...GPS-to-GO Takes on Garmin Sharon Smith-Basey BUS 518 Project Leadership Dr. David Plumer Strayer University February 3, 2013 GPS-to-GO Takes on Garmin Analyze the personality and temperament of Joseph Thomas. Joseph Thomas is considered as an everyday manager who has grown up in the business of Global GPS and he commands great respect from his peers. Thomas has a full understanding of the makeup of workers at GPS. He knows too well how the workers are comfortable with working at their own pace and spending is of very little concern because their organizational culture is built around serving clients such as the government, who will fund their overruns and will allow years for development. Thomas is now functioning under new management, Michael Scott, a young, hopeful who plans to take on the strongest competitors in the consumer market. Thomas has the personality and temperament of an NT (Intuition-Thinking) Type. NT’s gather data consisting of abstractions and possibilities (N), which they filter through their objective decision-making process (T) (Rutledge, 2008). NTs have a driving force that is a never-ending quest for competence and this is demonstrated by Thomas and his peers as they desire to spend years on development and production, which causes them to pursue products not according to deadlines or costs because it is more about the soundness of the product. NTs are oriented toward continuous improvements and Thomas was scared to enter the faced-paced...
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...Global Positioning System to-Go (GPS). Comments will be provided on how Joseph Thomas moved through each of the four (4) stages in the project life cycle. The paper will determine the most appropriate personality traits that Mr. Thomas should adapt to successfully lead the teams for the Garmin product launches. Lastly, a summary of how I would perform differently if I were in Mr. Thomas’s position will be provided. Personality and Temperament of Joseph Thomas Joseph Thomas displayed several different personality traits. The first of which was introversion. He voiced his opinion several times about ways to save time and cost and how to avoid problems but was not assertive enough and was ignored. He also demonstrated a thinking personality. “Thinking people make decisions based on logical analysis” (Lewis, 2003, pg.29). Joseph attempted to use contract manufactures to meet the targeted price point for the GPS. “Temperament is a predisposition to behave in certain ways” (Lewis, 2003, pg.30). Joseph displayed the Idealist or NF temperament. Joseph Thomas’s Steps in the project life cycle The project life cycle consists of four stages; Initiating, Planning, Executing and Closing stages. “A Project life cycle can be used to guide a project team through all the necessary work” (Kloppenburg, Shriberg and Venkatraman, 2003. Pg.15). The initiating stage begins with an idea for a project. During this stage the following activities should take place; The need for the...
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...Assignment #2 – “GPS-to-GO Takes on Garmin” After reading the case on GPS-to-GO it was hard to come to the conclusion of Joseph Thomas. Temperament refers to one’s personality meaning are they an introvert or extrovert. Thomas seems to be more of an introvert because when he was in the meeting with Scott and he tried multiple times to get his point across, he was continuously ignored by Scott. Thomas does not seem like a leader that would tell anyone how to do anything. He simply let the project go the way it was going and did not challenge anyone. Yet he wants to convince Scott one way or the other that the project is in great order. Thomas had a last minute meeting with his team to figure out if there is a way the cost could be cut down before he spoke with Scott. He knew the project was over budget for a while but has decided to not speak up about it at all until it was absolutely necessary. Thomas also felt as though he could solve some of the issues of the budget by having the products manufactured outside of the United States. This sounds like a possible solution, but the cost is said to still be over budget. The first stage of the project life cycle is the project initiation. The initiating stage includes establishing the need for the project, understanding the project scope, approximating the time and cost required and securing approval to plan the project in detail (Kloppenborg 2003, p. 14). Joseph Thomas did not approach the first step of the project life cycle...
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...the short commentary we were given in the book. Having said that it is possible to have an idea of who a person is based on what they focus on as my psychology professor use to say. Joseph Thomas has a lot of focus on logistics within the commentary on the GPS to GO project. He is looking and numbers and possibilities. His speaking is very concrete and his use of tools is also consistent with what is normal, or cooperative (Lewis, 33). Knowing that Joseph works in those two areas, we can determine off the temperament quadrants that he is likely a Guardian, with an SJ Temperament. The SJ temperament tends to be strong at logistics, equal with tactics, and diplomacy but weaker on strategy (Lewis, 38). It can appear that Joseph is good with strategy on a basic reading of the commentary, because he does think of the various ways to create the product in the required sell amount brackets. While I can see how this might be one interpretation of Joseph, I believe that the looking for a different path is not strategy as much as his strong logistical base. Working on how things get done the process of getting them done is logistics. The strategy would be more related to getting the three different groups dealing with GPS to go I, II, III to work together and combine designs as to get a more effective use out of the logistics of items, and factory space. This is where Joseph seems to have problems,...
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...MM 578 Consumer behavior | GIVE A GARMIN | MARKETING STRATEGY FOR GPS NAVIGATION DEVICE | | Marcus J. Lumpkin | MARKET ANALYSIS Company Garmin Limited is a publicly-traded company that specializes in navigation and communication devices for the public. With world headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, the company has grown from only a tiny number of employees in 1989 to over 7,000 employees worldwide today. (www.garmin.com, 2010) Their most popular item, the GPS navigation system for automobiles is amongst the leaders in the industry for such devices. The company also designs and manufactures GPS devices for use in boats, aviation, hiking, fitness and cellular phone and pda units. Customers The customers of Garmin products can be just about anyone who can drive an automobile, or operate a boat or plane. Customers would also include those engaged in aforementioned activities such as hiking, working out or using a cell phone. More specifically though, Garmin customers are those who are bad with directions and frequently get lost. Customers would also include those who may spend a lot of time travelling by automobile, whether locally or for long distances. Competitors Competitors of Garmin exist in many well known names to consumers of electronics. TomTom is a Dutch navigation device maker and market-leader in the field, and poses the biggest competition to the Garmin brand. However recognized brand names such as Sony and Phillips have since entered the niche...
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...CHANGE Garmin, who has been known as the leading producer in consumer GPS products, has decided to turn to the world of smartphones. Initial research into the level of competition introduced by the smartphone provided data needed to swim with the current of the market, rather than against it. Garmin must find ways to expand on their product lines and stay relevant while evolving to meet new dimensions of customer demand. Before committing to any particular direction, there must be research into cost of product development and features desired by consumers while collecting consumer data to make these determinations in an ethical manner. We will explore these objectives in more detail to show how Garmin has used customer generated data to weather the smartphone storm. An Updated Mission One strategy Garmin has opted for is to work with the competition rather than against it (Couts, 2012). Many users prefer to have access to navigation and fitness tracking applications on their mobile devices,or use them in conjunction with Garmin products through advanced features like Bluetooth. The obvious course of action was to find a way to link smartphone capability with Garmin’s already strong product lines. People already have smartphones and data plans and Garmin already uses Bluetooth, so what do they stand to gain from each other? Applications can be written for the various stores, like Android or Apple,which can provide a host of new functionalities when smartphone and GPS are paired...
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...Garmin falls under the Technology sector and the Communications Equipment industry. Technology is playing an ever increasing role in people’s lives. A computer used to be a luxury item, but now most people you know have one, if not more, in their house. Technology will continue to play a pivotal role as we become dependent on certain aspects. Can you remember what things were like before the internet, or what you would do without your iPod? Can you imagine how tedious it must have been to duplicate a document before copy machines came along, or how you feel when you leave your cell phone at home and must live without it for the day? Once introduced, technology becomes integrated into our everyday lives. We believe that Garmin’s business of GPS navigation devices is still relatively young and has not caught on with the general public yet. While the company is experiencing very high growth rates, there is so much of the market that has yet to be tapped. As these GPS products become more well-known and mainstream, they have the chance to end up like cell phones and iPods. In ten years people will be asking how they ever lived without their GPS navigation device in the past. They won’t be able to drive, hike, run, or fish without it. A specific trend in technology, and specifically for small, hand-held devices, is multi-functionality. Just like everyone likes a Swiss Army knife because of all its features, consumers go crazy over phones that not only offer the traditional...
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...is little doubt that the use of GPS for navigation purposes is a huge industry. That was, after all, one of the initial impetus behind the Department of Defense creating the satellite system. They wanted a way to know where they assets were but they also wanted to us it to tell where there assets were going. GPS navigation has become the norm in many families across America with Garmins or TomToms or Magellans replacing the friendly AAA triptiks of two decades ago. I still remember as a child going into the AAA office with my mother to get a triptik ready for a family vacation. Now, you just enter your trip into the GPS and it does all the routing for you. Cell phone companies realized that this was a huge market and that their technology could easily break into it. They could either us GPS technology to do the mapping just like a Garmin can, or they could leverage the cellular signals they were already broadcasting to create new navigation systems. Some companies decided to go with GPS and other stuck with the cell signal. Either way you look at, cell phones now use GPS or a GPS-like technology to give turn-by-turn directions to drivers all over the country. While this isn’t GPS tracking as most would think of it, it still is using a cellular phone to track and record position information. It can tell people how to fast you are traveling, an ETA (estimated time of arrival), and it can actively tell you your current location. This is GPS tracking if you ask me. As we will...
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...U5014042 ENGN2226 Portfolio Analysis of the Impact of Replacing Out-dated GPS Devices in a Taxi Fleet Name: Samuel Stefopoulos Student ID: u5014042 Course name: Engineering Systems Analysis Course code: ENGN2226 Lecturer: Chris Browne Assessment piece: Individual Portfolio Date submitted: 25th October 2013 U5014042 ENGN2226 Portfolio Summary GPS devices have become increasingly common due to the advancements of electronics. They can now be hand-held and are highly prominent on roads. This is particularly noticeable in taxis, as most cabs are now fitted with some form of GPS device and many fleets have enforced mandatory GPS policies. This document analyses the impact and worth of refitting a fleet of taxis the size of Canberra Cabs with new portable GPS devices. A series of systems analysis techniques were applied in the analysis of the devices in order to reduce the complexity of the components. A major period of device improvement was identified as the time between 2007 and 2009 based on a diffusion of innovations analysis. The analysis of two particular devices, the TomTom XL 310 (2007) and the Garmin Nuvi 1350 (2009), were used as a comparative measure of the improvements made in the time period. The devices chosen for analysis were ergonomically assessed in terms of their user interface. The major factors improved were found to be the prediction of text and consistency with other devices users may be familiar with. An experiment was then designed and performed to...
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...Independent Equity Research AskAnalyst.com Chisinau, Moldova info@askanalyst.com +373-796-24706 Initiation of Coverage 26 September 2005 TomTom NV Eurolist: “TOM2” Rating: Buy Price target: 45.9 EUR Quote 52-Week Range Recent Price Market Cap Shares Outstanding 09/26/05 35.86 $3,673.0 Mn 102.4 Mn € ’mn Revenue EBITDA Net Income Total Assets Total Debt Shareholders’ Equity Debt/Equity ROE ROA EPS P/E 2003A € 39.1 10.4 6.2 21.0 0.0 7.6 0.0 134% 48% € 0.06 2004A € 192.4 44.5 27.7 91.1 0.0 37.8 0.0 122% 49% € 0.26 2005E € 562.7 131.4 95.5 399.2 0.0 249.6 0.0 66% 39% € 0.86 41.8 2006E € 1,115.4 244.6 170.6 698.3 0.0 422.2 0.0 51% 31% € 1.53 23.5 We are initiating coverage of TomTom with BUY rating. The company has entered the commercialization phase after several years of development and reported tremendous growth of revenue, profits and cash flows. The company has the right product in the right place and at the right time, excellent operating and distribution capabilities, strong management team and a skyrocketing market. In addition, the company has excellent opportunities to outperform the market in terms of growth, as currently it is the leader on the European market, has the best product according to various research entities and sufficient cash resources to acquire smaller competitors and to finance the growth. TomTom’s expansion initiatives will provide it with stronger revenue streams from U.S., Australia, Eastern Europe and Asia. Moreover, TomTom has developed...
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...Final Report EE 3331-002 Project 2 GPS Guided Vehicle By: Yasser Khan December 10th 2004 Instructor: Dr. Andreas Neuber Advisor: Dr. Jon G. Bredeson Team Member(s): Travis Vollmer Justin Griffin Abstract This paper illustrates the implementation of an autonomous robot that navigates around the TTU R4 parking lot using the guidance of a GPS sensor. Choosing of this robot will be discussed, as well as the different components needed to make such a project possible. The GPS sensor is manufactured by GARMIN and its accuracy will be evaluated in this report. The Texas Instrument microcontroller MSP430F149 will receive GPS data from the sensor and run well assembled software to evaluate and control the motor controller which controls the motors. The microcontroller will control movements of the chosen robot and do actions such as move straight and turn a number of different degrees. Table of Contents Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………2 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….3 Researching GPS………………………………………………………………….3 GPS statistics…………….………………………………………………………..6 Block Diagram…………………………………………………………………...10 Texas Instruments MSP430 Microcontroller………………………………….10 DC Motor and Futaba Servo……………………………………………………13 Voltage Regulators & Transceiver……………………………………………..14 Motor Controller………………………………………………………………...16 Power supply……………………………………………………………………..17 Chassis……………………………………………………………………………17 Programming...
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...------------------------------------------------- Business Memorandum Date: 08 Jul. 14 To: Emma Richardson, Executive Vice President From: Viswesh Kurtarkar, Executive Assistant Subject: Recommendation to Terracog’s new venture, Project Aerial. Case Analysis summary Terracog specializes in high-quality global positioning systems. They are skilled at translating market and user feedback into outstanding products. Their GPS line of products were the finest in the market, applauded for its durability, navigational accuracy and value added features. In October 2006, Posthaste launched BirdsI, a handheld GPS that displayed satellite imagery, and it took the market by storm. Terracog had not anticipated such response from the market as they felt the users we smart enough to choose performance over graphics. The large response from the market for Posthaste’s BirdsI saw Terracog decide to launch Project Aerial by October 2008, it very own product with satellite imagery. As time was a constraint to get the product in the market, it was decided to redesign the existing GPS platform. The Design team provided the product design as requested by sales team by December 2007. Initial cost estimates of $550 provided by production department were too high to market the product. Sales team had set a target price of $425 to regain lost market share. As a result, the design department and production department made some changes in the initial design, to reduce the cost by 8% to $475. This cost was...
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...Project Management - BUS 518 Assignment #2 "GPS-to-GO Takes on Garmin" 1. Analyze the personality and temperament of Joseph Thomas. From what I gather, Joseph Thomas is a weak leader. He could not manage his people well. He have great ideas and insights but could not see them through. Although he could see errors early on, he did not bring the attention of the people he can see fault in. He have ideas that would have ensured the redesigning would not be needed in the first place, but he chose to stay quiet. Joseph Thomas hesitates too much on taking a definitive action. He has lots of plans and ideas, and he has insights of what is going wrong, but he did not act as he should. He always think or complain about lack of resources as well, even without confirming with the boss, he was already sure that the idea of redesigning would be shoot down because of the lack in resources. He also believe that he did not have good men under him. The truth is, any leader does not have enough resources, but what differentiates a good leader from a weak one is that the good leader figure out how to get the job done properly with what they have. Lastly, Joseph Thomas does not take responsibility. He blamed everyone except himself. 2. Separate the four (4) steps in the project life cycle and comment about how Joseph Thomas moved through them. The Project Life Cycle consists of a logical sequence of activities that...
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...RTOS IM sure if you’re like me your probably wondering what Nucleus RTOS is. Well let’s take a look; Nucleus RTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) and toolset created by the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics for various central processing unit (CPU) platforms. It’s estimated to be running on over 2.11 billion devices around the world. On Nucleus Applications are compiled to run on various target CPU architectures and tested using the actual target boards or in simulation environment. On Nucleus development is typically done on a host computer running Windows or Linux. Nucleus RTOS is designed for embedded systems applications including consumer electronics, set-top boxes, cellular phones, and other portable and handheld devices. What’s impressive is that Nucleus RTOS can be scaled down to a memory footprint as small as 13 KB for both code and data for limited memory systems. Nucleus is comprised of these main components: the kernel, connectivity, file system, graphics, and security. And here are some basic descriptions of each component. Kernel: * Real time kernel * C++, POSIX and Micro ITRON interfaces * Dynamic download * Inter-process communications * Closed Source (however, the source code is available to customers, making it easier to debug than operating system distributed as binaries only) Connectivity * USB 2.0 Host, Function and On-The-Go (OTG) stacks * Class drivers * Bluetooth with many advanced profiles enabled (A2DP...
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...is comfortable and stylish, but can track a person without any boundaries. The research showed that out of 100 people between the ages of 12 to 50 that had done a survey on would they where a sneaker that had a tracking device inside the results was mixed. Surprisingly 40% said that it would be invasion of privacy and wouldn’t wear the shoe, but a whopping 60% said that they would. Throughout this paper you will see the need for a shoe of this caliber. It is better to have safety, then to have a loved one missing for years. The shoes will go through a shoe press, this process takes the materials, such as leather or clothes shape the shoe into various parts, but in this process the GPS tracking device will be securely implanted in the tongue of the shoe. The GPS device will have a special plastic coating on it to prevent electrical shock or water damage to the device itself. The materials used will be made based on the style and type of shoe that is being manufactured. Leather would be used to make the running style, dress, and casual shoes. A cloth material will be used for tennis style shoes and causal walking shoes. Using a machine to produce the shoes, you will get more products in less time, then if you were to make the machine by hands. Through my research I will show that there are many people with the same concept, but my shoe will cater to people that are not able to afford...
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