Euthanasia raises many questions in morality, medical ethics and the law. There is an ongoing struggle to make euthanasia legal. Advancement in technology has also contributed to the debate of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Bloyd describes euthanasia as meaning "good or happy death." It involves allowing or helping a terminally ill person to die, for the sake of relief from suffering (15). Supporters of voluntary euthanasia argue that it is all right to help someone end his or her life, as long as that person has a good reason for doing it. However, other people think that it is wrong to legally kill and take away an innocent life.
According to Faye Girsh, the Hemlock Society and the majority of polled Americans believe that providing physician-assisted dying to a terminally patient who requests it, is a humane and compassionate option that should be legalized. She points out that it will be "cruel, even barbaric to make a suffering person, whose death is inevitable, live longer than he or she wishes." As part of their job, doctors are there to help all patients in any possible way. In the case with the terminally ill, only physicians can prescribe some medication to help with suffering, and in doing so, fulfil certain patients' wishes. A physician may also aid in the dying process, when prescribed substances cannot control suffering. The patient would also have a better state of mind, knowing that they have options when the pain becomes unbearable, instead of having "the anxiety of not knowing how much longer one would have to suffer and watch the family suffer," which also adds to the burden of the illness (69-76; ch. 2). With added stress and worrying about when the final day will come, a person may get more sick, and develop unnecessary symptoms. Kohl and Kurtz believe that "society has no genuine interest or need to preserve the terminally ill against their will and that the right to beneficent euthanasia, with proper procedural safeguards, can be protected against abuse (236).
On the other hand, many people believe that Euthanasia should not be legalized, for it will harm the society. Instead of terminally ill patients having a "right to die," they will see their illness as a burden to family members, which leads to their "duty to die" (Torr 72). As a result of euthanasia becoming legal, there would be many deaths of people who want to die, and even those who do not, but they were just told by the physician or a family member that that is the best available option. Not only would one individual be affected, but the society as a whole, because people may choose euthanasia even if they are not terminally ill, but instead have depression or some curable disease. In such a case, those are the people that need hospice care (where someone is on call for the patient at all times), not euthanasia, or an easy way out to committing suicide.
In many countries, Euthanasia is legal and accepted. Some of these countries include the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Uruguay and Norway. Holland's policy may work for that country, but it may not be successful if applied to the United States. For the United States, the "New Oregon Death with Dignity Act" was passed in 1994, marking just a beginning. Derek Humphry argues that euthanasia is justifiable and ethical. A person should not be allowed to suffer if he or she does not want to. In the later days of the illness, a person may be given so much drugs to ease the pain that they loose consciousness, but their "quality of life" lowers, affecting loved ones around them (17-22; ch. 1). John Shelby Spong believes that, "We are aware that life can today be prolonged by managing pain with pain-killing drugs, but that relief is sometimes achieved at the price of the destruction of the patient's mind of the loss of the patient's capacity to relate to other human beings in a meaningful way." Every person has their individual rights, so they should also be granted that right of choosing their death, under the right state of mind (41, 44; ch. 1). Due to the advancement of medical technology, Spong also thinks that euthanasia does not violate Christian and other religious beliefs. Although the church could have taken a firm position on the topic in the past, the present brings about new changes and views. Due to the advances of modern medicine, God cannot only control death (The Ethics Of Euthanasia 30-34).
Although individuals may have the right to make decisions concerning the welfare of their lives, they had no control over their birth, therefore their death is not up to them. Based on Judea-Christians beliefs, one of the fundamental values includes not killing or taking the life of someone else, even voluntarily (Meilaender 31-33). Among the traditions that oppose euthanasia, the three main ones are Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Protestant (Childress 121; ch. 6). In Ronald Otremba's point of view, it will be unethical to legalize euthanasia because life is valuable. The practice will also lead to the death of many others, for example, once one terminally ill patient requests euthanasia, the handicapped may follow, along with others who do not need it. According to Otremba, the value of life is based "on the principle that God is the sole creator of life and has sovereign authority over life and death" (21-23). The value of life should not be judged merely by the physical, emotional and social characteristics, but instead, on the whole as being a human and having life. Good judgment does not necessarily portray morality. In such a corrupt society, people think about themselves and not how they may harm or benefit society as a whole.
Legalizing euthanasia would not lead to involuntary killing. Defined in Euthanasia: moral and pastoral perspectives, Richard Gula states that involuntary euthanasia is killing a competent person for the purpose of relieving suffering without first obtaining their consent. With the proper safeguards in place, the abuse of legalized euthanasia can be prevented. The "slippery slope" argument is associated with Nazi Germany. Under the dictatorship of Adolph Hitler, many people were persecuted because of disabilities, the color of their skin or other stereotypes that would consider a person as not being "pure" for Hitler's society. In an essay by Gerald A. Larue, he states that the United States is a democracy and individuals are free, so the slippery slope pattern cannot develop in America. Human rights are protected, as long as "the government is of the people, for the people and by the people, and so long as the national ethic endorses the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens" (124-132; ch. 3).
Jack Kevorkian is a well known name associated with euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Through his death machine called the "Mercitron," Jack Kevorkian has help to kill hundreds of patients. However, Torr stated that "Wesley J. Smith, a staunch euthanasia opponent, points out that 'approximately 80 percent of Kevorkian's victims were not terminally ill'" (85). This defeats the purpose of euthanasia, since it was meant to be for only those who are terminally ill. Such a case shows that the process can lead to abuses within society. Safeguards in preventing abuse might not be adequate enough. Euthanasia has been established in the Netherlands for some time, and it has moved from physician assisted suicide, to active euthanasia to involuntary killing (Torr 88).
Some terminally ill patients have tried to commit suicide. When unsuccessful, the patient can become more ill and try even harder, leading to violent attempts at times. With the help of a physician, the situation can be prevented. The Hippocratic Oath is the traditional vow made by most physicians. It states that physicians should "use treatment to help the sick, […] but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing" (Wekesser 100). The Oath also states that physicians should follow the method of treatment that would benefit the patient, based on his or her ability and judgment" (Bloyd 30). Patients depend on the advice and help of their physicians because they are the only ones who may be able to help them. Timothy Quill believes that the relationship between physicians and patients will improve if euthanasia is legalized (101; ch. 3). Terminally ill patients will feel better knowing that they have options available and if not in a total vegetative state (brain dead), they will be able to relate with medical professionals better also. At some point in time, some sick people often find it hard to take some of the prescribed medication, due to the method of taking it (for example, swallowing), or the high dosage (Bloyd 62). With the help of a doctor and euthanasia, a person may not have to go through all that torture and suffering. In helping a terminally ill patient, Timothy Quill proposed the following guidelines for doctors to follow:
First, the patient must, of his or her own accord, clearly and repeatedly request to die rather than continue suffering. Second, the patient's judgment must be clear. Third, the patient must have a condition that is incurable and associated with severe, unrelenting, unbearable, suffering. Fourth, the doctor must make sure that the patient's suffering and the request are not the result of inadequate treatment for pain, anxiety, and depression. And last, another doctor who is experienced in treating the pain, anxiety, and depression sometimes felt by the terminally ill should be consulted. (Bloyd 76)
These requirements would set a precedent as to whether euthanasia is being practiced for the right reasons; thus there would be no harm if it were to become legal. Physician, Ezekiel Emanuel points out that by doing the procedure over and over again, doctors would become more comfortable, and it would it help the purposeless lives of those suffering ("Whose Right to Die" 79).
Euthanasia is prohibited under the Hippocratic Oath in several ways. Even if the disease is formidable and the person is completely take over by the disease, the physician is still supposed to treat the patient. The Oath states that "I will not give poison to anyone though asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan" (Sulmasy 26; ch. 1). No matter how close a person may be to dying, physicians should not assist in their death. By taking one's life, physicians may be seen as "God" (Torr 47). Whereas some people think that the doctor-patient relationship may improve, the opposite might happen. Instead, the patient would be more afraid of the doctor, loosing their faith and trust in his/her practice, because the choice which he/she has given them, is death. The patient may not be ready to face such a challenge (Dougherty 70).
Hospice care is a program in which the dying person is cared for in the comfort of his or her home with family members and other caregivers providing support, care and counseling for the patient. Whereas in the hospital, the patient is only treated with drugs to cure pains, hospice provides everything else to ensure that a person's final days are well spent (Anderson 66-73). On the other hand, Vicki Brower argues that " hospices may not always provide the best care for the dying patients because of a lack of money, poor medical supervision, inadequate personal training and a rigid philosophy that compels people to "accept" death rather than embrace life" (74). Hospice is not for everyone. It may be a substitute to legalizing euthanasia, however, those that cannot benefit from such a program may want to have euthanasia as an option.
Each human being is different, therefore each death is unique in its own way. For some, the subject is very emotional, thus one's judgment is bias, but for others, they stand by their beliefs and morals, and not accepting change in the developing society. In conclusion, if euthanasia were to become legal, we would not know about the consequences or what problems would arise. However, if euthanasia remains as a debatable topic, we would not be able to face the challenges and deal with situations that would or would not have come up with such a topic.
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Saturday, March 7, 2009
Online Homework Helper
HOMEWORK PAPERS are assigned to students almost every week by professors and teachers to control their knowledge in a required major. Homework writing is a not so complicated process as writing dissertations, theses and research papers. As usual professors and teachers assign homework essays and term papers to be prepared at home. It's an individual approach to students that gives an opportunity to show how independent students are and which factors influence him/her home.
Some students are actually independent young people who write their homework papers on their own sitting in the libraries, studying different documents and reading necessary literature needed to prepare their homework. Other students are fond of ordering homework papers from various companies and services on the web.
Student is often looking for custom homework writing companies which could provide him/her with homework writing help in such disciplines as English, Business, Law, Marketing, Management, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Religion, Theology, Economics, History, Literature, Education, Teaching, Geography, Geology, Anthropology, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Criminology, Astronomy, Women studies, Consumer studies, Media studies, Tourism, Environmental studies, Asian studies, Diplomacy and Political science, Computer science, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, Sports, Music etc, for all levels of education such as School, High School, College or University.
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Some students are actually independent young people who write their homework papers on their own sitting in the libraries, studying different documents and reading necessary literature needed to prepare their homework. Other students are fond of ordering homework papers from various companies and services on the web.
Student is often looking for custom homework writing companies which could provide him/her with homework writing help in such disciplines as English, Business, Law, Marketing, Management, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Religion, Theology, Economics, History, Literature, Education, Teaching, Geography, Geology, Anthropology, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Criminology, Astronomy, Women studies, Consumer studies, Media studies, Tourism, Environmental studies, Asian studies, Diplomacy and Political science, Computer science, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, Sports, Music etc, for all levels of education such as School, High School, College or University.
Of course everybody wants to find a reliable homework helper for writing his/her essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, book report or speech as a homework assignment. To find a trustworthy homework helper in the Internet you may face a little problem in choosing the best homework helper for writing your paper online.
After deep investigation of custom homework writing companies on the Internet market I made a conclusion that such online homework helpers as CustomWritings.com and CustomWritingService.com are committed to provide students with custom written homework papers of premium quality. All home works are written from scratch by professional academic writers (from the US, UK, Canada and Australia) who are well-experienced in more than 100 disciplines and deadline-oriented to deliver homework papers strictly according to your deadline (4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 24, 48 hours or more) and in the citation style you need: MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian or Harvard.
Be sure you won't find better homework helpers than mentioned above custom homework writing services which have already helped millions of students with writing homework assignments like essays, term papers, research papers, theses, dissertations, book reports, book reviews, speeches and other written assignments. Hire a homework writer right now.
Research Papers for Sale
Education plays the most important role in our life. It develops our skills and abilities, brings up good and hidden talents and widens our outlook. In the United States of America education system includes academic writing in schools, high schools, colleges and universities. Writing academic papers (essays, research papers, term papers, theses, dissertations) is an essential task to be solved by students to get the best grade.
But not everybody writes academic papers personally. Sometimes student feels lazy to prepare his/her research paper and complete it on time, moreover, to get a good grade for it. Writing research papers, for instance, requires a lot of time, patience, diligence and knowledge. Of course students want to spend his time in libraries looking for necessary materials for writing his own research on a required research paper topic. It's better for him go for a beer with friends or hang up somewhere in the nightclub.
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But not everybody writes academic papers personally. Sometimes student feels lazy to prepare his/her research paper and complete it on time, moreover, to get a good grade for it. Writing research papers, for instance, requires a lot of time, patience, diligence and knowledge. Of course students want to spend his time in libraries looking for necessary materials for writing his own research on a required research paper topic. It's better for him go for a beer with friends or hang up somewhere in the nightclub.
Consequently, they fail their course. For those who are not indifferent for education and want to get high grades for their research papers there are a lot of professional custom research paper writing services were created to provide students with custom research papers for sale.
Offering custom written research papers for sale online research paper companies have the goal: to help students with writing research papers and to make their life easier. The companies like these hire professional research paper writers who are experienced and deadline-oriented in writing research papers on any topic and for any academic level (School, High School, College, University or Master's level). There are a lot of disciplines which students study (English, Business, Law, Marketing, Management, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Religion, Theology, Economics, History, Literature, Education, Teaching, Geography, Geology, Anthropology, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Criminology, Astronomy, Women studies, Consumer studies, Media studies, Tourism, Environmental studies, Asian studies, Diplomacy and Political science, Computer science, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, Sports, Music etc) that's why as usual the academic writers are arranged according to the subjects and field of studies which they are good at writing.
Custom research papers for sale provided by the best research paper companies are of high quality, non-plagiarized and written in accordance with customer's research paper instructions.
The research paper agencies sell research papers not only for commercial benefits but also to help young people write research papers online.
Among the best custom research paper writing services one should underline the following companies. CustomWritings.com – premium custom writing company that provides students with high-quality custom essays, term papers, theses, dissertations, book reports, book reviews, speeches and research papers for sale. It was established in 2003. It is one of the first custom writing companies on the market. And CustomWritingService.com, comparatively new custom writing service but since 2005 has already helped more than 4000 customers with their research papers from all over the world.
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Friday, March 6, 2009
Strategic of Human Resource Management
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE SUCCESS OF STRATEGIC HRM?
The External Environment, Internal Environment, Corporate Culture and Global Environment, affect Human Resource Management. However, in determining the Key Factors that defines the success of Strategic Human Resource Management will be:
• Being Focused in key relations / Productivity – orientated.
This is derived from the external environment and the people who actually use the organization’s goods and services are crucial to the firm’s survival. Therefore management ensures that employment practices do not antagonize the customers it serves. In Strategic Human Resource Management, the organizations should be trained to be customer focused and understand the customer’s needs and expectations. From the orientation program to the daily operational practices, they must be motivated to provide quality goods or services. Here it is directly related to the actual analysis skills, Qualifications and appropriate training to the organization’s employees.
• Being Central to Corporate Plan.
Businesses are often forced to make many changes to stay competitive. Therefore, it is fundamental for organizations to develop corporate plans, vision, objectives and common goals and the Human Resource Department will need to assist in coordinating and communicating such values to the employees. They interact and liase with all departmental managers and staff to install the corporate identity to achieve the vision of the organization as a united team. Thus it is an important characteristic within a strategic Human Resource Management to build a strong corporate culture with mission based values and behavior referent.
• Making fast and efficient decisions
As an organization faces intense competition in both its product and labour markets, unless an organization is in an unusual position of monopolizing the market it serves (niche product), quick efficient decisions on human resource issues are vital. Employees will have competence towards management and the organization’s credibility remain strong within the external environment.
• Instill Integrated initiatives / multi – dimensional approach.
The Human Resource Manager constantly works with the people who represent all organizational levels and functional areas. Here, they must recognize the different perspectives these individuals bring to Human resource. By understanding the many interrelationships, the human resource manager resolves problems and issues. Therefore, it is important for the Human Resource Department to initiate, encourage and lead the increasing role of line management, to facilitate, delivering and deliberating good communication methods and skills.
• Promote business/entrepreneur-ship thinking within the human resources
In business today, management must be prepared to explain the merits of a particular programme in terms of its costs and benefits. Within the organization must be trained in this aspect to monitor and maintain the right balance, understanding the profitable gains to the expenditure and overhead the organization bears.
• Possess good integrated selection and recruitment methods and skills
An organization’s major task is to ensure that it obtains and retains a sufficient number of employees in various career field to allow the organization to compete effectively. A bidding war often results when competitors attempt to fill certain critical positions in their companies. Because of the strategic nature of their needs, firms are sometimes forced to resort to unusual means to recruit and retain such employees. Here, the Human Resource Manager will need to be aware of the various means/ methods that could be applied to recruit the right staff with the right skills. This will also depend on the external environment where the pool of labor force is available. The labor force is always changing which creates dynamic situations such as in managing a diverse workforce. It is a challenge in the coming decades to recognize and manage people with different characteristics who think, act and communicate differently. Based on what has been mentioned earlier on recruitment and selection as being one of the main function within the application of strategic Human Resource Management. It is thus critical for the personnel involved in this area to be focused, understand and sells the corporate values in achieving the targeted goals, have long- sited vision and plans well on the process of proper recruitment.
• Work on performance – related pay and rewards systems.
Organization that can develop direct links between performance and rewards tend to create cultures conducive to achievement. This function within the Human Resource management need to constructively conduct job analysis for each position within the organization for wage determination, financial/ non-financial/ incentive compensation or fringe benefits. The Application of non –analytical/quantitative , weighted point system methods or classification helps to determine the wage and pay structure. Performance related salary through a comprehensive appraisal system that include core values, core skills, core supervision skills as well as targets setting, could enhance productivity .
• Minimal job categorizing and grading and encourage job design based teamwork
In managing Human Resources today, it is good to define job descriptions but there should be minimal job categorizing and grading. This will provide for good c- ordination and teamwork within the company. The risk of too many categorized jobs is that employees draw their line on their job and eventually turn to be calculate and wait on each other to complete the work, implying on this is not my job etc.
• Strong Cultural management especially in the area of conflict and possesses wide experience with fore vision in managing cultural / structural / personal strategies in the intervention processes. Conflict management is today a strong management feature and it the need derives from within the Corporate Culture. Due to the diverse Human Resource and the complexity of the labour force, the human resource department will need to develop skills in conflict management. Counseling mentorship, good listenng skills and being the mediator are important traits in the Human resource personnel. Employee personality types vary and even in the healthiest corporate culture, stressful relationships among employees can occur. Combined with differing values and belief systems, communication can be so impaired that conflict situation arises. This factor could affect the external and internal environment as well as job performance. Hence, it is vital for the human resource personal of the organization to be sensitive and aware of such conflicts and address them as soon as possible to avoid drop in productivity and good interaction between the different departments.
• Build up on the wide – ranging training and development activities as well being knowledgeable on an Occupational / Industrial Safety, Occupational / Industrial Safety, Occupational Health. The acknowledgement and emphasis on training and development activities is an important function within the human resource role in the new millennium. Recognizing the need for change, analyzing and determining T & D needs, establishing specific objectives, selecting the T & D methods / media and implementing to evaluating the training programmers is a strong characteristic within the Human Resource Management. Adequate and proper planning on this area will strengthen the Human resource strategically providing for a learning organization with integrated high performance systems. Building this wide ranging training and development and it could help to generate and motivate employees to feel important with self-development. Here, the need to be aware of the organization corporate culture in adapting to changes and accepting diverse training and developments is also important. Acknowledging this issue from the initial planning on T & D programmers will help in meeting the objectives set out .With rapid increase of industrial / occupational injuries , there will be implication on substantial financial cost, loss in Industrial Safety Regulations / Occupational Health and Safety ACT , SOSCO Act that every human resource department must be familiar with so as to manage their internal employees well physically and mentally. Helping employees to be free from physical and emotional illness caused by the work environment is important .
• Need to be well versed with the latest developments in the Employment Acts / Trade union Acts, etc in line with legislation requirement of the Ministry of Human Resource within the country. Being knowledgeable in Employment Acts / Trade Union Acts are generally critical for strategic Human Resource Management. Union are treated as environmental factors because , essentially , they became a third party when they bargain with the company. The trend of union is expected to continue but more emphasis is being shifted to a human resource system that deals direct with the individual worker and his or her needs . Managing a non-unionised organization provide management organization provide management with more flexibility to enforce certain benefits whilst within the unionised companies, there are national interests that withhold many possible compensation or benefits. Thus strategically, human resource personnel should help to resolve employees’ issue internally and to preferably avoid the unionization process. However , there are some companies that have international established unions and if such the human resource management should consider strong negotiation skills needed during collective agreements process. Besides the external / internal environment and corporate culture to be considered and managed in strategic human resource , the global environment need focused . Global Corporation has corporate units in may countries that are integrated to operate as one organization worldwide . To a great extent , domestic companies deal with a relatively known set political , economic, legal and labor -management relations’ variables. A global organization must cope with a multitude of unknowns. It is enormously complicated by the need to adapt HR policies to different host countries. One such example is the recent HSBC employees’ dispute , which led to picketing and strikes. Differences in politics, law, culture, economics, labor- management relations system and other factors complicate the task of global human resource.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
The External Environment, Internal Environment, Corporate Culture and Global Environment, affect Human Resource Management. However, in determining the Key Factors that defines the success of Strategic Human Resource Management will be:
• Being Focused in key relations / Productivity – orientated.
This is derived from the external environment and the people who actually use the organization’s goods and services are crucial to the firm’s survival. Therefore management ensures that employment practices do not antagonize the customers it serves. In Strategic Human Resource Management, the organizations should be trained to be customer focused and understand the customer’s needs and expectations. From the orientation program to the daily operational practices, they must be motivated to provide quality goods or services. Here it is directly related to the actual analysis skills, Qualifications and appropriate training to the organization’s employees.
• Being Central to Corporate Plan.
Businesses are often forced to make many changes to stay competitive. Therefore, it is fundamental for organizations to develop corporate plans, vision, objectives and common goals and the Human Resource Department will need to assist in coordinating and communicating such values to the employees. They interact and liase with all departmental managers and staff to install the corporate identity to achieve the vision of the organization as a united team. Thus it is an important characteristic within a strategic Human Resource Management to build a strong corporate culture with mission based values and behavior referent.
• Making fast and efficient decisions
As an organization faces intense competition in both its product and labour markets, unless an organization is in an unusual position of monopolizing the market it serves (niche product), quick efficient decisions on human resource issues are vital. Employees will have competence towards management and the organization’s credibility remain strong within the external environment.
• Instill Integrated initiatives / multi – dimensional approach.
The Human Resource Manager constantly works with the people who represent all organizational levels and functional areas. Here, they must recognize the different perspectives these individuals bring to Human resource. By understanding the many interrelationships, the human resource manager resolves problems and issues. Therefore, it is important for the Human Resource Department to initiate, encourage and lead the increasing role of line management, to facilitate, delivering and deliberating good communication methods and skills.
• Promote business/entrepreneur-ship thinking within the human resources
In business today, management must be prepared to explain the merits of a particular programme in terms of its costs and benefits. Within the organization must be trained in this aspect to monitor and maintain the right balance, understanding the profitable gains to the expenditure and overhead the organization bears.
• Possess good integrated selection and recruitment methods and skills
An organization’s major task is to ensure that it obtains and retains a sufficient number of employees in various career field to allow the organization to compete effectively. A bidding war often results when competitors attempt to fill certain critical positions in their companies. Because of the strategic nature of their needs, firms are sometimes forced to resort to unusual means to recruit and retain such employees. Here, the Human Resource Manager will need to be aware of the various means/ methods that could be applied to recruit the right staff with the right skills. This will also depend on the external environment where the pool of labor force is available. The labor force is always changing which creates dynamic situations such as in managing a diverse workforce. It is a challenge in the coming decades to recognize and manage people with different characteristics who think, act and communicate differently. Based on what has been mentioned earlier on recruitment and selection as being one of the main function within the application of strategic Human Resource Management. It is thus critical for the personnel involved in this area to be focused, understand and sells the corporate values in achieving the targeted goals, have long- sited vision and plans well on the process of proper recruitment.
• Work on performance – related pay and rewards systems.
Organization that can develop direct links between performance and rewards tend to create cultures conducive to achievement. This function within the Human Resource management need to constructively conduct job analysis for each position within the organization for wage determination, financial/ non-financial/ incentive compensation or fringe benefits. The Application of non –analytical/quantitative , weighted point system methods or classification helps to determine the wage and pay structure. Performance related salary through a comprehensive appraisal system that include core values, core skills, core supervision skills as well as targets setting, could enhance productivity .
• Minimal job categorizing and grading and encourage job design based teamwork
In managing Human Resources today, it is good to define job descriptions but there should be minimal job categorizing and grading. This will provide for good c- ordination and teamwork within the company. The risk of too many categorized jobs is that employees draw their line on their job and eventually turn to be calculate and wait on each other to complete the work, implying on this is not my job etc.
• Strong Cultural management especially in the area of conflict and possesses wide experience with fore vision in managing cultural / structural / personal strategies in the intervention processes. Conflict management is today a strong management feature and it the need derives from within the Corporate Culture. Due to the diverse Human Resource and the complexity of the labour force, the human resource department will need to develop skills in conflict management. Counseling mentorship, good listenng skills and being the mediator are important traits in the Human resource personnel. Employee personality types vary and even in the healthiest corporate culture, stressful relationships among employees can occur. Combined with differing values and belief systems, communication can be so impaired that conflict situation arises. This factor could affect the external and internal environment as well as job performance. Hence, it is vital for the human resource personal of the organization to be sensitive and aware of such conflicts and address them as soon as possible to avoid drop in productivity and good interaction between the different departments.
• Build up on the wide – ranging training and development activities as well being knowledgeable on an Occupational / Industrial Safety, Occupational / Industrial Safety, Occupational Health. The acknowledgement and emphasis on training and development activities is an important function within the human resource role in the new millennium. Recognizing the need for change, analyzing and determining T & D needs, establishing specific objectives, selecting the T & D methods / media and implementing to evaluating the training programmers is a strong characteristic within the Human Resource Management. Adequate and proper planning on this area will strengthen the Human resource strategically providing for a learning organization with integrated high performance systems. Building this wide ranging training and development and it could help to generate and motivate employees to feel important with self-development. Here, the need to be aware of the organization corporate culture in adapting to changes and accepting diverse training and developments is also important. Acknowledging this issue from the initial planning on T & D programmers will help in meeting the objectives set out .With rapid increase of industrial / occupational injuries , there will be implication on substantial financial cost, loss in Industrial Safety Regulations / Occupational Health and Safety ACT , SOSCO Act that every human resource department must be familiar with so as to manage their internal employees well physically and mentally. Helping employees to be free from physical and emotional illness caused by the work environment is important .
• Need to be well versed with the latest developments in the Employment Acts / Trade union Acts, etc in line with legislation requirement of the Ministry of Human Resource within the country. Being knowledgeable in Employment Acts / Trade Union Acts are generally critical for strategic Human Resource Management. Union are treated as environmental factors because , essentially , they became a third party when they bargain with the company. The trend of union is expected to continue but more emphasis is being shifted to a human resource system that deals direct with the individual worker and his or her needs . Managing a non-unionised organization provide management organization provide management with more flexibility to enforce certain benefits whilst within the unionised companies, there are national interests that withhold many possible compensation or benefits. Thus strategically, human resource personnel should help to resolve employees’ issue internally and to preferably avoid the unionization process. However , there are some companies that have international established unions and if such the human resource management should consider strong negotiation skills needed during collective agreements process. Besides the external / internal environment and corporate culture to be considered and managed in strategic human resource , the global environment need focused . Global Corporation has corporate units in may countries that are integrated to operate as one organization worldwide . To a great extent , domestic companies deal with a relatively known set political , economic, legal and labor -management relations’ variables. A global organization must cope with a multitude of unknowns. It is enormously complicated by the need to adapt HR policies to different host countries. One such example is the recent HSBC employees’ dispute , which led to picketing and strikes. Differences in politics, law, culture, economics, labor- management relations system and other factors complicate the task of global human resource.
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3 Generic Business-level Strategies
Business-level strategy can be defined as the strategy that is chosen by a company to hold a competitive advantage within the market that it is involved with. Such a strategy has to be chosen by firms because of the intense competition that exists within a certain industry and thus managers, see the need to formulate business-level strategies that are geared towards creating and maintaining a competitive advantage over the rival firms in the same industry. This is a choice that a firm has to make when it chooses to compete in a single product market where every firm’s products share the some similarities.
There are three generic strategies that were developed by Michael Porter, who is a distinguished Harvard professor and author of numerous books and articles that deal with the competitive advantages of companies and nations, that are considered to the cornerstone of strategies that you formulate to give you an edge in competing with your rivals and making above average economic profits for your firm. These strategies are cost-leadership, differentiation and focus. The strategy that you choose depends on numerous factors, both internal and external. These factors could include type of industry, cost of raw materials, type of labour skills required, technology, governmental factors, consumers and many more such factors.
We will now look at the three generic business-level strategies in greater detail and find out how these strategies work.
The textbook, Management – A Pacific Rim focus, defines cost-leadership, the first of the three strategies we will be looking at, as a, “strategy … emphasising organizational efficiency so overall cost of providing products and services are lower than that of the competitors.”
This strategy called cost-leadership, involves the very delicate process of being able to produce or be able to deliver goods or services that are of standards acceptable to customers at a cost that is considered to be the lowest among all the competitors in the given market. This does not however, imply that the good that the cost-leader sells or that the service you provide is in any way an inferior good when it is compared to a competitors product but, a product or service that is of the same or of comparable quality that is cheaper than the rest of the rival’s products. If a good is deemed to be of inferior quality when compared to a competitor’s then, the customer will decide to go with the good or service that is of a higher quality because he perceives this good to be of better value than the cheap good or service that the cost-leader is producing.
The implementation of this strategy by a firm will also imply that this firm has to be an industry leader in terms of volume sold because, for the firm to be able to make an above average profits, it has to sell very high quantities because the profits that the cost-leader makes on a single unit is negligible because of the strategy that the firm has decided to implement.
There are various ways for a firm to go about implementing a strategy such as cost-leadership. The firm has to analyse its situation, its resources and then decide on which course to take in order for it to become a cost-leader in its market.
The first and most important way that a firm can become a cost leader is through the process known as economies of scale. Economies of scale is defined as the process whereby, the mass production of the good in large quantities reduces the per unit price of producing the good. Thus, by being able to produce the good at a low price, the firm is able to sell its product in the market at the cheapest price thus, establishing itself in the market as a cost-leader.
The second way to achieve cost-leadership is through the cutting down or the trimming of unnecessary costs such as overhead, administrative as well as other costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the product. Such a move has to also include cutting of costs in major areas such as promotions and advertising. This is done because, cost that are involved with promotions and advertising are always passed to the customer and since, the firm wants to be a price-leader in its market, it has to streamline its costs and not add on unnecessary costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the good and thus, risk the firm losing its cost-leader status in the industry.
The learning curve effect also plays a very important role in the reduction of the per unit cost of the product. The learning curve effect is defined as the “percentage decrease in additional labour cost each time output doubles.” It is a proven fact that every time the output doubles, the labour costs that arise from the production of additional units usually declines by 80%. A figure is attached in appendix section labelled Appendix 1 which shows a learning curve that adheres to this 80 percent rule.
Technology plays a very pivotal role in the reduction of the per unit costs of the product. Better technology will ensure that the products are produced at a cheaper price than compared to before then new technology was adopted. Better technology will also ensure that there is a decrease in the number of defects that is produced and thus, the unit cost of the good will be lower than compared to before the adoption of new technology. The reduction of defects will also help to keep the unit cost of the product down.
Finally, the cost-leader needs to have a very good logistics network to supplement its production capabilities. The logistics network should encompass both the input as well as the output parts of the operations. A good logistics network ensures that the company saves warehousing costs for both its raw materials as well as its finished goods. The other plus factor about having a good transportation network is that, you can transport your goods where you want and when you want without any hassles. This will ensure that the consumer always has access to your products and does not have to settle for a substitute.
A firm that aims to be the cost-leader in its market displays a few characteristics that are similar to all cost-leaders regardless of what market it is in or what good it produces. One such characteristic is the fact that this firm has to follow a policy that makes it very capital intensive when it comes to the manufacturing or the production of the good. This is because to cut costs related to labour, the firm has to invest heavily in new technology as well as new machines that will reduce its reliance on the labour force and thus in the long run cut costs that have the potential to be passed on to the consumers.
The second strategy, that was formulated by Porter, which we have to look at, is called differentiation. The textbook defines this business-strategy as the, “strategy … involving attempting to develop products or services viewed as being unique to the industry.” This is the process whereby firms, that follow this strategy, produce or deliver services that the consumer feels is of use to him and there is no other product in the market meets his or her criteria’s for buying the good or service. These products are unique when compared to the goods or services produced by the competitors because, they have features or special aspects that cause this particular product to differ from the other existing products. And, it is because of this very difference in features that the consumer perceives that the differentiated product as important enough to buy. Customer perception is very important when you employ a business strategy such as differentiation. Only if a customer is able to perceive that the good that the firm is selling is of a higher quality will he buy the good or service.
The other reason why some firms opt to choose a strategy such as differentiation is because, that with the differentiation of products, the firm will have the option to serve a much bigger segment of the market if it chooses to. They can do this by gearing different products i.e. the same product with varying features to serve different segments whose needs and requirements will be different. How many segments a firm should opt to target depends completely upon the company and its capabilities. Should it have the resources and the capital, it will be a very good move to target every segment is the market so as to capture a chunk of business from every segment thus, becoming a major market player.
There are various methods that a firm can employ so as to differentiate it products from the rest of the products that are in the market. How you differentiate is not very important. But, when the differentiation is done, the features or designs employed must be visible enough for the consumer who is about to buy the product to perceive it as important enough to buy. As I have mentioned before, the perception that the consumer has, is an important determinant is to how well the product sells in the market segment.
The simplest way that a firm can go about differentiating a product is by changing its features. The firm should be able to provide features and designs that consumers see the need for. To succeed in doing this, you need to be aware of the changing needs of the consumer. This is usually done through conducting market surveys and using other channels and means through which a firm is able to get inputs from the consumer as to what features or designs they prefer. This way, the firm will have the ability anticipate what the consumer demands and also stay ahead of the competition by giving what the consumer demands.
Another method that firms use to pursue their differentiation strategy is through the use of a very large product mix. This, simply explained, implies that the firm does not have to product one product with all the features and designs loaded into it but, they can create a spectrum of products with varying features and designs. This will also ensure that the firm produces goods, for the same market, that are unique. This is also a very useful method that firms employ to cater to more than one segment of the market.
The use of a product mix also ensures that the products or services that you produce or deliver are made from similar raw materials as only their features and designs differ. This also helps the firm save some costs involved with the stocking and sourcing of different raw materials. By having the same materials for the different products and services, the firm ensures that the processes for the manufacture of the good is relatively the same and thus, this ensures that money is saved as no retooling has to be done to produce different goods. This cost saving can in turn be passed on to the consumer thus, giving the consumer an added incentive to buy the product over the firms competitors.
A firm enjoys a differentiation strategy when it is the first firm in a new industry. This is a process known as the first mover advantage. This simply implies that since the firm is the first one in the market, the product or service that the firm puts out to the consumer is the only one in the market and thus, it enjoys the benefits of the differentiation strategy because it is a new product that no consumer has seen before and thus, it is different in all aspects. But, as new entrants begin to trickle into the industry, the first mover needs to begin the process of true differentiation by implementing one of the many methods that are available to it. This will ensure that the firm does not lose ground to the new rivals and stays on top. This has to be done if the new mover wants to still be able to enjoy above average economic profits that it enjoyed as a new firm in a new market.
Brands and firms that are well known in a particular industry also use the differentiation strategy. They like to differentiate themselves from the rest of the products or services in the market by banking on the fact that people will recognize their brand and know that it stands for good quality, design or features. This type of brand differentiation always depends on the perception of the consumers. If the consumers perceive that a known brand to be of a higher quality, then they will buy the product or service. This is where tools like promotion and advertising come in where the firm tries to inform the consumers of the difference between its products and the other products that exist in the market.
Firms that decide to adopt this strategy need to keep improving and updating their products to prevent the competition from reaching the standards that the firm has set. To do this, the firm needs to invest heavily in research and development to ensure that they have access to the latest breakthroughs first. To be profitable using this strategy, the firm has to be able to hire, train and retain high skilled workers, unlike the cost-leadership strategy which makes use of low-skilled labour, to produce their high end products. Since the product is of high quality, unique and now mass produced, it requires the skills of highly qualified workers to produce and deliver them. Last but not least, there as to be a high level of coordination between the various departments of the firm such as marketing, management, research and development. This is done to ensure that the operation of the firm is a smooth one and also to make sure that the customers needs are received, manufactured and put out into the market before the competition has a chance to deliver the product. This will ensure that a company following this strategy will make profits that are above average.
The last of Porter’s generic business strategies that we look at is called focus. The textbook defines focus strategy as the, “strategy outlined by Porter entailing specialising a position of overall cost leadership, differentiating or both, but only within a particular portion or segment, of am entire market.” The use of such a strategy ensures that you try to integrate a set of actions, from both the differentiation as well as the cost-leadership strategies to produce goods that only cater to one small segment of the market as a whole. The segment that you choose to concentrate on depends on where you feel that you can make the highest profits.
Within the focus strategy itself, a firm can opt to choose one of two more specific strategies that suit the firm best. Focused cost-leadership strategy, a strategy which offers low priced products to customers in only one segment of the market, is one of these strategies. The other one being focused differentiation strategy which offers unique or varied products to customers in more than one segment of the market. The second option is usually chosen if the firm wants to be able to compete in more than one segment thus, increasing its overall profits.
The advantages of adopting a focus strategy are many. There are also some disadvantages to being too focused. We will look at these advantages and disadvantages in more detail.
One very important advantage of adopting a focus strategy is the ability of the firms to be able to quickly change or adapt to an ever changing environment. This is possible because of the smaller size of the companies when compared to a cost-leader or a firm that practices differentiation. This is very advantageous because, an every changing environment can help or hinder the firm from making profits. Thus, to counter the effect of an ever changing environment, the firm needs to react quickly and change with it or risk getting left behind.
Again, because of the size of the firm and the vast resources available to it, a firm can use this to its advantage and be able to embrace new technologies and processes that become available to the firm. This is also helped by the fact that a firm that follows this strategy, has to employ a highly skilled workforce and such a workforce, will be able to change faster. By moving quickly to adopt such new technologies and processes, the firm can further cut costs and produce higher quality products that will appeal more to the consumer. By cutting costs, they can also to aim to compete in the focused cost-leadership strategy where they can maximise profits by selling cheaper than rivals.
The last advantage that I will list in this paper for the focus strategy is about the advantage the a firm that practices the focus strategy has over its rivals because of the knowledge and experience that this firm possesses in areas dealing with its core competencies. It is always an acknowledged fact that, for a firm to compete against its rivals, it had to use the experience is specific core areas that the firm is better at than the rival firms. This is how focus strategy based companies compete. They focus on areas they are experienced in and it is in these areas that rivals cannot compete with these firms because of their prior experience and strong brand presence that has already been established because of it reputation in that particular segment.
One major disadvantage for a focus strategy based company when the firm becomes too focus in such a way that it serves consumers in one small sector of one segment. If environmental changes were to cause a decline or a full termination of the population in the niche segment that the firm is competing in, the firm will have no more consumers on whom to bank so it has put itself in a corner. Thus, to prevent a situation like this from taking place, the firm should recognise from the start that the focus segment should not be one that is too narrow and it must give itself some room to move and make changes as necessary when there is a change in the environment. It is because of this, that companies in this segment need to constantly be performing an activity known as environment scanning. This is to ensure that they can anticipate future trends, changes and designs and make changes to be prepared for the environment change when it occurs. This way, the firm does not lose out when there is a shift in trends or fashions.
One final disadvantage is that, if a particular firm who follows a strategy such as cost-leadership or differentiation, decides to supply products that also appeal to your niche market and, because of the strategy that they adhere to, their costs will be very much cheaper when compared to a firm that follows the focus strategy. The problem arises when consumers of this niche segment, that the focus strategy based firm is targeting, choose products that are from these other firms. The focus strategy based firm is unable to fight back because it is simply not geared to counter firms that can produce numerous unique products or products that are very much cheaper. Thus, a firm that wants to adopt a strategy such as focus, has to assess the risks of potential entrants to the niche segment, that may arise before embarking on such a strategy and make arrangements to counter such a move should the scenario come true.
I will now look at the automotive industry to illustrate with examples as to how the different firms with the industry adopted and worked with the three generic strategies that were described in great detail in the first part of this answer.
Everyone is familiar with the famous words by Henry Ford, “You can have any colour as long as it is black.” This very clearly illustrated how convinced Henry Ford was with the cost-leadership model. The Ford motor company was formed in 1903 by Henry Ford whose aim was to provide the people with a cheap and affordable car that any middle class employed person could own. Henry Ford’s firm produced low cost standardised products and, consumers had to substitute low cost for features. He achieved this with his very famous car the Model T. He became the first person to use the cost-leadership strategy with the implementation of a process that we today term as mass production. He established assembly lines through which he maximised his outputs. To become an even greater cost-leader, Ford motor company also practiced vertical integration when the started to produce many of the production line machines in firms that Ford owned. This was also done because at this early stage in the automotive market, there were no machines that were available to this industry thus, Ford had to make their own machines and with this, they effectively saved costs in the long run. With the establishment of such a system, he was also able to employ low skilled workers who were given specific jobs, like tire fitting, on the assembly lines. He took the cost-leadership model a step further by standardising even the colour of the cars that his firm produced. All these factors made his firm a highly effective cost-leader in the automotive field. But, as we will see later, this very strategy was what caused his company to lose ground in the market to other companies such as General Motor Company.
With the use of this strategy, Henry Ford emphasized innovation more in the field of process improvement i.e. how to better improve the production so as to cut more costs. By doing this, he effectively ignored the demand for innovation in the field of design and improvement of the Model T. This was the one disadvantage in his cost-leader strategy that cost the company dearly when new entrants saw the flaw in his strategy and exploited thus, eroding his market share. Appendix 2 will show you how dramatic the loss in market share was when new entrants came and filled the void that Ford had left by now being an innovator.
General Motor Company did not always start out as a company that practised differentiation for its business strategy. Before it became an industry leader using the differentiation strategy, it had a very relaxed wait and see approach that would have bankrupted the company had the management not realized this and changed its business strategy to one of differentiation.
General Motors Company (GM) was founded in 1908 by William Durant, a carriage merchant, as Buick Motor Company. From 1908 to 1911 he consolidated major car companies such as Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland (Pontiac) and called the consolidated company GM. In 1915, he added the Chevrolet, the crown jewel to his already full stable of car makes at GM. Though he acquired all these companies, Durant had no idea how to truly consolidate these companies and how to standardize the flow of information and what the management structure of the company was going to be like. He also had no effective financial or cost controls over the whole organization. This was because he was unable to decide on what the structure of the company was going to be like and what kind of a business strategy he wanted to adopt.
In the early, 1920’s a person by the name of Alfred Sloan took over the management of GM and immediately set about restructuring the company. He adopted the model that Dupont was using, the multidivisional strategy for the way the company was to be structured. Along with this, he also imposed divisional, administrative, cost and financial costs in order to standardise the flow of information to one format that all divisions could decipher.
The most important thing he did after he took over was to restructure the product lines by divisions so as to gear up for a very “aggressive” differentiation in which, every division would have a part to play to kill the competition. His differentiation strategy consisted of two parts. The first part would be to use his flagship division, Chevrolet, to directly compete with Ford’s Model T and work to steal business from Ford. This would cut Ford’s market share and thus, it would lose its position as a market leader. His second part of the differentiation strategy was to use the rest of the car divisions he had at GM to effectively cover all the different price ranges that existed within the market so as to prevent any new entrants from venturing into the market and also to compete with the small player that existed within these price divisions.
All these changes made GM an industry leader within 10 years of the strategy of differentiation being implemented. With this strategy, Alfred Sloan effectively lowered the costs of his cars by using economies of scale when he standardised the core structure and workings of the car and only changing designs and features according to the divisions. He was also effective in targeting all the different users that existed in the different price ranges and segments. His divisions were also instructed to carry out continuous innovations both in the process as well as the design and features areas unlike Henry Ford who only concentrated with innovation that dealt with process improvement. GM also carried out innovation in all different market segments and not just one segment thus, making sure again that all they remained market leaders.
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There are three generic strategies that were developed by Michael Porter, who is a distinguished Harvard professor and author of numerous books and articles that deal with the competitive advantages of companies and nations, that are considered to the cornerstone of strategies that you formulate to give you an edge in competing with your rivals and making above average economic profits for your firm. These strategies are cost-leadership, differentiation and focus. The strategy that you choose depends on numerous factors, both internal and external. These factors could include type of industry, cost of raw materials, type of labour skills required, technology, governmental factors, consumers and many more such factors.
We will now look at the three generic business-level strategies in greater detail and find out how these strategies work.
The textbook, Management – A Pacific Rim focus, defines cost-leadership, the first of the three strategies we will be looking at, as a, “strategy … emphasising organizational efficiency so overall cost of providing products and services are lower than that of the competitors.”
This strategy called cost-leadership, involves the very delicate process of being able to produce or be able to deliver goods or services that are of standards acceptable to customers at a cost that is considered to be the lowest among all the competitors in the given market. This does not however, imply that the good that the cost-leader sells or that the service you provide is in any way an inferior good when it is compared to a competitors product but, a product or service that is of the same or of comparable quality that is cheaper than the rest of the rival’s products. If a good is deemed to be of inferior quality when compared to a competitor’s then, the customer will decide to go with the good or service that is of a higher quality because he perceives this good to be of better value than the cheap good or service that the cost-leader is producing.
The implementation of this strategy by a firm will also imply that this firm has to be an industry leader in terms of volume sold because, for the firm to be able to make an above average profits, it has to sell very high quantities because the profits that the cost-leader makes on a single unit is negligible because of the strategy that the firm has decided to implement.
There are various ways for a firm to go about implementing a strategy such as cost-leadership. The firm has to analyse its situation, its resources and then decide on which course to take in order for it to become a cost-leader in its market.
The first and most important way that a firm can become a cost leader is through the process known as economies of scale. Economies of scale is defined as the process whereby, the mass production of the good in large quantities reduces the per unit price of producing the good. Thus, by being able to produce the good at a low price, the firm is able to sell its product in the market at the cheapest price thus, establishing itself in the market as a cost-leader.
The second way to achieve cost-leadership is through the cutting down or the trimming of unnecessary costs such as overhead, administrative as well as other costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the product. Such a move has to also include cutting of costs in major areas such as promotions and advertising. This is done because, cost that are involved with promotions and advertising are always passed to the customer and since, the firm wants to be a price-leader in its market, it has to streamline its costs and not add on unnecessary costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the good and thus, risk the firm losing its cost-leader status in the industry.
The learning curve effect also plays a very important role in the reduction of the per unit cost of the product. The learning curve effect is defined as the “percentage decrease in additional labour cost each time output doubles.” It is a proven fact that every time the output doubles, the labour costs that arise from the production of additional units usually declines by 80%. A figure is attached in appendix section labelled Appendix 1 which shows a learning curve that adheres to this 80 percent rule.
Technology plays a very pivotal role in the reduction of the per unit costs of the product. Better technology will ensure that the products are produced at a cheaper price than compared to before then new technology was adopted. Better technology will also ensure that there is a decrease in the number of defects that is produced and thus, the unit cost of the good will be lower than compared to before the adoption of new technology. The reduction of defects will also help to keep the unit cost of the product down.
Finally, the cost-leader needs to have a very good logistics network to supplement its production capabilities. The logistics network should encompass both the input as well as the output parts of the operations. A good logistics network ensures that the company saves warehousing costs for both its raw materials as well as its finished goods. The other plus factor about having a good transportation network is that, you can transport your goods where you want and when you want without any hassles. This will ensure that the consumer always has access to your products and does not have to settle for a substitute.
A firm that aims to be the cost-leader in its market displays a few characteristics that are similar to all cost-leaders regardless of what market it is in or what good it produces. One such characteristic is the fact that this firm has to follow a policy that makes it very capital intensive when it comes to the manufacturing or the production of the good. This is because to cut costs related to labour, the firm has to invest heavily in new technology as well as new machines that will reduce its reliance on the labour force and thus in the long run cut costs that have the potential to be passed on to the consumers.
The second strategy, that was formulated by Porter, which we have to look at, is called differentiation. The textbook defines this business-strategy as the, “strategy … involving attempting to develop products or services viewed as being unique to the industry.” This is the process whereby firms, that follow this strategy, produce or deliver services that the consumer feels is of use to him and there is no other product in the market meets his or her criteria’s for buying the good or service. These products are unique when compared to the goods or services produced by the competitors because, they have features or special aspects that cause this particular product to differ from the other existing products. And, it is because of this very difference in features that the consumer perceives that the differentiated product as important enough to buy. Customer perception is very important when you employ a business strategy such as differentiation. Only if a customer is able to perceive that the good that the firm is selling is of a higher quality will he buy the good or service.
The other reason why some firms opt to choose a strategy such as differentiation is because, that with the differentiation of products, the firm will have the option to serve a much bigger segment of the market if it chooses to. They can do this by gearing different products i.e. the same product with varying features to serve different segments whose needs and requirements will be different. How many segments a firm should opt to target depends completely upon the company and its capabilities. Should it have the resources and the capital, it will be a very good move to target every segment is the market so as to capture a chunk of business from every segment thus, becoming a major market player.
There are various methods that a firm can employ so as to differentiate it products from the rest of the products that are in the market. How you differentiate is not very important. But, when the differentiation is done, the features or designs employed must be visible enough for the consumer who is about to buy the product to perceive it as important enough to buy. As I have mentioned before, the perception that the consumer has, is an important determinant is to how well the product sells in the market segment.
The simplest way that a firm can go about differentiating a product is by changing its features. The firm should be able to provide features and designs that consumers see the need for. To succeed in doing this, you need to be aware of the changing needs of the consumer. This is usually done through conducting market surveys and using other channels and means through which a firm is able to get inputs from the consumer as to what features or designs they prefer. This way, the firm will have the ability anticipate what the consumer demands and also stay ahead of the competition by giving what the consumer demands.
Another method that firms use to pursue their differentiation strategy is through the use of a very large product mix. This, simply explained, implies that the firm does not have to product one product with all the features and designs loaded into it but, they can create a spectrum of products with varying features and designs. This will also ensure that the firm produces goods, for the same market, that are unique. This is also a very useful method that firms employ to cater to more than one segment of the market.
The use of a product mix also ensures that the products or services that you produce or deliver are made from similar raw materials as only their features and designs differ. This also helps the firm save some costs involved with the stocking and sourcing of different raw materials. By having the same materials for the different products and services, the firm ensures that the processes for the manufacture of the good is relatively the same and thus, this ensures that money is saved as no retooling has to be done to produce different goods. This cost saving can in turn be passed on to the consumer thus, giving the consumer an added incentive to buy the product over the firms competitors.
A firm enjoys a differentiation strategy when it is the first firm in a new industry. This is a process known as the first mover advantage. This simply implies that since the firm is the first one in the market, the product or service that the firm puts out to the consumer is the only one in the market and thus, it enjoys the benefits of the differentiation strategy because it is a new product that no consumer has seen before and thus, it is different in all aspects. But, as new entrants begin to trickle into the industry, the first mover needs to begin the process of true differentiation by implementing one of the many methods that are available to it. This will ensure that the firm does not lose ground to the new rivals and stays on top. This has to be done if the new mover wants to still be able to enjoy above average economic profits that it enjoyed as a new firm in a new market.
Brands and firms that are well known in a particular industry also use the differentiation strategy. They like to differentiate themselves from the rest of the products or services in the market by banking on the fact that people will recognize their brand and know that it stands for good quality, design or features. This type of brand differentiation always depends on the perception of the consumers. If the consumers perceive that a known brand to be of a higher quality, then they will buy the product or service. This is where tools like promotion and advertising come in where the firm tries to inform the consumers of the difference between its products and the other products that exist in the market.
Firms that decide to adopt this strategy need to keep improving and updating their products to prevent the competition from reaching the standards that the firm has set. To do this, the firm needs to invest heavily in research and development to ensure that they have access to the latest breakthroughs first. To be profitable using this strategy, the firm has to be able to hire, train and retain high skilled workers, unlike the cost-leadership strategy which makes use of low-skilled labour, to produce their high end products. Since the product is of high quality, unique and now mass produced, it requires the skills of highly qualified workers to produce and deliver them. Last but not least, there as to be a high level of coordination between the various departments of the firm such as marketing, management, research and development. This is done to ensure that the operation of the firm is a smooth one and also to make sure that the customers needs are received, manufactured and put out into the market before the competition has a chance to deliver the product. This will ensure that a company following this strategy will make profits that are above average.
The last of Porter’s generic business strategies that we look at is called focus. The textbook defines focus strategy as the, “strategy outlined by Porter entailing specialising a position of overall cost leadership, differentiating or both, but only within a particular portion or segment, of am entire market.” The use of such a strategy ensures that you try to integrate a set of actions, from both the differentiation as well as the cost-leadership strategies to produce goods that only cater to one small segment of the market as a whole. The segment that you choose to concentrate on depends on where you feel that you can make the highest profits.
Within the focus strategy itself, a firm can opt to choose one of two more specific strategies that suit the firm best. Focused cost-leadership strategy, a strategy which offers low priced products to customers in only one segment of the market, is one of these strategies. The other one being focused differentiation strategy which offers unique or varied products to customers in more than one segment of the market. The second option is usually chosen if the firm wants to be able to compete in more than one segment thus, increasing its overall profits.
The advantages of adopting a focus strategy are many. There are also some disadvantages to being too focused. We will look at these advantages and disadvantages in more detail.
One very important advantage of adopting a focus strategy is the ability of the firms to be able to quickly change or adapt to an ever changing environment. This is possible because of the smaller size of the companies when compared to a cost-leader or a firm that practices differentiation. This is very advantageous because, an every changing environment can help or hinder the firm from making profits. Thus, to counter the effect of an ever changing environment, the firm needs to react quickly and change with it or risk getting left behind.
Again, because of the size of the firm and the vast resources available to it, a firm can use this to its advantage and be able to embrace new technologies and processes that become available to the firm. This is also helped by the fact that a firm that follows this strategy, has to employ a highly skilled workforce and such a workforce, will be able to change faster. By moving quickly to adopt such new technologies and processes, the firm can further cut costs and produce higher quality products that will appeal more to the consumer. By cutting costs, they can also to aim to compete in the focused cost-leadership strategy where they can maximise profits by selling cheaper than rivals.
The last advantage that I will list in this paper for the focus strategy is about the advantage the a firm that practices the focus strategy has over its rivals because of the knowledge and experience that this firm possesses in areas dealing with its core competencies. It is always an acknowledged fact that, for a firm to compete against its rivals, it had to use the experience is specific core areas that the firm is better at than the rival firms. This is how focus strategy based companies compete. They focus on areas they are experienced in and it is in these areas that rivals cannot compete with these firms because of their prior experience and strong brand presence that has already been established because of it reputation in that particular segment.
One major disadvantage for a focus strategy based company when the firm becomes too focus in such a way that it serves consumers in one small sector of one segment. If environmental changes were to cause a decline or a full termination of the population in the niche segment that the firm is competing in, the firm will have no more consumers on whom to bank so it has put itself in a corner. Thus, to prevent a situation like this from taking place, the firm should recognise from the start that the focus segment should not be one that is too narrow and it must give itself some room to move and make changes as necessary when there is a change in the environment. It is because of this, that companies in this segment need to constantly be performing an activity known as environment scanning. This is to ensure that they can anticipate future trends, changes and designs and make changes to be prepared for the environment change when it occurs. This way, the firm does not lose out when there is a shift in trends or fashions.
One final disadvantage is that, if a particular firm who follows a strategy such as cost-leadership or differentiation, decides to supply products that also appeal to your niche market and, because of the strategy that they adhere to, their costs will be very much cheaper when compared to a firm that follows the focus strategy. The problem arises when consumers of this niche segment, that the focus strategy based firm is targeting, choose products that are from these other firms. The focus strategy based firm is unable to fight back because it is simply not geared to counter firms that can produce numerous unique products or products that are very much cheaper. Thus, a firm that wants to adopt a strategy such as focus, has to assess the risks of potential entrants to the niche segment, that may arise before embarking on such a strategy and make arrangements to counter such a move should the scenario come true.
I will now look at the automotive industry to illustrate with examples as to how the different firms with the industry adopted and worked with the three generic strategies that were described in great detail in the first part of this answer.
Everyone is familiar with the famous words by Henry Ford, “You can have any colour as long as it is black.” This very clearly illustrated how convinced Henry Ford was with the cost-leadership model. The Ford motor company was formed in 1903 by Henry Ford whose aim was to provide the people with a cheap and affordable car that any middle class employed person could own. Henry Ford’s firm produced low cost standardised products and, consumers had to substitute low cost for features. He achieved this with his very famous car the Model T. He became the first person to use the cost-leadership strategy with the implementation of a process that we today term as mass production. He established assembly lines through which he maximised his outputs. To become an even greater cost-leader, Ford motor company also practiced vertical integration when the started to produce many of the production line machines in firms that Ford owned. This was also done because at this early stage in the automotive market, there were no machines that were available to this industry thus, Ford had to make their own machines and with this, they effectively saved costs in the long run. With the establishment of such a system, he was also able to employ low skilled workers who were given specific jobs, like tire fitting, on the assembly lines. He took the cost-leadership model a step further by standardising even the colour of the cars that his firm produced. All these factors made his firm a highly effective cost-leader in the automotive field. But, as we will see later, this very strategy was what caused his company to lose ground in the market to other companies such as General Motor Company.
With the use of this strategy, Henry Ford emphasized innovation more in the field of process improvement i.e. how to better improve the production so as to cut more costs. By doing this, he effectively ignored the demand for innovation in the field of design and improvement of the Model T. This was the one disadvantage in his cost-leader strategy that cost the company dearly when new entrants saw the flaw in his strategy and exploited thus, eroding his market share. Appendix 2 will show you how dramatic the loss in market share was when new entrants came and filled the void that Ford had left by now being an innovator.
General Motor Company did not always start out as a company that practised differentiation for its business strategy. Before it became an industry leader using the differentiation strategy, it had a very relaxed wait and see approach that would have bankrupted the company had the management not realized this and changed its business strategy to one of differentiation.
General Motors Company (GM) was founded in 1908 by William Durant, a carriage merchant, as Buick Motor Company. From 1908 to 1911 he consolidated major car companies such as Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland (Pontiac) and called the consolidated company GM. In 1915, he added the Chevrolet, the crown jewel to his already full stable of car makes at GM. Though he acquired all these companies, Durant had no idea how to truly consolidate these companies and how to standardize the flow of information and what the management structure of the company was going to be like. He also had no effective financial or cost controls over the whole organization. This was because he was unable to decide on what the structure of the company was going to be like and what kind of a business strategy he wanted to adopt.
In the early, 1920’s a person by the name of Alfred Sloan took over the management of GM and immediately set about restructuring the company. He adopted the model that Dupont was using, the multidivisional strategy for the way the company was to be structured. Along with this, he also imposed divisional, administrative, cost and financial costs in order to standardise the flow of information to one format that all divisions could decipher.
The most important thing he did after he took over was to restructure the product lines by divisions so as to gear up for a very “aggressive” differentiation in which, every division would have a part to play to kill the competition. His differentiation strategy consisted of two parts. The first part would be to use his flagship division, Chevrolet, to directly compete with Ford’s Model T and work to steal business from Ford. This would cut Ford’s market share and thus, it would lose its position as a market leader. His second part of the differentiation strategy was to use the rest of the car divisions he had at GM to effectively cover all the different price ranges that existed within the market so as to prevent any new entrants from venturing into the market and also to compete with the small player that existed within these price divisions.
All these changes made GM an industry leader within 10 years of the strategy of differentiation being implemented. With this strategy, Alfred Sloan effectively lowered the costs of his cars by using economies of scale when he standardised the core structure and workings of the car and only changing designs and features according to the divisions. He was also effective in targeting all the different users that existed in the different price ranges and segments. His divisions were also instructed to carry out continuous innovations both in the process as well as the design and features areas unlike Henry Ford who only concentrated with innovation that dealt with process improvement. GM also carried out innovation in all different market segments and not just one segment thus, making sure again that all they remained market leaders.
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