Size
A fortune 500 company has been in activity for 500 years in the western world having a tiny fraction of human civilization time span. They have been producing material wealth with immense success and are the major vehicle for the sustenance of world population that is exploding because of goods and services for making civilized life possible. Developing countries are expanding their living standards which will make the company be needed more than ever. The life expectancy of fortune 500 company is 40 to 50 years basing on the corporate survey for births and deaths. (Blackby, 2008).
Characteristics
Fortune 500 firms have been good barometer of state art programs in the work settings due to the large number of workers, their interest in saving cost and experience in investing in innovative efforts. They use questionnaires in their data collection that are sent by chief executive officer of the companies that are in the list of Fortune 500. They address the issues of worksite programs to be offered, activities for health promotion, organization support that is needed and the rank of fortune 500 and the type of industry. Fortune 500 plan for expansion of programs, use a sharing cost model and is able to set time for participating in activities of the program. (Schiller, 1981).
Scope
Fortune 500 receives assignments which serve as the objectives and have processes established for meeting outlined goals. It works on the problems of extreme moderate scope by analyzing the situations and data that requires reviewing identifiable factors. Judgment is exercised within practices and procedures that are defined in order to determine the appropriate action. Project teams are provided with guidance according to management guidance and established policies. (Bryan, 2002).
Advantages
There is high quality services offered by providers of outsource service at reduced cost. The companies expenditure is cut down by 30% and this enable the company implement many projects. There are small losses incurred in implementing innovations and this saves the company the cost of retraining employees and hiring new employees. The company has valuable experts who are highly qualified and experienced. (Romaine, 2002).
Disadvantages
Contracts for outsourcing information technology has not been revived once it expire which makes customers not to be satisfied with the price and quality of services. The company has been loosing control of its projects because implementation has not been transparent and customers have been loosing confidence they had in them making it difficult to negotiate any contract. (Romaine, 2002).
Why it is important in business and management functions
The focus of investors has been on capital because they need to be involved in risks that generate high returns from the investment they engage in. Shareholders are interested in how their capital is managed in making decisions of investing in the company or not. When enhancing the shareholder value, it is important to look at their attitude to the volatility of earnings. The change of shareholders expectations should be looked at and how to adapt to the additional requirements. Management should ensure that there is balance between returns on the capital and capital adequacy for the exposures to different businesses. (Copeland, 2005).
How managers use enhancing shareholder value in their work
Managers multiply the value of shareholder by focusing on enhancement of operational returns, increasing demand for shares, having many shareholders and listing in the stock exchange. Managers establish a network of professionals who have experience in fields such as financial management, technology and compliance where the clients are allowed to have direct access to the professionals. Employees in the company are given compensation package once they achieve the goals that are set by the company by achieving specific benchmark in order to encourage them to work extra hard. (Asaf, 2004).
References
Blackby H. (2008): 45 questions fortune 500 executives ask: H&B publishing group.
Bryan C. (2002): 500 lessons from fortune 500 company: Navpress pub group.
Yeager M. (1990): Job-winning tactics from fortune 500 recruiters: Wiley.
Romaine S. (2002): Soldier of fortune 500; a management survival guide: Prometheus Books.
Schiller H. (1981): Information in the age of fortune 500: ABLEX publishers.
Greene B. (2005): Fortune 500 company hiring: Kaplan publishing.
Copeland T. (2005): Outperform with expectations-based management: John Wiley and Sons.
Asaf S. (2004): Executive Corporate Finance; the business of enhancing shareholder: Prentice Hall.
Frazzle E. (2001): The logistics of supply chain management: McGraw-Hill.
Knight J. (1997): Value based management; developing systematic approach: McGraw-Hill.