The Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft Essays - AOL,

The Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft Since 1990, a battle has raged in United States courts between the United States government and the Microsoft Corporation out of Redmond, Washington, headed by Bill Gates. What is at stake is money. The federal government maintains that Microsoft's monopolistic practices are harmful to United States citizens, creating higher prices and potentially downgrading software quality, and should therefore be stopped, while Microsoft and its supporters claim that they are not breaking any laws, and are just doing good business. Microsoft's antitrust problems began for them in the early months of 1990(Check 1), when the Federal Trade Commission began investigating them for possible violations of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts,(Maldoom 1) which are designed to stop the formation of monopolies. The investigation continued on for the next three years without resolve, until Novell, maker of DR-DOS, a competitor of Microsoft's MS-DOS, filed a complaint with the Competition Directorate of the European Commission in June of 1993. (Maldoom 1) Doing this stalled the investigations even more, until finally in August of 1993, (Check 1)the Federal Trade Commission decided to hand the case over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice moved quickly, with Anne K. Bingaman, head of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, leading the way.(Check 1) The case was finally ended on July 15, 1994, with Microsoft signing a consent settlement.(Check 1) The settlement focused on Microsoft's selling practices with computer manufacturers. Up until now, Microsoft would sell MS-DOS and Microsoft's other operating systems to original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) at a 60% discount if that OEM agreed to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every single computer that they sold (Check 2) regardless if it had a Microsoft operating system installed on it or not. After the settlement, Microsoft would be forced to sell their operating systems according to the number of computers shipped with a Microsoft operating system installed, and not for computers that ran other operating systems. (Check 2) Another practice that the Justice Department accused Microsoft of was that Microsoft would specify a minimum number of minimum number of operating systems that the retailer had to buy, thus eliminating any chance for another operating system vendor to get their system installed until the retailer had installed all of the Microsoft operating systems that it had installed.(Maldoom 2) In addition to specifying a minimum number of operating systems that a vendor had to buy, Microsoft also would sign contracts with the vendors for long periods of time such as two or three years. In order for a new operating system to gain popularity, it would have to do so quickly, in order to show potential buyers that it was worth something. With Microsoft signing long term contracts, they eliminated the chance for a new operating system to gain the popularity needed, quickly.(Maldoom 2) Probably the second most controversial issue, besides the per processor agreement, was Microsoft's practice of tying. Tying was a practice in which Microsoft would use their leverage in one market area, such as graphical user interfaces, to gain leverage in another market, such as operating systems, where they may have competition.(Maldoom 2) In the preceding example, Microsoft would use their graphical user interface, Windows, to sell their operating system, DOS, by offering discounts to manufacturers that purchased both MS-DOS and Windows, and threatening to not sell Windows to companies who did not also purchase DOS. In the end, Microsoft decided to suck it up and sign the settlement agreement. In signing the agreement, Microsoft did not actually have to admit to any of the alleged charges, but were able to escape any type of formal punishment such as fines and the like. The settlement that Microsoft agreed to prohibits it, for the next six and a half years from: * Charging for its operating system on the basis of computer shipped rather than on copies of MS-DOS shipped; * Imposing minimum quantity commitments on manufacturers; * Signing contracts for greater than one year; * Tying the sale of MS_DOS to the sale of other Microsoft products;(Maldoom 1) Although these penalties look to put an end to all of Microsoft's evil practices, some people think that they are not harsh enough and that Microsoft should have been split up to put a stop to any chance of them forming a true monopoly of the operating system market and of the entire software market. On one side of the issue, there are the people who feel that Microsoft should be left alone, at least for the time being. I am one of these

Albery Bandura essays

Albery Bandura essays 1. Who: Albert Bandura was a man that received various awards for his many accomplishments. He is known around the world for many things. He was born in 1925 and attended two universities. The two universities that he attended were British Columbia and the University of Iowa. He there received his bachelors degree and his Ph.D. While attending Iowa, Bandura met Virgina Varns. Virgina was an instructor in the nursing school at Iowa. They later had married and they eventually had two beautiful daughters. After Bandura graduated he took a postdoctoral position at the Wichita guidance center in Kansas. Then in 1953 he then started teaching at Stanford. While he was there he collaborated with his first graduate student and published his first book, Adolescent Aggression. Bandura has received many awards and contributions. He was president of the APA in 1973 and received several awards for scientific contributions. 2. What: Albert Bandura explained many different theories. One theory he focused his study on was Behaviorism. Behaviorism had strong emphasis on experimental methods. It also focused on different variables that we are able to observe measure and manipulate. In an experimental method the first step to be taken is to manipulate the variable and then measure the effect it had on another. This boils down to a theory of personality that says ones environment causes ones behavior. Another theory Bandura focused on was the observational learning or modeling theory. This is sometimes called social learning theory. This theory had four steps. These steps included; 1. Attention If you are going to learn anything you have to be paying attention. 2. Retention You must be able to retain any information you have paid attention to. 3. Reproduction You have to be able to translate the images and descriptions into actual behavior. 4. Motivation You have to get motivated to imit ...

Challenges facing managers today Research Paper

Challenges facing managers today - Research Paper Example And within this transformation in environment, managers have to change to become a change mentor, an employee advocate or sponsor, and a strategic partner within their organizations. In order to be successful, management is required to be a business driven activity with a comprehensive understanding of the big picture of the organization and have the capacity to affect significant policies and decisions. Generally, the focus of today’s manager should be on strategic technological planning, talents development, and personnel retention. Managers should also be succession planners, coaches, mentors, and counselors to help motivate workers and their loyalty (Daniel & Radenbaugh, 2001). This paper will look at the challenges facing managers today. The paper will take a position and support it using information from relevant research. It is evident that today’s managers are faced with a number of challenges. The following include some of the most apparent challenges. A lack o f resources in an organization can cause grave predicaments for a manager. A lack of resources may make the organization face cutbacks on significant things. This requires the manager to be economically minded and creative when this type of circumstance occurs. It is essential that a manager learns to make the most of what is available and check accessible resources to ensure they are not misused. Managers should also device ways of lessening costs on things which are of nominal significance so that there will be resources for necessary materials. Lack of resources may also have a negative impact on the training of employees (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman & Willett, 2000). During training, organizations should have budgeted finances for travelling, accommodation, among other needs. If the managers cannot raise the finances to facilitate this, the workers will not have the means of gaining competitive skills, negatively affecting the performance of the organization. Another challenge fa cing the managers of today is their recognition towards input to business access and realization of the objectives of the organization. Some organizations do not see the significance of appointing managers when they have heads of different departments. Technological advancement is another challenge that managers have to deal with. Today, technological advancements are on the rise more than in the early period. Modern technology has to be utilized if an organization wants to provide goods and services which are cost effective, relevant, and congruent with the needs of the society. Therefore, managers face the significant challenge of raising the initial cost of acquiring, running, and maintaining modern technology. This is also made worse by the brief existence of a large number of technological inventions which imply that managers have to reinvest in contemporary technology often in order to protract their relevance (Hollen, Van, Frans & Volberda, 2013). This graph illustrates the i dea that technological progress is both a continuous opportunity and a continuous danger to the organization. Trade unions are another challenge facing the managers. Trade unions can be extremely cruel when it comes to negotiation and they may urge the workers to engage in striking activities. This has a negative impact

Marketting Analysis of Usitrip Travel Company Essay

Marketting Analysis of Usitrip Travel Company - Essay Example a procuratorate official website to verify), has been always get the federal business bureau (BBB) certification for grade A highest reputation ratings. 1) Tourism is a growing industry (4% annually). The United States tourism market is large and the U.S. visa is one year multiple entry visa, as long as the period of validity of the visa, tourists can visit the United States for many times, it also makes the United States tourism demand to be strong. The companys target customers are high-income earners (min. $75,000 for a single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular overseas tour. These are lawyers, bankers, executives, doctors and business owners. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within major China cities. There is fast development in the business sector and expanding interest. Additionally, more specialty markets are developing. At first, it will be hard to rival experienced suppliers, particularly the business pioneers. However, target market is an exploitable niche, and our service is differentiated. Target market individuals will have comparative activity premiums, more disposable income and less effect on cost. We will provide luxurious service with prestige value. Our prices will be out of reach for the majority of overseas travelers. Administration will be valued based upon luxury contender costs and the quality included of our advertising. Suppliers that offer offering luxury services like our own do as such at costs like not ours. We are intensely evaluated in the luxury market. Since we engage luxury and hence a littler business, volume will be restricted. Notwithstanding, we will have the capacity to accrue a higher profit margin. Abroad visit has been working for a while now. The treks have been generally welcomed, and advertising is presently critical to its proceeded with achievement and future benefit. The fundamental business need is hard adventure trips for the affluent customer. This target market

Military history of Canada during World War II Essay - 13

Military history of Canada during World War II - Essay Example Britain, too, came to respect the new military competence of the Canadians, especially since the Canadian forces excelled themselves on the battlefield at the end of the war. Granatstein believes that the cost of the war, both economically and in terms of Canadian lives lost, was severe, but that the war brought a much more significant benefit of allowing Canada escape British domination and take its rightful place as the nation free to make its own military and political choices. Closer collaboration with America was, in Granatstein’s view, a useful by-product of this process. I choose this book focuses on the left in Canadian politics and explains how the sudden need for increased production in Canadian factories led to a new focus on industrial relations. Furthermore, the unions helped to increase production of military goods, including aircraft, and some, notably in the aircraft industry achieved major gains for their workers. In general, Morton states, the government did not turn its pro-union statements into action and in fact in the early 1940s when inflation threatened to damage the growing economy, price and wage controls were imposed. This strategy worked, bringing price stability and full employment. This, in turn, gave workers more bargaining power and the unions achieved greater benefits for them. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 with its aims to achieve â€Å"freedom from want†, â€Å"social security† and â€Å"fair labor standards†, was a direct result of Canadian-British wartime co-operation and had a long-term effect far be yond the immediate wartime situation. Morton describes the strikes of the immediate post-war years as a â€Å"testing of strength† between unions and managers and a demonstration that systems and processes laid down in the war years were an effective framework for the future. This book takes a look at Canada from the cultural point of view.  Ã‚  

M-Pesa innovation products of Safari

M-Pesa innovation products of Safari CHAPETER 1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM M-Pesa is one of the ingenious innovation products of Safari- com Kenya, it is a mobile money transfer that enables Safari-com subscribers to send and receive money to anyone of the mobile network. It was developed by Vodafone, which holds a 35% share in Safari-com. The M stands for mobile. Pesa is Swahili for money. Since its introduction in March of 2007, the M-PESA money transfer system has seen its popularity with the un-banked population surge, making the application a great success all over the country. For example, between March 2007 and September 2008, M-pesa person to person transfers hit the Sh54 billion mark with December alone last year accounting for an additional Sh14 billion. To call M-PESA a success would be an understatement. Today you can use your phone to pay for cab rides and electricity, to get money out of ATMs without owning an ATM card or even having a traditional bank account. This has caused jitters in the banking industry. It is worthy noting here that most of the Kenya’s live in local remote areas and do not have access to banking services. The M-PESA service does not require users to have bank accounts. All they need to do is register at an authorized M-PESA agent by providing their Safari-com mobile number and their identification card. Once registered, the user can buy digital funds at any M-Pesa agent and send that electronic cash to any other mobile phone user in Kenya by SMS. Recipients can either redeem this for conventional cash at M-Pesa agent outlets or buy Safari-com airtime for themselves and other subscribers. An M-Pesa-enabled mobile phone can also function as an electronic wallet, holding up to â‚ ¬500 (50,000 Kenyan shillings). The service has lowered transaction costs for users in terms of money, time and risk. An urban dweller that used to send money to his nuclear family, other relatives or anyone else using the post office, bus services or friends traveling home can now remit funds quickly and safely for a small fee. The recipient can then obtain cash using an M-pesa agent of choice. The service is being used to make payments for lower value goods and services, thus increasing the velocity of business. You can haggle with a hawker on the street and make an electronic payment for whatever you buy. Instead of traveling upcountry to pay school fees or cater for unforeseen expenses, parents can now agree with friends or teachers to make payments on their behalf after getting the money transferred electronically to them. People who were too poor to open a bank account can now have a transaction account at their disposal. Only about 2 million Kenyans have bank accounts out of a population of around 36 million. Therefore, the potential to broaden access to financial services is massive. Though the product has is clearly gained prominence among the low income earners, high income earners Small and medium organizations it has not gone down well with the major Banking key players who are opposing it. 90% of Kenyans do not have an account in a regular bank. Across Africa, only 20% of families have formal bank accounts, according to a World Bank survey. In Tanzania the percentage is as low as 5%, and in Liberia 15%. But the proliferation of mobile telephone services around the continent has opened a new way to extend financial service 1.1 Research questions What are the financial needs that M-Pesa meets as an agent of money transfer? Is the M-Pesa product reliable and accessible in meeting the financial needs in Kenya? 1.2 Research Objectives 1. To find out the effects/ contributions of M-Pesa as a product of Safari com to society 2. Find out the impacts of M-Pesa in the banking sector in Kenya 3. To find out who are the main population segments targeted by M-Pesa product in Kenya 4. To find out the methodologies used by Safari com as an M-Pesa provider to satisfy customers needs RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH Known as M-pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionize banking in a country where more than 80% of people are excluded from the formal financial sector. Apart from transferring cash; a service much in demand among urban Kenyans supporting relatives in rural areas, customers of the Safaricom network will be able to keep up to 50,000 shillings ( £370) in a virtual account on their handsets. Mobile phone growth in Kenya, as in most of Africa, has been remarkable, even among the rural poor. In June 1999 Kenya had 15,000 mobile subscribers. Today it has nearly 8 million out of a population of 35 million. In time, M-pesa will allow people to borrow and repay money, and make purchases. Companies will be able to pay salaries directly into workers phones; something that has already attracted the interest of larger employers, such as the tea companies, whose workers often have to be paid in cash as they do not have bank accounts. The M-pesa project is being watched closely by mobile operators around the world as a way of targeting the multibillion pound international cash transfer industry long dominated by companies such as Western Union and Money gram. According to the World Bank, remittances sent from nearly 200 million migrant workers to developing countries totalled  £102bn in the year 2007. The GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile operators worldwide, believes this could quadruple by 2012 if transfers by SMS become the norm. Vodafone has entered a partnership with Citigroup that would soon allow Kenyans in the UK to send money home via text message. The charge for sending  £50 is expected to be about  £3, less than a third of what some traditional services charge. SME’s in Kenya are making use of M-pesa. This is mainly because the service has been found to be liquid, flexible, acceptable, safe and reliable. M-pesa has also had an impact on microfinance institutions since members send virtual funds to their group leader, and the group leaders give the funds to the microfinance organization. Users can send between 100 Kenyan shillings ($1.5) and 35,000 shillings ($530) via a text message to a desired recipient; even someone using a different mobile network. The recipient then can obtain the cash from a Safaricom agent by entering a secret code and showing personal identification. M-pesa gives people too much access (24/7) to their cash which could undermine saving culture. Analysis shows that the M-PESA-based cash transfers are secure, enable a quick emergency response, are cost-effective and empower communities. Cash transfers give households access to a wider range of commodities. The injection of cash also strengthened the local economy. The role of information technology in empowering the poor the ability of mobile phones to send SMS expands the range of cheap communication available to the poor. Isolated communities now know how to receive remittances by using M-PESA. Communities also see advantages in using their mobile phones to develop early warning and security alarm systems to prevent cattle-rustling. Women also see income-generating opportunities by offering informal payphone services to other members of the community. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The increasing speed of transactions has been a critical part of the innovation process. At the cutting edge of money technology, corporate America is moving beyond batch processing and air couriers, to networks for integrated accounting and payments processing systems. The definition of an instantaneous money transfernot by check, but by ATM or direct computer connectionis moving inexorably toward real time, on a par with exchanges of currency, but without the need to be physically face-to-face. And the closer technology brings us to real-time remote payments, the closer we are to genuine 24-hour banking and trading, and a worldwide set of assets that might be used for wealth storage, at least for those who are willing to accept some currency risk. Firstly, it is the young, male, urban migrants who are driving the uptake of services – customer adoption. Being early adopters of technology, these migrants are usually better educated and earn higher incomes than those in the vil lage. Because these migrants are the senders, they can choose the channel for money transfer. They then influence recipients in the rural area—who are usually female, less educated and poorer—to also use M-pesa. M-pesa has been successful because it relies on traditional practices and structures and modernizes these features. It is indeed a model based on indigenous payment practices, extended mobile phone networks and a large distribution network. With this service, Kenyans can open up a digital account on the cell phone, send and receive money, pay bills like electricity and obtain credit. Users can also withdraw money from ATMs The distribution network is based on agents who were already present in markets. Agents receive basic training from M-pesa. Only three months after the launch of M-pesa, the service had 400 agents, compared to 450 bank branches and 600 ATMs in Kenya. By mid 2009 M-pesa had 3400 agents. Safaricom’s M-pesa service in Kenya was one of 10 private sector initiatives in 2008 to be recognized by the World Business and Development Award as making a significant contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals. M-pesa has also been recognized by several other awards, including: Stockholm Challenge 2008 – Winner, Economic Development category ( M-pesa) Kenyan Banking Awards 2007 and 2008 – Special Award for Product Innovation (M-pesa) Global Mobile Awards 2008 – Nominated, Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development (M-pesa) Global Mobile Awards 2008 – Winner, Best Broadcast Commercial (M-pesa ‘Send Money Home’ TVC) AfricaCom Awards 2008 – Changing Lives award and Best Solution for Rural Services award MSK Warrior Awards 2008 – Best Innovation. Kenya’s independent Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD), which aims to support the development of inclusive financial markets in Kenya, carried out a survey of M-pesa use in 2008. The survey aimed at establishlishing the opportunities and challenges presented by the service and how it could be introduced in other countries. The survey of 3,000 randomly selected households across Kenya, 300 randomly selected M-pesa agents and 50 M-pesa Head offices found almost 40% of households use M-pesa, with 63% sending regular financial support. Of those surveyed: 90% believe their money is safe with M-pesa 81% find M-pesa very easy to use and a further 15% say it is quite easy to use 84% say losing M-pesa would have a large negative effect. Compared with alternatives, those surveyed find M-pesa is: Quicker (98%) More convenient (96%) Safer (98%) Cheaper (96%) Concern Worldwide pioneered the use of M-pesa for bulk cash transfers during the post-election emergency in early 2008 in the Kerio Valley, one of the remotest parts of Kenya. During the violence, cattle rustlers attacked communities in the Kerio Valley, looting their livestock and displacing them. Concern’s initial response was to provide food aid, but carrying and distributing food proved very costly and insecure. Cash transfers were seen as a way of overcoming the challenges posed by the terrain and the security situation. Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY The study will be based in Nakuru a town which is surrounded by a network of small village towns, also comprising of low and middle income earners The study proposes to use both secondary data and primary data to achieve its objectives. The secondary data will be obtained from Safari-com website on issues of corporate and social responsibility, monthly newsletters and annual reports. The research will prefer qualitative as it is considered as the most appropriate on account of it being amenable to use of innovative techniques in exploring relatively unexplored research areas (kamoche, 2001; Yin 1994). The researcher will also use mixture of research methods and these are; semi structured questionnaires, surveys and oral interviews to collect data. Quota sampling will also be used to collect data regarding population segments targeted by M-Pesa product. 3.1 Data analysis and methods The data will be summarized and classified in terms of variable objectives of the study in order to enhanced further analysis and processing. The responses to the various items will be coded then keyed in a matrix for this purpose. The data will be entered, edited and cleansed to ensure correct entry of the response. Descriptive (frequencies, means, standard deviations and graphical illustrations) will be used for the analysis to help in establishing the findings on the objectives of the study 3.2 Information Validity and Reliability The questionnaire will be pre-tested with Safari com to authentic reliability. The pre- testing study/pilot study will be done, 100 km from Nakuru away from the study area and will be done to avoid any possible influence on trial respondents before the actual survey 4 REFLECTIONS Due to the size of general population in Kenya, time within which the research should be completed and the cost that would be involved if all the country were studied, the study will cover a cross section of Nakuru residents who will be represent the rest of the country. This study therefore proposes to use cross sectional survey because it is cheap to do and the results from the sample can be inferred to the larger population The M-Pesa product has been in the market for a barely two years and therefore there isn’t much literature about it however the results from this research will guide future research in this area 4.1 Ethical issues The first step was to seek permission from management by writing a letter to Safari-com management. This was important get authorization. Since various people including Safari- com employees, general public and other stakeholders will be interviewed it is important to seek permission from these people before interviewing or giving them questionnaires. Before commencement had the researcher will seek permission from management by writing while assuring them that the copy of research would be provided and none will be published outside without their permission. Under no circumstances would personal details to be divulged according to the data protection Act. It will be responsibility of the researcher to assure participants that it will be their sole decision to comment or give opinion. Another important issue is time and therefore it is upon the researcher to find time for interviews not to disrupt any organizations business. REFERENCES Alice t. Liu Michael K. Mithika- the credit bureau and m banking research study- USAID, April2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/business: Mobile phone lifeline for worlds poor, 27/02/07 http://www.cato.org/pubs/books/money15.html http://globaltechforum.eiu.com/index, Kenya: Safaricom aims for the big game 02/08/2007. http://www.gurdian.co.uk/: Kenya sets world Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile, 20/03/2007 http://www.safaricom.co.ke, Annual results presentation, 21/05/2009 http://www.the times100.co.uk/ case study: Kenyans to use mobile phones to pay utility bills

A Womans Awakening :: essays research papers

The novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman who is married and has an awaking of her true feelings. The situation is very complex and Edna cannot handle the complexity of it. In the end she commits suicide. The novel The Awakening by Edna is described as a woman who is strong and able to persue her dreams. The novel also shows how people should live their lives for themselves instead of other people. Chopin uses characterization and symbolism to develop the meaning of the novel The Awakening. Ethan From is seen as a tragic person. He dreams of escaping his farm and living a life outside of Starkfield. Ethan was forced to leave college to care for his aging and ailing parents. He married Zeena because he feared loneliness and felt he owed her something for her help with his parents. Ethans character is described in the beginning of the novel as a man in his fifties, disabled, silent, and a farmer. Physically Ehtan is tall and bent-looking. His circumstances have made him weak. Ethan is a man of bad luck who is in his current situation due to circumstances and not by choice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Edith Wharton portrays the land in Starkfield as harsh, the people are hard and unfriendly, and poverty as a mean way of life.She uses the landscape to reflect the personality of the characters. Her choice of winter is a symbol of the barrenness of the characters' lives. They are cold and isolated, like the temperature outside. The situations and conflicts are represented by Frome's stony landscape, the old apple trees, and the graveyard. In conclusion, Kate Chopin uses characterization and symbolism to develop the meaning of the novel The Awakening.

Le Coq Sportif

Governance of le coq In 2005, a Swiss Holding buys the brand Le Coq Sportif. Indeed the results of the brands were well below the desired expectations. With the partnership of Sir Robert Louis Dreyfus, a great Swiss businessman who was leader of the group including Adidas, Le Coq sportif sees the opportunity for a fresh start with this strategic alliance for the future. Airesis immediately set up a plan to revive the brand that demonstrates the strong interest of the group to give new life to this legendary French brand.Here is a chart explaining the governance of the brand Le Coq Sportif since it creation (1882) until the takeover by the Swiss holding Airesis. Few words about Airesis: Historic part: HPI Holding AG is a name that marked the industrial history of western Switzerland since 1920, date of creation of the company. Hermes Precisa International (formerly Plants Paillard) has built its success on the production of typewriters Hermes known internationally. Since 1981, the hol ding company HPI has been used as an investment vehicle for investments in new technologies that have suffered damage in the industry with full force in early 2000.Currently, there are eight entries all together in the sub-holding A2I SA. In 2004, reducing the part value of its shares cleaned up the company. A capital increase of the arrival of four participants (the Boards & More group, the group Fidexpert, group and society Ouat Hazard Properties SA). These arrivals have been extraordinary for the group which has restored and a new life HPI Holding AG, which has since become Airesis. The majority shareholders (Sirs: Robert Louis-Dreyfus, Yves Marchand and Marc-Henri Beausire) then set up the new company strategy: active management of its investments in private equity and residential property.Today the group owns brands such as: * Le Coq Sportif * Fanatic * Ion * North Kite boarding * North Sails Windsurf Here we are going to explain few words about each brand, because most of them are unknown. Fanatic: In 1999, leaving his first kite a board, Fanatic has to believe in this new trend. With its history in windsurfing, the company was able Fanatic showcase its expertise to make its entry into the sport in the making. Ion: In spring 2005, Boards & More brand launches Ion.The technical skills of the mark are highlighted in the wet suits, neoprene accessories, harnesses, a range of clothes and carrying bags, all items used in sports on the water. North Kite boarding: Kite boarding world leader. North Kite boarding has entered the market in 2001 and became leader. This brand has a very good technical level recognized. North Sails Windsurf: The company specializes North Sails sailboat U. S. and world number 1 in this sector. Boards & More has acquired the exclusive license for the sail of surfboards since 1981.Its strategic axis is oriented technique and style. Since late 2005, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former owner of Addidas and Yves Marchand, who was the boss of the three stripes for France, have gained a foothold in the business and have made some good seeds to make: 10 million euros through the Swiss investment fund Airesis. And some big marketers have been poached in market heavyweights such as Reebok, Nike, Puma and Quicksilver†¦ For example, the arrival of Antoine Sathicq, former CEO of Adidas, which was transferred to the head as general manager of Le Coq Sportif.After joining Adidas in 1997 as director of sales, this former Procter & Gamble, aged 44, joined a new team of Le Coq Sportif establishment since its acquisition by Airesis. A team already marked by the culture of this Adidas Swiss investment funds: Airesis is held by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former CEO of Adidas France, Marc-Henri Beausire and Yves Marchand, former CEO of three stripes. The latter assumed the presidency of Le Coq Sportif, replacing Olivier Jacques, former majority shareholder. Antoine Sathicq therefore had the task of launching again the Coq Sportif.Porterâ⠂¬â„¢s Five Forces: Sportswear Industry Internal Rivalry – Fierce Competition Adidas,Reebok, Nike – Mature Industry – Mostly Non-Price competition – Differentiation strategy Threat of New entrants – Capital Intensive – Strong Brand Following Economies of scale – High R & D Costs – Industry in consolidation phase Supplier Power – Raw Materials are abundantly available – Cheap resources commodity items – Cheap labor on the East World. Buyer Power – Everything depends on Customer Preferences – Price sensitivity issues – Growing power of retail chainsSubstitutes * Other types of products from other brands * New brands that make the sport more ready to wear high-end (15 Serge Blanco, Eden Park †¦ ) * Entertainment brand to substitute to sport activities (Reading, video games†¦) Internal Rivalry – Fierce Competition Adidas,Reebok, Nike – Mature Industry – Mostly Non-Price competition – Differentiation strategy Threat of New entrants – Capital Intensive – Strong Brand Following Economies of scale – High R & D Costs – Industry in consolidation phase Supplier Power – Raw Materials are abundantly available Cheap resources commodity items – Cheap labor on the East World. Buyer Power – Everything depends on Customer Preferences – Price sensitivity issues – Growing power of retail chains Substitutes * Other types of products from other brands * New brands that make the sport more ready to wear high-end (15 Serge Blanco, Eden Park †¦ ) * Entertainment brand to substitute to sport activities (Reading, video games†¦) Explanation: 1. Internal Rivalry * Fierce competition: In effect in the sportswear industry, there are many competitors.Two leaders have the most important share value on the market (Nike and Adidas). The competitors are smaller than the two big groups, whic h have much money to invest in marketing investment, and can develop easily than the smaller. * Mature industry: In this market, it’s difficult to innovate much more than today. The innovation exists for sure but it comes from details. It’s really hard to find for the company the perfect innovation. However companies works hard and try to find the best innovation possible to increase their share value. Mostly non-price competition: In this market, the price war doesn’t exist. In effect the competition between companies comes from the marketing, brand image and innovation (sometimes) but not on the price. All the brand are close and cannot compete on the price. * Differentiation strategy: A differentiation strategy will pursue a unique position among your competitors. The aim of the strategy is for the business to become unique in the minds of its customers. For this reason, a small business needs to create a product offering that is somehow unique.Uniqueness can be achieved through different factors like design or brand image, technology, customer service or other attractive features. 2. Threat of new entrants * Capital intensive and strong brand: It is as very capital-intensive industry. Even though it would not be difficult for a new company to obtain the raw materials and the labor needed to produce shoes, there is almost no chance for them to gain popularity in such a mature industry with some of the strongest brand names in the world. Brand loyalty is extremely strong and it would be very hard for a new entrant to â€Å"steal† loyal customers from the already existent players. Economies of scales: Economies of scale play a huge role as well and the bigger players have an advantage of producing the products at a lower price than compared with newer entrants. As the output is bigger and the fixed costs of factories, machinery, marketing and R&D will be decreased per unit. Both marketing and R&D constitute high costs and since new entrants will not be able to take advantage of the economies of scale they will be less competitive. * High R&D costs: It means that it’s necessary to invest in R&D if they want to compete against others brands.It’s a survival question in this market. * Industry in consolidation phase: The industry itself is in a consolidation phase and only the big ones will survive. The large companies are strategically and constantly acquiring smaller companies. Some of the most popular acquisitions include Reebok by Adidas, Converse by Nike. Small companies are bought before they become a threat to the bigger ones and before they have a chance to gain market share. In other words, it is impossible to grow in this industry because someone will take over your company. . Substitutes * Other types of product from other brands: Each company has the same product (shoes, tee-shirts, socks†¦). If the customer is not satisfied with one product, it’s easy for him to go in anothe r brand and acquire something close to the first purchase. That’s why each company has to be aware of what it sells and what is the customer’s reaction. * New brand with different strategies: As said in the PORTER’s analysis, today there is some sport brand which are producing apparels but higher than the best known.For example the brand Quinze of Serge Blanco, famous in the rugby world is producing clothes which are expensive than Nike for example but not with the same quality. This kind of brand products with another savoir-faire and the price are not the same but the customer can be attracting to try it. * Entertainment brand: To have fun today and doing something else than working, the customer has plenty of substitution products. The customer can read and there are many brands, which allow reading. Video games are product to entertain people (Sony, Nintendo†¦) . Supplier power * Raw materials and cheap resources: Typically apparels and shoes are manufa ctured using major raw materials cotton, rubber, and foam. All of these materials are commodity goods. In other words, the suppliers do not have the power to bargain the price of their product, since there are numerous suppliers. Hence the supplier power is low. However, there has been some standardization of production in the industry due to growing concerns of labor practices of the suppliers and manufacturers.These practices have been damaging the image of some companies including Nike. Therefore, the big companies prefer to work only with approved manufacturers and suppliers that are known to follow these labor standards. Both Adidas and Nike have created a system to ensure that all the high quality of the product, the working conditions, and the distribution are at high standards. Therefore, suppliers are trying to establish themselves as reliable because once they gain Nike as a customer they know that they will request enormous volumes. However, to reach this level, the suppl ier needs to make investments in their facilities to improve working conditions and many suppliers cannot afford to do so. * Cheap labor: Many people works for â€Å"nothing† in the eastern countries, in Asia to be precise. Competition against the labor cost is impossible and many company delocalize the production abroad to reduce costs. 5. Buyer power: * Everything depends on customer’s preferences: The customer has the choice to buy product in retailing store with general brand or he could go to the special store, branding store as Nike store or Adidas store to get a product.It’s a question of desire and where the customer lives too. * Price sensitivity issue: In the general retailer store, prices are lower than official store. That’s why some customer prefers to go in retailer store and purchase product for lower price and maybe get more compare to the official store. * Growing retailer store: More and more retailer store open and sell apparels and sho es from all sportswear brand. The customer has a lot of choice today and can choose whatever he wants and with his own criteria.

Free Essays on Rational Databases

INTRODUCTION I DSS (Decision Support System) Software What is DSS Software? Decision Support System Software (DSS Software) is an interactive computer-based system intended to help managers make their decisions. It is an application software that provides several ways to support decision making and modelling information in such way to be better arranged for user. Why DSS Software was built? DSS Software was built because of the explosion of e-commerce activity, and people face more complex problem in making decision, especially business decisions, which have high risk of assets. What can DSS Software do? DSS Software can support several management decision-making and decision type at all level. These include the three levels of management activity (Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Decision Making) and three types of decision structures (Structured, Semi structured, and Unstructured). How is DSS Software useful? DSS Software helps people to retrieve, summarize and analyse decision relevant data. It helps us represent information in the form of trees, diagrams and tables, which make the user, understand the decisions better and choose the best decision from the available options of decisions. What are the two major categories of DSS Software? There are actually two major categories of DSS Enterprise-Wide DSS and Desk-top DSS. Enterprise-Wide DSS are linked to large, data warehouse and serve many users in a company, while Desk-top DSS are small system that is in a PC. What are the advantages of using the two major types of DSS Software? Enterprise-Wide DSS Why people use Enterprise-Wide DSS is because users (manager usually) can find out almost anything about their company matter in moments rather than using some data warehouse like OLAP type system. Enterprise-Wide DSS can cover from simple system to complex data intensive and analytically of information system. The most sophisticated Enterprise-Wide DSS is EIS (Executive Informa... Free Essays on Rational Databases Free Essays on Rational Databases INTRODUCTION I DSS (Decision Support System) Software What is DSS Software? Decision Support System Software (DSS Software) is an interactive computer-based system intended to help managers make their decisions. It is an application software that provides several ways to support decision making and modelling information in such way to be better arranged for user. Why DSS Software was built? DSS Software was built because of the explosion of e-commerce activity, and people face more complex problem in making decision, especially business decisions, which have high risk of assets. What can DSS Software do? DSS Software can support several management decision-making and decision type at all level. These include the three levels of management activity (Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Decision Making) and three types of decision structures (Structured, Semi structured, and Unstructured). How is DSS Software useful? DSS Software helps people to retrieve, summarize and analyse decision relevant data. It helps us represent information in the form of trees, diagrams and tables, which make the user, understand the decisions better and choose the best decision from the available options of decisions. What are the two major categories of DSS Software? There are actually two major categories of DSS Enterprise-Wide DSS and Desk-top DSS. Enterprise-Wide DSS are linked to large, data warehouse and serve many users in a company, while Desk-top DSS are small system that is in a PC. What are the advantages of using the two major types of DSS Software? Enterprise-Wide DSS Why people use Enterprise-Wide DSS is because users (manager usually) can find out almost anything about their company matter in moments rather than using some data warehouse like OLAP type system. Enterprise-Wide DSS can cover from simple system to complex data intensive and analytically of information system. The most sophisticated Enterprise-Wide DSS is EIS (Executive Informa...

How to Pick Essay Topics

How to Pick Essay Topics Read how to choose essay topics that will best match your assignment and interests. How to Pick Proper Essay Topics for College Ok, so you’ve been given an essay writing assignment and were given the freedom of picking the essay topic on your own. At first, the idea of being able to choose any topic you want seemed attractive, but then you got lost in the options, right? This is a common situation. As a rule, it’s happening due to the fact that topic selection process gives you so many options that you can easily get lost in them without a proper approach. This article, therefore, will provide a basic breakdown of a topic selection process. It will not review cases when you have been already given a topic  but will focus solely on situations when you need to pick one. It would be logical to assume that you already know what subject is the essay needs to be written in – if you receive an essay writing assignment in your Literature class, your essay will focus on Literature; a Philosophy class, in turn, will require a paper about some philosopher and so on. Step One: Determine Your Essay Type Before starting to write or even selecting an essay topic, you need to consider what kind of paper you want to have at the end of the writing process. Speaking of essays, there is a whole range of essay subtypes, e.g. argumentative, persuasive, informal etc. Each of the essay subtypes requires a special approach. This article is about various essay types, you might want to check it out while preparing for essay writing: Essay Types Different types of essays may impose different requirements on the essay writing process as well as essay topics selection. For example, an argumentative essay will require that you select a rather controversial topic; otherwise, the reader will find the essay not so interesting to read. A comparative essay, in turn, requires that your essay topics introduce  two items that are going to be compared: pieces of literature, art, schools of thought etc. We have put together a short list of best  argumentative essay topics and compare and contrast essay topics, hope you find some of them useful. Step Two: Brainstorm You won’t go far in writing your essay without actually brainstorming for essay ideas that can be written about. Brainstorming for the possible essay topics can be turned into a quite simple and straightforward process. Before beginning to search for essay ideas, ask yourself a few simple questions within a chosen subject: Within the given subject, what aspects do I like most? (e.g. While selecting topics for a Philosophy paper I feel most attracted to Hegel’s school of thought). Why do you find this topic interesting? (e.g. Because I consider the four concepts of Hegelian Dialectics one of the greatest ideas in Philosophy) Do you have access to literature on the chosen essay topics? (e.g. There’s plenty of information on Hegel’s Dialectics at our local library; there is even more available online). Step Three: What Is Interesting for You? The bottom line is – when selecting a topic for your essay think about those topics that are of most interest to you. This approach ensures that you will have chosen essay topics that inspire you and give you the energy and enthusiasm to work on your paper and complete it successfully. Another point to consider is the availability of information on the topic – if the information is readily available, writing a quality essay would be piece of cake; if it’s not – you might want to look for a different topic. Interesting essay topics require conducting research, analyzing and summarizing the information got during the research. We hope you find these tips for writing topics useful. If, however, you are still struggling to pick an essay topic to write on, our writing professionals are ready to assist you  in accomplishing this task. One of the convenient options we offer our customers is a  free live support. Our support agents will help you in selecting the essay topics. If needed, they can ask our professional writers to come up with essay topics list. You will then have to simply pick one of the offered topics, place your order and wait until the paper is delivered to you. Please feel free to contact our support team at support@ anytime or visit our order page to place your order.

Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Writing Assignment - Essay Example It can be argued to be an art.as the book continues to be of relevance in the recent school years, the study of this work by Marzano continues to assist in the professional development of teachers to achieve both effectiveness and efficiency in classrooms. The writer of the book points out major actions of creating significant experiences and further places the part of a teacher in the overall process of creating a critical input experience. In the second chapter, the author talks over six actions that this paper finds major in the process of creating effective critical input experiences. This chapter is seen to focus more on actively processing information during a well-structured input experience. In the process of finding which among the six discussed is the most significant, it is noted that Marzano stresses on the following steps; first is an overview, then, the students are divided into groups and the information is portioned in a way that requires students to describe, discuss and predict. The students ask related questions, record information in various forms and reflect on learning. The teacher’s duty is also discussed in this section, the author describes it as a continuous challenge of the student self using the method that the question one states in the book. The critical part is to avail to students the chance to participate in their learning process. Students are challenged to go the extra mile in t heir thought to find out the answers. As a development from the second chapter, the third chapter points out the need new skills. The author emphasizes that opportunities should be given to deepening the understanding of new information. In an effort to achieve knowledge deepening, such activities that results in repeated contact and exposure is proposed. In line with these activities, schema development, development of procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge and homework are the areas discussed in the book.

Muharraq City (Bahrain) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Muharraq City (Bahrain) - Essay Example In the resent years, there has been changing need for globalization that has led to dramatic change in social, economic, political and architectural structures as well within the Middle East countries (Frifelt, 2001, p.13). Bahrain along with its cities has not been left out in the drastic changes that are shaping architectural workmanship of the region. These changes have been greatly influenced by; migration of foreigners from different regions who come along with new ideas and new architectural designs, discovery of oil in Middle East which has completely changed the economical statues of the region, expatriate of Europeans who also brought with them their habits and their social way of life that in away affected their way of building houses as well. This paper looks at existing literature reviews and researches at the changing trends in architectural work in the Middle East region especially in Muharraq as a city within Bahrain islands (Al-Fadhel, 1999, pp. 55-60). Literature Rev iew During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, traditional architecture has greatly dominated Muharraq city. These traditional architectures were characterized by their responsiveness to the social and physical aspects within the social context. The traditional architectural houses were built in a courtyard style that mostly considered the climate and metaphoric religious connections (Belgrave, 1973, p.89). The rooms within traditional architecture houses were built to be multi-functional and their roofs were also used to connect the rooms in upper first floor. The materials used in traditional architecture were mainly local materials with a few combinations with imported ones mostly from Mesopotamia, Iran, East Africa and India (Al-Fadhel, 1999, pp. 55-60). In the tradition architecture, houses were built in a communal manner such a way that houses were absorbed in the big mass. This was to emphasis the social belief of solidarity and loyalty within a community and at the same time emphasis ones social statues within the society (Vinitha, 2003, np). Those deemed to have higher social statues within society like rulers, their houses were built separate from the big mass and the difference could be noted in building materials, architectural elements and the architectural designs that included bigger spacing of everything. The construction methods in architectural work were also simple in terms of elevations among other construction methods in traditional architecture (Al-Muraikhi, 1991, pp.12-18). The traditional architecture started to change its outlook in the beginning of 20th century. During this period there were many changes in social, economic and political landscape of Muharraq city. There was a total increase in population from 70000 to 90000 in 1941 and to 110000 in 1950 in regard to Bahrain as a whole. This large population growth led to change in architectural designs since all people needed accommodation as well as social build ings that could accommodate a much larger number of people than existing ones. This rapid growth in population was mainly attributed to migration of people from neighbouring nations and continents such as India among others (Vinitha, 2003, np). Another major change to Bahrain economy, social, political and architectural landscape was experienced after discovery of oil in 1931. The discovered oil was a resource that brought with it high revenue that had an economic impact in the region as well as a social impact to its people. As much as the government increased its economic statues, individuals within the society also gained higher statues hence the desire for more modernized houses that were in relation to their rising social statues wi