Diss. Univ. St. Gallen, 2007.

Zugl.: Innsbruck, Univ., Diss., 2006

This thesis deals with the changes in the organizational structure of the IT department at Procter & Gamble over the past 9 years. During this time, the originally functionally and geographically scattered IT function, has been integrated into a centralized function and renamed to Information and Decision Solutions, to mark its shift in direction from a support function to a true strategic partner of the various PG businesses. This function was then further integrated in to the Global Business Service shared-service organization. The non-strategic services have been outsourced, mainly to Hewlett Packard, to allow GBS to focus on IT-driven innovation and bringing more value to the Company. To achieve this goal, GBS has undergone several changes in its structure, to emerge today as an organization with a "hypertext-bureaucracy" hybrid structure. This allows for a flexible, process-based approach, enabling to GBS address the biggest priorities as they arise. The changes have nevertheless brought about some difficulties, whose implications and ideas for mitigation are explored towards the end of this thesis.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to extract and provide practical knowledge and examples from both theory and practice in order to clarify some practices that can be used in the implementation of open innovation. It can be of interest for whomever willing to gain an insight into the practical features of open innovation and for companies considering, or struggling with the implementation of open innovation.</p><p>The study was approached with a qualitative and interpretive method. Secondary sources were used exclusively to review the practical aspects of open innovation in theory and practice. Open innovation practice at Nokia Corp. and the Procter & Gamble Company were researched and reported using studies of other authors as well as the companies’ own publications.</p><p>The classification of open innovation practices in contemporary literature is not sufficient to provide an understanding for the various types of open innovation practices that can be applied and used in practice. A classification based on types of activities is presented by the authors, and practical suggestions regarding design and implementation concludes the thesis.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to extract and provide practical knowledge and examples from both theory and practice in order to clarify some practices that can be used in the implementation of open innovation. It can be of interest for whomever willing to gain an insight into the practical features of open innovation and for companies considering, or struggling with the implementation of open innovation. The study was approached with a qualitative and interpretive method. Secondary sources were used exclusively to review the practical aspects of open innovation in theory and practice. Open innovation practice at Nokia Corp. and the Procter &amp; Gamble Company were researched and reported using studies of other authors as well as the companies’ own publications. The classification of open innovation practices in contemporary literature is not sufficient to provide an understanding for the various types of open innovation practices that can be applied and used in practice. A classification based on types of activities is presented by the authors, and practical suggestions regarding design and implementation concludes the thesis.

Every year, the Chief Executive Group compiles a list of "Best Companies for Leadership Development" that measures corporations against a variety of leadership criteria. Though some organizations move on or off the list from year to year, a handful has consistently ranked in the top 10 for several consecutive years. Coincidentally, these companies also happen to be among the most respected and most profitable. Research has shown that workforce commitment, innovation, and engagement are driving factors in productivity and profitability. More recent research has shown that effective management and strong leaders are the driving factors in an engaged and productive workforce. In light of this, the purpose of this literature review is to draw connections between leadership, an effective workforce, and profitability. General Electric and Procter & Gamble are two organizations that have consistently ranked in the top of a wide variety of lists. As giants of leadership development, these two corporations are analyzed in order to better understand the specific, innovative practices employed to foster a strong leadership pool. Furthermore, this review investigates how the effective leaders build a culture of worker engagement and commitment.

L'objectif de cette recherche est la création d'un cadre visant à cartographier les risques stratégiques dans la création de valeur économique à long terme par des opérations de fusions et acquisitions. A la base de notre riche revue de littérature, nous avons exposé les motivations stratégiques des opérations de fusions et acquisitions et nous avons décrit les principales étapes du processus d'exécution d'une telle opération. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons exploré les types de risques stratégiques. La maîtrise des éléments spécifiques à ces deux axes de recherche (les opérations de fusions et acquisitions et la gestion des risques) nous a ensuite servi à l'élaboration d'une cartographie complète des risques propres des opérations de fusions et acquisitions. La deuxième étape de cette recherche est dédiée au test et à la validation de la cartographie proposée à partir de l'analyse de la fusion entre Procter&Gamble et Gillette. Les critères qui sont à la base de ce choix sont multiples et variés et ils sont largement expliqués dans les chapitres 2 et 4. À partir de notre cartographie vérifiée selon les données secondaires recueillies, réorganisées et analysées, nous avons élaboré nos conclusions, en soulignant nos contributions personnelles à l'amélioration des connaissances. La principale contribution de cette recherche consiste dans la réalisation d'une cartographie intégrée d'identification des risques induits par des opérations de fusions et acquisitions, qui réunit plusieurs concepts; méthodes et outils propres aux diverses disciplines de gestion (la gestion financière, la gestion stratégique, la gestion intégré des risques, la gestion des organisations). Cette approche intégrée différencie notre recherche par rapport à la majorité des études dans le domaine, où les fusions et acquisitions sont généralement analysées soit d'un point de vue financier soit d'un point de vue organisationnel. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Opérations de fusions et acquisitions, Cartographique des risques, Gestion intégrée des risques.

This study examined Procter & Gamble’s attempts at the use of social media in revitalizing the Old Spice brand of products. Old Spice, which had witnessed declined sales and market share, was observed to transform and become ranked among P&G’s super brands by the conclusion of the social media campaign. Previous studies relied on the diffusion of innovations theory in the explanation of the observed phenomena. However, this project draws on the ideas of the strength of weak ties hypothesis and the diffusion of innovations theory to explain the observed process. Research findings give evidence of how new technologies like social media, have redefined how brands engage with consumers, and spread the word electronically about brand uniqueness and dominance. Findings also revealed that brands considered to be old could leverage on social media in recreating consumer awareness of the positive qualities of the product as against the retrenchment of the product line. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Journalism

The purpose of the thesis is to describe in detail the segment of the modern moms as the target group for the products of the chosen company, in this case of Procter&Gamble, to demonstrate the concrete way how to use the theory about this segment and about current marketing by means of its successful campaign that targeted this segment and to show the dissimilarities between Czech and Slovak mothers that are part of this segment and the characteristics of this segment resulting from the global research. Theoretical part deals with the term of marketing, marketing and communication mix, marketing segmentation and marketing research and in its second part it describes the female economy and segment of the modern mothers. In the practical part the thesis introduces the Procter&Gamble Company, analyses its campaign "Thank you, mom" and shows the results of the questionnaire research.

The thesis gives comprehensive overview on the topic of sales promotions. The special focus is devoted to activities of Procter & Gamble on the Czech market. With increasing importance of sales promotions on the Czech market, the thesis aims to introduce main academic findings concerning sales promotions and test them on brands of Procter & Gamble. The next goal is to find out whether sales promotion strategies of Procter & Gamble provide a competitive advantage for the company on the Czech market. Using statistical and comparative methods, the thesis brings valuable conclusions for both marketers and academics. It was found out effects of Procter & Gamble sales promotions are in line with academic theories and its sales promotion strategies provide competitive advantage for the company.