Integrated Management Project - Halliburton - Report Example

Integrated management project (Halliburton) Contents Contents 2 Part B 4 Hard Systems Approach 4 SWOT 4 McKinsey’s Seven S Model 5 Culture Web 5 Perceptual Mapping 6 Linkage between all these theories 6 Part C 7 Issues of the company 7 Justification of theories 8 More theories 9 PESTEL 9 BCG Matrix 11 Controlling of issues with new theories 11 Career action plan: My career 13 MAJOR/CAREER EXPLORATION 13 Experience gained 13 Learning 13 References 15 Part B Hard Systems Approach According to Fitzroy and Herbert (2007), integrated management models like hard system approach is not free from limitations. Authors further said that the model has significant limitations with the real world unstructured issues. Lack of flexibilities often limits the scope of the model. They also commented that the modern world is ever-changing and change is the only invariable thing in this globe and so any rigid model cannot analyze different unstable real world situations. According to them, the model is significantly suitable for structured issues or ideal situations. This model has a serious limitation regarding the descriptions of different constraints (Fitzroy and Herbert, 2007). SWOT According to McLoughlin and Aaker (2010), SWOT analysis does not consider issues according to their priority; it only considers strength, weakness opportunities and threats of an organization. They further added that this model has significant draw backs as far as the strategic decisions of the managements are concerned. Authors clarify that this model is not capable of providing solutions and the model does not offer any alternative solutions to the managements of the organizations. They further added that the model can give lots of information but all that information may not be useful for managements for their strategic decisions. They also commented that, the outside world is full of uncertainties and it is very complex and difficult for the model to predict the future threats and opportunities as all these are not permanent (McLoughlin and Aaker, 2010). McKinsey’s Seven S Model According to Verweire and  Berghe (2004), the model only considers about the big factor of the organizations. There are certain small but crucial factors to analyse the strategies of the organizations. Authors commented that all those small but important factors are ignored in the course of this model. Authors also criticised that this model has very little connection with empirical situation and because of this reason the model is not much realistic in nature. They also added that, as the model overlooks small but important concepts so strategic implementations become faulty and incomplete (Verweire and  Berghe, 2004). Culture Web According to Cunningham and Harney (2012), the model is not an unmixed blessing for the organizations. Financial or economic situations of organizations are significant decision making factors. Different strategies and allocation of resources are being done on the basis of economic situation of an organization. Authors pointed out that the model does not consider the economic factor of the organizations before doing any strategic planning. This model also has significant limitations in terms of identifying opportunities and threat for the organizations. Workforce is the backbone of any company. Motivated work force is a significant cultural aspect for any organization but in this model this aspect has been overlooked. Performances of the organizations and strategic decisions are substantially dependent on the different factors of the outside world. Authors categorically stated that this model does not consider any external factors which are an utter limitation of this model (Cunningham and Harney, 2012). Perceptual Mapping According to Abraham (2012), this map is rather static in nature. The map is done on the basis of product line. In modern world due to continuous innovation, product lines of the organizations are changing randomly. The author told that due to the static nature, the model is incapable of accommodating dynamic changing scenarios into it. The model is over dependent on product lines. The author added that selection of product line is significantly complex in this model. It is very difficult to select different options within this model. Due to the static nature, often this model cannot come out with proper competitive advantages (Abraham, 2012). Linkage between all these theories All these five theories are directly or indirectly interrelated as all these theories are utterly needed to generate effective strategic decisions of any organizations. Integrated management systems are substantially dependent on the different dimensional factors of the organizations. All those dimensional factors cannot be analysed on the basis of any one model. A proper integrated management needs combinations of all these models. A suitable combination of all these models helps the organizations to come up with an integrated system in their management process. Hard system approach can analyse the structured factor of any organization. SWOT analysis is an internal process through which the organizations asses their strengths and weakness as well opportunities and threats. With the help of these models the organization can design their strategies in the real world. McKinsey’s Seven S Model analyse the preparedness of an organization and also guides towards the long term growth of the organization. Cultural web and perceptual mapping provide completeness to all these theories with their organizational cultural aspects and product line point of views. Part C Issues of the company The organization, Halliburton has multinational presence. During this study I have noticed that the organization is facing significant issues relating to the fluctuating currencies in different countries. Volatile economic situation and currency fluctuations have significantly impacted the profitability of the organization. I found that the stock prices of the organization declined drastically during the period of the recession. At that point of time due to global economic meltdown demands of the energy products also lowered and affected the business performances of the organization. Due to global financial crisis revenue, of the organization tanked drastically. As par my findings international oil prices has significant impact on the profitability of the organization. During that time international oil prices increased and the effect was cascading in US also. So demand of the energy dropped which affected the profitability of the organization. In the year 2010, the organization encountered one more catastrophic disaster. The organization was judged guilty of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I found that due to faulty cement pouring in the Macondo, the deepwater rig blasted. It was the largest oil spill in the American history. During that catastrophic disaster, 11 people lost their lives. I found that Federal court dealt with the case and the organization was penalised by the federal law and it had to pay $4 billion as the penalty. Due to this incident the organization was not only affected by the financial losses but their brand image and credit facilities were also affected badly. I found that unstable political situations in the Middle East countries are significant issues for the organization. The region is accountable for 10% of the global oil output. The region owns 10% of the total international capacities global oil refinery. But countries like Syria, Libya, Iran, Jordon, Yemen, Iraq and Palestine are going through severe political problems. All these problems are affecting the operating costs of the organization. The change in weather conditions is also important but inevitable issue for the organization. Justification of theories In this section of the study I will discuss justifications for using different theories. Hard system approach has been introduced to analyze different real world situations of Halliburton. The theory can analyze the real world situation of the organization with the help of different steps like identification of problems and opportunity of the organization, situation analysis, describing objectives, identification of different matrixes, evaluation and monitoring. All these steps of this theory can easily analyze well defined technical problems of the company. During this study I recognised that SWOT analysis is extremely important for the organization to analyze their internal matters (Pearce, 2009). With the help of this model the company can identify different internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external threats and opportunities also. The contribution of the theories lies in business expansion of Halliburton and in improving business practices of the said organization. I feel McKinsey’s Seven S Model is a management model which has been properly introduced within this study to analyse and monitor different changes in the internal situation of the organization. The theory has been included for evaluating the performance of the company on the basis of skill, system, structure, strategy, staff, style and shared values. I believe all these seven dimensions are inevitable for the long term growth of the organization. I think working culture is an integral part of the integrated management system of the company. Analysing working culture of Halliburton is important. I believe cultural web is an appropriate theory for analyzing the culture of the company. The theory with its six elements like symbols, routines, control systems, organizational structure, power structure, rituals and myth can suitably analyze the culture of the company. Perceptual Mapping enables the organization to portray different factors like services and prices of their products in compared to other competitor products. I feel with the help of this approach the organization can influence the buying decisions of the customers. With the help of this theory the organization can visualise their position in this highly competitive energy sector. This mapping helps the organization to adjust their future competitive strategies. More theories I feel there are significant scopes to include more theories in the study. PESTEL PESTEL analysis is a theory which considers and analyzes the external macro environments of the organizations. This theory helps the organizations to identify the impacts of the external factors on the organizations. This theory includes six factors (Kotler, 2009). Those factors are political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental. Political factor talks about how a government may impact certain industry or an economy. Different political factors like political stability, tax systems, and tariffs pose different restrictions in trades. Economic factors are yardsticks of economic performances that directly or indirectly affect an organization and can influence for long term. Inflation rate and economic growth are examples of economic factors. Social factors monitor the social environment of a market. Cultural trends and demographics are the examples of social factors. Technological factors concentrate towards the innovation and creativity and its affect towards industry and markets. Research and development and automation are the examples of the technological factors. The legal factor of this theory is focused towards the certain laws that impact the business environment in a specific country. Health and safety law and consumer law are the examples of this factor. Environmental factor includes different influencing determinants of the surrounding environment. Earth quake and carbon emission are the examples of environmental factor. BCG Matrix The matrix allows the organizations to allocate their resources on the basis of market share and market growth. This theory helps the organizations to come up with strategic management and product portfolio analysis. There are four dimensions in the matrix. All those dimensions are being analysed on the basis of relative market share and growth rate. Cash cow is a dimension that needs very less investments but the dimension generates lots of cash for organizations. This dimension has low growth rate and high market share. Star is a dimension where both market share and dimensions are high and generate lots of cash; significant investments are also needed in this dimension (Lüdicke, 2006). Question mark is such a dimension where market share is low but growth rate of the product or unit is high. This dimension requires huge investment for increasing market share. Question mark is highly potential segment but lots of uncertainties are there. In the case of Dog both market share and market growth rate are low. This dimension accumulates significant investments but potential of return are very less. Controlling of issues with new theories I believe inclusion of PESTEL theory will help the organization to analyse different external macro environment of their business. It has been noticed by me that the organization is facing significant issues regarding their business operations in the Middle East countries. Different unstable political situations are causing headache for the organization. But as the region is full of opportunities the organization cannot stop their business operations also. I think this issue is directly impacting the profitability of the organization (Marr and Gray, 2012). With the help of PESTEL the organization can easily analyze different political situations of the region and can fix their strategies according to that. The organization has international presence and so currency fluctuation is a real issue for the company. Uncertain global economic situation is also a worrying sign for the organization. I have noticed that during the time of recession the profitability of the company significantly dropped. I believe to overcome this issue a detailed economic analysis must be done by the company and for that purpose inclusion of this theory has enough justifications. The organization was facing serious issues regarding the trend of lower demand for energy. According to my assumption this theory can aware the organization about this social factor. The oil spill mishap in 2010 was the reason of technical fault in the rig. I believe this theory will be helpful for the organization in terms of their technological improvement or innovations. Environment differs from one country to another. Being an international energy player the organization faces lots of environmental hazards in different countries. With the help of this theory the organization can analyze the environments of the different countries and can mitigate different risks related with environmental hazards like earth quake and flood. After the oil mishap of 2010 the organization tried to evade Federal laws by eliminating different evidences. It was counterproductive for them. They had to pay $4 billion as penalty. I believe with the help of this theory the organization can get more insights of the different legalities. After the oil spill crisis the company is facing serious issues related with credit. Due to that resource allocation is a significant challenge for the company. In this context the BCG matrix can be a significant support for the organization. I believe that this matrix can recognize star product or units of the company (Stonehouse and Houston, 2012). This will help the organization to invest more and earn more out of those products or divisions. This matrix will guide the organization about the cash cow products or units which will generate huge cash for the organization against fewer investments. Similarly it will identify Question mark and Dog products or divisions of the company. In this way I believe that the organization can allocate sufficient resources for performing products or divisions and similarly can divest or close down nonperforming products or units. Career action plan: My career In this section of the study, I will discuss about my career action plan in brief. MAJOR/CAREER EXPLORATION The major subject I have explored is management. I have selected special paper as integrated management. During this I have talked with professor. In the past I have explored different careers like web development, marketing and analysts. For future I am considering a career of strategic analyst. Professionally I have consulted with the senior strategic analysts of Halliburton. Experience gained Gaining experience is an important factor for my career action plan. I have gained experience by shadowing the senior strategic analysts of the company. Apart from the Halliburton I have gained experience regarding this matter during the time of my internship with ONGC Corporation. All these experiences have helped me immensely in terms of my career action plan. Learning In this section of the study I will discuss what I have been able to learn out of this paper. This paper has opened my eyes regarding the different factors of integrated management. After doing this study I have been able to learn that achieving integrated management of an organization is not possible with any single theory. It is all about a combined and multi theoretical approach. The paper also informed me that each and every management theory has certain limitations. That is why no single theory is capable of analysing different strategic situations of an organization. The paper also has made me knowledgeable about the deep rooted link between different management theories. This paper also informed me that how different management theories can be used for mitigating different issues and challenges. During the course of this report I came to know about the career action plan and how to design it. In this report I have gained the knowledge of implementing different management theories into the real management practices. This paper also informs me that how different external factors can influence the different strategies of a business. I have come to know that resource allocation is an important business strategy which can be properly managed by BCG matrix. It also has guided me about the importance of different management theories in the context of integrated management system. In simple terms my conceptions regarding integrated management systems and different management theories are greatly reinforced by this paper. References Abraham, S. C. 2012. Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide for Competitive Success. London: Emerald Group Publishing. Cunningham, J. and Harney, B. 2012. Strategy and Strategists. London: Oxford University Press. Fitzroy, P. and Herbert, J. M. 2007. Strategic Management: Creating Value in a Turbulent World. Nerw York: John Wiley & Sons. Kotler, P. 2009. Marketing Management. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Lüdicke, M. K. 2006. A Theory of Marketing: Outline of a Social Systems Perspective. Berlin: Springer. Marr, B. and Gray, D. 2012. Strategic Performance Management. New York: Routledge. McLoughlin, D. and Aaker, D. A. 2010. Strategic Market Management: Global Perspectives. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pearce, J., 2009. Strategic Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Stonehouse, G. and Houston, B. 2012. Business Strategy. London: Routledge. Verweire, K. and  Berghe, L. V. D. 2004. Integrated Performance Management: A Guide to Strategy Implementation. London: SAGE. Read More