Knowledge Management Mastercard Essay

The company MasterCard is a technology company and payments industry leader. For over four decades, the company has been a driving force at the heart of commerce, making the global economy safer, more efficient, more inclusive and more transparent for all. Consumers, merchants, business partners and governments in markets around the world have reaped the benefits of our innovative products and solutions which, simply put, are designed to make life easier. The mission of MasterCard consists in imagining a world beyond cash and their mission is very simple: Every day, everywhere, Master Card uses their technology and expertise to make payments safe, simple and smart. In the last four decades, people and companies worldwide have changed their way of payment for goods and services. The rise of the electronic payments has fueled economic growth while delivering value to consumers, merchants and governments. From the earliest days of credit cards to the contactless and wireless payment options of today, MasterCard Worldwide has led the industry, driving this evolution. MasterCard works in a three channel method. Those 3 channels are: Franchisor, Processor and Consultant. In the Franchisor channel, products such as Maestro ®, Cirrus ® and MasterCard ® PayPassâ„ ¢ appear. With those products, the company affects more than 32 million establishments. The processor area makes operation with other companies and partners around the world in a simple and smart way. The big key point for these attribute is based on the fast network, one of the biggest VPNs of the world, offering not just agility, but also integration and trust. Least, the Consultant channel provides insights and solutions that promote a better and more competitive market. The research Inside the organization, the Product department and the Commercial department are directly linked. The first one is related to the care of the different products in many different categories that are offered by the organization, while the commercial area is primarily responsible for the customer relationship and supply of structured products to the product area. The commercial departments, responsible for all customer relationships, are divided to provide a better service by segmenting customers according to their importance to the business. For example, for Citibank, one of the most important banks for MasterCard, there are more than two, three people responsible for one client, while for minor banks, there is sometimes only one person responsible. This allows the commercial area to meet its customers by giving attention proportional to the size of each account, seeking solutions that fit in each case, so that one can be created, the best care possible. The product department is targeted through the products it offers, that way, the areas are divided by types of cards (traditional types such as debit and credit, corporate, pre-paid and others). Each group works to meet the needs of the commercial area, seeking the best solutions according to the demands. So we have two areas that work together, but have different focuses, which can cause disagreements about the best way to deliver a product to a given customer. That way, we can find a good topic to do our research based on this issue. Question Due to the analyses made on the previous topic, we can come up with the question for the paper. Why knowledge is not used by all parts? What can we do to improve this topic? Products and Commercial Departments Processes As said before, the process that the products department works is different from the commercial’s one. The products process is characterized by the division of groups and teams specialized in a specific product. That way, we can confirm that a wide knowledge is limited inside this department, but on the other hand, those groups have a high knowledge about a specific product. Differently, the commercial process is divided not by products, but by clients, issuers. So, those groups have a good flexibility when it comes to relation with the customers and so can have a wider knowledge. But, once this group works only with one client, it is possible that this client works with a small number of products, that way, the commercial group would not acquire knowledge in those other products. Tasks Within the tasks that the commercial department is responsible for we can highlight the following main topics: * Direct relationship with the issuers (Banks) * Project with issuers to enhance the number of MasterCard cards inside * Promotions * Campaigns * Raffles * Work together with different departments For the products area, we can highlight the following tasks: * Come up with new products ideas * Develop the product for the clients * Track the performance of the products KM Theory To illustrate the knowledge flow within the two departments, we are going to use a KM model that sustains and explains the formulation of a new departmentalization to enhance the performance of the company Figure 1: Observing, the General Knowledge Model (figure 1), we can make a comparison of that theory with the case that we are discussing. The Knowledge Creation associates entry of new knowledge into the system, and includes knowledge development, discovery and capture. For the MasterCard case, the Creation would be for both departments the new ideas of new products and also new ideas for product that already exist. That way, it would have do disparity of how those two departments work. Knowledge Retention includes all activities that preserve knowledge and allow it to remain in the system once introduced. Once the new idea is into the system, both parts have to work together to retain this concept into the system, and the only way for this to happen is if that both of the parts have the same knowledge of the concept (product) Knowledge Transfer refers to activities associated with the flow of knowledge from one party to another. This includes communication, translation, conversion, filtering and rendering. That part would be the most important of the process for the two departments. Here, the knowledge of one part would be transfered to the other, that way, the knowledge of the product would be the same for both parts. Last, but not least, Knowledge Utilization includes the activities and events connected with the application of knowledge to business processes. Data Using the Knowledge Acquisition tool, we can come up with important information and data. To start the KA analysis, is important to find out about the human reasoning process and the human cognitive system with its system constraints. After that step, is important to make a division in task characteristics and cognitive characteristics. That way, we can say that Knowledge Acquisition is about different methods to acquire and elicit knowledge; to make knowledge explicit; to stimulate knowledge transfer; to order, systematize and structure knowledge. That way, we can observe the different types of sources for knowledge acquisition. For the case in study, we can say that the way that knowledge is transmitted and acquire trough communication face-to-face between the product and the commercial department. Moreover, the knowledge about the products is also gain trough handbooks and organizational training. With those information, we can collect a data really important, the fact that knowledge is elicit trough structured (organizational training and presentations) and non-structured (communication face-to-face between commercial department and product department) ways. It is very interesting, that with this tool, we can observe that the knowledge both parts have about the same products is really different sometimes. As already expected, the commercial department has knowledge about sales attributes. On the other hand, the product department has more knowledge about the specific points and technological aspects of the product. To end this disparity of knowledge, a good choice would be to change the working ways in those areas, in other words, it would need a reformulation on the organization structure of MasterCard. Results * With the reformulation that was discussed before, the products would be created jointly, aiming each client and their own segmentation, making products no longer offered by the area of general commercial, but a specific form that would be created, allowing you to create a higher perceived value for the customers, since assembling products would create a synergy that would combine expertise in creating products possessed by product area with full knowledge of the client as the commercial area has. For this, the specialists of the products would have a greater knowledge of each type of product offered, reducing the segmentation of the area in premium products, and upscale retail and other products. So each specialist would be responsible for a niche within each client, allowing maintaining focus on the products he considers the most, rather than generalizing all segments within a specialist. This approach As described above, this approach is a way to get the specialists creating products together with managers of commercial accounts, specific products for customers, improving relationships and creating value for these. Moreover, we can say that with this reformulation, knowledge would be more used in the company and that way, the company would be more successful.

Assignment one Organisations and environment Essay

Discuss how an organisation’s competitive advantage can be enhanced with the introduction of new technology. In this day and age with almost all markets being highly competitive it is at top of businesses agendas to ensure they have a firm competitive advantage. 1 .The term competitive advantage is the ability gained through attributes and resources to perform at a higher level than others in the same industry or market. If a business can ensure that they have a competitive advantage it enables them to be one step ahead of their competition, this is curtail for a business’s success especial given the economic climate as it stands. One of the main examples of competitive advantage is pricing/cost. We see these most frequently in supermarkets, as most firms compete for the lowest prices this is because their consumers all want to find the best price for the product they want to buy. We also see this in other markets as consumers always look for a better offer therefore th e firm with the lowest prices generally has the higher demand. Another example is quality. When consumers look for witch product or serves to purchase quality is key element witch influence their diction. We see this on the high street time and time again as consumers consistently go to big brand names such as apple because they know that quality will be ensured in their purchase. As a result of this apple or able to boost prices and in turn create a higher profit margin for products. From these simple examples we can see how important competitive advantage is because of the additional finical gain it can bring to a business. These examples are basic as a competitive advantage can come in many forms as long as it befits a business and their competitors do not have it. A competitive advantage can prove extremely important to a business, for this reason it is just as important to maintain the advantage and enhance it if possible. One way to do this is by the introduction of new technology. If a firm is willing to invest in new technology it can be seen as a competitive advan tage in itself. This is because the technology is brand new and competitors do not have it yet. This gives the firm a unique advantage and will in turn attract customers. The introduction of new technology can also be used to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. If we take the manufacturing industry as an example the firm’s competitive advantage may be there product and the way that it functions and the price that it is made for. If the firm then  introduces some new technology to its production line (machinery) their competitive advantage may be enhanced as the quality of the product is now better due to the new technology. This will make customer chose that firm over its competitors. The introduction of the new machinery may mean that less staff is now needed in that area of the production line. This in turn will enhance the firm’s competitive advantage as unit costs for the product will become lower due to the reduction of staff. This means that firm can charge less than their competitor’s causing a higher demand for their product. Another example of how firm can use new technology to enhance their competitive advan tage is in the researching of consumer information. A firm can only be successful in the long run and have a competitive advantage if it knows their consumers’ needs and wants. From this information the firm can devolve a product portfolio and brand that matches the consumer’s needs and wants, in turn giving them a massive competitive advantage. An example of this could be Tesco. Tesco are using new technology in order to help them understand their consumers more and in turn enhance their competitive advantage. They have done this by introducing their club card scheme. This is a reward scheme for customers as an incentive to make them more loyal to their supermarket; however this also offers Tesco’s the opportunity to see exactly what their customers are buying how often and at what times. This is very useful as it enables them to develop sales strategies and obtain the correct products to complement their consumers’ needs and wants. This will then improve customer loyalty and in the long run make more money. This is another example of how a firm can you new technology (in this case a database and swipe card) in order to enhance the firm overall success and competitor advantage. 2. To gain competitive advantage a business strategy of a firm manipulates the various resources over which it has direct control and these resources have the ability to generate competitive advantage. This quote reinforces the idea that firms are able. This quote again highlights the fact that in order for a firm to enhance their competitive advantage they need to look at the resources in their direct control and look at how to manipulate or enhance them in order to give them a better competitive advantage. One of the most popular and most successful ways of doing this is by the introduction of new technology to a business. A common example of this found in the retail industry is stock control. A resource under the  direct control of all retailers in on the high street is their own inventory/stock. Over the last ten year there has been a massive change in the way businesses handle the problem of stock control. Instead of the now old fashioned way of stock ordits and counts, most retailer now have a database system which shows all their stock including how much they have on the shop floor as well as in back-up storage. They also know when they have sold any given product and can be told by a computer alert that stock needs to be replenished on the shop floor, or that stock should be order as they have ran out. This system combined with the JIT (just in time strategy of stock control) has lead retailer to be more efficient saving money and time and overall improving their competitive advantage. Other ways that businesses can use new technology to enhance their competitive advantage is via their websites. Many firms underestimate the value of using their websites to gain significant competitive advantage in their given markets. With firm simply using their websites as a means to explain what their business is and show off their product portfolio. However if businesses invest in new web design technology they may be able to enhance your distribution networks. This may include using the web portal to enhance logistics, create new marketing channels (for example affiliate channels) or provide better or faster product access for customers. It is imperative that businesses use new technology in order to change and grow as a business as well as improving its competitive advantage. If this does not happen the business may be felt behind as the market progress and grows with new technology along with their customers. A great example of this could be Woolworth with left the high stre et in 2009 leaving 27,000 people unemployed. Woolworth downfall lied in its inability to change and grow with consumer demands. 3. Professor Alan Wilson, from the city’s Strathclyde Business School, said one reason Woolworths did not survive was because it didn’t offer the quality of some other stores. â€Å"And it couldn’t offer the prices that the discount stores such as Primark, Lidl and others could actually offer,† This ultimately shows the impact of what can happened to businesses that do not change or put enthuses into new technology in order to enhance their competitor advantage. Although I have mentioned many examples of how new technology can be used to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage there is some disadvantages when it comes to the introduction of  new technology. Firstly any firm that is considering the introduction of new technology will first have think about the initial investment. New technology is never cheap and can be quite expensive and time consuming to install. T herefore businesses most think carefully about if the investment is worth it and will it pay for itself in the long run. Also the introduction of new technology can bring de-motivation into the workforce. For example in the case that I mention early about manufacturing firms where staff could be laid off because of the introduction of new technology, this would a prime example of staff being de-motivated as they are worried about their job and think they could be the next one to go. However even though there are some small drawbacks new technology is still a very important factor when it comes to the enhancement of a firm’s competitive advantage and should be looked into carefully by all firms that want to be successful and grow. References; 1. Christensen and Fahey 1984, Kay 1994, Porter 1980 cited by Chacarbaghi and Lynch 1999, p. 45 2. Reed and Fillippi 1990 cited by Rijamampianina 2003, p. 362 3. Professor Alan Wilson thoughts on Woolworths- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7811187.stm

Submitting Free Essays

Submitting Free Essays Among the numbers of academic help services are companies that offer to purchase the original essays and on the contrary there are agencies who provide free essays or sample essays. For a student who cannot afford a fortune thus is willing to get a paper done getting a free paper seems to be a rather attractive and tempting option. As a result many of the students download sample essays ignoring the great risk of being dismissed for academic dishonesty. The essence of this troublesome situation lies in the notion of the free essays or sample papers itself. Unlike the paid assignments produced from scratch individually and fully original the sample papers are available to public and free to download to everybody. Therefore there is no guarantee that submitting this paper you will be the only one who used it. There is a real chance that students from one and the same class can download the sample paper and turn it in to the same professor which can not only cause them trouble but also result in expelling both from the university. Such a shameful end of the hard academic studies is the least you would wish for. Services providing free papers work much as a mousetrap. They offer you a complete paper for any topic that you can get now and free of charge. Which student can resist that? To put yourself aside from trouble you need to make sure that if you order a paper online it will be forwarded to you personally, complete from scratch by your individual instructions and never distributed to any other party. This way you will be able to insure yourself a successful submission of the assignment.

Tibet essays

Tibet essays As Freud said man is wolf to man, meaning that man is always trying to gain power over the weak. World conflicts around the world confirm Freuds philosophies. Men are not gentle creatures who want to be loved, and who at the most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a consequence of this hostility between human beings, disintegration, mob violence, and conflict between nations threaten society and the world as a whole. This negative and pessimistic view of human nature had its beginnings in the outbreak of World War I, and increased with the sophisticated military technology and mass destruction brought by World War II. The two wars and the following conflicts validated Freuds concepts and prompted an era of reactions; the sad part is that we are still witnessing conflicts between nations, conflicts motivated by the exaggerated need of power that is part of human beings. The conflict between China and Tibet is a good example of a conflict that had its origins in the desire for power and control. Before describing the conflict in detail it is necessary to know the geographical location of China and Tibet and a summary of their history. Tibet lies at the center of Asia, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometers. The earth's highest mountains, a vast arid plateau and great river valleys make up the physical homeland of 6 million Tibetans. The Plateau of Tibet comprises nearly the entire southeastern portion of China. (Goldstein, 19) According to many Tibetans the territory itself promotes a feeling of peace, meditation, and spirituality. The plateau is also the source of five of Asias greatest rivers, making it vital to the environment (Ferroa, 3). China, also known as the Middle Kingdom, sits in East Asia and covers an area of 3.7 million square miles....

The Anthropos Family

The Anthropos Family The Anthropos Family The Anthropos Family By Mark Nichol The Greek noun anthropos, meaning â€Å"male human being† or â€Å"man,† is the root of some familiar and not-so-familiar English words, which are listed and defined below. The best known of these are likely anthropology, which literally means â€Å"the study of humans† and refers to just that- especially in a cultural and social context (and, in a distinct theological sense, to their nature and origin)- and philanthropy (literally, â€Å"love for man†) which pertains generally to promoting the welfare of humans but usually is employed in contexts in which funding or gifts is provided for humanitarian purposes (or for cultural enrichment). The adjectival forms are anthropological and philanthropic, respectively, and those who practice such endeavors are anthropologists and philanthropists. A misanthrope, meanwhile, is unlikely to undertake either one pursuit; a misanthropic person (who practices misanthropy) has contempt or hatred for humans. Apanthropy, meanwhile, refers to the love of solitude or an aversion to human interaction. Anthropic means â€Å"relating to humans or to their time on Earth†; the term is part of the phrase â€Å"anthropic principle,† which refers to the belief that the universe, from the subatomic level to the scale of galaxies, was designed with humans in mind, though the conditions that make human life possible also make all known life-forms possible. (This is also known as the strong anthropic principle, to distinguish it from the weak anthropic principle, which reasons that this idea was able to be formulated only because a life-friendly universe allows sentient minds to observe and reflect on it.) The phenomenon of ascribing human attributes or forms to nonhumans, whether animals, gods, or objects, or to nature, is anthropomorphism (literally, â€Å"the idea of human form†). Cartoon characters who display human characteristics, therefore, are anthropomorphic. Anthropathy (literally, â€Å"human feelings†), meanwhile, is a related concept: that divine beings have emotions. An anthropoid is a primate that more or less resembles a human being, though the term has also been used pejoratively to describe people of inferior breeding or intelligence. On a related note, pithecanthropus (â€Å"ape man†) is the label for one of two extinct anthropoid species. Zoanthropy is a mental disorder in which a person believes that he or she has become an animal and behaves like one; lycanthropy originally referred to a delusion that one is a wolf, though it usually is associated with werewolf folklore. Anthropophagy (â€Å"man eating†) is a fancy synonym for cannibalism. (One who practices cannibalism is anthropophagous.) Anthropolatry is deification or worship of a human. By contrast, psilanthropism (â€Å"the idea of being a mere human†) is a rejection of the divinity of Jesus. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer10 Functions of the Comma

The Male and Female Self in European Civilization Essay

The Male and Female Self in European Civilization - Essay Example Two of these personalities were Heloise and Abelard who became famous for their disastrous affair which shook the church in France during the Middle-Ages. Peter Abelard, a renowned philosopher and priest, fell in love with his beautiful and convent-educated student Heloise who eventually became pregnant. The affair ended in a tragedy when the couple secretly got married. When Heloise's uncle found out about the illicit affair and the marriage, he ordered Abelard castrated. Abelard spent the rest of his life in a monastery and Heloise decided to take vows as an Abbess, both embittered and separated from each other. Heloise's and Abelard's letters, written to each other at the height of their affair, compiled by Constant Mews, in a book called 'The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard,' radically and eloquently described the transcendent nature of their love. These collection of letters found and translated by Mews, only manifested that although men mainly dominated this period, th e voices of women in that generation could never be silenced by constraints on gender or the established religious institutions. In one of her letters, Heloise wrote to Abelard she preferred love to chains and freedom to marriage as marriage was done merely for conventional purposes. And if the name of wife appears more sacred and more valid, sweeter to me is ever the word friend, or, if thou be not ashamed, concubine or whoreI preferred to love to wedlock, freedom to a bond. I call God to witness, if Augustus, ruling over the whole world, were to deem me worthy of the honour of marriage, and to confirm the whole world to me, to be ruled by me forever, dearer to me and of greater dignity would it seem to be called thy strumpet than his empress. (Constant 27) Heloise altered her definition of 'self' from being 1'a woman of great wisdom and prudence and religion' to someone who is not 'chaste.' Constant Mews mentioned this as 2'an incredible insight into Heloise's perception of the hypocrisy of religious life.' A part of Heloise identification of the 'self' was her strong views about gender issues of her time questioning the functions of Christian women in religious life and how this life could be made to suit them and not the other way around. Mews added that 3'the traditions [Heloise] inherited were one in secular level' quite distinct from the love based on the Scriptures that Heloise had to follow or the love that '[was] talked about in monastic life.' The Middle-Ages were the period in which society identified women as the cause of decay and corruption and Heloise defied this prevailing idea by developing a notion of love which at best was liberal and beyond her time. In another letter to Abelard, Heloise wrote 4'I do not consider the friendship of those who seem to love each other for riches and pleasures to be durable at all since the very things on which they base their love seem to have no durability.' In many of her letters in which she professed love to Abelard, Heloise stressed equality and friendship as essential to love and relationships. For the most part, Abelard agreed with Heloise's view about love saying that they could live

Business, Marketing and Finance Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business, Marketing and Finance - Coursework Example A company cannot operate without competent leadership that could provide proper direction of the company using clear vision, mission, goals, and strategies. The human resource or their staffs, regardless if they are few, is the backbone of its business relations and operations to provide customer services or to relate with the market where the business establishment is present. Good leadership & staff Good leader or good staff? This researcher asserts that organizational management require both: good leaders and staff. Both are indispensable in organizational management and development. Good business leadership optimize human resources too for good decision-makings to professionally engage their commitments to attain business objectives and goals. Both the management and the staff are indispensable in contributing to the enrichment of the organization and for its operational management to reach targeted outcome. Its structure will often provide or contribute potential support to comp etitive advantage in business management. Both are stakeholders for organizational development and resource generation. Their cognitive abilities and skills are wealth that can be optimized in systematizing organizational management (Covey, 1992, p. 17) Their indispensable mutual assistance in decision-making will also support the business attain a healthy operational condition (Covey, 1992, p. 17) Good leadership is a principle centered-leadership inspired on personal-trustworthiness, interpersonal relational trust, empowerment-sensitive management, and organizational accountability (Covey, 1992). Covey (1992) contended that good business leaders consider all the natural laws, principles and operational frameworks that put virtues and moral responsibility significant in a person’s life, in relations, in contract management and within the core of the organization (Covey, 1992, p. 17). Covey (1992) asserted that effective and efficient leaders adopt on inviolable principles of practicable human nature that are further nurtured by good norms and culture in a society for better social cohesion. Covey (1992) opined that principles are built and nurtured by society and are imbibed in human condition, as well as, in consciousness. Good leaders prefer to adapt on good value system as guidance and direction for better decision-makings, in planning, in enforcing plans, in resolving conflicts, in managing changes, in valuating performances, and in exercising power in organizational development (Covey, 1992, p. 21). This is in correlation to the fact that an organization is not just a simple structure. Its leader must be a representation of great purpose and targeted outcomes rooted from clear planning and execution of coordinated or collaborated tasks to achieve desired outcomes. Covey’s integrated ethical code on business leadership put principles above interests to holistically nurture organizational development toward for a useful institution of the soc iety. Good transformational leaders are therefore essential as managers that could fully assist in the development of a mutually satisfactory business operation and practice that inspire socially acceptable moral imperatives and standards (Covey, 1992, p. 21). Meager capital? Without enough financial capital, a business cannot commence to operate and manage its supply chain. Effective business leadership knows financial management, although meagre, as essential for organizational management because it permeates stakeholders to make accurate decisions