for the Market Leader in online retailing, Amazon.Com. Mary Grace Velasco,College of Business Administration,Senior, Fordham University,Fall 2000

The Sale Of Burmah Castrol To Bp Amoco Commerce Essay

The Sale Of Burmah Castrol To Bp Amoco Commerce Essay This case study focuses on the detailed analysis of business environment, resources of the organisation, organisational structure and corporate parenting of sale of Burmah Castrol to BP Amoco case. This case study identifies different methodology of why Burmah Castrol sells its plants to BP Amoco. The Burmah Oil Company was founded in 1886 by Scottish entrepreneurs interested in exploiting newly found oil deposits in Burma. Burmah held a major shareholding in BP right through until the early 1970s. Indeed, after a long period operating effectively as an inter- mediate holding company for BP shares, the management of Burmah in the 1960s used the value of the shares as collateral to embark on an ambitious plan to turn Burmah into both a fully integrated oil company and a substantial conglomerate group. This analysis will contain a layout which will examine Burmah Castrol performance and their ultimate consequences through a step by step approach. An introduction has been given on Burmah Castrol sale to BP Amoco, a detailed analysis on performance gap such as goals and objectives, leadership, culture, organisational structure, corporate parenting, business environment of the company. Under each structural reform there in an explanation on what lead Burmah to sell it plants to BP Amoco, what are the characteristics of each structure and what lead to its failure. After the critical analysis of structure I will be mentioning the critical issue at Sony. In order to justify my argument I will be using strategic management models and theories such as, 5 forces model, GAP analysis, 7S matrix, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, corporate parenting, value chain analysis and finally triple loop learning method. A separate segment of this report will target on answering the question is Castrol a growing company, and recommendation that have to be considered by them. After concluding the analysis I will deliver my recommendation for BP and it will be followed by a suggestion suggested for BP Amoco to buy Burmah Castrol. Finally an action plan is developed for what has to be done by the companies where I have concentrated on three main aspects, namely, marketing, structural reforms and cost effectiveness of the company. Critical issues The Burmah Oil Company is a Scottish entrepreneur company founded in 1886 with interested in exploiting newly found oil deposits in Burma. On establishing success was followed by a milestone investment in an exploration concession across a substantial area of Iran acquired from the Shah. Indeed, after a long period operating effectively as an inter- mediate holding company for BP shares, the management of Burmah in the 1960s used the value of the shares as collateral to embark on an ambitious plan to turn Burmah into both a fully integrated oil company and a substantial conglomerate group. The management ay Castrol are with skills in spotting both good managers and sound investment opportunities: the combination would enable all the Groups businesses to prosper and grow. There was sufficient similarity in terms of key factors for success between Castrol and the Chemicals businesses to enable senior management to add value across the portfolio. At late 80s there was an uncertainty, about where the Group was headed over the medium to long run. This has led them to search for moves that might provide such balance. The opportunity arose from Foseco after taking over its management; due to its depressed share price. There were also other issues to sort out in the Chemicals businesses where some were underperforming: work needed to be done to improve their overall operating efficiency. That was a task that was successfully set about and delivered: signi ¬Ã‚ cantly improved ratios were achieved through cost cutting and effective focus. In mid 1990s Burmah Castrol consisted of Castrol, blending and marketing lubricants; and Chemicals with a residual Fuels retailing business effectively the final relic of the past which was in the process of being sold off. The strategic review identi ¬Ã‚ ed an underlying theme of industrial marketing and quality service as the core competences of the successful chemicals businesses. ( Appendix 1) Castrols 75 per cent of its total profit came from passenger car engine oil business, faced the prospect of more efficient engines requiring longer and longer gaps between oil changes; and therefore of potential long-term volume decline. It has many strengths and weakness with is explained in appendix 2. In 1996, they had a difficult in North America after a run of consistently good volume and pro ¬Ã‚ t growth; and simultaneously we started to develop worries about long-run developments in the passenger car engine oil business in Europe. A problem was that some of the areas of business were suffering because of the dominant culture of the passenger car engine oil business. Castrol share price reached  £10 in the early 1990s and hadnt really moved from that level. It moved to  £13 at one point and down to  £7 at another, but these were the extremes of a dull range. Having split out the industrial business from the passenger car engine oil business, it further highlighted, for example, that there might be more similarities between the industrial lubricants business and the foundry chemicals business than there were between. Castrol its brand and marketing culture would represent a great prize to a number of the major oil companies because of economies of scale and the broader coverage of the lubricants market that it would provide. At a point they had some lack of belief internally, lack of belief externally and a possibly time-limited opportunity as a result of oil industry consolidation. In addition, one of their non-executives argued consistently at board meetings that there was indeed a time-limited opportunity to release value to shareholders. Therefore the critical issue is that Castrol should build up a model which is compatible with environmental changes in the shorter and the long run. Critical evaluation In strategic analysis it is important for Castrol to identify the current environment which the oil industry operates. In mid 1990s Burmah Castrol consisted of Castrol, blending and marketing lubricants; and Chemicals with a residual Fuels retailing business effectively the final relic of the past which was in the process of being sold off. The rapid fall in the sales revenue and the profitability of the Castrol due to poor management and severe competitions the management of the Castrol have been planning to restructure its business. They had a major drawback in management as they had some lack of belief internally, lack of belief externally and a possibly time-limited opportunity as a result of oil industry consolidation. Castrol must plan to face the rivalry and threat from other competitors such as BP which is one of the main competitors to Toyota. The bargaining power of the buyers can be reduced if the supplies of Castrol product are low. So Castrol should have strategy to maintain demand since it was the time of recession. The bargaining power of suppliers can be adjusted by having competitive buying from different suppliers of good needed for oil industries. (Refer appendix 3) During the financial year 1995-1999 the Castrol Corporation spent a massive amount to maintain its position in this competitive market spending more than 1000 million euro on restructuring of its strategy. However in 1999 the profit has decline largely comparing to previous year due to high interest payment and long term creditors to the company. The Castrol is facing many political, economical issues and mostly threats from American and Dubai oil industry with create a major uncertainly of Castrol survival in the market. Castrol environment has been analgised using PEST (Refer appendix 4). Castrol is in an uncertainty position to maintain price stability by differentiation of its own from others. Being close to the customers has also allowed them to segment the market effectively. Castrol adopted an organisational structure that was significantly different from a traditional approach to reflect the new business environment in the mid 1997s. Unlike the structure of many modern structure oil companies they have adapted to their traditional approach because of it convenience. The Tim Steven at the companys level holds a position as the CEO of Board of Directors, and the manager was in charge of all other functions at Castrol. All functional heads at Castrol also hold the position of party secretary at that function. These, to a great degree, facilitate the coordination between the CEO and management at Castrol, particularly at the functional level. (Refer appendix 5) Competitor analysis The oil industry is boiling over with changes. Deregulation, new opportunities in foreign fields and markets and environmental challenges are rushing together head-on to shape the energy and utilities business of the future. Castrol is facing threats from many foreign competitors producing vehicle oil. And whilst they have been very successful in developing world position, particularly in Asia Paci ¬Ã‚ c, that was unlikely to offer sufficient to offset the difficulties that might be going to encounter over a  ¬Ã‚ ve-year run absent of action in the bigger developed markets in Europe and North America. This had let to re-think what may happen to their passenger engine oil business and how competitor may take advantage over this situation. Further the Castrol group must increase its quality control procedure to avoid competitors defects in the production stage to avoid losses and meet competition effectively. Managing change The alternative which management developed, in considerable detail, involved is breaking the Group up. This acknowledged market skepticism about the coherence of the portfolio. Although the need for radical restructuring was accepted, an issue which management did not fully resolve at this point in the process concerned how the slicing should be carried out. The restructuring would not give the expected results unless the employees are satisfied with the changes. So Castrol should take measures to create confidence in the minds of the employee with regarding to changes. The employee participation in changes will make them success. In other word it should reduce resistance and increase cooperation within organisation. The management should increase two way communications from the top to bottom level of the hierarchy in order to implement the strategic changes successfully. Value chain analysis (Appendix6), balance score card (Appendix7) and cultural webs (Appendix8) are given in the Appendixes, which could be integrated in to Castrol organisation system to yield better results. Financial performance of Castrol The financial performance at Castrol during 1999 was very poor; either a lost or just break-even. This was attributed to several factors: high financial costs, low -margin product lines, poor sales, high interest rates and high procurement costs. (Gerry, n.d) Conclusion The case study evaluated by this report concentrates on different restructuring strategy and structure processors under taken by Castrol during the period of 1995-1999. In this analysis I have taken each structure one by one and commented on factors which led Castrol to do each restructuring process, characteristics of each structure and elements which led each structure to its failure. I have the identified the critical issue that are faced by Castrol as the lack of focus into future in making organizational structures for the corporation. In order to evaluate this case from a strategic management perspective I have used different models such as 5 forces model, 7S matrix, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and Cultural web. Introduction has been given to each model applied and how it can be related to Castrol Company. Future Castrol is also looking towards further development of the engine oil business, possibly restructuring its strategy or by joint venture to survive in the competitor edge. Therefore I concluded that the success of most of the businesses was based on competences to do with high levels of service rooted in localized knowledge of how their product applications could meet customer need. Success was not so much based on the technical aspect of product as on industrial marketing and service on a local basis. An important exception to this pattern was that part of the passenger car lubricants business which involved sale of product through retail channels. After critically examining the company I will be giving my recommendation for Castrol and a proposed action plan for the required period. Recommendation The success of these businesses was much more to do with understanding customer needs than the production of oil. Therefore moving into much greater focus on devolution of responsibility to the market-facing business units is recommended. And Castrol was using the old approach which was not going to enable them to continue to grow the business at the previous rate of strategic plan. So its recommended for Castrol to develop a new strategy for their business in order to compete in this environmental market. They should also look at the other business such as the industrial lubricants business, the marine lubricants business and the commercial lubricants business which can be the key factor to survive in the market. Since their internal structure for managing the global Castrol lubricants business was no longer appropriate they have to re-structure the organisational structure if they want to optimize their position in each of the four markets. To reach that to optimize performance over the whole business, and to achieve economies of scale, they have to move away from a geographic structure to one focusing on each of the four areas of Castrol as global businesses in their own right. The old structure had been immensely successful. It had enabled a very strong ethic of customer focus and a strong esprit de corps. So its recommended to fellow as overall it benefiting the company. As an executive team they have to explore what opportunities there were for us to play a part in the process of consolidation. It concluded that the success of most of the businesses was based on competences to do with high levels of service rooted in localized knowledge of how their product applications could meet customer need. Similar to the earlier exercise on the Chemicals businesses, the conclusion was that success was not so much based on the technical aspect of product as on industrial marketing and service on a local basis. An important exception to this pattern was that part of the passenger car lubricants business which involved sale of product through retail channels. Justification Castrol is well recognized engine oil manufacture in the world have established in worldwide counties. Since there was a management deficiencies, the performance of the Castrol have reduced. Therefore practicing traditional approach as it helps the Castrol it is recommended to above so in case of problem in future the company can adopt old strategy to sustain its position in the market. As recommended above, moving into much greater focus on devolution of responsibility to the market-facing business units as the success of these businesses was much more to do with understanding customer needs than the production of oil. And Castrol was using the old approach which was not going to enable them to continue to grow the business at the previous rate of strategic plan. So it has been recommended for Castrol to develop a new strategy for their business in order to compete in this environmental market. By having tight relationship with customer can help Castrol to perform effective and efficiently by segment its product according to the need of the customers. And also having a well defined marketing strategy would increase the market share and the revenue of the company. Thus Castrol should make a long range plan to satisfy the needs of the two segments through increased product plan, research and development. References Hubbard, G. Rice, J. Beamish, P. (2005). Strategic management thinking analysis action. (3rd ed) .Pearson education Australia Johnson, Gerry (n.d). The sale of Burmah Castrol to BP Amoco.Exploring Corporate Strategy Kotelnikov, Vadim (Shared Values).[ n.d] retrived January 18, 2010 from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/shared_values.html. Plunkett (Business Information) [December 01, 2008]. retrived on January 22, 2010 from http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/Plunkett_Research-Energy_Industry_Market_Research_and_Competitive_Analysis_2009_from_Plunkett_Research-2082-13. Viljoen, J. Dann, S. (2003). Strategic management (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Pearson Education Pty Ltd. Appendixes APPENDIX 1 MC KINSEYS 7SMATRIX http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_theories/img/mckinsey_7s.jpg Strategy The strategy of the Castrol Corporation was to continue to develop as a very successful global business with an increasingly powerful brand, motivate functional managers to take part in corporate decisions making in order to improve performance and to meet competition efficiently. It is through this vision the whole organization should perform and it takes the leading role in getting other elements of the 7S matrix to follow in order to achieve those targets. Structure The structure of Castrol company had been a geographically based model, with four regional directors, the line managers responsible for over 50 country managers who ran their country businesses, very successfully hitherto, like individual freedoms. Traditional flat structure, where there were two way communications between the top management and the functional management. However by restructuring each department was converted into autonomous cellular structure where the C.E.O of each company was responsible for his own company. Systems Systems can be regarded as day today ongoing processors of the any company, thus these can vary from Human Resource procedures, accounting procedures, production lines, documentation etc. Castrol should try their best to make their systems more effective through innovations and management layouts. Style Castrol company had a straight span of management with most of the decision was made at the top level of management since it was vested with CEO of that company. This represented a autocratic style of leadership but under the restructuring Castrol can change its decision making style which was previously was under CEO and staffs can be encourage to make decision in critical situations. Staff Organizations are made up of humans and its the people who make the real difference to the success of the organization in the increasingly dynamic knowledge-based environments. The importance of human resources has thus got the central position in the strategy of the organization. This involves the methods how businesses develop employees to shape up value to improve performance. The two way feedback introduced after the restructured programmes improved the communication between the top management and the subordinate staff. Shared Values Shared values are what engender trust and link an organization together. Shared values are also the identity by which an organization is known throughout its business areas. These values must be stated as both corporate objectives and individual values.   (Vadim Kotelnikov, nd) All the employees of the Castrol should be encouraged to take the in the strategic implementation process. Skills Skills of staff member are not sufficient for Castrol since they had lack of trust internally with hindered the company performance. But after that restructuring and reconsidering strategy the company can improve its performance since present year profit have declined comparing to previous year profit.. This can be solved by training and educational programmes for the staff paradigm of operation, recruitments of young, dynamic, innovative technical staff to infuse organisational culture. Appendix 2 SWOT Analysis Strengths The Burmah Oil Company was founded in 1886 by Scottish entrepreneurs. Operates petrochemical businesses worldwide through the network of its subsidiaries and retail brands The passenger car engine oil business, which represented 75 per cent of total profits faced the prospect of more efficient engines oil suppliersCastrol strong brand loyalty for oil Very successful developing world position, particularly in Asia Paci ¬Ã‚ c. Weaknesses Castrol had some lack of belief internally, lack of belief externally and a possibly time-limited opportunity as a result of oil industry consolidation. Some of the areas of business were suffering because of the dominant culture of the passenger car engine oil business. Reduce in share price of Castrol Opportunities The strategic review identi ¬Ã‚ ed an underlying theme of industrial marketing and quality service as the core competences of the successful chemicals businesses. Extension of strategic oil and gas acquisitions in North Sea area; Launch of more flexible price policy to compete main rivals.   Threats Environmentally unsound policies due to oil and toxic spills; Possibilities for rendering the Chemicals portfolio as a whole more substantial and therefore more able to sit comfortably alongside Castrol Ceasing operations in a number of potential locations   with their further re-branding (Conoco); Sale of corporate-owned stations; Share price was sliced down to  £7 which was the extremes of a dull range. Since the passenger car engine oil business, which represented 75 per cent of total pro ¬Ã‚ ts, faced the prospect of more efficient engines requiring longer and longer gaps between oil changes; and therefore of potential long-term volume decline. Further lawsuits considering the companys ecological activities. Appendix 3 Industrial Environment analysis of Castrol by using Porters Five Forces model The strongest competitive force or forces determine the profitability of an industry and become the most important to strategy formulation (Porter .M,2008). Analysis by Porters five forces can be said that threat of new entrants is low due to huge capital and cutting-edge technology. Suppliers are weak because they are spread all over the world and cannot easily forward integrate. Buyers are weak due to low demand for non-consumer goods and high switching costs; moreover, buyers are not able to backward integrate. Substitutes are moderately strong due to different and less-expensive transportation facilities. On the other hand, intensity of rivalry is strong because of major players are dominant in the market by nearly same technology and manufacturing processes, suppliers relationship and distribution systems. Treat from New entrance Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining Power of Suppliers Revelry among Competitors Treat from Substitutes Threat of New Entrants- The expansion of foreign competitors began to decrease the market of car companies. As the world is experiencing economic downturn there is a great opportunity for the low cost customers to enter into the market. The conference of customers towards the brand is the only barrier to entry the market. Power of Suppliers A lot of suppliers depend on a certain oil companies to buy a majority of their products. If Castrol decided to change suppliers it could be the end of the suppliers business. Consequently, suppliers have little power.  Castrol should have a tightly bound network of suppliers, and partly to hedge against the loss of key suppliers. Threat from substitutes- There are oil companies such as BP, Shell, reliance etc which are the major competitor in the oil business market. Switching cost, change in buyers preferences and qualities of supply all create threat to Castrol Company. Power of buyers Castrol bargaining power of buyers, is quiet weak for Castrol and the entire automobile industry with a large number of alternative suppliers, hence, the aggressive pricing strategy. The five forces analysis gives an improved understanding of the degree of competition within the business environment. The analysis shows that the automotive industry is highly competitive, with buyers possessing and exerting a very powerful influence to the large number of substitute brands available to them. Appendix 4 PEST Analysis POLITICAL World energy markets are becoming more volatile due to the threat of geopolitical instability. Greater climate destabilisations from CO2 emissions are leading governments to encourage more sustainable forms of energy. World energy markets are becoming more volatile due to the growing oil requirements of a buoyant Chinese economy, creating tension between nations   Ã‚  ECONOMIC Economy is underpinned by its energy Energy markets will see demand increasing by almost 60 percent, with fossil fuels meeting most of this, and nuclear and renewable energy markets having limited relative contribution Alternative energy sources as a percentage of total energy supply are increasing and are expected to continue to do so. SOCIAL Kyoto Agreement, signed in 1992, has led to carbon funds (World Bank,) and emission trading in Europe and around the world, which is becoming a legal requirement. Peoples worldview is starting to change to a concern over the sustainability of the future, although this is not expected to change dramatically to justify widespread changes to energy use for some time.   TECHNOLOGY The International Energy Agency states that alternative energy markets will be underpinned by technological breakthroughs. Research shows technology is the key to competitiveness in the alternative energy industry; whilst alternative energy technologies are underpinned by 48 critical success factors across technological, commercial, socio-political and organisational categories. Appendix 5 Organisational structure Castrol adopted an organisational structure that was significantly different from a traditional approach to reflect the new business environment in the mid 1997s. Unlike the structure of many modern structure oil companies they have adapted to their tradional approach because of it convenience. The Tim Steven at the companys level holds a position as the CEO of Board of Directors, and the manager was in charge of all other functions at Castrol. All functional heads at Castrol also hold the position of party secretary at that function. These, to a great degree, facilitate the coordination between the CEO and management at Castrol, particularly at the functional level. The organisational structure that created for Castrol is shown in this figure, CEO Vice President (Production) Vice President (Technology) Vice President (Equipment) oil making oil rolling Production office Technology Automation Quality inspection Equipment Maintenance Planning Accounting Materials Supply Personnel Chairman Board of directors 50 country managers Line manager Regional director Regional director sident Regional director Regional director Appendix 6 Value Chain analysis Firm Infrastructure (Administration, Salaries and Wages, Assets of BMW, After sale services) Technology Development (New models, Development of new technological programs) Human Resource Management ( Recruitment and selection of qualified engineers and general managers, continuous training and development/ supervision) Procurement (Increase output of new models such as mini and Road rover) Inbound Logistic Getting contact with new supplier for back up and production of new models to attract different groups of customers Operation Carrying out activities such as acquiring technology and employing skill workers Outbound Logistic consumer loyalty created by quality Marketing and Sales Marketing is done by providing a Effective branding and establishes emotional contacts to the customers of Toyota Appendix 7 Balance score card of Castrol FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE How should we appear to our shareholders? Vision and strategy LEARNING AND GROWTH PERPECTIVE: To achieve our vision how should we sustain our ability to challenge improve? CUSTOMER FOCUS: How should we appear to our customers? OPERATINGPERFORMANCE: What business processes must we excel at? The balanced scorecard is a performance measurement and management tool which is gaining in popularity and which is particularly useful for the implementation and assessment of strategy. The balanced scorecard is a comprehensive framework that translates an organizations vision into a coherent set of strategic initiatives and performance measures. Financial perspective Burmah Castrol is in fact very much more than one homogenous business and indeed the Castrol Lubes business extends across a number of segments, each quite different in nature. Each business group is run independently from the others in Burmah Castrol and we have a strong tradition of local operating unit autonomy. Indeed, it is fair to say that we never operate as a centralized business and the size of our operating units runs right across the spectrum from the very small to the very large, as this chart of annual turnover illustrates. It have got 109 units, with an annual turnover of less than  £5m and then move down the scale; 26 less than  £10m; 20 at less than  £15m; etc. And then go right up the scale and there is what we would see as mega units: 1 at  £100m; 1 in the  £200m range; and 2 in the  £300m range. Customer perspective Castrol Consumer is world leader in the supply of car and motorcycle lubricants and services, marketing to workshops and retail chains, auto accessory stores and petrol stations. Principal products are engine oils, e.g. GTX, transmission  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uids and brake  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uids. To establish in todays market its vital for every company to establish a strong relationship between customer and the company. Complete customer satisfaction is what is needed to achieve this relationship. Castrol should build a strong relationship that reflects their values as individuals and members of the society. And they always try to build relationships with customers based on mutual trust and loyalty. Internal business process perspective Castrol Commercial provides products and services principally to on and off-road vehicle  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡eets. Off-road business includes vehi