Case Study in Strategic Management Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

In Strategic Management - Case Study Example In the beverage industry, both Coke and Pepsi have been able to achieve their annual growth in the revenue of around 10% due to the rise in the consumption steadily, year after year. In the industry, the profits that each of the companies, Coke and Pepsi depend on each other to come up with the profits as there is stiff competitions between them (Coke, 35). The consumptions of additional more gallons than the 52 per day also brought major profits in the beverage industry despite the challenges that the industries went through. There was also the coming up with several more alternative beverage that led to the consumption of more and more profit. Based on 2009 comparative cost for United States concentrate bottler and concentrate producers had a cumulative income of thirty two percent while bottlers recorder a net income of eight per cent. Cost of Goods Sold is 0.22 dollars per concentrate case and 2.67 dollars per bottle’s case. In the concentrate producers there was blending of raw materials ingredients, were packed in plastic canisters and the n were shipped through the containers to the bottler (Coke, 89). The difference in the profit comes with the difference in the making of the concentration with the concentrates making artificial sweetener while the regular bottlers added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Some of the significant expenses include promotions, bottler support, promotions, and record research. The bottlers bought concentrate and added carbonated water and sweeteners, canned the final product and then delivered to stores. The concentrates have the plants costing 25 million dollars to the required 50 million to build. The low investment in the production has led to the low profit in the concentrates as compared to the other bottlers. Pepsi and Coke are the leading competitors in the CSD market. Coke was established in 1886

Media report on magazine Essay Example for Free

Media report on magazine Essay The use of connotations comes under the key concepts of media language. This is very important because images are used as signs to add meaning. For example, an image of a football player means it has something to do with football. Images of make-up could have something to do with fashion magazines, these are known as connotations. Also, the actual language used is very important which helps along with choosing your audience. Formal writing is used for the older generation and informal writing or slang is used for teenagers as they are so familiar with slang meaning it is more appealing to that audience. Even slanting writing is more informal and more appealing to teenagers. Denotations and connotations are also very help. Denotations are what there are and connotation is what there might be, almost like suspense. Key concepts are very important and should be used in magazines for many reasons. For example one major key concept is the audience. This is very important for magazines as they need to know who they are trying to sell their product to. If they know who their audience is then the contents in the magazine will be suitable for that certain audience. Also, if you know your audience from the start, colours and images will help you to represent it for example: if the magazine was for females, the colour used would most likely be pink or red as these are mainly colours aimed at the female audience. Images also help with the audience. For example, people who are really into their football, most probably there will be an image of a football indicating what the magazine could be about and this is an example of connotation. A lot of this has linked in with representation such as use of colours, images and genders. Other aspects include of are religions and young people being represented unfairly. Firstly the use of colours can represent genders such as pink for females as this is more of a feminine colour and blue for males as this is more masculine. This gives us the audience it is aimed for. An example of this is not many males pick up pink coloured magazines as it seems to be for the female audience just like blue is a masculine colour and not preferred by women. I had decided to analyse these three magazines because my magazine is about fitness and a healthy lifestyles. I had decided to analyse these three different magazine covers because I then have a wider range of ideas which I can then combine to create the magazine. The case study I had chosen to provide as my research is from the magazine UltraFit. This is because unlike the other 2 magazines, this magazine has an image of both genders, male and female. On the Fitness, magazine, the image given only had a female on the front which indicated that it is mainly aimed for women. A similar issue was with the magazine Mens Magazine which was an issue because it clearly shows that it is aimed for the male audience. The analysis of the magazine front covers as influenced me to add quite a few aspects. I am influenced as most of the magazines included the same headings such as Your diet and nutritional values. This was tempting because it had been a popular topic at the time but I avoided using it as I wanted our magazine to be unique. Another heading I was tempted to include was How to cope with injuries. This was because it was an issue brought up in many sports such as football, hockey, etc. I have also chosen this because I have had injuries from sports myself so I could add a personal touch to it. Our first ideas were producing a magazine about football as stated before. This was because our knowledge of football was much more than any other sport but as we researched over the internet, we learnt that there were already many football magazines to compete with. The next thing we decided to do was a fitness magazine which was our final idea. Also, the colours first were yellow and white as they complimented the topic as they were clear and clean colours. The colours were then changed to a black background with mixtures of colours to make different parts of the magazine to stand out more and seem more appealing. The genre I have chosen to work on is health and fitness. Our first idea was originally football however we researched football magazines and there were too many which would not give us the factor of having a unique magazine. So we decided to choose something that is not focused on much in the UK; Obesity. We are not actually aiming to produce a full magazine but the main features of it which would be: a front cover, contents page, an article and a back cover. We decided to make our target audience the general public as this magazine bases itself on a subject that anybody can benefit from. Also, the age group is also any because anybody can benefit from exercise and fitness as it can help with things like diabetes, obesity, etc. on the magazine, there will be an image of different sports equipment showing people can play any sport and be fit. The technology we will be using to create our front covers are things with ICT such as Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Word. These were used to make the magazine to seem more professional and some would believe it is easier to design via ICT. Even the article was produced using Microsoft Word which made it seem a lot more appealing and professionally designed. Evaluation My strength of helping design a front cover was that I had a lot of knowledge about design which was a great use in this project. This was a really big help as I could make the cover to the best quality possible using graphics designing software. An area which I was not very strong in was mostly the research side of the project. I was able to research other magazine covers that were relevant to the genre of magazine that I had based my project on. This was a help as it helped me to decide colours and layout on a real fitness magazine so I made my magazine seem as real as possible. On our magazine, we had used a variety of colours that went together and colours that didnt so that the cover looked very appealing. This was a good point because it was very eye-catching and although the background colour was black, the other colours went together and the black made them all seems more appealing although they were very different. An example of this would be on the front cover as I have used a lot of different colours like red, blue, yellow, white or purple. These worked well together as the black background was neutral to all other colours. Another thing I was good at was when I had to choose colours which would compliment each other. This was a major issue at first as colours are usually the main points that attract readers to the magazine. In the end we decided to use the colour yellow as our main colour for our magazine name as it was the known as the colour of good health whereas other colours would have been is outstanding. Another colour we tried to use was purple but this became difficult as it was hard to compliment it and also because it was a colour that defined nobility and spirituality which sort of links into what we are doing. My weakness in helping to design the contents page was similar to my problems with the front page as I have no internet at home so my research was limited. This was things like how the contents page was set out and how to make it seem clean yet beneficial for the reader in terms of information. As I had problems doing the research part of the contents page, I was lucky to be working with somebody that is very skilled in methods of research and who is also very dedicated to their work so the majority of the research was done by him and the design and appearance of the magazine was mostly done by me although we both put equal amounts of effort into both parts of the project so that one person isnt doing all the work. My strengths on the article was that when the person I worked with had typed the article of obesity, we had decided to make it into the shape of an obese person with all the text inside the person as it would be creative and original another good point about the article was that the colours of health had been added so the colours would give the reader the idea that I was trying to promote health as healthy colours were used such as orange, green, etc. One other thing that I found a good idea was to put the slogan for the magazine along the sides of the body for the article as they would motivate the audience to be healthy. This was effectively because the slogan was motivational -What the mind believes, the body achieves. This seemed like the perfect slogan as it seems to be motivational and in some way inspiring to young people as it motivates them to become healthy as it suggests that their body can achieve its goal if they as a person would believe that goal themselves mentally. My strengths on designing were that I had researched some information and I had learnt that the readers eye automatically goes to the right of the page when a magazine is first opened. This is why I decided to put the topics and names of the articles on the right side of the contents page so they are clearly visible and not a problem to understand either. I had also used bright colours and large images to dominate the page so that the contents page looked appealing to the audience and still provided sufficient information was is good because it makes the text seem appealing without making the page look too compact. Also, I had used the same colours as the main colours on the front page for the contents page as they are the colours that will be representing the magazine and also because they are bright and eye-catching. Another reason I decided to use these colours was because they are attractive and motivational colours whereas other colours such as purple or blue are too dull or boring. One thing I had added as an extra was a FIFA world rankings table as I have a lot of knowledge about football and I wanted to add a personal touch. This was also beneficial because when the reader opens the magazine and their eye moves to the right of the page, they will see this extra feature and may find it interested to read if they are fans of the sport.

Comparative Style-book Essay :: Writing Style Styles Essays

Comparative Style-book Essay Two well-know style books are The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, and Style Toward Clarity and Grace, by Williams. Both of these books are very beneficial, discussing grammar rules, style, and composition, all with the aim to make its readers better writers. They teach readers to use proper techniques and proofread their papers so they can improve their writing style. Although the books goals are the same, each one approaches it in a different way, emphasizing certain points above others. While both books are well-written and taught me important rules, after analyzing both books, looking at their authors, target audience, cultural awareness, organization, and detail, I find Williams more helpful in developing my writing style and addressing the need of contemporary prose. A lot can be inferred about how the books were written by looking at their Authors. The authors of The Elements of Style, Strunk and White, were professor and student. When White was a student in 1919 his professor, Strunk, assigned him a coursepack, which would be the basis for their future book. The coursepack was very detailed and commanding, like White describes his professor when he calls him, â€Å"Sergeant Strunk snapping orders to his platoon† (xiv). Years later, after White had become a well-known, professional writer, he was commissioned to edit and improve the Strunk coursepack for publication. The book was published in 1959, and by that time White’s old professor had passed away. Now, White is also gone, and the book has been around for quite a while, making it slightly dated. I found Williams to be more modern, and connectable. It was last published by its author in 1990. Williams, a linguist, professor, and communication consultant, has meticulously studies the craft of writing, discovering what makes good writing good and bad writing bad. His careful observations and sensitivity to current issues that plague writing make his readers grasp many of the different aspects of writing. Since he is part of modern times, he is more culturally aware, giving him an advantage over Strunk and White. Since the books have been written in different times, the targeted audience is different.

Conducting a management project Essay

Introduction The project, as requested by the manager; is to come up with the ways that my team can make more savings in the company for the company and for their own growth. This was because the company has not been making savings as they had targeted in the beginning of their business year and the savings are even less as compared to the other financial years yet the company still appears to be run under the same principals. The project is aimed at coming up with the research and recommendations for actions to be taken to manage and change the situation at the company and write a suitable report on this. The report written at the end of this research is going to benefit the company in generating more profits and the employees in self-development. It is also going to cultivate the culture of team work, innovation and entrepreneurial culture among the employees. Simply put, the benefits derived from project management increase in proportion to how well project management processes are used. A well -executed project will be completed on time, within its approved budget. A well-executed project will deliver higher product quality by managing the time to design and test the new product. It will provide great satisfaction to its team, and it will meet (or exceed) the customers’ expectations. In today’s business environment, it is critical that each project is run in the most efficient manner possible. For a project-oriented business, it is equally imperative that all projects are managed consistently, so that the benefits of well -executed projects extend corporate wide. The data that was used in this research was collected from the employees, customers and other stakeholders in the company. In preparation for the data collection, it is important to note that a diverse sample of the host company’s employees is required in order to address the breadth of the organizational structure and the full range of roles and responsibilities of participants. Input to the list of interview participants should be secured from the company sponsor, but it   is the assessor’s function to challenge the sample to ensure it meets the needs of a balanced assessment. The assessor should recognize a tendency of most sponsors to provide participants who already are highly rated and can demonstrate high performance.   The participant pool needs to include these participants, but not be limited to them. All divisions of the corporate structure should be represented, including functional and supporting departments. In selecting the interview sample, the assessor should consider the population density of the host company’s divisions, revenue generated by the divisions, project count or cost, or several other attributes. The total number of interviews to be conducted must be limited to a number that is appropriate for the size of the host company; it is organizational structure and the time period in which the study is required. These factors also drive the composition and size of the assessment team. The methods used in the collection of data and information include; use of questionnaires, observation, collecting samples, taking pictures, oral interviews, reading on recorded materials. The process was not that easy since it was hard to get some confidential information especially on the accounts records of the company and some of the employees felt like they were being spied on and did not give the precisely correct information. Also collecting information from my seniors proved to be a bit hard, but all in all the information and data required for the research was successfully corrected. In all the methods used face to face conversation proved to be the best way to obtain information. Some of it advantages include; A people -to-people tool within a people – oriented business Project management is ultimately a people -oriented business that requires personal interactions by and between all of the project team members. Face-to-face interviewing extends this principle to maturity assessments. Not only does the interview provide an interpersonal connection between the interviewer and the interview participant, it allows the interviewer to begin to assess the â€Å"people skills† of the personnel assigned to manage projects at the subject company. Interview participants who display grace and condor during the interview are more likely to carry those traits into their project teams, and are more likely to be open to the recommendations for change or improvement that will flow from the assessment study. Conversely, interview subjects who are less cooperative or more belligerent during the interviews are less likely to readily adopt new suggestions. Reveals actual, as well as intended behaviours conducting face-to-face interviews allows the interviewer/assessor to discover how the project team members at the subject company conduct their project business on a day-to-day basis. It is the only tool in the assessor’s toolbox that provides a means to evaluate the validity of several of the other tools, such as a review of policy manuals, or a project document search. Policy statements and procedures manuals provide guidance into how the subject company believes it should or wants to do work. By engaging project team members in open conversations, the interviewer can elicit comments that reveal, â€Å"What we really do† vs. â€Å"what we think we do† or â€Å"what we are supposed to do?† Additionally, by discussing different types of project reports with the people who write them, or use them, the assessor can gain insight into the value placed on each report. A simple document review, while important, can only indicate that a report exists, not that it is a valued tool, used by the project team to help control their projects, or by management to monitor progress. Provides opportunity to observe the corporate culture of the subject company. Corporate culture creates different patterns of behaviour at different companies that can have a significant impact on the outcomes of projects. The degree of openness to hearing and dealing with project issues, demonstrating appreciation for project successes, and the amount of information sharing between functional groups working on a project all contribute to the ultimate success of a project. All companies probably would respond affirmatively to possessing these traits; not all companies truly demonstrate these traits positively. During one-on-one conversations with working- level project team members, the assessor can learn how well the subject company responds to project information, or how often it â€Å"shoots the messenger. Difficulties associated with face-to-face interviews Need to establish credibility of assessors As an outsider, the assessment team will often encounter a â€Å"Who-are -you-and-why-should -I-give-you-any-of- my time?† reluctance to participate amongst the project management community at the subject company. This attitude can stem from two general sources: a general distrust of consultants and management’s motives for hiring them; or insufficient information about the assessors’ credentials. Neither of these difficulties is insurmountable, but neither can be ignored. And both can be addressed initially by a carefully worded introduction from the assessment’s sponsor within the host company. The sponsor for the assessment necessarily must possess sufficient status within his/her own organization to approve, or be able to solicit approval for the funding needed to conduct the assessment study. This status can be leveraged to convey the credentials of the assessment team to the host organization. The assessors must be introduced to the project management community in terms that readily establish the expertise and experience of the assessment team with this type of work. This also implies that the assessment team must be comprised of, or, at the least, be led by experienced, senior project managers, whose personal credentials will inspire confidence in the interview participants. Need to secure cooperation of interview participants. The assessor also needs to recognize that many people within the host company’s project management organization(s) will not view the assessment in an entirely positive light. Although the study is intended to be a continuous-improvement effort, it may still be perceived to stem from something being wrong, or judged to be not good enough. The outside assessor could be viewed as Management’s vigilante enforcer, coming in to identify and punish the under-achievers in project management. The assessor must defuse this impression, a task that can best be done if the assessor knows where the host company’s â€Å"sore spots† exist and why the host company has elected to conduct the assessment. Here again, the status of the assessment sponsor can be of great help in overcoming the reluctance of the interview participants. The sponsor’s introduction of the assessment team can be used to share the rationale for the study and remove much of the apprehension that could surround it. Need to prepare thoroughly. During each interview, it will be beneficial to allow conversation to flow in a freewheeling manner, rather than following a rigid, checklist question and answer. For this to work, the assessor/interviewer must be adequately prepared to conduct the interview. The assessor must know the assessment model in great detail, and be able to detect different levels of maturity for each knowledge area, regard less of whether or not the interview respondent uses catch phrases and key words from the model in his/her comments. It is the assessor’s responsibility to be able to take appropriate notes during the interview without disrupting the flow of the interview by having to shuffle papers or stumble from one topic to the next. The assessment team can help prepare for the interviews by constructing an easy -to-use interview form that guides them through the different areas, and offers reminders of key phrases to listen for. By creating the form, the team members will increase their familiarity with it, and find it more beneficial as a guide. Additionally, by constructing their own form, the assessment team members will afford themselves the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the details of the assessment model. Compiling, synthesizing, and evaluating the information from all interviews. Specific data from individual interviews can be compiled if a set of common questions, with a short range of possible answers, is used for all interviews. In this circumstance, it is recommended that a set of standard analytical measures are identified prior to the interview phase, but it should not be assumed that these standard measures will adequately address the entire information content collected. The synthesis of the information is a process that requires the individual assessors to subjectively analyse the comments they heard and recorded during the interviews and identify common themes and touch-points along the maturity continuum. The assessors must then collaborate to yield consistent interpretation of the interview and confirm that the data gathered is appropriate for further evaluation. The assessors must collectively review the compiled data, interrogate it for trends and errors, and determine whether trends identified warrant further analysis. From the information gathered in data collection, many things can be realised; there is no transparent audit of the books of accounts in the company, the employees are taking bribes from the customers in return for unauthorised favours, the employees are very relaxed in their work and lack motivation, the board members are conduction the staffing process in a questionable manner, the employees were taking unnecessary and expensive trips at the expense of the company, the directors have very high unwarranted allowances, the taxes due to the government are not fully settled and the overall running of the firm is questionable. The things that need to be done urgently to make sure that the company is saved from being bankrupt and that it gives some profits are; there should be an immediate external audit of all the books of accounts in the firm, the recruitment and staffing in the firm should be done on the basis of qualification and therefore there should be a vetting process to eliminate all those who are there illegally, all the directors should be vetted and those found to be corrupt should be retrenched, the company should have a new board of directors, all the employees should sign a performance contract which should be followed strictly. Conclusions; the use of face-to-face interviews in Project Management Maturity Assessments has proven to contribute most and convey the project management actualities within any host organization. If executed correctly, the face-to- face interview will yield most insight into the host organization’s current maturity and point to pockets of excellence as well as areas requiring correction. Although it is not recommended that an assessment be conducted using only face-to-face interviews, it is strongly recommended that a face-to-face interview always be included in an assessment. References Dove, K. E. (2002).  Conducting a successful development services program: A comprehensive guide and resource. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Fernald Environmental Management Project (U.S.), United States., United States., United States., Lippitt, J. M., & Kolthoff, K. (1995).  Successful completion of a RCRA closure for the Fernald Environmental Management Project. Washington, D.C: United States. Dept. of Energy. Thomsett, M. C. (2002).  The little black book of project management. New York: AMACOM. Tjahjana, L., Dwyer, P., & Habib, M. (2009).  The program management office advantage: A powerful and centralized way for organizations to manage projects. New York: American Management Association. Weir, J. R. (2009).  Conducting prescribed fires: A comprehensive manual. College Station: Texas A & M University Press. Wysocki, R. K., Beck, R., & Crane, D. B. (2000).  Effective project management. New York: Wiley.

Google Business Strategies Essay

Executive Summary This report provides an analysis of Google’s development of new strategic resources, dynamic capabilities and core competency, Analysis of competency test, Google’s competency foundation to compete in shopping related searches and the positive impacts of Google’s competencies towards its business model. Moreover, this report provides recommendations that Google are effectively able to utilise. Introduction Google, a provider of multiple products and services, with the mission to â€Å"organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful†, is the number one web search engine. Additionally, Google has an old online shopping service site whose rivals include Amazon and eBay (Newth, F 2012). However, recently, in 2012, Google announced its adaption of a new paid model, where retailers were now starting to get charged. Moreover, the bases discussed throughout the report will be grounded in Google’s competency test, and its impact towards Google business model (Newth, F 2012). Google’s development of new strategicresources, dynamic capabilities and core competency Google’s recent change of passing on costs, a fee, to online retailers who display their products on the Google online shopping site (Hartwig, J. I 2012), will require Google to develop new strategic resources, dynamic capabilities and a core competency. Firstly, developing new strategic resources to work aside Google’s new paid model (Hartwig, J. I 2012), will mean that Google will need to improvise on teaching Google employees currently working in the Google online shopping sector, to adapt to the new changes appropriately, through being educationally mentored on new policies, procedures and most importantly, advancing this new process in a sustainable way (Sullivan, J 2007). Moving on to the development of dynamic capabilities, here, Google will need to effectively make changes towards the company’s internal and external organisational skills, resources and functional competences moreover, reviewing the company’s strengths, as a result of adapting to the new change(Newth, F 2012), that is, the re positioning of Google’s online shopping paid model. This is a crucial change to develop, as vice president of product management for Google shopping, Sameer Samat, explained that by  repositioning to an all-paid model will increase further trustworthy data(Sullivan, D 2012) , hence, it will greater improve the shopping search experience for its customers. Additionally, Google’s core competencies have already created various competitive advantages for the company, and as a result, Google will need to review their most valuable competitive advantage, and put emphasis on those advantages they have over other similar companies, such as Amazon who provides an online shopping service (Sullivan, D 2012). Analysis of competency test Referring to â€Å"appendix 1†, a competency test of Google was completed, and is now going to be further analysed. Additionally, the competency test as completed was based around three of Google’s strategic assets, that is, their employees, Google’s strong brand name and their loyal customer base. It should also be noted that the analysis for the business model impact will be discussed further in the report. The first strategic asset discussed is Google’s experienced and knowledgeable employees. Google is the number one best company to work for in America, as voted by the company’s very own employees (Sullivan, J 2007). Alongside this, Google acknowledges its employees by offering employees everything they need to get them focused on specific aspects such as creativity and innovation. Google also focuses on helping their employees have the correct information and resources in regards to their work (Sullivan, J 2007). Moving on, whilst providing to the employee’s work needs in every way possible, Google’s unique employees are also provided with outstanding people management practices, as a result of the company’s use of the people analytics approach. Google training efforts aren’t the usual traditional tactics applied, Google’s development efforts are decentralized meaning Google employees demonstrate self directed learning (Sullivan, J 2007). Along with self directed learning employees also demonstrate, continuous learning and development, and adapting to changes when needed, are key features that can be direct parallel to the core employee competencies at Google (Sullivan, J 2013). Moreover, when undergoing a â€Å"VIRO test†, to assess whether or not Google’s employee dynamic capabilities can become a competency, as presented, Google employees pose three of the four characteristics; valuable, organisation and rare. These characteristics are related to the employee’s competencies, as here, the  main employees competencies include, information and gathering, where employees are able to locate and collect data from a variety of sources, whilst also analysing the data in order to prepare it into meaningful reports (Sullivan, J 2013). Another competency is business perspective, whereby employees use an understanding of the company’s issues, processes and outcomes in order to enhance Google’s overall business performance. Additionally, Google employees manage important resources such as financial information, in order to achieve short and long term goals (Sullivan, J 2007). Moving on, the next strategic asset is Google’s strong brand name. Google’s brand name is one of the most recognised brand names globally, and is one of the leaders in internet brands. In 2010, Google for the fourth time was presented as 2010’s world valuable global brand, close to major competitors such as Microsoft (Interbrand, 2010). Alongside Google’s significant brand image, Google’s strong infrastructure base, another dynamic capability, is the base for providing new and advanced innovative products and services to end users; that is consumers (McDermott, T). Here, the company brand name plays a rather large role to add to Google’s strong brand name, as the strong infrastructure base allows Google’s new innovative products to gain a competitive advantage, hence keep its strong brand name visible(McDermott, T) . Moreover, like Google’s employees, the company’s strong brand name lies within similar VIRO test characteristics, such as , Valuable, rare and Imitability. Alongside these characteristics, Google’s strong brand name competencies as presented in table one, have given Google the opportunity to enter in a wide variety of markets, and has produced a competitive advantage, as well as, making Google profitable for the company in both short and long terms(Tsai, M 2011). Additionally the last strategic asset for Google is loyal customer base. Google’s dynamic capabilities in this case, refers to the company’s strong customers based brand equity and Google’s ability to create outstanding customer value. Starting with customer based brand equity, here Google utilises its customer brand loyalty which is attached to many benefits for the company such as greater brand loyalty from users and an increase in Google usage (Bhasin, K 2011), just to name a few. Here, Google is able to command for increased price premiums and receive additional trade cooperation and support. To add, customer value and customer brand relationships are the foundation of Google’s brand  resonance, for instance, Google’s search advertising has created a better fit between meeting potential customers’ needs and the relevant advisement. Hence focusing on these attributes has allowed Google to add these as one of their strengths towards the o verall company (T. Y. Chan, C. Wu, Y. Xie 2011). Furthermore, Google’s loyal customer base VIRO test characteristics as presented in table one, makes Google’s capability a true competency. In regards to this, the main reason it could be drawn upon that Google has a loyal customer base is through its ratings (Bhasin, K 2011). This can be seen through Google standing out as one of the top search engine for users, hence the reason for such a large customer base, whilst beating Bing and Yahoo, other competitors in the same category (Bhasin, K 2011). Google’s competency foundation to compete in shopping related searches An analysis of the competency test derives favourable outcomes for Google to more effectively compete in shopping related searches. Considering the fact that Google already has a highly established reputation, it sets itself as the most used search engine for users, hence allowing Google to better compete in online shopping (Bhasin, K 2011). Google’s high consumer awareness, strong market position and core employee competencies further contribute to their competitive advantages, resulting in a higher chance of shopping-related searches. Referring to Google’s online shopping transition to an all paid model, Google believes â€Å"that by having a paid relationship, it can better ensure the quality of what it lists in Google shopping† (Sullivan, D 2012). To add, Google also believes that it will provide more trustworthy information, which improves the shopping online search experience for both retailers and customers (Sullivan, D 2012). Overall, Google has the ability to utilise its competencies and competitive advantages in providing users with more out of their search engine, by working on making it easier for users to search and compare products whilst shopping online. In addition, by assisting shoppers to locate the best deals, they’re able to increase traffic to retailers in order for shoppe rs to easily find their sites (Sullivan, D 2012). The positive impacts of Google’s competencies towards its business model Furthermore, as mentioned above, Google has the proper competency base to effectively compete in shopping related searches. As Google has the proper  mechanisms and competencies to compete, it brings alongside it positive impacts towards Google’s business model. The positive impact of employee competencies at Google, include the positive attributes Google employee’s pose such as strategically working on intrinsic challenges on a daily bases, effectively gathering and processing appropriate information to further enhance Google’s culture of innovation , having a rather unique business perspective and resource management have greatly impacted the company’s business model (Sullivan, J 2007). Moreover, Google’s strong focus on human capital and retention (Sullivan, J 2007), overtime, has given employees the opportunity to make a positive business impact towards the company’s overall business model, such as their ability to execute their move into online shopping, whilst competing with other large online shopping companied such as EBay and Amazon. Moving along, like Google employees, the company’s strong brand name also has a positive impact towards Google’s business model, as Google’s strong market position allows Google to be innovative with its offering products and services, which in the long term adds value for the company, through increased sales (T. Y. Chan, C. Wu, Y. Xie 2011). Google’s outstanding recognition, through high consumer awareness, allows the company for more opportunities to seek, such as still being an effective competitor in the online shopping sector, though previous changes were put into place (Sullivan, D 2012). Overall, Google’s strong brand names, and its competitive advantages such as the competencies as mentioned above, play an important role in positively impacting the company’s business model. Similarly, like competencies from knowledgeable and experienced employees, and the company’s strong brand name, Google’s loyal customer base also has a positive impact. Google’s recognition as the top search engine for online users (Interbrand, 2010) gives Google the opportunity for expansion, as its built customer base are more likely to become a continuous user of Google’s product lines and services, if they are able to be correctly executed, such as Google’s online shopping changes, that even though there were speculations (Morphy, E 2014), once placed into action, it was a more effective way for users to and retailers to sell and buy products. Whilst creating value from Google’s loyal base, in the long term, this largely impacts Google’s overall company’s business model, as this competency has created a competitive advantage (T. Y. Chan, C. Wu, Y. Xie  2011) that even though other search engine company’s may be successful, Google is still deemed as the most popular and most chosen by its users. Recommendations Presented, are recommendations Google should effectively consider and utilise in order to stay competent, meet to its consumers need and moreover keep an overall positive impact towards the company’s business model. Google is grounded in its culture of innovation; however, with the increase of competition, Google will need to overcome this challenge. In order to preserve its culture of innovation as they grow, it is highly recommended that Google overlooks its employee’s competencies and re adjust some aspects, so employees are able to effectively execute any task given, in order to keep Google’s innovations unique, and superior (Morphy, E 2014). Google should utilise appropriate dynamic processes that result in capabilities that adds to the strength of the company, in order to develop strong and positive competencies that support Google’s unique business model. In turn, this will result in a competitive advantage that Google will be able to override its c ompetitors. Moving along, in order to compete with competitors in the online shopping sector, such as Amazon and eBay, Google will need to effectively build onto its dynamic capabilities, by critically reviewing the strengths of their strategic assets, such as Google’s strong name (McDermott, T). This can be done through promotional strategies and the correct use of their enormous brand recognition in order to allow Google to make smart investments in terms of their retail efforts. Moreover, in regards to the Google online shopping site, in order to terminate speculation (Owen, V 2013) with Google’s customer base, Google should provide search results that are in the best interest of consumers shopping online, not provide customised search results that only work in the best interest of retailers and advertisers. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that Google has positive competencies to contribute to the company’s business model, as a result of Google’s strategic assets, dynamic capabilities and its competitive advantages. Moreover, this has allowed Google to maintain its strengths, whilst allowing for greater opportunities for growth and expansion. 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