“Business and human endeavors are systems… we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved.” - Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization
People in an organization are the most important entity on which the entire performance of the organization depends. Hence the right mix of personnel and proper use of the man power and by keeping their motivation levels high, the organization as a whole can achieve wonders. Personnel management is of paramount importance in any modern organization.
Strauss Cars is one the leading car rental firm operating in over 25 countries with around 1500 people alone working in the UK. Based on its strategic review of business in the country, the Executive Board of the company has come to a conclusion that certain set of changes needs to be considered to streamline the business, to make efficient use of their resources, to have an overall better performance coupled with customer friendly service at a low cost.
The new plan of the management suggests that they have a central location for sales and marketing operations situated at Edinburg, where as their locations at Manchester and Cardiff will be closed and the staff will be given an option of redundancy or an option to relocate to Edinburgh.
As the company takes over this mammoth change is their structures and functions, some of the values of the company can be put forth, which are critical to the functioning of the organization in a modern setup. The company still follows some of the old methods of sales and marketing, which are not regularly reviewed with respect to the market conditions and the local requirements and the necessar...
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...rformance appraisal and rewards management system need to be hired as consultants to define the roles and responsibilities, which will incur to the costs of the organization and also the refresher training that need to be imparted to the staff is also a burden to the organization’s exchequer.
Finally, for Strauss Cars to undergo a strategic change in its processes to meet the needs of the customers, it has to undergo an organic growth and improve the quality of services to its customers it has to follow a strategy of simplicity and focus on its employees output which can be increased by motivating them to contribute more through a scientific reward management system coupled with necessary training which benefits both the employee and the employer. Like – Doug Conant, CEO of Campbell’s Soup said “To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.”
The world of technology is ever changing and advancing. With the automotive industry in play technology is constantly surpassing what is available today with what can be done for tomorrow. Technology and the automotive industry go hand in hand with constant improvement to components of cars. Due to technology advancement there is competition within the car industry, especially between American car companies and European car companies. European car companies provide their buyers with innovative variety and revolutionary luxuries. European car technology is superior to American car technology due to their safety, entertainment, and luxury features.
Every decade, new models of cars are manufactured, and the automobile companies are constantly in warfare of capturing audiences with great zeal for new models. BMW in particular has been among the forefront in the production of the branded, mostly associated with good a engine and driving pleasure, luxurious sports cars from Germany, and just like another business face some business strategic problems of its own. Some of the marketing problems of the concerned automobile firms such as BMW include ensuring the growth of their market share and thus becoming the industrial market leader in terms of production of luxury cars, winning over the old and new competitors in the industry, the prospects of increasing the brand loyalty, and the prospect of maintaining a high level of productivity, as well as creativity of marketing campaigns (Moon, 3). With its entrance to the North American market, BMW has succumbed to different ups and downs with its marketing policies. This paper analyses the North American automobile market in terms of the relevant information given of the BMW and in regards to the short BMW campaign series, and finally make the necessary recommendations to Jim McDowell.
Strauss Cars is one of the leading car rental companies in Europe, operated in 25 countries with about 1250 points of sale. After strategic review in 2012, Board decided to change traditional values and to focus on organic growth and improve the quality of service to its customers. Also, Board decided to unite sales and marketing centers in Edinburgh; consequently, staff from Manchester and Cardiff will be offered redundancy or relocation.
...ccording to the successful managers hand handbook, "people are the key to your organization's present and future success. Organizations compete for talent as well as for customers. Having a reputation as a desirable place to work helps organizations attract and retain top people. It is to your advantage to know the talent of your organization and to know what needs to be done to help each person develop, and understand the priority of a particular talent so you can meet your business goals".
“Perhaps for the first time in history, humankind has the capacity to create far more information than anyone can absorb, to foster far greater interdependency than anyone can manage, and to accelerate change far faster than anyone’s ability to keep pace… organizations break down, despite individual brilliance and innovative products, because they are unable to pull their diverse functions and talents into a productive whole.” (p. 69).
The internationalization of the business markets has given rise to fierce competition raising the pressure for the players in the market both big and small. The pressures make it necessary for the automobile players to adapt business at the multinational level. This gives rise to more cross-border acquisitions and mergers. Such demanding and continuous challenging market supported the slogan ‘what we cannot accomplish alone, we will then accomplish it together’, the German luxury car maker Daimler-Benz signed a merger with the North American passenger car giant Chrysler in the late 90s. Inspite of the wide differences they experience, they merged to gain competitive advantage in the tough global market and to reach the top position in the global car market which were in the hands of their rivals GM and Ford and also to strengthen their position to keep themselves well-grounded even during the low economic times. With the merger the DaimlerChrysler which they called it as ‘merger of equals’ were able to make to the 3rd position in the world car industry, the merger was later dubbed as ‘marriage made in Hell’ when the companies fell apart and lost the market. Though there was a promising look from the merger, the wide differences in organizational behaviour, culture, style of working, regulations and lifestyle increases the risk for such cross-border culture mergers. This is an attempt to support the previous works to show how these differences can dissolve the mergers and ground the company.
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
Therefore, personal interview and questionnaire will be used. BMW showrooms and Chadstone shopping center car park will be the place to seek for i...
The success of an organisation depends crucially on its human resources. A company must have effective employees in order to stay financially solvent and competitive. In order to maintain this valuable commodity, organizations must be aware of employee satisfaction and retention. People possess various degrees of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) when they are hired. Even when utmost care is exercised in selecting the most qualified people, companies still need to devote considerable time for education, training and socialisation of employees. This is vital to encourage them to internalise the company norms, values, and beliefs which will lead them to act consistently on the company’s behalf.
To develop Tata Motors into a world class Indian car brand for inventive and superior value vehicles.
Today, automobiles have gained a reputation of refined high-tech product rather than just a means of transport. It has become a moving living quarters, defining the social status of what people aspire to have when it comes to the type of life those people want. In today's automobile business operations, companies should pay more attention to developing the customer’s experience. The experience is an important part of customer value; great customer service is the advantage needed to measure the worth of goods or services. Therefore, only those great idea and marketing strategies can destroy the competition. This means, it is very important for companies to target the right market, set up compelling marketing strategies and make cutting edge ideas through complete analysis of the competition. Not too long ago Hyundai KIA Automotive Group stated that the Group’s global investment would be total 10.5 trillion; this was reported as the highest investment in the history of the company. The company then decided that the latest company’s investment program would mainly be used in Research & Development, and factory hardware facilities. In this paper, KIA Motors will be our example when analyzing marketing mix.
Successful management usually depends upon the optimum use of human resources. No matter how good and latest the machine is it has to be operated or worked upon by the personnel deployed. Wrong choice of human resources can wrought havoc on the performance of the business organization. This is about selection and recruitment of p...
The global company Mercedes-Benz is considered one of the most successful and well-known automotive companies worldwide. Since 1886, the company’s founders Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz made history with the invention of the automobile, including the Daimler Group, which is one the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles globally (Daimler, 2013). Their main focus is innovation, safety, technology, style, brand image, expansion, and superior automobiles by offering the best of the best to consumers worldwide. The brand’s philosophy is to continuously create radically new products to advance the cause of human mobility. It is also the number one luxury brand in the United States and Germany while continuously expanding in China and Russia as well (Interbrand, 2013). Mercedes-Benz has a great selection on divisions such as cars, trucks, vans, buses, and financial services offered to any consumer or business. Their global reach has increased tremendously by including production facilities in 17 countries on five continents and having 93 locations worldwide. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, their strategy is to continue the same pioneer role with the ongoing development of mobility, especially in the areas of safety and sustainability (Daimler, 2013). It is very essential for the company to focus on consumers’ needs and their highly well known brand in a competitive global economy. That is why the company Mercedes-Benz releases a brand new model every year to stay on top of its competitors by improving previous models. Some strategies practiced are global marketing, global product development, global product pricing, global advertising, global distribution, an...
The Ford Motor Company has been in business since the nineteenth century, and it has enjoyed a rather successful run as one of the top automobile-making industries in the United States. Ford Motor Company is a prosperous business because of strategic planning and changes that it was willing to take a risk on developing and implementing. Successful corporations have to adapt to the constantly changing environment or the company will be doomed to failure. In other words, customer shopping habits change as new products are introduced to the market or when other factors beyond Ford Motor Company’s control affect which vehicles are sold. For example, there is an increased demand for fuel efficient cars when the average price per gallon
Personnel management encompasses a deep interest in the well-being of an organization’s personnel as well as their execution of tasks assigned to them. Its main aim is ensuring that employees have a sense of satisfaction. Personnel management tasks include training, selection and hiring, motivation, rewards, compensation among others. Personnel managers, in collaboration with other sections in the organization are mainly involved in execution of these tasks (Ingram, 2008, p.160).