Partnership Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Partnership Analysis - Essay Example These can be used with strategic intent, especially for gaining competitive advantage. We take the case of Ford Motor, the second largest car maker in the US. While Ford has built many IS with strategic aspects, we focus on the IS for supplier – Ford relations. Managers can use value chain analysis to identify opportunities to use IS for competitive advantage (Porter, 1985, 2001; Shank and Govindarajan, 1993). An organization (in our case, Ford) can be thought of as a big input – output process. This can be represented schematically as follows: Ford Motor purchases automobile components and services from automotive companies in the industry. So at the left end in the schematic, supplies are purchased and brought into Ford. Ford then integrates those supplies (components) and makes cars, which it markets to customers. Ford then provides customer service after it sells the cars. In this entire process, there are opportunities for people in Ford to add value in various stages of the process. For example, supplies can be acquired more effectively and value can be added. Some other examples are adding value in making cars and improving sales. This process of adding value throughout the organization is called the Value Chain of the organization. Value Chain Analysis is the process of analyzing the organization’s value chain to find out where value is added to products and services, and the costs of adding value. Since IS can automate many activities in the Value Chain, Value Chain Analysis is used widely in using IS for strategic competitive advantage. In this, one has to first draw the Value Chain and then flesh out each of the activities where value is added. Then costs are determined for such value addition activities. Then one has to compare and benchmark these activities with those of the competitors. Then one can use the appropriate IS for gaining competitive advantage. IS can be used at any

Human resources management (HRM) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human resources management (HRM) - Coursework Example e world’s leading electronics and information technology companies has sourced out their products to Foxconn which is based in China because of its cheap labor which is the country’s comparative advantage. Cheap labor allows companies to procure the components of their products at a lower cost making their companies competitive and more profitable (The Economist 2008). There is also another advantage in sourcing out to Foxconn in China although companies would be less eager to admit. This is the relative relaxed and less stringent labor laws in China making that makes the operation of its business less complicated. In the case cited, such suicides and deaths in the workplace would have been unforgivable in the United States, Europe or Japan had these companies did not source their component. These companies would have been embroiled with the regulatory authorities under the threat of lawsuit, sanction and hefty fines. But these incidents are tolerated in China to the advantage of these firms because the HRM function is no longer their responsibility when they outsourced the manufacturing of their