MOS Burger Franchise Expansion Strategy

MOS Burger Franchise Expansion Strategy 1.0 INTRODUCTION MOS Burger is a famous fast-food service in Japan that founded in 1971 by Mr. Satoshi Sakurada. The name of MOS comes from the words Mountain, Ocean, and Sun and each of this word have its own meaning. Mountain stands for dignified and noble, Ocean stands for wide and vast while Sun represents vibrant and life-giving (MOS Food Singapore, 2012). It is now the second largest fast-food service in Japan after McDonald and MOS outlets had successfully expanded into overseas markets such as Taiwan, Singapore, China, and so on. The company differentiate itself from competitors by apply cook to order concept (MOS Burger Website, 2012). The foods will be cooked only after the customers order to ensure the freshness of the foods. MOSs burgers used rice bun and many other Japanese sauces like teriyaki sauce that cover up on the burgers to shows its uniqueness which emphasized on providing a healthy, delicious and clean food. Moreover, the company also served variety of unique and original MOS Burger as well as using transnational strategies when going global because they keep standardized the recipe and the business system while localized some of the product to fit with local taste and preference. The corporate motto To make people happy through food was an important driver for the company to produce fresh, delicious, and quality burgers to their customers (MOS Burger Website, 2012). The passionate commitment of the company make it successful possible and to ensure a continuous survival in this competitive market. MOS Burger has successfully expanded its business globally and currently there are 28 outlets in Singapore, 223outlets in Taiwan, 16 in Hong Kong, 7 in Thailand, 2 in Indonesia, 18 in China, 2 in Korea and 5 in Australia (MOS Burger Website, 2012). The 1412 outlets in Japan have almost reached the limit for the company to expand, therefore the company hope to accelerate its expansion with a vision from MOS of Japan to MOS of Asia and finally MOS of the World. The company planned to expand their business and choose to enter those markets that they have not enter yet such as Malaysia, Canada, Western countries and so on in the future (MOS Food Singapore, 2012). The entry mode used by MOS Burger to enter the oversea market normally lies on joint venture and franchise system. The company form joint venture with the local company as expansion strategy into overseas market (MOS Burger Website, 2012). MOS Burger headquarter will assigned a personnel to discuss about the development and joint effort with the local company to ensure that they can enter into the new market successfully which is totally differences in terms of the ways of doing business, culture issues and other issues. MOS Burger also use franchise as one of the entry mode strategies but it is not easy to obtain a franchise license from MOS Burger because it needs to fulfill the requirements set by the company. The potential franchisee need to know well about the companys philosophy that created by Mr. Sakurada because he wish to partner with those who cares on nature; and also a group of people who can contribute to the creation of happiness both for people and society (MOS Burger Website, 2012). However, the company will only seek for the countries or regional franchisees. As conclusion, the company is preferred to use a master franchise system to enter the new markets instead of a normal franchise system. 2.0 CURRENT EXPANSION STRATEGY MOS Burger starts to expand their business since year 2001 and the first overseas outlet is established at Taiwan. MOS burger has work attentively to expand their business and successfully opened 265 stores across seven regions in year 2011. (MOS report, 2011). 2.1 Joint Venture Joint venture is an entry mode by establishing a firm that is jointly owned by two or more otherwise independent firms (Charles and William, 2011). MOS Burger decided to use joint venture as one of the entry modes to enter other regions because it able to control over the business and at the same time it also can deeply understand that particular regions culture and lifestyle. In expansion into each region, MOS Burger only will establish a joint venture agreement with those companies that stressing on good human relationship even it is able to pursue profit (MOS Burger Website, 2012). MOS Burger will carefully in evaluate and select their joint venture companies in order to ensure their business performance to achieve satisfaction result. Those companies that qualified to pursue a joint venture agreement with MOS Burger must going through few processes start from submission of proposal, presentation, interview and they must able to cooperate in the development of MOS Burger in that particular region (MOS Burger Website, 2012). This strategy have been used very successfully in Taiwan by established a joint venture with TECO Group in year 1990. After 22 years, there are 223 stores was opened in Taiwan (MOS Burger Website, 2012). The successful expansion of MOS burger in Taiwan is because they expert in training their employees who able to understand the basic philosophy of MOS burger which is safe and secure. (Kouhei, Hideaki, Tsukasa, Shigeharu, 2010) In Indonesia, MOS Burger established a joint venture, Pt Mog Indonesia in year 2008 and they start the first outlet in Plaza Sendayan located at South Jakarta (Plaza Indonesia Shopping Centre, 2009). Moreover, MOS FOOD SERVICES Inc. has joint venture with Media Will Holding Co. Ltd, a Korean company that involved in broad spectrum of activities including printing, distribution and restaurant management to open a new South-Korea outlet in March 2012 (MOS Report, 2011). Joint venture is important for MOS Burger and successfully using by MOS to expand their business to overseas regions including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and others. MOS burger decided using joint venture because they found that the natural barrier in developing the business opportunities overseas. Those natural barriers mainly refer to each regions language and culture differs from each other (MOS report, 2011). The successful of this strategy can be seen in Taiwan which consist the highest number of outlets among the foreign markets. It was so success because the joint venture company TECO group fully understand their own region and succeed in training the employees who can speak Chinese well and at the same time they able to understand the basic philosophy that developed by MOS burger. (Kouhei, Hideaki, Tsukasa, Shigeharu, 2010) However, joint venture still has its own limitations which are MOS burger unable fully control over their own business and conflict may arise when there is different point of views. (Charles and William, 2011) 2.2 Franchising Other than joint venture, franchising is another entry strategy that used by MOS Burger as it falls under fast food industry. According to Charles and William (2011), franchising considered as a specialized form of licensing in which franchiser sell the intangible property to the franchisee and insists on rules to do the business. MOS burger expands their business and increase the number of outlet out of their home country by seeking large franchisees instead of seeking the small scale or individual capacity (MOS Burger Website, 2012). Within every single region, those individual franchisees will be managed by the joint venture company together with MOS Burger to make sure all franchisees perform according to the established business practice and ensure the quality control in term of food as well as their customer service. Similar to joint venture, the franchise agreement will be signed after gone through several processes which are propose, present, interview, environment analysis and then only come with the agreement. MOS burger will only engage in partnership with those franchisees that sympathy to their idea included do work that will be appreciated by customers, getting personal satisfaction when customer satisfy with them and must have the full heart motivation to operate the franchise business. (MOS Burger Website, 2012) Today, MOS burger has become the second largest franchise in Japan after McDonald. (Phillip, 2012). This franchise system has been applied in different Asia region including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and others. MOS Burger use franchise system able to generate fixed income by collecting royal fees from the franchisees. However, increasing number of franchise granted by MOS Burger will result in a stronger competition among all the MOS Burgers franchise business within a particular region. In Taiwan, MOS Burger consist of 223 outlets and each outlet is compete together in order to achieve the highest profit for each other. Strong competition between the franchisees will decrease the overall profit that can generate by MOS Burger and this becomes the limitation of this strategy. There are many success franchises from MOS Burger in different regions; however there is a failure case that found in Hawaii, United State. In the late of 1980s, MOS Burger was enter to Hawaii but the business is fail due to the high rents, inventory problem and inconsistent food quality (Andrew and Kulwant, 2005). 2.3 Wholly Owned Outlet In planning to expand their business out from then Asia, there is a wholly owned outlet which opens in Australia in April 2011. Michelle (2012) reported that Shinji Yamaguchi who is the head of international operation of MOS burger said they enter Australia because it closes to Asia and there are a lot of Asian people which have similar culture (Michelle, 2012). Besides, Australia outlet also is a test run of their business practice for MOS burger before their plan of entering Western countries. Yamaguchi said MOS burger now is still unclear to use franchising strategy or wholly own business by them in the following year to expand the business. 3.0 FUTURE EXPANSION STRATEGY Success only belongs to those who are well in prepared. An organization or company want to achieve a continuous successful, a well planning future strategies is a crucial. In order to achieve the goal from MOS of Japan to MOS of the World, MOS Burger has been involved in expansion of the business in Asia and even plan to enter Europe market in the future. Once the MOS Burger decides to enter a foreign market, it must implement some of the entry mode strategies which are suitable for future expansion. As a fast food company, it is popular for using franchising or joint venture as a strategy for international expansion. However, increases in competition during international expansion, MOS Burger also need to consider some other strategies for future expansion and stand out from competitors. 3.1 Export Canada MOS Burger is recommended invest into new product line besides from joint venture and franchising. MOS Burger should use this well established brand name to come out some snack food and using exporting strategies in future as well. This practice found in success case of Old Town White Coffee which expand their business by come out own brand of package instant coffee besides from set up the food stores. MOS Food services, Inc has experience in collaboration with other companies and come out product such as MOS Baked Choco Caramel Corn and flight meals such as Air MOS Burger (MOS report, 2011). Moreover, it also collaborates with Kit Kat in Japan and come out rich white chocolate within limited time period. These indicate there is a possibility of MOS Burger to implement this strategy. MOS Burger is suggested export snack food such as Japanese Dorayaki, dessert like Hokkaido milk ice, pudding and sells their uncooked Hokkaido Croquette at the hypermarket in foreign countries. As mention above, MOS Burger is planning expand to Canada, so exporting strategy may adopted to expand their business as it is a low risk strategy. Besides, exporting strategies provide opportunities for MOS Burger to learn and understand more about the overseas markets in term of culture, politic, economic, preference before invest in bricks and mortar store (FAO Corporate Document Repository, 1997). Canada will be the first Europe country suggested for MOS Burger to adopt export strategy for snack foods because according to National Eating Trends (NET), snacking is the fastest growing circumstance in Canada and snacking consists of more than 24% of all meal eaten in 2009 compared to 2000 with 22 % (Demontis, 2010). Using export strategy can be a stage to adopt franchise in Canada for MOS Burger. Export snack foods able to create Canadas consumers awareness, interest and familiarity toward this brand. Moreover, MOS Burger also can increase their understanding toward Canadian consumer behavior and preference. When MOS Burger achieve favorable result in Canada by using export, they can be easier to planning the adoption of master franchise system in Canada in the following year (MOS Food Singapore, 2012). Canada is a viable market due to growing in Canadian prefers Asian fast food with a growth rate of 9% (Ryomoto, 2009).Moreover, Ryomoto (2009) said that, changing in the consumer trend toward convenient, safety and quality foods also increase the feasibility for MOS Burger fast food franchise in Canada. Canada also can become platform for MOS Burger to expand into other western countries. 3.2 Partnership Malaysia Simultaneously, another entry strategy that recommended for MOS Burger is partnership. Partnership is one of the entry modes which two or more parties contribute their resources such as money, property, talent, knowledge and etc to share in the profit and losses of the business (Gerald Kathleen, 2005). Partnership can bring several benefits. First and foremost is capital acquisition. The fund is rising easily if there have several partners because they can easily contribute more funds rather than a single entity. Second is share responsibility. Different partners will have different abilities and skills. Rather than assign the task equally, partnership allow all the parties responsible the task they are excel in. Malaysia is the suggested country that to adopt this entry strategy. In order to avoid the fierce competition in fast food industry throughout Malaysia, MOS Burger will be suggested to start and growth-up their business at the location along with the South-North Expressway, Malaysia. These locations suggested as it can mainly target the travelers who use the expressway and lack of fast food outlets along the highway. MOS Burger can partner with the petrol station such as Petronas, Shell or etc. This proposed entry mode is derived from other fast food firm such as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have created a strong partnership and this is a successful cooperation (Co-branding examples, 2012). According to Onakayo (2003) the managing director of Mobil Oil, Mobil petrol station has a fast food court called On The Run and it provide family or friends to enjoy in a comfort and quality place. Besides, Dr. Paa (2003) said that partnership of fast food with petrol station provide benefits to customers, share holders as well as the overall economy of a cities or places. Besides, the practice of this strategy can benefits those long journey travelers who use the South-North Expressway especially those from Singapore to North areas need to pump in the petrol and take a rest during their journey or half way. Dr Paa (2003) also said that this practice can commend as a tourism attraction because it able to serve the travelers need who moving around and between cities. Once this partnership has been implementing, after the traveler pump in the petrol they can take a rest while will enjoy their meal just beside the petrol station only. This will open-up a new opportunity for the MOS Burger while also will attract the traveler for particular petrol station to fill up fuel and rest. This will create a win-win situation. 3.3 Backward Integration New Zealand Last but not least, MOS Burger can adopt backward integration which is taking the role of their suppliers. Backward integration allow MOS Burger to gain some benefits such as to ensure the source of quality of the raw material at a competitive prices, have full control to the cost and able to supply the expanding market either locally and abroad (Poultry Integration, 2012). This practice has been used by KFC Holding (KFCH) as they have invested into different activities that assist their core business (Poultry Integration, 2012). To implement backward integration, MOS Burgers is recommended to to own a breeder farm and hatchery, feed mills, animal farm, broiler farming or further processing plants through acquisition. Acquisition refers to acquiring others businesses through occupying certain amount of share or assets (Tan, 2009). Acquisition strategy able to provide the benefits of speed, decrease in risks, avoids strong competition, overcome entry barrier and others (Business manag ement strategy, 2010). Acquisition is worth to be practice as it allows the company to access a wider customer base and increase their market share. The most appropriate country for MOS Burger to adopt backward integration. Dairy Group (2012) said that New Zealand is the country which holds 35% of dairy products in the world market. The dairy industry in New Zealand is famous and distinctive in term of its high quality and flavorful products. Besides, according to the statistic New Zealand (2011), milk powder, butter and cheese are the top one as well as meat and edible offal as the top two commodities that exported by New Zealand. In order to hold the strong position in the world market, New Zealand is very straight in protecting their grass-fed heard through bio-security policies and using bio-nutrients to feed the cow (Investment now, 2012). As conclusion, the high effort of New Zealand to ensure the quality of their dairy products provide a great opportunity to MOS Burger to implement the backward integration as they can fully control the quality of the dairy products that may used as one or more raw materials for MOS Burger in the fast food industry. Conclusion In conclusion, the study has identified the entry modes and also the expansion strategies that adopted by MOS Burger to enter foreign markets. There are also some future expansion strategies proposed for the company which are applicable and implementable as some of the real cases discussed have shown a good example. The entry modes that currently used by the company for expansions are mainly fall on franchise and joint venture. The company will choose a suitable franchisees or partners that know well and align to the MOS Burgers philosophy to cooperate. This is to make sureÂÂ  that the risks of enter into a different market for doing business can be reduce and to maintain a substantial control over the quality of the food. Moreover, choosing the right partners is to ensure that the commitment of the company can be transmit to those who like to eat MOSs burger. Besides that, MOS Burger can expand their business using other entry modes as well in the future to compete with their rivals in foreign markets. Exporting is another alternative for MOS as it is the easiest way for the company to enter the new markets and reach the customers easily. The company is suggest to export their product in term of snack form by using the well established brand name MOS Burger to enter the Canadian market which has a high consumption of snack food. Meanwhile, the partnership entry mode can be adopted as well in Malaysia by cooperating with local well known company for example Petronas. MOS can partner with the petrol station distributor to build their outlets beside or near the petrol station along the South- North Highway in Malaysia to gain benefit while the travelers take their rest or refill petrol at the petrol station on the highway. Next, the company can also use the backward integration strategy to gain some advantages on the cost of material and als o to strengthen the supply chain system of the company which need not depends much on the main suppliers anymore. This can be done probably in New Zealand by acquiring a piece of land and breed their own poultry that needed for making the burgers. Finally, MOS Burger is a company that has a potential to expand and grow globally. Thus, it need to be managed by a talented and committed management team and also maintain a good cooperation with his partners and franchisees.

Fruits of Love Revealed in Gary Sotos Oranges Essay -- Gary Soto Oran

The Fruits of Love Revealed in Gary Soto's Oranges  Ã‚   Imagine that it's winter and cold outside. There's nervous electricity around you, and love is a new and exciting experience. In your heart you feel warmth you've never known before. This is the moment Gary Soto captures in his poem "Oranges". The feeling and power of adolescent love is created using tone, contrasting imagery, and symbolism. First, the use of tone in "Oranges" clearly helps to set the theme of the poem. Children often talk with simple sentences that directly state what happened. The speaker's choice of words and raw simplicity in the way he tells his story illustrates his youth and the honesty that comes with it. Everything he says, such as "The first time I walked with a girl, I was twelve", is straightforward and simple, much like childhood love. Children tend to have more pure and simple feelings for one another than adults because their lives are simple and uncomplicated. The tone of the speaker helps the reader comprehend those simple feelings of adolescent love. For his next technique, Gary So...

What Is Calculus :: essays research papers

What is Calculus? A definition found of calculus in a dictionary was this; a method of computation or calculation in a special notation (as of logic or symbolic logic). The historical perspective of calculus is that people had a problem in finding areas and finding tangent lines. The thing that was discovered to figure these problems out was calculus. Some influential people in the development of calculus were Isaac Newton (1642-1727), and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Isaac Newton is considered on of the most influential men in the development of calculus. Newton at first kept all his discoveries to himself. He feared that people would not accept his work and disagree with them. He wrote one of the most important scientific books of all time, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. It took the work of another man to finally convince him to publish his work on calculus, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Leibniz is another influential man in the history of calculus. He taught himself mathematic s. Leibniz accomplished what Newton did, but was not recognized for his work as much as Newton was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Calculus is important in my major of Biomedical engineering because there are many machines that are made possible for humans benefit. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is made possible for looking at internal tissues of the human body. Another example would be controlling chaotic behavior in the human heart. I think that calculus will be very helpful in my major, so it is important for me to understand it as best as I can.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that the class is going at a fast pace. I have to study a lot to keep up. It seems that lately I understand it, but on the last exam I made stupid mistakes. I need to get more practice done. I like the way you make us read the up coming sections. I get a better feel of what is being covered in class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I find limits to be interesting to me. I sort of understood them, but I still have some problems in grasping the idea.

Polaroid Corporations Essay

In late March 1996, Ralph Norwood was faced with the task of restructuring Polaroid’s capital structure. In the past, Polaroid had a monopoly in the instant-photography segment. However, with upcoming threats in the emerging digital photography industry and Polaroid experiencing recent losses in their market share due to Kodak’s competition, Gary T. DiCamillo, recently appointed CEO of Polaroid, headed a restructuring plan to stimulate the firm’s performance. The firm’s new plan has goals such as to aggressively exploit the existing Polaroid brand, introduce product extensions, and enter new emerging markets such as Russia in order to secure Polaroid’s future. In addition to the plan, DiCamillo has included certain core objectives that Norwood would need to consider in his recommendation. These values include goals of value creation, financing flexibility, and staying with the â€Å"investment-grade† rating for bonds. His plan would have to afford Polaroid low costs and continued access to capital under alternative debt policies. Norwood would need to access the right optimal strategy with these restrictions; that is to say that even if the most optimal capital structure was to force Polaroid’s bond rating under BBB-rated, Norwood would need to settle for some middle ground. Financing Requirements: Polaroid faces several business risks in March of 1996 that will affect its financial policy. The company must consider foreign risk exposure, demand variability, and the ability to develop new products in time and compete in a developing, innovative market. Polaroid is still essentially a one-product line company, deriving 90% of its revenues from photographic products. Polaroid must also consider the threat that digital imaging technologies pose towards the company’s future. With the start up development of these new technologies, it is clear that Polaroid will not have a monopoly in these markets. In addition, Polaroid experiences business risk with their increasing revenues coming from developing countries. Approximately 9% of Polaroid’s sales in 1995 came from Russia. Exhibit 2 (Information on International Revenues) shows the percent of total international sales is on the rise, while U. S sales are on the decline. Even though, Polaroid does have international lines of credit and probably other strategies to reduce currency risk, their business in these developing international markets does pose increasing market risk. The business risk from competitors and international markets does signify that Polaroid will need additional funding to keep up. The company must maintain a strong and flexible balance sheet to accommodate for future financing needs. Another area of concern is Polaroid’s earnings coverage ratios. While Polaroid has a relatively low debt ratios that are comfortably in the AA-BBB range, the company is struggling to maintain safe earnings coverage multiples on its interest payments. The issue is magnified in the future as market equity grows thus increasing WACC. Without better earnings, Polaroid will not be able make interest payments on the additional debt required to balance the company’s optimal capital structure. The use of debt and the resulting additional financial risk is a decision that Norwood must ultimately make. Norwood is also concerned with developing a long term financial strategy for Polaroid that will enable the company to grow according to DiCamillo’s plan. Virtually all of Polaroid’s debt is maturing within the next six years. The major components are listed below. – $150 million in notes at 7. 25%. which mature on January 15, 1997 – $200 million in notes at 8%, which mature on March 15, 1997. Employee Stock Option Plan Loan with scheduled semiannual principal payments through 1997. Interest rate has varied over time, but is very low due to tax benefits to ESOP lenders. – $140 million in convertible subordinated debentures at 8%, which mature in 2001. They are convertible to common stock at $32. 50 per share. They are not redeemable until September 30, 1998 unless the stock price exceeds $48. 75 for 20 of 30 consecutive trading days. Norwood wants to restructure Polaroid’s debt and equity to maximize the company’s future potential. During this restructuring, Norwood wants to keep the cost of capital low, create value, and preserve Polaroid’s investment grade in order to allow for future borrowing at investment grade status. Polaroid’s Current Position The current capital structure is not appropriate for Polaroid, and it will inhibit the company’s ability to meet future financial demands. After analyzing Polaroid’s current debt maturity structure, the group concluded an eventual downgrade of the company’s BBB bond rating by the end of 1996 according to the coverage ratios. The cost of debt drastically increases when a company enters the non-investment-grade status, while the switch amongst investment-grade ratings is relatively marginal. Exhibit 1 shows the maximum amount of debt Polaroid could have for each credit rating. Polaroid’s current investment-grade rating must be maintained to keep costs low and protect the Polaroid brand name. To maintain this rating, Polaroid needs to stop repurchasing stock and have an issuance of equity in 1996 to avoid a downgrade to junk status. Polaroid needs to make these changes to its capital structure to have flexibility and preserve its bond rating. Any persisting needs can be funded through debt financing. Our Recommendation We recommend issuing $200 million in equity initially to pay off the $150M and $37. 7M debts. This will not only allow the firm access to much needed capital, but will also decrease the leverage ratio and minimize financing risk. Also, the ESOP program will be temporarily suspended to reduce leverage. Currently, Polaroid’s D/E is far too high at . 4. This additional equity brings it to a more manageable . 22. By analyzing the coverage ratios, we predicted that if equity was not issued by 1996, the company would lose its BBB rating. Our recommendation first and foremost considers the preservation of Polaroid’s BBB status. The advantage to a new equity issuance is that it will provide needed capital without damaging the company’s financial statements. This will provide flexibili ty for further borrowing in the future and make it easier for Polaroid to maintain its debt rating. Furthermore, when capital is needed in 1998, we will issue $425M in 5-year bonds. This gives Polaroid the lowest WACC and maximum leverage while maintaining BBB status. At this point the ESOP program will resume with the company re-levering. With a somewhat flat yield curve, longer term bonds are not significantly cheaper to outweigh the flexibility that 5-year bonds offer. If earnings improve in 5 years, a capital structure with more leverage may be preferable. Having 5-year bonds gives Polaroid this flexibility. Exhibits 2 and 3 show that a capital structure with a D/E between . 22 and . 26 is optimal. Given the consistent growth in market equity capital, additional borrowing and possible share repurchases will be necessary in the future to stay in this range. This strategy would open the door for Polaroid to find the optimal capital structure while still adhering to the values of the new CEO. The objective would be to choose the option with the lowest weighted average cost of capital, thus creating the most value, maintaining a minimum of a BBB rating, and also allowing flexibility.

Developments in Public Personnel Field

This paper deals with the trends, issues and challenges that are being faced by the public personnel. These trends and issues may be categorized under (1) Management practices; (2) technology; and (3) Economic and Politics. Governments all over the world should learn this time what to do with their public personnel so that they can become more efficient and more effective in the face of all the mentioned challenges. . IntroductionPublic or Civil Service is a big part of the lives of the citizens of a nation whether they want it or not. There are a number of government agencies that require the services of public servants and professionals. These professionals are free from the political affiliations of people who serve in the bureaucracy. There are developments in the society, in the technology and other areas of management that have an impact in the lives of public personnel. This essay explores these new trends, strategies, approaches by looking at different areas that affect the l ives and performance of public personnel.These new trends, issues and emerging practices will be divided into three major categories: management practices, technology and economic situation. The first category deals mainly with the emerging issues in management such as diversity, the rights and benefits of public personnel and how the government is reacting to these trends. Secondly, the technological advancements that impact the work of public personnel will be looked at, carefully noting how these are revolutionizing the way that public personnel do their work. Lastly, the economic developments in the United States and the world will also be noted together with their impact on the lives of workers in the Civil service sector.The government as an employer should take note of these developments and keep up with the times. Oftentimes, however, bureaucracy tends to react too slowly to the changes going on in the world. If this is the case, the public personnel will be disadvantaged. N onetheless, this paper will also put forward several recommendations as to how the plight of public personnel could be improved by the government through the effective and efficient use of resources in their respective organizations.Management PracticesWorkforce DiversityOne of the most important developments in public personnel in the twenty-first century is the increasing recognition of diversity in the operations of public offices and agencies. Such diversity stems from the multicultural fabric of the American society. There are African Americans, Asians, Europeans and Latino in the United States.It is impossible to exclude these people from becoming public personnel if they possess the skills and the educational requirements of serving in the Civil Service. Through the victories won by the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the past forty years or so, the US has come a long way in granting equal rights and opportunities to people of various skin colors.The immigration to the US has also continued in the past few years that the demographic has changed. Through the process of globalization, more and more people from various nations are coming to the United States. Managing a diverse workforce is therefore becoming an imperative for most corporations and multinational companies in the US. This should also be the case with public personnel (Farazmand, 2007).There are a number of benefits that workforce diversity could offer to public offices and agencies. For one, perspectives and viewpoints in the office concerning pressing issues and concerns will be diverse, thus, providing the decision maker with the ability to look at different angles before making important decisions. Without diversity, people will, more or less, look at something from virtually same lenses and perspectives. With diversity, however, there are new perspectives that could enable a broader look at issues plaguing the civil service and the rest of the society.One factor that influ ences the occurrence of diversity in both private and public organizations is the prevalence of migration and mobility of labor. People from diverse backgrounds often find themselves mingling with people from other nationalities (Mavin & Girling, 2000). Diversity, however, is more than just a collection of nationalities within the organization. Rather, there are several sources of diversity that can serve as a point of conflict within the organization—public or private. Managing diversity, therefore, is an art that most public agencies and organizations should be dealt with effectively. These sources of diversity include gender, race, ethnicity, linguistic barriers, sexual preferences and religion.As stipulated in the Constitution and the laws of the United States, these kinds of differences should in no way affect the employment of persons or prevent them from enjoying the privileges accorded to any person within the civil service of the country. The problem, however, is tha t, in a setting such as the public agencies and organizations, there are persons who may have strong feelings, prejudices and biases against any of these sources of diversity and they may condescend to those who are not like them. As such, they might not be able to get along with certain kinds of people in the civil service.Multiculturalism and the prevalence of diversity should be met with effective public personnel management strategies. The management should not be reactive and act as if they are always pacifying people, trouble-shooting problems and ironing out conflicts. Rather, diversity should be managed well by allowing practices and the organizational culture to become attuned to diversity. After all, the labor force has become heterogeneous and there seems to be no way to stop that at this stage (Sippola, 2005).Proactive management of diversity entails understanding the cultural and other differences among different peoples who belong to the organization. This also helps t he management become more attuned to the composition of the public personnel workforce and make the necessary recommendations in terms of managing these personnel.Diversity is one thing that could help the organization thrive in the highly competitive world of the twenty-first century. Through diversity, the perspective of an organization becomes broader and the way in which the organization reaches out to people belonging to different groups.There is an increasing sense of job insecurity in the United States, work hours cannot be completely controlled and the leadership style of managers may sometimes be unsuitable to that of the expectations of the organization. The well-being of the organization should not be compromised (Sparks, Faragher, & Cooper, 2001).The Need for Entrepreneurial LeadershipAnother problem plaguing the bureaucracy and the civil service in general is too much reliance on tried and tested formula without exploring new possible ways of dealing with different prob lems and challenges that the government agencies are facing. Too often, leaders in the government fail to look beyond the proverbial horizon of their respective agencies. As such, what happens is that they rely on previous records, previously successful formula rather than on carefully crafted strategies that address the present situation of their organizations. This is where entrepreneurial leadership comes in.One of the keywords closely associated with entrepreneurship is innovation. This is the continuous pursuit for improvement and looking for new areas to improve the operations of the organization. If this were present in most public agencies, then the personnel can be empowered as they become more effective and efficient in fulfilling their tasks. Unnecessary delays and red tape in the public offices tend to affect the level of innovativeness of public agencies in information technology and other areas of operation (Moon & Bretschneiber, 2002).Entrepreneurship is also closely associated with risk. If managers are willing to engage in risk in the name of innovation, then the organization will become bolder in pursuing entrepreneurship and innovation. When this happens, the followers will emulate the example of the bosses, and they, themselves, will engage in efforts and action that could lead to a more efficient and effective public service organization.Technology  Internet, Web 2.0 and Business ApplicationsThe twenty-first century is marked by break-neck speed of technological breakthroughs and innovation. The world is still reeling from the impact of near instantaneous communication. The possibilities seem to be endless. When one company offers a product, three weeks later, a rival presents another product that is better and usually smaller than the one previously being offered. These technologies are changing the landscape of public personnel management, including the way in which business and office work are being done. These emerging technologies a re outlined in the next discussion.The Internet. The world is very much connected now, thanks to the wonder that is the Internet. With the number of websites all over the world today, the Internet has become a storehouse of articles and knowledge. Through these websites and other features of the Internet, readers and other users are able to check out the most recent breakthroughs in various fields of study in the world. More than that, with a simple click on the mouse, research can be undertaken. This means that workers can do more now that they are connected to the rest of the world (Sullivan & Lewis, 2002).Technology allowing workers to log on to the company intranet even while in a long distance from the office is now available. This is called remote access and makes use of the network of the Internet while putting forward a security means to protect the company from breach and security compromise (Sullivan & Lewis, 2002).Email is another important factor of the internet that has come to the fore of business operations in the past few years. Without email, the world will continue to rely on snail mail, which is a much slower and inefficient means of communication. With email, the sender can directly type in the message on the computer screen, hit the send button and then wait for a few seconds before the receiver opens the email. Another great thing about emails is that they can be used as vehicle of sending over large files over long distances (Sullivan & Lewis, 2011).Voice over internet Protocol. Another interesting feature of the Internet that has recently come to the attention of the world is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This significantly lowered the cost of voice communications over the Internet. This feature has been integrated into various instant messaging protocols such as Skype, Windows Messenger, AIM and Yahoo Messenger among others.It is also possible now to hold live video and audio streaming. This has implications in holding video con ferences over vast areas of land and territory. Hence, live video and audio streaming can help public agencies lower the cost of communication as they meet online. The security of information passed over the Internet is another important concern that must be addressed. Hence, the developments in Internet security and anti-virus technologies help users protect the users and the data that they are feeding and manipulating in the Internet. Information is a very important asset, particularly for public agencies that are serving the broader public. Thanks to the efforts of developers and anti-virus companies, most hackers are kept at bay and prevented from wreaking havoc in the systems of public agencies (Jackson & van der Wielen, 1998).The Internet, together with sound IT infrastructure is already installed in most public agencies. This enables the agencies to dispense social services more quickly and more efficiently. Without technology, such social services will be inaccessible to sev eral sectors in the society (Jones & Dages, 2003). Given the many distractions at work, however, more and more managers realize the importance of introducing regulations and control mechanisms concerning the websites that may be accessed by the public personnel at work. While they are at work, if the IT system is open, then they can listen to music while at the same time enjoy the resources for their own personal use.The reality of digital distraction and information overload among workers is also looming over the twenty-first century public personnel. As such, there should be a means of ensuring that only information pertinent to the job of the public personnel are accessed by the workers during the work session. Otherwise, they will be subject to information overload. Information technology at work is a double-edged sword. It can get a lot of things done but if improperly used, it may also be harmful to the productivity and overall performance of an individual worker (Jackson & va n der Wielen, 1998).The twenty-first century has been hailed as the coming of the knowledge economy where the workers are not only dealing with products and services but rather, they are dealing with information, data and knowledge. As such, technology is a prerequisite for the effective functioning of the public personnel in various areas of government and operations of such agencies.Teleworking and Telecommuting in the Public SectorThe advances and breakthroughs in the technology mentioned above paved the way for the emergence of teleworking and telecommuting among the professionals in the United States. There emerged a new brand of professionals who do not have to report to the office of the agency as long as they are doing the job they have agreed to. Although telecommuting is not a new phenomenon, it has been around since the late 1980s. The only difference now is that the technology has made it so much convenient for teleworkers to thrive in the present system (DiMartino and W irth, 1990).As long as a teleworker has access to computer and good internet connection, he may deliver the work he agreed to. There are also a number of telecommuters from other countries who do the work for the public and private sectors in the United States. Another related process being utilized nowadays is outsourcing. Workers and companies outside of the United States establish partnerships with companies in the US so they can handle the operations of some areas of business.With the increasing popularity of outsourcing and telecommuting, the organization should arrive at a sound plan how to manage these kinds of worker. Of primary concern is the growth of teleworkers as professionals in their field and how they get the services that they deserve (Cooper, & Kurland, 2002).Teleworking has a number of impacts on the public personnel. It might be opted by employees who are taking care of a family member at home needing special attention, by a mother who wants to spend more time wi th her kids or by any other professional who simply wants this kind of arrangement. Teleworking is being used in the private sector but it can also be implemented in the public sector.Teleworking may be considered as a really radical departure from the usual mode of working as public personnel. Teleworkers enjoy an immense level of flexibility in terms of fulfilling their role and still pursuing other interests that they want to pursue.Teleworking, however, may be considered as a security breach in an organization that holds sensitive information in its data bank. In addition to this, teleworking introduces a level of uncertainty and difficulty in managing people. This is why, management should look into an acceptable means of accommodating both the usual full-time staff and those who have opted for teleworking.As the public sector start dealing with teleworking, it should carefully look into the pros and cons of the arrangement. Through this, they can maximize the presence of the t eleworker in the organization while at the same time, making sure that its pitfalls are removed or at least minimized.Individual worker is really at the center of the teleworking arrangements. As long as there is an internet connection and computer, the teleworker can deliver his work. If possible, the organization should also undertake psychological tests to ascertain whether a certain employee is ready for the rigors and loneliness of the being a teleworker.Economy and PoliticsGlobalizationBecause of the rapid advances in communication and transportation technologies and the inter-relationships between and among the countries of the world, the nations are being brought closer together in a process known as globalization (Tomlinson, 1999).The changes being brought about by globalization are far-reaching and broad because it targets the politics, economics, culture and other areas of life (Castles, 2001). Globalization can no longer be ignored because it has impinged on important pr ocesses that go on in the society. It is also not just a national issue but a worldwide one. If this process continues, then the world can become a borderless society in which labor and other resources can move freely without a lot of hassle.In the management of public personnel, globalization has also become a real issue that must be dealt with by the bureaucracy. Globalization is also attacking the established authority of the state over a certain territory, such as a nation-state. The role of the state and the government, therefore, is changing under the relentless impact of globalization.The focus of globalization is efficiency, decentralization and the trimming down of the bureaucracy. In terms of public personnel, this means letting go of a lot of employees and retaining only those who process the core processes and who are able to continue the operations of the agencies that will be affected. With globalization, this means that there will be greater decentralization and dereg ulation of power and autonomy (Bevir, Rhodes & Weller, 2003).The government, however, cannot simply do that without major repercussions. There has to be a careful study as to the kind of jobs and personnel that will be retained and which positions will be let go. If possible, will there be roles that can be combined? This way, the government will be able to save money while at the same time ensuring that the processes being looked after by the public personnel will be continued.ConclusionThe twenty-first century world is very dynamic. Technologies are changing very rapidly, the relationships between and among the countries of the world are becoming stronger. Economies are trading more freely and governments are still in charge of running their own respective territories. This is being done with the help of public personnel who are in the bureaucracy and who are continuously serving the needs of the government and of the people they are serving.There are three main areas of concern t hat impact the changes in public personnel. These are in the areas of Management Practices, Technology, and Economics. Of particular interest is the increasing popularity and significance of workplace diversity and the manner in which public organizations should deal with it so that it can maximize its impact and its efficiency. In addition to this, the advances in technology is paving the way for alternative modes of working such as teleworking and telecommuting. Lastly, globalization also has an important impact on the way that public personnel are being treated and how the public sector can generate savings from the process. Reference Bevir, B, Rhodes, RAW, & Weller, P. (2003). Traditions of governance: interpreting the changing role of the public sector. Public Administration, 81 (1), 1-17. Castles, FG. (2001). On political company of recent pubic sector development. Journal of European Social Political Policy, 11 (3), 195-211. Cooper, CD & Kurland, NB (2002). Telecommuting, professional isolation, and employee development in public and private organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23 (4), 511-532. Daniels, K., Lamond, DA, & Stranden, P. (2000). Managing Telework. New York: CENGAGE Learning. Farazmand, A (2007). Strategic Public Personnel Administration. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Jackson, P. and Van der Wielen, J. (1998). Teleworking. Routledge, London. Jones, JW & Dages, KD (2003). Technology Trends in Staffing and Assessment: A Practice Note. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11 (2-3), 247-252. Mavin, S. & Girling, G. (2000). What is Managing Diversity and Why Does It Matter? Human Resource Development International, 3 (4), 419-433. Moon, MJ & Breschneiber, S (2002). Does the Perception of Red Tape Constrain IT Innovativeness in Organizations? Unexpected Results from a Simultaneous Equation Model and Implications. Journal of Publication Research and Theory, 12 (2), 273-292. Sippola, A. (2005). HRM of a Diverse Workforce: Challenges of Emerging Cultural Diversity. Proceedings of the 18th Scandinavian Academy of Management (NFF) Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, 18-20 August 2005. Sparks, K., Faragher, B & Cooper, CL (2001). Well-being and occupational health in the 21st century workplace. Journal of Occupational and Organizational. Sullivan, C & Lewis, S. (2002). Home-based Telework, Gender, and the Synchronization of Work and Family: Perspectives of Teleworkers and their Co-residents. Gender, Work and Organization, 8 (2), 123-145. Tomlinson, J. (1999) Globalization and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

A Study On Agile Software Development Business Essay

A Study On Agile Software Development Business Essay Agile software development is a group of methodologies whose basis is iterative development. The requirements and solutions in this develop through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. Agile methods usually endorse a well-organized project management process that promotes many inspection and adaptation. It endorses a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices intended to allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. Agile methods promote an iterative mechanism for producing software. They further enhance the iterative nature of the software lifecycle by tightening design-code-test loop to at least once a day (if not much more frequently) as opposed to once per iteration. The theoretical foundations of this framework are found in modern approaches to operations management and analysis, such as lean manufacturing, soft systems methodology, speech act theory (network of conversations approach), and Six Sigma. Agile Vs Waterfall Waterfall Model: The Adoption of waterfall has helped to drive down the failure rate of software development projects, but even with rigorous project management and processes, a full 70 percent of software projects using this methodology fail to meet their objectives. To put this in perspective, waterfall software projects have less than half the success rate (66 percent) of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Figure: The waterfall process for software development Agile approach differs from Waterfall in more than one ways, however the major point of difference is that in the waterfall process there are several checks carried out in phases and the team is expected to deliver a particular part in each phase, however in agile the team is expected to carry out their project in iterations instead of phases. At the end of each iteration, the deliver able expected is a working code that can be continuously improved in order to cope up with the ever changing needs of the demanding client. However, in case of Waterfall, it is assumed that all the needs and requirements of the client are known precisely right at the beginning of the project. Alibi the software development industry is such that , it is often very difficult to understand the exact requirements of the customer at the beginning of the project. This is the major shortcoming of waterfall, where the development team is seldom able to meet the expectations of the customer. Agile methodologies embrace iterations. Small teams work together with stakeholders to define quick prototypes, proof of concepts, or other visual means to describe the problem to be solved. The team defines the requirements for the iteration, develops the code, and defines and runs integrated test scripts, and the users verify the results. Verification occurs much earlier in the development process than it would with waterfall, allowing stakeholders to fine-tune requirements while they’re still relatively easy to change. 1. XP Extreme programming mainly focuses on the development; it does not lay too much emphasis on the management perspective of the software projects. The main purpose with which XP was designed was that all organizations could adopt it for free in its entirety or partly.

Interaction with other professions and how it has informed my Essay

Interaction with other professions and how it has informed my understanding of inter-proffesional care and my practice in relati - Essay Example During my practice, I received input from fellow nursing student. However, I have also received numerous inputs from the wards, OTs and the Physiotherapy. This reflective essay focuses my interactions with other professions, how the interactions have informed my understanding of inter-professional care and my practice in relation to patient centeredness. The case I will reflect on involved an elderly female patient who was living alone. She was admitted into the hospital after she fell at home. Because of the fall, the patient had limited mobility. For diagnosis, she underwent an x-ray. The x-ray revealed extensive damage on the knee. However, the damage had not resulted from the fall but was due to severe arthritis. She was not going to be considered for a knee replacement mainly due to her age. After checking on the family background, it was unfortunate that the lady had alienated her family and completely severed all contact. Additonally, the lady had no contact with her neighbors and had live most of her old age life alone relying on herself. She had bad relations even with members of the society. The bad relations with other people could be attributable to her character. This is because the old lady is prone to making accusations against all the people she meets. The lady wished to return to her home. Therefore, the Occupational Therapist (OT) had to do a home assessment to ensure that the environment was appropriate. After the assessment, the OT felt that there was need for a significant clear out of the lady’s home. This is because the lady would have to use a pulpit for mobility purposes. The device is quite large and the lady would have to live in the living room. Although the lady insisted on being left to go back to her residence, I felt that such an arrangement would not function appropriately for a long period, since she had no relations. The OT had another challenge. Nobody was willing to help in the clearing out the house since the lady ha d severed all the relation she ever had. Moreover, the physical condition she was in could not allow her to do the clearing since she needed to use a wheelchair, which she had not yet received. The only solution was for the patient to employ a solicitor and give him the power of an attorney to oversee the implementation of all the needed changes. Another problem that the OT had noticed was the nonfunctional fire alarm in the lady’s home. When she told me about it, I suggested for a complete fire inspection by the local fire brigade. After the inspection, the fire brigade put the patient’s name in the register of the vulnerable people and those with mobility issues. Although the OT wanted us to get the lady a personal alarm, it was impossible at that moment since the three people in the community were required to be used as contact. However, no one was willing to be involved with anything to do with the old lady. Therefore, the OT suggested a small mobile house phone th at could be carried with the pocket. Following my interaction with the OT, the old sick lady, the community and other different professions, I was able to understand the significance of interactions between nurses