Porter's Five Forces Model

This article examines the competitive dynamics of the audiovisual industry in the age of digital streaming platforms by adapting Porter's Five Forces framework. The rise of digital streaming platforms, driven by technological advancements and shifting consumer behaviour, has transformed industry structures, business models and competitive strategies, necessitating a re-evaluation of existing theoretical frameworks. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of industry developments, this article proposes specific adaptations for each of the five forces. Furthermore, it suggests incorporating policy and regulatory influences as a crucial sixth factor. The analysis reveals that market entry barriers now hinge on technological infrastructure and sustainability as much as financial capital; suppliers increasingly leverage intellectual property and original content creation as a strategic tool; consumer power is shaped by algorithmic personalization and recommendation systems; emerging substitutes arise from adjacent sectors such as video gaming and social media platforms; and market concentration along with centralized distribution models intensify competition. By adapting Porter's model to digital streaming platforms, this article provides a strategic roadmap for understanding the competitive dynamics and identifying emerging challenges and opportunities in the audiovisual ecosystem.

Aligning Information Technology (IT) with business strategies is crucial for improving operational efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs face unique challenges in achieving this alignment due to limited resources, technical expertise, and a rapidly changing technological landscape. This systematic review aims to assess the achievements and challenges of IT-business alignment in SMEs from 2014 to 2024, with a focus on the impact of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain. A systematic search of Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases identified 63 relevant papers.
Studies were selected based on their relevance to IT-business alignment in SMEs, and both quantitative and qualitative data were extracted and analyzed to identify key trends, achievements, and challenges. The review found that 74% of SMEs reported improved operational efficiency and 68% experienced enhanced innovation opportunities due to effective IT-business alignment. However, 59% of SMEs identified resource limitations as a significant barrier, while 45% highlighted a lack of technical expertise. Additionally, 35% of SMEs faced organizational resistance to change. Emerging technologies such as AI and IoT contributed positively to IT alignment in 60% of cases, though 30% of SMEs noted challenges related to cybersecurity and skills gaps. IT business alignment is essential for SMEs to enhance productivity and remain competitive in a dynamic technological environment. While the integration of emerging technologies shows promise, SMEs continue to face significant barriers, including resource constraints and technical skills shortages. Tailored frameworks, industry-specific policies, and targeted training programs are needed to help SMEs overcome these challenges. Future research should investigate the long-term impacts of IT-business alignment and explore strategies to increase its accessibility and effectiveness.

Aligning Information Technology (IT) with business strategies is crucial for improving operational efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs face unique challenges in achieving this alignment due to limited resources, technical expertise, and a rapidly changing technological landscape. This systematic review aims to assess the achievements and challenges of IT-business alignment in SMEs from 2014 to 2024, with a focus on the impact of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain. A systematic search of Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases identified 63 relevant papers. Studies were selected based on their relevance to IT-business alignment in SMEs, and both quantitative and qualitative data were extracted and analyzed to identify key trends, achievements, and challenges. The review found that 74% of SMEs reported improved operational efficiency and 68% experienced enhanced innovation opportunities due to effective IT-business alignment. However, 59% of SMEs identified resource limitations as a significant barrier, while 45% highlighted a lack of technical expertise. Additionally, 35% of SMEs faced organizational resistance to change. Emerging technologies such as AI and IoT contributed positively to IT alignment in 60% of cases, though 30% of SMEs noted challenges related to cybersecurity and skills gaps. IT-business alignment is essential for SMEs to enhance productivity and remain competitive in a dynamic technological environment. While the integration of emerging technologies shows promise, SMEs continue to face significant barriers, including resource constraints and technical skills shortages. Tailored frameworks, industry-specific policies, and targeted training programs are needed to help SMEs overcome these challenges. Future research should investigate the long-term impacts of IT-business alignment and explore strategies to increase its accessibility and effectiveness.

The increasing demand for operational efficiency in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) has sparked interest in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies. LSS integrates Lean's waste elimination focus with Six Sigma's variability reduction, offering a comprehensive framework for process improvement. Despite its potential, SMEs face unique challenges in implementing LSS, such as financial limitations and resistance to change. This systematic review evaluates the application of LSS in SMEs, analyzing its impact on operational, financial, and quality performance across different industries and geographical regions. The study identifies key success factors, barriers, and research gaps while proposing regression models to predict financial gains associated with LSS adoption. The review followed PRISMA guidelines, sourcing literature from SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Google Scholar published between 2014 and 2024. The inclusion criteria targeted studies involving LSS implementation in manufacturing SMEs. Data extraction included study characteristics, methodologies, and outcomes. A risk of bias assessment was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The synthesis involved descriptive statistics, effect measures, and sensitivity analyses. Out of 150 initially identified studies, 109 met the inclusion criteria. The findings demonstrate that LSS implementation significantly improves operational performance, with 77.98% of studies showing reductions in cycle time and defect rates. Financial outcomes, including cost savings and ROI, showed moderate to large effects, with 63.58% of the reviewed studies reporting cost reductions. Quality improvements were noted across studies, particularly in First Pass Yield, with 67% of studies demonstrating enhanced quality metrics. The geographic distribution indicated strong research activity in India (23.85%), the United States (6.42%), and Europe (5.50%). Both developed (46.79%) and developing (45.87%) economies contributed extensively. Key barriers included resource constraints (reported in 45% of studies) and resistance to change (noted in 31%). LSS offers substantial benefits for SMEs, driving process efficiency, cost reduction, and quality improvements. However, challenges such as limited resources and organizational resistance must be addressed for successful adoption. This review provides insights into best practices, highlights research gaps, and suggests areas for future investigation, emphasizing the need for customized LSS strategies tailored to the unique contexts of SMEs.

The increasing demand for operational efficiency in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) has sparked interest in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies. LSS integrates Lean's waste elimination focus with Six Sigma's variability reduction, offering a comprehensive framework for process improvement. Despite its potential, SMEs face unique challenges in implementing LSS, such as financial limitations and resistance to change. This systematic review evaluates the application of LSS in SMEs, analyzing its impact on operational, financial, and quality performance across different industries and geographical regions. The study identifies key success factors, barriers, and research gaps while proposing regression models to predict financial gains associated with LSS adoption. The review followed PRISMA guidelines, sourcing literature from SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Google Scholar published between 2014 and 2024. The inclusion criteria targeted studies involving LSS implementation in manufacturing SMEs. Data extraction included study characteristics, methodologies, and outcomes. A risk of bias assessment was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The synthesis involved descriptive statistics, effect measures, and sensitivity analyses. Out of 150 initially identified studies, 109 met the inclusion criteria. The findings demonstrate that LSS implementation significantly improves operational performance, with 77.98% of studies showing reductions in cycle time and defect rates. Financial outcomes, including cost savings and ROI, showed moderate to large effects, with 63.58% of the reviewed studies reporting cost reductions. Quality improvements were noted across studies, particularly in First Pass Yield, with 67% of studies demonstrating enhanced quality metrics. The geographic distribution indicated strong research activity in India (23.85%), the United States (6.42%), and Europe (5.50%). Both developed (46.79%) and developing (45.87%) economies contributed extensively. Key barriers included resource constraints (reported in 45% of studies) and resistance to change (noted in 31%). LSS offers substantial benefits for SMEs, driving process efficiency, cost reduction, and quality improvements. However, challenges such as limited resources and organizational resistance must be addressed for successful adoption. This review provides insights into best practices, highlights research gaps, and suggests areas for future investigation, emphasizing the need for customized LSS strategies tailored to the unique contexts of SMEs.

As digital technologies continue to evolve; small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly adopting Virtual Collaboration and Communication Technologies (VCCTs) to enhance performance in a competitive business landscape. This systematic review aims to assess the impact of VCCTs on SME performance metrics, such as operational efficiency, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction, by analyzing 41 studies selected from an initial pool of 662,422 records. The review also explores factors influencing VCCT implementation and barriers to adoption. Studies from 2014 to 2024 were reviewed, comprising journal articles (92.68%) and conference papers (7.32%). After rigorous screening, 41 studies met the inclusion criteria. The selection process included a risk bias assessment to ensure the reliability of the findings. The analysis revealed that operational efficiency improvements were the most frequently reported (68.29% of studies), followed by employee engagement (41.46%) and customer satisfaction (43.9%). Scalability was the most measured IT performance metric (41.46%), while user engagement appeared in 39.02% of the studies. Business sustainability and competitive advantage were highlighted in 46.34% and 41.46% of studies, respectively. Factors such as digital skills, organizational culture, and IT infrastructure were identified as critical for effective VCCT implementation. Nonetheless, financial constraints and employee resistance were prominent barriers. This review underscores the transformative potential of VCCTs in enhancing SME performance, particularly in operational efficiency and stakeholder engagement. A balanced focus on technological and human factors is crucial, with strategic planning and investment in digital capabilities driving success. Future research should focus on developing tailored models to maximize VCCT benefits, especially in cost-efficiency, sustainability, and innovation.

In recent years of technological advancements, the digitization of information has become a crucial factor for the growth and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in developing countries. These enterprises face a growing problem in accessing IT resources due to financial and lack of qualified IT personnel in their regions. This led to a growing interest in database and data warehouse technologies, which serve as foundational tools for organizing, storing, and analyzing vast amounts of data. This systematic review proposes to evaluate the impact of database and data warehouse technologies on organizational performance by employing the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, this review thoroughly synthesizes existing literature to identify the key benefits and challenges associated with the adoption of these technologies in SMEs. The proposed inclusion criteria were bounded by (1) publication date between 2014 and 2024, (2) research written in English, (3) research work focusing on evaluating the impact of database and data warehouse technologies on organizational performance, (4) research with a clear evaluation analysis of database and data warehouse technologies research framework. Following these guidelines, 150 eligible research studies were included. The analysis reveals a wide range of findings concerning the impact of database and data warehouse technologies. Key results include the identification of cost-efficiency trends, improvements in decision-making processes, enhancements in customer relationship management, and gains in operational efficiency. The findings provide actionable guidance for SMEs, policymakers, and IT professionals seeking to leverage these technologies to enhance organizational performance. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic review offers a comprehensive analysis that fills a gap in the existing literature on the impact of these technologies on organizational outcomes.

The retail industryʹs shift from traditional to online platforms has heightened the need for effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to improve digital marketing outcomes. SEO involves optimizing a websiteʹs technical and content features to increase its visibility in search engine results, potentially driving traffic, enhancing brand awareness, and boosting revenue. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of various SEO tactics on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the retail sector, focusing on key performance metrics such as website traffic, search engine rankings, conversion rates, and overall business growth. A comprehensive search was conducted across major academic databases, including Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, resulting in 102 studies published between 2014 and 2024. The methodological approach utilized both narrative synthesis and quantitative analysis to evaluate the quality and findings of the selected studies, following PRISMA2020 guidelines. The analysis shows that effective SEO practices, such as robust content marketing, technical SEO enhancements, and precise keyword optimization, lead to significant improvements in digital performance metrics. Specifically, up to a 30% increase in website traffic was observed, and keyword optimization improved click-through rates by 20% to 40%. The impact on conversion rates was more variable, with improvements ranging from 10% to 25%, influenced by factors like SEO quality and market conditions. Furthermore, integrating SEO with digital marketing strategies within e-business models enhanced operational efficiency by up to 15% and increased revenue growth by 25%. However, biases in the literature, such as the selective reporting of positive outcomes, may affect the overall reliability of these findings. While SEO strategies effectively drive website traffic and improve search engine rankings, their direct influence on conversion rates is less consistent. A balanced approach, combining SEO practices with strategic IT alignment, is crucial for sustained business success in the retail industry. Future research should address the variability in conversion outcomes and investigate the conditions under which SEO tactics are most effective.

The retail industryʹs shift from traditional to online platforms has heightened the need for effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to improve digital marketing outcomes. SEO involves optimizing a websiteʹs technical and content features to increase its visibility in search engine results, potentially driving traffic, enhancing brand awareness, and boosting revenue. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of various SEO tactics on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the retail sector, focusing on key performance metrics such as website traffic, search engine rankings, conversion rates, and overall business growth. A comprehensive search was conducted across major academic databases, including Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, resulting in 102 studies published between 2014 and 2024. The methodological approach utilized both narrative synthesis and quantitative analysis to evaluate the quality and findings of the selected studies, following PRISMA2020 guidelines. The analysis shows that effective SEO practices, such as robust content marketing, technical SEO enhancements, and precise keyword optimization, lead to significant improvements in digital performance metrics. Specifically, up to a 30% increase in website traffic was observed, and keyword optimization improved click-through rates by 20% to 40%. The impact on conversion rates was more variable, with improvements ranging from 10% to 25%, influenced by factors like SEO quality and market conditions. Furthermore, integrating SEO with digital marketing strategies within e-business models enhanced operational efficiency by up to 15% and increased revenue growth by 25%. However, biases in the literature, such as the selective reporting of positive outcomes, may affect the overall reliability of these findings. While SEO strategies effectively drive website traffic and improve search engine rankings, their direct influence on conversion rates is less consistent. A balanced approach, combining SEO practices with strategic IT alignment, is crucial for sustained business success in the retail industry. Future research should address the variability in conversion outcomes and investigate the conditions under which SEO tactics are most effective.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital to economic growth, yet they face considerable competitive pressures. This systematic review evaluates the impact of Porter's Five Forces on SME performance to provide actionable strategic insights for business sustainability using qualitative and quantitative methods. A thorough search of Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar was conducted, focusing on literature published between 2014 and 2024. Search terms included "Porter's Five Forces," "SME competitiveness," and "competitive advantage." Studies were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in 51 out of 126 initial studies meeting the inclusion standards. Prominently, industry rivalry and customer bargaining power were found to be the most influential forces, particularly in competitive sectors such as retail and telecommunications, where differentiation and cost leadership play crucial roles. The review concludes that strategically managing Porter's Five Forces can significantly enhance SMEs' competitive advantage and sustainability. SMEs leveraging differentiation and innovation are better equipped to address rivalry and buyer power. In industries such as manufacturing and healthcare, managing supplier power is critical for cost control and quality. Moreover, sectors like renewable energy can capitalize on the low threat of substitutes by fostering innovation. Future research should focus on specific sectors such as technology, retail, and tourism to develop tailored strategies that help SMEs navigate unique competitive pressures more effectively.

The focus of this research is to determine the relevance of strategic management process in performance of Information and communication technology (ICT) based small and medium enterprise (SME). For this purpose, an in-depth interview is conducted on a sample of twelve ICT based SMEs. The data collected from the interview are then analyzed by using different tools namely; Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Analytic Hierarchy process (AHP). The PEST analysis and five forces analysis gave an overview of the state of the ICT based industry. It was seen that the industry attractiveness of this sector was fairly high with only technological dynamism and bargaining power of clients being two most influential factors to affect the industry. For assessing the relevance of strategy in firm's performance two approaches; financial analysis and BSC analysis were used. Both the financial performance analysis and Balanced Scorecard performance evaluation method strongly indicated the positive influence of strategic management process in the performance of the ICT companies. Finally, an integrated PEST, BSC and AHP approach was used to evaluate the performance of individual studied companies. Based on the measures drawn through PEST and BSC analysis criteria and sub criteria were derived and AHP was used to evaluate the performance of the companies. As the research output, a dynamic strategic management framework is presented as the recommendation for adopting strategic management process in ICT based SMEs. This study demonstrates the utility of an integrated AHP approach, which not only evaluates the performance of ICT based SMEs but also gives insight on the area of improvement for any individual company.

Job satisfaction and lecturer performance are increasing because of the role of transactional and transformational leadership. The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the influence of these two leadership styles at Batanghari University with the main focus of study on Human Resource Management. This study uses a survey design in the form of verification research. The sampling design used in this study was stratified random. From all lecturers at Batanghari University, 100 respondents were taken as samples from the Faculty of Economics. Data obtained from questionnaires were collected and analyzed using PLS

Maintaining market competitiveness is critical in today's global environment, as technology and consumer needs continue to evolve. Organizations must rapidly innovate their products, processes, and services and have high-performing employees to ensure financial sustainability. Those organizations that do not transform are forced to the brink of bankruptcy, merged or acquired by their former competitors. Scholarly literature has shown leadership often fails in balancing innovation and employee performance, impacting organizational profitability. This single case qualitative study reviews the academic research literature on innovation in healthcare, the importance of prioritizing employee performance, the external and internal impacts that may cause barriers in leadership decision-making abilities, and their impacts on the workforce. Furthermore, this study uses data from interviews and surveys within the healthcare and social assistance industry to develop themes based on analysis to determine solutions to effectively balance both critical components of innovation and employee performance in an organization.

This study was a reflection on the implementation of a transformative communication model at a school in Central Jamaica to address interruptions in communication and school operations among key stakeholders brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers sought to establish what kind of support the leaders and teacher leaders needed to improve communication among staff members and pupils in order to restore stability to the school environment. The project employed the Kurt Lewin’s change model: Unfreeze, Change, re-freeze. The study involved seven participants: the leader of the institution and six teachers who operated as teacher leaders with varying leadership portfolios. The researchers found that crisis leadership was necessary to mitigate against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the institution which existed in the deep rural community. The researchers also found that improving leader’ and teacher leaders’ communication competencies boosted morale and encouraged normal...

Despite being used by millions of people, the bus travel industry in India is highly fragmented as well as unorganized and it took a while to witness some innovations in the bus ticketing industry in India. This paper attempts to explore as well as evaluate the extent of the transformation and its impact by focusing on 'redbus' which is the largest bus ticketing company operating in India. The first section of this paper discusses the nature of bus travel industry alongside the challenges faced by the Indian bus travel industry. The second section of this paper enumerates the challenges encountered by 'redbus' which presently covers geographically 80% of the overall market. Subsequently, this paper examines a growth model in existence for 'redbus' which would provide a sustainable growth in the long term.

Despite being used by millions of people, the bus travel industry in India is highly fragmented as well as unorganized and it took a while to witness some innovations in the bus ticketing industry in India. This paper attempts to explore as well as evaluate the extent of the transformation and its impact by focusing on 'redbus' which is the largest bus ticketing company operating in India. The first section of this paper discusses the nature of bus travel industry alongside the challenges faced by the Indian bus travel industry. The second section of this paper enumerates the challenges encountered by 'redbus' which presently covers geographically 80% of the overall market. Subsequently, this paper examines a growth model in existence for 'redbus' which would provide a sustainable growth in the long term.

Among many other things, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 marked the beginning of what might be considered one of the largest unplanned field experiments ever in the world of work. In response to this situation, the German government enacted public-health measures, like social distancing, to slow down disease transmission rates . For many companies and organizations, these measures led to massive and unexpected changes in work and organizational processes. The so-called lockdown led to the discontinuation of production lines, short-time work, and unemployment as well as to newly established modes of work, such as remote or mobile workplaces (home office), the use of digital teamwork tools, and new meeting cultures. Leadership became more remote, and distant leadership and corporate communication had to find new ways to coordinate activities. The COVID-19 pandemic ended up affecting almost every aspect of work environments, conditions, and procedures. But these unexpected radical changes also meant a crisis for many of those affected. In this Editorial, we first highlight several themes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as a specific example of crisis or mega-event and focus on issues that relate to the studies featured in this collection of papers. We then describe the core findings and discuss the implications of these studies, highlighting several themes addressed in one or more of the papers compiled in this special issue, before summarizing the focal studies and discussing their implications.

This peper aims to determine and analyze the direct effect of transformational and transactional leadership on turnover intention, and indirect effect which is mediated by job satisfaction amid COVID 19 Pandemic at the banking sector. As many 153 permanent employees, including staff, supervisors, ass. manager, and division manager were participated. The results showed that transformational leadership has a positive but insignificant effect on turnover intention, while transactional leadership has a negative and significant affect turnover Intention. Furthermore, through mediating impact of job satisfaction, the effect of transformational leadership became negative and significant on turnover intention. Meanwhile, job satisfaction was significantly in line and strengthens the effect of transactional leadership on turnover intention at the banking sector amid COVID 19 Pandemic.

During the first quarter of 2020, COVID-19 spread worldwide, claiming lives of thousands of people every day This marked the beginning of all emergency and business continuity plans around the world This study attempts to study people's awareness of CSR practices among business firms in Dubai and investigate people's evaluation of these CSR practices during the COVID-19 pandemic The study employs a quantitative research method and mainly uses questionnaires for data collection 199 respondents are selected from different business firms in Dubai Expert interviews are also conducted for triangulation purposes It involves the Dubai community with various backgrounds and status This study shows that a large scheme of the Dubai community has a decent level of expertise in sustainability and corporate social responsibility It also shows that firms that have implemented CSR before the crisis will mostly be better suited to play a supportive role for government and society during the...

The rapidly growing Information and Communication technology (ICT) is knocking the front door of every organization in the world. Online shopping has changed the way business is done & it has made international shopping very easy. As one of the e-commerce categories, e-ticketing system nowadays is being actively and widely practiced. Due to the slow grabbling of E-Commerce and E-payment in Ethiopia, the utilization of e-ticketing in Ethiopian Airlines is an important issue that should be addressed to improve the deficiency of the system. This research aims to identify the factors that affect the use of E-Ticketing. The study was made by collecting data from 150 respondents of Ethiopian Airlines customers. The findings indicate that customer satisfaction with e-ticketing services was influenced by all of the independent variables measured (Ease of use, perceived risk, perceived trust, Behavioral control, perceived usefulness, Subjective norm, Infrastructure) were noted to have significant impact on customer satisfaction with e-ticketing services. The research, therefore, suggests to EAL to promote the E-Ticketing services aggressively through appropriate media to increase users awareness and usage on the advantage of E-ticketing services.

I appreciate The Almighty God for giving me the strength and wisdom to complete my project. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Mr. Michael Asare for guiding me to complete this project. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends who helped me and kept encouraging me to never give up. Lastly, my family, The Ansong Family, and my extended family for all their support and prayers.

The pace and scale of the digitalization of today’s global information society open up new opportunities for business. At the same time, they set new challenges for business owners and managers in the field of marketing. Given this fact, the purpose of the study was to present the impact of digitalization on the marketing activity of the enterprise in the field of services by promoting the use of online sales via electronic distribution channels, social networks, and mobile applications. A comparative system of estimating the parameters of the influence of digitalization on the marketing activity of the enterprise was proposed as a confirmation of this impact. Based on the developed “tree of goals,” the dynamics of the digitalization of services were projected and the prospects of development of this sphere of activity were outlined. For testing the proposed methodology, the railway passenger transportation company (JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”) was chosen as the object of the research. Res...

Despite being used by millions of people, the bus travel industry in India is highly fragmented as well as unorganized and it took a while to witness some innovations in the bus ticketing industry in India. This paper attempts to explore as well as evaluate the extent of the transformation and its impact by focusing on 'redbus' which is the largest bus ticketing company operating in India. The first section of this paper discusses the nature of bus travel industry alongside the challenges faced by the Indian bus travel industry. The second section of this paper enumerates the challenges encountered by 'redbus' which presently covers geographically 80% of the overall market. Subsequently, this paper examines a growth model in existence for 'redbus' which would provide a sustainable growth in the long term.

The number of passengers traveling in Indian Railways is increasing very rapidly. Among those people, there are some set of persons who travel regularly in the General Compartment. IRCTC has created an online platform for booking tickets of Reserved Compartments. The customers who travel in General Compartment still face an issue because they are supposed to wait in Long Queues at Ticket Counters to purchase tickets. In this proposed system we aim to provide a solution where passengers traveling in the General Compartment have a facility to book their travel tickets online using an Android Application.

The focus of this research is to determine the relevance of strategic management process in performance of Information and communication technology (ICT) based small and medium enterprise (SME). For this purpose, an in-depth interview is conducted on a sample of twelve ICT based SMEs from Nepal.  The data collected from the interview are then analyzed by using different tools namely; Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Analytic Hierarchy process (AHP).
The PEST analysis and five forces analysis gave an overview of the state of the ICT based industry. It was seen that the industry attractiveness of this sector was fairly high with only technological dynamism and bargaining power of clients being two most influential factors to affect the industry. For assessing the relevance of strategy in firm’s performance two approaches; financial analysis and BSC analysis were used. Both the financial performance analysis and Balanced Scorecard performance evaluation method strongly indicated the positive influence of strategic management process in the performance of the ICT companies.
Finally, an integrated PEST, BSC and AHP approach was used to evaluate the performance of individual studied companies. Based on the measures drawn through PEST and BSC analysis criteria and sub criteria were derived and AHP was used to evaluate the performance of the companies. As the research output, a dynamic strategic management framework is presented as the recommendation for adopting strategic management process in ICT based SMEs. This study demonstrates the utility of an integrated AHP approach, which not only evaluates the performance of ICT based SMEs but also gives insight on the area of improvement for any individual company.

Rising Tide, according to its authors, serves a dual purpose. The first is to provide an account of Proctor and Gamble's evolution from local candle maker to global multinational which, they rightly claim, has received relatively little attention from academic business historians. The second purpose of the book is to 'explain the company's success in its core business of building consumer brands' (p. vii). The authors are far more successful in achieving this second objective than they are in providing a corporate history of P&G.

The rapid growth of internet users globally provides a bright prospect for e-marketers. According to a study from International Data Corp (IDC) more than 600 million people accessed the internet globally by the end of 2002 and spent more than US$1 trillion buying goods and services online (Straits Times, 2002). E-tickets substitutes the paper based flight coupon " s by an electronic ticket image that is stored in the airline " s database. The strategic question is to provide a better understanding about the influencing factors towards the customer " s intention to purchase an e-ticket in Thoothukudi. The main objectives of study are to know the personal profile of the respondents, to find out the consumers purchasing behaviour of E-Tickets, to examine the reasons for purchasing E-Tickets, to analyse the attitude of the respondents towards E-Tickets to find out the problems faced by the respondents while purchasing E-Tickets to analyse the strategies developed by IRCTC in E-Ticketing and to offer suggestions to overcome the problems. 41 per cent of the respondents are working as a private employee. 62 per cent of the respondents are in the nuclear family system. 43 per cent of the respondents belong to the income group of 10,000 – 20,000. 28 per cent of the respondents are accessing internet each time for the business purpose.100 per cent of the respondents said that, they are booking the ticket through online. 42 per cent of the respondents are mainly conduct e-ticketing activities from home. 40 per cent of the respondents use e-ticketing few times in a month. The procedure for E-ticketing must be simplified, then only the illiterate people can use the E-Ticketing. In order to check the malpractice of the brokers proper norms must be framed by the transport authorities. The passengers should be permitted to pay the amount for E-Ticketing through all banks irrespective of nationalized and non-nationalised banks.

Despite being used by millions of people, the bus travel industry in India is highly fragmented as well as
unorganized and it took a while to witness some innovations in the bus ticketing industry in India. This paper
attempts to explore as well as evaluate the extent of the transformation and its impact by focusing on ‘redbus’
which is the largest bus ticketing company operating in India. The first section of this paper discusses the nature
of bus travel industry alongside the challenges faced by the Indian bus travel industry. The second section of this
paper enumerates the challenges encountered by ‘redbus’ which presently covers geographically 80% of the
overall market. Subsequently, this paper examines a growth model in existence for ‘redbus’ which would
provide a sustainable growth in the long term.

Anaisis faktor-faktor eksternal pada perusahaan Nestle Indonesia dengan bantuan atau pendekatan teori "5 kekuatan bersaing M. Porter" Didalam teori persaingan kita mengenal ada suatu teori dari Michael Porter yang sangat terkenal pada saat menganalisis persaingan atau competition analysis. Teori tersebut sangat terkenal dengan istilah Porter Five Forces Model. Intinya sebenarnya Porter menilai bahwa perusahaan secara nyata tidak hanya bersaing dengan perusahaan yang ada dalam industri saat ini. Analisis yang biasa digunakan sebuah perusahaan adalah siapa pesaing langsung perusahaan tersebut dan akhirnya mereka terjebak dalam "competitor oriented ", sehingga tidak mempunyai visi pasar yang jelas. Dalam five forces model digambarkan bahwa kita juga bersaing dengan pesaing potensial kita, yaitu mereka yang akan masuk, para pemasok atau suplier,para pembeli atau konsumen, dan produsen produk-produk pengganti. Dengan demikian, kita harus mengetahui bahwa ada lima kekuatan yg menentukan karakteristik suatu industri, yaitu :

The article provides significant new insights into the development and implementation of
e-business strategies that will contribute to the Indian Railways’ efficiency in satisfying
passengers.
The success of application of e-business strategy to railways depends on the value added
of e-business to railways. Currently, the Indian Railways is looking at e-business to
protect its assets and to secure customer's satisfaction, and to be successful in generating
more revenue. In view of the new features of Internet, the core question of this paper is:
Can Customer-Centric E-Business System Help The Indian Railways?
In order to provide an answer to this question, the researchers conducted an online survey
and developed a Customer Centric E-Business (CCEB) System Model for the Indian
Railways. With respect to the typology suggested by Porter, the results indicate that
Porter's model was essential in evaluating the railways under both descriptive and
elucidative aspects.
It has been 3 years since Indian Railways introduced e-ticketing with the intention of
doing away with the need for carrying a physical ticket. The Railways need to develop an
overall strategy covering: strategic management, IT infrastructure, design, content, ecommerce
systems, marketing and customer service. The Railways also needs to be
creative and entrepreneurial. As every entrepreneur knows, one will only be truly
successful if one provides genuine value to the customers and solves their problems.
The success of the Indian Railways applications and the communications, data, and
control afforded by the Internet are encouraging. The Internet is not just another medium
or a distribution channel to reach customers. It is an important medium to find new
customers and continue relationships with current customers.
Key Words – Indian Railways, E-Ticketing, Porter’s model, Indian infrastructure,
Passenger Reservation

Recently, internet technology is considered to be the most used information and
communication technology by organizations: it can ease the process of transactions
and reinforce the relation between companies and customers. This investigation
empirically examines the impact of e-ticketing technique on customer satisfaction; a
convenience sample of Jordanian airline passengers that had booked flights in the last
12 months through companies offering e-ticketing services was acquired. The
findings indicate that customer satisfaction with e-ticketing services was influenced
by all of the independent variables measured (Data security, Customer and Technical
Support, and User-Friendliness) were noted to have significant impact on customer
satisfaction with e-ticketing services.

Kata "strategi" adalah turunan dari kata dalam bahasa Yunani, stratēgos. Stratēgos dapat diterjemahkan sebagai "komandan militer" pada zaman demokrasi Athena. Pada awalnya kata "strategi" memang hanya dipergunakan di kalangan militer, tetapi kemudian penggunaannya berkembang ke berbagai bidang nonmiliter. Saat ini, kita mengenal istilah seperti: strategi bisnis, strategi pemasaran, strategi perdagangan, dan lain-lain.

Software processes support the work of software development and software process improvement (SPI) is concerned with improving the operation of the software process. One of the primary reasons for conducting SPI is to increase the success of a software development company [1], [2]. However, a lack of evidence of the benefits of SPI is reported as a de-motivator for project/senior managers . Therefore, the case for SPI would benefit from evidence of the positive impact of SPI on business success. This paper proposes a new approach that utilises the Holistic Scorecard (HSC) [4] to systematically examine business success in software development companies. Furthermore, we relate the experience of applying this new approach to software small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).