Clinical Assessment of a Patient with Compound Myopic Astigmatism and Convergence Insufficiency Essay

Abstract Myopic astigmatism is a specific type of astigmatism wherein the light focuses before it reaches the retina. This condition is classified as a combination of astigmatism and myopia, or nearsightedness. If both principal meridians are nearsighted, but one is more pronounced than the other, it is considered to be a compound myopic astigmatism. Convergence Insufficiency on the other hand is a condition wherein the eyes are unable to turn inward or converge properly during near work which causes a difficulty to focus normally due to the deficiency in eye teaming which creates a strong tendency for the eyes to drift outward. Convergence insufficiency is likewise associated as exophoria at near. Keywords Myopia, Astigmatism, Exophoria, Convergence, Convergence Insufficiency Introduction Myopia or nearsightedness, is a refractive error, which means that the eye does not bend or refract light properly. In this sense, the light that enters the eye focuses the image in front of the retina. In cases of myopia, a person is to see things at near with much more clarity than fixating at distant targets. Myopia occurs when the eye is has a longer axial length than normal would have or an eye that has a cornea which is relatively steeper than an emmetrope’s. The degree of myopia or nearsightedness affects the eye’s ability to focus on distant objects. People with high amounts of myopia can see clearly only objects just a few inches away, while those with lower amounts of myopia may still see objects at a distance with enough clarity. Astigmatism on the other hand is a condition wherein the rays of light entering the eye focuses on different areas, in the case of Compound Myopic Astigmatism, both the power meridian and the axis meridian forms its focus in front of the retina. Astigmatism usually is caused by an irregularity in the shape of the cornea, which instead of the cornea having a symmetrically spherical shape, it is shaped more like a football, with one meridian being curved either steeper or flatter than the other meridian. In some cases, astigmatism is caused by the irregularity of the shape of the crystalline lens inside the eye. This type of astigmatism is called lenticular astigmatism, which has a different nature from the more common corneal astigmatism. As a result of either type of astigmatism, a person’s vision for both near and distant objects appears to be either blurred or distorted to a certain extent. Objects seen through the eyes of a person with astigmatism may either seem to be too tall, too thin, too wide, too short or simply having any alterations in terms of apparent size. Convergence insufficiency is a sensory and neuromuscular anomaly of the binocular vision system, characterized by a reduced ability of the eyes to turn inwards or towards each other which causes the eyes to sustain convergence. Symptoms of convergence insufficiency include diplopia or a doubling of vision and headaches when participating in near work. Individuals experiencing convergence insufficiency may complain that they have a noticeable difficulty concentrating on near work such as reading, using of the computer, etc. and can observe that objects such as words in a book seem to blur out after prolonged periods of reading or if reading when tired. People with convergence insufficiency may possibly have normal or 20/20 vision. To diagnose convergence insufficiency, certain tests and procedures may be done, such as; taking of a medical history, this may include questions about problems a patient would have with focusing, blurred or double vision, headaches , and other signs and symptoms. Likewise the near point of convergence (NPC) of a patient should be measured. An assessment of positive fusional vergence should also be done to determine the patient’s reserve in terms of convergence. Convergence insufficiency may be managed with convergence exercises determined by optometrists. Some cases of convergence insufficiency are successfully managed by prescription of eyeglasses, sometimes with therapeutic prisms incorporated in the prescription. Case Report A 17 year old female student was subjected to an eye examination last September 6, 2013 at the Philippine Sports Commission – Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. She complains about blurring of vision with objects at far for both of her eyes and likewise complains about headaches in the frontal area when doing nearwork which she complains as bothersome due to the headaches disabling her from reading for a long time. The patient’s last eye examination was done about 2 years ago she was prescribed with eyeglasses with a refractive power of -4.00 sph = -1.00cylx180 for the right eye which gives her a visual acuity of 20/70 or 6/21 and -3.50 sph = -1.00 cylx180 which also gave a visual acuity of 20/70 or 6/21. Her naked visual acuity for both eyes is 20/200 for far and 20/30 for near while pinhole visual acuity is measured at 20/25 for both of her eyes. The patient’s refractive error as measured through an auto refractometer was OD -6.00sph = -1.50 cylx180 and OS -5.50sph = -1.50 cylx180 which was further refined through subjective refraction to a refractive correction of OD -5.50sph = -1.50cyl x180 and OS – 5.00sph = -1.50cylx180 which gave her a visual acuity of 20/20 for both eyes. Alternate cover testing was also performed and a small amount of exophoria was revealed when the patient was fixating at a distance and likewise exophoria was also observed when the patient was fixating at a near object. Due to the unavailability of other materials necessary for a comprehensive eye examination in the field, further evaluation and investigation was not performed. Differential Diagnosis Astigmatism, Accommodative Insufficiency, Convergence Insufficiency Discussion In terms of refractive error, Compound Myopic Astigmatism can be observed with the patient’s final prescription. But analyzing and comparing the patient’s chief complaints from the results obtained from the eye examination there is a clear inconsistency between the frontal headache and the compound myopic astigmatism. It is known that frontal headaches are commonly associated with hyperopia rather than myopia but frontal headaches can also be associated with accommodative insufficiency and convergence insufficiency. Accommodative insufficiency could easily be ruled out considering that the patient is myopic and her refractive correction has increased more towards minus therefore nuancing out a further need to accommodate. This leaves out convergence insufficiency as a suspect, the symptoms have been aligned in terms of the headache, the difficulty in reading for a long period of time and the observable exophoria for near and far. Management Subject the patient to a comprehensive eye examination to assess her visual system and to verify the prognosis of convergence insufficiency.

Riordan’s Competitive Advantages

Riordan’s Competitive Advantages The research will describe which competitive advantages Riordan has in common with McDonald’s and Burger King. This study will estimate, which competitive strategies Riordan could use to improve innovation and sustainability of business operations both in the United States and in the global market. Research will explain why those competitive strategies were chosen and estimate how they may affect sustainability of long-term organizational performance. The examination will also explain how the global market would affect the business strategy of Riordan.Riordan Organization McDonald’s and Burger King The McDonald’s Corporation and the Riordan Manufacturing Company are both main industry leaders in their own field. One major competitive advantage that each company has in common is differentiating their products. Each company has a variety of items that meets the need of their consumers. The three companies sell both nationally and internationally. Burger King, Riordan, and McDonald’s increase their sales by offering price discounts, and sale promotions to ensure that their prices are affordable to everyone in need.All three companies use cost leadership, focus, and differentiation tactics to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. Another commonality between the three companies is that they use some type of reward and incentives program to ensure that they are recognizing their employees for operational excellence. Riordan Innovation Strategies Innovation Riordan could increase innovation and sustainability for the business operations in the United States of America and globally by implementing a strategic capacity plan.This plan will increase effectiveness, add improvement to its supply chain, and implement the methods and concepts of lean production to gain value and over time help sustain competitive advantage. Strategic capacity planning starts with better use of resources by redu cing waste of raw material and producing products in good time at a lower cost. Riordan should make sure it has stock available and on the shelf, which will allow the inventory cost to rise. Riordan can increase its competitiveness by using farsighted capacity planning, by making use of the breakeven analysis of financial statements.This will help Riordan improve the process that it already uses, and by using the just-in-time inventory, which would help the company in the area of its operation processes. These strategies can be implemented by ensuring a better eye for detail, adding the key values of extreme precisions and enthusiastic quality control to help continued success in the future. Business Decisions Differentiation and cost leadership were two strategies chose because they are the most common between the different companies. Amazingly two leading organizations from different industries are using the same competitive strategies and tactics.The two competitive strategies ma y be the reason both organizations are leading within their industries. Differentiation is a type of competitive strategy with which the organization seeks to distinguish its products or services from competitors (Valdehueza, 2009). Riordan’s organization sells heart valves, plastic bottles, fans, and medical stents. Clearly, they have a large variety of products. According to Valdehueza, cost leadership is a competitive strategy with which the organization aggressively seeks efficient facilities, cuts costs, and employs tight cost controls to be more efficient than the competition.Decreasing business costs every way possible while providing customers with a high quality product is a definite way to ensure an advantage over the competition. Sustainability When organizations master’s cost leadership, and differentiation they will began to meet and exceed long-term goals. The organizations can use these two strategies for every business situation they may encounter. Prop er use of both strategies will result in sustainability and organizational performance. Competition between companies will create a winner and a looser.In the competition process in efforts for the winners to win, they have to increase consumer value to satisfy the customer. This method alone will create long-term sustainability within the corporation. Organizations create customer loyalty by increasing consumer value in efforts to surpass the competition. Continual improvements of this particular process will sustain long-term organizational performance, and operational excellence. Global Market Affect Business strategy The globalization of markets is the merging of historically distinct and separate national markets into one larger global marketplace (Hill, 2009).With any form of globalization, companies will have to understand international measurement issues. Riordan’s Plastic began with international measurement in efforts to prepare the company for the global market. Ac cording to Hill, the globalization of production is the sourcing of services from one location around the world to take advantage of national differences in the cost of factors or production in labor energy, land, and capital (2009). International measurement issues include return on investments (ROI), budget analysis, and historical comparison (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010). Dr.Riordan insisted on using their resources as a tool to increase profits when he started this company. This way when Riordan became international customer satisfaction and the rate of return was the most important factors. Riordan also needed a budget analysis as well as a historical comparison to maintain global success. Conclusion One major competitive advantage that each company has in common is differentiating their products. Each company has a variety of items that meets the need of their consumers. All three companies use cost leadership, focus, and differentiation tactics to gain a competitive advantage over their competition.Riordan can increase its competitiveness by using farsighted capacity planning, by making use of the breakeven analysis of financial statement, which will help Riordan improve the process that it already uses, and by using the just-in-time inventory, which would help the company in the area of its operation processes. Differentiation and cost leadership were two strategies chose because they are the most common between the different companies. When an organization masters cost leadership, and differentiation they will began to meet and exceed long-term goals.Continuous improvements of this particular process will sustain long-term organizational performance, and operational excellence. Riordan also needed a budget analysis as well as a historical comparison to maintain global success. References Chauhan, S. , Nagi, R. , & Proth, J. (2004) Strategic capacity planning in supply chain design for a new Market opportunity International Journal of Production Research 42 (11), p. 2197 – 2206 Hill, C. W. (2009) International business competing in the global marketplace (7th ed. ) Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Shields, T. 1999) Tutorials – lean production / lean manufacturing Defense Acquisition University. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from http://www. dau. mil/educdept/mm_dept_resources/navbar/lean/01rdg-lean. asp Valdehueza, Gregar, D (2009) Strategy Formulation, and Implementation Retrieved from: http://www. slideshare. net/gar_dev/strategy-formulation-and-implementation-1224519 Wheelen, T. L. , & Hunger, J. D. (2010) Concepts in strategic management and business policy: Achieving sustainability (12th ed. ) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall

University of Newcastle

1)What segmentation base has Red Bull adopted to target consumers? How should Red Bull further segment the market in the future? When marketers begin instigate their strategy they will begin by selecting a marketing base at which they will aim their strategy. The Bases can be broken into four segments on the basis of two criteria: 1- Facts, which can be determined by a single objective or cognitions that are more abstract 2-Consumer rooted features relating to consumers physical, social and psychological needs versus consumption specific behaviour or preferences towards a product.Based on this criteria the four segments business use include: -Demographic, based on general features of human life -Geographic, based on the region the consumers live in -Behavioural, based on the consumers preferences towards products -Psychographic, based on the personality traits of consumers While many companies choose to aim their marketing strategy at a single consumer base, many successful companies choose to engage many segmentation bases with one marketing strategy. This process is called hybrid segmentation.This can be seen with Red Bulls â€Å"guerrilla marketing† strategy that established them as a successful company. It is clear that the marketing strategy segmented the market demographics and psychographic segments. For example the unique strategy that was developed to demographically target students/young adults and aimed to psychographically appeal due to their active and outgoing lifestyles. In order to continue their success in the market, Red Bulls targeted consumer base can be further segmented to increase profitability. ) How Does Red Bull arouse the motivations of consumers to purchase energy drinks? Motivation can be seen as the driving force that impels the consumer to act in fulfilling their needs, hopefully through the consumer purchasing their products. Red Bull achieves this through providing positive motivation for the consumer. 3) Describe the Bra nd Personality of Red Bull. Why do you think the concept of brand personality is so important to Red Bull?

Stacking Passengers in Airplanes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stacking Passengers in Airplanes - Research Paper Example Before this proposal, Airbus had issued a different patent that proposed using bicycle-style airplane seats, with French-based firm Zodiac Seats proposed face-to-face style seats in airplanes. These issues bring some pressing concerns to the passengers who travel using air, as they fear the airlines might demand that passengers pay an extra plane that transports the passenger luggage. Paying an extra plane means increased spending, a factor many people are not comfortable complying to. Another issue that comes with the Airbus plan is the limited amount of space each passenger will have. It is already hard enough that passengers have to complain about the limited legroom, and now they will face a bigger conundrum of watching that they fit in the hollow space provided. This is because the arrangement would push traveling passengers very close to the ceiling of the plane. Also, many people decide to travel by air not because of the speed, but because of the adequate room, the comfortabl e space, and not crowded space that allows for free movement within the aircraft. Many people fear that stacking the airplanes would be like traveling by bus, which would be much less comfortable.The company executives compared the unused space in aircrafts with the passenger cabins, which are fitted with multiple rows of passenger seats. The seats also have very limited space between them and small space for seats. The airline seems to copy this style of designing and try to incorporate its effectiveness in aircrafts.

Change in Employee Relations in United Kingdom Essay

Change in Employee Relations in United Kingdom - Essay Example Majority of the employees give preference to work in a better work atmosphere than working in a poor work atmosphere with higher pay. Globalization and other changes that took place in the world caused a drastic change in the employee relation. Huge difference can be seen in between the present form of employee relation and traditional way of employee relation. This paper makes an attempt to evaluate the changes in the employee relation in last 30 years and its importance in the future developments in the context of United Kingdom. Though there may be some variations in employee relation or industrial relations practices in various countries, changes are taking place in various countries in almost similar manner. Decades back, each country may have its own industrial practice, but now due to globalization and advancement of technology majority of the countries' employee relation practices are more or less similar. Today the industrial relation is very important and a widely discussed subject and has a great significance in the growth of industries. The terms labour relation and industrial relation are interchangeably used (Bean, 1994). A good industrial relation has a significant role in the success of any kind of business. Appalachian State University defines employee relations as "it involves the body of work concerned with maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, and morale" (Staff-employee relations, n. d.). Disputes are common at work places. If there is a better labour relation this disputes can be minimized. If the employer is interacting with the employees in a better way it can increase the loyalty of the employees, thereby increasing the productivity of the organisation. Overview of different issues of employee relation Here are different issues related to the employee relation that requires detailed discussion and is always a topic of debate for the experts in this field. Some of the issues are employee grievances, employee wellness, employee compensation, employee discrimination, employee promotion...etc. The management especially human resource management team should be efficient enough to maintain an efficient employee relation in an organisation. 1. Employee grievances handling: Employee grievances are common at work place. If the management t failed properly solves the grievances of employee s o it may cause serious problems to the organization including losing of efficient employees. Employees would not be ready to work in organization where their grievances are not properly solved. There are no industrial concerns which are working smoothly at all times. In some concern employee have complaints against employers. In some other cases employers may have complaints against employees. This is happening mainly due to lack of better employee relation. These grievances may be real, imaginary, valid, invalid, genuine, not genuine etc. Generally speaking complaints affecting one or more employees may be treated as grievances. Grievance is a feeling of discontent or dissatisfaction among workers regarding anything concerned with the company (Som, n. d.). Causes of grievances: There may be variety of reasons for grievance. Some of them are explained below. a. Difference in opinion: The management and

Analysing and responding to the two articles ( comparing bth articles) Essay

Analysing and responding to the two articles ( comparing bth articles) - Essay Example Texts communicated over the pagers were finally given the form of SMS during the 90s with a restricted length of 20 characters only. Not until 2001 texting rocketed as GSM companies finally made their way out on charging for these SMS and then arriving at lowest SMS package rates. Texting has been given an affirmative agreement that it helps and improves literacy rather than hindering literacy and shattering the roots of English language that has been previously regarded as the penmanship for the illiterates by John Sutherland, University College London in his research paper back in 2002. As the critics to the use of texting John Humphry has been blaming SMS for savaging the English language and destroying the vocabulary, there are others as David Crystal that recognizes the fact the Texting has added a new dimension and it’s not at all a disaster to English language. Moreover the short abbreviated words such as â€Å"xlnt† for â€Å"excellent† and â€Å"gd† for â€Å"good† were seen before in a dictionary of abbreviations by Eric Partridge back in 1949, there were no text messages there. Many texters really don’t disrupt the words and vocabulary in fact as the length of the text increases the standard orthography and information also increases and that is dealt with intelligence. T9 dictionary is also reserving the standard orthography and the new texters (particularly older and conservative people) go in line with this while texting. They find it quick, simple and easy that way. Moreover the use of institutional messages is all around us that adhere to the traditional orthography standards and refuse to depart from them at all. They forbid the use of abbreviations and even the templates stored in the cellular phones use for quick messages are in complete proper English. According to American and Norwegian studies the use of abbreviations is relatively low that is 20% and 6% respectively. The point arises how it is rui ning the roots of English language. So for those who say SMS has been raping our vocabulary is so much mistaken as they have been nurturing the misconceptions and they are just not ready to give technology an edge. The critics realize the fact that a text is farther cheaper and saves time as it costs relatively far less than that of a voice message. The voice messages may last for ten minutes but you can easily go through a text message in less than a minute. That is time saving! A text definitely has distinctiveness associated to them. None of the texts are linguistically novel. This practice has been in there for centuries when the early computers used the informal texts centuries ago and also the same texts used in chartrooms before the onset of GSM texting services. The critics regard the missing of punctuation mark between words as a very destructive phenomenon to English language and they frequently associate it with the arrival of texting. That is hoax. Many of the texts incl ude alpha numeric for their completion. For instance, â€Å"2† for â€Å"to† and â€Å"4† for â€Å"for†, â€Å"C† for â€Å"see† and â€Å"u† for â€Å"you†. These rebuses are not a new thing. Some people take this as disrupting the communications but they forgot that while solving Christmas puzzles and even short hand used same abbreviations at various times so why associating all this to texting failures only? Many words such as â€Å"

Summary 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summary 3 - Essay Example On the other hand, other people like and encourage the violence in hockey. They see it as a customer magnet. Clubs sponsors and media also demand this violence since it increases profits as games are sold out and papers sell(Miedzian, 187). Therefore, a child who views these players are inclined to think naturally and Little does he or she know that the extreme violence he sees often grows more out of the owners commercial interests than players inclinations as players who do not participate in violence endanger their jobs(Miedzian, 188). A child knows violence outside sports is disapproved of but violence in sports is approved of by society. This unbalances the child who thought sports is about skill and talent but now knows sports is about winning and it means doing anything to win bad or good(Miedzian, 189).What are sports all about? It is about competitiveness not to win but to be the best. It is also about being a task master, by setting goals and achieving them. It is having self-esteem and confidence in

'Government by oligarchy and corruption'. Is this a fair description Essay

'Government by oligarchy and corruption'. Is this a fair description of politics under Walpole - Essay Example After the retirement of Lord Townshend, he turned into the only undisputed leader of Cabinet. Although Walpole is charges with turning corruption into a public company with a systematic rottenness, it was under his reign when the country was able to manage the financial crisis in a systematic way. Walpole’s reign continued to 17421. First of all, let us concentrate on the issue of oligarchy and corruption that the political era of Walpole was charged with. Before proceeding further, it is necessary to look at what oligarchy actually refers to. Oligarchy can be described as a government which is governed only by a few. During the mid of seventeenth century, when the parliament won the contest for power with monarch, the lawyer-politicians were very much prominent in the political arena of Great Britain. It can therefore be said that at the start of eighteenth century there existed two great power blocks – politics and the law, and the interesting thing to be noted was that the cartel straddled both. During eighteenth century, England was being reined by the Whig oligarchs. The interesting feature of the government ran by Whig oligarchs was that they started to use the method of an all-encompassing corruption. To be more specific, the politicians used to buy their seats and sell their votes in parliament. The Whigs therefore introduced corruption in parliament, and Walpole, being a Whig, followed this tradition and took it forward to an intense level. Walpole’s era of Whig oligarchy ran from 1721 to 1742. It is found that during the last 10 years of his reign, he paid bribes of around 50,000 pound to newspaper proprietors. In this context, there is one thing worth mentioning. Although, parliamentary corruption took a very bad shape during the period of Walpole, it would not be right to say that corruption finds its origin in this period only. To trace the origin of corruption one needs to look far back. Parliamentary corruption

Professional Team Sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Professional Team Sports - Essay Example Making profits is a key aspect in any business venture (Wladimir and Stefan, 2006:617). This understanding has created interest in finding out the real effect of decisions made by club owners and franchise on the structure and regulation of leagues around the world. This paper therefore seeks to interrogate the different ways in which the objectives and decisions of club owners in professional sports affect the overall sporting arena. In order to get better sales in sports, high level of competition is required unlike in business where monopoly is the ultimate goal. If there are championships or leagues, the participation of more than two clubs will be necessary to ensure better products to the fans. If one club is far better than the rest and keeps on winning all games with ease, the products become so predictable and therefore less marketable to the fans (Wladimir & Stefan, 2006:27). Fans will get bored in watching a team that wins with big margins repeatedly and so need some degre e of uncertainty for them to enjoy watching the game. This phenomenon of the professional sports as an industry has led to the development of cooperation among clubs and the adoption of governing bodies charged with ensuring that the industry attains its optimal production capacity by way of organising championships and leagues. These leagues are highly competitive and as such have become some of the most profitable enterprises around the globe. For instance, the European champions’ league, the Barclays premier league in England and the La-liga of Spain are some examples among many leagues in football that are leading income earners for the respective clubs and contribute a considerable amount of the countries’ GDP. Baseball, basketball, indoor sports, golf, athletics, and Olympics in general all form a multibillion-dollar economy (Masteralexis and Hums, 2002:295). The graph below shows how revenue from sporting activities has increased over the years. Figure 1: graphi c illustration of increase in revenue in the sports sector associated with increasing commercialization Retrieved from http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/sandd/D-Shift_New_Equilibrium.gif According to some economists, this feature of professional sport is quite favourable as it eradicates monopolies, which are responsible for poor quality of products or services offered and high non-commensurate prices. In the end, the whole arena of professional sports forms a model of free market where competitiveness of the product offered carries the largest share. This competition however is not always healthy especially with respect to the labour market (Stefan, 2007:47). Here, the free relocation and transfer of players from one club to the other based on the wages has made the wealthier clubs maintain a grip of the top leagues and championships over the less wealthy clubs. Therefore, wealthy club owners can get all the best talent there is in the market and thereby in a way kill competition , which is the very phenomenon on which the industry thrives (Rodney, 2004:25). This has resulted to creation of oligopolistic cartels where the higher level of game is exclusive to the rich clubs where as the less wealthy clubs play in the lower divisions that are less competitive and less famous among the fans ((Wladimir and Stefan, 2006:64). This means that fans will be flocking the gates only when big teams are playing. This obviously means very high revenues for them where as the poorer clubs will only have small number of fans in

Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Women - Essay Example The first feature, common for all these women, is their masculinity, interwoven with typically female manner of control. Queen Dido rules Carthage, Margot is a member of the Damned Few, the secret council of the Women's country, and Athena is a deity, a goddess of war, wisdom and knowledge, adored in the Ancient Greece. In order to understand Margot's roles and functions, let's look briefly at the organization of the Women's Country. "Within Women's Country, all the cities are walled and each city has, outside its walls, a garrison of male warriors to protect them from other male warriors protecting other cities" (Tepper, 1988, p.21). In exchange for this defense, the women have to give their male children to his father at the age of five. Warriors are allowed to enter Women's Country under two circumstances. First, they can visit it biannually for 'Carnival', a social event which encourages men and women to have intimate affairs in order to have children. Second, the warriors, who wish to change their life and turn it to more peaceful side, can return to the Women's Country as the servitors, who perform the women's commandments, but enjoy civilized life without any weapon, cruelty and violence. The ordinances and instructions made by the women are directed to day-by-day guidance for the inhabitant s, who want to lead healthy and productive lives. Furthermore, the Damned Few's policy is close-knit with the total abolishment of gender inequality and with making women independent. Margot is one of those who try to improve the lives of the citizens, who really long to construct, not to destruct.In spite of her great power, Margot hasn't become cruel, like many tyrannical political leaders. Margot is an elder and physician in Marthatown (ibid, p.43). Margot is a person, whose life is an example of righteousness in terms of women's country. She has to develop new the values of gender equality (or even of female dominance to some degree) in the Country, so she does not allow herself such trivial things as love while solving problems of great importance, such as problem of violence. Using the power her knowledge and wisdom, she rejects the power of her emotions and brings up her daughter Stavia in a similar way (ibid, p.82).Queen Dido is one of the first female characters of western literature. It is possible to say that she is a female parallel to Aeneas. Queen Dido experiences a loss, when her brother betrays and kills her husband Sychaeus. Nevertheless, she is actually a person who founded a new city, having led her people from the motherland as exiles. She has no intention to fall in love with Aeneas, but Cupid traps her with his arrow. Thus, diving into the love, Dido looses her masculinity and moral stability, and her city begins to weaken.Once Aeneas leaves her, she becomes anxious and gets a fixation on her feeling, and needs a child in order to comfort herself. Having broken her promise of fidelity, given to her husband's soul, and feeling completely desperate, she commits suicide but not without bothering the Trojans and predicting the wars between Rome and Carthage.Dido does not represent the typical woman of classical

The Internet And Its Effects On College Students Essay Example for Free

The Internet And Its Effects On College Students Essay The internet is one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century and can be a very useful and productive tool. On the other hand the internet is also designed with entertainment in mind and can be a tremendous waster of time. College Students as a group have greater access to high speed internet connections than any other group. Therefore the use or misuse of the internet can be a very important issue in the education of a college student. Never before has a person had access to as much information as you have with the internet. A person has the ability to research without going to the library, as almost every library has a website which you can use to research. In addition to the websites of libraries search engines make it easy to find web pages on whatever topic you need information on. Many news organizations also have websites which you can use to view current events and current issues of the newspapers and also archived issues of the newspaper. The internet has also become and important and vital part of education. Three of the four classes that I am taking this quarter use the internet as an integral part of the course. In my physics class all the homework is done on an internet system called webassign. You submit the homework on the internet and it gives you your grade immediately and also tells you all the problems you got wrong and all the problems you got right. Another course that makes use of the internet is my computer science class. You use the internet to do the labs for the class and can also get notes for the class on the computer science site. My calculus teacher also uses the internet and has a website that she uses extensively during class. She posts the answers to the homework questions on her website and during class she uses the projector hooked up to her computer to view the website. She also posts grades on the site and you can download practice tests and quizzes. Also at the beginning of all my classes this quarter the teacher gave out his or her e-mail address. As with all things in life there is also a downside to the internet. College students in particular can be affected by the negative aspects of the  internet. Some students can become addicted to the internet and to internet based applications like instant messaging and chat rooms. This can become a problem when the time a student spends online starts to interfere with his or her schoolwork and grades. I know from personal experience how time consuming the internet can be. I regularly spend a few hours a day viewing web pages or using internet based applications on my computer. Another aspect of the internet that can be a tremendous waster of time is computer games that use the internet. I know that this is an issue for many people here at R.I.T. My R.A. told all the people on my floor of stories about people who actually flunked out in their first year because they neglected their work to play computer games. Never before have college students had such a powerful tool to aid them in research and in their overall education. The internet is also a breakthrough in communication and entertainment and can be used in a way that hinders your education. In conclusion the positive aspects of the internet in my opinion far outweigh the negatives.

Firstmover Advantage Essay Example for Free

Firstmover Advantage Essay What, exactly, are first-mover advantages? Under what conditions do they arise, and by what specific mechanisms? Do first-movers make aboveaverage profits? And when is it in a firm’s interest to pursue first-mover opportunities, as opposed to allowing rivals to make the pioneering investments? In this paper we examine these and other related questions. We categorize the mechanisms that confer advantages and disadvantages on first-mover firms, and critically assess the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. The recent burgeoning of theoretical work in industrial economics provides a rich set of models that help make our understanding of first-mover advantages more precise. There is also a growing body of empirical literature on order-of-entry effects. Our aim is to begin to provide a more detailed mapping of mechanisms and outcomes, to serve as a guide for future research. We define first-mover advantages in terms of the ability of pioneering firms to earn positive economic profits (i. e. , profits in excess of the cost of capital). First-mover advantages arise endogenously within a multi-stage process, as illustrated in Figure 1. In the first stage, some asymmetry is generated, enabling one particular firm to gain a head start over rivals. This first-mover opportunity may occur because the firm posesses some unique resources or foresight, or simply because of luck. Once this asymmetry is generated there are a variety of mechanisms that may enable the firm to exploit its position; these mechanisms enhance the magnitude or durability (or both) of first-mover profits. Our discussion is organized as follows. We first consider theoretical models and empirical evidence on three general categories in which first-mover advantage can be attained: leadership in product and process technology, preemption of assets, and development of buyer switching costs. We then examine potential disadvantages of first-mover firms (or conversely, relative advantages enjoyed by late-mover rivals). These include free-rider problems and a tendency toward inertia or sluggish response by established incumbents. The next section addresses a series of basic conceptual issues. These include the endogenous nature of first-mover opportunities, and various definitional and measurement questions. We conclude with an assessment of opportunities for additional research, and a summary of managerial implications. 1 MECHANISMS LEADING TO FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGES First-mover advantages arise from three primary sources: (1) technological leadership, (2) preemption of assets, and (3) buyer switching costs. Within each category there are a number of specific mechanisms. 1 In this section we survey the existing theoretical and empirical literature on these three general categories of first-mover advantages. The theoretical models surveyed in this section assume the existence of some initial asymmetry among competitors that can be exploited by the first-mover firm. This intial asymmetry is critical; without it first-mover. advantages do not arise. Later in the paper we consider ways in which this asymmetry may come about. Technological Leadership First-movers can gain advantage through sustainable leadership in technology. Two basic mechanisms are considered in the literature: (1) advantages derived from the â€Å"learning† or â€Å"experience† curve, where costs fall with Cumulative output, and (2) success in patent or RD races, where advances in product or process technology are a function of RD expenditures. Learning curve In the standard learning-curve model, unit production costs fall with cumulative output. This generates a sustainable cost advantage for the early entrant if learning can be kept proprietary and the firm can maintain leadership in market share. This argument was popularized by the Boston Consulting Group during the 1970s and has had a considerable influence on the strategic management field. In a seminal theoretical paper, Spence (1981) demonstrated that when learning can be kept proprietary, the learning curve can generate substantial barriers to entry. Fewer than a handful of firms may be able to compete profitably. 2 However, despite high seller concentration there are incentives for vigorous competition. Firms that do enter may initially sell below cost Rumelt (1987) refers to these as â€Å"isolating mechanisms,† since they protect â€Å"entrepreneurial rents† from imitative competition. 2 1n a related setting where learning depends on accumulated investment rather than output, Gilbert and Harris (1981) show that a first-mover will preempt in the construction of new plants over multiple generations. 1 2 in an effort to accumulate greater experience, and thereby gain a long-term cost advantage. Such vigorous competition sharply reduces profits. Empirical evidence supporting such learning-based preemption is given by Ghemawat (1984) in the case of DuPont’s development of an innovative process for titanium dioxide, and by Porter (1981) who discusses Proctor and Gamble’s sustained advantage in disposable diapers in the US. Similarly, Shaw and Shaw (1984) argue that late entrants into European synthetic fiber markets failed to gain significant market shares or low cost positions, and many ultimately exited. Learning-based advantages are also evident in the case of Lincoln Electric Company (Fast, 1975); the firm’s early market entry with superior patented products, coupled with a distinctive managerial system promoting continued cost reduction in an evolutionary technological environment, has enabled the company to sustain remarkably high profitability. Inter-firm diffusion of technology, which diminishes first-mover advantages derived from the learning curve, is emphasized in theoretical papers by Ghemawat and Spence (1985) and Lieberman (1987c). It is now generally recognized that diffusion occurs rapidly in most industries, and learning-based advantages are less widespread than was commonly believed in the 1970s. Mechanisms for diffusion include workforce mobility, research publication, informal technical communication, â€Å"reverse engineering,† plant tours, etc. For a sample of firms in ten industries, Mansfield (1985) found that process technology leaks more slowly than product technology, but competitors typically gain access to detailed information on both products and processes within a year of development. Lieberman (1982, 1987b) shows that diffusion of process technology enabled late entry into a sample of forty chemical product industries, despite strong learning curve effects at the industry level. R~Dand patents When technological advantage is largely a function of RD expenditures, pioneers can gain advantage if technology can be patented or maintained as trade secrets. This has been formalized in the theoretical economics literature in the form of RD or patent races where advantages are often enjoyed by the first-mover firm. Gilbert and Newberry (1982) were the first to develop a model of preemptive patenting, in which a firm with an early head-start in research exploits its lead to deter rivals from entering the patent race. Subsequent papers by Reinganum (1983), Fudenberg, et 3 al. (1983) and others showed that that preemption by the leader depends on assumptions regarding the stochastic nature of the RD process and whether it is possible for followers to â€Å"leapfrog† ahead of the incumbent. One general defect of this patent race literature is that all returns are assumed to go exclusively to the winner of the race. As an empirical matter, such patent races seem to be important in only a few industries, such as pharmaceuticals. In most industries, patents confer only weak protection, are easy to â€Å"invent around,† or have transitory value given the pace of technological change. For a sample of 48 patented product innovations in pharmaceuticals, chemicals and electrical products, Mansfield et al. (1981) found that on average, imitators could duplicate patented innovations for about 65% of the innovators cost; imitation was fairly rapid, with 60% of the patented innovations imitated within four years. Imitation appeared relatively more costly in the pharmaceutical industry, where immitators must go through the same regulatory approval procedures as the innovating firm. Levin et al. (1984) found wide inter-industry variation in the cost and time required for imitation. They also found inter-industry differences in appropriability mechanisms, with lead-time and learning curve advantages relatively important in many industries, and patents important in few. In a study using the PIMS data base, Robinson (1988) found that pioneer firms benefit from patents or trade secrets to a significantly greater extent than followers (29% vs. 13%). However, he also found that patents accounted for only a small proportion of the perceived quality advantages enjoyed by pioneers. Several case studies have examined the role of patents in sustaining firstmover advantages. Bresnahan (1985) discusses Xerox’s use of patents as an entry barrier. In addition to key patents on the basic Xerography process, Xerox patented a thicket of alternative technologies which defended the firm from entry until challengers used anti-trust actions to force compulsory licensing. Bright (1949) argues that GE’s long-term dominance of the electric lamp industry was initially derived from control of the basic Edison patent, and later maintained through the accumulation of hundreds of minor patents on the lamp and associated equipment. RD and innovation need not be limited to physical hardware; firms also make improvements in managerial systems and may invent new organizational forms. Organizational innovation is often slow to diffuse, and hence may convey more durable first-mover advantage than product or process innovation (Teece, 1980). Chandler (1977) describes managerial innovations that enabled producers to exploit newly-available scale economies in 4 manufacturing and distribution in the late 19th century. Many of these firms—e. g. , American Tobacco, Campbell Soup, Quaker Oats, Proctor and  Gamble—still retain dominant positions in their industries. Preemption of Scarce Assets The first-mover firm may be able to gain advantage by preempting rivals in the acquisition of scarce assets. Here, the first-mover gains advantage by controffing assets that already exist, rather than those created by the firm through development of new technology. Such assets may be physical resources or other process inputs. Alternatively, the assets may relate to positioning in â€Å"space,† including geographic space, product space, shelf space, etc. Preemption of input factors II the first-mover firm has superior information, it may be able to purchase assets at market prices below those that will prevail later in the evolution of the market. Such assets include natural resource deposits and prime retailing or manufacturing locations. Here, the returns garnered by the first-mover are pure economic rents. 3 A first-mover with superior information can (in principle) collect all such rents earned on non-mobile assets such as resource deposits and real estate. 4 The firm may also be able to appropriate some of the rents that accrue to potentially mobile assets such as employees, suppliers and distributors. The firm can collect such rents if these factors are bound to the firm by switching costs, so that their mobility is restricted. One empirical study of first-mover advantages in controlling natural resources is Main (1955). Main argues that the concentration of high-grade nickel deposits in a single geographic area made it possible for the first company in the area to secure rights to virtually the entire supply, and thus dominate world production for decades. The basic argument is sta-ndard economic analysis, and can be traced back to Ricardo’s analysis of rents captured by landowners (first-movers) in the market for wheat in 19th century England. 4 Note that with complete markets, a first-mover with superior information need not actually own or control such assets to capture economic rents. Hirshleifer (1971) argues that if futures markets exist, the firm can simply assume forward market positions that exploit its superior information. 3 5 Preemption of locations in geographic and product characteristics space First-movers may also be able to deter entry through strategies of spatial preemption. In many markets there is â€Å"room† for only a limited number of profitable firms; the first-mover can often select the most attractive niches and may be able to take strategic actions that limit the amount of space available for subsequent entrants. Preemptable â€Å"space† can be interpreted broadly to include not only geographic space, but also shelf space and â€Å"product characteristics space† (i. e. , niches for product differentiation). The theory of spatial preemption is developed in papers by Prescott and Vissher (1977), Schmalensee (1978), Rao and Ruttenberg (1979) and Eaton and Lipsey (1979, 1981). The basic argument is that the first-mover can establish positions in geographic or product space such that latecomers find it unprofitable to occupy the interstices. If the market is growing, new niches are filled by incumbents before new entry becomes profitable. 5 Entry is repelled through the threat of price warfare, which is more intense when firms are positioned more closely. Incumbent commitment is provided through sunk investment costs. 6 The empirical evidence suggests that successful preemption through geographic space packing is rare. In their study of the cement industry, Johnson and Parkman (1983) found no evidence of successful geographic preemption even though structural characteristics of the industry suggest that such strategies would be likely. In a study of local newspaper markets, Glazer (1985) found no difference in survival rates between first- and second-mover firms. One explanation for these findings is that all firms in cement and newspaper markets have similar technologies and entry opportunities, so preemptive competition for preferred sites drives profits to zero. In other words, there were no initial asymmetries in timing or information to be exploited. One counter-example illustrating effective geographic preemption is a case study of the Wal-Mart discount retailing firm (Ghemawat, 1986b). Wal-Mart targeted small southern towns located in contiguous areas that competitors initially found unprofitable to serve. By coupling spatial preemption at the retail level with an. extremely efficient distribution network, the firm has been able to defend its position and earn sustained high profits. Schmalensee (1978) developed his model of product space preemption in lncumbents fill these niches in order to sustain monopoly profits at nearby locations; these profits may be dissipated if new entry occurs. 6 judd (1985) argues that sunk costs are not sufficient; exit costs are required as well. 5 6 the context of a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission against the three major US breakfast cereal companies. The FTC alleged that these firms had sustained their high profit rates through a strategy of tacit collusion in preempting supermarket shelf space and product differentiation niches. Although the lawsuit was dismissed, the cereal firms have continued to sustain exceptionally high profit rates. 7 Robinson and Fornell (1985) found that new consumer product pioneers initially held product quality superiority over imitators, and eventually developed advantages in the form of a broader product line. Thus, there is some evidence that pioneers try to reinforce their early lead by filling product differentiation niches. Preemptive investment in plant and equipment Another way in which an established first-mover can deter entry is through pre-emptive investment in plant and equipment. Here, the enlarged capacity of the incumbent serves as a commitment to maintain greater output following entry, with price cuts threatened to make entrants unprofitable. In these models, the incumbent may successfully deter new entry, as in Spence (1977), Dixit (1980), Gilbert and Harris (1981) and Eaton and Ware (1987). Alternatively, pre-emptive investment by the pioneer may simply deter the growth of smaller entrants, as in Spence (1979) and Fudenberg and Tirole (1983). These investment tactics do not seem to be particularly important in practice. Gilbert (1986) argues that most industries lack the cost structure required for preemptive investment to prove effective. Lieberman (1987a) shows that preemptive investment by incumbents was seldom successful in deterring entry into chemical product industries. One exception was magnesium, where Dow Chemical maintained a near monopoly position for several decades, based largely on investments (threatened or actual) in plant capacity (Lieberman, 1983). The role of scale economies is intentionally de-emphasized in the abovementioned models of preemptive investment. 8 When scale economies are large, first-mover advantages are typically enhanced, with the limiting case being that of natural monopoly. However, outside of public utilities, scale 7 8 0f course, these profits may be derived from sources other than spatial preemption. have also ignored the possibility that network externalities may enhance the po- sition of the first-mover firm. These externalities arise if there are incentives for interconnection or compatibility among users. (See, for example, Farrell and Saloner (1986) and Katz and Shapiro (1986). ) 7 economies approaching the natural monopoly level are seldom observed in US manufacturing industries. 9 In a theoretical treatment, Schmalensee (1981) shows that in most realistic industry settings, scale economies provide only minor entry barriers and hence potential for enhanced profits. Switching Costs and Buyer Choice Under Uncertainty Switching costs First-mover advantages may also arise from buyer switching costs. With switching costs, late entrants must invest extra resources to attract customers away from the first-mover firm. Several types of switching costs can arise. First, switching costs can stem from initial transactions costs or investments that the buyer makes in adapting to the seller’s product. These include the time and resources spent in qualifying a new supplier, the cost of ancillary products such as software for a new computer, and the time, disruption, and financial burdens of training employees. A second category of switching costs arises due to supplier-specific learning by the buyer. Over time, the buyer adapts to characteristics of the product and its supplier and thus finds it costly to change over to another brand (Wernerfelt, 1988). For example, nurses become accustomed to the intravenous solution delivery systems of a given supplier and are reluctant to switch (Porter, 1980). A third type of switching cost is contractual switching cost that may be intentionally created by the seller. Airline frequent flyer programs fit in this category (Klemperer, 1986). Theoretical models of market equilibrium with buyer switching costs include Klemperer (1986) and Wernerfelt (1986, 1988). Switching costs typically enhance the value of market share obtained early in the evolution of a new market. Thus, they provide a rationale for pursuit of market share. However, first-movers with large market shares do not necessarily earn high profits; early competition for share can dissipate profits. And under some conditions the inertia of an incumbent with a large customer base can make this firm vulnerable to late entrants, who prove to be relatively more profitable (Klemperer, 1986). For example, see Weiss (1976). This finding applies to manufacturing operations only; greater scale economies may arise in distribution and advertising. Also, many retailing markets are geographically fragmented, leading to the possibility of spatial preemption of the sort described earlier. Such preemption requires the presence of some scale economies in the form of fixed costs. 9 8 Buyer choice under uncertainty A related theoretical literature (e. g. , Schmalensee, 1982) deals with the imperfect information of buyers regarding product quality. In such a context, buyers may rationally stick with the first brand they encounter that performs the job satisfactorily. Brand loyalty of this sort may be particularly strong for low-cost â€Å"convenience goods† where the benefits of finding a superior brand are seldom great enough to justify the additional search costs that must be incurred (Porter, 1976). In such an environment, early-mover firms may be able to establish a reputation for quality that can be transferred to additional products through umbrella branding and other tactics (Wernerfelt, 1987). Similar arguments derived from the psychology literature suggest that the first product introduced receives disproportionate attention in the consumer’s mind. Late entrants must have a truly superior product, or else advertise more frequently (or more creatively) than the incumbent in order to be noticed by the consumer. In a laboratory study using consumer products, Carpenter and Nakamoto (1986) found that order-of-entry influences the formation of consumer preferences. If the pioneer is able to achieve significant consumer trial, it can define the attributes that are perceived as important within a product category. Pioneers such as Coca-Cola and Kleenex have become prototypical, occupying a unique position in the consumer’s mind. Pioneers’ large market shares tend to persist because perceptions and preferences, once formed, are difficult to alter. More traditional marketing studies confirm the existence of such perceptual effects. In a study of two types of prescription pharmaceuticals—oral diuretics and antianginals—Bond and Lean (1977) found that physicians ignored â€Å"me-too† products, even if offered at lower prices and with substantial marketing support. ’ ° Montgomery (1975) found that a product’s newness was one of the two key variables necessary to gain acceptance onto supermarket shelves. These imperfect information effects should be greater for individual consumers than corporate buyers, since the latter’s larger purchase volume justifies greater investment in information acquisition activities)-~ Using the 0ne explanation of these findings is that physicians are price insensitive because they do not actually pay the prescription costs. However, the Carpenter and Nakamoto (1986) experiments found that more typical consumers are also unwilling to switch to objectively similar â€Å"me-too† brands, even at substantially lower prices. 11 Moreover, switching costs in industrial markets often dissipate over time as the buy~r becomes more knowledgeable about competing products (Cady, 1985). 10 9 PIMS data base, Robinson (1988) and Robinson and Fornell (1985) found that pioneers had larger market shares than followers in both consumer and industrial markets, but the effect was much greater for consumer goods: order of entry explained 18% of the variance in market share in consumer goods markets, but only 8% in industrial markets. For a sample of 129 consumer packaged goods, Urban et al. (1986) found a strong inverse relation between order-of-entry and market share. Brand positions remain remarkably durable in many consumer markets. Ries and Trout (1986) noted that of twenty-five leading brands in 1923, twenty were still in first place some sixty years later. Davidson (1976) found that two-thirds of the pioneers in eighteen United Kingdom grocery product categories developed since 1945 retained their market leadership through the mid- 1970s. FIRST-MOVER DISADVANTAGES The above-mentioned mechanisms that benefit the first-mover may be counterbalanced by various disadvantages. These first-mover disadvantages are, in effect, advantages enjoyed by late mover firms. Late movers may benefit from: (1) the ability to â€Å"free ride† on first-mover investments, (2) resolution of technological and market uncertainty, (3) technological discontinuities that provide â€Å"gateways† for new entry, and (4) various types of â€Å"incumbent inertia† that make it difficult for the incumbent to adapt to environmental change. These phenomena can reduce, or even completely negate, the net advantage of the incumbent derived from the mechanisms considered previously. Free-Rider Effects Late movers may be able to â€Å"free ride† on a pioneering firm’s investments in a number of areas including RD, buyer education, and infrastructure development. As mentioned previously, imitation costs are lower than innovation costs in most industries. However, innovators enjoy an initial period of monopoly that is not available to imitator firms. Nevertheless, the ability of follower firms to free ride reduces the magnitude and durability of the pioneer’s profits, and hence its incentive to make early investments. The theoretical literature has focused largely on the implications of freerider effects in the form of information spillovers in RD (Spence, 1984; Baldwin Childs, 1969), and learning-based productivity improvement 10 (Ghemawat and Spence, 1985; Lieberman, 1987c). As mentioned previously, empirical studies document a high rate of inter-firm diffusion of technology in most industries. Guasch and Weiss (1980) assess free-rider effects operating in the labor market. They give a theoretical argument that late-mover firms may be able to exploit employee screening performed by early entrants, and thus acquire skilled labor at lower cost. This is on top of the fact that early entrants may invest in employee training, with benefits enjoyed by later entrants who may be able to hire away the trained personnel. Teece (1986a, 1986b) argues that the magnitude of free-rider effects depends in part on the ownership of assets that are complementary or specialized† with the underlying innovation. For example, EMI developed the first CT scanner but lost in the marketplace because the firm lacked a technology infrastructure and marketing base in the medical field; Pilkington, by comparison, was able to profit handsomely from its pioneering float glass process because of the firm’s ability to draw upon relevant assets and experience in the glass industry. In other instances late-mover firms have proven successful largely because they were able to exploit existing assets in areas such as marketing, distribution, and customer reputation—e. g. , IBM in personal computers and Matsushita in VCRs (Schnaars, 1986). Resolution of Technological or Market Uncertainty Late movers can gain an edge through resolution of market or technological uncertainty. 12 Wernerfelt and Karnani (1987) consider the effects of uncertainty on the desirability of early versus late market entry. They argue that early entry is more attractive when firms can influence the way that uncertainty is resolved. Firm size may also matter—they suggest that large firms may be better equipped to wait for resolution of uncertainty, or to hedge by maintaining a more flexible portfolio of investments. In many new product markets, uncertainty is resolved over time through the emergence of a â€Å"dominant design. † The Model T Ford and the DC-3 are examples of such designs in the automotive and aircraft industries. After emergence of such a design, competition often shifts to price, thereby con12 A related point is that a late-mover may be able to take advantage of the firstmover’s mistakes. For example, when Toyota was first planning to enter the US market it interviewed owners of Volkswagons, the leading small car at that time. Information on what owners liked and disliked about the VW was incorporated in the design process for the new Toyota. 11 veyin. g greater advantage on firms possessing skills in low-cost manufacturing (Teece, 1986b). Shifts in Technology or Customer Needs. Schumpeter (1961) conceived of technological progress as a process of â€Å"creative destruction† in which existing products are superceded by the innovations of new firms. New entrants exploit technological discontinuities to displace existing incumbents. Empirical studies which consider these technological discontinuities or â€Å"gateways† for new entry include Yip (1982), and Bevan (1974). Foster (1986) gives practical advice on how such discontinuities can be exploited by entrants, who might be defined as â€Å"first-movers† into the next technological phase. Sch. erer (1980, p.438) provides a list of innovative entrants who revolutionized existing industries with new products and processes. He also cites numerous examples of dominant incumbents that proved slow innovators but aggressive followers (p. 431). Since the replacement technology often appears while the old technology is still growing, it may be difficult for an incumbent to percieve the threat and take adequate preventative steps. Cooper and Schendel (1976) provide several examples, such as the failure of steam locomotive manufacturers to respond to the invention of diesel. Foster (1986) cites American Viscose’s failure to recognize the potential of polyester as a replacement for rayon, and Transitron’s inattention to silicon as a substitute for germanium in semiconductor fabrication. This perceptual failure problem is closely related to that of â€Å"incumbent inertia† considered below. Customer needs are also dynamic, creating opportunities for later entrants unless the first mover is alert and able to respond. Docutel, as the pioneer, had virtually 100% of the automatic teller machine market up to late 1974. Over the next four years, its market share declined to less than 10% under the onslaught of Honeywell, IBM and Burroughs, all of whom offered total system solutions to customers’ emerging needs for electronic funds transfer (Abell, 1978). Incumbent Inertia Vulnerability of the first-mover is often enhanced by problems of â€Å"incumbent inertia. † Such inertia can have several root causes: (1) the firm may be locked-in to a specific set of fixed assets, (2) the firm may be reluctant to cannibalize its existing product lines, or (3) the firm may become organi-12 zationally inflexible. These factors inhibit the ability of the firm to respond to environmental change or competitive threats. Incumbent inertia is often a rational, profit-maximizing response, even though it may lead to organizational decline. For example, Tang (1988) presents a model that rationalizes the decisions of most U. S. steel producers to continue investing in open hearth furnace technology during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s even though it had become clear that basic oxygen furnaces were superior. A firm with heavy sunk costs in fixed plant or marketing channels that ultimately prove sub-optimal may find it rational to â€Å"harvest† these investments rather than attempt to transform itself radically. 13 MacMillan (1983) suggests that in the rapidly-changing environment of health care, old health care systems may currently be harvesting from their initial investments in locations and personnel. The appropriate choice between adaptation and harvesting depends on how costly it is to convert the firm’s existing assets to alternative uses. And as we consider below, there have been numerous instances where organizational inertia has led firms to continue investing in their existing asset base well beyond the point where such investments could be economically justified. Much of the literature on cannibalization-avoidance refers to the case of RD. Arrow (1962) was the first to lay out the theoretical argument that an incumbent monopolist is less likely to innovate than a new entrant, since innovation destroys rents on the firm’s existing products. More recent theoretical work along these lines include Reinganum (1983) and Ghemawat (1986a). Bresnahan (1985) argues that Xerox exhibited such behavior following the expiration ofits patent-enforced monopoly—Xerox lagged in certain types of innovations and was sluggish to cut prices, given the firm’s large fleet of rental machines in the field. Brock (1975) and Ghemawat (1986a) make similar arguments regarding the innovative responses of IBM in computers and ATT in PBX’s. However, Connor (1988) shows that under a broad range of conditions, the incumbent’s optimal strategy is to develop an improved product but delay market introduction until challenged by the appearance of a rival product. From an organizational theory perspective, Hannan and Freeman (1984) outline factors that limit adaptive response by incumbents.

How Will Bitcoin Impact Banks and Finance Structures?

How Will Bitcoin Impact Banks and Finance Structures? What is finance, and how does cryptocurrency fit in to our current understanding of it: At the start of the unit, one of the first concepts we were asked to consider was a point that is highly contended – a philosophical question which has never borne more significance than it does today, with the recent emergence and explosive growth of cryptocurrencies. We were asked to consider what finance was, and how it fit into society. Now it would be prudent to ask what finance is, and how cryptocurrencies fit in to our current understanding of it. Let me start to answer this with a brief description of ‘fiat’ currencies, or legal tenders, with no material value or value redeemable for commodities. Historically, the value of a nation’s currency was pegged against a commodity with well-established value, such as gold or silver. This was the case for the majority of currencies up until 1971, when Richard Nixon decoupled the US dollar from gold. Supply and demand determines the value of fiat currency. Governments can control how much is in circulation and control the value of money as well as inflation. One of the biggest downfalls of cryptocurrency according to its critics, is the inability of more tokens to enter circulation when demand is high. The total amount of Bitcoin, is limited by a digital production process analogous to precious metal mining, which can stop its value from being eroded by systematic over-production and debasement as has been the case with numerous fiat currencies historically.18 This inability to react to demand causes sharp volatility in the value of cryptocurrency, making them unreliable stores of value. This has been most evident with the steep spikes in Bitcoin value since the beginning of the year. Conversely, as fiat currencies are not linked to physical reserves, they risk becoming worthless due to  hyperinflation. If people lose faith in a nations paper currency, the money will no longer hold value. Fiat money serves as a good currency if it can handle the roles that an economy needs of its monetary unit: storing value, providing a numerical account and facilitating exchange. Because fiat money is not a scarce or fixed resource like gold, central banks have much greater control over its supply, which gives them the power to manage economic variables such as credit supply, liquidity, interest rates and money velocity. Cryptocurrencies on the other hand do not serve as a currency for one particular nation, and are not controlled by any government body either. Instead they employ what is known as blockchain technology, which is a form of digital ledger that is maintained by all the users of the network. An on-going record of all transactions is kept and added to, each time a new transaction occurs. Despite this however there is an inherently high level of anonymity, given that bitcoin, tezos etc. addresses are not linked directly to any person or entity. This also gives way to several problems for governments which are unable to control inflation or the amount of cryptocurrency in circulation, declaration of earnings and tax, prohibition of trading illegal goods and money laundering. There are several safe-guards in place to ensure against ‘double-spending’ and other fraudulent activities however which are built in to the blockchain technology. Further, as a result of this peer-to-peer network in which cryptocurrencies operate, there is no single point of failure, making it very difficult for the system to collapse.17 What potential effects will the use of cryptocurrency and decentralising of currency have, particularly on banks? The total value of all cryptocurrency in circulation is now  ~$200 billion USD3. Even though this is almost double the value it was in July, it is still trumped by the value of paper USD issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which alone amounts to about $1.4 trillion. We are therefore nowhere near the point yet where cryptocurrencies pose a credible threat of supplanting central-bank-issued money. Nonetheless it is worth thinking through some of the implications if something like Bitcoin (which has about a 45% market share of all cryptocurrencies) were to wholly or even partially supplant central bank fiat currency. The agreed protocols that govern Bitcoin, Tezos and other cryptocurrencies, are effectively their monetary policy. In exchange for mining blocks of bitcoins and consuming computing power to verify the legitimacy of transactions, Bitcoin â€Å"miners† get paid in Bitcoin. These rewards increase the supply of Bitcoin, though the increase in Bitcoin money supply is inhibited by the increasing difficulty of verifying transactions. Increasing computational power is required to verify each transaction and mine new blocks to create new Bitcoins, meaning that the total supply of coins is gradually approaching the limit of ~ 21 million coins (currently there are ~16.5 million in circulation). Fiat money has its own protocols that stabilise inflation using interest rates and bond-buying, and the money supply that results from this is generally ignored. With cryptocurrencies however, money supply does not respond to shifts in money demand and with a relatively fixed supply, large fluctuations in value and prices result (in the preceding 11 months the price of bitcoin has soared almost 8 fold5). This some argue, is specifically the reason Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will not take over2 and makes Bitcoin impractical as a money. Cryptocurrencies however have proven to be a useful alternative to traditional reserve currencies in places with poor monetary policy and weak banks. In Kenya for example, 1 in 3 people own a bitcoin wallet1, while in India, where recently there has been a significant shortage in cash supply, greater numbers of people have converted to the use of bitcoin.4 If a particular country were to adopt Bitcoin to replace its currency, the effects of doing so would likely be felt by others in a knock-on effect. A larger credit cycle in one country would mean larger booms and busts for its trading partners. Foreigners outside the country that adopted the cryptocurrency, may also opt to deposit directly within that country and desert their own country’s banks in doing so – this could affect the flow of capital into and out of a their home country, further amplifying the credit cycle. The latest difficulties with Bitcoin make the prospect of a crypto currency takeover seem fanciful at the moment, but if solutions to these problems were found or a new currency were devised with better protocols, central banks would have to resolve these dilemmas one way or another. Financial history – what can we learn from historical bubbles and is it reasonable to foresee the current growth as sustainable?: An  economic  or  asset bubble,  is trade in an  asset  at a price or price range that strongly exceeds the assets  intrinsic value.  It could also be described as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future19. The general consensus among industry professionals, is that the current cryptocurrency market is in an unsustainable phase of bubble growth6,7. There were 30 ICOs each launching new cryptocurrencies in July, then more than 50 in August. Part of this mania is based on speculation. But its also clear that there has been departure from a fundamental assumption of what a cryptocurrency originally was – a scarce digital commodity where the value derived from its scarcity. To be frank, if more than one hundred new sources of this digital commodity have been launched since June, then the concept of scarcity, and therefore the supposed inherent value, begins to erode. In fact, many of these newer cryptocurrencies will need to fail in order to maintain the value and viability of the most widely used currencies, bitcoin and ether. These look to remain viable over the intermediate and perhaps long-term, though not necessarily at the current prices. History has shown us that the majority of cryptocurrencies fail dismally at some point soon after their conception16. Only a select handful have shown consistent growth over the last few years. Bitcoin itself has crashed significantly several times. Even so, though the core blockchain technology left behind others, will provide value as a hidden infrastructure underlying future applications. Though bitcoin has seen astronomical growth over the last year one of the major problems in its use is the extreme volatility in its value. On April 8th 2013 for example, Bitcoin was valued at $215 USD, eight days later this figure dropped to $63 USD then seven months after this its price soared to $1,200 USD. This volatility was in hindsight partly a consequence of strong speculative demand from buyers for a new and unknown technology.   There are however, more fundamental problems that cause the value of Bitcoin to fluctuate. The algorithm that controls supply prevents the amount of Bitcoin from expanding to meet increases in demand. This inelasticity in supply leads to price variations and also encourages speculation and excessive volatility, all of which render it unreliable as a store of value.7 The cryptocurrency market is new and being filled with new currencies almost daily. As competition develops however and with little history, few can value them correctly, forecast which currencies will succeed, and whether they are all part of a larger bubble that will eventually burst. History has shown however that new financial instruments are the authors of financial bubbles – be they options for tulip bulbs in the 1630s, fiat money in the Mississippi bubble of the 1700s, stock in the South Sea bubble, leverage in 1929 or collateralised debt instruments in the credit crunch of 2007, the problem was the world was behind the knowledge curve of the instrument and the power of greed drove the market wild and finally into collapse.8 It would therefore not be unusual to see a similar crash with cryptocurrencies in the near future. Cryptocurrency regulation How is it possible to regulate an online currency based globally?: In short, it isn’t. The whole premise of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized and ungoverned by any one government, but rather managed by a peer-to-peer network of users worldwide. The focus has thus shifted to the soundness and legality of investing in them through means such as ICOs and derivatives markets. In the largely unregulated world off cryptocurrencies, one issue remains at the forefront of the attention of regulators such as the SEC (in the U.S.) and ASIC (in Australia), and that is in the nature of ICOs, whether they are seeking genuine donations for the development of software, or whether they are in fact shares in a company or other investment, which contributors hope to redeem at a future date for financial benefit – an illegal and unregulated speculative investment. Initial coin offerings have raised $3.6 billion USD so far this year15 with several currency developers generating vast amount of capital in a matter of hours with little more than a website and a promise of a revolutionary new product. This unchecked source of crowd-funding has been banned by several governments, as other countries’ regulatory bodies such as the SEC and ASIC, have developed their own policies regarding these offerings. On September 4th, China banned investment in ICOs citing breaches of securities laws and â€Å"disruption to economic and financial order†13, and moved to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges also.13 In July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission required companies to register ICOs in the same fashion as IPOs14. Following this ruling on September 29th, the SEC charged two companies with fraud and selling unregistered securities after running successful ICOs that collected more than $300,000 USD14. Substantial efforts have been made to legitimise cryptocurrency offerings by law firms such as Cooley in New York and others with vested interests in making ICOs work. Cooley attests that it has developed a â€Å"simple agreement for future tokens† (SAFT) framework that will allow token sales to be compliant with US securities laws. This is important given that several major ICOs had excluded US individuals from participating given the then-standing issues with the SEC. If by applying the SAFT framework the SEC is satisfied, then US investors would have access to more ICOs providing a major source of capital to them. The basic premise of the Simple Agreement of Future Tokens (SAFT) is that the cryptotoken fail the Howey test, a measure of whether a financial instrument is in fact a security. In order for tokens to fail the test and not be considered securities, they must be delivered to investors only after a functioning product or service is in place. â€Å"The network and the token must be genuinely useful such that they are actually used on a functional network,† according to Cooley’s framework. To date ICOs have delivered tokens to investors before the launch of the underlying currency, meaning that the only real function tokens could have use for would be in trading in secondary markets, blatantly classifying them as securities.   In the case of Tezos, investors bought into the project hoping that the Tezos platform would be built successfully, and that by owning the tokens, also yet to be created, they would become stakeholders able to shape the final platform. One particular case highlights the blatant regulatory arbitrage which is plain for all to see, and which the founders of Tezos attempted to disguise by consistently referring to their ICO contributions as â€Å"non-refundable donations†, in order to make ambiguous the nature of the security they were offering. Tim Draper, one of the main venture capital backers, when asked by Reuters how much he had donated replied â€Å"You mean how much I bought? A lot.† In Australia, ASIC released a decisive factsheet on ICOs and their position, stipulating that ICOs must be conducted in a manner that â€Å"promotes investor trust and confidence, and complies with the relevant laws†11. ASIC has also warned that the Corporations Act may apply to an ICO depending on the rights that attach to the coin from the ICO itself, rights to underlying coins or rights on tokens used in the ICO. Likewise, ASIC has also made it clear that if an ICO is conducted to fund a company, then the rights attached to the coins issued by the ICO may fall within the definition of a share. Where it appears that an issuer of an ICO is actually making an offer of a share, the issuer will need to prepare a prospectus as for any other IPO11, which will allows investors the safeguard to withdraw their investment before the shares are issued should there be misleading or deceptive information in the prospectus.    Lastly it is worth noting that some ICOs have been described by their initiators as a form of crowd funding. In Australia, ASIC has made a clear distinction between crowd funding using an ICO and crowd-sourced funding (CSF) that has been regulated by the Corporations Act since 29th September 201711. Under the new laws, CSF will be a financial service where start-ups and small businesses raise funds, generally from a large number of investors that invest small amounts of capital. There will be specific rules for conducting CSF with fewer regulatory requirements than ICOs, while maintaining investor protection measures. This is particularly of importance in the case of Tezos, where the developers sought â€Å"donations† to fund the development of their network, a deliberate misrepresentation which would now be both illegal and arguably unethical in Australia. REFERENCES: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ameer-rosic-/7-incredible-benefits-of-_1_b_13160110.htmlhttps://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/06/07/2189849/guest-post-the-consequences-of-allowing-a-cryptocurrency-takeover-or-trying-to-head-one-off/https://coinmarketcap.com/all/views/all/https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-demand-rise-cash-run-dry-india/https://au.investing.com/currencies/btc-aud-historical-datahttps://www.coindesk.com/comes-cryptocurrency-bubble/http://www.cityam.com/1408388669/why-bitcoin-won-t-be-money-future-cryptocurrencies-might-behttps://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2017/05/31/cryptocurrency-is-a-bubble/#4501c7dc33b1https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-27/cryptocurrency-derivatives-you-bet-this-trader-has-295-returnhttps://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/10/19/2195028/trouble-in-ico-paradise/http://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/digital-transformation/initial-coin-offerings/https://qz.com/1091812/the-secs-ico-crackdown-may-be-avoided-by-the-saft-legal-framework/https://techcrunc h.com/2017/09/04/chinas-central-bank-has-banned-icos/https://coinidol.com/icos-to-be-regulated-as-ipos-in-the-us/https://www.coinschedule.com/stats.phphttps://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/deadcoins/https://bitcoin.org/en/how-it-workshttps://3decuj2tc6bl1oljdt3zfwbb-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Currency-Debasement.pdfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble

Heracles as a Paradox in Women of Trachis Essay -- Women of Trachis Es

Heracles as a Paradox in Women of Trachis Using the portrayal of Hercules in Sophocles' tragedy Women of Trachis, a puzzling image of the Greek hero emerges. Most of the myths of Heracles portray him as a fierce warrior, tamer of beasts and a master of everything he attempts. This myth however, shows honorable traits juxtaposed with very negative aspects of the same man. Heracles is a paradox because even though he is a very great man and ideal hero, in some ways he is savage, highly emotional and even vulnerable. Sophocles' version of Heracles' life, or at least part of it, made Heracles look less like a Greek hero and more like an ordinary Greek warrior. There are a few exceptions though. For one, Zeus was his father. Not many of the children of gods were thought of as ordinary. All of them had some terrific power or ability like Hercules. Secondly, his ability to fulfill his assigned tasks in the way in which he does shows in no uncertain terms, he is more than a common man is. Lastly, Hercules is granted immortality as a reward for impressing the gods on Mount Olympus. This final item is of special importance because it itself is a paradox. Was Hercules a Greek hero or was he a God? These things all lead me to see Hercules the man clearly but his relationships to things outside his heroic motif are a puzzle. Let us start by identifying the purpose of identifying Hercules as a hero. There are eight identifiable traits that must be present in order to declare somebody a Greek hero. The first point is divine birth. Hercules being a son of Zeus meets this requirement. He is threatened almost immediately by a jealous Hera but saved by his own strength and fearless valor. His up bringing was by an outsider, actually ... ...ignity but Heracles refused to admit his end was coming. All the times he left for a task he went in search of fame but "not to die." (Sophocles, Women, l 159-60) Then why did he think to leave his will with Deianira? It was obvious the tablet described the way his land should be divided up amongst his children so why was he still not ready for his fate? It is because Heracles thought of himself as a hero and could not imagine the gods fate him to death. All these contradicting sides of Heracles makes him a more interesting figure in ancient texts but they also create quite confusion. Why after all the evil, horrid things he did would the gods make him immortal? Heracles truly is a paradox. Works Cited: Sophocles. The Women of Trachis. Trans. Michael Jameson. Sophocles II. Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957.

Letters and Correspondence in Austens Emma Essay -- Jane Austen

Letters and Correspondence in Austen's Emma Emma as the next step in the epistolary novel Jane Austen’s novel Emma was written at a time when the epistolary novel had just passed its peak (Cousineau, 32). Not only do letters and correspondence feature heavily in the novel, but according to April Alliston, â€Å"elements†¦ characteristic of novels of women’s correspondence recur in Austen† (221). Some examples of these elements that Alliston provides are the existence of young marriageable heroines; deceased mothers, or threatening ones which, in Austen’s novels, have become merely negligent; and substitute mothers who pass advice on to the daughter (221). As epistolary novels were comprised entirely of letters, early novelists could assert the pretended truth of their work rather than label it as fiction (Cousineau, 28). However, one disadvantage to this practice is that artefacts such as letters are â€Å"inscribed in doubleness and contradiction" (Cousineau, 14). Letters serve as a medium between the letter-writers and the reader, a medium which has the potential to warp the truth according to the private and unknown whims of the writers. By adopting an omniscient narration of her characters’ thoughts instead, Austen â€Å"[focussed] the reader’s â€Å"gaze† on the private space from which the heroine gazes out, thus fixing her more squarely in its exemplary frame than letter fiction ever could† (Alliston, 234). Although this method of narration â€Å"sacrifices the â€Å"documentary status†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that eighteenth century fiction strove to achieve† (Alliston, 236), Austen’s novels al low us to see directly into a character’s thoughts. This both promises a more reliable version of "truth" by enabling the reader to learn a character’s genuine motivation, an... ...aults: Correspondences in Eighteenth-Century British and French Women’s Fiction. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1996. 219-241. Austen, Jane. Emma. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2003. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1997. Cousineau, Diane. â€Å"Letters and the Post Office: Epistolary Exchange in Jane Austen’s Emma.† Letters and Labyrinths. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Press, 1997. 13-51. Knoepflmacher, U. C. 2. The Importance of Being Frank: Character and Letter-Writing in Emma. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 1967. JSTOR 7 April 2007. Wheeler, David. The British Postal Service, Privacy, and Jane Austen’s â€Å"Emma†. South Atlantic Review, 1998. JSTOR. 7 April 2007.

Chronology of the Holocaust Essay -- Essays Papers

The holocaust was a bleak and unrecoverable part of the history of the twentieth century that will always be remembered. Millions died for no reason except for one man’s madness. Although many people know why this war happened many don’t know when and what events lead up to this: the way Hitler came into power, or when the first concentration camp was established, and what city it was in, why Jews were hated so much by Hitler, and why the rest of the country also hated them as well as, and what the chronology of the Holocaust. These are some of the things I will explain in my paper. In 1933 Hindenburg was the president of Germany. Having recovered form the First World War, Germany is on the rise once again. Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor of the Reich and he begins his propaganda techniques. One of the Nazi persecution techniques was the banning of all Jewish owned business, as well as, The opening of the first concentration camp, Dachau. No Jews were allowed to have jobs of state or country title, and one of the first book burning incidences occur on May 10th (Holocaust background info center). Also in 1933 Jews were deprived of there German citizenship and were considered refugees. By the end of 1933 the Nazi party had been established as the legal unity of the German State. With this established the Nazis were able to get away with basically what ever they wanted. All forms of persecution was thrown upon, not just the Jews, but many many other groups of people unlike those of the Nazi party. 1934 was a pretty uneventful year as far as numbers of important things. Only one really big thing happened in the history of the war that year, but it was an event to change all after it. On August 2 1934... ...ath. By 1944 Germany has occupied most of Europe and is killing the Jews in those Countries to. Many ghettos in Hungary and Vilna are destroyed with the people destroyed in them. On May 14 1944, almost 400,000 Jews are deported toAuschwitz to be killed. Luckily, many of these Jews were saved. Luckily for everybody, The war was finally over. Hopefully in these years to come there will not be another tragedy like this one. The genocide that occurred in World War II will hopefully never happen again. Hopefully, the war was explained well and thoroughly in this paper WORK CITED 1) Dawidowicz,Lucy S. The War Against the Jews,1993-1945 New York Bantam 1978 2) Unknown Author,The Holocaust in a Historical Perspective. Seattle University of Washington Press, 1978 3) Bauer Yehuda, A History of the Holocaust New York Franklin Watts, 1982

Sonance at a Turning Point

CASE SONANCE AT A TURNING POINT I. Introduction: Problem / General Issue Sonance is a company at a crossroads, long established as the leader in high-end home theatre speakers, it is at an inflection point where it needs to decide whether it wants to be a high-end speaker producer served through customized dealer channels, or a mass market audio systems maker. The past decade has seen the rise of a new competitive threat, the demise of its dealer channel and the emergence of a highly informed and selective customer base which have all served to hurt the company’s prospects.In the early 2000s, when price competition prompted Sonance to increase customer variability through retail channels Sonance sacrificed its brand identity. Having no experience in selling its products directly to end customers, Sonance suffered from its own inexperience of appealing to the new market while at the same alienating its established market. While the company made significant investments in R&D, t hese efforts were never backed by a well-thought analysis of distribution strategy or an understanding of the value of each customer channel.What follows is an analysis of Sonance’s current situation and the articulation of a strategy, that if implemented, is designed to re-establish Sonance position as the leader in the in-wall, home theatre speaker market. II. Situation Analysis In trying to capture the opportunities of the growing consumer electronics market, Sonance’s attempt at expanding into retail ultimately backfired with a decline in revenue from $53mm in 2003 to $47mm in 2004 (almost back to the level of 1999).This situation has brought the company to the edge: with limited funds available, Sonance needs to clearly define its product development and distribution strategy. By entering the mass retail market channel in 2000, Sonance eviscerated its historical base of dealer customers, losing roughly 50% of its dealers in a 5 year period. While overall revenues declined by only 19% during this period, the composition of Sonance’s revenue stream has changed from a +90% concentration in Dealers to less than a 50% concentration in Dealers, with the balance spread between Retail and Production Housing.Due to this shift, Sonance is not only perilously exposed to the cyclical flows of retailing, but also is much more sensitive to the overall performance of each customer, as the loss of the Lowe’s account in 2004 resulted in a 37% decline in mass market revenue. Ultimately, the move to retail puts Sonance in a precarious long-term position as its customers have significant buying power as high volume purchasers.In the future it is likely that mass-market retailers will be able to use their purchasing power to drive down the margins Sonance is able to extract on its sales, and ultimately serve to diminish the dealer channel. The decline of the dealer channel increases Sonance’s long-term risk by locking it out of the market fo r luxury home theatre systems. While the move to retail offset $10 million of the $17 million of revenue lost through normal dealer installations between 1999 and 2004, it is unlikely that any of the $6 million of highend home theater system revenue could be recouped through mass market retail.As luxury customers are less price sensitive and look to dealers to customize their entire installation, Sonance’s move towards the retail model at the expense of the dealers will eventually find it locked out of the lucrative and sticky luxury market altogether. Furthermore, Sonance’s dealer base faces further erosion as its main competitor, SpeakerSoft, has taken advantage of Sonance’s wounded dealer channel by undercutting roughly 25% on price and further incenting custom dealers to choose SpeakerCraft speakers over Sonance Original Series speakers in customer projects.This, combined with the alienation from competing with Sonance’s retail offerings serves to fur ther erode Sonance’s dealer channel as dealers choose lower priced competitor offerings. Paradoxically, as Sonance has developed a mass retail channel at the expense of its dealer network, it is deciding whether to push forward with the development of the Architectural Series of speakers. It would be the first and only truly flush-mount trimless speaker, a true niche product appealing to the less cost sensitive high end, luxury market.This product line, with a manufacturing cost 400% higher than the original series and a complex installation process, requires a viable luxury dealer network in order to succeed in the market. Sonance is also exploring the potential of converting the current Sonance-only iPort device into a universal, detachable dock tailored for all home theatre systems. Moving forward on this plan would be a reaffirmation of the retail play the company began in the early 2000s.With an optimistic price tag of $335, Sonance’s strategy of introducing the p roduct via Target, a discount retailer, appears misguided as the device is more expensive than its competition and even an iPod itself. Furthermore, by entering the market of retail iPod accessories, Sonance is looking to go head to head with many other discount brands. The competition and dynamics of this market are unlike that of the custom home theatre market, and it is expected that Sonance will have challenges adapting and efficiently executing within it. III.Evaluate Available Options / Alternatives The primary choice that Sonance has to make is which product to launch at the coming CEDIA EXPO, either the Architectural Series or the detachable iPort, and as a result, which customer base should they focus their attention on. We evaluated the customer lifetime value (CLV) of Sonance’s different customers as of 2004 based on the information provided in the case and our own assumptions (see Exhibit 1 in the Appendix). Our primary assumptions for this analysis are below:  · Original Series Dealers Price per pair of $140 o Retention Rate of 75%, conservative estimate based on change in number of dealers from 2003 to 2004 (600 to 500) o Growth rate of 5%, below growth in consumer spending due to Dealers’ unhappiness with Sonance o Sales per Customer of 300, assuming 15 projects per dealer per year, with an average of 20 speaker pairs per project  · Original Series Production Builders o Price per pair of $90 o Retention Rate of 50%, below Dealers because of competitive bidding structure for larger scale projects vs. ndividual homes through Dealers o Growth rate of 10%, in-line with new home sales growth o Sales per Customer of 960, assuming 80 projects per Production Builder per year, with an average of 12 speaker pairs per project  · Original Series Mass Retail Market o Price per pair of $120 o Retention Rate of 20%, shares shelf space with all competitors’ products, smaller size projects o Growth rate of 10%, in-line with consumer sp ending o Sales per Customer of 83,333, divided BestBuy 2004 sales ($10 million) by average price per pair  · iPort Dealers Price per iPort of $300 o Retention Rate of 75%, equal to Dealers’ Retention Rate of Original Series speakers o Growth rate of 15%, below iPod growth due to high price, but higher growth than other Sonance products o Sales per Customer of 7, assumes 1 / 3 of Dealers’ annual projects will generate a sale Based on this analysis, we chose launching the Architectural Series and refocusing Sonance on the Dealer channel as our first alternative to evaluate. The CLV’s for this alternative are shown in Exhibit 2.We assume the Architectural Series will be a leading product in the market and will earn a high retention rate among ultra high-end dealers of 90%. Sonance would also be able to initially attract 50% of these niche dealers they had in 1999 (75 vs. 150 previously). Sonance would have the choice in this scenario to price the Architectural Se ries at either $875 per pair, based on the advice of their focus group, or $305, based on the internal marketing group’s recommendation.Our assumptions regarding customer mix for this scenario is that Sonance would drop the mass retail market customer to signal they are focused only on the custom and semi-custom installation markets. In addition, Sonance would consider reducing the price of their Original Series Speakers to the Dealers to $90 from $140. This would improve the Dealers’ gross margin to 75%, equal to SpeakerCraft’s, although the margin net of installation costs would still be lower (see Exhibit 2). These assumptions would lead to an increased Retention Rate through the Dealers sales of Original Series Speakers of 85% and a higher growth rate of 10% vs. %. Sonance would also increase their Retention Rate with Dealers for the existing iPort product to 85% in this scenario. The second alternative we evaluated was to launch the Detachable iPort instead of the Architectural Series and to continue to focus on the Mass Market Retail. The CLV’s for this alternative are shown in Exhibit 3. For the Detachable iPort, we assumed a very low Retention Rate of 5% since Sonance would be entering an already crowded market with a product that is priced at a premium to most of the competition.Sales of the iPort would grow at 40%, lower the growth rate of iPod sales since the Detachable iPort would be priced at the high-end of iPod accessories. We the assumed iPort would penetrate 0. 5% of the iPod sales in 2004 of 22. 5 million. The Dealers would likely be unhappy with Sonance in this scenario so we assumed the Retention Rate at the current price of $140 per pair would decline to 65%. If Sonance were to help mend the relationship by reducing the price to $90 per pair, we assumed a Retention Rate of 75%, with no additional growth.The Retention Rate for the existing iPort product sold through the Dealers would be reduced to 65% since the l aunch of the Detachable iPort would be viewed as undermining their efforts and a lack of commitment to custom installation products. In both scenarios, we assumed no change in our assumptions for Production Builders as this is a market based largely on price and the actions of Sonance in other markets will have little effect on their decisions. Recommendation and Implementation PlanBased on our calculations of customer lifetime value (see figure Exhibit 1), it is clear that dealers and production builders are crucial to our sales of the Original Series product and therefore we should continue to sell through these channels. However, the mass retail market is a less appealing channel through which to sell this product; firstly, the CLV of these customers is much lower than the other two, and more importantly, by selling to these customers we are losing the business of dealers, who are far more important clients.Our recommendation is to eliminate the mass retail channel, and to reduce the price of the Original Series speakers to $90 in order to rebuild the dealer channel. Lastly, we recommend launching the Architectural Series speakers at a price point of (or near) $875 to dealers, rather than focusing efforts on bringing the iPort to the mass market. The Architectural Series speakers are unique and innovative, thus we expect that both dealers and their customers will have a higher willingness to pay for this product as compared to competitor’s existing in-wall speakers.Using this price and estimated sales, we expect to break even in 1 year by selling only 23% of projected annual sales (as compared to 66% under marketing’s suggested price of $305 to dealers – see figure Exhibit 5). Although the 65% margin to dealers is smaller than they could make off competing offers, dealers would be earning far more in absolute terms ($1,425 as compared to $245 under the $305 price – see figure Exhibit 4).The choice to launch the Architectural Seri es is strategically wise from both a quantitative and a qualitative standpoint. First, adapting the iPort to the mass market requires more than double the R&D and Marketing expenses than launching the Architectural Series (see figure Exhibit 5). Although the new iPort model would have a lower cost, the sales required to break even in one year are only slightly higher for the Architectural Series (23% vs. 17%).In addition, the iPort model, even as a detached unit, is only comparable to our competitor’s existing products which are sold for less. The Architectural Series, on the other hand, is truly innovative, and can be successfully sold at a much higher price. It would also position the company as an innovator and boost brand perception. By shifting the focus back to dealers through the Architectural Series and away from the mass market, we can appease these important clients and increase sales of other products (for example, the Original Series speakers).