Business Class with Can Kaya

Today we had our business class with Can Kaya. The notes I took during the lesson is below:

Sole trades/ sole proprietor

Ex: bakkal, law firms, barbers, doctors office, lawyer, I might own a consulting firm it might be a sole proprietorship yet it may employ 10-15 people. I as the only owner and the managing owner will have the efficiencies to control.
Unincorporated business owned by an individual for profit.
The individual runs the business on their own and has sole responsibility for its success and failure.
Advantages
Owners retain all profits
Easy to form
Owners have flexibility
Disadvantages
Unlimited liability
Financing limitations
Management deficiencies
Lack of continuity( if I die than the company will die since I am the only owner)

Risks

Low risk- being a shareholder to migros.
Invest your cash into a bank. At the end of one full year you are going to receive 10% more because of the interest rate.

Higher risk- purchasing the shares of a company(becoming a shareholder)
Taking more risks does not mean you are going to receive higher gains

Internal locus of control vs. external locus of control
People believe that the future is in their own control and acts accordingly vs. people believe that its fate

Partnerships
More managerial help, more finance but more conflict. Partnerships can be formed from 2-20 people.

Advantages
Expended financial capacity
Easy to form
Management skills( some partners might have better experiences- you can benefit)

Disadvantages
Lack of continuity (if one of the partners die, will have a great influence in the company.)
Difficult to solve
Interpersonal conflict
Unlimited financial liability

Vision&Mission of a Business Organization

Today in our business class we had a discussion based on an appropriate mission and vision. The notes I took during the course is below..

Vision- objective in long term. (Time horizon is great)

Mission- purpose of its existence

Fashion- opinions and social fears people face
E.g. Obsessive concern with terrorists

SOCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECT CHANGES

OBJECTIVES

1) Very long-term objectives- vision
2) Long term objectives-strategic objectives
3) Medium-short term objectives- tactical objectives

Tactics = short term objectives
Strategy= long term objectives (fulfils your vision)
Vision = it fulfils the purpose of your existence ( in other words fulfils your mission)

Vision of Koç School
The goal of Koç School is to be respected nationally and internationally as a model K-12 school, offering an educational program of the highest academic and ethical standards.

*How do you know that the school is respected?

We started a discussion to find a correct answer to this question. Even though we didn't reach an exact answer most of the responses was that one can understand that Koç School is respected by its graduates and the schools they attend after high school. It can also be said that the student image of Koç School is effective in being a respected school.

--Mission is what the company aims to do something / the purpose of its existence

We analyzed our schools mission and vision and didn't find it as accurate as we thought it was.
Koç School’s mission is vague because it doesn’t state the aim/objective of its existence. It’s not stating a purpose it’s stating a description, which is not quite accurate.

Objectives must be SMART & strategic. (SMART = specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bounded)

Business Quiz 2

Last week we had our second business quiz and a discussion based on the questions. The answers of the questions we found at the end of the discussion are as follows:

1)Why the public sector is important?

Resources are taken under control
Ownership of strategic resources is necessary.
Country might lack capital.
Protection of the public-police, justice, jail
If smt goes wrong in the prison you say talk to the firm.

2)What is a public good?

When you consume a public good it doesn’t become less. Non excludability. Just because someone uses a service it doesn’t mean that others cannot. The service provided to everyone is equal.
Non- rivalrous.

Provided equally to everybody so that people won’t compete with each other.

E.g. If I enjoy a benefit of a light house you don’t have to enjoy less.
Private investors have no reason/incentive to provide public goods because of the free rider problem

3)What makes a firm efficient? Management or ownership

Management.

4) What are merit goods?

A good which is generally considered to be a good for everybody but private sector won’t provide it for everybody. Because they earn a profit from it. Not everyone can afford it if it is provided only by the private sector. So the public sector provides it for everybody to benefit from it.

E.g. schools.

Public good- owned by the government
Merit good- owned by public (free or reduced prices) and private sector(not everyone can afford)
Franchisor- IB
Franchisee-KOÇ

The Strength and Weaknesses of Structure and Systems In A School

During our business lesson on wednesday we were seperated into groups and discussed the 7S Matrix of a business organization. Our group worked on the structure and system branches of the 7S Matrix. Below are the conclusions we reached as a group.

Structure:
Departments:
o Strength: Each department is responsible of its own job. They specialize on the field in which they are good at. So the efficiency of the school increases.
- Decentralized:
o Strength: By this, people concentrate on their own field. They can be more successful by only specializing on their own profession. They can be more ambitious and as a result, more successful.
o Weakness: If they specialize too much, they can diverge from the subject.
- Solid Relationship:
o Strength: Even though, there are departments of everything, the connection between them is solid, which makes the cooperative. If there weren’t a solid connection, than the school wouldn’t be able to survive.
Systems:
- Service bus system:
o Strength: The school being too far away from the city leads it for a need of transportation system. Our schools bus system allows all students to arrive at school at the same time. Also safely.
- Food system:
o Strength: It is healthy. It is adequate. Varied food options.
- Assessment system:
o Strength: What we learn in class (input) are tested by several quizzes, projects, assignments etc. to get the feedback of the inputs, the assessment system is used.
o Weakness: The grading system, which is a part of the assessment system, tests the students knowledge according to a 40 minute long exam and most of the students grade comes from this system. It isn’t an effective way of evaluating students. A student may not show all his capability in an exam. As a result, they cannot get the grade they deserve

18/10/2010

Today we had our first business quiz. Below you can find the notes I took while we were discussing the answers and some other additional notes I took during the lesson.

1) Define private sector

Private sector is the sector of business which has nothing to do with the government. It’s independent from the government.
2) What are the service sectros of an economy?

Tertiary and quaternary sectors of an economy are the only service sectors.
3) What is the difference between these sectors?
Tertiary sector - sells goods to the customer
Quaternary sector- the activities are not related to the primary, secondary or the tertiary sector e.g.education institutes, hair dressers, advertising, marketing, financial works or individual business.
4) The mission of a business defines- its purpose of existence
5- Why do we need to do an analysis of the external environment of a business?
We need to do an analysis of the external environment of a business to plan what you will do with the business. In order to plan the future you must now where you are now (your current position).

SWOT

"SWOT" stands for; strengths, weaknesses, oppotunities and threats in a business.
The SW part of SWOT:
It stands for the internal factors affecting a business.
Strenghts are positive internal factors , while the weaknesses are negatively affect.

These internal factors are called the 7S Matrix ;

Strategy-the path/mission organization chose for its development

Structure- the way the organization developes itsself.

Systems-the procedures and processes of the organization

Skills-the capabilities of the organization

Staff-the human resources of the organiation

Style-the approach of the organization

Shared Values- the values of the organization

All the S's in the 7S Matrix are related to one another so, all are need for a successful business, if one is missing than the company cannot be successful.

The structure, strategy and systems are called Hard S's because they cannot be changed. They do not depend on a single thing.

The skills,style and and staff on the other hand are Soft S's, they are related to individuals in a business organization. They are the part of the 7S Matrix which can change.

The OT part of SWOT:
It stands for the external factors affecting a business.
The opportunities are the positive external factors and the threats are the negative ones.

The external factors affecting a business as we can remember is STEEPLE( social, technological, economic, ethnic, politics, legal and environmental)

STEPS OF PLANNING

SWOT
1-Where are we now?
STRATEGY
2-What should we do to get where we want to be? What is your strategy?
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
(These are not purposes, the purposes don’t change and could be find in the mission section however the goals of a business company can/must change from time to time)
3-Where do we want to be (in time/horizon X)?
CONTROL
4- How do we know we are getting there?

ALL OF THE STEPS OF PLANNING HAPPENS IN TIME X WHICH DOESN'T CHANGE.

TIME is a very important factor in business, everything is related to time. Thus time should be pricise to constantly improve.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON BUSINESS!

STEEPLE

Social
Technological
Ethical
Economic
Political
Legal
Environmental

*THESE ARE THE FACTORS THAT POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY AFFECT A BUSINESS.

*Examples for the social factor,
If the school increases the scholarship program then there would be more students coming ,
Demographic profiles of the families of the students in the school.
*Examples for the economic factor,
Dollar increases weakly. This is good for imports. If your company has a loan of 1 million dollars and if dollar weakens then its beneficial for you, because you wouldn't have to pay more for your imports.(Depends on what aspect you look it can hurt you or benefit you)

How do you distinguish between a social and economic factor?
Social factors have to do with; religion, class, ethnic identities and occupations. Economic is some factor in the economy.
E.g. let us think that the ministry decides that no longer the Jewish people can go to school; then this would be a social change because it affects the society.

The politics factor:
This factor is greatly influenced by the ideologies of people. For example, the school would need a change if most of the parents change their attitudes towards the education given in the particular school. Educational companies have always something to do with politics. This reveals that they are dependent to eachother. Politics interferes with education nearly all the time.

Afghanistan – do you want to open a business there?
There is no competition in Afghanistan which may lead to more profit in the business done.

THE HIGHER THE RISK, THE HIGHER THE REWARD!!

11/10/2010- Qualities of a business blog

A business blog should be;

1) Persuasive & convincing
-in terms of comments/observations/interpretations

2) Engaging & appealing
-must include visual material

3) Informative
-how can you make it more informative? Use other resources to add to your current notes
-is it accurately informative? Not exaggerated & repetitive

4) Try to impress;
-Business partners,
-Employees,
by the language you use- using business terms/ concepts/ models.

	Excellent 5	Good 4	Satisfactory 3	Mediocre 2	Poor 1
Persuasive and convincing	The comments and interpretations are well explained with details and are convincing. Several appropriate examples are used to develop the ideas.	The comments and interpretations are explained and include mostly appropriate examples.	The comments and interpretations include errors and are not very persuasive. There are few examples to support the ideas.	The comments and interpretations lack examples and supports. The ideas are mostly not persuasive or convincing.	The comments and interpretations are not explained and include major errors. The information is not convincing.
Engaging and appealing	Visual materials (diagrams, images, concept maps) have been used to make the blog more interesting are appropriate and relevant to the topic/subject.	Visual materials have been made use and generally relevant to the topic/subject. The blog is generally interesting.	Some relevant and some irrelevant visual material has been made use.	There are very few visual material, generally irrelevant.	No use of diagrams, images etc. or includes visual materials but are irrelevant.
Informative	The information given is accurate. There is no exaggeration and repetition of the ideas stated. There are many evidences of the other resources are used to develop the notes taken in class.	The information is mostly accurate but includes minor errors. Repetition and exaggeration is few. There is evidence of the other resources used.	The information given is satisfactory but consist some minor and few major errors. There are few repetitions and exaggerations.	The information gives is poorly justified and includes exaggeration and repetition. The use of other resources is poor. There are some major errors.	The information given is generally irrelevant or not accurate. There are major errors in the information. No evidence of other resources. The information is repetitive and exaggerated.
The use of language	The language is relevant to the topic and business models and terms are made use. There are business concepts in the blog and they are applied correctly. The blog impresses the employees, teachers and other business partners.	The language is mostly relevant and includes business terms and concepts. It is mostly impressive.	Some business terms and concepts have been made use, but there are errors made.	The language is mostly inappropriate. Very few evidence of business terms and concepts.	The language structure is inappropriate. No evidence of business concepts, models etc. It’s not impressive

04/10/2010

*Businesses often make a decision among;
What is happening in the short run – your profits might decrease
What is happening in the long run– production & profits will increase

*Business opportunity: Scanning the market and finding an opportunity that fits your personal strengths and qualities (the strengths and qualities that you have access to)

Leadership + Ownership + management of resources + discipline(partners) + patience
Risk taking
Creativity
Innovation

*Upside of specialization: to increase productivity/efficiency
Downside of specialization: the employee gets bored the quality decreases

*Departments exist only to have people specialize in it.
E.g. there is a part of school which specializes on accounting and managing the schools financial business.

*Size=scale
Large scale org.’s can offer more people who are specialists.

*A system can be a part of another system.
Feedback is in the form of information.
Output is physical.

1/10/2010

On Friday(1st Oct.) we had our first lesson with Mr.Sen which was a general review of the activities we've done during his absence. Our discussion was on the topics below :

• QUALITY, of a non profit organization cannot be measured by a certain thing; there must be a criteria to determine the quality of the company. Thus, you cannot use the same criteria for every company, since every company specializes on different things.
• SPECIALIZATION, is the way of focusing on a particular range of products. It requires higher knowledge and care on producing. Specializing also increases efficiency, but on the other hand it has some disadvantages. It may lead to routine jobs and boredom. For example, if you make a worker work for the same thing all the time, he'll eventually get bored. If the employees/workers work with dissatisfaction than the efficiency will decrease.
• EFFICIENCY, is the same thing with productivity. It is found by the ratio of the outputs to inputs. Efficiency is not a pure number, since it's found by the ratio of different things.

Osterwalder Business Model

1) It is stated in the article that the purpose of business company should be producing/manufacturing satisfactory products for the customers. But, why should the organization consider the customer more than its profit?

The question aroused in my mind because until now I never thought that one way of being successful in business is to care more about the customer than its revenue. Hence, the revenue is linkeed to the customer; if the customer is satisfied from the product, s/he buys it and therefore the company earns money.

2) The article states that earning profit it not a purpose of business, than why does it give an example such as ; it’s something that it crucial like breathing even though we are not obliged to breathe?
Before I read the article I thought that what business aim is on earning more money than they spent for manufacturing their products. However, it is stated in the article is that yes businesses have to make profit in order to supply their expenses. The question aroused in my mind because I couldn’t exactly find a satisfactory solution to it.


3) Is the Osterwalder business model the only model that business organizations must follow?
The question aroused in my mind because, while I was reading the article I thought that there this is the only particular model that the companies can use in order to be successful because there were no other examples given.

Why is this model useful?

The Osterwalder template may be very useful because each part/section of the diagram is linked to the 8 other. For example customer relationship is linked to value proposition, target customer and distribution channel, which are linked to other sections. Thus, the template provides a practical approach to success in business. It helps the managers to keep track of the changing business environment and adapting to these changes. This template clearly shows how to create, deliver and capture value of its own.
Another reason why the model might be useful is that it allows us to comprehend how a company does business, earns money and makes profit without going through all the details of all its strategy, processes and systems.

Can it be applied to non business organizations?

Non business organizations can also have a business model, because every organization needs management. The business model would ease the process of managing the organization. The only different among the organizations is (business& non-business) that non business organizations don’t aim to make profit. Thus, the simpler model applied to this type of organizations help them to be more successful in business.

Kellogg's Company

1. Name the three sectors of the supply chain. On what occasions could certain sections of the primary sector operate as retailers?

The supply chain is consisted of 3 main sectors; primary/extractive sector, secondary/manufacturing sector and the tertiary sector.
Often the Raw materials suppliers sell coal to power stations. In this case the primary sector operates as a retailer.
Another example of such a situation where the primary sector acts as a retailer is hunting. When the hunter sells its hunt to a customer without sending it to the manufacturer, he would be operating as a retailer.

2. Give three examples of how Kellogg’s demonstrates good supply chain management. How can Kellogg’s make improvements both for its business and for the environment?

Kellogg’s company has a good supply chain management, which I can support with several examples. Firstly, to provide an effective stock inventory system Kellogg’s implement a system called “just-in-time”. By the use of the system just enough products are produced and a limited stock is kept. The company produces goods according to order to prevent holding significant stocks. Next, Kellogg’s has an efficient distribution system to prevent the distributors working with the competitive companies. The distributers place the products in stores. Waste of time and fuel happen in situations like delivering the products to a waiting customer by a half-empty vehicle. To prevent this happening, Kellogg’s works with several transportation companies. The last example is that it focuses on cost-effective systems ensures its prices are competitive.
To make improvements in both business and environment Kellogg’s should increase its revenue growth, this can happen only if the employees work in corporation to maximize the profit earned. Environmental improvements can happen if wastes are reduced at high rates. The most important waste that has to be diminished is water. Nowadays water shortage is a big problem, and if big companies and factories can reduce waste of water, this problem can lesson. Kellogg’s is a company which can help solve water shortage, because it’s a worldwide company.

3. Why is it important for Kellogg’s to build good relationships with businesses in the tertiary sector?

Kellogg’s cares about having good relationships with its retailers in the tertiary sector such as Tesco, Makro and ASDA. The retailers help Kellogg’s create a good relationship between the supplier and the customer. For example Tesco has a good display of the goods. The companies developed a Shelf Ready Unit which prevents the staff to spend a lot time for the products of Kellogg’s. It also helps the consumers to choose easily from the shelf.

4. Evaluate the benefits of large manufacturers like Kellogg’s handing over the logistical side of their business to specialist companies like TDG.

There are several advantages of handing the logistical side of businesses to specialist companies, like Kellogg’s does to TDG. TDG is a specialized in end-to-end supply chain management. By working with a professional company it makes it easy for Kellogg’s to distribute its products all around the world and concentrate/specialize on its own work as manufacturing the goods.

During the experiment, I learnt several things which led me to a discussion. I ended up as the following;

I always thought that big companies had a great stock incase something happens to their production or manufacturing, thus they have to use products from their stock. But the article revealed that Kellogg's has a stock investory system called "just-in-time" which allows the company to only have an enough(limited) stock, just to supply the orders. They also have a computerised stock holding system which alerts when the shelves are empty so the market fills them again. Therefore there is no waste of products or time.

Another thing that suprised me while completing the activity was that waste can be identified by "lean production", which is eliminates waste. It also diminishes inefficiency. I learnt that the company double checks its production methods so that everything is right and in order, so that maximum profitability can be reached by minimum cost.