Roxanne Quimby and Burt’s Bees - 1888 Words

Entrepreneurship PBSB 821 Bezuidenhout, P.J. 1224 6093 Botha, Desere 2250 2556 Buys, Johan 2049 8705 Kleynhans, Wessel 1251 7755 Schoeman, Willie 1032 6065 Van Wieringen, Anton 1231 8388 Wohlfahrt, Andre 2255 3533 Chicken Run Class Group Assignment Lecturer: Prof. S. van der Merwe Due Date: 30 July 2011 Roxanne Quimby amp; â€Å"Burt’s Bees† By Bezuidenhout, P.J. 1224 6093 Botha, Desere 2250 2556 Buys, Johan 2049 8705 Kleynhans, Wessel 1251 7755 Schoeman, Willie 1032 6065 Van Wieringen, Anton 1231 8388 Wohlfahrt, Andre 2255 3533 Module: Entrepreneurship Module Code: PBSB 821 Group: Chicken Run Assignment due date: 30 July 2011 Element: | Mark: |†¦show more content†¦Most of these aspiring entrepreneurs will start a lifestyle business, primarily providing employment to themselves and their families. The rewards of such a business is the ability to control the company, able to continue to do what the owner loves without having too much risk, have a positive cash flow from the early going. The owner only has to report to himself, have a relatively constant cash flow and able to take time off whenever he wants. The risks are the inability to hire top talent (as talented people usually avoid companies that over no stock options and only limited opportunities for personal growth), not having the chance for huge gains. The trade-off is a lot of freedom, but the company cannot expect to grow bigger. A high-potential business is focused on new markets with explosive potential. As they are often technology-driven, these ventures require heavy upfront cash investment to quickly gain decisive advantages, so professional investors, particularly venture capital firms, usually provide funding. High-potential ventures strive to achieve lasting economic and social impact, and aspire to achieve IPOs, or initial public offerings (getting listed on a stock exchange so they can sell shares to the public) (Anon, 2008:1). The rewards are having the possibility for large returns on investment, the ability to attract outside investment, and the ability to build aShow MoreRelatedBurts Bees Case Analysis1770 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Burt’s Bees case is a follow up for the case about Roxanne Quimby, an entrepreneur who started Burt’s Bees together with Burt Shavitz and managed to create a considerably big company almost from nothing. The objective of the first case was to make a suggestion whether the company should relocate its production from Maine to North Carolina and use its full potential, or stay in Maine and operate with limited growth potential. As the second case indicates, it is obvious that Quimby decidedRead MoreThe Roxanne Quimby Case Analysis1064 Words   |  5 Pages determination, flexibility, leadership, passion, and self-confidence. 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It was interesting to notice how Roxanne and the co-founder Burt Shovitz started the concept of natural skin care products just for the extra income and then wentRead MoreBurts Bees Case Analysis1449 Words   |  6 PagesMary Joy dela Cruz Management Case: â€Å"Keeping the Buzz at Burt’s and Bees† I. Background Burts Bees  is an American  personal care  products company that describes itself as an Earth friendly, Natural Personal Care Company  making products for personal care, health, beauty, and personal  hygiene. 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Capital Funding 3 6. Conclusion 3 7. Introduction – Roxanne Quimby 4 8. Idea versus Opportunity 4 9. Burt’s Bees Success Story 4 10. Relocation to North Carolina: The best solution? 5 11. Conclusion 5 12. Introduction – Globant 6 13. Globant Challenge 6 14. Strengths Weaknesses 6 15. Industry Analysis 6 16. Competitors AnalysisRead MoreEntrepreneure5298 Words   |  22 PagesTable of Contents 1. Introduction - ImageCafe 2 2. Clarence Wooten’s Strengths and Weaknesses 2 3. Product versus Service-Oriented Focus 2 4. Feasibility Analysis 2 5. Capital Funding 3 6. Conclusion 3 7. Introduction – Roxanne Quimby 4 8. Idea versus Opportunity 4 9. Burt’s Bees Success Story 4 10. Relocation to North Carolina: The best solution? 5 11. Conclusion 5 12. Introduction – Globant 6 13. Globant Challenge 6 14. Strengths Weaknesses 6 15. Industry Analysis 6 16. Competitors Analysis 7Read MoreWho Can be an Entrepreneur?5209 Words   |  21 PagesTable of Contents Page 1. Image cafà © 1-4 2. Lakota Hills 5-8 3. Roxanne Quimby 9-11 4. Overview on the 3 case studies 11 4.1. Literature Study 11-12 4.2. Own experience 13 5. Roxanne Quimby - Risks, Rewards and Trade-offs 14-17 6. Analyse and Assess Lakota Hills opportunity 18-21 7. Discussion on Bootstrapping Resources 22 8. References 23 1. Image cafà © 1.1 Who can be an entrepreneur? In this case

Vaccination For The Immigrant Families - 2201 Words

Vaccination outreach to immigrant families in the U.S Lucero Osorio-Torillo AP Biology Today immigrants make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population. From 1900 to 1930, immigrants made up somewhere around 12% and 15% of the population (which is about forty two to forty eight million people), and similar increases happened in the 1850s and 1880s. Close to 47 percent of immigrants are naturalized citizens and the remaining 53 percent are undocumented immigrants. Immigrants, being the largest and most rapidly growing population in the U.S., still have the lowest access to medical care, making it difficult to access medical attention like vaccines. Many of the key reasons as to why getting medical attention is so hard is due to the high cost of medical care, having poor work benefits, not being able to qualify for medical care, and fear of having to provide documentation if a case ever involves being an undocumented immigrant, because legal status can have a big impact on eligibility for any health care service. Not getting vaccinations could have many consequences. N ot getting a vaccine can make someone very vulnerable to getting sick, causing social implications like exclusion and isolation from others in order to not risk others getting sick as well. Unvaccinated children can require treatment that is not quite the same as normal, medical staff may be less commonplace, and less experienced, with the systems required to fittingly treat a child who isShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Immunization On The National Health System And Governmental Entities945 Words   |  4 Pages Focus group and key informant interviews among Somali parents revealed multiple cultural barriers contributing to the low vaccination intake in Somali children. The Somali community is an oral society and any negative encounter, experienced by one member, will be spread throughout the wider community. 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This paper will briefly analyze the most relevant literature related to the incidence of cervical cancer the relationship with Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination rates among Hispanic women. METHODS My search consisted of the words; HPV and Hispanic women, HPV vaccination and Hispanic women, HPV rates among Hispanics, access to HPV vaccine, cervical cancer, healthRead MoreList Main Components : Agent, Host, And Environment1336 Words   |  6 Pagesis a standard health model that is used to analyze different issues in public health and it is consist of three main components: Agent, Host, and Environment. In HBV triangle – Host factor – Human, is the only host for HBV. (immune status, age, vaccination status play important role for susceptibility of virus.).As was mentioned above, most common HBV is perinatal transmission (from mother to infant at birth).HBsAg and HBeAg positive mother will have infected the baby. But risk only about 10 % -Read MoreInfluenza Is A Serious Illness1291 Words   |  6 Pagesinfluence influenza illness and outbreaks in the US. Although there are several factors that may impact influenza (See Figure 1), we focus specifically on modifiable social determinants, including poor access to healthcare services and influenza vaccination, individual- and neighborhood-level factors, and social policies. We contend that a social determinant framework provides a more comprehensive understanding of the existing structures and policies that promote influenza illness and outbreaks andRead MoreGrowing Racial And Ethnic Diversity Within The United States920 Words   |  4 PagesTh is article discussed the growing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. There are increasing numbers of aging adults who are immigrants, non-white, and ethnic minorities. The article stated, â€Å"Eight in ten older Americans are non-Hispanic whites.† However, there are less than two-thirds of Americans younger than age 65 which are non-Hispanic whites. Furthermore, the article stated, â€Å"In the total population, whites could lose their majority status as early as 2042.† Therefore, the UnitedRead MoreShould Vaccination Be Given to Children1208 Words   |  5 Pagescould children protect themselves from diseases one may ask? Taking vaccination early will not only protect you from diseases, but greatly improve your immune system to counter all the other diseases. The invention of medical immunizations has not only been used to heal from the disease, but also to keep the spread of disease low. Having immunizations available have greatly lowered the amount of deaths in the world. Vaccination should continue to stay mandatory because it keeps diseases from spreadingRead MoreMandatory Vaccination, and the High Risk of Vaccine-preventable Disease (VPD) to the Vaccine Refusal.1361 Words   |  6 PagesVaccinations demonstrate the benefits of preventing suffering and death from infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vaccinations were approved as a number one on the list of the Ten Great Public Health Achievements for the United States from 1900 to 1999. If a critical number of people within a community are vaccinated against a particular illness, the entire group becomes less likely to get the disease. This protection is called community, or herdRead MoreThe Mmr Vaccine Did Cause Autism1415 Words   |  6 Pagesvalues and beliefs. For example, in Texas, a megachurch voiced vaccination concerns and all believed that it was not safe to vaccinate (Silverman, 2013). They were convinced that the MMR vaccine did cause autism. There were many families that were part of the church that had a history of autism in their family, and did not want to chance it. So instead of asking for a different schedule of vaccines and not bundling the MMR, the families and others opted out of the MMR vaccine entirely (Silverman, 2013)Read MoreHat Task 31308 Words   |  6 Pageskilling 158,000 people a year, roughly 430 deaths a day. Deaths from measles are not common in developed countries, with the mortality rate at .1%, but in developing countries without substantial healthcare the mortality rate can be as high as 10%. Vaccinations have increased and has saved lives, and deaths from measles has decreased by 78% since the launching the vaccine. (Center of Disease Control, 2012). Measles is highly contagious, and can be contracted from air droplets through the mouth, throat

Diversity is a Barrier to Effective Teamwork †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Diversity is a Barrier to Effective Teamwork. Answer: Diversity can be because of many factors such as diversity in culture, diversity in language, diversity in skills, diversity in physical appearances and diversity in sex. Some diversity is good for an individual betterment and for the betterment of the society, which they are representing. However, some diversity is a less healthy choice for a society or for an organization. However, the study would focus on the increasing participation of people in foreign countries for education and for business purposes. This is because that the participation is bringing many cultures integrated to one place. The integration of different cultures at one place is good for the hosting place as their resources are getting increased; however, it is not good for some people or group who gets involve in cultural fights or gets trapped in language understanding issues. Irrespective of the consequences, which the cultural or the language differences are bringing to the society or the common people, they h ave created a healthy debate about its advantages or disadvantages (Hogan 2012). The main purpose of this study is to analyze the level of barriers, which the diversity is bringing to an effective teamwork. To understand the level of barrier that diversity brings to the effective teamwork, it is necessary to understand first the different types of diversity that affects the teamwork. There are basically two kinds of diversities exist that acts as a barrier to an effective teamwork such as language and cultural diversity. This is becoming increasingly popular in eh contemporary world as numerous of students are getting enrolled to the foreign places. In addition to this, different business companies are also moving to the international places through Merger Acquisition process. In both the cases, integration of different cultures and languages are happening at the educational or at the workplace (Patrick and Kumar 2012). However, the level of severity of the harmfulness is different in both the cases. At the educational places, this is also evitable but less harmful than compare to at the workplace. This is because of the fact that teamwork at the educational places happens at a minimal rate. It happens only when there is some project works, which is conducted with the help of the group. The losses, which the diversity brings to educational places does result only on some minor damages such as skill development and internal conflicts. This is also very vital as skill development might be prevented; however, the platform is not that large than at the workplace. This is because that operational failure at the workplace is more severe than some minimal losses at the educational places. Operational failure does attract notable losses in the returns, which is not a healthy sign for a prosperous business flow. However, some might argue that it is not that easy to decide on which one is more important (Foma 2014). In case of ineffective teamwork at the educational places, it can lead to unsuccessful career, which might prevent the formation of graduate personnel. This is indeed right as graduates those who are serving in organizations are just the production of these ins titutions. However, for this study, the learner is limiting the discussion to the workplace only as globalization has elevated the participation of large number of people from across the globe. Globalization is playing the major role in bringing the cultural diversity at the workplace. This is happening because numerous multinational companies are heading for international places for their business expansion. This might be because they are no longer prospering in the domestic circles or it might be that they want some more exposures to enhance their customer base. Irrespective of the reasons are, different foreign companies are getting integrated at one place. This is bringing people with diverse culture at one place. The diversity can be because of language barrier or can be because of cultural differences. Language barrier is relatively less challenging to the contemporary business as it is solvable to some extent. This can be achieved by hiring some language translator or by just learning to the language of the target country. However, even this is not feasible to most of the cases. Effective teamwork is largely hampered by the differences in culture, which is very diffi cult to resolve (Robinson 2013). Diversity at the workplace can be largely seen in some developed countries such as Australia where there is racism feeling in high numbers. Australia is not the one country, which has high rates of racist activities. Some other countries are also contributing significantly in this regard such as the United Kingdom and the United States. This is not just happening at one place but it is happening at multiple places wherever business are reaching. The integration of different culture at one place can take place in two cases such as for the job purpose or for the business purpose. Job participants are playing their utmost role in contributing to the cultural diversity at the workplace. It is now increasingly becoming a trend for the job aspirants from across the globe especially for the Asian job aspirants that they are heading to the foreign locations in search for a better job. This is because of all such reason that they are coming in contact to the foreign students. Business compani es are also contributing highly in this regard. Various MA process are bringing multiple companies at one place. The cultures are getting exchanged, which is creating the problem for being integrated uniformly. The cultural integration does not happen at uniform rate in such instances (Cavico, Muffler and Mujtaba 2013). There are various factors of diversity, which acts as a barrier to teamwork at the workplace. Racism is the one factor, which grows in its effect when diverse cultured people get integrates to one place for the job or for the business purposes. Another influencing factor that acts as a barrier to the teamwork is the language barrier, which hampers a free flow communication in between the team members. The diversity between the diverse people representing different country becomes wider in complexities when different skills and potentials are met at one place. The differences in skills and the different level of working styles collide at some topic, which grows in its effects because of cultural differences. This is because that in such case they gets collided for different work related mentalities and the cultural influences. Cultural diversity prevents different member in team being involved in collective works, which is perhaps very threatening for the organizational betterment (Je nifer and Raman 2015). An ideal organizational behaviour is a collection of effective leadership and collective followers. A conflicting group or many groups can make things tougher for the leaders. A leadership is effective be of any kinds when it gets a proper support of its followers. It performs up to the desired goal when there are high numbers of collective team works. Nevertheless, diversity through any mean is injurious to teamwork because it does not let teamwork happen. The difference in skills and he difference in cultures bring conflicting thoughts at the meeting table. It hampers prestigious time of the meeting, which eventually lands up find less outcome from the meeting. The highly engaging meeting in the meeting room is hampered by the differences in skills and thoughts, which is just the mere reflection of diversity in skills and diversity in cultures. Globalization has largely made different cultures integrated at one place. It has brought different cultures and skills at one place; however, it has also left the organizations with no ultimate solutions to this problem (Kirton and Greene 2015). For example, foreign people working in China would meet with different cultures, different mentalities and different skills. Moreover, Chinese people are highly productive but have less attachment to the quality works. They have also different cultures. It is very difficult for most foreign countrys people to get assimilated with the cultural and skill differences of Chinese people. For example, Japanese people give equal values to both the quality and quantity. It would then become difficult for them to get familiar with the work nature of the Chinese people. The integration of different cultures because of globalization and internationalization of business have brought distinct cultures and distinct skills at one point (Syed and Ozbilgin 2015). Diversity by any means is good to some extent. It is beneficial at the workplace when different skills are shared to give birth to a single powerful consequence of the talk. This is one healthy example of the diversity at the workplace. However, if the diversity were in conflicting nature, then it would give birth to internal conflicts and would certainly bring fewer outcomes from the desired meeting. The diversity at the workplace can be tried to resolve with the help of some remedial actions such as meeting at the workplace to educate different employees on different cultures. However, it is less effective because cultural development takes place at the very primary stage, which is the earlier family background. References Cavico, F.J., Muffler, S.C. and Mujtaba, B.G., 2013. Language diversity and discrimination in the American workplace: Legal, ethical, and practical considerations for management.Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies,7, p.1. Foma, E., 2014. Impact of workplace diversity.Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research,3(1), p.382. Hogan, M., 2012.The four skills of cultural diversity competence. Cengage Learning. Jenifer, R.D. and Raman, G.P., 2015. Cross-cultural communication barriers in the workplace.Internafional Journal of Management,6(1), pp.348-351. Kirton, G. and Greene, A.M., 2015.The dynamics of managing diversity: A critical approach. Routledge. Patrick, H.A. and Kumar, V.R., 2012. Managing workplace diversity: Issues and challenges.Sage Open,2(2), p.2158244012444615. Robinson, M.G., 2013.The inclusion revolution is now: An innovative framework for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. iUniverse. Syed, J. and Ozbilgin, M. eds., 2015.Managing diversity and inclusion: An international perspective. Sage.

Training and development in puma a major german multinational company Essay Example

Training and development in puma a major german multinational company Essay Puma is a major German transnational company that produces high-end athletic places, lifestyle footwear and other athletic wear. Formed in 1924 by Rudolf Dassler, the company is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The company is known for its football places and has sponsored the football players, including, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthaus, Kenny. Puma is besides the patron of the Jamaica path jock Usain Bolt who won three gold decorations by interrupting the work forces s 100m, 200m and 4x100m universe records in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the United States, the company is likely best-known for the hoops shoe it introduced in 1968, which has the name of New York Knicks hoops star Walt Clyde Frazier, and for its partnership with Joe Namath. We will write a custom essay sample on Training and development in puma a major german multinational company specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Training and development in puma a major german multinational company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Training and development in puma a major german multinational company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The company besides offers lines places and athleticss vesture, designed by Lamine Kouyate, Amy Garbers, and others. Since 1996 Puma has intensified its activities in the United States. Puma owns 25 % of American trade name athleticss vesture shaper Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional hoops and association football. Since 2007 Puma AG has been portion of the Gallic luxury group PPR. The quality of employees and their development through preparation and instruction are major factors in finding long-run profitableness of a little concern. If you hire and maintain good employees, it is good policy to put in the development of their accomplishments, so they can increase their productiveness. Training frequently is considered for new employees merely. This is a error because ongoing preparation for current employees helps them adjust to altering occupation demands. Purpose of Training and Development Reasons for the growing and development of forces include Making a pool of readily available and equal replacings for forces who may go forth or travel up in the organisation. Enhancing the company s ability to follow and utilize progresss in engineering because of a sufficiently knowing staff. Constructing a more efficient, effectual and extremely motivated squad, which enhances the company s competitory place and improves employee morale. Guaranting equal human resources for enlargement into new plans. Research has shown specific benefits that a little concern receives from preparation and developing its workers, including: Increased productiveness. Reduced employee turnover. Increased efficiency ensuing in fiscal additions. Decreased demand for supervising. Employees often develop a greater sense of dignity, self-respect and wellbeing as they become more valuable to the house and to society. Generally they will have a greater portion of the stuff additions that result from their increased productiveness. These factors give them a sense of satisfaction through the accomplishment of personal and company ends. The Training Procedure Choice of Trainees For a little concern, this inquiry is important. Training an employee is expensive, particularly when he or she leaves your house for a better occupation. Therefore, it is of import to carefully choose who will be trained. Training plans should be designed to see the ability of the employee to larn the stuff and to utilize it efficaciously, and to do the most efficient usage of resources possible. It is besides of import that employees be motivated by the preparation experience. Employee failure in the plan is non merely damaging to the employee but a waste of money as good. Choosing the right trainees is of import to the success of the plan. Training Goals The ends of the preparation plan should associate straight to the demands determined by the appraisal procedure outlined above. Course aims should clearly province what behavior or skill will be changed as a consequence of the preparation and should associate to the mission and strategic program of the company. Goals should include mileposts to assist take the employee from where he or she is today to where the house wants him or her in the hereafter. Puting ends helps to measure the preparation plan and besides to actuate employees. Leting employees to take part in puting ends increases the chance of success. Training Methods There are two wide types of preparation available to little concerns: on-the-job and off-the-job techniques. Individual fortunes and the who, what and why of your preparation plan determine which method to utilize. On-the-job preparation is delivered to employees while they perform their regular occupations. In this manner, they do non lose clip while they are larning. After a program is developed for what should be taught, employees should be informed of the inside informations. A timetable should be established with periodic ratings to inform employees about their advancement. On-the-job techniques include orientations, occupation direction preparation, apprenticeships, internships and assistantships, occupation rotary motion and coaching. Off-the-job techniques include talks, particular survey, movies, telecasting conferences or treatments, instance surveies, function playing, simulation, programmed direction and research lab preparation. Most of these techniques can be used by little concerns although, some may be excessively dearly-won. Recession off the occupation technique used by the cougar such as talks, particular survey and more more installations are besides provided to their employees with the up to day of the month techniques and as per the recession had the bad consequence on the economic system and the company besides took up the disciplinary steps to acquire rid through this difficult clip. and as per the company was passing long procedure of preparation and to cut the cost it has lesser the clip of the preparation procedure. cougar reported 2nd one-fourth grosss of a‚Â ¬2.91 billion, a 19 % addition from the a‚Â ¬2.45 billion in 2009. Net income, on the other manus, soared 1300 % to a‚Â ¬126 million from a‚Â ¬9 million the twelvemonth earlier. The company attributed this success chiefly to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At present the company has workforce around 103000-105000 work force and the company turnover rate is around 2 % -5 % which is really less by planetary criterions. Puma have dedicated Centres for developing their entry degree. Reebok significantly outsources the same. Besides developing is more vocational where in focal point is on learning persons tools instead than basicss ( nevertheless their WASE plan for BSc folks is an exclusion ) . I know it will be strongly objected to by Reebok folks but I suggest they do a speedy canvass. REEBOK OVERVIEW Reebok International feels comfy stepping out onto any surface. The company has long been at place in featuring spheres as a top US shaper of athletic places, behindA NIKE. In add-on to its namesake athletic wear and accoutrements, Reebok athleticss Rockport and Reebok places and caters to hockey aficionados through itsA RebookA unit. It operates more than 220 retail shops. Reebok, which has been credited as lighting the aerobic exercise fad, patrons athleticss stars and has taken paces to hike its manner quotient. Its Your Move ad run aims to spur clients to do Reebok portion of their personal fittingness goals.A adidasA has owned Reebok since 2006. TheA Reebok StadiumA is the homeA stadiumA ofA English Premier LeagueA football clubA Bolton Wanderers, and is located on theA Middlebrook Retail ParkA inA Horwich, in theA Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, A Greater Manchester.It is normally known as TheA Reebok . It has four bases: TheA Bolton Evening NewsA Stand at one terminal, the So uth Stand at the other terminal, the West Stand at one side of the pitch and the Nat Lofthouse Stand at the other side. The bowl has a hotel built into it giving arresting positions of the pitch from some of the suites. Training methods Off-The Job Training: Reebok has used the off the occupation preparation. School or Institutions is established to supply preparation to all types of individuals. A plan of preparation is designed to accommodate the demand of the occupation which the trainee occupies. Some different classs are arranged for detached group employees. There are several methods of Off-The Job Training aˆ?Role Playing aˆ?Lecture Method aˆ?Conference Method+ aˆ?Vestibule Consequence of recession It was stated that more than 950,000 staff found that the downswing had adversely affected the acquisition and development scheme of 59 % of the organisations surveyed. Two-thirdss of these responded by cut downing their preparation spend, with 63 % holding to cut back on acquisition and development, 30 % cut downing in-house preparation, and 24 % seeing preparation end product reduced. However, 65 % of organisations have stepped up their attempts to develop employee accomplishments and competences in the face of the downswing, frequently with decreased resources. Ninety-five per cent said alining employee accomplishments with concern ends was a major concern when planning acquisition and development activities. Other major influences included bettering competency and proficient accomplishments ( 83 % ) ; upgrading line directors people direction accomplishments ( 82 % ) ; and set uping effectual leading ( 78 % ) ( see chart, right ) . About three-fifths ( 59 % ) have had to reevaluate their preparation methods in a command to minimise costs, while 20 % have embarked on an employee retraining exercising to help redisposition in their organisation. The average preparation spend per employee was found to be ?334. In footings of the types of preparation activities used, the most common method for executives and managers was the usage of external, one-off conferences and seminars ( 81 % ) , followed by training and mentoring by external practicians ( 60 % ) , and aid from co-workers ( 56 % ) . But in footings of effectivity, coaching was the clear victor, cited by 45 % of respondents. It is besides going an progressively popular development method for directors, used by 65 % . For non-managerial staff, OFF-the-job preparation was the most popular method ( 94 % ) , followed by informal aid from co-workers ( 94 % ) , and in-house classroom-style preparation ( 92 % ) . Predictions for the following outgo reappraisal were glooming, with 32 % anticipating developing spend to fall ( compared with 16 % in 2007 ) , and 18 % expecting a rise ( compared with 39 % in 2007 ) . Forty-three per cent believed their preparation budget would stay the same. Analysis of cougar and Reebok Both the companies making good as the preparation and development procedure for their employees and immense sum of their budget was allocated to their preparation and development. But the Reebok was more good in supplying all the above preparation and so, we come to the decision that Reebok more good than cougars but during the recession there is more consequence on the Reebok so harmonizing to the budget the Reebok is good than the cougar and the quality of the Reebok is much batter than the cougar.. cougar has come through the recession as more faster than Reebok and the techniques which are applied were more effectual than Reebok but as Reebok has besides been awarded as the best employer but the abrasion discount of cougar was really less as comparison to the desired criterions and besides the preparation techniques of Reebok were non so successful than cougar and from the information it is clear that Reebok has done good occupation in acquiring trough the difficult clip without taking to unemployment. Suggestion Harmonizing to me the cougar is traveling good but if we see the harmonizing to the recession the cougar is traveling good but after the recession the Reebok is much better than the cougar as per we see the budget and all the Reebok is good on the another side the both companies use the off the occupation preparation which is really good for their employees because of the off the occupation developing Reebok perform good than the cougar.

Impact of Opec Essays

Impact of Opec Essays Impact of Opec Essay Impact of Opec Essay The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), inter-governmental organization, was established at the Baghdad Conference in Iraq in September 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. These five countries were later joined by eight other countries; Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), and Gabon (1975). Ecuador and Gabon withdrew from OPEC in 1992 and 1994. The current eleven OPEC members account for about 40 per cent of world oil production, and two-thirds of the world’s proven oil reserves. Note: Iraq remains a member of OPEC, but Iraq’s production has not been a part of OPEC quota since 1998). The purpose of OPEC is to co-ordinate and unifies petroleum policies among the member in order to limit supplies in the hope of keeping prices high. From 1920s to 1960s, the major oil companies colluded to prevent prices from falling. In th e 1960s, OPEC had started as a group of five oil producing, developing countries, seeking out the member countries’ legitimate rights in the international oil market. So the rise of OPEC was tied to a shifting balance of power from the multi-national oil companies to the oil producing countries. The creation of OPEC intensified the need among the Third World countries for closer cooperation in order to achieve their political and economic objectives. Membership grew to ten within the decade. In 1970’s, member countries took control of their domestic petroleum industries and acquired the right to influence the pricing of crude oil on the world market. There were two oil pricing crises, triggered by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the Iranian Revolution in 1979. During the 1973 War between Egypt and Israel, Saudi Arabia refused to increase production in order to halt rising prices unless the United States backed the Arab position. When the U. S. government proposed a military aid package for Israel, Arab States began an oil embargo against the United States and later expanded to the Portugal, South Africa, and Netherlands. The first Summit of OPEC sovereigns and Heads of State was held in Algiers in 1975. OPEC acquired its 11th and final current member, Nigeria, in 1971. In 1980s, oil prices peaked at the early period in the decade. Iranian Revolution and ensuing stop of Iranian petroleum exports had caused panic and speculation in the world oil market. This is called Second Oil Shock. Moreover, the outbreak of the war between Iran and Iraq in 1980 affected the oil market. The Iran-Iraq war removed almost 4 million barrels of oil a day from the world market. Since early 1980s, the world petroleum market confronted OPEC with an unfavorable choice such as cutting price to regain market or cutting production to maintain price. But OPEC did not want to reduce oil prices; for fear that they would loose economic and political gains, and their political influence. Environmental issues began to be discussed as an international agenda In the early 1990s, OPEC experienced a third price crisis when Iraq invaded OPEC member Kuwait. Iraq had long claimed the territory of Kuwait. In 1991 the territorial conflict was worsen by the oil issues. One of them was the continued pumping of oil by Kuwait from a field located under both countries and another issue was low oil revenues for Iraq which made playing off its war debts difficult. Iraqi invasion would expand revenues. Iraqi power in OPEC raised oil price and increases war debts to Kuwait. Iraq thought that the United State response would be political and economic sanction. But the Iraqi invasion causes a military response which was supported by a coalition of western and Arab states. The absence of the two major oil producers (Iraq and Kuwait), could have raised the oil price to ceiling. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and other oil producers expanded production to keep prices from raising a great deal. Since the Persian Gulf War, Iraq has refused to compliant with the United Nations resolutions; in other words, Iraq invasion has resulted in a long term oil embargo. During the 1990s, OPEC continued to emphasize oil production quotas. Oil prices collapsed at the end of the period, but began to increase in the beginning of 21st century, owing to the greater unification of OPEC members and increasing the well-governed oil company in Non-OPEC countries such as (Mexico, Oman, Russia, and Norway), and also increased tensions in the Middle East, and political crises in Venezuela affected oil prices in the world. OPEC has attempted to develop a coherent environmental policy because the international efforts to reduce the oil consumption have been more significant in this century. Economic Impact of OPEC: Our economy depends on its cost, of which a large part is represented by the cost of energy. The cost of the oil products is affected by the price of crude oil, taxation and other causes. The price of crude oil is influenced by the decisions taken by oil producers, especially the price for which they are willing to sell. Oil prices obviously matter to the world economy and OPEC still has influence on oil price decision. Higher oil prices since 1999 was partly caused by OPEC mal-management of oil supply. We can see that OPEC has influence on global economy, because oil prices remain an important determinant of economic performance of each county. If there is a shortage of oil supplies, oil price will rise. This would have all sorts of implications for industry, such as higher transportation costs. Higher costs can lead to lower economic growth. U. S. oil prices began to increase in the early 1970s when OPEC began to assume a major influence on oil prices. In 1970, OPEC members agreed to set an oil export tax rate of 55 percent, and OPEC members started to nationalize the oil industry. In 1973, Arab’s embargo resulted in that crude oil prices increased from average of $4. 15 per barrel in 1973 to $9. 07 in 1974, which led to the United States recession in 1974. In the late 1970’s, during the Iranian Revolution, declination of oil production led huge price increases. U. S. crude oil prices increased from $12. 46 per barrel in 1978 to $35. 24 in 1981. OPEC had huge impact on the economic industries. In term of oil price development, the cost of crude oil for U. S. refiners was $20 in 1996. Oil prices dropped a little in 1997; the cost fell to $12. 04 per barrel. Countries benefited from the lower cost of virtually oil products. Concerning this issue, OPEC member countries agreed to cut production, and OPEC tried to maintain the crude oil price above U. S. refiner cost in 1999. The production cuts pushed crude oil price up, hitting $30 per barrel in 2000. The production, however, started to increase, because OPEC tried to maintain market stability. Economic impact of OPEC has declined in the decades. The United States and other economies are less dependent on oil than they were 20 years ago. Because U. S. and other nation’s economies produces much more national output for each barrel of oil consumed compare to when they produced before. In 1970s, the U. S. economy generated about $250,000 of national output based on per barrel of oil consumed, but in 1999, economy produced about $450. 000 per barrel. This date shows the improved performance of the U. S. economy based on per barrel of oil consumed. Efficiency improvements, seeking out other energy sources have lessened the dependence of the U. S. economy on oil. Another data shows the declination of economic impact of OPEC, the U. S. economy spent more than 6 percent of GDP in crude oil in 1980 and 1981, when average price of crude oil was $28 a barrel. In 1996 to 1997, the price was $20 per barrel. But the percent of GDP spent on crude oil is less than 2 percent and 1 percent in 1998. These data indicates that oil price increases has less influenced the economy than they had in 1980s. Power of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s economy heavily dependent on oil with export oil revenues accounting around 90 percent of total Saudi export earning, 70 percent of state revenues and 40 percent of the its GDP. Saudi Arabia holds the world’s largest petroleum reserves and accounts over one-third and one-half of total OPEC oil production. Saudi Arabia’s oil policy has huge influence world oil pricing. Three basics of its policy are; maintaining stability in oil markets; opposing high oil prices that might discourage demand growth or lead to a rapid rise in Non-OPEC production; maintaining its own dominant market share in the United States. Saudi Arabia has dominated the world oil market by emphasizing the market control and avoiding the new competition and maintaining the higher prices. It is true that the policy has worked well. Saudi Arabia is considered as a dominant firm while many other OPEC countries are price-takers. One thing with the problem that Saudi Arabia is a dominant firm is that its share of OPEC production rose from 24 percent in 1973 to 37 percent in 1980. So Saudi Arabia is in a better situation than other exporters. Within a considerable range of market conditions, Saudi Arabia could stabilize prices by restricting its own production and exports. Saudi Arabia also has a great ability to expand its production, and has wide political influence that reinforces the power that it derives from being the largest exporters of oil. In 1999, Saudi Arabia took a key role in coordinating campaign of OPEC and other oil-producing countries to raise the oil price to its highest level since the Gulf War by managing production and oil supply. Moreover, Saudi Arabia established the Supreme Economic Council to formulate and coordinate economic development policies for institutional reforms. Relationship to Non-OPEC Countries and Prospects: OPEC and Non OPEC countries often agree to reduce oil and gas supply to check prices. This cooperation is rather strange but since both organizations often benefit from high oil price, then each organization may be obliged to cut or increase oil production at the request of the other countries. So oil price is decided based on demand and supply to maximize the profit of producing of OPEC and Non-OPEC. OPEC supplies 40 percent to 45 percent of world’s oil supply and holds 75 percent of proven revenues and Non-OPEC countries produce 60 percent of the world oil (est. 2004). Most Non-OPEC countries have private sectors; there is little government intervention over production level. Non-OPEC productions were more vulnerable to price collapse because Non-OPEC countries’ production costs tend to be higher than OPEC costs. The production of Non-OPEC countries has declined in decades, and OPEC may be more important role to decide oil prices. However, OPEC has actual influence on price, but does not control or set the oil price directly. The world oil market itself appears to be in change of pricing and in a long term the main deciding factor will be substantially of OPEC revenues. The problem of capacity and depletion will be more significant. When oil price increases, countries start to produce more and undersell each other. The question arises as to how efficiently OPEC can implement the long –term strategy? Needless to say, we are faced with the problem â€Å"increasing demand and decreasing supply† in the world oil market. Reduction of oil production in Non-OPEC is also a burden to OPEC. OPEC member countries are aware of growing international need of renewable energy and environmental problems due to use of fossil fuels. But there is no specific alternative energy supply in the near future and there is no significant regulation to control energy consumption in the market based economy. How many people feel it an emergency? How many people know that the United State has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol? It will not take long before our demand completely exceeds the production capability of the oil countries.

Hypacrosaurus - Facts and Figures

Hypacrosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Hypacrosaurus (Greek for almost the highest lizard); pronounced hi-PACK-roe-SORE-us Habitat: Woodlands of North America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (70-65 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 30 feet long and 4 tons Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Pointed crest; spines growing out from backbone About Hypacrosaurus Hypacrosaurus received its odd name (almost the highest lizard) because, when it was discovered in 1910, this duck-billed dinosaur was considered second only to Tyrannosaurus Rex in size. Needless to say, it has since been outclassed by numerous other dinosaurs, both herbivorous and carnivorous, but the name has stuck. What sets Hypacrosaurus apart from most other hadrosaurs is the discovery of a complete nesting ground, complete with fossilized eggs and hatchlings (similar evidence has been found for another North American duck-billed dinosaur, Maiasaura). This has allowed paleontologists to piece together a fair amount of information about Hypacrosaurus growth patterns and family life: for instance, we know that Hypacrosaurus hatchlings attained adult size in 10 or 12 years, far sooner than the 20 or 30 years of the typical tyrannosaur. Like most other hadrosaurs, Hypacrosaurus was distinguished by the prominent crest on its snout (which didnt quite attain the baroque shape and size of, say, the crest of Parasaurolophus). The current thinking is that this crest was a resonating device for funneling blasts of air, allowing males to signal females (or vice-versa) about their sexual availability, or to warn the herd about approaching predators.

American Patriotism During World War One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Patriotism During World War One - Essay Example The army provided concise stirring and patriotic speeches in the local communities. The information had both positive and negative effect on patriotism. On one hand, it persuaded people to identify with America and think that, their country was doing the right thing. On the other hand, the information demonized those who opposed the war. Among other things showing American patriotism is the Espionage Act of 1917. The act recommended stiff penalties to those who declined to work in the American armed forces during the war, helped the enemy or distributing information against the war. The Sediction Act was also enacted making it illegal to engrave or publish anything that criticized the government, the army or the constitution on the basis of the war. As a result, many people ended up being convicted by the law for violating these acts as they were considered unpatriotic. All these acts were created in an attempt to create and define patriotism due to the World War 1. The United States wanted to prove that it was a world power thus, the need to make the people invest their efforts in the war. The only way the government could do this is by increasing people’s patriotism to the country. ... For instance, some communities barred teaching of German language in government schools; hence, German Americans were irregularly targets of mob violence. Those Americans who opposed the government’s participation in the war or condemned president’s administration strategies faced challenges to their patriotism. They also risked being convicted or imprisoned based on the Sedicition and Espionage Acts. Even at the end of the war, any patriotic Americans became worried due to the threatened homeland security resulting from the radical ideas adopted, hence, the red scare. During World War 1, passionate patriotism was widespread in the United States. It was as a result of the patriotism, that the red scare took place. During this war, Armistice was performed in 1918 and around nine million people were employed in war industries as suggested by Lorini (1999). Other four million worked in the armed forces hence this shows how people were being patriotic. The Americans showed their patriotism in two main ways during the World War 1. First they showed patriotism by sending sixteen million soldiers to fight in the war. In order to achieve this number of fighters the government had to create a sense of patriotism among the citizens. This patriotism was created through circulation of information (propaganda) which was either correct or not. This was aimed at creating the citizens’ interest in their country hence the willing to fight for it. Secondly, there were also many companies which produced wartime materials. The American government established many companies which ensured sufficient supply of fire arms used by the soldiers during the World War 1. Many people including women who wanted to proof patriotic to the country participated in these companies and

Management , work and Society assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management , work and Society assignment - Essay Example An occupation can be a job or a business or any other work which gives a return as payment and utilizes the time and effort of a person. Choosing an occupation can be influenced by different factors and those factors can have several barriers. The occupational choice barriers often force an individual to go against their personal choice of occupation. The major objectives of this study would be to highlight the various occupational choice theories, and identifying the barriers of occupational choice and its impact on the process. The paper would also involve the various measures to overcome the occupational barriers through the occupational choice theory (Hitchcock & Mabry, 1971). Findings Different Theories of Occupational Choice The occupation is the key means of living for every individual of the world. There are several different theories to support the occupational choices. These theories provide certain mathematical models to analyse the different factors of choosing an occupat ion for every individual. The theories include Super’s Development Self-Concept Theory of Vocational Behaviour, Holland’s Typology Theory of Vocational Behaviour, Roe’s Theory of Occupational Choice, and Ginzberg’s Theory (Brown, 2002). ... s the self-concept of an individual which reflects the behaviour of the person in a distinct manner such as, ‘I am strong’ or ‘I am smart’ among others. These behaviours help an individual to choose the right occupation by eliminating the occupations which do not suit the self-concept of that particular person. If the person is from commerce background, he or she would never go for the engineering or any science options. Super has also involved the Trait-Factor Theory. This theory relates with the occupational choice regarding various personal traits of an individual and the type of job such as, the aptitudes, the personality, the interest and the features and the requirements of the job. According to Super, an individual has the freedom to choose his or her own occupation and which is very much helpful for the occupational choice (Hotchkiss & et. al., 1979). The other theory of occupational choice is the Holland’s typology theory of vocational behavi our. This theory was proposed in the year 1959. According to Holland, the preferences or the orientation of career depends upon the types of personality. Holland has given six most important career courses i.e. the realistic, which involves the career orientation which is described by the aggressive behaviour, activities interests, physical strengths and skills, and masculinity. These people have a preference of ‘acting-out’ problems. These kinds of people ignore the task which involves verbal and interpersonal circumstances. These are the people who achieve low score on communal skill and sensitivity and score comparatively high on the activities of physical power and concreteness. The other orientation of career is investigative. In this part of the theory, an individual thinks much more than he/she acts,

Cloud Computing †Risk or Opportunity Essay Example for Free

Cloud Computing – Risk or Opportunity Essay Abstract Cloud computing is a term that refers to sources and computer systems available on demand through the network, which can provide a number of computer services integrated without being restricted local resources in order to make it easier for the user and include those resources space for data backup and synchronization self also includes processing capabilities software and scheduling of tasks and push e-mail and remote printing, and the user can control when it is connected to the network in these resources through a simple software interface simplifies and ignores a lot of detail and internal processes. Cloud computing has become increasingly popular because it offers users the illusion of having infinite computing resources, of which they can use as much as they need, without having to worry about how those resources are provided. It also provides greater scalability, availability, and reliability than users could achieve with their own resource The core property in cloud computing that held computing in the cloud; for clarity, the treatment process (and related data) is not confined to the place (places) private and unknown. Thus, this model is the antithesis of the treatment process is located in one or more of the servers are well known. Exposure model cloud of criticism and attack because of privacy advocates, for the ease of large governing the hosting companies for services cloud, and then, can impose censorship and domination, whether legal or illegal, the communication process as well as the data stored in between the user and the host company Introduction Cloud computing has become a ubiquitous term and largely discussed topic in the global information technology (IT) world. Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which organizations and individuals communicate, collaborate and compute. The concept of cloud computing ensures a cost–effective transformation of utility computing principle that allows users and providers a convenient access to resources in a self-service and ‘pay as you go fashion’. Consequently, cloud computing has reduced the cost associated with system administration as well as aided in improving resource utilization and accounting. Since last few years, cloud computing has resulted in a number of positive impacts on the IT ecosystem, thereby giving rise to new markets and widely scattered new user communities (European Commission, 2012). Contextually, the concept of cloud computing is the outcome of the direct industrial needs to enhance resource utilization without intervening consumer requirements. In other words, the concept ensures the use of the available resources in more efficient manner (European Commission, 2012). The paper intends to critically examine the opportunities and the risks associated with cloud computing and draws a valid conclusion on its adoption by organizations. Cloud Computing: Definition, Models and Services Cloud computing was initially used in an academic perspective by Prof. Kenneth K Chellapa who illustrated it in 1997 at the Informs Conference in Dallas as â€Å"a computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits† (Petri, 2010). There are various definitions of cloud computing however the most appropriate and broadly accepted definition is being provided by North America National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). According to NIST, â€Å"Cloud Computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort to service provider interaction† (Petri, 2010). There are many cloud computing models for business purposes including: Public Cloud: Public cloud model is provided by vendors and can be accessed over the internet or private network. One or more data centers are used by this model which is shared by multiple customers (Weitz, 2010). Private Cloud: Private cloud model is managed and used internally by the organizations which utilizes ‘shared services model’ and makes variable usage of virtualized computing resources. The data stored in the model are managed within the organization (Weitz, 2010). Hybrid Cloud: As the name suggests, the hybrid model is the mixture of public cloud services and private cloud architecture. The model is designed to meet certain specific needs of customers (Weitz, 2010). Community Cloud: Community cloud model is used across the organizations having similar requirements and objectives. Community cloud model is established using public cloud services in order to ensure collaboration among the companies (Weitz, 2010). Cloud Computing Services Cloud computing services are provided mostly in the following ways: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been operational in the market since many years. Currently, businesses are more interested in shifting licensing software to subscribe services particularly on the basis of per user and per month among others (Weitz, 2010). Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) includes development of such environment that allows developers to build software applications that can be offered as services to customers or to general users (Weitz, 2010). Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides customers or users with storage, network and other various fundamental resource requirements in order to run arbitrary applications (Weitz, 2010). Literature Review According to Etro (2009), cloud computing is a recently evolved internet based technology that stores large information in servers and provides that information as services on demand to clients. Accordingly, its impact is spectacular on both consumers and companies. Furthermore, he stated that consumers can access all their documents and data from any devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets while the companies can rent hardware and software from the service providers and pay as they use the services like other services availed by the companies such as electricity (Etro, 2009). Petri (2010) postulates that, cloud computing is one of the most discussed IT innovations in the last few years. Hence, risk management is the most critical area which draws a serious attention. He emphasized that future is relatively uncertain when associating cloud computing with security factor. He critically points out that cloud vendors should quickly address the security and other related concerns for ensuring better customer satisfaction (Petri, 2010). According to Bein, Bein Madiraju (2010), cloud computing is a new paradigm of computing that has evolved in the recent times as an expensive way for providing storage and software. They further stressed that many companies are moving ahead with an intention to make cloud computing easy to use. They advocated that there are huge potential for consumers to exploit the cloud computing technology (Bein, Bein Madiraju, 2010). According to Gartner Inc (2012), continuous monitoring of cloud computing technologies and usual updates to the enterprises’ cloud strategies are necessary to prevent any cost related errors for the subsequent few years. It also stated that cloud computing technology will have significant impact on the level of its adoption over a period of time (Gartner Inc, 2012) According to Pokhriyal (2012), cloud computing would contribute towards increasing complexities relating to data storage and users access to applications as well as other frequently conducted processes. She also stated that risk of exposure of critical data is more with the use of cloud computing technology. She advocated that business firms may also witness security breaches and hacking that shall make the cloud storage relatively ineffective and inefficient (Pokhriyal, 2012). According to Willcocks, Venters, Whitey (2011), cloud computing technology is changing the ways of IT business services in terms of data delivering and managing. Accordingly, cloud computing has escalated the importance of delivering effective services and for this reason the IT and business services urgently need to raise the level of service competency and should focus on the availability of quality services to meet the customer expectations (Willocks, Venters, Whitley, 2011). In the words of Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili (2012), cloud computing has the potential to bring certain drastic changes in the organizations as witnessed in case of the internet during the last decade of the 20th century. They emphasized that by applying cloud computing technology without proper care and due-diligence may result in unforeseen problems. Consequently, executives must be aware of risks and other issues of cloud computing in order to derive significant benefits out of the provided services (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). According to Santos, Gummadi, Rodrigues (2012), cloud computing enables organizations to cut costs associated with resource storage, network bandwidth and other relevant data. However, they argued that concerns about the privacy, confidentiality and integrity of the data and computation can be considered to be the major deterrents for those organizations which are looking forward to embrace cloud computing (Santos, Gummadi, Rodrigues, 2012). According to Hinchcliffe (2009), cloud computing will transform IT business scenario by a large extent and it will have to balance between the risks and the benefits associated with cloud computing models. Therefore, he points out certain major risks associated with such transformations including security of organizational data that is stored in the cloud, loss of control over cloud resources and reliability factor. He also stated that the efficient use of cloud computing will enable market validation and prototyping of new approaches at much faster and relatively less expensive rate than ever before (Hinchcliffe, 2009). According to Weitz (2010), cloud computing will be playing a major role in the future of IT and shall bring in enormous opportunities for the organizations. Consequently, he stated that larger organizations will also have an opportunity for cutting the existing costs of IT infrastructure with the use of cloud computing models. However, he also highlighted the risks related with cloud computing and expressed his deep concerns relating to the security and confidentiality of certain relevant data (Weitz, 2010). Hyek (2011) in his report, ‘Cloud Computing Issues and Impacts’, postulated that, cloud computing models should comply with laws and regulations in each of its operations. The processing of data by the cloud service providers must be in conformity with governments’ requirements (Hyek, 2011). According to Curtis, Heckman, Thorp (2010), the most important factor related with the cloud computing model is the concern about the security and privacy of data while adopting cloud computing models (Curtis, Heckman, Thorp, 2010). According to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2010), in its report, ‘Cloud Computing: Opportunities and Challenges for Australia’ considers the importance of government and its roles in encouraging researchers and business sectors to adopt cloud computing models. The report emphasized that government should formulate strategies that initiate business sectors to adopt cloud models for their resource and application requirements. The report precisely described the responsibility of the cloud service providers in terms of proper management of data in order to prevent any situation that may result in loss of vital data (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2010). According to Catteddu Hogben, (2009) cloud services provide expedient storage accessible by various devices along with other benefits including useful communication and instant multi-point collaboration. They also emphasized that level of risk may tend to vary significantly based on the type of cloud model. It is for this reason that customers should be aware of the probable risks associated with cloud computing models and they should strive to transfer the risks to the providers (Catteddu Hogben, 2009). Characteristics of Cloud Computing A few of the relevant characteristics of cloud computing are elaborated below: On-Demand Self Service: Cloud computing providers offer various computer services such as applications, e-mail and network without involving human interaction with various service providers engaged in certain specific services only. Currently, there are multiple organizations that provide cloud computing services based on on-demand self services such as Google, Amazon Web, Microsoft and IBM among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Broad Network Access: Cloud services are available over the network, specifically over the internet and are accessed through certain standard mechanisms such as personal laptops, mobile phones, tablets and iPads among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Resource Pooling: The cloud computing models of the providers are shared with various resources in order to serve multiple clients. The resources united together may consist of processing, network bandwidth, storage of data, memory, virtual machines and email service (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Rapid Elasticity:The capacities of cloud services can be swiftly and elastically provisioned, in a few instances robotically as well to quickly balance out and release to scale in quickly. Furthermore, the capacities accessible for provisioning frequently emerge to be infinite and can be procured in any amount at any time (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Measured Services: The resource usage of cloud computing can be measured and reported to both providers and customers related to the amount of services utilized. Hence, cloud computing service providers charge the customers for the resources that they have actually used i.e. ‘pay as you use’. Considering the fact, more the customers utilize the cloud computing services, more they have to pay and vice-versa (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Multi-tenacity: Multi-tenacity is one key characteristics related to cloud computing which is being advocated by Security All iance. Multi-tenacity is related with the requirement for segmentation, ‘policy-driven enforcement’, control, service levels, billing models and isolation for the different consumer requirements (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Cloud Computing: Opportunities and Risk Assessment Cloud Computing Opportunities Opportunities derived from cloud computing are related with cost reduction to increase flexibility and decrease complexity which benefits the customers in terms of higher returns on their investments. Certain vital opportunities and benefits provided by cloud computing comprise: Cost Saving: Cloud computing customers are liable to pay merely for computing services and resources that they use rather than making permanent investments on resources or leasing equipments that may or may not be utilized fully at all times. Cloud computing enables to share IT resources with multiple organizations and facilitates them to access as per their requirements which can be related as operating expenses (OPEX) and not as capital expenses (CAPEX) (Petri, 2010). Speed of Deployment: Cloud service providers can meet the needs of the organizations for computing resources quickly and efficiently than other internal informati on technology functions. The customers do not have to wait for months for crunching large data. They can simply rent resources for limited period and can avail huge benefits at considerably reduced time (Petri, 2010). Scalability and Better Alignment of Technology Resources: An organization is able to scale up as well as down its capability from a single server to multiple numbers of servers with no capital expenses through the use of cloud service models. An organization is also able to deploy additional storage capacity over the web (Petri, 2010). Decreased Efforts in Managing Technology: Owning and operating of IT functions are often costly and time consuming. However, cloud computing enables an organization to concentrate more time on its purposes and goals (Petri, 2010). Environmental Benefits: Cloud computing also results in environmental benefits. If all the organizations replace their private data centers with cloud computing, it will significantly reduce the overall power consumption and carbon emissions (Petri, 2010). Higher Value Added: Cloud computing does not only provide software functionality but it also provides the customers with relevant information and data which was traditionally supposed to be created by the customers themselves (Petri, 2010). Cloud Computing Risks Risk is an event that prevents the organizations from achieving their determined purposes and objectives. Certain risks associated with cloud computing are stated below: Disruptive Force: Facilitating innovation and cost saving aspects can itself be viewed as risk to the existing cloud computing organizations. By lowering the barriers to entry, new competitors may pose a serious threat to certain cloud computing business models (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Residing In the Same Risk Ecosystem as the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and Other Tenants of the Cloud: Organizational reliance on third party involved in managing cloud solutions will increase legal responsibility and incident escalation among other core areas. By following the actions of CSP may impact the organizations in certain direct and indirect ways (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Lack of Transparency: A cloud computing service provider does not facilitate complete information regarding its processes and operat ions. Consequently, cloud customers have only little knowledge about the storage locations and algorithms that are implemented or used by the cloud service providers in relation to computing and controlling resources of customers’ data (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Reliability and Performance Issues: Even though efficiency of cloud computing may get disrupted due to risk events such as system failure that may occur without any early alerts to the end users. Hence, system failure may be viewed as a distinctive challenge posed to cloud computing (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Security And Compliance Concerns: Cloud computing supports various processes that may tend to evolve security and retention concerns in relation to its compliance with certain specific laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The cloud service providers may have no obligation to reveal such information associated with privacy of certain laws such as US Patriot Act and EU Data Protection Directives among others (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). High Value Cyber Attack Targets: The over-dependence of multiple organizations on single cloud service providers may tend to create vulnerability of cyber attacks then those used by a single organization (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Risk of Data Leakage: The risk of data leakage is also more where multiple organizations share their resources through cloud environment. Consequently, cloud service providers do not provide adequate data privacy and confidentiality of resources which the organizations intend to secure from intruders (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Conclusion Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which the organizations communicate, collaborate and compute. In general, cloud computing refers to delivery of scalable IT resources over the web particularly internet. An organization can purchase or rent software on need basis or according to usage which results in less investment and consumption on the part of the organization. Cloud computing facilitates the organizations to manage their IT requirements remotely, at much lowered costs. It further enables organizations to share resources in a single place or through a single cloud service provider. The organizations do not have to make heavy investments on establishment of their own IT infrastructure as cloud computing models provide organizations with established database for fulfillment of their IT demand. Moreover, organizations and users are charged or billed on the basis of their resource consumption. Despite having numerous benefits of adopting cloud computing models, there also exist certain risk factors which restrict the scope of cloud computing. Security and privacy are the prime issues restricting the adoption of cloud computing. Since multiple organizations will be consolidated on single cloud computing, there exists more vulnerability of data hacking. Consequently, cloud computing service providers do not guarantee the adequate safety for data losses and leakages which at times deters organizations from adopting cloud computing solutions. Nonetheless, if organizations cautiously consider the risk factors associated with cloud computing related solutions then these risk events can be overcome efficiently. Considering this aspect, it can be stated that organizations should adopt cloud computing solutions. By adopting cloud computing solutions, they can avail numerous opportunities that shall help them to grow and sustain their business profitably. References Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. (2010). The roles of government in cloud computing. Cloud computing: opportunities and challenges for Australia, pp. 13-19. Bein, D., Bein, W. Madiraju, P. (2010). Web applications and cloud computing. The impact of cloud computing on web 2.0, pp. 1-6. Curtis, W. B., Heckman, C. Thorp, A. (2010). Security and Privacy Considerations. Cloud computing: e-discovery issues and other risk, pp. 1-5. Catteddu, D. Hogben, G. (2009). Top security risks. Cloud Computing: Benefits, Risks And Recommendations For Information Security Cloud Computing, pp. 2-125. Etro, F. (2009). Features and implications of cloud computing. The economic impact of cloud computing on business creation, employment and output in Europe, pp. 2-33. European Commission. (2012). Introduction background. Advances in clouds, pp. 1-7. Gartner Inc. (2012). Gartner outlines five cloud computing trends that will affect cloud strategy through 2015. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1971515 Horwath, C., Chan, W., Leung, E. Pili, H. (2012). COSO enterprise risk management for cloud computing. Enterprise Risk Management For Cloud Computing, pp. 1-20. Hyek, P. (2011). Security and privacy. Cloud computing issues and impacts, pp. 12-46. Hinchcliffe, D. (2009). Eight ways that cloud computing will change business. Retrieved from http://www.majorcities.org/generaldocuments/pdf/zdnet_eight_ways_that_cloud_computing_will_change_business.pdf Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, (2012). Essential characteristics of Cloud Computing. Retrieved from http://www.isaca.org/Groups/Professional-English/cloud-computing/GroupDocuments/Essential%20characteristics%20of%20Cloud%20Computing.pdf Pokhriyal, R. (2012). Cloud computing myths explained: part 1. Retrieved from http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2012/10/cloud-computing-myths-explained-part-1/ Petri, G. (2010). Risks of cloud computing. Shedding light on cloud computing, pp. 25-30. Santos, N., Gummadi, K. P. Rodrigues, R. (2012). Towards trusted cloud computing. Retrieved from http://www.mpi-sws.org/~gummadi/papers/trusted_cloud.pdf Willcocks, L., Venters, W. Whitley, E. A. (2011). Clear view of the cloud: The business impact of cloud computing. Cloud computing, (1). Weitz, C. (2010). Barriers of cloud computing. A Balancing Act What Cloud Computing Means For Business, And How To Capitalize On It, pp. 1-9.

Revenge and Vengeance in Shakespeares Hamlet - Revenge or Scruples? :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Revenge or Scruples? â€Å"'Vengeance is mine,' sayith the Lord†. What does this mean? I believe what the Christians meant it to mean is that we, as humans, have no right to seek revenge, that only â€Å"the Lord† has the right to decide when to take revenge. We say this, but do we follow it? No, I think not. We all try to take revenge into our own hands, in one form or another. Revenge is one strong theme that holds throughout â€Å"Hamlet†. We see Prince Hamlet try to execute a kind of private vengeance, an eye for an eye, which is completely opposite of the Christian teachings. Hamlet is a man who believes in heaven and hell and who feels that a man who challenges divine ordinance will ultimately face judgment. We might look at the ghost of the late king Hamlet as the part of us that wants to take vengeance into our own minds. Like the little voice in our heads that tells us to do something, when in our hearts we know it is wrong. When Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus tell Hamlet of their sighting of the ghost, Hamlet agrees to join them that night and see if he can observe the ghost firsthand and possibly speak with it. That night when Horatio, Marcellus, and Hamlet sight the ghost, it beckons Hamlet to leave the other two and speak to it in privacy. Hamlet follows, despite the protests of the others, who fear it may be an evil spirit, disguising as King Hamlet in order to gain their trust. Horatio suggests that it may lead him astray and then "assume some other horrible form / Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason / And draw you into madness..." (I, iv, 80-82). Hamlet insists on listening to the message of the ghost. Although he does not state it, perhaps Hamlet subconsciously considers that Horatio is right, that the ghost is indeed a false messenger sent to trouble him. Hamlet does not kill Claudius immediately following his encounter with the ghost because he is unsure of the ghost's accusations of Claudius and does not want to murder him without proper motive. Hamlet would suffer in the eyes of the people if he were to murder Claudius, the reigning king, and claim his motive was the words of a ghost. Hamlet already disapproves of Claudius due to his marriage to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, so soon after the death of her first husband, King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet feels that the widow did not sufficiently mourn and that the marriage is incestuous due to the relation between the late

Effects of Plagiarism

Julia Fleming-Emery PRPE A108 P12 March 31st 2013 Cause and Effect Effects Of Plagiarism Plagiarism is the theft of credit for creating a document of information. It not only happens in schools but can also happen in the work area. Plagiarism is an act of academic dishonesty and most schools and university’s explain the consequences it can result it. Plagiarizing has many effects that are not only in schools. Plagiarizing can result in jail time, fines, and expulsion from a school or universities. Plagiarizing an essay or paper can result in jail time.Most cases with plagiarism are considered misdemeanors and can be punishable by fines. But, likewise you can serve up to a year in jail. Plagiarism is considered a felony under certain states and laws. There are many different forms of plagiarism If someone were to write a book using someone else’s material, ended up selling the material and making money depending on the amount of money earned the fine can be bigger and co uld result in more jail time. For example, if someone were to write a book that contained a different authors research, they could face a horrendous amount of fines and up to ten years in jail.Along with jail time you can end up paying a substantial amount of money in fines for Plagiarism. A misdemeanor you can end up paying upwards from $100 to $50,000. A felony can face up to $250,000 depending on the material. If the material makes more than $2,500 in profit then it can be considered a felony. Fines with plagiarizing all depend on the material that’s written depending on the amount of money that is made from selling what was wrote or published. Plagiarism is a serious offense no one wants to pay the fines that are brought upon it.I think the reason people plagiarize is because its easier and they are simply just to lazy to do the work themselves. I myself would not want the consequences that are brought upon plagiarism. Plagiarizing cannot only result in legal action but c an result in expulsion from schools and universities. Schools take plagiarism as a serious academic dishonesty. Along with expulsion from school students who are guilty of plagiarism face a failing grade in the course of which they committed the offense. College students can face losing their degree depending on the discovery of the offense.Expulsion from plagiarizing can ruin a student’s life and could have long-term effects on the student’s life. Students take the easy way out when they plagiarize and they get a good grade from it. In conclusion plagiarism can lead to jail time, fines and expulsion from schools or universities. Universities, schools and states take plagiarism seriously. Plagiarism has many effects that can follow you through your lifetime. Plagiarism is illegal and everyone should take the matter serious. If the work is hard instead of copying and pasting ask some around you for help.

Character Analysis of Florante and Laura Essay

I. Florante at Laura Florante and Laura are the main characters of the great metrical romance of arguably the greatest Filipino poet, Francisco Balagtas. Florante is the son of Duke Briseo and Princess Floresca of Albania and the main protagonist of the romance. Laura is the daughter of King Linceo of Albania and the love interest of Florante and is later married to him. This is a package deal, because they can’t stand alone on their own for their cultural meaning stems from them being together, as they symbolize love overcoming extreme difficulties, even the great divide of culture, family and religion. The relationship between Florante and Laura is so divine and special because their love for each other proved that love conquers all. Their love for each mother must set a standard to all of us that we should fight for the one we love and cherish the most. In the story, even if there were so many obstacles and problems that came into their lives they still manage to maintain what they have for each other. It should be an example to all of us of how real love is. II. Comparison or Parallelism Local: Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara are the two protagonists in Jose Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere. They share a love that even distance can’t break. Just like the happenings between Florante and Laura. They’ve been separated or away from each other for some days, weeks, months or even years but their love stay. Another similarity is the love triangle present in both stories. In Florante and Laura, there is Adolfo who wants to destroy the love between the lovers to get Laura. In Noli Me Tangere, there is Linares who wants to marry Maria Clara. Even if there’s someone who tried to ruin their love they still remain faithful to each other. One of the best similarities of them is  that they are willing to die just to protect each other. Crisostomo is ready to fight the Spaniards or even the priests to set Maria Clara free but unfortunately Maria Clara died inside the convent and Crisostomo was left with revenge and guilt in his heart. On the other hand, Florante fight his enemies even if it means that it’ll cost his life. Good thing Florante manage to stay alive. Foreign: Romeo and Juliet The very famous Romeo and Juliet can be compared to our very own Florante and Laura because of the flow of their story and most significantly its theme. The theme is the difference of their culture and family. The Montagues and the Capulets are very nice enemies so if someone established an intimate relationship with one another it’s a sin. In Florante and Laura, there’s a conflict between cultures and because of that their families became nice enemies also. Same as Crisostomo Ibarra and Florante, Romeo has a competitor also for the hands and heart of Juliet, his name is Paris. Paris is the suitor of Juliet and the Capulets want Paris to be Juliet’s husband but we all know that Romeo is the one for Juliet. This shows that if you really love the person you will not be attracted to another person even if he do good to you or even if your family wants him for you. You should follow your heart if it is what makes you happy, you should fight for it even if it means that you will have a battle and war between people. The good thing that happens in the end of both stories is of course when their families finally have peace. This happened on Romeo and Juliet when both families realize that it’s wrong to fight each other for a very long time if they should have resolved it from the very first time it occurs when Romeo and Juliet died together. In Florante and Laura peace was made when all of the fights were ended and their religions and culture became one. III. Conclusion The similarities on the characters are very obvious. They would do anything for love and they symbolize love as being able to overcome obstacles and problems in life. I’ve learned that love conquers all and if you really love someone you should not be ashamed to fight for it even if the things that you will encounter are as hard as a diamond. Time flies so fast you’ll never know what will happen so you must cherish and do everything you can do to make every moment lasts. I think another thing that I’ve learned is that you should not be fooled by prejudice because some conflicts are caused by that. But the main lesson of the stories and the characters is love is unconditional and sacrificial.

Effects of technology change on Sony Corp The WritePass Journal

Effects of technology change on Sony Corp Introduction Effects of technology change on Sony Corp IntroductionThreats of technological change:Opportunities associated with technology change:Implementation of theories of changeIndustry competitorsThreats of entryThreat of substitute productsBargaining power of buyerEffects of technological change on Sony CorpImproved research and development:Objective of Sony RD:Steps taken by Sony Corp to incorporate technological change to gain competitive edge: Conclusion and recommendationsReferenceRelated Introduction Sony Corporation is one of the world’s top electronic company, based in Tokyo Japan. Sony came in to existence in 1946 and since then well known for its quality products. The main products of the company are Audio: Home audio, portable audio, etc. Video: Video cameras, digital still cameras, and DVD-Video players/recorders, and Digital-broadcasting receiving systems Televisions: LCD televisions Information and communications: PC, printer system, broadcast and professional use audio/video/monitors and other professional-use equipment Semiconductors: LCD, CCD and other semiconductors Electronic components: Optical pickups, batteries, audio/video/data recording media, and data recording systems The changes undergone by businesses in different industry have been largely driven by technological change and globalization, and partly by changes in the regulatory environment. Consolidation in the industry continues, but it takes different forms as the dominant industries corporations have redirected their consolidation policy, shifting from diversification and horizontal integration to targeted expansion into the new technologies. Thus, companies in the media sectors are quickly embracing the new technologies through acquisitions or alliances/partnerships with new media start-ups.the following chart shows the company organizational data of Sony corporation. Sony is world’s one of the major electronic company which obviously involve a lot of technological change management.Technologcal change presents many opportunities as well threats that must be taken into account while planning strategies. Technological innovation can dramatically influence the organization’s products services markets, suppliers, distributors, competitor, customers, manufacturing processes, marketing practices, and a competitive position. Sony being an electronic company has a major challenge of technological up gradation at all time to maintain the market position. Technological improvement can open up new markets which result in propagation of new and improved products. It also changes the relative cost position in an industry and provides existing products absolution. Hence technological changes involve both opportunity and threats with it. Sony Corp have been calling on a great criticism to boost up its profitability as the company has facing extreme pressure from other companies offering lower cost and gained an edge in the key market segments as flat panel TVs. Sony is the pioneer that first introduced the portable music to the industry but now embarrassingly Apple Computer Inc took the technology edge over it by introducing iPod player and iTunes online store. Sony is only now coming out with competing portable players. Sony Corp now desperately needs a pace of innovation by changing itself to the changing trends to maintain its competitive position in the market. First it has to see deeply inside the characteristics of technological change and that are it is changing at a greater sale, it’s getting cheaper becoming easily available and touching lives in more and mare areas. These can also be seen as the challenges related to technological change in the businesses. Technological change has its effects such as A product life cycle is reduced. New things will make old products skills knowledge obsolete necessitating continuous change. Competition has become from unexpected quarters. Customer demand has been changed they are always after new and improved products. Threats of technological change: There are certain threats associated with the technological change that can be Technological change might need to change the structure of the company, if the company is attuned to the changes or are unwilling to change it can become obsolete. The characteristics of the international consumer are changing. These changes can influence industries by changing the types and quantity of products and services desired. Rapid change in demand and increasing number of competitors   is another threat for the company. Opportunities associated with technology change: â€Å"Perception is one’s reality†. Customer perception about the company that the company is good or has improved, product and service evolves the opportunity for its success. New Knowledge is a significant source of entrepreneurial opportunity. For example, developing a wide array of innovative products that keep the customer associated with the company products. Implementation of theories of change Schumpeter (1936) argued that economic development emerged when ‘new combinations New combinations might be new product, new method, new market, new supply source or industry re-organisation. Sony focus is towards continuous improvement of product development introducing new improved manufacturing methods finding new supplier sources to earn more over less spending. Michael Porter (1979) has provided a model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates to develop the edge over the rival firms. According to him industrial firm is influenced by five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market towards it. These are as follows Threats of entry Industry competitors Bargaining power of supplier Bargaining power of buyer Threats of substitute. Now we will study the Sony Corp strategy around Porters five force model. Industry competitors The intensity of competitors is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. According to Porter, company should determine the extent to which the company’s value will be taken away by the head-to-head competition. When the competition among the firms is low the company is a sound company. To take the edge over the competitors the company can take several competitive moves. Temporary change in price for the time according to the demand and buyers ability. Improving product differentiation through innovation in manufacturing process or product itself. By effective use of distribution channel. Exploiting relations with suppliers. Technology advancement can reduce the level of competition. Companies that successfully introduce new technology, can easily charge higher prices and achieve higher profits, until competitors copy them or introduce substitute. Technological advancement can protect the company from competition. Threats of entry Potential and existing competitors can influence the profitability of the company. The threats of new rivals are based on the market entry barriers. Profitable business attract new firm which can result in new entrants and ultimately reduce the profitability. Therefore barriers should be placed for entry. Our strategy will be reduced pricing, brand equity and differentiation of product. Threat of substitute products The substitute product refers to the similar product introduce by other rivales.The threat of substitute product exist when the demand of the product is effected by the price change of substitute product. The company should observe the buyer propensity to substitute, number of substitute product available in the market and the quality and standard of substitute product to plan accordingly for the need of change. Bargaining power of buyer The determinants, through which buyer power can be judged, are the size and the concentration of customers. Other factors are the extent to which the buyers are informed and the concentration or differentiation of the competitors. So the company will focus to educate the consumer with necessary information. Effects of technological change on Sony Corp Innovation and advancements in technology open new path ways and provide new competitive advantages that are more powerful than existing ones. The latest trend in technological advancement is towards computers lasers, robotics, satellite networks, fiber optics, biometrics cloning, and other related areas that have paved the way for significant operational improvements. Moving forward, the company continues to make effective use of its brand, intellectual property and other assets, and to create and increase the value technology development. Intense competition and new market trends are the current threat for SONY.   There are new businesses entering in the industry so, company has to maintain its position and market share by proving new inventions to the industry at lower price. Technological shift is crucial for success for all businesses in the today’s competitive environment.Advances in computing and telecommunications have widespread implications changing the way we live and work in.above all globalization process has increased both the spread and the speed of change and the competitive pressures. There are five important factors for a successful technological shift. Levels of knowledge and expertise/ absorptive capacity Active RD to develop sufficient tacit knowledge Investment in RD to gain high value results. An open trading environment. Human capital investment. Technological improvements are need at all time if the technological change is not fast enough competitors will take the edge and you loss the potential profits. Company gain the profit when it will manage to introduce product before anyone else opportunity can come up in the various stages of the process as researchers and technicians continue to work for the monumental breakthrough. Improved research and development: The base for technological shift is to improve the research and development department of the company to the greater extent. There are certain strategically steps the company has taken to improve the research and development for the company’s products. The firms has decentralise their RD to benefit from different areas of excellence from the world. Developed the environment of knowledge sharing from different research institutes in the world. Built strong relations with leading economies of the world and receive implied knowledge transfers. Arranged many RD related events to search for the new ideas to flourish the company product. Objective of Sony RD: New ways of entertainment are emerging where people can easily share their personal content with others over the network or automatically organize their content according to their personal profile. Sony RD aims to create new value based on the linked concepts of inspiration and shared experience and to thus strengthen products and applications. Mission for Sony RD is Technology for Inspiration and Shared Experience.As we are moving into the era of connectivity and networking the need of technological shift is very important. The need is for inventing new applications that generate new kinds of inspiration and shared experiences. Steps taken by Sony Corp to incorporate technological change to gain competitive edge: Sony Corp is one of the largest movie, music and consumer electronics companies in the world but now they have planned closing down its Connect Music Store in Europe and the U.S. by keeping in view the technological change in these sectors. Instead Sony has planned to add Microsofts Windows Media technology to its new music players and allowing consumers to download copy-protected content from numerous Windows Media-compatible music stores on the Internet. The two new Sony players have video storage and playback capabilities and are the first in the digital players from the company not tied down to Sonys ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) audio format. Sony has improved Walkman products which offer great resolution, a bright screen, high-quality sound and a long battery life. The idea behind that is to provide the customers the choice to use multiple music sources. Sony Corporation today announced the commercialization of the worlds first demodulator LSI for high-definition television use conforming to the DVB-T2*2 (Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial 2) terrestrial digital broadcast standard adopted in the UK Conclusion and recommendations According to my research and analysis of the Sony Corp company strategy of continuous research and development is in the right direction. Company idea of invention and innovation and keep on improving things is what makes the company more powerful in terms of profit gains. It is a social process and increasingly dependent upon organised teams. Therefore company focus on developing efficient teams with new and innovative ideas. In the current market demand knowledge sharing is very important to bring about constant innovation to gain competitive advantage. The new source of competitive advantage rests on this ability to share knowledge and to innovate. Sony management of knowledge sharing between subsidiaries, between organisations and their customers and along and across networks is absolute. In my view the effect made by the company for technological transfer between the developed and developing worlds will prove to be profitable in the terms of economic gains and as well reputation of the company increase. In short Introducing new products with increased functionality and quality always get attention of the customer and it also helps in revenue generation. Despite of all the effects made by the company to focus on technology improvement and invention and innovation of new and improved products, company also needs to pay attention towards its competitors low price products which might attract the consumer. Companies coming from new markets are introducing new similar products at lower prices so educating customer about the product should also be the part of strategic planning of the company. Reference The Associated Press: New Sony CEO may signal strategy change Carlota Perez, 2001. Technological change and opportunities for development as a moving target: V S Rama Rao, January 1, 2010.Entrepreneurial opportunities- changes in technology: sony.net/SonyInfo/technology/rd/index.html smarthouse.com.au/iPods_And_Portable_Players/MP4_Players/C6W8Q5N9 quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml