Importance of Strategic Planning Essay

The small business I would like to start would be a candy store. This paper will define strategic management, planning and explain why a strategic plan is important to the success of this business, and explain the four functions of management relative to creating and implementing a strategic plan. Strategic Management is the groundwork for a company’s vision and allows a company to be ready to capitalize on opportunities. Strategic management is a process of evaluating a company’s mission, establishing the company’s design, developing the company’s organization and relationships, and guiding the company’s plan to execution to ensure that the management is consistent with the company’s strategy. Strategic management also enhances or protects the company’s interests and defines the way a company wants to expand or focus. Strategic management if often overlooked and should be the first step in defining a company’s core values, mission, and product focus (Fazzini, 2008). Strategic planning is so important to the success of my business. Its size is what makes strategic planning so important because it means growth from small to a thriving international corporation. This is basically a growth plan. Meaning where wells it be 3 years from now or 5 years or 7 years from now. First he or she must focus on gathering data about the internal and external environment of their company. He or she must also consider outside socio-cultural factors and inside factors, including management style and workforce (Strategic Planning, 2007). One of the most important factors is having goals for your company. Make sure your goals are attainable and reasonable; follow the SMART rule – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. By following this rule, it makes goals attainable. By being the owner, I have the yeah or nay when it comes to decisions. However, in order to have a successful business, your employees should have a say in some decision-making. This ensures that the company works together to obtain set goals. Finally devise an action plan. List possible and specific courses of action then choose what all you deem as most suitable. Define a schedule for everything but also give leeway for unexpected delays. During this time also set a budget. PlanningPlanning is a function where managers work together with others in the organization towards a common goal. Whether the goal is to increase profits or retaining employees is not the point. Working together and coming up with a plan to achieve that goal is. To be competitive in a local or global economy you need to begin by coming up with goals and create a plan on how to achieve them. Sometimes change is needed in leadership. Goals may need to be changed and updated from time to time. The planning stage will help in laying out these goals and the steps the organization will need to follow. OrganizingOrganizing an organization’s resources is the next step toward success for any management team. What can a business offer to attract employees, how can they acquire the financing they need, or what are the proper materials needed to get the project off the ground? These are but a few of the questions that need to be answered during the organizing phase. All the resources need to be organized so they can be used to the companies highest potential. If a company has strong financial backing but fails to offer incentives to retain their employees will fail in the end. The employees are who keep a company running. It is such a waste to spend the time and money to train an employee, then turn around, and offer nothing else but a pay check. Employee benefits and regular training are a few beginning incentives to keep employees interested in staying with your company. If the employees are not happy they will eventually go somewhere else and the company will have to spend more money to hire and train more employees to replace the ones that left. LeadingLeading people towards doing their best is a skill greatly needed in management positions. Helping coworkers to achieve the goals and programs of the company through two-way communication can help employees feel like their contributions have meaning and will be considered. Management that leads the  employees to contribute will have a better chance of success than a company that â€Å"tells† and expects the employees to blindly â€Å"follow.† The employees see the daily function of the organization. Many times he or she sees what does and does not work before management does. Management needs to take this information and use it to lead the company. ControllingEven with planning, organizing, and leading, you still need to exert some control to keep things on track. Managers need to know what it going on in the organization and be able to make changes when needed. A manager can also exert too much control over a situation by not helping the employees to think and work through a problem that may have arisen. A company that encourages its people to think is a company that will be able to succeed in the long run. As important as planning, organization, leadership and control are in a company, you need all these functions for the company to succeed in the business world. You cannot have planning and leadership with a small amount of organization and no control and expect things to work out well. Each function depends on the others to support and carry the organization. A successful company implements all four functions and uses the managers and employees to the best of their abilities. References Fazzini, D. (2008). How to Define Strategic Management. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from http://www.ehow.com/how_2364537_define-strategic-management.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_artStrategic Planning, (2007, March 15). Why Strategic Planning is Important Even for Small Businesses. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from http://smbconsulting.wordpress.com/?s=Why+Strategic+Planning+is+Important+Even+for+Small+Businesses&submit=

Marine Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marine Organisation - Essay Example Thus the situation today is not the same as the situation that was present a few earlier. The first step in the exercise is to determine what are marine operations and this can be given as the planning and execution of specific requirements for different purposes within marine areas for transferring of loads, towing of vessels, transports of special items through the seas, servicing of installations which are fixed with the sea and are referred to as off-shore installations, lifting of all types of material from within the sea and from the sea bed, operations which are carried out below the level of the seas and transit and positioning of mobile offshore units. (DNV Rules for Planning and Execution of Marine Operations) During the cases when the marine operations are important for the purpose of battle, one of the most important aspects are to ensure the supplies for the soldiers involved in the war, as was observed to be the case in Vietnam. (Humphries, 1999, p. 223) While the general feeling is that services of marines are restricted to operations on the sea, there are occasions when they are used on land. These also lead to unfortunate incidents as was the case in Haiti, which was occupied by a marine detachment, and on occasions they were even rushed by angry peasants armed with stones, machetes and clubs. (Schmidt, 1998, p.205) In the earlier years, there were different purposes for marine operations, and they were mainly conducted by the navies of the countries, whereas today, the efforts are to use marine forces which are a cross breed between the navy and the army. Their main function is anti-terrorism which involves taking action to reduce the vulnerability of individuals and property to attacks by terrorists. (Pushies, 2003, p. 34) The definition of marine operations is itself a little complex and certain matters have to be comprehended and fishing is a marine operation as it involves collection of fishes from within the sea. Carrying of goods in both tankers and large cargo vessels come within the limits of load transfer operations. All maritime places of work are also treated as a workplace under the laws of most countries, but all of them have different laws which are applicable in the case of accidents which take place during the process of work. (Occupational Health and Safety Programs) This makes it compulsory for the workers to be treated in the case of unfortunate events as per the laws of the country where the ship is registered as ships are considered to be a part of the country. This is the reason why most ships of different countries, meaning those with owners in other countries are still registered under some "flags of convenience" like Panama, Liberia, etc. The attempt is to avoid payment of high liabilities. At the same time, after the incident, the vessel will reach another port, and the country where it reaches is also permitted to ensure that workers on the ship receive "minimum human treatment". (Darling unveils Marine Environmental High Risk Areas) There are cases where ships have been auctioned off to pay the dues to the country and the workers on the ship. On the other side, when the ship reaches a port, the port is also a marine installation and this is covered

Essay 1 prejudice Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

1 prejudice - Essay Example ly and I would characterize myself in a similar manner however I am proud to state that I have lived through various exciting experiences during the course of my life as well and have not devoted everything to academics. From Indonesia, I have come to the United States to study and make a name for myself resulting in most of my American friends characterizing me as every other Asian who goes to study abroad. Moreover, I have a hard working and professional attitude and the process of leaning interests me greatly. At the same time, I enjoy attending parties and family functions to the fullest and love to take a night off every now and then to let myself loose and have a good time and thus feel cornered when I am left out by some friends or considered as a person who does not enjoy having fun. It has happened a few times that my friends feel I am too religious as I follow Christianity, or that I would be immersed in my academic work and so they have not asked me out with them however that is not the case as this stereotype is quite different from my inherent personality. As a perpetrator of prejudice, when I first arrived at the United States and started attending my university, I only made friends with Asian people thinking that Americans would be too snooty or would not have an accepting nature with respect to other nationalities. I was under the impression that American people were a little difficult to be friends with as popular culture had taught me biased things for example Americans being too racist or discriminatory against people belonging to other countries. Furthermore, I was also under the impression that most Americans were not too fond of people from countries in Asia due to the fact that they were academically smarter and would thus get more educational as well as career opportunities in the country than Americans themselves. This led me to cut myself off from anyone who was not an Asian and as a result I wound up with very few people as my friends.

To what extent should changes in the relationship between monarchy and Essay

To what extent should changes in the relationship between monarchy and parliament from 1529 to 1640 be seen as arising from divisions over the future of the chu - Essay Example But it was the Crown’s longer term financial problems, exacerbated by wars, in some cases were linked to religious tensions that caused parliament long term changes in crown-parliament relation. Comparing the role of parliament before the Tudor Revolution in 1530s and after the Long Parliament in 1640, it stayed the same in general, and yet, significant changes had occurred, providing Parliament with greater power and more functions. Even after the Bishops’ Wars the power of Monarch remained unequalled and Parliament’s jurisdiction was limited mainly to aiding and advising the Crown. Still, as the Parliament evolved, its influence was extended to more and more aspects of the domestic policy. The 1530s are considered by G.R. Elton1 as a key decade in the constitutional history of Britain. Beforehand, late 15th century parliaments were occasions where the King could meet with the elites to discuss their own personal interests, but the Monarch decided when parliament should meet and it gave advice on polices only if advice was rejected. Parliament’s main functions were related to taxation, legislation, and judicial powers. The Monarch could not tax without Parliament’s consent and had to follow the laws of the realm. The King and Parliament together acted as a legislative body which made the laws of the kingdom, and parliament acted as an advisor for the king in terms of policies, though the King selected which issues he asked advice about. The House of Lords was the highest court in the kingdom, and acted as a court of law, while parliament also provided a national forum for discussing local and national grievances. Thus, Parliament acted as a representative body which G.R Elton said provided a ‘point of contact’ between the King and his subjects because it gave a chance for the King to listen to his subjects grievances. However, Parliament essentially represented the landed and urban elites, King, Lords and Commons governed in their mutual

What is the significance of 'participatory culture' to contemporary Essay

What is the significance of 'participatory culture' to contemporary graphic design practice - Essay Example Nonetheless, this kind of participation fails to enable the recipient to change the final appearance of the data, or to customize it according to their needs. In the recent past, however, there has been a significant concern among designers to create more interactive graphical interfaces for maximum gains. Otherwise referred to as co-creation, the future of technologies is likely to shift more in the direction of ensuring a greater level of participation by receivers in a way that will make modern technologies virtually owned by end-users. Since the beginning of the 21st century, and the rapid growth of Internet technologies around the world, there has been a need to create graphic designs that are flexible and more responsive to end-users (Barnes, 2013). Designers and instructors are working around the clock to achieve a complete integration of graphic design and other disciplines such as business. In all of these relationships, there are high chances that the technology trends will continue to evolve, as will the present-day socio-economic, cultural, environmental, and political forces into a more participatory operational context. The current world is witnessing a situation whereby graphical designs and or objects are no longer the ultimate consequence of design practice (Denning, 2013). Neuhauser et al (2009) have noted that, even though, posters, billboards, print media and navigational technologies are still commonly used among graphic designers, designers are more concerned with generating services, graphical e xperiences, and information that engage the end-user more than ever before. The rush towards a more participatory project designs based on users’ tastes and preferences is becoming more and more intensified by each passing day. Designers are increasingly seeing the need to create ‘users’ in the current technology era in order to facilitate more human-machine interactions as a way of enhancing efficiency

The Firm and the Environment The Case of Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Firm and the Environment The Case of - Essay Example The main focus of the hospitality sector is to adopt the differentiation strategy and achieve competitive advantage. A lot of innovative practices are introduced and customer service and value added service play a major role in the hospitality industry. The paper analyses the industry using Michael Porters Five force Analysis and then the SWOT for the firm is done. Accommodation and food services makes up about 8.1 percent of all employment. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Employment in the accommodation and food services industries is predicted to grow 18% between 2002 and 2012, adding more than 1.6 million new jobs. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Of the 8,740,000 total workers employed in the accommodation and food services industry in 2003, 5,343,000 works full-time (61%), while 3,397,000 work part-time (39%). (Annual average for 2003, according to the Current Population Survey, a joint project of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau). The Total Industry Investment is $1,765,000 and the total leveraged resources are $5,900,000 Profit and average room rate at the UK's chain hotels continued to increase in November, according to the latest HotStats survey from TRI Hospitality Consulting. Across the total UK sample of 462 hotels, income before fixed charges (IBFC) - also known as gross operating profit - rose by 5.6 per cent to 52.81 per available room. Average room rate increased by 7.4 per cent to 95.03 in November, a similar rate of growth to the 7.2 per cent achieved during the year so far. In London, profit grew by 7.9 per cent to 82.19 per available room. London's hoteliers continued to achieve rate growth at near annual levels with an 8.9 per cent increase taking average room rate to a new high of 125.85. - Jonathan Langston, UK Chain Hotels Market Review November 2007 | TRI Hospitality, www.trihc.com Michael Porters Five Force Analysis Threat of New entrants: The Entry barriers include Capital The capital outlay needed for starting up the operation in this industry is huge ($60 - $70 million), since the leasing expenses and the taxes are high. The capital includes land and building, infrastructure etc. Labor: In this industry the retention rate is high when compared to the others because of the demand for the experienced chefs in the industry. Retaining skilled labor is a major issue for a new entrant. Tax Structure: Hoteliers have to bear huge taxes levied on them by the government for property, water, electricity etc. Beside the high entry barriers, new entrants in this industry are high in recent days. Threat of substitutes: The growth of Home business restricts travel to a certain extent. So people consider their homes as substitutes for hotels. Rivalry: There is a fierce price war going between existing

Causes of Air Pollution Essay Example for Free

Causes of Air Pollution Essay There are several main causes of air pollution, the vast majority of them can be attributed to man. Some natural sources of air pollution include forest fires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions. Plants such as ragweed contaminate the air with pollen. Decaying leaves and other forms of vegetation release gases that contribute to air pollution and cause haze. (Morgan) Air pollution is the introduction into the atmosphere of chemicals, particulates, and biological matter that cause harm to humans, other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment. Stratospheric ozone depletion (contributed to air pollution) has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth’s ecosystems. The Earth is capable of cleaning itself of a certain level of pollution, but man-made pollutant have become too numerous for the Earth’s natural mechanisms to remove. We are seeing the results of this overload in the form of acid rain, smog, and the variety of health problems that can be contributed to our environment. (Godish) One of the main causes of air pollution is manufacturing. This source of pollution spews particulate matter and chemicals into the atmosphere. The exhaust from a factory includes, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and dioxide, as well as volatile organic compounds and particulates. There is not an area of the Earth’s atmosphere or an ecosystem that has not been altered by the long term effects of the pollution created by manufacturing. Strides have been made to filter the material coming from manufacturing plants, but it may take the Earth millennia to completely recover from the damage already done. (universe) A surprisingly link may exist between ocean fertility and air pollution over land, according to Georgia Institute of Technology research reported in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres. The work provides new insight into the role that ocean fertility plays in the complex cycle involving carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in global warming. (Cain) Finally, the burning of fossil fuels is a part of everyday life of every human on the planet. We burn fossil fuels in our cars, fossil fuel is burned to extract fossil fuel from the Earth, and fossil fuel is used to process fossil fuel into its individual components. Every step of the way releases sulfur and nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and particulates into the air. Each step in the process increases the number of asthma cases in the world, raises a person’s chance of having cancer, and increases the chance that your child will be born with congenital defects. (Turco) References Cain, Fraser. (2005). Air Pollution Linked to Growth of Life in Oceans. Retrieved from http://www.universetoday.com/10263/air-pollution-linked-to-gr Godish, Thad. 1997. Air Quality, 3rd ed. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fl. Morgan, M. T. (2003). Environmental Health, (3rd ed.). Belmont: CA: Wadsworth Turco, Richard P. 2001. Earth Under Siege: From Air Pollution to Global Change, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, New York.