Strategic Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Strategic Management - Term Paper Example A structured definition of the term is provided by Ansoff and McDonnell. According to them strategic management is referred to â€Å"a systematic approach for managing strategic change which consists of positioning of the firm through strategy and capability planning and real time strategic response through issue management† (Cole, 2003). Different strategic tools like PESTEL, SWOT and Ansoff Matrix are usually used by the experts while strategically managing the operations of an organization. These tools enable the organizations to analyze their micro as well as macro environment where they are operating. Findings of such analyses have been found to be extremely helpful for the management in its decision making process. This report is comprised of a well-structured strategic analysis of Unilever which is one of the largest consumer goods manufacturing companies in the world. All the three above mentioned strategic tools are used in this report for the purpose of analyzing the operational as well as industry environment of the company. In addition to that a value chain analysis in the context of Unilever is also performed and included in this report. Before analyzing an organization and its environment it is crucial to have enough knowledge about the organization first. Considering this aspect, this report includes a brief overview of the organization i.e. Unilever and this overview can be found in the next section which is followed by all the strategic analyses. Unilever, one of the oldest and largest consumer goods manufacturing companies, has its operation in all the major markets in the world. Since 1930 the company has been taking care of people’s needs and demands regarding better foods and personal care products. According to the company, today, â€Å"160 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product† (Unilever-a, n.d.). The company’s 400 brands have made it an important member of millions of families

Portland Cement Mortar Cubes Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Portland Cement Mortar Cubes - Lab Report Example During the experiment, the temperature of air in the surrounding of the mixing slab, base plates, mixing bowl and the dry material was maintained between. The temperature of the mixing water, room and water in the storage tank were also kept at . The humidity was also maintained at 50%. The specimen were then molded and after molding stored in the moist room with their upper surfaces exposed to the air but protected from the dripping water. After one day, the first specimen was broken into two and its compressive strength recorded. The other specimens were inserted in saturated lime water and then removed during the third day to measure its compressive strength. The remaining specimen was broken into two and tested on the seventh day in the testing machine by applying loads of between 900 and 1800 N/s. The results for compressive strength of Type I cement were close to the standard ones as per ASTM C 150 (Table 3: Standard physical requirements). However, the results of Type III cement differ from the standard results. This shows that type III cement does do have the desired air content unless it is proven otherwise using the fineness model. The experiment was conducted with the highest level of accuracy possible. Errors were expected since the temperature and humidity in the laboratory were not constant. Also, in the preparation of mortar, the ratios were estimated to the nearest decimal point and thus resulted to the deviations for Type I cement. Type III cement deviations for strength show that it does not comply with the ASTM C 150. The experiment should be conducted under constant