Critical Appraisal of Business Planning Process Essay - 1

Critical Appraisal of Business Planning Process - Essay Example This report describes the importance of strategy, market research and analysis, financials, competitive strategy and generating ideas as fundamental outcomes of proper business planning. Idea generation and strategy External market conditions change rapidly in certain industries, thus driving a need for innovation in order to compete with other businesses operating in the same market environment. Products and services both from an entrepreneurial business and the competitive environment have a specific life cycle by which it generates profitability and consumer adoption patterns. A product or service will move from growth to maturity, a period where sales decline and thus new product development becomes a critical internal activity of the organisation. This is why generating new ideas becomes a paramount objective in the planning process, usually requiring the input of executive leadership and managers to determine how best to introduce a new product whilst still recognising costs. I n generating new product ideas, the business leadership must determine whether compromises will be made, opportunity costs or trade-offs, in order to launch a new product or service on the market. ... Innovations, however, are critical to maintaining a stable market position. Strategy formulation determines the objectives necessary to achieve a long-term market position. Strategy defines sustainability over the long-run or whether growth is an expectation related to revenue-building. An entrepreneurial dimension of strategy is persisting to find a better fit in the competitive market or developing a vision by which the organisation founds its values and organisational structure against (Majumdar 2008). Developing a long-term orientation is necessary in business planning as it determines the strategic direction the business intends to pursue and thus resources are allocated toward meeting this purpose. Market analysis and competitive strategy Michael Porter identifies five competitive forces that impact business success, including threat of new entrants, the availability of substitute products, supplier and buyer power in the market, and concerns over what types of competitive stra tegies are being developed by other businesses operating in the same market (Porter 2010). It is necessary to scan the external environment in order to understand what socio-economic and socio-cultural trends are observable in key target markets in order to develop a service or product plan designed to properly fit these attitudes or financial predictors. Market analysis identifies all of the fundamental hindrances or advantages that are linked to strategic intention and competitive strategy, thus the planning process must include market research. Businesses that are heavily reliant on consumer revenues must understand what drives buyer behaviour, and this is best performed through surveys, questionnaires or focus groups. Consumers either favour or disapprove of a particular

Corruption in Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words - 1

Corruption in Russia - Essay Example Russia is one of the â€Å"G8† countries. The G8 group’s interim compliance report,1 at the Sea Island Summit in 2004, mentions Russia’s failures in controlling the levels of corruption while translating its undertakings into action. As on the date of the report, Russia had not ratified the U.N. Convention against corruption2 though action to ratify had been under way. The report says that corruption in Russia has become so pronounced that, the country has gone down to 90th position in Transparency International’s Corruptions Index in 2004. It had been already at the 83rd position in 2003.3 It makes a passing reference to President Putin’s handling of affairs of Russia’s second largest oil company ‘Yukos’ which has since been taken over by the Government.4 Vladmir Popov in his article â€Å"Russia Redux’ referred to new Russia as the â€Å"Shock therapy era† characterized by huge economic, political and human costs. The article further stated that the country is far better than it was seven years ago but worse than it was twenty years ago alluding to Boris Yelstin’s turbulent years marked by moral bankruptcy. Russia’s GDP, investment and life expectancy figures are yet to reach at 1989 levels. President Putin’s priority has been to regain the lost institutional capacity of the state and stability via re-centralization. Despite best efforts the country has not been able to do much for equitable distribution of wealth. 46.6 percent of wealth is concentred in the hands of 20 per cent of the population. The informal practices which Georgi Derlugian attributes to ‘persistent under-institutionalisation of Russian life’, have been the breeding ground of corruption at all levels in Russia. The absence of institutions has opened up avenues of personalism and nepotism. During the years from 1996 to 2000, Oil Company of Kursk Oblast, pharmacies, public security and cultural affairs were under the control of the then-governor Alexander