Value of Concept of Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Value of Concept of Innovation - Essay Example Value innovation aims at seeking new and completely different value curves. High growth companies employ an approach that offers unknown value and compete by summoning the existing conditions. For this reasons they achieve sustained high growth in both revenues and profits. On the other hand, the less successful companies take a conventional approach, that is, they strategically work towards beating their competitors. In making their competitors irrelevant, the high growth companies employ a strategic logic referred to as value innovation (Kim, 2014). Discovery of hidden demand and creation of new demands are problems that value innovations redefine. The business model canvas aids an organization in carrying out structured, solid and strategic conversations surrounding new and existing businesses. Global companies employ the canvas in the management of strategy or in creating new growth engines (Verstraete, 2011). For businesses that are starting up, the model is used in search of an appropriate business model. The business canvas model aims at helping an organization move beyond product based thinking and towards thinking based on a business model. In a bid to explain the value of the business model in discussion, Nespresso a daughter company of Nestle shall be of reference. The company utilizes the tool in their regular planning and cycles of development. It is a company affiliated with the food and beverages industry. The business canvas model is used in the creation of a blueprint of their strategy. The model provides clarity in the foundation and direction for the impending conversation. Still on strategizing, the tool is utilized for strategic planning per business unit because it provides the organization with general information on the progress of the business units. The business canvas model works as a common language across the units of the business and provides the

Martin Luther and his Theology on Worship in the Church during the Research Paper

Martin Luther and his Theology on Worship in the Church during the Reformation - Research Paper Example â€Å"Luther thought music to be a gift from God and considered it of the highest importance next to the preaching of the Word (i.e., theology)1† . Luther’s theological views on music and his instigation of different methods of worship in the Catholic Church have helped Christians during the reformation era revitalize their faith. Catholicism is  not  compatible with Lutheran’s brand of liturgy because their religious principles are widely distinct. Catholicism embraced superstition. Catholicism’s worship was grounded on tradition, rather than on the Word of God. Catholicism’s worship remained locked in an incomprehensible language to the masses. Catholicism’s liturgy was static, predictable, meaningless and therefore, not spiritually edifying to the congregant. With such doctrines as the Eucharist, purgatory, the worship of relics, indulgences and Latinized readings, the masses were not being fed nourishing spiritual food which would be salvific in nature and lead to their salvation. Catholicism instructed the multitudes in errors, primarily concerned with death, which warped their perceptions of God, causing them to deviate further from the truth. The Eucharist service is one in which Catholic believers are encouraged to equate the presence of the Lord Jesus with the bread and wine of Communion. The Communion celebrates the death of Christ and in Catholicism, congregants observe more emphatically the sacrifice of the Savior without impressing upon the people’s minds the reality of Christ as a risen Lord. The Catechism affirms that Christ Jesus†¦ â€Å"is present .  .  . most  especially in the Eucharistic species†2 Devotion in honor of the dead is another prevailing conviction advocated in Catholicism. The idea was held in wide currency that the dead somehow acquire divine power when called upon can help the living in distress, because of the alleged virtue of now residing in heaven. For t he Catholic service â€Å"another common practice was the worship of relics, or physical objects such as bones or keepsakes of famous saints†3 . Adherents firmly believed that the possession and worship of relics would sanctify them in some manner and improve their opportunities at being saved. The deception was that the relics were in reality the bones of dead animals which the clergy designated as the bones of saints. Another doctrine forwarded by Catholicism was purgatory. In the Catholic liturgy â€Å"through congregational participation the people could effectively work themselves and their deceased loved ones out of purgatory and into heaven †¦such celebrations included requiem masses, vigils, the common week, and All Souls’ Day†4 (Dieter). Purgatory is the teaching that the souls of the dead are in a state of limbo between heaven and hell. To rescue the deceased souls, the faithful were expected to pay large sums of money for extra masses and prayers so that the dead would be redeemed and enter heaven’s gates. Indulgences is another liturgical rite in which â€Å"pieces of parchment were said to possess the power to credit the buyers with the merits of Christ together with the superabundant merits of all the saints† to deliver the beloved dead from perdition in purgatory. These rounds of superstition only confirmed the belief in error and steered the flock from the principles of justification by faith, the word of God and Jesus Christ alone. As a result, the Reformation rose

Analysis of how both companies meet their financial objectives and aims Essay Example for Free

Analysis of how both companies meet their financial objectives and aims Essay In this report I have decided to concentrate on two companies, Woolworths plc and WHSmith plc, I will be analysing and comparing the two companies on their objectives (what they say their objectives are, and how they meet those objectives set) and their performances (if they have made profit or loss). I will research all these from their annual report, which is provided on the Internet. An introduction of both companies Woolworths is known to be one of Britains leading general merchandise retailers, with great brands, strong market position and a powerful presence in home entertainment. The company has one of the highest customer shoppers performances of all UK retailers and today known to be the largest non-food retail chains. WHSmith is also one of the UKs leading retail groups incorporating market-leading companies in retailing publishing and news distributing. WHSmith has 1,464 stores world-wide; all these locate in place like the UK high street, airport, stations and countries outside of the United Kingdom such as North America and Asia The performance of the companies Last year was an eventful and challenging year for the Woolworth; the first half of the year when they were still part of Kingfishers plc was a moment of uncertainty as the future of the company was being decided. The company detached themselves from Kingfisher plc on 28 August 2001, leaving them with 200 million of debt, over ? 100 million of excess stock, loss marking new format and e-business. Woolworths formats are designed to appeal to the value-conscious consumer. Woolworths is a mass-market retailer with a leading brand and broad product offering at competitive prices. Their mission is to be at the heart of the community and the best loved retailer for kids, home and family leisure. The companys brand is known to be one of the best-recognised retail brands in the UK and proving this is on average, 6. 5 million customer transactions are made on tills per week. Woolworths business operates in the UK general merchandising market, which is both large and highly fragmented, with participants of varying sizes and covering different category mixes.

MAS holdings: An overview

MAS holdings: An overview MAS Holdings is a large apparel manufacturer in Sri Lanka, whose partners are also some other well-known fashion brands in the world including Victoria Secret, Gap, Inc., Nike etc., as introduced by Watson and Story (2006). Its About us website also states that MAS is now a giant in South Asian in undergarment and sportswear manufacturing industry with more than USD 700 million of revenue every year. The companys history was described thoroughly by Watson and Story (2006), from which a number of reasons for its success could be figured out. However, the factors standing out from those reasons were from its management activities. This assignment is going to analyse the above aspects with the MAS case study by Watson and Story (2006). The first thing to be discussed is how the MASs manager helped it flourish. In this case, the roles of a manager in the general context of business should be considered. According to Mintzberg (1973) in Boddy (2008), there are 10 roles for a manager to play in total. Those roles are divided into 3 main categories: informational roles, interpersonal roles and decisional roles then described by Mintzberg (1973) in Boddy (2008). Informational roles are required from managers for the information inside and outside of the organisation to be received and transferred. This includes monitor (finding and acquiring information), disseminator (passing the information acquired) and spokesperson (passing the information to out of the company). Interpersonal roles are required from managers to build and maintain relationships between people in the company and also with people outside, which comprise of figurehead (representing the organisation in formal events), leader (making people do their jobs and help them to improve) and liaison (networking between the business and its stakeholders). Decisional roles are required for managers to make right decisions for the firm including entrepreneur (creating new things, making significant changes, catching opportunities and indicating development routes), disturbance handler (solving accidental problems or changes), resource allocator (distributing the resources of the organisation to the right sector with the right amount and in the right time) and negotiator (convincing the stakeholders). Mintzberg (1973) suggested in Boddy (2008) that every manager plays all of these roles, however the priority of each role may vary depending on his/her position. In the case study of MAS by Watson and Story (2006), there were a variety of evidences supporting the application of the above roles. Firstly, the informational roles could be proved by the way the production line was supervised: The supervisors walk through each cluster of machines, making notes. They sync their Palm Pilots to the central database to post their lines current efficiency and productivity numbers on the electronic boards overhead. (Watson and Story (2006), page 5), which showed the monitor and disseminator roles. With this method, the production management of MAS became very professional that enabled itself and its partner to continuously track the production progress and make changes when necessary to increase efficiency or to meet the new demand, while creating a good image for MAS as a reliable manufacturer. On the other hand, the interpersonal roles were proved mainly by leadership. In this aspect, the MASs managers, especially the Amaleans who chose follow an ethi cal business concept, attempted to motivate the employees by a very high-quality working environment and by the provision of life supports, training, education, as well as promotion prospects, which helped some exemplary persons like TNS Kumari to noticeably change their poor lives. As a result, this again created another good image for MAS, this time as a business doing the right thing (not the sweatshops bias in apparel industry at that time), attracted more local talent who tend to seek opportunities overseas and maintain strong relationships between the company and employees, which were important for further development. Last but not least, the decisional roles were proved mainly by entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship of MASs managers is illustrated through the fact that the Amaleans started their own business, created new units (two IT branches, an own brand Amante in 2007 as introduced in Amante page on MAS Website) looked for and caught opportunities (creating joint ventur es with several famous fashion brands then learn from them the modern technology and business practice) and decided the paths of development (concentrating on lingerie manufacturing, reaching high technology by partnership with Speedo). These were some of the major decisions that boost MASs growth from a USD 6 million annual revenue firm in 1990 to an over USD 570 million annual revenue one in 2005, according to Exhibit 2, page 18 in Watson and Story (2006). The second topic of this assignment is the management approach. As Worthington and Britton (2009) said, in the general business context, there are 3 main approaches: classical approach, human relations approach and systems approach. According to Worthington and Britton (2009), the classical approach is based on scientific management and bureaucracy, which were studied by Taylor (1856-1915) and Weber (1864-1920) respectively. The former means increasing productivity by the one best way to do the job and by rewarding employees financially toward the common achievement of the organisation. The latter insists on the formality of the organisation (the hierarchy). Next, the human relations approach, instead, focuses on the people, the social and psychological effects on their performance including motivations, leadership, communications and group dynamics and the informal relationships in the formal environment, which was early studied by Elton Mayo (1880-1949). Lastly, the systems approac h views the organisation as a collection of different correlative sections and if a change occurs with one section, the other sections will also have to change accordingly in order that the overall performance will not be undermined. This approach is considered to appear later and to be more complex than the two first ones. In the MAS case study by Watson and Story (2006), in respect of the definitions of different management approaches above, the human relation approach appeared to be most considerable. This approach was obviously supported by the concept of an ethical business in combination with several extra benefits which gives MASs employees a lot of incentives. Consequently, in the case study, it was mentioned that despite the cost of this business practice: Even Sharad, the former CFO, thought that payback came in different forms: employees who embraced the company culture, higher productivity, lower downtime. At this point, the level of employees satisfaction should be measured, which can be done by Maslow needs hierarchy in Worthington and Britton (2009). There are 5 levels in this hierarchy: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation. As can be seen from the case study, most of these motives of MASs workers were met. For physiological needs, they were working in well-designed factories, able to have free breakfast and lunch as well as to use the on-site medical centre. For safety, the well-designed factories and the medical centre also gave a hand, in addition to the abuse-free working environment and the right to stop the production line when there are troubles. For love, the strong relationships had been built between the employees and the company itself, the employees and managers and the employees with each other through the friendly working environment and many extra activities. For esteem, the workers were assured that they were working in an ethical business with high labour standard and they also had chances to participate in MAS Women Go Beyond programme. For self-actualisation, they were able to attend different kinds of classes or training and to have promotion opportunities. These examples made the human relations approach in MAS evident. In conclusion, the prosperity of MAS was notably influenced by the proper of different management theories, of which the most outstanding are the roles of managers and the human relations approach. While the roles of managers were well played in MAS and help sharply strengthen the business, the human relations approach did that from the very inside of the firm: the satisfaction of each of the people working for it. MAS would still need these advantages for its further development and the way it runs might be a notable example for other companies. REFERENCE: About us [n.d Online] MAS Holdings. Available: http://www.masholdings.com/ [Accessed 11 November 2009]. Amante [n.d Online] MAS Holdings. Available: http://www.masholdings.com/ [Accessed 11 November 2009]. Boddy, D. (2008) Management: An Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education. Watson, N. and Story, J. (2006) MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry. INSEAD. Worthington, I. and Britton, C. (2009) The Business Environment. 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Ode On Grecian Urn and Sailing To Byzantium :: Sailing To Byzantium Essays

Ode On Grecian Urn and Sailing To Byzantium When you go to bed you see that it is dark outside, but when you wake you see light. The light and dark of the day is very dissent, but they are very closely related. Dark and light are the fares things from each other, while you can't have light without dark meeting. In the "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Sailing to Byzantium" we see these differences. The difference in the "Ode on Grecian Urn" and " Sailing to Byzantium" are very distinctive especially in the themes of art verses nature in the battle between immortality. "Sailing to Byzantium" has themes such as art verses nature while "Ode on a Grecian Urn" relies mainly on the battle of immortality in life. This can also be said about "Sailing to Byzantium." We will start with "Sailing to Byzantium to show the strive for immortality. This theme of immortality as I go thoughtout this poem: "That is no country for old men. The young in one other arms, bids in the tree. Those dying generations of their song." (1,2,3) Imortality hit you in the face start off these lines. It talks about old becoming young and birds and trees. This makes you think of spring and vegetation and animals and life. Yates uses vivified examples such as "An Aged Man is but a patty thing, a tattered coat upon a stick." (9,10) Yates is describing a scarecrow or what you might call death. He also talks about a maniacal bird in lines thirty and thirty-one. This is something that isn't dying and will go on forever. These two images life and death help insure the complexity of these poems. The images of life and death is also repesented in Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn." "What leap-fringd Latin haults about they shap of deities or mortials or both." (5,6) As you can see through reading these lines life and death are big aspects in this poem. One the other side this poem is very different from Sailing to Byzantium." In "Ode on a Grecian Urn" there is just one aspect that is really representatives here. This aspect of death is talked about so vivialy in this poem. Keats talks about death all through this poem. "Through winning Near the Goal-yet do not greive, she can not save, through threw has not the bliss."(18,19) When you die you fade away. This tone is all through this poem. Death is a huge aspect and a way of life. The vivid way that keats talks about

Comparing the Reaction of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover to t

Comparing the Reaction of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover to the Great Depression The year was 1929. America goes through the biggest national crisis since the American Civil War. They called it the Great Depression. The Stock Market was going down, unemployment was going up, and money was becoming scarce. The United States had to look up to the one person who could lead the country out of this national catastrophe, The President. At this time the man who had that title was none other than Herbert Hoover. Hoover, A republican, hoped that this was all a nightmare, he hoped that the Depression was a small fluke that would fix itself after a short period of time. After seeing that the Depression was getting worse had to use federal relief efforts. At the end of his term a democrat, Franklin Roosevelt, took his place and tried to fulfill his campaign promises by getting the country out of the Depression. At first Hoover opposed any relief efforts, but as the Depression worsened, he started a few farm assistance programs. Hoover hoped that theses farm programs would help the farmers’ situation with the low crop prices. Unfortunately farmers had to come dependent on this government handout. Hoover also started federal work projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam and the Hoover Dam. These projects provided many jobs for people and provided affordable hydroelectric power for people but the Great Depression was a much bigger problem than a few extra job openings could fix. Hoping that raising tariffs could help American business Hoover created the Hawley-Smoot Tarrif. This actually worsened economy and caused lower export rates. One of Hoover’s big mistakes was that he wouldn’t go off the gold standard. Hoov... ...y dismiss the program and start a different program in it place. Hoover on the other hand wanted to wait and think. He wanted to make sure that the programs that he provided money for wouldn’t be a waste and would definitely work. Hoover didn’t want to spend anymore money than he had to. Hoover really didn’t want to raise the national debt no matter what. Roosevelt did whatever it took no matter what the cost. Money was no object to Hoover, as long as he thought that program or agency could have a chance of getting them through the Depression he took a gamble on it and raised the national debt. Hoover made sure that there was enough hard money to back up the paper money in America while Roosevelt played it risky and printed extra money. Hoover and Roosevelt’s policies were extremely dissimilar and they each viewed relief from the Depression very differently.

Clean Drinking Water Essay

Our primary needs are food, water and shelter; but water is the most important need of every person. Without water, we cannot survive. Even for one day, we cannot live without water. If we have safe and clean water for drinking , we’ll live healthy and prosper. The clean water we drink and which is germless is called potable water. The water we drink in our homes, is supplied by the municipal community. We think that it is safe and germs free but in reality it is not fully safe for using in household works and also for drinking , for the reason that it is filtered in huge tanks ; the big particles and comparatively small particles are filtered but not purified . So we should ensure that we purify the water before drinking. There are two types of water : i) The drinking water ii) The water for household works There are different sources of water and are classified as : Natural sources : Rivers , Ponds etc. Man made resources : Canals, pipeline services   etc. Before drinking water , we should purify it by using certain purifiers . If we drink dirty or unsafe water that contain germs; then we’ll fall ill and certain diseases will be caused such as diarrhoea , typhoid etc. People wash their clothes and their animals also take bath in rivers and pounds ; due to which the water get dirty and several types of germs are generated in the water and are transferred to the infected person to the healthy person . these types of diseases which are transmitted from one person to the another are called communicable diseases . If we take care of some small-n’-small things, then we can maintain our health; because prevention is better than cure. We receive potable water from the canals, rivers, and ponds ; groundwater is also potable. Now, the question is that how is water polluted? Some ways of water pollution: Some factories dispose their chemical wastes into the rivers due to which  water is polluted. People according to their rituals , throw ashes in water , due to which water is polluted. Due to the lack of education, people dispose the dead bodies also in water bodies , again water is polluted. Due to the excessive use of pesticides, and insecticides our ground water is polluted . How we can prevent water pollution? We should organise several programmes to aware people about the cleanliness of water. At school level , we should develop healthy habits in the students, so that they can understand the importance of cleanliness. We should conduct several activities such as plays and skits etc. to aware students about the cleanliness. Court should issue notices to such factories which dispose harmful chemicals in water bodies. We should also aware the factory workers about the safely disposing of harmful chemicals in water bodies. Now , the question is that how can we clean and purify dirty water? The water we dispose in sewage is cleaned and purified by the government in several water treatment plants. How water is purified in these plants : The dirty water is passed through some parallel bars to remove bigger impurities like polythene bags , fabrics etc. The second step is sedimentation in which comparatively small particles settle down in tank The third step is decantation in which water is separated by the help of a scrapper. The next step is chlorination in which germs are killed by the help of several disinfectants such as ozone , chlorine etc. When the water gets chlorinated it leaves a odour which is then controlled by another process called UV Radiation. This essay conclude that we should save water because the amount of fresh water on earth is limited. Out of the total area of earth , 75% of the area is covered by water but out of this area only about 2% water is fresh; and even out of this percentage about 1.5%of water is in form of glaciers and 0.3% is groundwater; 0.2% water is usable. Our present Prime Minister Shri Narendra Damodar das Modi has also taken some initiatives such as â€Å"Swachh Bharat,Swastha Bharat Abhiyan†. His role in making Indian society aware of the cleanliness and conserving water is significant. CBSE has also initiated a few steps to make the students aware of the cleanliness of the environment and our surroundings .