Risk Management Alstom

Risk Management – A Case Study of Alstom

Risk Management at ALSTOM. The advantages of rail projects involve cheap shipment transport costs, increased in the mobility of passengers, greater economic addition and the environmental advantages from condensed road traffic or develop and improved urban transportation. But for the railways projects financiers needs to consider and keep in mind the risks factors that they can face throughout their projects and on the basis of that knowledge they should take some steps and start an awareness programs for those who relate to this project. Risks awareness programs should include the awareness about the hazards and controlled risks along with the steps that can reduce and almost decrease the risks which can be beneficial for the workers and for the rail projects as well.

Why the risk management department / function is an important function for a company

In the newly established private sector of railway, requests for contracts to offer railway services and rolling stick entirely relies on rewards and risk. Though ALSTOM has a massive share of market and substantial experience in the in business, each contract it creates divergence according to the specification of train, provisions of financing and spares, maintenance of various agreements (Quinn, & Strategy, 2013).

This consequently puts more stress on managers to obtain carefully whether every tender is value the risk and what the linked incentives are probably to be. From the suppliers of about two years British Rail will go to identify a short period of warranty after taking the train delivery. It will then renovate and maintain the trains, in addition to offer transport and rail services, like ticketing for passengers, facilities for station and maintenance of railway infrastructure. Financers are avoiding the risks of UK extreme environment and not having the feeling of urgency of Risk Management (Adger, 2010). And there is a lack of importance among firms that are being affected by the extreme weather.

And there is a lack of importance among firms that are being affected by the extreme weather. First of all we need to find out those steps that can reduce above discussed risks so that the railways project can be completed (Quinn, & Strategy, 2013). Investor should realize the risks of extreme environment that can affect the project.

ALSTOM refused the opportunity of business development in the secondary market. As an outcome, manufacturers of train like ALSTOM depend entirely on big contracts for manufacturing trains and experience from either scarcity or gorge that is they were either snowed under with commands and instructions or had to deny as commands rejects. Train manufacturing was a start or stop business and therefore each command was dissimilar, there were no retained technology and high capital cost.

To manage risk, ALSOTM was really concerned about it risk management department. And in order to manage the risk ALSTOM found a serious and vital change in focus for manufacturing  through moving from being merely a train manufacturer to a service provider. Late 1980s passenger transport were becoming more complicated system, integrating an increasing amount of equipment which are high value from suppliers which are specialist.

It was observed at ALSTOM that though these more complicated and sophisticated trains were a chance to increase and improve the product quality , the risk of late delivery and non-performance had raised. The main point was to incorporate the tasks of specialist suppliers so that those kind of risks can be easily managed (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann, & Blome, 2010).

Long Term cost risk for ALSTOM can be the major risk for the company. Now for a period of 20 years ALSTOM has a contract to supply their trains for the Northern Lines, it can no longer considers only of the manufacturing trains’ cost. As the company is not considering the long term cost of the company’s assets. So in ALSTOM ’s main interest is to maintain trains in immaculate circumstance and enhance and develop them throughout the lifetime of the company, if they continue this kind of attitude and apply risk management function this will lessen the cost of maintenance and generate more profits.

The project of Northern Line offered ALSTOM with major experience , not just in developing projects but also in capitalizing them. By taking the risk of asset for the scheme, ALSTOM unmitigated its rile as a train producer to act as a systematic stock firm. ALSTOM then went to the pecuniary markets to offer the capital for manufacturing the trains with capitalists who took the monetary risk for the project.

Assess how different departments/functions of a company such as ALSTOM can help the company manage its risks

The business strategy and the human resource management should be entirely incorporated so that they can effectively and efficiently play an active role within the risk management and its assessment. Whenever there is amalgamation activity, the Human Resource Department frequently has a huge responsibility to ensure that business operation transition go easily and smoothly. When firms amalgamate, some of the most important modification happens in treatment and in number of its workers. If in ALSTOM human resource department can successfully tackle with these significant matters, they can have massive effects on the success of the firm (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann, & Blome, 2010).

Major goal and role of ALSTOM is to establish and sustain trains until the end of era of franchise of Virgin. But the company is experiencing problem in maintain trains. The company is facing legal issues like accidents or suicides relating impostor, defect, and fire, electrical or mechanical failure caused by ALSTOM’s train or the company and especially workers’ strike which is due to the mismanagement of human resource, and it can cost a lot to ALSTOM.

The company hoped that they can carry on sustaining trains and can be able to manage their human resource after the franchise. Northern Line scheme’s financiers did not abridge risk whether it’s related to technicality or human resource mismanagement. Though the investors and the sponsors for the West Coast Main Line WCML project were signifying banks and other institutions of finance, are taking releasing risk, further than the date of primary franchise (Dimant, Lindner, Liu, Ruiz, & Tejpal, 2011). Till 2012, investors and sponsors have assured income flow from this project. But the risk comes after the year 2012, and the question raised that will the revenue generated for rest of the life of the advantages is enough to fund the financial make-up and produce a profit on the speculation of latest trains?

It is the sponsors and investors who having created the train manufacturing possible, who take the acclaim risk of supplying trains for the Virgin franchise (Narasimhan, & Talluri, 2009). Due to systematic finance management of ALSTOM the company was able to generate profit on the speculation of latest trains. But the major types of risks that must be consider by ALSTOM are strategic risk, for instance a competitor will going to pose serious threat on the business, compliance risk for instance the introduction of new safety and health rules and regulations, financial risk for instance increased interest rates or non-payment by customers charges on business credit, last is operational risks for instance theft or breakdown of main instrument.

How risks for a business such as Alstom are assessed

Assessment of risk is not about developing a massive amount of paperwork, but rather about recognizing appropriate measures to manage and control risks in the organization. Organizations like ALSTOM is already taking serious steps to guard its business operations and employees, but the company cannot deny the importance of risk management because it will aid ALSTOM to determine whether the company have covered all it requires to (Burstein, Sohal, Zyngier, & Sohal, 2010).

Think about how ill health and accidents could occur and focus on the actual risks, those that are most probably and will cause the most damage. For several risks, other rules need specific control actions. The risk assessment can facilitate ALSTOM to recognize where they require at assured and definite risk and these specific control measures in more specification. These control actions do not have to be examining separately but can be measured as an expansion of overall risk assessment.

Analysis of railway safety is very complex topic in ALSTOM where safety is indomitable by various elements including error of human. Many assessment of railway safety method currently employed are relatively mature instruments. In many situations the executions of those tools might not give suitable and adequate results because of the lack of safety risk information or the high level of vagueness and ambiguity present in the available safety risk data.

For many businesses, particularly ALSTOM, simple five step approach including all elements of risk would work efficiently (Narasimhan, & Talluri, 2009).

Identifying Risk

At ALSTOM looking for those factors at workplace that have the possibility to cause any kind of harm, and identifying employees who may be exposed to the dangers.

Evaluating and Prioritizing Risks

Evaluating the probability and the severity of the potential harm and the existing risks and prioritize them according to their classification of significance (Van Detta, 2013).

Deciding on Preventive Action

Identifying the suitable actions to control or eliminate the risks.

Taking Action

With the help of prioritization plan implementation of protective and preventive measures to eliminate the risk factors

Monitoring and Evaluation

The evaluation should be monitored at regular gaps to make sure that it stays up to date.

Risk Management
Risk Management

Evaluate approaches to managing risk

In business Enterprise risk management contains the procedures and the methods employed by the organization to manage and control risk and confiscate opportunities regarding to the attainment of their goals and objectives. It provides a framework for risk management, which naturally engross recognizing specific conditions or events related to the opportunities and risks of the organization, evaluating them in terms of magnitude and likelihood of impact, considering a strategy of response and progress observation (Wallin, Larsson, Isaksson, & Larsson, 2011).

COSO considers this ERM, incorporated framework fill up this requirement, and suppose it will become broadly adapted by the firms and other companies and meant all interested parties and stake holders. ERM’s incorporated framework extends on inner control, giving a more serious and widespread focus on the broader focus o ERM.

As it is not meant to and does not restore the inner control framework, but rather integrate the inner control framework within it, organizations might determine to look to this ERM framework both to satisfy their inner control requires and to move toward a risk management procedure.

Advantage

It is meant to aid promote new dialogue between senior executives and boards as they associate to more fully extend their resiliency of organization to risk and abilities of management to recognize opportunities to take appropriate risks for strategic and competitive benefits (Wallin, Larsson, Isaksson, & Larsson, 2011).

Disadvantages

As organization struggle to establish ERM procedure into models of more mature business operation, management and will require being tolerant. ERM should be observed as a long-term cultural modification as immediate achievement is exceptional. Unfortunately, no off the shelf explanations for firms looking to commence an effective and efficient enterprise, broad approach to risk management and lapse.

Analyze what causes various risks for Alstom transport

The P&O Nedlloyd Southampton encountered very rough climate in the Western advances to the English Channel. There was no proof that the transformer moved in stow on both ship but on entrance at the construction site of the power station at purpose, the transformer was found harmed to the degree of over 2 pound per meter (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann, & Blome, 2010). It had to be revisit to works of ASTLOM for repairs. ASTLOM was agreed that the harm to the transformer had been due to some strange and extraordinary event in the transit’s course and made a declaration under their insurance doctrine, which was entirely on the terms of all risks.

The insurers then believed that the harm to transformer resulted from the intrinsic incapability of the transformer to endure and survive and the common incidents of carriage by sea from United Kingdom to Malaysia throughout the cold seasons. They hence rejected the claim on the basis that the harm was caused by the intrinsic vice and then carried these proceedings looking for a statement that they were not accountable to cover ALSTOM under the doctrine.

The judge identifies that it was the general basis among the parties that directs the reasons for the harm to the transformer was the aggressive movement of the craft, specifically the Eliane Trader, due to the wind and sea actions. The action of wind and wavers obviously were a predictable incident of any journey and is therefore a danger to which all goods passed through sea are significantly exposed (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann, & Blome, 2010). Goods caring for shipment should therefore be able of enduring the forces that they can normally be normal to meet in the course of the journey and these might differ highly relying on the time and route.

According to the ASTLOM the employment of non-ASTLOM parts and sections without thorough design of industry and standards of safety, had caused in the sequence of failures in paths exchange machines, an unusual kind of structure and had resulted in the operational issues, together with a derailment of freight cars. ALSTOM warned against the integrated elements across all control system of trains.

Changes in government policies are also effecting the operations of the company. Increase in tax rates, duties on custom, import exports pricing policies are posing threats on the speed of business operations.

Risk Assessment Template

Risk Area

Risk Identified

3- S

4- P

Risk Impact 

Risk Severity

Non-ALSTOM Tools The particular risks linked with employing non-ALSTOM instrument are that it would need increasing the power level of device

8

9

This is the high risk that can increase the probability for a single breakdown that could not save the system from noticing the trains on the track, which can cause accidents. The risk is high because it is harmful for the system, and it can cause severe accidents in present and future as well.
Safety of Railways In ALSTOM safety is indomitable by various elements including error of human.

10

8

In many situations the executions of these tools might not give suitable and adequate results because of the lack of safety risk information or the high level of vagueness and ambiguity present in the available safety risk data. Again the severity is high because of human error and this can cost to the company a lot in future.

Identification and Assessment of the impact of risks: At ALSTOM looking for those factors at workplace that have the possibility to cause any kind of harm, and identifying employees who may be exposed to the dangers. It is very necessary to assess the impact of risk through evaluating the probability and the severity of the potential harm and the existing risks and prioritize them according to their classification of significance.

The Seriousness or Severity of the Risks: In October 2006 ALSTOM employee gave a verbal warning to another engineer of metro regarding the risks of combining instruments from various producers during a discussion. Illenberg said the particular risks linked with employing non-ALSTOM instrument are that it would need increasing the power level of device(Zavadskas, Turskis, & Tamošaitiene, 2010). This is the high risk that can increase the probability for a single breakdown that could not save the system from noticing the trains on the track, which can cause accidents.

Analyse the actions or strategies that Alstom can implement to manage the risks you have identified

All of the above risks can be controlled and managed. Well if talk about technical risks ALSTOM requires to consider few points that can develop the standards of technicality that can be very beneficial for the projects of railways, first of all the company should consider the importance of training its employees technically and conduct some sessions related to training sessions so that they can be able to technically equipped and skilled, and can be able to operate and construct the functions of the railway with the advanced and latest technologies (Zavadskas, Turskis, & Tamošaitiene, 2010). And for managing the economical and financial issues they require to have appropriate departments that can control, manage and reduce the economic and financial risks elements.

Analyse to what extent Alstom Transport, and other business, are vulnerable to major crisis

Due to extreme weather of UK, the temperatures become intolerable particularly in winters. But financiers are avoiding the risks of UK’s extreme environment and not having the feeling of urgency of Risk Management. And there is a lack of importance among firms that are being affected by the extreme weather. In the storm the winds most usually are strongest; even though they can arise at any time of year it can effects the projects which are underdeveloped and undersized. Other modes of transport are poorly effected by the UK’s extreme weather, it’s possibly the weather will be estimated extremely severe (Arena, Arnaboldi, & Azzone, 2010). The severe situations also stated that firms are going to consider extra claims in extraordinary situations.

Last but not the least heavy rain risks may affect the project. In winter there is a heavy rain in UK it all rely on the extent of rain that may be fail. Heavy rain can be the bigger hindrance in the completion of these rail projects. It becomes important for the financiers to take serious measures to handle these kinds of situations as all these factors are uncontrollable but we need to take those steps that can reduce the risks.

Control Risks involves technical, economic and financial, accidents, political and legal risks. All these factors can affect the railways project. While running the railway system technical standard are continuously coming across some problems. This might affect the railways projects. The distance need for the bridges cause more conflicts (Arena, Arnaboldi, & Azzone, 2010). Train accidents are increasing day by day due to miscommunication. The economic case for the ALSTOM railway comes out to be found on a supposition that there will be free movement of goods and people throughout the council area. The economic underpinnings for the line depend on continued economic growth and more trade between ALSTOM member states.

Critically evaluate in detail the approaches that Alstom Transport can use for crisis management and business continuity planning

First of all we need to find out those steps that can reduce above discussed risks so that the railways project can be completed. Investor should realize the risks of extreme environment that can affect the project. They should keep the gap between the railway tracks because in summers the tracks expand if there will be no proper gap between the tracks the train will be damage. Storms can increase the risks accidents (Renn, Klinke, & van Asselt, 2011). Because of storm and heavy snow fall the snow will cover the railway tracks and it will become difficult to drive over those tracks to avoid this kind of situation it is necessary to have air pumps in front of the train to blow the snow. Due to heavy rain in UK especially in winter season the aim to complete the project can be delayed. To handle this kind of situation there should have proper drainage system and canal system so that heavy rain cannot affect the ALSTOM railway project.

Control risks can be handling easily with having any kind of problem. Well if we will talk about technical risk we need to consider few steps that can increase the technical standards that can be beneficial for the railways project, first we should consider the urgency of training the workers technically and arrange some training sessions so that they can be technically skilled and equipped, and can be able to construct and operate the railway function with advance technologies. There are many rail projects which are on the ongoing stage and needs more financial investments to run the project smoothly. And for managing the financial and economical problems they need to have proper departments that can manage, reduces and control the financial and economic risks factors (Renn, Klinke, & van Asselt, 2011). Due to miscommunication lot of rail accidents have been occur to avoid this kind of problem they need to proper guide and train their workers how to communicate so that in future the risks of accidents can be reduce and almost vanished. Last is political and legal risk, for moving goods and passengers from railway is considering being free in future all over the council area but this needs a joint practices system for all states members to allow agree on a solitary point of entrance into the UK and have a similar tariff for the imported products.

Importance of Risk Management

Poor or lack of appropriate risk management strategies greatly affects the viability of any investment undertaken by anyone be it the government, a company or an individual business entity. In every investment that anyone undertakes, he or she must consider the issue of risk. Starting a business investment is taking a risk in itself. Time is what will tell if an investment will be successful or not. The future is uncertain and difficult to predict, due to this unavoidable fact, anyone starting a business venture has to come up with ways to mitigate risks involved in the business venture at hand.

Risk management can be defined as the process of identifying, analyzing and mitigating the uncertain state of any investment during the process of making decisions. Risk management comes to play whenever an investor tries to quantify the possibility or the potential for losses in an investment and then takes the necessary actions depending on his/her objectives in the investment and the nature of their investment’s risk tolerance potential (Satyajit, 36).

Poor risk management practices can cause severe consequences to any business entity be it a company or an individual business. A good example is the recession that began in 2008 which was caused by financial firms adopting loose credit risk management strategies. An investment without the consideration of risk management is like a vehicle travelling to no destination.

Research Findings

In my research of business risks and how to manage them, I came up with the different sources of business risks. A company cannot eliminate risk completely, but it can manage risk successfully. When it comes to financial issues, the management of a company has to make difficult decisions and choices pertaining the acceptable risk levels. If the risks are not acceptable and may yield losses then the management rules out the venture, but if the risk is acceptable and may yield high returns afterwards, they choose to undertake the venture at hand.

Successful risk management practice is based on the maintenance of a good balance between risks and rewards and ascertaining potential profits against potential threats in the operational stability of a business. Every company that operates any business venture must inevitably assume a certain level of risk so as to generate profits that will satisfy its stakeholders. Any business undertaking comes with some risks, the risks are diverse ranging from financial risks, risks from the market place and employee related risks (Satyajit, 56).

Risk management involves being aware of the potential risk and having an alternative plan to help deal with any problem that may arise in the course of an investment. A fitting illustration of this is when the management of a company realizes that the funds allocated to the company for a certain project will not be enough to complete the project. An appropriate risk management for the company will be having a backup financial plan that would fund the project and see its completion if the primary source of funding for the company is not willing to offer it additional credit.

The primary source of risk for a company is the market place that it operates in. It is very difficult to control the risks involved in the market and the best way to manage them is to directly deal with them in the best way possible. Among the major risks in the market is that the demand or preference of consumers may change over time, which would mean that the demand for a company’s product may decrease. Another risk can emerge when a competitor introduces a new product in the market that may be more desirable to the consumers than that of the company, or it may offer a competing product at a relatively low price and lure all the customers to consume its product. This poses to be a real danger to a company’s sales and it may adversely affect the operating profit of a company in a negative way.

Most risks in businesses emanate from financing and cash flow sectors. A company may fall short of finances when operating an expansion project or its customers may delay in paying their invoices in time creating delays which may disrupt the cash flow of a company. Also, the suppliers of a company may fail to supply or they may raise their prices all of a sudden with no prior notice creating cash flow problems to a company (Satyajit, 69).

Another major source of business risk is employee relations. Problems associated with labor pose a great impact to the production capabilities of a company. There are some personnel in the company that it cannot afford to lose and so it may incur increased wage costs so as to retain them. A company’s performance and profitability can dwindle due to the loss of important and essential personnel. This may happen when, for example, a key product designer moves to another competitive firm for a better pay.

A company may also have expanded its operations geographically to other countries; this means that it does business at international levels. Due to this, the company faces a variety of risks which include the risks of political problems. If a foreign country is politically unstable, it may bring a company’s operations to a standstill. Also, there may be changes in tariffs and the import/export laws may change thus affecting the company’s sales. The fluctuation of currency exchange rates may also pose a great risk to a company’s operations internationally.

The above mentioned risk sources affect every business entity and any investment that does not take into account the possibility of risk is suicidal. Poor risk management strategies have seen to the closure and collapse of many investments in the world. Just but to mention a few, about everyone knows about Hurricane Katrina and the destruction it brought to America. The government invests in protecting its citizens but in the case of the hurricane, poor risk management had been undertaken beforehand. Due to that, the hurricane caused unfathomable damage of property and loss of lives than anyone could comprehend. This were the results of poor risk management (Crouhy, 41). This is a catastrophic example of what poor risk management can cause.

Another good example of poor risk management strategy can be explained by Yahoo. It was the first company to offer mailing services to people using the internet in the world, due to this; it was charging people for the services it offered but not until the emergence of Google its greatest competitor. Google offered similar services but for free and so it attracted more customers than Yahoo. Yahoo did not see the risk of a competitor emerging and taking over its market share. Google is now the most used search engine in the world.

Knight Capital is another good example of a company that failed in its execution of a systematic risk management strategy in its undertaking. The company switched to a new software that it had not fully tested and entrusted all its undertaking to it without ascertaining the risks that may be involved. Upon putting its new software to the job, the company had recorded numerous erroneous trades in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Even though the company immediately ceased its business transactions after realizing the problem, it had already committed itself to transactions worth billions of dollars. This resulted to an immediate pre-tax loss of more than 440 million US dollars. This financial company rushed for profits at the expense of risk management. If a financial company is pushing up technology and keeping its workforce on toes to extract the smallest value that is on offer in the ever competitive market, it should also make sure that its risk management systems keeps up with the same pace.

All companies in one way or another have faced risks and it all depends on how good their risk management skills are so as to pull trough. The following are the most common examples of risk management techniques that businesses employ so as to maneuver their way through risks.

Avoidance of risk- the easiest way that a business can manage risk is by avoiding it. This simply takes place when a business refuses to engage in any activity that it may perceive to carry any kind of risk. A good example of this is when a hospital avoids carrying out a procedure that involves a high degree of risk to the patient’s life. This method is simple in managing threats to a business entity but it also lowers the revenue potential of the business (Crouhy, 50).

Risk mitigation- some risks that businesses face is unavoidable and the only way to manage them is by trying to reduce their impact to the business. Risk mitigation is meant to lessen the negative consequence of a known risk to a business.

Transfer of risk- sometimes a business may choose to transfer risk away from itself. It does so by paying premiums to an insurance company in exchange for protection against any substantial loss. For example, a business may insure itself against fire so that in the event of any accidental fire that may cause financial loss, the insurance company will compensate it.

Risk acceptance- this is another way of managing risk in a business entity. A company may choose to accept a certain level of risk that may be brought about by a specific project if the expected profit is far much greater than the risk involved (Hopkin, 73).

Conclusion

I believe that risk management will become part of the management process of organizations in future. If the process of risk management had been put in place over the past two decades, a number of risks could not have taken place and more others could have been mitigated.

In the modern world, companies are beginning to see the advantages of protecting themselves against all types of potential risk exposures. By understanding risks, how severe and frequent they are; a company can now turn to viable solutions (Hopkin, 63).

From the research findings, it can be proven that poor or lack of appropriate risk management strategies greatly affects the viability of any kind of investment undertaken by anyone, be it the government, a company or an individual business entity. It is clearly evident that starting an investment without a clear plan on how to manage the risks involved will guarantee a very high chance of failure for the investment in question.

References

Adger, W. N. (2010). Social capital, collective action, and adaptation to climate change. In Der klimawandel (pp. 327-345). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Arena, M., Arnaboldi, M., & Azzone, G. (2010). The organizational dynamics of enterprise risk management. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(7), 659-675.

Burstein, F., Sohal, S., Zyngier, S., & Sohal, A. S. (2010). Understanding of knowledge risk management and responsibilities: a study in the Australian context. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 8(1), 76-88.

Crouhy, Michel, Dan Galai, and Robert Mark. Risk Management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print.

Das, Satyajit, and Satyajit Das. Risk Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Print.

Dimant, E., Lindner, S., Liu, J., Ruiz, T., & Tejpal, V. (2011). Bombardier Inc.-Case Study of a brand in an Emerging Country.

Hopkin, Paul. Risk Management. , 2013. Print.

Narasimhan, R., & Talluri, S. (2009). Perspectives on risk management in supply chains. Journal of Operations Management, 27(2), 114-118.

Quinn, J. B., & Strategy, E. S. (2013). Strategic outsourcing and risk management: leveraging knowledge capabilities. Image.

Renn, O., Klinke, A., & van Asselt, M. (2011). Coping with complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity in risk management: a synthesis. Ambio, 40(2), 231-246.

Reuter, C., Foerstl, K. A. I., Hartmann, E. V. I., & Blome, C. (2010). Sustainable global supplier management: the role of dynamic capabilities in achieving competitive advantage. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(2), 45-63.

Reuter, C., Foerstl, K. A. I., Hartmann, E. V. I., & Blome, C. (2010). Sustainable global supplier management: the role of dynamic capabilities in achieving competitive advantage. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(2), 45-63.

Van Detta, J. A. (2013). Politics And Legal Regulation In The International Business Environment: An FDI Case Study Of Alstom, SA, In Israel. U. Miami Bus. L. Rev., 21, 1.

Wallin, J., Larsson, A., Isaksson, O., & Larsson, T. (2011). Measuring Innovation Capability–Assessing Collaborative Performance in Product-Service System Innovation. In Functional Thinking for Value Creation (pp. 207-212). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Zavadskas, E. K., Turskis, Z., & Tamošaitiene, J. (2010). Risk assessment of construction projects. Journal of civil engineering and risk management, 16(1), 33-46.

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Business Strategy BT

Development Strategy for Business Resilience and Sustainability through an Incremental Strategy – A Study of British Telecom

This report discusses the comparative analysis of three strategies namely incremental, renovate and inventive within the context of the internal as well as the external environment of a company such as BT (British Telecommunications Limited) which is a multinational telecommunications services company headquartered in London. It also evaluates a change management programme that can bring about strategic change within this organisation. BT has a global services as well as a retail division. Its operations span 170 countries throughout the world.

Company’s Internal and External Environment and Its Strategy Type

In the current business scenario, intense competition, integration across global markets, changes in technology and the advancement of the telecommunications sector are some of the external factors that influence the change management program of BT. the Company’s managerial talent and the level of the motivation of its workforce are some of the internal factors influencing strategic management. In order to improve the effectiveness of the organisation, strategy is the key because it leverages the capabilities of the individuals and the institution in a cohesive manner. The ideal development strategy for a company like BT that seeks business resilience and sustainability throughout its line of operations is an incremental approach.

Strategic Capabilities

Incremental strategies are effective within the current dynamic environment. Regulatory convergence is a key factor in the selection of incremental strategy for handling change and sustaining profits. The challenges of global competition have to be seen within the broader regulatory framework for effective strategic management. The incremental approach to strategic management is in response to the complex and ever changing corporate environment. Consequently, the strategic process moved in an incremental manner adapting to changes in the internal and external environment of the company. Decisions will then be driven by multiple goals. BT has low levels of business resources with respect to its telecommunications services though it is steadily expanding in the field of broadband communications. BT has reported a fall in sales though it experienced a healthy profit in 2013. Moderate or high business resources imply greater strategic capabilities which enable the company to excel using innovation or denotative strategic management. Annual pre-tax profits of BT were up by more than 40% but sales fell by 4%.

Business Strategy BT Competitive Analysis

The major feature of the incremental strategy is that it is decentralised and it responds to dynamic environmental challenges. BT is facing a changing socioeconomic milieu wherein the incremental approach accounts for this variable. An incremental strategy enables the organisation to fulfil its mission by closing the divide between long as well as short term goals within a changing environment. Organisational design followed a contingency approach since landmark research was conducted by Emery and Trist (1965) as well as Lawrence and Lorsch (1967). When a company faces a challenging environment, incremental strategy is far better than inventive or renovate strategies on account of the challenging environment faced by the company. As a British MNC which has to face global competition, BT should opt for an incremental strategy to boost its prospects and sales.  The degree to which the environment of a company is globalised also influences its development strategy. Porter has proposed the five force model for analyses of competition presented below:

Porters 5 Force Model
Porters 5 Force Model

Figure 1: Porter’s 5 Force Model from Michael Porter, “Competitive Strategies”

Porter’s model elucidates how competition from different sources can create industry rivalry. Competitive analyses in the context of an incremental strategy is suitable for organisations such as BT which want to cope with competition from different sources, as discussed in Porter’s model.

Business Strategy BT Competitive Advantage

BT needs to consider the complete gamut of competitors through an incremental approach to change management. Porter (1980) has argued that organisations should consider the behaviour of firms that are producing same/similar products as well as the action of suppliers, competitors producing substitute products and the customers themselves. An incremental strategy enables companies such as BT to develop a holistic view of the market to promote business resilience and boost profits. Competitive advantage has been discussed through a model proposed by Porter discussed below:

Porters Generic Strategies Model
Porters Generic Strategies Model

Figure 2: Porter’s Generic Strategies Model (Porter, 1980)

Ansoff (1985) has discussed how companies should also develop the strategy keeping in mind the flow of critical resources for production. They should also consider how they will impact non-market actors. Nonmarket actors or strategic interest groups also have an important role to play in influencing the development strategy of a firm. BT should follow a cost leadership strategy for low cost rather than aiming for product uniqueness as there are many rivals offering advanced services in this sector.

Culture

The culture of an organisation also plays a key role in influencing the strategy it adopts. The company’s abilities revolve around the resource, skills and procedures as well as its competencies. Attitudes and other cognitive factors reflect an organisation’s culture. The work culture at BT is unique. It focuses on completion of projects and garnering of crucial contracts. The organisational culture of a company influences its success in current times. BT needs to follow an incremental strategy whereby it adapts to changing global and domestic environment so that it can keep up with its competitors. The choice of a strategic management approach is based on several critical considerations such as an organisation’s strategic capabilities, competitive analyses, competitive advantage and culture.

An organisation must have a strategy that can meet the challenges of its internal or external environment (Ashby, 1961). Therefore, an incremental strategy would be ideal for enhancing the sustainability of business practices and the resilience of British Telecom. Consider the personnel, structure, systems and financial resources to be important factors in any strategy for change management. An incremental strategy follows a contingency approach which is ideal for British Telecom.

The organisation’s culture as reflected by collective values, experiences and beliefs of its members also has a critical role to play in its success. An incremental strategy for development and change management incorporates this effectively, making it the viable and effective choice for BT which has skilled employees. An incremental strategy is ideal for bringing about small but important changes in the organisational functioning compared to inventive or renovate strategies which focus on large scale change.

In order to possess business resilience and sustainability in its operations, BT needs to follow an incremental strategy to bolster its current organisational culture. Companies need to be proactive to cope with changes such as economic slowdowns, increased global competition and massive amount of technological advancement. BT would do well to adopt an incremental, contingency oriented approach to strategic management to cope with this.

Critical Evaluation of the Incremental Strategy

Incremental strategy is ideal for British Telecom.  An incremental strategy enables the company to have flexibility in coping with uncertainties in the field of policy regulation and governance.

People

There is a need to bargain with stakeholders and integrate human and organisational capabilities to catapult the company to the path of success. Renovate and innovative strategies can only be effective in environments where there are less regulation uncertainties (Lindblom, 1979). Each of the different resources within a company plays a critical role in its success. Through an incremental approach, British Telecom can impact its employees in a positive way. By instilling coping skills and out of the box thinking to manage dynamic and changing situations, BT can boost its profits.

Employees also differ in terms of their personal knowledge, perception, limitations, and it is due to this inherent complexity that incremental strategy can be the perfect tool for change. Diversity is one of the chief features of the workforce at BT. Therefore; development strategies followed here should take advantage of this versatility. Incremental approaches to strategic management can accomplish this.  Top managers within the same company can approach the same problem with different solutions (Bower & Doz, 1979).

Operations

Operations system provides guidance regarding how work procedures must be carried on and provides the framework for performing the work People are the key resources of any company. They are the prime assets which spur the growth and development of the organisation. Operations are a key area where rapid changes have to be kept pace with. The internal as well as external stakeholders also play a central role in the company’s success (Lindblom, 1959; Mintzberg, 1919). Balancing the goals and interests of stakeholders is the key to organisational success (Ansoff, 1985). BT should adopt an incremental strategy to improve operations.

Finance

Financial resources are necessary to accomplish goals and provide rewards. Money is one of the primary motivators for obtaining optimal performance from employees in the work setting. Annual pre-tax profits were up 42% to £2.4bn, last year for BT while sales were down 4%. An incremental strategy is ideal for a company such as BT which has ample financial resources.

Technology

Technology sets the stage for the company to maximise its capabilities if it keeps pace with it. Effective utilisation of resources is a must if a company has to progress and make healthy profits. An organisation’s culture is maintained and transmitted by its workers. Leaders of internal stakeholder groups are the key assets to instil positive change within an organisation. For companies such as BT that are facing moderate to heavy environmental turbulence, an incremental strategy for strategic management is needed (Mintzberg, 1973).

Several comprehensive reviews have been conducted by leading researchers in the field of strategic management (Hofer, 1976; Vancil, 1976; Armstrong, 1982). Research has found that degree of formality centralisation, hierarchical structure and comprehensiveness of any company is influenced by its environment, and complexity (Armstong, 1982, Hofer, 1976). In current scenario, an incremental strategy is optimal for BT.

Change Management Programme

A change management programme for British Telecom must incorporate an incremental approach. This is because its external and internal environment is more suited to an approach that makes allowances for sudden and rapid changes. Whether it is people, financial aspects, technological advancements or  organisational culture, all aspects of an organisation’s functioning need to be taken into account for effective change management. A conventional approach towards change management will not be successful. In 1995, John Kotter published his landmark paper “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail”. This paper cited how only 30% of change programs are successful.

The biggest advantages of a change management programme for British Telecom through an incremental strategy is that it will make allowances for the rapid changes in technology and competition that are taking place in the Indian telecommunications sector. Colin Price and Emily Lawson (2003) suggested that the conditions which must be met for employees within an organisation to embrace change include their agreement to the change, effective role modelling for inculcation of change oriented behaviours, and reinforcement systems that encourage the behaviour and the skills required for change. The structures, systems, processes and incentives within a change management program should be conducive towards a positive transformation of the company into a reliable and sustainable business.

An incremental approach to strategic management can bring about this transformation for British Telecom. But change management processes should have an appeal for employees. Businesses that want to do more than survive have to remodel themselves to match up to competitors. Change management programmes have incorporated various methods such as total quality management, rightsizing, restructuring, cultural change and turnarounds in a bid to improve their profit margins. British Telecom needs to follow a change programme that pursues innovation in a way that is flexible and keeps in line with the incremental strategy of adapting to changes. Too many companies fail to progress beyond a certain point when it comes to garnering market share because they do not anticipate change due to factors such as advances in technology and industrial competition. Even a change management programme based on the incremental approach can have a few pitfalls though. Anticipating change is not easy. Many times, market analysts may be predicting a trend which is short-lived. Kotter’s 10 year study of more than 100 companies found unsuccessful change management programmes failed to generate the urgency or formulate a vision that could be communicated well to bring about a complete transition.

Companies need to be practical and realistic in their aspirations. Only then can change management programmes succeed in a complete sense. Obstacles to the change management programme suggested in this paper include rapid changes in the regulatory framework, unforeseen innovations and advancements in the field of technology and lack of market foresight. Genuine transformations require game changing ideas which can bring about creative solutions to problems. A change management programme based on an incremental strategy can only succeed if company personnel have the objectivity to view successes and failures in accurate ways.

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