Business Success

Introduction

Managers and businesses have a special relationship. Managers need businesses to run so
that they can have jobs. Businesses, obviously, need managers to keep running. So it is
important for both the business and the manager to do well.

All our education in Amrita has been aimed at teaching us how to manage people and events in
a competent manner.

We feel it is more than necessary to look into what qualities make a business succeed, and a
few points on avoiding failure.

Conclusion

We are the future. It is up to us, the young, the ambitious to make this world a better place. To
make India into a stronger economy. The best way for us to do this is to make sure that any
business we start or work for as successful as we can.

We hope that our presentation has helped you to learn more about success within companies.
We pray that the businesses that you’re a part of has all the good qualities and don’t make the
mistakes that other, less fortunate businesses, have made.

Here are a number of other failure stories which relate to India; Kellogg, because Indians won't
eat cold cereal for breakfast; Mercedes, because it introduced an older, cheaper model when in
fact Indian consumers wanted the latest cars, just at a lower price; Coca-Cola, because the bottles
were too big, prices were too high and the brand was too American

Apple Inc.
Apple Inc is an American multinational corporation created in 1976 that designs and markets
consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known
hardware products include the Macintosh computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple
software includes the Mac OS X operating system.

1. The ability to keep developing new products to retain and build a customer base​.
 Apple Inc. is constantly developing new products and improving the products they

already have. Apple was one of the first companies to sell personal computers. It was

the first to create mp3 listening devices such as the ipod. It spearheaded the smart

phone wave with the iphone, and it created a new product, a product people didn’t even

know they wanted until it came out, the ipad. Apple is constantly creating innovative,

useful, reliable and easy to use products. Because of this it has lasted for many years

and is an incredible success.

2. Deal-making skills to sell the product at the highest possible price given your

market.​ One of the most important things in business is making profit. When a company

has the ability to have high profit margins and keep a strong core customer base as

Apple does then you know it will stay successful for a long time. Having a high price

makes people understand and feel they are paying for quality. One thing about having a

high margin of profit is that it has good defensive capabilities. If another company is

getting too competitive with the company, Apple always has the option of lowering the

price. If there was no high margin of profit there would be less options to stay afloat

when competition comes around.

Tata

3. Masterful Marketing

The marketing strategy of Tata Motors is one of the most successful marketing strategies used

by a car maker in the car industry. The car company lays emphasis on Product Branding and

Advertising. Advertising is the common way to make public aware of the new product. Besides,

advertising also help to create a brand image. Over the years, Tata Motors has been successful

in their own right in creating a brand image for itself.

 Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a global American pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer

packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. (124 years old) The corporation includes some

250 subsidiary companies with operations in over 57 countries. Its products are sold in over 175

countries. Made $62.59 Billion in revenue world wide this year.

Johnson & Johnson's brands include numerous household names of medications and first aid

supplies. Among its well-known consumer products are the Band-Aid Brand line of bandages,

Tylenol medications, Johnson's baby products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products, Clean &

Clear facial wash and Acuvue contact lenses.

4. Brand Loyalty​ When you first think of baby products or band-aids what business do you

think of first?Johnson and Johnson of course! Johnson & Johnson has been around for

so long and has supplied our households with so many quality products that it has

gained everyone’s trust.

5. A steady source of business during both good economic times and downturns.

To say it simply, a good business is one which can sell a lot of products over an

extended period of time. A company which can sell goods when economic times are

both good and bad is a company which can sell more products. Mothers will always buy

band-aids and baby-care products whether we’re in a boom or bust economy. This is

one of the greatest aspects to Johnson & Johnson’s success.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large discount department
stores and a chain of warehouse stores. It was incorporated in 1962 with 48 stores. By 1975
there were 125 stores with 7,500 employees and total sales of $340.3 million. As of December
2009, there were 810 Walmart Discount Stores in the United States. The net earnings as of this
year are $14,830,000,000 (RS ​659028414000)

6. The ability to work with resource suppliers to keep costs low. (Being competitive)

The reason why Wal-Mart (known as Best Price in India) has had such phenomenal

growth and success is because it’s ability to make excellent deals with suppliers so the

the costs are low. The whole philosophy of Wal-Mart is lower to prices so competitively

so that they can increase sales so much.

Intel

Intel Corporation is an American technology company, and the world's largest semiconductor

chip maker. It creates processors for Dell, HP, Apple and a host of other computer companies. It

was created in 1968.

7. Excellent Research and Develepment (R&D)​ The whole secret to Intel’s business, the

reason it has remained on top for so long, is that it constantly invests in new technology.

Demand for more efficient semiconductors is so strong that customers always want the

best available. What Intel does is maintain premium pricing for its products by constantly

improving the products at a pace none of its rivals has ever been able to match.

It does this by making huge investments in R&D.

It is continuous investment in R&D that propels the

efficiencies of microprocessors to increase by around 100% every 18 months. And,

because of Intel’s size and the volume of chips it will make and sell, it can afford to

spend more money on R&D than anyone else – by a huge margin. This, in turn, ensures

that Intel will continue to have the best chips at the lowest prices.
All the companies so far have at least a few of these highly important qualities, and that is why

they are so incredibly successful. Here are some things that they ALL have which keeps them

from failing:

They understand the customer.​ Each one of them understands what the customer wants and

how they want it. They know how to provide their star customers with the best products and

services so that they’ll keep buying, they’ll buy more and they’ll spend more each time they buy.

They understand debt. ​They all understand that debt is a necessary and useful tool which

allows them to get the most amount of wealth for their share holders, but more importantly, they

understand that there is certain amount of debt a company should go into. They understand that

the profit they make MUST be able to pay off the interest accumulating from the debts and

some of the principal debt.

They are honest and have a great deal of transparency. ​It is extremely important that a

company is honest and transparent with all the stakeholders. Trust is one of the pillars of a long

lasting relationship. And the business-customer relationship is a key to a successful company.

One famous recent example of a company which failed to do this is our very own

Satyam Computers.

Satyam Computers

Satyam Computers was founded in 1987. It ​offered consulting and information technology

services spanning various sectors.

The Satyam fiasco should be seen more as an audit process failure and not as an

accounting issue, Mr T.V. Mohandas Pai, Member of the Infosys Board and Trustee of
the IASC Foundation, said. Their balance sheet showed An overstated debtors position

of 4.90 billion rupees (as against 26.51 billion reflected in the books).

Because of the lack of transparency, the share price crashed from a high of RS 544 to

RS 11.50 crushing the investments of many Indians. Also other big companies such as

Merril Lynch and Credit Suisse stopped or suspended any affiliation with Satyam.

The damage it did to the integrity of Indian businesses in the eyes of the rest of the

world cannot be quantified.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Top-10-Reasons-Businesses-Succeed&id=12514
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=WMT
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=JNJ
www.wikipedia.com

http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC605/fc605.html

Quick response to purchase calls and complaints and closing of sales, product innovation, and
consumer designed products (product flexibility like in case of DELL computers) and employee
development and retention are sure moving towards failure.

The online shopping (e-commerce) tools, virtual stores and home delivery will give run for
money to traditional and badly managed businesses even in retailing (see huge success of
ebay​).

Your business model should have ​distinct advantage visible to prospective consumer​ in
terms of ​functionality, quality, aesthetics, cost advantage or reliability and future up
gradations and assurance of good and prompt service​. (Most Indian organizations don't
invest in a quick, complete and satisfying after sales service or warranty service). This model
can only be replaced by ​a throw away type​ cheap but highly standardized product design
(​Casio digital diaries for example​). Even, W​ indows​ (Microsoft) upgrades its software free and
periodically up to certain number of years. ​Businesses must attempt to create customer
delight and repeat purchase.
Same way every business has got to get expanding continuously to take care of growing
needs of employees, their rising wages and welfare allowances (some are statutory)
driven by competition pressures and to imbibe bombardment of newer equipment and
technology, all the time (Kaizen and lean manufacturing system of the Japanese, for
example).
Same way every business has got to get expanding continuously to take care of growing needs
of employees, their rising wages and welfare allowances (some are statutory) driven by
competition pressures and to imbibe bombardment of newer equipment and technology, all the
time (Kaizen and lean manufacturing system of the Japanese, for example).

General Motors (​GM​) was founded in September of 1908. On June 1,

2009, at 8 a.m. -- almost 101 years later -- ​it ceased to exist​, and
control was handed over to turnaround executive Al Koch. Thanks to
$19.4 billion in loans and $30.1 billion more in debtor-in-possession
financing, a huge amount of effort by the U.S. government and GM's
management, unions, dealers, suppliers and bondholders, the effects
of that failure will be terrible, but not catastrophic.
The U.S. will own ​60 percent​ of the new GM, which will include Chevy,
Buick, GMC and Cadillac. Canada will take 12 percent after lending
GM $9.5 billion, the UAW 17.5 percent (as payment for $9.4 billion of
its $20 billion in health care obligations) with warrants to buy 2.5
percent more, the bondholders 10 percent to as high as 25 percent
through warrants, and old GM common shareholders roughly zero.
Twelve to 20 more GM factories will close, 21,000 union workers will
be fired, and 2,400 GM dealers will shut down.
To help other companies avoid GM's fate, it's worth exploring the five
reasons that GM failed:
1. Bad financial policies.​ You might be surprised to learn that GM
has been bankrupt since 2006 and has avoided a filing for years
thanks to the graces of the banks and bondholders. But for years it
has used cars as razors to sell consumers a monthly package of razor
blades -- in the form of highly profitable car loans.

And the two Harvard MBAs who drove GM to bankruptcy -- Rick

Wagoner and Fritz Henderson -- both rose up from GM's finance
division, rather than its vehicle design operation. (Read more about
GM's bad financial policies ​here​.)
2. Uncompetitive vehicles.​ Compared to its toughest competitors --
like Toyota Motor Co. (​TM​) -- GM's cars were poorly designed and
built, took too long to manufacture at costs that were too high, and as
a result, fewer people bought them, leaving GM with excess
production capacity. (Read more about GM's uncompetitive vehicles
here​.)
3. Ignoring competition. ​GM has been ignoring competition -- with a
brief interruption (Saturn in the 1980s) -- for about 50 years. At its
peak, in 1954, GM controlled ​54 percent​ of the North American vehicle
market. Last year, that figure had tumbled to 19 percent. Toyota and
its peers took over that market share. (Read more about GM ignoring
the competition ​here​.)
4. Failure to innovate.​ Since GM was focused on profiting from
finance, it did not really care that much about building better vehicles.
GM's management failed to adapt GM to changes in customer needs,
upstart competitors, and new technologies. (Read more about GM's
failure to innovate ​here​.)
5. Managing in the bubble.​ GM managers got promoted by toeing
the CEO's line and ignoring external changes. What looked stupid
from the perspective of customer and competitors was smart for those
bucking for promotions. (Read more about GM's managing in the
bubble ​here​.)
GM's failure after 101 years is an indictment of American
management in general. It highlights the damage to our economy that
results when finance becomes the tail that wags the economic dog.
And it shows what happens to any company that rests on its laurels
and fails to adapt to change.

Conclusion