Archive for the ‘Business insights’ Category
If you don’t live in the UK, or if you live in the UK but don’t watch TV then you might have missed it so let me inform you. Vodephone has done one of two things:
One: Facebook and vodephone have hooked up together in order to do better advertising and bring more people to their network or. . .
Two: Vodephone has wised up to the idea that many people are now using social media networks and by allowing people to use those site on their phone networks they can tap into an ever increasing market, either way Vodephone has defiantly tapped its hammer on the social media segment market.
It seems like the only plausible movement after the revolution MSN made to not only the instant messaging service but also to emailing as well as phone enabled messaging that others would soon see the mobile phone internet space as the new hub for new developments and, what all companies seek, sales, turnover and profit. I’m not really a fan of Vodafone although I did buy my phone there and get it converted into a 02 but then again O2 always has had the best deals for texting.
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By legendary11 in
Business insights
Jun
3
Although you wouldn’t always think it, where to locate a business is a defining feature which managers have to make. It can have an impact on many different departments of a business and, therefore, on the profitability and chances of success for the whole firm. It is also important to remember that location decisions are:
Strategic, moving location is a long term decision and must be planned.
Not easily reversed as the costs of relocation are high
Taken at the highest management level they are not delegated to subordinates, this can cause problems with staff.
When are location decisions necessary?
There are a great number of situations and reason why a business might need to relocate or find a location. A few example situations are listed below:
Newly formed businesses will have to consider where to set up their first premises. This is often close to the owner’s area of residence because the owner normally knows the area well and feels most comfortable there because of the proximity to home, a good example of this is the body shop.
Expanding firms may need a new site to allow for growth or to set up a branch in a different location. McDonalds is a good example of this.
Firms faced with uncompetitive costs may have to find a cheaper location.
Businesses expanding abroad to become multinationals must select appropriate countries and locations within them.
Factors of location
When choosing a location the business must take into account the costs of moving or establishing their business in the location. Such things they have to consider are;
Labor Costs
Site and capital costs
Transport
Proximity to suppliers
Workforce disruption
Language factors
Exchange rates
Labor Cost relates to which country your in as places like India will accept lower pay for the same amount as work, although this may give the brand a bad image, unemployment is also a factor, in a high unemployment area you are likely to pick up the labor number you need as well as the ability to replace workers who leave. If the location has low unemployment the reverse will inevitably occur.
Site and capital costs are the costs that price the land will cost the amount of rent per Xyear’s or the costs of building from scratch. Capital costs come into play if the production methods the firm uses are transferable or not, if not the costs will increase in order to buy new capital equipment.
Transport is crucial for all businesses especially businesses that have perishable goods, if it takes you 5 days to get to the market place and the vegetables goes bad after 2 days is it smart to be that far away?
Proximity to suppliers is not always essential as you can always change suppliers but if the business has a trusted supplier and they run on Just-In-Time then the closer the better.
If the company has to move to a location that is not accessible to its current work force there is likely to be a great deal of upset in the workplace and the costs of making those people redundant need to be taken into account.
If a business decides to move abroad to a new country with a different currency they will need to know if in this new area if their currency better i.e. is the currency worth more then before or if its worth less (prices are more expensive in the new location).
Language doesn’t only refer to just French, Spanish, English, but to accents as well, some people are unable to under stand some accents because there not use to them and this can cause problems with communication.
Learning Note
Location is not normally the full basis of an essay but it is useful to note down the key points form the above article and apply it to case studies you have, although it might not be a full essay it is a useful area to know and apply to all types of questions, questioning the location of the firm in case studies is useful, especially if they do not state a real location, this way you can explore possibilities and adapt it to what you think whilst showing off your knowledge, for example, if it says the firms suffering from high labor turn over maybe its in a very low unemployment location so businesses are competing for labor with higher wages or perks.
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Postal regulators have called for Royal Mail to be partially privatised in order for them to increase the effectiveness and quality of the business. It has been noted before, by Postcomm, that the financial issue of Royal Mail will only worsen over time unless bold action was taken.
Nigel Stapleton, (Postcomm’s chairman) has said that without private sector investment or some sort of government subsidy the business is looking to fail.
The only time Royal mail was truly secure in its placement was back in 1650, back when it held the a monopoly for 350 years which ended in 2006 when other operators were allowed to collect and deliver any mail they choose.
Although Royal mails dominance was not a short lived one it seems mostlikly that the business will fall to failure if private sector investment does not come into play. In the year to the end of March Royal Mail lost £279m. The core root of this loss is because Royal Mail has lost a lot of business in the lucrative bulk mail collection and sorting market, but still must uphold less profitable universal delivers.
This proposal does not come without scrutiny, the Communication Workers Union, (the main postal workers’ union), said Postcomm’s proposal overstepped its remit.
Although Royal Mail is falling into financial difficulties it still does hold 90% of the marker, the main issue it seems, besides the fact they constantly lose mail, is that they need to become a more effective and objective business. Royal Mail has had too light a ride with its 350 year dominance and has become lazy or, as economists call it, productively inefficient.
There is and has always been highly debated over, the idea of; a monopoly best because or A or is a competitive market best because of B. It is easy to notice that, not only from 350 years leading to failure but also form the lack of efficient allocation Royal Mail uses that it would be best for the business to have an open market forcing it to become a highly productive and efficient in the market.
“Royal Mail needs access to private capital and a stronger set of incentives to enable it to restructure and become more profitable,” Postcomm said.
The independent review of the postal sector will submit its final report this summer and will give deeper insight in where Royal Mail may be heading.
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You pay 1-20 pounds for an album for your favourite singer, band, rapper or DJ or maybe you illegally download them, in which case stop and support your filthy rich singer.
An elastic market is where if price goes up there is a huge drop in domain compared to the profit gained, a price inelastic market is when the reverse happens, increasing price will lead to a smaller then proportionate drop in sales increasing profit.
When trying to identify how elastic music is there are a few variables to include: Do you like them and have you got enough money to pay if both of these are yes then would you pay? If I gave you $100 and your favourite singer just released their new album which cost $100 would you buy it? I wouldn’t which means it’s a price elastic market, contrasting ideas anyone?
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By legendary11 in
Business insights,
Economy
May
14
The UK’s unemployment has risen by a staggering 14,000 in the last 3 months; this is a rise to 1.61 million unemployed people in the UK. This is only another clue pointing towards the UK falling into a recession.
The number of people claiming jobseekers allowance has climbed by a staggering 7,200 to 806,300 last month. These figures only further reinforce the fact that the UK is falling into a recession and a recession at this time may be the biggest slump the UK has seen.
With increases in the house prices by nearly 70% in the recent years the economic slowdown comes as a shock and has already shocked the UK stock market down and house prices are beginning to fall.
Many economists are speculating the recession to come within the next three months and if this trend continues it seems like a likely estimation.
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By legendary11 in
Business insights
May
12
If I was the competition commission the fact that prices have rose well above the amount of the gas actualy costs to import would have sent me running into the company to find out why. The fact of the matter is that since 2003 the price for electricity has rose by around 70%!
British Gas has attempted to defend its stupendous rise in profit by saying “the money generated will go into research and development to remove reliance on offshore gas and electricity”.
The rise in British Gas profits hasn’t gone unnoticed and it seems that many officials as well as the public are calling for the competition commission to step in and find out what the real cause of this increase in price is. British Gas had been under the scrutiny of the public eye of late and this is reflected in the amount of customers leaving British Gas day by day. British Gas think that a giant boom in their profits by 40% is just simply is not enough. Hopefully British Gas will be put under investigation and the UK will see some price decreases.
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By Anree in
Business insights
Apr
21
Do you think there’s enough recycling done in the UK, USA and in fact the world? UK law does force some business to recycle and use much greener methods of using energy and making energy, such as bio fuel, but are the changes coming into place too late? The UK is convinced global warming is real even though some scientist still disagree and are investing in helping businesses to become green and allowing more lenient recycling methods. Business are feeling the strain of higher energy costs which is forcing them into movements such as using solar power, wind energy, bio fuel as well as investing in newer models of cars that consume less petrol in order to not be charged for the new car tax on old cars.
Energy costs have risen over 35% for a high majority of businesses and this is obviously eating into the company’s revenue and of course profit and the amount of money shareholders get.
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MySpaceTV will be distributed internationally. The information was revealed at the MIPTV conference in Cannes, France. This now allows MySpace a global reach. Under this new plan, Myspace’s online shows such as “Quarterlife”, “Prom Queen,” and “Roommates” will receive a mega boost of distribution treatment and will make their way into overseas markets on international television and DVDs as well as merchandise. MySpaceTV will use their new global power to show feelers for new television programs without having to undergo the expense of filming a costly pilot episode. Advertising, said Barrett, is one thing everybody can do and is the main thrust for social media sites to generate revenue and that these sites are also trying to come up with other ideas on how to monetize by selling things to users directly. As if there wasn’t already too much advertising on MySpace.
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Recently, I’ve been looking at the market as a whole and I do notice one thing: people aren’t spending money. The reason I say this is because the whole market has been going under a so called ‘recession’ in the economic cycle and this process is completely natural, yet it is not really liked by anyone because it hinders progress. Anyways, curiosity rises when you don’t have any money to buy the goods you need or really desire, yet you see some people spending as if there is no tomorrow. Even in my neighborhood, I see people buying high end cars such as Escalade, houses in the 7-figure range and buying their kids new stuff like go karts. The question is how can you get yourself in s such a position, where you have ability to start a business or just uplift your financial status.
The solutions are hidden at Choicepersonalloans.com. Choicepersonalloan gives you the opportunity to get finance at your convenience. You can apply for personal loans and see for yourself that the process is completely hassle free and the service is insanely fast. Best of all, there is no collateral, so why suppress yourself when you have the opportunity. The cash process is easy and getting this loan is basically for everyone. Even if you are suffering from bad credit, slow credit, or are maintaining a stellar credit score- everyone is welcome.
Something to note, there are many loan sites that want you to sign up, but never give user the real information upfront, such as the interest rates, if they qualify or not and so on. Choicepersonalloans.com gives you the cutting edge on information on all your deals, such as questions on how all this works and so on. They want you to be financially educated and have listed some great articles on their site:
The Value of Obtaining a Copy of Your Credit Report Prior to Applying for Personal Financing
Getting Rid of Bad Credit w/a Personal Loan - Bad Credit Loans
–how having a damaged credit history impacts your life
Advice for First Time Cash Borrowers
Online Loans - Are They Safe?
Getting the Best Rates and Terms
Choicepersonalloans.com is the way to go, even if you are looking for unsecured loans (no collateral needed).
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By Anree in
Business insights
Apr
9
Firstly what is job empowerment? Job empowerment is simply the amount or level of ‘authority’ the member of staff has, these vary from, managerial to shop assistant. Have you ever gone into a shop only to find it takes 2 or more ‘managers’ to get your refund on your faulty item? Yes we all have. This problem been name the “go fetch” diseased and we’ve all been hit by it. The problem is businesses are just not as trusting as they once were and fear that by giving their workers some type of power there going to create power mad employees. To be frank all there doing is lowering the job satisfaction and makes the worker feel devalued, it also waste the time of the shop assistant and anyone else that person might have to fetch in order to do what the customer needs. My message is simple: Give your employees some power and lessen your labour turn over.
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