Sunday, May 17, 2020

The Manufacturing Of Toys The Lego Company History

Introduction For about a century ago, the Lego Company has been a dominant player in the world of toy making that, aside being a household name, it has become synonymous with fun, creativity and learning. Starting off as a result of a Danish carpenter’s passion, Lego has risen to capture the hearts of millions of kids, teeming youth and fanatic adults in the form of creativity and games. However, managing the company itself has not been all fun as Lego’s history includes a myriad of failures, bankruptcy, innovations and counter-innovation. The journey to global dominance in the manufacturing of toys was enmeshed in several strategic decisions that young managers needs to learn from in decision making and implementing of innovation in organizations. The Lego Company-History In 1916, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter purchased a woodworking shop mostly to help people construct houses and furniture, this he did pretty well until the Great Depression around 1929 which saw fewer customers building houses and buying furniture, He then decided to focus on smaller, affordable wooden projects. His desire to please children later inspired him to begin producing toys and by the year 1932, Kristiansen and his small staff of apprentices has started making piggybanks, pull toys, toy houses and cars. Due to the state of the economy at that time, the business was not very profitable as farmers often traded produce in exchange for his toys. His son Godtfred Christiansen also joinedShow MoreRelatedLego case study analysis1362 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Lego Case Study Analysis Pallav Mathur Q 1. What led the LEGO group to the edge of bankruptcy by 2004? By the end of 2003 Lego was already facing crisis owing to dipping profits and declining market pool for toys. Lego had planned to expand into markets beyond building toys and needed huge investment to be made in it. But it found difficult to compete when fad players and other toy manufacturers were giving them stiff competition in a market that already was supposed to be giving lesser returnsRead MoreEssay about Lego Case1303 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Flextronics offshore outsourcing project, LEGO had a very tight control of all the elements of the value chain. Their production plants were expansive and specialized which, in theory, would create a higher degree of standardization. Their Swiss factories only produced DUPLO toys and Technic products, their Danish factory solely produced LEGO System products, and the U.S. facility focused on American demands, while only 5 to 10 percent of the LEGO Group’s total production was outsourced to ChineseRead MoreThe Lego Group1284 Word s   |  6 Pages The LEGO Group: working with strategy. Date : 03 March 2012 Programme : BTECH-MANAGEMENT IV Question 1 Explain how the development of strategy at the LEGO Group reflect the key characteristics of strategic management outlined in section 1.2 and in the model in Figure 1.4? â€Å"Strategy is the long-term direction of an organization† (Johnson, Whittington and Scholes, 2011, p.3). The LEGO Group started with the manufacture of stepladders, ironing boards, stools and wooden toys and hasRead MoreThe Lego Group : A Company1535 Words   |  7 PagesThe Lego Group is a privately family-owned company based in Billund Denmark and was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. Legos are plastic construction toys; the history spans nearly 100 years; manufacturing of these interlocking toy bricks began in 1949 with the creation of small wooden Lego bricks (developed into six pieces of 2 by 4 bricks that can be combined in 915,103,765 ways, creating systematic creativity) but has since then grown into an iconic brand with factories around the worldRead MoreEssay on Lego Case Analysis 1618 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿The Lego Group Case: The Crisis Prior to finalizing a strategic recommendation for Knudstorp and the Lego Group, I needed to gain perspective on the industry and internal factors that have historically interfered with Lego’s business model, and thus lead them to the point of bankruptcy. In Exhibit A, I used the Porter’s five forces model to help identify and label the threats, demands, trends and opportunities of the toy industry. While Lego faced many different types of challenges, market trendsRead MoreEssay on LOGO case study2462 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿Mgmt3347 individual case study TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction The essay is a strategic analysis for LEGO Group. LEGO Group is a famous toy company in the world, which established in Denmark. LEGO Brand is not only the familiar logo, but also the expectation. LEGO acts as a guarantee of quality and originality. LEGO’s core values are imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring and quality. The essay will show strategic analysis by identifying the industry, analyzing generalRead MoreLego s First Toy Product1511 Words   |  7 PagesLEGO was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen in Billund, Denmark. Currently, the company is owned by Ole Kirk’s grandson Kjeld. The word LEGO comes from a Danish phrase, â€Å"leg godt,† which means â€Å"play well.† In Latin, the word â€Å"LEGO† translates to â€Å"I put together,† a perfect definition for the products LEGO would soon create. Introduction. LEGO started as a small carpenter’s workshop and has grown to become a global enterprise. It is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of toys. LEGORead MoreCompany Profile : The Lego Group2181 Words   |  9 PagesPART 1: COMPANY PROFILE – THE LEGO GROUP 1. What Company did you select and why? The company I selected is the Lego Group. The company is well known for its popular construction toy brand, Lego. The company is still privately owned by the original family who established it in 1932 which is the Kirk Kristiansen family. Its headquarter is based in Billude, Denmark. The core product of the company, the Lego brick, is available in more than 130 countries around the world (Klausen, 2012). In 2014, theRead MoreEssay on The Lego Group Case3410 Words   |  14 PagesFounded in 1932, the LEGO Group is a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The vision of Lego Group is to â€Å"inspire children to explore and challenge their own creative potential†[1] Lego now ranks 4th in the world as a toy manufacturer. The Lego Group employs nearly 9,000 workers and its own product, Lego Brick can be found in over 130 countries. The financial performance of Lego declined drastically through the 1990’s and early 2000’s. In 2004, the company accum ulated losses ofRead MoreLego Strategic Analysis2658 Words   |  11 PagesLego strategic analysis 1 of 5 http://www.oxbridgewriters.com/essays/estate-management/lego-strategic... Cookie Information  » Search all our free essays... The free essays that we publish on Oxbridge Writers have been written by students. They are not the work of our Oxbridge qualified writers. But if youre looking for a custom written essay then we can help.... Get a quote for your own custom essay  » Search  » Share Download Like 17 Tweet 0 3 Print Download Email Lego strategic analysis

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Analysing Mc Donald’s Supply Chain Management - 1742 Words

Supply Chain Management according to Tom Mc Guffog is Maximising added value and reducing total cost across the entire trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market. Supply chain management is one of the important area which requiring strategic planning in a business enterprise. Planning and decision making are required right from the production of goods till the goods reach the ultimate consumers in the most cost effective and timely manner. If a firm is able to manage its supply chain efficiently, it can increase its customer satisfaction because SCM ensure the deliverance of fast and quality products to customers. Supply chain includes all the activities from the conversion of raw materials, one end†¦show more content†¦8. Variety: supplying all the items listed on the menu is also a challenge, for example some of the items offered by Mc Donald’s is Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal but Mc Donald’s in itself is a very big marke t, growing blueberries and keeping the supply large enough to meet the demand of all the stores is not possible at all. Specific and Practicable Recommendation for action so as to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the Supply Chain After discussing the supply chain issues faced by a restaurant we got to a conclusion that management of inventory plays a key role in the management of supply chain. The management is required not only of finished goods but also of raw material and work in process. Historically it has been proved that companies which are able to generate more cash flows with the help of supply chain have a higher stock price multiples than its competitors even if the earnings per share and growth rates are similar in the companies (CSCO Insights). Here are four strategies which will help organizations manage their inventory: 1. Management of safety stock: most of the companies use simple methods to determine the levels of safety stocks at different stages of supply chain for example use of SKU segmentation or four classification but these are not sufficient for today’s times. The most common of the process improvements is to use many more attributes associated with each SKU to in effect create a much larger number of itemShow MoreRelatedManaging Inventory Of A Supply Chain Management3066 Words   |  13 PagesKRAIHAN 8 HARLEY DAVIDSON_ KOMGROB KRAIHAN 8 CONCLUSION_ TUAN UYEN NGUYEN 8 REFERENCE: 9 Introduction The most important part in supply chain management is managing inventory as company operation tries to minimize cost from supplier, manufacturing, and production. Regarding to inventory, the management accounting must have understand the basic of inventory management. There are a numbers of techniques including: ABC system, EOQ model, TQM, and JIT system. All those several system are relating in

Business Management of Qantas Environment

Question: Discuss about the Business Management of Qantas Environment. Answer: Introduction The report is all about the business management of the organization in the general and specific environment. For the discussion, Qantas airlines will be taken. In the report, one factor from the general environment and one factor from the specific environment will be taken. The report will focus on the specific aspects of the organization by critical analysis. Qantas Airlines limited is one of the popular national airlines of Australia. This is the biggest airline in the Australian Airline industry and this is also the oldest working airline in the world. The Headquarter of the Qantas Airlines is Mascot Suburb, Sydney. The Airlines started its operations in 1920 with the name Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. Now, in the present time Qantas is the famous long distance airline across the world. The mission of the company is to operate as the best airline across the world and to be the low cost airline in the world (Qantas airline, 2016). The main objectives of the Qantas Airlines are as follows: To ensure security and safety of the passengers through best safety services, To provide best customer services to its travelers and passengers, To improve the productivity of the company by continuous operational efficiency, To develop and prove Qantas as the best company in terms of low cost, and To provide best route for traveling by selecting proper and right way and aircraft. After some time, Qantas group has divided the services in to two airlines named Qantas and Jetstar. The company has various brands i.e. Qantas Frequent Flyer, Jetstar, Qantas freight, and Q-catering. These brands are operating in domestic, regional and international market having in-flight catering and travel services. This airline is a commercial airline. The main focus of the company is to adopt strong marketing policy such as operation policy and customer services. In this report, the aim is to strategically analyze business operations of Qantas Airlines (Qantas Airways, 2010). For this, environmental analysis in terms of general and specific factors will be done. It has been seen that the Qantas Airlines has evolved in this industry and also facing competition in the market. Along with this, there are many factors the can affect the business operations of the company. The CSR activities adopted by the company will also be described in the report. Organizations general environment General environment of the company includes those factors or conditions that generally affect the business operations in an industry or market. Those factors are legal, economic, social, political, and circumstances. These factors can be rules and regulations imposed by the government on trade practices, taxation or employment rule and climate. The climate in the business is such in which the customers have purchasing power and willingness to purchase the specific product or services. The business operation of the Qantas is affected by many environmental factors. The company is affected by political, technological, economic, social, legal and socio cultural factors. One of the general environment factor is economic factor which significantly on the business of Qantas. The performance of Australian economy is declining and also affecting the performance level of the company. The performance of Qantas Airlines has been affected by the economic condition of Australian market. There was financial crisis in the market that impacts the airline and hit the market. Along with this, the airline industry is also affected by the increased prices of oil and crude. There is instability in the economic situations in Australian market and that is the reason the business of the Qantas Airlines is affecting more (Pash, 2016). In the airline industry, there is strong competition in the market due to low cost airlines. There are many airlines which are attracting the customers by providing low cost services to them. Customers, now a days are very smart and they are able to compare the prices of the airlines through internet. Internet has made this thing very easy for them. Due to the competition, the Qantas has launched its carrier Jet Star. Along with this, another impact on the airlines is that the rates of business class carriers and first class travels are decreasing continuously. Their rates have come down drastically over the last few years. All the major airline companies found that the reducing rates in the business class and first class are one of the main causes of reducing the cost of the company. Qantas airlines are also facing same issue in the industry. On the other hand, the operators of airlines are reducing their costs by finding the instability in the system. So, they are putting efforts to reduce their operational costs. The main challenge for the Qantas is develop the financial cycle and indentify the investment opportunity for the business. Due to increment in the fuel prices, the Qantas has faced losses in last year (Lawton, 2002). The economic factors of the market are affecting the business of the company but it is important to deal with those factors for the success in the industry. As the business operator, the company cannot control the economic factors. Due to changes in the prices of fuel and crude, Qantas has faced many problems. By some strategic decisions, company will be able to overcome from the impact of economic factors. There is a need to adopt more aggressive and customized to cover Asian market. Company can import the oil and crude from such nations where the prices of fuel are low. Along with this, to overcome from the competition, company should provide innovative services with the travelling services. To deal with these factors, communication is the best option. Employees in the company can join the hands to solve the problem. The most important need of the business is to make money on the continuous basis (Qantas, 2015). To deal with the economic factors, it is important to focus on some po ints and those are as follows: There is the need in the Qantas to focus on the demand of customer for getting success in the market. The demand of the customers is the low cost traveling experience with the innovative services. Market research shows that consumers are now using technology to compare the prices and services. They switch to that airline which has low prices. So, there is the need to understand the demands of the customers. Company should do innovation in its services time to time (Roades Waguespack, 2008). This is another economic factor. High tax on the fuel and oil encourages the customers to switch to other airlines. Increasing charges of tickets are also affecting the decision of the customers. This situation can be deal by keeping the average rates for the customers. Along with this, company can provide attractive offers to the passengers (Law Leung, 2000). Organizations specific environment The specific environment of the organization can be described as the forces the environment from outside of the organization. These forces or environment are directly connected to the success of the organization because they have direct impact on the decision making process of the organization. The factor s of specific environment is unique and can be change according to the conditions. The important factors in the specific environment are suppliers, competitors, customers, and pressure groups. Customers are the important part of the company because they are the key of success. The company is providing good services to its customers. The company is trying to provide quality services to its customers because the buying and consumption behavior of the consumers are very important for the future growth. It has been observed that consumers are switching towards low cost airlines. Because of excess in their requirements, consumers of Qantas airlines are switching towards other airlines. But still, Qantas airlines are trying to identify the needs of the customers (Ranaweera Prabhu, 2003). The result is that it is the second largest airline in the Australia. The company is trying to provide different range of services to various customers and for this, it is operating its services for regional areas and international markets. Still having these services, the customers want more and they are switching to other low cost airlines. Failure in the services can lead negative impact on the customers and the company (Lewis McCann, 2004). Customers have lots of expectations from the airlines regarding prices, quality, and support of the employees etc. the company is always trying to fulfill the needs of the customers. But at some point, the company is failure in terms of providing services. The failure of the service can be the cause of customer dissatisfaction so there is the need to adopt some strategies (Lovelock, Wirtz, 2007). Those strategies can be: Company needs to identify that where is the problem. It involves identifying the problem and solving it quickly. There can be many problems such booking services, website error, aircraft services, quality, price, and behavior of the employees. There is a need to identify the problems by the company so that it could provide better services to the customers. After identification of the problem, the main aim of the company should be the recovery of the problem. By focusing on the cause of the problem, company will be able to deal with those factors which are creating the problems. Website error can be a problem because of server failure and behavior of the employee cannot be so good due to lack of motivation. Because of lack of attention, there can be issues related to the price and quality (Babbar Koufteros, 2008). Company can adopt proper strategy such as communicating the customers to tell about the problem. By communicating with the customers, the company will be able to get feedback from the customers. Along with this, the company will be able to explain the reason behind the failure of services. This will ensure the customers about the loyalty of the company towards the customers. Employees should be trained by the company to overcome from the failure of services. This is because the customer satisfaction depends upon the actions, judgment of the customers and decision making power. So, it is very important that company train its employees for providing the best quality services. Training of the employees should include the providing assurance to the customers who are facing problems in the services provided by the company. Along with this, training must include empower and motivate the employees at the time of failure, and focus on the satisfaction of the employees so that they can provide customer satisfaction. These training parts will be helpful for the company to recover the problems in the services (Zeithaml, Bithner Gremler, 2009). Qantas airlines can adopt the above discussed strategies for retaining the customers. It will also be helpful to recover from the services problems and failures by effective training, communication with the customers, and explanation regarding service failures. Apart from this, apology is the good option that can be adopted by the company (Cranage, 2004). CSR strategies by Qantas Qantas airlines are leading airlines in the Australian airline industry. With its good services, it has pleased its customers. This is the biggest airline in the Australian Airline industry and this is also the oldest working airline in the world. In the company there are some ethics related to the business operations. The company is using CSR strategies to strengthen its business in the Australian market (Coye, 2004). Qantas is using the fuel efficient planes and aircrafts such as Boeingdream lines 787 which is very much fuel efficient. In the Jet Star, the Aerodynamic drag is used by the company which is also very fuel effective. Along with this, the company is concerned with the conserving of fossil fuel which helps the company to save the fuel. With this strategy, company is able to save more than 4.9 million of fuel per year. This strategy of saving fuel has decreased the issue of sustainability to save the ecological balance. In todays market, customers are very concerned about the environment and they chose those services which are sustainable and environment friendly. So, the customers are associated with Qantas because it has the environmental friendly services by saving the fuel (Christopher, Payne Ballantyne, 2002). Qantas is trying to maintain its brand image strong in the market. Consumers and employees are because of the quality of services of Qantas but they want more than their needs, wants and expectations. To provide safe and secure working environment to the employees is very important for the company. There are many efforts done by the company to reduce the workplace hazards related to the health and safety of the employees in the social responsibility. Qantas also has made significant efforts to promote the workplace diversity by different measures. The organizations social performance is found positive in terms of representation of female in the board membership. The Qantas has raised its female representation in the board by 8% to 25% and in the foundation board, female representation is 57%. Along with this, Qantas has also adopted proactive attitudes for the flexible work environment for its employees. By doing this, Qantas is able to meet the national requirements. Sometimes compa ny provides necessary balance in the work life of the employees (Greatbrook, 2016). Personal quiz Culture of the organization is very important for the growth and success. The organizational culture is different in every organization. For the Qantas airlines, an analysis has been done on the basis of personal insights quiz. The scoring in the quiz is given below: I like the thrill and excitement from taking risk- 4 I prefer managers who provide detailed and expectations for their decisions- 5 If a persons job performance is inadequate, its irrelevant how much effort he or she made-5 No persons needs should be compromised in order for a department to achieve its goals-4 I like being part of a team and having my performance assessed in terms of my contribution to the team-5 I like to work where there is not a great deal of pressure and where people are essentially easygoing-4 I like things to be stable and predictable-5 According to the quiz, if the sum of the score is above 22, so it can be said that the culture of the organization is informal, flexible, and innovative. The company has humanistic and strong culture. According to me, I will be fit into this organization very well because the company always focuses on the benefit of the employees. It focuses on the welfare of the society and it also takes challenges in the competitive environment. Conclusion This report has been discussed about the environmental factors affecting the operations of Qantas airlines. From the above discussion, it has been analyzed that Qantas Airlines limited is one of the popular national airlines of Australia. This is the biggest airline in the Australian Airline industry and this is also the oldest working airline in the world. Factors in general environment describe how society or community can affect the operations of a business in general manner. The economic factors have the significant impact on the performance level of the Qantas Airlines. Qantas airline is also facing strong competition due to low cost airlines in the Australian airline industry. So, it is important to maintain the brand image among the customers. By the CSR activities, the company y is trying in this way. By the quiz, it is clear that the Qantas airlines has flexible, and innovative environment for the employees. To satisfy the customers, Qantas can provide the regret for the fai lure of the services. By expressing the apology, the image of the company can be increased in front of the customers. Along with this, company can also present compensation such as discount, vouchers and tangible payments in front of customers for improving the customer satisfaction. References Babbar, S., Koufteros, X., (2008), the human element in airline service quality: Contact personnel and customers, International Journal of operation production management, 28(9), 804-830 Christopher, M., Payne, A., Ballantyne, D., (2002), Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value, Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann Coye, R. W., (2004), Managing customer expectations in the service encounter: International Journal of Service Industry Management, 5(1), 5471 Cranage, D., (2004), Plan to do to right: and plan for recovery: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(4), 210219 Greatbrook, (2016), making the case for service recovery strategies, accessed on 9th January 2017 from https://greatbrook.com/service-recovery-strategies-customer-retention/ Law, R., Leung, R., (2000), a study of airlines online reservation services on the Internet: Travel Research, 39(2), 202-211 Lawton, T.C., (2002), Cleared for take-off, structure and strategy in the low fare airline business, Eng: Ashgate publishing limited Lewis, B. R., McCann, P., (2004), Service failure and recovery: evidence from the hotel industry: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(1), 6-17 Lovelock, Wirtz, (2007), Service Marketing- people, technology, strategy (6th), Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall Pash, C., (2016), Qantas has improved its ranking as one of the world's most valuable airline brands, accessed on 9th January 2017 from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/qantas-has-improved-its-ranking-in-as-one-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-airline-brands-2016-2 Qantas airline, (2016), Connecting Australia to the world, accessed on 9th January 2017 from https://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/investors/connecting-australia-to-the-world.pdf Qantas Airways, (2010), THE QANTAS GROUP AT A GLANCE, accessed on 9th January 2017 from https://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/FactFiles.pdf Qantas, (2015), A STRONG, SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, accessed on 9th January 2017 from https://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/investors/2015AnnualReport.pdf Ranaweera C., Prabhu J., (2003), On the relative importance of customer satisfaction and trust as determinants of customer retention and positive word of mouth: Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 12 (1), p. 82 Roades, D.L., Waguespack,J, B, (2008), Twenty years of service quality performance in the US airlines industry managing service quality, 18(1), 20-33 Zeithaml, V.A., Bithner, M. J., Gremler, D.D., (2009), Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm (5th), NY: McGrew Hill