Functional areas of a business

Functional areas of a business Outcome 1 Avril Montgomery 1) Open System An open systems approach is a business approach that emphasizes commercially supported practices, products, specifications and standards. Motorola is an open system. Using this approach assists their long term success. They are able to produce an appropriate output as they know the importance of gaining input from their surroundings. As a global leader in a wide range of technologies, the most important aim of Motorola is to maintain their position. Motorola is knowledgeable to the fact that technology develops rapidly and in order to access these technologies customers will require the latest modern products. They aim to distinguish themselves from their competitors by creating cutting edge designs that meet the expectations of the customers. The launch of the worldwide marketing campaign Mobile Me which includes innovative design and wireless features has set them apart from their competitors. Their range of Bluetooth wireless devices enhances the mobile experience for customers. M otorola is aware of the effect mobile phones and other electronic products have on the environment. They apply technical skills to decrease negative effects to the environment at each stage of the product life cycle. One of their goals with regard to the environment is to produce products which contain minimal amounts of poisonous chemicals or to cut them out completely. 2) Structure During the 1980s, due to other mobile phone companies such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony creating strong competition, Motorola struggled to keep up. In order to reverse the slump in sales, top managers at Motorola decided to improve the quality. This change was needed due to global competitors and changing technology. The plan was to aim for zero defects in the production. Motorola implemented a system called Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a business management strategy which attempts to identify and eliminate the causes of defects and mistakes in the manufacture and business process. The program was stretched out from operations to the other functional areas sales and marketing, personnel and human resources. Reorganising into four business areas during 2005, allowed Motorola to improve their response to the needs of the customers and environmental changes that have taken place. As 58% of the companys total sales were made up from mobile devices, Motorola views this as a significant contributor to their organisation. 3) Organisational concepts Motorolas structure is based on their products, these are: Connected home solutions Connected home solutions Government and enterprise mobility solutions Networks Motorolas functional areas are: Research and development Sales and marketing Personnel and human resources Functional areas were set up by Motorola to support the product areas. Marketing is a very important area as the views of customers can be obtained to determine what they want. It is essential for the marketing and the research and development areas to work together to meet the needs of the customers. Technology is always advancing which means that the research and development area must stay ahead to include these advances in their design. To adjust to environmental changes, it is necessary for all functional areas to work together. 4) Advantages of Motorolas structure Continual development of knowledge in dealing with Motorolas complex products The structure allows Motorola to react quickly to environmental changes. This allows the company to respond to technological change. This form of structure allows Motorola to be extremely client orientated Disadvantages of Motorolas structure As the emphasis is the product, Motorola may have a problem of coordination They may be an apparent redundancy of effort and not much cooperation between product areas Managers may focus on their line of work to the disadvantage of the company as a whole. 5) Internal stakeholder Motorolas business unit is managed by Ronald Garriques. He is responsible for the mobile devices business unit and has the authority to guide the business unit for defining the strategy for mobile devices. He must guide the mobile device business to succeed otherwise he will be responsible for any failure and have to accept that responsibility. He has authority in the organisations formal structure. In terms of the informal structure of the organisation however, his authority is limited as this is normally governed by a group of individuals. His power could be undermined by the group of individuals, which could perhaps be detrimental to the business. External stakeholder Greenpeace is a worldwide campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment. As an external stakeholder in Motorola they could have a big effect on the formal structure of Motorola. Although Greenpeace have no power in the formal organisation, they have influenced Motorolas behaviour in terms of the environment as Motorola have a policy and commitment regarding this issue. They can exert some degree of authority, by persuading Motorola to train their staff on environmental issues and getting them to have an environmental policy. Through education programmes, they have the power to influence groups of individuals, making them aware of the harmful effects that the substances in mobile devices has on the environment.

Organizational Change Essay

Organizational change is common when companies go through a transformation and need to either change business strategies or restructure the operation. Organizations are open systems that survive by maintaining good standing with the economic environment around them. By fundamentally changing the environment of a company, it means altering ways and means of production, downsizing, or even dropping dead weight as Ford did eliminating whole brands such as Mercury. In some cases the whole culture may need to change in order to rebrand a struggling company. According to McShane, effective change occurs by unfreezing the current situation, moving to a desired condition, and the refreezing the system so that it remains in the desired state. (McSane, 2014) Easier said than done because some of the main challenges when it comes to organizational change involve the employees who are restraining the driving forces of upper management. Resistance can prove toxic if untreated or left unnoticed creating silos or just counterproductive thoughts, words, and actions. Productive persuasion is tricky when you have to explain how to do things one way after explaining to do them another before. Credibility can be tarnished if reasoning and logic do not follow the definitive command. When Upper management has to restructure it can mean losing the respect of subordinates in some cases because they may be challenged more often in the future. Organizations can improve the likelihood of success in their change efforts by putting all the cards on the table. Explanations should be given that include positive results for them in the future justifying why change is needed. Communication and employee involvement reduce the restraining forces and promote an open learning environment. In Ford’s case, the fear of unemployment for many workers due to the economy was motivation enough to embrace change with open arms hoping to float by in the financial hurricane. This open-mindedness kept them ahead of the competition and rallied them behind the creation of the Fusion and Escape. Focusing more attention on smaller fuel-efficient cars has paid off mainly because of rising gas prices and environmental considerations. According to Rosevear, while the V8-powered GT version of Ford’s Mustang  sells well, higher-performance models are typically niche products. That niche is growing — Ford says that sales of high-performance models have risen 70 percent in the U.S. since 2009, and 16 percent in Europe over the same period — but it’s still small. High-performance versions of mainstream models generally make up less than 10 percent of the model’s total sales. But those sales can be very profitable. Ford’s compact Focus starts at under $17,000, but the sticker price on a loaded high-performance ST model is close to $29,000. There’s a lot of profit for Ford in that $12,000 difference. (Rosevear, 2015) The profit margin seems to be growing as production methods become faster and more efficient, creating an environment worth changing towards. When companies look back for examples to give about successful organizational changes, Ford should be on the forefront of their minds as a good example. McShane, S., & Glinow, M. (2014). Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior. Organizational Behavior (2nd ed., pg. 273). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Rosevear, J. (2015, January 10). How Ford Will Chase Younger Buyers in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2015/01/10/how-ford-will-chase-younger-buyers-2015/

Anxiety Disorders And Its Effects On Children s Life

Sweaty palms, trembling hands, and a tendency to stutter are common, and are regarded as normal when students, or generally younger adults, are to give a presentation of some sort in front of a group, class, or crowd; excessive breathing issues, nausea, and adamant reluctance to even speak are not, and should not be treated as such. When the first three behaviors shift into the latter three, concern should arise in the parents or guardians of whomever the younger person is, as it is likely that their fear of social presentation could very well be something forming into a much more severe matter of worry: an anxiety disorder. As the mental development that takes place in the early years of life are pivotal to the rest of one’s overall health, issues such as anxiety disorders that are left untreated are very detrimental and can trail into adulthood as well (Children’s Mental Health - New Report). It is important for parents and guardians to be involved in their child†™s life so that they are able to recognize a severe shift in the perfectly normal, and beneficial, anxiety felt in one’s younger years to a kind that keeps the child from living their life properly and to their full potential. A common, but dangerous, mindset that some parents or guardians take on in the face of their child’s unusual levels of anxiety is one of dismissal in which they disregard the forming issue as a phase of some sort that every child must endure; however, such a belief is only partially correct.Show MoreRelatedAnxiety Is Not A New Disorder1182 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is Anxiety? We all know the feeling of anxiety. Some may not be able to distinguish it from fear. For others, it s a constant struggle that impedes almost every aspect of their lives. Anxiety is not a new disorder caused by recent advancements in technology. Rather, it’s always been with us and our psyche since our beginnings. 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Abortion is Not the Reason for Lower Crime Rates Essay

What is wrong with the ivory tower? The appointment of Peter (Death to Disabled Newborns!) Singer to the bioethics faculty at Princeton University has generated considerable controversy. Recently, University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and Stanford University Law School professor John Donohue III created a furor with their research paper Legalized Abortion and Crime. The authors contend that legalized abortion fueled the drop in crime in the 1990s because a new subclass of humanity theyve identified- women most at risk to have children who would engage in criminal activity-have higher abortion rates, thus preemptively executing the would-be felons. This subclass, we are told, is populated predominantly by women who are†¦show more content†¦Levitt and Donohue that the whole thing was just a zany joke. Swifts Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to their Parents or Country ... proposes to pay mothers for breeding and nursing their children. Poor mothers with many children would not then be forced to spend their days begging and could undertake some gainful employment. And infants would be sold at 12 months, after weaning, as a tasty delicacy for the gentry. The commonwealth would then be rid of children who might turn thieves for want of work. Swift minutely calculates the monetary b enefits to the nation, just as Donohue and Levitt tote up the ever so speculative savings from executing likely criminals in utero. Unfortunately, it appears that many people are accepting Levitt and Donohues hypothesis as Revealed Truth (no matter that the paper is unpublished and not peer-reviewed). A few random observations about their methodology and assumptions may illuminate the paths which led them to error. First, the authors get one point right, but fail to draw out its obvious significance. They acknowledge that legalizing abortion leads to an increase in the conception rate among women who do not want babies. ... One recent study cited found the decline in birth rates due toShow MoreRelatedWhere Have All The Criminals Gone?1594 Words   |  7 Pagesaddresses the question of why crime rates suddenly dropped in the 1990’s. Various assumptions made by people during this time are given, such as a strong economy, increased reliance on prisons and increased use of capital punishment, innovative policing strategies and increased number of police, gun laws, change in crack and other drug markets, and the aging of the population. However, the most convincing reason for the crime decline is due to the legalization of abortion in the 1970’s. Without theRead MoreRoe Vs. Wade On Low Income Economies1325 Words   |  6 Pagesincome economies. 4.1. 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