Negative Effects Of Imperialism - 736 Words

Many nations wanted to expand their territory and gain control of natural resources that are nonnative. As a result, Imperialism began in the late nineteenth century due to economic, political, and social forces including the Industrial Revolution, trade, and military conditions. Imperialism is the domination over an undeveloped, less industrialized country by a stronger, more industrialized nation. Although Imperialism has shaped the culture and customs all over the world, it had both negative and positive impacts throughout imperialized nations. The Perspectives on imperialism varied widely between those who imposed it and those who were affected by it. The imperialists view their power to be†¦show more content†¦The native people werent taken at their free will. The foreign imperialist nations destroyed all the foundations of their ancient culture and nothing positive was established in its place. All affected regions were heavily taken advantage of and were given no righ ts to do anything. They were put to work as cheap labor. The stronger nations were destroying ethnic groups and causing civil wars between smaller nations. According to the colonized people, the imperialists came with the Bible and no land, and instead took their land and forced the religion Christianity upon them. â€Å"Colonial Imperialism not only created structurally weak nations in Africa and beyond but also exploited indigenous populations, thus breaking up the material make-up of these societies and culturally destabilizing them (Oguejiofor, 2015).† The quotation depicts how the imperialists treated the colonized people unfairly. The imperialistic ways impacted the colonized people negatively because they had no freedom, had to do what the imperialist country said since they had so much power over them. Although imperialism had several negative impacts on certain regions, it lead to the introduction of a better government system and improvement in technology. The e fforts put in by Europe to colonize weak countries resulted in improvement of education and sanitation in the colonized countries. Africa specially gained a lot from Imperialism. Schools and hospitals were built,Show MoreRelatedNegative Effects of Imperialism1321 Words   |  6 PagesThe Dark Side of Imperialism Imagine for a moment that you are a fourteen-year old boy and belong to the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, Africa. Your father is a yam farmer and holds an important tribal position in your clan. Your mother is one of five wives to your father, all of whom treat him with respect and serve his every need. You are content with your life and your future looks promising. Your days consist of aiding your father in farming his crops and learning the culture and traditions of yourRead MoreNegative Effects Of Imperialism1139 Words   |  5 Pagesevents are talked about. That just shows what imperialism causes. Imperialism is when a dominant country seeks to increase their size and forces (either by war or diplomacy) a smaller country to submit to their rule. The Age of Imperialism began in the 1870s and went until World War 1. During this time imperialism was very prevalent and the events that took place during this time had lasting effects and still affect us to this day. While imperialism could b e seen as beneficial, especially to theRead MoreNegative Effects Of Imperialism850 Words   |  4 Pages Imperialism is defined as the policy when a powerful nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, economically, or socially. Imperialism was mostly devised because of the nationalistic feelings that the industrial revolution produced. In my opinion, imperialism has had both good and harmful effects on the world. In some ways, it has brought modernization to countries that were stuck in their old ways. In some cases, I believe it would have been better to leave these countries alone, butRead MoreNegative Effects Of Imperialism973 Words   |  4 Pagestoday. America annexed many new and useful lands due to this decision. Imperialism therefore, was justified because it provided protection and food for the developing countries. Imperialism also helped the United States acquire countless amounts of land with an abundance of resources. However, many argue that imperialism was harmful because it caused many people to lose their lives. Imperialism had many positive effects because the United States would protect and help the developing countriesRead MoreEssay on The Negative Effects of Imperialism in Africa621 Words   |  3 PagesImperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. In the 20th century many European countries attempted to colonize the great continent of Africa. Europeans saw Africa as an area they would be able to profit from, as it had a great climate, good size, and some phenomenal natural resources. While the Europeans divided the continent of Africa they failed to see the possible negative effects on themselves, and the indigenous people of AfricaRead MoreThe Negative Effects of Imperialism in Nigeria (its possible to go into more detail, but my pages were limited to this many)1570 Words   |  7 Pageshad exported slaves from here and other places along West Africa, but this time they had a different goal. “European activities revolved around four major issues: exploration, Christianity, trade, and imperialism.” Consequently, all these were related, because one lead to the next. Therefore, in effect, all of these were roots of the problems to come. Gradually, in the 1850Â’s the British began to make their presence felt even more. Then, beginning in 1861, the British set up the policy of indirectRead MoreEuropean Imperialism - Dbq Essay804 Words   |  4 Pagesthe history of the world, imperialism has played a major role. Imperialism is one country’s complete domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. Imperialism has many positive and negative effects. The Age of Imperialism is considered 1800 - 1914. During this time Europe became a major world leader. European countries set up colonies all over Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and encouraged their citizens to populate them. European imperialism boosted Europe’s economyRead MoreImperialism is when a mother nation takes over another nation and become its colony for political,700 Words   |  3 PagesImperialism is when a mother nation takes over another nation and become its colony for political, social, and economical reasons. Imperialism is a progressive force for both the oppre ssors (mother country) and the oppressed (colony), majorly occurring during the late 19th and early 20th century. It had more negative effects than positive effects due to its domination to other nations. Documents 1 and 5 show how imperialism should work over politics and their benefits over the colonies while documentsRead MoreEssay on Africa vs European Imperialism841 Words   |  4 PagesDBQ: Imperialism In AfricaAzra Azvar Period 3 2/21/10 Whites vs Blacks In the late 19th and early 20th centuries European imperialism caused its countries to divide up the rest of the world, each country claiming bits as its own. Due to its large amounts of resources, Africa was one of the main areas European nations invaded in the cause if imperialism. In Africa, there were positive and negative effects towards the Africans and the invaders. Some positive effects on Africans were thatRead MoreSummary : European Imperialism Dbq1278 Words   |  6 Pages Courtney Sloan 3/4/13 1st European Imperialism DBQ Part A 1. According to the author, the colonies received benefits from the â€Å"modern progressive nations† such as being able to yield tropical produce, receiving foodstuffs and manufactures they need, and having their territory developed by the addition of roads, railways, canals, and telegraphs. They also have the

Outsourcing in Value Chain Free Essays

VALUE CHAIN OF GOAT MILK PRODUCT Figure 1: Value Chain of Goat Milk Figure 1 shows the value chain of goat milk product. In order to be end product, there are several processes involved which are process of getting raw material then manufacturing process where the production process will take place. After that, the product will be distributed to the various channels. We will write a custom essay sample on Outsourcing in Value Chain or any similar topic only for you Order Now Under material, there are several parties will involve such as raw material supplier, transportation/logistic and technology supplier. Then, at the manufacture phase there will be some processes involve such as processing, quality control, packaging and labeling. Packaging will be focus because of most of the producer will outsource this process to other company rather than done by themselves. The reason of this outsourcing will be because of lack of skill and technology for the packaging process. When, the packaging and labeling are done by other company, the product will be not associated to the first owner anymore. In the case of goat milk, the owner of the livestock is not been recognized anymore and lastly the finish product will be distributed to the user and consumer as a product of the packaging company. Malay proverb call this as â€Å"Lembu punya susu, Sapi dapat nama† means the original owner of the product has not been recognized and the product only been associated to the packaging and labeling company. Figure 2: INDUSTRY INVOLVE IN THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING FINISH PRODUCT OF GOAT MILK Figure 2 show the industries involved in producing the goat milk. As can be seen, Agriculture industry is the first industry involved where the livestock is coming from this industry. Most of the parties involved in this industry are Malay and Indian. Then, in order to package the product, it can be choose whether to use, bottle, box container, can and so on. For box and bottle for example, it will use woods and sand as the raw material to produce box and bottle then, other industry will involve too. Then, the distribution process will involve with logistic company. Therefore, in producing a bottle or a box of milk, there are many parties and industries involved and take placed. Figure 3 below shows the value chain of the packaging process and the example of many type of packaging container. The figure shows the package is designed using the CAD and has been tested and evaluate before start the production process for the packaging. However, some companies do not use such as technology equipment in doing the packaging. This kind of packaging process should be done by the producer company and not supposed outsource the process because the outsource decision make the producer lost the originality and owner power towards the product. Figure 3: VALUE CHAIN OF PACKAGING PROCESS Source: www. nec. co. jp ———————– MATERIAL MANUFACTURE DISTRIBUTION PRODUCT USE – CUSTOMER/ USER – WHOLESALER – RETAILER – AGENT – PROCESSING – QC – LABELLING – PACKAGING – RAW MATERIAL SUPPLIER – TRANSPORT/ LOGISTIC – TECHNOLOGY SUPPLIER AGRICULTURE LOGISTIC WOOD/SAND PACKAGING OUTSOURCE!!!! How to cite Outsourcing in Value Chain, Papers

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Paper paper Essay How Can Exemplary Term Papers Help You Write Your Own?Whether youre a freshman undergrad writing your first general overview, a Phd candidate proposing your dissertation topic, or an adult student returning for your masters degree after many years, deciding what to write and how to put it together can be more frustrating than any other part of your academic career. No matter how clearly your professor explained the importance of narrowing down a thesis, you still might not understand the concept well enough to create one. No matter how large your college library is, you still might not be able to find one word on your topic worth citing. Since school work happens day and night, several sites offer assistance 24 hours a day. Among the sites we found offering 24 hour service are: Dont Copy , Dissertations and Theses and No Cheaters. Running Out of Time From time to time, most students have found themselves in situations where they have yet to start their own term paper even though their classmate has already finished a quality research report, turned it in, .and received an A If the empty-handed student is stuck, it makes sense to borrow their classmates paper as a reference to see how it is laid out, formulated, ; presented. By using their classmates term paper as a model, the struggling student is likely to get a good jump start on their own. Sometimes the students professor even has model term papers on-hand from previous semesters. But what do you do when there is no model? No one else has finished yet? Strangers refuse to share their term papers with you? Your professor threw away last years A+ reports?If things are down to the wire, and you need last Words/ Pages : 289 / 24

Strategic Markeitng Managemnt(Carrefour) Essay Example

Strategic Markeitng Managemnt(Carrefour) Essay Strategic marketing management Company Information Carrefour Group, in the past 40 years have grown to turn out to be one of the world’s leading distribution groups. Carrefour began its journey in 1959 which was established in France by the Defforey families and Fournier. The name Carrefour came into existence as shops were located on thoroughfare, which literally means a place where it’s convenient to shop. Carrefour hypermarket was first opened outside France in Belgium and the first in Brazil, outside Europe. The group currently operates in three major markets: Latin America, Europe and Asia, also including China, Brazil, Indonesia, Poland and Turkey. Carrefour has set its foot in 34 different countries. Carrefour Group is number 2 worldwide and number one in Europe with over 476,000 employees with four main store formats like: Hypermarket, super market, discount stores and convenience stores. Ambition and everyday values: With one ambition, that is ‘making Carrefour the preferred retailer wherever in operates’ with three pillars which support and make it happen : Client- Oriented Culture, Transformation and innovation, which is followed by everyday values which are: Committed, Caring and Positive which in turn help Carrefour to achieve their value which is ‘ to make Carrefour a business that is recognised and loved for helping its customers and consumers enjoy a better quality of life, each and every day’. 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Markeitng Managemnt(Carrefour) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Markeitng Managemnt(Carrefour) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Markeitng Managemnt(Carrefour) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Discuss the role of strategic marketing in an organisation John Scully defined strategic marketing as ‘a series of integrated actions leading to a sustainable competitive advantage’. Another definition of Doyle (1998) defines, ‘strategic marketing as planning for the organisation to utilise the optimum resources and make tactics to achieve the overall objectives of the organisation’. The strategic marketing brings the following advantages to an organisation: 1. Brings competitive advantage to the organisation by making themselves different from the competitors (Doyle, 1998). Carrefour group in case of pricing use ‘everyday low prices’ strategy, which ensures cheaper good with superior quality, which pulls in customers. 2. Increase the business capability by guiding the managers with the clear direction (Doyle, 1998). Carrefour knowing both their internal and external strength and weakness sets strategies which guide the employers and employees in the right direction. 3. Helps in analysing the market, competitor analysis, product/service analysis, classify the segments, target the customers, and position to the audience what they offer (Doyle, 1998). Carrefour group uses strategic marketing to investigate not only competition but also the competitive advantage the others have and along with it analyse the market growth and potential of retail industry. 4. The best approach to increase the sale, communicate and deliver the value is strategic marketing (Doyle, 1998). Carrefour interact and communicate through their customers by getting feedback, advertising, promotions which attract new customers, which helps to increase brand value at the same time create a position for itself in the customers mindset. 2. Explain the processes involved in strategic marketing and evaluate the links between strategic marketing and corporate strategy Marketing Planning Process Market Planning Process Market planning is the process in which the organisations monitors and control the internal and external opportunities and challenges to maximise the profit by delivering the value to the customers. This is called as situational analysis. The market planning process should be aligned with corporate strategy to achieve the corporate objectives (McDonald, 2008). Market Planning Process: Figure 1: Market Planning Process (McDonald, 2008). Corporate strategy Carrefour group aims to satisfy every customer expectation and satisfaction with professionalism and offer best possible prices (everyday low prices) for high quality products and services and grow to become the number one hypermarket in the world. Internal analysis Strength 1. Wide market presence 2. Skilled labourers 3. Multi-format strategy 4. Strategic acquisitions 5. Presence in 34 countries 6. Expanding and growing market. 7. Strong brand in world retail industry 8. Pioneers in hypermarkets. Weaknesses . Decline in operating margin. 2. Entry of competitors with new strategies. 3. Low like-for-like sales in domestic market. 4. All countries may not accept the pricing strategies(JAPAN) 5. Strategies are same throughout different countries, which may not be acceptable by the customers. 6. Poor E-commerce performance. 7. Weak positions in Asia and Middle East countries. Opportunities 1. Rebranding the champion b rand stores 2. Entry into emerging markets like China, Poland, Turkey, etc. 3. Focus to boost non-food sales 4. Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures 5. Development in discount stores. 6. Maintain better labor relations Threats 1. Low consumer confidence (since low price, customers have a notion it may be low in quality, especially Japanese customers). 2. Fierce competition 3. Wal-mart low prices is a threat 4. Rising labor cost. 5. Terrorism and instability in Africa and Asia 6. Entry of new players. External Analysis Ansoff Matrix Ansoff matrix is tool to find the market position of the organisation in the current market. This matrix will to find about position of the organisation serving the particular target market (Hannagan, 2002). Market penetration |Product Development | |Market extension |Diversification | Existing Market New Existing New Products Source: Adapted from Hannagan (2002). According to IMAP retail report published in September 2010, it says there were around 1409 transactions which valued at $17. 1 billion. Two major transactions: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Lotte Shopping Co. , represented alone around $2. 7bill ion which is nearly 15. 8percent of total dollar volume. In geographical terms, United Kingdom had the highest transaction volume of $3. 9billion with a total of 161 transactions in last 12 months till September 2010. United states fall second to a total value of $3. 4 billion USD. This report ultimately shows that the retail industry is growing worldwide at tremendous rate. Carrefour group along with the competiton made strategic acquisitions as below: †¢ Acquired 4 hypermarkets in Spain(2006) †¢ Acquired 6 hypermarkets in Taiwan. †¢ In 2005, acquired 10 hypermarkets in Brazil and 2 Turkish retail banners, including 12 hyper nova hypermarkets in Poland. They followed a pricing strategy called ‘everyday low price’ strategy where they provide goods at low rates each day and low when compared to other retail chains. They attract almost every new customer with ease due to their pricing strategy, but Japanese customers where the only ones who didn’t accepted the strategy and Carrefour at the same time was not able to keep up with the fashion trends of Japan. Marketing Strategy Carrefour aims at giving customers the best where ever it operates. By meaning preferred retailer it means drawing customers to shop to which they are loyal. It also means making customers want to visit, keep visiting the stores. For this very purpose Carrefour puts a low price for their products and keeps promotion and exhibitions for their shops which attract new customers keeping in mind their social commitment and corporate social responsibility. All strategies implemented or decided are always in line with the corporate strategy which is to achieve results. Implementation, Monitoring, Control and Forecast After setting the top level strategies, they analyse the business internally and externally and set the market strategies. They will communicate their plan to the stakeholders (agents, lecturers, staffs, etc). They will allocate their resources like finance, HR and physical resources to achieve their strategies. They monitor the progress of the plan through means of number of students, profit, and other key performance indicators. If the plan is not going in their way they make alternative plans or they try to control the situation as much as possible. With current analysis and market growth they forecast the future of their institution. Carrefour has B2B strategy in which implementation has three different levels, which are: local approach, regional approach with global co-ordination and finally global approach which have standard processes and shared tools. Monitoring and control is done by strategic partnership, advanced collaboration and entry ticket. Forecast at Carrefour is done by analysing the financial accounts and looking into the daily achievement of targets and set goals. 3. Assess the value of models used in strategic marketing planning SWOT analysis According to Johnson et al (2005) â€Å"SWOT analysis is used to identify the internal capability or strength and weakness of the organisation, deals with exploring and capitalising the opportunities and threat involved in the changing business environment. † Based on the internal analysis of the organisation CAMS can plan their strategic marketing, if they are strong the make offensive strategy (expansion and penetration) if they feel that they need to improve more than they should go with defensive strategies (retention, pricing, promotions, etc). Refer 2. 2 where the Ansoff matrix can be used a tool to identify position of the CAMS in the market. Situation analysis can be used along with market analysis to make the effective marketing planning. Carrefour strengths and weakness: Strength: 1. Largest hypermarket chain in terms of size. 2. Wide market presence 3. Ranked third in terms of profit in industry after Tesco and Wal-Mart 4. Multi-format strategy 5. Operating in 34 countries 6. Selling number of products with its own private brands. 7. Strategic acquisitions 8. More than 50% sales of the company come from France. Weaknesses 1. Reduce operating expenses. 2. Decline in operating margin 3. Weak position in Asia and Middle east countries. 4. Low like-for-like sales in domestic market. 5. Poor E-commerce performance 6. Too much time in opening new stores. Opportunities 1. Joint venture acquisitions for more expansion. 2. Rebranding champion stores 3. Improve sale performance 4. Reduce operating cost 5. Maintain better labor relations 6. Entering emerging markets 7. Focus to boost non-food sales 8. Develop discount stores. Threat 1. Fierce completion 2. Wal-marts low prices. 3. Low consumer confidence 4. Entry of new players 5. Slow expansion outside France. 6. Rising labor cost 4. Discuss the links between strategic positioning and marketing tactics Ansoff matrix is tool to find the market position of the organisation in the current market. This matrix will to find about position of the organisation serving the particular target market (Hannagan, 2002). Market penetration |Product Development | |Market extension |Diversification | Existing Market New Existing New Products Source: Adapted from Hannagan (2002). Carrefour group presently is running with around 495,000 employees and operating in 34 countries world wide. Carrefour offer a wide range of products like cosmetics, groceries, bakeries, every house hold items, including food items. Strategic positioning is positioning the organisation in the target market (image of the industry or organisation to the target audience) (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Marketing tactics is logical actions performed to position themselves in the markets (actions or steps taken to position themselves) (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). The marketing strategy of Carrefour is mainly to offer goods at low prices and great quality and hence attract more customers. The group also provide promotions and exhibitions for its customers at various outlets. Now Carrefour has entered the Asian markets and also Poland, Turkey, etc. Also the B2B strategy which has been implemented gave out a positive result. 5. Analyse the merits of relationship marketing in a given strategic marketing strategy Relationship Marketing According to Payne et al (1998) the relationship is attracting, enhancing and maintain good customer relationship among the customers. The relationship is maintained between the existing customers and organisation through services and selling, by retaining the old customers they can grow in the market by getting new customers. The merits of having relationship marketing in Carrefour are a) they can get more customers through after sales feedback, b) offer bonus points and discounts for loyal customers which is possible by providing them with loyalty cards, c) advertising and promotion costs could be reduced through word of mouth marketing which is possible through loyal customers, d) market expansion, technology implementation, maintaining corporate social responsibility all is possible retaining existing customers, e) close relationship with existing loyal customers in form of special discounts for loyalty card holders, and f) which in turn ensures more customers due to referencing from old customers which saves cost on finding new customers. 6. Use appropriate marketing techniques to ascertain growth opportunities in a market Segmentation and targeting: According to Kotler and Armstrong (2010) segmentation is dividing the entire market according the buyer potential. Some of the types of segmentation are demographic, behaviour, psychographic, and geography. This technique is used to find out the potential users of the product or the service that we target to sell or produce. Targeting is selecting the clients to serve from the various segments selected (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Carrefour group can develop the existing stores located in Asia and Middle east countries which are facing problems. This may be done by having mergers or acquisitions with the retail chains established there. This provides Carrefour an ease to enter the market as well as use the raw materials or any transport medium which the merged company used. It also help to build contacts with suppliers and customers of the merged company, which brings new customers and increase in revenue can be guaranteed. Entry in Japan was failure, but they could again study the market in Japan and re-enter with a big bang which will help them capture the market in no time, but a different pricing strategy should be adopted in order to change their notion that ‘cheaper goods are low quality goods’. 7. Plan how to use marketing strategy options in a market Cost leadership: Porter (1985) said that when the organisation aims to provide the products or services at the minimum price, their strategy becomes cost leadership. They will compete with pricing from the other competitors. Mostly this technique is used when the clients are highly sensitive towards the price. Customers in today’s world are very price conscious as well as quality conscious. They are ready to pay higher price but without compromising on quality of the product. But Carrefour has product for all types of customers be it rich, middle class or poor. All good keep up their quality in low price too. This satisfies the middle class people’s needs to a certain level. Higher class customers may opt different or same goods at higher price. Giving product at low price is possible due to mass production as the customer base is huge. Own production plants act as a competitive advantage for Carrefour which puts the new entrants to re-think is their entry correct or not. 8. Create appropriate strategic marketing objectives for a market Marketing strategies for 7 P’s McDaniel and Gates (1998) defined marketing mix as â€Å"the unique blend of products, price, promotions, place and distribution to meet the specific demands of the customer. † They said the organisation or the marketing manager should focus on the 4 P’s and frame their plan according to their marketing strategies, each element should be focussed by the manager’s else entire plan will be failed. But now as technology got advanced and also the advancement in marketing areas and emergence of new theories, the 4 basic P’s of marketing mix has become 7 P’s, which are namely: product, price, place, promotion, people, physical distribution and process. Considering the product, price, place and promotion aspect of marketing mix, Carrefour has a wide range of product line and product extension. They see that there is no compromise on the quality of the product and since they produce most of the products in their plants, they are able to produce it at cheaper rates, which make them easy to sell at lower rates. The pricing strategy of Carrefour that is everyday low price is a niche in those times which they were able to implement with ease. Place and promotion of the stores and products are of vital importance. Access to market and customers convenience have to be checked before finalising the location and continuous promotion of stores and product should be there in order to keep up with the market. People, physical distribution and process are the latest in the marketing mix. People in general mean the, customers. Carrefour see’s that they meet their customer requirements and expectations when they do shopping. Distribution handling of Carrefour is done by themselves with the large trailers they have which they move to each stores in particular areas and delivering the products. 9. Report on the impact of changes in the external environment on a marketing strategy Marketing strategy Carrefour group share a common dream of a business that is recognised and loved for helping its customers and consumers enjoy a better quality of life, each and every day. This is ensured by three main pillars of Carrefour which are: commitment, caring and positive nature. Rising expectations: The number of consumers, consumer’s needs and fashion too is having a changing trend. One can say this is as a result of globalisation, which increases customer expectations and their standards. Customers prefer high quality goods with reasonable price. In case of luxury items it’s different, as potential customers go for high priced products and quality is in-compromisable. Carrefour carefully understands the customer needs and requirements with the change in trend and then produces which are in budget for them. Target market of Carrefour in general is the whole market where ever they are. Segmentation is possible in areas where its price sensitive. When we take the case of products, they avail products for different age. Let it be a baby, child, teenager or an adult, there are products that suits everyone. Customers are given suggestion box to give their feedback on products as well as the service rendered for them at time of shopping. This helps Carrefour improve its existing method of executing plans. Keeping a close eye on competitors pricing strategy and customer retention method, boosts Carrefour to think of innovative ideas to tackle their rival. 10. Conduct an internal analysis to identify current strengths and weaknesses in a marketing strategy Marketing strategy: Carrefour sees that their service and product as well, satisfies their customer in all ways and are meeting their expectations. This is not only to increase customer base and revenue, but also maintain and achieve their corporate social responsibility. Carrefour also integrates sustainable Strength and Weakness of Carrefour based on marketing strategies: Strength †¢ Wide market presence: presence in almost 34 countries helps them to have a wide span in the worldwide market. Multi-format strategy: means having everyday low price strategy and B2B strategy at the same time †¢ Joint ventures/acquisitions in different countries like Taiwan, Brazil, Turkey and Poland was a part of their marketing strategy which helps to expand their market. †¢ Employee base of approximate 495000 around the globe shows its wide network. †¢ Being a pioneer in hypermarkets give them additional competitive advantage among the rivals. †¢ Ranked third in terms of revenue in the retail industry after Tesco and Wal-Mart. †¢ More than 50 percent of revenue come from France which means they have a strong market base in France which makes them a pioneer in the French market. †¢ Strong brand in world of retail industry. Weakness One main weakness is that Carrefour takes too much time in opening new stores. †¢ Poor performance in E-Commerce †¢ Lack of maintaining labour relations. †¢ Rising labour costs make it difficult for retaining all labours †¢ Sometimes consumers may have low confidence; this is clear from failure of Carrefour in Japan market. †¢ Low like-for-like sales in domestic market. †¢ Weak own brand sales. 11. Propose strategic marketing responses to key emerging themes in a marketing strategy Proposal for Strategic Marketing: †¢ Carrefour can target growing countries like India and China to set up a market base as both the countries are in growing stage with a tremendous growth rate. Rather than acquisitions, strategic alliance could be made with another company which enables Carrefour to reach a wider market. †¢ Maintain more close relationship not only with customers but also with suppliers as the chain with suppliers should not be tangled. †¢ Study of market, its customers in essential in order to enter a new market without fail. Failure in Japan is because of lack of market research and study. †¢ Strength and weakness of rivals should be found out which can be overcome by making it as the opportunities. †¢ Political and economical changes and involvement should also be noted before implementing a plan or strategic decision. References Doyle, P (2008) Value based marketing, John Wiley and Sons, United Kingdom Hannagan, T (2002) Mastering Strategy Management, Palgrave publishers, Great Britain Johnson, G, Scholes, K, and Whittington, R (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy, Pearson Education Limited, United Kingdom Kotler, P and Armstrong, G (2010) Principles of Marketing, Pearson Prentice Hall, USA McDaniel, CD and Gates, RH (1998) Marketing research essentials, Ohio: Thompson Publishing McDonald, M (2008) Market planning and expert systems, Marketing Intelligence and Planning 7(7-8): 16-23. Porter, ME (1985) Competitive Advantage: Generic Strategies, Free Press, New York Websites †¢ IMAP retail report [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: http://www. imap. com/imap/media/resources/IMAPRetailReport8_23CB9AA9C6EBB. pdf. †¢ finance. world of maps [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: . Bottom of Form †¢ finance. world of maps [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: . †¢ carrefour swot analysis [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: . †¢ carrefour swot analysis [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: . †¢ carrefour [online]. (2010) [Accessed 13/05/11]. Available from: . Corporate Strategy Internal Analysis External Analysis Marketing Objectives/Strategy Plan Implementation and Control

Free Essays on Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is actually a commemoration of a victory by Mexican troops over the French in La Batalla de Puebla in 1862. It is celebrated in other parts of the country and in U.S.cities with a significant Mexican population. The battle at Puebla in 1862 happened at a violent and chaotic time in Mexico's history. Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1810, and a number of internal political takeovers and wars. During this period Mexico had accumulated heavy debts to several nations including England, Spain, and France. France was wanting to add on to their empire at that time, and when Mexico finally stopped making any loan payments, France used the debt issue to establish its own leadership in Mexico by installing Napoleon's relative, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico. The French invaded the Gulf of Mexico and marched toward Mexico City. The French meet a strong resistance at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. The Mexican troops were lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. The Mexicans had a militia of about 4,500 and was able the stop and defeat the French, who had an army of about 6,500. The victory was a glorious moment for Mexican patriots and is the cause for the historical date's celebration. Cinco de Mayo honors the bravery and victory of General Zaragoza's small, outnumbered militia at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.... Free Essays on Cinco De Mayo Free Essays on Cinco De Mayo Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Mexican Independence Day. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more by Latinos in the United States, as opposed to 16 de Septiembre (September 16th), which is the day that celebrates Mexican Independence from Spain, and is the day that is celebrated in Mexico as Mexican Independence Day. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the first leader of the Mexican revolt against Spanish rule, is known as the father of Mexican independence. Abandoning academic life in the early 1790s, Hidalgo served as the pastor of several central Mexican parishes. He made most of these parishes into centers of cultural life and independent economic endeavor, although Spanish law prohibited economic activity that competed with industry in Spain. In 1803 he became the pastor of Dolores, a town in Guanajuato. There he and his intellectual associates eventually conspired to achieve independence from Spain. When their conspiracy was discovered, they proclaimed rebellion- el Grito de Dolores (cry of Dolores)on Sept. 16, 1810, the day usually celebrated as Mexican Independence Day. Mexico was later conquered by the French army, and their defeat by the Mexican army is celebrated on Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla, Mexico, where on May 5, 1862; Mexican patriots defeated the French army.... Free Essays on Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo is actually a commemoration of a victory by Mexican troops over the French in La Batalla de Puebla in 1862. It is celebrated in other parts of the country and in U.S.cities with a significant Mexican population. The battle at Puebla in 1862 happened at a violent and chaotic time in Mexico's history. Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1810, and a number of internal political takeovers and wars. During this period Mexico had accumulated heavy debts to several nations including England, Spain, and France. France was wanting to add on to their empire at that time, and when Mexico finally stopped making any loan payments, France used the debt issue to establish its own leadership in Mexico by installing Napoleon's relative, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico. The French invaded the Gulf of Mexico and marched toward Mexico City. The French meet a strong resistance at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. The Mexican troops were lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. The Mexicans had a militia of about 4,500 and was able the stop and defeat the French, who had an army of about 6,500. The victory was a glorious moment for Mexican patriots and is the cause for the historical date's celebration. Cinco de Mayo honors the bravery and victory of General Zaragoza's small, outnumbered militia at the Battle of Puebla in 1862....

The Body Under the Bed - Urban Legends

The Body Under the Bed - Urban Legends Heres an example of the scary urban legend known as The Body Under the Bed as shared by a reader: A man and woman went to Las Vegas for their honeymoon, and checked into a suite at a hotel. When they got to their room they both detected a bad odor. The husband called down to the front desk and asked to speak to the manager. He explained that the room smelled very bad and they would like another suite. The manager apologized and told the man that they were all booked because of a convention. He offered to send them to a restaurant of their choice for lunch compliments of the hotel and said he was going to send a maid up to their room to clean and to try and get rid of the odor. After a nice lunch, the couple went back to their room. When they walked in they could both still smell the same odor. Again the husband called the front desk and told the manager that the room still smelled really bad. The manager told the man that they would try and find a suite at another hotel. He called every hotel on the strip, but every hotel was sold out because of the convention. The manager told the couple that they couldnt find them a room anywhere, but they would try and clean the room again. The couple wanted to see the sights and do a little gambling anyway, so they said they would give them two hours to clean and then they would be back. When the couple had left, the manager and all of housekeeping went to the room to try and find what was making the room smell so bad. They searched the entire room and found nothing, so the maids changed the sheets, changed the towels, took down the curtains and put new ones up, cleaned the carpet and cleaned the suite again using the strongest cleaning products they had. The couple came back two hours later to find the room still had a bad odor. The husband was so angry at this point, he decided to find whatever this smell was himself. So he started tearing the entire suite apart himself. As he pulled the top mattress off the box spring he found a dead body of a woman. Analysis All it takes is one dead body under the mattress to spoil your whole honeymoon. Befitting its Sin City reputation, Las Vegas has been the setting of some horrific urban legends (see The Kidney Snatchers if you dont know what I mean). What sets The Body in the Bed apart from the rest is how frequently incidents resembling the one described above have actually happened in real life - just never, to my knowledge, in Las Vegas! The closest encounter between fact and legend Ive been able to document took place in Atlantic City (another gambling mecca, naturally) in 1999. This account comes from the Bergen Record: The body of Saul Hernandez, 64, of Manhattan was found in Room 112 of the Burgundy Motor Inn after two German tourists slept overnight in the bed despite a rancid smell that prompted them to complain to the front desk.The couple told motel officials about the smell Wednesday night but stayed in the $36-a-night room anyway. On Thursday, they complained again and were given a new room while a motel housekeeper cleaned Room 112. In July 2003, a cleaning crew discovered a dead body stuffed under the mattress in a room at the Capri Motel in Kansas City, Missouri. This report was filed by KMBC-TV News: Police said that the man appeared to have been dead for some time, but the body went unnoticed until a guest staying the room could no longer tolerate the smell. Officers were called to the Capri Motel in the 1400 block of Independence Avenue around noon Sunday after cleaning crews made the grisly discovery.KMBCs Emily Aylward reported that the man who checked into the motel room a few days ago complained to management about the odor two times over the three days. He then checked out on Sunday because he could not tolerate the smell. In March 2010, Memphis police responded to a call from a local motel where employees had noticed a foul odor in one of the rooms. According to ABC Eyewitness News: On March 15th, investigators were called back to room 222 at the Budget Inn, where the body of Sony Millbrook was found under the bed. Police say she was found inside the metal box frame that sits directly on the floor after someone reported smelling a strange odor. The box springs and mattress fit into the top of the bed frame. Room 222, according to investigators, had been rented 5 times and cleaned many times by the hotel staff since the day Millbrook was reported missing.Homicide investigators say Millbrook appears to have been murdered. Theres more than one moral to these stories, to be sure, but the most disturbing of all is that urban legends do sometimes come true.​ Further reading: Isle Mainland Traveler Shared Room with Corpse. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1 August 1996.

WHY IS COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT IN WORK WITH PATIENTS Essay

WHY IS COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT IN WORK WITH PATIENTS - Essay Example patient communication "involves recognizing and responding to the patient as a whole person -- an approach frequently termed patient-centered care" (p. 1). They suggest that those healthcare professionals that believe in the "psychosocial" aspects of caring for patients are better equipped in communication because they understand how to attend to all of their needs (p. 1). These researchers created a RESPECT model that gives an easy way for nurses to understand what to do in certain situations to communicate easier with their clients. The RESPECT model has seven areas that are important to understand about communication: 2. Empathy -- they must understand that the patient came to them for help and strive to understand what the patient needs to help their illness. They should also verbally "acknowledge and legitimize" (p. 2) the patients feelings. 3. Support -- this is where the nurse helps the patient learn any barriers that may happen in terms of receiving and complying to care. They will help the client move through barriers where possible and be able to reassure the patient as necessary. They may even bring the family in for support where appropriate. 6. Cultural competence -- the nurse understands that they must respect the patients cultural beliefs whether they agree with them or not, be aware of their own biases within this concept and understand that their personal syle may need to change a bit in order to help the patient. 7. Trust -- the nurse must "consciously work" to gain the trust of the patient and help them to self-disclose where necessary. They must recognize that some cultures will have a more difficult time of self-disclosing than others. As health care is improved there is more emphasis on customer service and communication has become more important. According to Shields, Swann, Lopez and Lacy, good patient communication is important because it promotes 1) patient satisfaction in that they will perceive their care better when they

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 175

Assignment Example Mr. E. Pass and his wife Mrs. Martha N. Pass crashed with their aircraft after it had been repaired by Shelby Aviation. After half year Mr. Max filed a case against Shelby Aviation claiming that they had broken, â€Å"Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code†. The UCC does not apply in this case, because Mr. Pass accepted the devices which were fixed to aircraft even though they were of low quality. Shelby could have fixed the devices under instruction of Mr. Pass hence no enough evidence for UCC to apply in the case. In this case, both Randy and Bob were injured due to negligence. The Seat post broke and Bob felt down; this shows that the manufacturer manufactured substantial product, which did not ensure people safety. If the health club supervised people, Bob could not have mishandled the facilities. Due to negligence both manufacturer and the club are guilty and they should compensate. In the second case, Randy sued both Bob and club for negligence. In this case they do not have evidence to prove their innocence. Bob destroyed everything and the club failed to supervise

Virtue Ethics Essay Example for Free

Virtue Ethics Essay Virtue Ethics and the view that ethics should be wholly concerned with a person’s attributes based on the holistic theory of Aristotle and his Golden Mean, is a newly accepted theory, which looks at a person’s virtues and not their actions. It is a view that directly contrasts with the theories of Kant and Bentham, which focus on actions as opposed to the actual person making those actions. Although the deontological nature of Kant’s theory does partially contradict the teleological constitution of Bentham’s theory, they both focus on the moral decision that a person chooses to make and these theories both clash with Virtue Ethics, in respect that Virtue Ethics looks at why and what made the person make that decision. Whilst it is important to focus on the person behind the action, a more consequentialist view of ethics is a better functioning theory in today’s society due to the emphasis placed on the result of actions and the many cultures in the world, where virtuous acts would be difficult to define. In this essay, I will explore these contrasting ethical positions to prove that ethics should be more concerned with what you do than who you are. Aristotle’s theory is ultimately based on the idea of reaching eudaimonia, and this was something which, unlike the theories of Bentham and Mill, was sought for itself rather than as a means to some other end. The virtues that lead to this â€Å"happiness† are described by Aristotle to be like a habit, they should be learnt and acquired making one a better person, meaning that they will make the correct moral decisions. Using â€Å" Virtue Ethics† as an approach to life is taken up by many parents across the globe, as they act to make the child become a better person. However, one must question whether Virtue Ethics is a logical means of moral explanation as perhaps just because a person has many desirable virtues, it doesn’t certainly follow that they will make good, ethical, moral decisions. The aim of reaching Eudaimonia highlights the teleological aspect of Virtue Ethics as it is Aristotle’s GOAL for life. However whereas in consequentialism actions are taken in order to be happy, Aristotle believes that we should be happy in order to do something else. Aristotle arrived at the answer of whether an act was virtuous or not by using his â€Å"Final Cause† argument. In this, he believed that everything has a final good, which is achieved by fulfilling the purpose for which it was designed. Aristotle claimed that we all learn to have virtues that are â€Å"good† and will help us to obtain Eudaimonia. However, a major flaw of Virtue Ethics, leads from this, as Virtues are liable to change. The attributes that Aristotle valued are not necessarily what is valued in today’s society. He also talked about the doctrine of the Golden Mean. This aspect of virtue ethics is, for me, what makes it a potentially credible theory, as it takes into account human emotions, recognising that we can sometimes be extreme. This is explained by the idea of vices versus virtues, in that we should not have extremes of virtues as they are no longer â€Å"good†. However, surely this makes virtue ethics hard to follow, as there are no clear rules of what to do in a moral dilemma, instead just telling us to be a balanced person. By being a balanced person, Aristotle concludes that people will also be moral After Aristotle Virtue ethics was dismissed until Elizabeth Anscombe revived it in 1958, criticising Kant and Bentham claiming they are in their ivory tower, with theories that are not in touch with todays society. This point made by Anscombe really highlights the changeability of ethics, as ethics can change with society. The point about morals adapting to society reflects MacIntyre’s view on Virtue Ethics as he makes it more current and recognises that virtues must operate within a community for them to be â€Å"virtuous†. Contradicting Virtue Ethics are the theories that hold that ethics and morals should be based on the actions that one takes, such as the theories of Kant and Bentham. The Teleological stance on morals, taken by relativists including Bentham and Mill believe that the consequences of an action define its ‘goodness’. By doing so, relativists ensure that the focus of ethics is on the actions that are taken, which relates to todays society. An example of this is the justice system in Britain Jury’s are not interested in your attributes, or how good a person you are; if somebody has committed a crime (a bad action) then they will be punished for that. Personally, I feel that just because you are a good, virtuous person does not defy you from making unethical decisions, a view that Virtue Ethics contradicts. Unlike consequentialism, absolutism focusses on the motives for the action. By following definite rules, absolutists believe that acts are intrinsically wrong. Kant believes that all his definite rules can be universalised and followed by anybody no matter how ‘virtuous’ they are. These rules are meant to give the best moral outcome, but circumstances occur that when these rules can contradict a deep rooted moral conscience. This is shown with the example of is a murder asked you where your friend was so they could kill them, would you be obliged to tell the truth? This problem is eradicated by consequentialism as each moral issue is treated differently and circumstances, time and place are all taken into account. This is a clear advantage of relativism as opposed to absolutism, because it can change with different societies, and is accepting of other cultures. By focussing on what people do, ethics ensures that people can be held responsible for their actions. The ends of a decision are what really matters in ethics because that is what makes the change to your life, the lives of others or society. Morals need to be based on ends in order to take into account these differences. Without basing morals on ends, the same rules would have to apply to everything, all the time which wouldn’t work. Despite this strength of the teleological argument I think it needs to be interpreted with this quote in mind â€Å"when in Rome do as the Romans do†. This way, we avoid the criticism that ‘anything would go’, as within societies people would be clear on the moral guidelines, but unlike absolutism, would not feel condemned if they felt the need to break those guidelines. Virtue Ethics is a good way of life, but I dont feel that is as good for functioning in society as consequentialism.

Principles of Good Policing: Avoiding Violence Between Police and Citiz

Thesis Statement: police discretion is the framework for promoting justice in police-citizen interactions in the traffic sector. 　　　　Police officers face a myriad of challenges in their line of duty. Most cases necessitate sound decisions to settle disputes amicably. When they apply discretion in an incoherent manner, they may end up abusing human rights. Therefore, they apply it when dealing with legal sanctions such as making arrests, giving out a ticket and stopping the offending party. Miller, Blackler and Alexandra (2006) state "police are specialized role players who preserve order and enforce the law" (p. 11). Sometimes, vagueness results when communities fail to engage in a consensus to streamline the issues that constitute criminal behavior law. Communities and legislatures trust the police officers' capacity to exercise discretion. 　　　　The Ride and Purpose of the Paper 　　　　The purpose of the paper is to identify who the police on patrol stop on the roads. It will also examine the cause of police confrontation with citizens, and how this influences and affects their work. What is more, it will analyze the forces that the police use to arrest the culprits in many cases. It will act as an examination of the importance of officers’ discretion while on patrol. Views on Discretion 　　　　Many people interpret police activities from pre-conceived ideas because they happen away from the citizens' view. The privacy creates a circumstance that allows police officers’ discretion in the way they react and handle citizens that breach the law. The research community tries to investigate the issues that concern the police officers' conduct while responding to citizen's woes and their interaction with them. The gap that exists in... ...oals due to the environment's needs that require rapid response. When they enforce discretion properly, they respond to margin situations in the best way possible. â€Å"However, if they fail to control it, they may infringe the constitutional provisions. Dempsey and Forst (2013) state "one of the ways of controlling discretion, particularly the improper application of discretion is through the establishment of employee early warning systems" (49). Proper discretion is a sure way of restoring sanity in the traffic system owing to its accrued discipline. 　　　　 References Dempsey, J. S, & Forst, L. S. (2008). An Introduction to Policing. Belmont, CA: 　　　　Thomson/Wadsworth. Dempsey, J. S, & Forst, L. S. (2013). Police. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning. Miller, S, Blackler, J, & Alexandra, A. (2006). Police Ethics. Crows Nest, N.S.W: Allen & 　　　　Unwin.

Managers Explore and Exploit

Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit Author(s): Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman Reviewed work(s): Source: California Management Review, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Summer 2011), pp. 5-22 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 1525/cmr. 2011. 53. 4. 5 . Accessed: 27/11/2011 04:22 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. sp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email  protected] org. University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to California Manag ement Review. http://www. jstor. org Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers explore and exploit Charles A. O’Reilly III Michael L. Tushman he life span of the average American is 79. Japanese can expect to live to age 83, Liberians to only 46. The average age of a large company is much less than any of these. Research has shown that only a tiny fraction of firms founded in the U. S. are likely to make it to age 40, probably less than 0. 1 percent. 1 In this study, for firms founded in 1976, only 10% survived 10 years later, leading the authors to conclude that â€Å"Despite their size, their vast financial and human resources, average large firms do not ‘live’ as long as ordinary Americans. 2 While this is partly understandable because of the high mortality rates among newly founded companies, other research has estimated that even large, well-established companies can only expect to live, on average, between another 6 to 15 years. 3 Ormerod, in a study of firm failure, noted that â€Å"Over 10 percent of all companies in the U. S. , the largest and most-successful e conomy in the history of the world, fail every single year. 4 In a study of the world’s largest companies between 1912 and 1995, Hannah reported that only 20 firms remained on her list for the entire period— and many of those were in industries like natural resources without disruptive change. In her study, the modal large firm failed. 5 Why this should be is a puzzle, since when firms are doing well they have all the resources (financial, physical, and intellectual) to continue to be successful. Yet the evidence is that most organizations do not survive for long periods of time. In addressing this conundrum, James March notes that central to the ability of a firm to survive over time is its ability to exploit existing assets and positions in a profit-producing way and simultaneously to explore new technologies and markets—to configure and reconfigure organizational resources to capture existing as well as new opportunities. In March’s terms, this is the fundamental tension at the heart of an enterprise’s long-run survival. â€Å"The basic problem confronting an organization is to engage in sufficient exploitation to ensure its T CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 5 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit current viability and, at the same time, devote enough energy to exploration to ensure its future viability. †6 March also notes that this requires not the blind variation-selection-retention process of biological evolution but what he refers to as â€Å"evolutionary engineering† in which organizational experience and memory are used to strengthen exploitation and exploration rocesses and adapt to changed environmental conditions. 7 Hannah, struggling to explain the survival of a comparatively small number of the world’s largest companies, suggests that a plausible explanation for the survivors is that â€Å"they had some distinctive architecture which enabled them—but not others—to constantly replicate their early success [and that] such corporate architectures must be complex and difficult to ident ify, describe and copy, for, if that were not the case, their value would be competed down by emulators. 8 In the past decade, a growing body of research has examined how organizations can both explore and exploit. 9 One promising stream of research has focused on how dynamic capabilities may underpin the ability of firms to sense, seize, and reconfigure organizational assets to adapt to changed environmental conditions. 10 With dynamic capabilities, sustained competitive advantage comes from the firm’s ability to leverage and reconfigure its existing competencies and assets in ways that are valuable to the customer but difficult for competitors to imitate. In this view, dynamic capabilities are embedded in organizational processes or routines around coordination, learning, and transformation and allow a firm to sense opportunities and then to seize them by successfully allocating resources, often by adjusting existing competencies or developing new ones. These capabilities underpin the organization’s ability to maintain ecological fitness and, when necessary, to reconfigure existing assets and develop the new skills needed to address emerging threats and opportunities The Roots of Organizational Ambidexterity O’Reilly and Tushman argue that the ability of a firm to be ambidextrous is at the core of dynamic capabilities. Ambidexterity requires senior managers to accomplish two critical tasks. 11 First, they must be able to accurately sense changes in their competitive environment, including potential shifts in technology, compeCharles A. O’Reilly III is the Frank Buck Professor of Management at the Graduate tition, customers, and regulation. Second, they School of Business at Stanford University. must be able to act on these opportunities and threats; to be able to seize them by reconfigurMichael L. Tushman is the Paul Lawrence ing both tangible and intangible assets to meet MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business new challenges. 12 As a dynamic capability, ambiAdministration at the Harvard Business School. dexterity embodies a complex set of routines including decentralization, differentiation, targeted integration, and the ability of senior leadership to orchestrate the complex trade-offs that the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation requires. Developing these dynamic capabilities is a central task of executive leadership. 6 NIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit Although theoretically compelling, research on dynamic capabilities and ambidexterity is still at an early stage. Conceptually, the need for organizations to both explore and exploit is convincing, but how do managers and firms actually do this? At an operating level, how do the challenges of ambidexterity present themselves—and what differentiates the more successful attempts at ambidexterity from the less successful? To develop a more granular sense for the managerial challenges presented by ambidexterity, consider the following three examples. Mike Lawrie at Misys In 2007, Mike Lawrie was appointed CEO of Misys, a $1B FTSE 100 global supplier of software and services to banking and health care customers. Although Misys had been a star performer earlier in its history, by 2006 the firm was in trouble with margins and growth rates far below their competitors. It had grown through acquisitions and was a loose federation of 34 separate business units with 6,000 employees spread across 79 countries. Part of Lawrie’s turnaround strategy was straightforward: to install common practices across the business units to reduce costs and drive productivity. As a 27-year veteran of IBM and former CEO of Siebel Systems, Lawrie knew how to do this. More problematic was the potential disruptive challenge posed by open source software, which threatened the proprietary products from which Misys derived most of its current revenue. However, given the poor financial position of the company, Lawrie’s senior team was focused on cutting costs and getting through the immediate crisis. With their legacy business and their powerful business unit managers under cost, quality, and growth pressures, open source experiments were seen as a needless distraction and a $300M cost. They questioned whether the company should divert scarce resources to fund an uncertain new initiative that, if successful, could undermine their current business model? In addition, if they were to do this, how should the new venture be organized and led? Ganesh Natarajan at Zensar Technologies Zensar Technologies is one of India’s top 25 business process outsourcing companies proving services to 300 of the Fortune 500 firms. In 2005, its business was growing but Ganesh Natarajan, the CEO, saw the opportunity to implement a potentially radical software process innovation (Solution Blue Prints or SBP). SBP was a revolutionary way to do software development that, if implemented, would require a more collaborative relationship with clients, a different product development framework, and a different sales process. Zensar’s existing customers, its top team, its sales force and its product development staff were not enthusiastic about SBP. Like Mike Lawrie’s team at Misys, Natarajan’s senior team and business unit leaders were preoccupied with their current business and saw little need to explore an approach that would require them to alter their current business model. When pressed by Natarajan to explore the new approach to software development, several senior managers CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 7 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit suggested that SBP simply be integrated into their existing units. Others wanted SBP to be spun out as a new venture. In contrast, the leader of the SBP project wanted to have his own business unit reporting directly to the CEO. As Natarajan reflected on the challenge, he was sure that the company should pursue SBP but was unsure how to structure the new initiative to best ensure its success. Caroline White at Defense Corp Defense Corp (pseudonym) is a major U. S. defense contractor with long-term relationships with customers in the military. Caroline White, a vice president and general manager of a division, saw an attractive opportunity for growth in the new Homeland Security market but was frustrated in her efforts to develop this area. Her mission, approved by the President, was to create a franchise in this business equivalent to those it enjoyed in other defense markets. In spite of this high-level approval, Caroline found funding difficult, with the business development funds budgeted by supporting units never available in the amounts promised. Instead, these seem to be siphoned off to support more near-term opportunities with existing clients. When Caroline pressed her colleagues in other business units about this, she heard complaints about her new initiative. They saw her mission as less tangible and immediate than theirs, with a smaller payoff to investment, and labeled her effort as a â€Å"think tank† as opposed to a real business. They also complained that her project lacked clarity around deliverables and metrics. Making matters more difficult, line of business leaders were under significant pressure to deliver revenues and questioned the viability of Caroline’s efforts. In the face of these obstacles, Caroline was resolved to ask the CEO to intercede. The question, however, was what she wanted him to do to ensure the viability of her exploratory effort? Given the resistance, she knew that it would require more than just funding to ensure the success of the new initiative. Mike Lawrie, Ganesh Natarajan and Caroline White each face the classic explore-exploit dilemma. What specifically can they do? At a high level of abstraction, ambidexterity requires a willingness of senior managers to commit resources to exploratory projects and the establishment of separate structural units for exploitation and exploration. Most research on ambidexterity begins with the acceptance of these general characteristics. 3 However, while there is general agreement about the elements of ambidexterity, O’Reilly and Tushman have noted that what is missing is a clear articulation of those specific management actions that facilitate the simultaneous pursuit of exploitation and exploration. What has been missing from the research on ambidexterity is insight into the core leadership mechanisms that underlie how dynamic capabilities operate in practice. T hus, while directionally correct, the research is not granular enough to be of much use to an operating manager facing the problems described above. To be practically useful, what is needed is greater insight into the specific micromechanisms required for a manager to implement and operate an ambidextrous strategy. This article reports the results of interviews and qualitative case studies 8 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit of leaders in 15 organizations that were confronted with the need to simultaneously explore and exploit. We use these data to induce how managers actually dealt with the challenges of ambidexterity. In doing this, we also explored those activities that discriminated between those more- versus less-successful attempts at implementing ambidextrous designs. Leading the Ambidextrous Organization In an attempt to characterize the specific elements of ambidexterity, we offer five propositions that are necessary for leaders to be successful at managing ambidexterity. 14 These are specific mechanisms that enable firms to successfully manage separate â€Å"explore-and-exploit† subunits and to leverage common assets in ways that permit the firm to adapt to new opportunities and threats. It is the presence of these characteristics that permits leaders to reconfigure existing competencies and assets to explore new opportunities even as the organization continues to compete in mature markets. Absent these elements, inertial forces keep the firm focused on the exploitative part of the business. 15 Thus, we propose that ambidexterity is more likely to be successful in the presence of the following five conditions: b A compelling strategic intent that intellectually justifies the importance of both exploration and exploitation. An articulation of a common vision and values that provide for a common identity across the exploitative and exploratory units. b A senior team that explicitly owns the unit’s strategy of exploration and exploitation; there is a common-fate reward system; and the strategy is communicated relentlessly. b Separate but aligned organizational architectures (business models, structure, incentives, metrics, and cultures) for the exploratory and ex ploitative units and targeted integration at both senior and tactical levels to properly leverage organizational assets. The ability of the senior leadership to tolerate and resolve the tensions arising from separate alignments. To appreciate the logic of these, consider the effects on ambidexterity if these elements were not present. First, without an intellectually compelling strategic intent to justify the ambidextrous form, there will be no rationale for why profitable exploit units, especially those under pressure, should give up resources to fund small, uncertain explore efforts. As previous research has shown, managers routinely discount future threats and focus on short-term gains at the expense of less certain long-term returns. 6 Second, absent a common vision and values, there will be no common identity to promote trust, cooperation, and a long-term perspective. 17 Third, if the senior team lacks a consensus about the importance of ambidexterity, those who are uncommitted will be encouraged to resist the effort, diminishing cooperation, increasing competition for resources, and slowing down execution. 18 The absence CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 9 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit f a common-fate reward system and a lack of relentless communication of the ambidextrous strategy can further undermine cooperation and encourage unproductive conflict. 19 Fourth, without separate alignments for explore and exploit units and targeted integration to leverage common assets, there will be inefficient use of resources and poor coordination across the units. 20 Finally, if the leadership is unable to manage the conflicts and trade-offs required by ambidexterity, the necessary decision processes will be compromised and end up in confusion and conflict. 1 Method and Results To assess whether these five propositions are veridical descriptions of ambidexterity in practice, we conduc ted semi-structured interviews with senior managers at fifteen firms that were attempting to manage both exploratory and exploitative units. Eight of the 15 cases were either successes or qualified successes as reflected in increased growth or profits, three were clear failures, and four firms were underperforming before learning how to be ambidextrous and deemed successful afterwards. Table 1 lists these companies and the challenge each faced. Senior managers and key informants in each firm were interviewed and asked to describe in detail how they attempted to simultaneously explore and exploit. 22 They were probed about the nature of their leadership challenges, what actions they had taken, an assessment of their progress to date, and to identify those elements that they believed were helping or hindering them in accomplishing their task of exploration and exploitation. The focus in these interviews was on understanding in some detail what actions had been taken and how these had been implemented. The goal of these interviews was to specify in a granular way what leadership actions were associated with the organization’s ability to reconfigure existing assets and develop the new capabilities needed for exploration. 23 Table 2 provides a summary of the comparative results across the fifteen organizations studied. These results suggest that there are themes associated with the leadership of more- versus less-successful ambidextrous designs. The first proposition offered by O’Reilly and Tushman suggests that ambidexterity is facilitated when there is a compelling strategic intent that intellectually justifies the explore and exploit strategy. In each of the 15 cases investigated here, there was a clear strategic intent on the part of the organization to pursue an exploratory venture (this obviously reflects our sample selection where cases were chosen based on their attempt to be ambidextrous). While each of the 15 firms articulated a strategic intent, only ten were able to actually execute such an aspiration. The articulation of a clear strategic intent clearly does not discriminate between more- versus less-successful attempts to implement ambidextrous designs. Other research has documented the transformation of firms occurring without an explicit ambidexterity strategy. 24 These results suggest that while 10 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit TABLe 1. sample description (continued on next page) IBM Life Sciences (Success) In 2000, IbM began a programmatic effort, (termed the Emerging business Organization or EbO), to identify and develop cross-IbM business that could provide $1b in revenue within a 5-year time frame. In April of that year, Carol kovac, an IbM R manager, was asked to establish a new Life science business that would capitalize on the increased demand for computing being generated by the genomic revolution. between its founding and 2006, Carol grew the business to $5b in revenue. IBM Middleware (Success) In 1998, IbM’s software division was in turmoil. There were conflicting pressures to continue to develop and service software for their existing installed base that relied heavily on mainframe computers and to develop radically new products based on the emerging World Wide Web. Resolving this required that their senior managers exploit existing programming languages and customers and to explore new languages and markets. They accomplished this by systematically establishing different units and carefully integrating them at senior levels. Cisco TelePresence (Success) Cisco systems is a $22b company that sells plumbing for the internet. It has grown at 12-17% annually and currently has a dominant market share in its main businesses. As a part of his effort to continue Cisco systems growth, John Chambers, the CEO, has launched an ambitious initiative to identify 30 new potential $1b businesses. His aim is to generate 25% of the firm’s revenues from these new ventures within 5-10 years. In October 2006, one of these efforts (TelePresence) was launched as an internal venture to develop high-end video conferencing. since then the business has grown from two internal entrepreneurs and a sheet of paper to more than 100 people and $200M in revenue. Misys Corporation (Success) Misys is a $1b software firm selling service and systems to health care and banking clients. As a part of a turnaround effort commenced in 2007, the new CEO initiated a cost-cutting effort in the mature business and proposed a new open source approach to replace the existing proprietary platform. To ensure the success of this disruptive approach, he set up a new exploratory unit and replaced several members of his senior team who were resisting the new approach. by 2010, the new open source platform had opened up new markets and attracted a significant number of new customers. DaVita Rx (Success) daVita is a $6b business that derives the bulk of its revenues from operating kidney dialysis centers. In 2004, kent Thiry, the CEO, formed a team to identify new business opportunities that would match daVita’s clinical skills with economic opportunities. One opportunity identified was to provide prescription drugs to chronic kidney patients. begun in 2004, daVita Rx was an internal start-up with a different business model, metrics, and margins than the larger daVita. by 2010, this new business was generating $220M in revenue with 400 employees. Defense Corp (Success) defense Corp is a $6b provider of hardware and systems to the u. s. military establishment. In 2005, in an attempt to broaden their customer base the company initiated an effort to sell technology to the newly established Homeland security Agency. Although the initiative was approved by the CEO, development funding and cooperation from main lines of business were slow in coming until a separate unit was established with a clear charter, appropriate metrics, and an aligned senior team. The new unit recently won a $13M contract. Ciba Vision (Success) In the early 1990s, Ciba Vision, a maker of soft contact lenses and lens solutions, was losing ground to their larger competitors, J and bausch and Lomb. In a bold move, Glenn bradley, the President, halted all incremental innovation and placed six bets on revolutionary new products such as extended wear lenses and daily disposables. These new units were encouraged to establish their own alignments (people, structure, culture) as they pursued their breakthrough innovation. With the success of several of these, revenues tripled over the next decade. Zensar Technologies (Success) In 2002, Zensar Technologies, a mid-sized Indian IT services firm was losing market share and key talent. There was substantial tension between a potentially promising new technology platform and the existing geographical business units. A new CEO shifted Zensar to a product-focused firm but kept the new technology venture as a business unit reporting to his office. In 2008, after the entrepreneurial unit’s technology and business model was validated this unit and its innovative business model was integrated into the product units. Over the five-year period, Zensar was able to build its core business even as it brought to the market a fundamentally new technology. CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 11 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit TABLe 1. sample description (continued from previous page) SAP Business-by-Design (Failure) In 2006, the CEO of sAP declared that future revenue growth for the company was in the small and Medium business market and selling software on demand. This software-as-a-service product (business-by-design or byd) was developed but no separate unit was established. Although this market has grown substantially, sAP has failed to successfully market their offering. In 2010, the CEO, Leo Apotheker, was fired for failing to implement business-by-design. HP Scanner (Declining to Success) beginning in 1991, HP’s scanner division had begun to develop a portable scanner to complement their flatbed product. For five years they had failed to commercialize any of their inventions. In 1996, a new division GM separated out the handheld business into an ambidextrous unit that was physically separated from the flatbed business and had its own people, systems, incentives, and culture. Two years later, this business was successful enough to be spun-out as its own division. Printing Company (Failure) In 2007, faced with increased competition and declining customer satisfaction and usage of their core legal research products, the senior managers of the business decided to reinvent their business as a web-based publisher based on a new open source architecture. In spite of a clear vision of the future, heavy investment in the new technology, and a promise to â€Å"rescue the company†, the new product has failed to reignite growth. The new unit has faced continual resistance from the more mature part of the business. Turner Technologies (Declining to Success) The Advanced IC division of Turner had issues of growth in new products as well as quality in its existing product line. While the division’s strategic intent was clear, it could not get traction on either performance issue until it split out the innovative strategic agenda from its existing product line. Energized by two new managers reporting the divisional GM and a rearticulated identity for the division, Turner was able to both effectively explore and exploit. Software Company (Failure) under pressure from corporate executives, the general manager of software Company articulated a strategic intent to both build on its struggling extant product line and initiate a remarkable set of new software solutions. This general manager built a separate unit, reporting directly to him, to focus on innovation. Over a three-year period, he did not, however, staff or fund this innovative unit. The unit underperformed in its existing as well as its innovative product line. IBM Network Technologies (Declining to Success) A highly entrepreneurial general manager articulated a strategic intent to exploit her existing chip line even as she promised to explore into fundamentally new chips. yet her zeal for exploration led her to build a business unit only focused on exploration. Her extant product line suffered. under pressure from corporate staff and client dissatisfaction, the general manager rebuilt her senior team and her business unit to focus attention on both her current product as well as her new product lines. USA Today (Declining to Success) In the late 1990s, usA Today, like most u. s. ewspapers, began to see a decline in both circulation and advertising revenues as web-based news began to supplant print. In response to this trend, Tom Curley, the paper’s publisher, adopted a â€Å"network strategy† which emphasized the delivery of news content across three platforms, print, the web, and TV. between 1999 and 2002, he was successful at managing this transition and simultaneously d elivering news content across the three platforms-with the result that earnings increased by 50 percent. 12 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit TABLe 2. Interview Results (continued on next page) strategic intent that intellectually justifies ambidextrous form Vision and values that promote a common identity but separate cultures senior team that explicitly owns the ambidextrous strategy (common-fate rewards, communication) Ambidextrous Leadership (conflict resolution, resource allocation) separate units with aligned architectures and targeted integration (senior level and tactical) Proposition 1 Proposition 2 Proposition 3 Proposition 4 Proposition 5 Success: IbM Life sciences yes yes yes 100% of bonus for senior executives yes yes yes 70% of bonus yes EbO structure yes success— $5b in revenue in 6 years Cisco TelePresence yes Council/board structure yes Geographically separate yes daVita Rx yes yes yes but some initial disputes over autonomy yes but some conflict over metrics and rewards yes senior leader integrates Ciba Vision yes yes â€Å"Healthy eyes for life† yes yes Geographically separate Explore report to senior team IbM Middleware yes yes â€Å"beat bEA† yes senior leaders agree on a new structure yes yes Geographically separate units yes distinct unit for new platform es senior leaders integration yes Tension held at top Zensar Technologies yes yes â€Å"Among the top Indian IT services Firms† Misys yes yes drive productivity and innovate yes Replaced old team with new one yes Open source reports to CEO yes CEO drove the new effort CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy . Edu Overall Performance success— $200M in revenue in 4 years success— $220M in revenue in 6 years success— tripled sales in 10 years success— old and new products combined both profit and growth doubled from 20052010 success— developed new platform with new customers 13 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit TABLe 2. Interview Results (continued from previous page, continued on next page) strategic intent that intellectually justifies ambidextrous form Vision and values that promote a common identity but separate cultures senior team that explicitly owns the ambidextrous strategy (common-fate rewards, communication) Ambidextrous Leadership (conflict resolution, resource allocation) separate units with aligned architectures and targeted integration (senior level and tactical) Proposition 1 Proposition 2 Proposition 3 Proposition 4 Proposition 5 defense Corp yes No but did set new explore culture yes After initial resistance yes unit reports to President yes used consultant to mediate conflict Failure: sAP businessby-design yes No No disputes over revenue recognition yes but the strategy does not fit well with current one yes yes â€Å"save the company† No short-term revenue still dominates No clear ambidextrous unit or leader No Continued conflicts over who owns the customer No Ambidextrous unit not represented Failure— lack of penetration in targeted markets Failure—no new growth Printing Company No Explore unit not protected software Co No No yes No Transition to Success: usA Today yes yes â€Å"Network, not a newspaper† H-P scanner yes No No then yes senior team bonus based on overall performance No to yes yes separate units with targeted integration No then yes Physically separate units No to yes Resource allocation to web-based business No to yes senior leader integrates stalled to success— increased earnings 50% in 3 years stalled to success— then innovation unit spun out 14 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Overall Performance success— Won $13M in new contracts Poor Innovation Performance Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit TABLe 2. Interview Results (continued from previous page) strategic intent that intellectually justifies ambidextrous form Vision and values that promote a common identity but separate cultures senior team that explicitly own s the ambidextrous strategy (common-fate rewards, communication) Ambidextrous Leadership (conflict resolution, resource allocation) eparate units with aligned architectures and targeted integration (senior level and tactical) Proposition 1 Proposition 2 Proposition 3 Proposition 4 Proposition 5 Turner Technologies yes yes No to yes No to yes No to yes IbM Network Technologies yes No to yes yes No to yes No to yes possibly helpful, a clear strategic intent may not be a necessary condition for executing ambidextrous designs. The second proposition suggested the importance of a common vision and values as necessary to promote a common identity across explore and exploit units. Here the evidence is largely consistent with proposition two. Six of the eight consistently high-performing firms had a clear over-arching vision and common values. In contrast, two of the three poor performing firms did not have such clarity. Printing Company (pseudonym) had a senior team that both articulated a clear strategic intent as well as an overarching vision and identity. This senior team could not, however, execute against this clear strategy and overarching identity. Moreover, three of the four firms that learned how to be ambidextrous had or developed a well-defined vision. For example, at USA Today there was an explicit strategy to â€Å"be a network, not a newspaper. † The over-arching aspiration was to be â€Å"the local paper for the global village. † This strategy and vision, and a common set of values around fairness, accuracy, and trust, helped knit together a highly differentiated organization. Of the twelve firms able to execute ambidextrous designs, only HP Scanner and Misys were able to implement the ambidextrous design without an overarching identity. Thus, while not definitive, the evidence suggests that a common vision is an important discriminator of more- versus less-successful ambidextrous designs, but not necessarily a sufficient one. The third proposition argued for the importance of a consensus in the senior team about the ambidextrous strategy and a common-fate reward system within the team to promote this. Our data supports this proposition. In each of the three instances of failure, there was a lack of consensus within the senior team about the relative importance of ambidexterity and there was no CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 3, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Overall Performance declining to improving declining to Improving 15 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit common-fate reward system for the senior team. Interviews suggested that the existing reward systems that were based on sub-unit or functional performance were a major cause of the inability of the organization to leverage common assets. In the case of SAP, these disputes played out in the unwillingness of the sales force to promote lower-margin new products and disputes among senior managers about revenue recognition. In the printing company case, short-term financial pressures and the lack of any common-fate reward for the senior team resulted in a focus on achieving short-term revenue targets through the older but higher-margin products. Similarly, at Defense Corp, White’s Homeland Security initiative was initially opposed by other members of the senior team because of its inability to generate short-term revenue. The uncertainty of a long sales-cycle associated with a new government customer was overwhelmed by the short-term metrics of revenue and gross margin. The senior team’s systems for evaluating performance lacked the capacity to evaluate a business at a more immature phase of development. In contrast, in the most-successful ambidextrous efforts, the senior team was heavily incented to promote both explore and exploit businesses. In the Cisco TelePresence case, members of the governance team (Boards and Councils) had a significant portion of their bonus contingent on the success of both units. In the successful DaVita Rx case, there were initial disputes within the senior team about metrics and margins that were only resolved after a common-fate reward system was installed. At Misys, senior team resistance was overcome only after Lawrie replaced the opposing managers. Importantly, in three of the four cases where the firms learned how to be ambidextrous, there was a shift from a lack of consensus ownership about the importance of the exploratory effort to a fully committed senior team. This shift in top team ownership of the ambidextrous strategy involved the creation of common-fate incentive systems, a shift in leadership behaviors of the senior manager, and, in several cases, turnover within the senior team. The fourth condition proposed as necessary for successful ambidexterity was the presence of separate aligned architectures for the explore and exploit units coupled with targeted integration to ensure that common resources were leveraged across units. In all three instances of failure, these distinct alignments were conspicuously missing. In the case of SAP, responsibility for the exploratory venture (software-as-a-service) was split between two functional heads with the result that effective coordination never occurred and decisions were made slowly. At Software Company (pseudonym), a separate exploratory unit was established on paper but never staffed. In each of these ambidextrous failures, the locus of integration between the needs of the exploratory and exploitative activities was either too low in the firm or was ambiguous. In contrast, in each successful case there were always separate explore and exploit units with senior-level integration to ensure that resources were allocated. At IBM this was done either through their EBO process (e. g. in Life Sciences)25 or, in the Middleware case, through the establishment of distinct units focused on different time horizons; that is, mature, growth, and emerging 16 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit products. At Cisco this was done through a Boards and Councils process where there was a clear allocation of responsibilities, resources, and structures. In all successf ul cases, the exploratory units were initially physically separated from the exploit parts of the business. Similarly, for three of the four firms that learned how to be ambidextrous, there was a switch in organization design from an integrated approach (e. g. , project teams) to the establishment of separate units for explore and explore businesses. The final core mechanism proposed as important for successful ambidexterity was the ability of the ambidextrous leader to resolve the inevitable conflicts and resource allocation decisions that this organization design entails. This too is an important discriminator between more- versus less-successful ambidextrous designs. In each failure case this capability was lacking. At SAP there were continual disputes about resources and responsibilities across the participating functions without a clear mechanism or clear leadership for resolution. In the printing firm, although there was a separate explore unit with a responsible manager, he reported to an exploit manager who was held responsible for margins and short-term revenues. The exploratory unit manager was not represented on the senior team with the result that his voice was not heard when critical resource decisions were made. In contrast, in each successful case, there was a clear, identifiable leader and forum to resolve conflicts and make definitive resource allocation decisions. For example, at Zensar, even though there were substantial conflicts between the existing business units and the new integrative software platform, the CEO saw to it that his team actually dealt with these conflicts and made the appropriate resource allocation shifts between the existing units. At Misys, Mike Lawrie ensured that resources needed for the new open source effort were allocated in a timely manner. Similarly, in each of the four units that learned how to be ambidextrous, the general manager changed the senior team composition and processes to resolve conflicts associated with exploration and exploitation. For instance, at USA Today, only after Curley replaced several members of his team was his firm able to excel at both print and web-based content delivery. Similarly, only after the division general manager changed her leadership style at IBM’s Network Technology Division was her team able to balance resource allocation and decision making between her explore and exploit business lines. The Management of Ambidexterity One of the key features of ambidexterity is the ability of the organization to reallocate assets and capabilities to address new threats and opportunities. Practically speaking, this means that leaders within the organization are able to make the difficult choices required to reconfigure assets to promote exploratory ventures. The results from these fifteen case studies suggest that there are identifiable core mechanisms that discriminate between more- versus less-successful ambidextrous designs in action. The most-successful ambidextrous designs had leaders who developed a clear vision and common identity (Proposition 2), CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 17 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit built senior teams that were committed to the ambidextrous strategy and were incented to both explore and exploit (Proposition 3), employed distinct and aligned subunits to focus on either exploration or exploitation (Proposition 4), and built teams that could deal with the resource allocations and conflicts associated with exploration and exploitation (Proposition 5). Those less-successful attempts at ambidexterity did not employ these core mechanisms. Although useful, the articulation of a clear strategic intent (Proposition 1) and, to a lesser extent, the provision of an overarching vision (Proposition 2) did not discriminate between the more- versus less-successful attempts to build an ambidextrous organization. This suggests that articulating why ambidexterity is important is not the same as how it is implemented. In the implementation of an ambidextrous design, execution appears to trump strategy. The first two propositions (articulating a strategy and overarching vision for the ambidextrous form) are the easy part for senior managers. The next three propositions are about strategic execution. These require hard choices about resource allocation, leader behavior, senior team composition (or replacement), and the balancing of contradictory organizational architectures. The most-successful ambidextrous designs had more of these components from the beginning. In contrast, those firms that learned how to be ambidextrous struggled with at least two of these core components and only after resolving these were they to effectively implement an ambidextrous design. These results suggest that effective ambidextrous designs are based on a set of interrelated choices made by the leader. Any subset of the core mechanisms is associated with underperformance. As such, executing ambidextrous designs can be seen as a complex senior leadership task that requires an integrated set of strategic, structural, incentive, and top team process decisions. Clearly, successful ambidextrous designs require more than the simple organizational structural decision in which the exploratory and exploitative subunits are separated. The critical elements, and perhaps the more difficult elements, are the processes by which these units are integrated in a value enhancing way. Discussion These results are largely consistent with Teece’s observation that â€Å"dynamic capabilities reside in large measure with the enterprise’s top management team. †26 Concretely, it appears that ambidexterity as a dynamic capability rests on the ability of leaders not only to articulate a strategic intent and vision that justifies exploration and exploitation, but—more importantly—to manage the inherent tensions associated with incompatible organizational architectures. These results also extend previous research that has linked transformational leadership to successful ambidexterity by explicating some of the core processes that underpin the transformational leadership construct. 27 These mechanisms are largely consistent with earlier research. For example, our findings that senior team consensus is an important ingredient in the implementation of ambidexterity is consistent with previous research showing that the behavioral integration 18 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit of the senior team is a precursor to successful ambidexterity. 28 Similarly, the importance of targeted integration and clear incentives documented here has also been suggested in previous studies. 29 The critical aspect of resource allocation illustrated here has also been seen in previous studies, especially in research showing that failed efforts at renewal stem not from a lack of technology or resources but the inability of senior managers to allocate those resources effectively to the exploratory effort. 0 Finally, while each component characteristic of ambidextrous designs is important, it appears that it is the set of components interacting together that define the dynamic capabilities that drive effective ambidextrous designs. 31 These patterns suggest concrete yet integrated sets of actions that leaders can take to execute strategies that encompass both exploration and exploitation. At Misys, Mike Lawri e articulated his strategic intent for open source software solutions at a senior team offsite. He kept Misys Open Source as a separate unit reporting to his office. He also emphasized the need for cost and quality progress in his existing business units even as he encouraged disciplined experimentation in the open source unit. As a leader, Lawrie was able to tolerate the competition between Misys Open Source and other platforms and was willing to risk shortterm revenue to help create longer-term options with a potentially disruptive technology. He has seen his strategy pay dividends. The healthcare business unit revenues grew more than 30% in 2009 with Misys Open Source as the basis for important new contracts with hospitals, physicians, and insurers. At the same time, Open Source has triggered innovation into other Misys units—a new banking product has large open source components, and the Misys website is completely open source. To realize the potential of SBP at Zensar, Ganesh Natarajan made the decision to keep SBP separate from the other units. He clarified his strategic and emotional rationale for exploration and exploitation with his senior team and, for the next two years, relentlessly emphasized both exploration and exploitation. By 2008, SBP had almost doubled its number of clients as well as profits. Having demonstrated its success technically and in the market, SBP was then reintegrated within the main business in 2008. Finally, at Defense Corp, Caroline White received approval to separate her homeland security exploration unit and built a new management system and metrics for gauging progress of this business. She also changed the incentives of her top team so that they were all accountable for both short-term results as well as longer-term results. By 2010, the exploratory unit proved its value, winning a $13M contract with the Transport Security Agency for improving perimeter security at U. S. irports. Conclusion There is now convincing evidence suggesting that for organizations to survive in the face of change, they need to be able to successfully exploit their existing businesses and to explore into new spaces by reconfiguring existing resources and developing new capabilities. 32 While the evidence for the benefits CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CM R. bERkELEy. Edu 19 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit of ambidexterity is accumulating, there exists a gap in understanding how ambidexterity is actually managed within organizations. This article has explored how leaders within organizations actually implement ambidexterity. The actions, behaviors, and design choices made by the senior leader comprise the dynamic capabilities that enable firms to simultaneously explore and exploit and emphasize the key role of strategic leadership in adapting, integrating, and reconfiguring organizational skills and resources to match changing environments. Notes 1. Charles I. Stubbart and Michael B. Knight, â€Å"The Case of the Disappearing Firms: Empirical Evidence and Implications,† Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27/1 (February 2006): 79-100. . Ibid. , p. 96. 3. Rajshree Agarwal and Michael Gort, â€Å"The Evolution of Markets and Entry, Exit, and Survival of Firms,† Review of Economics and Statistics, 78/3 (August 1996): 489-498. 4. Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2005), p. 18. 5. Leslie Hannah, â€Å"Marshall’s Trees and the Global Forest: Were Giant Redwoods Diff erent? † Center for Economic Performance, Discussion Paper #318, 1997. 6. See James G. March, â€Å"Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning,† Organization Science, 2/1 (February 1991): 71–87; James G. March, â€Å"The Evolution of Evolution,† in J. Baum and J. Singh, eds. , Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 39-52. 7. For interesting examples of how biological evolution might apply to organizations, see Tim Harford, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011); Martin A. Nowak and Roger Highfield, Supercooperators: Altruism, Evolution and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed (New York, NY: Free Press, 2011); Charles A. O’Reilly, J. Bruce Harreld, and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"Organizational Ambidexterity: IBM and Emerging Business Opportunities,† California Management Review, 51/4 (Summer 2009): 75-99; Ormerod, op. cit. 8. Hannah, op. cit. , p. 19. 9. See, for example, Ze-Lin He and Poh-Kam Wong, â€Å"Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of Ambidexterity,† Organization Science, 15/4 (July/August 2004): 481-494; Sebastian Raisch, Julian Birkinshaw, Gilbert Probst, and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"Organizational Ambidexterity: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration for Sustained Performance,† Organization Science, 20/4 (July/August 2009): 685-695; Michael L. Tushman and Charles A. O’Reilly, â€Å"The Ambidextrous Organization: Managing Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change,† California Management Review, 38/4 (Summer 1996): 8-30. 10. For a review of the growing literature on dynamic capabilities, see V. Ambrosini and C. Bowman, â€Å"What Are Dynamic Capabilities and Are They a Useful Construct in Strategic Management? † International Journal of Management Reviews, 11/1 (March 2009): 29-49; Kathleen M. Eisenhardt and Jeffrey A. Martin, â€Å"Dynamic Capabilities: What Are They? † Strategic Management Journal, 21/10-11 (October/November 2000): 1105–1121; J. Bruce Harreld, Charles A. O’Reilly, and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"Dynamic Capabilities at IBM: Driving Strategy into Action,† California Management Review, 49/4 (Summer 2007): 21-43; Constance E. Helfat, Sydney Finkelstein, Will Mitchell, Margaret A. Peteraf, Harbir Singh, David J. Teece, and Sidney G. Winter, Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Change in Organizations (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007); David J. Teece, Gary Pisano, and Amy Shuen, â€Å"Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management,† Strategic Management Journal, 18/7 (August 1997): 509-533. 1. C. O’Reilly and M. Tushman, â€Å"Ambidexterity as a Dynamic Capability: Resolving the Innovator’s Dilemma,† Research in Organizational Behavior, 28 (2008): 190. 12. Harreld et al. (2007), op. cit. ; David J. Teece, â€Å"Explicating Dynamic Capabilities: The Nature and Microfoundations of (Sustainable) Enterprise Performance,† Strategic Management Journal, 28 (D ecember 2007): 1319-1350. 13. See, for example, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, â€Å"Building Breakthrough Businesses within Established Organizations,† Harvard Business Review, 83/5 May 2005): 58-68; Justin P. Jansen, Frans A. Tempelaar, Frans A. Van den Bosch, and Henk W. Volberda, â€Å"Structural 20 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms,† Organization Science, 20/4 (July/August 2009): 797-811; Michael H. Lubatkin, Zeki Simsek, Yan Ling, and John F. Veiga, â€Å"Ambidexterity and Performance in Small- to Medium-Sized Firms: The Pivotal Role of TMT Behavioral Integration,† Journal of Management, 32/5 (2006): 646672; Tom J. Mom, Frans A. Van den Bosch, and Henk W. Volberda, â€Å"Understanding Variation in Managers’ Ambidexterity: Investigating Direct and Interaction Effects of Formal Structural and Personal Coordination Mechanisms,† Organization Science, 20/4 (July/August 2009): 812-828; Sebastian Raisch and Julian Birkinshaw, â€Å"Organizational Ambidexterity: Antecedents, Outcomes, and Moderators,† Journal of Management, 34/3 (June 2008): 375-409; Michael L. Tushman, Wendy K. Smith, Robert C. Wood, George Westerman, and Charles A. O’Reilly, â€Å"Organizational Designs and Innovation Streams,† Industrial and Corporate Change, 19/5 (October 2010): 1331-1366. O’Reilly and Tushman (2008), op cit. Clay M. Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997); Erwin Danneels, â€Å"The Dynamics of Product Innovation and Firm Competences,† Strategic Management Journal, 23/12 (December 2002): 1095-1121; March (1991), op. it. ; Mary Tripsas and Giovanni Gavetti, â€Å"Capabilities, Cognition, and Inertia: Evidence from Digital Imaging,† Strategic Management Journal, 21/1011 (October/November 2000): 1147-1161. Max Bazerman and Michael Watkins, Predictable Surprises (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004); Mary J. Benner and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"Exploitation, Exploration and Process Management: The Productivit y Dilemma Revisited,† Academy of Management Review, 28/2 (April 2003): 238-256; March (1991), op. cit. Justin J. Jansen, Dusya Vera, and Mary Crossan, â€Å"Strategic Leadership for Exploration and Exploitation: The Moderating Role of Environmental Dynamism,† Leadership Quarterly, 20/1 (February 2009): 5-18; R. Scott Livengood and Rhonda K. Reger, â€Å"That’s Our Turf! Identity Domains and Competitive Dynamics,† Academy of Management Review, 35/1 (January 2010): 48-66; Louise A. Nemanich and Dusya Vera, â€Å"Transformational Leadership and Ambidexterity in the Context of an Acquisition,† Leadership Quarterly, 20/1 (February 2009): 19-33. Lubatkin, Simsek, Ling, and Veiga, op. cit. Jatinder Sidhu, Henk Volberda, and Harry Commandeur, â€Å"Exploring Exploration Orientation and Its Determinants: Some Empirical Evidence,† Journal of Management Studies, 41/6 (September 2004): 913-932. Christine M. Beckman, â€Å"The Influence of Founding Team Company Affiliations on Firm Behavior,† Academy of Management Journal, 49/4 (August 2006): 741-758; J. Jansen, G. George, F. Van den Bosch, and H. Volberda, â€Å"Senior Team Attributes and Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership,† Journal of Management Studies, 45/5 (July 008): 982-1007. Charles A. O’Reilly and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"The Ambidextrous Organization,† Harvard Business Review, 82/4 (April 2004): 74-83; Nicolaj Siggelkow and Daniel Levinthal, â€Å"Temporarily Divide to Conquer: Centralized, Decentralized, and Reintegrated Organizational Approaches to Exploration and Adaptation,† Organization Science, 14/6 (November/December 2003): 650-669. Clark Gilbert, â€Å"Unbundling the Structure of Inertia: Resource versus Routine Rigidity,† Academy of Management Journal, 48/5 (October 2005): 741-763; Mom, Van den Bosch, and Volberda, op. cit. Charles A. O’Reilly, David F. Caldwell, Jennifer A. Chatman, Margaret Lapiz, and William Self, â€Å"How Leadership Matters: The Effects of Leaders’ Alignment on Strategy Implementation,† Leadership Quarterly, 21/1 (February 2010): 104-113; Wendy K. Smith and Michael L. Tushman, â€Å"Managing Strategic Contradictions: A Top Management Model for Managing Innovation Streams,† Organization Science, 16/5 (September/October 2005): 522-536. V. J. Gilchrest, â€Å"Key Informant Interviews,† in B. F. Crabtree and W. L. Miller, eds. , Doing Qualitative Research (London: Sage, 1992). This research used a multi-case design in which cases were written for each of the fifteen ambidexterity efforts (e. g. , Eisenhardt, 1989). These cases were then used to generate insights into those actions that were more or less likely to be associated with the successful implementation of an ambidextrous form. Each of the 15 cases was compared to the five propositions suggested by O’Reilly and Tushman (2008). Given the exploratory and qualitative nature of this investigation and the nature of our convenience sample, any results are necessarily tentative. CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu 21 Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit 24. Govindarajan and Trimble, op. cit. ; Charles H. House and Raymond L. Price, The HP Phenomenon: Innovation and Business Transformation (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009); Richard S. Rosenbloom, â€Å"Leadership, Capabilities, and Technological Change: The Transformation of NCR in the Electronic Era,† Strategic Management Journal, 21/10-11 (October/ November 2000): 1083-1103. 25. O’Reilly, Harreld, and Tushman, (2009) op cit. 26. Teece (2007), op cit. , p. 146. 27. Jansen, George, Van den Bosch, and Volberda, op. cit. ; Jansen, Vera, and Crossan, op. cit. ; Nemanich and Vera, op. cit. ; Smith and Tushman, op. cit. 28. For example, see Beckman (2006), op. cit. ; Lubatkin, Simsek, Ling, and Veiga, op. cit. ; Alva Taylor and Constance E. Helfat, â€Å"Organizational Linkages for Surviving Technological Change: Complementary Assets, Middle Management, and Ambidexterity,† Organization Science, 20/4 (July/August 2009): 718-739. 9. See Jansen, Tempelaar, Van den Bosch, and Volberda, op. cit. ; O’Reilly and Tushman (2004), op. cit. ; Wendy K. Smith, â€Å"Managing Strategic Ambidexterity: Top Management Teams and Cognitive Processes to Explore and Exploit Simultaneously,† paper presented at the 25th EGOS Colloquium, Barcelona, July 3, 2009; Tushman, Smith, Wood, Westerman, and O’Reilly, op. cit. 30. For example, see Gilbert, op. cit . ; Robert Sobel, When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them (Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999); Donald N. Sull, â€Å"The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire and Rubber and the Radial Revolution,† Business History Review, 73/3 (Autumn 1999): 430-464; Tripsas and Gavetti, op. cit. 31. Harreld, O’Reilly, and Tushman (2007), op. cit. ; Jan Rivkin and Nicolaj Siggelkow, â€Å"Balancing Search and Stability: Interdependencies among Elements of Organizational Design,† Management Science, 49/3 (March 2003): 290-311; Richard Wittington, Andrew Pettigrew, Simon Peck, Evelyn Penton, and Martin Conyon, â€Å"Change and Complementarities in the New Competitive Landscape,† Organization Science, 10/5 (September/October 1999): 583-600. 2. Matthew S. Olson and Derek Van Bever, Stall Points (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008); Raisch and Birkinshaw (2008), op. cit. ; Juha Uotila, Markku Maula, and Thomas Keil, and Shaker A. Zhara, â€Å"Exploration, Exploitation and Financial Performance: Analysis of S 500 Corporations,† Strategic Management Journal, 30/ 2 (February 2009): 221-231. 22 uNIVERsITy OF CALIFORNIA, bERkELEy VOL. 53, NO. 4 suMMER 2011 CMR. bERkELEy. Edu