...began as a two-man partnership in a garage. It grew rapidly and, by 1985, became a large publicly traded corporation with 60 million shares of stock and a total market value in excess of $1 billion. At that time, the firm’s more visible cofounder, 30-year-old Steven Jobs, owned 7 million shares of Apple stock worth about $120 million. Despite his stake in the company and his role in its founding and success, Jobs was forced to relinquish operating responsibilities in 1985 when Apple’s financial performance turned sour, and he subsequently resigned altogether. Of course, you can’t keep a good entrepreneur down. Jobs formed Pixar Animation Studios, the company that is responsible for the animation in the hit movies Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2. Pixar went public in 1995, and, following an enthusiastic reception by the stock market, Jobs’s 80 percent stake was valued at about $1.1 billion. Finally, just to show that what goes around comes around, in 1997, Apple’s future was still in doubt, and the company, struggling for relevance in a “Wintel” world, decided to go the sequel route when it hired a new interim chief executive officer (CEO): Steven Jobs! How successful was he at his new (old) job? In January 2000, Apple’s board of directors granted Jobs stock options worth $200 million and threw in $90 million for the purchase and care of a Gulfstream V jet. Board member Edgar Woolard stated, “This guy has saved the company.” Understanding Jobs’s journey from garage-based...
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...very small with the goal of recreating animated movies. They didn’t grow by releasing mass amounts, but by proving their worth. Pixar received a deal to make 3 movies from Disney. One of those movies was “Toy Story”. One of the biggest hits of any animated movie ever, and is still seen in theaters and stores all over the world today. This set the pace for Pixar, quality not quantity. Pixar has a brand image right now of creating a product and the general assumption is that this product will be held in high regards. Pixar releases only about one movie a year, focusing its attention to the story and making sure to get it right. Pixar understands that in order to have a good story you need to have a good set of minds. To keep these minds working well, Pixar makes sure to take care of their employees and to drive motivation by positive reinforcement instead of fear. This is a big part of what separates Pixar from other companies. They are going to do it their way, their value chain, what they see important, in order to deliver to us the best product they can. The technological side of things is a big reason Pixar is even around, without the several millions of dollars that is spent to constantly be creating and improving their animation picture, it means nothing if the story isn’t right. The target audience for Pixar is a pretty wide spread crowd. These movies draw the attention of 5 year olds all the way to 80+ year olds. It is hard as a company to be able to serve such a wide...
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...Toy Story - analysis of the Jot case study Adrian Sims of BPP Professional Education provides some initial analysis of the pre-seen material for the TOPCIMA Part B – Case Study exams on February 28th and May 24th 2012. I’m writing this article in late December 2011 to help candidates prepare for the March and May 2012 T4 (TOPCIMA) exams based on the pre-seen material for Jot- toy case. Some previous T4 cases have lacked fun, but toys are fun. I’m sorry, but I decided to combine this article with quotes from the three Toy Story movies (Disney/Pixar). The Toy Story quotes are in italics, a bit contrived, and probably of no use for the exam. They made me smile and gave me (and you) an excuse to watch the Toy Story movies again. But my newspaper today rather kills the joyful mood. It has the headline ‘Sales boom may not save High Street big names: analysts predict failures within days’. It reports that the December sales boom has been insufficient and has left many stores with unsold stocks and unable to pay their outgoings. This has afflicted markets as diverse as camping equipment and lingerie. This brings us to the heart of the Jot pre-seen material. Jot makes toys and is part of an industry for which November and December sales are critical. It depends on retailers to sell its products, but retail in Europe is facing terrible times as a consequence of the recession caused by the sharp reductions in government spending and collapse of bank lending. It has a perilous cash flow...
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...Toy Story - analysis of the Jot case study Adrian Sims of BPP Professional Education provides some initial analysis of the pre-seen material for the TOPCIMA Part B – Case Study exams on February 28th and May 24th 2012. I’m writing this article in late December 2011 to help candidates prepare for the March and May 2012 T4 (TOPCIMA) exams based on the pre-seen material for Jot- toy case. Some previous T4 cases have lacked fun, but toys are fun. I’m sorry, but I decided to combine this article with quotes from the three Toy Story movies (Disney/Pixar). The Toy Story quotes are in italics, a bit contrived, and probably of no use for the exam. They made me smile and gave me (and you) an excuse to watch the Toy Story movies again. But my newspaper today rather kills the joyful mood. It has the headline ‘Sales boom may not save High Street big names: analysts predict failures within days’. It reports that the December sales boom has been insufficient and has left many stores with unsold stocks and unable to pay their outgoings. This has afflicted markets as diverse as camping equipment and lingerie. This brings us to the heart of the Jot pre-seen material. Jot makes toys and is part of an industry for which November and December sales are critical. It depends on retailers to sell its products, but retail in Europe is facing terrible times as a consequence of the recession caused by the sharp reductions in government spending and collapse of bank lending. It has a perilous cash flow...
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...Disney Movies are more than entertainment; they are a piece of pop culture that generations of children will remember forever. It all started in 1937 when Disney released its first feature length film, Snow White. To date, Disney has released more than 300 films. Each generation will have its own memory of their favorite Disney movies. For instance, any child born in the last 15 years will remember Toy Story. It was released in 1995 and followed by Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Disney really made an impact on kids with Toy Story. It was a wonderful story about a boy and the friendship between his two toys, a lovable, stuffed cowboy named Woody (voice by Tom Hanks), and an astronaut toy named Buzz Light-year (voice by Tim Allen). Today, Toy Story and the characters are a big part of Disneyland Amusement Parks. There are Toy Story rides that excite kids of all ages. It seems with every Disney movie launch there are mass toy sales and fast food restaurants selling “Happy Meals’ with Disney movie character toys. It is almost impossible to avoid the media and advertising explosion after a Disney movie release. What is nice about Disney movies is that parents can feel good about their kids watching them because Disney represents “wholesome.” A parent can be assured that the content of the movie will be age appropriate for their child. Disney movies are an icon in American pop culture. What Disney movie do you remember the...
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...SOCIETAL ENVIRONMENT Sequel Installment Although Pixar Animation Studios have resisted the temptation in making instalments among their films, producers have failed to live up to their stand. Toy Story, the ground breaking, blockbuster animated film launched in 1995, took nearly four years to finally have its sequel, the Toy Story 2 in 1999. Eleven years after the second instalment, Toy Story launched its third film in the series, the Toy Story 3 in 2010. All three sequels have made it to the lime light as one of the top grossing films in the history of animated films. Aside from the Toy Story movies, Disney-Pixar have also produced a number of successful installment movies like Cars, Monsters Inc., and the upcoming sequel of Finding Nemo (Finding Dory). In the course of time, film instalments have been an indication of opportunity to the animation company. More installments, means another profit generating loop for Pixar and an opportunity of growth to the company’s brand awareness to the general audience. Genre Variations & Character Diversity Pixar have been the Holy Grail of computer generated imagery films, and since its commencement in 1975, it has been known to produce quality child and family oriented pictures. Movies like Wall E, Toy Story, Cars, Ratatouille, and other films have been positioned to distinct male characters. In the film industry, variations in genres and diversity in character creation are crucial to maintain interest among audiences...
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...● Pixar relies heavily on intrinsic motivation to motivate and inspire its employees, which is particularly important given the poor measurability of success before the film is released. It achieves high levels of intrinsic motivation through: ○ Meaningfulness – Skill variety is increased through Pixar University. By allowing staff to participate in the production discussions, it leads to task identity of their contribution to the whole project. ○ Responsibility – Autonomy is high: Incubation teams are responsible for operational decisions, while the “brain trust” only gives suggestions. Decentralization achieves increased individual autonomy, responsiveness to changing situations, and variety of ideas. ○ Knowledge of Results – Pixar uses post mortems and dailies to encourage feedback. ● Team and system are equally emphasized; Catmull emphasizes selecting smart people who provide good cognitive diversity and innovation to satisfy customer expectations of seeing something new every time they go to the theater. At the same time, Catmull emphasizes providing a system that gives them enormous leeway and support by providing honest feedback from everyone. ● Management sets ambitious goals and encourages employees to achieve them by taking appropriate risks. They design an environment conducive to risk taking, by employing systems and processes (e.g., sharing of unfinished ideas, emailing critiques) that yield a safe environment for employees to experiment with their ideas. Suggestions: ...
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...Every American student learns in school the patriotic accounts that formed this country. Although these stories reflect real events, the truth has been stretched in some of the more famous tales. The most famous patriotic stories all contain common myths the American public believes. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross’ design of the American flag, and Paul Revere’s midnight ride all contain factual inaccuracies or exaggerations. When learning American history, students typically believe that all fifty-six delegates at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Americans celebrate this date as Independence Day. The actual date, however, that America declared independence from England was July 2, 1776. The next couple days were spent going over the original draft written by Thomas Jefferson. The confusion of the two dates is because...
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...Volvo since late 2008 to focus its resources on managing its core Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. The sale deal is expected to free up cash for the No 2 US automaker. Geely, an independent automaker that has struggled to raise its profile in overseas markets, has long coveted a stronger foothold in Europe. [Full Story] Upside for Geely | Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Li Shufu hugs Ford's Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth after signing the agreement on Sunday. [Xinhua] | Geely to get technology, brand recognition The acquisition will offer Geely, a producer with lower-end image, access to a high-end brand and technology it needs to compete with much bigger rivals in China. [Full Story] Volvo deal to help Geely's going-global ambition At a time when the world auto industry was experiencing huge difficulties caused by the global downturn, Geely's aim, as it said on the company website -- "let Geely cars go to the whole world", seemed very ambition. [Full Story] Li consummates his love of Volvo Firstly, buying Volvo will give China-made cars an access to the world auto market; Secondly, it is of great strategic significance to enhance the image of a Chinese independent brand and enable China-made cars to have a share in the global stage; Thirdly, it will benefit domestic consumers. [Full Story] Downside for Geely | The new Volvo S60 car is unveiled by Volvo Car Corp President & CEO Stephen Odell on the...
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...listeners’ feedback channel (FM Radio fan page) to know the actual market situation, attitudes and behaviours towards the music and benefits delivered by them. The results were combined with demographic, geographic and psychographic information. But the major area that deserved highest concentration is demographic. This marketing plan has been strived for finding out the target market’s psychographic needs and trying to bridge them with the conceptual flavour offered by Boka Night. Title of the program: Grameenphone Boka Night Program synopsis: In accordance with the proposal, this will be a talk-show with sequential musical playback in which people with distinct run of society are going to have the floor to share their meanings (Story, Lyric, Song and Poem) under a similar hood (Boka). The show will deal with the outcome of their crude socio-material life through certain timelines (Cosmic irony) when they feel themselves reluctant to measure facts conventionally. The show will showcase their realization, dreams in a different language. Program flavour: The program will be anchored by two imaginary characters...
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...------------------------------------------------- The Littlest Hitler This is an essay of the story The Littles Hitler, and here it goes. Mocking is definitely the main theme in this story, as the girls keep going on at Davy, and then Lissette starts passing a paper around that people are signing under that they are on Anne Frank’s side. Guilt comes up as second theme for me, because as he steps into the bus everything, his comstume caused a lot of ruckus, even though there wasn’t a single jew in the bus, people were looking at him with grim expressions. Another third theme is love, as Dary feels sorry for the Freidlanders’ kid and wants to give them his candy, but in the end doesn’t. Davy is the kind of kid that probably doesn’t have an awful loads of friends and in the school is quite quiet. I think that he is a bit shy, because of as the teacher asks him who Hitler was, he answers fast and short, compared to Lisette which gives a long explaination of who she is dressed out as is. That often indicates of insecureness of person. After been mocked for wearing a Hitler outfit for Halloween, he immediately tells his dad, and the dad was shocked over the reaction of his classmates. They go out for buying a new costume, so he is very insecure with his old choice of outfit. Davy is anice kid that feels sorry for other, even though he dressed out as Hitler in the first place, he still feels sorry for the jews that were not allowed to go trick-or-treating, or maybe because he...
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...bored with them, he painted them as frightening creatures. Picasso was not out to destroy the women he loved. Painting was Picassos way of expressing himself and letting things go, just as a person might do by writing in a diary. It was his way of expressing his feelings. Picasso did not paint these portraits with the intention of them going up on museum walls. He sold them because he had to make a living. Picasso’s paintings had meaning even though nobody ever really understood them. His portraits and paintings were abstract and had a meaning to him. Even though he never intended for these pictures to be in museums, they were. Picasso became a very successful and famous artist over the years. Howling Wolf’s Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge Howling...
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...ENC 1102 Professor V Minchener Student Jose Guillermo Macias Date 2/19/2013 Essay # 3 Gooseberries 1. How does the rainy weather of “Gooseberries” affect the story? Does it set a mood? Does affect the action of theme of the story? Does it do anything to change the story? The Gooseberries, it is an entertained story to read. It is packed with details and lot of information in reference to the environment, characters and themes of the story. After reading the story and amused myself, I was able to determine that the rain is not a relevant or main factor in the story. The story tells the reader about the trip of two friends Ivan and Burkin were doing, where rain was present; also, it tells us about a friend of Ivan and Burking named Alekhin, who is where Ivan and Burkin found shelter in the middle of that rainy day. The rain plays a passive roll throughout the story but it does contribute to it. This story begins with two friends Ivan and Burkin doing a trip; where based on the great details given by the author we have the privilege of pictured the wet and rough environment they were going through. At the beginning it describes how cloudy and dark the sky was. The story states that both kept on thinking when the rain was going to come. It also gives as an idea on how long they were walking since the story tell us that they walked until they were very tired; in addition the author describes to us the way how the dogs were wet and also the amount of mud these...
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...Forum 2 Case Study Introduction Relationships in business are extremely important. Most successful businesses are built on this concept. Unfortunately, there are times when what is best for the business is not best for the relationship. Employees are fired, leadership is changed, and jobs are outsourced. Difficult decisions are just part of business. The relationship between the Scuppernongs grape company and Don’s store began slowly at first, and then developed into a steady exchange of business. Don, without mentioning anything to the Scuppernongs grape company owner, had his minor son sign a contract that included a guaranteed price schedule. This is when the relationship was officially damaged. Scuppernongs grape company now has a contract offer to be exclusive with a company in Connecticut. When the Scuppernongs grape company owner contacted Don, he informed him of the contract and that he intended to hold the Scuppernongs grape company to the terms detailed. Due in part to the contract being invalid as it was signed by a minor who also was not an authorized legal representative of the company, the Scuppernongs grape company should accept the contract offer from Connecticut. Minor’s capacity to contract The Scuppernongs grape company owner’s son was working part-time as a delivery driver and was minor at the time Don had him sign a contract as a representative of his father’s company. Don did this without the knowledge of the minor’s father...
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...learn when it comes to both defending and going forward. Moreno, another young full back at 22, looks good going forward, with a lot of pace and power shown especially with his goal in the 4-0 beating of Spurs at White Hart Lane, however at 22 he can still improve defensively, but with the reds splashing out £12 million from Sevilla on the Spaniard, he really needs to step up, along with the rest of the back four. Midfielders Rodgers brought in three midfielders. These were Emre Can, a central midfielder, Adam Lallana, who can play on the right of midfield or in the number 10 role, and Lazar Markovic who is a winger. The next signing we will come to is Emre Can, a young 20 year old German defensive midfielder. Liverpool paid £10 million to Bayer Leverkusen for Can. Can hasn’t set the world alight with his performances so far but he is yet another signing who could be put in the, ‘has potential’, bracket. He recently scored his first goal against the league leaders. Chelsea and looks to be improving and learning all the time. The most...
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