Quiz Quiz Quiz!!

1.         1.Two disadvantages of partnerships.

-      Decision process is slower/harder – you have to stand behind the decisions that your partners does

-      The profit is divided by the number of partners

-      If your partner is in dept, you will be in dept

o  IN PARTNERSHIP NO LIMITED LIABILITY

o  ‘LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP’ they made something like this.

   

+ Partners need to have COMPLEMENTARY SKILL SETS (they should have different skills, for instance one can be good at marketing/advertisement, the other one should be good at finance – they should complete each other)

2.       2. What is limited liability?

-      It is a principle - protection to the investor if the business collapses – if your business collapses, you pay the money left in the company, not the whole loan, if you spent it you cannot give it, they cannot take your personal assets (unless you agree that they can)

Lender: he lends you the money, after a while he takes the money back; there is an interest amount as well. So you have to give the money back to him. Doesn’t own a part of the company (difference between shareholder and lender)

Shareholder: owns a part of the company rather than simply lending money

PE funds (Private – Equity (capital))  - funds that are basically contributed by people who have a huge amount of money – they look for ideas

Business angel: only interested in you business

Venture Capitalist: usually part of PE fund – he is considered about finding good companies to invest in

SME (Small Medium Enterprise) –

4.     Two reasons why a public sector is needed

            -The government wants to keep sources such as minerals and the untrustable things such as defense under control

-The private sector might lack capital so they want to control this

Out sourcing: For instance, Levis jeans are manufactured in China instead of USA. Denial of responsibility – make them do your job

-The public sector is able to provide goods at a lower cost

Private investors have no reason to provide public good because of the free rider (using something and not paying for it is a free riding problem) problem.

Education, schools, museums, health services, and libraries: MERIT GOOD – everybody need them but everybody cannot pay them – generally considered to be good for everybody – but the private sector cannot make it for everybody – so the public sector provide such services               –education- if they didn’t most of the people wouldn’t be educated, because they don’t have enough money 

So here is my mixed notes. I took these notes while we were reviewing the quiz. Out of these notes, 'Limited Liability' made me think for a while. It is obvious that it is an opportunity for the investors of the business. However what made me think is, the lenders does not have any advantages out of this 'Limited Liability'. Due to this Limited Liability, the investors are paying only the money left in the business when it collapses. So what happens to the lenders? They are not able to get the whole money they have invested if the business collapses. If they do not make a deal with the investors, they will be in loss. So why would a lender lend money to a company while knowing that there isn't any guarantee to get the money back? Of course there is the positive parts of this as well. If the business is successful, they will get the money back. This is obvious, but doesn't this limited liability make the lenders lend money more difficult. They have to think twice before lending money to a business because it can be a huge risk. 

On the other hand, I don't believe that the lenders should be able to get the personal assets of the investors, but I think a middle way should be found. 

Environmental and Political Opportunities and Threats of a School

Environmental:

threat: to much use of paper causes damage to environment, consuming too much energy, constructing a new road

strategy:

increase the amount of boxes to recycle paper in class, reduce the energy loss by using energy-saving light bulbs, using the roads that already exists or plant more trees 

opportunity: recycling, plant trees, collecting funds to help the environment(global warming, deforestation.. etc)

strategy:

they can increase the recycling boxes, collecting funds for plantation, do much more of funds from students and teachers to help environment

Political:

threat: using a different curriculum, changing the program when an inspector comes, self-managing( if it is not appopriate for the government)

strategy:

use the curriculum government gives, planning a proper program at the beginning so they don’t change later, it has to be proper for the government too( not too irrelevant)

opportunity: private (not depending on government for financial resources), not choosing a political side, more freedom in school managing, having students that have different types of religion (muslims, jews, christians )

strategy:

using money from Koç foundation, it is not only for one group of people where they choose the same political side, being independent and relaxed to run the school as they want

'Specialization is good, but not that good'

       The dictionary defines specialization as concentrating in a certain field. For example, a math teacher specializes on math. So how can we relate this to business?

       Specialization is connected to the size/scale of organizations. Actually, it is directly proportional.  The bigger the company is, the more you need specialists and departments. Departments only exist because you have specialization fields.

       In my opinion, specialization is an advantage for companies. For instance, in the Kellogg’s case study, we saw that Kellogg’s only works in its specialist area, manufacturing. By concentrating in only manufacturing, they can manufacture better products and provide better services to their customers. Even though I strongly believe that specialization is good for companies, I agree with Mr. Sen also. He said that, if you, as a company, specialize too much, you can’t see the other connections between your job and other things. Well, I agree with this statement either. If a company is not aware of other sectors, it might have some difficulties. So, I ended up agreeing with the statement; ‘specialization is good, but not that good.’ 

System Diagram

Soooo, the example that helped me to understand this diagram better, was the school example. What was that school example?
      Inputs: In a school, inputs are desks, boards, chairs, teachers, students, books etc.
      Throughput (process): This is the education process. Students are educated and they graduate.
      Outputs: The students that graduated, the money they earned.
      Feedback: Actually all outputs are counted as feedback. For instance, the students who graduated, their success and comments are the feedbacks.
According to these feedbacks, our teachers and deans are able to analyze themselves. So it is a cycle, the feedback turns into an input and it continues like this.

Let’s catch up! Our diagram from the 4^th of October:

So how did we end up with this diagram?

We started the class by discussing whether ‘profit’ is the purpose of a business organization or not. To be honest, I taught it was; however the perfect example that Mr. Sen gave, made my understanding of a business purpose clearer. So I will explain my way of understanding, by using Mr. Sen’s example. Profit, for a business organization, is like eating, for people. So profit is not the purpose of business organizations; it is an essential factor for them to survive. Profits are required as a means to the purpose, not the goal. In other words, without profit, business organizations cannot continue working. It is the oxygen of businesses. After making this clear, we concentrated on the purpose of a company. If you’re looking at the purpose of a company, you must look at its mission. The purpose of a business simply defines the reason of its existence. The purpose of a business reveals the big picture of it.

After jumping from topic to topic, we ended up discussing about entrepreneurship, and that’s when we drew this diagram. We listed some of the qualities that an entrepreneur should have. An entrepreneur is the person who starts and manages a business. So an entrepreneur should be brave. She/he should be taking risks, in order to have a greater income. Other than that, they have to be innovative and creative. We supported this idea by giving ‘Sultanahmet Koftecisi’ example. This ‘kofteci’ is the combination of ‘fast food’ and ‘Turkish food’. It was an innovation, at the time it was created, and it is still very successful.

Actually this diagram fits for an IB student also!!

Rubric for our blogs

With my partner Oya Goksahin, we made this rubric for our blogs:

	Excellent  (5)	Good (4)	Satisfactory (3)	Mediocre (2)	Poor (1)
Engaging	The blog is very original, has great ideas supported with great comments. It is also visually great and attracts the readers.	The blog is original, has very good ideas supported with very good comments. It is also visually very good.	The blog is satisfactory, has ideas supported with comments. Colors are often used.	The blog is unsatisfactory, rarely has ideas and comments. Colors are rarely used	The blog is not original, doesn’t have ideas, nor comments. No colors or any other techniques are used to attract readers.
Informative	Information provided is excellent and is correct. It is also supported with other great resources and very accurate comments are made.	Information provided is very good, and it is mostly correct. It is also supported with other good resources and comments are made.	Information provided is good, but often not correct. It is also not supported with enough resources and mostly inaccurate comments are made.	Information provided is not good, and most of the time it is incorrect. It is supported with a few resources and inaccurate comments are made.	Information provided is irrelevant, and is incorrect. It is not supported with any resources and there are no comments made.
Persuasive	Fully concise and accurate interpretations. Rational comments, connected with the topic.	Almost fully concise and accurate interpretations. Generally rational comments and connected with the topic.	Often concise and accurate interpretations. Often-rational comments and mediocre connection with the topic.	Almost inaccurate. Mostly irrational comments and almost no connection with the topic.	Inaccurate. Irrational comments and no connection with the topic.
Language	Completely clear, logical and appropriate, using relevant business terms. Almost no errors.	Almost clear, logical and appropriate. Using some relevant business terms. Some small errors.	Often clear, logical and appropriate. Using few business terms. Few errors.	Almost unclear and inappropriate. Using almost no business terms. Some errors.	Unclear and inappropriate. Using no business terms. Full of errors.

Online Dershane

Today I had a chance to talk about the Busines&Management course with a friend who is a senior right now.  After I made a quick summary about what we are studying, he shared one of his assignments with me. His assignment is about an ‘Online Dershane’, which Mr. Sen mentioned earlier in class today. I found the idea quite innovative and creative because it directly aims students and covers a common problem that most of the students have. However I strongly believe that this idea both has advantages and disadvantages. First of all, the system is simple, people who are interested become members of the website for one year. So it is certainly more economical and affordable. People will save both money and time by using this online database. The time they spend for transportation will be used for solving tests, which will increase the success of the student. On the other hand, this ‘Online Dershane’ cannot be used as a primary source because it is something new and people cannot rely on this source easily. So it is a risky attempt. However as Mr.Sen stated earlier in class today, one must take risks in order to be successful. The courage and determination is needed in order to form a new business. Overall, I think that this idea is innovative and it is worth taking the risks, because it covers a problem that almost every student encounters and it is a logical solution. 

The Osterwalder template

A)

1. Aren’t there any other models that people can take root from? If there are, what are the differences?

     -I’m quite curious about this because the idea of the whole world using the same business model is shocking for me. And if there are other business models, how do they differ from eachother.

2. Is this model the most accurate and common one?

     -I wonder wheher this business model is accepted by the whole world or not.

3. Does all companies use this business model?

     -I thought that each company had its own business model. Is it true that all companies plan their businesses based on this model.

B)

This model can be useful because it can be readily understood. People can apply this model step by step and achieve their goal. It is also logical and clear.

C)

In my opinion, this model can’t be applied to non-business organizations. This business model is based on profit whereas non-business organizations are not. This is why I think that this model cannot be applied to non-business organizations. 

Kellogg's Case Study

1.Name the three sectors of the supply chain. On what occasions could certain sections of the primary sector operate as retailers?

The three sectors of the supply chain are named as primary sector, which provides raw materials, secondary sector, which manufactures the product and tertiary sector, which provides services.

In general, tertiary sector operates as retailers. The function of this sector is, selling products to the consumers. On the other hand, the primary sector mainly provides raw materials and sends them to the manufacturers. However there are some special occasions where primary sector can operate as retailers. For instance, some raw materials can be sold directly to the consumers, without completing the supply chain. It depends on the raw material. For example, coal can be directly sold to power stations or a fisherman can sell his fishes to customers who randomly pass by.

So in occasions like this, the primary sector operates as retailers.

2. Give three examples of how Kellogg’s demonstrates good supply chain management. How can Kellogg’s make improvements both for its business and for the environment?

Kellogg’s demonstrates an effective supply chain management. The main key of their success is that they work in their specialist area, manufacturing, to provide better products and services to their consumers. However there are some significant strategies that they follow which increase their success. Firstly, they have the right marketing mix. They produce the right product, which covers the needs of the customers. Moreover, they use a system called ‘just-in-time’, which is an efficient stock inventory system. They manufacture limited products to diminish warehousing costs. As a result, they don’t have a stocking problem. Furthermore, to lessen the waste of the company, they use an inventory system named ‘lean production. By the use of this system, they eliminate waste.

3. Why is it important for Kellogg’s to build good relationships with businesses in the tertiary sector?

The tertiary sector is the sector that brings money to the company. After completing the first two steps of the supply chain, they must sell the products they have in order to earn money and add value into their profit. It is essential for them to build good relationships with businesses in the tertiary sector because that is the step where they introduce their products to the world. Public relations are also important. If they are well-liked by the consumers, the tertiary businesses such as supermarkets, shops etc. would like to purchase the products of Kellogg’s, which would certainly help the company to grow.  

4. Evaluate the benefits of large manufacturers like Kellogg’s handing over the logistical side of their business to specialist companies like TDG.

Handing over the logistical side of their business to specialist companies creates an opportunity for Kellog’s to concentrate on the field that it specializes in. Since Kellogg’s is a manufacturer company, which means that their function is to construct products, they must operate on the area where they can do best. Trying to cover all the sectors of the supply chain would distract the company and would lessen the capacity.

Discussion:

1.   After reading this article, I understood that Kellogg’s strategy of only concentrating in it’s own sector is very logical and efficient. However, doesn’t having many companies working for their primary and tertiary sector cost a lot? Doesn’t it affect the profit of the company?

2.   Why doesn’t a huge and successful company like Kellogg’s doesn’t grow in other sectors?