Human Resource strategy in Recession Term Paper

Human Resource strategy in Recession - Term Paper Example wever, the recent global meltdown or in other words the recession has abruptly changed the employee as well as employer outlook particularly in the aspect of Human resource planning or HRM. So, this paper will analyze how the current economic downturn had a major impact on HRP giving more power to the HR managers when they negotiate with their employees. In this globalised world, an economic problem in one country will not get restricted to that country, but gets spread to other countries. The economies of most of the countries in the world are directly and indirectly dependent on the U.S.’s economy and with liberalization happening everywhere, the negative effects in USA will be felt everywhere, with businesses worldwide facing the negative impact on its HRP. Many companies are suffering losses and as a result of it several companies are opting for retrenchment strategy. Cost cutting would have to eventually result in job cutting. British Airways (BA) has said that it plans to cut a further 1,200 jobs after reporting a huge loss of  £292 million in the six months up to the end of September. (Hinton 2009). Fewer job requirements and constant lay offs irrespective of the sector made employers to be choosy about the kind of employees they want and more dominant in deciding the compensation package for them. Many reputed organ izations have quietly cut the salaries and other fringe benefits to their employees. BBC plans to cut the amount it spends on the salaries of its top bosses by about 25 percent, The BBC currently spends about $129.4 million on pay for its 634 senior managers and nine most senior executives. (Bryan-Low 2009). Managers have upper hand these days and really have become dominant, slightly skewing HRP. Instead of thinking about how to optimize productivity and thereby effectively overcome financial problems, managers look at the easy way out. When negotiating with their employees there are some critical issues that concern both like salary,

Housing Crisis in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Housing Crisis in the USA - Essay Example Alan Greenspan, as the leader of the Federal Bank definitely had a stake in this and in fact, he and his team seemed to have too much faith in the theory of an efficient market that is able to regulate itself (Shiller 89). Yet, these ideas of a perfect market where competition in the context of demand and supply is supposed to create market equilibrium are fundamentally flawed. In such cases where deregulation occurs, it is always likely that there will be a time when the market will collapse under its own pressure. The increasing income inequality is a major factor that led to the housing crisis. Increasing poverty in America meant that many households are not able to have the proper income to own a house and this led to the creation of a huge market niche that the banks could not ignore. These people who make the greater majority of the pupation in the United States had to achieve the American dream of owning a house, yet they did not have the means because they could not access the normal mortgages. When banks, through the freedom afforded them by deregulation, discovered this niche, they started giving subprime mortgages. The subprime mortgages were a high-risk venture and as would be expected, they ended up having a negative impact on the economy because many of these subprime customers ended up defaulting on their mortgage repayments. In this case of the housing crisis and the adverse situations that followed, everyone is to blame in a different kind of way. The banks were to blame for being careless and also for misleading people to believe that these products (subprime mortgages) were good for them. People seem to trust banks very much and always believe that anything these banks offer is without any hidden agenda. When banks offered the subprime mortgages, it was easy for these people to believe that it was safe to engage in the investments. The individuals are also to blame because their greed overshadowed their rationality.  

A Traditional Definition Of Leadership Management Essay

A Traditional Definition Of Leadership Management Essay A traditional definition of leadership: Leadership is an interpersonal influence directed toward the achievement of a goal or goals. Three important parts of this definition are the terms interpersonal, influence, and goal. Â · Interpersonal means between persons. Thus, a leader has more than one person (group) to lead. Â · Influence is the power to affect others. Â · Goal is the end one strives to attain. Basically, this traditional definition of leadership says that a leader influences more than one person toward a goal. The definition of leadership used in this course follows. LEADERSHIP is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect real, intended change. (Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg, NUTS! Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success, Bard Press, 1996, p. 298) Three important parts of this definition are the terms relationship, mutual, and collaborators. Relationship is the connection between people. Mutual means shared in common. Collaborators cooperate or work together. This definition of leadership says that the leader is influenced by the collaborators while they work together to achieve an important goal. Leadership versus Management A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader. The leader of the work group may emerge informally as the choice of the group. If a manager is able to influence people to achieve the goals of the organization, without using his or her formal authority to do so, then the manager is demonstrating leadership. According to John P. Kotter in his book, A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs From Management (The Free Press, 1990), managers must know how to lead as well as manage. Without leading as well as managing, todays organizations face the threat of extinction. Management is the process of setting and achieving the goals of the organization through the functions of management: planning, organizing, directing (or leading), and controlling. A manager is hired by the organization and is given formal authority to direct the activity of others in fulfilling organization goals. Thus, leading is a major part of a managers job. Yet a manager must also plan, organize, and control. Generally speaking, leadership deals with the interpersonal aspects of a managers job, whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal with the administrative aspects. Leadership deals with change, inspiration, motivation, and influence. Management deals more with carrying out the organizations goals and maintai ning equilibrium. The key point in differentiating between leadership and management is the idea that employees willingly follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to. Leaders may not possess the formal power to reward or sanction performance. However, employees give the leader power by complying with what he or she requests. On the other hand, managers may have to rely on formal authority to get employees to accomplish goals. Trait Theories In the 1920s and 1930s, leadership research focused on trying to identify the traits that differentiated leaders from non-leaders. These early leadership theories were content theories, focusing on what an effective leader is, not on how to effectively lead. The trait approach to understanding leadership assumes that certain physical, social, and personal characteristics are inherent in leaders. Sets of traits and characteristics were identified to assist in selecting the right people to become leaders. Physical traits include being young to middle-aged, energetic, tall, and handsome. Social background traits include being educated at the right schools and being socially prominent or upwardly mobile. Social characteristics include being charismatic, charming, tactful, popular, cooperative, and diplomatic. Personality traits include being self-confident, adaptable, assertive, and emotionally stable. Task-related characteristics include being driven to excel, accepting of responsibilit y, having initiative, and being results-oriented. Trait theories intended to identify traits to assist in selecting leaders since traits are related to leadership effectiveness in many situations. The trait approach to understanding leadership supports the use of tests and interviews in the selection of managers. The interviewer is typically attempting to match the traits and characteristics of the applicant to the position. For example, most interviewers attempt to evaluate how well the applicant can work with people. Trait theory has not been able to identify a set of traits that will consistently distinguish leaders from followers. Trait theory posits key traits for successful leadership (drive, desire to lead, integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, and job-relevant knowledge) yet does not make a judgment as to whether these traits are inherent to individuals or whether they can be developed through training and education. No two leaders are alike. Furthermore, no leader possesses all of the traits. Comparing leaders in different situations suggests that the traits of leaders depend on the situation. Thus, traits were de-emphasized to take into account situational conditions (contingency perspective). Behavioral Theories The behavioral theorists identified determinants of leadership so that people could be trained to be leaders. They developed training programs to change managers leadership behaviors and assumed that the best styles of leadership could be learned. Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor described Theory X and Theory Y in his book, The Human Side of Enterprise. Theory X and Theory Y each represent different ways in which leaders view employees. Theory X managers believe that employees are motivated mainly by money, are lazy, uncooperative, and have poor work habits. Theory Y managers believe that subordinates work hard, are cooperative, and have positive attitudes. Theory X is the traditional view of direction and control by managers. 1. The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid if he or she can. 2. Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of organizational objectives. 3. The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, wants security above all. Theory X leads naturally to an emphasis on the tactics of control to procedures and techniques for telling people what to do, for determining whether they are doing it, and for administering rewards and punishment. Theory X explains the consequences of a particular managerial strategy. Because its assumptions are so unnecessarily limiting, it prevents managers from seeing the possibilities inherent in other managerial strategies. As long as the assumptions of Theory X influence managerial strategy, organizations will fail to discover, let alone utilize, the potentialities of the average human being. Theory Y is the view that individual and organizational goals can be integrated. 1. The expenditures of physical and mental effort in work are as natural as play or rest. 2. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing out effort toward organizational objectives. 3. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. 4. The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but also to seek responsibility. 5. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems in widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population. 6. Under the condition of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized. Theory Ys purpose is to encourage integration, to create a situation in which an employee can achieve his or her own goals best by directing his or her efforts toward the objectives of the organization. It is a deliberate attempt to link improvement in managerial competence with the satisfaction of higher-level ego and self-actualization needs. Theory Y leads to a preoccupation with the nature of relationships, with the creation of an environment which will encourage commitment to organizational objectives and which will provide opportunities for the maximum exercise of initiative, ingenuity, and self-direction in achieving them. Ohio State and University of Michigan Studies conducted at the Ohio State University and the University of Michigan identified two leadership styles and two types of leader behaviors. The Ohio State study identified two leadership styles: considerate and initiating structure. The University of Michigan study classified leaders behaviors as being production- or employee-centered. The primary concern of leaders with considerate and employee-centered style is the employees welfare. The primary concern of leaders with initiating-structure and production-centered styles is achieving goals. Research findings on which dimension is most important for satisfaction and productivity are inconclusive. However, employee oriented leaders appear to be associated with high group productivity and job satisfaction. University of Iowa Another approach to leader behavior focused on identifying the best leadership styles. Work at the University of Iowa identified democratic (participation and delegation), autocratic (dictating and centralized) and laissez-faire styles (group freedom in decision making). Research findings were also inconclusive. The Managerial Grid The dimensions identified at the University of Michigan provided the basis for the development of the managerial grid model developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. It identifies five various leadership styles that represent different combinations of concern for people and concern for production. Managers who scored high on both these dimensions simultaneously (labeled team management) performed best. The five leadership styles of the managerial grid include impoverished, country club, produce or perish, middle-of-the road, and team. The impoverished style is located at the lower left-hand corner of the grid, point (1, 1). It is characterized by low concern for both people and production. The primary objective of the impoverished style is for managers to stay out of trouble. The country club style is located at the upper left-hand corner of the grid, point (1, 9). It is characterized as a high concern for people and a low concern for production. The primary objective of the country club style is to create a secure and comfortable atmosphere and trust that subordinates will respond positively. The produce or perish style is located at the lower right-hand corner of the grid, point (9,1). A high concern for production and a low concern for people characterize it. The primary objective of the produce or perish style is to achieve the organizations goals. To accomplish the organizatio ns goals, it is not necessary to consider employees needs as relevant. The middle-of-the-road style is located at the middle of the grid, point (5, 5). A balance between workers needs and the organizations productivity goals characterize it. The primary objective of the middle-of-the-road style is to maintain employee morale at a level sufficient to get the organizations work done. The team style is located at the upper right-hand of the grid, point (9, 9). It is characterized by a high concern for people and production. The primary objective of the team style is to establish cohesion and foster a feeling of commitment among workers. Contingency Theories Successful leaders must be able to identify clues in an environment and adapt their leader behavior to meet the needs of their followers and of the particular situation. Even with good diagnostic skills, leaders may not be effective unless they can adapt their leadership style to meet the demands of their environment. Fiedlers Contingency Model Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and Directions (Academic Press Inc (HBJ), 1993) was a tribute to Fred Fiedlers 40 year study of leadership and organizational effectiveness. The editors, Martin M. Chemers and Roya Ayman, write of Fiedlers contribution: The realization that leadership effectiveness depends on the interaction of qualities of the leader with demands of the situation in which the leader functions, made the simplistic one best way approach of earlier eras obsolete. Fred E. Fiedlers contingency theory postulates that there is no best way for managers to lead. Situations will create different leadership style requirements for a manager. The solution to a managerial situation is contingent on the factors that impinge on the situation. For example, in a highly routinized (mechanistic) environment where repetitive tasks are the norm, a certain leadership style may result in the best performance. The same leadership style may not work in a very dynamic environment. Fiedler looked at three situations that could define the condition of a managerial task: 1. Leader member relations: How well do the manager and the employees get along? 2. The task structure: Is the job highly structured, fairly unstructured, or somewhere in between? 3. Position power: How much authority does the manager possess? Managers were rated as to whether they were relationship oriented or task oriented. Task oriented managers tend to do better in situations that have good leader-member relationships, structured tasks, and either weak or strong position power. They do well when the task is unstructured but position power is strong. Also, they did well at the other end of the spectrum when the leader member relations were moderate to poor and the task was unstructured. Relationship oriented managers do better in all other situations. Thus, a given situation might call for a manager with a different style or a manager who could take on a different style for a different situation. These environmental variables are combined in a weighted sum that is termed Favorable at one end and unfavorable at the other. Task oriented style is preferable at the clearly defined extremes of favorable and unfavorable environments, but relationship orientation excels in the middle ground. Managers could attempt to reshape the environment variables to match their style. Another aspect of the contingency model theory is that the leader-member relations, task structure, and position power dictate a leaders situational control. Leader-member relations are the amount of loyalty, dependability, and support that the leader receives from employees. It is a measure of how the manager perceives he or she and the group of employees is getting along together. In a favorable relationship the manager has a high task structure and is able to reward and or punish employees without any problems. In an unfavorable relationship the task is usually unstructured and the leader possesses limited authority. The spelling out in detail (favorable) of what is required of subordinates affects task structure. Positioning power measures the amount of power or authority the manager perceives the organization has given him or her for the purpose of directing, rewarding, and punishing subordinates. Positioning power of managers depends on the taking away (favorable) or increasing (unfavorable) the decision-making power of employees. The task-motivated style leader experiences pride and satisfaction in the task accomplishment for the organization, while the relationship-motivated style seeks to build interpersonal relations and extend extra help for the team development in the organization. There is no good or bad leadership style. Each person has his or her own preferences for leadership. Task-motivated leaders are at their best when the group performs successfully such as achieving a new sales record or outperforming the major competitor. Relationship-oriented leaders are at their best when greater customer satisfaction is gained and a positive company image is established. Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership theory is based on the amount of direction (task behavior) and amount of socio-emotional support (relationship behavior) a leader must provide given the situation and the level of maturity of the followers. Task behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties and responsibilities to an individual or group. This behavior includes telling people what to do, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, and whos to do it. In task behavior the leader engages in one-way communication. Relationship behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way or multi-way communications. This includes listening, facilitating, and supportive behaviors. In relationship behavior the leader engages in two-way communication by providing socio-emotional support. Maturity is the willingness and ability of a person to take responsibility for directing his or her own behavior. People tend to have varying degrees of maturity, d epending on the specific task, function, or objective that a leader is attempting to accomplish through their efforts. To determine the appropriate leadership style to use in a given situation, the leader must first determine the maturity level of the followers in relation to the specific task that the leader is attempting to accomplish through the effort of the followers. As the level of followers maturity increases, the leader should begin to reduce his or her task behavior and increase relationship behavior until the followers reach a moderate level of maturity. As the followers begin to move into an above average level of maturity, the leader should decrease not only task behavior but also relationship behavior. Once the maturity level is identified, the appropriate leadership style can be determined. The four leadership styles are telling, selling, participating, and delegating. High task/low relationship behavior (S1) is referred to as telling. The leader provides clear instructions and specific direction. Telling style is best matched with a low follower readiness level. High task/high relationship behavior (S2) is referred to as selling. The leader encourages two-way communication and helps build confidence and motivation on the part of the employee, although the leader still has responsibility and controls decision making. Selling style is best matched with a moderate follower readiness level. High relationship/low task behavior (S3) is referred to as participating. With this style, the leader and followers share decision making and no longer need or expect the relationship to be directive. Participating style is best matched with a moderate follower readiness level. Low relationship/lo w task behavior (S4) is labeled delegating. This style is appropriate for leaders whose followers are ready to accomplish a particular task and are both competent and motivated to take full responsibility. Delegating style is best matched with a high follower readiness level. Houses Path-Goal Model The path-goal theory developed by Robert House is based on the expectancy theory of motivation. The managers job is viewed as coaching or guiding workers to choose the best paths for reaching their goals. Best is judged by the accompanying achievement of organizational goals. It is based on the precepts of goal setting theory and argues that leaders will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending on the nature and demands of the particular situation. Its the leaders job to assist followers in attaining goals and to provide direction and support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organizations. A leaders behavior is acceptable to subordinates when viewed as a source of satisfaction, and motivational when need satisfaction is contingent on performance, and the leader facilitates, coaches and rewards effective performance. Path goal theory identifies achievement-oriented, directive, participative and supportive leadership styles. In achievement-oriented leadership, the leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation. This style is appropriate when the follower suffers from a lack of job challenge. In directive leadership, the leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks. This style is appropriate when the follower has an ambiguous job. Participative leadership involves leaders consulting with followers and asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This style is appropriate when the follower is using improper procedures or is making poor decisions. In supportive leadership, the leader is friendly and approachable. He or she shows concern for followers psychological well being. This style is appropriate when the followers lack confidence. Path-Goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables (environment and follower characteristics) that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is outside the control of followers-task structure, authority system, and work group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if follower outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, experience, and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve their goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Research demonstrates that employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced when the leader compensates for the shortcomings in either the employee or the work setting. Vroom, Yetton, Jago Leader-Participation Model The Vroom, Yetton, Jago leader-participation model relates leadership behavior and participation to decision making. The model provides a set of sequential rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision making in different situations. It is a decision tree, requiring yes and no answers incorporating contingencies about task structure and alternative styles. The following contingency questions must be answered to determine the appropriate leadership style in the leader-participation model. Â · Quality Requirement: How important is the technical quality of this decision? Â · Commitment Requirement: How important is subordinate commitment to the decision? Â · Leaders Information: Do you have sufficient information to make a high-quality decision? Â · Problem Structure: Is the problem well structured? Â · Commitment Probability: If you were to make the decision yourself, are you reasonably certain that your subordinates would be committed to the decision? Â · Goal Congruence: Do subordinates share the organizational goals to be attained in solving this problem? Â · Subordinate Conflict: Is conflict among subordinates over preferred solutions likely? Â · Subordinate Information: Do subordinates have sufficient information to make a high-quality decision? Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership blends the behavioral theories with a little dab of trait theories. Transactional leaders, such as those identified in contingency theories, guide followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. However, transformational leaders, who are charismatic and visionary, can inspire followers to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization. Transformational leaders appeal to followers ideals and moral values and inspire them to think about problems in new or different ways. Leader behaviors used to influence followers include vision, framing, and impression management. Vision is the ability of the leader to bind people together with an idea. Framing is the process whereby leaders define the purpose of their movement in highly meaningful terms. Impression management is a leaders attempt to control the impressions that others form about the leader by practicing behaviors that make the leader more attra ctive and appealing to others. Research indicates that transformational, as compared to transactional, leadership is more strongly correlated with lower turnover rates, higher productivity, and higher employee satisfaction. A transformational leader instills feelings of confidence, admiration and commitment in the followers. He or she is charismatic, creating a special bond with followers, articulating a vision with which the followers identify and for which they are willing to work. Each follower is coached, advised, and delegated some authority. The transformational leader stimulates followers intellectually, arousing them to develop new ways to think about problems. The leader uses contingent rewards to positively reinforce performances that are consistent with the leaders wishes. Management is by exception. The leader takes initiative only when there are problems and is not actively involved when things are going well. The transformational leader commits people to action and converts followers into leaders. Transformational leaders are relevant to todays workplace because they are flexible and innovative. While it is important to have leaders with the appropriate orientation defining tasks and managing interrelationships, it is even more important to have leaders who can bring organizations into futures they have not yet imagined. Transformational leadership is the essence of creating and sustaining competitive advantage.

Essay examples --

Although there are many great presidents of these United States, Harry Truman has his own life story. Harry S Truman was born May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. His parents were John and Martha Young Truman. His father, John, was a farmer and live stalk trader. Martha, his mother was a homemaker. Harry was the oldest in his family of three children. He had a sister named Mary Jane, and a brother named John Vivian. Harry was taught honesty, hard work, and family love at a young age. (3) Truman grew up on a farm in Harrisonville, Missouri and later moved to Independence, Missouri. (3) From a young age, Truman enjoyed reading about history and biography and was very good at it. Truman went to the public school in Independence. He didn’t do any sports in high school because from a young age he was always afraid that he would break his glasses. Sense he didn’t do sports he was picked on by some of the kids, they also made fun of him because he had glasses. Although he did well in high school he did not attend college after graduation. The reason for this was because college was expensive and his parents could not afford that. Truman started working on a railroad and as a bank clerk. When he turned 22 he moved back to the country and started working for the family farm for the next 11 years. 2 Truman joined the army in 1918 and went to France to fight in World War I. While there, Truman became an officer and led his men with good inspiration. After fighting in the war and returning home, Truman married a woman he knew from a young age named Elisabeth Wallace, nicknamed Bess. They were married on June 28 1919. After marriage, they wanted to start a family so they had one daughter named Mary Margaret. After he married the women he loved,... ...ested him greatly. Truman was a loyal man to his wife and his country. This makes him a good man in my book. He had to deal with a lot of war and depression in the years that he was president and that wouldn’t be easy for anyone. He also had to deal with the country advancing and a lot of more children being born. Some presidents didn’t have to deal with hard things like coming into office after someone else died, but that was his duty and he knew he could do it. His wife was very supportive of all of his decisions. When becoming a president you have a lot of shoes to fill, a lot of people to worry about, and a lot of things to look over. It takes a strong man or woman to do so. Even through the 11 hard times Truman didn’t give up, he won the re-election even when no one thought he was going to. It takes dedication do so these things and Truman had a lot of that.

Taking Care of Our Elderly

Davis 1 E. Diana Davis ENGL 2010 Professor Asplund 21st September 2012 The Responsibility of Taking Care of Our Elders My grandmother knows a lot about how it feels to be left in a house alone, waiting for someone to assist her to just get out of bed. This Saturday morning I decided to go visit her while my grandfather was at dialysis. She was surprised to hear my voice as she turned her head over my way and smiled. I could hear the sound of relief in her voice just knowing her granddaughter was here to see about her.My grandmother has been blind since March 2012; she is a diabetic that has had an eye surgery to help repair a detached retina that is still healing. In the meanwhile she’s been dealing with paralysis on her right side from a stroke she suffered over twenty years ago, and it’s really taken a toll on her health. As I sat down beside her with a pen and paper I told her I wanted to get her point of view on how she feels about being an elderly person in this ha rd economy. I needed to know if they were able to cover all their needs on a fixed income. Did she really feel like her and my grandfather’s needs were really being met?As she began to tell me about her fears Davis 2 And concerns my heart sunk and I thought to myself, have we really failed to live up to the obligations of taking care of our elders. As she spoke in her little sweet tone, she made me aware of how hard it is to do simple things like taking a shower, cooking and even going to the restroom is a hard task to do these days. She said â€Å"I feel like everyone is too busy to lend a hand, and me and your grandfather don’t want to be a burden on you all. † I thought to myself as her granddaughter, was I even doing enough?Was the responsibility of taking care of our elderly been overlooked, or was it being passed down to the few faithful people who were getting burnt out on the responsibility? My grandparents as parents bared the moral, legal, and ethical responsibilities to care for their children. However, now that my grandparents have reached an age where they can no longer look after themselves, the duties of their adult children to support them is less clear. It is therefore only fair to say now that their children are grown up and now their parents have become elderly, they should take up the responsibility to provide a decent life for their parents.While it is not a legal obligation, it is a moral obligation and it’s time to pay forward what is owed to our parents/grandparents. It’s our responsibility to help any family member in need. Our family has raised us and helped to survive in this uncertain economy, so why shouldn't we help out when our parents and grandparents reach an age where they need our assistance? Davis 3 Only one out of in five people takes the needed steps to prepare legally and financially for taking care of an incapacitated parent. Consider this contrast between expectations and reality: Only 13 percent of some 4,000 U.S. workers surveyed for the 2011 (Aflac Work Forces Report) believe that the need for long-term care would affect their families. â€Å"The percentage of adult children providing personal care and/or financial assistance to a parent has more than tripled over the past 15 years,† the research group found. Of course, in today's tough economy, it also is common for elderly adults to be supporting their adult children. But in some ways, that's easier to accept: Parents often plan to leave whatever wealth they have to their children anyway.The flow of wealth from older to younger generation feels natural to many. But with Americans living so much longer now, the younger generation has to do more thinking about how they might care for parents who have exhausted their savings. After spending the whole day talking with my grandparents about their concerns I felt compelled to lend a hand. I made lunch for them and started to clean the kitchen. By the end of the day the whole house was spotless, and before I left I help my grandfather get my grandmother ready for bed.I have to say I was really exhausted when I finished, but the feeling I felt when I saw them smiling and relaxing together was worth a million bucks. As soon as I got home that night, I was determined that I had to help with this situation right away. The first thing to do was to call a family meeting. It was time for everyone to pull Davis 4 together and take up their responsibility to do their part. First thing we needed to do is put together a schedule and set it in stone. We all agreed that we would be assigned a day to go and check on our grandparents/parents.This action plan would include cooking, cleaning and donating at least a hundred dollars a month to help with their financial needs. So far this is working out great, and all it took was a concerned person to be a good listener and someone to pull a family together to put a plan in action. By working together as a family it helped to mend broken relationships and it helped us to accomplished many beautiful things. I’m happy to say my grandparents are well taken care now, and years have been added to their life span. Davis 5 Works Cited Http://www. aflac. com/ Aflac_WorkForces_Report 2011

The Role of Modern Industrial Manager

MNGT352 Advanced Modern Management The role of a modern industrial manager Prashanth Balacumaresan (200679951) Word Count: 1965 A manager is someone in charge of an organisation or subunit. Many would fit the bill of a manager besides a chief executive, including coaches, bishops, foremen even presidents and prime ministers. What is the role of a manager? If you did ask someone in a managerial position what they did they would probably tell you that they plan, organize, coordinate and control. Mangers are persistent individuals and they perform their activities in concise, diverse manners.Study shows that most activities performed by chief executives last less than 9 minutes and only a small fraction of the time do activities last an hour long. The work pace for most chief executives and foremen are relentless, spending their whole day receiving calls and mail with every break interrupted by a subordinate looking for some sort of guidance (Mintzberg 1990). The role of an ideal manage r should be a balance between the roles Mintzberg has described. This is because a manger is the commander in chief of an organisation and through this role he has contact to various interpersonal relationships.This gives his the opportunity to gain access to various sorts of information which would then enable him to put to good use by planning effective strategies, making decisions or implement in action (Waldron. M. W, Vasanthakumar. J & Arulraj. S 1997). Managerial roles accentuates reasoning and control, and it does not matter whichever direction the focus is on, the manager should always look at ways to achieve results that would make positive impact and make people continue contributing to his or her organisation.In 1981 Arnaldo conducted a survey of hotel general managers by adapting Mintzberg approach to managerial behaviour. What he found out from this research was that a large majority of mangers viewed leadership as the most important role among the ten roles as proposed by Mintzberg. From this view leadership is an essential quality required for one who is a manager. (Zaleznik. A, 1978). The trait theory perspective suggests that certain individuals possess the qualities and characteristics that highlight them as natural born leaders and this is what will differentiate them from their subordinates. Northouse, P2010). Although this suggests that leadership is a quality that cannot be learnt but one that is acquired , (Worsfold,1989)it would give a person who is likely to take up a role as a manager an insight of the characteristics and qualities that are essential for a leader. Furthermore one need not necessarily stick to its outline as leadership is a role that allows an individual to show his or her unique abilities to command and influence others. (Hollander,1978).Project leadership is essentially defined as a process that fits into a managerial job that would take into consideration the requirement and perquisite of those people who decide to stand besides you to see the completion of a particular task. (Cleland,1995). Project leaders should not be too rigid and exercise authority over the situation within leadership criteria (Cleland and Ireland, 2007) but rather as Goetsch and Davies(2006, 254-255) say inspire individuals in making entire enthusiastic along with intentional dedication towards achieving company aims.Thus one does not need to be intellectually superior to be a manager but rather one need to be determinant, strong willed, analytical, intelligent and most importantly be tolerant. (Zaleznik. A ,1978). Kanji (2008) states leadership is defined as the conduct related by activities in taking charge signifying the immense difficulties faced by managers and professors. Therefore leadership is a variation of characteristics, principles, behaviour and attitude that acts as the key to long term performance of established organisations. (Lakshman, 2006).Having an action mindset about the work environment is another trait required by a manager. A popular visual metaphor indicates that an organisation is a chariot pulled by wild horses which represent the emotions, anticipation and ambitions and needs of people in the organisation. Keeping onto to the same track requires just as the same skill that is required to set off in an entirely new direction. Having an action mindset in this context would be to understand the nature of the situation and utilising the capabilities of the team helping to stay on and maintain direction. Gosling Mintzberg, 2003) Nearly all managerial decisions and actions are influenced by the assumptions made based on observation about human behaviour. Douglas McGregor published in his book The Human Side of Enterprise, two very unique ways of looking at human nature namely Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor also assumed that a typical manger should operate on the context that his employees are either Theory X or Theory Y. Assumptions uch as these mould the manager’s pe rspective on his employees resulting in either a Theory X manager, who would assume a direct and harsh approach denying employees control over their work ,using an incentive based reward system to monitor performance and constantly supervise his employees or rather a Theory Y manager who would be more lenient towards his employees granting them positions of responsibility and structuring the work environment in a manner which would result in efficient methods to solve problems and increase productivity. McGregor ,1960) The Hawthorne experiments conducted by Elton Mayo from 1924 to 1934 prove this point by clearly illustrating that even when the working conditions were varied the team dynamics of the team remained the same. The women who participated in the experiment formed a cooperative relationship and responded spontaneously to this experiment. As they were not pushed or forced to do work, and every decision they made would influence their work they formed a sense of responsibili ty and worked spontaneously. The productivity increased and the workers remained happy.According to McGregor a manager’s perspective on their employees which could be either Theory X or Theory Y can influence their decisions. What managers need is their employees to perform well and given the right incentive and environment you could achieve excellent results. The ideal Theory Y manager would instead of a directive management approach rather choose an approach which would actually involve giving employees positions of responsibility and forming mutually beneficial relationships. This is what was clearly emphasized by Mc Gregor as a core component of Management.What is lacking is most managers fail to understand this fact (Bobic. M. P & Davis E. W). Human motivation in the workplace cannot be defined of falling into the category of either Theory X or Theory Y. It should be rather viewed as something more complicated which is rather a concoction of the two (Miner, 1980; Schein 1970). It has been observed by many through social interactions with managers over several years that most managers use a blend of theories X, Y and Z rather than sticking to the framework of one particular on (Sharma.S 1998). Self regulation is the process of mastering ones emotions. A person who has mastered their emotions would be adaptable to change and would not panic in a circumstance where change would influence his workplace. Self regulation is a key factor that would be influential in the workplace as due to the modern technological trend and competitiveness businesses and companies exist with a great of ambiguity and uncertainness. Companies merge and break at rapid paces and technology is not constant and it will change. Goleman,1998) currently most companies are adapting to advanced manufacturing technologies that are intended to optimize and improve performance in various aspects of the workplace. These are opportunity to revolutionize the way production processes. Larg e companies are already making the switch towards these innovations in order to enhance the performance and increase the positions in the global markets. (Tidd, 1991) Industries are constantly undergoing revolutionary technological change to transform them abound. Examples include switching from metal engine parts to ceramic and switching from lead acid to lithium ion in batteries.When these situations arise a self regulatory person would possess the dexterity to hold his judgement, seek information and adapt to the changes. Effective team working skills are one that is required of a manager. The ability to coordinate individual actions (Zaccaro, Rittman, and Marks 2001) and having a better communication structure among team members can greatly influence the performance of the effectiveness of the team. Team leaders who are encouraging and involve all members in team problem solving enable collective information processing that maximises the teams effectiveness. Zaccaro et al. ) Goo d managers enable their teams to remain goal oriented, ensure a collaborative setting for the team members, build confidence, demonstrate technical skills, set their priorities, manage performance expectations and bring back excellent results. (LaFasto, Larson 2001). Essentially team leaders, who set high performance goals, demonstrate a clear set of strategies and push their team members to their full potentials will display higher team efficiency and cohesion rather than team leaders who do not involve themselves in such tasks. Zaccaro et al. ) Motivation is also a key role for the manager. He or she must be themselves be motivated to perform the task at hand and meanwhile they should be able to motivate the team by keeping the team morale upHow a manager motivates his employees could be varied according to the approach he or she takes. Firstly there is the KITA approach which literally translates as kick in the pants which can either be a negative or a positive approach depending on the manager.Negative KITA is a direct action approach, and it has its drawbacks of being physically confronting which can build up negativity among the employees and the manager. There is also the softer positive approach which is considered as a seduction technique which is the promise of incentive to the employee which can get them to produce good work. (Hertzberg, 1968) This is supported by the expectancy theory that proposes the idea that people work harder depending on the size of the reward. (Mullins, 2007).According to Fredrick Hertzberg motivation relies on two factors firstly the hygiene factors that deal with factors such as working conditions, job security etc and the motivator factors. An employee would usually expect the hygiene factors to be implemented in the workplace as these are factors that help an individual to settle down in an environment. Taking these away from an employee would automatically make him or her dissatisfied and hence de-motivated to work. The other motivator factors are based on an individual’s desire to be better and rise above others.These include status, recognition and sense of achievement. Let us take the company Innocent Drinks for example. They motivate their staff by providing a working environment which is pleasant i. e. the inclusion of trees inside the offices and having Astroturf floors. They also provide free breakfast, a team weekend every year and also scholarships of ? 1000 to employees to fund personal projects such as taking a course etc. Even in their weekly meetings they make their staff feel valuable and this way Innocent helps to keep its staff happy.This is a good model of How Hertzberg’s hygiene and motivational factors have been taken into account and keep employees motivated. (Caterer research how to motivate staff 2011) Mc Clelland’s achievement motivation theory categorizes the people who want to achieve. These people were motivated by intrinsic factors such as goals and aspirations of the individual rather than extrinsic factors such as salary etc. These sorts of people were identified by their affinity to perform difficult put potentially achievable goals, and their like to take risks.These are the sorts of characteristics expected in a manager. In conclusion what should be stated is that all these qualities may not be present in a manager but in general a good manager would be an ideal blend of some of these characteristics. These would not necessarily be outwardly showed but when the situation arises if one could perform that is what is essential. This is the internal meaning of the quote â€Å"Cometh the hour, cometh the man†. Bibliography Arnaldo, M (1981) ‘Hotel general managers: a profile’, The Cornell H. R. A. Quarterly November, 53-56. Bobic M.P and Davis E. W A Kind Word for Theory X: Or Why many New Fangled Management Techniques quickly fail. Cleland, D. I. (1995). Leadership and the project management body of knowled ge. International Journal of Project Management, 13(2): 83-88. Cleland, D. I. and Ireland, L. R. (2007). Project Management: Strategie Design and Implementation (5th), Boston: McGraw-Hill. Goleman. D (1998) What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review pp. 92-102 Gosling J & Mintzberg H(2003) The Five Minds of a Manager (Cover Story) Harvard Business Review 81(11) ,54-63 Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S. B. (2006). Quality Management: Introduction to Total Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services (5), New Jersey: Pearson Education International. Hertzberg F. (1987) One More Time: How do you Motivate Employees Harvard Business vol 46 issue 1 Review pp. 53-62 Hollander, E (1978) ‘Leadership Dynamics: A Practical Guide to Effective Relationships’, Free Press: New York. Kanji, GK. (2008). Leadership is prime: How do you measure Leadership Excellence? Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 19(4): 417-427.LaFasto F & Larson C (2001) When Teams Work Best T housand Oaks CA:SAGE Lakshman, C. (2006). A Theory of Leadership for Quality: Lessons from TQM for Leadership Theory. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 17(1): 41-60. Mayo, E. (1933) The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization, Macmillan. Mc Gregor. D (1960) The Human Side of Enterprise New York Mc-Graw Hill McClelland, D. (1967) The Achieving Society, The Free Press, Miner J. B (1980). Theory of organisational behaviour.Hinsdale, IL; Dryden Press Mullins J (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour 8th Edition Northouse, P (2010) ‘Leadership: Theory and Practice 5th Edition’, Sage Publications: London. Schien E (1970) Organisational Psychology (2nd ed. ) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Sharma. S (1998) Enlightened Leadership in Indian Ethos: The way of Theory K. Management& Change Vol 2 No 1 ,January- June 1998, pp. 93-104. Tidd. J (1991) Flexible Manufacturing Technologies and International Competitiveness, London: Pinter Waldron M. W, Vasant hakumar J and Arulraj. S. 1997) Improving the organization and management of extension. In Swanson. B. E Improving Agricultural Extension: A reference manual Worsfold, P (1989) ‘Leadership and managerial effectiveness in the hospitality industry’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 8(2), 145-155. Zaccaro. S J, Rittman A. L & Marks M. A (2001) Team Leadership. Leadership Quarterly 12 451-483 Zalenik,A (1978) Managers and leaders:are they different? Mckinsey Quarterly,(1), p 2-22 http. //www. catererresearch. com/Articles/2006/06/15/307200/how-to-motivate staff. html [Accessed 21/11/11]

Sheila Mason and Craig Shepherd Essays

Sheila Mason and Craig Shepherd Essays Sheila Mason and Craig Shepherd Paper Sheila Mason and Craig Shepherd Paper 1. What are the most important issues confronting Sheila Mason? Explain you priority of important issues. The most important issue confronting Sheila is that her previous company, ATS, is claiming she may be in violation of her Employee Noncompetition, Nonsolicitation, Nondisclosure and Development Agreement that she signed when she was hired by the company. The day after she quit she began officially working for her own company, which ATS indicates is in direct competition with its own business. Her agreement with her former employer indicates that she cannot be involved directly or indirectly with another company for a period of one year after leaving ATS that is in competition with ATS. Mason also has another issue with the agreement she signed which states that she cannot, for one year from her termination date of her ATS employment, solicit or do business with any customer of the Company or any potential customer of the Company. So, her first hurdle is going to be to prove that her new business is in no way in competition with ATS. If she succeeds at this, she will then have to ensure that does not speak with any customers that ATS currently holds. This will significantly limit her market for initial sales of the product. Another issue confronting Mason is that she frequently uses her personal laptop for business travel and as such, she syncs her work data with her personal data. ATS, her former company, is now claiming ownership of this data and requesting that she turn it back over to the company. Within this collection of data there is likely revealing information relating to her new venture. This could give ATS all the proof they need in order to charge her with the violation of the agreement she signed with the company. This issue should be her least priority at the moment because if she is careful, she can ensure that no information relating to her new venture is ever transferred to ATS. 2. What are the most important issues confronting Craig Shepherd? Explain your priority of important issues. The most important issue confronting Shepherd is that his current employer, Nova, is claiming all rights to his invention. This was a direct result of Shepherd disclosing information to his boss that revealed his invention. This is by far the most pressing issue for Shepherd because if he is unable to fully protect his invention from his employer, none of the remaining issues even matter. Nova does not develop any type of translation engine themselves, however they are in the business of rewriting applications to run on new systems. This demonstrates to Nova that Shepherd could have used knowledge gained while working at Nova to develop the translation engine. This also brings up the issue of the translation engine he developed being in direct competition with Novas current business. Another issue confronting Shepherd is that the software he created, even though it was development during his own personal time using his own personal machine, it was created while he was currently an employee at Nova. Disclosing this information to his employer gives them enough justification to claim ownership of that software. As agreed by Shepherd when joining Nova, they claim all ownership of any ideas or software that Shepherd generates while he is an employee of the company. 3. What is your evaluation of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA)? Would you sign this as a venture capitalist? Why or why not? The non-disclosure agreement presented by Mason and Shepherd seeks to safe guard their idea, such that the venture capital firm is legally unable to implement Mason and Shepherds idea themselves or disclose the idea to any other parties. The problem with the NDA is that it cannot prevent the idea from being implement by another party. However, if the idea is implemented it by another party after receiving the information, it gives Mason and Shepherd legal precedence to claim that they acted in violation of the NDA itself which will strongly support their case if they must take the other parties to court. As a VC, I would not consider signing the NDA. This would only create unnecessary costs and complexity for the venture capital firm along with the associated potential legal issues that could arise. The VC would need to hire a team of lawyers solely to ensure they are not violating the terms of the NDA. This would also require them to review their entire investment portfolio to ensure that none of the products they current have a stake in are in no way similar to the product that Mason and Shepherd are presenting to the firm. Simply put, this would create undue problems for the VC that would otherwise be nonexistent. Also, from another perspective, presenting the NDA to a VC would cast Mason and Shepherd in a negative light as it would indicate they dont necessarily understand the VC process. This would deter the VCs from investing in the product even without having to sign the nondisclosure agreement due to the friction it created. 4. What actions do you recommend that Mason and Shepherd take to guard against the appropriation of their ideas in the absence of an NDA? Mason and Shepherd should seek to secure a patent that would protect the intellectual property that they have developed so far. Shepherd has already development a working proof of concept, which can be used for filing the patent. While their idea is not patentable itself, the technology they have already created may be patentable. The technology they have already created provides a fairly simple solution to the complex problem of creating the translation engine. If this technology is patented, they will have a significant head start on any competitors that may try to create their own translation engine. The competitors would be deterred from initiating this venture due to the increased complexity of development of the translation engine since they would not be able to used the easier approach that Mason and Shepherd lay claim to. If Mason and Shepherd are unable to secure patent protection for their IP, they should simply proceed as aggressively as possible. Instead of defending themselves upfront, they must take an offensive strategy and bring the product to market as quickly as possible. This aggressive strategy will help ensure they always remain ahead of any competition that may exist. Once they control the initial market, it will be much more difficult for any competitors to try to break into that market. 5. What actions do you recommend that employees take to terminate their employment relationship with current employers? Relating to Mason and Shepherd: Mason and Shepherd should immediately terminate their relationship with their employers. However, at this point in the process, I dont believe that they are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to sever this relationship appropriately while also putting them in the best possible position for protection. They should immediately acquire an attorney experienced in this area of practice to draft their resignation letters and handle all further communication between the parties. Relating to employees in general: Employees should never disclose any knowledge of ideas, intellectual property, or any information relating to something they have developed or will develop to any employee of their company. Any information provided only serves as ammunition to the employer with which they can use to build a case against you and attempt to claim any such property. Employees should also seek to terminate their relationship with their employer as soon as possible. If there is any such suspicion that the employer may attempt to seek claim to property or seek some violation of non-compete by the employee, an attorney should always be involved as mentioned above. This presents complex situations which the employees are unprepared to handle on their own without legal advice.

The Problem of Internet Piracy in Modern Society

The Problem of Internet Piracy in Modern Society Online piracy is one of the major problems that the entertainment industry faces. Online piracy makes the industry lose billions of dollars annually. It has led to significant reduction in the number of music CDs that record labels sell annually. Record labels have undertaken several strategies to reduce online piracy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Problem of Internet Piracy in Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Litigation against companies that engage in online piracy is one of the strategies that record labels use to reduce the vice. In addition, record labels have set up legitimate websites where customers can download music online. However, these measures have not been successful. The Pirate Bay was one of the companies that engaged in online piracy of music. The company enabled users to access an unlimited number of pirated content. The Pirate Bay was primarily a business. Therefore, it had to make a profit to remain in operation. The company generated its revenue from advertisements. There were various advertisements on the company’s web page. Companies that advertised on The Pirate Bay’s web page paid a premium price for the service. Since most people who pirate music online are between the ages of 14 and 21, the advertisements were very effective. This is because people in this age bracket are more responsive to various online advertisements. Therefore, the business model of the company is the advertising revenue. The Pirate Bay did not charge customers to download music from the site. In addition, The Pirate Bay did not store the pirated music. The company was a search engine that enabled its users to access pirated content expediently from other providers. This enabled the company to gain popularity quickly. P2P networks that operate without corporate sponsorship may repackage and sell pirated content to generate revenue. The networks usually sell the repackaged content at prices that are much lower than the recommended market prices. However, P2P networks do not remit the payments they receive from their customers to the music companies that own the copyright for the repackaged content. P2P networks may also sell subscriptions to private networks. Certain P2P networks may generate revenue by advertising to users of the networks through spyware and adware programs that have pop-up advertisements. Users download the spyware or adware when they download software from the company. The spyware and adware may send unsolicited e-mails from parties that pay for the service. There are many social and legal implications of piracy. Various people argue that P2P sites deny musicians and record labels valuable income. This reduces the profitability of the record labels. In addition, reduced income may reduce motivation of artists and record labels. However, there are arguments against this opinion. Record labels do not benefit musicians.Adve rtising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Their only aim is to make money by exploiting musicians. Musicians make a sizeable percentage of their income from endorsements and concerts. Therefore, it is wrong for the record labels to claim that they are protecting the music industry when in fact they are only protecting their own interests. Record labels should not shut down P2P sites since they are simply a means of accessing pirated music. They do not engage in piracy directly. Shutting the P2P sites would not eliminate piracy. It would only make it hard for people to pirate music using P2P sites. However, people would ultimately find other means of accessing pirated content. The only solution is for the record labels to develop new platforms of promoting and distributing their music. In addition, record labels may target parties that provide pirated content to P2P networks. Th e ruling of the Swedish court would not reduce illegal sharing of music files over the internet. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on sharing files over the internet would not reduce internet piracy in the US. The decision of the courts would make people devise new means of pirating music. These methods may be more creative and innovative. This may make it hard for authorities to detect piracy. Therefore, the only solution is for record labels to develop new promotion and distribution channels that may help in countering piracy. Facebook and Apple are some of the companies that have developed innovative ways of distributing music. These companies have experienced tremendous success due to the innovative music distribution channels. People who are more than 21 years old are usually more cautious than people who are much younger. This is because these people may have various responsibilities. Therefore, they would not like to engage in activities that would put the m at risk. Therefore, legal action against people who engage in piracy may deter people who are more than 21 years old from engaging in piracy. Legal action due to piracy may put their jobs or families in jeopardy. In addition, people who are more than 21 years old have a source of income. Therefore, they may be unwilling to download pirated content since they can pay for the original version. In addition, people who are more than 21 years old may not have time to search for pirated content, which is not easily available on the internet. On the other hand, people who are between 14 and 21 years old may engage in piracy since people in this age bracket are carefree. They may not have a clear understanding of the consequences of their actions. In addition, people in this age bracket may download pirated content due to lack of money to buy the original versions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Problem of Internet Piracy in Modern Society specifically for y ou for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the modern world, record labels do not perform roles that justify their huge revenues. Record labels engage in the promotion and distribution of music. However, technology has availed various tools that musicians may use to distribute and promote their work. Social media is one of the major technological tools that musicians may use to promote and distribute their music. The major advantage of these technological tools is that musicians would only use a fraction of the money that record labels would use to distribute and promote their music. Various bands have launched their music careers using YouTube or other internet based platforms. These platforms enable artists to earn more income than what the record labels may be willing to pay them. Record labels still use the business models that they were using during the 1980s prior to the invention of the internet. Therefore, it is vital for record labels to embrace these tools . Failure to embrace these tools would make record labels lose their competitive edge in the market. Piracy is one the problems that make the entertainment industry lose vast sums of money. It is vital for record labels and other legitimate companies in the industries to formulate new methods of promotion and distribution of copyrighted content. Suing companies and people that engage in piracy would not solve the problem. This may make the culprits devise more innovative ways of engaging in piracy. This would increase the severity of the problem.

Using Forest Fire Weather to Prevent Forest Fires.

Using Forest Fire Weather to Prevent Forest Fires. Predicting Wildfire Behavior Using Weather Data Predicting wildfire behavior is as much an art as it is a science and very much based on understanding weather conditions that influence wildfire. Even seasoned firefighters have trouble reading fire behavior and in predicting a forest fires potential threat to property and lives. One tool at a fire bosses disposal is USDA Forest Services Wildland Fire Assessment System. Wildland Fire Assessment System Daily bits of information are compiled at 1,500 weather stations throughout the United States and Alaska. The values of this data are used in assessing current wildfire conditions and you can find valuable information on the Internet. Every incident command center should have an  Internet connection to these sites. USDA Forest Services Wildland Fire Assessment System provides the support and supplies fire weather and mapping sources. Fire Danger Maps A fire danger rating map is developed using current and historical weather and fuel data. These data are transferred to models to give present condition information and also predicts what may happen tomorrow. Maps are developed to give a visual presentation of the potential danger of fire in a particular region. Fire Weather Observations and Next Day Forecasts Observation maps are developed from the fire weather network. The latest observations include the 10 minute average wind, the 24-hour rain total, the temperature, the relative humidity, and the dew point. There are next day forecasts displayed as maps as well. Live Fuel Moisture/Greenness Maps A fuel moisture index is a tool that is widely used to understand the fire potential for locations across the country. Fuel moisture is a measure of the amount of water in a fuel (vegetation) available to a  fire  and is expressed as a percent of the dry weight of that specific fuel. Living fuels  play a major part in the potential of fire. Vegetative Greenness is a major determinant and predictor of fire spread. The greener the vegetation, the lower the fire potential. This map depicts the green you would expect to see from the air. Dead Fuel Moisture Fire potential is heavily dependent on dead fuel moisture  in forest fuels. There are four classes of dead fuel moisture - 10-hour, 100-hour, 1000-hour. When you have a drying of 1000-hour fuels, you have major potential for fire problems until a general soaking occurs. Wildfire Drought Maps There are several maps that depict drought as determined by measuring soil and duff moisture. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index measures soil capacity to absorb water. Another index is the Palmer Drought Index which is linked to the National Climate Center Regional and updated weekly. Atmospheric Stability Maps The stability term is derived from the temperature difference at two-atmosphere levels. The moisture term is derived from the dew point depression at a single atmosphere level. This Haines Index has been shown to be correlated with large fire growth on initiating and existing fires where surface winds do not dominate fire behavior.

Philosophy 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Philosophy 101 - Essay Example Thus, he began to doubt his beliefs on sense perception, material objects and physical sciences, for these all depend on our senses, which are by nature, deceptive. Furthermore, he doubted mathematics, for the reason that there perhaps may be an evil deceiver that deceives him to fall into error. Herein, Descartes uses this evil deceiver in attaining his permanent truth. I quote: â€Å"Even though there may be a deceiver of some sort†¦ who bends all his efforts to keep me perpetually deceived, there can be no slightest doubt that I exist, since he deceives me; and let him deceive me as much as he will, he can never make me be nothing as long as I think that I am something† (Descartes 82). This is Descartes absolute and certain truth. For, inasmuch as he would doubt all the beliefs he has ever had, there is one thing, which he cannot doubt, i.e. that he exists. For to claim that he cannot tell the difference between a dream and reality, or to claim that an evil deceiver de ceives him to fall into error, is not possible without him existing. In order for doubting to take place, a doubter must exist. In order for Descartes to be deceived to fall into error, he must exist. Therefore, Descartes arrives at his foundational truth: â€Å"I exist.† Works Cited Descartes, R., 1960.

Misuse or new use of radiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Misuse or new use of radiation - Essay Example Earlier, good results were obtained with radiation therapy using grenz rays or superficial x-rays but since such machines are not commonly available now, this modality of treatment is no longer used. This study describes the use of megavoltage radiation with good results. The study involved treatment of nine patients with chronic vesicular dermatitis on their hands, feet, or both, with megavoltage radiation. All patients were refractory to conventional treatments. Six of the nine patients had both their hands and feet treated, while two patients had their hands treated, and one patient had the feet treated. For treatment of the hands, the patients stood at the side of a linear accelerator couch and placed their prone palms on a one centimeter of bolus on the couch. Another one centimeter of bolus was placed on top of the hands. An isocentric anterior-posterior and posterior-anterior technique with 6 MV photons, with field size ranging from 19 Ãâ€" 23 cm to 38 Ãâ€" 24.5 cm was used. The center of midplane between the two pieces of bolus received the radiation dose, with radiation dose prescription depths ranging from 1.0 to 2.5 cm from the patients skin surface (2.0 to 3.5 cm from the bolus). For treatment of feet, the patients lay supine on a linear accelerator couch and reverse on the table. With the knees bent, the feet were placed in a water bath having a one-centimeter bolus. An isocentric right and left lateral technique with 6 MV photons, with field size ranging from 14 Ãâ€" 28 cm to 24 Ãâ€" 34 cm was used. The radiation dose was prescribed to the isocenter with the radiation dose prescription depths ranging from 10.5 to 12.5 cm. The radiation dose given was 1,200 cGy in 8 fractions for 8 patients and 900 cGy in 6 fractions for one patient. Treatments were given twice per week, either on Monday and Thursday or on Tuesday and Friday. An improvement was seen in all patients during

Ethical Dilemma (ethhics class) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethical Dilemma (ethhics class) - Essay Example Scott Thompson offered his services to the company, and subsequently managed the firm in a way that company growth and development was induced and subsequently realized. While it was unethical for the CEO to use fake documents for his employment at the company, the fact that the CEO successfully managed the firm cannot be refuted. The company faced an ethical dilemma relating to whether the CEO should be fired or maintained following his contribution to the firm. The available options are consequential in diverse and dynamic ways. Maintaining the CEO in his position would affect the employees in relation to honesty and dishonesty at work. Company subscribers were also at stake relating to company’s compliance with social, ethical, and legal requirements for hiring and firing of human resource (Jennings 153). In this respect, the company had a critical decision to make on this matter, and so did the

Managing of Human Resource at Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing of Human Resource at Starbucks - Essay Example In 1999, Schultz stepped down as CEO in favor of Smith and had given him the authority. Gareth (1998, p. 38) states: Particular attention was focused on the idea of making employees feel more useful and important by giving them meaningful jobs and giving as much autonomy, responsibility and recognition as possible as a means of getting them involved in their work. The duty of any good and successful leader or manager is to create a work environment that is effective to growth. The leaders who are ready to work in teams with an appropriate level of command and authority of making decisions are considered to be successful in motivating and raising the need amongst the employees to achieve the goals. The statement that is being provided by the company's CEO clearly showed that he has faith in himself and is confident that he would lead the company to a much higher level with a teamwork and authority because the managers or supervisors need to be authoritative in their decisions in order to lead a team. Kroom (1995, p. 355) suggests that, 'authority can be considered the managers right to act.' Leadership approach at Starbucks seemed to be of democratic style. ... Theories of Leadership at Starbuck Leadership approach at Starbucks seemed to be of democratic style. The leaders or supervisors of the company provides their subordinates with the prospect to work under their leadership and make them make the most of their potential fully by letting them play a part in the decision making process and planning phase. They believe that the most successful innovation came out from their employees and by giving them the authority to bring about their job make the employees feel esteemed and honored. McGregor proposed a theory which became a base for leadership. According to him the manager or supervisor categorize their employees in two distinct groups of human behavior, namely Theory X and Theory Y. Kroom (1995, p. 357) write that, 'the way in which manager or supervisor leads his subordinates is determined to a large degree, by his assumptions about human behavior.' Theory X is considered to have those people who are not ready to do any work, very lethargic and lazy and are controlled by their supervisors. On the other hand, in Theory Y, the human behavior of the people is positive towards the work and is very keen and enthusiastic in fulfilling the job. 'Theory Y which is a positive view, people are willing to work, will enforce self-control if they have committed themselves to objectives and will accept responsibilities.' (Kroom 1995, p. 357). The leadership style that is being used at Starbucks by the manager or supervisor is democratic management style. They gave empowerment to their employees and encouraged innovativeness. The employees mostly lie under Theory Y and have positive attitude towards their objectives. It is to believe at Starbucks that by implementing ideas by the employees gave them a sense of contribution and was

The Internet and Public Policy in Qatar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Internet and Public Policy in Qatar - Essay Example Eventually, the paper will discuss and provide a recommended plan on how this type of crime should be managed. Although Qatari government has not provided a clear definition of theft, this type of criminal act has been defined as â€Å"an unlawful act of stealing, taking, and removing of personal property with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it† (Merriam-Webster Online, 2009). Basically, â€Å"a person commits theft if he receives, retains, or disposes of the property of another knowing that it has been stolen, or believing that it has probably been stolen, with a purpose to deprive the owner thereof† (N.H. Rev. Sta. Ann.  § 637:1, 1, 1996). Although most of the existing definition of theft does not clearly state where and how the act of stealing another person’s property or information may occur, it remains clear that taking another person’s property or identity without the knowledge of Aside from the legally practicing the existing penal co de law on theft, Qatari government strongly supports the intellectual property rights (A Review of Intellectual Property-Related News and Developments in the Middle East and North Africa, 2007). For instance: The selling of pirated or selling counterfeited CDs is considered a crime related to theft. As part of Qatari government’s effort on implementing some international and regional strategies against transnational crime, an Intellectual Property Enforcement Office was recently been established. Software developers are among the common.

To what extent were ancient historians concerned to achieve a high Essay

To what extent were ancient historians concerned to achieve a high standard of objectivity in the production of their narratives - Essay Example Many a scholar has commented that even if objectivity is achieved by a historian, such objectivity always remains confined within the narration of the facts that are presented sequentially. According to (RÃ ¼sen, 2), the best definition of history must include the sense and meaning within the expression of time in the past, present and future. The connectivity of these aspects of time utilizes the main mental form of presentation that narration offers. Narration gives past, present and future some meaning to human life by relating experience to expectation. It is therefore correct to state narratives as the form in which history is stored in human minds and assists them to orientate themselves in temporal change. Objectivity in historical narratives has been analyzed to act as a yardstick of validity, integrity and truth in narratives. The main purpose of narrative objectivity can be said to be the linking impact of historical occurrences and the cumulative complement that each part of history gives to the other. In ancient historical narratives, there was lack of linkage of historical ideas from different writers and time. Objectivity was lacking due to the fact that there was no platform to refer one’s work from pre-existing similar ideas. Many inconsistencies were identified in ancient narratives when comparisons of such uniformed texts were done. Later, ancient historical narratives adopted the truth claim of connecting history to valid explanations of events. The validity of the majority of ancient texts is highly questionable, partly due to the fact that the literacy levels were limited. Majority of ancient historical texts were primary sources since the authors were the first to generate and write on the topics. Modern historical narration has however adopted a more literature perspective in offering validity to events and occurrences. Almost every topic in history has been explored and the relevant information backed up in form of databases.

The Internet and Public Policy in Qatar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Internet and Public Policy in Qatar - Essay Example Eventually, the paper will discuss and provide a recommended plan on how this type of crime should be managed. Although Qatari government has not provided a clear definition of theft, this type of criminal act has been defined as â€Å"an unlawful act of stealing, taking, and removing of personal property with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it† (Merriam-Webster Online, 2009). Basically, â€Å"a person commits theft if he receives, retains, or disposes of the property of another knowing that it has been stolen, or believing that it has probably been stolen, with a purpose to deprive the owner thereof† (N.H. Rev. Sta. Ann.  § 637:1, 1, 1996). Although most of the existing definition of theft does not clearly state where and how the act of stealing another person’s property or information may occur, it remains clear that taking another person’s property or identity without the knowledge of Aside from the legally practicing the existing penal co de law on theft, Qatari government strongly supports the intellectual property rights (A Review of Intellectual Property-Related News and Developments in the Middle East and North Africa, 2007). For instance: The selling of pirated or selling counterfeited CDs is considered a crime related to theft. As part of Qatari government’s effort on implementing some international and regional strategies against transnational crime, an Intellectual Property Enforcement Office was recently been established. Software developers are among the common.

Mobile application Essay Example for Free

Mobile application Essay The rapid growth of Web 2. 0 introduced a number of new design patterns and architectural styles in web development. One of the notable techniques involves the mashing up of information from existing services to deliver value-added new services. This process effectively includes the drawing of content from several sources in order to create a new content or service. The resulting web page Is finally referred to as mashup of the existing content. While mashup services bring flexibility and speed In delivering new valuable services to consumers, the legal Implications of his technology are significant. The term mashup originates In the music branch, especially from mixing songs or samples from two or more songs, lyrics or background music to produce a new soundtrack . ln case of the World Wide Web, mashups are websites, web pages, web services or applications which combine data, Information, music, geotracks from more than one source Into one application, service or website. This is generally achieved by using third party application programming interfaces (Apr s) or open technologies such as Ajax, PHP or syndicated eds like RSS or ATOM. Based on service composition in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) concepts, mashups are flexible and dynamic services.. Web 2. 0 takes us to a deeply service-oriented world, where we can exploit everyday services such as news, instant messaging and blogging via our desktops, mobile phones, PDA, BlackBerry and soon. Most of the time people are not aware of the actions behind the scenes in terms of the massive network of service interactions. Such services occasionally seem as if they are re writing the existing services. In fact they are mart compositions (mashups) of the existing ones. Known as Web application hybrid this smart way of combining the content from more than one source into an integrated experience is called mash up technology. One of my favorite Mashup Websites is Neibex. com. Neibex. com is a neighborhood explore. sing this tool you can specify the country that you are situated in and then the City, the postal code and the radius you want your search to take into account. You can look up just anything: find local events, cars, Jobs, real estate, twits, classifieds, restaurants, stores, pa and beauty, theaters, banks, ATM, hotels, auto, household services, doctors, clinics, hospitals and health services, businesses and web resources. It stands as a quick and direct way to find an ything you might be looking for in your close vicinity. Nelbex Is a conjunction of several APIs. First we can observe the use of The Google Base API that makes it possible to get Items In and out of Google Base; a free service for submitting various content for Google to host and to make searchable online. The service allows content providers to upload structured data (Including Jobs, vehicles, recipes, events, products, reviews, and otheirs) to Google, surface It across Google search properties, and syndicate It Vla apls, gadgets and gadget ads. Next we see the use of the Google Maps API, which allows for the embedding of Google Maps onto web pages of outside developers, using a simple JavaScript Interface or a Flash Interface. It Is designed to work on both mobile devices as well as traditional desktop browser applications. The API includes language localization for over 50 languages, secure (HTTPS) connection by Google Maps API Premier customers. Furtheirmore ,Neibex takes the use of Yahoo Local Search APIs that give users access to a comprehensive database of information and content in Yahoo. Local ranging from business information, to user comments, to ratings. Data includes business address and phone, category, rating, distance, URL and traffic alerts. Yahoo Local makes a great addition to any mashup, bringing in location-based relevancy and the additional context of what real people have experienced in these places. Moreover we see the use of The Twitter micro-blogging service that includes two Restful APIs. The Twitter REST API methods allow developers to access core Twitter data. This includes update timeliness, status data, and user information. And the Search API methods give developers methods to interact with Twitter Search and trends data. Also Neibex. com with The Google Friend Connect API gives developers an easy way for one-click user authentication using any of Google, Yahoo, AIM, or Open ID accounts. Google Friend Connect APIs enable developers iintegrate social flows and data directly within a pages mark-up, via the Open Social standard pacification. Integrate existing login systems, registered users, and existing data with new social data and activities. Create social gadgets and services that are embeddable within millions of Friend Connect enabled sites. The main point is that every mashup website generally does not require programming skills and makes existing data more useful, for personal and professional use. There is a hug digit of mashup coming up every day, conjoining photos, videos, maps, social, music, and information. You Just have to explore your needs!

The video game console market

The video game console market Executive Summary The video game console market is a fast growing market. Sonys PlayStation 3 competes together with Nintendos Wii and Microsofts Xbox 360 for the market leader position. Compared with these competitors, Sonys PS3 includes the newest technologies and provides the highest variety of functionalities. Therefore, Sonys strategy is to target customers who focus on high technologies and multimedia-entertainment. However, this involves that the PS3 competes not only with console manufacturers, but also with other multimedia producers such as PC manufacturers. Due to the fact, that the Sonys PS3 will be quite expensive, the console will be available in a premium edition and in a cheaper basic edition. Considering the distribution of its PS3 games, Sony tries to change its traditional supply chain by providing an Internet platform, where users can download games. This results in saving costs and a faster distribution. Furthermore, the most important marketing tool is the Internet for promoting the PlayStation 3. Blogs, MySpace, YouTube and other kind of websites enable an area-wide promotion of the game console and especially, it is done by consumers. Another important tool is the official website, which offers among others information about the console and about available games. Additionally, Sony promotes its PlayStation 3 together with a meaningful slogan, which differs between Europe (This is living) and U.S. (Play Beyond). Finally, Sonys financing objectives are to sell 15 million exemplars in the first-year and to achieve total sales revenue of $8.25 billion. Its marketing goals are to sell more than 100 million exemplars in the long-run and to become the market leader. 1 Situation Analysis 1.1 Current marketing environment The video game console market is highly influenced from its demographic and technological environment. The worldwide population is growing and more and more people have a strong need for entertainment. Many people require something against boredom in their free time. Furthermore, the technology environment creates a variety of new functionalities which are almost unlimited. According to Moores Law, processor speed and memory capability reduplicate almost every 18 months by constant prices. Additionally, technologies such as High Definition TV provide a new way of entertainment consumption. Finally, another important influence in peoples behavior is enabled by the Internet. Its introduction was a milestone of the new economy. It allows finding almost any required information and enables worldwide communication as well as interaction and it simplifies doing business. 1.2 Current Product Line Before we describe the features and functionalities of Sonys new video game console, the PlayStation 3, we would like to give a short overview of the companys current home video game line: PlayStation (PS1) The Sony PlayStation is the companys first video game console and was produced in the mid-1990s. It belongs to the fifth generation of video game consoles and provides a 32-bit processor. Furthermore, the PlayStation was the first game console that reached the 100 million mark. PlayStation 2 (PS2) Sonys PlayStation 2 is part of the sixth generation era and was released in 2000. Besides its 128-bit processor, it was the fist video game console that provides DVD playback functionality. It placed first in number of units sold in its sixth generation of video game consoles and it became the fastest selling and most popular game console in history, with over 110 million units shipped worldwide by November 2006.[1] PlayStation Portable (PSP) Sonys PlayStation Portable was the companys first handheld game console released in 2004. Besides playing games, it also provides different functionalities such as playing music, watching videos, viewing pictures and using Internet applications. Nowadays, the PSP is the main competitor of Nintendos Game Boy and Nintendo DS. 1.3 Product Analysis The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) is the seventh generation video game console and the third in Sonys PlayStation series. The console was launched in North America and Japan in November 2006 and is yet expected to be launched in Europe by March 2007. The reason for its delay in Europe is a shortness of supplies with parts of the Blu-ray drive. The console offers high-end technology and it has been described as an engineering masterpiece because of its promising specification and use of new technology.[2] Furthermore, the PS3 will be available in two different editions on the one hand, a basic edition with a 20 GB hard disk drive (HDD), and on the other hand a premium edition with 60 GB HDD. Nevertheless, both editions will have key elements such the Blu-Ray Disc for High Definition movies, the Cell chip, Giga-bit Ethernet for high speed Internet-connection, and an HDMI connection for optimum output on HDTV. Compared with the basic edition, the premium edition will provide some extra features like support for multiple external memory storage devices (Memory stick, SD) and Wireless connectivity. More information about the specification can you find in the Appendix. Furthermore, Sonys newest game console provides a Linux operating system and some Internet applications such as an Opera Web browser and multiplaying functionality. Finally, another feature of the PlayStation 3 is the backward compatibility to Sonys previous video games for PS1 and PS2. 1.4 Target Markets The following section should provide an overview of Sonys target market and of its targeted customers. 1.4.1 Target market approach In our opinion, Sony should use a segmentation approach as their general strategy to reach targeted customers. Although mass-marketing would create the largest potential market, which leads to the lowest costs and results in lower prices or higher margins, we propose segment marketing because it can create a more fine-tuned product offering and price for the target segment. Moreover, this approach enables to select more easily the best distribution and communication channels, and to have a clearer picture of the main competitors.[3] 1.4.2 Segmenting consumer markets Cultural distinctions, different needs and demands of individuals, and diversities in customers buying behaviours require market segmentation of companies to satisfy their customers effectively. Thereby, the market can be divided in geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural segmentation variables and the company can focus on target segments which it wants to attract.[4] According to Sony, the main geographic segments of the PlayStation 3 consist of the Northern America market, the Japanese market and the European market. When Sony released his first video game console PlayStation in 1994, the companys main focus was on the marketplace from 12- to 17-year-old boys. But nowadays, Sonys demographic segmentation divides the market of the PS3 in male and female, old and young players and expands its business vastly to a mainstream entertainment.[5] The PS3 offers a multifaceted repertoire of video games which includes something for everybody. Theres not merely one game to ultimately define the PS3 platform, but rather different must-have games for different segments of consumers. Additionally, an important and profitable demographic segment could be the college market because according to a study by Anderson Analytics GenX2Z only 26 percent of students report not playing video games.[6] Furthermore, Sony concentrates on a strong customer loyalty status in the behavioural segment. Besides its popular brand and the high reputation of its products, the company tries to win over its former consumers by the implementation of a backward compatibility which enables to play video games from its previous video game consoles (PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2). Finally, one of the important target segments of the PS3 involves consumers who require high technology. The company is convinced that its consumers desire and want to get the best out of the best. 1.4.3 Characteristics of the targeted customers / product uses As already mentioned, Sonys targeted customers want to have the newest technologies and functionalities. Moreover, they need an entertainment system which provides functionalities such as viewing pictures, movies or listening music. The Playstation 3 can fulfil all this particular requirements and reach therewith a lot of different customers. First of all, video game players can use the console, because it provides high technology and a lot of different available games. Furthermore, movie lovers can use the PS3 because it involves a DVD drive and also allows watching movies in High Definition with its Blu-Ray drive. Moreover, customers can use the game console to see pictures from their last holidays easily by inserting their memory card in the included card-reader. Finally, customer can use the console to surf in the Internet or to use it instead of a computer, because its Linux operation system provides similar functionalities. Summarized, all members of a family can use the PlayStation 3 for different needs. For instance, children play video games during the day and when the father arrives, he uses the PlayStation to read his emails. Thereafter, the mother inserts the SD card in the PS3 and shows him the pictures from her trip to Stockholm last weekend. And at the evening, the whole family watch a movie together. This multimedia functionality provides the biggest benefit for the PS3s consumers. 1.4.4 Purchasing process Some customers make their decision which game console they want to buy dependent from the number of available games. Not only the functionality and technology, but also the variety of games can be important for the decision-making process of customers. Therefore, the company has to offer information about the games which will be available for its game console. The primary channel for providing such information would be the official webpage. Furthermore, the final end-user of the game console is not always responsible for the purchasing process. For instance, sometimes parents purchase the game console for their children, and therewith another party is involved in the purchasing process. 1.4.5 Market size estimations The number of consumers in the video game console industry increased continuously during the last years. Due to the fact, that game consoles of the newest generation are comparable with an entertainment system, we estimate a market size of 400 million potential users in Europe if everybody would buy the product. Considering that one product would be enough for a family, our final estimation of potential consumers will be 100 million in Europe. Furthermore, a forecast report of PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown that by 2010, the worldwide video game market will grow to $46.5 billion, at an average 11.4% compound annual rate.[7] 1.5 Competitive Analysis Nintendo and Microsoft are the main competitors of Sony in the video game console industry. Considering the seventh generation, Sonys PlayStation 3 compete with Nintendos Wii and Microsofts Xbox 360. These two consoles were released world-wide in November 2006 and November 2005 respectively.[8] According to a study of the NPD Group about the best-selling video game consoles for December 2006, the Xbox 360 sold 1.1 million units, the Wii 604.2 thousand units and the PS3 490.7 thousand units. However, the PS3 sales figures include only the U.S. and Japan market, where it is released already. More details about the competition situation will be discussed in chapter 3 Competition. 1.6 Product/Market Analysis Tools 1.6.1 Product Life Cycle According to Sonys previous game consoles, the PlayStation 3 should have a 10-year product life-cycle. Its state-of-the-art technology involves that the usage of the PS3 resources and technology are just at the beginning and can fulfil all game requirements in the next years.[9] The product life-cycle consists of four different stages: Introduction: At this stage, the sales growth increase slowly when the product is introduced to the market. In Europe, the PS 3 is already located in the middle of this stage, because many game-console lovers and fans have ordered the PS 3 in advance to become one of the first consumers after its release in March 2007. For instance, a new PS 3 is pre-ordered almost each 20 seconds in Great Britain.[10] Growth: At this period, a market acceptance of the product is recognizable and the number of sales units increases. First-users report about the product positively and other consumers are becoming curious. Maturity: A slowdown in sales growth will be at this stage because the product has achieved acceptance by most of the buyers. Decline: Most of the potential buyers have already the product and therewith the number of sales declines. Different marketing strategies are necessary for each stage of the product life-cycle. We will discuss our recommended strategies in6 Marketing Strategy. Due to the fact, that the PlayStation 3 was already released in Japan and U.S., Figure 2 shows that the PlayStation 3 is located in a higher position compared with Europe. After shortness of supplies and an enormous rush demand in Japan and in the United States after the release in November 2006, a kind of stagnation is visible in these both markets today. Vendors report that a large contingent of the PlayStation 3 is still available in their shops.[11] Although Sony sees the reason for that in its optimized supply chain, the company has to consider new marketing strategies to increase its sales. 1.6.2 The Boston Consulting Groups Growth-Share Matrix In the following section, we would like to analyse and classify Sonys game console product portfolio by profit potentials. Therefore, we used the Boston Consulting Group approach presented by Kotler.[12] Due to the fact, that the PlayStation 1 is not be sold anymore, we didnt regard it in our analysis. First, we placed the PlayStation Portable in the Question marks sector, because the market of game handhelds is still growing and as the strongest competitor of the market leader Nintendo DS, the relative market share of the PSP increases. Therefore, Sony has to spend a lot of money in the development and advertising of the PSP to keep up with the fast-growing market, and to overtake the market leader. Additionally, we also placed the PlayStation 3 in the Question marks sector, because the market of the seventh generation video game consoles is still increasing and it is not visible already if the PS 3 will take the position of the market leader. Finally, we located the PlayStation 2 in the Cash cow sector. The PS2 has a falling market growth rate after the release of the next generation game console. Nevertheless, it is still the market leader in its generation and it achieved higher sales units (1.4 million) as the Xbox360 (1.1 million), Nintendo Wii (604.2 thousand), and the PlayStation 3 (490.7 thousand) in December 2006.[13] According to the 10-year product life-cycle, the PS2 is in the decline stage and will stay in the market for the next 3 years yet. 1.7 SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of a companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.[14] It is used as a framework to help an organization develop its marketing strategy. Thereby, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors which can be controlled by an organization, whereas opportunities and threats consist of external factors which are uncontrollable by an organization. 2 Objectives Sonys financial objectives are to: Achieve first-year total sales revenue of $8.25 billion, based on an average price of $550 per unit. Sonys PlayStation 3 marketing objectives are to: Achieve a first-year unit sales volume of 15 million, which represent a projected market share of 25 percent. Increase second-year share to 40 percent and become the market leader. Sell more than 100 million units in the long-term. Arrange for distribution through the leading electric, video games and computer retailer in the top 100 and establish an Internet platform. 3 Competition 3.1 Game console industry According to the industry concept of competition presented by Kotler[15], an industry is a group of firms that offer a product or class of products that are close substitutes for another product. The structure type of the video game console industry is an oligopoly, because the Japanese Nintendo and Sony, and the U.S. Microsoft dominate the market. Particularly, the structure is a differentiated oligopoly, because only few companies producing products partially differentiated along lines of price and features. Furthermore, the console industry is characterized by large cost of barriers to entry according to Porters model of five competitive forces. It may cost up to $2 billion to develop a competitive console platform and returns on investment may take several years.[16] Furthermore, these three console manufacturers have a similar business model consisting of the following three income flows: Hardware sales Sales of own software/games Licences fees from other software/game developers that use the console platform Finally, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony compete on a global basis with core markets in Japan, Europe and in the United States. 3.2 Direct competitors The following section compares the direct competitors Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony with regard to their products, prices, sales units and game range. 3.2.1 Product differentiation Furthermore, both competitors of Sonys PS3 provide an internet platform: Microsoft: Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is an online service that is used to distribute video games to Xbox 360 owners. Thereby, Microsoft offers an Xbox Live Marketplace, a virtual market place, where consumers can download movie and game trailers, game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, gamer tag images, and Xbox 360 Dashboard themes.[17] The consumers can pay with Microsoft Points, which can be purchased by credit cards. Nintendo: WiiConnect24 It allows distributing content such as software patches and updated game contents while the Wii is on stand-bye.[18] 3.2.2 Price strategy Nintendo offers the cheapest price in the game console market. Therefore, the company dispense with some extra features such as DVD drives or HDTV quality. Contrary, Sonys PlayStation 3 offers the newest technology with a plenty of accessories, but also the highest price. The following list shows the current prices in January 2007:[19] 3.2.3 Market share in Japan and U.S. The following figures show how many game consoles each of the manufacturers has sold in Japan and U.S. during the last months:[20] [21] Whereas Nintendos Wii was the market leader during the Christmas time in Japan, Microsofts Xbox 360 could sell the most units in the United States. 3.2.4 Games An important criterion for buyers is the volume of games which are available for each game console. At the moment, Microsofts Xbox 360 consists of 82 exclusive games and 132 cross-platform games. In contrary, Nintendo offers 55 exclusive and 96 cross-platform games for its Wii. For Sonys PlayStation 3, 43 exclusive and 77 cross-platform games are planned. 3.3 Market concept of competition Due to the fact, that the PlayStation 3 is more a multimedia centre than only a game console, we have to consider more competitors as only game console manufacturers. Therefore, we used the approach of Rayport and Jaworski to identify direct and indirect competitors by mapping the buyers steps in using the product.[23] The following figure shows the PS3s direct and indirect competitors: Summarized, Sonys PlayStation 3 competes not only with other video game console companies, but also with PC manufactures and other high technology producers. Sonys PS3 offers besides a Linux operating system a plenty of functionalities such as Internet to attract previous PC users and to expand its market. This approach is comparable with Coca-Cola which identifies milk, coffee, tea, and water products as its main competitors.[24] Finally, Figure 7 shows Sonys market position with regard to technology and price compared with its video game console competitors: 4 Product Unique selling proposition The unique selling proposition is a marketing approach to promote a products benefit and to convince customers that the company can deliver it. For Sonys PlayStation 3, the main benefit, especially compared with its competitors, is its functionality as a multimedia centre and its state-of-the-art technology. Nevertheless, Sony has to consider that its targeted consumers are located in different market segments with different demands and wishes. Therefore, the company has to develop different unique selling propositions. First considering the video game hardcore fans segment, these costumers want to have the best and newest technology. Due to the fact, that the PS3 fulfil these requirements at best compared with its competitors, Sony should promote this in its advertisements, especially in game magazines. Furthermore, Sony wants to attract also middle-age consumers and families. The most benefit for these customers is to use the PlayStation 3 as a multimedia system which offers a variety of functionalities. Therefore, the company should focus on its multimedia range. Summarized, the companys unique selling proposition should consist of newest technology and multimedia-functionality. To emphasize this, Sony uses a short slogan after every mention of its products. In the United States, Sony evokes the following slogan: Play Beyond. People should associate therewith that the PS3 is not only a game console which enables playing video games, but also a system which allows playing in High Digital quality and getting a feeling of reality. Furthermore, the PS3 offers more than playing video games, it is a multimedia system that can be used for different pleasures such as Internet surfing or watching movies that can also be interpreted as a kind of playing. However, Sony uses a different slogan for the European market. The reason is that people with few English skills will not understand the impact of Play Beyond or will be interpreted wrongly. Therefore, Sony uses the following slogan in Europe: This is living. The slogan is really simple and uses words which can be understood by not English-speakers. Consumers can associate that the PS3 delivers a kind of living standard and ensures to enjoy living. Furthermore, its a relation to PS3s multimedia functionalities which are desired for every household these days. It emphasizes that the game console is the core of living room entertainment. 5 Distribution 5.1 Supply chain With the video game industry being the fastest growing sector of the growing entertainment industry, the industrys revenue has now reached $26 billion in annual revenue and there is currently no indication of decline in the industry. So, in order to identify how the revenue is distributed, its essential to look at the supply chain of the entire PS3 business. As seen in the supply chain, there are opportunities in many aspects of the console business, coming from the actual console sales as well as extras such as games. The customers, as identified by our segmentation analysis table, are at the end of the supply chain, and their consuming of video games are distributes across several actors. Additionally, the most known among the actors are of course the hardware manufacturers, which include Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. Except for the revenue coming from the console sales, they also get about 20% of the market price for the games, which are mostly sold in the growth level of the product life-cycle. The additional revenue in the supply chain is split among the other actors. Looking more closely at the publishers and developers, we realize that the publishers are likely to take a large portion of the revenue. Those are the large international companies that have sufficient funds to build a distribution network and employ developers to pull off new best-selling games for the consoles. Hardware manufacturers usually try to pull off deals with these companies when they identify potential best-selling games because the top 3.3% of the games bring in 55% of the sales revenue. For this reason, some hardware manufacturers, most notable Microsoft, tend to buy top-creative publishers to secure exclusive rights of new games for their console. Because of the complexity with world-wide game launches, there are almost always distribution partners in the chain, those accounts for an estimate of 10% of the shelf price. Next are the retail channels, which include online stores as well as retail stores. However, they are becoming increasingly bypassed in the supply chain, as discussed in the next generation supply chain (described in detail below). When they do exist in the supply chain though, they take an estimate of 30% of the shelf price. Developers are a mix of artists and engineers that create the actual games played on the console. Typically, they are funded by the publishers and together they take between 40 to 60% of the shelf price. Notably, in recent years another actor have also entered the supply chain as the industry have grown. Those are the middleware actors. Those create reusable software that is used by developers to increase their productivity in creating games. The reason for the shift towards middleware providers has to do with shifting the focus away from technology, and re-using the technology that is already out there. 5.2 Next generation supply chain As discussed previously, there is a change in the supply chain taking place due to the connectivity and Internet capabilities that are becoming an increasingly integrated part of the console business. As illustrated in Figure 3, we can see how several actors in the supply chain are suddenly not present. Because of using Internet as an enabler of distributing and selling games, the need for distribution and retail is almost gone, whereas a larger piece of the revenue pie can be shared between the manufacturer (e.g. Sony) and the publishers of the games. At the same time, the manufacturer can act as a distributor because its the technology and technique they provide that will actually distribute the game over the Internet to the customer. At the present moment, it remains unclear how much Sony will charge for their part in this supply chain, but its possible that it may be around 47%. 5.3 Business Models There are several business models contributing to the revenue income for the PS3. Obviously, sales of the actual console initially generate the biggest revenue. But, as reported by several news agencies, Sony actually makes a loss on each console bought by a consumer. [26] As reported by several sources, a PS3 costs between $725 and $905 to manufacture, but is sold for $599 in the US market. The reason for the high manufacturing price is the high cost of components such as the Blu-Ray DVD, XDR memory etc. (More on that chapter 8). To support several streams of revenue there are three business models for distribution supported by the PS3. Since the console is making a loss per sold unit, there are other ways for Sony to catch up on the income and make a profit in the console business through other business models. The business models are: However, comparing the business models for the PS3 tells us that there are several possible models for generating revenue and profit for the console. Most notably, the Internet Gaming via the PlayStation network and the developer licenses are possible sources of potential profit. 6 Marketing Strategy The Playstation 3 has a broad marketing strategy set by Sony. Launched with slogans such as This is living and Play beyond, Playstation 3 is aiming for a large audience. Thereby, Sony will have to apply a different marketing strategy depending on which level of the product-life-cycle the product currently placed in. For example, at this initial state of introduction the most evident need is to market the console itself, to make sure that it reaches as many customers as possible. A suitable strategy for the first year is to get the message out about the capabilities with the console, and a suitable channel for this message is the kind of Internet forums and channels that teenagers and game-players regularly visit, including MySpace, YouTube and Gaming magazine websites. The greatest benefit from using MySpace as a communication channel is that they reach potentially millions of interested customers and can thus get the message out about the console and its possibilities in gaming and entertainment. The idea with this way of communicating through marketing is to inform, entertain and encourage interaction and debate about all the different things the PS3 can do according to a marketing director at Sony. With this particular way of communicating a marketing message, Sony hopes that the PS3 will be the natural choice not only for hardcore games enthusiasts but also anyone interested in the broad capabilities covered by the digital media and content creation that the PS3 offers. So far, the blog approach seems to be successful because an estimate of 86,000 users interacts on the official PS3 blog. For the second year, there is big need to start marketing the games more actively, to make sure the console owners buy as many games as possible. This stage is characterized by growth and Sony needs to put a lot of effort into taking advantage of the growth in the PS3 business. As seen in the financial projections, there is a big need to get the largest parts of the revenue from the game sales. Throughout both years of the product life-cycle, there is a potential growth level, which can be boosted by getting the message out about the games and the game console. In both case the official webpage for the PS3 also works as an important channel for communication to the customers. By customizing the website to the customers depending on their country origin, Sony makes sure they have a clear message customized for each potential customer by letting the customer specify their region and as well as country to get the information in their local language etc. The website provides information about the PS3 specification, advertisement spots and a list of all available games. Furthermore, users can sign in to get the newest information about the PS3 via newsletter and they can also find answers for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). 6.1 AIDA By looking at the AIDA model that is suitable for the PS3, wed expect it to look like this: A