A.T. Kearney Sales Management Essays

A.T. Kearney Sales Management Essays A.T. Kearney Sales Management Essay A.T. Kearney Sales Management Essay A. T Kearney and the new â€Å"defining entity† Background: â€Å"No longer is IT just another tool the CEO might use to accomplish costs saving and operational ends. Today, information technology can help solve product problems, set new levels of service and create new distribution and communication channels. † Founded in 1926, A. T. Kearney had evolved into one the world’s dominant management consulting practices. Its approach was to develop realistic solutions and help clients implement recommendations that generated tangible results and improved competitive advantage. The mix of strategy and operations had differentiated A. T. Kearney from its competitor’s and driven the firm’s outstanding results. A. T. Kearney had doubled its size every three years since 1983 and was recently listed in Consultants news as one of the five fastest-growing consulting firms in the world. EDS started in 1962 with Ross Perrot and $1000 dollar investment. It helped customers use information and technology to recast their economics and to identify and seize new opportunities. Considered by many to be the inventor of â€Å"outsourcing,† EDS had established itself as a world leader in information technology services. EDS defined its business as â€Å"shaping how information is created distributed, shared, enjoyed, and applied for the benefit of businesses, governments, and individuals around the world. † Its service offering included four different types of products: Systems Development, Systems Integration, Systems Management, and process management. EDS later entered the management consulting industry as part of a strategy to offer business solutions rather than simply IT solutions to its customers. EDS eventually formalized its efforts of management consulting by creating MCS which leveraged its tradition and strengths, MCS brought a new dimension to EDS. Over a short two-year period, EDS had built MCS into an organization of 1,300 people, with 30 offices in 20 countries. Competition for both firms revolved around the big six classic IT firms who were enjoying annual growth rates in excess for 15 percent as IT became increasingly strategic in nature and instrumental for reengineering. Operation and Strategic Firms, who were best known for their strategic expertise, were broadening their service fferings as they moved aggressively downstream into operations consulting. Systems Integrators and Systems Vendors had moved to more traditional management consulting markets and new information technology entrants that spotted the opportunity to consolidate client relationship by selling â€Å"upstream† consulting services on top of their core outsourcing and system integration s kills. Because of intense competition and extensive opportunities, EDS acquisitioned A. T. Kearney Ltd. in order to provide is a full service company. Despite amazing growth in the first year, the â€Å"new entity† had problems in leveraging the two companies, and jumping on these new attractive opportunities. However, the acquisition also raised many issues. Among these was the issue of how to leverage the merger in terms of providing strategic consulting and information systems solutions to clients. There’s also the issue about the ability of these two very different organizations, with different skill sets and cultures, to work together in blending their services into a broad, seamless continuum. Should the two firm’s cross-sell each others services? Should A. T. Kearney call on existing ED’s clients and vice-versa? Should the two firms work together to secure new clients? Sales management issues arising from this decision. For example, if cross-selling is to be encouraged, what incentive scheme might be appropriate? Strengths: * Successful merger between EDS and A. T. Kearney * World leader in Information Technology services * Offer services from systems development to Consulting services * Companies are very well known world-wide * Well positioned in the market place * Unparalleled spectrum of capabilities to clients Steady growth * â€Å"One Stop Shop† * Broad Range of services * Well matched for both A. T. Kearney and MCS. * Strong goals of growth, globalization, and leadership. Weaknesses * Leveraging and combining each other’s strengths in the marketplace * Merging of two entirely different cultures * Fear that A. T. Kearney would be viewed as the front end for EDS * Merge not working out among employee s * May be difficult to attract and retain good people * Consulting vs. Systems * Un-established environment where the two companies could remain apart, but at the same time work together. Sales and account management Opportunities: * Draw on the strengths of both organizations and develop entirely new products. * Full service firm * Technology being integrated into business strategy * A lot of growth potential * Technological Investments will increase * Substantial cross-marketing opportunities * Host events where employees from both organizations attend Threats: * Competitors becoming full service * Political and legal policies affecting the merge * Competition from other firms * The â€Å"Big Six† – Classic IT firms * Operational and Strategic Firms Systems Integrators and system vendors * New information technology entrants Recommendations: Cross-Selling will be strongly encouraged in the company by giving incentives to the sales teams of both companies. In additio n, the company should train a middleman between the two services. Train employees in cross-selling techniques. The approach must be built around serving the customer, not just selling more stuff. For example, you might describe how the additional products or services would complement the original purchase and further solve the customer’s problem. Be on the same payroll, their pay depends on the other company. Basically, there should be consultants from A. T. Kearney, who are involved in the creation of the IT programs from EDS. The two firms should work together to secure new clients. Essentially, whether the client from A. T. Kearney or EDS. A. T. Kearney will encourage the client to buy the software and services from EDS or EDS can ask the client use A. T. Kearney consulting services or they can also make it a package deal. In order to do so there’s a need to establish consistent forms of communication  with various layers of management. Setting up a communication program that includes a comprehensive list of employee groups within the purchasing and selling organizations; a very specific timetable for addressing each group; tools and forums to be used in communicating to each group; and deadlines for developing content and producing material, along with the individuals charged with accomplishing these tasks. There should be clear communications to  all  employees,  the expectations for working in the post-transaction environment. They should, therefore, hear the same message from management so that all employees are singing from the same prayer book.    Ideally, members of a companys executive team should initially address all employees directly. On a follow-up basis, however, managers should be reinforcing the big picture painted by senior officials while focusing on specific actions expected of employees under their supervision. To ensure these follow-up communications are consistent in their message and reflect top managements expectations for employee action, a company-wide communication plan should be in place. Overall controls on the type and content of the communications could range from providing managers with content outlines and/or key talking points, to centralized development of the presentation material itself. Listen to the views and concerns of all employees  regarding work in the new environment. Overall, the newly formed company must work hard at finding a blend of corporate practices and procedures from operations, sales and R;D to finance, management systems and the use of capital and human resources that best suits its planned goals and objectives. Reason for Recommendation: If two firms were to create a new environment that can work for both organizations by communicating, it will provide both firms with optimum advantage. Benefits from the blend will include: keeping as many clients as possible, getting some more and most importantly, have a good and efficient organization, not just to the eyes of the clients, but also to the new inner structure that the company will have. The entity can host event for the employees to get to know each other this way EDS employees can refer clients to a specific A. T. Kearney consultant or perhaps have both work together, even introduce the A. T. Kearney consultant to the client and visa-versa. In order to encourage this, the company can provide incentives for cross-selling, or they can. For the vendor, the benefits are also substantial. The most obvious example is an increase in revenue. There are also efficiency benefits in servicing one account rather than several. Most importantly, vendors that sell more services to a client are less likely to be displaced by a competitor. The more a client buys from a vendor, the higher the switching cost

brassica rapa essays

brassica rapa essays The Effect of Exogenously Applied Gibberellic Acid on the Plant Type Brassica rapa in a Regulated Environment. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the exogenous application of the plant hormone Gibberellic Acid (GA) will increase the growth rate of a Rosette mutant Brassica rapa. A wild type plant was compared to six rosette mutant plants, which have a recessive mutation that prevents the production of Gibberellins, natural plant growth hormones. Gibberellic Acid was applied to six of the plant cells in concentrations of 0, 1, 100, 1000, 10,000, and unknown uM. We compared the height and growth of each plant cell to the control, the 0 uM mutant plant, which represented an unaffected Rosette mutant. Five different measurements of the growth in height of each of the plants were taken over the three week course of the experiment. The data and results analyzed from the experiment helped determine which concentration of Gibberellic Acid has the most effect in the growth response of the Rosette mutants and what the unknown concentration the  ¡unknown ¡ Rosette mutant pl ant was receiving. James Matthew Warner Dishuck and I had the alternate hypothesis that an increase in the concentration of Gibberellic Acid applied exogenously to the Rosettes would result in an increase in plant growth. Our results from our experiment showed that the 1,000 uM and 10,000 uM enhanced Rosette mutants had significant changes in their growth response and height increase through out the experiment, which disproved the null hypothesis that GA enhanced Rosette mutant plants would have a plant growth equal to a Rosette mutant plant unaffected by the plant growth hormone. Gibberellic Acid has a positive effect on the Gibberellins-lacking Rosette mutant Brassica rapa , but after a certain concentration of GA, the plant growth hormone would have a possible negative effect on the Brassica rapa. Brassica rapa is a diminutive plant dev...

Planetarium summary out of class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Planetarium summary out of class - Assignment Example During the night we were able to witness yellow star – Weero – which is truly a bright star. I only knew it was yellow from class but today I saw it live! We also witnessed a show about a fascinating staff called space mirrors. Many people perceive stars as points of light that are far from the planet Earth. This is not true since stars are actually the reflections of the Sun off space mirrors in universe. Some mirrors are very close while others are far away; some are blue while others are red and so that is the reason why stars have dissimilar colours. The show revealed that some galaxies and stars look older since their light penetrated through the time cube. Later on, after the show, it was now the time to look, through a solar telescope, at the sun. I realized that the Sun appeared like some green ball since the telescope just allow a little of green light rays through it. Other stars also appeared green just as the

Professional Ethics And Governance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Professional Ethics And Governance - Assignment Example The creativity and the risk taking will provide the decision makers in securing and protecting the risky partnership with the stock of Enron and ensuring that the stock will not fall (Healey and Isles, 2002). The values of Enron that is included in the corporate culture is not balanced and maintained by proper and appropriate attention that is required for increasing the corporate integrity and also acquiring of the customers and not only providing value to its shareholders. The corporate culture of Enron mainly embraces its value which is of large size which is not only considered as the value but also as a strategy in order to attain big mission or objective. Enron has faced a severe failure partly because of the existence of complexity and partly because of its size and the auditors failed , the bankers and the creditors failed, the management of the company failed and even the regulators also failed to safeguard and control the integrity of the capital market (Erwin, 2011). The c ombination of the various failures has resulted in the structural problem of the company. Arthur Andersen has been considered as the most influential, high earning and the most ethical accounting firm of the world. In spite of the rise in the consulting services, the relationship of the firms with its clients the company faced several threats from the investors of its regulators, clients and courts. Andersen failure in maintaining proper audit has both legally and ethically disrupted the various aspects that are related to the development of the ethical standards and accounting theory. The maintenance of quality control which is termed and regarded as the most important element and factor in the accounting profession has also been violated by Andersen (Stevens, 2013). The corporate culture of Lehman brother can be analyzed by the fact that it failed to face the severe and aggressive recession that prevailed in the year 2008 and it went bankrupt. Lehman

Project Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project Management - Research Paper Example Some negative features of its structure as well as execution counteract the positive results that are being attained under the Act. The lack of a â€Å"trigger for greenhouse gas emissions† (Russell & Cohn, 2012) is a major gap in the dogmatic structure of issues of national importance. Addition of a greenhouse trigger within the Act is suggested to harmonize other greenhouse schemes of the Australian Government. Latest policy alterations in listing endangered ecological communities may ease a number of these setbacks; however, a process for â€Å"merits review of listing decisions† (Russell & Cohn, 2012) would improve the public responsibility and precision of the function of the Act. No individual should take any step that likely to have a major impact on the heritage standards of a confirmed property without the authorization of Environment Minister. Each heritage property, including South Western Historical Society Building, has its personal heritage standards. It i s the standards, and not merely the place itself, which are safeguarded. Any activity is likely to have a major effect if there is even the slightest likelihood or chance that it will cause one or more of the heritage standards to be lost, dishonoured, harmed or changed considerably. Activities outside the heritage property that have an effect on the heritage standards also require authorization (Hansen & Hoffman, 2010). It is a counselling body whose associates are hired by the Heritage Minister, together with delegates from the community, â€Å"Director General of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure†, a person with aptitude and expertise in historical heritage, and the â€Å"National Trust of Australia† (Lane et al, 2010). The functions of the EPBC are (1) giving suggestions and performing analysis, research and inquiries with respect to the items of environmental heritage; (2) maintaining a record, known as the State Heritage Inventory, recording places of State and local heritage importance. Thirdly, carrying out community learning about the nation’s environmental heritage, and (4) and giving views or reports on environmental heritage when needed. Any person or a company, who wants to renovate or refurbish a place, building or land listed as a historical heritage, should initially get authorization from the EPBC. Any activity that might harm some or all foliage on land or within limits of a heritage item needs authorization as well. These authorizations are not compulsory for State significant improvements that have been given development approval. Not each action that entails a matter â€Å"protected by the EPBC Act will have a significant impact† (Piddock, 2007), so it is essential that the person gives every available piece of information regarding the planned activity for renovation, in addition to the measures he will be taking to decrease undesirable effects on the building. The Australian Government has mutual c ontracts with every state as well as territory administration to authorize environment evaluation procedures that meet the already established values. If a person wants EPBC Act endorsement, besides state or territory administration authorization, it may be feasible to carry out a single evaluation, avoiding repetition. To make the most of this chance it is vital that the person takes an appointment with the minister at the beginning of drafting a

Implementation of a Risk Communication Plan

Implementation of a Risk Communication Plan Following the reported deaths of hundreds of birds in Esperance in Western Australian between December 2006 and March 2007, it was discovered that lead being transported through the towns port were responsible for their deaths. However, much of the community was unaware of this until it became public as part of the investigation into bird deaths in the local environment. Esperance saw itself as an idyllic rural community, with a sound economic basis, but removed from the problems associated with cities, such as pollution. Once the lead problem was identified, residents became very concerned about their childrens health and demanded immediate action. In order to address the concerns of the affected parties, a risk communication plan is essential so as the risk assessment team is able to improve risk understanding among target groups, disclose information about hazards to people whom might be exposed, legitimise risk-related decisions in favor of acceptance or rejection of specific risk sources. It also has the role to breakdown the risk management process to the target audience so that assessors can build up trust in the risk fairness of the management process while at the same ensuring that there is enough individual risk reduction information to improve public protection. Finally the risk communication plan promotes support towards the communicating agency as it provides guidelines for emergency situations and educates decision-makers about public concerns and perceptions. (Sue Lang, Lorna Fewtrell and Jamie Bartram, 2001, p.320) There are multiple stakeholders involved in this crisis, starting with the residents of the community, governmental departments such as the department of water, environment and planning, local businesses, the companies exporting the metals, the port authorities and media. A risk communication (RC) needs assessment was run prior in order to identify the major stakeholders involved in the in this crisis and to identify the issues of concerns of for each group, the goals from the interaction with each group and be able to choose and adequate technique of approach to each type of stakeholder. The RC needs assessment had led to understand that various stakeholders had different issues of interests and concerns and that whether their concerns were, the techniques of approach to them may overlap. The key stakeholders were identified to be the residents of Esperence, health department, water department, port authorities, tourism operators, business owners, the media, local authorities and department of environment, local government and department of planning. The key issues noted during the assessment were the risk to the health of the residents, risks to local businesses such as tourism, relocation of locals, and panic within the community due to health hazards. The table below identifies the issues that meant to be addressed in a risk communication plan and how they are link to the plans goal together with the activities needed to be carried out so as to reach the goals. It should also be noted that descending order of the issues representative of the priority given to each individual issue. (R Brian Pickard, Risk Communication Plan Guidance,   2013 p.24) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED PLANS GOALS ACTIVITIES Local residents concerns regarding the hazards Provide the residents necessary   and adequate information to address their concerns Provide information to the residents by activities such as distributing information on physical or electrical mediums. Develop and maintain relationships and supports two-way communication with public community groups, and the news media. Concerns of the health department regarding crisis Provide them with the outreach of the crisis; how many people are affected and to which extent. Maintain direct communication for health persons via phone, email or in person. So that they received necessary data as they require it. Level of information between assessors and Department of water Share findings obtain through research to concerned department so it knows where they stand and how they can mitigate the situation Ensure that they receive   tangible information in terms of documents and findings which they can consult and base action plan upon Concerns about treat to local businesses. Assess impact of contamination on local businesses. Hold meeting with the concerned stakeholders and discuss ways by which they are being affected and try find solutions. Department of planning Provide the department expected outcomes in case of an imminent crisis Ensure that they receive   tangible information in terms of documents and findings which they can consult and base action plan upon Nature and types of information being released by the media Audit the quality of information being released to the press. Monitoring of information released through various media outlets; websites, newspapers, television and radio by appointing media trackers Threat to port activities and jobs at stake Assess situation and find possible links between issues and port. Minimize potential risk of activities shutdown. Meet with responsible of activities and discuss Communication at all stages of the program is important. People need to be informed about key developments so they will be able to make the most of the program. Information should be disclosed to community members throughout the program, especially before starting key activities, before making changes to the program and upon encountering delays. The order/timing in which information is disclosed to the various stakeholders depends upon who they represent in the community and the value of their feedback so that when a wider public is informed, the risk assessment plan has already been revised to that it understood by the majority of the stakeholders. The resources to be deployed for the risk communication plan relies greatly on the budget allocated to the assessment. While a great part of the resources remain man power which favors easier communication, builds up trust among the community, provides for skills for data collection and analysis depending upon the budget communication methods such as mass media and dedicated can employed, else inexpensive methods inexpensive, such as sharing information at community meetings, working with community and committees creating simple posters can be used., There are various challenges that might hinder the implementation of this; unwillingness for stakeholders to cooperate, coordinate risk communication messages among multiple communicators who are communicating about the same issue or time constraints. (Cabinet Implementation Unit Toolkit, 2013, p.3). The roles and responsibilities in order to implement the risk communication plan correctly are as listed below. ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES Public Information Officer Implement risk communication plan and directs information disclosure Provide information to stakeholder through various mediums Create and uphold two conversation between all stakeholders .Maintains current information summaries and/or displays on the incident. Responsible to communicate information to   pertinent staff Develop presentations for utility executives Prepare responses to constituent inquiries. Content and Message Coordinator Develops pathways to receive information rapidly from various institutes regarding public health emergencies and works with available subject matter experts to create situation-specific fact sheets and updates. Media Coordinator . Assesses media needs (e.g., briefings, statements) and bridges the gap between the public and sources Direct Public Outreach Coordinator Responsible for public service announcement and initiates telephone information line Partner/Stakeholder Coordinator Sets up communication protocols based on agreements with identified partners and stakeholders. Media Tracker Monitors available internally and externally identifies misinformation, provides, assess the quality of communication, takes action to amend wrong information, tracks press releases, monitors news outlets and web sites, and drives away (stories that may or may not be true)

Revenge At Its Sweetest :: essays research papers

Only a few slow moving tumbleweeds occupied the desert terrain. The endless plain of dust and hot dry dirt seemed to have no occupants, it was as if the ground hadn't been walked over for years. Suddenly, the seemingly endless silence was broken by a gradual fade into a chaotic rumbling. The sound grew more ferocious and eventually became unbearably loud. Just then in the distance behind a cliff, a cloud of dust appeared and out of it raced seven cars racing at insane speeds. It looked as if the cars had been built from scraps of hard iron and metal for the sole purpose was to fight against other contenders in this barren wasteland. In front of the pack was a sleek fast car, being pursued by six other cars, but one could tell the leading car was an extremely experienced driver possessing total control of the vehicle. The dark and mysterious figure behind the wheel of the leading car was wearing a helmet with the name "MAX" on the side of it. Max reached across the seat and pulled out a shotgun, and after putting it out the window shot a round back at the following pack of cars. Immediately after one car at the back swerved dangerously and rolled several times before bursting into flames sending pieces of metal all the barren wasteland. A pack of cars was quickly approaching a deep canyon, they would have to break hard now to avoid hitting the edge of it. Max didn't slow down, Max pushed the accelerator with such an extreme force and determination that it seemed as if the car screamed in pain as it lurched forward, faster than ever. Then the car leapt off the canyon's edge and became airborne. Gliding through the air without any control of the car didn't seem to faze Max at all. The car seemed to delicately touch down on the other side as if there was a bridge. The following pack ended up being obliterated against the other side of the canyon's jaws. Max was finally alone, killing off the opposition had been easy, almost too easy! Searching for the final destination was difficult due to the similarity of the horizon in every direction. Yet eventually a dark mass loomed up, "Looks like the bastards hideout", Max muttered. "Taking care of them will accomplish my vendetta for what they did to my love".