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by Elizabeth Ayo-Vaughan - Monday, 6 July 2020, 12:44 PM
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Looking through the weeks schedule for everything I am involved with, I realized I have a bit of "relaxed" state for everything that has to do with LBS. This has to be a red flag. It reminds me of the saying "the calm before the storm". So in order not to take this "calm" for granted, it is important to catch up on the topics of the second semester such as cost management accounting and operational management as I am a bit lost. Thus far these are the most technical for the semester.

 However, there is also Data Analytics and others from first semester yet to be concluded and exam is creeping by. 

I guess this means one thing, we need to catch up on these and Its a good time to do so as well. 

Everything just seems very overwhelming at the moment with no direction of what the outcome will be. Just a constant working hard, staying consistent kind of approach. At the end, we always say,  E go better (It will get better) and I trust it will. 

Lovely Day dear readers smile



 
Picture of Uchenna Onyenakasa
by Uchenna Onyenakasa - Monday, 6 July 2020, 12:06 AM
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Brands succeed when they break through in culture. It is the picture people have about you and your products. In marketing practice, the set of techniques – be it a name, symbol or design – created to generate cultural relevance is what we call Branding. This helps in identifying the product and in distinguishing it from other products. It differentiates you from your competitors illuminating your unique selling point; why a consumer should prefer you.

Branding helps to increase brand awareness, communicate the objective value of your product to consumers, change/deepen how you are perceived in the market and ultimately drive your business. It helps you to stand out amidst competition, increase business value, generate new customers, generate confidence and trust on both staff and consumers, and in the final analysis increase market share and profit.

In branding, you have to define your market:

  • Who is your consumer?
  • Who are your competitors?
  • What is your product?

One key decision that has to be made is if you want to use the same brand for every product that you produce as an entity or have different brands for every product. This leads us to different types of branding models/strategies:

  • Branded House: Here, the firm can be said to be the brand. Focus is maintained on a single, well-known and consistent brand and all products “tag-along”. Some examples include Virgin Atlantic, Red Bull, FedEx, Apple, Google.
  • House of Brands: This is where we have a different brand for every product. This is a home to numerous brands, each autonomous of one another, and each with its audience, marketing, look and feel. Coca Cola has Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Eva water, etc. and each is a brand on their own and are uniquely marketed. Some more examples include P & G, Nestle, Unilever.
  • Hybrid: This is the mixture of both Branded House and House of Brands. Microsoft is an example here. Though it has Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Windows, etc, it has also acquired other brands that are standing on their own – Minecraft, Skype and Nokia.

The decision on which branding model have to be deliberate and it has to be taken from the beginning before the packaging.

All elements of the marketing mix will help in branding your product (and not just the promotion). Marketing mix is a tool to help in marketing the brand.

In branding, you must have a clear idea of what you are selling. This will help to differentiate you.


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Picture of Ahmed Husaini
by Ahmed Husaini - Sunday, 5 July 2020, 2:13 PM
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Human Resource practice remains at the core of organisational management. The health - and by extension - success, of every organisation depends on the quality and effectiveness of its HR management. That is, its ability to nurture promising prospects, attract top talents and retain high-performing ones.

In Nigeria, HR has attracted the notoriety of the typical Nigerian boss: contemptible, bossy, insensitive and draconian. In most organisations, HR  units have abandoned their primary responsibility of looking after employee wellbeing. Instead, they become willing enforcers of draconian policies by the management.

Today, the story of the Nigerian HR is that of a toxic work environment that is characterised by unfair work hours, unremunerated overtime, denied work leave, managerial arbitrariness and impunity, as well as lack of promotion and career development opportunities.

The question is: why does this practice persist?

Well, the answer is not far-fetched.

One reason is the Nigerian culture which condones abuse, be it social, political or economic. We are mostly conditioned to accept abuse from people in position power. Not only that, we are also conditioned to abuse power when given the opportunity. Most of us are potential abusive bosses/managers with varying degrees of 'wickedness'.

The second reason is the prevailing institutional environment that is supposed to serve as check and balance against organisational abuse and corporate exploitation. Weak rule of law, slow judicial process and ineffective regulatory environment mean employers can get away with abuses and employees lack the resources and power to effectively seek judicial redress.

Another enabler is the prevailing economic or labor market condition. With high unemployment rates and weak labor rights, employees have no choice than accept or tolerate abuses in order to secure their jobs, knowing fully well that employers can arbitrarily fire and replace them at whim.

On the other hand, some employers argued that the tough Nigerian situation requires equally tough HR policies and approaches. I once asked a high-profile CEO why he chose to be overly bossy to his employees and his response was that Nigerians require an iron hand to perform. The idea is that there are pervading traits of mediocrity, fraud and lack of accountability inherent in the Nigerian individual. I find this argument patently absurd and inaccurate.

That is because, the same so called 'mediocre and fraudulent' Nigerians go ahead and excel in foreign countries or organisations with better and inclusive HR practices. This shows the problem is not the Nigerian individual per se, but our HR practices and the broader labor environment.  

Human beings respond to incentives. Which means with proper incentive and oversight structure in place, the Nigerian employee will work and perform just fine like their counterparts in other parts of the world.

It is interesting to note that the situation is now changing, not because of any change in legislation but largely due to increasing awareness and citizen-led engagement on social media. Organisations today behave more responsibly towards their employees not out fear of being dragged to courts, but out of fear of being 'dragged on Twitter' as Nigerians will say it.

One way or another, the Nigerian HR scene is changing for the better.

[ Modified: Sunday, 5 July 2020, 2:25 PM ]
 
Picture of Jane Ngene
by Jane Ngene - Saturday, 4 July 2020, 9:50 PM
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Strategic cost management has three key themes which differentiate it from cost and management accounting. The three key themes include the following:

  1. Strategic Positioning
  2. Value Chain Analysis
  3. Cost Driver Analysis

 Strategic Positioning – This is how a firm chooses to compete in the market. This can be by having lower costs (cost leadership) or offering a superior product (product differentiation). The two involves different managerial mindsets and therefore different cost analysis.

Value Chain Analysis – This is looking at the entities that make up the value chain. 

   Supplier – You – Customer

Value chain is different from management accounting in that it looks beyond the value-added concept (Sales – purchases = Value added) and exploits the opportunities with the firm’s linkages with both the supplier and the customer. The firm’s linkage with the supplier has to do with considering how the decisions a firm takes affects the supplier. The firm’s linkage with the customer involves considering the post-purchase cost to the customer in designing and pricing the firm’s product. This can place the firm in a competitive position in the market.

Cost Driver Analysis – This goes beyond output volume being the most useful way to explain cost behaviour as seen in management accounting. Here, strategic cost management considers other cost drivers like the structural cost driver (scale, scope, experience, complexity and technology) and the execution driver (those determinants of a firm’s cost position that is responsible for its ability to execute successfully). 


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Picture of Elizabeth Ayo-Vaughan
by Elizabeth Ayo-Vaughan - Saturday, 4 July 2020, 9:13 PM
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This past week was a rest week from LBS wahala and time do everything else. Assignment catch up and the rest of it. Somehow all this did not happen. In the middle of it all, I was still trying to understand why 2nd semester of a school had started in 1st semester. Mentally, that is still ongoing, grades are not out and here we are with 2nd semester. 

I do not even know how well I have done or badly or how I will do just to understand how much more effort I should put it.  I understand that we must always put in effort to achieve the best but I take lack of feedback to mean that 

I cannot say I have fully grasped anything in any of the courses for 2nd semester. My motto for the semester is "Wing it till you make it" that is until exam is upon us, then I have to put on my A game. 

Just as my title, I am in utter state of confusion right now and remaining there will not help matters. 

This week, I plan to catch up and be armored for the battle ahead. 

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Anyone in the world

In the business world of today, company leaders should look beyond profitability of their business but review the environment they operate in and give back to the same people that made their business so profitable.

There is a profound link between poverty and violence. “What you then realize is that a lot of the violence in the world is driven by poverty and by exclusion, which religious fanatics seize upon and create these extreme forms of violence, which we should never give into.

As company leaders one of the top priorities should be that of making a good social impact to the economy through your company. This in-turn would somewhat translate into increased revenue in your business as the good impact invested in the society from your business can’t go un noticed.

CEO’s should also imbibe the pre-competitive strategy. These are the things you cannot do alone, but that will cause you all to collectively sink if you don't address it.

When company leaders come together to tackle environmental and social issues it goes a long way and impacts positively on their business and the society on the long run. This can only be archived by unity of like minds.

We should therefore endeavor to put the society in mind when making projections and business plans as leaders of various companies so we can have a better society to relate with.


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Picture of Johnson Olalekan Idowu
by Johnson Olalekan Idowu - Saturday, 4 July 2020, 8:14 PM
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The New York stock exchange the big fish of the world. Total shares traded daily is about 1.46Bn and NYSE is the leading stock exchange in the world and due to a lot of companies listed on the exchange about 2800 companies shares are currently trading on the exchange ranging from blue chips to new high-growth companies. Each listed company has to meet strict requirements, as NYSE strives to maintain its reputation of trading and build investor’s confidence in the exchange. 


Thank you

Johnson 

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Anyone in the world

The emergence of Strategic Cost Management (SCM) results from blending three underlying themes, namely:

  1. Value Chain Analysis
  2. Strategic Positioning Analysis
  3. Cost Driver Analysis
Value Chain Analysis:

This analysis is the process of taking a look at the activities that go into changing the inputs for a product or service to what the customers value. We often ask why some companies' profit margins surpass their competition. Also, we sometimes ask why some companies amass a greater competitive advantage than their peers, Value Chain Analysis is the answer to these questions.

Strategic Positioning Analysis

It is a methodology for investigating what future environments can be like in your internal corporate structure, including your external environment, and deciding how you can utilize the decision of business techniques to get from your present circumstance to these attractive objectives or desirable goals.

Cost Driver Analysis

This is the process of analyzing the different possible cost drivers for a particular type of activity or cost and explaining their cause and effect connection between the activity and cost driver.

 
Picture of Obidi Nwachukwu
by Obidi Nwachukwu - Saturday, 4 July 2020, 7:50 PM
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Its funny that we measure success by different yardsticks in life only to realized as we get older that our scale or factors we used for measuring success where all flawed.

The first 25 years you measure success with grades, only to realize that the real value is in learning to learn and critical thinking.

The second 25 years you measure success by how much money you made, only to realize that how you spend time, and with whom, is most important.

The third 25 years you measure success by good health, a happy home, freedom to do what brings you joy, and peace of mind.

You measure success by the quality of friendships and relationships.

You measure success by your ability to live a recommendable life.

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Picture of Uchenna Onyenakasa
by Uchenna Onyenakasa - Saturday, 4 July 2020, 3:57 PM
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I may not be crazy about music, but I can say that I love music. My kind of love for music used to annoy those around until I discovered the use of the headset. The reason why some of them were usually annoyed is that I can repeat one single track forty times in a day. Yes, forty times. My recent victims are Jerusalema by Master KG featuring Nomcebo and Indodana –performed by the University of Pretoria Camerata under the directorship of Michael Barrett. Teni’s Uyo Meyo was once on my replay too. But this is not the issue here.

I have been working from home since the lockdown started. However, I had to go to the office this week to do applications update on my official laptop (it is easier and faster in the office network). In a conversation with a colleague I had to quote It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, a line in Sting’s song: Englishman In New York; a song from his second studio album Nothing Like the Sun, released in October 1987. It immediately reminded me of that my replay song, and it made a fresh return.

On my way home, while in traffic, the driver of the bus beside me was loudly playing Flavour’s song Shake. His conductor was visibly excited. I was wondering if the passengers were not bothered about how loud the music is. Briefly looking into the bus, I could see how majority were nodding to the tune. But my mind wandered off, thinking.

Majority of our popular tunes and musicians have either meaningless or very lewd lyrics. I wondered: just as I quoted Sting’s song released over thirty years ago, in my earlier conversation with my colleague, how many of our songs of today can we quote in decent conversations thirty years from today? Beats may matter so much and important to us, but I also think it can go with good lyrics as exemplified by Master KG in Skeleton Move and Jerusalema.

Love is beautiful, sacrificial, and painful. Love songs must not be vulgar. Shola Allyson has shown us with her song Eji Owuro that we can have a love song that can always be sung in all places and times.

Some artists are trying in this regard, but ‘good-beat-meaningless’ songs are drowning the meaningful ones. Few of the artists have one or two we can point to, but I am advocating that we have more of it.

Let me end this by appreciating Brymo who, though he may no longer be on our lips and face like the others, have some body of work that shows that we can do better lyrically especially in our hip hop (or is it Afropop?) and rhythm and blues genre.

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