Situation Analysis and Implementation

Situation analysis

Situation analysis refers to a collection of methods that managers use to analyze an organization's internal and external environment to understand the organization's capabilities, customers, and business environment. The situation analysis consists of several methods of analysis: The 5Cs Analysis and SWOT analysis.  A Marketing Plan is created to guide businesses on how to communicate the benefits of their products to the needs of potential customer. The situation analysis is the second step in the marketing plan and is a critical step in establishing a long term relationship with customers.

Marketing Plan

• Objectives
• Situation analysis
• Strategy
• Execution
• Evaluation

The situation analysis looks at both the macro-environmental factors that affect many firms within the environment and the micro-environmental factors that specifically affect the firm. The purpose of the situation analysis is to indicate to a company about the organizational and product position, as well as the overall survival of the business, within the environment. Companies must be able to summarize opportunities and problems within the environment so they can understand their capabilities within the market.

There are several methods to analyze a situation

5C Analysis

While a situation analysis is often referred to as the "3C analysis", the extension to the 5c analysis has allowed businesses to gain more information on the internal, macro-environmental and micro-environmental factors within the environment. The 5C analysis is considered the most useful and common way to analyze the market environment, because of the extensive information it provides.

Company

The company analysis involves evaluation of the company's objectives, strategy, and capabilities. These indicate to an organization the strength of the business model, whether there are areas for improvement, and how well an organization fits the external environment.

Competitors

The competitor analysis takes into consideration the competitors position within the industry and the potential threat it may pose to other businesses. The main purpose of the competitor analysis is for businesses to analyze a competitor's current and potential nature and capabilities so they can prepare against competition.

Customers

Customer analysis can be vast and complicated. Some of the important areas that a company analyzes includes.

• Demographics
• Advertising most suitable for the demographic
• Market size and potential growth
• Customer wants and needs

Collaborators

Collaborators are useful for businesses as they allow for an increase in the creation of ideas, as well as an increase in the likelihood of gaining more business opportunities.

Climate

To fully understand the business climate and environment, many factors that can affect the business must be researched and understood. An analysis on the climate is also known as the PEST analysis.

SWOT analysis

A SWOT Analysis is another method under the situation analysis that examines the Strengths and Weaknesses of a company (internal environment) as well as the Opportunities and Threats within the market (external environment). A SWOT analysis looks at both current and future situations, where they analyze their current strengths and weaknesses while looking for future opportunities and threats. The goal is to build on strengths as much as possible while reducing weaknesses. A future threat can be a potential weakness while a future opportunity can be a potential strength.

This analysis helps a company come up with a plan that keeps it prepared for a number of potential scenarios.

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Implementation

To ensure outcomes are delivered on decisions made by organization, implementation planning must be carried out. However, some policies, programs and projects involve high implementation risk, and thus require appropriate management disciplines to be used and engagement with central agencies to maximise the prospects of delivery success.

Keys to Strategic Planning Implementation Success. These are the keys to effective strategic planning implementation for your business.

• Full and active executive support,
• Effective communication,
• Employee involvement,
• Thorough organizational planning and competitive analysis, and
• Widespread perceived need for the strategic planning.

Strategic Implementation

Strategic implementation is the execution of a strategic plan. The team proceeds according to the plan as much as possible, although unforeseen events and unintended consequences are sure to occur. The implementation team might be able to overcome minor obstacles without compromising the objectives of the plan, but some eventualities spell doom for a strategic plan. For example, if a company forecasts high consumer demand for a product but the market shifts before the product can hit the shelves, the entire project could be a failure.

Successful strategic planning implementation requires a large commitment from executives and senior managers, whether the strategic planning is occurring in a department or in a complete organization. Executives must lead, support, follow-up, and live the results of the strategic planning implementation process. Or, the strategic planning implementation process will fail. It’s as simple as that.

Without the full commitment of the organization’s senior executives, don’t even start strategic planning. Participants will feel fooled and misled. A vision statement and a mission statement, along with this year’s goals, filed, unimplemented in a cabinet or computer, is a serious source of negativity and poor employee morale.

Management by Objectives

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by objectives (MBO), also known as management by results (MBR), is a process of defining objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization in order to achieve them. The term "management by objectives" was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.

Aligning Objectives With Organizational Goals

In many organizations, it's hard to remember a time when non-managerial employees were kept in the dark about strategy. This type of managing hasn't been around forever. It's an approach called Management by Objectives (MBO), a system that seeks to align employees' objectives with the organization's goals. In this article, we'll look at how you can use MBO to motivate and engage your team.

About the Tool

Peter Drucker developed MBO, and published it in his 1954 book, "The Practice of Management." It received a great deal of attention, and it was widely adopted until the 1990s, when it seemed to fade into obscurity.

The idea may have become a victim of its own success; it became such an integral part of modern business practice that it may no longer have seemed worthy of comment. Today, it has evolved into the Balanced Scorecard, which provides a more sophisticated framework for essentially the same process.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Using Management by Objectives with your team offers several benefits.

First, MBO ensures that team members are clear about their work and how it benefits the whole organization. It's easy to see why this type of managing makes sense: when the individual parts of an organization work well together, the whole operates smoothly and efficiently. By focusing on what you're trying to achieve, you can quickly distinguish between tasks that you must complete, and those that may not be worth your time.

Implemented on a team level, MBO can be seen in many of the key techniques needed for effective team management, including team briefing, goal setting, performance appraisal, delegation, and feedback.

On an individual level, we all want to see our work as purposeful and meaningful, and MBO makes a clear link between individual effort and the organization's mission – this is great for our sense of purpose!

One disadvantage of MBO is that it can be challenging and lengthy to implement. When applied on an organizational level, MBO needs the organization's full commitment, and it also needs an underlying system for tracking goals and performance.

Because you must transmit goals from level to level with agreement, goal transmission can be slow. This means that full implementation of MBO can be time-consuming, particularly if non-accounting-based goals are included.

This is perhaps why MBO has evolved into the idea of the Balanced Scorecard: MBO on its own may too easily slip into being nothing more than a financial management mechanism.

The steps involved in MBO are as follows

Step 1: Set or Review Organizational Objectives

MBO starts with clearly defined strategic organizational objectives, expressed in concise, easily-understood Mission and Vision Statements.

These statements should contain specific goals. Vague goals such as "improving customer satisfaction" may mean little to team members; and they're also difficult to measure. A better objective is to "reduce customer complaints by 90 percent." This objective is exciting because it's challenging, and it's much easier to measure.

Step 2: Cascade Objectives Down to Employees

To support the mission, the organization needs to set clear goals and objectives for every business unit, department, team, and employee. (These goals are cascaded down from level to level.)

To make MBO goal- and objective-setting more effective, use the SMART acronym to set attainable, clear goals. SMART goals are:

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Agreed.
• Realistic.
• Time related.

Step 3: Encourage Participation in Goal Setting

Team members need to understand how their personal goals and values fit with the organization's objectives. This will be most successful when you share and discuss goals and objectives at each level, so that everyone understands why things are being done.

 Rather than blindly following orders, managers, supervisors, and employees in an MBO system know what they need to do and why they need to do it. By pushing decision making and responsibility down through the organization, people can solve problems intelligently and independently, and this increases motivation and effectiveness.

Step 4: Monitor Progress

To be effective, you must monitor your team members' progress toward achieving goals. The monitoring system you create needs to be timely, so that you can deal with issues before they threaten the achievement of important goals. With the cascade effect, no goal is set in isolation; and missing targets in one area will affect targets everywhere.

On the other hand, it's essential to ensure that poorly-designed goals are not driving perverse behavior. For instance, a call center goal of finishing all calls within seven minutes might encourage team members to handle each call briskly, and not spend unnecessary time chatting.

However, it might be that customers' calls become more complex, but call center operators terminate their calls after 6 minutes 59 seconds to meet their target. Clearly, this will upset customers, who then have to call back. In this situation, the monitoring process should pick up the shift in the goal environment and change the goal.

Step 5: Evaluate and Reward Performance

MBO is designed to improve performance at all levels of the organization. To ensure that this happens, you must have a comprehensive evaluation system in place.

Give constructive, thorough feedback to all employees on their goals and on the organization's goals. Remember the participative principle: when you present organization-wide results, you have another opportunity to link specific individual and group achievements to corporate performance. Ultimately, this is what MBO is all about and it explains how, when done right, it can spur organization-wide performance and productivity. Just make sure that any performance monitoring system accounts for environmental and market conditions.

Step 6: Repeat the Cycle

Once somebody have been through the first five steps, the cycle will begin again with another review of his organization's objectives and goals.

When reviewing these objectives and goals and creating new ones, ask for feedback from employees on what went well and what could be improved, consider environmental factors, and take into account your team's past performance.

Decision Making in Management

DECISION MAKING

Decision making can be regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. It  is an essential aspect of modern management. It is a primary function of management. A manager's major job is sound/rational decision-making. He takes hundreds of decisions consciously and subconsciously. Decision-making is the key part of manager's activities. Decisions are important as they determine both managerial and organizational actions. A decision may be defined as "a course of action which is consciously chosen from among a set of alternatives to achieve a desired result." It represents a well-balanced judgment and a commitment to action.

It is rightly said that the first important function of management is to take decisions on problems and situations. Decision-making pervades all managerial actions. It is a continuous process. Decision-making is an indispensable component of the management process itself.

Means and ends are linked together through decision-making. To decide means to come to some definite conclusion for follow-up action. Decision is a choice from among a set of alternatives. The word 'decision' is derived from the Latin words de-ciso which means 'a cutting away or a cutting off or in a practical sense' to come to a conclusion. Decisions are made to achieve goals through suitable follow-up actions. Decision-making is a process by which a decision (course of action) is taken. Decision-making lies embedded in the process of management.

Simple decisions usually need a simple decision-making process. But difficult decisions typically involve issues like these:

• Uncertainty – Many facts may not be known.
• Complexity – You have to consider many interrelated factors.
• High-risk consequences – The impact of the decision may be significant.
• Alternatives – Each has its own set of uncertainties and consequences.
• Interpersonal issues – It can be difficult to predict how other people will react.

With these difficulties in mind, the best way to make a complex decision is to use an effective process. Clear processes usually lead to consistent, high-quality results, and they can improve the quality of almost everything we do. In this article, we outline a process that will help improve the quality of your decisions.

A Systematic Approach to Decision Making

A logical and systematic decision-making process helps you address the critical elements that result in a good decision. By taking an organized approach, you're less likely to miss important factors, and you can build on the approach to make your decisions better and better.

There are six steps to making an effective decision:

1. Create a constructive environment.
2. Generate good alternatives.
3. Explore these alternatives.
4. Choose the best alternative.
5. Check your decision.
6. Communicate your decision, and take action.

Step 1: Create a constructive environment

To create a constructive environment for successful decision making, make sure you do the following:

Establish the objective – Define what you want to achieve.

Agree on the process – Know how the final decision will be made, including whether it will be an individual or a team-based decision.

Involve the right people – Stakeholder Analysis is important in making an effective decision, and you'll want to ensure that you've consulted stakeholders appropriately even if you're making an individual decision. Where a group process is appropriate, the decision-making group – typically a team of five to seven people – should have a good representation of stakeholders.

Allow opinions to be heard – Encourage participants to contribute to the discussions, debates, and analysis without any fear of rejection from the group. This is one of the best ways to avoid groupthink.

Make sure you're asking the right question – Ask yourself whether this is really the true issue. The 5 Whys technique is a classic tool that helps you identify the real underlying problem that you face.

Use creativity tools from the start – The basis of creativity is thinking from a different perspective. Do this when you first set out the problem, and then continue it while generating alternatives. Our article Generating New Ideas will help you create new connections in your mind, break old thought patterns, and consider new perspectives.

Step 2: Generate Good Alternatives

This step is still critical to making an effective decision. The more good options you consider, the more comprehensive your final decision will be.

When you generate alternatives, you force yourself to dig deeper, and look at the problem from different angles. If you use the mindset ‘there must be other solutions out there,' you're more likely to make the best decision possible. If you don't have reasonable alternatives, then there's really not much of a decision to make!

Here's a summary of some of the key tools and techniques to help you and your team develop good alternatives.

Generating Ideas

Brainstorming is probably the most popular method of generating ideas.

Another approach, Reverse Brainstorming, works similarly. However, it starts by asking people to brainstorm how to achieve the opposite outcome from the one wanted, and then reversing these actions.

The Charette Procedure is a systematic process for gathering and developing ideas from very many stakeholders.

Use the Crawford Slip Writing Technique to generate ideas from a large number of people. This is an extremely effective way to make sure that everyone's ideas are heard and given equal weight, irrespective of the person's position or power within the organization.

The Reframing Matrix uses 4 Ps (product, planning, potential, and people) as the basis for gathering different perspectives.

Appreciative Inquiry forces you to look at the problem based on what's ‘going right,' rather than what's ‘going wrong.'

Organizing Ideas

This is especially helpful when you have a large number of ideas. Sometimes separate ideas can be combined into one comprehensive alternative.

Use Affinity Diagrams to organize ideas into common themes and groupings.

Step 3: Explore the Alternatives

When you're satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives, then you'll need to evaluate the feasibility, risks, and implications of each choice. Here, we discuss some of the most popular and effective analytical tools.

·         Risk

In decision making, there's usually some degree of uncertainty, which inevitably leads to risk. By evaluating the risk involved with various options, you can determine whether the risk is manageable.

·         Risk Analysis helps you look at risks objectively. It uses a structured approach for assessing threats, and for evaluating the probability of events occurring – and what they might cost to manage.

·         Implications

Another way to look at your options is by considering the potential consequences of each.

·         Six Thinking Hats helps you evaluate the consequences of a decision by looking at the alternatives from six different perspectives.

·         Impact Analysis is a useful technique for brainstorming the ‘unexpected' consequences that may arise from a decision.

·         Validation

Determine if resources are adequate, if the solution matches your objectives, and if the decision is likely to work in the long term.

·         Star bursting helps you think about the questions you should ask to evaluate an alternative properly.

To assess pros and cons of each option, use Force Field Analysis, or use the Plus-Minus-Interesting approach.

·         Cost-Benefit Analysis looks at the financial feasibility of an alternative.

Step 4: Choose the Best Alternative

·         After you have evaluated the alternatives, the next step is to choose between them. The choice may be obvious. However, if it isn't, these tools will help:

·         Grid Analysis, also known as a decision matrix, is a key tool for this type of evaluation. It's invaluable because it helps you bring disparate factors into your decision-making process in a reliable and rigorous way.

·         Use Paired Comparison Analysis to determine the relative importance of various factors. This helps you compare unlike factors, and decide which ones should carry the most weight in your decision.

·         Decision Trees are also useful in choosing between options. These help you lay out the different options open to you, and bring the likelihood of project success or failure into the decision making process.

·         For group decisions, there are some excellent evaluation methods available.

When decision criteria are subjective and it's critical that you gain consensus, you can use techniques like Nominal Group Technique and Multi-Voting. These methods help a group agree on priorities, for example, so that they can assign resources and funds.

The Delphi Technique uses multiple cycles of anonymous written discussion and argument, managed by a facilitator. Participants in the process do not meet, and sometimes they don't even know who else is involved. The facilitator controls the process, and manages the flow and organization of information. This is useful where you need to bring the opinions of many different experts into the decision-making process. It's particularly useful where some of these experts don't get on!

Step 5: Check Your Decision

With all of the effort and hard work that goes into evaluating alternatives, and deciding the best way forward, it's easy to forget to ‘sense check' your decisions. This is where you look at the decision you're about to make dispassionately, to make sure that your process has been thorough, and to ensure that common errors haven't crept into the decision-making process. After all, we can all now see the catastrophic consequences that over-confidence, groupthink, and other decision-making errors have wrought on the world economy.

The first part of this is an intuitive step, which involves quietly and methodically testing the assumptions and the decisions you've made against your own experience, and thoroughly reviewing and exploring any doubts you might have.

A second part involves using a technique like Blindspot Analysis to review whether common decision-making problems like over-confidence, escalating commitment, or groupthink may have undermined the decision-making process.

A third part involves using a technique like the Ladder of Inference to check through the logical structure of the decision with a view to ensuring that a well-founded and consistent decision emerges at the end of the decision-making process.

Step 6: Communicate Your Decision, and Move to Action!

Once you've made your decision, it's important to explain it to those affected by it, and involved in implementing it. Talk about why you chose the alternative you did. The more information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people are to support the decision.

And with respect to implementation of your decision, our articles on Project Management and Change Management will help you get this implementation off to a good start!

Problem solving

PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem solving is a mental process which is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills. Problem solving occurs when an organism or an artificial intelligence system needs to move from a given state to a desired goal state.

A managerial problem can be described as the gap between a given current state of affairs and a future desired state. Problem solving may then be thought of as the process of analyzing the situation and developing a solution to bridge the gap. While it is widely recognized that different diagnostic techniques are appropriate in different situations, problem solving as a formal analytical framework applies to all but the simplest managerial problems. The framework is analogous to the scientific method used in chemistry, astronomy, and the other physical sciences. In both cases, the purpose underlying the analytic process is to minimize the influence of the investigator's personal biases, maximize the likelihood of an accurate result, and facilitate communication among affected parties.

Problem solving was popularized by W. Edwards Deming and the expansion of the total quality management movement in the 1980s. While Deming described what he called the Shewhart cycle, the technique is more commonly known as the Deming Wheel or simply as the PDCA cycle. Regardless of the name, a problem solver is urged to follow a step-by-step approach to problem solving-plan, do, check, act (hence the PDCA acronym).

The first and most important step in problem solving is IDENTIFYING  the problem because unless we know a problem exists we cannot convert it into an OPPORTUNITY. Basically problem solving involves using generic methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.

THE PROBLEM-SOLVING FRAMEWORK

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION.

Although business problems in the form of a broken piece of machinery or an irate customer are readily apparent, many problems present themselves in a more subtle fashion. For example, if a firm's overall sales are increasing, but its percentage of market share is declining, there is no attention-grabbing incident to indicate that a problem exists. However, the problem-solving framework is still helpful in analyzing the current state of affairs and developing a management intervention to guide the firm toward the future desired state. Therefore, a solid approach to problem solving begins with a solid approach to problem identification.

PROBLEM VERIFICATION.

The amount of resources that should be dedicated to verification will vary greatly depending upon how the problem itself is manifested. If the problem is straightforward and well-defined, only a cursory level of verification may be appropriate. However, many business problems are complex and ill defined. These situations may be similar to the case of a physician who is confronted with a patient that has self-diagnosed his medical condition. While considering the patient's claim, the doctor will conduct her own analysis to verify the diagnosis. Similarly, the need for verification is especially important when a manager is asked to step in and solve a problem that has been identified by someone else. The introduction of the manager's fresh perspective and the possibility of a hidden agenda on the part of the individual who initially identified the issue under consideration suggests that a "trust, but verify" approach may be prudent. Otherwise, the manager may eventually discover she has expended a great deal of time and effort pursuing a solution to the wrong problem

PROBLEM DEFINITION.

The next step in problem solving is to formally define the problem to be addressed. This is a negotiation between the individuals tasked with solving the problem and the individuals who over-see their work. Essentially, the parties need to come to an agreement on what a solution to the problem will look like. Are the overseers anticipating an implementation plan, a fully operational production line, a recommendation for capital investment, or a new product design? What metrics are considered important-cycle time, material costs, market share, scrap rates, or warranty costs? Complex problems may be broken down into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive components, allowing each piece to be addressed separately. The negotiation should recognize that the scope of the problem that is defined will drive the resource requirements of the problem solvers.

The more focused the problem definition, the fewer resources necessary to generate a solution. Finally, the time frame for problem analysis should also be established. Many business problems require an expedited or emergency response. This may mean that the problem solvers need to generate a temporary or interim solution to the problem before they can fully explore the underlying causes of the problem. Ensuring that the overseers recognize the limitations inherent in an interim solution serves to preserve the credibility of the problem solvers.

ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS.

Now that the problem has been formally defined, the next step is for the problem solvers to attempt to identify the causes of the problem. The ultimate goal is to uncover the root cause or causes of the problem. The root cause is defined as that condition or event that, if corrected or eliminated, would prevent the problem from occurring. However, the problem solver should focus on potential root causes they are within the realm of potential control. For example, finding that a particular weight of motor oil is insufficient to protect an engine from overheating readily leads to an actionable plan for improvement. Finding that the root cause of a problem is gravity does not.

A common technique for generating potential root causes is the cause-and-effect diagram (also known as the fishbone or Ishikawa diagram). Using the diagram as a brainstorming tool, problem solvers traditionally review how the characteristics or operation of raw materials, labor inputs, equipment, physical environment, and management policies might cause the identified problem. Each branch of the diagram then becomes a statement of a causal hypothesis. For example, one branch of the diagram might suggest that low salaries are leading to high employee turnover, which in turn results in inexperienced operators running the machinery, which leads to a high scrap rate and ultimately higher material costs. This analysis suggests that to address the problem of high material costs, the firm may have to address the root cause of insufficient salaries.

ALTERNATIVE GENERATION.

Once the root causes of the problem have been identified, the problem solver can concentrate on developing approaches to prevent, eliminate, or control them. This is a creative process. The problem solver should feel free to challenge assumptions about how business was conducted in the past. At times, an effective approach is to generalize the relationship between the cause and the problem. Then the problem solver can look for similar relationships between other cause and effects that might provide insight on how to address the issues at hand. In general, it is useful to attempt to generate multiple candidate solutions. By keeping the creative process going, even after a viable solution is proposed, the problem solver retains the possibility of identifying a more effective or less expensive solution to the problem.

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES.

Assuming that the problem was well defined, evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative solutions should be relatively straightforward. The issue is simply to what extent each alternative alleviates the problem. Using the metrics previously identified as important for judging success, the various alternatives can generally be directly compared. However, in addition to simply measuring the end result, the problem solvers may also want to consider the resources necessary to implement each solution. Organizations are made up of real people, with real strengths and weaknesses. A given solution may require competencies or access to finite resources that simply do not exist in the organization. In addition, there may be political considerations within the organization that influence the desirability of one alternative over another. Therefore, the problem solver may want to consider both the tangible and intangible benefits and costs of each alternative.

IMPLEMENTATION.

A very common problem-solving failure is for firms to stop once the plan of action is developed. Regardless of how good the plan is, it is useless unless it is implemented. Therefore, once a specific course of action has been approved, it should continue to receive the necessary attention and support to achieve success. The work should be broken down into tasks that can be assigned and managed. Specific mile-stones with target dates for completion should be established. Traditional project management techniques, such as the critical path method (CPM) or the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) are very useful to oversee implementation efforts.

POST-IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW.

Another common failure is for firms to simply move on after a solution has been implemented. At a minimum, a post-implementation evaluation of whether or not the problem has been solved should be conducted. If appropriate and using the metrics that were established earlier, this process should again be relatively straightforward-were the expected results achieved? The review can also determine whether additional improvement activities are justified. As the PDCA cycle suggests, some problems are never solved, they are only diminished. If the issue at hand is of that nature, then initiating a new cycle of problem-solving activity may be appropriate.

A secondary consideration for the post-implementation review is a debriefing of the problem solvers themselves. By its very nature, problem solving often presents managers with novel situations. As a consequence, the problem-solving environment is generally rich in learning opportunities. To the extent that such learning can be captured and shared throughout the organization, the management capital of the firm can be enhanced. In addition, a debriefing may also provide valuable insights into the firm's problem-solving process itself. Given the firm's unique competitive environment, knowing what worked and what did not may help focus future problem-solving initiatives.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND CONTROL.

The final step in problem solving is to institutionalize the results of the initiative. It is natural for any system to degrade over time. Therefore, any changes made as a result of the problem-solving effort should be locked in before they are lost. This might entail amending policy manuals, establishing new control metrics, or even rewriting job descriptions. In addition, the firm should also consider whether the problem addressed in the initiative at hand is an isolated incident or whether the solution can be leveraged throughout the organization. Frequently, similar problems are present in other departments or other geographic locations. If this is the case, institutionalization might involve transferring the newly developed practices to these new settings.

Alibaba Group and Organizational culture

Company Overview

Alibaba Group is a family of Internet-based businesses which makes it easy for anyone to buy or sell online anywhere in the world. Since its inception, it has developed leading businesses in consumer e-commerce, online payment, business-to-business marketplaces and cloud computing, reaching Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions. Alibaba Group consists of 25 business units and is focused on fostering the development of an open, collaborative and prosperous e-commerce ecosystem.

Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, a former English teacher from Hangzhou, China who has aspired to help make the Internet accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for everyone. The privately held Alibaba Group, including its affiliated entities, employs some 24,000 people around the world and has more than 70 offices in Greater China, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Alibaba Group’s major businesses and affiliated entities include:

Alibaba.com International- Leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses

Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com International (www.alibaba.com) is the leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses around the world. It aims to be the go-to English-language platform for cross-border trade and help small businesses worldwide expand to overseas markets. As of December 31, 2012, the platform had around 36.7 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions and showcased more than 2.8 million supplier storefronts.

Alibaba.com International is a business within Alibaba Group.

Alibaba.com China - Leading domestic e-commerce platform for Chinese small businesses

Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com China (www.alibaba.cn) is China’s leading e-commerce platform for small businesses engaged in domestic trade. It aims to provide Chinese small businesses with a comprehensive domestic e-commerce solution that comprises more than product listing, sourcing and large-quantity wholesale services. As of December 31, 2012, the platform had around 77.7 million registered users and showcased more than 8.5 million supplier storefronts.

Alibaba.com China is a business within Alibaba Group.

History & Milestones

1999	Alibaba Group is officially established by its 18 founders, led by Jack Ma, working out of a Hangzhou apartment.
1999-2000	Alibaba Group raises US$25 million from Softbank, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and other institutions.
2002	Alibaba.com becomes profitable.
2003	Consumer e-commerce website Taobao is founded, again in Jack Ma's apartment. Online payment system Alipay is launched.
2005	Alibaba Group forms a strategic partnership with Yahoo! Inc. and takes over the operation of China Yahoo!.
2006	Alibaba Group makes a strategic investment in Koubei.com.
2007	Internet-based business software company Alisoft is launched. (January) Alibaba.com Limited lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (November) Alibaba Group launches Alimama, an online advertising exchange company. (November)
2008	Taobao Mall (currently known as Tmall.com), a dedicated B2C platform, is introduced to complement Taobao’s C2C marketplace. (April) Koubei.com merges with China Yahoo! to form Yahoo! Koubei. (June) Alimama is integrated with Taobao. (September) Alibaba Group R&D Institute is established. (September)
2009	Alisoft merges with Alibaba Group R&D Institute. (July) Alisoft's Business Management Software division is injected into Alibaba.com. (August) Koubei.com is injected into Taobao as part of the "Big Taobao" strategy, which positions Taobao as a one-stop e-commerce service provider to promote wider use of e-commerce among consumers. (August) Alibaba Cloud Computing is established in conjunction with Alibaba Group's 10th anniversary celebration. (September)
2010	Alibaba Group creates a cross-business team comprising senior managers from Taobao, Alipay, Alibaba Cloud Computing and China Yahoo! to execute a full-scale roll-out of the "Big Taobao" strategy. (March) Alibaba Group announces that it will begin in 2010 to earmark 0.3 percent of annual revenues to fund efforts designed to spur environmental awareness and conservation in China and around the world. (May) Taobao Mall launches a new independent web domain, Tmall.com. (November)
2011	Alibaba Group announces its plan to build a network of warehouses across China and, together with its partners, drive major investment in logistics development in the country. (January) Alibaba Group reorganizes Taobao into three separate companies, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com and eTao, to capture the Chinese consumer e-commerce opportunities. (June)
2012	Tmall.com changes its Chinese name to strengthen its positioning as a source of high-quality, brand-name products. (January) Alibaba.com delists from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (June) Alibaba Group upgrades its existing subsidiaries’ operations into one of the seven business groups: Alibaba International Business Operations, Alibaba Small Business Operations, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com, Juhuasuan, eTao and Alibaba Cloud Computing. (July) Alibaba Group completes the initial repurchase of shares from Yahoo! and restructured its relationship with the latter. (September) Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com reach a combined GMV of RMB1 trillion for the period January to November 2012. (November)
2013	Alibaba Cloud Computing merges with HiChina. (January) Alibaba Group is reorganized into 25 business units to better adapt to China’s fast-growing e-commerce environment. (January)

source (http://news.alibaba.com/specials/aboutalibaba/aligroup/index.html)

 Organizational culture is the behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Organizational culture are of several types. The one discussed in class are as follows:

1. Open Culture - 

One where employees are motivated to voice their values-driven concerns regarding problematic business practices. An open culture helps to counteract any occasional lapse into passivity at the board level or on the part of institutional investors.

2. Safety Culture - 

One where safety is  ALWAYS first no matter what the cost. A safety culture is one were all employees are proactive in ensuring safety at work place. People immediately report any perceived short comings in the work place safety and in the safety of products given to customers or clients.

3. Quality Culture -

A culture where utmost importance is given to the quality of the product or service being rendered. Volume takes a back seat. So does cost. Batch recalling of cars/computers when defects are found is a good example of the quality culture. Toyota is a notable example.

4. Performance Culture -

We could also call this OUTCOME ORIENTED CULTURE.  This is one that emphasize achievement, results, and action as important values. A good example of an outcome-oriented culture may be the electronics retailer Best Buy. Having a culture emphasizing sales performance, Best Buy tallies revenues and other relevant figures daily by department. Employees are trained and mentored to sell company products effectively, and they learn how much money their department made every day.