A Local company and its choice to expand into other markets. 85°C, Gourmet Master Co. Ltd, and its expansion

 On July 28, 2004, the first 85°C store opened on Baoping Road, New Taipei City, Taiwan. As its products became more popular, the second store opened in the same year and open for franchises. In 2004, "Gourmet Master Co. Ltd." was established in Taiwan and registered in the Cayman Islands. In September 2008, its parent company, a shareholding company, was established due to the reorganization. In 2010, it became a publicly-traded company and its shares were listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange. It opened 300 branches in three years and then started its oversea expansions. The brand name came from the belief, that "coffee tastes best at 85 degrees Celsius". As of May 2018, 85°C has opened 589 stores in China, a central kitchen, 11 logistics centers, 435 stores in Taiwan, and 44 stores in the United States. Most of its stores are franchises.

Its Strategic Choices

The first strategic choice was to reorganize its structure for the tax benefit that would down from 40% to 20% since it was registered in the Cayman Islands and treated as a "foreign issuer" in Taiwan. Secondly, the central kitchen. One of the most recent trends that have proven to save money and waste in the long term is central kitchens. Central kitchens not only can cut staff costs, food costs, and equipment and location costs, but also decrease waste. Thirdly, its expansion. Most of its stores are opened in China which is the biggest coffee market in the world. Moreover, geographically it is closer to Taiwan, not to mention that it is also a Chinese-speaking country. Therefore, China was the top priority when Gourmet Master Co. Ltd started its expansion. 

Reference

Home. 85C Bakery Cafe. (2022, May 7). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.85cbakerycafe.com/ 

85 degrees cafe australia 85C. 85 Degrees Cafe. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.85cafe.com.au/ 

What are the strategic choices available? What are the driving forces behind the choices? Compsis at A Crossroads

 Founded in 1989 in the Brazilian industrial city of São José dos Campos, Compsis is an electronic toll collection (ETC) service company that had gained the dominant share of the Brazilian market and had even managed projects in Australia and India. In 2004, however, it appeared that Compsis’s success might be in jeopardy. Revenue fell due to the Brazilian government’s prolonged delay in awarding new toll road construction rights to concessionaires. Despite considerable efforts by the business development team, Compsis had been unable to win new ETC projects outside Brazil, not only in Latin America but in Europe and India as well. Compsis's strength was mostly on turning its ETC software, the SICAT, into a simpler, more flexible product. However, this strength would be useless if it is hard to convince existing customers to upgrade. 

Therefore Compsis stood at a crossroads. In 2005, the Brazilian government was expected to award more concessions, the new SICAT version would be completed, and Compsis would be ready to test new products ranging from traffic management systems to magnetically guided buses. On the other side of the road, Compsis could ill afford to depend solely on the vagaries of the Brazilian market. The company could try to expand elsewhere in Latin America and other developing ETC markets, or Compsis could turn to a mature market, a country where experienced toll system buyers demanded and paid for cutting-edge technology from industry leaders such as the United States.

As 2004 drew to a close, Ailton knew that Compsis had several months of operating cash in the bank to support the decision. Now, the options were to wait out the current drought and expect that the Brazilian government’s funding for toll concessions would rebound as predicted, or to do it ultimately has to do, international expansion since Brazil was a limited market. If it chooses to expand internationally, which one would be better for this time? Compsis hadn’t been perfectly successful in its earliest international projects, but the team had learned crucial lessons about project management, cultural differences, and the complexities of finding a local partner. Was Compsis ready to expand to the United States, where it could probably match the quality and beat the price of its competitors? Let's discuss the options of which road should Compsis choose? Before we make any decision, we must know what available options we have. This is important because oftentimes we made bad decisions due to we overly limited ourselves, or give ourselves too many choices and causing time-wasting. Of course, there are always driving forces behind choices. 

In 1996, Compsis decided to expand its technology strategy into a new area, Intelligent Transportation Systems(ITS). Compsis stuck to its core skills, integrating complex hardware and software systems. This strategy sought to win contracts from a range of Brazilian ITS projects. Moreover, since the SICAT(Electronic Toll Audit) was the most demanded, Compsis designed its SICAT software and outsourced the hardware to local suppliers to increase its operating efficiency. It is similar to Apple Inc. outsourcing its hardware manufacturing globally, mostly in China, to reduce the cost, but the core skills do not. 

In my opinion, the main reason that contributed to Compsis's success was that Compsis was able to take the advantage of its core skills to widen its product lines, gain its flexibility of service and products, and catch up with the good timing to expand its business. Nonetheless, some of Compsis's success was learned from its failures. Unlike customers in mature countries who could afford costly systems, the Indian toll market was sensitive to price. Its India project was a wash, with no loss, but also no profits. It was a pricy lesson that Compsis learned from expanding in a developing country. In this case, we can understand that widening the product lines and gaining flexibility is crucial when expanding globally.

References

Compsis at a Crossroads, a case study by Lehrich, M. J., Paredes, P. J., & Ravikumar, R

Compsis at A Crossroads, A Case Study

 Usually, there are always some reasons why businesses make strategic choices, either due to their own ambition or failure. Therefore, let's look at some issues it was facing, before we discuss the decisions the Compsis made and why it was at such a crossroads. It is not only good to know the advantages and disadvantages of these strategic choices, but it is also helpful when we know the reasons behind these decisions.

The Issues

In 2004, its revenue fell primarily due to the Brazilian government's prolonged delay in awarding new toll road construction rights to concessionaires and also unable to win new ETV projects outside Brazil. Even though Compsis was making progress in turning its ETC software(SICAT) into a flexible product, it would be difficult to convince existing customers to upgrade.

The Crossroads

The CEO Ailton de Assis Queiroga and his fellow Compsis leaders anticipated that 2005 would be a better year since its new SICAT system would be ready when the Brazilian government was expected to award more concessions. However, if we look at the other side, the alternative is to expand its business elsewhere in Latin America or other developing ETC markets which are highly price-sensitive. Or, a mature market that is more likely to demand and pay for such as a cutting-edge product, the United States. In addtion, To widen its product suite by focusing more on other services and products such as ATMS, SMV, or SGM, it could broaden its portfolio and spread the risk. But if Compsis desire to grow, then Brazil was ultimately a limited market. Its relatively inexperienced with international and public RFP processes and small will be a big weakness.

So, which road would you prefer to choose if you are the CEO of Compsis? Remember, the resources are limited and it would be costly when you made your choice and regret it, or even try to turn back your wheel.

Understanding The Industry and The Markets

A modern toll plaza is broadly classified into three categories, manual, semi-automatic, and fully automatic. A manual toll collection booth accepted cash. A semi-automatic toll lane allowed cash collection, credit cards, coupons, and drive-through using RFID transponders. A fully automatic, unmanned toll booth only permitted vehicles that were RFID-equipped, and also linking the various lanes was a complex and integrated system of wires, detection devices, and software, both to monitor drivers and employees and to audit the receipts. Clearly, Compsis's advanced product was the third one, the fully automatic.

In Brazil, where Compsis was majorly operating in, most road operators were private concessionaires who collaborated with the government under the authorized contracts. In the US, the operators are not private since they perceive the road as a public good. Generally, globally, in this market, depending on the local competitors, there might be enough roads and contracts to uncover.

The Strategic Choices 1: Develop and Switch

In 1996, Compsis decided to expand its technology strategy into a new area, ITS(Intelligent Transportation System) particularly, the Electronic Toll Audit(SICAT), which provides integrated real-time management of all the processes of automation, accounting, and auditing of revenues at highway toll plazas. Switching its hardware business to software business. Rather than manufacture transponders, Compsis stuck to its core skills to integrate complex hardware and software systems. It was a strategic choice to switch to the low-margin business of hardware manufacturing. By 2004, the Compsis was deriving the majority of its revenue from SICAT implementation and maintenance.

The Strategic Choices 2: Outsourcing

Compsis designed its own SICAT software and then sub-contracted the hardware manufacturing to local suppliers, the sensors, high-resolution cameras, toll gates, and more. Outsourcing is a practice usually undertaken by companies as a cost-cutting measure.

The Strategic Choices 3: Flexibility and Benefit The Partners

In the fall of 2001, Compsis began to upgrade its SICAT software even better. For a large toll road project in New Delhi, Compsis used early Java tolls to develop SICAT India, which introduced business intelligence tools to ease the operator’s tasks. Compsis designed its new SICAT, the SICAT XP, to be Web-based and flexible enough to be sold in modules, a more powerful, flexible, and user-friendly product.

The Strategic Choices 4: Expand for Survival

Compsis decided not to rely solely on its Brazilian SICAT business since its CEO Ailton and its board of directors strongly believe that any technology-based company in Brazil would be vulnerable if it were to depend solely on a single product line. Therefore, the company started to invest significantly in new product lines. Oftentimes, it is a necessary step for most businesses. For example, the energy giant Exxon Mobil and traditional auto manufacturers now have to transfer their business into the clean energy industry and electric vehicle business. In this case, Compsis was trying to broaden both its product lines and its geographical ranges.

The Strategic Choices 5: Alliance and International Expansion(Australia)

In 1999, Compsis collaborated with a technology firm, Philips, to implement its advanced SICAT systems for a toll plaza in Australia. Philips handled the hardware, the local operating contracts, and Compsis set up the software. It was quite a successful international expansion. In contrast to the work with Philips, in Brazil, Compsis had not formed commercial partnerships, even though it has strong relationships as a supplier to highway construction and maintenance companies. 

The Strategic Choices 6: The Developing Country, India

In India, Compsis was not doing so well as it was in Australia. Not only the local contractors were unable to do the job smoothly, but also it was a very price-sensitive market. The same strategy Compsis adopted in Australia was not going so well while expanding to a developing country like India due to the economic situation and the culture. Moreover, it was a costly decision. Compsis have run out of the total budget for its engineering segment and even did not see any profit.

The Strategic Choices 7: The Latin American

According to the research that Compsis conducted, the Latin American market was projected to be small but growing rapidly. Countries such as Bolivia and Peru would like to purchase relatively simple and cheap solutions which are easy to implement. By partnership with the local commercial partners to win those projects, Compsis was able to obtain the growth.

The Strategic Choices 7: The United States

Putting its eyes on the United States was a reasonable thought because it was a huge ETC market, even larger than the sum of all the Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. In addition, it was a mature and growing steadily market that was dominated by several providers. Moreover, the major customers in this market are the Transit Agencies such as the Department of Transportation, which were line agencies of the federal or the state government. Those agencies may issue bonds to fund their expenditure on public construction. However, to enter this market, Compsis has to understand the RFPs processes(the open Requests for Proposals), a competitive, well-regulated bidding process with clear guidelines and procedures. Those procedures are considered mostly on the ability, quality, past performance on similar tasks, technical proposal, and cost of the project. Clearly, Compsis is pretty good at these evaluation criteria. However, in light of the size and complexity of the market, the Compsis directors knew that it would be no trivial matter to find and obtain ETC projects in the United States. Despite its strong quality reputation among industry competitors, as a market entrant Compsis would be virtually unknown among the transportation agency and authority buyers in the U.S. Moreover, to enter the U.S., Compsis was considering a broad range of approaches, including opening its own sales office in the U.S., partnering with a U.S. firm, pursuing a preferred vendor status with a construction company, or selling through a value-added reseller.

In conslusion, resources are so precious in the business world. We all desire to have a infinity symbol in our bank account but it is so hard to get all the things we want. Rather than rely on day dream, make a real plan to achieve each of them is a more achievable idea. In this case, Compsis could not win all the market it wanted by one single solution. Therefore, putting more budgets on the highest yield project is a rational choice. However, these kind of choices sometimes mean missing the best opportunity to expand and grow. As 2004 drew to a close, Ailton knew that Compsis had several months of operating cash in the bank. Perhaps the best option was to wait out the current drought, expecting that the Brazilian government’s funding for toll concessions would rebound as predicted. 

References

Compsis at a Crossroads, a case study by Lehrich, M. J., Paredes, P. J., & Ravikumar, R 

How Does The Structure of A Organization Affect The Way It Makes Decisions?

 Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network. The network comprises 26 nations and regional organizations in over 55 countries, as a coordinating body, Greenpeace International. Greenpeace was founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity". Over the past decades, Greenpeace investigated and exposed the causes of environmental destruction. It works to bring about change by lobbying, consumer pressure, mobilizing members of the general public, and taking peaceful direct action to protect the Earth and promote solutions for a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace focuses on climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. Greenpeace has a general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is a founding member of the INGO Accountability Charter, an international non-governmental organization that intends to foster accountability and transparency of non-governmental organizations. All of Greenpeace’s actions are guided by and informed by science and research. They use facts and peer-reviewed research conducted by scientists all over the world to inform our campaigns and policies. The Greenpeace Research Laboratories form part of the Science Unit of Greenpeace International. 

How Does The Structure of The Organization Affect The Way It Makes Decisions?

The structure of the organization affects the activities of the organization and provides the basis on which the procedures and standards of operational operations are standardized. Greenpeace is a global network of independent national and regional Greenpeace organizations (NROs) and Greenpeace International as a coordinating organization. The fundamental unit of this alliance is the NROs(Greenpeace National and Regional Organisations). Each NRO consists of one or more separate legal entities and has its own independent board of directors with a supervisory role. These boards are usually elected by a voting membership of volunteers and activists, who are firmly rooted within the local environmental communities. 

One of the core functions of Greenpeace International is to redistribute NRO income according to globally agreed priorities. There is an accumulative contribution system, which aims to redirect significant funds from established NROs with higher income to newer NROs in developing regions. This reflects its purpose to work together as a truly global network since environmental issues and their solutions do not stick to national borders. The NROs are responsible for implementing and carrying out campaigns that fall under the long-term global campaign program. NROs are licensed by Greenpeace International to use the Greenpeace name within their territories. Moreover, all NROs are required to fulfill financial management and control criteria that are considered accepted good practices within the territory they operate in. Their accounts are annually audited by independent certified public accountants.

To summarize, I reckon that one key factor of its structure is that each NROs are licensed by Greenpeace International to use the Greenpeace name within their territories. Since most of its resources are from sponsors and supporters, this kind of alliance and the supervisory system are helpful to build trust with the sponsors around the world. It is similar to how Starbucks builds partnerships with its aborad authorized operators. The NRO and Greenpeace International also smoothly share their information to work on the goal.

References

Greenpeace International. (n.d.). #about the US. Greenpeace International. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.greenpeace.org/international/explore/about/about-us/ 

The Biocon India Case Study, What are the strategic choices available? Who are the key groups involved? Describe the relationships between the groups. What are the rewards available to expanding or growing Biocon India’s business? What are the risks? What is the primary structure (or lack thereof) that makes Biocon India distinctive? What threatens this structure? What is your recommendation to Biocon India?

 Introduction

Strategic Choices prevails in many companies’ setting to progress towards betterment. Somehow it comes with benefits and opportunity costs as well. Based on the case study, Biocon India, a pharmaceutical company in India, is a great example of a strategic choice. Biocon India was established in 1978 by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Managing Director, as a joint venture with Biocon Ireland to bulk manufacture enzymes. In 1989, Biocon Ireland was acquired by Unilever. As part of Unilever, Biocon began producing enzymes for Unilever’s food business. In 1998, Biocon India bought out Unilever’s share in the company and became an independent, privately-owned entity. And, the Biocon India Group started expanding into the pharmaceutical industry. The firm started to mass-produce generic drugs and established a subsidiary, Syngene. The group followed a successful pattern to develop its capabilities to catch up with new opportunities. 

However, it started to face a common issue that all companies must resolve. Break out the present limit. If Biocon India Group were to grow, then it needed to expand. To Mazumdar-Shaw, this seemed certain. To become more competitive in the highly soaked generic pharmaceutical market, Mazumdar-Shaw believes the company needs to expand and have the capability to perform and run clinical trials. Syngene was organized as a contract research organization (CRO), a service organization that provides support to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the form of outsourced pharmaceutical research services. Ultimately, another new subsidiary, Clinigene was established, which will be responsible for the company’s clinical trials. The problem is that although the resources are limited and the whole new business is also not yet been proved profitable, the firm still has to make the decision on innovation or keep trapped in the competitive generic pharmaceutical market. 

When global pharmaceutical firms choose to outsource, they tend to focus on three areas of the drug discovery and development value chain which are Research, Clinical trials, and Manufacturing. Research and development are drug discovery usually required considerable quantities of particular molecules with which to experiment. A drug typically went through four phases of clinical trials to determine whether it worked consistently without toxicity or major side effects. It requires finding the patients, working with hospitals and doctors, and managing the data. And finally, Manufacturing. Once the drug was tested and approved, it could be into mass production. However, this stage tended to be the least value-added compared to the previous three stages and also the most price-competitive.

So, what are the strategic choices available? Apparently, there is a lot to consider before putting the precious resources into a new venture. Let's recap what we learned previously on strategic management. There are three schools of strategy, the planning school, the positioning school, and the resource-based school. The planning school achieves a fit between the organizational strategy and the environment and uses a bureaucratic process which does not adopt by Biocon India. The positional school follows a rational, analytical approach, and attempts to place the organization and its products in favorable markets which is suitable for the case of the Biocon India Group. The resources-based school is an inside-out approach and it is very dangerous if the Biocon India Group adopts it since it ignores the outside environment. Moreover, it does not consider the culture which is one of the significant strengths of Biocon India. In addition, the best strategy needs structural alterations such as the Division form for innovation or the functional form for cost-leadership. Before the organization can consider the best structure, it must first determine the structural alterations. In this case, Biocon India did face several strategic choices. The company needs to determine whether it would allow its subsidiary Clinigene to perform its complete potential at the feasible expense, whether its “Earn as you learn” approach should prevail, and if it means selling the subsidiary. 

Making decisions is a common daily routine in the business world. In this case, who are the key groups involved in this decision? Not only the leader, the board of directors, the shareholders, and its employees were involved and influenced this decision, but also external and internal stakeholders are all somewhat affected by the strategy. The relationship between these groups is strongly connected, the leadership and the mutual trust between the colleagues as they were collaborating and sharing knowledge. 

Of course, there are tremendous rewards available to expanding or growing Biocon India’s business, to encourage such a big decision. From learning new skills, ideas, and financial rewards, to the overall value chain, the group grows not only in profitability but also in its culture. However, it did not come with zero cost. The risks of expansion will include the diversion of resources away from Biocon and Syngene to grow Clinigene. 

Now, let's look at the internal structure of Biocon India. What is the primary structure that makes Biocon India distinctive? As we know that the structure is the allocation and control of work tasks. Culturally, Biocon India successfully maintained openness, trust, and collaboration. This kind of non-hierarchical structure makes its decision-making easier and faster. Moreover, it enables various professionals to exchange research information among themselves which is critical. However, the dark side, or the threat, may arise when Clinigene became more and more independent from its parent group, Biocon India, the more loyalty concern rises. Such aggressive growth was also a big challenge to its great culture if new employees have not inculcated the culture and adopted it.

To summarize, although the decision seems to be painful at first, it is still a necessary step for Biocon India. It is similar to the vaccine which helps you to the possible infection. I am not a biotech professional. Therefore, my recommendations will be majorly in the business administration field. I think an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) may support such a divisional structure. It is an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company, and this interest takes the form of shares of stock. ESOPs also give the sponsoring company various tax benefits, it benefits the group financially and culturally.

References

Biocon India Group, a case study by Kalegaonkar, A., Locke, R., & Lehrich, J.

After studying the Biocon India case study, describe the strategic choices facing Biocon. What are the key factors to that decision?

 After studying the Biocon India case study, describe the strategic choices facing Biocon. What are the key factors to that decision?

The Background

Biocon India was established in 1978 by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Managing Director, as a joint venture with Biocon Ireland to bulk manufacture enzymes. In 1989, Biocon Ireland was acquired by Unilever. As part of Unilever, Biocon began producing enzymes for Unilever’s food business. In 1998, Biocon India bought out Unilever’s share in the company and became an independent, privately-owned entity. And, the Biocon India Group started expanding into the pharmaceutical industry. The firm started to mass-produce generic drugs and established a subsidiary, Syngene. The group followed a successful pattern to develop its capabilities to catch up with new opportunities. 

However, it started to face a common issue that all companies must resolve. Break out the present limit. If Biocon India Group were to grow, then it needed to expand. To Mazumdar-Shaw, this seemed certain. In order to become more competitive in the highly soaked generic pharmaceutical market, Mazumdar-Shaw believes the company needs to expand and have the capability to perform and run clinical trials. Ultimately, a new subsidiary, Clinigene was established, which will be responsible for the company’s clinical trials. The problem is that although the resources are limited and the whole new business is also not yet been proved profitable, the firm still has to make the decision on innovation or keep trapped in the competitive generic pharmaceutical market. 

To understand this decision, we must know the value chain of the pharmaceutical industry. When global pharmaceutical firms choose to outsource, they tend to focus on three areas of the drug discovery and development value chain which are Research, Clinical trials, and Manufacturing. Research and development are drug discovery usually required considerable quantities of particular molecules with which to experiment. A drug typically went through four phases of clinical trials to determine whether it worked consistently without toxicity or major side effects. It requires finding the patients, working with hospitals and doctors, and managing the data. And finally, Manufacturing. Once the drug was tested and approved, it could be into mass production. However, this stage tended to be the least value-added compared to the previous three stages and also the most price-competitive.

The SWOT Analysis

Now, back to the strategic choice made by Biocon. I reckon that the value chain is clearly the first key factor that pushed the firm to make such a decision. It was an opportunity to grow, expand, and reduce its dependence on the price-competitive market, which was a threat to Biocon India. However, to capitalize on offering services in clinical trials in which Biocon India did not have enough experience in the past is a risky thing and also one of its weaknesses. That connects to the second factor, Biocon India prided its culture on openness. At Biocon, there are no hierarchies, all of the employees are treated equally and have a seemingly open door policy, one of the key elements of the culture at the company is the trust among colleagues. Thus, the new project can get fully supported internally and also effectively executed. It is a significant strength of Biocon India. As we can see that the SWOT Analysis(Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats) plays a crucial role in the decision. In addition to the opportunity, during the time of this expansion, clinical research in India was also beginning to take off. Suddenly, it was a rapidly growing business. So, it encouraged Biocon India to take a bet based on its strategic management. Moreover, the leadership of its director, Mazumdar-Shaw, was one of the key factors as well. Leading with trust is what successful leaders all have to learn. 

The Structure

Structurally, the director Mazumdar-Shaw and her team decided to establish Syngene, a separate company within Biocon India Group, to serve pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the areas of synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, and informatics. It is a product and service division that provides excellent coordination and the team members identify with the services rather than just a single function. Moreover, Biocon India launched another new subsidiary, Clinigene. Clinigene aimed to offer a broad range of clinical trial services. Although it was not clear whether its parent group, Biocon India, would need its capability or not, Mazumdar-Shaw still expected Clinigene to sustain itself with external clients. Clinigene is also a successful divisional structure that concentrating on fewer product lines.

Reference

Biocon India Group, a case study by Kalegaonkar, A., Locke, R., & Lehrich, J

-, D. R., By, -, Rai, D., & here, P. enter your name. (2022, January 3). Patent laws in India : Basics you must know. iPleaders. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://blog.ipleaders.in/what-is-a-patent-law-in-india/ 

The DMAIC model is a roadmap for Six Sigma

 The DMAIC model is a roadmap for Six Sigma, used to improve the quality of results that company processes produce. The letters DMAIC are short for: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. It focuses on improving an existing process by incorporating the following phases:

Define

Define the problem, output to be improved, and process associated with the problem. Personally, I reckon that this is the most important step. Why? Because if you wrongly define the true issue in the first place, all the follow-up steps will be ineffective

Measure

Collect data from the process to establish a baseline for the improvements. Moreover, you have to collect the necessary and correct data.

Analyze

Analyze the data to find the root causes of defects.

Improve Develop, test, and implement solutions to improve the process. Just like conducting the SWOT Analyze, you have to clearly understand where are you and where do you want to go.

Control

Implement process controls to sustain the improvements. After you decide to go somewhere, you have to keep your effort on it and monitoring the route to avoid lost.

How does It Relate To The Six Sigma Project Theory?

"Six Sigma is a business methodology that aims to improve processes, reduce waste and errors, and increase customer satisfaction throughout an organization. Driven by data and statistical analysis, Six Sigma provides a way to minimize mistakes and maximize value in any business process, from manufacturing to management."(Lucid Content Team, 2019) The term Six Sigma refers to a set of quality-control tools that businesses can use to eliminate defects and improve processes to help boost their profits. 

It is a way of addressing strategic objectives. For example, for people working for the same company, different departments must collaborate with the same vision. This does not mean that the HR department also has to deal with the production. It means workers and managers in a Tesla Gigafactory believe they are working for a zero-emission future. Remember that the reason why Tesla produce and sell electric cars is “to drive the world's transition to electric vehicles.”, producing excellent EVs is what Tesla is doing, Tesla's strategy is how it doing. In addition, I reckon that PDCA(Plan, Do, Check, Action) is also an important part of the Six Sigma. Because it provides a systemic toolkit to monitor and change process to met the expectations of customers.

In conclusion, I reckon that the DMAIC model is consistently connected to Six Sigma. This because it originates from that method and is explicitly used as the Six Sigma working model. Six Sigma was developed with a very specific goal such as defect rates in production processes through statistical analysis. the DMAIC process involves identifying the issue that a company trying to solve, implementing a solution, and maintaining that solution in the future. For example, suppose there is a defect in the supply chain that need to be fixed. the DMAIC process is able to be adopted to resovle the issue. The Six Sigma is about monitoring the supply chain for defects, identifying issues, and solving them as effectively as possible.

Reference

Lucid Content Team. (2019, December 20). Six sigma methodology for Project Management. Lucidchart. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/what-is-six-sigma-project-management-methodology 

Purdue University. (2021, November 3). DMAIC vs. DMADV - Lean Six sigma certification - purdue online. Lean Six Sigma Online Certification & Training at Purdue University. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://www.purdue.edu/leansixsigmaonline/blog/dmaic-vs-dmadv/ 

Budget Processes, Mandated Approach or Participative Approach

What did you think of when you hear the word "budget"? A budget is a detailed and quantified financial plan for the future expectations or actions of individuals or organizations. It is usually relative to how an individual or organization uses their limited resources. Budgeting is probably the word we don't want to talk about because we don't want to be restricted financially. It makes us feel like we do not have the freedom to do something or to do what we want. However, it can prevent overestimation and understand we cannot do things beyond our control. Although the process of evaluating a budget may seem painful for most people and organizations, we still have to plan and make decisions largely on the basis of it. Moreover, it also provides benchmarks for organizations to evaluate the results of strategies and goals. If you are an investor, you desire to know how the companies in your portfolio manage their budgets since insufficient resources to sustain operation has been one of the top common reasons companies file bankruptcy.

Mandated Approach

In a nutshell, it is a top-down approach. The upper-level executives call the shots. The budget is prepared and processed mostly based on the top managers' decisions and they prepare the budget based on the objectives and goals. And then, passes it on to department managers for implementation. 

The obvious disadvantage is that just like most governments, their decisions often let their people down. By the way, that's also why digital and decentralized currencies such as Bitcoin are so popular recently. Those top managers do not truly know what the fronts need. As the expectation gaps get larger and larger, it will destroy the whole organization. Because, the top manager will lose their trust and credibility. In addition, those top executives are not involved in the day-to-day operations of individual departments and may tend to have realistic expectations of the expenses related to each department. Moreover, the lower-level managers may find it difficult to implement the budget because they are unaware of how the top management arrived at these unrealistic targets. 

However, this approach isn't always bad. This approach allows top executives to allocate resources with a comprehensive view. Just like a chess players, they care about the overall success and save time, rather than time-consuming discussion. This makes the budget process quicker than bottom-up budgeting. In addition, the top executives are also taking more risks and responsibilities for the company's operation. Therefore, their power is somewhat reasonable.

Participative Approach

Conversely, the participative approach is bottom-up budgeting. It starts at the lower level such as the department level and then moves up to the top management. Instead of calling them "lower levels", I call them the "front" lines. Those teams and managers are closer to the markets and customers. They prepare their budget based on present information and past experiences and present it to senior management for approval. 

Since it is a self-imposed approach, it improves employee morale and job satisfaction. Moreover, the top executives do not always have the accurate information and the best expertise to make every single decision. However, it is usually more time-consuming 

because it passes through more eyes and brains. In addition, I reckon that sometimes those front lines do not want to be stressed. They tend to increase the budgets up to ten or twenty percent higher than they need since those gaps give them more room for mistakes and inefficiency. 

Blended Approach

As we discussed above, theoretically, budgeting can be characterized as top-down or bottom-up. But, the reality is that most budgets are prepared with a blended approach where information is passed both ways. However, top management can lose touch with information originating on the front line as budget information is transferred up and down an organization, and front-line employees may not always get a clear picture of the goals and objectives originating with senior management. But, by doing this, companies can combine the benefits of the mandated approach and the participative approach, eliminating the disadvantages of the two. 

Which Approach Do You Think Is The Best?

I think there is not a perfect approach or one fits all approach. It depends on each different situation to consider. Rather than racking brains on it, I reckon that boosting communication efficiency and effectiveness is more important than working hard on trying to choose the right approach to prepare budgets. In addition, building trust is also a supremer.

Reference

Top-down budgeting. Corporate Finance Institute. (2022, March 6). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/top-down-budgeting/ 

Personality Types Based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) & The Four Core Learning Styles in The VARK Model

 Introduction

"Typing people" itself finds understanding as to the way people prefer to use their minds and how they behave. It provides an understanding of how we interact with others. Learning style preferences can balance information providers with receivers. For example, some instructors praise more than challenge their students. Other instructors challenge students to a higher level of performance rather than providing purely positive feedback. We can facilitate a balanced approach to boost learning efficiency and effectiveness. However, "mismatches between teaching and learning styles are inevitable"(Bayne, 1995, p.127) but instructors can continue to work from their strengths while taking the opportunity to address other styles. For instance, intuitive instructors could include more facts in their lessons rather than only relying on internal understanding or intuition. 

In personality typology, the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The test attempts to assign four categories, introversion or extraversion, sensing or intuition, thinking or feeling, judging or perceiving. One letter from each category is taken to produce a four-letter test result, such as "INTJ" or "ESFP". Today, the MBTI inventory is one of the most widely used psychological instruments in the world.

Personality Types

Based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), people are identified as having one of 16 personality types. The goal of the MBTI is to allow respondents to further explore and understand their own personalities including their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and possible career preferences. One thing to be clear, no one personality type is best or better than another. It isn't a tool designed to look for dysfunction or abnormality and its goal is simply to help people learn more about themselves. 

Now, let's look at what each letter of the MBTI represents and the senses behind them.

Extraversion (E) – Introversion (I) 

The extraversion-introversion dichotomy is a way to describe how people respond and interact with the world around them. Extraverts tend to enjoy more frequent social interaction and feel energized after spending time with other people. Introverts are inward-turning and tend to enjoy deep and meaningful social interactions.

Sensing (S) – Intuition (N) 

How do people gather information from the world around them? People who prefer sensing tend to pay a great deal of attention to reality, particularly to what they can learn from their senses. They tend to focus on facts and enjoy getting hands-on experience. Those who prefer intuition pay more attention to things like patterns and impressions. They enjoy thinking about possibilities, imagining the future, and abstract theories.

Thinking (T) – Feeling (F) 

People who prefer thinking place a greater emphasis on facts and objective data tend to be consistent, logical, and impersonal when weighing a decision. Those who prefer feeling are more likely to consider people and emotions when concluding.

Judging (J) – Perceiving (P) 

This scale involves how people tend to deal with the outside world. Prefer open, flexible, and adaptable, or not. All people at least spend some time engaged in extraverted activities. 

The MBTI Types 

Each type is then listed by its four-letter code:

• ISTJ - The Inspector
• ISTP - The Crafter
• ISFJ - The Protector
• ISFP - The Artist
• INFJ - The Advocate
• INFP - The Mediator
• INTJ - The Architect
• INTP - The Thinker
• ESTP - The Persuader
• ESTJ - The Director
• ESFP - The Performer
• ESFJ - The Caregiver
• ENFP - The Champion
• ENFJ - The Giver
• ENTP - The Debater
• ENTJ - The Commander

In the next chapter, let's look at a few examples of some types.

An Overview of the INFJ Personality Type

Scoring as an INFJ means your personality type is best described as Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. Sometimes referred to as the Advocate or the Idealist. They're easy-going perfectionists. Both logical and emotional, creative and analytical. The key INFJ characteristics are compassionate, idealist, organized, and both emotional and logical. This type of person tends to be sensitive to the needs of others and highly creative. They value close and deep relationships and enjoy thinking about the meaning of life. However, being overly sensitive can be a bad thing sometimes. Overly high expectations also make them exhausted.

An Overview of the ESTJ Personality Type

ESTJs are often described as logical, take-charge kinds of people. They are committed to tradition, standards, and laws. The key ESTJ characteristics are they tend to place a high value on tradition, rules, and security. They are usually stubborn and unyielding. Their self-confidence and strong convictions help them excel at putting plans into action. People often describe ESTJs as predictable, stable, committed, and practical. Their strengths are practical, realistic, dependable, traditional, and good leadership skills. However, their weaknesses are insensitive, inflexible, not good at expressing feelings, and even bossy.

An Overview of the ISTP Personality Type

People with ISTP personalities enjoy having time to think alone and are fiercely independent. ISTPs enjoy taking things apart just to see how they work. They are logical and rational but are more interested in practical applications than in abstract ideas. The key ISTP characteristics are results-oriented, enjoying new experiences, prefer to make judgments based upon objective criteria rather than personal beliefs or values, quiet but with an easygoing attitude towards others, and good at keeping a cool head, maintaining their objectivity and coping with crisis. And, as always, there are also strengths and weaknesses. Logical, action-oriented, realistic, practical, enjoying learning new things, self-confident and easygoing are their strengths. However, difficult to get to know, insensitive, and does not like commitment, are their weaknesses.

The Learning Styles

The four core learning styles in the VARK model include visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. Here’s an overview of these four styles.

i. Visual - Visual learners are better able to retain information when it’s presented to them in a graphic depiction, such as arrows, charts, diagrams, and symbols. To teach visual learners effectively, you must give a presentation, and make sure visual learners have enough time to process and absorb visual cues. 

ii. Auditory - Prefer listening to information that is presented to them vocally and also enjoy reading aloud to themselves. To teach auditory learners, it is better to give a lecture and make sure you are addressing your auditory learners directly to get them involved in the conversation. Group discussions, engaging videos, and audio recordings are other great ways to engage auditory learners in your classroom. 

iii. Reading & Writing - Focusing on the written word, reading and writing learners succeed with written information on worksheets, presentations, and other text-heavy resources. To teach reading and writing learners effectively, it is useful to write essays, perform in-depth research, and read textbooks. They prefer more traditional methods of subject matter delivery. 

iv. Kinesthetic - Kinesthetic learners are hands-on and thrive when engaging all of their senses during course work. These learners tend to work well in scientific studies due to the hands-on lab component of the course. To effectively teach kinesthetic learners, it is better to get them up and moving and create learning games that encourage these types of learners.

Reference

Bayne, R. (1995). The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: A critical review and practical guide. London, UK: Chapman & Hall.

Cherry, K. (2021, June 18). What personality traits are characteristic of infjs. Verywell Mind. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/infj-introverted-intuitive-feeling-judging-2795978 

Cherry, K. (2021, July 23). Myers-Briggs Type indicator: The 16 personality types. Verywell Mind. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-2795583 

Lead a project and a team

 The Project Leader of Shifting The Product Lines from Fossil Fueled Cars to Electric Cars

The transition to an environmentally sustainable economy will take at least a generation if we have "enough" time for that. However, all analyses are suggesting that we have to minimize the damage on the planet, NOW. A critical element of the transition is to reduce our use of fossil fuels since it is environmentally destructive. According to the US Energy Information Administration(EIA), the United States is a nation on the move. About 26% of total U.S. energy consumption in 2020 was for transporting people and goods from one place to another. In the past decades, more of those fossil fuels is for transportation. However, petroleum is still the main source of energy for transportation. In 2020, petroleum products accounted for about 90% of the total U.S. transportation sector energy use. Natural gas accounted for about 3%, most of which was used in natural gas pipeline compressors. Electricity provided less than 1% of total transportation sector energy use and nearly all of that in mass transit systems. 

Although most of America’s electricity still comes from fossil fuels, electric vehicles charged by that source of energy indirectly generate greenhouse gasses, as our sources of electricity transition from fossil fuels, the infrastructure of electric vehicles and charging stations will be in place and will facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gases. The trend toward zero-emission vehicles will stimulate the reduction of greenhouse gases. As a multinational vehicle manufacturer, this opportunity and threat is not the one you want to ignore. The movement is not only profitable but also a MUST.

How To Organize Such A Project Team? 

From the demand side of the project, organizing such a team I need at least six major types of professionals that are design and Manufacturing, battery engineering, materials and supply chain management, marketing, and retail. It is a very original and basic concept. Essentially, they will start with designing a prototype and testing it. If it works, then I will set up a goal to put it into mass production. Finding a place for building the factory and then the marketing and retail experts will do their jobs to sell those products. The material and supply chain professionals will have to find a way to stably purchase the required materials such as searching for some long-term trustworthy suppliers and negotiating the contracts. I will have to keep inspiring the designers to design better products and coordinate the workers and managers to produce the products flawlessly. One thing to be clear is that those professionals are all in charge of their own team. Each step follows the PDCA(Plan, Do, Check, Action) rule to develop. Plan(Design > Prototype > Production plan > Produce > Sell ), Do(Implement the plan), Check(Issues solving and find solutions), Action(Implement the new plan). 

How Many Team Members Would The Project Need?

Those most interested in maximizing efficiency and reaching a successful project outcome should focus on selecting individuals for their unique talents, strengths, and skills that align directly with the project goals. Therefore, the project must have a product manager(design), a production manager(manufacture), a battery specialist, a marketing executive, and a sales manager.

What Kinds of Talents and/or Skills Would The Team Need?

I think all these managers are good at what they should do is the fundamental requirements. However, some substantial skills such as battery technology and mass manufacturing are crucial to the quality of the products. Cells are optimized electrochemical, thermal, micron-scale mechanical systems designed to be manufactured at millions per day scale. Therefore, the battery expert must be excellent in this field. But, it doesn’t matter where they come from, where they went to school, or what industry they are previously in. If anyone wants to do outstanding work, join the team to rethink the future of sustainable energy and manufacturing.

The list below shows the essential requirements of each manager that the project needs.

• Product Manager: To lead a team to design and build prototypes, he/she needs leadership skills, industry design, and communication skills.
• Production Manager(manufacture): To put a prototype into mass production, he/she needs technical skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and communication skills.
• Battery Specialist: Safety and storage of batteries in production, support, and training the workers. 
• Marketing executive: Good teamwork skills, communication skills, adaptability, planning skills, creativity, and writing skills.
• Sales Executive: Self-motivated and driven by targets, and strong communication skills.

How To Align Their Talents and Skills To Their Assigned Project Tasks?

A successful team is one where each member has unique strengths they can use to achieve separate parts of the same goal. It's no coincidence that the teams that are comprised of individuals who are working in their area of strength produce extraordinary results. Team members must recognize the value they bring to the group and can fully engage in the project because they see the growth potential. 

To effectively assign the members to roles that align with their competencies, the first step is to identify the project mission, its purpose, and its responsibilities. The roles identified should align with the plan's overall strategy. Secondly, assessing competencies. Assess the knowledge, skills, qualifications, unique talents, and experience of members willing to be involved in project implementation. Finally, assign responsibilities. Review roles which required to be filled and identify individuals who best fill each. 

The Possible Problems or Obstacles 

To create a successful project team, we must confront and address many issues such as lack of trust, conflicts, information sharing, low engagement, group thinking, and misunderstanding of the goals and vision.

Dealing with Those Problems

Trust

Trust is crucial to teamwork, and it starts with people knowing each other. Team members absolutely need to be acquainted, both professionally and personally. There are a few effective ways to build trust such as valuing long-term relationships, being honest, honoring your commitments, admitting when you're wrong, and being vulnerable. 

Conflicts

To resolve conflicts, we must understand the conflict, communicate with the opposition, brainstorm possible resolutions, and explore alternatives.

Information Sharing

Information sharing is a central process through which team members collectively utilize their available informational resources. Teams and organizations that can overcome the quality hurdle and find ways to share rich, contextual threat intelligence within communities of interest often rely on the largest members to initially fill the queue with shared intelligence. To encourage and foster a fruitful information-sharing mindset, leaders have to model the behavior from the top and make knowledge-sharing part of the team values. 

Low Engagement

Engagement is about how employees feel and contribute to job satisfaction, so understanding the workforce's mindset is critical. If the engagement is low, as a leader, I have to develop a plan for building it back up. But before I start, there's a lot of prep work to do. Of course, first I have to learn why employees feel disengaged through effective conversations. And, I have to be empathetic and track workforce-related key performance indicators.

Groupthink

Groupthink is a phenomenon where individuals in a group tend to push aside their personal opinions or beliefs to reach a shared consensus with the group. Use communications platforms that allow for different channels, like video chat and screen sharing, and find ways to include the quiet members of the team in conversations, to build a stronger team.

Misunderstand The Goals and vision

While misunderstandings are common and don’t always cause bigger problems such as conflicts. Therefore, be mindful of how the team communicates, ask questions, avoid emotional conflict, and avoid defensiveness.

Reference

10 common problems project teams face: Challenges & Solutions. APM. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/10-common-problems-project-teams-face/ 

Take online courses. earn college credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/aligning-individual-strengths-with-team-goals.html 

U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - independent statistics and analysis. Use of energy for transportation - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/transportation.php