Business Notes

Say you knew someone at uni now and you did a project with them, in 5 years time you went your separate ways and your looking for a Job and get an interview. Unknowingly they are the manager at the places you got the interview Since they know you, and that you are a hard worker, you have a higher possiblllty than anyone else at landing a Job, making It that much easier. Webcast 3 ” You and Your Career 1 . Stand out from the crowd 2. The clock is ticking 3. Grades are not enough work experience -Your personal skills (communicating etc. ) 4. Clubs are the answer Say YES to opportunity
Reading 3 – Bovee and Thill Developing a business mindset. Major Functional Areas in a Business -Research and Development -Manufacturing and Production -Finance and Accounting -Human Resources Achieving Professionalism -Striving to excel -Being dependent and accountable (on time) -Being a team player -Communicating effectively -Demonstrating etiquette (being mature) -Making ethical decisions -Maintaining a positive, confident outlook (being optimistic) Reading 3 – Inkson Kerr Career development principles for today’s career beginners Taking responsibility for your own career Learn skills and get further education in your career.
This will be a valuable asset especially if you are made redundant from work and are looking for employment. Seeing the future -Don’t get a Job, which in a few years, is going to be taken over by technology. For example being a travel agent is a very risky Job nowadays. Websites are beginning to do everything that a travel agent can do and soon enough people aren’t going to go to a travel agent, they’ll go online and book their travels. Using University to prepare your career -Joining clubs SPARK, Management Consulting Club

Improvise on ways to enhance your career Webcast 4 – What employers are looking for Rounded skills which match that of the skills need for the Job you are applying for. You wouldn’t say that one of your skills is that your good at fishing if you’re applying for a Job as a teacher. Or that you’re talkative if you’re applying for a Job at a deaf institute. Networking is an important skill. Webcast 5 – Business Models Like how stores such as the warehouse and clothing stores have a physical store but are now setting up online stores.
They are creating new business models (one for hysical stores, and one for online shopping) where for online shopping they offer one day, or free shipping, online discounts etc. What is a business? A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods or services, or both to its customers What is a business model? Explains how the firm creates value for its customers and how it captures value. – Creates Value – a very basic explanation is how it makes life easier for the consumer (less time spent doing the task).
For example how computers made it very easy to type an essay where as handwriting it takes a long time. -Captures Value – how a firm captures the value’ i. e. putting a price on the value it has created. Revenues and profits. Why are business models important? Business model innovation creates opportunities in the market (as the example shown above, shopping which can be done online) which can create new sources of revenues and profits.
Summary In order for a business to be economically viable it has to maintain a balance between creating value for customers and capturing value from its operations. A firm’s business model defines how it creates and captures value. Successful businesses design their business models purposefully Creating new value is more and more dependent on business model innovation. Entrepreneurship and small business ownership Economic Roles of Small Businesses -They provide Jobs -They introduce new products -They supply the needs of larger organisations. Logistics and couriers) -They inject a considerable amount of money into the economy -They take risks larger companies sometimes avoid -They provide specialized goods and services Financing Options for Small Businesses -Private financing (family loans) -Banks -Venture Capitalists (investment specialists who raise large pools of capital from large rivate sources) -Angel Investors (Private individuals who put their own money into start-ups -Credit Cards Webcast 6 – Entrepreneurship and Innovation Why does it matter?
Trends have emerged that drive the innovation process. Due to factors such as globalisation and outsourcing, there is an increased push to improve efficiency and effectiveness of organisations. Organisations need more than good products to survive; they require innovative processes and management that can drive down costs and improve productivity. Innovation – Conversion of knowledge and ideas into new or improved products, rocesses or services.
Entrepreneurship – Process of creating or seizing an opportunity and pursuing it to create something of value regardless of current available resources. Intrepreneurship – Being entrepreneurial within a business or organisation you are part of. You work somewhere and you find a new way of doing something. Linear model for stimulating economic growth Innovation is about exploring the unknown in terms of: -Markets -Technologies -Business Models Creating radical changes (creating the telephone) or incremental changes (iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S) Webcast 7 – Business Ethics and CSR
CSR pyramid Minimalist – Earn a profit Cynical – Make you think that they care about you and the environment, when it’s really not in their best interest Defensive – Shamed or forced into it (it is not illegal for Cadbury to use Palm Oil in its products, but it is destroying rainforests. People got angry and don’t like Cadbury anymore. To make people buy their chocolate again they have taken it out of their products) Proactive – Feel responsibly to help out society and the environment and are the ‘leader’. They do things such as take a harmful metal out of their product so it doesn’t arm us or the environment.
Plant trees. Use biofuel in their planes etc. E. g. of unethical practises Small loan companies who give out small cash loans -Charge up to 2500% a year on interest Its unethical but it is legal. Laws try to stop unethical practices that businesses are involved in to protect consumers, environment, people etc. Corporate Social Responsibility 1. Being profitable 2. Whilst obeying the law 3. And acting ethically doing what’s right and fair 4. Respecting people, communities and the natural environment and contributing to their quality of life Reading 7 – Bovee and Thill
Business Ethics and CSR Ethical Behaviour -Competing fairly and honestly -Not causing harm to others Business Ethics (being proactive) -Continuing trend to becoming sustainable -Businesses making safe products for manufacturers -Employing a diverse range of cultures Webcast 8 – Sustainability Sustainable Development – The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs. The earth should do what it was designed to do -Provide clean air -Clean water -Produce food and it should be able to do this FOREVER
Scientists in Sweden 4 basic principles or ‘core instructions’ for our planet to be sustainable 1 . Reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and heavy metals 2. Reduce our dependence on synthetic chemicals e. g. house cleaners 3. Reduce our destruction of nature 4. Make sure everyone’s needs are met So BASICALLY we need to live like we did back in the Stone Age where we never used fossil fuels, never cleaned our cave with Easy Off BAM and where we didn’t destroy large areas of nature (only what we needed but it was SUSTAINABLE since it was a tree for a winter of firewood which would grow back).
Operating in this area would mean businesses are ideally being sustainable Operating in this area would mean businesses are ideally being sustainable 3 Spheres of Sustainability e. g. of businesses being sustainable Air New Zealand using biofuel in one of their engines for a flight to reduce carbon emissions. This fuel is extracted from a plant. “A brand is not what businesses tell people it is, its what people tell each other it is” has less of an impact on the environment and sometimes it also reduces costs.
It is an opportunity not a threat! Reduce and Reuse! Module 3 Webcast 9 – Leadership What is leadership? What is leadership for? How do we create leadership? 4 lenses of leadership -Results -Position -Person -Process Leadership is an interactive process in which leaders and followers engage within a distinctive context to fulfill a mutually important goal To tackle specific types of problems Type Critical Tame Wicked Crisis Command-provide an answer Complicated Management-organise Complex Leadership-ask questions How do we create it? Leadership is a reciprocal (mutual) relationship between those who choose to lead and those who decide to follow’ It is the interaction of both administrative and adaptive leadership Administrative – People who formally have a high amount of authority, are the ‘leaders’ of the company. CEO’s, duty managers etc. They are not forced into it but show qualities of a leader. Reading 9 – Bovee and Thill Management Roles, Functions and Skills Managers have tremendous influences over the success of failure of the companies they lead.
This reading talks about the: -Roles that managers play -The functions that they perform -Planning -Leading -Organising -Controlling -and the essential skills that they need The Roles of Management All the managerial roles that leaders must play can be grouped into three main categories. Interpersonal Providing leadership to employees, building relationships and acting as a liaison between groups and individuals both inside and outside the company (suppliers, consumers etc. Informational Gathering information from sources both inside and outside the organisation. Inside – How the front lines’ of the business is doing on a day-to-day business. (Example is the executive dashboard, which provides important information instantly) Outside – What is happening in the world, how it will affect the organisation, new pportunities in the market, new technologies to improve productivity and reduce costs etc. Decisional Managers up and down the organizational ladder face an endless stream of decisions (price to set of a product, who to hire).