The Rise and “Fall” of Xerox Organization

In 1960 the Xerox Corporation was in a position where it could corner the copy machine industry for the next 15 years. Xerox had practically invented the copy machine, and had secured its dominate stake in the copy machine industry with patents. However, this security backfired on Xerox because it didn't allow them to focus on new product development. During this period, their research and development goals diminished, and the quality of their products remained the same if not worsened. The strategy Xerox had remained stagnant. Xerox found itself in the mid 1970's with a loss in profit, market share, and competitive stance. By effective supply chain management, Xerox would be able to revamp its structure. In order to confront new competitors such as Ricoh and Canon, Xerox was going to have to make major changes within its organization. First, Xerox management sought to simplify the purchasing process. By consolidating its supply base, it was able to reduce overhead, pass lower costs onto customers, improve quality of its products, and work better with suppliers. Next, the â€Å"commodity teams† were designated to reduce defect parts per million through a five step program it developed. Thirdly, internal restructuring brought about the â€Å"circle groups† which resulted in a new system of competitive benchmarking and customized products. Finally, with a new research and development approach Xerox was able to delve into new product development, bringing them brand recognition. And, with a new â€Å"central logistics and asset management† program the company was able to reduce excessive inventory and related costs.  · Determine how Xerox's strategies transformed from the late 1970's to the 1980's.  · Determine how the change in strategies and organization allowed Xerox to be competitive.  · Identify the source of guidance it received for its restructuring , and what this revealed about the advantages of a multinational firm.  · Determine how taking a global perspective make it more competitive in the global marketplace.  · Evaluate the role of global manufacturing, materials management, and R & D in better performance in the 1980's. Once Xerox found themselves in a poor competitive position in the mid to late 1970s, they were forced to make general changes in strategy and structure or organization. In the late 70s, the copier environment consisted of just a couple of competitors with a rapidly declining market share. Xerox's new strategy was segmentation-to keep their three main legs (Fuji, Rank, and Xerox) as separate entities. Therefore, structural and organizational areas were decentralized. In the 1980s, the copier environment consisted of even more competitors who had superior products at lower prices. The market was more hostile, and if Xerox didn't make a significant change in its strategies, they would lose the battle. At this stage, Xerox's strategy was aimed at streamlining supply ties and reduce production costs by improving the supply chain. Bringing together the three entities was the new centralized approach for structure and organization. Moreover, by using Fuji-Xerox as a guide to restructure, Xerox benefited by having various cultural organizations to choose from and achieving global learning. In addition, by taking on a singular identity rather than a three leg multinational, Xerox was able to capitalize on location economies in relation to the product life cycle. Therefore, both Xerox and the local suppliers were able to achieve economies of scale. Also, a global perspective resulted in more uniform products. In regards to performance, restructuring global manufacturing allowed them to deal with suppliers more effectively and to get one or a few suppliers for one global product. Effective materials management helped Xerox gain closer supplier and customer ties, which in turn reduced inventory costs. By staying in sync with customer demands and needs, Xerox's R & D division was able to come out with customized product lines, which in turn gave Xerox a first mover advantage and resulted in a stronger competitive position. Finally, the internal restructuring regarding the â€Å"quality circles† involved all areas of the company. With an encompassing implementation of the Leadership Through Quality groups, Business Area Work Group, and â€Å"Quality of WorkLife† Circles, Xerox increased in performance. By allowing workers to find quality shortfalls and generate ideas about problems, these programs allowed them to find better solutions to those problems, for example, via the process of competitive benchmarking. Our team consensus is that Xerox shouldn't have relied solely on their patents and previous technological know-how to maintain their large market share. Because of this reliance, Xerox paid less attention to quality and new product development. If they would have focused on developing newer, higher quality products, their market share would have remained the same or better once the patents expired. They should have foreseen the expiration of the patents, and been better prepared with a stronger product line and global strategy to confront the competitive market in which they were going to enter in the 1970s. The competitive benchmarking allowed them to integrate the most efficient practices of other global companies. This integration, as well as the efficient supply chain management and emphasis on quality, was a smart move which enabled Xerox an efficient structure for years to come.

Ethical Decision Scenario Worksheet Essay

Shannon met with several of Janet’s clients. After meeting with clients, she discovered a pattern in which the clients would report that they have not seen Janet in 2 to 3 months. However, the case files reflected face-to-face contact with all of her clients, despite what her clients stated. When Shannon investigated further, she found that the client notes were all at the same day and time, which is unlikely. Further, several of Janet’s clients needed referrals for counseling, but Janet never completed them and has not followed up to ensure her clients are receiving the necessary services. Janet is a close friend of Shannon. Shannon does not want to get Janet in trouble but realizes something must be done. Answer, in a 75- to 100-word response, each of the following questions: 1. What are the ethical issues involved in the scenario? Shannon is a juvenile probation officer that works for the Department of justice: she covered Janet’s casework and clients while Janet was out. She seen that Janet is lying on her paperwork saying the she sees her clients regularly, when her clients said otherwise. Janet is also completing all of the paperwork on the same day with the same notes and times. This is impossible to do so it means that none of her notes are true and she is reporting false information. Janet is not referring her clients when needed and is not doing her job right. Fidelity is respecting the trust that  clients place in their helpers and guarding against an erosion of that trust. Helpers are careful to fulfill their responsibilities, keep promises, and be honest in their interactions with clients. Veracity means being honest with clients. Human service professionals commit to providing clients with all of the information that they need and to providing fair and honest feedback. 2. What client rights are involved in the scenario? The client rights that are involved in this scenario are privacy, and informed consent. The privacy rights were somewhat violated because the clients file was given to another helper. Therefore this helper read the file and knew all the clients information. It is also the clients right to know the about the qualifications, treatment, procedure, cost of services, confidentiality and have the records the helper keeps of them. The client was clearly non given access to the record the helper kept of them: if so they sold have seen that the helper was giving false notes and information. 3. What, if any, client rights were violated? Janet was not taking notes on her clients and not seeing them regularly because all of her notes were done around the same time, and on the same day. The client is clearly not getting the attention they need. Her clients are stating that they have not seen her in 2 to 3 months. However Janet is not being truthful about her work. 4. How you would use the ethical decision-making model to address or resolve the situation?

Business Proposal Outline Essay Example for Free

Business Proposal Outline Essay This is a summary that can answer the question: what kind or type of business am I in? You must be able to answer this with a one sentence answer that summarizes everything you’ll do. You’ll use this as a tag line when meeting business people as you market your business or as an introductorily statement presented to a lender. Structure Define your business as a Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, C Corporation, S Corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. To accomplish this will require the skills and expense of a good attorney specializing in small business. You’ll need bios and resumes on your principal team players, including details of their experience, education, noteworthy achievements and why you’ll think they will be an asset. Employees How many and how will you hire them? What qualifications are you looking for? Will you outsource? What about compensations, benefits, workman’s comp insurance or health plans? Finances & Accounting In house or subcontracted? Computerized? What software will you need? You’ll need a proforma profit and loss statement with income and profit projections forecasted out three years. What kind of a balance sheet method will you use? You’ll need three-year projections of assets and cash-flow. Will you outsource for expertise in this area? Who can you hire and who can recommend reliable professionals? How much will a qualified CPA cost you a year? What services will he/she provide? Technology What are your needs? How will you use your equipment and in what aspects of your business? What file databases are you going to maintain? How much power do you need to maintain these? Can you option for online vendors or do you have to install an in-house system,? What about IT? Outsourced or hired? What is you budget for upgrades of equipment and software? Will you be doing graphics and promotional materials design in-house or outsourced? What about spyware, malware and virus protections? More Than An Afterthought Writing a business plan that is comprehensive will require a lot of work and thought. But once it’s done, you’ll have a tool that can breathe and grow as your business grows. A successful business plan template will be divided into sections allowing the reader an easy interpretation of what your goals are and how you plan to achieve them. It should include the following: †¢Cover Sheet. Includes the name of the new business and the principals involved. †¢Table of Contents. Easily divides the plan into different sections and allows for easy navigating. †¢Executive Summary and Mission Statement. Introduces the business idea, summarizes the ideas and goals and what you intend to accomplish. †¢Start-Up Costs and Operations. Lists all the details of the items and costs required to get started as well as the operating costs once the business has opened its doors. This includes all expenses such as rent, supplies, administration, equipment and employees. †¢Marketing Plan. Your strategy for advertising and other methods of gaining clients. †¢Revenue Projection. Your financial forecast over a period of several years. †¢Appendix. Business Proposal Outline. (2016, Dec 09).

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discussion Questions - Essay Example Then the responsibility of the decision lies with the manager. In case the manager feels that the team can provide valuable inputs, he chooses facilitative decision making style. The team, thus, feels empowered and the morale of the team members increases. In such a case it is well communicated to the team that the responsibility of the decision lies with the team. The commonly used tool in my organization is the problem-option checklist. A list of problems is prepared against which the option/ solutions are mentioned and the best possible solution is chosen. In case of authoritative decision making, the leader selects the best possible option and communicates the same to the team. Some of the trainers complained that they were not getting valuable feedback from their trainees in lower levels of the hierarchy. Hence analyzing them and showing the training impact was difficult. The manager chose the facilitative decision making style. The team sat together and discussed that the answe rs they were getting were ‘good’, ‘yes’, ‘no’ etc. Thus the subjective feedback form should be replaced by and objective one for trainees from lower levels of hierarchy.

Amazons Business Model and the Operational Strategies Coursework - 1

Amazons Business Model and the Operational Strategies - Coursework Example Amazon has been able to pull of its business model through the use of three operational strategies to enhance its competitive advantage: low-cost leadership and customer differentiation. However, when we evaluate Amazon’s business model and the operational strategies that underlie it they greatly resemble those of its key competitor Barnes & Noble. Barnes & Noble also used its economies of scale to support low-cost leadership, it broke new ground by developing software that would enable its customers to personalize their web pages and also enjoy the results of collaborative filtering (Ghemawat 13). The difference in one organization’s choice to use a pure play system while the other uses a brick-and-click system is too simplistic to explain the relative success of Amazon.com over Barnes & Noble. This would be best explained through the dynamic capability. Dynamic capability refers to the ability of the firm to purposefully create, extend or modify its resource base so as to achieve congruence with the changing business environment (Menon and Mohanty 3). Of importance to note is the use of the word â€Å"purposefully† which negates the element of accident or luck. Dynamic capability involves intent and the emergent stream of activities within an organization that is taken with a certain implicit aim. Although dynamic capabilities are equifinal and exhibit commonalities across firms, performance differences arise between firms due to both cost and differential timing with which the dynamic capabilities are used (Menon and Mohanty 5). They are path dependent processes thus are idiosyncratic and difficult to imitate. Dynamic capabilities can be a source of competitive advantage. That is why even though Barnes & Noble seem to be following similar operational strategies to Amazon.com, the results are different for each firm.

Women's Health. Health Care Disparity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women's Health. Health Care Disparity - Essay Example There are factors that cause barriers for the people to get proper health care that they need. These factors are causing significant differences or gaps in the quality of health care received by the people. This means that there exists a disparity when it comes to health care. Health care disparity led to the unequal provision or access to health care services. The areas where health care disparities are attributed are the gender, race/ethnicity and the socioeconomic status determined by the income and level of education attained. Gender-based health care disparity caused the significant differences that exist in the quality of health care received by women and men. And because women’s bodies are different from men’s, they may also have different health care needs. But among women, there are also disparities in the quality of health care that they received. Some women may face barriers to health care. Their race/ethnicity, age and their socioeconomic status affect women ’s access to health care. Women’s health care use and health outcomes rely on the adequacy of access that they have to the health care services. Women’s access to health care also depends on their health insurance (AHQR, 2005).

To what extent does HRM differ from past management practices Essay

To what extent does HRM differ from past management practices - Essay Example Bratton & Gold (14) acknowledge that personnel management was a caring activity aimed at satisfying employee’s work-related needs as well as solving their problems. Traditional organizations were highly bureaucratic hence employee involvement was not essential in ensuring organization success. As the environment continued to change, personnel management could not be able to respond quickly hence the emergence of a more responsive approach; human resource management. However, there is a lot of controversy as to whether HRM evolved from personnel management or it is just a broadening of scope of personnel management. HRM is strategic in nature and commitment-oriented and is concerned with human relation issues. Armstrong (2003, p. 1; 2006, p 3) defines HRM as ‘a strategic and coherent approach to the management of the organizations most valued assets: the people who individually and collectively contribute to achievement of its objectives’. For Heathfield (2011), HR M is ‘a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people, workplace culture and environment’. ... FedEx is a parcel delivery service and among the 100 â€Å"best companies to work for† as indicated by the fortune magazine 2003 (Casestudyinc.com). Blues is a garment factory with 800 employees. The paper will compare the past management practices with HRM in light of the above organizations. Personnel Management and Human Resource Management Though some scholars argue that there is no difference between personnel and HRM and that one is an extension of the other, some differences can be observed in how employee relations are handled, the way modern management is linked to business strategy, emphasis on high employee commitment, employee development, outsourcing, increased role of line managers, increased use of technology in HR systems, use of team work among others. One of the most significant differences is treating employees as an asset rather than a cost that needs to be minimised (Armstrong 2003, 4; Armstrong 2006, 10; Aswathappa, 7). The employees are thus very importa nt in an organization as they ensure organization retains its competitive advantage. As an asset, investments are done on the employees through training and development, talent management and ensuring employee retention. In so doing, the organizations recognize that employees are valuable and essential for an organization to be profitable. At FedEx, the employees are encouraged to be innovative and its people-service-profit philosophy ensures employees’ needs are taken care of. The survey –feedback –Action program is used to get data on employees and then it is used by management to detect any problems such as training needs and address them. They also show how effective HR policies are in ensuring high performance and achievement of goals. It also has