Strategy, Analysis, Recommendation and Implementation of the Company Essay

Strategy, Analysis, Recommendation and Implementation of the Company Gap Inc - Essay Example Competitors such as Ambercrombie and Fitch are already moving towards this direction. However, given the Company's expertise, it is not yet late to launch the Banana Republic, Old Navy and Forth and Towne brands; and to capture a substantial share in these potential markets. The last five years have been commendable for GAP Incorporated due to the revived customer interest in its product lines. A lot of innovations were introduced in the previous year which reaped rewards for the Company, which includes the following: 2. Hands-on management of executives, from the centralized procurement of supplies, to ocular visits to the factories; these would ensure that products are manufactured in accordance with the company's penchant for quality, reliability and compliance to set international production standards; 3. The compensation package plus rewards system afforded to deserving executives achieved wonders for the company. In return, extra effort has been rendered, countless hours have been spent so that products could be delivered on time; 4. Massive shop expansion was a very aggressive stance of the company that helped prop-up sales. But some shops are not strategically located, if not poorly thought of, so that upper management decided to close these shops eventually. This hurt the image of Gap Incorporated and also transmitted wrong signals to competitors. Downsizing these shops would have been a better option since these shops are being used also by internet shoppers to pick up orders purchased online. Also, a rewards system for employees was not installed at the company's manufacturing plant. This is necessary in order to boost production and maintain quality standards in the product. Workers are after all the backbone of a company. 5. Increased online purchases really spiced up sales. Recommendation To increase Gap's profitability and create an extended market for its specialty apparel products, the company should expand in other countries. It is important to note that more than half of the world's population is concentrated in Asia which makes countries in this region a large potential market for Gap's various product lines. Furthermore, what is recommended is to adapt the sound and solid strategy employed by Gap Incorporated in the US; but only after some fine tuning stated as follows: 1. All efforts should be geared towards penetrating the Asian market with modifications employed to fit market preferences, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam who are fairly conservative people will most probably require simple and conservative clothing as well. The fashion capital of Asia is Hong Kong. Neighboring countries, such as the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, to name a few do most of their shopping in this former British Colony. So, what is "in" in Hong Kong, will influence the choice of apparel throughout Asia. 2. Hire topnotch Asian designers to collaborate with Gap Incorporated's designers in the US for the development and introduction of new designs or product lines in these new markets.

How people are managed and how they lead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

How people are managed and how they lead - Essay Example Four of the eight principles are: Congruence not Incongruence, Descriptive not Evaluative, Problem not Person Oriented and Specific not Global. Explain the meaning of the concepts and using ideas from your own experience give examples of their meaning. 3 3. Read the case study and discuss the issues, in terms of supportive communication which it raises. 4 Portfolio Assignment 2 1. House, R.J. in his ‘Path Goal Theory of Leadership’ and Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K.H. in their ‘Situational Leadership Theory’ offer two contingency models of leadership. Discuss, with reference to these two models of leadership the basis upon how leaders engage with their staff to help them improve their performance and gain commitment. 6 2. Discuss the nature and components of transformational leadership. How does transformational leadership differ from the behavioural models of leadership, such as Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt’s, ‘Continuum Model’ and Contingen cy models of leadership such as the ‘House’ and ‘Hersey-Blanchard’ models discussed above. 7 Portfolio Assignment 3 1. Analysis of the case study 9 2. Research suggests that adults do not follow a well developed set of principles when they make decisions. Discuss how leaders might reflect on  the appropriateness of a decision  in terms of ethical considerations. Give examples to support your answer. 10 Portfolio Assignment 4 1. Resistance to organisational change, particularly when the change is ‘soft’ in nature, can stem from the individual or from the organisation. Discuss the nature of, and explore the reasons why, change is often resisted. 12 2. From a management perspective how can this resistance be overcome? 13 References 14 Bibliography 17 Portfolio Assignment 1 Whetten and Cameron (2011, p261) citing Bowman (1964) write that, â€Å"Surveys have consistently shown that the ability to effectively communicate face to face is the char acteristic judged by managers to be the most critical in determining promotability†. 1. One way to improve communication is through ‘Supportive Communication†. Discuss what Whetten and Cameron mean when they define this concept of communication. Why do they consider it so important? The term ‘supportive communication’ as used in the book of Whetten and Cameron aims to highlight two characteristics of communication: the potentials of communication to help towards the achievement of the goal set and the freedom provided to both parties in order to state their views (Whetten and Cameron 2011). Supportive communication is a mode of communication that can be quite important in certain organizational events, such as interviews (Whetten and Cameron 2011). Indeed, an interview between a candidate and the employer would have more chances to lead to the development of a successful cooperation if both parties were allowed to show their concerns and their percepti ons in regard to the issues discussed during the interview (Whetten and Cameron 2011). In other words, for Whetten and Cameron supportive communication can be used for enhancing cooperation and trust in the workplace. No other mode of communication, apart from supportive communication, offers to both parties the chance to feel equal, a condition that can be quite crucial in certain cases; for example, using supportive communication an interviewer can identify the actual willingness of the interviewee to work as a member of a group (Whetten and Came