Chapter 8: Operations Management and Supply Chain Management

According to Ivanka Trump, when you're starting up a company or taking over a company, whatever it is that you are looking or planning to do, make, or sell to your customers, it is crucial that you build your business on the assumption that you can do it smarter, better and more efficiently than your competitors. If you don't think that way then what is the point? It will be very hard for you to survive in the business world. This week's chapter reading refers to operations management and supply chain management. I chose an article from the online Business Week newsletters regarding competitive strategies and Ivanka Trump's strategies on building a brand for your products. According to the textbook, the five key competitive priorities are cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, and service. With the article on Ivanka's new jewelry collection, she shares her notes on what you need to do to launch a successful new business, product or service. She shares with us her top ten steps that should be followed to be successful. The ten steps include: Doing a comprehensive trademark search, develop a powerful identifier, do not confuse supply with demand, identify the void in your market and position your brand so that you uniquely fill it, create a strong and consistent identity, define your market, make sure your team understands your mission, your vision, and your objectives, focus on customer service, foster brand loyalty at every opportunity,and hold off spending whenever possible. A lot of what I was reading related a lot to what I'm learning in my business classes especially marketing. Creating a successful company ultimately comes down to how well you market yourself. Ivanka also goes on to talk about creating a phone system that allows you to connect yourself to customers. She's done well on connecting with her customers over the phone and seeing how the service was for randomly chosen customers. She also talks about the operations of the hotels that her family runs and always relating it back to her steps mentioned and staying on top of the technology world too.

You can find the article here.

Chapter 7: Networks, Telecommunications, and Mobile Technology

For this week's chapter reading, I found a very interesting article in the Business Week Magazine regarding Window's introduction of its newest development or "upgrade": Windows Mobile 6.5. I must confess that I am very bias when it comes to computer and phone companies. I have been a true Apple fan for the longest time and use mainly only Apple products. I also understand that Apple has many competitors wanting to become as innovative as Apple has become, but many of those competitors do fall short of winning that competition. I find Windows to be one of Apple's biggest competitions when it comes to the computer world and thus find it not so shocking to hear that Windows was not able to keep up with the innovative technology in the mobile industry.

Windows recently came out with its upgrade to its smartphone a couple of days ago and it did not live up to any other smartphones that are currently out on the market right now. It doesn't even sit close to the iPhones status, thus moving Windows place on the top tier of the mobile industry to a low position. Critics say that, "Unfortunately the results fall far short of what Microsoft requires to get back into the top tier of mobile communications". The next upgrade for the phone is not due until another year. By then, Windows would have lost a lot of its customers already. The phone features an almost like "App Store" like in the iPhone, but with Windows, they call it Marketplace. Each carrier company will get to choose between which apps they want to carry with their line and get a cut of the money that is earned, and those that are paid with credit cards will be split between the developers and Windows.

There is one positive thing about the new upgrade. The backing up of information from the phone to a computer will be done through Windows' program called My Phone, which is based online. The program will freely back up all of your information from the phone. I find this as a positive point to the upgrade because Apple currently uses MobileMe, which they charge for $99 a year to use as an information backup program. I'd rather see free options as I am still a poor college student at this point.

Those who own a Windows smart phone will have to use the upgrade for now and give the company some time to develop it's version 7 of an upgrade, or go my route and purchase an iPhone that is at the top of the tier in computer and mobile development.

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