Evolution of Mass Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evolution of Mass Communication - Essay Example There had been past references to the power of mass media to influence its audience in a large measure, but it was in the 1920s and 1930s, through the growing influence of radio and newspapers, that theories were formulated. One of the earliest theories on mass media is called Magic Bullet. This concept is anchored on the early thinking that messages were like magic bullets that struck the audience equally, creating uniform effects in terms of perception. It is postulated on the belief that everyone is passive and equally susceptible to media messages. A classic application of the Magic Bullet Theory happened on October 30, 1938, when on the eve of Halloween, regular radio program was interrupted for the first time with a "news bulletin" that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in Gover's Mill, New Jersey. About 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast, with at least one million actually believing that a serious alien invasion was happening, creating a wave of hysteria that triggered traffic jams and clogged communication lines. The aftermath of the broadcast suggested that media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading media theorists to believe the power of mass media. Not everyone believed in

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay Example for Free

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay With the objective of â€Å"To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Google, 2012), Google expands its business to strive towards becoming the leader of internet-related provider, in particular in Internet research and advertising technology. The company has expanded nationally and globally, providing its search service in a large number of different languages and countries through its own unique strategy. The report starts with a discussion about the market Google is operating in, how Google smartly manages its internationalisation and globalization strategy according to its own market position in different stage. Followed by the comment on whether its diversification strategy appropriate across the whole international market. The report then will evaluate this strategy mainly focus on the aspect of the potential to damage its own brand, especially based on the case of their failure expansion in the Chinese market. Then the report will look at impact for the market as Google fully enter the Android market, Google’s business model in terms of reating revenue will be described and processed by the critique of whether the model would be sustainable in the long term. The report finally will define the market Google operate in and how it enters into android market will be explained in detail. Additionally, there are some recommendations provided in terms of its sustainable development through the whole report. ? Defining the market which Google Inc’ operates in? The market in which Google operates in is collaborative and interactive; Google has acquired and merged with different companies, which have given it a competitive edge over other firms. It recently acquired Motorola and this brought a lot of speculation as to whether it could handle the hardware business without any prior experience or necessary skills According to the case (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google had no skills in the supply chain, monitoring physical stock or achieving efficiencies. However such acquisitions have benefited Google because it has been able to have more reach as it can now target mobile users with the new hardware business. Other companies it has collaborated with are HTC and T-Mobile on implementing the Android platform. Competition The environment is also quite competitive. Having to face giants like Apple, Microsoft and Facebook means that Google has to be highly adaptable and maintain their market share by being more aggressive in their marketing strategies. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google says that their acquisition of Motorola will be able to intensify the competition. Motorola’s purchase will fully bring Google into the mobile market as they will now have hardware for their operating system Android, Also Motorola will strengthen the patenting of Google as they have more than 17,000 patents in their name. Apple and other mobile providers might feel threatened by this move. (Rusli and Miller, 2011) Diversification More to this, Google has not focused on its core business of being a search engine rather it is diversifying and looking for new opportunities for growth. Google has expanded into other segments such as maps and Google scholar, in the communications section there is Gmail and an enterprise segment where cloud computing and Google docs are involved, social networking among others. This means that Google is not only able to reach a wider audience but that it is able to spread risks. Diversification means that in case one area of their business fails they have an alternative to rely on. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Innovation Google’s survival could be attributed to its highly innovative structure. It has a culture of being innovative and an atmosphere that encourages employees to bring new ideas and creativity. However, Google must keep on innovating in order to outdo their competitors and to keep at pace with the changes in the highly volatile global environment (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Infrastructure Together with all the companies that Google has acquired, they also have data centers and servers which it uses to create its web presence and to store information. These infrastructures increase reliability and make information access faster. Google Inc’ had a total of 90,000 servers by 2010 and they invested heavily on technology this gives Google a good platform. Pg. 4 Some of it is virtual for example cloud computing. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) ? What’s internationalization and globalization strategy? In which way Google is going? Internationalization strategy is a development strategy that enterprises want to offer their products and services outside their home country, it usually reflected in the form of greater existence in different locations around the world. That is why internationalization also refers as international expansion (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Internationalization strategy is a development planning during the process of internationalized operation and management, which is designed to give the assistance of improving company’s competitiveness and environment adaptability. Corporations have adopted this strategy view overseas market separately. They treat the markets differently due to various markets’ features. Globalization strategy refers to the procedures of global integration, which incorporate the international operations and markets into a united strategic entity (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Corporations that use this strategy are generally powerful multinational enterprises, they attempt to monopolize markets in their own industries. However, if using this strategy inappropriately, it is more likely to have a detrimental effect on the whole company. The merit of globalization strategy is that companies can concentrate their efforts in building competitive advantages by leveraging capabilities and coordinating activities through boundaries. Which like a double-edged sword, the demerit is that it is hard to coordinate between each subsidiary as well as between headquarter and subsidiaries, because each host country has their own business characteristics. According to the collected evidences Google tends to be relying on the globalization strategy. To begin with, as mentioned above, one reason for companies adopting a globalization strategy is that they want to monopolize the market in their own industry. Definitely, Google achieved this goal. In October 2011, Google accounts for 82. 4% of the worldwide desktop search engine market share. Furthermore, in 2008, Google shifts its international marketing structure form representation offices to Research and Development center, and then to partnerships with other enterprises, which reflected that Google gradually integrated the competitive advantages from the alliance partnership and improved its own capabilities (Ronen, 2009). In addition, Google has many RD centers worldwide. For instance, if the software was RD in Israel, this software is not only specialized in Israel market, but also launched globally by using different languages. Therefore it is clear that Google did not focus on localizing their products or services for different markets nowadays. Finally, globalization is focusing on building united competitive advantage. In order to keep its competitive edges, Google transfers and share outcomes of technology innovations within various RD centers, and with alliance partnerships to connect the operation nd management activities from different counties and locations. Google’s retrieval from china, impacts upon globalization plan. According to the list of info-facts (2012), China is the second most powerful country in the world. And in Fleming’s (2010) report, â€Å"U. S. , China, and India will be the three most powerful countries in 2025†. These illustrate that China is a hugely influential nation around the world. Moreover, China has more than 500 million internet users (Efrati Chao 2012), and the number is still increasing. China is a market which cannot be ignored. Google’s retreat from the Chinese market has definitely impacted upon Google’s overall global expansion strategy. Most of the Asian countries have strong regional relationship and China has a widely impact on them. As we all know, eastern countries are in high context cultures, but, Google is from a low context culture which is totally different from high context culture. Their ways of running a business are quite different. It seems that if Google cannot operate successfully in China, it cannot operate well in other Asian countries either, such as Japan and Korea. And this will deeply impact its global expansion strategy. As the picture (adapted from Chardonneau’s slides) shown in appendix 1, Asia owns the biggest internet market, and Google’s coverage in Asia is so weak. If Google still wants to achieve its global expansion strategy, it has to come into the Asian market and first of all, Google needs to solve the problem in China. In fact, Google’s quit in China offers its competitors a good opportunity to enter into the Chinese market. After all, not all the international companies are unable to handle the operation problems in China. Since Google announced its retreat, its market share has declined 5% and its biggest competitor in China, Baidu has increased by 50% (Powell 2010). Other internet companies like Microsoft, Sohu and Tencent where all benefit from this great opportunity which offered by Google (Powell 2010). Cultivating your competitors will obviously diminish your own benefits. More and more powerful competitors will absolutely hamper Google’s global expansion. In addition, they need to keep putting efforts to the beta test before they aunch any new products into new market, especially in the Asian market. It needs to customize it according to different market to satisfy local consumers. As discussed above, one of the main reasons why Google failed in the Chinese market was because it did not use ICP, which is a compulsory for all websites operating in China (Zhou, 2009). ? Diversification strategy working in the international market The multi-diversification strategy is generally appropriate a cross the whole international market. This strategy is being used in different markets, while the only difference is whether it more focus on direct-diversification or indirect-diversification that depends on the intensity of competition on the core products. Briefly, since 2004 Google’s endeavor mainly focuses on encouraging innovation by bottom-up through the whole company. It acquires innovative companies to diversify into new areas or to add value to existing technologies and services (Kotelnikov, 2012). From â€Å"personalized web†, â€Å"Google News†, â€Å"Website Optimizer† to acquire technology to put up online display and banner advertisements by buying out â€Å"DoubleClick†. Followed by the direct diversification, Google, starts to expand its new product line through indirect diversification strategy. For instance, Google enters the social networking space through launching â€Å"Orkut†, â€Å"Google Checkout† then was launched as a payment gateway for online buyers and â€Å"Google Chrome† which is a representor of a desktop browser, see appendix one. Firstly, in the current global market, Google’s diversification strategy take the development of its core products as a priority. It makes a great contribution on perfecting its core competencysearch engine, which is the most profitable product. Additionally, it also increases the reputation of â€Å"innovation† for Google all over the world. Multi-products line adds more values for the consumers will become the main competitive advantages for Google in the long-term in the international market. Therefore, the benefit of diversification strategy is to protect current market share and attract potential customers by World of Mouth. Particularly, Google launches early nd often in small beta tests before releasing new products into the market, with many markets becoming more and more competitive as a result of new competitors from global or deregulated markets, those who innovate best will win in the future (Kotelnikov, 2012). Secondly, while even through the company put great efforts to add more value on its core products, the competitors also come up with substitute products, for example, â€Å"Powerset† from Microsoft and â€Å"Search Monkey† just launched by Yahoo attack the weakness of Google, providing a much flexible search engine. Google needs to add up more new product lines to create and exploit economies scope. In particular, â€Å"Baidu† whose market share in China is up to 78. 3%, while only 16. 7% of â€Å"Google’s Hong Kong Site†(Baidu, 2012). Google can use its direct-diversification strategy, which pays attention on internal growth of search engine to increase its market share in the market, which doesn’t have a strong competition, such as Australia. The indirect diversification strategy should be used in the market that already has some strong competitors such as China, Korea. It is certain that the risk of this diversification strategy is there is a huge investment in the new businesses and the majority of the new businesses haven’t started making profit for Google. However, take current global market trend into consideration, the strategy will work in the long term in the international market. If we look closely at year 2009, revenue from ads on their sites accounted for 83% of the total. Compared to 2008, this item represented 90% of Google’s total income. Nevertheless, the growth rate of these â€Å"windfall† is, so far, relatively modest (Sebastian, 2010). Thinking of Google, what product stands out? But are there too many? Is Google too ubiquitous now is an arguable question in recent years? â€Å"I think that, ultimately, we do have too many products and we need to condense them,† Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Search, said Friday at the SXSWi conference in Austin (Matt McGee, 2011). According to the map of Google’s product in the appendix, Google products now covered in many different fields such as search engine, social network, music, mobile system etc. But there is people say As Google Becomes More Ubiquitous, They Get More Sloppy (Jeff Y, 2012) Google is taking information from almost all of your Google services (Tsukayama, 2012). It was very serious privacy issue and been intensely discussed. Google makes its money by selling yourself; by knowing where you live, what videos you like watching, and your entire search and surfing history, Google sells targeted advertising to the tune of tens of billions of dollars per year. Selling you is 96% of Google’s revenue stream. ( Anthony, 2011). Google was not obligated to pay a fine for doing so but the brand was damaged to some extent. Google also faces the risk from failed product or services. It comes down to having too many things going on at once. At Google, quality control is slipping. (Jeff Y, 2012). For example, Google lunched Google Buzz in February 2010, it was considered a threat to Facebook and twitter but its been shut down very soon in November 2011 by Google because of the lack of users and the late show in the market compare with twitter. The failure of Google buzz damaged not only the real money but also the trust and confidence of consumers toward the brand. (Rob, 2010) Besides, with too many successful products, customers may lose what the brand Google really represents which is also a risk of brand damage. Were very aware that our business is based on the trust of users and if damaged then thats the worst thing we could do. The new privacy director said. (Google, 2010) But will all these factors really hurt Google? The answer is uncertain. As we can see from the Googleland map in appendix , Googles main product is always the search engine and they use all the other products to support it. Today, with approximately 70 percent domination of the global search market, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous and ubiquitous Google keeps upping the ante to stay on top of the search engine game. (Callari, 2012) Therefore some people argued that as long as people still use and trust the Google search engine, the Google brand will not be hurts seriously. Google’s foray into Android market, all around impact. In this section, we will focus more on Google’s capability after it has bought Motorola and gain access to becoming one of mobile phone providers with its own Android OS. After Google has bought Motorola, there are a few implications to mention here. First of all Google will be the owner of all patents from and therefore will be of a great support for Google when their mobile phone enters the market where Apple is a dominant player (Reisinger, 2011). During the launch of a new phone company is most likely to be sued by their competitor arguing over the originality of the phone. Therefore after having Motorola as a patent support Google may save a lot of money in this aspect. Secondly is that Google now has a capacity to create and manufacture their own mobile phone and tablet PC. The benefits of buying Motorola also extends to the field of hardware that Motorola has been in for sometimes, what Google has bought to it self is the hardware manufacturing ability, ranging from TV top box, internet TV to internet router and live stream (Bryant, 2011). Therefore again apple will have to be careful since now Google has a potential to fight Apple not just in the field of mobile phone but also as a TV top box provider i. . Google TV (Purdy, 2011). Thirdly it is not clear that when the new Motorola, Google phone is released, it will come with the newest Android OS or not. But move to buy motorolla to gain access to manufacturing capability can really affect Google’s android mobile partner. One clue to this argument is current news about Samsung, which has been Google’s main Android phone provider, has announced that its mobile phone in a short future will also feature the windows operating system (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2012). Although the news said it was all about Samsung providing more variety to the consumer, but it can also be thought of an uncertainty avoidance move by Samsung who might feel an aggressive move by Google coming into the hardware market. Perhaps besides Google and Motorola as the two winners from the incident, Microsoft surprisingly might gain benefit from this incident (Wortham, 2012). This move from Google is actually what Microsoft is hoping for because besides Google, the only well know non-phone maker operating system is the â€Å"windows 8† from Microsoft. The moment of changes to watch out for is the time that Google’s partners feel that they are indeed competing against Google instead of having Google as their partner (Wortham, 2012). Microsoft windows 8 here will then act as a preferable alternative operating system for those ex-Google’s partners to adopt. So what will happen in short-long run for the market? In the short run it will not change much because the majority of the mobile phone relies on Android OS. Breaking off partnership with the OS they rely on is really not a good idea in the short run. Also since by law after closing the deal that Android will still remain free for another five years (Waugh, 2011). In the long run the story may be entirely different. It is expected that mobile phone manufacturers may start thinking about an alternative plan according to Google’s moves. If Google still keeps its promise that buying Motorola is just for its own defense, then it is still a great idea to have such a big company as your support (Wortham, 2012). How does Google create revenue? To scrutinize the business model of Google Inc, one impressive feature in this model is that Google offers free resource to the end user. Analyzing the reasons behind it, Google’s philosophy is to share information universally and make it accessible globally (Google, 2012). Thus, the characteristic of free is a necessary catalyst which accelerates Google to become the largest search engine company around the world. By doing this, advertisers have become the main income rather than the end users.

Strategic management and organisational change

Strategic management and organisational change Introduction IMAX operated at three different industries, and it had done successful in some part of its business, while there were also some weakness for its development. This assignment is going to assess the current situation of IMAX, including analysing the nature and source of its competitive advantage, its sustainable competitive advantage, and future development. The first section will seek to present the nature and source of IMAX s competitive advantage by using appropriate strategy, and the next section will introduce its sustainable competitive advantage. In the final section, some key issues of IMAX s future development will be discussed, and some recommendations will be given as well, which may help IMAX to grow its business in the near future. The Nature And Source Of IMAX s Competitive Advantages Selecting Appropriate Theoretical Frameworks To begin with, there are two primary issues to be discussed. First one is which level of strategy should be used in this case. Basically, a company has two levels of strategies, which are business level strategy and corporate level strategy. Business level strategy concerns how to create competitive advantage in each of the business in which a company competes, whilst corporate level strategy concerns what business the corporation should in and how the corporate office should manage the array of business units. The main difference between these two is that corporate level strategy is what makes the corporate whole add up to more than the sum of its business units (Porter, 1996). IMAX has three different business units, therefore, it could be easily considered that the case more concerns with corporate level strategy. The next issue to be considered is which strategy should be selected to analyse the case based on corporate level strategy. There are two strategies which can be selected, the RBV (resource-based view) and the Positioning School. The RBV is more emphasis on the resources and capabilities controlled by a company as sources of competitive advantage, while the Positioning School is more focus on externally orientated and market driven (Barney, 2008). This case mentions a little about IMAX s market driven, thus there is not enough evidence to use the positioning school strategy for analysing its competitive advantage. In contrast, the case introduce IMAX s hardware, software, financial power, technologies and other special sources, which are helpful for using the RBV to analyse IMAX s competitive advantage. The Nature And Source Of Competitive Advantages Competitive advantage emerges from distinctive resources or capabilities that firms control, that is, something that firms do particularly well in comparison with their competitors (Peteraf, 1993). IMAX has its technology resource, brand image and organizational resource better than other film companies, which can conclude its core competence, therefore it is easy to get IMAX s competitive advantages from its core competence. Technology Resource IMAX has the technological capability to do RD on both hardware and software rather than its competitors in the film industry, thereby its technological capability can be regarded as its core competence. IMAX was founded as the only company in the world that was involved in all aspects of large format films, and its unique technological capability can lead to its first-mover advantage. It used its technique know-how to produce projectors with special features, to design large format films, to develop lightweight 3D camera and 3D directional sound technology, etc, and all the unique technology differentiate IMAX from other conventional movie technologies. IMAX could make its audiences enjoy its special IMAX experience which can not be replicated through DVDs or in conventional theatres, because of the unprecedented shock of the visual and auditory. Its advanced technology held 46 patents and had 7 patents pending in the U.S., also its technological prowess was the 1997 Oscar Award which received for Scientific and Technical Achievement. As the first-mover advantage, IMAX achieved the most advanced level of film technology, which can be considered as the competitive advantage so that I MAX can attract more audiences to have different experiences from conventional movies, to keep its market presence. IMAX kept innovation on its technology in order to maintain its growth. IMAX spent almost five per cent of its sales revenue on RD in 2007, and about $12.6 million in RD was spent in the last three years. MPX technology was developed to allow IMAX and theatre-owners to convert existing multiplexes screens to IMAX format, and a patented digital re-mastering (DMR) technology was designed to convert traditional 35 mm films into the large-screen format and even develop 3D versions. Those two technologies could help IMAX to launch more IMAX films, to expand the core audience and to make the box office revenue. Besides this, IMAX had solved the teething problems with DMR technology and the costs of conversion of Hollywood movies into IMAX format had come down. As a result, they led IMAX to have cost advantage. Brand Image IMAX had the capability to use its band image, which could be considered as its core competence and add more economic value to its corporation, and as a result, it could lead to brand effect within the film industry. Since the first multi-screen theater system launched in 1967 and the first IMAX film premiered in 1970, as the first-mover advantage, IMAX had made a good reputation and also had its loyal audience base. Moreover, choosing prestigious venues to locate IMAX had created a unique brand image, which would result in its brand effect within the industry. Organisational Resource Lado and Wilson (1994) proposed a widely accepted definition of organisational capabilities: managerial, input-based, transformational, output-based. IMAX used its unique organisational resorces to achieve the operational process effectively. IMAX maintained long-term relationships with the vendors who supplied the components, produced movies and systems, and then distributed them to the theaters. IMAX also had its wholly-owned subsidiary, in which IMAX had 51 per cent ownership, and its subsidiary could help IMAX perform the post-production work. The talent organizational capability which was well used in the organization made its production, post-production, distribution link well and led to its operation efficiency. IMAX s Sustainable Competitive Advantage s Sources There is competition from Pixar/Disney which have the same target customers with IMAX, the only rival within the large format film segment, and the potential new independent firms to enter the industry with the increasingly development of new technology. On the other hand, many alternative sources of entertainment such as live plays, TV programs, the Internet, sport events attract viewers as well. Therefore, there is no doubt that IMAX has increasingly pressure come from the competitors within the industry. The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm holds that certain assets with certain characteristics will lead to sustainable competitive advantage (Black, 1994). The sources of IMAX s competitive advantages are going to analysed using the VRIO framework, sequentially to evaluate which one is sustainable. VRIO Analysis It is necessary to make the assumption that the firm resources may be heterogeneous and immobile in order to know the sources of sustainable competitive advantage, and a firm source must have four attributes to hold the potential of sustained competitive advantages, that the firm source must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and substitutable (Barney, 1991). Appendix shows whether IMAX s competitive advantages sources are sustainable using the VRIO framework. The sources of competitive advantages of IMAX could add value. Economic value could be added to a corporation through either increasing its total revenue, or lowering its costs. Innovating through its high level of technology resource allowed the conversion costs down and saved the costs, and developing MPX technology and DMR technology would expand the core audience and increase the box office revenue, both of them added more economic value to IMAX.. Most sources of the competitive advantages of IMAX were rare in the film industry. IMAX mastered a high level of technology resources in the film industry, and it only had one rival within the large format film segment. Besides, IMAX hold its unqiue brand image and also operated at a unique business model by using its organisational resources, which was also rare in the film industry. The particular capabilities were not controlled by numerous competitors, therefore IMAX s competitive advantages were likely to be rare. â€Å"Competitive advantage is more likely to be created and sustained if the organisation has distinctive or unique capabilities that competitors cannot imitate.†( Johnson, 2005) Most resources of IMAX s competitive advantages are difficult for its competitors to imitate. The conversion technology such as MPX technology and DMR technology and its designed projectors are hard for competitors to copy, because IMAX invested a large amount of money and time and also hire the talent employee on RD, innovation, marketing, which would be considered as sunk costs within the film industry. Besides this, IMAX technology held 46 patents and had 7 patents pending in the U.S., therefore IMAX s high level of technological breakthroughs which were carefully patented could be considered the unique capability in the film industry. In addition, IMAX made a good reputation and had its loyal audience base through the years, therefore it had its own brand image, which could make barriers for entr ants to copy. The competitive advantages of IMAX were explored by organisation. IMAX had fully explored and used of its technology resources, organisational resources and unique brand image, then organised and took full advantages of its sources and capabilities. Given the VRIO framework analysis, it is not difficult to conclude that most sources of IMAX s competitive advantages are sustainable, as they are based on the core competences of IMAX. Recommendations For IMAX s Future Development As the competitors are increasingly strong and the movie technology and film industry are changing everyday, IMAX may face some unprecedented challenges in the future. Based on the RBV and VRIO analysis, IMAX should sustain its competitive advantages and also gain some new competitive advantages to respond in the future. Two Larger Issues To Be Discussed IMAX faced two critical issues, which were whether or not to exhibit too many Hollywood movies, and whether or not sold itself to a larger studio such as Sony, Disney or Time-Warner. The two problems will be addressed firstly, and then some certain recommendations will be provided. Traditional IMAX films were often educational and entertaining, and involved documentaries of natural and scientific wonders which were mostly located in museums, aquariums, zoos and other institutions, and IMAX had engaged in alliances with commercial movie theatre owners. However, IMAX could not escape the crisis that hit the theatre industry in the late 1990s, and it began to have financial problems. IMAX had long-term debt through the years, and both its net income and cash flows were negative in 2006 and 2007. In order to solve the financial problem and survive in the future, IMAX has to change its strategy to maintain its growth. At that time, acquisition by a larger studio such as Sony, Disney or Time-Warner is a good idea and developing trend for IMAX in the future. Two firms which both had trustworthy brand effect combined will be greater than their economic value as separate entities. Through acquisition, large studio can not only address IMAX s financial problem and help IMAX to pay off its debt, but also can get more economic returns and add more value through IMAX. Besides, IMAX can ensure its survival and make more business opportunities in the future. After acquisition, the studio can install more IMAX digital theatres systems, and invested more money on marketing, to attract more audiences to watch its IMAX films and increase its box office revenue. Furthermore, the studio can convert its own films into IMAX large format films with lower costs or create new films combined with both studio and IMAX s brand, hence it will expand their core audience, therefore it will create more economic value to both studio and IMAX. On the other hand, to solve the same problem facing to IMAX, exhibiting Hollywood movies is a good idea for IMAX to increase its box office revenue. IMAX can sustain its competitive advantages, use its strong RD team developing DMR technology that allows converting traditional 35 mm films into the large-screen format Hollywood films. It keeps innovation and worked out the teething problems, as a result the costs of conversion had come down, consequently more IMAX screens will be open to launch Hollywood films. The IMAX strategy of moving into Hollywood films will increase its box office revenue and expand the core audience. IMAX can continue making educational films for families, students and tourists, while Hollywood films can also be launched during the evening. This will not make IMAX lose its differentiation, in contrast, it will create more IMAX s brand effect, because most of which come from the entertainment experiences. Other Recommendations Compete Among Rivals Some studios such as Pixar/Disney produced the films for the same targeted group, and within the large format film segment, IMAX faced only rival Iwerks, which was merged with SimEx, a ride simulation and animation production company. One possible solution to compete this rival is that IMAX is acquired by a larger studio, therefore overcomes its financial problems and also has the equivalent strengths to compete with it. There was also another film, Pollavison, which was engaged in consulting services for large format film theatres. IMAX could develop its technology and hold its core innovation capability to keep its leadership. Technology Development â€Å"Edutainment† Market Internationalisation Although IMAX did have marketing staff at its office in Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan and China to market its theatre systems and IMAX movies were showed in 40 countries, almost 60 per cent of the theatres were in North America. The film industry is now increasingly becoming international, and Asia-Pacific market is becoming the largest part of the global market, therefore IMAX can expand its market internationally and attract more international audiences instead of American audiences. IMAX can install a large number of its theatre systems annually across different countries especially Asia-Pacific market, and also market and advertise its film to help maximise its theatre attendance and increase its box office revenue. Conclusion Based on the RBV, it is clear that IMAX has its high technology, unique organizational methods and human resource better than other film companies, which can be treated as its competitive advantages. Using the RVIO model, it is not difficult to conclude that most of its competitive advantages are sustainable. However, as the movie technology and film industry are developing everyday, IMAX may face some unprecedented challenges. Therefore, IMAX should develop its sustainable competitive advantages and also †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ to address the problems in the future. References Peteraf, M.A. (1993) ‘The Cornerstone of the Competitive Advantage: A Resource-based View, Strategic Management Journal, 14: 179-91. Porter, M. (1996). From competitive advantage to corporate strategy. In M. Goold K. Luchs. Managing the multibusiness company: strategic issues for diversified groups, Lado, A. and Wilson, M. (1994) ‘Human Resource System and Sustained Competitive Advantage: Competency-based Perspective, Academy of Management Review, 19: 699-727. Black, J. A. Strategic resources: traits, configurations and paths to sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal 15(1994):131. Barney, J. B. 1991. Firm resources and sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17 (1): 99.

Bill Bundy Essay -- essays research papers

Ted Bundy The name Theodore Bundy, more commonly known as Ted Bundy, is a household name. Not only is Ted Bundy a household name, it is one that sends chills through the bodies of those who hear it mentioned. This bone gnawing effect is felt more so through those who have daughters away from home, in college. For over two decades now, the mentioning of his name has gotten this exact reaction and will continue to do so for decades to come. Over the course of his killing career, Ted Bundy made himself one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, while going undetected for years. "He hid his murderous 'hobby' from all those who knew and loved him," (Faces of Ted 1). He was a very deceiving man, through his actions, his speech, everything about him. It was very easy for Ted to deceive his victims. "He was described at various times as the perfect student, a genius, as handsome as a movie idol, a sensitive psychiatric social worker, and 'a young man for whom the future could surely hold only success'," (Sears 1). All of these are traits that are incredibly dangerous in a serial killer. Serial killings have been one of the most terrifying, violent crimes in the United States for a great deal of time now. Serial killers "Typically commit their murders over a considerable span of time - sometimes years," (Serial Killers). Serial murderers tend to have a bit of down time between murders. They also tend to target a certain type of victim and commit their murders in similar places (Serial Killers). "Serial murder has become one of the central concerns in homicide investigation†¦" (Keppel 3). There are two distinct reasons for this. One is because it happens so frequently. The other is because it befuddles investigative agencies with its unique problems (Keppel 3). Ted Bundy grew up in what today's society would call "a dysfunctional home." For the first 23 years of his life, Ted believed that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. He was born Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946 to 22- year-old Eleanor Louise Cowell (Bell 2). Throughout his entire life, Ted never knew his real father, Lloyd Marshall. The confusion that Ted lived his life through came into play shortly after his birth. He and his mother moved back to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with her paren... ...y is a four-year-old child who has spent most of his life on the road with his mother, whom he thinks is his sister. He has never seen his real father, although he did live with his grandfather for a while and thought he was his father. Then he was pulled away from a home where he thought he lived with his parents, brought across the country to live with different relatives, and forced to change his name. Granted, at the age of only four, Ted might not be able to grasp all that has been going on, but he must have been a bit confused. Ted then grew up and went to school, only to be made fun of and bullied. He then grew older and moved on to college, only to have his heart broken, an event that would lead directly to his twisted ways. So right from the day he was born, Ted Bundy was basically living a false life. He was not Theodore Robert Cowell as he was at birth. Nor was he Theodore Robert Nelson as he was when his name was legally changed. The entire time, he was Ted Bundy, the demented serial killer who got his thrills through brutally torturing and tormenting beautiful, young women. Now, the name Ted Bundy will forever be synonymous with murder (Bell 2).

Discount and Hawkins

Discount and Hawkins Case Case Synopsis The subject matter of the case is presented as a negotiation between a real estate developer, Hawkins, and a possible anchor tenant, Discount Marketplace. Both parties are represented by professional negotiators: Myra Hart is representing the Hawkins Company and Genia is representing the Discount Marketplace. The Hawkins Company is a real estate developer, who is operating across UK, offering different types of services, such as: Mortgages, Energy Performance Certificates, Sales and Lettings. They are interested in having Discount Marketplace as a tenant in a proposed shopping center.The Discount Marketplace is an innovative national retailer with the main activity focused on operating with hard goods, which involves selling small housewares. Their interest is to sign a lease with the new mall. Several issues were debated during the negotiation, but the most important for both parties were the use of property and the operating covenant. Parties bounced back and forth between these two issues during the negotiation. The mall developer insisted on having the contract signed for 15 years, while having a soft constrain of 10 years.Since both parties expected retailer to operate for 25 years, it shouldn’t have been a problem for the retailer to sign the contract for 10 years. Although the retailer considered it would be better for them, regarding their type of activity, to sign for a shorter period of 5 years. They would also have a second option of making business with other developers, who wouldn't require a contract signed for such a long period. Finally they reached an agreement on having the contract signed for a period of 7 years. In the end they made a deal, agreeing on main issues.They settled on discussing some options left in the future. This involved the qualitative language regarding possible tenants and the period of time in which the notice would be made before leaving. Rough Issue Map 1. The Use of Proper ty The negotiation started with discussion of the issue regarding the use of property. The Developer wished that the Retailer would deal only with soft goods, and asked them to use same product mix for all locations around the country. The proposal was declined because the Retailer felt it was limiting to deal with only soft goods.Retailer wanted to be free in selecting the type of goods and services. Their argument was that they needed to be more flexible regarding their product mix in order to achieve innovation and to follow their advertising strategy. Also the Retailer didn’t agree to use the same product mix across country because their main activity was based around a strategy of adapting the product mix. In order to get to an agreement the Developer suggested limiting the activity to some percentage of the operation area. They offered a limit of 10 – 15% for trial.The Retailer accepted the offer and issue was solved. 2. Operating Covenant Developer’s conc ern about the contract duration was that the Discount Marketplace would operate for only as long as the business would be viable. Their aspiration level was to sign the contract for a period of minimum 15 years and their soft constrain was to sign the contract for a minimum of 10 years. Developer needed to be sure that the retailer would perform the best they can and they needed to be safe in case the Marketplace wanted to make sudden changes after signing the contract, like changing the location too soon.The Retailer’s aspiration level was to have the contract signed for a period of maximum 5 years and their hard constrain was 7 years. Signing the contract for 15 years would be difficult to finance. Also the developer held an advantage of receiving a long income stream. In Retailer’s case, the flexibility of being able to move, when required, was crucial. They discussed the problem and the Developer was willing to accept 7 years only if the Retailer accepted a rent st ep-up clause. This clause would be valid in case Retailer decided to leave and to find another tenant in their place.The retailer declined the offer by arguing that they already agreed on the rent terms. In the end, the issue was solved and the Developer accepted to sign the contract for 7 years. 3. Terms of leaving The Developer made two offers to the Retailer, in case they would decide to leave. First proposal was that the Retailer would have to find a sub-let tenant. The second proposal was to find a sub-let tenant together; The Developer preferred to be the one to choose, since they were doing real estate business and were better qualified and gained more experience in this area.The Retailer representative accepted the second offer. During the negotiation of other terms Retailer repacked the issue with other demands: they wanted to be able to assign another tenant without waiting for the Developer approval. But the proposal was rejected. Since parties couldn’t reach an ag reement, retailer proposed to use a qualitative language in respect to possible future tenants. If the proposed tenant fitted the parameters then the developer approval wouldn’t be needed and if the tenant fell outside the parameters, it would be required.Issue was not solved because the new proposal made no sense to the developer and they needed an advice from a lawyer in order to write the qualitative language. 4. Notice: The Developer required at least 18 months notice from retailer before they would decide to leave. The retailer agreed at the beginning of negotiation, but then they rejected the offer and suggested a period of 12 months instead. Developer ignored the proposal and this issue remained unsolved. 5. Sub-letting conditions The Developer was concerned by the fact, that the Retailer could sub-let the place at a very high rent.In this case they wanted to take the full rent from sub-letting. A second option for Retailer was to remain on the lease and to split the s urplus in rent with the Developer. The Retailer agreed to split the rent surplus. 6. Use of property regarding sub-letting Both parties came to an agreement, that the Retailer wouldn't sub-let to offices, call centers, educational training, furniture retailers, video arcades and movie theaters. 7. Rent Terms: The Retailer would benefit from a low rate of rent because if they would leave the place next day after signing the contract the developer would get the rent for 25 years.

GMAT and GRE Math - What is 20 of 40 Percent

GMAT and GRE Math - What is 20 of 40 Percent Are you preparing for the GRE or the GMAT? If these timed graduate and business school exams are in your future, heres a short cut for answering percent questions. More specifically, this article focuses on how to easily calculate the percentage of a number. Suppose a question required you to find 40% of 125. Follow these simple steps. Four Steps to Calculate a Percentage Step 1: Memorize these percents and their corresponding fractions. 100% 150% 1/225% 1/433 1/3% 1/320% 1/510% 1/10 Step 2: Choose a percent from the list that fits with the percent in question. For example, if you are looking for 30% of a number, choose 10% (because 10% * 3 30%). In another example, a question requires you to find 40% of 125. Choose 20% since it is half of 40%. Step 3: Divide the number by the denominator of the fraction. Since youve memorized that 20% is 1/5, divide 125 by 5.125/5 2520% of 125 25 Step 4: Scale to the actual percent. If you double 20%, then youll reach 40%.   Therefore, if you double 25, youll find 40% of 125. 25 * 2 50 40% of 125 50 Answers and Explanations Original Worksheet 1. What is 100% of 63?63/1 632. What is 50% of 1296?1296/2 6483. What is 25% of 192?192/4 484. What is 33 1/3% of 810?810/3 2705. What is 20% of 575?575/5 1156. What is 10% of 740?740/10 747. What is 200% of 63?63/1 6363 * 2 1268. What is 150% of 1296?1296/2 648648 * 3 19449. What is 75% of 192?192/4 4848 * 3 14410. What is 66 2/3% of 810?810/3 270270* 2 54011. What is 40% of 575?575/5 115115 * 2 23012.   What is 60% of 575?575/5 115115 * 3 34513. What is 5% of 740?740/10 7474/2 37