Synthesis of Completed MBA Subjects

Question: Discuss about the Synthesis of Completed MBA Subjects. Answer: One of the important parts of my life was studying the MBA subjects that saw me learn a lot of noble skills in business management. Being an MBA student grants one an advantage in the business field if you have a goal of being a successful self-driven manager. One learns many ways of solving issues as they arise. Having finished my studies will reciprocate on the knowledge I gained in different fields such as; designing, improving and implementation process, leadership strategies for a changing world, marketing management and managing the value chain. Also, I will evaluate different business theories showing how they can be useful in analysis and problem-solving in businesses. Before enrolling an MBA student, I had little knowledge about designing, improving and implementing the processes. I had no idea if there were courses that would be of such great help towards the development of my management skills until I carried out a self-evaluation. As an effective manager, I will reflect m y understanding in these MBA subjects and other business models, outline the information they provide to me, the concepts that my chosen subjects share, how they come into play in different areas and many others. I have realized that the subjects that have undertaken in my study have a process that they inter-connect with each other for ones' firm or organizational management role to be a success. Designing, improving and implementing processes is a vital part that a manager should focus on. Most companies start with a universal design, then expand with time as the firms grow. The starting process design depends on the designer's experience and not the desired structure. I have noted that designing processes should be well documented for the person who is developing the model doesn't face a challenge. A poor designing process can bring about client frustrations. The designing process should follow a series of steps that leads to a solution for a certain problem. In other words, the product that a given design produces should meet clients expectations. As a manager, through my MBA studies and my role in management, it has come clear to me that one cannot evade designing process. After coming u p with an individual design, it needs to be upgraded to meet the current market situation and compete effectively. The design improvement process incorporates the creation of a team that will develop the desired quality product and services, evaluate the current design process in a chart, check what clients need, draft best practice chart, come up with the new model process chart, discuss the new design process and examines the new process. After all, these are done, as the manager, I have to recheck the proposed design, reason critically if it is suitable for the firm's goals and serves clients right. If the designing process looks promising to reliable output, I then authorize its implementation. The implementation process sees the firm improve its productivity. As the manager, I have gotten a lot of credit and positive comments from clients. For managers to be successful in their role, it is crucial for them to think critically about how they manage, the type of management styles is good for them and will function well for the team and entire organization. As a manager, I prefer adopting techniques that help me to establish a rapport, trust, respect, engage my entire team and develop good working relationships. In the current market, there are a lot of changes that are taking place every day. As a leader, I have developed strategies that have seen me integrate my power collaboration and influence others effectively as I lead the organization. My success has been due to the equal and reasonable alignment of corporate culture strategy focus and operations. I have had to source the emerging trends in the today's' market to address the strategies in the changing world. My strategies in the current changing world are; focusing on myself and the people in my surroundings, having a vision based on the organization's core values , developing a simple approach towards business management, all time communication, searching and bringing in the best people into play and above all hard work. Through this techniques, I have no hardships in coping with the changes in the world. Another important aspect that has learned is the marketing management. Marketing is an important part as it helps me to learn to be economical and maximize the returns. Market control aids in determining how effective a business competes in the industry. As a manager, I focus on the practical actions of marketing tactics within the organization to ensure that this sector coordinates well with others so as to realize ample profits. I employ different tools from the field of economy in analysing the entire industry in which the firm is operating regarding the value chain and others. I carry out an investigation to determine what costs the competitors charging their items, what products they offer, their quality and other factors. On conducting competitor analysis, I gauge myself through practicing a SWOT analysis which helps me improve on any weaknesses that I may be having. I also advocate for market research as there could be new opportunities that could not yet have been exploited f ully or at all. Through this, we can gain some competitive advantage in the market than other firms. This subject on market management has played a significant part towards my success as a manager. The value chain is another critical subject that I learned as a manager. The value chain is a process that uses raw materials, puts them through processing plants and make end products that are offered to the market. This process of coordinating these activities for proper analyzing is termed as value chain management. The main purpose of observing value chain management in an organization is to upgrade communication and improve cooperation among the production chain personnel for quality delivery, decrease inventory costs and achieve greater customer satisfaction. Value chain examines the development of the competitive advantage and comprises of activities that create and add value. As a manager, I have to make sure that the organization activities interacts well with quality products to our customers. Incorporating the value chain management with these other three subjects sees me run my activities smoothly as a manager. Leadership strategies find out what the customers need, the d esigning, improving and implementation processes looks at upgrading the products to satisfy clients requirements, marketing managements researches and analyses the market condition while value chain management undertakes the process of producing the items that will satisfy customers. As a manager, I always ensure that all these four subjects interact at the right proportions and time for smooth running and operation of an organization. When all these factors function efficiently, I experience easy time for management of activities as the profits are at the highest point. In my MBA studies, I encountered several business theories that are helpful in my managerial role. For instance, Competitive advantage theory. This is a concept that elaborates the attributes that allow a business to outdo its competitors (Barney, 2012). This theory is crucial at the national level of productivity. The nature of this theory and the source of competitive advantage differ greatly among industries (Madsen Walker, 2015). Porter highlights that there are several things that determine who gets a competitive advantage by the nations. He further claimed that a firm could achieve competitive advantage over its competitors as having a cost advantage and product difference advantage. Comparative advantage focuses on cheap labor available and natural resources (Foss Knudsen, 2013). The theory tries to maximize scale of economy in goods and services that sell at high prices. Value is of great importance when one need to gain knowledge about competitive because, with a reasonabl e value, there is the possibility of getting the competitive advantage in the product/ services in question. The comparative advantage is confused for comparative advantage sometimes (Barney, 2001). But it focuses on the exportation of primary goods and services while the competitive edge is said to be the ability gained via resources and attributes to operate at a higher level than the other competitors in the market. This theory is important to take in place as a manager. Porter also claims that the source of high returns is similar despite on the venture that on invests. To back his arguments, he came up with a theory that has five forces. These forces expound on Porters critics about profitability (Allio Fahey, 2012). He evaluated the forces within the industry and the suitable decisions process in his model. The forces that make up the model are; competitive rivalry, customer bargaining power, bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of new substitute products and services and entry of new firms in the market. Competitive rivalry determines the number of present competitors in the market and what each of them can do. Customer bargaining power examines the consumer zeal in effecting product prices and quality (Hunt Madhavaram, 2012). Suppliers bargaining power evaluates suppliers control over the product prices or services influencing profitability (Gobble, 2012). The threat of new substitutes is the force that determines customer's possibility t o shift from a firm product to that of a rival. The threat of new businesses examines the possibility of a rival to join the industry. All these force make up Porter's five forces (Ronquillo, 2012). A manager should use these forces evaluate the situation in the industry and make advanced decisions for the business. Design thinking is reasonable methods that designers take into account when creating product or services. It can also be described as the process that designers use to find ultimate solution complex issues (Jackson, 2015). Design thinking draws an imagination and critical reasoning to come up with probabilities of what should take more weight and come to conclusions that are of benefits to the final user. According to Martin, design thinking equates analysis and initiative thinking (Dorst, 2015). Designers live in strategized world in search of ideas and new information that will change the way things are done (Bjgvinsson, Ehn, Hillgren, 2012). Organizations adopt these changes depending on their make-up and structure. Design thinking is an important part that managers should put more weight on and bring in designers who will come up with new models to thrive the firm in the industry. Resource -based theory claims that having strategic resources in a firm presents the business with an outstanding opportunity to enjoy a competitive advantage over its competitors (Conner Prahalad, 1996). The competitive advantage will help the firm achieve more profits that it did before the opportunity presented itself. Resource based theory can be confused with resources when trying to understand the theory of common language. A resource in an asset that can be valued, rare, hard to be copied and not substitutable. It helps the business to capitalize on available opportunities and trend much better that its competitors (Kozlenkova, Samaha Palmatier, 2014). Opponents find it hard to duplicate a firms' resource that is hard to copy. A resource is so unique such that rivals cannot access the firms; benefits that the resources bear hence the firm enjoys all the returns alone (Davis Davis, 2017). Resource- based theory emphasizes on the advantage that outlines that whole is bigger t hat sum of its parts. Resources can be both tangible for example cash or equipment and intangible such as skills of employees. A firm should make maximum use of the resource - based theory whenever it presents itself (Seddon, 2014). When a manager combines all these theories under one firm, it is most likely that that the firm will run in the right direction and be a sole competitor in the industry. As an MBA student, having learned about the above-mentioned theories and ideas, I am now able to make informed decisions and judgments that see a business thrive well in the industry. I have gained knowledge about the models and noted that theories like the comparative advantage should be fully exploited when a firm has the opportunity because they give the firm a great advantage over all rivals in the market. Also, have known that the four subject work hand in hand with each other as they all should inter-marry for business to be prosperous in the current world. These disciplines affect my strategic decisions through granting me more knowledge and skills on critical decision making. They offer all information that a manager needs to know about the current market and opportunities the help me become an effective manager. There are numerous similarities that these subjects share in common, and there are also specific characteristics that each discipline hold. In conclusion, the MBA subjects and theories I have learned in the course of my studies have a great impact that enables me a complete manager who can run and coordinate all business activities to the desired expectations by the firm owners. They offer all that is required for one to be a resourceful person to himself and the society at large. References Allio, R.J., and Fahey, L., 2012. Joan Magretta: what executives learn from revisiting Michael Porter. Strategy Leadership, 40(2), pp.5-10. Barney, J.B., 2012. Purchasing, Supply chain management and sustained competitive advantage: The relevance of resource?based theory. Journal of supply chain management, 48(2), pp.3-6. Barney, J.B., 2001. 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