...competition from imitators and manufacturers of electronic toys. In an effort to reduce costs, the group decided to initiate a gradual restructuring process that continues today. II. Time context A distributed architecture system is a software system in which components located on networked computers communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages. The components interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Data may be stored in multiple computers, located in the same physical location; or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected computers. A distributed database can reside on network servers on the Internet, on corporate intranets or extra nets, or on other company networks. Because they store data across multiple computers, distributed databases can improve performance at end-user work sites by allowing transactions to be processed on many machines, instead of being limited to one. Users from different parts of the world may access the same data. Therefore they are more flexible in terms of availability to users. III. View point In deciding what actions are to be undertaken to reduce the operating costs of IV. Statement of the problem It may seem that there's more than one problem in this case but there's only one big problem here. So after reading the case for quite a few times, three times to be exact, I have figured out the big problem. Here it is: In 2003, Lego was facing tough competition from imitators and manufacturers...
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...Case Study Analysis : SaSa Presented By : Aashik Francis(01) Anand Chaturvedi(09) Anshul Jain(15) Aysha Hazel(30) Delshya Selvaraj(45) Hareesh Gundeeti(55) Introduction Situation Analysis Sa Sa Cosmetics is a very successful Hong Kong based discount cosmetics retailers. The case describes how Sa Sa became successful, culminating in its IPO in 1997. Since then, however, its fortunes have declined somewhat. Most big companies have faced a crisis period after 10-20 years of their induction. We believe that Sa Sa Cosmetics is passing through a similar phase as these big companies. They lost their core competency in discounted retail stores as many new competitors came up with similar models looking at Sa Sa's success in this field. The case discusses recent initiatives that were undertaken to sustain growth momentum. Sa Sa also undertook some marketing research studies. The research findings appear to confirm that Sa Sa may have some major problems. As 2001 comes to a close, Sa Sa contemplates what else can be done to improve profitability and keep on growing. History Sa Sa cosmetics started on April 1st, 1978 in Hong Kong by husband and wife team Simon and Eleanor Kwok, as a simple cosmetic retailer. Soon they realized that discounted store concept had greater possibilities in cosmetic segment and started selling products at a lower margin than its competitors. The company was able to give big discounts to customers...
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...1 LESSON- 1 ENTREPRENEUR AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Dr. Jyotsna Sethi STRUCTURE 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Entrepreneurship as a Career Option 1.3 Concepts and Definitions 1.3.1 Entrepreneur 1.3.2 Entrepreneurship 1.3.3 Enterprise 1.3.4 Difference between Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship 1.4 Role of Entrepreneurship in Economic Development 1.4.1 Entrepreneurship and Economic Development 1.4.2Entrepreneurship and Education 1.5 Functions of an Entrepreneur 1.6 Innovation 1.7 Risk and Uncertainty Bearing 1.8 Organization 1.9 Functions Performed by an Imitator Entrepreneur 1.10Entrepreneur vs. Manager Relationship 1.11 Summary 1.12 Glossary 1.13 Self-Assessment Questions 1.14 Further Readings 1.0 INTRODUCTION Do you know that there are millions of unemployed youth in the country and by the time you graduate, this number would have increased substantially? Do you want to be part of that group which keeps knocking from pillar to post, checking with employment exchanges, relatives, friends, and neighbours and still not able to get a job to their liking and then settle for a second or third rate job? You can also choose to be like Mr. Patel of Nirma who was a chemist’s assistance and has a Rs. 2500 crore company today. Did you know that the original Mr. Bata was a cobbler? And now has stores in more than 30 countries all over the world. Or...
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...alue. A firms resources and capabilities should add value by allowing the firm to exploit and mitigate its S&W’s. Likewise, adding value as to a firms resources and capabilities will lead to competitive advantage, providing your firm exploits these value added attributes. Taking the example of IP (above) so long as the competition cannot copy your value added or imitate it, your firm will have a Competitive Advantage. But in today’s world sustainable Competitive Advantage is not possible. So yes, a competitor may well innovate something that reduces your value added. For example, in Oct 2001 Apple’s Steve Jobs, launched the iPod, and it could store up to 5000 songs. The MP3 player and its imitators were now, not as valuable. Rareness. If similar firms control similar valuable resources and capabilities, then they are not rare. The smartphone was rare when introduced by Apple and so it was valuable and rare. Samsung launched the Galaxy, as well as Lenovo and others, it quickly imitated the iPhone, and so the smartphone does not have rarity for either, or any company today. This does not mean that common or similar resources and capabilities are not useful, they may well be if your firm deploys them and exploits them better than the competition. Ryanair and Southwest have valuable aircraft the same as any other flyer, but their Competitive Advantage comes from how they deploy and use these aircraft with no frills operating costs and pay as you go additional resources. Imitability...
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...PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Role and Scope of Product Manager Role of Product Manger Responsible for marketing of individual products or product lines • Creation and conceptualization of strategies for improving and marketing the assigned product line or brands. • Projection and determination of financial and operating plans for such products. • Monitoring execution and results of plans, with possible adaptation of tactics to evolving conditions. Scope of Product Manager: • Has no control over the functional departments that execute the plan • Lately, advertising function at micro level is being held by product managers Interfaces of a Product Manager Functions of a Product Manger 1. Market Planning Process SLEPT Customer (MKT Segmentation) Competitor (PDCT Segmentation) Sales Potential and Market Forecasting 2. Product Strategy Positioning / Branding Leveraging CBBE (LE / BE) NPD 3. Marketing Decisions Pricing Packaging Promotions (includes ADVT) Channels of Distribution Service 4. Monitoring Marketing Metrics Financial Metrics How is Product Manger different from Marketing Manger? • • • Focus Level of Operation Time frame of decision Making How is Product Management different from Brand Management? Differences • • • • • Brand can exist independent of product Brand has value on balance sheet Brand can deal with multiple product lines but still be coherent Brand is extendable Brand is a covenant or a promise of performance ...
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...Case Analysis Research in Motion: Managing Explosive Growth Introduction Since its humble beginnings in 1984, Research in Motion has come a long way. By 2008, with a market capitalization of close to 70 billion, it was poised to become one of the largest companies in Canada and the stage was set for it to become a near monopoly in world mobile communications market. RIM’s product – Blackberry had taken the world by storm (pun intended, since Blackberry Storm is one of RIM’s most profitable product), and the word “crackberry” had become synonymous with the workaholic professional. Yet, as the mobile telephony market for professionals started showing promise, RIM found itself besieged numerous competitors all over the world. RIM had a distinct first mover advantage in the market and was well known for its ultra-secure enterprise software. However, this advantage was rapidly eroding in the face of high R&D investments from RIM’s largest competitors such as Nokia, Apple, and Microsoft. This was problematic as it foreshadowed the question of whether or not RIM was well positioned to continue to meet expectations, deliver award-winning products and services and maintain its lead in the smartphone market. Oftentimes, Wall Street expectations for technology driven companies were also linked to the technology spend and RIM was clearly not ahead of the game in terms of this metric. Just to maintain status quo, it was clear to RIM’s CTO, Mr. David Yach, that he would need to...
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...The North American electric car market is at the ferment stage of development. Google “electric car” and you will get many start-ups with their design and plans to “make” the market. The big auto companies have their planned models and so do numerous venture capital start-ups. They all seem to be about 2-3 years away from launching their products. The problem is battery range and power. With today’s technology, a small, low cost mass produced eCar would have a range of about 80 miles on a charge and a top speed of 60 miles an hour. This is considered not good enough for the market that is used to gasoline cars with top speeds of 100+ and with a range of 300+ miles. The eCar has to get a lot better before it is viable. That is the conventional wisdom. It is wisdom not built on 3D segmentation. It reveals that the eCar makers’ innovation is not matched by their capability to think cleverly about segmenting the market on benefits sought and about how to win the diffusion of innovation race. Cars are used for many different purposes. Is there a profitable usage segment out there that would be happy with the current performance limits of today’s electric car? To think about this let us think about short-distance commuting. People commute downtown and back but public transportation is and will be a serious competitor to urban eCar commuting. People also commute to major suburban business campuses where several thousand employees from the same company work together. The majority are...
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...Competitive Strategy Essay research: Trung Nguyen“Chasing the Starbucks Dream” Lecture: Mr Frankie Yee Group No: 4, Industry A Group members: Smita Mukesh-ID: 12515963 Anay mapuskar-ID: 12527640 Kaaviya Ramesh-ID: 12526283 Nguyen Minh Dao-ID: 12528600 Kathambari Ravichandran- ID: 12526461 Ram Hasubhai Kathadbhai- ID: 12526208 Date: January 9th 2011 Group 4 Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. Frankie Yee ` Executive summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Company situation ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Past and present performance............................................................................................................................... 4 4. External Analysis............................................................................................................................................................ 5 4.1 PESTEL factors ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 4.1.1 Political/Legal ..............
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...The First Restoratives = Restaurants As the culinary arts became more refined and important in all parts of French culture the first restaurant appeared. In 1765 A. Boulanger, a soup vendor, hung a sign over his business, which offered a choice of soups and broths for health. The name he chose for his business was restorative or restaurant, indicating the nutritive aspects of food. This soup vendor was the first to offer a menu with a choice of dishes. Prior to this a visitor could buy a variety of beverages at an inn or eat off the host’s table at a hotel. But there were no choices. The time must have been ripe for these menu driven eateries because they spread rapidly throughout Europe. Indeed the word restaurant and its variations are now used by virtually all European speakers to signify an eating establishment, which offers a choice of dishes. In 1782, less than 20 years after its humble beginnings, the first luxury restaurant was opened in Paris. It was called La Grande Taverne de Loudres by the owner, Antoine Beauvilliers, who became the first famous restaurateur and host. He even wrote a standard work on the French culinary art entitled The Art of Cuisine, which was published in 1814. Brillant-Savarin, a famous gastronomic chronicler, credited him with being the first to combine the 4 essentials of dining - an elegant room - smart waiters - a choice cellar - and superior cooking. Beauvilliers also set the standard for future Maitre’ds and hosts. He pointed out...
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...type of animal based on the character’s religion or nationality, creating an imitation of the Holocaust. While some might assume that this seemingly playful representation of an event as serious as the Holocaust is extremely disrespectful, Spiegelman explains in Metamaus, a book about Maus, that the “animal masks that allowed [him] to approach otherwise unsayable things. What makes Maus thorny is actually what allows it to be useful as a real ‘teaching tool’” (Spiegelman, Metamaus, 127). Rather than mocking the Holocaust, Spiegelman’s choice to depict the characters in his book as animals enabled him to delve deeper into the core of his grandfather’s story without offending anyone as well as making it appeal to a wider audience. Spiegelman adds to his reasoning behind the animal masks later in Metamaus: “Paradoxically, while the mice allowed for a distancing from the horrors described, they simultaneously allowed me and others to get further inside the material in a way that would have been...
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...3D Printing Technology To anyone who hasn’t seen it demonstrated, 3-D printing sounds space-age, like the meals that turn up in the Jetson’s oven at the touch of a keypad. The technology is quite straightforward and is a small evolutionary step from spraying toner on paper to putting down layers of something more substantial (such as plastic resin) until the layers add up to an object. And yet, by enabling a machine to produce objects of any shape, on the spot and as needed, 3-D printing really is leading in a new era. (Barnatt, 2013) The use of 3D printing is quickly becoming a very affordable option for producing physical objects. The term ‘‘3D printing’’ covers a number of closely related technologies, all of which produce a 3-dimensional physical object from a computer model by building it up in successive layers. These technologies were developed primarily for use in rapid prototyping for industrial design; they allow a designer to convert a computer model of a prototype into a physical object quickly in comparison to most previously available technologies. (Massis, 2013) The 3D printers use standard inkjet printing technology to create parts layer-by-layer by depositing a liquid binder onto thin layers of powder. Instead of feeding paper under the print heads like a 2D printer, a 3D printer moves the print heads over a bed of powder upon which it prints the cross-sectional data sent from the 3D printer software. The 3d printing system requires...
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...employees. The whole organisation understands the companies (mainly Steve Jobs) vision and philosophy. In Apple, employees think that they can change the world and bring completely new values to the customers by design and innovation. They not only want to deliver these new values in a simple way, but also want to provide the customers with functionalities and features they need and that are competitive. Apple is capable of applying simplicity to the design and innovation of their products and at the same time considering customers' needs. While living this vision and philosophy, Apple does things different as compared to its competitors. Apple is going its own way and sets own industry standards and norms. Apple does not want to be an imitator but rather an innovator, with products and services that mean something special to their customers. The above described vision and philosophy is applied across the whole Apple organisation and all employees understand what Apple wants to stand for. Apple employees are dedicated and take on and fulfill their responsibilities accordingly. The question on hand is; Can Apple keep up its good performance and reputation after Steve Jobs' dead in 2011? 2. Introduction In the following sections, I will highlight some issues and threads that Apple will be facing with its innovation capabilities going forward. After exploring the issues and threads, I will explain how Apple currently handles these issues and suggest some recommendations...
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...Ducati feedback Q1. I wanted you to begin by recognising that this was a turnaround situation, with Ducati in 1996 close to bankruptcy. A new management team led by Minoli changed strategy with clear objectives of aggressive growth within a niche of the sports segment and competing as a focussed differentiator. The logic of the turnaround can be conceptualised as follows (a) Ducati reduced costs without affecting the WTP for the physical product (i.e. the quality and reliability of the product has increased despite reduced costs). Major reductions were in motorcycle material costs (from 68.2% to 59% of unit costs, exhibit 12) and can be attributed to the following factors: (1) rationalised suppliers from 200 to 130 with the effect of increasing the quality of suppliers and Ducati’s bargaining power (2)Ducati increased its outsourcing from 80% to 90% and thus tapped more the potential of the Emilian mechanical district (3) Ducati further increased its bargaining leverage by instituting dual sourcing for the major components of the motorcycle and adopted short-term contracts (4) Ducati enjoyed economies of scale by increasing output from 12000 bikes in 1996 to 39000 in 2000 (5) Ducati increased the standardisation of its products (parts) and thus increased the bikes produced per worker from 76 to 87 in 200 (14% increase) (exhibit 13). (b) Ducati increased costs to boost WTP for the product’s intangible aspects (i.e. sport character, community, design, exclusivity, Italianess...
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...Perhaps one of the greatest archaeological finds of the nineteenth century is the Hermes and Infant Dionysus. When I first saw this sculpture at the Louvre in Paris, France, I immediately disregarded it because the tour guide stated that it was a replica of the original located in Olympia, Greece. I thought that it was not worth observing or critiquing, but what I failed to realize is that even the original pieces are composite statues. When ancient statues are recovered, archaeologists and art historians must use their knowledge and expertise to restore the piece to its original beauty. Many times not all the parts of the art piece are located or able to be fully restored, so the artists must add on the missing parts. A typical occurrence...
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...AN ANALYSIS OF SEGMENTATION, TARGETTING AND POSITIONING STRATEGY OF IPOD APPLE Contents Executive Summary Situation Analysis Market Analysis_3 Product Analysis- SWOT Analysis Marketing Objectives Identifying Target Market -Selecting Target Market-Target Market Developing Marketing Strategies Marketing Mix: Product Price Promotion-Place Implementing the Marketing Plan Monitoring and Controlling Developing a Financial Forecast Comparing actual and planned results Revising the marketing strategies References Executive Summary The focus of this report is on new Apple Ipod product that has created increasing demands in various outlets. This product allows consumers to download not only their favourite music but also books and other literature which can be read and listened to. Additionally this Ipod can be used in your car and in other mobile settings. This report is for Apple to give a brief description of this product. Within this marketing report there is an insight of the situation analysis of this product, marketing objectives, the target market, marketing strategies that have been used and the forecasted strategies, monitoring and controlling. Situation Analysis Market Analysis Internal Influences Management: Effective management is required for the training and development of employees for the continue innovation of Apple IPod and for retraining sufficient funds during competitor introducing new product. Capital...
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