I totally agree that managers and local retailers (such as, Sears, Bay, or Wal-Mart, etc.) should support the independent artists, and consider to open new marketing or business in this area, such as limited edition of painting, drawing, design, or music, etc. (all in the same line of pop-culture). In the beginning, the company can collect the products of local independent artists that most shoppers in the region want to collect (after their customer surveys and trade people interviews with conduct environmental scanning), and then collect other areas in the later stages—or focuses on one or two best items of collections, and turn the company as the buying center of independent or local artists.  As far as I am concerned, supporting independent and local artists is the right thing to do and the right business to plan or set up. It may be not so easy to achieve great result in short-term, but as people state:  there is a will, there is a way.

  As I am reading an article in my database about digitizing and giving new life for old memories (e.g., turning our old videotapes, photo prints, slides and film negatives or home movies on film, etc.) or media images digital and stow them on DVD, CD, or our i-phones and computers, so we can keep them in less space and easy to access. I think it may be a good business for Newbury Comics as well. The company can provide the same services for all its busy and rich customers who have homemade old memories in hundred of videotapes or media, but no time or machine and know-how to do it. May be a good idea to open up a service business named: Digitize Inc.

Reference

Bluestein, A. (2009, April). New life for old memories. Money 38 (4).

       Retrieved on March 28, 2009, from Business source elite database.

It is interesting to know how differ Zurich-based  ABB  (Asea Brown Boveri AG) from or versus Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation of Japan (MEI)--operating under the brands of Panasonic and Technic.

If you play international game, you must play  a cross-cultureal globalization, and not a focused on Japanese value, from top to bottom--this is why Baidu can sell US$183/per share in NASDAQ on this week with two Chinese Directors and three international directors--one Japanese (Baidu Japan) and two Americans (Auditing for SEC & marketing for buy and sell in US trading volumes)
(Wheelen & Hunger, 2008, p.117).

 Mission statements are the objectives or purposes of organizations or companies, and they differ broadly from one organization to another. Wheelen and Hunger (2008) claim a good mission statement “defines the fundamental, unique purpose that sets a company apart from other firms of its type and identifies the scope of the company’s operations in terms of products [including services] offered and markets served. It may also include the firm’s values and philosophy about how it does business and treats its employees. It puts into words not only what the company is now but what it wants to become—management’s strategic vision of the firm’s future” (p. 13). In other words, mission statement not only upholds and advances organization’s expectations, and shares it with all employees, but also, at the same time, it promotes a well image to stakeholders in the firm’s undertaking and responsibility environment. However, Andrew Campbell, top executive of the Ashridge strategic management centre, and a contributor to Long range planning (LRP), an international journal of strategic management, analyzes and argues that mission statement “can be more than just an expression of a company’s purpose and ambition… They can also be a company flag to rally around, a signpost for all stakeholders, a guide to behavior, and a celebration of a company’s culture” (Wheelen & Hunger, 2008, p.13).
 
Reference

Wheelen, T., and Hunger, J. (2009). Concepts in Strategic Management and
Business Policy (11th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice 
Hall.

 

Reading today's article about recession in Asia from the WSJ in the following one:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123810562770552071.html     

makes you understand why there has lots of chances and businesses to offer, and it has a long way to go.  If the top does not know, does not ask, and does not search or spend time to do homework, the answer is no pain and no gain. However, this is also means lots of opportunities out  there that waiting for you and need you to invest or discover. Therefore, we can say: New plan, New gain.

   The major theme of the article:“Reverse engineering Google's innovation machine” by Bala Iyer, and Thomas Davenport from Harvard business review, is about innovation, organization design and management of Google Inc. In order to succeed in a competitive and changing environment, Google puts all its efforts in building for the Web technologies, and offers what the users need or expect from it. The company and top management put the Internet users and public as the center of their businesses. Google is the leader of new approaches to business and management innovation. The organizational structure of Google are quite open and not closed, and public can find limitless hints and assistance or benefits as to how the firm advances and moved toward innovation. In all, well organizational design and culture with great leadership, advance IT and networking system, and learning organizational culture, all these together not only bring in a top Internet company that serves billions and billions online users worldwide for social, political, or economical purposes, but also help opening communication between groups or people, share data, information or knowledge, and make the notion of globalization happen that would create a better place to live and achieve a better civilization. In this case, the power of organizational design, structure, and culture indeed has no limit at all, as people state: No plan, no gain.

 References

Gibson, J., Ivancevich, J., Donnelly, J., and Konopaske, R. (2006). Organizations: Behavior, structure,processes (12th edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Hamel, G. (2009, February).  Moon shots for management. Harvard business review, 87 (2), 91-98.  Retrieved March 20, 2009, from ProQuest database.

Hellriegel, D., Jackson, S., & Slocum, J. (2005).  Management: A competency-  based approach (10th ed.). Mason, Ohio: Thomson, South-Western.

Iyer, B., and Davenport, T. (2008, April). Reverse engineering Google's innovation machine.Harvard business review,86(4). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from EBSCOhost business source elite database

Wheelen, T., and Hunger, J. (2008).Concepts in strategic management and business policy(11th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

      Newbury Comics not only recognizes trust, respect, and quality of products and services, but also offers more selection (one-stop-shopping experience with fun and good time), and supports “independent artists and cultural visionaries and realizes the importance of offering pop culture that amuses, entertains and/or challenges our customers’ perceptions of the world” (Newburycomics.com, 2009, p.1). Recognizing independent artists and pop culture are very significant in the progress and support of learning organizational culture, innovation, and social understanding.  In the research of the relation between organizational culture and the degree of shaping learning public organization.Fard, Rostamy, and Taghiloo (2009) analyze and argue thatgreat learning organizational culture “has the highest influence culture among bureaucratic, competitive, participative, and learning organizational culture. The findings suggest that… learning public organizations develop programmers that improve organizational learning culture, learning and creativity, system thinking, team working, and participation level in their organizations” (p.58). In other words, good learning organizational culture, such as Newbury Comics (e.g., opening communication, and recognizing employees’ ideas and customers’ opinions), not only can and do adapt to changing environments or competitive markets, but also brings in new strategic planning and marketing, and becomes a largest chain store of pop culture in New England with 28 retailers.

References

Wheelen, T., & Hunger, D. (2008). Concepts in strategic management and business Policy (11th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall



Newburycomics.com. (2008), Retrieved March 19, 2009, from http://www.newburycomic.com

Fard, H., Rostamy, A., & Taghiloo, H. (2009). How types of organizational cultures c31(1), 49-61. Retrieved ontribute in shaping learning organizations. Singapore Management Review,March 22, 2009, from EBSCOhost business source elite dateabase.



       


 

 What is the process of strategic management at Newbury Comics? Who is involved in each part?

Strategic management involves of four basic parts: a) Environmental scanning (e.g., collecting, evaluating, and disseminating of data from internal and external sources or environments to management); b) Strategy formulation (e.g., mission, long-term plans or what results to accomplish by when, objectives, and policies); c) Strategy implementation (programs, budgets, and procedures); and d) Evaluation and control (e.g., performance and actual results) (Wheelen & Hunger).

Newbury Comics practices all most of these basic elements of strategic management. For Environmental scanning: in the video, Mike Dreese stated that the top management collected all information and opinions from staffs, people in the trade, and customers, then they formed their new approaches or ideas. On the issues of strategy formulation (including all plans, policies, and SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), both Mike Dreese and John Brusser, the founders, are the key persons to manage and supervise. For strategy implementation or putting plan into action, in the video, John Brusser claimed he looked after the most, but all top management, middle managers and employees are involved as well—the company develops into an expert in the trade and creates a fun environment for staffs and shoppers. On the subjects of evaluation and control or monitoring performance, Jan Johannet, the manager and all employees, top management, and customers as well are taking part of them.

3) What do you think might be the company’s a) current mission/vision, b) objectives, c) strategies and d) policies? Give an example of each from the video.

a) To have fun and good time for customers to shop and for staff members to work with the top selection and expert in the trade.

b) Keeping the company in the top of the industry (from the highly competitive and changing environments), and maintain the growth in the next 3, 5, or 10 years.

c) Putting customers in the center of its business; offering them what they want and need (e.g., bring in the new trend, and give them more selection). In order to be successful, all strategies must get input and commitment from all-level of managers, and employees.

d) Opening communication, and always have a good time to shop (for shoppers) or to work (for employees) in its stores.

4. What theory of organizational adaption is being followed by Mike Dreese?

Organizational learning theory of adaptation is being pursued by Mike Dreese in Newbury Comics, which states that management or business modifies to a changing environment and utilizes knowledge or data to advance the right directions or market areas (Wheelen & Hunger, 2008). The management constantly learns and looks for ideas, innovations, or opinions from employees, customers, and trade people to form its new strategies and business plans in such changing and competitive environments.

5. Newbury Comics illustrates what mode of strategic decision making? Is it appropriate?

Newbury Comics demonstrates logical instrumentalism as its strategic decision making practice. In this approach, “top management has a reasonably clear idea of the corporation’s mission and objectives, but, in its development of strategies, it chooses to us [ an interactive process in which the organization probes the future, experiments and learn from a series of partial commitments]” (Wheelen & Hunger, p. 21). Under its highly competitive environments, and changing market conditions, by adopting logical instrumentalism decision-making mode, it is the right and only choice for the company—with all the above examinations, and organizational culture, innovation, and strategic management, this is why the company becoming a largest chain store of pop culture (from a small comic book shop) in New England areas.

References

Hunger, D., & Wheelen, T. (2008). Concepts in strategic management and business Policy (11th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Newburycomics.com. (2008), Retrieved March 19, 2009, from http://www.newburycomic.com

 

      Job design comprises managerial decisions and plans that identify job depth, range, and correlations to suit company’s necessities as well as the social and individual needs of employees. The main objectives of job design are not only improving job satisfaction and quality of work, but also, reducing employee setbacks (e.g., grievances, or absenteeism), and promoting social, political and economic stabilities or advancements. Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2006) examine and analyze, “apart from the very practical issues associated with job design, we can appreciate its importance in social and psychological terms. Jobs can be sources of psychological stress and even mental and physical impairment. On a more positive note, jobs can provide income, meaningful life experiences, self-esteem, regulation of our lives, and respect from an association with others. Thus, the well-being of organizations and people relates to how well management designs jobs” (p. 368). A well job design could motivate employees' performance, and  might have been changed to make employees’ works and their inputs or involvements to the organization more effective and efficient.

References

Gibson, J., Ivancevich, J., Donnelly, J., and Konopaske, R. (2006). Organizations:  


       Behavior, structure,Processes (12th edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.