No Organization Without Business Management

There’s No Organization without Business Management

Business management plays a crucial role in everyday business operations. Business management involves planning, organizing, resourcing, directing, and controlling an organization for the purpose of accomplishing goals (Reh, 2007). The success or failure of a company is highly influenced by the business management skills applied. Business management skills also affect international business. There have been opposing viewpoints on the necessity of business management. However, I believe business management is essential for companies to function adequately nationwide as well as internationally and to maintain an efficient workforce.

Business management has shown significant evidence for contributing to the prosperity of firms. American Express is an example of a successful company which utilizes business management skills. American Express has organized, resourced, and controlled all of its own operations since its founding in 1850. American Express has a detailed plan of its target merchants, small businesses, and corporations. It has developed distinct marketing programs for each segment. In the merchants segment, American Express focuses on convincing new merchants to accept the card and on managing relationships with those who they already do business with. For small business customers, American Express has created the OPEN Small Business Network. Small business cardholders can access the network for everything from account details to expense management. Finally, for larger corporate customers, American Express offers a corporate card program. This card includes travel management services, asset management, retirement planning, and financial education services (“American Express”, 2008).

Business management has contributed to the success American Express has had for many years. American Express throughout the years has been able to spread nationwide because of its ability to manage resources, plan objectives, and organize the entire business to support customers (Armstrong, 2006). American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other express companies. For example, the two former companies Wells and Fargo have merged with American Express. Today, American Express is estimated to be worth 20.87 billion U.S. dollars. This could not have been accomplished without their well established business management skills (“American Express”, 2008).

Music Zone is an example of a business failure as a result of poor business management skills. Music Zone was a music retailer in England. It had thirty-seven branches of the company, which was formed in Levenshulme in 1984. By 2006, Music Zone was collapsing, consider weak, and loosing profits. Fopp, a rival retailer, announced its take over of Music Zone by the beginning of 2007 (Ebert & Griffin, 2005). Music Zone managers lacked the ability to set a good example for their employees. Managers didn’t set schedules for employees or themselves and failed to provide set goals and criteria to be met. Managers didn’t show that they valued their employees because no set standards were made. Lastly, Music Zone failed to meet deadlines and retain strong relationships with customers. Thus, demonstrating how the lack of proper business management skills affects a company (“12 Key Reasons Why Companies Fail”, 2008).

Business management greatly influences international business. IBM is a company that implements appropriate management skills to market and operate in other countries. IBM has been known through most of its recent history as the world's largest computer company; with over 355,000 employees worldwide. IBM holds more patents than any other U.S. based technology company. It has engineers and consultants in over 170 countries and IBM research has eight laboratories worldwide. IBM employees have earned three Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, five National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. As a chip maker, IBM is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders (IBM Redbooks, 2004). IBM would not have gotten to the level of success it has today without the business management skills it possesses. IBM has effectively targeted specific corporations and small businesses. IBM has set a standard of approaches and objectives that all employees have to meet. All IBM managers work together by sharing ideas and recommendations for the company while looking for new ways of satisfying customers (Armstrong & Kotler, 2006).

No company can function nationwide or internationally unless proper business management is implemented. Business management enables companies to focus on a target industry, build strong relations with customers, and efficiently manage the company as a whole. The need for business management will always be a critical