SABIC Operations

When components are produced before they are required by the next downstream process, overproduction occurs (Goldsby & Martichenko, 2005).  This has several negative effects. It creates a “caterpillar” effect in the production flow and results in the creation of excess WIP.  This leads to staging and therefore labor required to move the WIP additional times. And it can hide defects that could have been caught with less scrap if processes were balanced to allow detection earlier as earlier use of the WIP components would have revealed the defect in time to correct the issue.

Manufacturing is a crucial aspect in a country as it creates employment, generates revenue, and backs the export sector of a nation. SABIC is not only a pride of Saudi Arabia but the rest of the Arab nation. The firm has grown and expanded across the globe.  The success of the firm lies in its objective of eliminating non-value adding activities. I knew that SABIC creates value by producing products that meet the needs of its clients. However, I know that the firm uses value stream mapping which helps to classify its activities to value-adding and non-value adding.  As a result, the firm can eliminate any non-value activities.

References

Alotaibi, H. J. (2015). An assessment of the connection of elements in a strategic   plan: a case study of SABIC Company. International Journal of Advanced           Research in Management and Social Sciences, 4(10), 19-36.

Goldsby, T. J., & Martichenko, R. (2005). Lean six sigma logistics: Strategic development to operational success. J. Ross Publishing.

STC telecommunications company and SABIC

STC, as a telecommunications company, is dependent on several concepts and strategies in building an active organization. It ensures it hits the customers’ expectations and thus ends up being satisfied. In most aspects of life, value-adding products are highly considered. Therefore in telecommunication provides that it adds value to the client's life. These may be based in terms of communication or any activity that requires a network. In case of emergency, telecommunication is highly employed as it will be used to pass the information from one person to another. Besides, employee empowerment, which is giving the employee the responsibility of improving himself or herself, should be contributed by the organization (Abalkhail, 2017). Employees should leave a company being more empowered than they were and also improve the company as well thus even satisfying their customers.

SABIC is a notable company in the globe and it is the largest public company in the Middle East.  The firm has used technology to add value to its activities.  The firm has fostered partnerships across the globe and this has enhanced its innovation. The firm focuses on to create new products that meet the immediate customer needs. There is a need for the firm to continue eliminating non-value adding activities by using lean sigma six tools such as kaizen which will enhance its activities.   I also agree that SABIC has one of the best employees as it focuses on skills development.

Reference

            SABIC (2019). Retrieved from https://www.sabic.com/en.

Abalkhail, J. M. (2017). Women and leadership: Challenges and opportunities in Saudi higher education. Career Development International, 22(2), 165-183

Carrefour's Business strategy

Carrefour strategy is focusing on the process quality. They put standards and policies to be used in order to make sure that the customers are satisfied. Moreover, they specify for their suppliers the specifications to be met, such as; price positioning, the origin of the raw materials, etc. Moreover, inventory management is another area to be considered by the hypermarkets' management because it is essential to plan and forecast for future demands by customers.

In fact, the activities in the retail sector are based on interaction, merchandising, and negotiation. This might put more pressure on the management to satisfy the customers because of the high competition and high demand from the customers. Moreover, there are differences in customers’ need from country to others. Therefore, I think that customer satisfaction is required to be considered as the first criteria.

Reference:

 Mahfooz, Y. (2014). Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Hypermarkets of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(4).

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Lean and Six Sigma in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Lean Six Sigma came into existence which is the combination of Lean and Six Sigma (Shanmuganathan, 2014). The fusion of Lean and Six Sigma is required because: 

· Lean cannot bring the process under statistical control, and 

· Six Sigma alone cannot dramatically improve process speed or reduce invested capital. Lean Six Sigma is a disciplined methodology which is rigorous, data-driven, result-oriented approach to process improvement (Shanmuganathan, 2014). It combines two industry-recognized methodologies evolved at Motorola, GE, Toyata, and Xerox to name a few. By integrating tools and processes of Lean and Six Sigma, we’re creating a powerful engine for improving quality, efficiency, and speed in every aspect of the business. Furthermore, Lean and Six Sigma are initiatives that were born from the pursuit of operational excellence within manufacturing companies (Shanmuganathan, 2014). While Lean serves to eliminate waste, Six Sigma reduces process variability in striving for perfection. When combined, the result is a methodology that serves to improve processes, eliminate product or process defects and to reduce cycle times and accelerate processes”. Embedding a rigorous methodology like lean six sigma into organizational culture is not a short journey, but it is a deep commitment not only to near-term results but also a long-term, continuous, even break-through results (Shanmuganathan, 2014).

In this connection, Motorola developed a five-phase approach called ‘DMAIC Model’ to achieve the highest level in the Six Sigma, i.e., 3.4 defects per million (Shanmuganathan, 2014). The five phases are: 

· Define process goals in terms of key critical parameters (i.e. critical to the quality or critical to the production) on the basis of customer requirements or Voice of Customer (VOC) 

· Measure the current process performance in the context of goals 

· Analyze the current scenario in terms of causes of variations and defects 

· Improve the process by systematically reducing variation and eliminating defects 

· Control future performance of the process (Shanmuganathan, 2014)..

 References

Shanmuganathan, S. (2014). Lean Six Sigma. KCG College of Technology, Information technology department. Chennai : ResearcGate.

Shanmuganathan, S. (2014). Lean Six Sigma. KCG College of Technology, Information technology department. Chennai : ResearcGate.

Carrefour’s quality and technology case study

Carrefour’s quality and technology is well-detailed. I have also experienced that Carrefour has started focusing on customers’ needs and demands for bringing improvements in its processes and offers. Due to rising competition, Carrefour has started giving everyday best deals on food items. No doubt, Panda is way behind Carrefour when it comes to quality and technology. The QR Technology has really added a lot of comfort in shopping at Carrefour. It is surely a competitive edge but not the sustainable one as this technology is expected to be used by several other hypermarkets. I believe the pattern of presenting nutritional value of each product tends to be same across the food industry. However, the staff at Carrefour might be more responsive and cooperative in this concern than Panda. No doubt, inventory management is important in the hypermarket. However, it is more important in the automotive industry than the hypermarket because automotive industry tends to procure more expensive auto parts which are assembled for manufacturing cars worth multimillion dollars (Memari, Rahim & Ahmad, 2014). Thus, if the inventory management is not the priority of this industry neither the parts could be properly managed and kept nor the end products. 

Online shopping has become a blessing for majority of the world’s population due to busy schedules and traffic hassles. Carrefour surely has an advantage over other in terms of ecommerce. It has tapped the market of tech-savvy and professional customers who usually don’t have time to physically visit the store.  This online shopping facility positively impacts the consumer perception about Carrefour’s quality (Gupta & Sethi, 2016). The value-added services drag the consumers’ attention towards Carrefour as compared to its competitors. For example, a family may not select Panda over Carrefour because the later offers more services suitable for different age groups, which could meet the needs of all family members. Technology has surely strengthened Carrefour’s competitive edge over others as very few hypermarkets offer online shopping facility to their customers.  I agree with the order of criteria for the successful operations of companies in both industries. 

Reference:

Gupta, P., & Sethi, N. (2016). Factors Affecting Customers' Choice of Shopping-A Comparative Study of Online and Offline Shopping in Odisha, India. Journal of Marketing Vistas, 6(1), 63

References:

Memari, A., Rahim, A. R. B. A., & Ahmad, R. B. (2014, June). Production planning and inventory control in automotive supply chain networks. In International conference on industrial, engineering and other applications of applied intelligent systems (pp. 430-439). Springer, Cham.

The future of business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The future of business environments is expected to be different from now due to the many changes that are happening. The interconnection of processes such as exchange of finance, technology, goods, and services is continually increasing. The increase in the interconnection of the mentioned processes will increase opportunities for business by improving their revenues due to the expansion of the customer base. Companies should be ready to withstand the change that comes by creating new strategies and striving to implement them as required. The latest trends will affect all businesses. The main factor causing the change is innovation happening in all parts of the world (Grant, 2016).

The most common change will be that in innovation. Most industries will have embraced the new technology. Using advanced technologies will have led to an increase in the quality of goods produced as well as the services offered in all areas. Also, the market for the products and services will have increased due to the awareness created through social media platforms. Businesses using the media for advertisements will have the most customers since most of them prefer doing their things online. The demand for data analytics will have significantly increased. Therefore all businesses need to have been well prepared by looking for the best data analytics. Also, their marketing game should have improved considerably. A company can have the best advertising online by having the most competent users of the platforms. Also, companies will need to enhance their branding so that it can attract most of the users online (Neupert, 2016). 

Due to an increase in the market for goods and services, more companies will be formed. Formation of more companies means that KSA will have challenges such as competition from other companies in the industry. Lack of competitive advantage may make KSA lose its market for goods. Increase in the number of more profitable businesses will attract more investors there; thus, KSA will have fewer investors, especially from foreign countries. All organizations will need to invest in advanced technologies. Companies like Apple will be an example in the future.

 References

Business trends | Deloitte. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/strategy/topics/business-trends.html

Grant, R. M., & Neupert, K. (2016). Cases in contemporary strategy analysis. , : Wiley-Blackwell.

Business changes and Strategy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A critical development is that the global environment is the amount of innovation in the coming years. It is increasingly growing and it is a key for growth and development,

With the growth in technology, innovation is allowing an incredible level and at an unnoticed rate.

To remain competitive, companies will be an active in development in the global business environment in the next few years. Mergers and partnerships has gained popularity. Operating in a new market, firms need to  decide a partner with and with an established company in the market. Globalization will be very usual in business arenas since a lot of companies will go international (Munger, 2003).

               Saudi Arabia is facing numerous challenges due to recent key developments. The companies will have to invest more in expanding their businesses to the international arenas. This will be put cost and a lot of effort. Technology deployment in operations will be a challenge which will require organizations to hire experts and purchase new technology.

One great challenge for leaders is the ability to assess, diagnose, and set a plan for organizational change in an innovation thriving environment. Aligning systems and processes to manage change and realize strategy (Ning, 2012). Strategy in relation to innovation is interesting and challenging, thus, the culture of the organization plays an important role in the pursuit of a successful implementation. Structure, processes, reward systems, and people are mainly important in innovative organizations. To sustain competitive advantage firms are required to innovate and continuously improve (Grant & Jordan, 2015).

References

Grant, R. M., & Jordan J. (2015). Foundations of strategy [PowerPoint slides]. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Munger, J. L. (2003). Retail Changes and Their Effects on Business-to-Business Markets. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 10(2), 79-100. 

Ning, H. (2012). How to maintain sustainable competitive advantages: a Case study on the evolution of organizational strategic management. International Journal of Business Administration, 3(5), 45-51.

The Changing Business Environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The business environment is going to change dramatically. One of the changes will involve the adoption and integration of technology. Technology is increasingly becoming a key tool in business and organizations are actively seeking to fill technological gaps within them and are thus competing for available technological resources and manpower (Laudicina, Peterson, & McCaffrey, 2018). Another change is the shift in power and markets. China is fast becoming a major player in the business environment, and a lot of business is going to shift towards that side. Lastly, businesses are going to compete more actively in the global business market due to technological advancements. 

Some of the challenges firms in KSA are going to face include competition for technology and tech-savvy personnel. In this line also, businesses in Saudi Arabia are going to face problems adopting and integrating technology within them. There will also be increased business competition globally and locally aided by technology advancement which could push some of the firms out of business if they are unable to keep up.

Firms will need to adopt strategies that allow them to compete favorably in the local and international markets. As noted, some of the things they will have to do include adopting technology and integrating it into their daily business. This is going to require a strategy that will allow the change to be affected. This will be characterized by an emergent strategy where the leaders make decisions on emerging-needs-basis (Grant, 2016). The managers will need to think and act appropriately to ensure the change. Currently, there are companies with enabling structures in areas such as the right personnel and culture to allow a shift to a more technological organization.

Change is going to be needed in all areas of the organization. The organization structure will have to be reconfigured to include new personnel and technologies. The organizational culture and management systems will have to change to accommodate new developments. Leadership is going to play an important role in doing this and, therefore, the leadership style should change more to a transformative and collaborative style. 

References 

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary Strategy Analysis 9E, Text and Cases Edition. Wiley.

Laudicina, P. A., Peterson, E. R., & McCaffrey, C. R. (2018). Competition, Disruption, and Deception. Retrieved from https://www.atkearney.com/web/global-business-policy-council/global-trends/2018-2023.

Globalization and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The competition has to become more intense to reach developments in the global environment of business. However, increased competition from emerging markets or new entrants may be unsuccessful and adversely affect competitive advantage (Grant, 2019). Thus, it is highly recommended that companies must develop advanced sources of competitive advantage through innovation and patents in order to have effective organizational structures and culture.

The most important new directions in strategic thinking include recognition of globalization by examining and analyzing the external and internal environment in order to have future predictions of both opportunities and risks to be prepared for them. Also, focusing on organizational environment, cooperation, and sustainability would significantly influence change management. Such strategic will success in influencing change management through using new trends (e.g., technology, artificial intelligence, and telecommuting) for working on advanced methods of development, creativity, innovation, change, and adaptation. Move forward in developing a strategy includes vision, creativity, flexibility, and entrepreneurship (Nuntamanop, Kauranen & Igel, 2013)

The companies and individuals must make a commitment to technology support and training. Efficient use of word processing, spreadsheets and database tools can improve productivity. The proper use of Sales force or other contact management and sale automation tools can be very productive. Online meeting site selection tools can save time as well as knowing the proper use of a wide range of event and trade show technology tools. Meeting planning software, when used efficiently, can streamline and automate many meeting planning tasks. It is essential that, not only do companies provide tech tools to increase productivity, but they need to devote time and resources to make sure that staff are properly trained in using them. The most productive employees tend to embrace technology change and actively seek out opportunities to learn. There are loads of free tech training videos on YouTube. An excellent way of finding out about new technology for the events and trade show industries is at trade shows and industry meetings. There are also publications, newsletters and blogs than commonly address using technology for the events.

References

Weber, K. M., Harper, J. C., Könnölä, T., & Carabias Barceló, V. (2012). Coping with a fast-changing world: Towards new systems of future-oriented technology analysis. Science and Public Policy, 39(2), 153-165.

Nuntamanop, P., Kauranen, I., & Igel, B. (2013). A new model of strategic thinking competency. Journal of Strategy and Management, 6(3), 242-264.

Grant, R. M. (2019). Contemporary Strategy Analysis (10th Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 9781119495727

Technology advancement and IoT in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The business environment is constantly changing and this will result in new developments. In the next five years, technological advancements and the Internet of Things business will have many devices interconnected and this will improve service delivery and quality (Chin, Callaghan, & Allouch, 2019). The changes in demographics will also affect the global business environment because the population will have significantly increased in the next five years. Besides, a new generation of the population with diverse needs and preferences will be available. However, due to advanced industrialization countries will face big challenges.  other key developments include Artificial Intelligence and automation. 

Firms in KSA will face the greatest challenges due to advanced industrialization, advanced technology and IoT, and demographic changes. For instance, advanced technology and IoT will put the firms’ data and information susceptible to hackers. Also, the demographic factors will present challenges to these firms because they will deal with unique shopping preferences. Artificial Intelligence and automation is likely to displace works and result in unemployment in KSA.

To adopt and prosper in the future business environment, firms need some strategies such as making use of technology and state of art devices that are not easy to hack, customer relationships, coping with technological change, and brand creation (Grant, 2016). Yes, there are some companies today with appropriate approaches to management and strategies. One of these companies is Apple, which has been able to create a movement that has enabled the company to succeed in the changing business environment. It has a follower strategy since they have created a notion that their products re life-changing and visionary. Hence it will provide leading examples for other companies.

Technology advancement and IoT will have implications on the organizational culture and management systems of companies in KSA. For example, in the next 5 years, millennials will form the majority of the firms’ workforce and hence technology will force the management to set rules to minimize using of devices such as phones to increase work efficiency (Widen, 2017). 

References

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Chin, J., Callaghan, V., & Allouch, S. B. (2019). The Internet-of-Things: Reflections on the past, present, and future from a user-centered and smart environment perspective. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, 11(1), 45-69.

Widen, S. (2017, October 5). How Technology Impacts Work Culture. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/10/05/how-technology-impacts-work-culture/#606c7601721a