J.P Morgan and the Rise of Business Research Paper

J.P Morgan and the Rise of Business - Research Paper Example Discussion J.P. Morgan was born in 1837 in Hartford Connecticut to Junius Morgan and Juliet Pierpont. Being the only son among four other siblings made him to be more entrenched in the family business. He was to gain invaluable experience from working at George and Peabody Company, a firm in which his father had entered a partnership. Upon his return from New York, he became involved in working for the Duncan Sherman and Company from which he gradually rose in the ranks. Morgan established the J.P. Morgan & Company in 1861 which was to be the subsidiary of his father’s J.S. Morgan. J.P. Morgan made a name for himself through many shrewd deals which involved manipulation of gold prices for a profit. Since his father did not look kindly upon such shady dealings by Morgan, he forced the company into a partnership with Charles Dabney a successful Philadelphia banker (Geisst 35-39). J.P Morgan was involved in the rapidly developing railway industry during this time from which he ma de handsome returns. By the year 1869, Morgan was in charge of Susquehanna and Albany Railroad. By 1879, Morgan had made a name for himself from the sale of stock worth twenty five million dollars in the New York Railroad through a surreptitious consortium. Morgan made a handsome return on his investment in the deal which made his name famous making his to be appointed to the board of the New York Central Railroad board of directors soon after. A series of cunning business deals culminated with the formation of the Interstate Commerce Railway Association whose main aim was to thwart competition (Kwak and Simon 78-87). The group was composed of railway tycoons who were keen on protecting their businesses from increasing competition from small holders. The practice by the Interstate Commerce Railway Association of running down competing railroads through cartel led to the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 which made it illegal for companies to behave in cartel like beha vior. Most of modern day American laws on cartels are based on this act of 1887 (Chernow 172-3). Morgan began to associate closely with the Union government in 1872 through his purchasing of treasury bonds and bills. The 1893 financial panic further increased the profile and stature of Morgan when he was put mandated to act as a central bank by the government. The US had no central bank system and was such in danger of collapsing due to lack of controls on the monetary system. In conjunction with European bankers with whom his father and he had acquired connections, he made a deal for the United States to get a loan of 65 million dollars from Europe. While Morgan made a lot of money from the transaction, he has been tagged as a robber baron by many critics since he declined to divulge how much he had made from the syndicate. Modern day history scholars in the field of economics acknowledge Morgan with saving the economic system of the US from imminent disintegration by his act (Morr is 69-78). Morgan has also been involved in the funding of many major American utilities companies. In 1879 Morgan was actively concerned in the giving of financial support to the research of the Edison Electric Company. Morgan is credited with the merger between Edison Electric Company and a rival to form the giant General Electric. Morgan was heavily involved in the provision of

Strategy and Management of Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategy and Management of Change - Case Study Example The company was inspired mainly by the international brand McDonalds. Preempting the entry of McDonalds in the Philippines, our organization reinvented and differentiated itself by concentrating on Filipino way of doing the business. What pushed our organization during its earlier period are its internal strengths. Stores were structured to suit the ambiance fitted to customers, services were transformed into a full service fast food operations and equipments were updated to enhance effectivity and efficiency. Jollibee was able to enter the ranks lists of top 500 Philippine corporations in 1984 by reaching the P500 million sales mark. Barely 10 years in the business, our organization joined the ranks of the top 100 Philippine corporations. It made a record when it became the first Philippine fast food chain to break the P1 billion sales mark in 1989. In addition, it became the first Philippine food service company to be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 1993. This was the strategy that helped our organization broaden its capitalization and lay the groundwork for sustained expansion of business operations both domestically and internationally (www.jollibee.com.ph). Pursuant to its long-term goal to dominate the local food service industry, our organization has expanded its market coverage. It acquired Greenwich Pizza in 1994, which by then has established a strong presence in the food service industry, to penetrate the pasta segment. The franchise of Delifrance was acquired in the succeeding year and paved the way for further penetration in the food segment particularly French caf-bakery which is a growing segment in the Philippine food market. With the strategic acquisition of Chowking, our organization has solidified its position as the dominant leader and made it a leader in the Oriental quick service restaurant segment. As a result of its success domestically, the extent of its business operations have grown exponentially. It now even owns a Chinese fast food chain operating in mainland China and a popular teahouse chain doing business in Taiwan. Jollibee is now an international brand with phenomenal expansion of business operations. From an ice cream parlor a few years back, it was able to put up over 570 stores in the Philippines and 27 international stores in countries like the United States and Hong Kong. The company had been earning laurels from the corporate world for many years now. In 2001, The Far Eastern Economic Review named it the top corporation in the Philippines and the sixth leading corporation in Asia. Jollibee had also won recognition for its contribution to the economy of the Philippines and the success of its strategies by the Asian Business Review, leading management consultants Hewitt Associates, and many Filipino corporate bodies. Jollibee had the distinction of being one of the very few companies that had been able to give multinational fast-food giants such as McDonald's and Burger King a run for their money. While Jollibee had a market share of over 60%, its closest rival, McDonald's had less than half of that. CATALYSTS FOR CHANGE Competition is a great factor for the survival in any kind of business endeavor (Robbins and Coulter, 2002). To be able to stay on top and gain advantage over myriad companies within the same industry, the organization