The Computerization Of Education Education Essay

IntroductionDevelopment of computing machines in the modern society and associated with it cybernation of instruction is characterized by a monolithic proliferation of information and communicating engineerings ( ICTs ) . ICT can be used for information exchange and interaction between a instructor and a student in the modern instruction system. As such, non merely the instructor must get the hang the ICT engineering, but besides to be an expert in using it in his or her professional activities. â€Å" It is a technological universe in which kids are frequently more comfy than their parents and instructors † .[ 1 ] Computerization of educational achieves two strategic aims. First, it improves the efficiency of all types of educational activities through the usage of ICT tools and engineerings. Second, it improves the quality of developing heightening it with a new type of believing which is relevant to the demands of the information society. Using methods and agencies of information, future professionals must be able to acquire replies as to what information resources are available, where they are, how they can be accessed and how they can be used to better their professional activities. In our research paper we will cover the undermentioned facets of ICT Positive and negative facets of utilizing information and communicating engineerings in general instruction Review the function and topographic point of ICT in the edifice of the information society Review the countries of effectual application of ICT tools Review methods of ICT application to turn to appropriate demands of the educational procedure, monitoring and measuring of larning results, extracurricular activities and research, in primary school educational establishments Reappraisal demands for ICT installations Review the market of available ICT tools and merchandises.What is ICT?Information and communicating engineerings ( ICT ) are a combination of the hardware and package designed to implement information processes through the use of the computing machines and web engineerings. â€Å" The intent of ICT in instruction is by and large to familiarize pupils with the usage and workings of computing machines, and related societal and ethical issues † .[ 2 ]The chief focal point of the research nevertheless will be dedicated to the electronic agencies of educational intent, which are a subset of package tools of ICT. These include application package and electronic media, specifically designed for the educational usage: a system back uping the procedure of larning ( electronic text editions and encyclopedias ( including web ) , electronic research lab etc. ) . There are several locales of ICT tools use in the instruction system: In general educational establishments ( primary schools, high schools, etc. ) In the auxiliary instruction ( instructor-led linguistic communication schools, etc. ) In home-based acquisition ( extracurricular activities, etc. ) To further contract down the subject of the research the chief speech pattern will be applied to the country of general Primary school instruction with accent on the general instruction of the primary instruction procedures. Harmonizing to Andrew A. Zucker who writes in his ‘Transforming Schools with Technology: How Smart Use of Digital Tools Helps Achieve Six Key Education Goals ‘ 2008, the ICT will be successful if engineering is aligned with six major instruction ends. Those ends are to: addition pupil accomplishment do schools more piquant and relevant supply a high-quality instruction for all pupils attract, prepare, and retain high-quality instructors addition parental and community support for pupils outside of school require answerability for consequencesICT methods and techniquesMethods and techniques of ICT in learning are aimed at developing accomplishments in information activities of students and their ‘information ‘ civilization. There is a figure of different learning methods that could be employed in this country, some of them are: exemplifying, generative, research based, disciplinary cognition, inducement, motivational, etc. These methods could be enormously enhanced by the usage of ICT techniques. For illustration, the exemplifying methods could be enhanced by utilizing multimedia which can clearly better the mental activity of pupils due to increased visibleness and emotional profusion ( life, sound, picture and other multimedia effects ) . When a instructor develops the multimedia instructional stuffs, he/she may utilize Irish local history stuff that enhances the educational lesson as students would be able to associate more to the subject which is familiar to them. Generative methods of instruction benefit through the usage of larning systems offering the high degree of customization on a personal-oriented instruction in which students are able to construct single educational way depending on their personal accomplishments and abilities ( perceptual experience, memory, thought, etc. ) . Through the use of the ICT the analyzing procedure can be enhanced without adding excess load on the teachers/their agenda. The consequence of freshness and overall attraction of the computing machines to the students serve as an extra agencies to excite and actuate acquisition, better students ‘ involvement in analyzing. ICT allows and provides a locale to heighten farther preparation thought the use of the bet oning signifier of preparation. The value of these games is really high. Indeed, the accomplishments of non-verbal communicating channels ( facial look, gesture, position, etc. ) are of import in the day-to-day lives of students, and will hold even greater significance in future active societal and professional activities. The ability to right convey the significance of the message, non merely in a signifier of words but besides in ‘a general look of the organic structure ‘ is really utile to pupils in life.ICT and StudentsGeneral Education and ICTUse of ICT in instruction of general instruction classs aimed at bettering the acquisition procedure within a given scientific field of cognition. ICT finally improves the quality of direction in schools by increasing the involvement of students, supplying the ability for a extremely customized and personalized course of study, ability to escalate the acquisition without the addition of working hours of the instructors. It besides should be noted that there is a tendency of increased use of undertaking – squad work – particularly in the country of research assignments. ICT is an instrumental tool in this country, with its interlinked computing machine engineering and networking capablenesss, making a alone existent clip integrating of sub-projects, doing it possible to heighten interdisciplinary links between the general instruction classs. Use of ICT tools in the direction of the educational procedure is oriented at bettering the administration procedure. There are several countries that could be managed by ICT ; forces direction, direction of logistics, direction of the educational procedure, direction of information resources. ICT modules where developed for the each of these countries. To better the procedure of forces direction – a ‘human resource ‘ faculty, to better the direction of logistics – a ‘warehouse ‘ faculty, ‘schedule ‘ faculty for the instruction procedure, etc.Auxiliary Education and ICTWithin the country of the auxiliary instruction ICT covers two chief countries: ICT as an object of survey and tool aimed at sweetening of the mental abilities of kids and as agencies of administration procedure betterment. The chief difference between the system of the auxiliary instructions of kids and primary instruction system is the deficiency of compulsory unvaryi ng educational criterions. This characteristic brings a qualitative alteration in the methods of application of ICT, and provides teacher/school with the pick of the educational means/tools. Given that kids come volitionally to the auxiliary instruction organisation ( as opposed to schools, where kids come on a compulsory footing ) , the instructor pays particular attending to methods of stimulating and motivation of larning. In selecting of the right content of the instruction, the instructor addresses the demands and involvements of students more actively in response to inventions in the field of ICT development. Therefore, the content of instruction does non double the primary-school scientific discipline, but instead broadens and deepens it. Of class, the instructor can utilize all known methods of instruction, but precedences are given to the stimulating and actuating acquisition, research activities and games based larning techniques. ICT tools used in the direction of the edu cational procedure in establishments of auxiliary instruction oriented to bettering the work with talented kids in different countries. Albeit this country boosts particular characteristics deserving mentioning, specifically the fact that the organisations that provide a auxiliary instruction are in its huge bulk are of a commercial nature. As such they of course imply a more active cooperates/collaboration with the societal environment: kids and their parents. In each such establishment many instructors develop their ain plans and techniques which are worthy of digest and distribution, which may lend to the farther ICT tools development and, above all, the networking engineerings.Home-based instruction and ICTICT tools in its home-study application are oriented on individualisation of the larning procedure of students and their societal version. Embedded preparation engineerings in such systems are generative in nature, their chief intent is to assist pupils to fix for all kinds of tests/quizzes or tests and fundamentally directed at repeat of school stuff. In add-on, by holding a computing machine at place, the student is able to more expeditiously complete prep ( fixing research for case, etc. ) . In this instance, ICT tools are the agencies of individualisation of acquisition and bettering the educational activities of pupils. As a agency of societal version of students, ICT tools fulfil the demand of societal adaptation of students while pupils communicate with each other over the Internet. Networking technologies is a powerful tool of societal activity, mobility and reactivity. Having a place Internet entree and computing machine equipped with the ICT client allows kids to have an chance to take part in on-line undertakings, addition entree to assorted research and informations resources every bit good as an chance to show societal activity. The pupil must be prepared to accept and measure information and develop a right perceptual experience of any info rmation he/she runs into, which helps developing critical thought which should be given a peculiar attending by instructors and parents as this is one of the ultimate ends of any educational system. To sum up the usage of ICT tools in general instruction is chiefly aimed at bettering the bing instruction engineerings and direction. It should be noted that ICT long pillows pupil ‘s ability in the country of informations excavation, analytical thought and strengthens their research abilities while working with huge sums of information available and given a timeline for the completion teaches students to efficaciously pull off their ain clip and the value of squad work coaction. ICT tools are effectual in bettering involvement of pupils and creative activity of individualised tilting methods. Application of ICT in the educational procedure, particularly at place, requires development of critical thought, which should be monitored and encouraged by instructors and parents. Application of networking and distributed engineerings in the general instruction facilitates the integrating of assorted types of best learning patterns under the ICT umbrella.ICT – Computer-assisted instructionWith every passing twenty-four hours Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) is being adopted into assorted Fieldss of educational activities. Both external drivers related to overall coming of omnipresent informational society and internal factors such as wider acceptance and spread of the computing machine engineering in schools contribute to this acceptance. Stairss are taken by the authoritiess to farther promote the acceptance through appropriate support, standard scene and preparation. In the huge bulk of instances, the usage of this engineering positively affects productiveness of instructors every bit good as the effectivity of the acquisition procedure. The word ‘technology ‘ is of Grecian beginning and means ‘the scientific discipline, the aggregation methods and techniques for managing or processing of natural stuffs, semi-finished merchandises and change over them into objects of ingestion. Current apprehension of the word includes the application of scientific and technology accomplishments used to work out practical jobs. In this instance, information and telecommunication engineerings can be considered as such engineerings, which aim to procedure and transform information. Information and communicating engineering ( ICT ) is a general term depicting assorted techniques, methods and algorithms for informations aggregation, storage, processing, presentation and transmittal of information. This definition deliberately does non include the word ‘usage ‘ . Use of information and communications engineering presents yet another aspect of engineering – a set of information and telecommunication engineerings in instruction, medical specialty, defense mechanism and other Fieldss of human activity that is portion of overall construct of information engineering. Each of these countries of information engineering imposes its ain restrictions and distinctive features. This construct includes the full s cope of techniques, methods, techniques and attacks to accomplish the aims of computerized instruction. The basis of the ICT tools is a personal computing machine equipped with a set of peripherals known as a hardware platform and a set of educational plans known as the package or applications. The chief classs of package are system plans, applications and tools. System plans are runing systems ( OS ) every bit good as assorted public-service corporations or service plans. Applications are the tools of the information engineering – package that enable user to work with text, artworks, tabular informations, etc. With the coming of computing machine webs, pupils and instructors have a new alone chance to receive/send information anyplace in the universe. A planetary telecommunications web of the Internet makes it possible to immediately entree information resources ( digital libraries, databases, file storage, etc. ) , the most popular of which is of class the World Wide Web. The internetworking capablenesss allow people to pass on and interchange informations utilizing electronic mail, instant messaging clients, get offing lists, newsgroups, confabs, VoIP and teleconferencing engineering. The latest development introduced tools for coaction and cooperation which are instrumental portion of the distributed computing machines enabling pupils to interact virtually with each other anyplace in the universe. Technology continues to germinate and we as a society seem to be come ining the age of omnipresent calculating. It is impossible to measure at this phase how cloud computer science and the development of the construct of omnipresent calculating would impact the country of instruction, but there is no uncertainty that many of these engineerings have the potency to significantly better the quality of preparation and overall pupils ‘ instruction. At the same clip, nevertheless, despite of the monolithic positive impact, in some instances, the usage of the information engineering has no consequence, and in rare instances, such usage has a negative consequence. Concept of the information society, which includes instruction, gained important encouragement in the early 90-ies and was taken earnestly by the authoritiess of the developed states. Albeit the construct is non new, and was foremost introduced by Fritz Machlup in 1973, in his book ‘The production and distribution of cognition in the United States ‘ , which suggested that the information society is the highest phase of social development.Positive and negative facets of computerized instructionIt may look that the usage of ICT is ever warranted in all countries of educational activities. Surely, in many instances it is. However, it has a figure of negative facets. Positive and negative factors of ICT should be taken into history by educators. Professionals are bettering methods and techniques of choosing and determining the content educational stuff debut and development of new specialized subjects and Fieldss of survey associated with the information sciences and information engineering alterations in instruction of the traditional school topics bettering instruction of students by increasing their degree of individualisation and distinction debut of new signifiers of interaction into the acquisition procedure that changes the content and nature of the instructor and student relationship creates tools helping in optimisation of the instruction direction creates and supports the integrating tendency of capable countries and the environment, Allows high degree of customization. Raises degree of activity of the pupil develops the ability of alternate thought, constructing accomplishments to develop a scheme to happen solutions Allows foretelling the consequences of determinations based on the simulation of the studied objects, phenomena, procedures and relationships between them. Cons are: In malice of the obvious pros the usage of ICT can take to several negative effects. In peculiar, most frequently one of the benefits of ICT is referred to the individualised acquisition. However, along with the advantages there are besides major defects associated with the entire individualisation. It limits to the minimal the unrecorded interaction between instructors and students, students with each other and surrogates it with interaction with the computing machine. Due to restrictions of the current engineering the lone interface of this communicating is a keyboard instead than address. The chief interface of the human head – ability to talk – gets shutdown. The deficiency of practical dialogic communicating shackles the development of the linguistic communication and overall affects negatively development of the thought procedure. Another important drawback of this alternate relationship is the curtailment of societal contacts, the decrease of societal interaction and communicating, individuality. Certain troubles and negative facets may originate from the usage of the ICT tools that provide instructors and pupils considerable flexibleness in happening and utilizing information. Often confusing and complicated methods of presentation may do the recreation of the students from the studied stuff due to assorted incompatibilities. Furthermore, the nonlinear construction of information exposes the pupil to the enticement to â€Å" follow the suggested links that which can derail the intent of the exercising in its entireness. The usage of information resources published on the Internet, frequently leads to negative effects. Most frequently, the usage of ICT tools triggers plagiarism – cut and paste of the readily available undertakings, essays, studies, research documents, etc. which does non heighten the effectivity of larning procedure. ICT tools can be non merely a powerful tool for the formation and development of kids but conversely, advance a ‘standard ‘ form of thought and inert attitude to work. In many instances, the usage of ICT and existent clip handiness of informations deprives and prevents pupils from behavior existent experiments by their ain custodies, which adversely affects the acquisition. And last but non least, the wellness facet of students must be taken into the most serious consideration as the excessive of ICT equipment could negatively impact the wellness of a kid.Methods of ICT application in the instruction procedureICT tools can be used as a mean of support in the traditional methods of instruction. In this instance, ICT enhances the preparation procedure, provides a locale for certain degree of customization of acquisition and allows for partial mechanization of everyday work of instructors related to accounting, organisation and scaling. On the other manus, ICT could take to a drastic alteration of educational procedure, coercing the alteration of methods and signifiers of organisation of educational procedure. Induces the building of incorporate classs based on the usage of information content in each school subjects. The demand for specific cognition which is either non available in a individual person topic, i.e. interdisciplinary cognition is needed or there is a demand for a ‘deep dive research ‘ – a demand to research a figure of constructs, theories and Torahs that can non be obtained in a standard instruction. The demand for the generative abilities. A demand to fix for the quiz which has clip restriction. The demand for originative thought. Development of the optimisation accomplishments. Most cost-efficient solutions or the most optimum discrepancy of procedure The demand to develop trim individualized qualities. Formation of pupils ‘ sense of duty towards others, towards themselves. All of the above grounds and factors suggest that the usage of ICT tools in learning pupils on a â€Å" bigger is better † rule may non take to seeable betterment in the efficiency of instruction. ICT usage requires a balanced and well-reasoned attack.Information Society and ICTUsing the sum of cognition as a standard it was determined that the sum of human accumulated cognition is skyrocketing and is duplicating[ 3 ]every 5 old ages since 1970. Beginning: University of Stellenbosch ‘The MIKM and the Revolution of the Knowledge Economy ‘ Using this figure as the sum of accrued human cognition as a standard for presenting the public position of the information society is justified, because harmonizing to some estimations, since the beginning of our epoch, the first doubling of the accrued cognition of world took topographic point in 1750, the 2nd – the beginning of the 20th century, the 3rd – already by 1950 twelvemonth. Since 1950, the entire sum of cognition in the universe doubles every 10 old ages, since 1970 – every 5 old ages. The history of the information society contains the history of the beginning and development of new types of human activities associated with computing machines. Such growing resulted in an visual aspect of a specialised group of people employed entirely in the information industry ( operators, coders, system analysts, interior decorators, etc. ) . Obviously, the outgrowth of new scientific and professional countries requires specialised preparation with non merely the specialised content but besides peculiar methods and agencies of instruction. Therefore it is non a happenstance that computing machine based instruction achieves two strategic aims. It improves the efficiency of all types of educational activities through the usage of ICT and improves quality of developing through a new type of believing the relevant demands of the Information Society. The computer-based instruction is an built-in portion of the information society. The passage of modern society to an information epoch of its development progresss as one of the major challenges confronting instruction, the undertaking of organizing the foundations of an information civilization of the hereafter specializers. Society ‘s demand for skilled forces possessing a necessary skillset becomes a prima factor in educational policy. Today, it is virtually impossible to happen a school which would non hold ICT implemented in some signifier. In today ‘s universe everything is interconnected. It is obvious that computer-based instruction and information society development are closely linked, invariably impacting each other. Here are several of these countries of convergence alterations in content and maps of instruction, signifiers and methods of instruction activities positive impact of ICT tools and information on the development of originative abilities educational impact of information engineering the outgrowth of the possibility of utilizing multimedia engineerings in instruction further development of go oning instruction in the information society Development and widespread usage of electronic theoretical accounts of larning the constitution of developmental instruction based on the information resources of society a combination of traditional and advanced ways of larning in the information society formation of information civilization of instructors to work in all signifiers of educational procedure coevals of new attacks to the direction of the establishment and measuring the quality of instructor work globalisation and integrating of educational services in the information societyInformation engineering in school instructionTypes of audio-visual and proficient equipment used in instruction.The birth of ICT did non go on overnight and was preceded by a rapid development of assorted non-computer devices known as proficient and audio-visual preparation AIDSs. For the drawn-out period of clip, proficient agencies of preparation were attributed merely to the hardware: slide and film projectors, telecasting sets, tape recording equipments and CD-players, every bit good as specially designed instruction stuffs and AIDSs such as filmstrips, cassettes and compact phonograph record. These learning tools at different phases of development of the instruction system were the chief tools for bettering the efficiency of storage, processing, transmittal and presentation of educational information. In the absence of computing machine equipment they have played the function of information and commu nicating engineerings. A hundred old ages ago, with Thomas Edison innovation of record player, the first embodiment of ICT was born. A that clip with the coming of the ability to record, shop and playback sound all the jobs of instruction were seen to be solved ; today of class, it is obvious that non all such jobs have been solved wholly. Throughout the last century a assortment of instruction tools were introduced ; each clip ensuing in more advanced informational support system of the acquisition procedure, which in bend a positively impacted the effectivity of learning. At present, any educational establishment possesses a subset or a full set of the followers: sound recording and playback ( tape, CD-players ) voice/data passage systems ( telephone, facsimile, teletype machines, wireless communicating systems ) video/radio broadcast medium equipment ( telecasting, wireless, educational telecasting and wireless, DVD-players ) optical and photographic equipment ( cameras, slide projectors, overhead projectors ) Printing, copying, scanning and other equipment designed for certification and reproduction of information ( duplicators, microfilm, microfiche ) computing machine installations used for the electronic entry, processing and storage of information ( computing machines, pressmans, scanners ) telecommunications systems for the transportation of information through communications ( modems, web wire, orbiter, fiber optics, microwave and other communicating channels )Analogue Equipment:Audio – tape recording equipments, mikes, amplifiers, talkers, recording equipments, wirelesss, linguistic communication equipment, tapes, records ) Graphic and photographic tools – cameras, slide projectors, overhead projectors, filmstrips, slides, images on the tapes Projection equipment – cameras, projectors, movies Movies and Television installations – TVs, proctors, cameras, camcorders, VCRs, picture participants, picture projectors, video tapes ) .Digital equipment:Audio – digital voice recording equipments and participants, digital Compact disc read-only memory Graphic and photographic tools – digital cameras, optical maser and magnetic discs, storage memory card Projection Technology – multimedia projectors Movies and Television installations – digital picture recording equipments, DVD-players and DVD-players, optical maser and magnetic discs, electronic memory card ) Computer tools – Computer multimedia tools to enter, procedure and playback sound, entering processing and visual image of text, artworks and photographic installations ; entering, processing and playback. With the coming of the cyberspace the computing machine serves as a basis of the ICT and enables a figure of characteristics which were unavailable in non-internetworked universe ; telecommunication between people, existent clip coaction and existent clip entree to information resources. Computer engineering gives alone chance to unite different engineerings and different agencies such as sound, text, exposure and picture into one cohesive locale of bringing. However, debut of computing machine engineering brings an interesting point. At first glimpse, it would be logical to include other engineerings and tools of relevancy to the processing and presentation of information used in instruction. However, at the same clip, the catholicity of the computing machine brings the educational engineering to the whole new degree and inquiries the use of all non-computer based tools with the exclusion of the book possibly, as they are losing relevancy. Today, for obvious grounds, it is practical ly impossible to happen a modern educational film-strip or phonographic discs. As such, the execution of computerized instruction will take to increased usage in of advanced information and communicating engineerings. Therefore, our research was concentrated on all facets on the ICT: computing machine hardware and package, every bit good as their practical content.HardwareComputers and devices, normally referred to as hardware, is a platform of any ICT system and should be carefully selected with the thought of being portion of the educational procedure behind. Despite its evident young person, computing machines have a reasonably rich history. The thought of automatizing computations which gave rise to the creative activity of the first computer science devices is non new and has been entertained for a long clip. The first operational summing machine was built in 1642, Blaise Pascal, a Gallic physicist, mathematician and applied scientist. Despite the fact that the initial computations were performed by mechanical devices and tools, such devices can still be considered as tools of information processing and, accordingly, the predecessors of the computing machines used in assorted Fieldss of human activities, including instruction. Even four decennaries ago the calculation was widely done by mechanical reckoners, and electro-mechanical proto-computers. However, because of its massiveness, trouble of usage, high cost, low-speed of information processing and a figure of other grounds a computing machine could non happen a proper application in the field of instruction at that clip. A rare exclusion is higher instruction, the handiness of computing machines in which justified the demand for preparation in a figure of professions such as computing machine scientific discipline. Furthermore, instructors and pupils work normally with one computing machine. It is in these universities sprung up first experience of computerized instruction. However, the existent large-scale debut of computing machines into all educational activities took topographic point in the early 80-ies of the last century ; Personal computers stressed the word ‘personal ‘ i.e. one computing machine – one individual attack ; its concentration, velocity, comparatively low cost, handiness of a big figure of devices that extend the capablenesss of personal computing machines, all that contributed to the rise of Personal computer in every aspect of our lives, including instruction. The chief way of Personal computer development was on spread outing capacity to treat information. Gradually, the hardware evolved and allowed people to make, shop, procedure and transmit text, artworks, exposures and picture cartridge holders and sound. Due to its versatility personal computing machines provide maximal sum of benefits for instruction intents. Most of the instructors and pupils are working with personal computing machines available in ever y school. Through personal computing machines held theoretical lessons and practical exercisings, measured the degree of cognition, and conducted research, distributed work load, and planned extra-curricular activities, carried out educational undertakings and self-cultivation activities. In this respect, computing machine hardware is, by definition, an built-in portion of the ICT tools used in instruction, it is of import to understand the features of Personal computers and other hardware devices available on the market today. Regardless of the trade name, theoretical account, clip of creative activity and the application of all personal computing machines have common cardinal characteristics such as: Personal computer is personal: one-to-one relationship. Ability to procedure, storage, present and transmit assorted types of informations, including text, numerical informations, artworks, sound, picture, etc. Ability to uniform communicate with the user in a linguistic communication near to natural Ability to add assorted hardware devices that significantly expand capablenesss of a Personal computer Internetwork connectivity Recently with the coming of the note- and net-books the characteristic of mobility got high congratulationss in concurrence with the development in the nomadic broadband connectivity enabling people to utilize these Personal computers irrespective of their location. The method of human interaction with a computing machine and type the needed package depends on the computing machine hardware platform. This construct includes a set of characteristics of the computing machine, the built-in trade name and maker ‘s specific hardware. Two such platforms traditionally prevail in the country of instruction. In 1976 the first computing machine Apple Macintosh was developed by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. Creation of such computing machines on the monolithic graduated table was the chief drift to the formation of Personal computer fabrication industry. In 1981 the first personal computing machine by IBM has entered the market. IBM Personal computer and Apple Macintosh constructs are the most normally used in instruction. Regardless of the hardware platform personal computing machines have all the characteristics of import to better the preparation of pupils and can every bit be used to accomplish the ends of cybernation of instruction. There is nevertheless an issue of hardware compatibility and its inoperability, and this of import inquiry demands to be answered before any investing is made for this or that platform. Very frequently the solution lies with the instructors and school governments. One of the most appropriate attacks to finding the adequateness of the computing machines ‘ hardware is to see and measure the needful capablenesss of the hardware/software/content and their interoperability at the planning phase so they fit to aims under specified fortunes. The most advanced, powerful and expensive computing machines may non ever be a demand for ICT planning. To accomplish effectual larning it is frequently sufficient to utilize older, less advanced Personal computers. In the same item, replacing them with the latest theoretical accounts does non impact the effectivity of learning pupils dramatically. To find the adequateness of hardware, evidently, there must be a valid characteristics comparison prosodies with the demands imposed by the package. In this respect, it is of import to cognize what the specifications of computing machines are available to instructors. Soon based on the Personal computer model the parametric quantities include but non limited to: Computer public presentation ( CPU clock velocity ) Sum of RAM Hard disc infinite CD/DVD ROM Speed Video Card ( type and sum of memory card, type, size and declaration of the proctor ) Computer Audio ( sound card type, the type of talker, a mike ) Network card Modem Wireless ( Wi-Fi, Bluetooth ) Printer ( Peripheral ) Scanner ( Peripheral ) It should be noted that in finding the above parametric quantities important consideration should be given to the type of the operating system, every bit good as ability to entree to local and planetary telecommunications webs. The visual aspect of any new peripheral devices in the school typically provides new chances for instructors and pupils. For illustration, the outgrowth of digital computing machine based projection opens new possibilities doing them more graphic and entertaining that in return facilitates the assimilation of educational stuff. Clearly, these and other characteristics introduced into instruction by peripherals and personal computing machines, enhance motive for acquisition, increase the objectiveness of the rating of larning results and advance self-cultivation, extracurricular and research activities meanwhile significantly simplifying professional activities of instructors and school disposal. Additionally, progressively the specialised peripheral devices that relate to specific topics of educational stuff are being used. These devices are digital electronic microscopes used in learning biological science, digital ohmmeter, voltmeters and ammeters used in the survey of natural phil osophies, planetary placement device ( GPS ) , used for field trips in local history lessons. Along with positive facets, there are nevertheless some negative effects caused, chiefly, by the negative impact on wellness and psychological status of pupils and instructors. The limitations and recommendations for the hardware use in educational stuff vary well depending on the age. Thus it is of import to observe that the usage of computing machines in primary schools should be governed by the supervising organic structure of the authorities which should come up with the regulations and ordinances regulating the safe usage of appropriate equipment in schools.ICT and instructors: facets of the computer-assisted instruction.At present clip the measure of both, hardware and package, available at any given school is near to the impregnation point, at which the significant addition in calculating power does non ensue in relevant end product in quality of instruction. As such, it becomes appa rent and pressing that the equipment halt playing a prima function and the scheme of the practical execution becomes paramount. Acerate leaf to state that the effectual usage of ICT is impossible without instructors ‘ ability to use such tools to their full extent ; in peculiar, instructors must cognize where and how to happen the needed class stuffs in telecommunication webs, able to utilize such webs in assorted facets of acquisition, cognize how to show the contents of academic topics through multimedia engineerings, how to use multimedia acquisition. The interview research conducted by the group has revealed a figure of facets related to these demands: preparation in engineering of computer-based instruction is portion of the educational content ICT used in instruction is simply a tool for work outing jobs, its usage should non go an terminal end usage of computer-assisted larning extends the human head and addresses the educational and professional ends Training in working with the ICT is one of the methods of puting a mentality of information society. With of all time deeper engagement of the ICT in instruction procedure, the civilization of preparation and the instructor ‘s function in the acquisition procedure is altering. With a bigger accent on self-cultivation the function of teacher becomes more consultative and remedial than of all time before. The skillset required is besides broadens from silo of a general topic to more inter-disciplinary set of topics. Significantly increases the demands for personal, cultural and communicative qualities of the instructor. It is besides becomes apparent that, unluckily, computer-based preparation plans are created by package applied scientists without any input from the experts in the field of psychological science, educations, content and learning techniques. Furthermore, it is besides good known fact that pedagogues with extended experience, as a norm, are non thirstily following the new ICT based methods and, by virtuousness of conservative thought, non ever understanding their significance. These instructors have a important psychological barrier towards the computing machine engineering and package based information resources, which is normally masked by uncertainties about their pedagogical pertinence in educational procedure. Sometimes, nevertheless, such underestimate is due to superficial familiarity with rules and procedures of the computer-assisted instruction. In footings of computer-assisted instruction, all instructors could be divided into two chief classs: teachers-users of ready-to-use ICT installations and teachers-developers of pedagogical tools and techniques. The instructor must get the hang basic computing machine accomplishments, have a current overview of the most common package bundles, able to work with word processors, dispersed sheets, any well-known specialised preparation plans, and able to get the hang the telecommunication interaction with co-workers and pupils every bit good as freely navigate the planetary online beginnings of information. Training of the instructors, who themselves engaged in developing of the electronic information resources, should be kindred to the degree of developing given to power users or even package applied scientists in some instances – this is indispensable for the proper degree of ICT tools comprehension and rational design of the ICT construction. For instructors involved into dev elopment it is highly of import to understand and run in country of convergence between the design and the usage of ICT and rule of instruction and psychological science. The ideal scenario would be a originative pudding stone of squad members that possess system and application development accomplishments, psychological science, teaching method, design and ergonomic. Due to the fact that electronic information resources become in this instance non merely educational stuff, but besides a piece of package, the content of the class needs to be restructured consequently. Therefore, in order to make an ICT a thorough apprehension of structural and holistic position of the educational stuff is a must. Teachers are actively engaged in the development and usage of ICT tools must hold a sufficient degree of preparedness. This means that instructors must get the hang the accomplishments of the user, have a general thought about package capablenesss and be experts in the field of a peculiar subject. Requirements for the instructor, utilizing ICT tools consist of the traditional demands for any educator, but besides need to stress the ability to utilize information engineering and practical facets of ICT. The traditional demands include: Organizational ( work planning, ability to drive involvement in larning, etc. ) Educational ( ability to choose and fix convincing and consistent preparation stuff, etc. ) perceptual ( ability to ‘understand ‘ a pupil and tailor educational stuff towards the demands and involvements of a student ) Communication ( the ability to set up an expedient relationship with students, their parents, co-workers, schoolmasters, etc. ) research ( ability to understand and objectively measure jobs and procedures ) scientific ( ability to absorb needful cognition of a peculiar topic ) topic ( professional cognition ) The ICT transforms and imposes extra demands on the traditional skillset. For case instructor becomes less dependent on the traditional pedagogical technique, particularly in non-verbal agencies of communicating. However, in malice of the widespread use of resources information engineering, the primary map of instructors – direction of the acquisition procedures and development of schoolchildren must stay.Methods of developing instructors in ICTUse of ICT positively influences instructors ‘ productiveness and increases effectivity of students larning. At the same clip, albeit the overwhelmingly impact of ICT use, in some instances it has no consequence and even may ensue in a negative impact. Obviously, the ICT preparation demands to be well-structured and integrated on the footing of the best-practices attack and must be a portion of the course of study for the pupils prosecuting grade in instruction. The chief ends of ICT preparation are: Familiarization with the positive and negative facets of utilizing ICT in instruction. Definition of function and topographic point of ICT in the information society. Establishing a position of the species composing and countries of effectual usage of educational engineerings for making, processing, presentation, storage and transmittal of information. Familiarization with best patterns, techniques and methods of ICT use in educational procedure, monitoring and measuring of larning result. Developing an ICT centric skillset and cognition, basic rules and methods of measuring ICT tools quality. Developing a sustainable motive enabling instructor to take part in formation and execution of ICT environment. Provide teachers a farther chance to explicate the students ‘ function and topographic point of ICT in the modern society. The overall success of the ICT use can be assessed based on the demands of the educational procedure. There several such demands: Requirements associated with the creative activity of cognition which is interdisciplinary in nature. The demand of the pupils to get the hang the analysis, i.e. state of affairss affecting computations, look intoing and treating the consequences of computations every bit good as development of the generic accomplishments in each subject ( categorization, analysis and synthesis, ability to plan an experiment, collect and analyse informations gathered ) . The demand to develop pupils ‘ originative accomplishments. Such demands arise in work outing optimisation jobs with a figure of possible results – the most rational pick of the most cost-efficient solutions. The demands related to the demand of developing certain personal qualities of moral and societal ( duties towards society, themselves, towards each other ) nature. The instructor ‘s duty lies with optimisation of the ICT use – profiting the most from the engineering can offer and minimising possible negative facets associated with the work of students with huge unfiltered information available electronically. The content of instructors ‘ ICT preparation should be included the following cardinal constituents: ICT and its usage in instruction. Positive and negative facets of computer-assisted instruction. The feasibleness and effectivity of the ICT. Computerization of instruction and its portion in the information society. Types of audio-visual and proficient equipment used in instruction. Computers and their types. Peripheral equipment. Technology and multimedia. Telecommunication installations used in instruction. Storage and presentation of information. Information modeling. Methods of informations transportation. Computer networks as agencies of acquisition. ICT and its function in the acquisition procedure. Methods for measuring the quality of ICT tools. ICT use in schoolroom and in distance acquisition. Customization of larning procedure. Control and appraisal of the acquisition results. Computerization of extracurricular activities. Computerization of research methods. Computerization of organisational and managerial maps of educational procedure. Information engineering and work with parents. In decision, it should be noted that instructors must non merely possess cognition in ICT tool, techniques and engineerings but besides be experts on the application of these new engineerings in their professional activities. In this undertaking the squad did non put a end of covering all issues related to the usage of information and communicating engineerings. Furthermore, many facets of ICT usage in instruction are still undiscovered and necessitate further survey. At the same clip, the content of the research attempted to measure the chief elements and characteristics of debut and use of ICT, electronic informations and educational resources, evaluate demands needed to measure the quality of ICT tools, classified ICT tools and reviewed methods of carry oning the ICT enabled categories, depicting the advantages of utilizing such tools outside of the schoolroom and touched on facets of computerized direction of educational establishments. The research besides revealed that the grea test efficiency of the educational procedure utilizing educational ICT tools is achieved so these tools fulfil the demands of instruction identified in our paper.

Problems at Perrier Essay

The case study Problems at Perrier faces issues of resistance to change and strained relationships. By the end of this short essay we will understand two things about Perrier’s troubles. There will be a clearer definition of the key elements of the resistance to change and we will have also developed a strategy for dealing with the situation. The Communication Connection One thing that can be noted is management may not agree with the changes because of the unfamiliarity and lack of knowledge based on the real issues. Managers, at least as much as any other category of employee, are likely to have within their ranks a range of opinions as to whether a proposed change is a good idea. † (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009, p. 170). When the managers look back and see that profits were large and growth developed at a rapid pace, moving forward with change is difficult. Often people need to see what is in it for them or have a clear idea of why exactly any change is needed when t hings worked fine previously. Personal Attachment Change can be taken personal and have an affect on a person’s interest in the organization. People who have stocks or retirement plans built in as part of their income might show a strong resistance to the change. That self-interest shows concern for how the change will affect them rather than focus on whether it will be good for the organization. [no notes on this page] -2- Working With Change at Perrier 3 This personal attachment can be built on many factors and opinions which people use to justify their resistance. Something that is similar to personal attachment is the fact that the employee’s and management at Perrier had different ideas as to why the change was happening. They can possible take if personally because they have different thoughts and are confused about the plans being applied. According to the Nestle CEO Peter BrabeckLetmathe, â€Å"We have come to the point where the development for the Perrier brand is endangered by the stubbornness of the CGT† (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009, p. 183). A New Strategy for Management One of the most effective forms of delivering a solid speech and plan is to have clear communication. The managers at Perrier should help educate the employees and build a chart defining the connection between the change and new strategies. People can be afraid of the unknown and being uneducated and then not being involved with the change is relevant to the â€Å"unknown. † Nestle and the management at Perrier should have began a strategic plan by developing a higher level of communication between themselves first. Once that relationship was established, a plan to rebuild the relations between anagement and the employees would have been easy to build. Becoming Involved People like to generally be involved with things when it will have an impact on them, whether it be at work or at home. Jean-Paul Franc, head of the CGT at Perrier was continuously working against Nestle. Having the employees involved could have brought new insight and ideas into the negations which might have been relevant for Jean-Paul Franc to use in making plans with Nestle. Allowing people to have the opportunity to be involved also increases their knowledge about the situation and allows them to form their no notes on this page] -3- Working With Change at Perrier 4 own opinions which will not be based just on pure resistance. If they have an understanding then their acceptance or resistance will feel justified. Leadership and motivation can also be high points for management at Perrier. Motivation through education and rewards for increasing productivity could encourage new direction. Conclusion A level of support and education needs to be built into a solid f oundation for anyone to understand why change is needed.

Brooklyn (Colm Toibin) Essay

Cultural context reveals the world of the text. It shows us how the world impinges upon the lives of the characters. The novel I have studied is Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Throughout the text we see many examples of the values of society. The position of women, men and family intrinsically establish the central characters in a specific position. The text has a dual setting between the 1950’s Catholic Ireland and the post world war two world of Brooklyn, America. The two locations help to expose the contrasting values and attitudes of the characters in their world. The role of women in society is vital for my understanding of the cultural context. It is predominantly stereotypical for the time. In both locations, women are subservient, with frequent families being patriarchal. In both locations, a woman’s main desire was ultimately to be married to a wealthy man. This is seen when Nancy and George are in a relationship. Many people respect Nancy at this time because George is from a high class of people, and this is considered to be an achievement for Nancy. At a later date, Nancy marries George and she becomes a well-valued and admired person in society. This is a contrast to Brooklyn, where, often women become educated before starting a family. Eilis’ career opportunities increase while she is in Brooklyn, as she aspires to be an accountant, rather then just a bookkeeper. A main value of women in society was their appearance. We see this in the lengthy preparation for the dances. It plays an important social role in meeting potential husbands. The behavior and values of women at the time is extremely important for the cultural context. Women were expected to adhere to certain moral values. This can be seen in both Ireland and Brooklyn at the dances. In Brooklyn, Eilis dances with Tony and knows she cannot dance with another boy after this. This shows us the attitudes towards women at this time. However, this attitude is felt much stronger in Ireland than Brooklyn. We can see this with Ms. Fortini. She reflects a contrasting attitude, being more independent and modern then the rest of the characters. A key moment in the text, which shows the values women have in society, would be when Ms. Kehoe locks the basement gate of her house. She  does this because she does not approve of the way Eilis acts with Tony. This is a prime example of how women are expected to behave in society. This example is intrinsically linked with the encroaching power of the Catholic Church and the way it shapes the values and attitudes of the characters in the novel. The power of the Catholic Church is clearly evident in the novel. It helps shape the attitudes most of the characters have. The power and influence of Father Flood is distinct throughout the novel. His values of the Church are thou rally respected and admired by everyone in the community. He holds substantial power in both Ireland and Brooklyn, convincing Eilis’ mam to allow her to go to Brooklyn, and getting Eilis a job and a place to stay once she arrived there. In Brooklyn, we see many people know Father Flood, as he was able to get Eilis a place in college, to help further her career. The church also has a controlling aspect on the characters moral values. This is seen with Eilis and Ms. Kehoe’s view on relationships and sex. Their attitude towards relationships are shaped around the beliefs of the Church, an example of this is when Eilis asks Tony to go to confession with her, as she sees sex before marriage as a sin. Ms. Kehoe realizes Tony has been in Eilis’ room soon after this, so she locks the gate to stop this from happening again. In my opinion, the Catholic Church has a substantial influence on Ms. Kehoe compared to Eilis because Eilis marries Tony, but cheats on him in Ireland with Jim. This is against Catholic Church’s teachings but that does not seem to influence Eilis in any way. In the end, she decides to go back to Tony. This might be because she realizes she has sinned, and because of the influence of the Church on her values, she cannot divorce Tony, she has to accept her life in Brooklyn instead. Power is an extremely important factor in the cultural context of 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn. The power structure in society is the Catholic Church. It helps shape the values of the characters, as many of them live their lives by the Church’s beliefs. Eilis’ mother is an example of this, as she hardly knows Father Flood but immediately trusts him because he is a member of the Catholic Church. He has the power in society and the characters look up to him for guidance. Another position of power seems to be held by those with money. Throughout the book it seems to be an important factor, more so in Ireland then Brooklyn. People with money were treated superior to others, and a woman’s goal was to sustain a wealthy man. Those with money occupy certain positions of class. This can be seen in both societies. It was a very class structured society, with the Church and people with money at the top. Our first example of this is when Eilis and Nancy are at the dance, and Eilis realizes Jim does not want anything to do with her as she and Nancy were from a lower class. He refuses to dance with Eilis and ignores her for the rest of the night. Power was a major influence on marriage, as women were respected a considerable amount more if they married someone with power. Their view was that if they married someone with power, they had achieved a large goal in their life. The influence of power in 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn shaped the values and attitudes of the characters. Undoubtedly the personal freedom of Eilis and many other characters is affected by the world in which she resides. In Ireland, Eilis’ freedom is largely restricted because she is a woman. She is expected to marry and start a family, and there is no emphasis on her education. She has very little freedom as a teenager; an example of this is when she goes to the dance. Because of the society she lives in, she is expected to dance with only one boy for the whole night; this does not give her any freedom to do otherwise. Many of her decisions in Ireland are forced ones, such as when she went to work with Ms. Kelly. Ms. Kelly assumed Eilis would want to work for her, and did not give Eilis the chance to say no. She did not treat Eilis with respect but Eilis still had to keep working for her. This is greatly contrasted with her life in Brooklyn. Eilis had a large amount of personal freedom in Brooklyn, allowing her to explore the town she lives in. Her decisions were taken solely by herself, unlike in Ireland. She was able to decide if she wanted to further her career in college, whereas in Ireland she would have been expected to become a bookkeeper, but never an accountant. She also had freedom where she worked, with the employees and her boss treating her with respect, this contrasts with Ms. Kelly’s shop in Ireland. She was given opportunities to advance in her role as a sale assistant in the shop in Brooklyn, unlike Ireland where she would always be selling things in Ms. Kelly’s shop. Ultimately, Eilis is affected by the cultural context. It impinges upon her world. This is greatly seen in her last decision in the book, to accept her life in America with Tony. In modern day Ireland and Brooklyn, she would have been free to get a divorce and stay with Jim, but because at the time she was greatly influenced by the Catholic Church and her role in society, this option was not available for her. We discover at the end of the novel Eilis is a conformist, as she allows her values and attitudes to be shaped by 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn. Overall, my understanding of cultural context is that it is the world of the text. In my opinion, the characters in Brooklyn accept the world in which they live in, and allow their values to be shaped by the time and place. Throughout the book we see the characters being influenced by the role of women, the Catholic Church and the people with power in their society.a

2 imaginary companies merge Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

2 imaginary companies merge - Case Study Example me in running specific errands such as picking children from schools, picking friends from specific locations and in large scale, GoogLexus is projected to be useful for the taxi business where cars can be sent to collect clients from different locations without involving drivers (Toyota/Lexus 2012). The GPS system will be fitted with the camera that will allow the operator to monitor the events as they happen in the car from a sitting. This will be the first time to develop such GPS system devise in the history of the modern technology, therefore, there are high expectations that this product will perform favorably in the market. The main problem facing this project is how to sell it to the masses because it is a new idea and with the skeptic nature of the masses, it thought that there is a possibility of the project hitting a snug. Irrespective of these challenges, the reputation of these two companies will be vital for the success of this new GPS system device. Lexus Company was founded during early 1980s; however, it was launched in the year 1989. Lexus is associated with high quality, luxury, and customer satisfactory cars; these are the virtues behind their success. Lexus is a subsidiary of the legendary Toyota family that is reputed to be the third in the world as far as auto motive maker is concerned. In the United States of America alone, Lexus and Toyota boast of employing more than 31,000 people. In addition to this, they also employ over 160,000 individuals as dealers and suppliers. Furthermore, the total investment of Toyota in United States is approximated to be a massive $12 billion. Lexus and Toyota contribute remarkably towards the growth of the ever-growing United States economy (Toyota/Lexus 2012). The success of this product will rest upon the GPS; therefore, it is important to have background information about it. GPS in full is Global Positioning System; it is a navigation system that is based on satellite. The system comprises of 24

Cases Summary Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cases Summary - Case Study Example The company is facing the bankruptcy threat as a result of the poor management of the company’s funds as well as running of the other indirect monetary activities. The best strategic analysis tool that I recommend this case is PEST Analysis. This tool entails looking at the factors that may influence the company’s performance, and they include political, economic, social and technological factors (Karadag, 2015). For the case of political factors, the company has to look at the tax policies, labor law, tariffs and political stability among others. For the case of economic factors, the company has to consider the economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate since they impact on how business operate and reach on to their decisions. Social factors entail the cultural dimensions, consisting of population growth rate, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Finally, technological factors involve environmental aspects such as automation, technology incentives and dynamism in technology. The best solution is for the company to study the prevailing taxation policies in the country so that it can identify whether it’s spending a lot in paying the taxes (Karadag, 2015). Another solution is for the company to determine the trade restrictions that are in place and find out if there are some that tend to favor its operations. I recommend that the company, try as much as possible to fix itself in the regional market, if there exist some trade restrictions favoring its activities. Finally, the company should study the prevailing market and come up with implementation, control and evaluation plan to meet the demand of the identified market. The second case is where Pixar, the studio company owned by Walt Disney Company, had failed to obtain a single nomination from the previously given out awards. The company has undergone a lot of setbacks from this case since Pixar had won five trophies from the previous year. For this case too, I

The Silk Routes and its Influences on Ancient and Medieval Commerce Essay

The Silk Routes and its Influences on Ancient and Medieval Commerce and International Relations - Essay Example â€Å"Silk Road†: Its Expansion over Different Centuries Indeed, the term, â€Å"Silk Road†, is a modern adoption which is used to refer to the commercial communication networks existing among the countries of the world during the ancient and medieval periods. Especially, it was a set of communication routes which were connected to the main route between Changan and Europe (especially the Port of Venice). Since the â€Å"Silk Road† was not any single route of communication, modern historians have preferred using the term, â€Å"Silk Routes† in order to refer to the whole communication network between China and the West. Many people claim that the name, ‘Silk Road’, has been used because ‘Silk’ was the most precious product which was being traded along the road. Indeed, such assumption about the name is not wholly true. Rather, it is a partial truth. Though ‘Silk’ was the most attractive product which the Chinese were selling the whole world, it was not the only important products where were being traded among the nations. Indeed, this name became popular in the modern world after Ferdinand von Richthofen had introduced the East-West communication network as `Seidenstrasse’ (silk road) or `Seidenstrassen’ (silk routes). In this regard, Joshua Mark notes, â€Å"Both terms for this network of roads...were coined by the German geographer and traveler, Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877 CE, who designated them `Seidenstrasse’ (silk road) or `Seidenstrassen’ (silk routes)† (Pars. 1). Commodities and Ideas, Exchanged by the Nations

2.To what extent does Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas fulfil Essay

2.To what extent does Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas fulfil the stated aim of the Voyage extraordinaires series to provide instruction which amuses an - Essay Example It still finds its place in hearts of many people. One of the most famous and iconic characters of this book is Captain Nemo. True to his name Nemo was an enigma to Aronax, the narrator and the professor in the story, Ned land, the Canadian harpooner and Conseil, loyal servant of Arronax. To really look into characteristics of Nemo, let’s briefly sum the concise idea about this classic. While idea of the story is being told we will analyze the character of Captain Nemo. The story is being narrated by Pierre Aronnax, who is a famous marine biologist. It all starts with a theory of narwhal being sighted in various places. Aronnax along with his servant and Ned Land follow the path of seas only to understand that narwhal is a submarine which is led by a certain captain called Captain Nemo. The story then revolves around the expedition of Nemo, Aronnax, Conseil and Ned wherein they travel under sea for sixty thousand kilometers or twenty thousand leagues. The book became a cult success and has achieved the tag of classic not only because the central idea of Verne but also the style, characterization and treatment given to the plot to make it more entertaining and astounding. Captain Nemo is the central character of the story. Nemo in Latin means no one or nobody and that name aptly suits him because of his mystical attitude and mystery behavior in the course of the book. Let’s take the book analysis in more detail to understand the iconic character of this great captain. The name has lot of significance to the character and the outcome of book and we shall unravel the mystery behind it now. The first meeting with Captain itself was the one to remember. When Ned, Conseil and Aronnax were being taken as captives in the submarine ‘Nautilus’, each of them explain their situation in different languages of English, French, German and Latin. Captain Nemo does not reply and walks away. Later when he confronts the group he was attacked by Ned and

SOC 331 week 5 discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SOC 331 week 5 discussions - Essay Example Application of an umbrella cover of distributive justice is seen to be in violation of certain clauses of the constitution like the eighth amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (Dreisbach, 2013). Drawing inference from the case of Miller v. Alabama, the application of retributive justice demanded the Miller, a fourteen year old boy be tried with the charges of arson and capital crime in the same capacity as an adult. The application of retributive justice does not consider an individuals mental status when committing a crime, thus proposes a blanket cover with which justice is administered equally for equal crime. Application of a mandatory life without parole that is applicable in distributive justice can thus be said to be unjust, as it does not give opportunity for the offender to be cross-examined to ascertain the real intentions of committing a crime (Dreisbach, 2013). According to the constitution, application of retributive justice is significant as it is based on ensuring that commitment of crimes of the same nature like the one that attracted a capital punishment will prevent commitment of future crimes by the potential offenders. Severe punishment acts as psychological negative stimulant to avoidance of the crime. Nevertheless, application of retributive justice will infringe the rights of the citizens especially the juvenile who are life sentenced without parole. These persons will be denied an opportunity for proper development. Application of retributive justice can be just or unjust depending on the situation when the justice is administered. Taking the situation of Karla Faye Tucker, corrective justice as an alternative theory to retributive justice demands that there should be fair compensation to the offender and the victim of a crime without gain for either side. Nevertheless, the victim of Karla had died and could not be compensated. In this regard, corrective justice requires correctional measures to be taken

Essentials of contemporary communication Assignment

Essentials of contemporary communication - Assignment Example The three skills most in demand are ability for versatile teamwork, problem solving, and communication. People are expected to work well with others and be able to switch easily from team to team, depending on the project. This implies a capacity for quick learning, high adaptability, and composure under pressure. This is an extension of teaming up and versatility a work. People who can recognize problems and implement solutions are esteemed by companies. Not only the management needs them; such people are the darlings of colleagues everywhere, and also of HR managers. Such people are blessed with the traits of thinking creatively, visualizing and suggesting solutions, knowing what to learn and how to do that at the right time. Communication skills are not just for professional advancement. Even as a personal trait it is very essential to be a welcome member of any group in family or society. But it has an added significance in the workplace—from performing the routine work, to securing timely promotions and wage hikes. Today’s communication needs can be classified broadly into three areas—written, oral and technological. Written: lot of documentation, reporting, correspondence and filling up of forms is involved in usual work. Excellence in these areas is necessary to cut one’s way through career goals. Oral: Simple speech communication matters a lot in today’s workplace. Good skills at this is needed for successfully selling your ideas to your manager for project approval, happy appraisal of work done and moving up the career ladder, giving instructions, understanding instructions and implementing things, maintaining rapport with co-workers of different levels and tempe rament, fruitful telephonic deals, interviewing people and gathering information, making presentations and a lot more. Technology: Proficiency with communication channels like telephone, fax, email,

Incremental profit Essay Example for Free

Incremental profit Essay Distinguish between the following: a) Industry demand and Firm (Company) demand, b) Short-run demand and Long run demand, and c) Durable goods’ demand and Non-durable goods demand. 2 . What are the problems faced in determining the demand for a durable good? Illustrate with example of demand for households refrigerator or television set. 3 . Analyze the method by which a firm can allocate the given advertising budget between different media of advertisement. 4 . What kind of relationship would you postulate between short-run and long-run average cost curves when these are not U-shaped as suggested by the modern theories? 5 . How do demand forecasting methods for new products vary from those for established products? 6 . What are the different methods of measuring national income? Which methods have been followed in India? 7 . What do you understand by the investment multiplier? In what way does it defend the policy of public works on the part of the state during business depression? 8 . Discuss the various phases of business cycle: a. Are cyclical fluctuations necessary for economic growth? b. Suggest appropriate fiscal and monetary policies for depression Assignment B: all Case Study Electron Control, Inc., sells voltage regulators to other manufacturers, who then customize and distribute the products to quality assurance labs for their sensitive test equipment. The yearly volume of output is 15,000 units. The selling price and cost per unit are shown below:Â  Selling price $200 Costs: Direct material $35 Direct labor 50 Variable overhead 25 Variable selling expenses 25 Fixed selling expenses 15 150 Unit profit before tax $ 50 Management is evaluating the alternative of performing the necessary customizing to allow Electron Control to sell its output directly to Q/A labs for $275 per unit. Although no added investment is required in productive facilities, additional processing costs are estimated as: Direct labor $25 per unit Variable overhead $15 per unit Variable selling expenses $10 per unit Fixed selling expenses $100,000 per year Calculate the incremental profit Electron Control would earn by customizing its instruments and marketing directly to end users.

Analysis Of The Novel The Killer Angels History Essay

Analysis Of The Novel The Killer Angels History Essay The Killer Angels is a historical novel that was authored by Michael Shaara in 1974. The novel is on a narration of four days of the Battle of Gettysburg that took place during the American Civil War. The story is centered on the period between June 30, 1963 when both the Union and the Confederacy soldiers prepare for battle around the town of Gettysburg and the 1st to 3rd of July 1973 when the battle takes place. The novel commences with Harrison, Longstreets spy gathering information on the movement and positioning of the Federal soldiers. Each day of in the novel is narrated from the perspective of the generals from the two sides; James Longstreet and Robert E. Lee on the Confederacys side and John Buford and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain on the Unions side. Michael Shaara narrates the story of Gettysburg, which is among the largest battles in North Americas history to establish the causes of the Civil War. Additionally, he tries to establish the motivations, which led to long-estab lished friends facing each other in battle. Michael Shaara wrote the novel to bring out the significance of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. He provides an accurate account of the events of the Gettysburg War. In the introduction letter that he writes to the reader, Shaara states that he utilized primary sources in writing the books and he did not make any significant alterations in the facts about the War. He aims at bringing this significant part of the American history to life. In the entire novel, the author attempts to portray the both sides of the War without any bias and to highlight the real causes of the War. Shaara uses Harrison, a spy who was hired by General Longstreet to investigate on the actions of the Union forces. This ensures that he remains neutral in his narration of the War. Thus, it can be argued that Michael Shaara was motivated by the urge to bring out the unbiased facts about the Gettysburg War, the real issues that led to the War, and the significance of the War to Americas history. James Longstreet and Robert E. Lees are significant characters in the storys narration. The two are Confederacy soldiers, they trust each other, and they are concerned with the safety of the other. However, they hold varying opinions and tactics about the war. Lee possesses excellent tactical skills though his conventional policies are often in conflict with Longstreets more futurist policies. Lee is a Confederacy general who issues directives from the defensive position. Shaara depicts Lee as wise elderly man who is aware of the fact that his career is almost ending. Lee holds to his conventional ideas of war; however, he appreciates the significance of Longstreets innovative ideas on the war. Lee is an inspiration of the soldiers in the War. He inspires even the wounded soldiers who drag themselves from the Picketts Charge and they beg to be allowed to return to the War. His presence in the War maintains the morale of the Confederacy soldiers. However, his confidence in the soldier s leads to his overestimation of the soldiers might in the War and results in a disaster at Picketts Charge. Lee is depicted as a gentleman, a religious, patient, and a man of honor without vices. He is optimistic and idealistic and believes that his men are capable of doing anything. He is soft-spoken and caring to his men; however, he boldly uses his men and is ready to loose them for a worthy cause. He adopts a religious stand in the war; God is responsible for all the events in the war. Lee is portrayed as a risk taker; he takes risky and daring decisions and is often breaking rules if time is against him. Lee is easily contrasted with Longstreet, a moody man of deep emotions and strong opinions. Longstreet is full of anger and hatred of the War. He believes that the War is a mistake and contests Lees offensive approach. Longstreet prefers establishing a strong defensive position and letting the enemy come to him. He is not portrayed as a coward, but he basis his decisions on the War on the several years of his experience in the army. He is depicted as a total soldier who is devoted to no other cause other than victory in the War. Furthermore, he employs newer approaches in the War compared to Lees conventional approaches and is pained by the death of the soldiers. Thus, contrasting the two generals and their strategies in the War depict that Longstreet was a more superior general with better tactics in the War. Lees tactics were responsible for the death of many soldiers and the eventual loss of the War by the Confederacy. Lastly, Gettysburg played a significant role in the Civil War. The Gettysburg is depicted as a significant part in Americas history. Prior to the Gettysburg War, the Confederacy had won a significant number of wars. However, Gettysburg acted as a turning point for the course of the Civil War. At Gettysburg, the Union gained their first victory in the War. Consequently, they gained momentum in the War and won all the subsequent wars. The Gettysburg War depleted the two sides reserves for the War; it significantly decreased their ammunition and number of soldiers. The North had double, the number of soldiers as the South; additionally, it was more industrialized compared to the South. Thus, the North eventually lost the War due to the lack of resources. This contrasted any other war that had been fought prior to the Gettysburg War.

Why the Cold War developed by 1949 Essays -- essays research papers

By 1949, the Cold War had developed in many ways since 1945. The most significant factor to the development of the Cold War since the end of World War II, was the building of the Iron Curtain in 1946 which divided the communists countries of Eastern Europe from the non-communist countries of the West and considerably contributed to the hostilities between the West and the USSR. Other reasons why Cold War had developed by was because of the different ideology to begin with, the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine, the Berlin Blockade, the sphere of influence and the NATO, which united the Western powers. The most important reason why the Cold War had developed by 1949 was because of the building of the Iron Curtain, which divided the Communist east, from the non-communist West. This was significant because it was the first huge action adding to the growing opposition between the USA and the USSR and made it impossible for the West to intervene in Stalin?s Communist plans. Stalin was able to gain such control behind the Iron Curtain because the West had agreed to the ?Sphere of Influence? and most of the countries were war-torn, poor and chaotic and communists were already there. This lead to the making of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Act. The Truman Doctrine was relatively significant in developing the Cold War, and came about because of the worry about Stalin taking over Eastern Europe. The Truman Doctrine was a rule made in 1947 in response to the recent communist takeover of Eastern Europe, to contain communism. This meant that the USA would support any nation who was in danger of being taken over by communism, with money, equipment and advice. The financial side of the Truman Doctrine was agreed in the Marshall Plan i... ...ngthened the Western side and meant that if an attack was made on the West, the countries would support each other. However, although this weakened the Eastern side, between 1948 and 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb, meaning that the arms race was about to begin. In conclusion, in between 1945 and 1949, the Cold War had significantly developed mainly because of the increasing hostilities between the East and West. By 1949, the arms race had begun and Stalin had created the Iron Curtain to divide Communist Eastern Europe and non-communist Western Europe. The three sectors of Germany had united and had gained a good reputation for helping the Berliners in the Berlin Blockade. The Marshall Plan lead to the forming of Cominform and this retaliation sets the pattern for the rest of the Cold War, because of the idea of ?one-upmanship?.

Sonnet 2 Analysis Essay -- English Literature

Sonnet 2 Analysis The sonnets by Shakespeare convince a young, handsome friend of Shakespeare’s to have children to forever keep his beauty alive. However this changes after a number of sonnets. Shakespeare stresses that this beauty will not last, and that it is selfish and foolish for him not to prepare for the loss of his beauty and youth. The only way he can truly prepare is to rear a child so that his son can carry on his name and all his wonderful qualities, including his unsurpassed beauty. Shakespeare has made it very clear to show his opinion about his friend greediness and not sharing his beauty with the world. The usage of language techniques are used to show his inner thoughts about his friend’s actions. Sonnet number 2 is another poem of Shakespeare’s in which he tries to convince his friend. ====================================================================== At the start of the poem it starts of and describes the effects of time to his friend’s beauty. This is unusual as he usually describes his friend’s beauty and compares it to something else. Fr...

Shakespeare without all those Words :: essays research papers

After reading the chapter Shakespeare without all those Words, I have to agree with the arguments in it. Although I am no pro on Shakespeare or not even a repetitive reader of his works I tend to believe that what is said throughout the chapter to be true like many of the great masterpieces of our era. The meanings get lost over time and through manipulation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s society everyone wants the gratification of something without putting the effort in to achieve it. The inexperienced reader Shakespeare may take many, many readings before it becomes clear. Were a â€Å"Now† society, we want the quickest, easiest way for everything and expect to get the same effect of the original Shakespearian readers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The section in the chapter where you speak of the plays becoming something unlike the written play or as far off the mark as possible, is true and bothersome. Writers and directors today want the notoriety that the name Shakespeare brings but then shames the playwright itself. They put their own spin on it, to make it more appealing to the audience or less time consuming. In doing so your missing a great deal of the play and usually it ends up being the core of the story. Audiences walk away without a true understanding of Shakespeare but a twisted and misconstrued idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world in which we live is all about theatrics, exaggerations, fabrications, as well as, entertainment. As you pointed on in the chapter the works of Franco Zeffirelli’s film version of The Taming of the Shrew was only 30% of actual Shakespeare leaving 70% for his own interpretation plus plenty of room for entertainment. What’s the point then? Why even claim its Shakespeare? Answer, they know the name will allure the audience to the play. That being said the people are their under the false pretense that their there for Shakespeare. Not the Shakespeare that has been twisted, turned, tied into the interpretation that feels it’s necessary to draw on the name of someone else’s merits to allure an audience. Its okay for writers to use the name Shakespeare but when it comes to his works apparently many believe they’re not good enough to entertain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all this being said I also agree that today’s’ society is not the same as it was when Shakespeare was more prevalent. Today’s population span is less; people have more distractions and less room in their life’s for intellect.

A Geography of Time

In the preface â€Å"Time Talks, With an Accent† the author describes his reasons of writing the book, as well as he shares his plans about future careers, his interest, and ideas about time geography.In the first chapter â€Å"Tempo: Speed of Life† special attention is paid to what tempo is, its core elements, economic well-being and what may happen beyond the tempo. In the second chapter â€Å"Duration: Psychological Clock† the author provides innovative and interesting suggestions and draws relevant conclusions bumps in time, how to change the life tempo and psychological experiences of time duration.Actually, I think that material presented in the preface and the first chapters are very exciting and informative as the author sets further background for research in this sphere.In the preface the author writes that every culture is represented by its own concepts and fingertips about time and time geography. Actually, it is necessary to lean about time values a s it gives an excellent opportunity to know the person better. Time gives idea of what person is, about his ideals and beliefs. The author admits that he has always been interested in time. As other Americans, the writer was taught that time is measured by the clock and nothing more.Time is seconds, minutes and hours. However, when the author grew up he realized that the concept of time is not as simple as it might seem at the first glance. When planning personal career, the author claims he has ignored the concept of money being offered by the particular job. Instead, he decided to learn temporal lifestyle as that area interested him the most.Firstly the author’s researches focused primarily on social psychology and attribution theory. Special attention was paid to gender differences in ideas about success and failure, self-confidence and attribution styles. Nevertheless, in several years the author became very interested in studying the value of time and the life pace in ge neral. Therefore, the author devotes the whole book to the pace of own lives, how people use and have to use time, what time is doing in our cities, etc.The first chapter addresses the question of time tempo stressing that tempo of life strongly depends on the factors of personal taste and skills, as well as on individual instruments and room involved. The pace of time is defined by the author as tome flow or movement being experienced by people.Pace of time is characterized by rhythms, sequences and synchronies. However, life pace is a matter of tempo. ‘Tempo’ is borrowed from music theory and it is associated with rate and speed of piece performance.The author is interested in characteristics of cultures and places distinguishing five factors which determine cultural tempos: economic well-being, degree of industrialization, population amount, climatic conditions, and orientation at individualism. Also, there are ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ people and t he author warns us not to overgeneralize about them.Actually, life pace depends on time, place and human doings. Ten areas are presented to think of yourself: speech patterns, concern with clock time, walking speed, eating habits, driving, schedules, list making, nervous energy, waiting and alerts.The second chapter addresses the issues of psychological clock and duration of time. The author writes that there were several studies devoted to time perceptions and the interest in estimation of time appeared on the scale.Duration is defined as the time that is going from the lat event. Actually, duration is the speed of the clock being ambiguous and precise. However, it is more difficult to define duration of time in the realm of psychological experience.There are differences in time duration among Westerners and Easterners. For example, in Western culture listening is not opposition of talking as it is waiting.Modern researchers are focus on identifying differences in types of informat ion and in the ways the information is processed. Interestingly, Maslow defined creative people as people being fascinated and absorbed in the current situation and here-now. The author concludes that time is proceeding as a clock arrow does. However, speed of time passing depends fully on individual preferences. A Geography of Time In a world with no clocks and no definite appointments people are living by event time. Therefore, the fourth chapter â€Å"Living on Time Events† is devoted to analyzing what it means to live beyond time or by time event. It is known that earlier time was measured by slow sweep of stars in the sky or by important events or changes.Heartbeats also measured time, as well as recurrence of hunger and duration of loneliness. The author assumes that in certain situations the clock or calendar can be defined as nothing more than simply ornament or decoration. Living by event can’t provide define appointments of lifestyle, whereas modern industrialized countries are motivated by punctuality.Historical perspective suggests that living by clock â€Å"is clearly out of line with virtually all of recorded history†. (p.82) The author asserts that the key difference in pace life is that people tend to use clock as the guidance in their lives, especially when they are planning the beginning and the end of particular events.People’s schedules aren’t allowed to include spontaneous activities. Therefore, there are two types of living: living by event time and living by clock time. The key difference between these types is speed difference and people who live by clock tie are faster than those who live by event time.The author specifies that under clock time timepiece is that director of the beginning and end of the events and particular activities. Under event time it is schedule that determines particular activities. Nevertheless, event time isn’t precise time as it is difficult to identify when people will be busy with necessary activities. Interestingly, adults are more susceptible to clock time.Industrial society is characterized by enmeshed style of life and clock time is the main driver of events and activities. However, in less civilized countries people are less concerned with control of clock. They feel life by mechanic clock i s abnormal and confusing as it set rigid frameworks and it is hardly possible to life full life when you are obliged to follow set schedule.The fifth chapter â€Å"Time and Power: The Rules of the Waiting Games† provides relevant and valuable rules about waiting peculiarities. The author says that waiting is always unpleasant thing.For example, when we are waiting for a bus or a person, we feel anxiety and even irritability. However, half of our life is simply waiting – waiting for tickets, appointments, particular events, buses, etc. Psychologists find it rather difficult to evaluate the pain from waiting, but they say that effect maybe both negative and positive. For business waiting is very expensive as time for them is directly associated with money.When people become more important, the demand for time becomes greater. With increased importance value of time increases as well as time is limited. Therefore, time of important people should be protected and carefully managed.The author stresses that â€Å"important people are usually seen by appointment only; and while those of higher status are allowed to make people below them to wait, the reverse is strictly prohibited†. (p. 109) Thus, one of the most important rules is that status dictates who will wait and it is position in the hierarchy that determines people’s importance. Further, the longer people are waiting the greater the status is. For example, the value of attorneys and bookkeepers is defined by the fact whether they are booked in advance.One of the rules suggests that time can be provided as a real gift meaning that waiting can be seen as an act of generosity. Offering is thus viewed as â€Å"a special instance of using time to demonstrate respect†. (p.123) Offering of time is important because it stretches far beyond explanations of gain or profit. The sole purpose of offering time is sending social message. Finally, breaking into line should be rare occasion s.Those people who break into line must re-assure that they don’t cause any troubles for others who are waiting. Rules of waiting are different in different countries and it is not recommended to play waiting games till you know all the rules. Mainly, waiting rules implicit and the chance to misinterpret the message are very high.

Investement

This case was prepared by Boris Morozov and Rebecca J. Morris both from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The views presented here are those ofthe case authors and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe Society for Case Research. The authors' views are based on their own professional judgments. Copyright  © 2009 by the Society for Case Research and the authors. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission ofthe Society for Case ResearchOn June 1, 2006, the house lights dimmed at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference. On the large screens fianking the stage, a film called the â€Å"Winds of Change† started. In the film, a dignified white-haired spokesman standing in front of sentimental images of puppies, babies, balloons and birthday parties began talking about the â€Å"golden days† at Kodak— the days of the â€Å"Kodak moment† in photography. Signaling a shift in the tone of the film, the spokesman looked straight into the camera and said, â€Å"Get's ya misty, doesn't it?Yep, they shoveled on the schmaltz pretty thick—but that kinda crap doesn't work anymore. † Now people wanted everything to be digital, the speaker stressed, becoming more frenzied as he spoke about digital photography and Kodak's role in it. The viewing audience chortled when the speaker intoned. You thought they (Kodak) were just hiding out waiting for this ‘digital thing' to blow over didn't you? Oh, sure. For a while they were like, ‘Ohhh, there's no way digital's going to catch on'.. .But now Kodak's back!With swelling enthusiasm, the spokesman extolled Kodak's research and development in digital photography, ending by pulling at his hair and exclaiming, â€Å"You were a Kodak moment once and by God, you'll be one again†¦ only this time its digital. Whooo-yeah! â€Å"^ The spokesman appeared somewhat startled by his own outburst and sheepis hly walked off stage as the film ended and the lights came up. Wall Street Journal columnist, Kara Swisher then welcomed Kodak CEO, Antonio Perez to the stage to the audience's vigorous applause and cheers. Paul Simon's song, â€Å"Kodachrome† played as Perez took the stage.Swisher began her interview saying, â€Å"That was a really funny movie. I liked that film! † Her first question, however, was not so approving. â€Å"What happened,† she asked as Perez settled into his chair, â€Å"What from your perspective happened at Kodak—because it was one ofthe greatest brands in history? â€Å"^ SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL Perez responded without hesitation, saying: First of all there was this notion that came out of incredible success. The notion was that maybe if Kodak doesn't move into digital—the imaging world will never move into digital. .. They (Kodak) were running a business with gross margins between 60-70% and those things are hard to let go, e specially when you are confronting a business model that is going to give you, if you are lucky, something around 30%. So that means that you have to change the whole company. From the way you design, to the way you manufacture, to the way you distribute, you know.. .the whole thing. It is very tough. So Kodak is very late to the digital space. But Kodak was not late in investing in digital. Kodak was very rich.Kodak hired very good people and those people were actually doing the right things. In the last fifteen years, Kodak developed one ofthe most impressive IP (intellectual property) portfblios-in digital capture, image processing, pixel technology and all sorts of things†¦ color management, you name it—actually a leader in all of those spaces. Now, why didn't they commercialize that? I don't know. ^ 22 Referencing Kodak's transition from traditional photography to digital, S wisher asked, â€Å"So, how did you get the film people out—because it's a film comp any? † Perez described his approach saying.Basically, the model that I used when I visited the factories was looking at the audience and say, â€Å"How many [of you] have a digital camera? At that time it was about 60%, and I would say, well, you are the problem we have. We either move to digital—we either do this transformation effectively—or this company basically will cease to exist. There is nothing else. There is no time to argue about it†¦. This is over. We are already very late but we do have the tools that we need to make this happen. â€Å"* Eight months after the All Things Digital Conference, Kodak held its annual strategy meeting in New York City.Antonio Perez announced that Kodak had successfully completed a four-year, $3. 4 billion transformation and was poised for growth over the next four years (20082011). Investors, however, did not share Perez's view ofthe firm. Kodak's share price fell to a 30-year low following the strategy meeting amid skepticism about Kodak's future strategy. ^ Pointing out that Canon had surpassed Kodak in sales of digital cameras and that Kodak's EasyShare Gallery faced tough competition from services like Shutterfiy and Snapfish, analysts wondered whether Kodak had turned the corner. Other investors argued that the Kodak brand still had appeal for consumers and that the company's transformation would take time. Speculation about a possible breakup of the company or mergers with other technology companies appeared in the financial press. ^ Had Kodak successfully adapted to the challenges ofthe digital space? Were there other strategies that Kodak should pursue? SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 23 Kodak's Digital Strategy in 2003 Any evaluation of Kodak's transformation needed to begin with a review of Kodak's history in digital photography.Despite employing the engineer who invented the first digital camera (patented in 1978) and holding more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents,^ Kodak did not introdu ce a digital camera to consumers until 2001. Kodak's moves paralleled those at many companies whose comfortable business models were threatened by rapid changes in information technology. When asked whether Kodak had moved into digital photography soon enough, then Kodak CEO Daniel Carp replied, â€Å"I saw my first digital camera inside Kodak in 1982. Today, we're arguably one ofthe top three providers of digital cameras in the U. S.So, we did the right thing. At the same time, we shouldn't have walked away from the historical film businesses before they turned down, because it would have destroyed value. â€Å"^ Under slumping economic and competitive market conditions, Kodak faced tough pressure from its existing competitors as well as from new rivals in the area of digital photography—a $385 billion industry composed of devices (digital cameras and personal data assistants [PDAs]), infrastructure (online networks and delivery systems for images), services and media (sof tware, film and paper) enabling people to access, analyze and print images.Even though Kodak had invested $4 billion'^ into digital research and related technologies since the early 1990's and spent many years perfecting its digital cameras, Kodak's status as an iconic brand was threatened by the technological shift away from its cash-cow business of traditional film and film processing. In July 2003, Kodak reported fiat sales and a 60 percent drop in second-quarter profits. Since January 1, 2000, when Carp took over as chief executive of Kodak, the company's revenues and net income had declined, its shares had dropped by 66%, and Standard & Poor's (S&P) had cut Kodak's credit rating by five grades. ^ Kodak had reduced its workforce by 49% since 1989, cutting 7,300 employees in 2002 alone. ^^ Plans were announced to eliminate up to 6,000 jobs in 2003 to stem future losses, cutting Kodak's traditional photography divisions in Rochester, New York to fewer workers than the firm had emp loyed during the Great Depression. ^^ Kodak's balance sheets for 2000 to 2007 are presented in Table 1. Income statements for the same period are presented in Table 2.When announcing the latest rounds of workforce reductions in July 2003, Carp expressed his perspective on Kodak's challenges saying, â€Å"I think we're at the point where we have to get on with reality. The consumer traditional business is going to begin a slow decline, though it's not going to fall off a cliff. † Kodak found itself saddled with assets and employees that were no longer relevant in the world of digital photography. Traditional photography involved factories where film, paper and other silver-halide chemical-based products were made by thousands of chemical technicians, film process technicians and color printer operators.In digital photography, images captured by electronic sensors could be displayed, printed, stored, manipulated, transmitted, and archived using digital and computer techniques, without chemical processing. Kodak recognized that digital photography would require different types of employees and began hiring top executives away from computer printer companies, such as Lexmark and Hewlett-Packard. These employees brou? it needed expertise in consvuner electronics and software development. ‘†* Kodak also began closing traditional fihn processing facilities and laying off workers. SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 24Table 1 Kodak's Annual Balance Sheet 2000-2006 (In Millions 2006 ASSETS Cash & Equivalents Net Receivables Inventories Other Current Assets Total Current Assets Gross Plant, Property & Equipment Accumulated Depreciation Net Plant, Property & Equipment Investments at Equity Other Investments Intangibles Deferred Charges Other Assets TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES Long Term Debt Due In One Year Notes Payable Accounts Payable Taxes Payable Accrued Expenses Other Current Liabilities Total Current Liabilities Long Term Debt Deferred Taxes Minority Interest Other Liabilities TOTAL LIABELmES EQUITY Preferred Stock Common Stock Capital Surplus Retained Earnings Less: Treasury Stock TOTAL EQUITY TOTAL LIABILTTIES & EQUITY 1,487 2,669 1,202 199 5,557 10,372 7,530 2,842 36 420 2,869 1,599 997 14,320 17 47 1,003 764 1,735 1,405 4,971 2,714 1 21 5,225 2005 1,680 2,760 1,140 201 5,781 11,379 7,601 3,778 40 363 2,941 1,144 874 14,921 706 113 996 467 1,958 1,249 5,489 2,764 33 20 4,648 2004 1,258 2,544 1,158 688 5,648 12,694 8,182 4,512 532 188 1,924 1,203 730 14,737 400 69 868 2003 1,261 2,389 1,075 730 5,455 13,277 8,183 5,094 426 310 1,678 1,147 708 14,818 457 489 834 654 1,696 1,177 5,307 2,302 81 45 3,819 2002 578 2,234 1,062 660 4,534 13,288 7,868 5,420 382 53 981 972 1,027 13,369 387 1,055 720 584 1,739 892 5,377 1,164 52 70 3,929 2001 451 2,337 1,137 758 4,683 12,982 7,323 5,659 360 85 948 482 1,145 13,362 156 1,378 674 544 1,635 967 5,354 1,666 81 84 3,283 2000 51 2,653 1,718 869 5,491 12,963 7,044 5,919 0 0 947 0 1,855 14,212 150 2,05 6 817 572 1,358 1,262 6,215 1,166 61 93 3,249 581 1,989 1,083 4,990 1,852 67 25 3,992 12,932 12,954 10,926 11,554 10,592 10,468 10,784 0 978 881 5,332 5,803 1,388 14,320 0 978 867 5,935 5,813 1,967 14,921 0 978 845 7,832 5,844 3,811 14,737 0 978 842 5,852 3,264 14,818 0 978 849 6,840 5,890 1,111 13,369 0 978 849 6,834 5,161 2,894 13,362 0 978 871 7,387 5,808 3,428 14,212 SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL Table 2 Kodak's Annual Income Statement 2000-2006 (In Millions ^'^ 2006 2005 14,268 8,783 2004 13,517 8,311 2003 13,317 8,102 2002 12,835 7,391 2001 13,234 7,749 25 2000 13,994 7,105Sales Cost of Goods Sold Gross Profit SeUing, General, & Administrative Expense Operating Income Before Deprec. Depreciation, Depletion, & Amortization Operating Profit Interest Expense Non-Operating Income/Expense Special Items Pretax Income Total Income Taxes Minority Interest Income Before Extraordinary Items & Discontinued Operations Preferred Dividends Adjusted Available for Common Extraordinary Items Disco ntinued Operations Adjusted Net Income 13,274 8,278 4,996 3,101 1,895 1,331 564 262 86 -727 -339 254 7 5,485 3,485 2,000 1,406 594 211 49 -1,194 -762 689 4 5,206 3,340 5,215 3,339 5,444 3,260 2,184 818 1,366 173 -66 -164 963 153 17 5,485 3,333 2,152 919 1,233 219 -26 -891 97 32 -11 6,889 3,747 3,142 889 2,253 178 96 -39 2,132 725 0 ,866 1,031 835 168 62 -821 -92 -175 2 1,876 858 1,018 148 -23 -651 196 -66 24 -600 0 -600 0 1 -601 -1,455 0 -1,455 -57 150 -1,362 81 0 81 0 475 556 238 0 238 0 27 265 793 0 793 0 -23 770 76 0 76 0 0 76 1,407 0 1,407 0 0 1,407 SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 26 The switch by consumers to digital photography was coming much faster than expected and Kodak's traditional film, papers and photofinishing businesses were declining. By the end of 2003, analysts expected that digital cameras would begin to outsell film cameras for the first time in the United States. The digital photography industry was fast-paced and more crowded, offering razor thin profit margins.In S eptember 2003, Kodak aimounced an aggressive four-year plan to transform the company into a digital photography firm, replacing decliniag revenues and profits in the traditional fihn segment with growing digital revenues and profits. Job cuts and plant closures were prominent aspects of the firm's restructuring plans. Kodak armounced digital and film imaging strategy focused on four components: â€Å"(1) Manage the traditional film business for cash and manufacturing share leadership; (2) Lead in distributed output; (3) Grow the digital capture business, and (4) Expand digital imaging services. â€Å"^^ The traditional film business would be â€Å"managed† through organizational consolidation, cost reduction and reductions in both advertising spending and the number of unique products.Kodak hoped to expand its leadership in emerging markets, such as China and Russia, anticipating strong growth in these two markets for traditional fihn products. Distributed output referred t o the market for printed photos. Kodak plarmed to dominate all channels for printed photos—retail (minilabs and kiosks), home (printer docks and photo papers) and online printing of photos (Kodak's Ofoto site). The digital capture component of the plan addressed digital cameras and Kodak's plans to become the industry standard for ease of use and to achieve top three worldwide market share by 2006. Last, Kodak planned to expand services both online (photo album sharing) and in mobile markets (sharing and printing of photos captured with mobile phones).By the end of trading on the day ofthe digital strategy announcement, Kodak's stock fell to an 18-year low. Institutional investors criticized Kodak's announced strategy, expressing annoyance at the company's intention to invest in inkjet printing, a business dominated by Hewlett Packard. ^ ^Investment analyst. Shannon Cross, expressed the concerns of many investors saying, â€Å"There are so many questions with regard to Kodak 's future strategy†¦ the track record we've seen out of management in terms of being able to hit targets and implement a strategy has been pretty spotty. â€Å"^' The Years 2003-2007 Although shareholders and numerous investment analysts openly criticized the strategy, Kodak began implementing the new digital vision for the company.Since 2003, Kodak had pared costs through layoffs and plant closings in the traditional film division, sold off underperforming business units and increased its research and development investment in ink-jet printers. More than one hundred buildings in Kodak Park in Rochester, New York that had formerly housed thousands of employees had been razed, imploded, or sold by 2007. ^ ° From the company's peak in 1988, Kodak had cut 115,000 employees through divestitures, plant closings, and layoffs. Kodak expected to end 2007 with only 30,000 employees. ^^ Although job cuts would eventually represent cost reductions and improvements to the firm's bottom line, restructuring costs since 2003 were estimated to total $3. 8 billion. ^ Investment analysts believed that the high costs of Kodak's shift to a digital strategy would be worth the price if the company was successful at growing profits from its digital products. ^^ Other analysts were unconvinced, saying â€Å"We are increasingly skeptical that EK (Kodak) can efficiently generate SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 27 digital revenue growth and we think additional plant closings, job cuts and development costs will continue depressing results. â€Å"^†* Some analysts worried that the continual charges against earnings and mounting debt might leave Kodak strapped for important funds for research and development. ^^ Competitive pressures in digital photography made innovation important but raised concems for some analysts. Kodak â€Å"lost their magic touch.There are way too many people producing similar technology better,† one analyst said. ^^ The important events in Kodak's history since 2003 are shown as Table 3. Leadership of Kodak also was in transition during this period. In May 2005, Antonio M. Perez replaced Daniel Carp as Chief Executive Officer of Kodak. Perez had come to Kodak in 2003 after working 25 years for Kodak's competitor, Hewlett-Packard. ^^ Perez brought his extensive expertise in digital imaging technologies to Kodak and quickly became the leader of Kodak's digital transformation. Perez had been instrumental in formulating Kodak's restructuring strategy as he was Kodak's President and Chief Operating Officer in 2003. ^ Despite the ongoing criticism of investment analysts, Perez remained optimistic about Kodak's prospects saying. We said in 2003 that it would take us four years to transform this company. The first two years were loaded with restructuring costs, and the analysts are reacting to that. My response is: Well, hello, we are following our plan. We said we'd grow digital revenue and profits, and generate a healthy amount of cash, and we are doing all ^^ SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL Table 3 Key Events for Kodak 2003-2007 28 Date January 26, 2005†²Ã¢â‚¬  February 2,2005†³ March 2005†³ May 11,2005†³ January 5,2006†³* January 12, 2006'^ January 30,2006†²Ã¢â‚¬  March 2006†³ August 1,2006'* January 10,2007'^ February 1,2007 April 26,2007^† May 2007†³*' May 14, 2007^'Event Kodak's digital revenue rose 40% in the fourth quarter of 2004, more than offsetting a 16% decline in revenue for traditional film products. Kodak announced that for the first time, Kodak held the leading market share for digital cameras in the United States with 21. 9% share. Kodak changed the name of Ofoto, the online photo-sharing and printing site they had acquired, to Kodak EasyShare Gallery. Antonio M. Perez was announced as the next CEO of Kodak. Perez took over on June 1, 2005. Former Kodak CEO, Daniel Carp retired at age 57. Kodak announced a 10-year partnership with Motorola to develop mobile camera phones with Kodak sensors. Nikon stopped making most of its traditional film cameras.Kodak's digital revenues for 2005 exceeded revenues from traditional film for the first time. Digital revenues were 54% of total sales. Konica Minolta announced that it was exiting the photography industry. Some ofthe firm's photography assets were sold to Sony. Kodak announced that it would outsource the production of all digital cameras to Flextronics, a leading electronics manufacturing services provider headquartered in Singapore. Kodak announced the sale of the health care imaging division to ONEX for $2. 35 billion. Half of the proceeds were to be used for debt reduction. The sale of the division resulted in a decrease of 8,100 employees for Kodak.Kodak announced the first quarterly profit in eight quarters. Revenues for digital photography products had declined by 13%. Kodak announced a partnership with BestBuy to create the BestBuy Photo Center. The center provided Kodak's Eas yShare Gallery to BestBuy online consumers. The partnership would also provide for display of Kodak Gallery's photo gifts (mugs, purses, etc. ) in BestBuy stores. BestBuy would also offer pre-paid cards for prints and gifts. Kodak's digital consumer group sales (cameras, printers and retail printing) fell 14% due to Kodak's decision to stop offering low-end digital cameras and an industry-wide decline in printing snapshots.Kodak announced a partnership with Target to produce a co-branded site that permitted consumers to order photo prints online and pick them up in Target stores. The partnership also provided for display of Kodak Gallery's photo gifts in Target stores and for pre-paid photo cards. SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 29 One ofthe important changes championed by Perez was Kodak's new business model in inkjet printers. Kodak was upending the traditional business model in inkjet printers. Instead of pricing the printer devices low and making profits on high-priced ink cartridges, Kodak planned to sell higher-priced printers that used significantly less expensive printer cartridges. For example, Kodak's new line of all-in-one printers was priced at $149-$299, at least $50 more than comparable models. *^ The cost ofthe Kodak printer cartridges was significantly less, however, running $10 for black ink and $15 for the color cartridge. â€Å"*^ The Kodak printers were expected to save consumers 50% over the lifetime ofthe printer due to the cheaper printer cartridges. â€Å"*^ Although some analysts reacted positively to the new pricing model, others were doubtfiil saying. They (Kodak) are not fools, they are going after the sweet spot ofthe market, the people who print a huge number of photos at home, but they are up against big companies that can give a haircut to their own prices if they * ^ There was also some skepticism that consumers would pay more initially in order to save money over the lifetime of the product.A market research analyst described the consumers' perspective saying, â€Å"When it comes to printers, consumers look for the features they want, and then find the least expensive device that offers them. It is only later that they get sticker shock, when they're spending $50 for ink. â€Å"^^ For its part, HP had adopted a â€Å"wait-and-see† posture regarding Kodak's new printer pricing model. If Kodak's printers gained share, HP was prepared to respond. Kodak â€Å"is going into a gunfight with a knife,† responded Nils Madsen, marketing director for HP inkjets. ‘* Kodak predicted that it would take at least three years for the new printers to be profitable. â€Å"*^ Despite reporting a narrower first-quarter net loss in 2007, Kodak's financial results were continuing to show signs of stress.Sales of Kodak's digital camera group (including digital cameras, printers and retail printing) fell 14% during the first quarter of 2007. Traditional film revenues declined 13% over the previous year. ^^ Kod ak was losing less money, however, investors were expecting more. â€Å"Kodak needs not only to restructure, but to change its business. That's a bigger project. They don't have an overnight fix,† said one investment fund manager. ^^ Sacrificing current earnings to focus on long term success was a gutsy decision and members of the investment community wondered whether Kodak's executives had the fortitude to continue to pursue it and whether tiie path Perez had outlined for the company was indeed the right path. One investment manager siunmarized his perspective saying.That company (Kodak) used to be my favorite example of an old-tech company behind the eight ball. Kodak has crossed the Rubicon and gotten past denial. It may be struggling to figure out which road to take, but finally the company understands that the one it was on was getting it nowhere. You know what happens if you sit back and let history happen to you, so you've got to take a shot, and that's what they're ^^ Kodak also had to consider its strategies in light of changes within the digital photography industry. Much had happened since the launch of Kodak's digital strategy in 2003. Important trends included rapidly improving technologies, increases in the quality and use of SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 30 amera-enabled mobile phones, maturing demand in the United States, rapid adoption of digital photography in foreign markets, and increasing competitive challenges. Improved Technologies and a Shorter Product Life Cycle Like most technologies, the market for digital photography continued to rapidly change. Technological innovations improved the resolution of digital cameras (increased the mega pixels captured and thus improved the quality ofthe photos when enlarged). Improvements in optical and electronic technologies and subsequent reductions in production costs resulted in the introduction of higher margin, digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras into the market.These cameras featured in terchangeable lenses and appealed to consumers buying their second digital camera and to photography enthusiasts who could utilize the traditional camera lenses they already owned on the new SLR digital camera bodies. Many digital SLR models offered significantly better image quality than point-and-shoot digital cameras due to their use of larger imaging chips. Industry insiders expected strong growth in the digital SLR segment of the market as consumers looked for more capabilities and flexibility in their digital cameras. Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic dominated the market for low-cost digital SLRs in 2007. Camera makers found the product life cycle of the digital era to be markedly different than the rather stable product life cycle of traditional photography.For example, the Nikon topof-the-line F-series of fllm cameras had been redesigned only six times over ahnost 50 years of production. ^ By 2006, new features-laden digital camera models were introduced every few months rat her than years apart. Makoto Kimura, president of Nikon Imaging summed up the change saying, â€Å"In the past, as a camera maker we were able to take it easy, watch what was happening. Now, we've had to revitalize ourself â€Å"^^ Industry analysts believed that the faster product life cycle and the demands for technological innovations favored consumer electronics companies rather than traditional camera makers—in manufacturing and in distribution.Electronics companies such as Sony possessed the ability to design and manufacture many of the components integral to digital cameras whereas traditional photography companies such as Kodak lacked these capabilities and had to purchase components ftom other electronic companies. ^^ Distribution of cameras also shifted with the digital age in a way that favored consumer electronics companies. Consumers were increasingly purchasing even relatively expensive digital cameras at electronics chains such as Best Buy, Staples, and Circu it City rather than at smaller specialty photography shops. Consumer electronics companies already understood the inventory and logistics demands of the national chains, while traditional photography companies struggled to gain valuable shelf space. As one researcher put it, â€Å"A new wave of technology has given the newcomers the upper hand.For the consumer electronics companies, digital photography has been all upside, while the photo industry was stuck in a slow evolution stage. â€Å"^^ Gains in Mobile Phone Camera Quality and Usage Technological improvements in the resolution of photos captured on mobile phones had increased significantly. In 2006, Nokia offered a mobile phone model with Wi-Fi capabilities and an integrated three-mega pixel camera. ^^ Other mobile phone manufacturers offered phones with an integrated two-mega pixel camera. Consumers increasingly expected that their mobile SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 31 phones would contain an integrated camera. Approximately 30 million U. S. obile phone owners used their phones to capture images in 2005, an increase of 180% over the previous year. ^^ By 2009, nearlv 70% of mobile phones were expected to contain cameras with multimega pixel resolutions. Analysts further expected that the improved resolution ofthe integrated cameras in most mobile phones would decrease the demand for disposable traditional film cameras and could have a negative impact on low-end stand-alone digital cameras. ^' Because consumers carried their mobile phones with them constantly, the integrated cameras provided a convenient way to capture images during their daily activities as well as at special events, such as concerts and parties.Improvements in mobile phone cormections to wireless networks also made it easy for users to upload and share images with friends and family. Figure 1 depicts the increase in digital image captured using mobile phones. †¢ 62 Figure Digital Images Captured Worldwide, 2002-2009 50OT c 400 D Ca mera phone images captured 9 Digital camera images captured 2002 2003 2004 2005 2{K}6 2007 2008 2009 Source: Lyra Researcti, lrc. , Consumer Imaging Intelligence, Second-Half 2005 Forecast Maturing U. S. Demand In 2006, signs indicated that the digital camera market was maturing. After growing by almost 670% from 2000-2005, unit sales of digital cameras were slowing with an increase of only 26% forecasted for 2009. ^ Prices of digital cameras were also declining, making profitability more difficult for makers of low-end cameras.For example, digital cameras with less than 4 mega pixels of resolution dropped in price by 40% in 2006. In contrast, higher-end digital SLRs tended to maintain the same price points, adding value for consumers by packing each successive model with even more features. There was a glimmer of hope for some growth in the digital photography industry as some analysts believed that U. S. consumers were upgrading their digital cameras more frequently than had been previously expected. The replacement rate was estimated at every two SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 32 to three years rather than every four years as initially predicted. ^^ However, demand was expected to decline in 2007 and beyond as many consumers had completed their upgrade cycle and fewer new consumers were entering the market. An expected slowdown in the U. S. economy further contributed to a slowdown in demand for digital cameras.Higher interest rates were beginning to depress consumer spending in 2005 as the percentage of disposable income that U. S. households paid for their mortgages and consumer debt was increasing. ^^ Growth Possibilities Abroad Digital camera sales were expected to slow down in North America in 2007, but remained strong in Europe and Japan. Emerging markets were also expected to provide growing demand as camera prices fell. ^ In 2007, digital cameras were in strong demand in Central and Eastem Europe. Unit sales of digital cameras showed substantial increase s in Russia (up 30%), Ukraine (up 70%), Poland (up 15%), Hungary (up 18%), and the Czech Republic (up 7. 7%) over 2005 sales. ^^ Although more cameras were purchased, sales revenues actually declined as a result of declining prices due to technology advances and competitive pressures.The top three vendors in the region in 2006 were Canon, Sony and Olympus (in order of share). ^^ Analysts expected continued sales growth in the region but noted that demand for digital cameras had matured in the Czech Republic.  ° China was seen as a market with enormous potential for digital camera sales due to improving economic conditions and China's more open posture to the rest ofthe world as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approached. Sales were expected to grow from approximately 3 million units in 2004 to between 6. 5 and 10 million units in 2008. ^^ Growth in Chinese disposable income in the major industrialized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou had created a market of 400 mil lion potential customers for products such as digital cameras. ^^ Interest in photography was keen among Chinese consumers as more Chinese began traveling abroad and wished to bring home photos from their trips. The World Tourism Organization predicted that approximately 100 million Chinese would travel abroad in the year 2020 (an increase of 500% over 2003 figures). ^Digital camera sales to consumers outside urban areas in China were expected to be slower. Lower disposable income and need for higher priority items like household appliances caused rural Chinese consumers to delay their purchase of digital cameras. ^^'*^ Furthermore, distribution channels in rural areas were not well developed. No major electronics chain equivalent to Best Buy or Circuit City existed outside the major ^^ Contrary to earlier industry predictions, Chinese consumers did not buy traditional film cameras as their purchasing power increased, but preferred to leapfrog the older technologies to buy the lates t digital camera models. ^ Sales of traditional film cameras and film canisters declined much more rapidly in China than had been anticipated; leaving companies that had depended on selling these products at risk of being jumped over by the newer technologies such as digital cameras and camera-phones. ^^ By 2006, more Chinese consumers owned cameraphones than digital cameras. ^*SCR Battling for Market Share BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 33 The disruptive technology of digital photography had proved challenging for many traditional camera makers. In 2006, Konica Minolta announced that it would withdraw completely from the photography industry—despite being the third-largest producer of traditional photo film. ^ Nikon announced plans to gradually halt production of five models of traditional film cameras, leaving only two film cameras in its product portfolio. *^ Other traditional camera companies, such as Canon, thrived in the new digital world. Canon had become the world leader in di gital cameras with an ahnost 19% share in ^^ Consumers were offered more choices in the digital camera marketplace as companies in the consumer electronics industry began offering digital cameras. Notable examples included Samsung, a consumer electronics company with a strong position in the camera-phones segment and Hewlett Packard with strongholds in printers and personal computers.Consumer electronics companies were formidable entrants into the digital photography industry due to their strong brand awareness with consumers, established distribution channels and experience with many of the technologies involved in creating digital cameras. The competitive position of the companies in the digital camera industry rose and fell as consumers demanded more features, improved technologies and lower prices. The U. S. market shares of the top ten digital camera makers are shown as Table 4. Analysts believed that the strong gains shown by Canon and Nikon from 2005-2006 were due to their in troduction of lowcost digital single lens reflex cameras (SLRs). ^^ Worldwide, Canon led in digital camera sales with a 18. % share in 2006. *^ Sony followed with a 15. 8 percent share while Kodak was third at 10%. ** Both Canon and Sony benefitted from consumer interest in single-lens reflex models as well as growing demand in emerging markets. Sony's share ofthe global market increased as a result of its purchase ofthe digital single-lens reflex division of Konica Minolta in 2006. ^^ In the digital SLR segment ofthe industry. Canon held 46. 7% share in 2006, followed by Nikon in second with 33% share and Sony at third with 6. 2% ^^ o H a m en Olympus Samsung Fujifilm Panasonic Casio (N 068, 500 940, 800 867, 000 045, 700 185, 856, 500 496, 400 444, 700 046, 300 955,000 inChange Change From Shipments Market From Previous Previous Share Year Year 21% 000 000 18% 39% 780 000 17% 10% -31% 050 000 25% 44% 31% 326 400 68% 130. 600 18% -5% 964, 800 -15% 120% 680,500 N/A -19% 1,780,600 19 9% 350,000 N/A 136% 405,000 N/A Shipments m ^ ^ 587 600 330 000 880 000 381 600 804 900 317 400 N/A 1,782,600 N/A N/A ^ ^ V/N es H a 2 ‘Ho 2006 2005 2004 Shipments Market Share Market Share cn 00 Canon Sony Kodak Nikon ^ 00 20% 17% 16% 10% cn o o cn ( N g E g o 19. 4% 21. 9% 6. 2% 8. 1% 10. 4% N/A 8. 0% N/A SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 35 In segmented market share, signincant differences were evident in the purchasing preferences of male versus female consumers.Men seemed to prefer Canon while women preferred Kodak. ^* Analysts attributed the gender difference to women's preference for simplicity and desire for high-quality prints that could be shared with family and friends. Kodak met these needs for women with their point-and-shoot camera models and the EasyShare docking station. Men preferred the SLR models offered by Canon while Kodak was their fourth most popular choice behind Sony and Olympus. ^^ Gender differences were also observed in what users did with their digital pho tos. Women believed digital prints were more important than men (63% versus 53%). ^ ° Women printed approximately 35% ofthe digital photos they took while men printed only 25%. ‘ Men â€Å"took the picture and put it in the computer. But then it was like a roach motel for pictures. They never got out,† one industry insider reported. ^^ Although digital camera makers recognized gender differences in purchasing and usage behaviors, care was taken to address the needs and preferences of both men and women when designing and marketing photography products. For example. Canon utilized Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova in television advertising because she appealed to both men and women. by Representative data on the number of camera models and suggested retail prices offered the top five digital camera companies is provided as Table 5. jaPM a a O -t P GO O PH o O O I U U O m 00 ^ â€Å"3 O) -^ II II ^1 O uj N 0;gt; (Zl H et ‘S a  § PH 11 I « C †S a ON n Os O ON ^ 5 . -i g A †¢a †¢(-. †¢ S †¢^ o 6^ 6O â€Å". agi 00 — 0U-3  « le ^ a† y^ ob ^ e C3 .a o CM s †¢a Pi †¢O 6^ II O O Os  »2 O S— o u 1 o 00 00 o si ‘5b'p -2 S–S fe PL, ao o O ^ g a es .^5 a ^-3S a o U SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL A New Kodak Emerges 37 In January 2008, Kodak announced that its turnaround was officially over. In advance of the company's annual strategy meeting in New York City on February 7, 2008, Perez announced: It is with great pride that I introduce the new Kodak, a company with a new spirit and winning attitude.While completing a difficult and unprecedented business transformation, we also created breakthrough products and services that feature Kodak's hallmark innovation, winning customer acceptance and critical praise for a brand renowned for its smart use of technology. In 2008 and beyond, we will leverage the innovative thinking of Kodak people to deliver on our commitments to sharehol ders and increase the value of this great company. ^^ Kodak executives pointed to multiple metrics to demonstrate the extent of the firm's transformation. Kodak's industrial park in Rochester, New York had been reduced from 1,600 acres to 700 acres since 1998. ^ °Ã‚ ° Eleven film plants had been shuttered, leaving the company with only three film plants worldwide. ^ °^ As shown in Figure 2, the number of Kodak workers had been reduced from 145,300 in 1988 to around 30,000 at the end of 2007.  °^ More than half ofthe remaining employees were considered â€Å"new,† joining Kodak since the launch ofthe firm's digital strategy in 2003. ^ °^ Revenues from the Consumer Digital Imaging Group (CDIG) had increased substantially since 2003. CDIG included digital cameras, inkjet printers, camera sensors, digital picture frames, online photo finishing, and digital photo kiosks. As shown in Table 6, CDIG revenues had almost doubled, growing from $2. 37 billion in 2004 to $4. 63 bi llion in 2007. Kodak did not report profitability data by product segment. SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 38 Figure 2 Kodak Sales, Gross Profit ; Net Income Per Employee*** 2002-2006 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 = o Q 100,000 50,000 0 50,000 2002 H Employees D Sales/Employee †¢ Gross Profit/Employee †¢ Net Income/Employee 70,000 $183,357 $77,771 $11,000 2003 63,900 $208,404 $81,612 $4,147 2004 54,800 $246,661 $95,000 $10,146 2005 51,100 $279,217 $107,339 $(26,654) 2006 40,900 $324,548 $122,152 $(14,694) o o o o m ( ^ . -H ON o 1-H s? ON ON rj !004 Perc ri †¢n 00 Tl Tl Tl 00 ^H m ON o ON VO O .-H' NO ON Tl .-H in †¢n VO o t^ a O n rj VO O 00 O 1-H 00 CN T-H o o T—H ri VO ri m O a Gro o tems ai a s a O a o (3 S U g u a ‘ S onsnmer Digi CJ r 1 Outside the U. Inside the U. S raphic Comm ilm ; Photofi Outside the U. Inside the U. S U U 11 other ealth Gronp . 5 ‘ 5 s ‘ S e t (3 / anna^ n u SCR BUSINESS CASE JOURNAL 40 Building implosions were another symbol ofthe firm's makeover.Kodak had shed more than 100 buildings since the 199O's, imploding three massive buildings during the summer of 2007 that had formerly housed manufacturing processes for the firm's film, paper and other chemical-based products. ^ °^ As the rubble of the old chemical plants was cleared, Kodak executives gave presentations for technology stock analysts praising Kodak's successful turnaround. The presentations were entitled â€Å"A New Kodak Emerges† and emphasized the end of Kodak's restructuring program; the creation of high margin businesses, such as consumer inkjet printers and camera sensors; and Kodak's expected return to sustainable profitability.According to company executives, Kodak had a clear advantage in the digital space due to its specialized knowledge of materials science (the result ofthe firm's 100-plus years of experience in traditional photography) and digital image science (through the firm's strong intellectual pro perty in digital technologies). However, stock analysts remained skeptical of the success of Kodak's transformation, continuing to question the competitive success ofthe inkjet strategy and Kodak's value proposition for camera sensors. Analysts further questioned the adequacy of Kodak's spending for research and development given the number of major initiatives it was pursuing. In 2007, Kodak spent 5. 19% of sales or $536 million on research and development, while Canon spent $3,351 billion or 8. 22% of sales on a more singular research agenda.  °^ Others continued to express concern about the commoditization of many of the business segments in which Kodak operated, persistently asking Frank Sklarsky, Kodak's chief fmancial officer, â€Å"So, where are you making your money? I just want to know. It isn't clear†¦ â€Å"‘ °^ The stock analysts' continued unease over Kodak's fixture was refiected in their stock recommendations with ten of eleven key analysts rating the shares as either neutral or as Despite the Kodak officers' assertion of successfiil transformation, there was open speculation in the press about the possibility of a breakup of Kodak or mergers with either Xerox or Hewlett Packard.Perez dismissed the notion of a merger with HP saying, â€Å"I don't have any comments about that. All those rumors—^there are many other rumors too. I wouldn't pay much attention. â€Å"^ ^^ Other rumors included mergers with Dell, a leveraged buyout by a private equity firm or billionaire investor. Warren Buffet's interest in Kodak as an investment. ‘^^ When questioned about the possibility of a breakup, Perez retorted, â€Å"They don't know anything about the company. Why would you do that? I don't see any good financial reason to do that. â€Å"^ Were the â€Å"winds of change† continuing to blow for Kodak? Was Kodak's transformation successful or were there other changes needed?Was it time for Kodak to merge or pursue a break up? Or was a leveraged buyout Kodak's best option for remaining independent?EndnotesDigital Camera Turns 30-Sort Of. The Associated Press, http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/9261340/. Online Extra: What it ‘Boils Down To' for Kodak. (November 23, 2003).