Xerox
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As far as companies go, you won’t find many listed in the dictionary as a verb, an accomplishment of which Xerox is very dignified. Xerox is best known for its photographic, photocopying, printing machinery, and computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing. Though Xerox has been struggling in the business game as a result of restructuring disasters and difficulties, CEO Anne Mulcahy is doing her utmost best to see that Xerox make the transition from previously defunct to future dominant and global leader in the electronic printing media industry. The Bangkok Post relates what helped her critical success factors was vision. She committed her vision of the companys future to paper: not with a traditional vision statement, but with a fictitious Wall Street Journal article describing Xerox in the year 2005. “We outlined the things we hoped to accomplish as though we had already achieved them,” said Ms Mulcahy. “We included performance metrics – even quotes from Wall Street analysts. It was really our vision of what we wanted the company to become.” Xerox has gone a long way to making its vision a reality. “Looking back on the article now,” she said, “Id say weve already accomplished about 80% of the things we set out to do.” After thorough research and analysis, I am confident that I can assist in giving Ms. Anne Mulcahy recommendations to be implemented to effectively and efficiently shape the future of Xerox’s organizational entity. These recommendations deal with the Internal Environment, the Task Environment and the General Environment. For the Internal Environment I chose the issue of management. This is important and vital because managers are key players on the executive team. Research has found that effective human resource management
has a positive impact on strategic performance, including higher employee productivity and stronger financial results (Daft). In the direction of the Task Environment, I decided to focus on competitors. As The Wall Street Journal article reads, “The new competition illustrates how rapidly changing technology can force companies to challenge corporations that once moved in parallel universes”. It only strengthens my belief that competition is a true driving force of a companies’ financial success in the way in which they deal with it. Lastly, with regards to the General Environment, I chose to concentrate on technology. Technology can transform and change and organization, leading to increased efficiency, effectiveness and innovation. If Ms. Mulcahy integrate these recommendations that I have outlined, she would be taking Xerox to the next level and also removing it from any financial and economic hardships it has seen in previous years. These plans, if implemented accurately, would also expose Xerox to a new realm of the business world, allowing it to be at the top of the corporate game and ensuring a positive business relationship with anyone that deals with it.
The ever changing climate in the business world these days require managers to be on top of their game and always ready to face some type of crisis or situation. The current CEO of Xerox, Anne Mulcahy has been the driving force behind change and the establishment of new avenues and policies to get the company back on its’ feet to financial success and freedom. This isn’t an easy task and it certainly can’t happen overnight. Anne Mulcahy, as well as other top level managers within Xerox are all employing their managerial skills and functions such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling to gain ground and re-establish itself in the competitive market of photographic print media. Employing professional and successful management team members allow Xerox to be able to recuperate in times of economic and financial distress.
Another key player in the corporate environment for Xerox is the role of competitors. Though Xerox has been faced with continued challenges by their competitors like Canon Inc. and Hewlett Packard Company for example, Xerox stays on top of its’ game with continuous research and development strategies and to help them continue successfully, I can suggest that they employ competitive strategies, to keep up and ultimately boost sales and consumer growth. The