...to inform their buy and sell decisions, which means that understanding analysts’ work can provide crucial insights on the determinants of value in the capital markets. Yet our knowledge of analysts is limited by insufficient attention to Knightian uncertainty. Analysts estimate the value of stocks by calculating their net present value or by folding the future back into the present. In so doing, they are faced with the fundamental challenge identified by Frank Knight, that is, with the difficulty of making decisions that entail a future that is unknown. These decisions, as Knight wrote, are characterized by ‘neither entire ignorance nor complete . . . information, but partial knowledge’ of the world (Knight, [1921] 1971: 199). The finance literature has not examined the Knightian challenge faced by analysts. Indeed, existing treatments circumvent the problem by adopting one of two extreme positions. In the first, put forward by orthodox economists, it is assumed that Knightian uncertainty is non-existent and that calculative decision-making is straightforward. Analysts are presented as mere calculators in a probabilistic world of risk (Cowles, 1933; Lin and McNichols, 1998; Lim, 2001). In the second, put forward by neo-institutional sociologists and behavioural finance scholars, analysts face too much uncertainty to engage in individual calculation. Analysts confront this uncertainty by resorting to a lemming-like imitation of their colleagues’ opinions (see respectively Rao, Greve...
Words: 12718 - Pages: 51
...I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Over the years many organizations have invested in massive in-house computing capacities and specialized Information Technology (IT) staff around the world in order to support their primary business processes or to achieve a competitive advantage. According to Porter and Millar IT creates competitive advantage by giving companies new ways to outperform their rivals. To gain competitive advantage over its rivals, a company must either perform these activities at a lower cost or perform them in a way that leads to differentiation and premium price (Porter & Millar, 1999). These days, organizations are looking for IT to operate more efficiently and help to reduce the overall costs. The concept of outsourcing has contributed to this development by transferring entire business functions to an external service provider. A recent phenomenon in the domain of outsourcing is called Cloud Computing. “Clouds are a large pool of easily usable and accessible virtualized resources (such as hardware, development platforms and/or services). These resources can be dynamically re-configured to adjust to a variable load (scale), allowing also for an optimum resource utilization. This pool of resources is typically exploited by a pay-per-use model in which guarantees are offered by the Infrastructure Provider by means of customized SLAs” (Vaquero, 2009). The arrival of the Internet has accelerated the commoditization of IT by providing a perfect delivery...
Words: 4074 - Pages: 17
...delivery model via internet which provides online computing and storage power to users. Being an internet based remote service; users can access the cloud services anytime, anywhere. Cloud computing allows and makes it easier to access technology-enabled services to the users who don’t have adequate technological know-how. These literatures are more focused on core cloud computing service model being deployed and deployment model followed by the cloud service providers. Additionally anticipated and achieved benefits, challenges and growing deployment trend are also analyzed. Methodology This literature review surveyed existing literature available on the database using systematic approach. Each literature is taken from the CEO magazine, Australian computer society and UWS library catalogue and few literatures from Google scholar. For the timely updated information we limited our literature and taken only published journal article after 2005, because cloud computing is come into mainstream practice from that year. Briefly abstract and title of the papers was studied peer-reviewed journal articles are chosen. Cloud computing model All these literature categorize entire cloud computing in three major service models. * Software as a service, SaaS model In this model, application and functional services are designed to be hosted online and delivered via typical web browser. Users don’t have to have a physical copy of the software installed on their machine, eg. Gmail docs...
Words: 1348 - Pages: 6
...heaquarted out of Seattle, Washington. It is considered to be the world’s largest online retailer. Amazon has separate retail websites for the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and China. They also have international shipping of its products to other countries. Throughout the 1990s, the popularity of the Internet and World Wide Web swept across the world, and personal computers in most businesses and households got hooked up in some form or another to Internet providers and Web browser software. As use of the Internet became more prevalent in society, companies began looking to the Web as a new avenue for commerce. Selling products over the Internet offered a variety of choices and opportunities. One of the pioneers of e-commerce was Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. In 1994, Bezos left his job as vice-president of the Wall Street firm D.E. Shaw, moved to Seattle, and began to work out a business plan for what would become Amazon.com. After reading a report that projected annual Web growth at 2,300 percent, Bezos drew up a list of 20 products that could be sold on the Internet. He narrowed the list to what he felt were the five most promising: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos eventually decided that his venture would sell books over the Web, due to the large worldwide market for literature, the low price that could be offered for books, and the tremendous selection of titles that were...
Words: 1355 - Pages: 6
...Earth’s biggest bookstore in July 1995 and today is biggest everything store. Amazon has become the Earth’s most customer-centric company, where consumers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online and endeavors to offers its customers the lowest possible prices and the best customer service. Amazon.com offers millions of new, refurbished and used items in categories such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoor equipment and apparel, books, music, DVDs, electronics, office equipment, toys and baby supplies, home and garden and on demand video. Amazon has also established separate websites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and China. They provide international shipping to certain countries for some of its products. Amazon.com Case Analysis In 1994, Jeff Bezos left his job as senior vice-president of an investment firm, moved to Seattle, and began to work out a business plan for what would become Amazon.com. After his evaluation of report that projected annual Web growth at 2,300 percent, Bezos drew up a list of 20 products that could be sold on the Internet. The list was narrowed down to what he felt were the five most favorable: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos eventually decided that his venture would sell books over the Web, due to the large worldwide market for literature, the low price that could be offered for books, and the tremendous selection...
Words: 1351 - Pages: 6
...ISAS 640 9040 – Decision Support Systems and Expert Systems Dr. Ashraf Shirani Literature Review for Group 1 Group Members: Leslie Allen Joe Nimely Oluranti Odofin Gary Turner The topic for the research paper will be business intelligence, most specifically the impact on privacy. The data gathered through various business intelligence technologies, while it may not be personally identifiable information such as name and/or social security number, the data provided to businesses gives them a greater insight into consumer behavior. This provides the businesses with information to leverage additional sales and services. Businesses gather all kinds of data on consumers, often sharing with other related competitors, to obtain a better view of the consumer behavior, including trends and associations. The information obtained through business intelligence may or may not be personally identifiable, it may still be sensitive in nature. Does it cross the line ethically? Are there other techniques to gather this information while maintaining privacy for the consumer? In this paper, the ethical issues of privacy on business intelligence will be explored to determine if the business intelligence outweighs the intrusion on privacy. Key concepts in this review include privacy, big data analytics, business intelligence, ethical awareness framework, data mining, hackers, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines. Data mining is discovering...
Words: 2246 - Pages: 9
...Technische Universität Berlin Fakultät VIII: Wirtschaft und Management Institut für Technologie und Management Fachgebiet Strategische Unternehmensführung Prof. Dr. Michael Mirow Seminar Paper on Strategies to Achieve Market Leadership: The Example of Amazon (Summer term 2005) presented by: Sören Preibusch, 215995 Matthias Fleckenstein, 215274 Kottbusser Damm 24 Magistratsweg 21 10967 Berlin 13593 Berlin Berlin, May 17, 2005 Table of Contents I Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................ I Table of Abbreviations.................................................................................... II Table of Figures............................................................................................. III Table of Tables..............................................................................................IV 1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 2 Market Leadership as a Strategic Goal in Electronic Commerce ................ 1 2.1 Value Chains and Actors in EC............................................................. 1 2.2 Principles for Success in Electronic Commerce.................................... 3 2.3 Porter’s Branch Structure Analysis applied to EC Markets ................... 4 2.4 Context Factors and Value Creation Potentials in EC Markets ...
Words: 13437 - Pages: 54
...promising: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos eventually decided his venture would sell books over the web, due to the large worldwide market for literature, the low price that could be offered for books, and the tremendous selection of titles available in print. A businessman by the name of Nick Hanauer believed in Bezos' idea and invested $40,000 in his venture. When Amazon first debuted online in 1995, its layout was not as flashy as it is today. In fact, the site looked very plain and unattractive to most visitors, causing the business to start on shaky ground. A man by the name of Tom Alburg decided to invest $100,000 in Amazon in 1995, which helped the company fund a better-looking website and hosting capabilities. If he wanted people to come back as customers, Bezos new he had to create more than just a bookstore. The option of buyers to write their own book reviews was added, which is a huge credit to Amazon's success. By 1997, Amazon.com had generated $15.7 million in revenue. The company went public that same year and decided to add CDs and movies to the website. Once the company began showing signs of success, people became skeptic and claimed that Amazon was getting too large in too short an amount of time. At the end of 1999, Amazon had...
Words: 1886 - Pages: 8
...CONTENTS Title Page………………………………………………………………………………….... Page 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. Page 3 Problem Statement…………………………………………………………………………... Pages 3-5 Literature Review……………………………………………………………………………. Pages 5-7 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 8 Solutions………………………………………………………………………………………Page Reflections ……………………………………………………………………………………Page References …………………………………………………………………………………….Page Is this the End of Macy’s? Introduction I will be researching and reviewing the department store Macy’s. They have been in the news a lot lately, reporting over 40 store closings and being down 5% in the marketplace. Macy’s has attributed their decline in sales to greater online competition arising, like Amazon and EBay. They’ve stated that there has been a large shift to online operations and away from the traditional mall locations. (Isidore, 2015) This past winter Macy’s sales were down 5.2% with the quarter being its third declining sales quarter. Other problems are said to be a shift away from spending on apparel and housing goods, a drop in international tourism, increasing competition, and a lethargic economy. Can a once department store powerhouse recover, and keep up with the ever-changing technological age or will they become the shadows of online retailers like Amazon? Macy’s plan to come out of the slump is expand outside of the United States, advance its e-commerce system, expand its Bluemercury retail chain (similar to Sephora stores),...
Words: 1866 - Pages: 8
...Based on the interview, I found that the fourteen-year-old boy is interested on science fiction, but he has only watched tv shows on the genre and he hasn’t read any books in the genre. One of his favorites tv shows is Strangers Things, these tv show rely heavily solely on the science fiction genre and on the nostalgic factor. He likes eleven’s quest of discovering her powers and the consequences of it and the set of charismatic characters and their friendship. Because of this I recommend The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans, like Stranger Things the book follows individuals with powers that are trying to figure out how they acquire those powers and discover that someone is hunting them. The book has been part of a few best book list...
Words: 415 - Pages: 2
...S U C C E S S F U L ON THE INTERNET A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF A MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ROBIN S. CLELAND SEPTEMBER 2000 BUILDING SUCCESSFUL BRANDS ON THE INTERNET CONTENTS SUBJECT PAGE CHAPTER 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Overview Objectives Methodology Structure INTRODUCTION 6 7 9 9 11 CHAPTER 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 THE NATURE OF BRANDS 12 13 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 22 22 23 2.9 Introduction What is a Brand? The Layers of a Brand Product and Service Brands Branding & the Buying Process The Importance of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Emotional Loyalty The Concept of Brand Equity 2.8.1 The Value of Brands to Customers 2.8.2 The Value of Brands to Companies Conclusion CHAPTER 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 BUILDING BRANDS 24 25 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 32 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Introduction Overview of the Brand-Building Process The Value Proposition 3.3.1 Added Value 3.3.2 Distinctive Brand Identity Developing the Framework and Communicating the Value Proposition Building Customer Relationships Characteristics of Successful Brands Conclusion 1 BUILDING SUCCESSFUL BRANDS ON THE INTERNET CHAPTER 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 THE INTERNET 33 34 34 35 35 39 40 43 Introduction Overview of the Internet 4.2.1 The Defining Characteristics of the Internet The Growth of the Internet The Internet & e-Commerce The Impact of the Internet...
Words: 35648 - Pages: 143
...Background Who is the king of the movie rental industry? Is it Blockbuster, Redbox or Netflix? Blockbuster was the king of VHS rental with their brick and mortar stores for more than 20 years. Netflix was the first to market with the idea of shipping DVDs directly to consumer’s homes but are now focusing their resources and attention to online streaming. Netflix is slowly getting out of the DVD and Blu-ray rental game by raising the prices of their DVDs and Blu-rays. Netflix is spending more money to increase the size of their online library for streaming. The two companies that are battling it out to be the king of the rental industry are Redbox, a company owned by Coinstar Inc., and Blockbuster. This paper will focus on how Redbox entered the market through Disruptive Innovation and what Redbox needs to do to better position themselves in a volatile market place. I will also look at the mistakes Blockbuster made and offer solutions on how Redbox can avoid the organizational decline that Blockbuster experienced. I use Wall Street Journal and peer-reviewed academic journals for my references. To understand the full scope of how Redbox entered the market I will look at the Disruptive Innovation Theory. Disruptive Innovation Theory is a term that was coined by Clayton Christiansen. Clayton Christiansen is a professor at Harvard Business School. He has written a number of books on the subject. In an interview done by Smith, Christensen defines disruptive Innovation...
Words: 1988 - Pages: 8
...com has significantly expanded its product offering, international sites, and worldwide network of fulfillment and customer service centers. Today, Amazon.com offers everything, literally, from tennis rackets to live Maine lobsters to diamond jewelry, and operates sites for the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, and China (Joyo.com) In 2000, Amazon.com began to offer its best-of-breed e-commerce platform to other retailers and to individual sellers. Today, hundreds of thousands of world-class retail brands and individual sellers increase their sales and reach new customers by leveraging the power of the Amazon.com e-commerce platform. Through programs such as Marketplace, Advantage, and by working with Amazon.com subsidiary Amazon Services, sellers of all shapes and sizes offer their wide array of selection to Amazon.com customers by using various components of the e-commerce platform. Furthermore,...
Words: 4785 - Pages: 20
...The Strategic Framework Of Amazon Online Amazon.com Overview Amazon.com was one of the first major companies to sell goods over the Internet and has become a worldwide established name. Amazon.com is an American e-commerce company that is based in Washington. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and began as an online bookstore but due to its success, Amazon has diversified into other product lines and services such as groceries, electronics and Merchant Program (see Appendix 1 for detailed portfolio). Amazon. com’s stock price has fluctuated in recent years from $105 in 1999 to $5 in 2001 (Lauden and Traver, 2000). Amazon.com has developed separate websites for Canada, UK, Germany, France, China and Japan. Amazon.com vision is to become (Amazon.com, 2007): “Earth’s biggest selection and to be Earth’s most customer centric company.” Definition of Strategy An integrated set of actions aimed at increasing the long-term well-being and strength of the enterprise relative to competitors. strategic thinking: creative, entrepreneurial insight into the ways the enterprise could develop. Strategic planning: systematic, comprehensive analysis to develop a plan of action. Opportunistic decision making: effective reaction to unexpected threats and opportunities. Strategic management: having an effective combination of coherent planning, incisive thinking and astute opportunism. The Evolving Nature of Strategy and Strategic Planning in Organization: World War II: Formal strategic...
Words: 8304 - Pages: 34
...Copyright by Rajul Alam 2013 HIDDEN TEXT: Optional—If you do not include a copyright page, delete entire page and the following page break. HIDDEN TEXT: NOTE: this page in hard copy with all original signatures must be submitted with the dissertation to the Graduate School; this is required whether the document is in electronic format or on paper. Whereas, the page included in the electronic document will be unsigned unless it is scanned in. The Dissertation Committee for Rajul Alam Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation (or treatise): THE IMPACT OF USERS AND SUPPLIERS IN THE CLOUD COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY “THE QUESTION IS…. ARE WE ON TRACK TO EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION?” RAJUL ALAM SN: 1013999 rajul.alam.10@ucl.ac.uk Word Limit: 118 + 346 + 10,529 Committee: | ELAINE AXBY, Supervisor | “This dissertation is submitted as part requirement for the Information Management for Business programme at University College London. It is substantially the result of my own work except where explicitly indicated in the text.” “The dissertation may be freely copied and distributed provided the source is explicitly acknowledged.” The impact of users and suppliers in the cloud computing technology by Rajul Alam, MSi Information Management for Business HIDDEN TEXT: Given first name, and previous academic degrees (B.A. or higher) B.A., B.S., etc. Your official name is the name which appears on your UT transcript. MSIN9001:...
Words: 12543 - Pages: 51
