SQSM Oman Arab Bank

Introduction of the chosen organization

Oman Arab Bank SAOC is a great financial institution that was built in Oman in 1984 for presenting financial services for the Omani people such as loans services, depositing money, helping in establishing local projects and online services for money transfer and online purchasing. OAB has been expanding and developing its services to cope with the changing environment of the financial market locally and internationally and to increase its productivity and profitability depending on a strong operation management that is keen on developing the bank and achieving its organizational goals. The bank's operation management tends to provide innovative services of high quality to its customers including Islamic banking, investment banking, online banking, retail banking, trade finance, corporate and project finance and different ATM machines with the latest trends in credit, debit and master cards services for enabling its clients be able to make easy money transactions and different financial processes and projects with the help of the bank's services. The bank is also trying to meet the needs and wishes of its customers by applying new services they look for such as the Islamic banking services that was highly requested from the Omani society and the Arab world especially in the Gulf area.(oman-arabbank, 2016)

• AC 1.1: Explain the importance of effective operations management in achieving organizational objectives

Any business organization that seeks achieving its organizational goals should focus on having effective operations management as this can help the organization set its objectives clearly and plan to achieve them. OAB has main objectives which are providing customers with the most advanced and up to date banking services, reaching good productivity, achieving high profits and improve the bank's total quality levels. Operation management that is effective can enhance the bank's productivity by ensuring efficiency of all the bank's operations and plan for achieving its organizational goals; operation management should be the main tool that the bank uses to improve its total quality which is a major objective and this can be achieved if operation management is run by efficient managers who are well aware of their strategic roles, able to control the operations systems and can guide employees well for achieving the bank's organizational goals and are working according to the bank's vision and for achieving its values. As operation management is a functional business field; it should state each employee and manager's responsibility clearly and distribute roles fairly through an organizational plan that is timely scheduled and are set according to what is required to achieve the organizational objectives. In Oman Arab Bank, operation management is used in an efficient way to ensure sustainability of efficient work as the bank's operations management focuses on running all the bank's activities for the purposes to achieve the organizational goals as resources of the bank such as human resources are chosen carefully to ensure having talents and experts who are skilled and have advanced training in different relevant banking issues that may develop yearly and require such skills and experiences to cope with the development occurring in local and international changes in banking and financial markets. (Mahadevan, 2010)   

• AC 1.2: Evaluate the success of existing operations management processes in meeting an organization’s overall strategic management objectives

Managing the business operations is the most important managing process as it helps the business organization meet the overall strategic management objectives through the different processes involved within operation management and these processes need to be efficient and inclusive for all the business's activities. OAB depends on its operation management processes to achieve its strategic management objective as there are special operation managers who are responsible for decision making, planning, motivating employees and organizing work as they set the bank's objectives as the main target that activities of the bank are all going around  and they are also responsible for stating the activities meant for achieving the objectives such as dealing with the bank's clients, presenting the services, advertising the bank's services and offers and controlling the online banking services and ATM machines services as tasks are distributed to each department of the bank; the bank also depends in its operation management on partially decentralization in order to enable head departments to act as operation managers and guide employees towards achieving the bank's total strategic objectives. OMA also depends on delegating authorities as power is delegated among employees and managers in order to enable individuals to work as operation managers in the future and to have good relationships with their managers and the work which enables them to achieve tasks effectively yet the bank is also asked to achieve continuous evaluation for the processes involved within operation management in order to maintain sustainable efficiency of such processes and the bank can get aids from the time to time auditing processes in addition to evaluate the delegation of power and authority processes in order to get effective operation management processes. ( Barnes, 2008)

• AC 2.1: Explain the importance of effective quality management in achieving organizational objectives

Achieving the organizational objectives require the business organization to have effective quality management as quality management can ensure quality in all areas of the business and ensures the products or services are presented to clients on high levels of quality in a way that meets customers' expectations and may exceed them. Effective quality management in OAB is considered very important as quality management in the bank cares for establishing the policies, processes and procedures that are connected to all the business activities following the latest and most updated quality standards in banking services as the bank management is keen on ensuring the continuous maintenance of its ATM machines and online sites in addition to presenting new banking services related to loans systems and new banking systems such as Islamic banking that depends on Shariaa and has different systems for interests and deposits and loans that suit the common requests of Muslim customers for this Islamic banking service. Oman Arab Bank has added quality management practices that are suitable and coping with the international quality standards in order to enable its clients to enjoy services that are highly needed by the current financial society such as the service of SWIFT codes for money transfer among countries of the world and Oman in order to facilitate money transfer among banks of the world easily and with high quality and reach customer satisfaction by having services with the least risky potentials which helps achieve the bank's organizational objectives. Effective quality management can help the organization realize any demerits and then to find solutions for them as in Oman Arab Bank, the operation management makes regular observation and monitoring on the different tasks and this helps in identifying what employees really lack and how to support them in order to fill the gaps in skills and experiences as this can be done by training them either inside the bank or outside it. (Evans, 2016)                                    

• AC 2.2: Evaluate the success of existing quality management processes in meeting an organization’s overall strategic management objectives

In Oman Arab Bank, there are quality management systems that are based upon making regular check on different quality areas in the bank as the bank adapts a quality management process that aims at achieving high quality levels on all services and operations of the bank; the bank's existing quality management processes are based on achieving the bank's overall strategic management objectives by identifying certain techniques for measuring quality such as international ISO standards applied on banking systems and other testing solutions such as the Paragon software as the bank licensed FASTest for POS (Point of Sale) from the Paragon Application Systems (Paragon) in order to simulate and test the bank's used ISO 8583 financial message formats in the bank's payment infrastructure. This custom POS format was set by Paragon for OAB for supporting the bank's unique specifications.( paragonedge, 2014) The bank is then measure the quality levels in all its operations in order to improve the quality levels and it follows different criteria in making such evaluations such as the Evaluation of quality culture that tends to enhance the culture of quality in the bank, Efficiency of process criteria and the Evaluation for principles of sustained success management as this tends to ensure sustainability in all areas of quality in the bank. The bank uses auditing techniques to measure the degree of quality applied in all its processes and then applies evaluation on resources and materials to measure the costs and profits gained by evaluation. (Evans, 2016)                                

• AC 3.1: Plan a strategic quality change to improve organizational performance

According to Weinmann, (2016), in order to plan a strategic quality change for improving the bank's organizational performance; there are main steps that are important to plan this strategic quality change which are:

1. Making Categorization for OAB preliminary position.
2. Applying monitoring and measuring for the bank's position.
3. Checking the plan's direction.
4. Making efforts for achieving the plan's objectives.

The first step to apply such a change via a plan means to make deep assessment for the bank's quality change process in order to make effective analysis for the current strategic quality situation for the bank and identify its good and bad sides and reasons behind them. Then comes the next step which is progress monitoring and measuring for the bank's position and the plan's progress as quality management is to be checked from time to time in order to make sure that quality is done as required and according to the set measures that ensure achieving the organizational strategic objectives. After that comes the third step which is to check the direction of the quality application and to make sure that change is going into its right and desired way to achieve desired outcomes associated with achieving the organizational objectives and evaluation can be done by following methods to measure quality management in accordance with the international quality standards. The last step or part of the plan is to make sure that all efforts are exerted to assert quality assurance and to make sure that the plan of quality change is done perfectly and effectively in order to make sure of its success. (Balding, 2011)     

• AC 3.2: Define resources, tools and systems to support business processes in a strategic quality change

For defining resources, tools and systems that can support the business processes in a strategic quality change, it is important to stress that these three categories form the strategic quality change. Resources, according to Nickols, (2016) resources in OAB are those financial resources and human resources; the financial resources in the bank represent a great stability as it is a financial institution that need to have enough money, enough different types of currencies to satisfy the needs of the market and clients. The human resources are those employees and managers who support the quality change as they represent the manpower and the talents that the bank invests in and they the second priority in the bank's main assets after its financial resources. (Brown and Seidner, 2012) Tools can be defined as being the main techniques and values used to apply quality change in the bank as the techniques can represent the quality perspectives that help the organization achieve the needed quality levels while values are other tools that human resources depend on as they should have the values that are considered the tools that enable them apply quality change and ensure its sustainability. Systems are defined as the programmed plans set for satisfying customers and meeting their needs as this in general relies on the bank's resources both financial and human as they can with the effective tools achieve the perfect strategy quality change.  (Balding, 2011)     

• AC 3.3: Evaluate the wider implications of planned strategic quality change in an organization

In OAB; the planned strategic quality change has many wider implications and can be evaluated using the quality control, value manufacturing and operation management as the quality control can evaluate the strategic quality change as it can set a level of quality to measure the planned strategic quality change through checking the different activities of the bank such as the new services and how well they are presented to the clients and to measure the clients' satisfaction and at the same time the employees' satisfaction as it also sets measure for employees and makes different estimation tools to check the employees' and clients' satisfaction such as interviews, reports and questionnaires. The value manufacturing is another tool used by Oman Arab Bank for evaluating the implications of the planned strategic quality change as it checks the values employees have regarding quality and the bank's management makes regular checking on the ways employees use in asserting quality change through the plans set by the bank and this shows that the bank's employees are following the plan and its objectives. The plan set for OAB to achieve strategic quality change depends on operation management to integrate both quality control and values for the purpose of evaluate the implications of the plan by employing operation management activities to do this evaluation; in OAB the implications are all regarded through the activities of operation management. (Evans, 2016)                                

• AC 3.4: Design systems to monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an organization

In order to design systems for monitoring the strategic quality change implications in OAB, it is important to find a type for the design as well as the processing of developing the bank's services and strategic quality change implications as the four design systems for OAB can be the product design, the process design, the layout design and the network design, the product design system can be related to a certain product such as retailing banking service or Islamic banking service as the bank can focus on this specific service and monitor its implications in particular and check if they are done according to the required quality levels. The process design system can also be applied on services of Oman Arab Banks as it can be applied on the materials used to present the service such as the financial assets and on the methods of applying the service such as the way human resources deal with their customers and on the finishing of delivering the services such as profits that are presented to clients as all these processes should be checked and be done on a specific level of quality. The layout design is that design system that is related to where the service is delivered as it is related to demographic features such as those of Oman and the people living in Oman as for example, there should be specified for different social scales and categories as the quality of Islamic banking for example, can focus on including all the required activities to present high quality Islamic banking service that satisfy the clients and meet their needs. Layout can also refer to political conditions or geographic ones. The network design is another system that assimilates the previously mentioned four systems and it is based on making a network for connecting these three systems. (Hoyle, 2007)

 AC 4.1: Implement a strategic quality change in an organization.

For implementing a strategic quality change in Oman Arab Bank; it is important to make it effectively and have stated steps to follow as the first step can be having full awareness of the different business processes and then the next step comes that is analyzing those business processes and activities and making sure they are done effectively and on a high level of quality assurance and the third step is to make a comparison between the current processes and methods applied for the quality change and what was done in the past related to the processes and activities as the comparison will show that the progress rate the change is going on and how far the differences are between the current quality levels and the past ones in order to identify the performance gap and then to fill it which is the last step as this gap of performance must be filled through training employees on following the new levels of strategic quality change and to achieve their tasks on higher quality levels. (Braken, 2000)

• AC 4.2: Embed a quality culture in an organization to ensure continuous monitoring and development

In order to embed a quality culture in Oman Arab Bank for ensuring the continuous monitoring and development, it is important to include it into the bank's strategic plan for quality change and this culture should be applied on major parts which are the bank's vision, mission, values, strategy and goals. The bank's mission that represents the current position of the bank and its efforts done to improve the performance and reach higher quality as mission of the bank should reflect the level of quality that should be reached when the organizational goals are achieved and when the bank's objectives are fulfilled. The vision that should be realized and followed by all employees of the bank should also reflect the quality level as it can enable the bank's management to monitor if employees are applying the strategic quality change planned for and the vision can tell what employees need to do in future according to the quality change process and plan. The strategy of the organization should all reflect and represent the new quality levels required and all employees and managers should work according to this strategy in order to make development easy and outcomes represent the bank's goals as goals of the current stage the bank is encountering should also reflect quality that is needed in future to achieve the development and objectives of the bank. (Merrill, 2009)  

• AC 4.3: Monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an organization

In order to monitor the implementation of the strategic quality change in Oman Arab Bank; it is good to follow the four steps included in the implementation process and to monitor work in each step as at first all employees should be aware of presenting the business's process in the quality level needed for the change and they have to be asked about the new skills they have to master to implement the change and each of them should be evaluated and reports to be written about their performance. The business processes should be analyzed and then the work should be estimated by comparing it and monitoring it to write the main points that can describe the gaps in past work and current needs and after that all employees should be trained and divided into training groups based on the outcomes and the gaps found. (Merrill, 2009)

• AC 5.1: Evaluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an organization

The strategic quality change planned and applied in Oman Arab Bank can be evaluated according to the goals required to be reached and the levels of quality needed to be reached according to the improvement made in the bank's general and specific quality according to the different activities and missions done in the bank. Efficiency as well as effectiveness should be the basic and main measures that the evaluation focuses on as quality change is meant for developing them and filling the gaps in quality. OAB has developed its quality through the strategic quality change as resources should be investigated in order to check if they all have been used properly and effectively to improve the quality levels as the cost structure of the bank should be checked, profits should be measured and compared to last year profits as they have to be more and higher. The design and system of change can help the bank reach the best outcomes and satisfy customers as they have to be asked and their satisfaction can be measured through interviews and questionnaires in addition to calculating the number and scales of customers to check who joined the bank and made use of its services based on the new quality change. The system should help the bank reach competitive advantage and customer satisfaction as this can be measured through outcomes and profits in addition to the sustainability that should be applied on all activities and processes of quality. (Nickols, 2016).

• AC 5.2: Recommend areas for improvement to a strategic quality change that align with organizational objectives

Oman Arab Bank needs to improve its strategic quality change in order to meet the organizational objectives, raise productivity and profitability and reach both customers and employees' satisfaction in addition to reaching competitive advantage as the bank has to focus on sustainability of the strategic quality change on all areas of the business and to make sure that the new quality culture is well communicated among employees of all levels in order to make sure that they all work according to the new quality change mission and values as this will help in achieving the strategic goals and the organizational objectives. The bank is recommended to improve its internal and external environments that are related to the local and international financial markets. It is also asked to make more analysis for the Omani market such as the PESTLE analysis that can help in recognizing many areas related to the Omani market and to know the changing environment related to the banking industry as this analysis can show what changes occurred related to the social, political, economic, legal, environmental and economic areas in Oman which will help in updating the strategic quality change and make it coping with the new changes in the Omani market in the future. The bank is also recommended to evaluate all the levels of the strategic quality plan in relation to resources such as implementing it on the financial resources and checking how far it was useful to enhance the bank's capacity in relation to this resource as well as the human resources in order to check how far the human resources reacted to the strategic quality change and the implementations of it as this will help in developing the resources aligning with the change and in a way that makes it better when it is applied in the future and it can also fill the gaps of the current situation of the bank and its future situation. This can increase the bank's opportunities in being unique in Oman and perhaps open new markets or enter in new joint ventures with other international banks in order to gain better international opportunities and more success. (Balding, 2011)

Corporate Social Responsibility Oman Arab Bank

Introduction

Oman Arab Bank is a leading bank based in Oman and is considered one of the most important financial organization working since 1984 when it was first established.  It is an institution that has many clients who receive financial services such as keeping their money in the bank, doing bank transfer, investing in the bank, taking loans and other various activities. The bank is privileged with strong organizational structure which has good human resources that are considered among the bank's basic assets that the bank is investing in. The bank is established for serving Omani and non Omani people who live in Oman, it has many branches with a headquarter in Muscat city. The bank has a vision and goals that tend to provide its customers with all available services that can meet and satisfy their needs of financial service. The bank's policy is based on innovation as the bank is coping international banking system with the modern technologies of banking operations such as online services and ATM services as the machines of the bank are found everywhere in Oman to serve the public. The current assignment is discussing the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to Oman Arab Bank towards stakeholders and how the organization is applying CSR roles. The assignment will have an evaluation for the challenges of business ethics and its implications to Oman Arab Bank stakeholders in addition to providing a discussion for the theories of business ethics in relation to employees, consumers and government and how the theories are applied to the challenges. (Urip, 2010)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its roles towards shareholders

CSR is a mechanism related to organizations and it is self regulated and relevant to how the organization considers society, global ethics, environmental principles, legal standards and customers' compliance. It gives due care for both primary and secondary stakeholders. CSR importance has been understood by today's companies as a major means of enhancing the value of shareholders. Shareholders are major stakeholders in any business organization. CSR is the constant interest of a business organization to keep ethics and rights and quality of life to all stakeholders including the whole society. Yet this should be done with keeping CSR roles towards the business shareholders who are among the most important stakeholders of the business. There are some roles involved with CSR towards shareholders such as:

1. The economic responsibility towards shareholders

Shareholders needs are basically the company's revenue and good returns that should be kept and not reduced. CSR has a role in keeping the company's economics are stable through giving due care to what customers really need, maintain a high level of quality, monitor the hygienic measurements of the company's products, ensuring safety and security in all operations of the business and keeping an adequate level of legal background in all the business processes. All these factors help raise customers' confidence in the business services and products which in turn raises their activities with the organization and this in turn raises profits and revenues of the company which is a main goal of shareholders and one of the CSR responsibilities to be achieved towards shareholders.

2. Providing shareholders with a space of decision making

Most companies shareholders consider CSR as a constraint against their freedom to take decisions related with labors, workforce, funds or other relevant matters but this is not true as CSR is giving shareholders their usual rights of taking the decisions they think are good to their business and can increase its successfulness and achieve the goals of the business but at the same time shareholders should do all this without causing any harm to employees, the environment, ethics of the business and society rules. CSR is not meant to stop shareholders from sharing in the business operation methodologies but they provide them with the right way used to take decisions with having all the freedom regarding the business. (Mullerat, 2010)    

3. Being business oriented

This means that CSR works hard to reach a synergetic result through turning corporate resources to be suitable for issues and problems of the society that are coping with the business core values and mission so as not to let CSR affect the business movement and reduce revenues or profits of the company.

4. Being understood and trustworthy

Some shareholders of companies complain from the CSR being vague, difficult to be realized by them, having no clear goals, wasting the company's resources and is not deserving their trust.  Among the responsibilities of corporate social responsibility is to have a clear corporation approach and is able to engage shareholders in its activities in order not to put pressure over management that tries hard to make shareholders realize the vision and goals of CSR and how it can help the business upgrade. (Strauss, 2015).

Evaluation of the organization's application of CRS principles and practice and their implications for the organization's stakeholders

Basic CSR Principles of Oman Arab Bank and how they are implemented by the bank's practices with the bank's stakeholders

Respecting Human Rights

Oman Arab Bank respects human rights according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the bank's stakeholders' rights are well maintained through the practices of the bank as for example, the customers' personal data are well preserved and secured, their rights in receiving respect and good care and in complaining are ensured by the bank's management. Other stakeholders such as shareholders have also their full rights of decision making, participating in the business operations and receiving their profits clearly. The bank also care for the society, people and environment rights that are related also to human rights through sharing in charity associations and social events and provide Omani society with aids. Employees rights are all ensured with good salaries, respect, health care and suitable environment.

Maintaining Sustainability

The bank is developing its business to be profitable and participating in local communities' events in order to achieve the bank's goals of organizational success along with social development. For example, in 2014, Oman Arab Bank was the sponsor of Salah Tourism Festival and this is done yearly by the bank to affirm its believe in CSR. This strategy is based upon the deep knowledge of CSR management in the bank as all about Oman society is discussed and realized through consultants and authorities and the social information is being available to the bank's staff in order to arrange for important events. (Observer, 2014)

Keeping  Diversity

Oman Arab Bank doesn't make any discrimination of any level in all its processes, operations and events as there aren't any discriminations between any people on bases of religion, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, race, disability, education or any other discrimination can occur to its stakeholders whatever they are. Respect is shown to all people and equity is ensured, for example, the bank is providing its services for all people from all nationalities with the same level and the bank is having an Indian service as being tied up with an Indian banking service to provide easy access to the bank by Indian resident in Oman and also other nationalities. (Omanarabbank, 2015)

Dialogue

This is basically based on letting the company enter into an open dialogue with all stakeholders in order to reach a general overview of the needs and requirements of stakeholders and work hard to meet them. Managers of OAB tend to use this with employees and customers as well through discussing the problems and complaints of them and reaching solutions for them. 

Integrity

Integrity is maintained on all levels of the bank through honesty and fairness in the bank's dealings as bribery or corruption is not found and the bank is enjoying a good reputation. Selectivity is a principle to be practiced with all operations of the bank as the best quality services are only used and provided to customers and the best HRM policies are used with all employees in addition to shareholders' care. This is implemented through the bank's works with government and with the civil society as well.  (Smith, 2011)

Discussion on the theories of business ethics

Descriptive theory with relation to employees, consumers and government

Business ethics can be discussed according to many theories such as the descriptive theory which refers to the ethical phenomenon, describe it and tell how people behave and why judge things to be good or bad. The descriptive theory of business ethics refers to employees and how they react to business situations in a good or bad way. It discusses the methods used by employees to deal with customers, their demands and how they attract those customers to purchase a good or a service. Descriptive theories also describes how consumers' behaviors can affect the business and lead to its failure or success according to different measurements of the market and different conditions. These descriptive theories discusses the role of governments and how they can affect the business, their laws, legislations and attitudes that can also improve or worsen a business. (McDonald, 2014)

Normative theory with relation to employees, consumers and government

The normative theories of business ethics are those theories that provide general principles and rules of business behaviors and relate them to many reasons. They include are the stockholder theory, the stakeholder theory, and the social contract theory. The shareholder theory discusses the social responsibilities through enquiries about people's well being, charity or social activities. It investigates how the company can share in such activities and in improving people's well being in order to attract more consumers as the major goal of any company is profit. It also discusses the nature of products and what consumers prefer, what the nature of consumers is and what are their demands. It discusses employees' needs and demands and methods to meet them and motivate employees in order to make them bring more profit for the business as profit is very important to the business. The theory provides an idea of how managers can be tools for inspiration for all employees in order to raise the business success and value. It also provides means of dealing with the government such as trying to reduce taxations by reducing activities that take lots of money from shareholders and are not increasing profits such as social events that are not important or famous enough to bring spent money back to the business. It supposes that governments should be the responsible for helping the public not shareholders and that the government duty is to help peoples of the community and when the business does this, there should be increase in its reputation and fame that may increase success and profits. (Hasnas, 1998)The stakeholder theory addresses all values and morals relevant to organizations' management. It deals with all stakeholders such as employees who are the corporation stakeholders and how they should be cared for by management through motivation and recognition. It provides an idea about the employees and the behaviors they should follow to get the best of the business. It also shows how consumers think and how the company can consider them, provide them with services and extra care through meeting their needs when producing a product or launching a service. The social contract theory is very old as it is a philosophical prospective assumes that there is an agreement between people and society about how to care for each other. As a business ethics theory, it regards business as a monitor for people's and society's norms, traditions and values. It sees employees as a part of the whole community and society where consumers is another part and government is a third part and all these parts should co operate. The business with its employees should follow regulations and governmental rules and employees should interact with the consumers as being a part of one society.(Fernando, 2009).     

Applications of the theories with the challenges

Banks are usually facing challenges related to business ethics such as providing clients with loans that the bank cannot afford, corruption issues, stealing, malpractice, embezzlement or other financial problems related to ethics. Oman Arab Bank is applying many principles of the pre mentioned theories in order to face and avoid such problems which are considered scandals. The bank follows the normative ethics theory of the stakeholders theory and the bank depends on a strong business model in order to face problems of risk taking. As managers and employees are both stakeholders, the bank develops a model of relationship between all stakeholders that is build on an open dialogue which declares all matters and reveal everything to the banks' shareholders. The bank is also employing the shareholder theory by revealing all the banks' operations to the shareholders and putting them on great responsibility in front of managers in order not to let them or some of them be involved in a fraud action without the knowledge of others shareholders. The bank puts consumers in an advanced priority with regard to following all governmental rules and laws which can control the bank's transactions, load systems and all other financial processes. The bank has a very strong management that is able to understand and evaluate the market, its size, needs of consumers, the banking and financial services they need and all relevant matters that reduce the risks of choosing wrong customers to get into big investments or important projects. Cost benefit analysis are made by the bank to know all circumstances of the business and measure it according to its costs and benefits. The bank also considers itself as an integrated unit within the society and realizes the risks that may affect the business as being related to worldwide ethical problems or local ethics. This helps the bank reach a good level of quality, trust and confidence to all its clients and among other banks in Oman and in the area as a whole.  (Wehinger, 2013)

Conclusion

To conclude, it is important to refer to how the business management of today developed to include intelligent strategies and modify them to suit the world conditions and the new technologies and concepts to be applied in business such as corporate social responsibility and how it can be applied. CSR is related to all the entity's stakeholders and to shareholders as a segment of those stakeholders. CRS has main principles that can be practiced and applied through a wise management system that understands the nature of all stakeholders and never neglects each of them. Business management also cares for the business ethics and how employees deal with the work and the customers so there are many theories to be applied on the business ethics in order to reach an acceptable level of ethics implementation within the business organization. Oman Arab Bank is a model of the business organization that knows the Corporate Social Responsibility as well as the business ethics as being shown above. The bank applies CSR within its business model in order to reach a good level of consumer satisfaction and a good level of profits that the bank's shareholders are seeking.

Managing and Leading Change

Introduction

Change management in business organizations is a process where individuals, organizations, teams and groups are all engaged in a shifting work for reaching a desired goal or state which is different from their current state and that can bring in more comfort or success to the business. Change can occur to individuals themselves, the organization structure, the methodologies used by the organization or in any other relevant area of the business. There are many stages and phases involved within the change process as change cannot occur suddenly, there are three main phases which are the first phase of preparing for the change which involves the preparation process, assessment process and strategy development. The second phase which is managing change involves planning for the change and implementing it and the third phase which is reinforcing change that involves collecting data about the change and make needed corrections. The current case of US Cellular Corporation presents how change can be ineffective and it suggests inquiries about reasons behind this as in the company there was a problem of the overload of emails that are sent between customers and co workers and the company's employees as when the CEO decided to make Thursday is free from email work, employees complained of the increased work load and problems. The current assignment is discussing how change management can be performed to improve the business performance through discussing types of change, analyzing the company's change and challenges, discussing leadership and change perspectives and making a plan for change management. (Reiss, 2012)

Analysis

Managing business change requires many things to be considered and this is important when the change is either big or small. At first, the business organization should identify the type of change it is going to involve its individuals in. Identifying the change's type helps in setting a good change plan and how to guide the business's human resources towards achieving the change. Types of change are three main which are the developmental change which is based upon steps that are performed for improving the current procedures and processes of the business in addition to making human resources well acknowledged of the way to implement the change and deal with any difficulties that may appear as a result of that change. Training is very important for the developmental change as employees should be well trained to achieve it. Another type of change is the transitional change which occurs to replace a current process within the business with new one or with new group of processes, this type of change is difficult when it is to be implemented and in most cases, it leads employees to feel discomfort with it. This type of change needs an assessment for the benefits and losses that may occur as a consequence for the change in addition to learn about employees' opinions about it during implicating it and providing employees with the required training. There is also the transformational change which is made to turn the business totally from a certain framework to another new one. Market changes can be a factor that leads to performing this type of change. (UAB, 2015) US CEO decided to make a change within the company in order to relieve workloads from the employees as each user of the emails used to send 150 messages and more daily. The change he suggested was to make Thursdays free from using emails at all and called them "No email Thursday" rule as this rule meant that on Thursdays employees have to meet and phone customers or answer them face to face and not on emails, this change was a transitional change as it occurred to replace a practice with another within the work program and it was difficult for employees who really felt uncomfortable with it as some of them told the CEO that the work was easier before and now they and there are challenges both the CEO and the employees face regarding the new change followed. The changes made in the US Cellular Corporate were all in the way work goes and this is very relevant to the employees themselves, their work and the way they perform it. The CEO had to discuss the changes with his employees before implementing them, he should have asked them if the change would help them or not and how far. The current situation of being puzzled whether to continue the ban on emails on Thursdays or not should reach a solution such as training employees for this situation by training them on organizing the day and meeting a limited number of customers this day, for example, as it is impossible to meet the same number of people who used to send emails. It is the fault of the CEO from the beginning as he should have trained employees on how to prepare themselves for this day and how to react with the public as he should have expected this reaction before, another important thing is that the impression of one employee is not enough so the CEO has to make an open discussion with other employees and recognize their opinions in order to make the right corrections for that situation. (Riley, 2012)

Leadership is very connected with change perspectives as leadership is the main drive for changes as managing a change is the responsibility of managers who should ensure business stability and the best results consequence from change implementations. Leaders are responsible to make effective acts that lead to the right changes. A manager   or a leader should have a model for change to follow when implementing a change so, for example a three steps or a four steps model should be followed by the leader to ensure correct results. A leader can choose a four steps model that begins with identifying the current situation well, its constraints and all possible alternatives and then try to learn reasons behind employees dissatisfaction with the current status, after that the leader has to choose the most suitable alternative and discuss it with employees and train them on performing it and how to face the challenges that may appear as a result of implementation. Implementation plan is important after choosing the right alternative as it can set stages of implementation and how to face the challenges.(Myers, 2012).  Navigating change is very challenging for managers and leaders as the shift can cause perplexity in the work routine and employees can find difficulty in following the new changes as the change process may affect the employees' emotional response.  The CEO could not predict this because the nature of people's reactions is not usually predictable, yet some expectations and discussions could have solved the current problem or even suggested some solutions for it.  Leaders should manage change through finding out the suitable perspective to deal with change and is relevant issues, the leader should consider change from two perspectives, from that of employees and that of the organization as change affect them both. The barriers to implementing the change should be declared and discussed and the discussion should include all employees who are going to implement the change in order to know what can help face the barriers and get the best results for both individuals and the organization as change should be done for making both of them more satisfied. (Kadir, 2014).

The current situation of the US Cellular Corporation can be solved if the CEO understood his role in change management as his role should be more effective as a leader than what is found in that case. The CEO should be more close from his employees, understanding their needs, desires, complaints, wishes and requirements.  A CEO should realize if the changes he is going to do are suitable for the work environment or not and I they would meet employee satisfaction or not. A good suggestion for the current situation is that the CEO should hold a meeting with all employees in order to discuss the change with them and set the challenges and barriers they confront while implementing the change and recognize the real reasons behind the dissatisfaction of some employees who think the esrealize that employees' training will be effective as perhaps they lost the skills needed for that task of meeting and phoning customers and co workers facto face so some training will be useful. Another important action to be done is organizing the work hours and dividing employees on new teams for that day in a way that really results in relieving the workload and leading to their job satisfaction in order to work less hours than they used to do before and meeting a reduced number of customers and co workers as this number should be limited for urgent cases only. Another solution is to assign two or three employees only to check emails at that day because some urgent emails are sent because the people sent them could find difficulties in reaching employees face to face. (Harrington, 2006)

 The following table sets a communication plan for continuous change management on employee and managerial performance at US Cellular Corporation.

KAC (Key Areas of Concern)	Objectives	Activities	Responsible Person	Time Frame
A meeting	-To know employees satisfaction level with the change. -To learn about employees complaints	Dividing the employees into groups and each group has a pioneer to talk representing the group.	-The CEO. -The leader of each group.	-The meeting time is four hours divided on two sessions with a 15 minutes break between the two sessions.
Implementation Plan	-To set stages of performing the change. -To make change easier.	-The employees provide a report for the manager about the way they prefer to implement change with. -The manger prepares the plan with the help of some employees.	-The CEO. -Employees.	One Week for receiving reports and preparing the plan.
Training Employees	-To make employees more able to master skills of meeting customers face to face.	-The CEO divides employees on groups to receive training inside the organization.	-The CEO.	Two Weks.
Evaluation	-To assess results. -To make correction.	The CEO makes a meeting with employees after implementing the training course to assess the situation.	-The CEO.	Two hours meeting.

Table 1 A communication Plan

The table1 shows how the CEO can prepare a communication plan in order to make better relationships with his employees so as to recognize their reactions and feelings towards the change and if they are able to do it or not. The CEO can hold meetings for recognizing and discussing employees' opinions and suggestions regarding the situation. An implementation plan should be made in order to divide time and employees and set stages for change implementation. Training should be provided for employees and then evaluation should be made to measure success and employees' satisfaction about the new trend in change implementation. (Paul, 2008)

Conclusion

Change in business organizations is very important as it can lead to more comfort within the work environment and raise employee retention so it should meet the goals it is made for or it will work against work success. Change management needs high effectiveness leadership at the CEO of any organization should master communication with his employees and learn if the change is suitable and helping for them or not. This can help the CEO make the right corrections or follow the proper procedures to deal with the change and make the proper implementing plan and communication plan to reach the organizational goals behind the change. Any CEO should learn that change needs to be done according to main stages and these stages are important for ensuring the success of the change. Another important thing is to identify the type of the change before implementing it. Leadership should be basd on understanding the change perspectives and how change is processed by the employees who may need training to do the desired change.  This situation is suitable for US Cellular Corporation situation.   

Master card Case Strategic Management

Introduction

Strategic management is a sort of management systems that depends on top managers of an organization and the methods and strategies they follow to implement the business goals and what initiatives they take in order to regard resources and assess different environments related to the organization in order to produce better business results. It provides the company with a direction that includes its objectives specified, resources allocated and plans which are set for them. There are different models for helping managers follow strategic management in decision making according to the company's competitive environment. There are also theories that explained strategic management context and how it can be implemented. The case is providing a description of how Mastercard's strategy in management changed when the company turned to be a public corporation in May 2008. Training plans changed and strategic planning replaced old planning methods by Rebecca Ray the new senior vice president of the company who followed three learning maps in the new training plan it set for the company. These three learning maps included one that was called "universal opportunity" that describes the competitive landscape of the company and its opportunities and challenges related to the industry, the second was called "How we make money" that related to the financial models of the company, the third was called "new climate, new culture, new company" about how to implement the company's strategy as a public company.  The current assignment is aiming at discussing the strategic management operation through the case of Mastercard and evaluate its key process, it also analyzing the theories of corporate strategies used by Mastercard and it will show the strategic plan needed to hold the event.

Analysis and content

Key process of strategic management   

The strategic management process is a complex business approach which refers to how managers can think strategically and then implement the thoughts into a process. All the employees should realize the strategic management process and recognize its stages that are goal setting, analysis, forming the strategy, implementing the strategy and monitoring it. Goal setting is tended to declare a certain vision for the business through defining objectives for the business which are short term and long term ones, it also provides an idea about the way objectives are accomplished and this stage also distributes roles and tasks on employees. The second stage is analysis which is a very important stage as this stage includes getting the information that will decide the next work as much information is collected in this stage in order to form the business vision and it focuses on the business requirements and identifying the main initiatives which can be used in order to let the business grow and develop. Analysis discusses the factors which could affect the business goals and the business's strengths and weaknesses. The third stage is formulating the business strategy in which information is used to decide the business's resources that can lead to goals achievement. The fourth stage is strategy implementation which is related to the business success as it is the stage where actions are taken to perform the process of strategic management and it needs a suitable business structure and in it responsibilities and tasks of each employee are well known and recognized and security is done on the business resources and funds and then execute the plan. The last stage is the evaluation stage where the implemented strategy is to be evaluated and then control actions are done such as reviewing the business issues, performance measurement and then to make any amendments required. (Sadler, 2003)

Key process of strategic management applied by MasterCard

MasterCard has turned to be a public company and this forced the company's management to change its management methodologies into strategic management that depended on a large single learning event that included a strategic management key process that involved many stages such as setting a goal for the new changes the company is going to face and preparing a plan for making employees ready to deal with the changes and to make them ready for the new tasks of the business and then there was the Road Map to the Future which included seminars in 110 workshops executed in 36 cities in a time period of three weeks. Employees were to be trained by the best human resources trainees and managers from many areas all over the world; they were assigned to teach the employees how to deal with the new changes the company is encountering and the meaning of a publicly traded company in addition to explaining to them the related issues to the matter. Then the company divided the strategic training plan into three phases as each has its goals and implementations. This strategy included many parts of the major stages and elements of strategic management process such as having a clear goal which is preparing employees for the new framework of the business, planning for this and training employees but this needed an evaluation stage to measure results and decide what was right and what was wrong and make the needed corrections. These corrections should be made according to the errors occurred and the difficulties that the business faced during the change achievement operations and its phases. (Case Study)

Theories and Perspectives of corporate strategies

Corporate strategy has been explained by the complexity theory which sees that corporate strategy is a comprehensive work that all the business employees and managers should share. It focuses on the central strategic choices companies should take and how the corporate strategy should create competitive advantage and raise the level of corporate performance. This theory suggests that the role of corporate executives in achieving the corporate strategy central choices and adopting its complete perspective.( Eisenhardt and Piezunkal, 2015) Another theory is the multi business corporate strategy theory which suggests that the company should have many corporate strategy and not only one in order to reach corporate advantage and increase profits. There are also many perspectives that explained how corporate strategy could be used by goals, resources, structure and managers to reach competitive advantage such as the industrial organization theory which refers to how industries can enhance the economies and raise profits. (Baso,1995). Another is the transaction cost theory, the agency theory, the resource-based view, growth strategy perspectives, market segmentation strategy, real option theory, the dominant logic and the institutional theory. They all set a framework for explaining a relationship between the goals, resources, structure and managers to improve the company's performance. These theories are prepared to raise the company's value in order to make more profits and have better human resources who are able to bring in more success for the business through understanding the work more. Planning and strategy are explained through these theories in order to provide the company with a new overall view of leadership which can bring about new results and preferred unexpected results. (Fujii, 2014)             

Payment card industry embodied in MasterCard Worldwide can grow through following certain corporate strategy that is appropriate for the industry and helps it become more advanced. MasterCard is following perspectives of corporate strategy which are suitable and successful. Business growth requires a suitable corporate strategy so MasterCard uses a business growth strategy that begins with the market insights which can be brought by specialists and consultants of strategic marketing in order to achieve changes within the business structure and develop methods for ensuring a flow of the insights of the market for business. For MasterCard, growth is a must and not an option so sustainability should be assured to make the growth profitable. The theory of market segmentation is very important for MasterCard as segmenting the market is used by the company to target its opportunities in different areas where there are places that have specific purchasing and business modes that can suit MasterCard and its policy and clarity.  A segmentation strategy can help the company identify its relevant segments relating to place and customers types around the world. New market entries are discovered everyday by MasterCard as this leads the company to new areas of services in the current and potential markets. (Hunt, 2014)An integrated strategy is followed by MasterCard to develop the company's growth as strategic managers are responsible for performing all suitable perspectives and theories of strategic management in order to reach competitive advantage and raise the company's growth rate. By following this, the company is using all its managers to reach a growth point for the business in order to reach all levels of strategic management such as the corporate level, the business level and the functional level through each level managers. (Hill et al, 2014)

Strategic planning is very important for the business as it tells what the organization scope will be according to long term plans and the plan can organize both scope and direction of the organization with the company's resources, customers, different environments, the changing market and suit them according to the expectations of stakeholders. A desired future is explored and set within a strategic plan as it draws a vision for the business and then translate it into a number of certain goals and procedures to implement them. Each stage of the plan should be prepared and discussed by the business's managers and employees who should realize how to implement the strategic plan. There are different types of plans such as the short term plan which has short term goals and vision for a short period of time such as five years as a maximum; these plans are suitable for businesses that are implementing new schemes and results are not very clear. There are also medium term plans that are longer than the short ones but not very long at the same time and they can be applied on a longer period of time, there are also long term plans that are prepared for long times and have deeper goals and visions which are always comprehensive. Some businesses can mix between two of these plan types or even the three types together in order to reach the desired business goals easily and clearly. Evaluation is a basic step that should be implemented for each plan type. (Burkardt, 2007).

As there are different strategic plans to be used by business owners and managers to achieve the organizational goals such as the short term, medium term and long term plans; MasterCard  would need long term planning which should have main characteristics such as having a deep future vision that looks at the future insights and suggests better future solutions for the current problems and obstacles. A long term plan involves continuous improvements that add value to the business. Yet this long term plan should be divided into phases and each phase has a specific period time in order to enhance the evaluation process and the correction procedures. The company's environment and structure should be considered within such plans. The event of turning MasterCard to a publicly company requires a plan that has the three phases, the short, the medium and the long term plans. Time frames should also be regarded while setting the plan and the plan should have clear goals for all employees in order to be easily implemented. Expected outcomes should be discussed and should have a criterion to be achieved according to. Long term plans are more suitable for a big company such as MasterCard because permanent solutions are better to increase the company's competitive situation in all different environments. Long term plans examine all various expenditures such as procedures, facilities and equipments that the company uses to achieve its main goals. MasterCard can reach its competitiveness if the long term plans were well divided because this can help increasing the effectiveness of evaluating the company's situations. (Alder and Kay, 2005)       

Conclusion

To conclude, it is important to state that strategic management is very important for any business corporation as this management can help the business increase its share in the market, achieve its organizational goals and implement any needed changes for a future phase that includes new innovative ideas. Successful managers can work all together in order to achieve the goals of the business. Strategic management key process depends on the business goals, vision, resources, structures and managers or executives who can be specialists, trainees or managers themselves. Strategic management process should be implemented according to the business needs, market environments, human resource capabilities and relevant issues that may affect the future of the business. Business strategic Management requires strategic planning which can combine all business relevant matters into a plan and a vision that can be implemented by all the business managers and employees in order to bring in more clients and profits for the business. The current paper is providing an analysis for strategic management and how MasterCard company implemented it in the event of turning the company into a publicly corporation as employees were trained in order to understand the new framework the company is going to work according to. The company depended on managers and executives for the strategic plans the company can following order to reach the goals of the business and implement new techniques properly and bring the best results for the company.   

Different types of infrastructures

Introduction

Infrastructure refers to the main systems and structures that are used for serving a country's economy and they are the facilities that are used by the public for facilitating their services related to an industry or a business, they help the economy to develop and are important for the function of that economy. Infrastructure can be defined as the physical elements composing interrelated systems in order to provide services and commodities needed for enhancing and sustaining the living conditions of the society. Tervala and Ganelli, (2007) In Oman, there are different types of infrastructure and they are very important and necessary to the country's economy such as the four types discussed here which are roads and high ways in Muscat, Sultan Qaboos Port waterfront-Muscat, Sohar port terminal OICT and roads and highways in Sohar. They are discussed through the effect they leave on the Omani society and economy and how to face the challenges suffered by the government as a result of them with recommendations to face such challenges.

Problem statement

Infrastructures in Oman, Sohar and Muscat may cause a challenge against the work the Omani government is doing to provide the people living in Oman with the best services and facilities via such infrastructures and this requires hard work and effort to be exerted by the government to face such challenges.

Chapter 2

Discussion

1. Roads and high ways in Muscat 

More than 25% of Oman’s 2.7 million residents live in the Muscat which is the Capital city of Oman. The economic growth of the Sultanate is very strong which increased vehicle ownership and this lead to a sever traffic congestion along roads and their junctions. Although the different done development to Al Sultan Qaboos street and turning it from a track road to a carriageway to a six-lane configuration, traffic problems are still found till the Sultanate tried to make the Muscat Expressway in 2001 which is 54-km-long (33.6-mi-long) which alleviated congestion of traffic and provided access to areas that were hard to be reached which helped develop the economic growth of the area through an efficient transportation network that serves development. The project provides socioeconomic and environmental benefits through reducing congestion across the capital area and reducing times and distances of travel. The country worked hard to overcome different challenges such as lack of car parks and expensive materials for making the way by establishing appropriate construction specifications and using high-quality local products as well as employing the best regional talents to apply the project in less costs and higher quality. (Parsons, 2016)

2. Sultan Qaboos Port waterfront-Muscat

This is a project that the government is doing with the help of The Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) that is doing the project in Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront in Muscat which aims at transforming the commercial port of Sultan Qaboos to a development that is based on tourism and this means the place will include touristic areas such as hotels, malls, business zones and other tourist attractions in addition to different facilities for yachts and cruiseliners. The first plan for this development was made in 2015 and is meant to finish in 2020 on four main phases with the help of private sector investors.

3. Oman International Container Terminal at SOHAR Port

This new facility is made to solve many problems such as loading heavy loads on ships and other automation problems as it allows the remote operation of recently installed quayside cranes which have enough reach to load and unload 20,000 TEU ships. The OICT helps in accessing of vessels to Sohar Port and enables large containers to enter the port easily without long waiting times.  It helps increase cargos and ships movement in Sohar Port. The growth is efficiency and size of OICT opened different gates for ships and cargos and opened a new gateway for the whole Gulf area. (Soharportand freezone, 2016)

4. Roads and highways in Sohar - Sohar Highway Interchange (Oman)

The Globe Roundabout in Sohar was a very busy junction and an important one that connects Oman's No. 1 and No. 8 highways. The roads there suffered high traffic flow and to solve the problem a reconstruction project was established to improve busy and heavy traffic flow which is a flyover which is very long was established to carry Highway No. 1 across the junction. The project included a process of converting of 4 km of highway from having four lanes to have six lanes which enabled many people to pass and this reduced congestion on roads. The flyover, consists of twin parallel structures and it was opened in 2014. This project was established by the Omani government to reduce traffic jam in Sohar roads and to enable more cars to pass. (mageba-group, 2016)

Chapter 3

Finding discussion

The Omani government faces many challenges in creating good infrastructure in Oman especially in Muscat and Sohar as they are the biggest cities in Oman and these challenges include the continuous demand for development in infrastructure and how to meet the needs of people and business investments occurring in the two big cities. The government tries to focus on highways, roads, ports services in order to develop relevant services presented for people and businesses and this represents a big load over the government as it needs workers, engineers and talents who are able to present the best developments that can help the economy, business institutions and individuals. Challenges are also in the financial support needed for such great and huge projects as the government suffers huge amounts of money needed for developing such infrastructure as money is needed for workers in these projects and for the materials needed to present the projects in its best images. Challenges can be also in the need for experts who can provide the projects to match with local and international standards of quality and safety and to avoid any errors that may make the project fail or need more development in recent future. The government also suffers the growth of the Omani population and incomes which lead to more people who need more services and more infrastructure developments.  

Conclusion and recommendation

In conclusion, it is important to refer to the need and importance of infrastructure in any developed country as infrastructure represents the level of quality and advance the country has. In Oman, the government is trying hard to develop its infrastructure especially in big cities such as Muscat and Sohar as the government is doing different projects such as roads and high ways in Muscat, , Sohar port terminal OICT and roads and highways in Sohar in order to develop them and find solution for different problems related to them. It is recommended that the Omani government asks help from private sector companies such as in Sultan Qaboos Port waterfront-Muscat project as this reduces the financial loads over the government and provides it with workers and experts. The government is also recommended to focus more on using the local resources including materials and human resources instead of using foreign ones as this can help in reducing the problems of exporting these resources or looking for them abroad.

International Marketing Coca-Cola

Introduction about the company and its products

The Coca-Cola company is an international beverage company based in the USA. It is a manufacturer for soft drinks and syrups and it has many branches and subsidiaries all over the world but its headquarter is found in Atlanta, Georgia. The main product of the company is its fizzy drink, Coca-Cola which was made by John Stith Pemberton who was a pharmacist in 1886. The company followed a franchised system of distribution that began in 1889 as the company used to distribute its concentrate to other worldwide bottlers. Coca –Cola company acquired lots of brand throughout time such as Minute Maid, Thums Upin and Barq's. Coca-Cola had made its first try to manufacture a diet soft drink which was Tab in 1963. There are many soft drinls produced by the company such as Fanta andSprite. In South Africa, there is Valpre which is a sparkling and Stillwater. The company also produces healthy products such as minute made juices, Dasani mineral water, Fruitopia fruit drink and Nestea which is a favored ice tea. Coca-Cola is considered a bestselling company for soft drinks internationally and it almost shares the market with Pepsi in addition to other minor competitors. There are other products for the Coca-Cola company such as its green tea called Enviga issued in  2006 and Glaceau which was bought by the company in 2007 and produced flavored water and burn energy drinks. The current research is discussing how Coca-Cola company used internationalization in all its business operations and an evaluation and analysis for its strategies and the impact of social and cultural factors on the target market. (Wirtz and Dominguez, 2013)       

Company's rational behind internationalization

Internationalization is a basic goal that the company worked to achieve since its beginning and to achieve it, it followed global diversification. Internationalization was a major goal for the company to achieve for various reasons such as building a strong background of customers and fans all over the world, raising its share in the global market and increase the profits of the company, stressing the importance of the brand and having different subsidiaries all over the world in order to affect national life and be a part of everyone's life and shares in the happiness of the whole world. Internationalization has been a major target for Coca-Cola so as it could enable the company to control the global market and business of beverage and drinking all over the world. Internationalization was to raise the chances of Coca-Cola to have a worldwide impression and prevail in all countries of the world as a formal drink for occasions and happy times. Internationalization was a way to connect the whole world via a drink that can express the feelings and desires of worldwide nations and cultures. Internationalization was meant to enhance the company's image among other companies and competitors. (Vrontis, 2003)         

Mode of entry

Some strategies the company uses to invade global markets in different areas and countries of the world such as:

1. Licensing

Franchising was a major strategy to be followed by the company as many countries around the world have subsidiaries for Coca-Cola with its brand, experience and concept. Turnkey contracts were also used by the company as large factories were built in different countries for Coca-Cola and their employees were prepared to represent the company internationally. 

2. International agents

Agents were used in the different countries where the company's products were used globally as there are agencies and individuals that the company made deals with in order to distribute its products locally. Distribution using agents is a good strategy the company follows because it is cheap and practical as those agents work hard in order to receive a omission for the distributed number of products and at the same time Coca-Cola still has the control over those agents.  

3. Joint Ventures

The company made very good joint ventures with other companies in order to produce new products that can find popularity among the customers such as that joint venture made with Nestle in order to produce the company's Nestea which is a tea with flavors and iced.

4. International Subsidiaries

Coca-Cola company has many factories in different countries all over the world as this policy was used since the beginning of the company's history in order to establish subsidiaries that work for the company's welfare and make more profits and increase the popularity of Coca-Cola around the world. 

5. Exporting

There are many subsidiaries related to Coca-Cola and there are other places where there aren't subsidiaries for the company so exporting strategy is followed there as the main company sends them readymade drinks and juices and water in order to keep its nationalization there where the people should be well acquainted with Coca-Cola brands and products.  (Mok et al, 2002)

Evaluation for the marketing mix strategies adopted by the company 

Coca-Cola has a distinguished marketing mix strategy that depends on many factors related to demographics and geographic elements related to the company and the areas where it manufactures, produces and distributes its products such as the following evaluated ones:

 Product

The company concentrates on its main products in a way that can produce a diversity of outputs that can be easily marketed and can suit all types of consumers as the company has about 3500 types of products such as 1000 types of juices that come in different brands such as Hi, C, Odwalla, Fuze, Simply, MinuteMaid  and Fruitopia. There are a variety in fizzy drinks such as Cock Zero and Fanta and Sprite. Mineral water is also produced such as Dasani and flavored water. The company also produces ice teas with fruit flavors and power drinks. The great variety made by the company lead to its success as an international beloved company. 

Price

Coca-Cola is a leading company in providing suitable prices and sales and offers that attract its customers to more purchasing processes and raises the brand's name among consumers of different nationalities all over the world. Prices are set according a pricing strategy depends on matching prices with products and keeping a competitive advantage over other market rivals.

Place

Coca-Cola tends to keep its existence in most countries of the world and trying to be the best and participate in worldwide actions and events such as the World Cup for football and others. Distribution depends on targeting the most crowded areas in the world and assigning agents there who are able to reach as many places as possible and distribute as many products as possible and get commissions for this.

Promotion

The company is following a policy of advertising which is very successful as it chooses the beloved local land international actors and singers in order to make them provide its products professionally and bring in more customers through the commercials and other advertisement ways.  (coca-colacompany, 2015)

Coca-Cola Brand positioning and advertising strategy

Coca-Cola has been originating its brand in the global society by being an international company that depends on producing the best drinks all over the world and it insisted on raising a value of the product in order to position its brands at top of all soft drinks all over the world. It has been even used as a mix with wines to make different tasty cocktails. The brand was strengthening through advertising which was effectively used by the company. Since its beginning the brand of Coca- Cola was the most common in American movies and cinemas all over the world. During time periods the company has evolved from simplicity to comprehension as a global brand.  Advertising in Coca -Cola has followed a smart strategy of advertising and promotion which depended on spreading everywhere, realizing people's needs, desires and ambitions. This strategy depends on studying each market and discussing its main components as a community and a society at first. There were worldwide commercials that depended on making the brand strongly affecting the global world and sharing its events and festivals. The company used to put big budgets to be spent on advertisements as, for example, in 2013, the company spent about 7% of its annual revenues estimated with 3,37 billion dollars on advertisements which included loyalty points programs, in store activation and point of sale marketing. (Bailey, 2014).

Competitor analysis

Coca-Cola has been always a major competitor to Pepsi as the market is almost divided between them with a little share to other companies such as Schweppes. Coca-Cola has many competitive advantages such as the delicious taste, original shape of the bottle, different tastes and different products. An example is the company's products in a country such as India where Pepsi and Coca-Cola are the most sold products of fizzy drinks and juices. The company was founded in India in 1886. The company has lots of products in India such as coke, diet coke, thumps up, sprite, limca, maaza, fanta, Georgia and Kinley. The two companies can be compared as follows:

Feature	coke	Pepsi
Parent company	Coca-Cola company	Pepsi company
Sales	450 globally	324 million globally
Distribution	Retailers, stores	Retailers, stores
Market share	57,8%	35,6%
Number of bottles plants	26 owned by the company and 16 franchised	15 owned by the company and 28 franchised

Table 1 Coca Cola Pepsi Competitor Analysis

It is clear that the company has a competitive advantage over its main competitor Pepsi and this makes it having very good chances there to increase its sales and profits. (Shinde, 2013)

Social and cultural factors impact on the target market in an international environment

The market is usually affected by social and cultural factors that international companies target in order to market their products in these markets and reach internationalization easily. Different markets in different places affect the process of products marketing as there are different in each market which could be social or cultural such as religion, traditions, norms, economies and languages. Competitiveness is based on realizing such differences and considering methods to deal with them in order to understand the nature of customers and the way they think of products and what the best ways to reach them as a brand through recognizing the local nature of the people. Coca-Cola was successful in doing this as the company understood the nature of each people it deals with and this is clear in the commercials and advertisements which differ from a country to another. (Writers, 2012) An example on this is avoiding using wines and alcoholic substances to be produced in any country that rejects them such as Islamic countries and avoiding commercials that may be rejected there. Another thing is that the company considers differences in languages so each product is advertised in the language where it is distributed. Religion is also considered in the way the products are served and distributed and marketed as the company for example presents special offers for the customers in Islamic countries in Eids and shares the happiness of people in their Eids with new promotions and offers.  Language is considered highly in Coca Cola's innovation ideas for bringing more customers such as the idea of writing names of people on the cans as the names are written both in English and in the language of the area where the cans are produced and distributed and the nature of names are also regarded as names found on cans in the Gulf area differ from names on cans in Egypt or Tunisia for example. This shows how Coca-Cola was intelligent and still is in its methods of distribution and marketing for its products to apply internationalization effectively.(Umar, 2015)             

The factors that influence the decision in developing distribution channels internationally

1. Factors related to the products' features

Features of any product can decide the market that needs development by the company to work as an international distributor so the product should be well analyzed and studied by the company in order to recognize its main merits and demerits. This can help for choosing the channels of distribution, the types of advertisements, the suitable services that should be chosen to be presented for the customers and if the product fits those customers or not. For example a product such as Coke zero which is made for those who suffer obesity should be presented in the areas that have high obesity numbers of people such as the Gulf area where this product is well welcomed and preferred by most people. (Dent, 2012)

2. Factors related to the company's features

The company has certain main features such as production size, reputation, policy and strategy and these factors affect the decisions took about the channels used for distribution internationally. The strong reputation and good name of the company helps it reach any area that it seeks. Although Coca-Cola is common in more than 200 countries around the world, the company can use its name and strong brands to market them in other areas around the world. 

3. Factors depending on the characteristics of the customers

The successful business should study the features off consumers who are the customers in order to choose international channels easily and correctly. Location of the market and amount of purchasing can decide the channel where the products can be served.

4. Middlemen considerations

Middlemen characteristics should be well studied by the company as they should be recognized and the company should set a policy for dealing with them in each channel and each channel should have a different plan with middlemen.

5. Factors depending on characteristics of the environment.    

The environment can decide what the best channels are and what strategy should be used in each environment as each channel can be included under environment's circumstances such as laws, government taxations and legislations that should decide the easiest and most convenient circumstances to decide the channel. (Scribd, 2015) 

Conclusion and findings of framework analysis

Coca-Cola is a company that sells its products of beverages and soft drinks products all over the world for many countries all over the world as it is among the best sellers in the world in many areas. Internationalization is a major concept that the company considers a great interest in order to vast its prevailing around the world. There are many factors decide the process of internationalization. The company’s mode of entry depends on many major points such as licensing, pricing and others. These main points decide the mode of entry the company follows. The company is competing with other companies such as Pepsi in many points. There are factors that decide the channels the company choose for distribution and these factors should be carefully chosen in order to raise the company's profits through internationalization.