Philips vs Matsushita Free Essays

Philips vs Matsushita: A New Century, A New Round HBS 9-302-049 Discussion Questions: 1. How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company after the Second World War and what were its key capabilities? (NOs-organizational development) Post-war situation: * (At the very beginning, Philips made only light-bulbs, this one-product focus and Gerard’s technological prowess enabled the company to create significant innovations. * The labs developed a tungsten metal filament bulb that was a great commercial success and gave Philips the financial strength to compete against its giant rivals. We will write a custom essay sample on Philips vs Matsushita or any similar topic only for you Order Now Philips started to export in 1899. * In 1912, Philips started building sales organizations in the US, Canada, and France. In many foreign countries Philips created local joint venture to gain market acceptance. * In 1919, Philips entered into the Principal Agreement with General Electric, giving each company the use of the other’s patents. Philips conducted a decentralized sales organization with autofocus marketing companies in 14 European countries, China, Brazil, and Australia. * During the period, Philips broadened its product line significantly. During the late 1930s, it transferred its overseas assets to two trusts, moved most of its vital research laboratories and top management. Therefore, individual country organizations became more independent during the war. * Built post-war organization on the strengths of the national organizations. (NOs) * Their greatly increased self-sufficiency during the war had allowed most to become adept at responding to country-specific m arket conditions-a capacity that became a valuable asset in the post-war era. After War: * Cross-functional coordination capability. Foreign operations. * Decrease the number of products marketed, build scale by concentrating production, and increase products flows across NOs. * Close the least efficient local plants and convert the best into International Production Centres, each supplying many NOs. * Close inefficient operations and focused on core operations. * Designed various businesses as core and non-core. * * In 1912, as the electric lamp industry began to show signs of overcapacity, Philips started building sales organizations in the US, Canada, and France. In many foreign countries Philips created local joint ventures to gain market acceptance. * Built post-war organization on the strengths of the national organizations. (NOs) Their greatly increased self-sufficiency during the war had allowed most to become adept at responding to country-specific market conditions-a capacity that became a valuable asset in the post-war era. * In the environment where consumer preferences and economic conditions varied, the independent NOs had a great advantage in being able to sense and respond to the differences. Eventually, responsiveness extended beyond adaptive marketing. * NOs had the real power, they reported directly to the management board to ensure that top management remained in contact with the highly autonomous NOs. Each NO also regularly sent envoys to Eindhoven to represent its interests. * International Concern Council to formalize-regular meetings with the heads of all major NOs. * Cross-functional coordination capability * Foreign operations Problems In the late 1960s, the creation of the European Common Market eroded trade barriers and diluted the rationale for independent country subsidiaries. New transistor-based technologies demanded larger production runs than most national plants could justify, and many of Philips’ competitors were moving production of electronics to new facilities in low-wage areas in Asia and South America. * Simultaneously, Philips’ ability to bring its innovative products to market began to falter. Too decentralized, slow responding to global market because of cooperation complexity between NOs and PDs (CEO words) * The European market tended to become more centralized due to the disappearance of trade barriers in late 1960s. Philips’s formal globalized organization (strategy) shows its weakness and prevents Philips from further development. * IPC to control NOs—tilting matrix to PD, more centralized * Lack of global cooperation, like more manufacturing in developing countries * No strategy—life style—downsize unrelated products Marketing problem 2. How was Matsushita able to overtake Philips? What were its strategic competences and how were these embedded in its organisation structure? * How: Matsushita recognized the potential mass-market of VCR and considerably expanded through increasing VCR sales and licencing the VHS format to other manufacture. However, at that time Philips’ ability to bring its innovative products to market began to fa lter. Even if it invented the most superior format V2000 videocassette, it failed to commercialized it and had to outsource a VHS product which it manufactured under license from Matsushita * Strategic competences of Matsushita: internal competition among small business spurs growth by leveraging technology to develop new products, strong control as well as support from Japan promoted total efficiency * Organisation structure: Matsushita used the divisional structure(small businesses, corporate funds, CRL product development) and maintained strong control over their operations through two ways of reporting, directly to appropriate product division or to METC 3. How did Matsushita’s capabilities and structure later lead to disadvantages? * As Matsushita grows bigger and bigger, more materials purchasing from the local and overseas countries claims more localization, communication between subsidiaries and Japan became difficult and control from Japan deteriorates * Expansion faced bo ttleneck and Matsushita needed more creativity to promote growth, but the operation localizations lack of innovative capability as they act primarily as the implementation arms of Japanese-based product divisions 4. Why do both firms find it difficult to build new capabilities and what advice would you offer them? How to cite Philips vs Matsushita, Papers

Social Justice Paper free essay sample

Christian Morality Gender Discrimination: The Plague of the Era What exactly is gender discrimination? The literal definition goes as follows: When a person is faced with unequal or different treatment based entirely on the victim’s sex or gender (Source: Findlaw. com). This is a serious civil rights offense, and it affects not only women, it’s most common victim, but men, and members of the LGBT community, as well. The most common places that said discrimination takes place are in employment, education, in situations of borrowing or credit issues, and housing. An example of how common this issue is can be found in 2010 when the EEOC, (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), had found that 30% of its complaints regarded sex discrimination of both women AND men (Source: kmblegal. com). However, many question why gender discrimination is an injustice, while many others simply ignore the subject and claim that it no longer exists. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Justice Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The true problem with this topic, as Julie Mullens states, is that â€Å"It results in millions of tragedies, which add up to lost potential for entire countries. Studies show there is a direct link between a countrys attitude toward women and its progress socially and economically. The status of women is central to the health of a society. If one part suffers, so does the whole† (Source: childreninneed. org). As stated in the quote above, gender discrimination, not just of women, but of others, takes a direct toll on the victims, as well as nationally, and on a grander scale: world-wide. Victims outside of America, particularly women, face issues such as dowry which is payment to the groom’s family for taking in a wife, even though it can be portrayed as carrying a burden for another woman in the family; neglect, infanticide and sex-selective abortion, abuse, forced labor, and sex trafficking (Source: childreninneed. org). Julie Mullens’ quote proves that this not only takes a physical and emotional toll on the victims, but within the social and economical structures of society. Without the people who are discriminated in our lives; men, women, and others, we are literally nothing. A recent example of said gender discrimination occurred in San Francisco, California, in September of last year. A United States judge refused a Wal-Mart in the area to ignore a discrimination case from women plaintiffs regarding payment and promotion issues based on gender. The case was closed after the Wal-Mart attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr. , said such claims could not be true due to Wal-mart’s no-toleration policy regarding gender discrimination. However, considering a similar law suit was reported in Texas, the attorney supporting the women, Brad Seligman, is becoming suspicious about Wal-mart’s â€Å"policies†. Source: huffingtonpost. com) This case perfectly displays why gender discrimination is such a problem. For example, this injustice, for the case, was continued because the claims of these women were rejected after Wal-mart’s rebuttal regarding its policies. Considering society is more favoring of men than women, often leading to patriarchy, t his is a perfect example of discrimination continues. In this case, the discrimination not only lies in the fault of Wal-Mart itself, but also in the court disregarding the claims of these female workers. The final question is: how exactly can this injustice be brought to an end? In the United States, gender and sex discrimination is a direction violation of Tile VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, thus it is best to contact a Civil Rights Attorney or your lawyer. Other laws that prohibit this discrimination include The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, The Fair Housing Act, The Equal Pay Act of 1963, The Family and Medical Leave Act, and many more (Source: findlaw. com). However, for world-wide society to change as a whole, one thing can prevail and offer change: education.

The whole stage for most of the play Essay Example For Students

The whole stage for most of the play Essay During the 7thJanuary, I tried to concentrate on my space and be aware of how much of the stage I was using. That was quite easy as I had to use nearly the whole stage for most of the play! I was the character that had to create the atmosphere; it was quite hard as I wasnt sure what to do. I found it quite easy in the end because I got use to it and learnt I can change the different atmospheres in a room with only one word, or even only one action. I showed this just after Chris had opened the play with his shouting and talking fast, as I slowly appeared talking slowly and faint but also shivering with my eyes darting around the room as if looking at something, saying can.. youseethem, they are watching you! With my hands also round my throat!! We will write a custom essay on The whole stage for most of the play specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Finally on the 14th when we were concentrating on body language, and what movements best explain my mood and action. I found that not everything had to be said to get to the audience what I want them to know. For example I found it easier to use my body language to talk to the audience rather than speaking! This is shown when I am walking round trying to apologise to the audience for Chris shouting at them, and I just look worried and up set. By putting my hand up, and trying to make eye contact with them. During the rehearsals there were a lot of important decisions made these included what the plot was going to be! This was one of the most important decisions made because without it we would have been performing a completely different play which would have meant different marks. I came up with the original idea for the play and the group expanded it from there. This was the most important idea followed closely by the staging, I decided that the best option for our play would be theatre of the round; this would enable us to get the aspects of the play across to the audience and also involve the audience more. Aside from this I decided on what character I wanted to be and how this affected the play. I believe most of my ideas were I believe the drama we created was close to one of our original ideas. Although not matching! I feel our performance was a success. This is because it went well and to plan, even though we got lower marks than we would have liked on our original performance. We have improved those marks easily this was because it was simple mistakes we made, that were easily adjustable. For example all three of our tone and pitch of our voices stayed the same through out the performance. This was changed easily with people slowing down how they speak and varying the tone of voice as well. Aside from that one of our achievements I enjoyed about the play was the staging.  This is because i decided to use theatre of the round! As this allows us more space to perform in. I also liked theatre of the round because it was difficult but I believe it made our play into a better performance. As we were theatre in the round, we thought it would be easier to use simple lighting techniques; this is because it fitted around our play, and hopefully made it better. I decided to include one black out and a bright light. The bright light was used to show the dismissal followed by the fading of the emotions. This helped to create a tense mood with the audience wandering what is going to happen next. The black out was used at the very end just to show the play had completely finished. We didnt really use costumes because I thought you dont know what emotions look like, as they are always there but you can never see them! With this in mind we decided to use black out fits because you can see use but not clearly!

Danielle Dawkins Essays - Crime, United States, Free Essays

Danielle Dawkins Essays - Crime, United States, Free Essays Danielle Dawkins Dr. Bentzen American Government 4/1/17 Racial Disparity and Mass Incarceration T he United States of America is home to the largest prison system in the world, with more than 2.3 million citizens behind bars, which represents a staggering 943 percent increase within the past century. Making up only 5 percent of the entire world population, the U.S. makes up 25 percent of the prison population globally. These app alling statistics are a product of systemic and structural oppression, which is the foundation for Mass incarceration itself. The history of mass incarceration dates back to the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). Directly after the Civil war, the south was in tatters because an integral part of its economy had been demolished: slavery. As stated by the 13 th amendment, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any plac e subject to their jurisdiction." One should take notice to the loophole within the 13 th amendment, as exploitation of such took place immediately. Essentially, African Americans couldn't be held as slaves , but the y could be held as prisoners for the purpose rebuilding the south. At an alarming rate, many were imprisoned by the masses for petty "crimes " that otherwise would not have mattered. This period of the late 19 th century marked the first major prison boom, and it laid the groundwork for the rapid growth of mass incarceration that's still occurring to this d ay. Four presidents can be credited for this monstrosity of a prison system: Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. From the "war on poverty" to the 1994 crime bill, I will expound upon the political initiatives of each of these presidents, and how their historic policies disproportionately impacted the African American community. About a century after the reconstruction period, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and launched many other political initiatives with egalitarian-like values. In March of 1 965, President Johnson had three bills sent to congress in hopes of furthering his p rogressive agenda. Two bills included the Housing and Development Act of 1965 , which instituted the subsidization of private homes for those of a lower socioeconomic status, an d the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which granted black Americans in the south the opportunity to fully exercise their right to vote. Although these bills were crafted with good intentions, they were actually deeply rooted in assimilationist-like assumptions held by conservatives on black culture. Conservatives were locked onto the premise that constructs such as race and class were not factors of poverty, but rather a "subculture" ridden with " s ocial pathologies" , such as illegal drug use and stre et crime . A sociologist by the name of Katherine Beckett stated, "The misbehaviors of the poor were transformed from adaptations to poverty th at had an unfortunate effect of reproducing it into character failings that accounted for poverty in the first place." T herefore, t his commonly shared belief of black communities prompted President Johnson to constitute the official "War on Poverty" . So, it should be no surprise that at the peak of his progressive agenda, Johnson introduced the Law Enforcement Assistance Act (LEAA), which essentially sparked the militarization of local police operations in small black communities. In Johnson's own words, "the federal Government will henceforth take a more meaningful role in meeting the whole spectrum of problems posed by crime." This new legislation officially transformed the "War on Poverty" into the "War on Crime" . Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon took the "War on Crime" to a level of extreme punitive a ctions that caused a drastic upsurge in incarcerated bodies, while leaving a permanent scar of thousands of families for years to come. Nixon rose to power on dog whistle politics, which are racially coded appeals that catered to that segregationists and a ssimilationists alike. He utilized fearmongering politics in order to instill yet even more prejudice and fear into Americans across the country. All seventeen of his politica l speeches were dedicated to restoring law and order, and his infamous campaign ad featured images

Initiatives to develop respect towards referees in the United Kingdom Essay

Initiatives to develop respect towards referees in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Sports is an important part of our society as it brings people from varied culture and backgrounds at one place cheering for their teams and players. These people can be from different places, religion, caste and various other factors which are considered discriminatory in social norms come to an end in a sports extravaganza. Players are their heroes; they worship them, idolize them and try to imitate them. There are great things to learn from the sports, about winning and losing, sportsmanship spirit, respect for other players, etc. which bonds the society together. The major sports events and all sports fixtures are occasions on which people can open up towards those who are different themselves and learn something about others, for sport is also unrivalled as a force for bringing together and mixing different types of people and their cultures in short for allowing them to meet and to share something other than mistrust, facilitating communication and probably combats prejudice, t he tendency to make valued judgments and the types of belief that give rise to hatred and intolerance (Bodin, et al , 2005, p.163) Commonwealth of Australia (2008) once stated that â€Å"— it (sport) helps to build social cohesion that binds families, communities, regions and the nation. No other facet of our culture has the capacity to bring together so many different streams --- breaks barriers and unites those who have nothing else in common’(Hoye et al, 2009, p.225). These among the few are benefits of sports events inspiring younger generation to achieve excellence in their field. As mentioned earlier, sports benefit the society with positive inspiration but also spoil the society with the players on field behavior. It is further stated that in professional team sports with a high public profile, including association football (soccer), disciplinary transgressions by players and sanctions that are taken by referees provide a rich source of subject material for debate among pundits, journalists and the general public. The action of players and referees in UK football are keenly and intensely scrutinized in the modern day game in the event of foul play which is followed by referee’s action that in turn creates situation between players and referees, wherein players disrespect the decision of on-field referees (Dawson et al, 2007). Regardless of legitimacy, individual referees have always been easy targets and they have been accused, on innumerable occasions, of destroying the game and even influencing the outcome through partial as opposed to merely incorrect decisions. In football the referees have to consider both the ethos of the game and the playing culture, and relate these to the rules of the game. Refereeing is a complicated process, in which one has to deal with rule interpretation in light of the culture and ethos of the game as well as pressure from authorities, players, supporters and the media (Carlsson, n.d.). This paper attempts to discuss why referees in the United Kingdom are leaving football and what are the initiates carried out by Football Association, UK and UEFA for referee retention and develop sense of responsibility among players and other stakeholders apart from discussion the consequences of referee dr op out and abusive actions the match officials. Reasons why referees drop out Every year 7000 football referees are quitting because of abuse on the pitch and the touchlines which may mean shortage leading to inevitable destruction of the game in some areas. The FA spokesperson quoted that there are two and a half million people who want to play more football but there is shortage of referees and estimates that 20 percent of the games are played without a qualified match official (Mole, 2009). White

Employee Motivational Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employee Motivational Strategies - Essay Example Add that to the fact that sometimes, employees think that the compensation that they receive on a monthly basis (or maybe even more frequently, depending on the agreement between the employee and the employer) is just enough or maybe even not enough for their daily needs. Most companies have perceived this problem, realizing that manpower or more specifically the employees themselves are their most important resource. Employers also have realized that like any other resource, manpower should be continually replenished or renewed in terms of loyalty, trust and overall satisfaction from the work they are currently employed in. The concept of employee motivation comes into mind, wherein the company adapts certain policies that will motivate their employees so that they will remain not only financially satisfied but also emotionally, physically and mentally contented. The introduction of fun in the workplace is a welcome idea, and many companies are jumping on this idea for the improveme nt of their employees. Employee motivation techniques are now most often done in many forms in modern workplaces and usually revolve around the concept of rewarding satisfactory effort with the appropriate reward or set of rewards that are given either immediately or at a designated time depending on certain situations. Employee motivation is a new keyword today that states that employees have the need to be motivated and satisfied in order to maintain their level of work and positive attitudes towards the company. This topic is very significant and very much applicable in today's high-stress work environment, as it sees that employees as a very important resource that needs to be nurtured and developed. The relationship between the employer and their employees are also discussed as well as their parts in the creation of solutions pertaining to employee motivation and satisfaction. There are several theories and methods of employee motivation discussed herein, as well as recommendations on how to implement employee motivation methods and improvement of the said system if it is already implemented in the workplace. Employer and employee relationships A very fine line exists between the employer(s) and the employee. One thing for certain is that the employer is the employee's superior and the employee must comply with the work that his or her employer demands. With this, it can be thought of that the employee is bound to the service of his or her employer within the contract that they have agreed between themselves. This is not unlike the relationship between master and slave of yesteryears, in which the slave is not just bound to its master's service but also treated as that person's property. Times have changed and so do employee rights. Treating employees like slaves would not do an employer any good, and this has been shown with the creation of employee rights and privileges laid down upon each country's constitution. One of the basic tenets of this is the provision of salaries to the employee by their employer according to the existing minimum wage rates. Other benefits such as health benefits, bonuses and other financial an d non-financial perks may or may not be given again depending on the agreement set upon between the emplo

Northern Ireland History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Northern Ireland History - Essay Example This is what will be dissertated in the following. When discussing the history of Ireland, the 'peace process' is generally considered to cover those events which lead up to the 1994 IRA ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of The Troubles, the Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement, and subsequent political developments. The history of Ireland in regards to the peace process as well as the ongoing battle and strenuous struggle for peace in the modern world is one of great detail and significant complexity. The Good Friday Agreement was reached in Belfast on Friday, April 10, 1998; it was signed by the British and Irish (Republic of Ireland) governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. The agreement said that Northern Ireland should remain within the UK so long as that was the wish of the people living there; but that the British and Irish governments would give effect to arrangements for a united Ireland if that should become the wish of the people of the province. The basic ideal of the plan is that it sets out a plan for devolved government in Northern Ireland on a stable and significantly exclusive basis, while also providing for the creation of Human Rights and Equality commissions. Such things as the early release of terrorist prisoners, the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and other far reaching reforms of criminal justice and policing are also included in this agreement. The main provisions of the Good Friday Agreement are as follows: The principle that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the majority vote of its citizens A commitment by all parties to 'exclusively peaceful and democratic means' The establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved legislative powers Creation of a 'power sharing' Northern Ireland Executive, using the D'Hondt method to allocate Ministries proportionally to the main parties Creation of a North-South Ministerial Council and North-South Implementation Bodies to bring about cross-border cooperation in policy and programmes on a number of issues Establishment of a British-Irish Council, composed of representatives from the governments of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, to discuss areas of common concern Conditional early release within two years of paramilitary prisoners belonging to organizations observing a ceasefire Establishment of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission A two year target for decommissioning of paramilitary weapons The abolition of the Republic's territorial claim to Northern Ireland via the modification Articles 2 and 3 of its constitution New legislation for Northern Ireland on policing, human rights and equality Normalization of security measures, e.g. closure of redundant army bases Police reform. Undertaken by the Patten Commission (1998-1999) Equality of social, economic and cultural rights of all ethnic communities e.g. official recognition of the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages as equal to English (Wikipedia, 2006). The executive of a new regional government, which should have been installed in April of 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, is instead held in a state of frozen animation. "Pro-British Unionist refused to sit in government with Sinn Fein, an Irish