Swatch Case Study Essay Example for Free

Swatch Case Study Essay After Hayek took over as CEO of Societe Suisse de Microelectronique et d’Horlogerie (SMH), he realized that the company’s watch making process needed to be looked at and reanalyzed. No more could they reject the lowest market segment of watches as it was proving to be the most highly profitable, so they decided to introduce the Swatch. The product would be marketed as a watch that was affordable but still carried the prestige of a Swiss watch. Most of all, this new product line was to be innovative- nothing like any other watch on the market. Along with this, Hayek wanted the Swatch to have meaning and emotion, because influencing the customer’s emotion can lead to spontaneity which will positively affect their market demand. This was the most critical element to the brand’s success as these unique design concepts and emotion based marketing strategies, such as hanging the giant watch in Frankfurt, intrigued the younger generation and the demand for these watches exploded around the world and helped SMH cement its place in the lower segment of the watch market. Without this, they probably would not have been able to separate themselves from their competitors spelling doom for the company. Before the Swatch or any other inexpensive watch, people wore watches as a sign of wealth. Most watches were built through hard manual labor and had rubies and other expensive materials making it difficult for an average Joe to purchase it. But after the world war, the Timex was released and this changed everything as these mass produced disposable watches were priced very economically. Sales boomed for the product and the lower segment flourished. But for the wealthy, companies like Rolex still existed to offer a luxurious product for a very premium price, and the most important element for these customers was the prestige of the watch maker and Rolex was just that. Omega, SMH’s most exclusive brand, was also facing failure till the resurgence of Swatch. Success in another market gave Hayek the ability to redevelop Omega as a brand, and restore the prestige that came with the name before the company got greedy and saturated the market with them and by doing so damaged the brands image and for customers who are in more expensive markets, that is a deal breaker. When it came to cheaper watches though, consumers were more interested in its novelty than prestige.

THE ART OF DELEGATION Essay -- essays research papers

There is a limit to the amount of work that you can do on your own. There is only so much value that you can deliver to your company or organization without the help of other people. If you are successful in your career, at some stage the demands on you will become greater than you are able to cope with on your own. When this happens, you are forced to rely on the help of others, you are forced to delegate. Delegation is a process by which a manager examines the various responsibilities and tasks at hand, and rather than assuming and completing those tasks and responsibilities on his or her own, that manager decides to assign the work to other employees. Effective managers must be willing to entrust a task, power or responsibility to another person. Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as having said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Delegation is a skill that incorporates analysis, planning, awareness and self-confidence. It requires a manager that is able to incorporate the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning involves formulating a systematic process for delegating tasks to other employees. Organizing involves arranging the resources your employees may need in order to accomplish the delegated task. Leading involves the guiding, leading, and overseeing of employees in order to achieve the task. Controlling involves verifying that the employee’s performance matches the action plan. Delegation involves passing responsibility for completion of work to other people. The ideal position to reach as a manager is one where your staff carries out all the routine activities of your organization. This leaves time for planning, thinking, and improving the efficiency of what you are doing as a manager. Ultimately, delegation involves getting the help you need, when you need it by the staff member most qualified to assist with the task at hand. In the Arkansas Governor’s office, where I currently work, delegation is a colossal part of each work day. The Governor cannot possibly address all the problems and issues relating to the state of Arkansas personally; therefore, he has a chief of staff who is responsible for the proper delegation of tasks to other staff members. The chief ... ...gradually. Each task delegated should have enough complexity to stretch that member of staff - but only a little. When you delegate a job, it does not have to be done as well as you could do it (given time), but only as well as necessary: never judge the outcome by what you expect you would do (it is difficult to be objective about that), but rather by fitness for purpose. You want to delegate as much as possible to develop your staff to be as good as you are now. Tasks in which you have experience are the easiest for you to explain to others and so to train them to take over. You thus use your experience to ensure that the task is done well, rather than to actually perform the task yourself. In this way you gain time for your other duties and someone else becomes as good as your once were (increasing the strength of the group). By delegating, a manager exhibits trust in his or her employees by giving other people's ideas a chance. A subordinate's decision doesn't have to be exac tly what yours might have been. So welcome and reward ingenuity. Reference Roosevelt, Theodore. Leadership Quotes. Retrieved October 6, 2004 from http://www.pittencrieff-glen.com/leadership_quotes.htm

Continuing Academic Success Essay

There are many steps a student or employee can take to ensure success in any endeavor they may choose to undertake. Whether you are a first-time student or someone interested in getting ahead at work, finding your personal learning style is a great place to begin. Then you have a starting off point for using your strengths and improving weaknesses. My personal learning styles, feeling and doing, indicate that I learn best when I care about what I’m learning, and when it applies to my life, and by physically doing something, like a lab which is usually very hands-on. Because getting my degree in order to improve my future is very important to me, caring about what I’m learning, no matter the subject, is quite easy. It will also apply to my life after college, so the hands-on aspect is met in that way, in that I can see how the subjects might be used in my future. Another important step for success is to set small goals. This step allows for easy opportunities to do well while making progress towards the larger â€Å"main† goal. Finding and using all available tools is essential for success, as is being ethical; doing the best work possible will ensure the best results. With long term goals such as ‘get a degree’ or ‘get a promotion a raise or both’, the amount of work can be daunting. Breaking those into smaller goals makes each step much easier to obtain. Those many small accomplishments can increase self-esteem, giving the student or employee a good sense of their ability to get things done, rather than faltering because they feel overwhelmed when looking at the big picture. In my situation, my long term goals are to graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree, and then start a career that will allow me to take care of my family if needed. These are connected, and looking at them in the long term is very stressful, and  overwhelming. Instead, I’m just focusing on the class I’m in at the time. If I can do well in my Foundations class, then I’ll start my next session on a high note, feeling like I’m already on the right path, and already succeeding. I haven’t set any small goals for my future career yet. That’s mostly because I’ve only just started looking at the details of where I might want to work. I don’t think I’ll be sure what exactly I want to do until closer to graduation, and I’m sure I won’t know where until I know better â€Å"what†. Something I learned in this first class is that there is an easy to follow format for writing and that it can be used in many formats and situations. †It can be referred to as the â€Å"five paragraph essay† and consists of a thesis, three to five supporting paragraphs and a conclusion.† (Halusska, 2006) Learning about this basic formula was a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me. It gives a very basic way to write papers for just about any occasion that is easy to remember, and to follow. In any class where a paper is required, such as a book summary, lab results, or a short essay, this format can be applied. It also works for presentations, proposals or other professional writing settings. Using all of the resources available is a great way to ensure success. Knowing what those resources are, and how to find them is important as well. In the setting of the University of Phoenix, there are more tools for success than any college experience that I’ve had before. The University Library is so much more than it seems. When I hear â€Å"library,† I think † big building with stacks and stacks of books for all interests†. The online library has that, but it also has tools like the Center for Writing Excellence (CWE), and the Center for Math Excellent (CME). I haven’t used the CME yet. I’m fairly sure it will come into play in my next class. The CWE, however, has been an essential part of my current class. It has tutorials, live help, a grammar checker, free online plagiarism checker for students with percentage, a reference creating tool, and so much more. Another tool for success that I was introduced to recently is the ELI or Ethical Lens Inventory. Your ethical lens is your window to the world for decision making. There are several different perspectives to consider when trying to make an ethical decision, including what’s best for the community (or whatever the group might be), versus what’s best for yourself. In a professional setting, an employee’s position (whether they are management or staff) might make a difference in how they perceive a problem, and how they come to a solution.  A manager might have the good of the company in mind while a staff member is likely more concerned with his or herself. McNutt, and Batho (2005) say, for example, â€Å"Values are intimately connected with moral and ethical codes, and determine what people think ought to be done. The value set is composed of rights and duties. The distinction is reasonably straightforward. For the most part, rights and duties are the opposite ends of a given spectrum. If management [or] an employer have a duty to ensure reasonable standards of health and safety for workers, workers have a right to expect it. If it is believed or if it has become a norm that workers have a right to a minimum wage, then management as employers have a duty to pay it.† In a school setting your ELI and critical thinking come into play in other ways. It is very important to cite one’s sources when using anything other than your original thoughts in a paper. Anything less is plagiarism. This includes self-plagiarism, using your own previous work without citing that, unintentional plagiarism, not properly citing your source in a paraphrase or quote, and deliberately cutting and pasting someone else’s work and claiming it as your own. Plagiarism doesn’t just happen school, of course. Publishers see this quite often. The good news is that it’s becoming much more difficult to get away with using someone else’s work. A great example of plagiarism in a professional setting comes from Micron. They had to retract an article because they discovered that a micrograph was doctored with Photoshop. (Cox, Braet, Egerton 2014). Critical thinking, or looking at a situation in a clear, rational yet open-minded way, is very important no matter your situation. A good example of using critical thinking is when you must determine if a source you want to use is credible. You must consider many factors when deciding on the source. This is one major downside of using the internet for research. A lot of sources might be biased, or not well researched. When using outside sources it’s a good idea to check that there are references given, and also to check those references. It’s also important to look at the URL of the resource. Dot Coms are often business oriented, and less reliable due to advertising involvement. Some good websites might be college pages or non-profit organizations, with authors who are authorities in the field they’re discussing. It is never a good idea to use sites like Wikipedia. They are authored by the general public, and while some articles are well documented, the majority are not. Thinking  critically can be a challenge, but it is also a learned skill, which means there are several ways to improve your ability. Knowing that you’re going to have to make a decision is the first step and includes knowing what your options are. It also means acknowledging that when you have made a choice, your other options are no longer viable. You’ve chosen a path, and must move forward. Before you can do that, however, you must define your priorities. What is the desired outcome? The decision you make should focus on that, and move you toward some goal. If it looks like there are no good solutions, the best option might be to wait to make any decisions. Often other options will present themselves. Your situation might change, or you might think if something you hadn’t considered before. (Ellis & Toft, 2014) All of these tools combine and work together to enhance your ability to meet your goals. They can be applied separately or together to make good choices, reach your goals, professional or academic, and succeed at life. Whether you’re a student or a professional, using ethics, critical thinking, formulaic writing, will lead to positive outcomes. References Halusska, J. C. (2006, Dec). In Defense of the Formula Essay. Academic Questions, 20(1), 46-55. McNutt, P. A., & Batho, C. A. (2005). Code of ethics and employee governance. International Journal of Social Economics, 32(8), 656 – 666. Cox, G., Braet, F., & Egerton, R. (2014, Feb). Ethics Issues. Elsevier, Micron 61(iv). Ellis, D., & Toft, D. (2014). Becoming a Master Student (15th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. p.221

Essay about William Shakespeares Relevance Today

William Shakespeares Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audience, taking it even as far as perhaps the greatest heresy of all, questioning the necessity of GCSE pupils learning Shakespeare at all. This â€Å"proposed vandalism from the policymakers† (Guardian 09/02/01) is opposed wholesale by supporters†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Each play of Shakespeare is the development of a metaphor or group of metaphors. There is a matrix out of which feeling finds words, emotions take shape and voices become characters. That which is referred to most often- in metaphors, images, allusions and statements- is usually f or Shakespeare what is significant† (Rehder 1980 p56) However simply because the theme is, arguably, not reliant on the context or overall setting, and that this theme is relayed by metaphor and not in descriptive prose, is not perhaps justified cause to say that the theme itself will necessarily be relevant; or indeed that the metaphorical vehicle by which it is conveyed will be relevant or appreciable either. For example one of the more central themes of King Lear, as with all the tragedies, is death. Death as a theme can be said to have starkly contrasting meaning and therefore perhaps relevance for a modern audience as compared to a Shakespearean one. Today death is a rare and terrible tragedy of momentous importance in the life of an individual, in 16th century England with its plagues, starvation, infant mortality and state violence; death wasShow MoreRelatedThe Relevance of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Today1095 Words   |  5 PagesThe Relevance of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Today I strongly agree with this statement the reason being, the story of Romeo and Juliet shows arange of emotions and issues that people from any age, gender or background are able to relate to. This is one of many reasons why the story is such a big success in todays culture. Shakespeares story is focused on the two young lovers that cant be together and all the anguish that surrounds them, this is true as it Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And The Human Condition1292 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s plays have been analysed and studied for hundreds of years. 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Some people spend their lives working towards the coming of their death, and their life thereafter, where others spend there lives doing everythingRead More Rating Othello1404 Words   |  6 Pagesis very important to Othello’s enduring popularity.    Francis Ferguson in â€Å"Two Worldviews Echo Each Other† ranks the play Othello quite high among the Bard’s tragedies:    Othello, written in 1604, is one of the masterpieces of Shakespeare’s â€Å"tragic period.† In splendor of language, and in the sheer power of the story, it belongs with the greatest. But some of its admirers find it too savage [. . .]. (131)    The play is so quotable; consider Desdemona’s opening lines beforeRead More William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay1690 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Although the story of Romeo and Juliet is over 500 years old, it is as relevant and appealing today as it was when first performed. Although dated, the story of Romeo and Juliet still holds great appeal and relevance to today’s society, despite the differences in morals and values between William Shakespeare’s audience 500 years ago, and Baz Luhrmann’s audience today. The arising issues of order and authority, fate and love entertain/ed and appeals/edRead MoreShakespeares Greatness: Much Ado About Nothing, and King Lear1425 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare went beyond his time and created traditions, symbols, sayings, and even stories that people today will remember forever. King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing are each examples of Shakespeares detailed plot development in two scenarios completely contrasting one another, yet still managing to hold captive his audience throughout the entire performance. 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