The Madding Crowd Essay Example for Free

The Madding Crowd Essay One of the great strengths of ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’ is Hardy’s contrasting portrayals of Gabriel Oak and Sergeant Frank Troy. Discuss this observation on the novel’ Perhaps the greatest strength of Hardy’s novels is the excellent portrayals of his main characters. There are, however, many other strengths in ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’. For example, there are many descriptions of scenery that punctuate the action in the novel. These show Hardy’s skill as a writer by painting the scene so clearly in the reader’s mind that the characters can really flourish against their backdrop. The themes of love, persistence and nature permeate the novel and give it depth, even when the plot slows down. The greatest strength, then, is likely to fall to the characters who drive both the plot and the action. Two of these characters, Oak and Troy, fall in love with Bathsheba Everdene and soon find themselves competing for her hand in marriage. The portrayal of the differences between the characters is clearly an example of Hardy’s strongest work in the novel. Gabriel Oak is a simple man who is very clear on who he is. Whilst Oak is shy, he is also honest and always tells the truth. Oak is described by Bathsheba as ‘honest and true’ and he often tells her how he feels, ‘I love you far more than common’. He doesn’t have the words and the education to express himself properly to Bathsheba, but he is steadfast, keeping to his bottom line, making Bathsheba happy. Oak is unlucky in love and in life. He fails time and time again to get Bathsheba to marry him, and when he loses his livelihood she is his first, unselfish thought: ‘â€Å"thank God I’m not married: what would she have done in the poverty now coming upon me! †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This shows that Oak puts other people first and is optimistic. He does not focus on the loss of his money and his farm, but on the good fortune that Bathsheba had not married him. It takes a strong personality to think in this way. Oak is described as a â€Å"young man of sound judgment†¦and general good character† very early on in the novel. He makes his intentions clear with regard to marrying Bathsheba within a few days of meeting her, and proposes a simple life to her, which reflects his own simplicity and honesty. He says: And at home by the fire, whenever you look up there I shall be— and whenever I look up, there will be you†, asking her in simple terms to accept him and love him always for who he is. Oak is very modest: ‘I was never very clever on my inside’ but he shines underneath his dull extremities, taking charge in the fire and saving Bathsheba’s farm, and again in the storm. The author Jane Bailey says that: â€Å"Gabriel is the only character to really master the forces of nature†. I agree with her in this statement because the other characters don’t deal with the problems nature gives them as well as Gabriel. In the storm, Gabriel knows the rain is coming because of the formation of the sheep, he manages to cover the bales of hay alone, and he is able to save the farm. Boldwood doesn’t get his hay covered and he loses his harvest; Troy gets drunk in the warmth of the barn. This shows that Gabriel has control over Hardy’s main theme, nature. He is a natural leader, but he prefers to sink into the world of the rustics where he feels he fits in. Oak is a kind man, taking pity on a stranger in the night and giving her a shilling, which would have been a significant sum of money. The stranger turns out to be Fanny, and he helps her a second time in death, rubbing out ‘and child’ on her coffin, although it can be debated as to whether Oak did this out of kindness to Fanny or to Bathsheba. Oak is very self-sacrificial, giving everything to Bathsheba, and telling her: â€Å"I love you and I shall love you always†. He does not change much over the course of the novel, showing how good Hardy believed him to be in the first place. Oak is not, however, a puritan. He drinks with the rustics and criticises Troy and Boldwood, who are both his class superiors. Oak is determined and Hardy rewards him in the end with a happy marriage to Bathsheba, proving, in Hardy’s mind, that perseverance pays off. Even in Oak’s steadfast protection of Bathsheba, he is never faulted. He leaves quietly when she dismisses him and comes back to save her when she needs him. Even his first name, Gabriel, signifies his long-standing protection over Bathsheba- Gabriel is an Archangel, a protector of humans so his name is very apt. From Oak’s actions and from Hardy’s descriptions of him, we can tell that Oak is a kind hearted, ideal man who loves Bathsheba more than Troy or even Boldwood could imagine.

Theory of Competitive Advantage Value Chain Analysis

Theory of Competitive Advantage Value Chain Analysis The initial theory regarding relative advantages was related to comparative advantages of regions or nations. It included land, location, labor, natural resources and local population size. But it is not true always as rise of some the most advanced industrial nations have proved that the above factors have less influence in their course of development. For example, Japan had disadvantage regarding availability of raw materials, abundant space and even access to other lands. But still the Japanese companies have prospered and rose to be among the best in the world. Again Japan also has disadvantage in terms of population size available. But that could not stop Japan from being a leader in business. Also economic hardship can really fuel growth in a nation. It has been seen both in case if both Japan and Germany. Both these nations were under severe economic trouble after World War II, but still they grew to be industry major countries in the world. The reason for such behavior of nations or organizations in particular can be understood from The theory of competitive advantage which says that there are other critical factors that determine the industry leadership. As per Michael Porter, the renowned Harvard business school professor sustainable industrial growth is hardly dependent on the above inherited factors. But it depends on groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in certain locations and termed them as clusters. These clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field. They grow on locations where enough resources and competences amass and reach a critical threshold, giving it a key position in a given economic branch of activity, with a decisive sustainable competitive advantage over others places, or even a world supremacy in that field. Porter says clusters can influence competition in three ways: They can increase the productivity of the companies in the cluster. They can drive innovation in the field. They can stimulate new businesses in the field. The competitive advantage of any industry or organization is determined by five forces of Porter. These five forces help the managers to focus on competitive forces that prevail in the industry and the possible threats to their organizations. Diagrammatic view of Porters five forces These are: Existing competitive rivalry among organizations in industry: The more that companies compete against one another for customers, ex- by lowering the prices of their products or by increasing advertising the lower is the level of industry profits. So this is a threat to the companies. Hence in order to sustain the companies may come up with new strategies and innovations in their technologies as well as business processes. Thus competition fuels growth in the industry as well as leads to innovations. Threat of new market entrants: The easier it is for companies to enter the industry, because for ex- barriers to entry, such as brand loyalty are low, more the likely it is for industry prices and hence the industry profits to be low. In the wake of such a situation the companies might go for further innovations or even differentiations in their products or businesses. Thus it helps in the evolution process of the companies. Bargaining power of buyers: It depends on the size of the customers. The bargaining powers of the customers come if they are large in size. So they can bargain to drive down the price of that output. As a result the industry producers might encounter low profits. So the bargaining power of buyers also decides the competitive advantage of the industry. Power of suppliers: The suppliers also have important role in deciding the competitive advantage of firms. If there are only few large suppliers of an important input, then suppliers can drive up the price of that input and expensive inputs result in lower profits for profits for companies in an industry. Threat of substitute products (including technology change): Often the output of one industry is a substitute for the output of another industry. Ex- plastic may be substitute for steel in some industry. When this type of substitutes exists in the industry companies cannot demand very high prices for it or customers will switch to the substitute and this constraint keeps their profits low. Again the above all factors lead the managers to take decisions in four business level strategies to gain competitive advantage. These are: Low cost strategy: It is the strategy where the company focuses all its energies to lower its costs in all the departments. As a result it can sell its products in lower costs than its rivals. Here though the companies are selling the products at low prices but since the production costs are low the company still makes profits. Ex- BIC competes Gillette with this strategy in razor blade industry. Focused low cost strategy: In such a strategy managers focus to serve only a segment of overall market and tries to be lowest cost organization in that segment. Differentiation strategy: It is the strategy where organizations products can be distinguished from the products of other organizations on factors like product design, quality, service, or after sales service. Here the process of differentiation may be unique and expensive. Coca cola, PepsiCo, PG practice such strategies. Focused differentiation strategy: it is the strategy that tries to serve only one segment of the overall market and aims to be the most differentiated organization serving that segment. For ex, BMW focuses on this strategy. The theory of competitive advantage can be also easily extended to the position of various nations. Here four factors have taken into consideration to nalayze the competitive position of the nations. Germany and Japan are most apt examples of such a competitive advantage. These are discussed as follows: Four factors for competitive advantage: The strategy, structure and rivalry of firms: As there is high competition among the firms, this competitive environment leads the firms to work harder for increase in productivity and innovation. The Japanese companies are cooperative at certain levels but they are also fiercely competitive. Thus it is the strategy and structure and rivalry of the firms that gives rise to excellence to the firms in terms of efficiency. Demand conditions: If the firms face challenging and demanding customers then they constantly face pressure to improve their competiveness by innovative products, high quality etc. Related supporting industry: A company prospers when supporting companies are located in the same area. Presence of supporting companies in the vicinity gives the firm added advantage in terms of gaining technological support and expertise. Factor conditions: Specialized factors of production are skilled labor, capital and infrastructure. Non-key factors or general use factors, such as unskilled labor and raw materials, can be obtained by any company and, hence, do not generate sustained competitive advantage. However, specialized factors involve heavy, sustained investment. They are more difficult to duplicate. This creates a competitive advantage, because if other firms cannot easily duplicate these factors, they are valuable. VALUE CHAIN Value Chain is a model that helps to analyze specific activities through which firms can create value and competitive advantage. A value chain is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. The business unit is the appropriate level for construction of a value chain, not the divisional level or corporate level. Products pass through all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of the independent activitys value. It is important not to mix the concept of the value chain with the costs occurring throughout the activities. A diamond cutter, as a profession, can be used to illustrate the difference of cost and the value chain. The cutting activity may have a low cost, but the activity adds much of the value to the end product, since a rough diamond is significantly less valuable than a cut diamond.Value Chain framework model Value Chain Model of Porter THE ACTIVITIES OF THE VALUE CHAIN Primary activities (line functions) Inbound Logistics. Includes receiving, storing, inventory control, transportation planning. Operations. Includes machining, packaging, assembly, equipment maintenance, testing and all other value-creating activities that transform the inputs into the final product. Outbound Logistics. The activities required to get the finished product at the customers: warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation, distribution management. Marketing and Sales. The activities associated with getting buyers to purchase the product, including: channel selection, advertising, promotion, selling, pricing, retail management, etc. Service. The activities that maintain and enhance the products value, including: customer support, repair services, installation, training, spare parts management, upgrading, etc. Support activities (Staff functions, overhead) Procurement. Procurement of raw materials, servicing, spare parts, buildings, machines, etc. Technology Development. Includes technology development to support the value chain activities. Such as: Research and Development, Process automation, design, redesign. Human Resource Management. The activities associated with recruiting, development (education), retention and compensation of employees and managers. Firm Infrastructure. Includes general management, planning management, legal, finance, accounting, public affairs, quality management, etc. A COST ADVANTAGE BASED ON THE VALUE CHAIN A firm may create a cost advantage: by reducing the cost of individual value chain activities, or by reconfiguring the value chain. Note that a cost advantage can be created by reducing the costs of the primary activities, but also by reducing the costs of the support activities. Recently there have been many companies that achieved a cost advantage by the clever use of Information Technology. Once the value chain has been defined, a cost analysis can be performed by assigning costs to the value chain activities. Porter identified 10 cost drivers related to value chain activities: Economies of scale. Learning. Capacity utilization. Linkages among activities. Interrelationships among business units. Degree of vertical integration. Timing of market entry. Firms policy of cost or differentiation. Geographic location. Institutional factors (regulation, union activity, taxes, etc.). A firm develops a cost advantage by controlling these drivers better than its competitors do. A cost advantage also can be pursued by Reconfiguring the value chain. Reconfiguration means structural changes such as: a new production process, new distribution channels, or a different sales approach. DIFFERENTIATION AND VALUE CHAIN A differentiation advantage can arise from any part of the value chain. For example, procurement of inputs that are unique and not widely available to competitors can create differentiation, as can distribution channels that offer high service levels. Differentiation stems from uniqueness. A differentiation advantage may be achieved either by changing individual value chain activities to increase uniqueness in the final product or by reconfiguring the value chain. Porter identified several drivers of uniqueness: Policies and decisions Linkages among activities Timing Location Interrelationships Learning Integration Scale (e.g. better service as a result of large scale) Institutional factors Many of these also serve as cost drivers. Differentiation often results in greater costs, resulting in tradeoffs between cost and differentiation. There are several ways in which a firm can reconfigure its value chain in order to create uniqueness. It can forward integrate in order to perform functions that once were performed by its customers. It can backward integrate in order to have more control over its inputs. It may implement new process technologies or utilize new distribution channels. Ultimately, the firm may need to be creative in order to develop a novel value chain configuration that increases product differentiation. TECHNOLOGY AND VALUE CHAIN Because technology is employed to some degree in every value creating activity, changes in technology can impact competitive advantage by incrementally changing the activities themselves or by making possible new configurations of the value chain. Various technologies are used in both primary value activities and support activities: Inbound Logistics Technologies Transportation Material handling Material storage Communications Testing Information systems Operations Technologies Process Materials Machine tools Material handling Packaging Maintenance Testing Building design operation Information systems Outbound Logistics Technologies Transportation Material handling Packaging Communications Information systems Marketing Sales Technologies Media Audio/video Communications Information systems Service Technologies Testing Communications Information systems Note that many of these technologies are used across the value chain. For example, information systems are seen in every activity. Similar technologies are used in support activities. In addition, technologies related to training, computer-aided design, and software development frequently are employed in support activities. To the extent that these technologies affect cost drivers or uniqueness, they can lead to a competitive advantage. LINKAGES BETWEEN VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES Value chain activities are not isolated from one another. Rather, one value chain activity often affects the cost or performance of other ones. Linkages may exist between primary activities and also between primary and support activities. Consider the case in which the design of a product is changed in order to reduce manufacturing costs. Suppose that inadvertently the new product design results in increased service costs; the cost reduction could be less than anticipated and even worse, there could be a net cost increase. Sometimes however, the firm may be able to reduce cost in one activity and consequently enjoy a cost reduction in another, such as when a design change simultaneously reduces manufacturing costs and improves reliability so that the service costs also are reduced. Through such improvements the firm has the potential to develop a competitive advantage. ANALYZING BUSINESS UNIT INTERRELATIONSHIPS Interrelationships among business units form the basis for a horizontal strategy. Such business unit interrelationships can be identified by a value chain analysis. Tangible interrelationships offer direct opportunities to create a synergy among business units. For example, if multiple business units require a particular raw material, the procurement of that material can be shared among the business units. This sharing of the procurement activity can result in cost reduction. Such interrelationships may exist simultaneously in multiple value chain activities. Unfortunately, attempts to achieve synergy from the interrelationships among different business units often fall short of expectations due to unanticipated drawbacks. The cost of coordination, the cost of reduced flexibility, and organizational practicalities should be analyzed when devising a strategy to reap the benefits of the synergies. OUTSOURCING VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES A firm may specialize in one or more value chain activities and outsource the rest. The extent to which a firm performs upstream and downstream activities is described by its degree of vertical integration. A thorough value chain analysis can illuminate the business system to facilitate outsourcing decisions. To decide which activities to outsource, managers must understand the firms strengths and weaknesses in each activity, both in terms of cost and ability to differentiate. Managers may consider the following when selecting activities to outsource: Whether the activity can be performed cheaper or better by suppliers. Whether the activity is one of the firms core competencies from which stems a cost advantage or product differentiation? The risk of performing the activity in-house. If the activity relies on fast-changing technology or the product is sold in a rapidly-changing market, it may be advantageous to outsource the activity in order to maintain flexibility and avoid the risk of investing in specialized assets. Whether the outsourcing of an activity can result in business process improvements such as reduced lead time, higher flexibility, reduced inventory, etc. Thus we can see that every aspect of an organization can be rightly explained in light of value chain analysis to judge the competitive position of the organization. Normally, the Value Chain of a company is connected to other Value Chains and is part of a larger Value Chain. Hence, developing a competitive advantage depends on how efficiently we can analyze and manage the entire Value Chain.

Death Penalty Essay -- Capital Punishment Judicial Essays Papers

The Death Penalty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Death Penalty can be considered one of the most debated issues in the United States. The death penalty is a judicially ordered execution of a prisoner for a serious crime, often called a capital crime (Capital). There are many people that oppose the death penalty and then there are many people who are for the death penalty. People who oppose the death penalty feel that it is not humane or it might be too expensive. The people who are for the death penalty feel that it gives a chance for individuals to be accused for their wrong acts. Most convicted murderers face the possibility of execution. The nature of the case is what decides whether or not the convict qualifies for the death penalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People who oppose the death penalty take the side that is too much money. They feel that it is far more expensive to execute the convict than keeping them in prison. In Texas, the cost of each execution case is roughly three times greater than detaining an inmate for forty years with the tightest security. Other states have similar statistics on how the death penalty is more expensive than imprisonment. One poll, "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions" states that the cost of capital trials from 1982-1997 was $1.6 billion (Costs). Part of the taxpayers money goes to the cost of executing a criminal. Many feel that the money can be used for education or medicare. Also, many people opposing the death penalty feel that many convicts are inn...

A Look Into the Human Genome Project :: Science Technology Genetics Papers

A Look Into the Human Genome Project Would people buy a set of books that repeated the same four letters in random order page after page? Or would this information be more convenient to the public if on a computer disc? Many people would agree with the idea that this set of books would be boring. Surprisingly, America and the rest of the world are buying the information in this set of books. In fact, these books contain the human genome. The mapping of the genome (or writing this set of books) is a 15-year project that has brought many ethical issues to attention. History of the Human Genome Project The United States Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health joined forces in 1990 to kick off a 15-year effort to reach two goals: Catalog the genes in human DNA Determine the three billion bases (the four letters in the set of books) in human DNA that encode for genes (U.S. Dept. of Energy 1998). On the international level, the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) was founded. Their goal is to encourage trading of research findings and techniques (National Reference Center 1998). From the national standpoint it brings back memories of The Manhattan Project. Internationally, this cooperation is unprecedented (Shinn 1996). Before the organization of the Human Genome Project, the Department of Energy had biologists and physicists studying the Hiroshima survivors. From this data a GenBank was made. This was the first database for DNA sequences (Gert, et al. 1996). Watson, who won the Nobel prize for his discovery of the double helix, was appointed as the first director of the Human Genome Project. He appropriated three percent of his budget to ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) involved with the project (Shinn 1996). Even from the beginning it was anticipated that this project could have both positive and negative outcomes. One goal to be reached after five years was to have markers every ten centimorgans (Gert, et al. 1996). This goal was stated in 1991 and achieved in 1994 - a year ahead of schedule - when a map with markers every two to five centimorgans was published (Casey, et al. 1995). Sequencing would then follow with a focus on areas of disease and in reducing human error. The main goal for the next five years would be markers every one centimorgan (Gert, et al. 1996). Technical Aspects Ideally, the final map will have both physical and genetic information.

Ghost Story of Santa Fe Ghost Trail Essay -- Ghost Stories Urban Lege

Santa Fe Ghost Trail As I sat down with the narrator in his dorm on a Sunday afternoon—not the most appropriate time for ghost stories—he told me this well known ghost story from New Mexico. The storyteller is an 18-year-old male freshman majoring in international relations who is from Bethesda, Maryland. He is biracial with an American father and a Taiwanese mother. Born in California and raised in Colorado, the storyteller is a converted Christian. The teller was in the Boy Scouts, which is where this story comes from: There’s this really small highway town in New Mexico called Cimarron, and it’s small now but in the late 19th century it was a bustling crossroads for all sorts of people – gold speculators, ranchers, oilmen, and especially those vagrant characters, like Billy the Kid, seeking refuge from whatever lawman was on his tail. In Cimarron is this hotel, the Santa Fe Hotel, and they say that this place is the most haunted hotel still in operation, in the west. The lights flicker on and off, and people, visitors just say they encounter really weird things – like if you go in this one room, you might see a woman out of the corner of your eye, sitting on the windowsill and looking out for someone. And when you turn to face her, she disappears, but all of a sudden you smell a subtle waft of strawberry-scented perfume. Weird – yet you still not sure if this is true? Sounds sketchy, I know. Oh – I should say this hotel is haunted because 23 people have b een shot to death in the hotel, either from a bar-fight or card-game or something. Well I went to stay at the hotel for a night, before I headed on to a nearby Boy Scout camp. I went with my troop, and we all got our own rooms. Guess what room I got – the strawbe... ... he brought it back with his great emphasis and repetition of certain words. For example, he repeatedly imitated the clicking sounds that he experienced. This reenactment drew the attention of the audience and placed the audience in the hotel room that he was sleeping in, therefore made the story scarier. Also, the storyteller narrated in the first person. Because his personal experience was incorporated into the story, it made the story seem closer to the audience. An interesting aspect of the story is that it incorporates an actual location and history into a ghost story: it is intriguing because the mysterious events occur in an accessible place that people can go and visit. Works Cited â€Å"Santa Fe hotel echoes with legends.† CNN news. Oct 12, 2004. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=475&item=2278226756&rd=1 (Oct 16, 2004).

Google Strategy Plan

Abstract Google is the most recognized search engine on the internet in the world. They are a global technology company focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s revenue primarily comes from delivering online advertising. Google’s is focused on areas such as search, advertising, operating systems and platforms and enterprise. AdWords is Google program used by businesses to promote their products and services with targeted advertising. Also, third parties that make up the Google Network use another Google program, AdSense, to deliver relevant advertisements that generate revenue (Lennihan, 2012).As Google has grown, they have added several new services for its users. Some make Web searches more efficient and relevant, while others seem to have little in common with search engines. The many services have entered Google into direct competition with other companies (Strickland, 2012). Google has expanded their company beyond just search and adv ertising and are looking for new ways technology can expand their business. They want to be technological innovators that people want to work for to be the leader in technology research and development.The Google culture encourages their people to explore new ideas that may lead to a breakthrough not yet discovered. The Global Strategy Plan covers from where Google first started by two Stanford PhD students back in 1998 into what it is today, a multi-billion dollar corporation that strives to be the leader in technology. They are continuously looking for ways to improve the search for users and the speed and information they receive. Google is a technology leader and continue to expand into more technology fields. GoogleGoogle provides a variety of tools to help businesses of all kinds succeed on and off the web (Google Company, 2012). They are a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Innovations in web search and advertising have mad e Google’s web site a top internet property and their brand one of the most recognized in the world (Grant, 2010, p. 350). Google’s advertising programs, with range from simple text ads to rick media ads, help businesses find customers, and help publishers make money off of their content.They also provide cloud computing tools for businesses that save money and help organizations become more productive (Google Company, 2012). Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful (Grant, 2010, p. 350). Firm Analysis Google Inc. was established in September 1998 in a friend’s garage in Menlo Park, California by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PhD students at Stanford University. In January 1996, Page’s search for a dissertation topic led him to examine the linkage structure of the World Wide Web.Page and Brin developed a page-ranking algorithm that used backlink data (references by a Web page to othe r Web pages) to measure the importance of any Web page. They called their search engine â€Å"Google† and on September 15, 1997 registered the domain name google. com. They incorporated Google Inc. and Google’s â€Å"Page Rank† algorithm was granted a patent on September 4, 2001 (Grant, 2010, p. 340). The Google search engine attracted a rapidly growing following because of its superior page ranking and its simple design.In 2000, Google began selling advertisements – paid web links associated with search keywords. After 2000, Google experienced explosive growth and was boosted in May 2002 by AOLs decision to adopt Google’s search engine and its paid listings service (Grant, 2010, p. 341). Page and Brin’s initial funding for Google was a $100,000 contribution from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. In June 1999, larger funding was obtained from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. On Augu st 19, 2004 an initial public offering of about 7% of Google’s shares raised $1. 7 billion, giving Google a market capitalization of $23 billion, which fueled even more rapid development of its business (Grant, 2010, p. 341). Google is best known for their search engine on the internet, but they have been acquiring, on average, more than one company per week since 2010 (Wikipedia, 2012). Two of the major purchases made by Google have been YouTube on October 9, 2006 and Motorola Mobility on August 15, 2011 (Wikipedia, 2012). They have also purchased various other companies to build on their search engine, help improve their website and their advertisement business.Google’s quest to meet the information needs of society caused it to continually seek opportunities for accessing new information and provide it through additional media channels. Google’s quest to provide accessibility to the world’s information had taken it into new communication media (notably wireless telephony, but also radio, TV and video games) and sources of information beyond third-party web sites. These new sources of information included images, maps, academic articles, books, satellite imagery, news, patents, video, finance, and Web logs (Grant, 2010, p. 343-344). Google purchased YouTube in October 2006 for $1. 5 billion. Many writers thought since Google made a majority of its revenue from advertising, it would profit from placing video ads next to the 100 million video streams that YouTube claims users view there each month. Google, instead, kept YouTube as an independent company. Google was attempting to break into TV and radio advertising and testing the waters on the internet with YouTube seemed like a good idea that would be a cheap alternative to actually placing ads on TV. At the time of the purchase, TV advertising was the biggest ad market of all totaling $61 billion in the U. S. ompared to the Net’s $8 billion. Google executives confirmed the company bought YouTube, in part, to better position itself for getting into the business of selling traditional television advertising (Kirkpatrick, 2006). The purchase of Motorola Mobility – the spun-off phone-making wing of the original Motorola, cost Google $12. 5 billion, which is about a third of their cash reserves, as of when the purchase was made. The most obvious reason the deal was made was to give Google access to Motorola’s ability to manufacture hardware in massive numbers, something Google is painfully naive about.Google now gets access to Motorola’s design and engineering process, and this will allow it to carefully tailor both future smartphone hardware and its own Android OS software together. Making phones in-house means a Google Droid phone will likely have better battery life, slicker performance, greater reliability and fewer bugs, which is exactly what Google needed to rival Apple, with its iron-fist control over seamless integration of sof tware into custom-crafted hardware.Also, Motorola is already so huge, and long-established, it has extensive and very strong links to manufacturing partners around the world. Those relationships are now owned by Google, which means it can hone and refine them to meet future Android phone and tablet needs, which puts Google in the hardware business (Eaton, 2011). Google’s growth and capacity for innovation rested upon a management system that was unique, even by the unorthodox standards of Silicon Valley.Gary Hamel identified in the book, The Future of Management, several key features of the management system built by founders Larry Page (President of Products) and Sergey Brin (President of Technology), and their â€Å"adult supervisor† Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO): their hiring policy, a dramatically flat, radically decentralized organization, small, self-managing teams and rapid, low-cost experimentation. The result was a constant impetus towards creativity, innova tion and entrepreneurial initiative. Google is organized around the ability to attract and leverage the talent of exceptional technologists and business people (Grant, 2010, p. 45-346). Google keeps lines of communication open between the top people in the organization and the workers, referred to as Googlers. This open communication allows the workers to question the decision-makers about the happenings in the company and gives them a sense of ownership of the products. Google AdWords and AdSense is a pair of Web advertising services that generate revenue. AdWords allows advertisers to submit ads to Google that include a list of keywords relating to the product, service or business. When a Google user searches the Web with one of the keywords, the ad appears on the sidebar.Google gets paid by the advertiser every time the user clicks on the ad. AdSense is similar, except instead of displaying ads on the sidebar, a webmaster can choose to integrate ads into their own site. Every tim e someone clicks on an ad on the webmaster’s site, the webmaster receives a portion of the ad revenue (Google gets the rest). With both AdWords and AdSense, Google’s strategy is to provide targeted advertising to users (Strickland, 2012). In 2011, 96% of Google’s $37. 9 billion in revenue comes from advertising (Miller, 2012).Google’s International Markets is one of the most used search engines in the world, offered in approximately 144 countries. The search engine holds around a 60% market share in the world’s search engine requests. Google holds a 10% higher market share in Europe than in the U. S. Google, Inc. has approximately twenty American based offices, thirteen offices in the Asia – Pacific region, twenty-six in Europe, three in Canada, three in Latin America and five in the Middle East. Sergey Brin, Google, Inc. ’s co-founder, stated, â€Å"Google plans to quickly expand into a wide variety of new markets.The simplicity of our user interface and the scalability of our back-end systems enables us to expand very quickly† (Bailey, Gilmore, Hrones, Mendea, Peal). Google, Inc. is swiftly becoming a noticeable global brand with approximately 70 office locations as of April 2010 in the U. S. and around the world (Bailey, Gilmore, Hrones, Mendea, Peal). Google believes it is possible to organize all the information on earth and provide it to users when needed. Google started out as a search engine and later collaborated with its various products (Kumar, 2011). SWOT AnalysisStrengthsWeaknesses -Ease of use by all users to retrieve information -Speed of the search engine -Integrate with various languages -Localized searching -Google’s products -Development supports innovation-Difficult to differentiate between real good content, good content and average content -Business manipulate the system -Just a search engine that provides information to the user -Products are not well known OpportunitiesThrea ts -Technology and increase internet usage created a revolution for information and knowledge for the common man -Major revenues from advertising Constantly involved in acquisition programs -Huge user base causes any additions to immediately become more popular than even the original idea-Faces competition from other search engines like Yahoo and Bing -Baidu and Yandex in China and Russia are market winners -User preference changing -Possible failure or take time to migrate its existing technology -Don’t lose its focus with competitors -Moving away from the search engine (Kumar, 2011) Recommendations Google is constantly acquiring new businesses and ideas that allow it to provide information the users want to them at a rapid pace.One of their newest projects is Google Glasses which is in line to compete with Facebook for the social media crowd. These augmented reality glasses would bring smartphone computing straight to your eyeballs while allowing wearers to capture photos a nd videos of the world as they see it. Google glasses will have the ability to send text messages, take phone calls and give directions making it a competitor to Apple’s iPhone. We’re constantly being told these days that sitting is killing us, and that the amount of time we spend planted in a chair, glued to computers and tablets is dangerously unhealthy.Technologies that allow mobility and engagement with the world, while still connected to the Internet are going to be attractive (Hill, 2012). As a company, Google aims high. Its ambition far exceeds Internet search and advertising. It has built a powerful network of data centers around the globe in hopes of connecting users instantly with high-resolution satellite pictures of every corner of the earth and sky; making the entire text of books available online; and becoming the leading distributor of online video through YouTube.At the same time, Google has taken its advertising system offline, as it tries to capture p ortions of large ad markets in television, radio and newspapers, investing heavily in mobile phone technology to replicate its online success in the wireless world. The company continues to be dominate in its core business, search advertising, but Google faces fierce competition from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Information exchanged over the social network is walled off from search engines and lucrative territory for ads (Lennihan, 2012).Google has had many inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Commission (EC). The FCC fined Google $25,000 for impeding an investigation into its data collection practices. The FTC escalated its antitrust investigation of Google by hiring a prominent litigator, sending a strong signal the agency is prepared to take the case to court. The EC warned Google it must move quickly to change four business practices or face formal charges for violating European antitrus t law.The EC found, after a two-year inquiry, that Google might have abused its dominance in Internet search and advertising, giving its own products an advantage over those of others, while maintaining it offers a neutral, best-for-the-customer result (Lennihan, 2012). Having such a large share of the search and advertising market around the globe is attracting the government agencies to look into the way Google is doing business to ensure they are legitimately looking out for the best interest of the customer.The government wants to ensure Google is not giving any company an unfair advantage over any other company. Google’s future is being imagined at the company’s top-secret lab, called Google X, in an undisclosed Bay Area location. At the lab, Google is tackling a list of 100 ideas. Among them is a refrigerator that could be connected to the Internet, so it could order groceries when they ran low; a dinner plate that could post what you are eating to a social netwo rk; a robot that could go to the office while you stay home in your pajamas; or an elevator to outer space.One of the ideas – the driverless cars – may turn into a new business. Even as Google has grown into a major corporation and tech start-ups are biting at its heels, the lab reflects the company’s ambition to conduct ground-breaking research and development (Lennihan, 2012). Conclusion Google has come a long way since Sergey Brin and Larry Page networked a few computers together at Stanford. What started as a modest project is now a multibillion-dollar global organization that employs more than 19,000 people around the world.Brin and Page are still very much involved with Google’s operations (Strickland, 2012). Hiring intelligent people that fit the Google way and keeping the teams to small groups are key ingredients to keep effective teams able to get things done without too many layers. Google’s drive to remain on top of the search and advert ising industry and drive to continuously improve their products through acquisition, research and development keeps them on top of the industry. References Bailey, Gilmore, Hrones, Mendea, Peal. Google, Inc. International Strategies.Retrieved from http://www. slideshare. net/abail019/international-strategies-for-google-inc Eaton, K. (2011, August 15). Why Google Bought Motorola Mobility, And What It Means. Retrieved from http://www. fastcompany. com/1773548/google-bought-motorola- mobility-12-point-five-billion-what-it-means Google Company. (2012). Our products and services. What we do for business. Retrieved from http://www. google. com/about/company/products/ Grant, R. (2010). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. West Sussex, United Kingdom. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hill, K. (2012, May 30).Google’s Competitor For Facebook Isn’t Plus. It’s Project Glass. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/05/30/googles- competitor-for-facebook-isnt- plus-its-project-glass/ Kirkpatrick, D. (2006, October 19). The real reason that Google bought YouTube? Fortune Magazine. Retrieved from http://money. cnn. com/2006/10/18/technology/fastforward_gootube. fortune/index. htm Kumar, A. (2011, June 25). Google SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from http://www. marketing91. com/google-swot-analysis/ Lennihan, M. (2012, July 19). Google Inc.New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics. nytimes. com/top/news/business/companies/google_inc/index. html Miller, M. (2012, January 23). How Google Made $37. 9 Billion in 2011. Retrieved from http://searchenginewatch. com/article/2140712/How-Google-Made-37. 9-Billion-in-2011 Strickland, J. (2012). How Google Works. Retrieved from http://entertainment. howstuffworks. com/hsw-shows/sysk-crowd-sourced-quiz. htm Wikipedia. (2012, July 23). List of acquisitions by Google. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Google

Introduction to Statistics and Econometrics Essay

   1. Specialty faces the decision of how many Weather Teddy units to order for the coming holiday season. Members of the management team suggested order quantities of 15000, 18000, 24000 or 28000 units. The wide range of order quantities suggested indicate considerable disagreement concerning the market potential. The product management team asks you for an analysis of the stock-out probabilities for various order quantities, an estimate of the profit potential, and to help make an order quantity recommendation. Specialty expects to sell Weather Teddy for $24 based on a cost of $16 per unit. If inventory remains after the holiday season, Specialty will sell all surplus inventory for $5 per unit After reviewing the sales history of similar products, Specialty’s senior sales forecaster predicted an expected demand of 20,000 units with a 0.95 probability that demand would be between 10,000 units and 30,000 units. Questions 1. Approximate the demand distribution using Normal distribution and sketch the distribution. 2. Compute the probability of a stock-out for the order quantities suggested by members of the management team. 3. Compute the projected profit for the order quantities suggested by the management team under three scenarios: worst case in which sales is 10,000 units, most likely case in which sales is 20,000 units and best case in which sales is 30,000 units Questions 1. One of Specialty’s managers felt that the profit potential was so great that the order quantity should have a 70% chance of meeting demand and only a 30% chance of any stock-outs. What quantity would be ordered under this policy, and what is the projected profit under the three sales scenarios? 2. Provide your own recommendation for an order quantity and note the associated profit projections.