Analytics, Strategy and Planning

Analytics is defined as the process of measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting the behavior of visitors on a website, in order to understand and optimize web usage (Dodson, 2016).  This is taking data linked to the consumers that visit a business website and analyzing the data to determine their online behavior.  There are three steps to cover when completing the process of Analytics which are 1) Goals, 2) Setup and 3) Monitoring (Dodson, 2016).  The Analytic goals set will be used by a company to determine the overall success or failure of a website by reviewing the consumers that visit the website, what they are viewing, and how long they are using the website.  The setup is meant to help determine how the measurements and tools should be organized within the Analytic setup.  The monitoring is closing reviewing the activity linked to the website and how performance is affecting the website (Dodson, 2016)

            As to strategy and planning which is defined as the process of integrating digital marketing activities with a plan, buying for it, and executing a successful digital marketing campaign (Dodson, 2016) we cover the four different stages of this topic.  The first stage is Approach which discusses the overall plan or driving force of a digital campaign (Dodson, 2016).  The second stage is Audience which identify the target audience for the campaign (Dodson,2016).  Stage three is Activities which plans out the specific objectives of a campaign (Dodson, 2016).  The fourth and final stage of strategy and planning is Analysis.  This stage covers the tools need to analyze a campaign to identify any adjustments that need to be made (Dodson, 2016).

                                                            Reference

Dodson, I. (2016). The Art of Digital Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Creating Strategic, Targeted, and Measurable Online Campaigns, 1st Edition.

Military Career Decision-Making Professional Competency

 INFORMATION PLANNING, MANAGEMENT, AND CONTROL

In this paper, I plan on explaining what professional competencies I have versus what are needed to become military officer in relation to information planning, management, and control. I will do this using the similarities between the military and civilian business and the skills I have acquired that will be useful as a military officer. I will also focus a lot on the differences between information planning, management, and control in the military and in a business.

Management deals with the conceptual issues of the organization, such as planning, budgeting, and organizing. The planning part involves setting and meeting goals and targets. Command guides the organization with well thought-out visions that make it effective. Control provides structure to the organization in order to make it more efficient (Department of the Army, 1987).

Command is the conveying of a vision to the organization in order to achieve a goal. It does this by formulating a well-thought out vision and then clearly communicating it. Command emphasizes success and reward. Control is the process used to establish and provide structure in order to deal with uncertainties. Since visions normally produce change, this can produce tension and these uncertainties that causes tensions must be dealt with by leadership so they do not hinder the organization. Management's primary focus is on the conceptual side of the business, such as planning, organizing, and budgeting. It does the leg work to make visions reality. Management is about ensuring that the organization's resources are allocated wisely. Management helps to acquire, integrate, and allocate resources in order to accomplish goals and task. This is normally a continuous process. Command communicates the vision or goal to the best people who can implement it. Throughout the process, it adjusts to new knowledge and refines the vision. Leadership helps to guide and motivate people to do their best through the process, and control seeks opportunities to reduce risks, which in turn makes the process more efficient. All these processes work together to make organizations a success when done properly (Clark, 2015).

In my military career, I need to be both a leader and a manager. Leadership is the ability to inspire and influence others to do something and management is the administrative tools, supervision, and other work I use to get there. For example, inspiring my workers to get promoted is leadership, but giving them fair evaluations, ensuring they are taking on the right duties, and assigning challenging jobs they need and giving them time to study is management (Leadership vs Management, 2011).

Human resource management requires individuals to be highly organized, ethical, and skilled at negotiation, conflict resolution and communication. These are all skills that I have acquired throughout my degree program. A human resource management career requires the right combination of education and skills, along with personal attributes such as responsibility, patience, fairness, empathy and firmness. Some of these skills can be taught, and others one either has or dose not. I feel that I have these attributes although I can struggle with patience from time to time, but it is something I continue to work on. Human resource managers deal with employees during potentially stressful situations and must be able to perform their duties in a respectful and diplomatic manner. Human resources specialists in the U.S. military share many of the same duties and daily tasks as their civilian counterparts. For example, in the U.S. Air Force, personnel specialists assist and advise airmen on developing their careers through training programs, and provide information on job specialties and promotions. Additional tasks can include maintaining files and records, scheduling and processing personnel for various actions, and advising personnel and dependents on military training and benefits. Some other human resource careers in the military include becoming one of the following. Personnel Manager whose responsibilities include directing personnel to jobs and training assignments, and planning recruiting activities. Human Resources Management Specialist whose main responsibilities include managing affirmative action plans and evaluation procedures, and designing strategies to improve HR management. Human Resources Specialist support the overall welfare of enlisted personnel, and help leadership keep service members healthy and ready for combat. Since these are all skills that I have been improving upon in my Human Service Degree Program, I feel that I have many options when transitioning to an officer in the military (Burns, n.d.).

Although there are many similarities between the military’s strategies for planning, command, and control, there are many differences as well. When looking at Command and control, the military has a vertical hierarchical structure. The rules of conduct are much more exact and the roles are defined with rank and status that play a big part in the hierarchy and how information is passed. This also includes the defined or assigned occupational career fields that one is trained specifically for when joining the military. The military has consistency across the units and organizations that makes understanding positions and roles quite clear no matter where one is stationed. In terms of promotions and long term careers, the military has a clearly defined process for career progression. Additionally, veterans share a bond in beliefs, traditions, values, and the importance of rank and structure. This can carry on into their civilian life after getting out of the military (Burns, n.d.).

In a corporate non-military atmosphere, there is more of a collaborative model that most organizations tend to use. Organizations are moving closer to a matrix structure to make team work more effective. The rules of conduct are more implied or understood based on the organization’s culture and a person’s roles and status are more ambiguous or flexible depending on the situation. There is variation across teams and divisions with roles and positions having more flexibility. When it comes to career progression, there is a less defined path and more opportunity for lateral assignments. The corporate culture imposes corporate values on the organization and this affects the behaviors of the employees within the organization (Burns, n.d.).

Typically, a military member rises to the top, based on a career ladder (from an E-1 to E-9 within a 20-year career; or junior officer to senior officer). Most of the time in the same career field such as intelligence, logistics, aviation, infantry, medical, administration, and such. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps do provide opportunities for enlisted soldiers to become Warrant Officers once they are a certain rank through a board and selection process. Other paths taken by enlisted include going to school while enlisted or leaving the military to attain a college degree, and rejoin as an officer (Burns, n.d.).

On the non-military or civilian side, the opportunities are less defined. This is true both inside a company, and when reaching for the top ladder-rung by changing companies. A good example of this is a prior military member who, in a nine-year period left the military as an E-5 enlisted soldier in the Army. He applied for and received a position as a GS-13 in the federal government in a supervisory position. From there he left the federal government and joined a Department of Defense contractor as a Director. He left the DoD contractor for another DoD contractor, where he set up the contract parameters, and was hired as an executive Vice President. He has the opportunity still to move around if desired and apply for more senior-level federal positions. This gives an opportunity to relocate and continue to move up the corporate ladder. Furthermore, within a company, employees can jump from low-level to management, simply based on merit or networking. Many companies have career field codes, but typically, they are much more flexible in allowing employees to transfer into new positions, provide the appropriate training, and expect success. This shows that the opportunities on the corporate side are boundless (Burns, n.d.).  

One of the most common sets of activities in the management is planning. Very simply stated, planning is setting the direction for some system and then guiding the system to follow the direction. There are many kinds of planning in organizations. Common to these many kinds of planning are various phases of planning and guidelines for carrying them out as effectively as possible. Whether the system is an organization, department, business, project, etc., the basic planning process typically includes similar nature of activities carried out in similar sequence. The complexity of the various phases depends on the scope of the system, however, the nature of the activities and their general sequence remains the same. The typical phases that will be summarized on planning used in the corporate world may vary depending on the planning process an organization uses.

·    Reference Overall Purpose, Mission, or Desired Result from System
During planning, planners have in mind some overall purpose or result that the plan is to achieve. For example, during strategic planning, it's critical to reference the mission, or overall purpose, of the organization.

·    Take Stock Outside and Inside the System
An example is that during strategic planning, it's important to conduct an environmental scan. This scan usually involves considering various driving forces, or major influences, that might affect the organization.

·    Analyze the Situation
For example, during strategic planning, planners often conduct a "SWOT analysis". During this analysis, planners also can use a variety of assessments, or methods to measure the health of systems.

·    Establish Goals
Based on the analysis and alignment to the overall mission of the system, planners establish a set of goals that build on strengths to take advantage of opportunities, while building up weaknesses and warding off threats.

·    Establish Strategies to Reach Goals
The particular strategies to reach the goals chosen depend on matters of affordability, practicality and efficiency.

·    Establish Objectives Along the Way to Achieving Goals
Objectives are selected to be timely and indicative of progress toward goals.

·    Associate Responsibilities and Time Lines With Each Objective
Responsibilities are assigned, including for implementation of the plan, and for achieving various goals and objectives and deadlines are set for meeting each responsibility.

·    Write and Communicate a Plan Document
The above information is organized and written in a document which is distributed around the system.

·    Acknowledge Completion and Celebrate Success
If this step is ignored it can eventually undermine the success of many of your future planning efforts. The purpose of a plan is to address a current problem or pursue a development goal. Skipping this step can cultivate apathy and skepticism or even cynicism in an organization.

In the military, the planning process looks quite different. The military decision-making process has seven steps. Each step of the process begins with certain input that builds upon the previous steps. Each step, in turn, has its own output that drives subsequent steps. Errors committed early in the process will impact on later steps. Estimates go on continuously to provide important inputs for the military decision making process. The commander and each staff section do estimates. Estimates are revised when important new information is received or when the situation changes significantly. They are conducted not only to support the planning process but also during mission execution.

·      Step 1: Receipt of Mission.

Input: Mission received by higher headquarters or deduced by the commander or staff.

Output: Commander’s initial guidance; Warning order issued

·       Step 2: Mission Analysis.

Input: Higher HQ deliver a detailed order and plan; Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB); Specific staff make estimates for mission; List all facts & assumptions for estimates.

Output: Initial IPB products such as map overlays, weather reports and other intel information; Restated mission with greater detail; Commander’s intent explaining their vision; Commanders’ guidance (more detailed); Second warning order in greater detail to give subordinate units more guidance for planning process; Staff estimates continue; Preliminary movement (staging of troops and equipment).

·      Step 3: Course of Action Development.

Input: Restated mission; Commander’s guidance; Commander’s intent, Staff estimates & products; Enemy course of action (what the enemy is most likely to do based on intel).

Output: Course of action statements and sketches (step by step plan and visuals).

·      Step 4: Course of Action Analysis

Input: Enemy course of action; Course of action statements and sketches

Output: War-game results (projected results of the proposed courses of action and a recommended course of action for the commander); Task Organization (assigning platoons and companies); Mission communicated to subordinate units; Commander’s Critical Information Requirements (What do we want to know about the enemy? What do we want to know about ourselves? What information do we need to keep from the enemy?)

·      Step 5: Course of Action Comparison.

Input: War-game results; Establish criteria (matrix to rank criteria based on importance)

Output: Decision matrix (final product with recommend course of action based on weighted criteria for commander’s approval).

·      Step 6: Course of Action Approval.

Input: Decision matrix

Output: Approved course of action; Refined commander’s intent; Specified type of rehearsal (practice evolution as specified by commander); High pay-off target list (What needs to be accomplished in what order to be successful in mission).

·      Step 7: Orders Production.

Input: Approved course of action

Output: Orders (orders are generated and distributed to all involved

Figure 5-1 below shows the continuous flow of the commander’s and staff estimated throughout the working process (The military decision making process, n.d.).

  It is clear that although there are similarities within the management, planning, and control processes for military and civilian organizations, the differences are abundant. There are many skills that can be learned and acquired on the civilian side that can be helpful in the military. These attributes can be built upon in the military as they retrain personnel to use information planning, management, and control to fit a military standard so that all personnel will have the same skills to be as efficient as possible.

References

Burns, D. (n.d.). Understanding how military and civilian cultures differ. Job Hunt. Retrieved from http://www.job-hunt.org/veterans-job-search/military-vs-civilian-cultures.shtml

Clark, D. (2015) The four pillars: leadership, management, command, & control. Big Dog, Little Dog. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/LMCC.html

Department of the Army (1987). Leadership and Command at Senior Levels. FM 22-103. Washington, DC: GPO.

How to do planning. (n.d.) Free Management Library. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/planning/index.htm

Leadership vs. management. (2011). Military Leader. Retrieved from https://militaryleader.wordpress.com/

The military decision making process. (n.d.). Army Field Manual 101-5. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/fm101-5_mdmp.pdf

UNETHICAL PRACTICES AT BARCLAYS BANK

Unethical Practices at Barclays Bank

         In this case study we have the United States of Justice conducting a criminal investigation into abuse of the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) interest rate regulated by the British Banker’s Administration. And resulting on a fine of more than $440 million by Unites States and English financial regulatory agencies for manipulating the LIBOR to its advantages, causing world-wide effects to business and individuals. 

Ethical Development Level

In the case of Barclays Bank and the manipulation of the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate). It can easily be determined that the executives of this organization correspond to the Preconventional morality level. “Preconventional morality can be define as the most basic level, is childlike. It is calculating, self-centered, and even selfish, based on what will be immediately punished or rewarded” (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2014, p.34). The manipulation of the LIBOR interest rates by proposing artificially low bank-to-bank rates to make themselves more stable than they actually were showed that they did not care about anyone else but rewarding themselves.

Corporate Social Responsibility

 “Corporate Social Responsibility: Is the business’s concern for society’s welfare. This concern is demonstrated by managers who consider the best interest of the company and the society within which it operates” (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2014, p.37). The manipulation of the LIBOR rate Barclays Bank not only affected London banks and business executives, but also small business and individuals like students who have students’ loans, and homeowners, whom interest rates depend on the LIBOR rate since it is use all around the world as an interest rate and a financial instrument benchmark. If Barclay’s bank executives had had any kind of Corporate Social Responsibility they had never manipulated the rate to their best interest without thinking on the bad consequences for the rest of the society.   

Corporate Social Responsibility Response Actions

To take corporate Social Responsibility of their actions after the scandal broke up Barclays bank should of ask a public general apology and offered to compensated the most affected victims of their unethical practices, and compromise to do a clean up of all their unethical executives and make them responsible for their actions. Show society that people have to be responsible and accountable for their actions regardless of the position they held within the organization.

Postconventional Morality

But in the other hand if the executives at Barclays Bank would of stopped and think for a moment if  “Even though manipulating the LIBOR will increase company profits, is it the right thing to do in the long run?” they would of being in the Postconventional morality level. This is the last level of morality that represents the morality of and adult. “At this level, people are less concerned about how others might see them and more concerned about how they see and judge themselves over the long run”(Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2014, p.34). Being at this level show that the organization and the people in it have an excellent ethical and moral integrity.

Ethics and Social Responsibility in Marketing

“Ethics is the moral principle that generally governs the conduct of an individual or a group” (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2014, p.32). Ethics are the base of a successful long lasting relationship between the organization and their customers since the businesspersons have the obligation to be honest with their customers, they are also responsible for preserving their customers environment and protecting their rights. By doing so they have insured a good long relationship with them and these actions would automatically put them on the philanthropic responsibilities level of the pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility since they would not only be profitable, obey the law, be ethical, but a good corporate citizen, contributing to the community and improving the quality of life.   

References

Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel,

Busienss to Business (B2B) Applications

B2B applications that leverage the Internet are not visible to the public in the same way that Web sites for B2C applications are. Prior to the Internet, many large companies had in proprietary EDI systems for electronic transmission of standard documents that used private networks. By the early 1990s there was a large installed base of these systems, and because these proprietary systems were also highly reliable and efficient, it took almost a decade for many large businesses to rely on the Internet as a secure communications channel. However, for many smaller businesses, the custom EDI systems of the past had not been economically feasible, and for these firms the Internet created entirely new B2B opportunities. By 2003, the dollar volume of B2B e-business had grown to about $1.3 trillion (from about $250 billion three years earlier) and to $3.6 trillion by 2008.

The growing usage of mobile devices for wireless cellular communications has fueled the development of e-business applications designed for these mobile devices, sometimes referred to as m-commerce. One of the new business opportunities here is to provide customized content to the user based on the actual geographic location of the handheld device as well as demographic data.

Reference:

Pollard, C., Turban, E., Wood, G. (2018). Information technology for management: On-demand strategies for performance, growth, and sustainability (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Corporate Fraud is a Serious Issue

Fraud can be prevented by secure processes and by ensuring that people allowed access to them are honest. This is easier said than done; failures will occur and every company needs contingency plans as a safety net. Contrary to popular belief, corporate fraud happens to good companies and effective managers. Investigating Corporate Fraud a fascinating and invaluable source of practical expert guidance on a subject strewn with potential dangers.

Corporate fraud has become the center of public concern, including but not limited to regulators, investors, a board of directors and academics. Since the outbreak of corporate scandals in 2000 and the 2007 financial crisis, there have been increasing regulatory restrictions and scrutiny to reduce the opportunity and incentive for corporate fraud. However, according to the PricewaterhouseCooper (2016) (PwC) report, the economic crime across the globe still represents more than a third of all criminal activities. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (2011) also reported that pending cases for corporate fraud in the USA continue to rise in recent years. Therefore, despite increased regulations, corporate fraud seems to be a serious continuing epidemic problem.

Harjoto, M. A. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud. Social Responsibility Journal, 13(4), 762-779. 

Comer, M. J. (2017). Investigating corporate fraud Routledge Ltd. doi:10.4324/9781315589732

McDonald’s VS Starbucks analysis

Competition is Fierce

McDonald’s is an American company in the fast food service industry that was founded in 1940. Its current headquarters are in Oak Brook, Illinois. The company owns and operates a chain of restaurants in addition to 30,000 franchises located in 199 countries found all over the globe and serving millions of customers on a daily basis (Peng, 2013). McDonald's menu comprises of hamburgers, cheeseburgers and French fries in addition to chicken products and soft drinks, desserts, wraps, milkshakes and foods for breakfast. The company, however, makes the effort to produce their menu items locally and at a set standard to maintain quality and increase the products relevancy to the local community. The quality of McDonald’s services is also enhanced by the use of e-commerce through the utilization of technological developments such as the McDonald’s website for marketing products (Dorfman, 2014). Secondly, the use of online service for placing orders, delivery, and advertising on Facebook and Instagram and the automation of its business activities. McDonald's also uses menu display on a television screen and free Wi-Fi to customers as a rebrand of its business operations and increase its competitive advantage.

Starbucks is also a company in the food industry offering coffee and running various coffee shops in the US and around the world (Gilbert, 2008). Through E-commerce, Starbucks pioneered the digitization of the food service industry through the use of pre-loaded loyalty card and order-ahead app that has helped revitalize the in-store experience and enable easy shipping of goods up to the customers’ houses (Lindner, 2017). However, Starbuck recently closed down its online store as a move to simplify its sales. This endeavor leaves Starbucks dependent on direct sales from the stores.

From this analysis, McDonald's sales and business operations are fully automated in contrast to Starbucks business operations. In my view thus, considering factors such as competition, customer service, and diversification of product helps determine effective use of e-commerce technology. In this regard, McDonald's has effectively utilized the e-commerce technologies better than Starbucks.

  

References

Dorfman, J. H. (2014) Economics and Management of the Food Industry. Routledge. 

Gilbert, S. (2008) The Story of Starbucks. The Creative Company.

Lindner, M. Starbucks will shutter its e‑commerce site to focus on its mobile app and stores.        Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved from         https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2017/08/31/starbucks-shutter-e-commerce-site-            focus-mobile-app-stores/

Peng, M. W. (2013) Global Strategy. Cengage Learning.

Amazon is facing constraints

Amazon is facing constraints in short run as either as you have stated that they are imposing taxes on some of their sales; however, Amazon is anticipating this and has already planned to diversify its investment to include the recent purchase of whole Food in 2017 for $13.7bn (Phillips-Connolly & Connolly, 2017). Also, Amazon has recently opened its stores called Amazon Go that will drastically change the way people shop from traditional stores as they have implemented artificial intelligent in these store. Amazon is currently planning to open many of these stores around the U.S. Therefore, I do agree with you that Amazon is facing some competition in the near run, yet the way Amazon utilize IT technologies would sure place them ahead of their competitors in the long run. 

Reference

 Phillips-Connolly, K., & Connolly, A. J. (2017). When amazon ate whole foods: Big changes for big food. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 20(5), 615-622.

Core Competencies and Competitive Advantage

Our Core Competencies

            At R&R Sensors (this is the name I have given my Capsim Core company), the top three core competencies are: providing a high-end sensor that appeals directly to the high tech customers, exceptional teamwork, and outstanding ethical values. Our first competency is essentially product redesign as we are moving away from a sensor that appeals to both low tech and high tech customers and putting our focus into high tech customers. This will enable R&R Sensors to focus more on this one area, do thorough research on what makes a high tech customer happy and then deliver by giving them a product with the performance, size, and reliability they are after. By taking the time to understand our target market, we can deliver a product that will be stellar and unique, and one of the best ways to understand the core competencies we have is to know the value of uniqueness within our own products. By using the idea of core competencies to better understand the talents a company has, we can develop a unique approach to focusing on areas that matter the most to our customers, this is where the second and third competencies come in (Mind Tools, 2018). After making the tough decision to continue with the marketing campaign for creating a better production process that eliminates the use of wasteful materials, but in doing so changing the campaign so the public was aware the waste was not reduced as of yet, our team came together and worked hard to research this problem. R&R Sensors did not leave this solely up to Marketing, instead the company worked as one big team to start the process to make this change happen. When an organization comes together as a unified team, this becomes a core competency, not all businesses can pull this off, and when the team works well together, operations management, production, and the products have better results, which then are transferred to the customers in a positive way. Third, our company prides itself on our outstanding ethical values, our morals and values are the reason we chose to not cover up the lack of waste reduction, even if it led to slightly lower profits than we would have liked. Our customers, all of our stakeholders, deserve our very best and we believe in the day and age where ethics are so hard come by, we do this best! To determine whether or not the unique things a company thinks are core competencies truly are or not, three tests need to be passed with a “yes”:

1. Is our business giving the customers something they really want and going about it in a way that strongly influences them to purchase from us, something relevant?

2. Is the core competence hard to duplicate, hard for other companies to copy?

3. Does our product or service open up market opportunities or is it stuck with a very small market?

If the answer is yes to all the questions above, we can feel confident that we have developed true core competencies (Mind Tools, 2018). We are developing a redesigned sensor that the high tech customers want, teamwork that works in a way that benefits the customers, and ethics that attracts customers to us. We want our sensors to be made in such a way that, yes, they are hard to duplicate and we believe our teams and ethics are also the same way, we work together so well that it will be hard to find a team or company like the one we have created. Finally, our sensors are not limited to a few small market places, they are sensors that belong in many electronic devices from cell phones to cars to elevators and our high tech customers can come from any location. Our team members and ethical views will pave the way to get there.

Competitive Advantages

            Our core competencies give us part of our competitive advantage because they go hand-in-hand. In order for a strength to become an advantage, an opportunity has to be filled by the product or service Sometimes, advantages are more commanding than other ones (Page, 2014). Our first advantage comes from the sensors we are redesigning, these will be updated in a way to be more appealing to the performance, size, and reliability that the high tech customers are after and we want to do this better than the competition. Creating a sensor that stands out having better performance, smaller size, and is more reliable all within the price range will appeal to all our high tech customers and give us the advantage over competitors who are focusing more on low tech, both sets of customers, or are trying to focus on high tech, but fail to deliver at the right specifications.

Positioning Strategy

            A positioning strategy is developed as a way to put a company’s products or services ahead of the others in the industry, it’s the reason it is different, such as why the major fast food chains can all serve burgers, but those burgers are all different in their own way and marketed so. Once the strategy is created it needs to be tested, making sure it’s as good as the company thinks it is and the only ones who can accurately let us know are the targeted customers we are marketing the sensors to (Entrepreneur, 2018). As discussed previously, our goal is to create a sensor for the high tech market, in order to position ourselves in a way to be unique among our competitors, we will have to prove it is the best by showing the research our Research and Development Department has done and also include parts of the production process, not enough to give away our product secrets, but enough to show that this sensor really is the best in the industry. And because actions speak louder than words, also showing that we are a unified, ethical team here at R&R Sensors will be made part of the positioning strategy as well. It seems that many companies anymore “talk the talk”, but do not “walk the walk” when it comes to morals, values, and ethics in the workplace and so many have let their customers down by cutting corners or lying about the products they are selling (both Volkswagen and Blue Buffalo come to mind). We will be different, we will stand out from the crowd of competitors and be that ethical company that can be trusted and we will do this by being open, honest, and also owning up to our mistakes and finding ways to correct them. In our situation, a lot of what we are doing product-wise is coming from the Research and Development Department doing exactly what the name implies, researching the best ways to create and update the sensor we have by using the newest technology available; then, developing the sensor into the newly designed product we will sell. This is what the department is good at, these are the key qualities these employees have, which will contribute to R&R Sensor’s success, these qualities are that department’s core competencies. The teamwork attitude and promise to be ethical stems from the organization’s attitudes and behaviors that set us apart, but also position us in a way to be in an advantageous place among competitors. These competencies should always be built upon and revised when needed, they are not always going to be the same, as the business changes and grows, so will our core competencies (Krompf, 2007).

Creating Value

            When our positioning strategy is to create something better than what’s already on the market, this automatically creates value for all our stakeholders – which includes shareholders, communities, and society as stakeholders is described as those affected by the actions we do here as a company whether directly or indirectly (Huemann et all, 2016). The improved sensor will appeal to our customer, supplier, employee, and shareholder-based stakeholders. Our customers will be excited to try out the new high tech sensor with all the improvements that have been made, suppliers will benefit as we will have to order higher quality supplies for production, employees will have the opportunity to recreate something into a newer product and embrace their creativity, and shareholders will be excited that this improved sensor will deliver higher profits. Being an organizational team as well as ethical will benefit all those involved, especially the community surrounding the business. Having a trustworthy company means those purchasing from us will have a reliable product where their money will be well-spent instead of wasted and our internal stakeholders will know they can rely on those in charge to tell them the truth while allowing the freedom to work creatively as a team, their work will be valued and each worker respected. Starting with our employees and spreading to society as a whole means our core competencies, competitive advantage, and positioning strategy will all work together to come full circle to benefit everyone we possibly can.

References:

Entrepreneur. (2018). Positioning. Retrieved from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/positioning

Heumann, Martina; Eskerod, Pernille; and Ringhofer, Claudia. (2016). Rethink! Project Stakeholder Management. 

Krompf, Warren M. (2007). Identify Core Competencies for Job Success: Organization Development, Vol. 24. 

Mind Tools. (2018). Core Competencies Analysis. Retrieved from:https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_94.htm

Page, Kogan. (2014). Uncommon Leadership: How to Build Competitive Advantage by Thinking Differently.