As the semester comes to its end, I want to thank everyone who read my entries and replied to them. I found it to be a great learning experience and somewhat different from the assignments that I used to get in school. I also want to thank the professor with coming up with the idea of blogging.

Beint honest, I was not excited about blogging in the beginning of the semester. I am taking 6 classes this semester, and it's my last one. At first, I saw it as an extra amount of work that I have to put my time and effort into. And as you rush through the last semester you sometimes forget the true purpose of being in school. The purpose here is not just getting your diploma, but acquiring knowelgde. A diploma is just a formality, and the knowledge is priceless...! :)

Blogging happened to be an excellent way to acquire knowlegde, which comes to you not by just routine reading of books, but by doing some research on your own, communicating your ideas to other students, and see what they have to say about it.

Also, it definitely provided friendly atmosphere in the class. Every time I saw a comment on my post, I read it and got a better perspective of what a person is like. It made me more comfortable in the class.

I don't think that I would start blogging on my own and I am glad that my professor "pushed" me to do so. I can see the blog to be useful in the future as well as a great way of bringing your thoughts to people who want to listen to them.

I want to wish everyone to get a good grade in the class and good luck in the future!!!

Poor Customer Service and Low R&D Investment. Where can it bring you?

For many years in the past, companies were able to prosper and grow without investing too much into customer service. Nowadays, as competition increases, and market matures, poor customer service can create financial implications for companies. Part of the problem is low value placed on customer feedback, particular complaints. But customers want to be heard. Resolution and correct management of complains in one of the major ways of retaining customer and keep them loyal to a particular company. But this is only one side of the story. By listening to your customers’ complains, you can always realize how and where products or services could be improved or further developed. Here you can identify opportunities for new products development. As an example of the company that, in my opinion, could improve its customer service, is Apple. Although, I find Apple to be innovative and successful company, the stream of complains either about the quality of iPods or dropped calls on iPhone and slow data transfer seems to increase. This can lead to some financial complications for Apple in the future, including decreasing sales or price drop for their products. Placing the price tag for Apple products high also means that the company should be able to deliver quality products and listen to their customer, who paid that high price tag in order to correct the problem and, therefore, be more competitive in the market place.

Let’s look at another indicator that company might face some strategic problems- low investment in R&D. But first let’s look at this quote: “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”- Steve Jobs, Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998. I agree with the fact that innovation is not expensive, but you surely need some money to into capabilities of people to do the job after something is invented. May be Apple is learning how to be innovative with less money? May be through more effective management of innovation? But we should not forget that nature of R&D development is changing nowadays. With the increasing competition in the technology market, it is not only about technology innovation any more but it has to do a lot with design innovation as well. Apple is on the top of industry, but to stay there, they have to remember the need to constantly increase their investment in R&D.

Apple is great, but...

I’ve just purchased a new phone – iPhone. It looks and feels great, the design and functions are incredible. Whatever you might be looking for you’ll find it here. Apple is known for its unique design and ability to fulfill customers’ desires. No one would argue that Apple has one of the top brand names in the world.

But now let’s look at the different side of the story. Being successful today is not enough. Once you are on the top you have to stay there somehow. You always have to look in the future, trying to figure out potential threats that the company can face, and Apple is not an exception. Let’s look at scenarios that are very likely to happen unless the company is going to take some measures to prevent them.

Although Apple is known for its high quality products, it has difficulties on some of its products' quality control. There were several problems with faulty screens of iPod Nano and faulty batteries on iPods. They just came up with iPhone, which I really enjoy, and I hope that either the screen or the battery will be good, otherwise I’ m not buying any Apple products in the future. I think Apple is concentrating more on internal engineering than on the market. It is always good to impress customers with new products, but at the same time you have to make sure that the quality is high. The computer industry is very competitive, there are so many new and innovative products being created every day. To stay on the top, Apple must continue to invest a lot of funds in R&D as well as in quality control.

Another thing that I’ve noticed about the company that it hasn’t issued any dividends to its stockholders since 1995. In the future, it may cause the investors to lose trust and confidence in Apple. The company has increasing earnings and, therefore, the ability to pay off dividends. The company should improve stockholder loyalty by start paying dividends and put themselves in a better competitive advantage in the future.

One more scenario that is very likely to happen is that Apple can have decreasing sales due to high prices of its products. The economy looks unstable and paying at least $1,300 for iBook (laptop), and somewhat ranging from $150 to $ 400 for iPod (mp3 player) could become problematic. High prices will discourage customers from buying Apple products. The company must review its pricing strategy and decrease the prices to the point where profits are still increasing. Also, it might decrease its costs to produce the products as long as the quality is not sacrificed.

Max Factor - First in Everything!

As I was doing research on the cosmetics industry, I made a notice that the biggest threat to any company that participates in it is intense competition. One of effective ways to succeed is to differentiate your company in some way. That could be:1. to see the potential in an idea and enter the market first before your competitors, 2. to have a product feature that gives a company niche dominance, 3. to receive dominance in market share and distribution channels, 4. to have a monopoly status or receive favorable government protection and treatment which allow you to differentiate.

The company that I want to look at is well-known by many - Max Factor. There are several reasons for that. But aside for a wide product line and fine quality that it provides, Max Factor was a first name that you hear when new product comes up on the market. A lot of products that we've heard for the first time were associated with Max Factor. Here are some facts: 1. first coining the term "makeup"; 2. first professional makeup for motion pictures in 1914; 3. first false eyelashes; 4. first products like: lip gloss, modern foundation as we know it today, eyebrow pencil, concealer; 5. first to come up with water-resistant makeup.

It sounds like a lot of products, that are in our everyday use today, were created by Max Factor. But to create a product is not enough. Once you establish yourself as the first in the market, you have to be able to stay there. Max Factor found the secret to that as well. The product line is huge, products are of a fine quality and affordable at the same time. The most important thing for Max Factor is constant innovation and creativity. They created the new patent-pending iFX mascara brush and new Lash Perfection Mascara, which provides precise coating and defining lashes from root to tip, including hard-to-cover areas in inner and outer corners of eyes. This product line has several options that can suit everyone, including mascaras that provide volume, length, lift, waterproof feature, stretch and separate features, and the one that doesn't have any color in it. The product seems to be very popular with customers and could be found in a great variety in stores, which is a great way to get your product to customers.

What Business Strategy do you employ?

I want to take a look at three mass market retailers/department stores and see how they sustain their share on the market either by focusing on the costs of running a business, being unique somehow, or concentrating on a particular customer group or a product line, etc.

First, I want to take a look at a mass market retailer, such as Wal-Mart. First, it is a powerful retail brand. It has a good reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products in one store. It offers general merchandise, including apparel, domestics, fabrics and notions, stationery and books, shoes, housewares, hardware, electronics, home furnishings, small appliances, automotive accessories, horticulture and accessories, sporting goods, toys, pet food and pet accessories, cellular phones, and cellular service plan contracts. Its stores also offer grocery merchandise, and financial services and products. Plus, it is constantly growing worldwide. It has its retail location in several countries and is expanding. The example can be a purchase of a UK based retailer ASDA. The company reaches its competitiveness through use of effective IT to support its international logistics systems. One click away is to see how individual products are performing country-wide store by store. IT also supports the company effiecient procurement.

The other mass market retailer that I want to mention is Walgreens. Walgreens find its weekness as intense competition primarily from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart delivers more drug prescriptions and it makes much more money per a square foot of the store ($ 26/sq.ft for Walgreens vs. $ 46 for Wal-mart). Walgreens believes that on average a customer lives about 2 miles from the store. To overcome the problems, Walgreens will follow this strategy:
- enter more markets: Walgreens currently is increasing its net stores by 1 per day; also investing in prime store locations
-partnered with TakeCare and InterFit to operate small cliniques in Walgreens stores
- "dense up" existing markets: freestanding stores and drive-though pharmacies, touch tone prescription refills.
- organic store growth: relocate or remodel
- invest heavily in high-tech stores and distribution systems which drive service up and costs down
- offer healthcare beyond the traditional pharmacy: online drug store website

The third store that I want to cover is Rite Aid. The company knows that every year, more baby boomers move into their high prescription usage years. Drug companies continue to spend billions on research and development to create new drug therapies for diseases we know and illnesses we haven't heard of yet. New drugs have started to move through the FDA approval process faster. And over the next five years, three times as many branded drugs will come off patent as in the last five years, which will make prescriptions more affordable and be a boon for higher margin generics. Growing prescription count is number one focus for Rite Aid because pharmacy represents 63 percent of its business and has the most potential for natural growth. Initiatives include increasing recruitment of pharmacists in hard to staff areas, a new program for reacquisition of former customers, a focus on seniors and improvements to Rite Aid managed care and clinical services product lines. The company has doubled its capital budget for acquiring prescription sales, since they provide a quick return on investment. Rite Aid believes new and improved technology will also deliver results as it continues to roll out its next generation pharmacy system, expand e-prescribing so more doctors can send prescriptions electronically and market its enhanced automated refill system. These will make it even easier for both patients and doctors to use Rite Aid.

So, What am I up to?

As I've mentioned my goals before, I've specified that all of them are linked to each other. Achieving one of them would lead to fulfillment of the rest. Let me try to link them again. Reaching financial freedom will serve good to me and the world around me. It will lead to my flexibility of time and location as well as the possibility of giving back to the planet.

Therefore, i should start by concentrating on accomplishment to reach financial freedom. To do that i must come up with a strategy for implementing my plan and how I m going to get where I want to be. For that I need to answer following questions: 1. Where exactly do I want to be?; 2.Where am I right now?; and 3.What would it take me to get there?

Let's talk about financial freedom, first. For me, it doesn't simply mean a certain amount of cash in savings as people never feel when enough money is enough. As I approach the moment of financial freedom, it is just going to feel right. Once you feel that it allows you to accomplish other things, you should know you are at the right place.

Where am I now? I m a senior student at college, graduating with knowledge about finance and investments;) I am about to get out of school and apply for entry-level positions as an analyst. I m looking for a position at a global company so I can gain a better understanding of global markets. I m taking a course on international finance markets this semester and at the same time I m watching closely the BRIC economies ( Brazil, Russia, India, and China) as I strongly believe that those economies are going to become tremendous in size and value. As i gain experience at one of those companies, I d like to open something on my own. I know that Russia, for example, still lacks a lot of financial products and services, but the potential is big. That is an option I d like to explore further.

I believe that following position will be profitable enough and flexible enough to travel and help the world around me, which are my two other major goals.

Final Intro... Just to mention my goals

At any point of our lives we all set some goals for ourselves: professional, personal, sometimes unrealistic...oh, those make life more fun...Throughout our lives we change these goals, adjust them for new situations, drop them, acquire new ones, but they are always there...

Knowing somebody's goals and dreams gives us a good look into the inside of that person and figure out what he or she is all about. That knowledge is like a ray of light in a dark room, and once we have that knowledge, the personality is coming out...

I always assign priorities to my goals and dreams. There are so many of them that I would get lost in them if I dont keep a track...:) But no matter how different from each other they can look and what kind of different activities they might incorporate, they all is one big whole thing that is nothing else but my personality;)

So, let 's start with the money... Well, what are you going to do? :) I am a business student - gotta think about finances:) And one of my goals is to generate nice cash. I don't necessarily know what exactly it is going to be but it is going to be my own business; ideas are endless and so are the possibilities...

And this brings us to my second goal, which is to do something that makes me flexible with my time and location. I find money to be nice to have, but it should be only a way of generating income to further fullfill your dreams, to aid to achieve what you really wish for. The flexibility of time and location gives you great opportunity to travel, to see different and vibrant cultures of the world; to attent music concerts, festivals, museums, participate in a lot of fun and educational activities and so on.

Also , this flexibily can help me to achieve another important goal - to help as much as I can and take a part in preserving the natural world around us at least in a way that we know it now. A lot of damage was done by humanity to nature and to a lot of species, but there are still of lot of them that are in great need of our help and it's great that some of us not only are able to understand it but are trying to do something about it...

I told you they all are connected ;) Tell me what you think about any of it:)

Intro...

Hi, Everyone and Welcome to my world of thoughts, ideas and imagination!;)
Even so they might be quite interesting, the main reason of me creating the blog is to give you... and myself some understanding of what the strategic management process is and how we can find the application of it in our everyday lives. A group of very smart students will try to find answers to these questions and i ll bring them to you. You never know ;) You might use them for something;)
Although, the main reason of this page is to discuss the strategic management I ll be sure to add some other interesting stuff that might come to my mind so this way we all will have some fun:)
Stay in touch!