Chapter 3 of French company "Total SA"
Chapter 3: Organizational Operations and StrategiesOverview: You in" rel="nofollow">introduced the organization in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 1, provided some historical highlights, and described its current functions. This chapter offers a more in" rel="nofollow">in-depth look in" rel="nofollow">into the organization’s operations and busin" rel="nofollow">iness strategies with a focus on problems, issues, weaknesses, or threats described in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 2. You will build upon these problems in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 4 as you conduct a SWOT analysis.
Details: This chapter in" rel="nofollow">includes two major sections that offer a thorough discussion of the organization under review. Discussion in" rel="nofollow">in this chapter should in" rel="nofollow">include in" rel="nofollow">insight from the literature search you performed in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 2 as well as support for your research question and hypothesis. Details for preparin" rel="nofollow">ing each section are as in" rel="nofollow">indicated below.
Section I: Current Company Operations
In this section you will provide subheadin" rel="nofollow">ings and explore the bulleted subjects listed at the end of this paragraph to help in" rel="nofollow">in identifyin" rel="nofollow">ing one or more areas exhibitin" rel="nofollow">ing weakness or threats for further analysis (consistent with the research question and hypothesis in" rel="nofollow">in Chapter 1). Each item in" rel="nofollow">includes a reference to one or more BAS courses so that you can in" rel="nofollow">incorporate a discussion of theories or concepts in" rel="nofollow">introduced in" rel="nofollow">in the program. You should also refer to “A SWOT Checklist” (Table 1 in" rel="nofollow">in Appendix pp.C4-C5, of Hill & Jones textbook) to help in" rel="nofollow">in defin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing possible concerns you in" rel="nofollow">intend to explore later. Also, refer to the resource guide entitled Theories & Concepts Associated with Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing Outcomes (provided with this course) for assistance in" rel="nofollow">in recallin" rel="nofollow">ing or categorizin" rel="nofollow">ing this in" rel="nofollow">information.
Provide subdivision headin" rel="nofollow">ings to discuss the fin" rel="nofollow">inancial aspects (the first item below) and at least five other issues listed below:
• Briefly cover recent historical and current fin" rel="nofollow">inancial aspects of the organization (Course content from FIN 3400); important note: if you are researchin" rel="nofollow">ing a publicly held company, in" rel="nofollow">include fin" rel="nofollow">inancial in" rel="nofollow">information from a recent Income Statement and Balance Sheet. You will need this in" rel="nofollow">information if your thesis addresses fin" rel="nofollow">inancial issues such as profitability, for example. You should also in" rel="nofollow">include a fin" rel="nofollow">inancial data comparison to your organization’s competitors in" rel="nofollow">in the in" rel="nofollow">industry.
• Organizational hierarchy and structure as well as a prelimin" rel="nofollow">inary summary of management and leadership styles in" rel="nofollow">in the organization (Course content from MAN 3025, MAN 4120, MAN 3240)
• Human resource aspects of the organization in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing a review of benefits and pay scales relative to the market (Is the compensation appropriate? Are the rewards adequate?) (Course content from MAN3301)
• Labor relations issues (MAN 4401, other concentration courses or electives as appropriate)
• Specific legal or ethical issues relevant durin" rel="nofollow">ing the organization’s recent history (Course content from
BUL3130)
• A summary of technology and in" rel="nofollow">information systems employed by the organization (Course content
from ISM 4011)
• Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing issues (MAN4802, MAN 4162, other concentration courses or electives as appropriate)
• Operations decisions or operations procedures such as quality manufacturin" rel="nofollow">ing programs (MAN 4504;
other concentration courses or electives as appropriate)
• Industry environment factors that could threaten the organization’s future competitive success
(Course content from GEB 4891)
June 2014 Capstone Paper
10
• Strategic plannin" rel="nofollow">ing or short-term plannin" rel="nofollow">ing issues pertin" rel="nofollow">inent to the study (Course content from GEB 4891, etc.)
In Section II: Corporate & Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Strategies you will outlin" rel="nofollow">ine some of the company’s strategies. Provide subdivision headin" rel="nofollow">ings to discuss at least five of the followin" rel="nofollow">ing issues:
• Defin" rel="nofollow">ine the company’s mission & goals, either from official statements or from the analysis so far
• Defin" rel="nofollow">ine corporate strategy by describin" rel="nofollow">ing lin" rel="nofollow">ines of busin" rel="nofollow">iness and acquisitions
• Determin" rel="nofollow">ine if the busin" rel="nofollow">iness lin" rel="nofollow">ines are related or just a portfolio of in" rel="nofollow">investments
• Defin" rel="nofollow">ine the company’s strategy such as related or unrelated diversification
• Determin" rel="nofollow">ine if the strategy changed over time
• Discuss the implementation of the strategy to date and explain" rel="nofollow">in why it was or was not successful
• Identify the generic competitive strategies such as differentiation, low-cost, focus, etc.
• Identify the in" rel="nofollow">investment strategies based on competition & life cycle stages
• Mention any functional strategies that help it achieve competitive advantage such as efficiency,
quality, in" rel="nofollow">innovation, customer responsiveness, etc.
• Investigate the impact of production, marketin" rel="nofollow">ing, and research & development on strategy formulation
• Do the company’s structure & control systems support its corporate/busin" rel="nofollow">iness strategies?
• Does it have the right levels of hierarchy & decentralization if vertically differentiated?
• Does it employ a functional structure when a product structure is more appropriate if horizontally
differentiated?
• Are controls in" rel="nofollow">in place to ensure adequate compensation and reward systems?
Section III: Chapter Summary. Briefly summarize chapter 3.
Order number from other chapters that need to be referenced: 81800254(chapter 1), 81803781 (chapter 2).