Professor Stralser's MBA In A Day® contains insights that are incredibly valuable to any success-obsessed entrepreneur. The MBA in a Day®: What You'd Learn at Top Business Schools (If You Only Had the Time!) / Steven Stralser.
Commerce and Uses of the World Wide Web 247
Allison Kaiser, MBA, is a Marketing Strategist for Kick-Start Marketing in the Bay Area of Northern California. In the fall of 1999, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and taught Marketing Management in the MBA program at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Entrepreneurship at the University of Miskolc.
S ECTION I
PEOPLE,
MANAGEMENT, AND POLICY
Human Resources
What changes, if any, to staffing requirements are necessary to support the organization's strategic vision. Employees who are responsible must be trained in all aspects of assessment;
Organizational Behavior
They relate more to the environment in which an employee works than to the nature of the work itself. Managers will try to motivate their employees based on their perceptions of the employees' interests.
Leadership and Team Building
When managers feel that the direction of the organization is determined by which way the wind blows. It's important that employees know where they're going and what they need to accomplish, and it's the leader's job to define this for them. At the beginning of the project, a design team is formed consisting of architects, engineers and project consultants.
They must also form a team with the owner of the project and the contractor. This type of team consists of members from different areas of the company and often from a common management level. It is important that the team management understands the strengths of each of the team members in order to put together a cohesive team.
Team members need to be aware of the health of the team and whether the team is taking steps in the right direction to achieve goals. It is important to establish these norms early in the team building process to avoid problems down the road. Although there are many different leadership styles, some of the most effective leaders are able to adapt their leadership practices to the needs of their employees.
Ethics
Diversity in the workplace refers to the number of women and minorities employed by an organization. As noted in the case of MCI, companies are holding ethics training sessions with employees with increasing frequency. In addition, the government has many policies in place to encourage competition in the market to ensure that consumers will not be charged unfair prices for goods and services.
The cynical view of business ethics in the United States has caused organizations to go above and beyond what was done in the past to ensure that ethics are being enforced. Tyco is another company whose questionable ethics have led to the creation of this position in the organization. Many firms today are undertaking CSR initiatives, although they may not seem to help the company's bottom line in the short term, they often coincide with long-term sustainability and profitability.
It can also involve ensuring fairness in the market, giving consumers choice and pricing products fairly. Being a good corporate citizen will make a company more competitive and will help its position in the market. Companies that are good citizens are more likely to get a second chance in the event of a slip-up than companies that have a negative image in the minds of citizens.
Negotiation
How important it is that the other side does not withdraw from the negotiations. The more you know about the people on the other side, the better prepared you will be to negotiate. If you want to convince the other party that you are asking for something that is reasonable, you need to provide supporting information.
If you show the other party that you are paying attention to what they are saying, they will be more likely to listen to what you have to say. It's important to separate the people on the other side of the issues you're trying to solve. Sometimes after you tell the other party you're leaving, the other party will renegotiate the deal - but not always.
When you confront the other side about their complicated behavior, continue the negotiation process. The other side should be able to justify what they are asking if they have done their homework. And if the other side is using dirty tactics, let them know you're aware of what they're doing; attack the problem - not the people;.
S ECTION II
MONEY
ECONOMICS, FINANCE, AND
ACCOUNTING
Accounting and Finance
Goodwill is often the difference between the purchase price of a business and the value of the assets acquired (net of accumulated depreciation). The core of a company's financial administration is kept as a 'ledger'. These data form the central 'books' of all financial transactions since the first day of the company's life. When goods are sold on credit, a record of the sale (revenue) is generated; but there must also be a journal entry to ensure that the money is later debited from that account (an accounts receivable account).
COMPONENTS OF THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Think of the accounting system as a wheel, and the pivot as the general ledger. The following is an exploration of some of the important elements of the accounting system. If you are just starting a company, you will want to think about the background of the new employees.
However, you can run a personal credit check on the owner or CEO of the company. The amount of information depends on the status of the company and whether it is government-owned. The IRS may impose deposit penalties ranging from 2 percent of the amount due (for payments that are one to five days late) to 15 percent (for amounts not paid within 10 days of receiving the first IRS notice).
International, National, and
It is the study of the individual parts of the economy and how prices are determined and how prices in turn determine the production, distribution and use of goods and services. The study of economics focuses on the "wants" of the players in a market and the limited financial resources they must devote to their needs. The law of supply and demand states that prices are determined by the intersection of supply and demand.
Second, the government owned the means of production and made all economic decisions. A good example of market prosperity took place in Silicon Valley from 1998 to 2001. Inflation is a period of rising prices caused by a combination of excess demand and rising costs of production factors.
Cost inflation occurs when the cost of factors of production increases. One of the most fundamental political risks you can mitigate is exchange rate fluctuations. Monetary policy is the regulation of the money supply and interest rates by a central bank, such as the US.
S ECTION III
MARKETS
AND STRATEGY
Marketing, Strategy, and
Competitive Analysis
First and foremost, it is a philosophy that uses the company's resources to ensure that the customer's wants, needs and requirements are central. Value is the consumer's assessment of the product's overall ability to meet his/her needs. Pricing is a powerful tool in developing a marketing strategy that is strongly linked to the financial condition of the organization.
Becoming a marketing organization also enables the entire team to understand the value of the firm's products to the customer and act in a way where selling is a way of life. The position that the firm fills in the market is an integral part of the strategic process. All activities of the firm must fit together and complement each other to produce a well-oiled machine, creating differentiation in the customer's mind and competitive advantage.
By understanding the competitors' objectives, the company can identify the things that will differentiate it from the rest of the pack. To gain a visual understanding of the entire competitive landscape, it is useful to create a positioning map that provides a visual representation of the company's position relative to the competition, as shown in Figure 8.1. Based on a complete understanding of the market, the business and customer needs, the marketing plan ties directly into the strategic plan and provides a roadmap for the business.
Advertising and
Promotion
In a sense, the brand is the “personality” of the product, what the product means to the customer and the range of emotions evoked when the brand is encountered or used by the customer. A brand's identity is the company's vision of the brand and the brand's promise to consumers. It is also the externally visible identity of the corporate brand or brand family.
Consistency is the key element when promoting a brand or product, and a clear and consistent promotional campaign will help ensure that the brand's image and brand identity are closely aligned. INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION One of the most important aspects of advertising and promoting a product or service is consistency. Research and analysis is used to find the best way to design the product or service, the most effective message and media to use, and the best way to distribute the product or service at the optimal price.
Planning an integrated marketing communications plan also means finding your target market; to determine what is unique about the product offering or service you provide; construct a positioning strategy for your product or service (building a mental niche relative to competing products or services); deciding what the best message would be for your product; and choosing the optimal marketing mix in relation to your allowed marketing budget. The campaign mix is the use of various advertising and communication channels in a coordinated manner to run an effective marketing campaign. The size of the advertising budget will also greatly influence the chosen mix.