...Case Studies Lego The Danish company Lego is one of the most famous brands in the world when it comes to children’s toys and has grown since it was founded in 1932 into a global business. Its origins lie with Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund (where the firm is still based) who bought a woodworking business in 1916 and made furniture for local farmers. For various reasons he shifted his production range in the 1930s to make children’s toys and in 1934 named the company ‘Lego’ from the Danish words leg and godt, meaning ‘play well’. His early products - wooden pull toys, piggy banks, cars and trucks – were reasonably successful but a key turning point for the business came in the 1940s when they began making plastic toys including a truck which could be taken apart and re-assembled. In 1949 Lego began producing a set of interlocking bricks (based on an original patent by the UK Kiddicraft company for which they bought the rights) made from cellulose acetate and using an early version of a hollow design with holes and studs. The now familiar Lego bricks appeared on the market in 1953 but were not initially very successful, partly due to poor perceptions amongst consumers and retailers of plastic toys. The key was probably the emergence of the idea of a building system based on interlocking bricks – an idea which took some time to develop and is closely linked to the son of the founder, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. His discussions with buyers, especially in the USA...
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...The LEGO Company in Asia 1 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3 THE LEGO GROUP ............................................................................................................. 6 2.1 PRESENTATION ................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 HISTORY ............................................................................................................................ 7 STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT ..................................................................................... 11 3.1 INTRODUCTORY PART .................................................................................................. 11 3.2 THEORETICAL PART ...................................................................................................... 12 3.3 EMPIRICAL PART ............................................................................................................ 12 3.4 ANALYTICAL PART ......................................................................................................... 13 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 14 4.1 CHOICE OF THEORY ...................................................................................................... 14 4.2 EMPIRICAL CHOICES .......................................
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...Augmented Reality: Linking real and virtual worlds A new paradigm for interacting with computers Wendy E. Mackay Department of Computer Science Université de Paris-Sud ORSAY-CEDEX, FRANCE E-mail: mackay@lri.fr ABSTRACT A revolution in computer interface design is changing the way we think about computers. Rather than typing on a keyboard and watching a television monitor, Augmented Reality lets people use familiar, everyday objects in ordinary ways. The difference is that these objects also provide a link into a computer network. Doctors can examine patients while viewing superimposed medical images; children can program their own LEGO constructions; construction engineers can use ordinary paper engineering drawings to communicate with distant colleagues. Rather than immersing people in an artificiallycreated virtual world, the goal is to augment objects in the physical world by enhancing them with a wealth of digital information and communication capabilities. KEYWORDS: Augmented Reality, Interactive Paper, Design Space Exploration, Participatory Design INTRODUCTION Computers are everywhere: in the past several decades they have transformed our work and our lives. But the conversion from traditional work with physical objects to the use of computers has not been easy. Software designers may omit small, but essential, details from the original system that result in catastrophic failures. Even the act of typing is not benign: repetitive strain...
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...technology. You cannot escape from the outburst in technology because of the dependency that we have created due to the lazy mentality imbedded in our brains. One advancement that is on the rise is three dimensional printing. Three dimensional printers are machines that can take a shapefile or design created in a computer-aided design software, CAD, and produce the custom designed image into a working test product. Three dimensional printing has taken manufacturing to a new level due to the ease of producing prototypes. Companies have harnessed this technology and used it to produce actual size prototypes that can be physically held and interpreted before producing. These prototypes can also benefit by being a “dummy” for creating injection molds. Indeed this technological advance is a great hype and improvement in the world of production saving time and money in the long run; however, the question is raised, can this epidemic be harnessed by everyday users in their home? There are both pros and cons to the use of three dimensional printers that need to be addressed before the decision can be made of whether this advancement is sensible or not. Nick Allen from Gizmodo.com is very strong on his article expressing the cons to the issue. On the other hand, Christopher Barnatt, from his website Explainingthefuture.com, takes more of a liberal stand to the issue at hand. Three dimensional printer pose numerous negative effects to the world. While this technology may seem cool...
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...n d ister of Denm mark followin the ng appoi intment of An nders Fogh R Rasmussen, p prime ministe since 2001, as secretary general of N er NATO. Thoug not related Lars Løkke had worked in Anders Fo gh d, e ogh’s governm ment, first as interior and h health minis ster and then as minister of finance. A he formed a new gove As d ernment, Lars Løkke soug to s ght develop a set of long-term economic and social plans that would keep Denma internatio l ark onally competitive, despite its large pu ublic sector an costly welf nd fare spending However, s g. short-term rea action to the worldwide economic do e ownturn dom minated policy discussions. A long-stan y . nding debate about joinin the Eurozo was given new saliency when the European Ce ng one n entral Bank lowered its ra on ate “refin nancing opera ations,” which provided liq h quidity to the Eurozone, ju days befor Lars Løkke took e ust re e office. Denmark was a member of the Europ w r pean Union but had retain its own cu ned urrency, the k krone. Likew wise, plans for rmulated a year ago to ex xpand the Dan nish workforc by looseni labor rule and ce ing es reduc cing welfare benefits had b b become unpop pular as unem mployment in ncreased. An nders Fogh Rasmussen had left a mixed legacy. Denm d d mark benefite from a balanced govern ed nment budge little publi debt, and lo unemploy et, ic ow yment. But its internationa reputation had suffered from s al d contro oversies over immigration. As the lo r ongest ruling Liberal Part...
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... sometimes you feel it in your bones C G Though we've heard that hearts can still be wrong F Somethings telling me that you're the one C C I just know, even if I had a heart of a stone C G You could make it bleed all on your own F You could break it but I hope you won't Pre-chorus G I'd burn it down, I'd light it up for you Chorus C I'd risk it all Am I'd rather crash, I'd rather crawl F Than never have your love at all G With only bricks to break my fall For you I'd risk it all • C You ooh you ooh (x2) Verse 2:C Stand your ground C Feeling loose, I gotta see this out G Go ahead, I'll let you watch me drown F It takes more than this to keep me down G I'd give it in, I'd give it all for you C I'd risk it all Am I'd rather crash, I'd rather crawl F Than never have your love at all G With only bricks to break my fall For you I'd risk it all BridgeC Come on, just do it You put me through itAm Come on, just do it You put me through itF Come on, just do it you put me through it ...
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...devices, or read information from smart tags embedded in posters, stickers and other products. The most interesting application for businesses is how it can be used for transactions. Many credit cards are NFC enabled with their EMV chips. Acording to EMVco “EMV chip-based payment cards, also known as smart cards, contain an embedded microprocessor, a type of small computer. The microprocessor chip contains the information needed to use the card for payment, and is protected by various security features. Chip cards are a more secure alternative to traditional magnetic stripe payment cards” (emvco.com, 2013). For fast transactions, the “tap” function of some POS (point of sale) systems is in fact a function of the NFC technology. In the case of using an NFC enabled smartphone (eg. Android Galaxy 3s and google wallet) or payment card (eg. Visa) with a NCR SelfServ Checkout at Dominion the process for the transaction is outlined below: Every card (even the "virtual" one used when paying with NFC enabled smartphone) has an account it is bound to. It could be a debit (bank) account, or it could be an anonymous account used with a prepaid card. When a customer or pays with the card, it authenticates itself in some manner - it may require the POS (point of sale terminal) to ask the users bank for...
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...appropriate to a historical moment that celebrates altruism, or its posture. The Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, a member of the Pritzker jury, told me that he was moved by Ban’s commitment to the dispossessed. “The world is filled with billions of people, and most of them live in conditions where they will never see an architect or an architect-designed space,” he said. “To have a first-rate architect pay attention to those in need of shelter, and build better-quality buildings to serve their aesthetic and human needs—that is wonderful.” With a team of student volunteers, Ban has touched down at nearly every major natural-disaster site of the past two decades. The arc of his career tracks the rise of cataclysmic weather as page-one news: the Kobe earthquake, which killed six thousand people (1995); the magnitude-7.4...
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...speech, language and communication development effectively in children during their early years. We need to make sure that the language we use is appropriate for the child’s age/stage of development. We can use resources to help us aid communication, these could be photos, pictures, objects and symbols. With a baby we would use lots of exaggerated facial expressions and single words. We could get really close to them so they can see our face and are on their level and talk in a sing song kind of voice. We can also talk about the things we are doing as a baby will take this all in and listen to us. We can sing songs and rhymes to them. Adults can also look at and talk about simple story books as it really is never too early to share stories. One year old: Adults can copy what sounds the baby is making taking it in turns to simulate having a conversation. Use words that need actions for example bye bye and wave. Saying up and lifting hands up as this will help the baby to understand what the words are and will hopefully encourage them to join in. Singing action songs and playing peep po games will encourage concentration and communication in babies. Eighteen months: As adults we can sing nursery rhymes that need actions, talk to them about what we are doing for example “ Let’s go and get you a drink shall we”. If they point to something then we can tell them what it is, if they say a word to us then we can repeat the word back to them, look at picture books and talk about them in very...
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...Creating a Customer-Centered Organization A Harvard Business Review Insight Center Report sponsored by The HBR Insight Center is an interactive resource that highlights the emerging thinking around today’s most important issues. In this installment of the series, Harvard Business Review focused on how managers are turning their companies into customer-focused organizations. The growing obsession with customer excellence is driven, in part, by technology. Today customers can obtain and exchange more information about the good and bad of their encounters with companies than ever before. That gives companies a great incentive to work harder to make customers happy — before, during, and after their purchases. © 2011 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Creating a CustomerCentered Organization A Harvard Business Review Insight Center Report CONTENTS 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 Create Brand Superfans Matthew Rhoden How Philips Uses Net Promoter Scores to Understand Customers Suhail Khan What Zipcar Can Teach the S&P 500 Stephen Wunker How Fidelity Used Design Thinking to Perfect Its Website Frederick S. Leichter The Coming Point-of-Sale Revolution Grant McCracken Using Mobile Phones to Capture Customer Experiences Emma Macdonald, Hugh Wilson, and Umut Konus How to Play Marco Polo When Setting Prices Rafi Mohammed Beyond Mass Customization B. Joseph Pine II Understand...
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...proposition: We live in a global marketplace. McDonald’s restaurants, Sony digital TVs, LEGO toys, Swatch watches, Burberry trench coats, and Caterpillar earthmoving equipment are found practically everywhere on the planet. Global companies are fierce rivals in key markets. For example, American auto industry giants General Motors and Ford are locked in a competitive struggle with Toyota,Hyundai,and other global Asian rivals as well as European companies such as Volkswagen. U.S.based Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, competes with South Korea’s Samsung. In the global cell phone market, Nokia (Finland), Ericsson (Sweden), Motorola (United C States), and Samsung are key players. Appliances from Whirlpool and Electrolux compete for precious retail space with products manufactured and marketed by China’s Haier Group and LG of South Korea. Now consider a second proposition: We live in a world in which markets are local. In China, for example, Yum Brands’ new East Dawning fast-food chain competes with local restaurants such as New Asia Snack.1 France’s domestic film industry generates about 40 percent of local motion picture box office receipts; U.S.-made movies account for about 50 percent. In Turkey, local artists such as Sertab account for more than 80 percent of recorded Exhibit 1-1: England’s Burberry Group celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2006. Burberry’s trademark is registered in more than 90 countries. The company’s signature plaid pattern—often referred to as “the...
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...THE MARTIAN CHILD by David Gerrold Toward the end of the meeting, the caseworker remarked, "Oh - and one more thing. Dennis thinks he's a Martian." "I beg your pardon?" I wasn't certain I had heard her correctly. I had papers scattered all over the meeting room table - thick piles of stapled incident reports, manila-foldered psychiatric evaluations, Xeroxed clinical diagnoses, scribbled caseworker histories, typed abuse reports, bound trial transcripts, and my own crabbed notes as welclass="underline" Hyperactivity. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Emotional Abuse. Physical Abuse. Conners Rating Scale. Apgars. I had no idea there was so much to know about children. For a moment, I was actually looking for the folder labeled Martian. "He thinks he's a Martian," Ms. Bright repeated. She was a small woman, very proper and polite. "He told his group home parents that he's not like the other children - he's from Mars - so he shouldn't be expected to act like an Earthling all the time." "Well, that's okay," I said, a little too quickly. "Some of my best friends are Martians. He'll fit right in. As long as he doesn't eat the tribbles or tease the feral Chtorran." By the narrow expressions on their faces, I could tell that the caseworkers weren't amused. For a moment, my heart sank. Maybe I'd said the wrong thing. Maybe I was being too facile with my answers. The hardest thing about adoption is that you have to ask someone to trust you with a child. That means that you have to be willing to...
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...runway. The economic impact included costly manufacturing plant shutdowns and sales delays. Annotation 1b Back to the Opening Case Question: What evidence of the managerial functions and skills can you detect in the Zappos.com case? Reference figures 1.3 and 1.4. Of the eight functions of management there is clear evidence of Communicating as employees are invited to provide suggestions and feedback related to the core values. Staffing is also involved as they incorporate their core values into the hiring process, particularly the desire to hire people who are humble. Although less obvious, Leading and Motivating are present as well. Employees involved in defining the company’s core values are quite likely to find their work more satisfying and rewarding. Leadership is evident as there is a clear vision and desire to develop and implement the core values with a willingness to sacrifice short-term gains for long-term benefits. They are protecting their company culture and sticking to their values. This would not be possible without strong leadership. Annotation 1c Learning Under Fire Question: Why is military combat experience a fertile training ground for managers and entrepreneurs? Use...
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...1 of 83 file:///D:/000004/Buy__ology.html 08/08/2009 10:45 2 of 83 file:///D:/000004/Buy__ology.html CONTENTS TITLE PAGE FOREWORD BY PACO UNDERHILL INTRODUCTION 1: A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD The Largest Neuromarketing Study Ever Conducted 2: THIS MUST BE THE PLACE Product Placement, American Idol , and Ford’s Multimillion-Dollar Mistake 3: I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING Mirror Neurons at Work 4: I CAN’T SEE CLEARLY NOW Subliminal Messaging, Alive and Well 5: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Ritual, Superstition, and Why We Buy 6: I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER Faith, Religion, and Brands 7: WHY DID I CHOOSE YOU? The Power of Somatic Markers 8: A SENSE OF WONDER Selling to Our Senses 9: AND THE ANSWER IS… Neuromarketing and Predicting the Future 10: LET’S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER Sex in Advertising 11: CONCLUSION Brand New Day APPENDIX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE AUTHOR COPYRIGHT FOREWORD PACO UNDERHILL It was a brisk September night. I was unprepared for the weather that day, wearing only a tan cashmere sweater underneath my sports jacket. I was still cold from the walk from my hotel to the pier as I boarded the crowded cruise ship on which I was going to meet Martin Lindstrom for the first time. He had spoken that day at a food service conference held by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, the venerable Swiss think tank, and David Bosshart, the conference organizer, was eager for us to meet. I had never heard of Martin ...
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...ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING THIRD EDITION JIM BLYTHE Essentials of Marketing ii Marketing Planning: principles in practice We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in marketing, bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work. To find out more about the complete range of our publishing please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk Last A Head on Spread 000 Jim Blythe University of Glamorgan Essentials of Marketing Third Edition Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published under the Financial Times Pitman Publishing imprint 1998 Second edition 2001 Third edition 2005 © Financial Times Professional Limited 1998 © Pearson Education Limited 2001, 2005 The right of Jim Blythe to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written...
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