[MUSIC] The world changes, but do we? And more importantly for our forthcoming considerations, do organizations change with the world? Be it by reacting to or indeed by promoting change. Take, as an example from history, the case of the Swiss watch market. By 1970, the Swiss watch market held about 90% of world market share. Then, the advent of quartz based watches hit the market place, and by 1978 having not adopted the quartz based products or found a way to cope with changes, the Swiss watch industry was in serious decline. With Japanese companies making headway into the market. By 1984, the number employed in the Swiss watch making industry had declined from about 90,000 by about two-thirds to 30,000. There had been a not dissimilar shrinkage in the number of watch making companies which had been around 1,600. The irony is, that the quartz based approach had been promoted by some Swiss swatch makers but conservative values held sway. The environment was changing. And the potential impacts had not been analyzed properly. Interestingly, the Swiss watch making industry had suffered a similar challenge 100 years earlier when mass production of watches in the USA threatened the Swiss companies. Although that storm was weathered, causing them to focus on their production techniques and quality issues in response. Another example of suffering at the hands of a changing environment can be found in the case of Midland Bank. This UK bank as was, had its origins in 1836. And by 1934 had become the largest deposit bank in the world. Today, it doesn't exist. An international expansion strategy saw a link up with the Crocker Bank in the USA, which was a disaster as the new environment and culture had not been assessed well enough. And then, the UK recession of the early 1990s, compounded by huge mortgage debts and loans and a property price collapse, produced vulnerabilities and it was swallowed up by HSBC. Now, a common sight in the streets of UK cities and towns, where Midland banks had once been. Other once household names have fallen by the wayside. Compaq, Woolworth's, Pan American World Airways, Pan Am, TWA, another airline, and many more. In your country, I'm sure you're able to think of names that once you were very familiar with, but are no more. Or, to a lesser or greater degree, were challenged by a changing business environment. With greater competition, particularly on a more global scale, changing customer tastes and preferences, price, and cost pressures, and changes in the life cycles of their products and services. Here, we consider some approaches, some models, adopted by organizations to help manage the challenges presented by changing business environments. In week two, we considered the impact of a range of factors referred to as PESTLE factors. Political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal, and environmental. We also consider an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats through a SWOT analysis. In week three, we progressed to consider the nature and characteristics of products and services. In so doing, we investigate the product life cycle, what's known as the Boston Box. And Ansoff's Matrix, which looks at what to do when a product or service needs to be rejuvenated in its marketplace. In week four, we look at the work of Michael Porter, particularly his five forces model and his strategies for competitive advantage. Each of our sets of considerations is accompanied by explanatory slides, readings, quizzes, activities including reflective activities to help reinforce learning. We start by setting a context and an international one of that by looking at what it is that organizations do. Transforming resources as inputs into outputs for consumption. And we also look at organizational cultures, which impact upon that process. Again, we reinforce the learning with readings and other activities. [MUSIC]
