Equity portfolio management - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2150 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Introduction Equity portfolio management includes passive management and active management. This two type of management are different in theory, objective and strategy. Some argue that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hybridà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  active/passive equity portfolio management styles exist, but such styles really are variations of active management philosophies (Brown, and Reilly, 2012). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Equity portfolio management" essay for you Create order In this article, firstly, we will define active and passive management and discuss about the differences between these. Secondly, we will talk about the strategies of active and passive management with some example. Thirdly, we will analysis two managementsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ advantages and disadvantages with some examples. Finally will be a recommendation of management style choosing. Differences between Active management and passive management Active management refers to a portfolio management strategy where the managers make many specific investments with the goal of outperforming an investment benchmark index (Fuller, Han, and Tung, 2010) The aim of active management is to deliver a high return in the whole market. In another way to say, it aims to beat the return from a particular market index or benchmark (Vanguard, 2012). Investors could choose an adapt opportunity to adjust the portfolio, which could achieve the maximum profit and minimum risk. The active management is based on the assumption of inefficiency market; the debenture always has the correctness of pricing when the interest rate changed. Active management also depend on the human element, such as team managers, the single manager or co-managers, which could operate the portfolio with a convenience, efficiency and flexible way (Loth, 2014). The human element could depend on the current market to analyse, judge and forecast the debenture with their own experience; they know the time, when will buy or sell. Moreover, active management does not believe the efficient market hypothesis, managers believe that the market always has some incorrect price and other leaks, which is unconscious; they could use these leaks to maximum the profit. Passive management is a financial strategy in which a fund manager makes as few portfolio decisions as possible in order to minimize transaction costs, including the incidence of capital gains tax. One popular method is to mimic the performance of an externally specified index (Fuller, Han, and Tung, 2010). The goal of a passive portfolio is to match the returns to the index as closely as possible (Brown, and Reilly, 2012). This management believe the efficiency market hypothesis; it determines that the time line of market could reflect all the information, some specific stock pick will be fail, and the best strategy of investing is based on the index. (Loth, 2014) the passive management just follows the market, and have a less charge, all the data of stocks will be analyzed by the computer, and show to the investors. When the investors uses the passive management, it is that the investors do not care about the good performance of specific stock, they focus on the whole stocks have a good performance, and get the profit. Investors need collect all the stocks and bonds to achieve an excellent return. (Anspach, 2014) In conclude, an active decision could be thought as an investor making choices among many possible choices in order to create a portfolio. Passive investing is commonly viewed as not involving very many, if any, active decisions or arbitrary choices in the investment process. Strategies Active management strategies Active management strategies include fundamental, technical and asset allocation strategies. Fundamental strategies include the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Top-Downà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Bottom-Upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ approach. Top-down approach means that managers could start looking at the market as a whole, and then determine which industries or sectors are likely to do well given the current economic cycle. When the choice has made, the selection of specific stocks will be possible to have a best for a company. The Bottom-up has ignored the market conditions and expected return. Companies are based on the financial statement, product line, P/E, Growth and others to evaluate themselves, this approach means that the well-running companies will have a good performance, no matter what market conditions and expected return. (Loth, 2014) Secondly, Technical strategies means that the charts or grapes could determine the direction of stock, investors could depend on these direction to buy or sell. It could show the market is bull or bear, determine the time of buying or selling, and forecast the trend of stocks. Such as the Moving average, which is 50 days and 100 days, when the line of 50 days over the line of 100 days, this is a sign of buying, which means that the price of stocks will increasing in the future, or reverse. Contrarian investment strategy means that investors could buy some poor performance stocks, and sell them when these stocks have good performance. The price momentum strategies means that the good performance stocks will maintain a while, investors could buy these stocks, and sell them when these stocks get better. The earnings momentum strategies means when the earning per share of a company is increasing, then the sales or other index will increasing, investors could depend on this way to buy sto cks, which get the profit. The last on is the asset allocation strategies, which include the integrated asset allocation, strategic asset allocation, tactical asset allocation and insured asset allocation. The strategic asset allocation means that investors could hold the stocks and bonds as their asset, such as if an investor hold 50% stocks and 50% bonds, which has historical 10% and 5% return per year, then the total return of asset will be 7.5% per year. The tactical asset allocation could be a short-term; investors could continually adjust the asset to adapt the changing market. This way is flexible, which could fit for the different market situation. The insured asset strategy means that the portfolio of investors should have a basic return, if the portfolio achieves the basic return, the investors should increase the management, and achieve the maximum return. If the portfolio maintains the basic return, the investors will have a riskless asset. The investors and managers could change the weight of asse t, and over the basic return. Integrated asset allocation could examine the capital market conditions, investorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s objectives and constrains, this considers the economic expectation and the risk when the investors establish the mix asset, could not only consider the expectation, but also the actual change in capital market. It analyses the ability of risk tolerance. Investors could depend on the actual market situation to make the decision for changing mix asset or improve the mix asset. Passive management strategies For the strategies of passive management, it is index portfolio strategy, which include the full replication, sampling and quadratic optimization. Full replication means that the managers could purchase by the weight, which is similar with the index, which could be easy to track the index. The sampling means that ETF could provide a lot of pure physical replication, therefore, using the sampling techniques could be a good way to find a adapt index, in general, fund could utilize sampling to choose the index, and weighting. Such as the MSCI world index has more 1,600 sticks, buying all stocks is impossible, and inefficient, using sampling to choose a small weighting could achieve the correct target. Moreover, sampling is a cheap and statistical way, through buying the sample stock could know the weight in index. A small number of stocks could determine that the charge is less, fewer problem of reinvestment, and less difficult for rebalance. (Hughes, 2014) The quadratic optimization could comfirm the mix investing, which depend on the historic data and relevant information. This way could significantly decrease the tracking error for the index. The market will change with the time, which may cause the incorrect index. The formula is, the tracking error could be determined by . Therefore, investors could reply on this way to minimum the error of tracking index. Analysis and Evidences Through the comparison of passive and active management, investors could directly know when they should use the passive or active management, or how to use them. The passive management has some advantages, the investors have a lower fees, they do not need to analyse the stocks in the index, and it has transparency, investors know the time to buy or sell some kinds of stocks, moreover, the hold and buy of index fund will not large tax, because of the limited investing amount. The tax efficiency is high. The passive investor also could avoide the challenges and costs, which associate with the active managers. In the complex world, the smartest people also could stumble, and go to trouble. Beating the market is a difficult thing. However, passive management require the investors accept the configuration of indexes, no matter how risk holding and inherent. The SP 500 is managed by a committee which considers many factors, such as market capitalizations, sector representation, liquidity and positive earnings; holdings are adjusted regularly. By contrast, the Russell indexes has a rule per year, which is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to ensure new and growing equities are reflected.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Poor performance Companies, in some cases, can be a material portion of a Russell index. In the case of bonds, some indexes do not account for defaults until they occur and occasionally contain illiquid securities (Whitehead, 2012) The passive management also will assumes a significant weighting to individual securities. The stocks will be larger, the money is valued by market capitalization in the indexes, which lead to the emphasis on some good performance companies or industries, forcing them to undertake the risks. Such as, over 30 percent of the SP 500 was invested in the energy sector in the 1970s and in technology and telecommunications in the 1990s, and 20 percent in financials, then in few years, the collapse of those sectors was because of large cap passive portfolios. For individual companies, passive management expose investorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ risks. For example, Nortel accounted occupy 36 percent in the Toronto Stock Exchangeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s main index in 2000, then its market capitalization dropped from $250 billion to less than $50 million, and bankruptcy in January 2008. Likewise, the top five mega-stocks occupy one-third of the loss in the SP 500 when the technology bubble burst in 2000. T herefore, the index may cause a significant risk. (Whitehead, 2012) For the advantage of active management, firstly, there is an opportunity for outperformance in active management as it aim to beat the index. Active management is flexible, which is different with the passive management, not require hold specific stock or bond. The hedging is also important, which managers could use short sales and put option to protect the investors minimum the losses. The investors could go out the specific holding risk, moreover, the active management could maintain the investors have a stable investing strategy and principle, higher average level record, and restrict risk management. For the disadvantage of active management, active management have a significant pressure, when the manager operate the investing, these mangers afraid the failure, they are always cooperation each other, they are investing defensively and avoid big error. The active management also will have relevant risk, such as the loss of personnel or clients, lagging performance, out-favour of strategy or style. The change of investing principle will lead to change of ownership. Recommendations The manager of active management maybe more useful in specialised areas, such as the technology, smaller companies and the emerging market. Passive management is suitable for the easy trade, such as Smetters, people has known this company that active managers are unlikely to gain any special insight. (Wharton, 2015) In my recommendation, the passive management is better than active management. This result is depend on the investorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s behaviour, current stock market, managerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attitude and lower risk. Moreover passive management has lower charge, and convenience, investors could depend on the index to adjust their asset, and buying stocks. In recently, the active managers has a negative attitude, they afraid the fail, and be negative to make decision. Therefore, the passive management is better. References: Anspach, D. (2014) What Is The Difference Between Active and Passive Investing? About Money. [online] Available from: https://moneyover55.about.com/od/howtoinvest/a/activevspassive.htm [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. Brown, K.C. and Reilly, F.K. (2012)Analysis of Investments Management of Portfolios. 10th ed. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. Fuller, R.J., Han, B. and Tung, Y.N. (2010) Thinking about indices and passive versus active management.Journal of Portfolio Management. 36 (4), pp. 35-47. Hughes, E.A (2012) Replication strategies for exchange-traded funds. FT Adviser [online]Available from: https://www.ftadviser.com/2014/03/19/investments/etfs-and-trackers/replication-strategies-for-exchange-traded-funds-GY6qJxCjhijedHruPpSm1I/article.html [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. Loth, R. (2014) Passive VS Active Management. Investopdia. [online] Available from: https://www.investopedia.com/university/quality-mutual-fund/chp6-fund-mgmt/ [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. Vanguard Asset Management (2012) Active and passive investing What do you need to know. [online]Available from: https://www.vanguard.co.uk/documents/portal/literature/active-passive-investing-guide.pdf [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. Wharton, University of Pennsylvana (2015) Active vs. Passive Investing: Which Approach Offers Better Returns? [online] Available from: https://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/thought-leadership/wharton-wealth-management-initiative/wmi-thought-leadership/active-vs-passive-investing-which-approach-offers-better-returns [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. Whitehead, R. (2012) Active versus passive investing. [online] Available from: https://www.abbotdowning.com/_asset/jnq16k/ActiveVersusPassiveInvesting.pdf [Accessed 12 March, 2015]. 1

Social Networking Sites Have Brought More Problems Than...

Social networking sites are a new revolution that deserves our attention, as we ourselves are part of this revolution. Social networking is an umbrella term that refers to the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and construction of words, pictures, audio and videos. Simply put, social networking is about the million of conversations that take place all over the world on social networking sites, which includes Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, online forums, etc. Proponents of online communities insist that they facilitate communication and connection globally, serves as a new business arena, and brings together people of common interests and allows them to air their views with no restrictions. Opponents of social†¦show more content†¦Teens using these sites may not be aware that the information they post is public and that photos and text can be retrieved even after deletion. Coupled with the fact that social networking sites have no way to verify tha t people are who they claim to be, leaves people, especially children, vulnerable to solicitations from online predators who are able to mask their true identities. In Feb. 2009, MySpace identified 90,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the site, while Facebook declined to reveal how many were present on its site. Even if the sites agree to remove sex offenders, they cannot identify all of them or stop them from creating new accounts. Thus, social networking sites may lead to potential over-sharing of personal information and leaves people vulnerable to online predators. Economically, excessive usage of networking sites leads to loss of revenue. A 2007 study found that workers using Facebook in the office were costing Australian businesses up to $4.5 billion (US) per year. A Feb. 2009 report stated that social networking sites were costing UK businesses an estimated $12.5 billion (US) annually. 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Chronicles of Narnia Free Essays

Chronicles of Narnia The Chronicles of Narnia research paper The Chronicle of Narnia is a very interesting book, it has a classic Good vs. Evil plot. In this story four brave children a saved land. We will write a custom essay sample on Chronicles of Narnia or any similar topic only for you Order Now The book and the movie did not have many differences except for some that were small. To begin the plot of the book, the story takes place during the Second World War in London. Their father was gone in the war and they were living with their mother, there city was getting bombed so they were forced to evacuate. Their mother sent them away to live with Professor Digory Kirke who lived on the country side. They were very bored on a rainy day in England and decided to play hiding go seek. Lucy who was the youngest child was the weakest emotionally and was many times rejected cause of her young age. While in the house playing the game she stumbled upon a room in the back of the house hidden and secluded, were she decided to go. Struggling to find a place to hide she came upon a wardrobe. While in the wardrobe she discovers that it was a portal to a snow covered forest. She was so amazed by her unexpected path into this hidden world, while searching a looking around this land she met a faun. He introduces himself as Mr. Tumnus who invites her home for some tea. Once in the house he began to talk to her, telling her about Narnia an how once it was a beautiful land until it was taken over by the evil White witch who covered the land in snow. After speaking with Mr. Tumnus on this, she had to return to her home, having spent hours in Narnia, to find that only a few minutes have passed in England. She finds her sibling an explains to them of her indifferent experience in a strange land called Narnia. She is unable to convince the others of her adventure as the wardrobe now appears merely as a wardrobe. Several weeks later another game of hide and seek is going on when Lucy and Edmund both hide in the wardrobe, and find that It leads to Narnia. This time in Narnia Edmund and Lucy both have different experiences. While in Narnia, Edmund fails to catch up with Lucy and encounters a pale lady on a sledge, after reviling her identity Edmund is unaware of her evil hold on the land of Narnia and that by using him she can gain acces to the other children an stop the prophecies from being fulfilled, but she wins him over with a few Turkish delights. After returning from Narnia this time Lucy has someone who can tell of their adventure but Edmund denies all things that happened in Narnia and the land itself. A few days later all four children scramble to avoid Mrs. Macready who is showing some visitors around the house. They hide in the wardrobe and find themselves in Narnia. Lucy guides them to Mr. Tumnus’s cave were they found that he had been arrested by the White Witch for having Lucy in his cave, they also ransacked the cave and destroyed all things. A pair of two talking beavers (Mr. and Mrs. Beaver) who shelter the children and recount an ancient prophecy that the witches power will fail when the two sons of Adam and two daughters of eve will fill the four thrones at Cair Parvel. The beavers reveal that the true king of Narnia is great Lion King named Aslant. Edmund, who is still caught up in the witches lies runs away to her castle still thinking she is honest with, while the other children go off in search for Aslant who is the only one at the time with guidance and a solution . When Edmund arrives at the White Witches’s castle she treats him badly when she finds out that he did not return with his siblings, which was the only reason she befriended Edmund. Meanwhile the children find aslant and speak with him the go off in search for their betraying brother. They save Edmund just as he is about to be killed. This presents a problem because although they saved him the witch has claim to all traitors, but aslant (who is the representative of good and purity), sacrifices himself in his place, for one who is pure can serve as a sacrifice in the place of one who is impure. Aslant is sacrificed, but comes back to life through a deeper magic. Afterwards the children wage war against the evil White Witch an her army in a classic Good vs. Evil fight. In the Final Battle the white which is destroyed by aslant and the prophecies are fulfilled. Then the children are then taken to the castle were they see that the people of Narnia have been freed from the evil witches bondage ,then the four children are then named the Kings and Queens of Narnia.. There were some differences in the book but the movie played out nicely although it exaggerated such things, the author’s purpose was not lost. Some differences about the book and movie were that in the movie the white witch froze the whole land of Narnia but in the book they were stone. Also in the last battle the movie portrayed the witch as the ultimate fighting machine who was unstoppable and killing everyone but in the book she didn’t come to the fight until the end an she only tried to kill Peter. Also at 1:45 movie time you see the beavers telling the children of the prophecy when in the book Aslant revealed this to them. Other than that the movie and the book had the same things in common the authors point was never really lost due to the fact that this author past years ago but his stories an legacy live on an were portrayed well in the movie. ? How to cite Chronicles of Narnia, Papers

Phstat free essay sample

For Excel 2000 through Excel 2003, Microsoft Office macro security level set to Medium (see Topic 3a â€Å"Configuring Excel 2000-2003 Security for PHStat2†). For Excel 2007, Trust Center Macro Settings set to Disable all macros with notification (recommended) or Enable all macros. See section 3a or 3b for more details. (There are no security settings in Excel 97 or the original, unpatched version of Excel 2000. ) Internet access (for downloading updates to Microsoft Excel, from www. microsoft. com, and PHStat2, from www. prenhall. com/phstat, as they become available), optional but recommended. Requirements for running the PHStat2 setup program: CD or DVD drive. Approximately 10 MB hard disk free space while running the setup program and 3 MB hard disk space after program setup. On some older systems, the Windows system files that may get replaced or added during the setup process will require up to 6 MB additional hard disk space. Windows user account with administrator or software-installing privileges (does not apply to Windows 98Se or ME). We will write a custom essay sample on Phstat or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Student or faculty accounts used to login onto networked computers in academic settings typically do not have this privilege. F Test for Differences in Two Variances: Two-tailed test formula to determine whether to reject null hypothesis corrected. Z Test for Differences in Two Means: Upper-tail test formula to determine whether to reject null hypothesis corrected. Minor reformatting in selected worksheet and dialog box labels. Enhanced statistical procedures in version 2. 5: Chi-Square Test includes Marascuilo Procedure output option. Histogram Polygons Frequency distributions include percentage and cumulative percentage columns. Kruskal-Wallis Rank Test Worksheet redesigned to accommodate larger number of groups.

Strategic Management Toyota Japan

Introduction Toyota is one of the most popular companies in the automobile industry. This company started from a very humble beginning, but due to strategic planning, it has managed to achieve its organizational goals. Japan is the company’s headquarter, and this being its parent branch it has played a major role in inspiring the establishment of other branches (Chester, 2004).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Management: Toyota Japan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Now that the company is ranked among the top organizations in the world, there is more work to be done to ensure that the position is retained. This is because there are other companies that are struggling to achieve the same goals. Currently Toyota manufactures a wide range of vehicles including Rav4, Prado, and Pajero among many others (Kendra, 2009). This paper focuses on Toyota’s company, particularly strategic methods and tools that have led to its superior performance. Policies of Toyota Japan Every organization has its own tailor-made policies that all employees must adhere to, and this is meant to guarantee the achievement of organizational goals. Without clear policies, an organization is most likely to divert to other concerns that were not included in the master plan. It is therefore important to employ salient policies that would act as the guidelines when the going gets tough (Johnson Scholes, 2008). For instance, if a passenger decided to commute to a given destination and it happens that the vehicle breaks down, he/she will look for another mode of transport to ensure that he/she gets to the intended destination. According to Dess and Allan (2006), Toyota mainly focuses on long-term goals regardless of whether those goals will hinder the achievement of short-term goals. This was evidenced back in 1973 during the oil crisis that caused many customers who had purchased Toyota models to repla ce them with other models. This was because the big cars were consuming a lot of fuel and thus, were not considered pocket friendly. In the years that followed, the company had to pay high taxes for it to export vehicles to other markets. The management of Toyota thus decided to collaborate with General Motors (GM). This move was logical because it would help in cutting back on the costs that were incurred on the exports.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, Bremner and Dawson (2003) argue that Toyota was initially established as Toyoda and thus the brand name had to be changed for this company to be assimilated with its regional market. It was perceived that the initial brand name was not appealing to the local consumers probably because of its sound. It was then proposed that the brand name be renamed to Toyota, which sounded much better and uplifted the reputatio n of the logo and the brand. This approach was logical because it made it easy for Toyota to penetrate the Asian market due to its familiarity and association with the local dialects. At Toyota, the processes of production flow in a sequential manner and this is meant to unveil any underlying problems that can cause the quality of its products to be compromised. The policies of Toyota clearly states that in case a problem or a fault is discovered in the course of production, the processes should be halted until the problem has been solved. In the year 2009, Toyota recalled quite a number of vehicles that were believed to be having faulty accelerator pedals. Although the initiative cost the company dearly, it was considered to be noble because the image the company would have been tainted and the monetary fine would have been heftier (Valdes-Dapena, 2010). Lynch (2006) points out that strategic management in an organization’s set up requires collective participation of all the employees. This aspect is greatly emphasized at Toyota in Japan. This is because if decisions were made in a hurry, the participants would not grasp anything that is contained in the plan. The gradual process of making decisions is important because it creates room for the options provided to be analyzed. Besides, dialogue prepares the employees and the other stakeholders to be prepared for the changes that may cause changes regarding how things are done. Likewise, Toyota’s head office has established indicators that are used to dictate when the level of production should be increased and vice versa. Kendra (2009) agrees that this is because the automobile industry is a very dynamic sector and if the vehicles that are manufactured within a specified period are not sold, they will accumulate as dead- stock.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Management: Toyota Japan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This implies that Toyota must regularly analyze the relationship between demand and supply by referring to its inventory system; this is through lean manufacturing. For instance, when the oil crisis struck in 1973, then it would have been illogical for the company to continue making the big trucks while it was apparent that the market was moving towards a new trend. Apparently, the demand of Toyota Prius is on the increase compared to other models. This argument has been cemented by the financial reports of 2010, which clearly indicate the sales of this particular vehicle model had increased (Micheline, 2010). Possible Causes of Future Changes When referring to strategic management, it is important to understand why the changes come about. The major inhibitor of changes is the environment that businesses exist. This is to say that organizations can be influenced to embrace the changes with the aim of conserving our environment. International organizations are exerting a lot of pres sure on manufacturers to make products using materials that are not harmful to the environment (Johnson Scholes, 2008). As far as this issue of environment is concerned, Toyota has had to adjust itself because there have been numerous awareness campaigns on the importance of eco-friendly products. Toyota therefore realized that if it did not adopt the new trend, it would soon be ejected out of the automobile business. Vehicles have been found to be the most notorious agents of pollution and thus, the manufacturers have been advised to come up with models that emit minimal amounts of carbon (Lynch, 2006). Toyota has already introduced hybrid plug-in vehicles, which are powered by a lithium battery and gasoline simultaneously. This suggests that such vehicles are fuel-efficient and at the same time eco-friendly. This is what the consumers in the automobile industry have been looking for. Toyota has therefore upped its game by integrating the needs of the consumers with their products .Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is also obvious that the stiff competition in the automobile industry have also played a major role in inducing Toyota to employ a strategic plan. Chester (2004) points out that other companies like Ford are also making fuel-efficient vehicles besides Nissan and Honda brands. In business world, an organization must be on the look out to spot the emerging trends or risk being left out. Strategic management is purely driven by speculations because most people might think that Toyota is overreacting, but then if this company was to sit back and wait for the day when the demand for electric vehicles will swell, then it is bound to fail in its mission. This is because opportunities tend to favor the entities that are more crafty and prepared. In fact, this period is used to evaluate Toyota’s preparedness in handling the changes. This is because the company needs to be certain that the plans will work in its favor. However, it is important to have a backup plan because other cha nges could occur and hinder the realization of an organization’s mission (Dess Allan, 2006). For instance, the recent earthquake has greatly affected Toyota’s branch in Japan. This latest development reveals that humankind has no control over nature and thus backup plans should be put in place to ensure organizational goals are realized. There is a common phrase at Toyota that puts its managers under obligation to familiarize themselves with the situations as they unfold. This requires them to spend ample time with the employees. This is thought as the surest way of ensuring that all stakeholders are committed to the success of the organization. Competitive Positioning Toyota is completely committed to improving the quality of its products, but this initiative has cost the corporation a lot of money because the vehicles that are eco-friendly require more resources to manufacture. However, Vlasic and Fackler (2008) state that the situation is expected to remedy itself, as more customers purchase the new breed of vehicles. Among the changes incorporated lately, include the making of automobile engines that are powered by electricity and gasoline. This has placed Toyota at the top of the rankings compared to similar vehicles that are being manufactured by her competitors such as Ford. This is because Toyota’s models tend to be unique because the other brands that employ the same approach are only powered by electricity. Besides, Toyota has introduced automatic parking systems in its vehicles that are meant to assist Motorists Park their vehicles hustle-free. More features are yet to be incorporated in Toyota models because customers make their choice of a model depending on its specifications (Kendra, 2009). Furthermore, the approach of value improvement has really helped Toyota to reach greater heights. Similarly, the customers of Toyota have responded positively because they are always interested in unique products. Toyota has therefore wo rked had to earn its recognition as a household name. In fact, the government of Japan has acknowledged the progress of Toyota and this has resulted in Toyota being awarded the contract of manufacturing and maintaining the motorcade that is normally used by the mayor. This noble gesture by the government is truly an honor because it acts as an endorsement that will continue to develop the company’s portfolio (Valdes-Dapena, 2010). Other Open opportunities Toyota is looking for other areas that are yet to be exploited. Valdes-Dapena (2010) asserts that the need to diverse has been brought by the speculations that the future markets of vehicles could decline as new technologies continue to be developed in the transport sector. Toyota has already proposed a joint venture with Mitsubishi to manufacture airplanes for regional airlines. This is a smart move because the demand for air transport is increasing and only the entities that will align themselves to the growth of that indu stry will reap the benefits. For Toyota to make it in this venture, it has to observe the possible competitors such as Boeing, identify what is missing in their products, and incorporate the missing concept in its aircraft models. Although Toyota is a mature organization in the automobile industry, that growth is yet to be realized in the new ventures and thus, patience is required for growth to be experienced. Other areas that are potential for exploitation by Toyota include the manufacture of healthcare products such as assistive aids for the disabled (Kendra, 2009). Marketing The strategy employed by an organization in marketing its products is what helps in uplifting the image of its products (Lynch, 2006). Toyota has been able to penetrate the local market through re-branding. According to Micheline (2010), Toyota has managed to thrive in automobile business by developing models that are meant for both low and high-end markets. The success of Toyota would not have been realized if there was no balance between the two markets. The vehicles intended for low-end market have lesser specifications compared to the models intended for high-end markets. The Century Royal is a particular model that is specifically designed for the mayor of Japan. If Toyota were to concentrate on luxury vehicles, its sales would decline gradually because there are more prospects in the low-end market. In addition, Toyota has been using the field events such as motor sports to market itself. The company incorporates its models such as the Lexus in the local races including Formula 3, Super GT, and formula Nippon. Toyota makes money by making the engines of automobiles that participate in these races and uses them as an avenue for advertising itself. Engaging in the races was not enough and thus, another strategy had to be established to ensure the local market for engines remained stable. This entailed developing the models that are appropriate for racing. Besides, more talents had to be developed to ensure that the sport did not run out of talented drivers. This goal was achieved by establishing a program for nurturing drivers into seasoned motor sport drivers. The program is commonly known as TDP (Toyota Young Drivers Program) (Johnson Scholes, 2008). The technological institute was established to act as a reservoir of skills that are needed in this company. Though the initial founders of this initiative are non-existent, the project has served its intended purpose. The talents are derived from learning institutions, such as high schools and other tertiary institutions. The students who demonstrate competitiveness while still in high school are offered scholarship opportunities to enable them pursue further education and thereafter use their skills while working at Toyota Corporation. The initiative is more of a corporate social responsibility program. The program can be used as a succession plan for Toyota because the current crop of employees will one day retire and thus, they will have to be replaced by new skilled employees. Although the programs are expensive, the money is paid back when the trained individuals are absorbed into the company. Likewise, Toyota has its own rugby team known as Verblitz team. This team is sponsored by Toyota and therefore is a medium of marketing. This is done by making the players put on jerseys that are printed with the company logo and emblem. Johnson Scholes (2008) argue that the education programs are not only focused on inspiring upcoming talents, but also the existing employees. This is because the changes in the environment cause their skills to depreciate and thus they need to be regularly updated. As time moves by, the approaches that were once used as solutions cease to be useful and thus, new approaches have to be brought on board and this can only be acquired by investing in continuous learning to promote organizational development. Aspects of Strategic Management Goal Setting Toyota has been able to achieve its organizational goals because it had set the goals from the start. The managers and employees of this corporation are aware of what needs to be done to get to the company’s destiny. The goals are categorized into two: long-term and short-term. Short-term goals take less than five years to be experienced while long-term goals take more than five years. When the company was established the founders had one long-term goal, and it involved setting up a learning institution and in fact the goal took more than twenty years to be realized. Besides, Toyota had short-term goals that included increasing its market share within Japan and beyond its national boarders. This goal was near from being accomplished when the oil crisis struck and temporary goals had to be set (Vlasic Fackler, 2008). Analysis Analysis is another important aspect of strategic management because it enables an organization to get a clear picture of the happenings as they unfold and make t he necessary changes to be able to cope with the challenges (Lynch, 2006). Toyota has been very observant of the situation in the industry. Being analytic has helped Toyota to understand the needs of the customers. There are other companies in Japan that deal with automobiles. These other companies are competitors and Toyota has to analyze their operations and as well as their products. By being analytical, Toyota has been able to identify other opportunities that are yet to be exploited. However, before Toyota decided to venture into other resources it must have analyzed its strengths and weaknesses. This is because if the weaknesses outweighed the strengths then there is no point of venturing into other fields such as aviation, which are more complicated, and very demanding. Strategy Formation According to Dess and Allan (2006), strategic management requires an organization to have a clear vision of future expectations. Toyota has been visionary on the market and that is why it ha s developed options of venturing into other areas. When the options were first drafted, they must have been allocated priorities depending on the availability of resources that are needed to implement the decisions. The electric vehicles were accorded the first priority because the market is changing drastically – unless Toyota evolves with the market, then its products would be rendered useless in the automobile industry. The other options implemented include the development of robots used in the healthcare and entertainment industries. The above stated priorities were implemented because Toyota has the ability and the capacity that is required to implement them. This implies that Toyota has enough work forces skilled in this sector because if there were no skilled personnel, then the idea would have to wait until when the situation was favorable. As stated earlier, the plan of making an aircraft is a long-term goal, but then negotiations are underway and they involve other like-minded entities. Mitsubishi is an appropriate partner in this venture because it also deals with automobiles and therefore the two parties are compatible with each other. Currently, Toyota needs to merge its resources with those of Mitsubishi in order to realize its goals. However, this partnership may not last long because each entity would want to be independent in future (Micheline, 2010). It is therefore certain that there will be a merger between Toyota and Mitsubishi. Toyota has been successful in its mission because it has involved its members who include employees and stakeholders in decision-making processes; this approach must be reflected in its merger with Mitsubishi. Strategy Implementation Once a strategy has been established, an organization needs to embark on the mission of implementing the decisions that are contained in the strategy. Before implementing strategy, an organization must review the available resources just to be sure they are in good shape to deli ver the desired results (Johnson Scholes, 2008). For Toyota to be able to challenge its competitors, it must have upgraded its equipments to meet international standards. The staff at Toyota has been inspired to improve their skills. The availability of skilled personnel has cautioned the company from outsourcing its tasks. The main reason behind Toyota’s success lies under its goal setting strategies. From the look of things, Toyota has all along remained committed to fulfilling its long-term goals. Similarly, other companies in this industry have diverted their initial plans at the onset of challenges. It is this attribute of soldiering on that has enabled Toyota to excel in its ventures. In strategic management, it is important to note that short-term challenges and solutions do not last long, and it is therefore important to focus on long-term solutions. When the environmental and international organizations raised concerns about the amounts of carbon emitted by vehicles , Toyota thought of a solution that could solve the problem entirely. Short-term solutions are very expensive to implement because the processes have to be repeated regularly and they may not work as expected (Dess Allan, 2006). In this regard, Toyota established a production system commonly known as Toyota Production System (TPS).The system is used to manage inventories and in improving the quality of production. By having such a system in place, the company can be certain that there are minimal errors and that the customers only get what they require. When the suppliers of Toyota deliver the raw materials that are to be used in the manufacture of automobiles, the TPS is invoked to evaluate the materials and components needed and discard the others. In fact, this idea was borrowed from a very different field and hence it had to be configured to meet the needs of Toyota. Leadership at Toyota The success of Toyota is owed to its efficient leadership structures. The mangers at Toyota have good working relationships with their employees in their respective departments. This enables the two parties to communicate effectively and thus, move collectively towards a common destiny. This kind of interaction favors teamwork because it strengthens the bondage among employees and their superiors. From another concept, it favors innovation because the employees are free to incorporate their skills into their tasks (Johson Scholes, 2008). In fact, at Toyota, every employee is regarded as his/her own inspector – employees should not wait until the supervisor is physically present to implement a decision when things are not in the right order. This has instilled a strong sense of belonging, which makes employees to work as if they owned the company. Respect is highly emphasized at Toyota and this means that everyone commands respect regardless of his/her position in the company. Conclusion Toyota has emerged as one of the most successful companies in the automobile i ndustry. Having defined goals has helped Toyota to overcome the challenges as opposed to other companies that have resorted to remaining dormant. For the current success to be retained, Toyota must remain focused because the competitors are also designing new models that are intended to compete with those of Toyota, and hence more efforts must be directed towards remaining ahead of the game. Besides, the approaches that have worked in Japan’s branch should be extended to regional offices so that the entire organization can become uniform, such that the images of the other branches reflect the image of the parent branch. References Vlasic, B. and Fackler, M., 2008. Car slump jolts Toyota halting 70yrs of gain. New York Times. [online]. Bremner, B.B. and Dawson, C., 2003. Can anything stop Toyota? An inside look at how its reinventing the auto industry. Business week. November 17. Chester, D., 2004. Lexus: The Relentless pursuit. Singapore: John Wiley Sons. Dess, G. L. and Ala n, B. E., 2006. Strategic Management: Text and Cases. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K., 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th ed. London: Prentice Hall. Kendra, M., 2009. Toyota passes GM as world’s largest automaker. The Washington Post. January 22. Lynch, R. (2006), Corporate Strategy. 4th ed. London: Prentice Hall. Micheline, M., 2010. Toyota pays its $16.4 million fine over pedals. The New York Times. [online]. Valdes-Dapena, P., 2010. Witnesses: Toyota problems could be electronics. CNN. [online]. This essay on Strategic Management: Toyota Japan was written and submitted by user Leonel Daniels to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS, is the major â€Å"cause of death† among infants ranging from the ages of one month to one year, most occurring between two and four months old. SIDS is determined as the cause of death only after the proper procedures rule out all other reasonable doubt of any other causes of death. SIDS deaths are sudden, occurring quickly with no signs of any suffering while the infants are asleep. SIDS is not caused by minor illness, such as colds, nor is it contagious or the cause of every unexpected infant death, it is only the diagnosis established by conclusion (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Researchers have their own ideas of maybe why this occurs in some infants, but the cause has still not been found. SIDS cases have been studied and there have been several similarities found, but nothing points at a direct cause. Babies under stress, caused by infection, failure to develop, or the growth period, are more vulnerable to SIDS (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Male babies are more susceptible to any diseases than are females, so therefore they are more susceptible to SIDS as well (Male Susceptibility to SIDS). The male-to-female ratio of SIDS is 60-to-40 percent (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Research shows that the mother’s behavior, actions, and health prior to giving birth has and influence on the occurrence of SIDS. Prenatal care is a big risk factor. Mother’s who have taken better care of themselves and their unborn have a lower risk of SIDS. Mother’s that smoke, abuse drugs, have a history of STD’s, or have children while fewer than twenty years old have a greater risk of SIDS occurring (Questions & Answers). The relationship between these factors are not clear and are not ruled as causes, just hopefully serve as some kind of explanation. Several recurring risk factors have been found while trying to determine the cause of death occurring in SIDS. Eight percent of... Free Essays on SIDS Free Essays on SIDS Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS, is the major â€Å"cause of death† among infants ranging from the ages of one month to one year, most occurring between two and four months old. SIDS is determined as the cause of death only after the proper procedures rule out all other reasonable doubt of any other causes of death. SIDS deaths are sudden, occurring quickly with no signs of any suffering while the infants are asleep. SIDS is not caused by minor illness, such as colds, nor is it contagious or the cause of every unexpected infant death, it is only the diagnosis established by conclusion (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Researchers have their own ideas of maybe why this occurs in some infants, but the cause has still not been found. SIDS cases have been studied and there have been several similarities found, but nothing points at a direct cause. Babies under stress, caused by infection, failure to develop, or the growth period, are more vulnerable to SIDS (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Male babies are more susceptible to any diseases than are females, so therefore they are more susceptible to SIDS as well (Male Susceptibility to SIDS). The male-to-female ratio of SIDS is 60-to-40 percent (Understanding the Mystery of SIDS). Research shows that the mother’s behavior, actions, and health prior to giving birth has and influence on the occurrence of SIDS. Prenatal care is a big risk factor. Mother’s who have taken better care of themselves and their unborn have a lower risk of SIDS. Mother’s that smoke, abuse drugs, have a history of STD’s, or have children while fewer than twenty years old have a greater risk of SIDS occurring (Questions & Answers). The relationship between these factors are not clear and are not ruled as causes, just hopefully serve as some kind of explanation. Several recurring risk factors have been found while trying to determine the cause of death occurring in SIDS. Eight percent of...

Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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