Analysis on the Shift of Business Strategy for Ge Into the 21st Century Essay

Question 1: In what ways has Jeff Immelt redirected the strategy of GE? In 2001, shortly after Jeff Immelt became the CEO of GE, a series of events changed and impacted the corporate landscape. The immediate challenges that he faced included 9/11, and a subsequent series of high profile corporate scandals (Enron, WorldCom). In 2008, the financial crisis hit and had a severe impact on GE’s primary growth source, GE Capital causing it to accumulate bad debts and asset write-downs. These events caused slow domestic economic growth, crisis of confidence among investors and more global competitors. Due to the change in environment and the need to adapt Immelt shifted the focus of GE from cost cutting and deal making to new products, services and markets. He particularly focused on redirecting the strategy of GE through: organic growth, customer focus, and innovation. In 2002, Immelt committed GE to an organic growth rate of 8% per year. He identified a number of emerging global trends – the ageing population, the demand for sustainable energy, the necessity of improved infrastructure, and opportunities in the emerging markets. He aimed to create value for customers by leveraging GE’s core competencies particularly in advanced technology and related service by delivering superior, customized products and services to high-growth markets. A core component of his growth strategy was to create new ‘Growth platforms’ which could be either extensions of the existing businesses or entire new commercial areas. Through identifying a new growth platform, it would then be executed through a series of divestments and strategic acquisitions in sectors with high growth potential. Technology was seen to be a key driver of GE’s future growth which led to the launch of Imagination breakthrough. New technologies were seen as an essential ingredient to successful product innovation and quality improvement. GE expanded its research and development capabilities and supported them with adequate financial backing. Another vital part of Immelt’s growth strategy has been the implementation of the Customer Focus initiative. This lead to the revitalization of GE’s marketing function – most notably through the creation of GE’s Commercial Council and a number of customer-oriented programs. Through this customer focus imitative it became one of Immelt’s value creation strategies: exploit linkages across GE’s many companies. His efforts started off with product bundling and cross selling, which eventually led to enterprise selling. This meant seeking out customers that would benefit from GE’s broad portfolio of businesses and deliver highly customized solutions. The strategic focus was on creating differentiation advantage through innovative product-service bundles and enhanced customer focus Question 2: To what extent is this strategy well aligned: a) with the requirements of 21st century business environment Jeff Immelt took over the reins of General Electric at the end of an Era where the Market economy was buzzing with optimism, confidence and growth, and was now heading into a downturn. This shift in the Business environment and economic instability instigated a crucial issue for Immelt, which was to identify the likely sources of profit for the future. Under Jack Welch the potential for value creation through cost reduction and the elimination of under performing assets had mostly been completely utilized. So from Immelt’s view, in the current Market situation, the primary driver of growth was going to be organic growth. With the poor state that the world economy was in, the central challenge for Immelt was going to be identifying where the most promising opportunities for profitable growth would lie. He identified a number of key significant emerging global trends—the ageing population, the conflicting forces of growing energy demand and concerns over global warming, the advent of biosciences in conjunction with global warming and nanotechnology, and new commercial opportunities in the emerging markets. In order for GE to position itself for stronger growth in the changing business environment, Immelt saw the need to exit form slow growth business, and reallocate its resources where growth prospects were strong, taking advantage of the emerging global trends. At the heart of Immelt’s growth strategy for General Electric’s was the development of new Growth Platforms, which could be either extensions of the existing businesses or entire new commercial areas. Even though Immelts core focus was on organic growth, repositioning to take advantage of the emerging market trends and opportunities would require acquisition. Then once a new Growth Platform was identified, GE would build a leading position in those sectors through small strategic acquisitions and the deployment of its financial, technical and managerial resources. GE was entering a new generational era, one where technology is at the forefront of growth and adaptation. Immelt identified Technology as one of GE’s major drivers for future growth which was signaled by his expansion of GE’s R&D budgets. He shifted the importance of Technology within GE by focusing on the R&D projects that offered large scale market potential, reffered to as â€Å"Imagination breakthroughs†. Within this new business environment that GE was facing, customers needs, wants and expectations of what products can offer them is forever changing. Immelt saw and understood this from the amount of time spent with customers, and implemented this idea within GE through the IT redesign process becoming increasingly customer focused. One of the most important outcomes of GE’s enhanced customer focus would be the ability to better meet the customers needs through bundling products with support and technology services, and combine product and service offerings from different businesses (Enterprise selling) to enhance customer value. Also by increasing customer orientated products, this would also help GE to increase its success in international markets by involving more local product development and emphasis on truly aligning products and services to meet local market needs. (b) GE’s resources and capabilities The backbone GE’s success over time has been its ability to combine massive size with constant adaptation. Over the decades GE has successfully adapted both its business portfolio and its management systems to the demands and opportunities of the ever-changing business Environment. GE’s success in innovation has been built on the back of their ability to nurture ideas and innovations, and expertly managing and formulate them into successful investments. This is clearly shown through General Electric’s â€Å"Imagination breakthroughs† through Immelt. These imagination breakthroughs are promising technological R&D projects, that have the potential to create $100 million in sales over three years. Immelts emphasis on technology reflected his belief and the Belief intrinsic to GE which is that the primary driver of sales is great products. Immelt’s assessment of emerging global trends and his strategic direction demonstrate his understanding of the external opportunities and threats, and internal strengths and weaknesses. Technical leadership has proved to be not only a source of GE’s competitive advantage but it is also an important barrier to entry. For example, GE is the only US-based company with all the necessary capabilities to build a nuclear power plant. This is an example of General Electrics ability to marry Industrial and technological R&D to a business system capable of turning scientific and technological discoveries into marketable products. Question 3: What organizational changes has the new strategy necessitated? Will GE be able to successfully execute the strategy? Through placing greater emphasis on customer focus, organic growth and innovation, GE’s systems and structure must be realigned to better manage the complex situation of diversified businesses and to maintain its efficiency and performance. Immelt’s focus on greater cross integration, new growth platforms and enterprise selling lead to a major structural change in 2002. GE divisions were reorganized into a smaller number of broad based sectors. By 2008, there were 5 sectors and each of them focused on broad markets, in which they had a scale, market leadership, and superior customer offerings. GE’s 5 broad markets were: technology, infrastructure, industrial and commercial, GE capital, healthcare and NBC Universal. Through regrouping the various businesses into their markets it would be easier to identify the various connections between the businesses. Becoming a more customer focus business had a huge impact on the organization; it led to the revitalization of GE’s marketing function. A number of customer – orientated programs were created, most notably GE’s Commercial Council. The key initiative of the six part growth process in terms of marketing and sales were introduced, there were increasingly many metrics driven analysis on customer satisfaction and attitudes. This whole phase of becoming a customer focus business instead of an operating efficient one demanded the managers to become less of an operator and more of a marketer. Immelt’s reshaping of GE’s Business portfolio, through Growth platforms, required acquisition. Developing these opportunities required high levels of coordination across multiple organizational units. This further increased the organizational complexity of GE, and great difficulty in performance management as it was hard linking individual incentives to individual’s organizational performance hard to implement. Other issues arose through the organizational changes necessitated through the new strategy. Immelt had changed the rganizational structure to further integrate the different businesses, however this lead to a complex coordination problem as they have gone beyond cross selling to enterprise selling. Also through placing heavy emphasis on customer focus this caused the sales and marketing department to put less focus on particular business and just look at opportunities that they can exploit this can be seen from the example of GE medical systems. Through constantly acquiring new businesses to further fuel growth in technology and the energy sector this has made the organizational structure even more complex. Focussing on customers and enterprise selling requires a simple structure. It can be seen that if Immelt wants to successfully implement his strategies he needs to find a solution to change the organizational structure to mitigate the complexity of it, while being able to acquire new businesses for growth. Whether Immelt can execute these strategies due to these organizational issues are discussed in the further sections of this essay. Will Immelt’s strategy be successful? Are there alternatives corporate strategies that GE should consider – break up in particular? We believe that Immelts strategy will be successful and recommend that he continue to pursue his strategy of greater emphasis on technology, customer focus and increased integration. In order for this to happen in the context of the economic situation of the 21st century, we feel that it is important for GE’s emphasis to be shifted to risk-taking, sophisticated management, and innovation in order to deliver new products and services, and to penetrate new markets Immelt should continue to divest companies of low profit, growth and returns, and focus on those whose are aligned with their competencies are as a future possible growth platform. To reduce organizational complexity GE should also introduce competitive based pay which will link to all levels of employers from base workers to managers. This is to encourage collaboration through all levels of the employment ladder both vertically and horizontally. The success of Immelt’s strategy of combining innovation and efficiency in a fast-moving business environment will allow GE to capitalize on the demands and opportunities of a changing world. Thus, GE will play a leadership role as it sets the trend for the conglomerate business model to maintain its relevance. Breaking up GE There are several advantages in breaking up GE. GE will be able to focus on innovation and reinvest back on innovation and technology through the funds acquired from selling some of their businesses. There is also no need for having a complex organizational structure if GE would only focus on one segment of their business. The source of competitive advantage for GE is integration of business in its portfolio. GE Capital contributes 32% of total revenue. This is a stable source of revenue for GE. Spinning it off the business portfolio will reduce the funding for other GE initiatives. By doing so, they will not be able to address the challenges facing the business environment in the future. This proved as a disadvantage as it will alter the competitive scope of the company and will ultimately lose their capability to compete in global markets. GE should not break up as it will lose its core competencies and won’t be able to compete and enjoy the current market position that they are in. Focusing On Technology and Energy  Based on 2010 GE annual report, technology and energy infrastructure has the highest profit and revenue contribution for GE. This is the main focus of their business today. Although GE capital is not as profitable as before, it still contributes 32% of the total GE revenue. Overall, it is still growing from the period of 2009 – 2011. While GE Capital revenue does not contribute as the main source of contribution in both revenue and profit of GE, it is essential as a source of revenue to pursuit and invests in innovation that drives the Energy and Technology Infrastructure sector of GE.

Care and Compassion in the Nursing Profession Essay

Honor Code: As a student, I have neither given nor received aid/help on this assignment. Caring and Compassion in the Nursing Profession Nursing is a physically and emotionally demanding job. There are six virtues that should be followed when working as a nurse. Caring and compassion can be viewed as â€Å"nursing’s most precious asset† (Schantz, 2007). Caring and compassion are two different characteristics with similar meanings. Caring is defined as showing kindness or concern for others (Oxford, 2013). Compassion is defined as sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others (Oxford, 2013). Some people choose nursing as their job because their desire to care for others. Being a caring individual allows you to make a therapeutic relationship with a patient. When a patient feels cared for; emotionally they develop trust and self-worth. Caring requires you to physically meet your patient needs. When a patient has a sense a being cared for they may be more willing to participate. Most nurses have a certain mindset as â€Å"Do unto others as you would want done unto you† (Watson, 1988). Along with caring, compassion is reason why people desire to be nurses. Compassion is not sympathy you show toward a patient in need, but rather the sympathy that causes you to act on an inner desire to help that patient (Hart, 2011). When showing compassion it’s not doing things you are accountable to do as a nurse, but doing it because you are urged to do it as a human being to make a difference. All six virtues define nursing characteristic as a whole, but caring and compassion are key things to have when treating patients as nurses. To maintain a high quality of health care revolves around caring and compassion. It makes a big difference to have compassion in your heart to  care for others. Caring and compassion can have such a good impact on a patient to warthere he/she will gain self-worth and dignity. References Caring. (n.d). In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/caring Compassion. (n.d). In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/compassion Hart, M. (2011). Compassion: A Necessity For Quality Nursing Care. Retrieved from http://www.anurseiam.com/show_winners.php?winning_nurses_id=57 Schantz, M. (2007). Compassion: a concept analysis. Nursing Forum, 48-55. Retrieved from http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-zones/management/compassion-in-nursing-1-defining-identifying-and-measuring-this-essential-quality-/5006242.article Watson, J. (1988). New dimensions of human caring theory. Nursing Science Quarterly, 175-181. Retrieved from http://rnjournal.com/journal-of-nursing/caring-and-the-professional-practice-of-nursing

Biology 3.3 Dna Structure

3. 3 & 7. 1 DNA Structure Worksheet 1. Draw and label the structure of a simplified single nucleotide, including sugar, phosphate and base. 2. Complete the table below to show the pairings of the bases in DNA: Purine| Pyrimidine| Adenine| Thymine| Guanine| Cytosine| 3. Where would one find the base uracil? RNA, it replaces thymine 4. In the space below, draw a single strand of three nucleotides, naming the bonds between them and showing the correct relative position of these bonds. The sequence of these bases makes up the genetic code. The red linesrepresent covalent bonds.They are read in groups of three called triplets. These triplets arethen used to send instructions in the cell: to switch genes on and off. 5. Define the term double helix. The term double helix is two strands of DNA that twist around each other. Anti-Parallel 6. In the space below, draw a section of DNA, showing two anti-parallel strands of three nucleotides. Label the bonds which hold the bases together as well a s the correct complementary base pairs. Also include the 3’ and 5’ linkages (and ends), and the distinction between purines and pyramidines. . Explain the relevance of the following in the double-helix structure of DNA: a. Complementary base pairing Complementary base pairing is when G only bonds with C and T only bonds with A and these are found on each strand of the double helix b. Hydrogen bonds Hydrogen bonds between the bases hold together the strands of DNA c. Relative positioning of the sugar-phosphate backbone and the bases The relative positioning of the sugar-phosphate backbone are on the outside and the bases are on the inside of the double helix 8.In the space below, draw the structure of a simplified nucleosome, including the H1 linker and histone proteins. 9. Nucleosomes allow the DNA to be supercoiled. a. What is the approximate length of the DNA strand in one chromosome? The length is (length of 1 bp) (number of bp per cell) which is 2 meters. b. During which phase of the cell cycle is DNA most likely to be supercoiled? Prophase c. Outline how nucleosomes help regulate transcription. 10. Distinguish between unique or single-copy genes and highly repetitive sequences: Single-copy genes| Highly-repetitive sequences| . 5% of genome makes polypeptides. Each codon (mRNA) (3 bases) codes for one amino acid. 3% codes for ‘on/off' gene switches. Within each eukaryotic genes there are:Exons (coding regions)Introns (non-coding regions which are edited out)  Ã‚  Every gene has a ‘switch', for example a skin cell will turn off unnecessary genes so it does not perform the wrong activity (e. g. producing blood)  | Makes up about 5% – 45% of the genome. Once called junk DNAAlso known as satellite DNA, each repeated sequence can be 5-300 base pairsHRSs are used in genetic fingerprinting.This is because they accumulate mutations rapidly| Not all of the base sequences in DNA are translated. Highly repetitive base sequences ar e not translated. They consist of sequences of between 5 and 300 bases that may be repeated up to 10 000 times. They constitute 5-45% of eukaryotic DNA. Single-copy genes or unique genes are translated and constitute a surprisingly small proportion of eukaryotic DNA. 11. Distinguish between introns and exons in eukaryotic genes. Exons (coding regions) Introns (non-coding regions which are edited out)

A Dolls House, by Henry Ibsen Essay -- Henry Ibsen, A Doll House

I find the metaphorical meanings in particular, quite supplementary to the overall plot, as well as the irony that sets us up for tense situations in which any drama should do. Directly after the title of the drama, we are immediately primed with the social standards of the time as the first character is listed: â€Å"Torvald Helmer - a lawyer,† and underneath his name: â€Å"Nora - his wife.† She above all else is first a wife and a mother; these titles assume her primary duties and responsibilities. Nora however is not much more than a â€Å"trophy wife† to Mr. Helmer and a playmate to her children. Torvald refers to her with what seem to be degrading nick nding, "thousands of women have" (875). This statement allows for Nora to realize her many accomplishments and her worthiness of a larger award than what she has ever been given. Torvald stops referring to her using bird metaphors, he now sees her strengths that far exceed his own. Instead of her relying on him, he is dependent upon her to keep his beloved public image. Nora no longer relies on his claims of "wide wings to shelter you with," (871) she breaks free and uses her own recently discovered wings to escape Torvald’s sheltering. One throughout the play is almost hoping for the â€Å"greatest miracle,† but can see Nora’s struggle to break free of her caged prison. Nora has set herself free to fly just as birds were created to do, and the sound of a door slamming shut emphasizes her gained strength. Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. 1983. Print.

The balance of payments is the main measure of import and exports in Essay

The balance of payments is the main measure of import and exports in the UK. For some years the balance of payment s has been in - Essay Example Additionally, an accurate balance of payment deficit must make provisions for errors and omissions to account for the missed out data. When there is a disequilibria in the balance of payments as a result of certain sections of the balance of payments being in deficit, then we can conclude that an economy’s balance of payments is deficit. This in most cases occurs with respect to deficits in a countries and to a smaller extent trade deficits. This is theoretically explained by the fact that for equilibrium to be reached, there must be a balance between capital/ current accounts values and the financial account. This therefore explains the UK situation is that if there is a deficit in current account then there must be a surplus on the capital/financial account (Nikolas 2010, p. 59). The ever persistent UK current account deficit can be traced to mid-1980s with a review of the current account revealing that the imports of goods and services exceed their exports. A critical revie w of the values of balance of payment account observed from the first quarter of the year 2000 to the last quarter of this year show a deteriorating current account. The study reveals a current deficit of over 12 billion pounds as at the last quarter of 2012 translating to a 3.2% of the GDP. ... This is majorly attributed to the process of de-industrialisation which accelerated in the early 1980s. A growth in consumer spending that UK been experiencing is majorly as a result of rapid increase in the imports leading to the worsening of the current account. Looking at the 1980s boom, it is evident that the fall in the rate of savings and the resulting rise in the consumer spending of the UK citizens led to the record deficit in current accounts. On the other hand, the recession experienced in 1991 which resulted to the consequent improvement in the current account improvement and subsequent falling in the spending on imports (Guillermo 1978). Another important reason that can be attributed to the deficit in balance of payments is the overvalued exchange rates. This, apart from, other countries like Spain, Greece and Portugal can be attributed to the large account deficits in the countries as it makes exports from the countries more expensive in the international markets while the imports becomes cheaper. This is a motivation to the local consumers to purchase of the imports which are relatively cheap while on the other hand making the market tougher for the exporters since it makes them uncompetitive in the market compared to exporters from other countries. With overvalued exchange rate, there are expectations of general competitiveness in amongst various firms. A decline in relative competitiveness coupled with rising costs, poor quality of goods and industrial unrests which results to difficulties in making exportations which causes deterioration of the current account of the UK (Stijn 1988). Various economists have attribute

Google docs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Google docs - Assignment Example Along with these tools, Google Docs also allows us to store documents created using these applications over the Internet. For this purpose, it currently offers a disk space of 1GB. However, this storage space is offered free of cost and there are no additional charges involved in its upgrading. Moreover, Google Corporation is always trying to implement ways to improve the performance and capabilities of its applications, services and capabilities. In this scenario, it has implemented a service for its users through which they can upload documents or files of any type to available storage space. This service allows its users to effectively backup files online. Furthermore, the use of Google Docs and its support for application storage through cloud environment allow its users to access these applications and documents developed through these applications from anywhere and anytime (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Ragupathi, 2013; Meloni, 2010; Zhou, Simpson, & Domizi, 2012). Without a doubt, this suite can be used by the students a number of ways. For instance, one of the most important use of Google Docs is to improve collaboration among students while working in teams. It is an admitted fact that students at university level work in groups. So using this suite they can be able to create documents that are available online for all the team members and changes made in these documents will become visible immediately (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Meloni, 2010). Along with improved collaboration, Google Docs also provides an excellent platform for documents sharing. For instance, a student working on a specific task can share their work with their group fellows without sending individual emails (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Meloni, 2010). It is an affordable way to share documents. In fact, it is a secure and cost-effective mechanism for data backup. It provides a considerable

International Business Alliance case-writing Essay

International Business Alliance case-writing - Essay Example In 1996, TSYS and VISA U.S.A.'s Merchant Bank Services formed the for-profit Vital Processing Services LLC joint venture, combining both companies' merchant processing units, which together processed nearly three billion transactions in 1995. TSYS has also expanded into new areas to combat the increasing maturation of the U.S. credit card industry. In 1995, TSYS, which has long serviced banks in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, took its first steps to transform itself into an international company. TSYS formed the joint venture Total System Services de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. with Controladora PROSA, an 11-bank partnership representing 75 percent of Mexico's card-issuing banks. The joint venture added four million accounts, giving TSYS de Mexico 40 percent of that country's credit card accounts. TSYS has also expanded beyond traditional credit card markets by winning the processing business of United States Medical Finance Corp.'s USMed Card, a medical credit card. An alliance with Fair , Isaac and Company subsidiary DynaMark, Inc., formed in 1995, has enabled TSYS to extend its services to its clients with dynamic database marketing capabilities. TSYS generates revenues through the volume, rather than the amount, of transactions made on the credit cards it services. In 1995, TSYS revenues neared $250 million, producing a net income of $27.7 million. TSYS is led by Chairman and CEO Richard Ussery, Vice-chairman Kenneth Evans, and President Philip Tomlinson, all three long-time employees of parent company Synovus Financial Corp. That company, formerly known as Columbus Bank & Trust, owns 81 percent of TSYS's stock; TSYS management controls an additional ten percent of the company's shares, with the remainder trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In the 1950s, it was barely possible to speak of a credit card "industry." When tiny Columbus Bank & Trust (CB&T) issued a credit card to its local depositors in 1959, it was only the second bank in Georgia, and among the very first in the country, to do so. A credit processing operation was set up in the bank's basement; processing was done manually, as computers were still rare and software was even rarer. Through the first half of the 1960s, the bank's credit department grew from processing transactions from some 200 local merchants to 3,000. In 1966, CB&T built a separate operations building, and, after attempting to form a joint venture with W.C. Bradley Company to computerize processing, CB&T installed its own computer. Finding trained computer operators was difficult and expensive; instead, the bank trained some of its own personnel, establishing a computer department. By 1969 the company was writing its own software to handle processing of its credit card accounts. Joining the team developing the bank's software programs was Richard Ussery, then in his fourth year with the bank (he joined CB&T as a teller in 1965). As more banks instituted credit cards and struggled to process accounts, they were attracted to CB&T's processing system. Ussery told Georgia Trend of