Business Management Essay

Total Length: 1684 words ( 6 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 4

Page 1 of 6

Strategic Alliance

Businesses in the modern business environment are increasingly faced with the need to develop effective strategies in order to improve their competitive advantage and increase revenue. As a result, businesses are increasingly forming strategic partnerships or alliances with other entities for several reasons. Strategic alliances between various businesses are mainly geared towards exchanging or publishing information, conducting joint trade shows or meetings, providing education and training programs, sale of products and services, and monitoring policy issues. Generally, strategic alliances take various forms depending on the nature of business, business objectives, and products, services or resources. Moreover, the nature of these alliances is largely influenced by conditions in the local market such as competition in the market.

As previously mentioned, business entities form strategic alliances with other for-profit entities for several reasons including distribution of products and/or services to a specific target of customers, joint development of products and services for the local market, and working towards a common agenda ("Benefits for Strategic Alliances and Partnerships," n.d.). This implies that the strategic alliance becomes crucial to the success of business objective or goal because of its impact on competitive advantage. Actually, a strategic alliance helps in the development of maintenance of the sources of competitive advantage to the business. In addition, the alliance prevents competitive threat, lessens significant risks, and develops or sustains strategic decisions for the business.

The main aim of formation of strategic alliances is to help improve revenue or business profits through adding value and enhancing competitiveness. These alliances enhance competitiveness through creating parity in the primary segments of the local market and add value by developing the business' core competency and competitive advantage. In essence, a strategic alliance provides the basis for developing incremental skills in the business. The enhanced competitiveness brought by strategic alliance emerges from its ability to block a competitive threat. The competitive threat is blocked through creation of parity in the local market as both companies jointly develop products and services for the market. For instance, if a company competes in a market characterized by high and medium price range, it is increasingly vulnerable to low-priced entry. The firm can successfully block the competitive threat in the market by forming an alliance with a volume partner in a neighboring market, especially if the production processes do not allow low-priced entry into the market.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions are terms that are used to refer to business reorganizations that focus on transferring ownership control from one company to another. While these terms fall into the overall concept of business takeovers, they are quite different in terms of their processes and objectives. The most evident difference between mergers and acquisitions is based on how the takeover is announced to the targeted firm and the results of the new organizational structure. While mergers entail proposing the takeover to the company's representative manager, acquisitions involve proposing the process directly to the owner of the business. In addition, mergers and acquisitions differ with regards to the reasons they are proposed and conducted (Motis, 2007).

There are different types of mergers and acquisitions including horizontal and vertical mergers and acquisitions. Vertical mergers and acquisitions are takeovers that enable a business to integrate its supply chain as a means for enhancing costs and efficiency. In this process, the business acquires suppliers and harmonizes production and logistics across the entire supply chain. As a result, the business secures access to resources, components, and materials in order to meet changing demand levels when necessary. In contrast, horizontal mergers and acquisitions are takeovers that enable the business to acquire another firm's products in the same market segment. Through this process, the business organization can expand its product range and increase profits or revenue through the sale of more products to its existing customer base. Horizontal mergers and acquisitions also help a company to enhance distribution coverage for its own products and services, particularly if the firm has already developed a customer based in another geographical location. This type of merger and acquisition is associated with several benefits including increasing market share, lessening competition, and creating a monopoly.

In addition to the existence of several types of mergers and acquisitions, these takeovers are selected for various reasons. These varying reasons are usually geared towards creation of operating, financial, and managerial synergies. In this case, the mergers and acquisitions involve acquiring or combining operations, lower costs of financing, and combining or acquiring high-performance management team. Some of the most common reasons for mergers and acquisitions include gaining efficiency, creating synergies, saving costs, and enhancing or strengthening market power.
In some cases, mergers and acquisitions take place as preemptive and defensive measures and for disciplinary reasons.

Impact of Current Trends on Strategy

The modern business environment is characterized by numerous changes that are brought by current trends such as technology, organizational design, and turbulence. Technology has become a major aspect in today's business environment because of its impact on modern communications and the emergence of innovation as an important strategic driver of organizations (Ahmad, 2014, p.73). Many business organizations currently focus on innovation as a means of enhancing their productivity and profitability through creating new products and services that help meet the ever-changing tastes and preferences of customers. As a result of the focus on development of innovative products and services, businesses are increasingly using technology, which is a major trend in the modern business environment. Technology continues to have tremendous impact on strategy because technological advances continue to generate huge opportunities and challenges. Technological advances have forced business organizations to restructure departments and structures as part of enhancing strategy to realize the established business goals. In addition, businesses are increasingly adopting technological means of doing business in order to deal with challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Turbulence is another current trend that has significant impacts on businesses and their strategy in respective markets. Turbulence basically refers to uncertainties that are caused by changing market conditions and customer demographics. These uncertainties make it difficult for business managers and owners to have control of the organization's situation though they need to be prepared to effectively handle market changes. As a result, the major impact of turbulence on strategy is the development of new measures to help deal with uncertainty. Business managers and owners have not only been concerned with turbulence but have increasingly focused on creating initiatives that promote effective business operations during uncertain times. In this case, turbulence has forced business owners and managers to develop strategies that enhance their business' ability to control its situation. Moreover, turbulence makes organizations to internalize local markets by acquiring suppliers and enter long-term agreements with suppliers and customers.

Organizational design has created the need to develop different organizational structures as part of business strategy. This trend has largely been brought by the rapid technological advances, globalization, and increased uncertainties in markets. Generally, organizational design acts as the basis of determining how an organization will operate and respond to market conditions and customer tastes and preferences. Business organizations are increasingly developing different organizational structures in order to operate effectively and increase revenue while meet the needs and preferences of customers.

Risks to Human Subjects

The process of managing a business is characterized by several risks to human subjects because a business can be an increasingly dangerous occupation with various kinds of risks. Risks to human subjects in the business have emerged as a major issue in the modern business environment because of the numerous changes that continue to take place and the nature of the business. Actually, running a business has many aspects that need to be managed with risks to human subjects being the most difficult to handle. Generally, the risks to human subjects emanate from the fact that running a business involves working with people from diverse backgrounds and academic qualifications.

Some of the most common risks to human subjects include security incidents, data breaches, human error, inadequate policies and procedures, and poor decisions (Caldwell, 2012). It is increasingly important for business owners and managers to effectively identify and mitigate these risks because they have considerable impacts on the operations and success of the business. Actually, business owners and managers face the need to effectively manage risks to human subjects as part of their management strategy in order to promote and ensure the survival of the business in its respective market.

Mitigating risks to human subjects in the business requires the use of two-pronged approaches in risk management. These approaches proactively deal with weaknesses while capitalizing on standard risk management strategies and initiatives that are resilience-oriented. One of these approaches to mitigating risks to human subjects in business is educating and training users about organizational policies and procedures and the desired performance. This involves the use of education and awareness activities that help remind people of their specific responsibilities and roles in the business process. These education and awareness activities help human subjects in the business to understand their specific….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


Related Essays

Globalisation and Business Cultures and Practices

the most seminal and cited theory on cultural differences. The theory has substantially influenced scholarly work on national cultures and provided valuable guidelines for international business management. Multinational organisations have been able to operate more effectively in foreign countries by adapting their management practices to local cultures. In fact, without proper acknowledgement of cultural differences between countries, an organisation may not succeed in its international operations (Cojocaru, 2011). Instances of organisations experiencing remarkable difficulties or even closing down in foreign countries due to cultural difficulties are not uncommon. Often, organisations that succeed in the increasingly globalised environment are those that design their management practices in recognition of the underlying national culture (Luthans and Doh, 2012).… Continue Reading...

Sports Management Taxonomy in the Last 20 Years

exchange and production of sports services. Typically, sports management is related to other business management that involves planning, organizing, evaluating and using managerial skills to achieve the organizational objectives. Chelladurai, (1993) classifies sports management with references to the services delivered, which include participant services, consumer services, professional services, spectator services, and sponsorship services. The author also points out that the sports management has overlapped the recreation and health administrations leading to the interrelationships with other disciplines. While Chelladurai, (1993) evaluates the taxonomy of sports management in the 80s and early 90s, however, sports management has changed in the last 20 years because it… Continue Reading...

Marketing Plan for Vietnamese Business Essay

students pay for their own MBA (Thompson & Gui, 2000). That study highlighted that the main reasons are to improve analytical ability, to learn more about business management, to get the MBA qualification and generally to get better at the job (Thompson & Gui, 2000). Satisfaction relates both to factors involving the degree itself, but also to the school, so both should be taken into consideration in the marketing program (Grady, 2010). Another product-related consideration is the international component. It is expected that Vietnamese students want an EMBA in part for the exposure to Western business practices, and that demand would be higher for a program that gave them an international business component, especially with the… Continue Reading...

Chief Executive Officer CEO of Durango Manufacturing Company

Your argument should include key points that support your position. The key points should address economic and business management aspects related to outsourcing. One of the key considerations that companies have to contend with is whether to partake in internal manufacturing or outsource such work to external vendors. The CEO of Durango Manufacturing Company is taking into consideration outsourcing the manufacturing operations of the company if the supply of labor is cheaper overseas as compared to the United States. There are arguments for and against the company outsourcing the manufacturing operations. Arguments for Outsourcing i. One of the key arguments for outsourcing the manufacturing operations is that… Continue Reading...

Marketing an EMBA Program in Vietnam

own MBA (Thompson & Gui, 2000). That study highlighted that the main reasons are to improve analytical ability, to learn more about business management, to get the MBA qualification and generally to get better at the job (Thompson & Gui, 2000). Satisfaction relates both to factors involving the degree itself, but also to the school, so both should be taken into consideration in the marketing program (Grady, 2010). Another product-related consideration is the international component. It is expected that Vietnamese students want an EMBA in part for the exposure to Western business practices, and that demand would be higher for a program that gave them an international business component, especially with the… Continue Reading...

Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided

world. The economy boasts leadership in areas such as innovation, entrepreneurship, higher education, communications infrastructure, capital markets, and business management (Porter et al., 2016). These aspects make the U.S. economy an envy of many countries around the world. In addition, the economy has demonstrated quite impressive recovery since the devastating 2008/2009 recession. Despite these strengths, the economy has been deteriorating in the last one decade or so, with many of the economic indicators declining to disturbing levels. Indeed, the competitiveness of the economy has been eroding since the late 1990s (Porter et al., 2016). There has been reduced growth in economic output, productivity, investment, and employment. Per capita… Continue Reading...

Non Credit Programs on Workforce Education

Included in her findings are review results which indicate that 73 of the 426 participating institutions (17%) provide entrepreneurship or small business management degree programs, 131 (31%) award entrepreneurship certificates, and 176 (41%) provide three or more courses in small business or entrepreneurship. Hagan's survey response analysis had the intention of determining the effects (if any) of geographic location, instructor characteristics or institutional mission on the creation and development of small business management programs and community college entrepreneurship. The data was carefully analysed and the analysis showed that the relationship between any of these factors and program growth is insignificant. In Hagan's words, "the primary outcome of the research is a… Continue Reading...

Organizational Psychology

of politics and political skill on employee job outcomes. African Journal of Business Management, 5(23), 9896-9904. Retrieved from http://academicjournals.org/article/article1380363658_Jam%20et%20al.pdf Introduction This review will critically assess the aforementioned paper with regard to subject introduction, intellectual plot, methodology, discussion and outcomes. Further, the article will be summarized followed by an analysis of its structure. This paper attempted to examine the link of POP (perception of politics) with job outcomes, facilitated by political abilities, in companies within Pakistan. Numerous job outcomes like job stress, affective communication, contextual performance, and turnover intent, have been addressed. The research is grounded in the resource conservation theory (Hobfoll, 2002),… Continue Reading...

Gender and Culture in Crime

perception over time. While women have played a pivotal role in advancing a variety of other disciplines, from literature to business management to psychology and so on, in the field of criminal justice there is a considerable skew towards male dominance of the discipline. For example, as Fahmy and Young (2017) show, more studies on criminal justice are published by men than by women—and women, when they do conduct research and publish academic papers in the field, most often publish with other men. In fact, their “increasing co-authorship has led some to claim that the intellectual contributions of females may be devalued, systematically putting them at a disadvantage for tenure… Continue Reading...

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Business Management" (2015, August 18) Retrieved June 2, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/business-management-2152644

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Business Management" 18 August 2015. Web.2 June. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/business-management-2152644>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Business Management", 18 August 2015, Accessed.2 June. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/business-management-2152644