Part ( A ) – What is a Business Model? A concern theoretical account can be described as the program a company or an organisation implements in order to make net incomes and generate grosss. A concern theoretical account normally includes the description of the operations and the maps of the concern, ways to make net income and expenditures to be incurred. The concern theoretical account is a portion of the concern scheme.
“ … all excessively frequently, a successful new concern theoretical account becomes the concern theoretical account for companies non originative plenty to contrive their ain. ” -Gary Hamel ( Leading the Revolution: How to Boom in Turbulent Times by Making Innovation a Way of Life ).
A concern theoretical account illustrates how a concern programs to pull clients to pay for the services or value it can supply to its clients and how to change over these into net income. In theory, it states what clients need, how they need it and how the concern intends to outdo meet that outlook ( to maximise satisfaction and gross ).
Some of the constituents and operations of a concern theoretical account:
Fabrication costs
Production procedure
Labor demands
Value proposition
Target client
Distribution channel
Value constellation
Core competence
Partner web
Gross theoretical account
A concern theoretical account must be alone to a concern. It describes the concern ‘s ultimate intent and how to travel about making it. So, a copied theoretical account is a theoretical account merely for visual aspect and will finally function no intent.
A concern theoretical account can be used by directors in the company for future growing or development of the concern. It helps the concern focal point on the its aims and ends, as reexamining it sporadically will guarantee the concern will focused on alterations in the market and current economic conditions.
Part ( B ) – Researching Business Models
Section ( I ) – Amazon ‘s Business Model
“ Amazon.com strives to be the e-commerce finish where consumers can happen and detect anything they want to purchase online. ” -Jeff Bezos, laminitis of Amazon.com.
Amazon.com is one of the greatest illustrations of an e-commerce concern. Internet is the exclusive concern channel that Amazon uses to merchandise with its clients. This has given Amazon great advantages over its rivals.
Most of Amazon ‘s rivals use the brick and howitzer shops as their primary method of distribution. This involves opening cardinal distribution warehouses in of import locations where they are forced to pay premium rents. Therefore, opening a shop forepart will besides necessitate them to engage gross revenues representatives ( to whom they have to pay wages ) for the day-to-day operations. These in bend create big operating expenses for the concern. Amazon does non endure from any such operating expenses. Their concern theoretical account allows them to hold their warehouses in cheaper, low rent locations. They do non hold any demands for gross revenues representatives, as all minutess are performed online.
As the cyberspace becomes of all time more popular, more consumers head towards e-commerce web sites for on-line dealing for consumer merchandises and services. On-line minutess allow clients to preview, discourse, analyze reappraisals and evaluations of other clients and order goods from the comfort of their places or offices, and besides save clip and energy.
One of the most profitable sections for Amazon is their big choice of books and e-books. Amazon ‘s competitory advantages allow them to hive away larger qualities of books than most in the e-commerce market. Kindle, Amazon ‘s ain electronic book reader, allows users to hive away 100s of books digitally in the book reader ‘s memory. It besides allows clients to buy e-books from Amazon ‘s Kindle shop and hold entree to all required information at their fingertips.
These competitory advantages allow Amazon to sell their goods at lower monetary values and supply more price reductions in order to make client satisfaction. Amazon ‘s longtime presence on the World Wide Web has created positive repute and gives its client a sense of security. Such advantages have made Amazon.com really hard to vie against.
Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos, whose assurance in World Wide Web even before the.com roar has proved to be critical for Amazon ‘s yesteryear and current success.
Section ( II ) – Google ‘s Business Model
“ Basically, our end is to form the universe ‘s information and to do it universally accessible and utile. ” -Larry Page, laminitis of Google.
“ Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being really advanced, really sure and ethical and finally doing a large difference in the universe. ” -Sergey Brin, laminitis of Google.
Google is a extremely successful concern best known for their World Wide Web hunt engine. Google has been able to broaden the range of their concern of all time since it was founded in 1998.
Google, from the coming of their concern chose to disregard conventional methods in planing their concern. During the.com roar, Google, unlike its rivals who invested million in trade name edifice, discreetly decided to merely construct a better cyberspace hunt engine. News spread, mostly due to word of oral cavity, of Google ‘s superior hunt capablenesss. Therefore, hunt services became one of their chief concern ventures.
The primary beginning of gross for Google is AdWords. It is an advertisement platform which uses a pay-per-click system. It is helps companies advertise their merchandises and services, worldwide.
The key to Google ‘s success in the hunt engine market are due to many factors:
Google introduced the hunt engine with a clean, simple, and with a minimum user interface. This was a cardinal component for people with slow cyberspace connexions.
Google had good apprehension of the human perceptual experience.
Google was faster and more dependable.
They introduced smart but hazardous concern theoretical accounts such as AdWords. It proved to be a successful venture.
Soon after, Google rapidly introduced many impressive new merchandises, such as Gmail, Google Checkout, Google Earth, etc.
All in all, Google ‘s success lies with their unconventional ways of making concern and hazardous project.
Section ( III ) – British Sky Broadcasting ‘s Business Model
“ Choice, Flexibility, Quality, Control – These are the cardinal elements of the Sky client experience. This twelvemonth we ‘ve built on these strengths while besides puting our attempts in guaranting that the concern is good equipped in a market place that is germinating quickly. ” -James Murdoch, CEO of British Sky Broadcasting.
British Sky Broadcasting is a United Kingdom based wage telecasting and Internet Service Provider. They provide their services in UK and Ireland. Sky committees and get plans to air their ain channels and provide some of those channels to other ISP and overseas telegram operators for retransmitting to their endorsers.
Sky Broadcasting has several merchandises for both its ain retail channel and the 3rd parties ‘ such as:
Direct-to-Home ( DTH )
Sky Player
Sky Mobile Television
Digital Subscriber Line ( DSL ) connectivity
In 2004, Sky and its subordinates introduced a new long-run scheme to increase the figure of endorsers, as they plan chiefly to maximise stockholder value. Sky believes that the wage telecasting sector in UK has great possible for growing.
For their hereafter success, Sky focuses on invention as their nucleus concern theoretical account. Harmonizing to Sky, clients finally choose its services because of the ‘choice ‘ Sky provides. As stated by the CEO of Sky, the user ‘s freedom in taking and commanding comes above all else, and Sky hopes to supply freedom with every bit much flexibleness and quality as possible.
In September 2010, they acquired Virgin Media Television.
Sky purposes to be the best in the amusement market. They plan to make these marks with invention, good quality scheduling and superior client services.
Section ( IV ) – Microsoft ‘s Business Model
“ As we look in front into the following century, leaders will be those who empower others. ” -Bill Gates, president of Microsoft ( non-executive ).
Microsoft is a company best known for their line of Windows runing system. Right from the start, Microsoft has created package that can be used by clients without extended support, services or preparation. Windows presently used by 1000000s around the universe as it can be easy used by inexperient novices and tech-enthusiasts likewise.
Microsoft employs a high volume but low cost concern theoretical account. It is besides helps and supports development of the local economic system.
Microsoft purposes to authorise its clients with advanced and originative solutions to concern jobs, as Microsoft believes they have the greatest potency to function them. They have five concern divisions:
Windows and Windows Live Division -responsible for Windows household merchandises and relationship with other personal computing machine makers every bit good as on-line Windows Live services.
Server and Tools -provides solution and services for Microsoft package waiter merchandises.
Online Services Division -supports Microsoft ‘s on-line advertisement platform every bit good as Bing and other MSN services.
Microsoft Business Division -responsible for the Microsoft Office suites.
Entertainment and Device Division -supports amusement systems ; Xbox systems, hardware and accoutrements, Live! Connectivity. Zune multimedia device, etc.
In recent times, Microsoft ‘s concern theoretical account has been greatly threatened by the debut of open-source package development platforms. In this instance, one of Microsoft ‘s greatest menaces comes from Google, whose push for open-source platforms have been mostly successful.
“ Microsoft is non about greed. It ‘s about invention and equity. ” -Bill Gates, president of Microsoft ( non-executive ).
Assignment – Undertaking 2
Part ( A ) – What is a Business Case?
A concern instance can be described as a papers that states the logical thinking for establishing or originating a undertaking or a undertaking. A concern instance papers may come in assorted signifiers, for illustration, a presentation or a short verbal statement. It is normally a well-structured papers.
This papers can besides be used as a decision-making tool to find how profit-generation or cash-flow will be affected by set abouting certain determinations over a period of clip. Particular attending is paid to Internal Rate of Return or IRR.
“ An account of how a new undertaking, merchandise, etc. is traveling to be successful and why people should put money in it. ” -Definition from Longman Business English Dictionary.
A concern instance papers should logically depict how when set abouting a certain undertaking or a undertaking support the concern ‘ demands and justifies the attempt that would be spent on it. Both the quantifiable and the unquantifiable features are record in a well-designed and persuasive concern instance.
“ Invention comes merely from readily and seamlessly sharing information instead than stashing it. ” -Tom Peters, co-author of “ In Search of Excellence ”.
A concern instance papers can besides be considered to be a manner of sharing information within the company. By pass oning the suggester ‘s thought to the full organisation, information sharing is improved. This papers is normally built or owned by company stakeholders or patrons, alternatively of undertaking directors.
Business instance certification can run from extremely formal, well-structured and elaborate paperss to brief and informal. A comprehensive concern instance should incorporate the undermentioned information:
the undertaking background
expected undertaking costs
anticipate benefits to the concern if undertaking is undertaken
considered options
a subdivision for GAP analysis
expected hazards
The concern instance should be reviewed at assorted phases of the undertaking or undertaking to guarantee that the project of the undertaking is still justified and if the go oning will present the solution the concern demands in clip. Reviewing the concern instance may ensue in the organisation amending or ending the undertaking if it ‘s non executable.
Part ( B ) – Sketching Business Cases
Section ( I ) – The Samsung Galaxy Tab
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a Google Android based compact-tablet computing machine. The primary intent of this merchandise was to vie with the Apple iPad. The Galaxy Tab offers characteristics that are rather similar to the iPad, for illustration, a big, multi-touch capable capacitive touch screen, Internet browse, etc.
There is a big and moneymaking market for tablet computing machines. A tablet is a merchandise that normally positioned between a laptop and smaller devices such as, a smartphone. The primary advantage of utilizing a tablet is that they are truly light, run cool and have no mechanical parts such as fan, etc. A tablet is truly ready to hand when reading e-books or newspapers, digitally.
The Galaxy Tab has legion advantages over the iPad, such as:
GSM/voice web support – The Galaxy Tab supports full Mobile telephone through the GSM web. The iPad can merely utilize the informations line for nomadic internet entree.
Has two cameras – While the iPad does non come with any signifier of camera, the Galaxy Tab features two camera, front facing and rear facing. The front facing camera can be used for picture calls.
Storage expandability – The Galaxy Tab features a memory card slot that can be used to spread out the storage to required sum. The iPad has fixed storage sum.
Multi-Tasking – By using Google Android ‘s latest platform, the Galaxy Tab give its users the ability to multitask.
Lighter, better out-of-the-box picture playback, has more RAM and support for Adobe Flash content, etc.
The iPad besides has its ain benefits over the Tab, for e.g. larger LED based screen with somewhat higher declaration, the elephantine Apple App shop, etc.
Although, the iPad and the Galaxy Tab are viing merchandises, the ends are reasonably much the same. While Samsung has to turn out to most of its clients the strengths of the Tab, Apple, on the other manus, has a immense fan base and client following which has helped greatly in the iPad ‘s gross revenues Numberss.
The benefit of presenting the Galaxy Tab is that the market now has a existent alternate solution to the Apple iPad. Customers are no longer tied down to a individual pick when shopping for public presentation tablets. Detecting the benefits of presenting public presentation tablets in the markets, many other viing companies decided to present their ain merchandises every bit good, with their ain proprietary hardware and runing systems, while holding their ain single benefits.
The following coevals Galaxy Tab is already in plants at Samsung ‘s. It is rumored to have Samsung ‘s award-winning SuperAMOLED touch screen which was, much to the letdown of the clients, absent from the current Galaxy Tab.
Section ( II ) – The Floating Bridge
The Floating Bridge is one of Dubai ‘s prides. The span cost the Government of Dubai a amount of 155 million Dirhams which is around about 42.2 million US Dollars. The span is besides a technological wonder as it ‘floats ‘ on the H2O and is besides built for heavy traffic and haste hours.
A concern theoretical account for the Floating Bridge should include its many characteristics and benefits.
This undertaking was initiated by the Dubai RTA ( Road and Transport Authority ) and was launched in 16 July 2007 as 5th traversing on the Dubai Creek. As Dubai is rather a busy metropolis, such surrogate paths are necessary to relieve the big traffic congestions on the other paths. Along with the Floating Bridge, there are entire five crossings across Deira and Bur Dubai. The others are as follows:
Al Shindagha Tunnel
Al Maktoum Bridge ( Salik Toll System )
Al Garhoud Bridge ( Salik Toll System )
Business Bay Crossing
The Floating Bridge besides provides as one of the toll free paths, to and fro Deira and Bur Dubai. The RTA specifically opened the Floating Bridge, two hebdomads after the launch of Dubai ‘s toll system called Salik. While the Maktoum Bridge requires automobilists to pay tolls, nevertheless, the Floating Bridge is free and is parallel to the Maktoum Bridge. The Floating Bridge is estimated to hold reduced 37 % of the traffic on the Maktoum Bridge.
The Floating Bridge is likely most used traversing out of the five. This largely due to the span, holding been good placed and Salik-free. Furthermore, the Floating Bridge has a heavy traffic capacity. The RTA rates it as 6000 vehicles per hr through six lanes ( 3000 in each way, through three lanes ).
The span is opened daily to let boats to go through through. This is done during off hours between 2200 hours to 0600 hours.
The Floating Bridge was opened with much ostentation. The traffic conditions in Dubai are rather an issue for automobilists, so the launch of a new, free path was widely welcomed. The authorities of Dubai built the span to bring forth public well-fare and cut down accidents due to heavy traffic on busy crossings.
Even though the Floating Bridge is a proficient wonder, it is still a impermanent span. The Floating Bridge is stated to be replaced by RTA with a new and even larger span called the Dubai Smile. Some of the benefits and facts of Dubai Smile:
The undertaking is estimated to be 810 million Dirhams ( approx. 220.5 million US Dollar )
Said to hold twelve lanes ( six in each way, with pathwaies )
To hold a evaluation of 24,000 vehicles per hr
The undertaking is to be completed by 2012
The concern instance of the Floating Bridge should include all of the above and facts and benefits.
Assignment – Undertaking 3
Part ( A ) – What is Human Capital?
Human capital is the set of accomplishments that an person ( or employee ) learns or acquires through his/her occupation, preparation or other calling experiences which determines and/or additions his/her value in the market place. The human capital accomplishments contain but non limited to the followers:
personal properties
cognition and experience
competency
instruction
“ Did you realize that about 42 % of the mean company ‘s rational capital exists merely within its employees ‘ caputs? ” -Thomas Brailsford, Research Manager @ Hallmark Cards.
Human Capital is seen as an of import growing factor by modern growing theory. It is a capital that is non owned by the organisations or the concern proprietors. It is owned by the employees in the market. The company hires human capital for their concern operations.
Human Capital can be viewed as a clip based plus. For illustration, employees start work at 8am to 6pm. The company merely has the human capital for every bit long as the employees remain in the company.
“ The biggest calamity in America is non the waste of natural resources, though this is tragic. The biggest calamity is the waste of human resources. ” -Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Time perspective human capital and human capital hazard can be categorized in the same manner and in the same cardinal activities:
Knowledge Activities ( activities of one person )
Collaboration Activities ( activities of more than one persons )
Procedure Activities ( cognition and coaction activities that are generated by the company ‘s organisational construction, e.g. company policy )
Absence Activities ( one-year foliages, ill foliages )
Part ( B ) – Importance of Human Capital in Consultancy Organizations
The construct of Human Capital is a complex and can non be easy described. The importance of the construct is every bit big as construct itself. As reference earlier in the old portion, the human capital is set of accomplishment acquired by an person. It can besides be described as the person ‘s professional experience.
A KPI is a baseline that is set by an organisation when measuring what accomplishments are required by the person that the organisation needs, as many persons possess different types of accomplishments. For this to go on, an organisation or a company needs to understand what accomplishment they require in an person. This demand is so decently communicated to the people who are responsible for questioning or engaging from outside ( e.g. Human Resource section ). Sometimes big organisations utilize computer-based decision-making system to assist in this respect.
These systems are besides used in consultancy bureaus looking to increase their concern productiveness. An HCI or a Human Capital Intelligence system can be used by the organisation in their program for strategic growing. The determination doing system can assist in respects to engaging the right individual with the requirement behaviour demands. It besides is used to find who requires developing and in what manner to increase their productiveness and efficiency. This creates a KPI or Key Performance Indicators for the company, so it is easier for them to compare possible campaigner to the KPI baseline and determine who is the most suited for the occupation and if they are required to develop and how much should pass on developing the new employee before he/she starts. Consultancy organisation directors can utilize HCI system to acknowledge market tendencies and company demands, therefore pull offing the human capital resources more efficaciously.
HCI systems efficaciously increase overall company productiveness. The better determination devising additions employee morale organisation broad. This will increase their productiveness addition competition against their rival organisations. Collaboration and teamwork additions and these features attract invention and new endowments. Better determination devising will find if the company survives an economic or market recession.
But the organisation should non impotently depend on the HCI system. Human consideration should besides be taken into history. The HCI will choose the most qualified single, but sometimes that is non what the organisation may necessitate. A less qualified person may choose for his/her personal accomplishments and the organisation may pass a little sum towards preparation. This class of action may take to better consequences than engaging the person with a high making but with lower personal accomplishments.
