Research Korner: Ipod Touch Cases

Business Plan for Radio Station

Business Plan for Radio Station   Situational Analysis             The radio industry in the Middle East is composed of public service broadcasters and commercial broadcasters and with FM as the primary radiowave. Today, radio broadcasting is a thriving industry with 346 FM radio stations in total. Private FM radios constitute 48% of this total and the rest are government-owned. Liberalisation in the Arab region is reported to be the reason for the growing industry. As it is linked with economic reasons, the need to broadcast in multi-language because of the growing presence of expatriates enhances the number of radio stations (Sennitt, 2009).             Further, there are also radio stations that are broadcasting live on the Internet. Stream types differ depending on the requirement of the radio station. Most of these radio stations are offering rai ballads and pop music, 24/7 (Sennitt, 2009).   Business Description Objectives <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Provide broadcasting services in the Middle East in the field of entertainment </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Broadcast programmes in line with Islamic ideology, national unity and principles of democracy</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Promote right to communicate and encourage creative expression</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Provide right to access to various groups including minority and marginalised</li> </ul>   Services offered             Programmes relating to music will make up the basic programme but will also cater to religious, news and current affair, women and children and youth-oriented programmes. Music continues to remain to be a dominant feature of Middle East radio stations as it involves the diversity of cultures through music.   Market Analysis The need for radio station             Faten Bader, Arab Advisors senior research analyst, noted that, “State-owned radio stations in the Arab World still outnumber private radio stations, although the number of private ones is growing and approaching the number of state-owned radio stations” (Sennitt, 2009). As such, there is an opportunity to establish commercial radio station in the Middle East. Demographics             Basically, anyone who owns a radio or have a computer and Internet access at home can listen to the radio traditionally or virtually. Baby boomers tend to listen more on the former while Generations X and Y listens on the latter. On Internet radio, downloads of music on mobile phones and iPods are possible. Geographical market             The radio station should first cater to the Middle East market prior to extending services on other areas outside the region.   Marketing Strategies and Implementation             The business will be driven by press releases, expo/exhibit participation and word of mouth. The target markets are Generations X and Y and secondarily the baby boomers. Fresh music from pop to cultural to ballads, the radio station should offer a wide array of musical inspiration. The radio station will be positioned as a full-pledged entertainment radio station that caters to the diverse musicality of the Middle East. When it comes to the distribution strategy, the radio will be the key distribution channel which is planned streamed online.   Promotion Strategy             Promotion strategies depend on the requirement of the target market. Initiatives, nonetheless, will center on creating awareness of the existence of the radio station. Conventional advertising will be sought to increase brand recognition. Classified newspapers will be used four times a month for twelve months. Press releases will be also implemented, focusing on the strength of the radio station and how it would succeed the competition. Sponsoring musical events especially on Universities in the Middle East could be also strategic for the radio station. This is a low-cost way of increasing awareness while also building goodwill to the community.             A streamlining website will be created for the radio station so that it can also compete in the Internet radio industry. Basic information about the music will be provided as well as the lyrics and downloads page. Traffic and brand exposure could be achieved using this medium. The radio stations logo will be also displayed for one calendar year on appropriate websites including the music authority in the Middle East and concert pages.   Evaluation and Control Strategies Objectives will be established for the radio station so that actual performance can be measured against them. Each subsequent year, new objectives will be set for these benchmarks and actual performance will be then measured against them. In terms of promotion, it will be obtained from the listeners the information on how and where they learn about the radio station so that the effectiveness of promotion strategies could be evaluated.   Financial Projections Each subsequent year’s budget should adjust spending accordingly. There will be developmental and general operating expenses for the radio station. Funding will be achieved through donors. Advertising rates will be initially offered at low prices to build up the advertising relationship.   References Sennitt, A 2009, ‘Middle East FM radio broadcasting services boom,’ Media Network.

Business Plan for Radio Station

Business Plan for Radio Station Situational Analysis The radio industry in the Middle East is composed of public s...

Negligence in Tort

Negligence in Tort I.              Introduction Negligence cases have been heard immensely in courts for decades. Particularly, courts are tasked to determine as to whom liabilities rests when harm is done to other people. The subsequent discussion intends to do just that. Specifically, the discussion will cover the case involving the incident that occurred in 15th of August 2006 with Speedy Ho and Katrina. Discussions on his liabilities and possible breach of his duty of care will be analyzed in this paper. Recent decision and seminal legal precedents will also be consulted with regards to the arguments presented below.     II.            Definition of Negligence In common law, the definition of negligence normally constitutes a breach of one’s duty of care to other individuals. To prove as to whether negligence did take place, one have to first establish that the defendant have a duty of care to the claimants. (Macdonald v. Football federation 1999) It is thus up to the courts to determine whether there is a breach on this duty or not. In the case of awarding damages, the courts have to establish as to whether the harm done to the claimants of the case are indeed is a consequence of the breach of the duty held by the defendant. Moreover, the courts have to similarly establish that the consequence is not too remote to the negligence. (Robinson v. Post office 1974) The following discussion will present an analysis on the duty of care of the driver of the car Speedy Ho.   III.           Duty of Care In the said case, there are several people involved and harmed in the accident. The succeeding discussion would try to establish the existence or absence of duty of care by the defendant on the claimants Al Zymer Lo, Clooney Mak, Handy Ma, Kallyana Hui, and Bravo Ng. The discussion will use the criteria established by Caparo v. Dickman 1990 to determine the presence of duty of care in particular cases. Specifically, the discussion will cover areas of forseeability, proximity, or the equitability of imposing or excluding liability.      A.   Foreseeability and Proximity In this criterion, the concept of the reasonable man is taken into consideration. In establishing the foreseeability of the harm, the existence of the duty of care is similarly confirmed. (Bourhill v. Young 1942) In the situation where Al Zymer Lo is involved, he is characterized as driver in the opposing lane of the defendant, thus establishing the proximity in his case with the defendant. With the manner in which Speedy was driving his car, particularly characterized in a “very fast” and “zigzagging” motion along the streets, one could see that Al Zymer Lo was indeed a foreseeable victim. In addition to this, the reckless driving displayed by the defendant provides an actual proof on his breach of his duty to the other users of the road.  This is the same with the context of Clooney Mak who was killed because of the accident. Being the passenger of Lo, Mak is also exposed to the same harm imposed by the behavior of Speedy which in the same way establishes the proximity of the physical closeness that they have with each other. This means that the death of Mak is a foreseeable outcome with the way Speedy was driving.      In the case of the pedestrians, the harm that they have incurred is indeed foreseeable. In the same time, their physical closeness in the scene of the accident establishes their proximity with the defendant. Nevertheless, there are certain attributes on the case of Handy Ma and Kallyana Hui that tends to require further explanation. In the case of Hui, she was present in the accident scene, was subject to harm, and incurred injuries as a result of the explosion of the truck driven by Lo. The injury she has acquired was thus a foreseeable consequence of the reckless driving of Speedy. On the other hand, the case of Handy Ma appears to be rather complicated as compared to Hui. The said pedestrian committed suicide because of depression triggered by the injuries he has acquired in the accident. Normally, courts deem that any other additional injury that the claimant has incurred severs the causation link of the defendant. (McKew v Holland, Hannen & Cubitts & Co, 1969) However, the element of depression came into play in the case of Ma. Courts have indicated that the defendant may have some liability if a claimant eventually committed suicide because of depression. However, it must be established that such depression is caused by the negligence of the defendant. (Pigney v. Ponter 1957) Moreover, in this scenario the defendant could not use the novus actus interveniens as a defense. (Reeves v MPC, 1999)       Another casualty in this accident is Bravo Ng. He died in the scene when the wreckage fell on him while he was rescuing the injured. According to the case of Chadwick v. BRB (1967) rescuers like Bravo Ng tend to become a primary victim if he does incur injury. This means that the Speedy is liable to the death of Ng regardless of the unusual physical condition that the latter possess. This essentially is called the eggshell skull rule which was seen in cases like Smith v. Leech Brain & Co. (1962). In any case, the death of Ng still tends to be caused by the negligence of Speedy.   And lastly, being similarly put in harm’s way, Kathrina could also be considered a claimant on this matter. The problem in this matter is that being in a personal relationship with Speedy, she similarly has this duty of care on him particularly in the context of allowing him to drive despite of being inebriated. (Morris v. Murray, 1991) There is a possibility that the courts could deny damages on the part of Kathrina because of this, however she could still claim for compensation based on Nervous Shock. In any case, she could claim that she has suffered from it because of the resulting psychological injury (Hinz v. Berry 1970) or because of the physical injury. (Wilkinson v. Downton 1897)  Being with the defendant at the time of the accident, it is apparent that Kathrina was a foreseeable victim in these events.     B.   Equitability of Imposing or Excluding Liability In this section, the criteria of equitability rest on whether the actions of Speedy was indeed the root cause of the harm done in all the claimants. Thus a discussion on the causation in the case is in order. One way of looking at the causation is to impose the “but for” test in the actions of the defendant. (Barnett v. Chelsea hospital 1969) This indicates that the negligence of the individual would have been the sole cause of the harm acquired by the claimants. Seeing the instances in the case, one needs to analyze as to whether the outcomes held by the claimants would have been different had the defendant did something else. In the case of Lo and Mak, they were the ones cruising at the opposite lane where Speedy was driving. Using the “but for” test, it is seen that the negligence that the defendant made was actually drinking and then driving recklessly in a public thoroughfare. If the defendant did not even held the wheel that night or at least has driven in a careful and reasonable manner, the driver of the truck would not have acquired his injuries and the passenger would not have died. This is the same with the other claimants. Thus this means that the negligent act of Speedy was causation in fact.   Moreover, the discussions on the foreseeability of the events that took place after the negligent act was committed indicate that it has satisfied another test as indicated in the case of Re Polems (1921). Specifically, it indicated that the foreseeable damage was actually seen as a direct result of the negligent act of Speedy. In addition, another test has also been established with the discussion of the foreseeability of the damages. It satisfied the Wagon Mound Rule as seen in Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty (1966). More specifically, the said case that the defendant should have been aware of the risk involved in driving a sports car inebriated. The ensuing reckless driving resulted to the harm incurred by the claimants.          IV.          Conclusion The discussions have indicated that Speedy has been negligent and have breached his duty of care on the persons involved in the accident. Was he a reasonable driver? Driving under the influence of alcohol is the primary indicator of negligence. There are existing laws prohibiting licensed drivers from doing such acts, but in the case of Speedy he still went on and handled the wheel. To make things worse, he showboated for his girlfriend thus aggravating the risk of harm not only to Al Zymer Lo, Clooney Mak, Handy Ma, Kallyana Hui, and Bravo Ng but also to his girlfriend, Kathrina. Courts would not have any trouble finding fault on the part of the defendant.        Contract Law I.              Introduction Issues in agreements tend to arise when communicating such offers and acceptance to the parties involved. This is apparent in the case of Kathryn, Kylie and Mikkola. The following discussions will attempt to resolve the issues facing Kathryn.   II.            Invitation to treat, Offer and Acceptance The case conveys an issue on the point wherein the offer is given and which action is considered an acceptance. First, one must first recognize the nature of the two elements of an agreement. An offer is characterized as the statement of an offeror to bind himself/herself to another entity legally. (Carlill v. Carbolic smoke ball Co 1893) On the other hand, an acceptance is done in order to validate a contract. This means that upon an acceptance, the other party is presumably aware of what is expected from him/her in the contract.   The problem in the case of Kathryn, her first communication to Kylie does not equate to an offer. Specifically, courts have indicated that this type of action is tantamount to an invitation to treat. (Partridge v Crittenden 1968) In the said situation, that conversation with Kylie appeared to be an advertisement of sorts. Kathryn initiated an invitation to negotiate about the price of the video Ipod. In some instances, the other party tends to look to haggle their way to a much lower price. Thus, it is up to Kylie and Mikkola to provide an offer to Kathryn. In a way, the situation then spawned a sort of auction for those who knew of the invitation.     III.           Revocation of the Offer The situation provided that both Mikkola and Kylie have the right to retract their offer before Kathryn accepts any of them. (Payne v Cave 1789) However, assuming that both offerors does not have any intention of revoking it, it is still up to Kathryn whose offer to accept. As stated earlier, the situation wherein the three characters are subjected manifests a case where Kathryn merely indicated a statement of price. (Gibson v Manchester County Council, 1979) This means that the supposed offer is not actually an offer. These cases are similar to instances where storeowners place price tags marked on the merchandise.   In the case presented, it appears that Kathryn have already accepted the offer of Mikkola. This aspect will be discussed further in subsequent part. In this case, the revocation of the offer should be immediately be done by Kathryn. She should communicate it straight away to Kylie that another offer was accepted. In any case, Kathryn is safe from any form of breach given that there has yet to be a completed agreement between offerors. The communication of the revocation would not require Kathryn to say it personally to Kylie, she could ask a reliable third person to communicate the revocation of the offer. (Dickinson v Dodds 1876) Until it is not communicated to Kylie, then the revocation is not effective. (Byrne v Van Tienhoven 1880) On the other hand, Kathryn could just reject the offer of Kylie altogether and accept the offer of Mikkola instead.        IV.          Postal Rule and the Use of Telephone or Telex In the previous part, it has been indicated that it is apparent that Kathryn has already accepted the offer of Mikkola. The case indicated that she already sent a mail to Mikkola confirming the acceptance. This means that the moment Kathryn posted the mail, the agreement is established between she and Mikkola. This is called the postal rule. (Byrne v Van Tienhoven 1880) In this case, the agreement is therefore binding and any deviation from the agreed terms may result to breach.   In the case, Mikkola placed an offer through telephone and left a message on the machine. Common law does not have anything against the communication of the offer through electric communication. This means that whether she used mail or the telephone is irrelevant because they were just tendering an offer to Kathryn. This is similar on the part of Kylie. She sent an offer to Kathryn, not an actual acceptance. Therefore, the postal rule does not apply on her part. The inadequate number of the postal stamps on the correspondence does not have any material contribution to the case of Kylie on the matter.      V.          Conclusion   The case presented a rather tricky situation on the matter of agreement formation. Based on the discussions above, the issue of offer and acceptance is not a simple matter as it appears. Legal precedents have solved the matter, particularly on how to regard invitations to treat and other similarly complicated modes of transactions. The decision is left on the hand of Kathryn. At any rate, Kathryn is safe from any legal action that Kylie could throw at her. What is left to do is inform her that the merchandise has already been sold to another buyer.

Negligence in Tort

Negligence in Tort I. Introduction Negligence cases have been heard immensely in courts for decades. Particularly, cou...

A management strategy paper of Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard               Hewlett-Packard Company is one of the world’s largest information technology corporations. It has a global presence in the field of computing, printing, digital imaging and also sells software and services. Hewlett-Packard Corporation (HP) is the second-largest computer company in the world and a leading seller of desktop computers, servers, peripherals, and services. The company, growing since 1938, has 86,000 employees contributing to sales of over $48 billion in 2000.               HP is second to IBM. Hewlett Packard also manufacturers testing and measurement equipment, and medical equipment in a recent creation company of Agilent Technologies in 2000. Over 50% of Hewlett Packard's sales are outside the United States, and are made up of nearly 85% computers and related products. The vision, culture, and environment created by the co-founders are very much alive today, and continue to make Hewlett-Packard stand out from the crowd.               Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span information technology infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services, and imaging and printing. Product and service categories include desktops and workstations, notebooks and tablet personal computers, printing and multifunction, handheld devices, monitors and projectors, fax, copiers and scanners, digital photography, entertainment, storage, servers, supplies and accessories, networking, and software products.                   The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services, and imaging and printing. Its $4 billion (U.S.) annual investment in research and development fuels the invention of products, solutions and new technologies that enable HP to better serve customers and enter new markets. The May 2002 merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer Corp. forged a dynamic, powerful team of 140,000 employees with capabilities in 160 countries and doing business in 43 currencies and 15 languages. Revenues for the combined companies were $72 billion for the fiscal year that ended October 31, 2002 ().               HP has many aggressive competitors in all areas of their business. There are numerous competitors, may it be the world’s largest corporations to relatively small and highly specialized firms. The major competitors of HP are the Apple Computer, Inc., Dell Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Lexmark International, Inc., and Toshiba Corporation.               But in spite of the competition, HP has sustained its competitive advantage. The depth, breadth, and vitality that comes alive daily through the firm's values which is the HP Way are assets of Hewlett Packard. HP general managers regularly discuss and assess the vitality of the HP Way, a process that inevitably results in corrective actions to ensure its continued viability.             To create an organization that could sustain its competitive advantage regardless of marketplace whims and what their competitors were building, HP founders based their corporate culture on the integration and reinforcement of critical opposites. This became known as the Hewlett-Packard Way.             HP has achieved the greatest dichotomy which is creating an environment that celebrates individualism, but at the same time one that is also wholly supportive of teamwork. Although HP people are taught to engage in cross functional team, they are also rated on the performance of decentralized business units and personal achievement.             In Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR) released in the first quarter of 2004 of  Corporate IT Service & Support survey, HP services is described as having its "first shot at stardom" as it moves to a ranking position ahead of competitors IBM and Dell. HP earned the number one ranking in customer satisfaction among vendors of corporate IT service and support, and TBR believes HP's efforts in "taking a consultative, partnership approach" could potentially be a competitive advantage in the IT services industry.               The TBR (2004) study surveyed 688 mid-size to large companies in North America finding that HP ranked number one over competitors IBM and Dell based on the weighted satisfaction index, a measure of the total customer satisfaction experience with IT services. The study covers satisfaction with on-site support, remote support services, hardware deployment, software support, and training services.             survey (2004), HP earned the highest overall rating from its customers of nearly 1,200 information technology managers and professionals. In this study, customers gave HP the top satisfaction marks in six of eight categories, including meeting customer expectations, contribution to customer profitability, product quality, product reliability and licensing policies. HP's overall rating was eight points higher than Dell and seven points higher than IBM.             In the contribution to profitability category, HP was eight points higher than Dell and 11 points higher than IBM. When asked which vendors they were most likely to recommend, customers consistently ranked HP as their top choice.             According to  2004 results from Technology Business Research, Inc.'s ongoing IT customer satisfaction study, HP secured the No. 1 ranking in customer satisfaction among vendors of Intel-based servers in the first quarter of 2004. HP has held the top rating for loyalty in the Intel server space for the last three quarters.             In the 2004, TBR released its Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Study on Notebooks in which HP scored a virtual tie for top honors with Dell and IBM. The good news for HP came about due to a rise in HP's weighted satisfaction index this quarter, while Dell's declined considerably and IBM's remained stable. Customers are recognizing HP's portfolio of products, services, solutions and its ability to provide a complete customer support experience as key elements in allowing them to synchronize business and IT to capitalize on change.             Hewlett Packard's basic business purpose is to create information products that accelerate the advancement of knowledge and improve the effectiveness of people and organizations. These products and services are used in industry, business, engineering, science, medicine, and education in over 130 countries worldwide.             Hewlett Packard has well defined corporate goals that are a reflection of the overall mission. Service is most important to HP, whether the relationship is HP/consumer or HP/employee. Profit is one of the components of HP goals but only as a means to the greater ends. HP primary goal is to give its customers the products and services they desire. HP specific corporate goals is to achieve sufficient profit to finance our company growth and to provide the resources we need to achieve our other corporate objectives                          Hewlett Packard corporate objectives have guided the company for several years. These goals include, firstly, customer loyalty which the company will provide products, services and solutions of the highest quality and deliver more value to our customers that earns their respect and loyalty.             Second, is to achieve sufficient profit to finance our company growth, create value for our shareholders and provide the resources we need to achieve our other corporate objectives.             Another is to grow by continually providing useful and significant products, services and solutions to markets we already serve—and to expand into new areas that build on our technologies, competencies and customer interests.             Moreover, to view change in the market as an opportunity to grow; to use our profits and our ability to develop and produce innovative products, services and solutions that satisfy emerging customer needs.             Further, is to help HP employees share in the company's success that they make possible, to provide people with employment opportunities based on performance, to create with them a safe, exciting and inclusive work environment that values their diversity and recognizes individual contributions; and to help them gain a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from their work.             It is also important for the company to develop leaders at every level who are accountable for achieving business results and exemplifying our values. Lastly, the company believes that good citizenship is good business. The company lives up to their responsibility to society by being an economic, intellectual and social asset to each country and community in which they do business.             HP is a company committed to building a work environment where everyone has an opportunity to fully participate in creating business success and is valued for their distinctive skills, experiences and perspectives.             They address commitment through development programs targeted to the next generation of HP leaders, work-life initiatives for our employees, recruiting of diverse talent, and other efforts that help employees and managers foster an inclusive work environment. In addition, they establish diversity goals to create accountability and drive to their success.             Diversity is being weaved into the fabric of the company into all processes and day to day business practices to create a mindset in every employee and every manager that allow them to think consciously about diversity and inclusion in everything they do. Diversity and inclusion are the intrinsic part of our nature and key to fulfilling HP’s vision which is to be “a winning e-company with a shining soul.”             At Hewlett Packard, diversity is believed to be the key driver of success. Putting all differences to work across the world is a continuous journey of the company which is fueled by personal leadership from everyone in the company. The aspiration of HP is that the behaviors and actions that support diversity and inclusion will come from the conviction of every HP employee which is making diversity and inclusion a conscious part of how the business is run throughout the world.             In HP point of view, diversity is the existence of many unique individuals in the workplace, marketplace and community. This includes men and women from different nations, cultures, ethnic groups, generations, backgrounds, skills, abilities and all the other unique differences that make each of us who we are.             Inclusion means a work environment where everyone has an opportunity to fully participate in creating business success and where each person is valued for his or her distinctive skills, experiences and perspectives. Inclusion is also about creating a global community where HP connects everyone and everything through our products, services and our winning workforce.             As a company, HP is committed to developing work/life skills, providing tools, resources and a supportive environment for all of the employees. At HP, employees work with their managers to make choices that assist them in navigating their work and personal life challenges while meeting the business needs of the organization. This kind of reciprocal partnership with employees and a flexible work environment has been a hallmark of HP's business success.             There are core values which Hewlett Packard shared to get thing done accordingly. First is passion for customers in which customers are put first in everything they do. They also practice trust and respect for individuals. Employees and every individual working in the company work together to create a culture of inclusion built on trust, respect and dignity for all.             Moreover, they motivate themselves for achievement and contribution in which employees strive for excellence in all they do. The company believes that each person's contribution is a key to company’s success. They also put in mind the value of results through teamwork. Employees effectively collaborate and always looking for more efficient ways to serve customers.             Furthermore, they value speed and agility. They practice to be resourceful, adaptable and achieve results faster than competitors. HP being a technology company invents meaningful innovation. They are a company that invents the useful and significant innovation. Lastly, HP value uncompromising integrity. HP is open, honest and direct in our dealings.             In order for HP to attain the goals they have set forth, several corporate strategies and practices have been implemented. These create an atmosphere in HP of informality and a sense of working together for the common good of the company.             One of the practices of Hewlett Packard is Management by Wandering Around. This practice involves keeping up to date with individuals and activities through informal or structured communication.             Another is Management by Objective. In this practice, individuals at any level contribute to HP goals by forming goals or strategies, which are integrated with their manager's and those of HP as a whole. Adaptability and innovation in recognizing alternative approaches to meeting goals provides an effective way of meeting customer needs.             In addition is the Open-Door-Policy. In this practice, the assurance that no adverse consequences should result from responsibly raising issues with management or personnel. Trust and integrity are important parts of the Open Door Policy. For example, ability to voice frustrations in a constructive manner, willingness to consider or see alternatives in a new way or openness to discussion of advancement, or transfer opportunities open communication.             At the core of HP practice of open communication is the belief that when given the right tools, training and information to do a good job, people will contribute their best. HP believes that open communication leads to strong teamwork between HP people, customers and others, and energized team achievement and contribution.             By April 2005, Mark Hurd took charge of the Hewlett Packard appointed chief executive officer after Ms Fiorina. He is also the president of HP and a member of the company's board of directors, positions to which he was named in early 2005. Hewlett-Packard's board of directors has claimed that in firing former Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, the company had the right strategy but the wrong execution. The board also believes that the problem is not on the strategy but on the follow-through on strategy.             Hurd has reversed Fiorina's consolidation of HP's printing and computer businesses and ripped up her heavily centralized, underperforming sales structure. Hurd reinvigorated the individual operating units and empowered them to meet clear financial objectives. Business managers are asked to operate more efficiently and profitably while fine-tuning their product mix. Hurd undone one of Fiorina's major strategic moves in an effort to right the ship. Hurd separated the PC and printing division which Fiorina merged.             The biggest thing Mark Hurd has going is getting a lot of these cost-cutting initiatives. Tactically focusing on right-sizing the business makes economic sense and Mark Hurd's track record at NCR probably gives him even more credibility to enact cost-cutting measures. Right-sizing the company is important for investors and for the company in order to compete longer-term. Hurd has also layoff 10,000 workers to cut costs. Acquisition is a part of a broader strategy.             But too often the company has been blindsided by problems outside printing that affected overall results. An unexpected implosion in HP enterprise storage business in the third fiscal quarter of 2004,             HP has at times been unable to get its top customers to spend more, mostly because of HP's own problems. Communication across business lines like enterprise computing and printing or across geographic regions was poor.             HP's convoluted commission structure, pegged largely to revenue, provided inadequate incentives to sell. Hiring new salespeople was needlessly bureaucratic and time-consuming. Hurd found that there were more than 10 layers of management between his desk and the customer, and nearly 10,000 of the 17,000 people employed in corporate sales were actually administrative staff, who didn't sell anything.             But in the bright side, HP has some interesting new products and opportunities. In printing and imaging, where HP's dominance is starting to erode, the company is embarking on an aggressive transition from "printer maker" to "printing business." HP is challenging the copier giants for a slice of the $25 billion corporate printing market through its line of multi-function machines, which are attached to networks but can produce high-volume copying. In only one year, HP has grabbed 15% share of the multi-function printer market.             Moreover, HP has moved into commercial printing through its roughly $1 billion acquisition of Indigo, which offers commercial printers a digital option for smaller jobs. "I think this is going to be a very big opportunity for us," says Joshi, the printing chief.             In addition, through its online digital photography acquisition, Snapfish, HP is linking with the likes of Wal-mart and Walgreen to provide photo printing in retail kiosks across the world. HP can join Kodak as the only vendor with exposure to all the key digital printing end-markets. This is another manifestation of incremental future growth opportunities for HP that is still in the germination stage.             Furthermore, after lagging IBM's rich stable of middleware and business-process software, HP has been quietly snapping up modest, strategic software companies that are designed to complement the company's strong core software products focused on data center and mobile computing and communications. For example, HP is attacking soaring labor, maintenance and repair costs for corporate computing networks with software and services that almost completely automate data-center functions.             But Hurd said at the news conference that HP needs repairs. While calling the company "fundamentally sound" and a leader in many categories and services, he said, "it is also clear that the company is not performing to its potential."             In addition, he also stressed that he would keep customer concerns in the forefront. "What you can except from me is a relentless focus on serving the needs of the customer," said Hurd. "This market is too competitive and too dynamic for us to ever take our eye off that objective. Everything that we do must be for the customer. If it's not, then we consider why at all we're doing it," he said. "My management style reflects a fundamental belief in cost discipline and focused investment in strategic growth initiatives," Hurd added.             The strategy of HP which Mr. Hurd has been pursuing is to align money to save money and align money to grow the company. According to Hurd, they are working on our cost side, he said they are also working on their execution and trying to align more and more accountability into their business units. And align more and more of their capability down closer to the market and the customer.             With the goal of establishing HP as the world's leading information technology company, Hurd has sharpened HP's strategic focus and concentrated its R&D investments on three long-term growth opportunities: next-generation enterprise data center architecture and services; technologies for always connected, always personal mobile experiences; and a broad transition from analog to digital imaging and printing across the consumer, commercial and industrial markets.             At the same time, Hurd has improved HP's operating efficiency and execution as well as its financial performance and customer focus. The result has been increasing growth and profitability, greater value for shareholders and customers, and a stronger competitive position in global IT markets. For the last four fiscal quarters, HP revenue totaled $88.9 billion (HP official website).             The analysts and Hurd project that HP will be doing $91 billion worth of revenue in fiscal 2006. HP projects to ship more than 30 million PCs, yet again more than 50 million printers, more than 2 million industry standard servers.             Hurd has set very public financial goals: to grow annual revenues by 4%-6% and fatten operating margins to 13%-15% over the next three years. His goal of cutting about $2 billion in costs by slashing jobs and reducing pension expenses.             Hewlett Packard announced plans to contribute 14,500 employees to the global unemployment pool this morning, introducing a broad of restructuring plan that will reduce its workforce by 10 percent. The jobs will be shed in the next six quarters, and together with some tweaks made to the company's benefits plan, will ultimately save $1.9 billion a year.             The hardest hit of HP's ranks will be its support units such as information technology, human resources and finance. Staff reductions in sales is be minimal. "After a thorough review of our business, we have formulated a plan that will enable HP to begin delivering its full potential," CEO Mark Hurd said in a statement, "We can perform better for our customers and partners, our employees and our shareholders and we will."             For HP, whose cost structure has long been out of kilter, the cutting jobs, dumping suppliers and iPods, introducing new printer, server and storage products are first step toward bringing costs into line with competitors.             The strategy of Mr. Hurd which he has been pursuing is reduction of cost. In connection with this, he has shed 10 percent of the workforce. He believes that right –sizing is the right strategy for the company. He also separated the PC and printing division of the company to be more specialized.             In a report, Hurd said that the "overall performance leaves room for improvement in many of our businesses" and that HP's costs were "off benchmark in many areas." Under Hurd’ management, HP has already made senior management changes that will change the direction of the company.             Randall Mott, Dell's chief information officer, is hired away to be its senior vice president and CIO. He will report to Hurd and have a seat on the company's executive committee.             Cathy Lyons, a 26-year company veteran, is promoted to executive vice president and chief marketing officer. She took over the CMO job from Mike Winkler, who will continue to run HP's customer solutions group.             Moreover, he has also recruit Todd Bradley, handheld maker of Palm, Inc., to run the PC unit on Hewlett Packard.             Wall Street is generally bullish on an HP restructuring. Its shares are trading up 34 cents to $24.96. S.G. Cowen, in a research note, says head-count reductions offer the potential for upside to its current earnings estimates for 2006 and 2007. Layoffs offer an almost immediate boost to the bottom line, but will do nothing to fix HP's problems.             Hurd is focused on the things he do. He is focused on creating value rather than pitching on grand visions. Hurd has layoff 10 percent of the workforce to reduce cost and recruit good and capable staff to fill out the different positions. He rather hire experience workforce. He moved to trim HP's costs in July by laying off 14,500 workers, from a total workforce of 150,000.                 He simplify the companywide bonus system that many found incomprehensible and reward employees based on the performance of their business units and HP overall. He's also tossing out Fiorina's matrix management structure, which muddied responsibilities, to give business heads more control of their units. According to him, "The more accountable I can make you, the easier it is for you to show you're a great performer. The more I use a matrix, the easier I make it to blame someone else"( 2005)             Hurd has made the biggest turnaround on HP.  Hurd has set out to employ similar strategies at HP with what he has made at NCR.             In August of 2005, Hurd got to work on lowering costs at HP by eliminating14,500 jobs, or about 10% of the company's work force, over 18 months. That's supposed to save H-P $1.9 billion annually as they had visioned.             Hurd’s biggest challenge being the CEO of Hewlett Packard is how to make things right from what Fiorina had left.             In an article of (2005), Hurd said that HP will "double down" its investments and focus on excellence in three areas: creating solutions, creating demand for those solutions, and servicing those solutions.             Hurd strategy is to concentrate on the enterprise systems management and storage. Hp is looking forward to align its business with companies and technologies that are adjacent to its core strengths. Another strategy that he is pursuing is to understand customer better, cross sell them and win customer’s satisfaction. He also develop the Research and Development . R&D is the key to success to HP which has the reputation for investing heavily in research and development.             In summary of all that has pointed out, Mr. Hurd as the new chief executive officer of the Hewlett Packard has a principle of doing rather than saying. With his management of HP, his first strategy for the company to stand again after the management of Ms. Fiorina, is to reduce costs. He has a good reputation of successful cutting off of costs from which he has also done in the NCR. His first of reducing cost is laying off 10 percent of the workforce or 14,500 workers, in particular from the 150,000 workers of HP. He believes that laying off the 10 percent of the workforce will reduce company’s costs by $1.9 billion.             Aside from laying off workers, he has recruit highly experienced and capable people to do the different duties in the different divisions of the company. He has also separated the printing and PC divisions which was merged by Ms. Fiorina. This is because it is better be more specialized. He also has decentralized the management making the different divisions accountable to its own unit.

A management strategy paper of Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard Company is one of the world’s largest information technology corporations. It has a ...

Advantage and Disadvantage of the Downloading Business

Walk-In Music Store Introduction             Music and other similar form of entertainment has been one of the most important aspects of men’s life. There have been many inventions, technologies and innovations that are dedicated to music alone, from bulky up to portable and handy music player. There has been a big change that had happened to the industry of music since the advent of the Internet. The Internet had affected all of the industry in the global market, more primarily the music industry. Music can already be copied and disseminated almost without the cost by means of the Internet, despite the fact that payment and delivery technologies are reducing the operation costs of its commercial exchange (Lewis & Graham 2005, p. 349).             One of the most important evolution or technology in the history of music is the portable music player such as walkman and the portable CD player or CD walkman. It had been the start for another important inventions or innovations such as the mp3 players, mp4 players and more especially iPods. In 2005, iPod had reached a record of 10 million total units of sale. This had result to a speculation that the era of CD is coming to an end. This is due to the fact that mp3 players or iPod had made the life of music lover easier, because they will no longer have to buy and re-buy their favorite music in the succession of different format: from vinyl to DVD-Audio (Daly 2005).               Another reason why most of the people are switching from the traditional CD player or CD ROM is due to the fact that it is bulky and it needs a music CD first, before you can play your favorite music, making it hard to carry, where as the mp3 player or iPod is stylish and has a great or huge storage room that could save up to hundreds of songs but in a hassle free manner. Downloading Business             The said declining stage of CD ROM had helped me to come up with the idea about a machine that will download different music albums in different e-stores in the Internet such as HMV.com, Apple iTunes, VirginMega.com, RealPlayer Music store and other legal Internet music store. The main difference is that, the store that will be using the said machine will no longer have to use CD ROM that is why; it will cater to the customers who have mp3 player, iPods and other portable storage device. The said machine will offer user-friendly interface that will help the customers to navigate and control the machine. In order to ensure that the users will be able to handle the machine easily, it will also offer or provide simple guidelines and instructions. It can help the user to move on his or her own move, making him or her feels comfortable in finding and downloading his or her desired music and other media.             The said machines will be located at different stores which will be located at different schools, universities as well as malls, and other places where in people will be able to see it in easy manner. It will be located in different schools because, nowadays, students are one of the biggest groups of the users of the mentioned technology. In addition to that, they are also more of a music lover than the oldies, because they are more of an adventurous. Advantage and Disadvantage of the Business             One of the advantages of business is that it has a big market to start. This is due to the fact that most of the people nowadays, do own mp3 players or iPod. Another advantage is that it will not occupy much space because it will not use some storage device such as CD and DVD, but the device from the user. Another thing is that it can help the user to find their desired music in easy manner. The fact that the machine will connect to the different legal music e-stores will already caught their attention because it will prevent them from going to different record bars and buying their desired albums.             On the other hand, the main disadvantage of the said business will be from the Internet itself. The Internet had enabled to share different data and file in an easy manner that is why there are different free media that are already available for the taking without additional charge from the user. Another disadvantage is that it will be in great need of maintenance due to the fact that it is connected to the Internet.     References Daly, S 2005, 10 Millions iPods, Previewing the CD’s End, Washington Post, viewed 6 March 2008, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19831-2005Feb12.htm l>   Lewis, G, Graham, G & Hardaker, G 2005, ‘Evaluating the Impact of the Internet on Barriers to Entry in the Music Industry’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 349 - 358 Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Advantage and Disadvantage of the Downloading Business

Walk-In Music Store Introduction Music and other similar form of entertainment has been one of the most important aspects o...

Business Skills Assignment

The Contents   1) introduce the organization (iMac) (100 words)   2) describe and analyse its current activities and performance: i.   The department of innovation ii.  Company history iii. Financial Performance iv. Marketing structure and performance (600 words)   2) conclude with a recommendation to invest or not based on the findings of your investigation.  Your recommendation should be clearly justified. (1000words)      i)The department of innovation No doubt, to attract investor to invest this company what they first consider is that how many benefits they can earn from the company. As known, products is the most important path of earnings in Apple Inc.   －short history of Apple company product   View the product growth history of Apple, following, the main products of Apple will be shown: －Apple introduced the Apple Macintosh family in 1984. －The iMac is a consumer desktop computer that was first introduced by Apple in 1998, －In 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player －Mac mini is the company's consumer sub-desktop computer, introduced in January 2005 and designed to motivate Windows users to switch to the Macintosh platform －In January 2007, iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and video iPod   In those products, iMac and iPod is the most popular products. iMac, the translucent, jelly circle smooth fuselage of the computer redefined the outward appearance of personal computer, as a result, customers only depended on the surface and advertising , there were 15,000 customers booked iMac when it appeared, and in after of 3 years, iMac totally sold 5,000,000 units. Following, Apple Ltd continues to develop the next generation, the third generation of iMac.      －Innovations in 2007   At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) revealed the long anticipated iPhone. “iPhone combines three amazing products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone. ” (2)   The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile telephone, and Internet services like e-mail, text messaging, web browsing and wireless connectivity. iPhone input is accomplished via touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons.   “Jobs announced that the iPhone will first be available in June 2007 in the U.S., during the fourth quarter 2007 in Europe, and in 2008 for Asia.” It will be offered in two configurations with two different prices, based on a 2-year phone service contract: a 4 GB model for US 9 and an 8 GB model for 9 in U.S. Apple also announced that its goal is to capture 1% of the global mobile phone market, which would be approximately 10 million units being sold in the first full calendar year of iPhone availability. (3)   Apple not only has advantage in hardware, but also in software. There is a news that said Time Machine, Spaces, Plus Enhanced Mail & iChat Extend Apple’s Leadership in Software Innovation. Time Machine is a revolutionary way to protect a consumer’s digital life; it automatically backs up everything on the Mac to an external hard drive or Mac OS X Server. Spaces is an intuitive new way to group applications required for a given task into a “space,” then instantly switch between different spaces to bring up the specific applications required for that given task. iChat makes video chats more fun, puts images and videos in the background. And Leopard’s Mail includes breakthrough new features that have never been seen before in a Mail application. “Breakthrough features like Time Machine and Spaces are good examples of how Mac OS X leads the industry in operating system innovation,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “While Microsoft tries to copy the version of OS X we shipped a few years ago, we’re leaping ahead again with Leopard.” (4) －The future of Apple An embedded version of Mac OS X could conceivably show up on any kind of wireless handheld device in the future, providing the guts to drive whatever newfangled user interface Apple comes up with for a given market. A wireless phone may be only the first step of a longer-term strategic thrust into all manner of consumer. The development of technology also pushes the change of Apple product in the meantime. It can be seen in the past time, the Apple innovation always at the front of other companies. At the beginning, the company only produce computer, but extend MP3 players, and go toward a phone industry development not only control hardware, but also make an own software. For the investor, the Apple Company is worth paying attention to them, and also believes, Apple in 2007 in will be more glorious. ii) Company History Apple was found in 1976 by Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs. And on April 1, 1976, Apple 1, the first Apple computer was born. And in 1977, Apple II, the first personal computer, was released, together with the introduction of Apple Disk II, received warm welcomed by the market. Until 1980, Apple became a "real company," With the several thousand employees, a number of more experienced mid-level managers and, more importantly, several new investors, who take seats on the board of directors. In 1981, March, Jobs soon became chairman of Apple computer. In order to made Apple would be a "grown-up" company, in early 1983, Jobs invited John Sculley, the president of Pepsi-Cola, as CEO of Apple. As Sculley did not know much about the computer industry, he and Jobs were at odds almost immediately. Which leaded Jobs resigned eventually, leaving Sculley as the head of Apple. However, in a battle with Microsoft's Bill Gates over the introduction of Windows 1.0, which had many similarities to the Mac GUI. Sculley made Apple effectively lost its exclusive rights to its interface design by signing a statement which announced that Microsoft would not use Mac technology in Windows 1.0, but which said nothing of future versions of Windows. Sculley began to lose interest in the day to day operations of Apple and In June of 1993, the Apple Board of Directors relieved Sculley of his position as CEO, putting Michael Spindler in the head chair. However, Spindler was the wrong man for the job and Apple posted a million loss for the quarter when Spindler in charge. In January 1996, Gil Amelio, the former president of National Semiconductor, replaced  Spindler as CEO. Although Amelio made a strong effort to bring Apple back to profitability and he even announced massively changes in the corporate structure of the company to make Apple more transparent to consumers, in early July 1997, Apple announced the resignation of Gil Amelio, following another multi-million dollar quarterly loss. In late December 1996, Steven Jobs would again be returning to the fold after Apple acquired NeXT. At that moment, Jobs was being referred to as "interim CEO”. Steve Jobs directed company involved into aggressive advertising campaign for upcoming new Macs and Rhapsody. He constructed an almost new Board of Directors, including Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle. He also announced an alliance with Microsoft which allowed Microsoft and Apple would have a 5-year patent cross-license by exchanging for 0 million in Apple Stock. The alliance also made Microsoft agree to pay an unreleased sum of funds about it had stolen Apple's intellectual property in designing its Windows OS. Besides that, Microsoft also announced that Office '98 would be able to run on Mac soon. In 1997, Apple retrieved its Mac OS licenses from Power Computing, Motorola and IBM. On November 10, 1997, he introduced two ways of selling computers, either via web or phone. Besides that The Apple Store was the third-largest eCommerce site on the web within a week time. All of these new services and new innovated products contributed Apple had, for the first time in more than a year, had a profitable First Quarter- Million, In January, 1997. More importantly, in early May, Apple released iMac, which focused on low-end consumer with an affordable price. iMac became the best-selling computer and it drove company into a 5th consecutive profitable quarter, in January 1999. Based on the same principles, In July 1999, company successfully introduced the iBook which leads Apple’s stock raised in the high of 70s. With debuting “iTools” in January 2000, Apple's sales raised continually, as did the stock price, which had climbed to 130 by till March. At the same time, Steve became the permanent CEO of Apple. In May 2001, Apple began to exploited personal electronic devices in the face of massive slow down in the Technology industry, such as mp3 players, digital still and video cameras, and PDAs. In January 2003, Apple released iLife, a bundled software package that included iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, for . All of these would revitalize Apple's sales and guarantee continually development of company. The successful introduction of iPod, iPod mini, iShuffled, together with Apple released iTunes for Windows since 2003, Apple found itself in the position of having a monopoly for the first time in several decades. iii. Financial Performance First of all, financial ratio is an excellent approach to analysis the performance of IMAC. It is calculated based on the historical account data, therefore it can be reflected the past performance of the company. Investor is concerned to see the financial statement whether the profitability and the liquidity of IMAC are acceptable or not. In order to show the financial performance with sufficient evidence, I have obtained the financial statement of 2005 and 2006 from the IMAC website. Here are 3 months of the Income Statement and Balance Sheet of IMAC shown as follows. The ratio of Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) illustrates the profitability in relation to the size of the business and the measure of how effectively the managers of the business are using its capital employed in the business. The result of ROCE is 4.83% in 2005 and 7.44% in 2006. It shows that for every £100 million invested in IMAC in 2005 earned £4.83 million, a year later IMAC earned £7.44 million for every £100 million invested. However, IMAC is performing better than last year and 7.44% seems a reasonable return. The ratio of Gross Profit Margin is measured the profit made by buying and selling. The margin will vary from business to business. A business with the need for a rapid turnover in stock will generally have a lower margin than a business with a slower turnover of stock. The Gross profit margin of IMAC is 27.2% in 2005 and 31.2% in 2006. This shows that for every £100 million of sales, the margin was £27.2 million in 2005. It then improved to £31.2 million  in 2006. As a result, 31.2% seems an acceptable figure. However, this reflects the nature of IMAC, which is a service industry. The ratio of Net Profit Margin measures the profitability of IMAC after expenses. The result of Net Margin has shown a satisfy improvement, from 14.5% in 2005 to 20.4% in 2006. It illustrates a significant reduction on expenses and this appears to be a healthy return if you invest on IMAC. Current ratio measures the ability to cover current liabilities using current assets. The result shown that the current ratio is 2.27:1 in 2006 and 2.24:1 in 2005. The figure of 2.27:1 means that IMAC has £2.27 million to pay every £1 of current liabilities. However, both years have got sufficient resources to cover debts. Overall, the profitability and the liquidity of IMAC appear satisfactory. On the other hand, apart from seeing the profitability and the liquidity of IMAC, cash flow statement is an important feature to look at. Cash is more significant for business survival than profit. IMAC may not be able to meet its liabilities and to pay dividends without cash and hence lose the confidence of shareholders. In order to provide a fuller understanding of IMAC performance, there is a Cash Flow Statement illustrated as below. According to the Cash Flow Statement of IMAC, there are three activities should be concerned. It identifies clearly the transaction performance of IMAC. Cash generated by operating activities has an improvement in 2006. It increased from £283 to £1813. For cash generated by investing activities, IMAC has invested more in 2006 than 2005. Finally, the figure of cash generated by financing activities is decreased, from £283 million in 2005 to £188 million in 2006. However, cash and cash equivalents have improved from £4150 million to £7150 million. In, general, IMAC has more cash available for investing and paying the loans. IMAC has enough cash to invest and investigate more new products to customers. Recently, it launched new Ipod shuffles, which satisfy the customers needed.  Overall, the financial statement illustrates IMAC has a satisfaction profitability and liquidity. It also has sufficient cash for investing new product and greater development. That evidence leads us confidently to believe IMAC will continue to get a profit and it is worth to investment.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Business Skills Assignment

The Contents 1) introduce the organization (iMac) (100 words) 2) describe and analyse its current activities and performanc...