STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION - Essay Example Changing attitude of the companies to global gives relevance to strategic planning and implementation. An organizations strategic goal helps in directing the resources towards it. But strategic plan alone does not result in a successful implementation of the strategy. It depends upon the overall environment of the business i.e. its size, culture, market pressures etc. Studies show that strategic management led to increased performance of an organization in terms of its profit, market share etc. Strategic management decisions taken at all levels of management helps to evaluate and measure the benefits derived. It also helps in the creation of problem prevention culture in the organization. Strategic management offers a number of benefits to the organization practicing it. People could realize the importance of their working and what are expected from them. Better delegation, coordination, monitoring, performance evaluation and control. Strength and weakness of the firm could be identified. The word strategy has different meaning in different parlance. In business, there is no definite meaning and it is often used to mean a number of things. Alfred D Chandler had defined strategy as â€Å"the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of the courses of action and allocation of resources necessary to carry out these goals.†(Page no.26, Second Edition, Business Policy and Strategic Management, Azhar Khazmi). William F Gluek, a well known in the strategic management area has defined strategy as " a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan designed to assure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved" (page no. 27, Business Policy and Strategic Management, Azhar Khazmi, Second Edition).   Unified refers that the strategic plan joins all levels of an organization, comprehensive refers all aspects

Control Mechanisms in Management Essay Example for Free

Control Mechanisms in Management Essay The four control standards the team chose to explore in regard to McDonald’s are performance, performance vs. standards, corrective action, and reinforce successes. The team will compare and contrast these control mechanisms, and determine the effectiveness of each. The team will also examine the positive and negative reactions to the use of these controls. Performance Standards â€Å"A standard is an expected performance for a given goal or target that establishes a desired performance level, motivates performance, and serves as a benchmark against which actual performance is assessed† (Bateman, 2009, p. 576). Performance standards relate directly to the success of the company. McDonald’s has set standards for customer service, and customer satisfaction. The standards are communicated to the employees by the store manager and training manager. Management sets attainable goals to motivate employee performance; he or she communicates these goals clearly, and revaluates these goals. Evaluating Performance Companies should evaluate the performance of employees and management to ensure the goals of the company are achieved. In the past McDonald’s evaluated their own-operators on a regular basis until the mid-1990s. McDonald’s discontinued evaluation that resulted in lower customer satisfaction. McDonald’s reinstated performance evaluations in 2001 to improve customer satisfaction. Today regional managers inspect and evaluate franchises on a regular basis. Forms with standard operation procedures enhance the evaluation process, and this information is input in McDonald’s database for further review. Today’s managers can input the evaluation from his or her company PDA. Performance vs. Standards â€Å"The managerial principle of exception states, which control is enhanced by concentrating on the exceptions to, or significant deviation from, the expected result or standard (Bateman, 2009, p. 578). Companies compare the performance of employees by evaluating how well the employee followed the standards or guidelines set by the company. Corrective Action and Reinforce Successes During the work process errors happen and managers should address these problems with his or her employees. Errors happen but managers also see the success of employees meeting or exceeding company goals. Companies should reward employees who meet or exceed the goals of the company. Compare and Contrast McDonald’s main goal is to develop sustainability. The leaders of McDonald’s have set standards of financial growth, customer service, product quality and safety, and corporate responsibility and conduct to achieve this main goal. Considering McDonald’s dominance in the fast-food industry, it is safe to say they have been successful at achieving their performance standards. McDonald’s has been a success because management takes immense care in measuring their performance, comparing their performance to their standards, and taking corrective action to get their performance on the right track. Management analyzes many reports to measure the company’s performance, such as customer satisfaction surveys, the annual report and corporate responsibility report, and performance audits. Management also observes their operation to measure performance. From analyzing these performance reports and audits, management can compare performance to their standards, past performance, and goals. For instance, the six-year summary in the 2011 Annual Report shows McDonald’s earned nearly three billion dollars in total revenue growth between 2010 and 2011 (McDonald’s, 2011). By comparing performance, management can identify deviations from their standards and goals and make corrections. Initiatives such as Employee Value Proposition, Leadership Development Framework and healthier menu items are examples of corrective action taken to improve performance (McDonald’s, 2009, pgs. 6 -7). McDonald’s management can execute these four performance controls successfully by having the drive to improve, building a culture of values, and constantly working toward sustainability (McDonald’s, 2009, pg. 5). McDonald’s worldwide success for many decades adds credence to management’s effectiveness in executing all four performance controls. Determine Effectiveness The four control standards the team chose to explore in regard to McDonald’s work well together, as is evident by the success of the company. The fast-food industry is hard to be successful in unless the company has the right combination of plans and controls. McDonald’s is a leader in this field because the company uses just the right amount of each. The McDonald’s control standards do not act well together unless there are people who make the standards work together. There have been times when some of the control standards have been in need of further guidance. During such times corporate management has had to change some of the ways the controls work. This is to ensure McDonald’s operates to the best of its abilities for effectiveness. Examine Positive and Negative Reactions From examining McDonald’s awards and recognition, it appears McDonald’s has received a very positive reaction to how they use these controls. Such awards include Fortune Magazine’s 2012 number 11 â€Å"Most Admired Company in the World,† Forbes Magazine 2010 â€Å"Most Admired Companies,† 2010 â€Å"Corporate Award† from the Executive Leadership Council (McDonald’s, 2012). Internally, McDonald’s has received positive reaction or at least buy-in, considering their performance and employer awards, to their performance controls, more than likely from their efforts in taking care of their people. McDonald’s has implemented leadership development and employee value proposition programs, and diversity and inclusion and social responsibility initiatives that have promoted employee satisfaction and trust in the company (McDonald’s, 2012). Also their business relationship model between their employees, suppliers, and owner/operators has developed strong communication throughout its operation. Although McDonald’s has been widely successful, they have also failed from time to time. In 2001, University of Michigan rated McDonald’s as one of the poorest-performing retailers from a year-long customer satisfaction study (Zuber, 2001, P. 1). More recently, ConsumerAffairs.com holds hundreds of consumer complaints of McDonald’s service, showing that even a successful giant like McDonald’s still has room for improvement. Controls Affect on Functions The four control standards the team chose to explore are performance, performance vs. standards, and corrective action, and reinforce successes. These controls affect the four functions of management in numerous ways. Pakhare (2011), Effective and efficient management leads to success, which is the attainment of objectives and goals, that an organization sets for itself. Of course, for achieving the ultimate goal, management needs to work creatively in problem solving and execute all the four functions† (Para. 1-12). Since we have a basic understanding of these functions we can see clearly how they are in direct relationship to the control standards we have chosen. With each control standard we see how they closely work with each function. This particular formula is commonplace in many organizations on a global level. The analysis shows that McDonald’s has a good plan of control mechanisms in place, and good functions of management to support the corporation. This has been a key factor of the corporation’s long success in a business where many do not last long. The company has many beneficial areas to back up why they are one of the world’s favorite places to eat and probably will continue to be as successful for many years to come. References McDonalds. (2011). 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/Investors/Investors%202012/2011%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf McDonalds. (2012). Awards and Recognition. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/awards_and_recognition.html McDonalds. (2012). Our Company. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_system.html McDonalds. (2009). Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Online Report: The values we bring to the table. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.at/presse/maps/McDCSR.pdf Pakhare, J. (2011). Management Concepts The Four Functions of Management. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management.html Zuber, A. (2001). McD restructures to beef up performance. Retrieved from

Always Wanting More: Imperialism and Expansionism Essay -- American H

Going to the local grocery store while hungry is always on the list of things not to do. Why? Because while walking up and down the aisles, hunger decides to strike and more grocery items are added to the shopping cart. Another not to do idea for grocery shopping is taking little kids along for the trip. Why not for this one? Because the little kids will want even more in the cart than the hunger attack would. The 19th and 20th century United States of America was the little kids and the hunger attack in the scenario given above. America wanted more. They wanted more land, more power, more international influence, and more control. After being under the hands of Britain for majority of the 18th century, America was ready to explode and make a name for their self, and by their self. With this, no one was going to get in the way until America had made a name for itself. The plan may not have gone as smoothly as the political figures would have liked, but their plan must have worked. Since America is known for having the most resources and being one of the greatest problem solvers in the world , the game plan of making a name worked successfully. Expansion begins within oneself. America was not completely foolish and began trying to exhort their authority in matters where they did not belong when it was still just an eastern coast country. No, instead Americans and their political authorities had the brilliant idea of Manifest Destiny. The United States did not try to expand in any international way; instead they followed the baby steps method. Manifest Destiny was the beginning to expansion that will probably never end. With this, America expanded physically as well as mentally. The Manifest Destiny idea gave Americans the moti... ...hens, GA, September 26, 2011. Farber, David. Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First Encounter With Radical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. Logli, Michael. "Greencastle Banner-Graphic: Local News: Lee Hamilton talks about American influence in the world (3/16/11)." Banner Graphic. March 16, 2011. http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/1710813.html (accessed November 22, 2011). Platt Amendment. CourseReader. Detroit: Gale, 2010. "President Dwight D. Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory." Public Papers of the Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1958. 381-90. CourseReader. Detroit: Gale, 2010. University of Houston. "Westward Expansion: Manifest Destiny." Digital History. 2006. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=311 (accessed November 22, 2011).

Frankenstein :: essays research papers

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein opens with Robert Walton’s ship surrounded in ice, and Robert Walton watching, along with his crew, as a huge, malformed "traveller" on a dog sled vanished across the ice. The next morning, the fog lifted and the ice separated and they found a man, that was almost frozen lying on a slab of floating ice. By giving him hot soup and rubbing his body with brandy, the crew restored him to his health. A few days later he was able to speak and the stranger, Victor Frankenstein, seemed distressed to learn that a sled had been sighted prior to his rescue from the ice. Then he began to tell his story. Frankenstein said that he had been an only child and during a expedition with his parents, his mother found a peasant and his wife with five hungry babies. The peasant’s children were dark-skinned, except for one little girl. Frankenstein’s mother decided to adopt the little girl. Victor and his adopted sister, Elizabeth, came to love one another, even though they were very different in temperament and nature. Elizabeth "busied herself with following the aerial creations of poets," while Frankenstein preferred scientific knowledge "it was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn ... the physical secrets of the world." After the death of his mother when he was seventeen, Frankenstein departed for the University of Inglostadt. Frankenstein grew intensely interested in the phenomena of the human body and he explored the processes of death and decay, and became infatuated with the idea of creating human life itself. After several days and nights of laboring, he â€Å"succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter." Frankenstein set out to create a superior living being, hoping to eventually discover a formula for eternal life. In his research Frankenstein determinedly collected human remains from charnel-houses and cemeteries. Then, "on a dreary night of November ... I beheld the accomplishment of my toils": an eight-foot monster. Applying electricity to the "lifeless matter" before him, Frankenstein saw "the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and convulsive motion agitated its limbs." And at the result of his creation coming to life, Frankenstein was appalled. "Breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." He thought that he had created a freak. Exhausted, Frankenstein fell into a deep sleep, seeking a "few moments of forgetful ness.

Nature and Man

Charles Baudelaire is a controversial French poet during the 1840’s. Choosing not to take up law, he was sent him to a trip to India during which he discovered his passion for poetry. Later on he was part of the 1900’s movement, the Symbolist, whose goal was to show the world different perspectives or the â€Å"hidden meanings† of objects. Scandalizing the masses his book The Flowers of Evil, which contained Correspondences, was condemned by the public. In Correspondence, Charles Baudelaire uses metaphors to connect the nature and the senses of a person. This is evident through out the poem.Temples according to Merriam-Webster is a building for religious practice. Therefore temples are sacred and in the very first line of the poem, â€Å"Nature is a temple in which living pillars†, Baudelaire uses metaphor to connect sacredness and nature. Naturally, nature has trees and temples have pillars, which hold the structure. Again, he uses metaphor to make nature ’s trees the living pillars of the temple in this instance are nature. In the next line, one will see how a sacred place like this can be a safe haven to its people. Whenever a person of a certain religion is at lost, he seeks refuge in his respective religion.Now, nature as a temple can be a place where it can â€Å"give voice to confused words†. The third line is connected to the first one. Baudelaire uses the verbs â€Å"is† in the first line and â€Å"passes† in the third line. So while nature is a temple, man passes through it. It gives the impression that while man is changing, nature is constant. Also, all things sacred are kept secured thus the poet’s use of the term â€Å"forests of symbols†. He shows the need of nature to be kept sealed, as it is sacred. And though the man passing through is confused, the sacredness in which he is engulfed in â€Å"look at him with understanding eyes†.In the next stanza, Baudelaire uses the technique alliteration. Though it is not evident in the translation made by William Aggeler, it can be heard in the video of the original French version of the poem being read by Gilles-Claude Theriault. At the first line he talks about prolonged echoes and in the next 2 lines the words Baudelaire used words, which sort of sounded alike. It was like he was using the words to represent the prolonged echoes he was talking about. Then the last line of this stanza talks about how â€Å"perfumes, sounds and colors correspond†.Baudelaire will further discuss the similarities of these 3 in the next stanza. In the third stanza, synesthetic metaphors were used heavily. The sense of touch of the flesh of children, taste of oboes and sight of a color of meadows were all used as comparative devices for perfume, which is normally, uses the sense of smell for its description. The 5 senses are a major part of the poem and it’s most obvious in this stanza. Even the poem ends with the word senses. The third line of the third stanza he now uses contradicting moralities to attribute to the other kinds of perfume he didn’t describe in the previous lines.In the last stanza, Baudelaire talks about the power of perfume to spread. Looking at this in the perspective of nature, it can be said that perfume represents everything around us. As perfume is a liquid that requires the sense of smell, it is potent enough to be able to disperse in the air of nature. Also, since perfume is dispersed in the air, it is in a way inescapable because the scent will follow you. If another scent comes along, it will either mix, or over power the other one. He says it is â€Å"like amber and incense. Musk, benzoin† all of which are ingredients used in the process of making perfume.And while a perfume has the â€Å"power to expand into infinity†, it â€Å"sings the ecstasy of soul and senses†. The personification in the last line of perfume is used because he rei terates the point he made in the stanza before this, how perfume does not only touch the sense of smell, but all the senses. Baudelaire uses metaphors to connect nature and the 5 senses to wonderfully weave a tapestry depicting the relationship society of man and the aspects of this society. He shows the beautiful interconnection of man and nature despite the traces of imperfections surrounding it.

senior reflection Essay

senior reflection Essay senior reflection Essay SENIOR REFLECTION The learner profile that I believe well describes me is open-mined. I choose this learner profile because I understand and appreciate my own culture or other and personal history, and I am open to the perspective, value and traditions of other individuals and communities. There are a lot of different people from other countries like me in class, and school. I respect them from what they are, their culture. The learner profile that I believe I have grown the most over the past is communicators. As a student who just move last year from another country to United Stated. There are a lot of different things. For me, the first problem is communicated with people. At the beginning, I was able to talk with my teachers and classmates. The thing is I can understand what people say, but I am not able to reply back. After a lot of practice, and especially practice by communicating with people, and friends, I was getting better and better. I had learned a lot since I came here. I had more experi ence through life and I had more knowledge in school. Here are some evidences. There varied experience over years be a Seahawk, it shaped me into what I am today. I learned a lot of things past couple years. Summer 2011, when I was in Vietnam, I helped my church to take care of the kids. It was called Bible Camp. Different experience that I’ve been through, I showed my responsibility take care of them. I taught them drawing, and make DIY stuff. I used inquires because I enjoyed what I was learning that summer. It helped me feel confidence to talk to the kids, which I usually didn’t. I used thinker because kids are always hyper and they don’t want to listen, so I tried to find a way that make them follow, and happy with it. I was really enjoyed this experience. The kids were cute and amazing. It was a great experience I had ever had so far! Last year, when I was in 11th grade, I had an art project. Art is my favorite subject. The project was about drawing your subject and leaved it blank then decorates the outside subject. I had to organize. I made it clean. I was open-minded to create the project, think of creatively, and different patterns. I used risk takers. I explored new idea that I can make a pattern more when it close and less when it far. I had to be really carefully because the project has to use pen to draw. If I draw wrong, there was no way I could fix it. I used my imagination to picture the project on my mind. This year, 2012-2013, I had to take Chemistry class. Chemistry is the class that

French Prepositions with Geographical Names

French Prepositions with Geographical Names Deciding which French  preposition  to use with countries, cities, and other  geographical names  can be somewhat confusing, at least until now! This lesson will explain which prepositions to use and why. Gendered Nouns Like all French  nouns, geographical names like countries, states, and provinces have a  gender. Knowing the gender of each geographical name is the first step in determining which preposition to use. As a general guideline, geographical names which end in  e  are  feminine, while those that end in any other letter are masculine. There are, of course, exceptions which simply have to be memorized. See the individual lessons for explanations of the gender of each geographical name. Examples In English, we use three different prepositions with geographical names, depending on what we are trying to say. Je vais  en  FranceIm going  to  FranceJe suis  en  FranceIm  in  FranceJe suis  de  FranceIm  from  France However, in French numbers 1 and 2 take the  same  preposition. Whether you are going  to France or you are  in  France, the same preposition is used. Thus in French there are only two prepositions to choose from for each type of geographical name. The difficulty lies in knowing which preposition to use for a city vs a state vs a country.