We see ourselves in the mirror each and every morning while we brush our teeth, maybe you look yourself in the eyes, maybe you don’t bother, but this just happens to be an intense little private moment for me, so I’m using it as an example here. We have three children in the house, and my wife and I share a bathroom, so I don’t get many of these throughout the day. This is my moment I use to challenge myself each morning. I take this opportunity to look myself directly in the eyes and make an internal pact with the soul inside that today I will be better than yesterday, and I will inspire one person in a positive way. This is the part where you might be wondering just what this has to do with being a business leader. When one stops and really thinks on what it means to build a business, you are building relationships! They are one in the same, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can get down to the real work of building something special.

Business on every level must be carried out from a central point, a singularity (for all you cosmologists). That point is the company mission, the sole reason the company exists in the first place. Like most endeavors, these organizations begin with a unifying idea, a belief or core value that brings people together under a single banner. I mentioned this in another article once, but if you go onto the website for any major corporation, company, or organization there will be a link you can follow, probably labeled ABOUT US, or something like it. There you will find their core reason for existing, or mission statement. Not once will you find one that says, “To make money and get rich.” Although there is much to be said about turning a profit and making some sort of living out of the business you started, if that is the driving force behind it then do not expect it to gain momentum and longevity. In fact, it probably won’t last the year.

Without a Core Value you will not be sustainable and you cannot inspire others to your cause or mindset. People will not take you seriously and you will begin to take on a reputation of the slimy used car salesman and people will begin to avoid all things connected to you and your brand. Remember, people aren’t stupid. They want to be surrounded by individuals who teach, share, give value, and inspire; sometimes this is as simple as being just plain honest. In a world in which integrity and character are just words in a book and not reality, inspiration has fast become the new drug, and everyone craves it.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_McCracken

How to Start a Network Marketing business

If you believe a lot of the baloney put around on the internet by some of the so-called internet marketing gurus, all a network marketing home business involves is doing a little bit of work sitting in your underwear at your computer, leaving the rest of your day to count your money and drive your Bentley to the nearest beach.

Not so – anyone who is doing well in the network marketing business will tell you it’s a hard climb to the top. Be prepared to work for months without any return, seven days a week, and as many hours a day as possible.

The most successful network marketer I know – he’s now a millionaire – worked for three years before he started making the big bucks, and still works at his business for a few hours every day. He answers all his own emails personally – they are returned in minutes – even with a number of internet businesses and a massive 10,000 people in his network marketing downline.

It takes about three months to find out if you’ve got what it takes, after which time the majority of people simply give up. Why? Here’s a number of reasons:

They choose the wrong MLM company
They choose a product that is not right for them
They are not passionate about their business/product
They choose a product that isn’t viable (few people want it because of cost etc)
They are not prepared to work hard
They don’t have a system
They don’t delegate/outsource work
They don’t invest in time-saving tools
They don’t treat their business as a business
They don’t have self-discipline
They don’t know how to sell effectively
They don’t deal with rejection well

So, if you want to have a successful marketing business turn the above “don’ts” into “dos” and you will have some idea of what you’re getting yourself in to.

Now is a very good time to start a network marketing business, we appear to be coming out of this recession. We’re just about at the bottom of this economic cycle, so if you are prepared to work hard for a couple of years, your success will curve upwards with the economy, and you will do well. Don’t wait for the job market to get better – it will take years – create your own home business now.

With gas prices being the way they are today, more and more people are turning to the internet to purchase things – it saves them time and money, they can get the best prices, they can get lots of information about what they want, and it’s very convenient.

So yes, go ahead and start your research now and find something you would enjoy promoting, check out any MLM company thoroughly so you can be sure of what YOU are going to get out of it, and get to work. Ask these questions:

How long has the company been in business? Over 5 years shows stability, 10+ years is good
Do they have a product you would enjoy promoting?
Do they have solid management?
Do they have a good reputation?
Is their product evergreen (if the product is popular now, will it be in five years’ time)?
Does the company have first class, on-going training/educational programs?
What is their compensation system and can you understand it?
Is the market for their product already saturated?

As a network marketer, you must find the best MLM company and product for your home business. Set the foundation of your network marketing business on solid rock, and you’ll have the foundation of a successful network marketing business.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Monk

One of the major issues you need to pay attention to once you transition from college to a job is your business contacts.

Once settled in your job, you will come across a lot of people whether inside your own organization or outside. It is customary for business people nowadays to have business cards that capture the important information about themselves.

A business card of a business contact will contain:

- His name

- His company name

- His role in the company

- His contact information like telephone and email

- His address

- And some people include their company’s mission or vision statements on their business cards.

I advise you to have a business card. Do not accept not having one in your organization. If your company, which I doubt it, does not provide you with cards then go out and do them yourself. There are thousands of places where you can do this nicely and cheaply. The bottom line is you must have them no matter what.

Your business card will be like a mini brochure about yourself that you can give to another business contact to keep in touch.

The next time you attend a company meeting or function whether internally or externally, make sure to meet new people. You should have a goal actually to know at least 2 or 3 new people. Make it a habit to ask your new business contact for his or her card. More often than not he will ask you back for yours.

Once you take a business card from someone, do not hurry to hide it in your pocket or wallet. Instead grab it in your hand and read it thoroughly. If your business contact does not ask for your card during or after you read his, offer him yours by saying, “And this is mine” while extending one of your business cards to him.

It is considered rude sometimes to take a business card and not read it.

Now here is the interesting thing, this small piece of cartoon contains a wealth of information to keep a conversation alive with your business contact.

From the address on the card you would know where he or she is living, in which country and city. So you can ask him or her about the city he or she lives in? About living there? Its weather and tourist places for example.

From the position in the company, you can ask about the role in the company and what he or she specifically does. You get the idea, be creative, try to come up with as many topics to talk about from the information you see on the card as possible. I will tell you now about something important you need to do. After you and your business contact separate, you need to capture essential information about the contact on the back of the card.

So once you separate, flip the card and write the following:

- Where you met

- Anything interesting you discussed

- Any promises made (You might have promised to send some documentation about a product you sell or a story you read or whatever)

- Any personal information, like for example your business contact might have mentioned that he or she has two sons or that he or she likes a certain restaurant

- Any features that would remind you of him or her again, like if he has a black beard or if she has wide eyes

You get the idea, try to capture as much information as you can on the back of the business card itself. You might be thinking that the business card is too small to capture all this information, but believe me when I say that you can put all the above and more, I have done it myself many times.

The reason why you should write this information on the back of the business card is that leaving it to memory will not be a good strategy as you might forget or mix the conversations of two business contacts.

In summary, these are some of the important tips you need to keep in mind when you come across a business contact. First, do not forget to have your business cards. Keep a load of them with you, in your jacket, in the car, in the office, in the house. Always make sure that you have your business cards with you wherever you go. They will help perform the above drill and open a conversation with someone. They are the mark of a sophisticated networker. Remember always to read the business card of a business contact the moment he hands it to you. Make it a habit to capture the important information you come to know about the business contact on the back of the business card.

To your success… cheers.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fadi_Hiyari

Do you like to create pictures and designs, or writing? Do you love to look at the greeting cards in your local stores? Then a greeting cards home business could be for you. This is a business with incredible growth, and income potential. It also gives the greeting card home based business owner several options in the business itself.

A greeting card home business opportunity can have you doing only one part, such as drawing or writing. This same business can be selling e-cards or cards sold in stores. It could also entail purchasing a territory from a larger card distributor.

The first step in how to start a greeting card company is to decide what part of the greeting card business you want to focus on. As a freelance greeting card artist, you would focus only on designing cards for other companies. There are costs associated with this option and could include the purchase of a computer and graphic art software if you don’t already have these items.

If you decide to be a freelance greeting card writer, your home based greeting card business would focus on only writing the phrases to be used on greeting cards. For this, you only need a computer and quick turn around time.

Of course, you can always freelance as both a writer and artist. To get jobs you must contact companies to see if they are in need of freelancers. They pay from $50 an assignment to several hundred dollars per assignment. However, until you build up a portfolio of samples, and sometimes even after, jobs can be hard to find.

Another option is to purchase a vending route from a larger greeting card company. This route becomes your way of starting a greeting card company. You are required to keep current clients stocked in cards, replace old cards with new ones and get new clients to build your income. You have start up costs that can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars in inventory. However, when you take the cards to the clients, you receive your payments right then.

If you want to start your own line of cards, your greeting card business plan would focus on all aspects of greeting card businesses. You will design and write each greeting card inside and out. Your creative freedom would not be hindered by someone telling you what they want. You would make all the decisions and it would truly be your greeting cards business.

Being a greeting cards home business owner would make the internet your best marketing tool. You wouldn’t be able to compete with larger greeting card companies, so you will want to create a special niche for your cards on the web and in small local stores.

This option requires research before beginning the creation of cards for your greeting cards home business. You will need to price printing services and software. Once you have these ready, you can being creating. Go ahead a start creating cards, but at the same time, think of a name for your greeting cards home business and create a website.

Websites are very easy to create, depending on the provider you decide on. Research domain name registries and web site providers. The more web pages and information you want to provide will influence the charge of the web site. A greeting cards home business web site should be able to be effective without many extras at first. The extras can come later.

Once your website is ready, put pictures of your cards and ordering information into it. If you create the web site yourself or pay someone else to do it, make sure the site is search engine optimized. This will bring more people to your greeting card web site and start selling your cards.

Since some people like to hold cards and feel their quality before purchasing, it may be best to have your greeting cards home business web site offer one free card, or one free sample package per household. This gets your cards on the market and helps drive customers to your web site. Also, consider creating a special “Thank You” card that you personalized by you for all inquiries and orders. This is another way to let people know the quality of your cards.

Have the cards printed as the orders come in to the web site. Offer personalized cards to increase sales. Make sure you have plenty of designs for each category. You want your greeting cards home business website to look full, but not cluttered.

You now know several of the options available to start your greeting cards home business. Now all you have to do is to decide which is the best option for you. This business can grow to be as large or as small as you want it.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_Wilson

If you were to gather a room full of small to medium sized business owners and ask them what task they least like and understand, payroll would be at the top of the list for almost everyone in the room.

Because most business owners are not accountants and were not math majors in college, the responsibility to pay your employees while being compliant with government regulations is generally confusing and cumbersome. All of the current state and federal regulations can give you a real headache.

Thankfully, for small to medium sized businesses, there are services that offer outsourced small business payroll solutions. Businesses can choose to outsource just their payroll accounting, and payroll processing, to firms who specialize only in this field.

Payroll service companies can easily handle small business payroll tasks with ease and accuracy, allowing small and medium sized business owners to better utilize their administrative time growing their businesses and making more sales.

Payroll accounting is one area where you, as a small business owner, can really benefit from the outsourcing trends of today. Payroll processing, through outsourcing, insures that the job is done correctly with all of the latest rules and regulations taken into account.

Payroll accounting companies devote their time and care to keeping up to date on all of the latest requirements. Because this is their area of expertise performed daily, they do it very well.

While many of us think of payroll as simply a paycheck, there is so much more to the task. Payroll accounting includes: payroll checks, direct deposit, debit cards, federal and state withholdings, tax liability registers, check registers, unemployment taxes, tax forms, and so much more.

By outsourcing this responsibility, you can free up your time and still stay on top of all of your reporting and filing deadlines. The payroll service company will keep you apprised of everything you need to know and make sure that you stay in compliance. That is what you pay them to do for you.

In the online age, no matter your location, from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Juneau, Alaska, an experienced small business payroll service company can serve you wherever they are based.

Another wonderful benefit to contracting this job out is that you can have a bookkeeper to process your accounts payable and accounts receivable, while at the same time they do not have to have the specialized knowledge required to process and file your payroll.

This means your bookkeeper can be paid substantially less, and this is an efficient savings for your bottom line. Payroll service companies charge very reasonable rates and are well worth you considering.

No matter what industry you are in, if you have employees then you have a need for payroll to be processed. By attempting to do your own in-house you might find that your bookkeeping staff will be expensive and still will miss something that they were simply not aware of.

By outsourcing your payroll services you can insure that the job is done correctly and in a timely manner. Your payroll accounting company will insure that you meet all guidelines and timelines as well.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton

Larger companies have many servers that have different technical roles. For the sake of an example let’s pretend “some big company” has larger companies such as fortune 500 or fortune 100 companies have many servers that do different things. Examples are:

Multiple Domain controllers / file sharing role Multiple SQL / databases Multiple Exchange servers And so forth…

Let’s pretend that this organization has 50 servers and each one has its own role to do something specific for the computer network. In theory this would mean that this company has 50 separate physical nodes setup in a computer room to control the computers for this company. In today’s world this would be consolidated using computer virtualization but that is getting off topic so I’m not going to get into that in this article and will discuss virtualization in another article later on.

Now let’s pretend you are a small business owner and you need to share files, share a database and share calendars or whatever other roles you may want or need.

This means you would have 3 physical servers and 3 different server operating systems.

Now with a Microsoft Small Business Server Operating System you get 1 computer server that has multiple roles built into 1 nice neat package. So you can have that file server and that database server and an exchange server all combined into 1 neat little package. This saves the small business owner money.

Microsoft states the SBS – small business server will support up to 75 computer users / workstation computers. In theory it will but in the real world if you have 75 computers connected to a SBS server you can expect very poor performance.

From my experience I will say that Microsoft SBS servers are pretty cool IF they are properly configured with the right hardware and software. I have seen many small businesses have an SBS server that were NEVER configured correctly or are just being used as a simple file server. In such a case the SBS server isn’t necessary and is a waste of money for the business owner.

So without getting into technical details this concludes what a Microsoft Small Business Server does.

If you are thinking about purchasing a new server for your business get to know a computer consultant and find out if a Small Business Server will benefit your organization.

Thank you for reading my article and I hope it helps you have a better understanding of what a Microsoft SBS – AKA Small Business Server is.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Ondo

business expansion and diversification is a crucial driving force for many companies including the relatively newer ones. In the modern world of finances you will find an array of banks and finance companies ready to extend a ready to access business debt that may otherwise seem tempting.

And often people fall for it. If the business venture or the expansion plans meet with success then there is no harm that can be possibly caused.

However, there are times when plans do not meet plans and they collide and crash. opportunities may not be forthcoming and thus profits may not yield in the same way you may have planned it. It may seem like a failure most business venture has to face at some point of time or the other.

The problem arises in the event when you have an even a number of them that need to be repaid. The pressure mounts with banks and finance companies sounding alarms about EMI payments and even initiating moves for business liquidation.

Business Liquidation

It often happens that debts, if allowed to continue for long, lead to a liquidation of company properties and assets that are there. There is a rush that is created in order to repay all the mounting sums of funds taken from financiers and banks.

However there are ways and means by which the same can be avoided and even rectified.

If you have incurred one or more loans for your business and in the face of unsuccessful ventures you may seek assistance for business debt help. This is a way of reducing your metal stress and getting a professional help to plan out a process of repayment that will be in your favor.

These help agencies and companies even negotiate deals of repayments for you with banks and companies to seek time and relaxation of several clauses in your favor.

This is an aspect of help that is crucial. Their consolidation refers to a regulation in the number and types of debts that are there. In this way a debt help advisor can guide you to take an appropriate loan among many others that will cover and pay up all your dues with prior debts that were taken.

In the end the company will be left with only one debt to focus and on. This can be given full and top priority when it comes to timely payments and due dates. Such consolidation is often a very important step that has its advantages to save companies against liquidation.

You may seek business debt solutions in different ways – liquidating your assets to pay up or continue the trade and even pay your loans with a debt consolidation process. But the latter is a method by which you will not have to let go of your dreams that soon.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacob_Bainton

The corporate environment is characterized by a number of variables: competition, dynamism, turbulence, complexity and change. All organizations must develop ability to continuously and consciously transform themselves and their contexts. Such contexts include restructuring for optimum effectiveness, reengineering key processes and streamlining functions that are able to provide a source of competitive advantage. The aim is to adapt, regenerate and most important, survive. (McLean, 2006).

For a company to thrive today, strategists must find ways to increase the organization’s ability to read and react to industry and market changes. They must know their goal to boost the company’s strategic flexibility by recognizing disruptions earlier and responding faster.

Strategic flexibility or adaptability can be defined as the organization’s capacity to identify major changes in its external environments, quickly commit resources to new courses of action in response to such changes, and to recognize and act promptly when it is time to halt or reverse existing resource commitments. Being adaptable means leaders must not get stuck in a too-rigid way of looking at the world. The organization must view change as an inevitable and essential part of an organization’s growth, in order to achieve this adaptability.

When there is uncertainty or unpredictability in the environment, managers tend to focus almost all their energy on successfully executing the current strategy. What they also should be doing is preparing for an unknown future. Flexibility stems from the ability to learn; managers tend to overlook the negative and emphasize the positive. They need to understand not only what led to the positive outcomes but also what led to the negative ones. This will optimize their learning experience. According to Ford (2004) four points to foster and maintain adaptability include challenging complacency, giving all employees a voice, encouraging participative work and driving fear out of your group.

The companies chosen for this task vary by industry: a famous automobile manufacturer (Ford) a bank going through a merger (Compass) and a start-up software company (DawningStreams). Ford and Compass have been in business for a long time; it is likely they have changed their strategic plan based on changing forces and trends. DawningStreams is new (established in 2005 and incorporated in 2007). Even though they have not had their first sale and have no staff, the owners have devised several iterations of their strategy.

There is a diversity of stakeholders all that are interested in the activity of business organizations. Emphasis must be placed on their adaptability in strategic analysis and their adaptability in strategic management of business organizations. The organization must have a strategic management model.

Each company might scan the same areas, but for different reasons. Considering technological advances, Ford would prepare itself to lead the market by having various electronic equipment in their vehicles, as well as robotic equipment with which to build them and the supply chain technology to keep all in check. Compass Bank is going through a merge and expanding globally; therefore they will need to keep abreast of communication technology. DawningStreams is a software company; they will need to monitor those companies who would be their competition to ensure their product offers better functionality. All three companies would make sure potential customers would be able to get good information from internet websites and advertisement, which encompasses yet another area of technology the organizations may need/want to scan. In this instance, many members of the organization must be enrolled: upper management and finance, who will determine budgetary factors; the IT department, who will be responsible for the implementation and maintenance of some of the technology; the staff who must be trained to use the technology; a sales force who will sell the technology.

To the outside observer, it may seem unnecessary for any but Ford to scan the (actual) environment when it comes to issues such as emission control, fuel efficiency and hybrid cars. That is true however; Compass Bank and DawningStreams can plan a strategy to be friendlier to the environment (and their pocketbooks) by practicing paper reduction (through the aforementioned technology). Lastly, DawningStreams’ product may be useful as a file sharing service to environmental groups.

With regard to the legal environment, all three must be acutely aware of laws, which affect their respective industry among others. To Ford, legal applies, among other areas, to environmental protection laws and department of transportation safety laws. To Compass Bank, they would abide by the rules of the Federal Reserve (www.federalreserve.gov) and the Federal Insurance and Deposit Corporation (www.fdic.gov). DawningStreams must follow laws as they pertain to the transfer of files, which have intellectual property and also the export of products, which have algorithms. All three companies are global and will need to monitor those laws in other countries, which could effect the strategic planning.

At one company after another–from Sears to IBM to Hewlett-Packard to Searle, strategy is again a major focus in the quest for higher revenues and profits. With help from a new generation of business strategists, companies are pursuing novel ways to hatch new products, expand existing businesses, and create the markets of tomorrow. Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. United Parcel Service expects to spin out a new strategy group from its marketing department, where strategic plans are now hatched. Explains Chairman Kent C. Nelson: “Because we’re making bigger bets on investments in technology, we can’t afford to spend a whole lot of money in one direction and then find out five years later it was the wrong direction.”

In such a world we need a planning model that allows us to anticipate the future and to use this anticipation in conjunction with an analysis of our organization–its culture, mission, strengths and weaknesses–to define strategic issues, to chart our direction by developing strategic vision and plans, to define how we will implement these plans and to specify how we will evaluate how well we are implementing these plans. The fact that the world is changing as we move forward in the future demands that the process be an iterative one.

Ford Motor Company – Socio-cultural

Ford Motor Company embraces the socio-cultural changes taking place to allow the company to move in the right direction with respect to attitudes in the society. Two areas that stand out in terms of socio-cultural attitudes would be that of fuel economy and smaller cars. The growing concern by the public for better fuel economy has influenced the company’s introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The organization is committed to the hybrid to improve fuel economy as a global strategy to meet customer demands. The increased demand in society for such environmentalism has assisted in the decision for Ford Motor Company to look forward to adding the hybrid feature to the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan and continue in such a strategic planning direction.

The customers that use these vehicles get a substantial break on their insurance in many states and a tax credit as well while enjoying the increased mileage of a vehicle that runs on gasoline and capabilities for 100 percent electric power. The environmental scanning by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to be knowledgeable of the fact that the people in the United States are buying more small cars today than any other type of vehicle segment. The lifestyles changes have been monitored and there is good data that shows that such a trend will continue in this direction and the expected growth in this segment will continue. The company has redesigned the inside and outside of the Ford Focus to set the car apart from the competitors in the small car segment while increasing upgrades and features to experience positive outcomes. The direction that the company is taking is based on a competitive advantage and being a leader in the industry. The vehicle line has both a sedan and a coupe to attract targeted markets including younger buyers at an entry level to build upon brand loyalty and customer retention. Ford Motor Company will continue to use the socio-cultural factors to drive the business and enjoy future success.

Ford Motor Company – Legal –

Ford Motor Company with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency adheres to the legal aspect of environmental scanning. Ford Motor Company accepted an award in March 2007 from the Environmental Protection Agency called the Energy Star 2007 Partner of the Year Award in Energy Management. The company is the first automaker to have ever been awarded the award two years in a row. The award has come to be presented due to the commitment made by the company to increase energy efficiency and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from all of the facilities in the company.

The organization is committed to the responsible use of resources and energy efficiency. The leadership realizes that the environmental protection laws are of great importance and use the environmental scanning to move in the right direction to obtain future success in the company. In 2006 alone the company has improved the energy efficiency in the United States operations by five percent and saving approximately $25 million with enough energy saved to equal 220,000 homes. The effective energy management protects the environment and reduces the greenhouse emissions. Some of the actions taken by the company include replacing lighting fixtures that use 40 percent less energy and using different low-energy, long-lasting compact fluorescent lamps in the properties to include the plants, corporate offices, distribution centers, and research and development campuses. Due to the environmental scanning that takes place at Ford Motor Company the company will use the information that is collected and continue in this direction. New projects for the company include Fumes-to-Fuel that is a system that converts paint fumes into electricity that is being performed with Detroit Edison along with attempting to consolidate the application of primer, base and clearcoat paint applications into a single application to eliminate the need for separate applications and ovens. In addition to the paint booth emissions Ford Motor Company will continue to rely on alternative energy sources such as landfill gas and wind and solar technologies to power their manufacturing facilities.

Ford Motor Company – Technology –

Another environmental scanning tool that Ford Motor Company monitors and uses would be the technological portion. The company has invested $1 billion in the latest technology for flexible manufacturing. The technology that is involved is in many forms to include wireless technology that is installed on the delivery trucks with supplies to the plant as a monitoring status and improved efficiency to reduce inventory. The flexibility of products in the same plant allows the organization to use the same machinery and process for all areas from body assembly, paint facility, and final assembly. The improved efficiency at the manufacturing facility allows for several vehicle platforms to be built on the same line to produce multiple models and quickly change the vehicle mix, the volume, and options based on customer demand.

The technological changes that are being embraced by Ford Motor Company through environmental scanning enables the company to experience huge cost savings through new product launches and 50 percent reductions in cycle changeovers along with waste reduction. Robots are among the technological changes that are being experienced within the organization to include the 400 from the project that are used to weld and assemble the metal body of the vehicle for stamping and assembly. Artificial intelligence in the form of advanced visions systems and laser tracking systems are used to ensure quality through accuracy and dimension abilities. A multi-million dollar training facility is used to ensure that the workforce has the knowledge, skills, and ability to reap the benefits from the new technology that is being used by the company. The training that is administered includes the new servo-electric weld gun system that identifies the perfect center for welding that has replaced the older and loud air-powered system that used a less sophisticated spring system. The environmental scanning of technology that is performed by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to have positive outcomes in efficiency while remaining a competitive company in the industry through cost savings and continuous improvement.

Compass Bank- Political -

On February 16, 2007, Compass Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Compass Bank, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBV Madrid: BBVA) (“BBVA”) will acquire Compass for a combination of cash and stock. Compass will become a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of BBVA and will continue to operate under the Compass name. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2007, pending customary closing conditions, including necessary bank regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Spain and the approval of the stockholders of both Compass and BBVA.

BBVA, which operates in 35 countries, is based in Spain and has substantial banking interests in the Americas. The transaction will facilitate BBVA’s continued growth in Texas and will create the largest regional bank across the Sunbelt. Upon completion of the transaction, Compass will rank among the top 25 banks in the United States with approximately $47 billion in total assets, $32 billion in total loans and $33 billion in total deposits. In addition, the combined company will rank fourth in deposit market share in Texas with $19.6 billion in total deposits and 326 full-service banking offices.

Compass is a $34 billion Southwestern financial holding company that operates 415 full-service banking centers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Compass provides a broad array of products and services through three primary lines of business – Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Compass is among the top 30 U.S. bank holding companies by asset size and ranks among the top earners of its size based on return on equity.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, which has been approved by the board of directors of Compass and the relevant bodies of BBVA, Compass will become a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA. After closing, BBVA intends to merge its U.S. based banking affiliates – including the former operations of Texas Regional Bancshares, State National Bancshares and Laredo National Bancshares – with Compass.

The aggregate consideration is composed of a fixed number of approximately 196 million shares of BBVA common stock and approximately $4.6 billion in cash. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including necessary bank regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Spain and the approval of the stockholders of both Compass and BBVA. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2007.

The merger between both companies will be determined by the political factors ranging from implications of laws and regulations to the state of world politics including the consideration of wars which may be going on in different parts of the world. New laws, regulations, tax programs and public policy create forces and trends, which may provide challenges and barriers or opportunities for any company or organization.

Compass Bank – Technology –

Ford is in the process of implementing a laser marking system on its production line to ensure the highest standard on each transmission assembled. The system will be checking for quality on different points on the assembly line. Ford is teaming up with a company called MECCO to implement this process and a trial run of the new system will last for 3 months. MECCO is a leader in its industry when it comes to laser technology. The decision to implement this new laser marking system came because it is more cost- effective and safer than previous ways of marking checkpoints for quality.

Although this process at Ford has not officially been implemented yet, Compass Bank can learn a few different things. It may be a good idea for Compass Bank to do a short trial of online cell phone banking to see how popular it becomes and if it worth all the time and effort, being spent to get it launched. Compass Bank should also consider investing into a company who is the best at what they do, is in the same time zone, and can meet their demands in a timely manner, not simply because they may be cheaper. Finally, Compass Bank can learn that they need to consider what will be most cost-effective and in the best interest of the company over time. Organizing a time line and a list of costs and potential risks would also be beneficial to Compass Bank so they know what to expect and when with the implementation of online cell phone banking.

When completing the global scan one looks for emerging new technologies which may impact any business in any industry. At one time the emergence of the Internet was a technology that was becoming an emerging trend across all industries. Today very new technologies are used to develop information systems at a fraction of the cost and time of processes that were used five years ago. Wireless is a telecommunications technology that may have moved from a trend to a force in revolutionizing the way information is stored, accessed and used across all industries around the world. Some, if leveraged by a company within an industry before competitors use it, may even provide a competitive advantage.

Compass Bank – Competition –

Although mergers may be costly and rather difficult, the value it creates in the end is the desired outcome companies seek. The eagerness to merge is based on several beliefs, those beliefs are, that the performance gains are greater, expenses are reduced, market power is increased, and shareholder’s wealth is also greater than before. The value of a merger is enhanced when the overall benefit is more valuable than the aggregate of two separate pre-merger companies.

In the end, both John and Bernard should consider this before finalizing a decision. When Zion’s purchased Stockmans, there overall value increased by 43 branches. These branches will help performance and brings much more power to the financial market. In the Journal of Money article, Pilloff states “Companies are more willing to acquire others to avoid being acquired themselves.” Keeping this in mind, companies must figure out a cross border strategy.

As part of the broad environmental scan, it is important to identify the internal capabilities of the organization. There are various models for defining capabilities. Most focus on the broad set of intangible assets such as brand, human capital, organizational capital and even relationship capital. Others include the more concrete assets such as available capital, the organization structure, current technologies and information technology infrastructure. In addition to doing a broad environmental trend, Compass Bank needs to do a more detailed capability assessment using any of the models available.

DawningStreams – Competitors –

Business activities are becoming more and more complex to manage, because of distance, time zones, number of parties involved in projects, number of tasks to achieve, multiple prioritizations, lack of general synchronization, insufficient secure and confidential communication channels and growing complexity of IT infrastructures. The use of task list managers has become very common. It is becoming more difficult to keep teams synchronized, to follow and to implement new business processes and to exchange sensitive information confidentially. The DawningStreams software application is aiming at increasing the practicality of daily executive activities. The types of business, which will most probably be interested in our product, are construction (size of network), consulting (need for synchronization), pharmaceutical research (secure exchange of information) and the software industry (complexity of manufacturing).

Many companies have already developed software applications that enable secured communications and file sharing. However, most, if not all, are relying on Microsoft technologies, which prevent them from expanding to Mac or Unix users. DawningStreams is developed in Java, which can be used on any platform, including Mac and Unix. Microsoft has acquired the Groove Company and has released a new version of the product, which can perform many of the functionalities of DawningStreams, but not generic activities (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/default.aspx). This is our closest competitor by far. More recently, we found, merely by accident, a company called Shinkuro (www.shinkuro.com), which offers the file sharing aspects of DawningStreams but lacks other capacities.

Although DawningStreams will face competition from many existing players, the fact that it will combine a super-set of functionalities in one application, for a very reasonable price, will give it some leading edge over other competitors. If the US patent is granted, the position of DawningStreams will become a niche. Even if the patent were not granted, it would take a profound architectural redesign of Groove (or other competitors) to include generic activities and match the offer of DawningStreams. As a strategy we will monitor the activities of those companies’ websites and understand what they offer in terms of similar functionality and try to ensure we match or best those functionalities to the best of our ability and resources

DawningStreams – Political -

Maintaining the secrecy of information is the fundamental function of encryption items. Persons abroad may use such items to harm US law enforcement efforts, as well as US foreign policy and national security interests. The US Government has a critical interest in ensuring that persons opposed to the United States are not able to conceal hostile or criminal activities, and that the legitimate needs for protecting important and sensitive information of the public and private sectors are met. Since 2000, US encryption export policy has been directed by three fundamental practices: technical review of encryption products prior to sale, streamlined post-export reporting, and license reviews of proposed transactions involving strong encryption to certain foreign government end-users and countries of concern. US encryption policy also seeks to ensure that American companies are not disadvantaged by the European Union’s “license-free zone.” (Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).

DawningStreams will contain cryptographic functions. Any reliable and efficient cryptographic system requires a central authority to avoid identity theft. Cryptography is a key functionality of DawningStreams. All specialists insist on designing systems using well-studied algorithms and fully tested protocols; novelty is considered a source of risk. The cryptographic layer of DawningStreams will rely on a dual public-private key system. The private key encryption system will implement Rijndael, the Advanced Encryption Standard (http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/aes/rijndael/), the public key system will implement RSA (www.rsa.com) and the hashing function will implement the 256 bits version of the Secure Hash Algorithm (http://secure-hash-algorithm-md5-sha-1.co.uk/ ).

Encryption products can be used to conceal the communications of terrorists, drug smugglers, and others intent on harming U.S. interests. Cryptographic products and software also have military and intelligence applications that, in the hands of hostile nations, could pose a threat to U.S. national security. The national security, foreign policy, and law enforcement interests of the United States are protected by encryption export controls. These controls are consistent with Executive Order (E.O.) 13026, which was issued on November 15, 1996, and the Presidential Memorandum of the same date. (Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).

DawningStreams also plans to be an international company, as offices now exist in the Netherlands and the US. As part of the strategy, we will ensure we remain compliant by registering our product with any necessary agency and allowing those agencies access to the processes if they feel there is a threat. We will be responsible to monitor (as best as we can) our client base and to put the proper verbiage in our contracts that illegal activities will not be tolerated. We will continue to monitor the BIS site mentioned in previous paragraphs and also sites in the European Union such as the Crypto Law website of legal expert Bert-Jaap Koops (http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/)

DawningStreams – Technology/Intellectual Property –

The management of organizational strategy requires a comprehensive assessment of the macro environment of the business. Intellectual Property (IP) refers to the original ideas and innovations evolved by an organization in order to haul up its systems and processes. Creation of ideas requires large investments. This necessitates the protection of IP. Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products, processes, and systems of an organization against those that are rated best in the industry. It helps in uncovering weaknesses and flaws in the organizational systems, processes, and products. (Watson, 2003)

The study of the global research conducted by McAfee Inc. and MessageLabs Ltd. on security threat in small businesses in the U.S. reveals that 80 percent of small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMB) believe that an information technology (IT) security failure would be damaging in attaining their business priorities. Yet, only few are courageously making steps to fight against infringements due to resource limitations from other business related priorities. The research implies that company size plays an essential part in the way senior management views security. Among the challenges that SMBs face include keeping up-to-date with security solutions and keeping costs low. Small-to-medium businesses’ behavior towards security is very tactical and meets only immediate requirements. (unknown, 2007)

DawningStreams’ relevance to these forces is two-fold. We are a software company—there is an opportunity for us to lose the intellectual property by those who would download and attempt to modify the code. We have competitors who offer functionality similar to ours, however we offer an additional functionality the others do not. It is this ‘specialty functionality’ for which we applied for a patent the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If the patent is granted, there is less likelihood of software piracy or the loss of our IP. Environmental scans should show us if there are other companies trying to do this.

The functionality, which most resembles our competitors’, is the ability to share files. That brings in a different concern with intellectual property- the possibility someone else’s IP could be sent from one of our users to another, as this could seriously damage our reputation, as what happened with Napster. (www.napster.com).

Conclusion

At one company after another–from Sears to IBM to Hewlett-Packard to Searle, strategy is again a major focus in the quest for higher revenues and profits. With help from a new generation of business strategists, companies are pursuing novel ways to hatch new products, expand existing businesses, and create the markets of tomorrow. Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. United Parcel Service expects to spin out a new strategy group from its marketing department, where strategic plans are now hatched. Explains Chairman Kent C. Nelson: “Because we’re making bigger bets on investments in technology, we can’t afford to spend a whole lot of money in one direction and then find out five years later it was the wrong direction.”

In such a world we need a planning model that allows us to anticipate the future and to use this anticipation in conjunction with an analysis of our organization–its culture, mission, strengths and weaknesses–to define strategic issues, to chart our direction by developing strategic vision and plans, to define how we will implement these plans and to specify how we will evaluate how well we are implementing these plans. The fact that the world is changing as we move forward in the future demands that the process be an iterative one.

References

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Investor Relations. Retrieved from the Internet on March 31, 2007 at

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/77/77589/bbvarelease.pdf

Cole, Jim. Zions makes small deal, cites growing Arizona market. American Banker, 171(175), 1-1. Retrieved March 31, 2007 from Proquest Database.

Ford Motor Company (2006). Ford Motor Company. Retrieved March 2007,

from the World Wide Web, Web Site: [https://ford.com]

Ford, S. (2004) Adapted from 13 Skills Managers Need to Succeed, Harvard Business School

Press. Retrieved March 31, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Hockenberry, Todd. (2006). Ford implements advanced laser marking. Industrial Laser Solutions, 21(4), 6-7. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from EBSCOhost database

Jacobs, P. (2005) Five Steps to Thriving in times of Uncertainty. Negotiation (p.3) Retrieved

April 1, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

McLean, J. (2006) We’re going through changes! British Journal of Administrative Management

54. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Pearce, J. & Robinson, R, (2004). Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved March 2007, from the University of Phoenix, Resource, MBA 580-Strategies for Competitive Advantage Course Web Site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp

Author Unknown, Strategic Planning, After a decade of gritty downsizing, Big Thinkers are back in corporate vogue. (2006) Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.businessweek.com/1996/35/b34901.htm

Unknown (2007) 80% of Small-to-Medium Sized Firms Fear a Security Threat. Computer Security Update 8 (4). Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Unknown (2006) Strategic Planning, After a decade of gritty downsizing, Big Thinkers are back

in corporate vogue. Retrieved from the Internet at

http://www.businessweek.com/1996/35/b34901.htm

US Department of Commerce (2007), Encryption (ch.10, section 742.15). Retrieved March 27, 2007 from the Bureau of Industry and Security Website at http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2007/foreignpolicyreport/fprchap10_encryption.html

Watson, G. (2003) Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy (PowerPoint Presentation). Retrieved March 28, 2007 from the Oklahoma State University website at http://www.okstate.edu/ceat/msetm/courses/etm5111/CourseMaterials/ETM5111Session3Part2.ppt#260,1,Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy

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Today, having a good internet presence can go a long way in giving your organization that little edge you’ve been looking for in the competitive environment. And in order to do that, you need to have a website design that is user-friendly, looks trendy having an adequate number of functionalities, yet has a professional look that motivates people to peruse your website.

On an average, 15 seconds is all it takes for a person on the Internet to judge your website designing and he/she should spend more time exploring your website. So, it is highly recommended that your web designing should be attractive enough to make a good first impression on your potential investors and customers.

The internet is literally brimming with web services to help a person in need of efficient business solutions. A study conducted by a popular web design company shows that a user settles for a maximum of 17 searches on Google to zero in to his preferred search result. In such a case, it is even more important that your website has a good look & feel to it.

To create an analogy, picture the Internet as a really huge shopping mall and the web designing of your new business as one of the numerous stores craving for customers to come in and purchase your product. If the store doesn’t have a good electric signboard, has a shabby appearance from the inside, you as the owner will be forced to make some restructuring done!

The same applies for your new business’s website. There are various steps by which you can market your new organization through your web designing. Without a doubt, the content goes right on top of the priority list. No matter how good the website designing is, if the content if flimsy, your web designing is counting its days until your competitor offers more helpful or satisfying information.

That being said, the next crucial step is to make the design of your new business’s website appealing. Care should be taken not to go overboard with the glossy graphic designs, yet, settling for something as simple as FrontPage should also be avoided. Hire the expert web design services of an expert website design company to get optimum result.

At the end of all, its all about how your customer feels when he interacts with your website. The design should be in such a way that the user feels at home; simple, comfortable and last but not the least, satisfied.

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