Company risk management analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company risk management analysis - Assignment Example A year later in 1988 Vodafone was listed on the stock exchange. After three years in 1991, Vodafone separated from Racal Electronics and since that time, it was quoted as Vodafone in the stock exchange. In 1999, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communication producing one company known as Vodafone Airtouch plc. The dawn of the twenty-first century saw greater developments for Vodafone Plc as it introduced Vodafone Live! in 2002 and went on to commercially launch its 3G services in Europe. A year later in 2005 the company launched a fixed mobile convergence product in Germany called Zuhause and acquired controlling interests on Hutchison Essar Limited in India. Since 2007, the company has been involved in a number of acquisitions and partnerships in Europe, Asia and Africa. Currently, Vodafone holds a market leadership position as the largest mobile carrier in terms of subscriber base. Vodafone’s Business Model Business models are very important for the existence of every business enterprise (Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Ricart 2011). Models give a business a sense of direction and purpose (Chesbrough 2010) and basically define what the business is all about, what it seeks to achieve and the steps it will take to achieve the outcomes (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010). The business model of Vodafone Plc is quite simple; it consists of five steps with the shareholder in between. The first element in the model consists of Assets; these include networks, supplier relationships, distribution, people, and brand (Vodafone 2013). Vodafone aims to have a great mobile network in all of the markets in which it operates. This mainly involves providing their customers with far-reaching coverage, reliable mobile connections, and increasing speeds and data capacity. Figure 1: Vodafone’s Business Model (Source: Vodafone 2013) Vodafone plc indicates in its annual report (2013) that it combines ongoing high level of network investment with a commitment to securing the b est possible portfolio of the spectrum. The next asset for Vodafone is people; the company has a highly skilled, motivated and diverse workforce. Vodafone expects its employees to be key in advocating for its products and services. Distribution is the other asset owned by Vodafone; the company reaches its customers through the over 15 thousand stores it owns as well as through a broad network of exclusive distribution partners and third-party retailers. According to Vodafone (2013), the Internet is becoming an increasingly important channel for distribution. The fourth item is the brand; Vodafone is ranked as one of the first most valuable telecoms brands in the world being worth over US$27 billion. This brand strength is one of the major drivers of purchasing decisions for consumers and enterprise customers. The final asset listed by Vodafone is its supplier relationships, the company has a large-scale global reach and is a key strategic partner with a large number of suppliers wit h whom it works together to develop innovative services and offer many new innovations. The next element in Vodafone’s business model is it its customers. According to Vodafone (2013), the company boasts over 404 million customers globally making it one of the biggest mobile operators in the world. The ranges of its customer

Each of the novels focused on in this class examines the role of power Research Paper

Each of the novels focused on in this class examines the role of power in relation to the human condition. The characters in the - Research Paper Example Power is a very important and significant concept as well as a very confusing and relative term at the same time. This is because it depends on the kind of power that a person possesses in a certain situation and specific role. A person, at any one time is very likely to experience different forms of power such as expert power, referent, reward or coercive power (Flyvbjerg, 2009). There are also several sources to exercise power which include knowledge and expertise, charisma, coercion, persuasion, knowledge, social class, aggressive or manipulative. Power is not necessarily negative. It exists in both forms, positive as well as negative (Noordin Yahaya, 2011). A person who has a high authority can always use a positive way to exercise power and can also use a negative way to exercise his powers. Power can be used by using different tactics such as the concept of using soft power and hard power (Galbraith, 1983). Soft power refers to more collaborative ways of exercising power while hard power uses more harsh ways of displaying one’s power in a more manipulative manner. Moreover, power can be used in other ways like rational and irrational. Power is a good and a bad thing at the same time. When used in a productive way, that is to help others, to help humanity, to help society leaving apart all the desires that have power, it can produce great results. On the other hand if power is used in a negative way that is to get what you desire and that also might be unethical, by hurting people or by using power to take coercive actions can lead into a disaster (Ghandchi, 1998). As clear from their names, rational power means to influence others with logic while irrational power means coercing them to do something without any logical explanation or understanding. Another way is to use power in a unilateral or bilateral way. Bilateral use of power involves two way communication and ways of convincing people, negotiating with them, listening to what they have to sa y and implementing things that seem right. On the other hand, unilateral power involves person making decisions of his choice regardless of caring about others opinions and considering oneself as absolutely correct; not ready to face any kind of criticism. In the three novels that will be under consideration for this analysis; The Alienist", "The Thin Man", and "Snow in August", we will see what they have in common and how they can relate to concept of role of power with respect to human condition. All the three novels being discussed below have some form of power under discussion and each of them refers to a different form of power, how it affected the individual and how it can help achieve one’s goals, or how it has negatively affected a person in achieving what he wanted to. To begin with â€Å"The Alienist†, which is a psychological thriller and revolves around a diverse forensic team to help investigate on the issue and find a serial killer. In the context of this topic, what is important here is the fact that the forensic team constituted of a police secretary, a journalist, two detectives and the alienist himself. This means that the power of decision making in human context belonged to these 5 members regardless of what their roles in other contexts of life were. For instance, the journalist has a different position of authority in his job and so does the police secretary. However