L’Oreal Case Study

1) Using the full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how L’Oreal has segmented the Indian market From our understanding, L’Oreal made a statement for market â€Å"We don’t do poor products for poor people,†. L’Oreal reduce their price for hair dye, which is $2. 70, and small shampoo packets below $1 in order to compete with local brands. So, L’Oreal had change their segmentation from upper class intourban middle-class. Previous reputation, L’Oreal had losses over 13 years in Indian market.L’Oreal determine that 60 million people who earn $270 per month. Therefore, L’Oreal have to reach this niche market in order to gain back sales. 2) What segment(s) is (are) L’Oreal now targeting? How is L’Oreal now positioning its products? How do these strategies differ from those employed by its competitors in India? L’Oreal targeting the niche market, which is urban middle-class. L’Oreal reduce t he price and offering the product that suitable to the urban middle-class market.L’Oreal advertise their hair care product, by using the billboard across India, where indian women tugging on her braid which is stretched across freeway overpasses and along length of the bus. It show the uniqueness of their products and creativity of advertising, in the same time meet the customer needs. 3) What role, if any, does social responsibility play in L’Oreal targeting strategy in India? L’Oreal consider to reduce their price of some product that suitable to their new target market.Plus, L’Oreal would like to offer their cosmetic product to their new target market in order to fulfill their needs and wants. 4) Do you think that L’Oreal will accomplish its goals in India? Why or why not? L’Oreal will able to accomplish their goal if they keep maintaining the price that suitable for urban middle-class income and also expand their target market to reach m ore segments in India market. 5) What segmentation, targeting and positioning recommendation would you make to L’Oreal for future marketing efforts in India?In order to survive, L’Oreal need to identify the differentiation of each segments, accessible of the segments to buy L’Oreal product, offer unique products, and durability of product due to changes in economic. L’Oreal need to build a product based on their target market, which need meet their needs and wants. L’Oreal also need to be more creative to promote their product that reach each segements. L’Oreal needs to build or expand their outlet to reach the target market. L’Oreal needs to understand the lifestyle each target market. L’Oreal Case Study 1) Using the full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how L’Oreal has segmented the Indian market From our understanding, L’Oreal made a statement for market â€Å"We don’t do poor products for poor people,†. L’Oreal reduce their price for hair dye, which is $2. 70, and small shampoo packets below $1 in order to compete with local brands. So, L’Oreal had change their segmentation from upper class intourban middle-class. Previous reputation, L’Oreal had losses over 13 years in Indian market.L’Oreal determine that 60 million people who earn $270 per month. Therefore, L’Oreal have to reach this niche market in order to gain back sales. 2) What segment(s) is (are) L’Oreal now targeting? How is L’Oreal now positioning its products? How do these strategies differ from those employed by its competitors in India? L’Oreal targeting the niche market, which is urban middle-class. L’Oreal reduce t he price and offering the product that suitable to the urban middle-class market.L’Oreal advertise their hair care product, by using the billboard across India, where indian women tugging on her braid which is stretched across freeway overpasses and along length of the bus. It show the uniqueness of their products and creativity of advertising, in the same time meet the customer needs. 3) What role, if any, does social responsibility play in L’Oreal targeting strategy in India? L’Oreal consider to reduce their price of some product that suitable to their new target market.Plus, L’Oreal would like to offer their cosmetic product to their new target market in order to fulfill their needs and wants. 4) Do you think that L’Oreal will accomplish its goals in India? Why or why not? L’Oreal will able to accomplish their goal if they keep maintaining the price that suitable for urban middle-class income and also expand their target market to reach m ore segments in India market. 5) What segmentation, targeting and positioning recommendation would you make to L’Oreal for future marketing efforts in India?In order to survive, L’Oreal need to identify the differentiation of each segments, accessible of the segments to buy L’Oreal product, offer unique products, and durability of product due to changes in economic. L’Oreal need to build a product based on their target market, which need meet their needs and wants. L’Oreal also need to be more creative to promote their product that reach each segements. L’Oreal needs to build or expand their outlet to reach the target market. L’Oreal needs to understand the lifestyle each target market.

Meningitis

Tax payable at 20% over annual allowance of 1 0000 IN class 4 payable at 8% after allowance of 7956 IN class 2 payable weekly at E. 50 After research new child minders operate at 1/3 ‘occupancy' for the first year of trading , followed by 75% thereafter which must be factored into individual projections. 1. 6 My support networks will include: PEACE for training advice and support. Including recommended paperwork and contract help. Network coordinator and the Local Authority are helpful to advise about updates on latest training requirements and any policy updates.Health Visitors are invaluable to maintain current knowledge of young hillside's milestones' and to ensure healthy development. Parents nobody understands their own children like their parents, so it is imperative to have a good relationship with the most important people in their lives. Teachers spend the most time with school age children other than parents and keeping strong links with schools can be very helpful in ensuring that children are happy and settled. My family/relatives in order to maintain a good work/life balance keeping strong relationships with my own family and friends is really important.Childbearing groups/ Childbearing networks could be really helpful to share NY tips or difficulties around being a children and what that in tales, sharing joint experiences (whilst maintaining confidentiality) is useful for career progression. Training/ Publications and magazines such as Who Minds, Childcare websites and OFFSET is vital for staying updated with the latest policies and procedures whilst ensuring that the level of service provided is at the highest standard possible. 2. 1 Explain the Key components off healthy and safe home based environment.Key components; Nappies will be disposed of by sealing in nappy sacks and placing in a sole repose bin within the changing area until the end of day when they will be put into an outside wheelie bin. The changing mat will be wiped with appr opriate anti-bacterial cleaner following use. The children and I will wash hands following nappy changes/toilet breaks, before eating and after playing outside or following messy play. Plastic toys will be wiped if visibly dirty after play and washed in the dishwasher weekly (minimum).I will ensure any pet beds and cages are kept clean and away from any food preparation areas. Any pets will be appropriately vaccinated, roomed and flea protected following veterinary advice. Pet waste will be disposed in a sanitary way, and any litter boxes will not be accessible to the children. Children will not be able to play with any animals when unsupervised. When using any equipment I will ensure that it is age appropriate, in full working order and used according to the manufacturers guidance.I will ensure that plug sockets are covered, stairs are not accessible, children are aware Of evacuation procedures (if age appropriate) and my fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are fully working and regularly tested. When dealing with food in my home/setting the Five Keys to Safer Food are: (1) keep clean; (2) separate raw and cooked; (3) cook thoroughly; (4) keep food at safe temperatures; and (5) use safe water and raw materials. This includes using separate chopping boards for meat and Vega. Ensuring food is within its use by date and labeling food with dates when not kept in its original packaging.When considering illness in order to protect all of the children present any child with a rash should be considered infectious and assessed by their doctor. Chickenpox children will be asked to remain at home until all icicles have crusted over. Cold sores, (Herpes simplex) Avoid contact with the sores. Cold sores are generally mild and self-limiting. German measles Four days from onset of rash. Hand, foot and mouth. Will contact the local HIP if a large number of children are affected. Exclusion may be considered in some circumstances.Impetigo Until lesions are crusted and he aled, or 48 hours after starting antibiotic treatment Antibiotic treatment speeds healing and reduces the infectious period Measles* Four days from onset of rash Preventable by vaccination (MR. xx). Ringworm; Exclusion not usually required Treatment is squired Scabies Child can return after first treatment Household and close contacts require treatment Scarlet fever* Child can return 24 hours after starting appropriate antibiotic treatment Antibiotic treatment is recommended for the affected child Slapped cheek/fifth disease.Ovoviviparous None (once rash has developed) Shingles Exclude only if rash is weeping and cannot be covered. Can cause chickenpox in those who are not immune, ii have not had chickenpox. It is spread by very close contact and touch. Warts and overrule. Overrule should be covered in swimming pools, gymnasiums ND changing rooms Diarrhea and/or vomiting the child should remain at home for 48 hours from last episode of diarrhea or vomiting Conjunctivitis should be t reated on the advice of GAP. Diphtheria * Exclusion from setting is essential. Will contact the HIP. Preventable by vaccination.Your local PHEW centre will organize any contact tracing necessary Head lice, Treatment is recommended only in cases where live lice have been seen Hepatitis A* Exclude until seven days after onset of jaundice (or seven days after symptom onset if no jaundice) In an outbreak of apatite's A, the local PHEW centre will advise on control measures Hepatitis HIVE/AIDS are bloodstone viruses that are not infectious through casual contact. For cleaning of body fluid spills see: Good Hygiene Practice Macroeconomic meningitis*/ specialist* Until recovered Meningitis C is preventable by vaccination.There is no reason to exclude siblings or other close contacts of a child. Meningitis* due to other bacteria Until recovered Hip and phonological meningitis are preventable by vaccination. There is no reason to exclude siblings or other close contacts of a case. Meningitis viral* Milder illness; There is no reason to exclude siblings and other close contacts of a case. Contact tracing is not required MRS.; Good hygiene, in particular handshaking and environmental cleaning, are important to minimize any danger of spread.Mumps* Exclude child for five days after onset of swelling Preventable by vaccination (MR. xx doses) Toreadors; Treatment is recommended for the child and household contacts Tonsillitis; There are many causes, but most cases are due to viruses and do not need an antibiotic. Denotes a noticeable disease. It is a statutory requirement that actors report a noticeable disease to the proper officer of the local authority In case of any accident the first aid kit should be easily accessed and that the first eider should act in accordance to their training and contact medical professionals if required.An Accident/ Incident Record Book will be used to record any accidents and also to log any medication administered including any long term medi cation. Parents will sign a consent form regarding administration of medication and then afterwards to confirm that you have advised them that the medication has been administered this includes inhalers, diabetic injections etc. If a child has known allergies and is required to have access to an penne the correct training Will be undertaken to administer this if required, via Correct medical professional or SST Johns Ambulance training.Any child's allergies will be recorded and every possible effort will be made to avoid triggers, ensuring that ingredients are know if a food allergy, pet hairs are avoided if an allergy relating to animals, and if wayfarer I will be aware of the pollen count whilst planning activities, allergies will be managed with support from parents who are used to their child's allergy needs. . Explain the principles of safe supervision of children in the home based setting and off site Everyday activities; school pick ups, toddler groups, trips to the park, bea ch, shops, visits to swimming pools, zoo and beach, will all carry its own particular risks and supervision needs.

Islamic Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Islamic Art - Essay Example The wealth and material opulence enjoyed by Fatimid Egypt and Syria during this epoch are also reflected in the magnificence of the art. The Fatimids palpably had a taste for scrupulously made-up gold work and intricately engraved vessels of rock crystal, a type of transparent, colorless quartz whose surface can be brilliantly burnished. Islamic art is often defined in art books as being an art whose borders are not geographical but theological. This style of art called Islamic was formed in many diverse geographic regions whose different cultures were amalgamated through the religion of Islam. Under the Fatimids ceramics and glass working were also highly developed art forms. Artisans of this period revitalized or sustained earlier techniques but gave them their own distinguishing stamp. Islamic pottery from has a long folklore, its establishment is in Prehistoric Iran. The early ceramics, though not as complicated as they would afterward become, replicate a magnificent feeling for design, with a folk art quality. The merchandise during this time consisted largely of bowls, plates and dishes made of soft reddish pottery that was enclosed in a white slip and painted in bright colors. Another attribute of Islamic ceramics from Persia are the Nishapur bowls decorated in yellow, black, green and purple, with delightful Persian motifs. Proof of the depiction of human and animal figures materialize in frescoes, metalwork and miniature painting all the way through the Islamic period, but as a statute they were not allowed in religious buildings. The Islamic world experienced many changes and shifts of supremacy, as different groups fought for domination. The different authorities and foundations included Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Chinese. Chinese earthenware and porcelain arrived at the Near East as early as 800 A.D and their various merchandise continued to stir and sway Islamic potters. The white glaze used by the Islamic potters was initiated as an outcome of their aspiration to replicate the Chinese white porcelain. Regardless of the many alterations, the immense diversity and ingenuity of ideas helped Islamic arts to prosper. The Abbasid reign and the Fatimids During the Abbasid reign, Iranian potters achieved amazing accomplishment in their art and their products revealed such affluence of pattern, affection of color, and beauty of design as were never seen earlier. Generally designs were painted under a translucent glaze or over an opaque one. In the earlier case, the work of art was typically over white or dark slips. The Abbasid pottery techniques were further transferred to the Fatimids. Fatimids have indeed put great effort in their art work thereby under the Fatimids ceramics and glass working was highly developed art form. Artisans of this period revived or continued earlier techniques but gave them their own distinctive stamp. The art of painted ceramics was likely introduced in Egypt at least by the early eleventh century and from there on it excelled to the European world. Fatimid ceramics are typically garlanded with figures, both human and animal, as for illustration a bowl with four golden fish alternating with a caption repe ating the word prosperity, on an opaque turquoise ground2. Lustre

Criminology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Criminology - Essay Example The critical criminologists believe that the marginalization and criminalization are highly integrated with each other. This may affect the mental state of the individuals under marginalization and some of them may indulge in any criminal activities. The marginalization may occur at individual level or at group or community level. The people with physical or mental disabilities are subjected to marginalization at individual level. This is against the basic principles of human rights and several nations have made their legislature to reduce or avoid this practice. The employers or organizations may consider the inclusion of disabled people as a stumbling block to the productivity. In this process, they indulge in marginalization which is unfair. Moreover, the companies must work with principle of equality and corporate social responsibility. Therefore, marginalization must be eradicated by the employers. The marginalization may also be found in community or group level in the form of women and aboriginal groups. When the people are subjected to colonialism, they will have to leave their place of residence and will be settling in new areas and during this process, they are marginalized to participate in any social functioning. Similarly, the women are subjected to marginalization as far as the employment in some organizations is concerned. Criminalization means a process of imposing a criminal penalty for the illegal act committed by any person. According to critical criminologists, it is a social process in which individual may undergo a transformation of their behavior to crime or violent act (Mc Laughlin et al., 2002). The origin of criminal behavior may be in the form of discrimination or victimization (Walklate, 1989). Criminalization may disrupt the social order, and hence the society requires legal order that controls the crime rate. Some times, the criminalization may be originated from lack of health safety measures due to which other persons in the soci ety get potential harm. For example, the defendant was sentenced to two year imprisonment under criminal law for being responsible for the transmission of Hepatitis B in UK (Mohanty, 2009). As mentioned earlier, critical criminologists argue that the criminalization may be originated due to distorted mental behavior when a person is subjected to marginalization in the society and having historical link with criminalization may be considered as a cause for marginalization (Walklate, 2003). Hence the criminalization and marginalization are correlated with each other. For example, the criminal history of the Black youth, the black cultural spaces were excluded from new playgrounds of the night time economy in UK (Talbot and Bose, 2007). Hence, in the control of crime rate in the society, the steps for reducing the marginalization would be of immense help. The thorough analysis of causes or factors of victimology would certainly help in reducing the menace of criminalization in the soci ety (Fattah, 1992). References Fattah, EA. 1992, The Need for a Critical Victimology, In Towards A Critical Victimology. Ezzat A. Fattah (ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publication, pp.  14–23. ISBN : 0-312-07551-0. Mc Laughlin, E., Muncie, J & Hughes, G. 2002, Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings (Published in association with The Open University), Sage Publication, pp: 612, ISBN-10: 0761941444. Mohanty, K. 2009, â€Å"

Legitimate Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Legitimate Authority - Essay Example According to the study  the problem with this is that it leaves the subordinate in the superior-subordinate relationship to determine whether or not to obey a command.   For instance, everyone can agree that a teacher has the ability to assign students work and grade them on the said work.   But, sometimes a teacher assigns work that a student considers inappropriate – the student believes that it is too hard or not to grade level, is too long and so on.   Should the student have the right to challenge this assignment?   And if the student challenges it, and the teacher insists upon their command, does the teacher have the right to force the student to finish the assignment, or punish them for not doing so by failing them?From this discussion it is clear that the words â€Å"accept† and â€Å"agreement† both work under mean the person, such as the student or the principle, has a choice whether they want to be part of the school or not, and that by choos ing to do so they agree that all authority above them is legitimate.   But students are often forced without their choice by law to attend schools until a certain age, and the school they attend is decided by the where they live or what their parents tell them to do rather than their own choice.   So legitimate authority, as the author talks about it involving choice, cannot function for the students; if they need to â€Å"accept† and â€Å"agree† for authority to be legitimate, as the author says, they should be able to say that none of the authority above them is legitimate.

Case analysis Scandinavian Airline Systems in 1988 (on vertical Essay

Case analysis Scandinavian Airline Systems in 1988 (on vertical integration) - Essay Example .. 6 2.4 Evaluation of SAS’s Strategies ................................................................ 7 3.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 8 Reference List .................................................................................................... 9 Scandinavian Airline Systems in 1988 1.0 Introduction The case study under consideration is pertaining to the airline industry. The quintessential aspects of the airline sector are that since the times of its genesis, it has always been profit driven, innovation dependent, service oriented, capital intensive and cyclical (Morrison & Winston 1995). In fact, it is a sector that has witnessed dramatic changes since 70s (Morrison & Winston 1995). Therefore, the airline that constitutes the focus of this case study, which is Scandinavian Airlines System, is not much different. Like most of what one may call successful airlines, SAS has also gone through altering phases of restructuring and consolidation. The period being discussed in this case study is the one spanning from early 70s to the late 80s. Over the years, SAS has metamorphosed from being a small yet innovative airline catering to a limited and localized customer base, to the one that has evolved into being an important international player. This journey for SAS group has not been sans challenges and difficulties that required strategic thinking and leadership pertaining to all the aspects of this business. In its quest for sustenance, SAS resorted to varied permutations and combinations of restructuring, alliances, vertical and horizontal integration. Aided with an all knowing hind sight, it will be really easy to analyze the decisions taken by the SAS leadership. Yes, it would not change SAS’s past. Still, such an analysis extends an important academic opportunity for learning and practical application of strategic management. 2.0 Analysis and Evaluation 2.1 External Environment and Internal Strategic Capabilities of SAS For the purpose of carrying out the SWOT analysis of SAS, it is imperative to have a desirable objective (Barney & Hesterly 2008). The stated objective is to assure the long term viability of the company in the altered external environment, as it existed in 1988. The major strength of SAS is its strong position in Europe and its global route network (Ghoshal et al. 1988). Right from its conception, the organization had an innovative and aggressive approach towards business (Ghoshal et al. 1988). The airline has a history of striking successful alliances in areas of technology, business processes, product distribution and reservation, an approach which so far has consolidated its position (Ghoshal et al. 1988). SAS has a firm financial footing as compared to its competitors (Ghoshal et al. 1988). It has successfully managed to horizontally restructure itself through employee education and empowerment (Ghoshal et al. 1988). The airline has a strong hold over the business traveller segment (Ghoshal et al. 1988). It has a positive reputation for efficiency, service quality and punctuality (Ghoshal et al. 1988). Through forward vertical integration it has developed into an â€Å"A to Z† airline in terms of product differentiation, product distribution and reservation (Ghoshal et al. 1988; Capon 2008). The organization has besides the airline, four other independent business units, which are profit earning and are

The Battle of Gettysburge Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Battle of Gettysburge - Research Paper Example Two divisions of Confederates advanced to Gettysburg on July 1, running west of the town into Federal cavalry and thus starting the skirmish. While the Union’s men were less than 20,000, Lee sent 25,000 men for the battle. After the pushed back Federals regrouped south of the town, Lee ordered Confederate General R.S. Eswell to take measures to sieze the high ground to deter the Federals. The hesitation by General Eswell provided the Union troops with an opportunity to bring in reinforcements and artillery by digging in along the Cemetery Ridge, thus waiving the opportunity for Lee. Meade anticipated increased defense for his position with the arrival of 100,000 men’s reinforcements. Confederate General James Longstreet suggested Lee to leave the Union position alone, considering it nearly impregnable. But Lee believed in the invincibility of his own army and was without cavalry which was of immense help to him during the troop movements. Considering the southern end of the Cemetery Ridge less well defended, Lee resolved to attack the defensive position of the Union Army there. While Lee had ordered General Longstreet to attack on July 2 on 10 a.m., Longstreet did not commence the attack until 4 p.m. This delay further strengthened the position of the Union Army (Soodalter, 2013). The fighting in which some ground was lost by the Federals but maintained a strong defense along the Cemetery Ridge ended around 10:30 p.m. Planning for the next day, Meade decided to wait for attack by Lee, keeping his army in place. Against the suggestion of Longstreet, Lee decided to attack the Union soldiers, considering them battered and almost beaten. Lee tried to gamble the victory of the Battle of Gettysburg by launching the attack from the Union line’s center the next day along the Cemetery Ridge where the attack was expected the least. But the Union cannons undermined the timetable of Lee, pounding the Rebels on Culp’s Hill. This battle ended

England and the Crusade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

England and the Crusade - Essay Example The struggle was between the Muslims and Christians. Each one of them wanted to take full control of Jerusalem, also referred to as the Holy Land. However, in the year 1291, this consistent battle came to an end when the Muslims finally took over Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Pope was shocked by this defeat and had heart attack that led to his death. From that time, no more war of crusade was seen in Jerusalem (Smith, 1995, p. 66). Pope Urban was depressed to death because he had spent all his time and resources in the crusade. He succeeded in convincing the Roman Christians to join the war. Those who decided to join him were promised a lot of good things. One of such goodies was the forgiveness. Pope Urban had said it in public that anyone who would join the crusade would have all his sins forgiven. On hearing this, many catholic faithful rushed and vowed in public to give their all in the fight. It was during this time that the very Pope also managed to convince and gain the support of other state leaders. Kings from various nations who were members of Roman Catholic and had the same objective agreed to join Pope Urban. These kings provided the Pope with military army and some other forms of support such finance. This is when the big countries like France, England and Germany joined the crusade war (Teall, 1959, pp. 84-95). However, the crusade army did not only cause trouble to the Muslim nations but also to the various countries that they passed through. For example, the crusade carried out by England caused many damages in Sicily and Cyprus. It is thought that some nations joined this movement for their individual gains. They were just hiding in this holy war. The main objective of Pope Urban is also not clearly known. Some scholars tend to argue that his motives were not godly as people may think. They say that he only had personal interests and therefore decided to use the armies of nations such as

Rites of Passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rites of Passage - Essay Example The cost of providing subsidized housing was high therefore the state would latter change to provide a relatively cheaper ‘outdoor relief’ to disadvantaged individuals who lived with their relatives or friends. This relief worked efficiently in providing quality living standards, despite the economic depression where massive lay-off occurred resulting to high levels of unemployment of able- bodied people (Joanne, 1966). The article ‘Rites of Passage’ represents a beneficiary of public relief trying to give back to the society. Cephas Ribble, a sixty eight year old man, enters into County Department of Public Welfare with the sole intention of donating farm product to the welfare so that they foodstuff can be distributed to the poor and needy people. On arrival he seems not sure whether he is presentable or not. Additionally, the staff present in the office had the assumption that all elderly people visiting the office are in need of assistance as it had been the norm. Mr. Ribble does not realize that the public assistance once given to him no longer exists. He explains how the relief aid provided to farmers in 1934 had sustained his family. He further explains how he worked hard to buy his house and pay off the debts that his family had. He requests the woman to bring men to his truck to off load his massive food donation. However, he does not realize that laws had changed and food donations were no longer necessary. Despite his good conscience and massive donation, Cephas’s truck blocks all the workers’ cars and all workers leave the office to assist him offload. The donation suffers sharp criticism due to disorganized distribution of the food with some protesting that the food contains contraceptive medicine, others claim racism in the mode of distribution (Joanne, 1966). Mr. Cephas is a wise and

Sap America Case Study Essay Example for Free

Sap America Case Study Essay The case is about a company named SAP America, which is the abbreviation for Systems, Applications and Programs in Data Processing, which in three short years had gone from a smaller company to the heavy hitter within the corporate computing world. Within this case there were many details brought to light on the ambition of the founding members, and the eventual additions to the SAP team. The case details how this firm took their R/3 product, which was a real-time, integrated applications software, and changed the game of product market infiltration. In 1972 SAP was founded by four young software engineers who had come up with a concept for an integrated software package, and their current employer turned it down. This initial idea sparked their first major enterprise information systems product. This took their company public, and after five years SAP’s market capitalization was $15 billion. The expansion that occurred began in Walldorf, Germany where SAP was founding and spread to the America Group. This began in the late 1980’s and was crucial to the SAP’s growth. Once their overseas group took off, there were many elements of their business that needed to be altered and improved to account for their growth. Although they began as a product based company it was very clear to everyone involved that taking care of the client, through implementation and support was crucial to differentiating themselves from competitors within the market, and a key to their survival. The development of an industry strategy wa s another crucial action that paralleled the growth and support of SAP. This vertical industry strategy was to be delivered through industry centers of expertise (ICOEs), which to serve as a bridge between R/3 customers and the product development organization. This partnering was the key to SAP’s consistent growth, by using the manpower of outside and inside consultants. At the beginning of its cross seas venture, there was infrastructure and administrative problems. To solve these, more planning, budgeting, and Human resource involvement would be implemented. The organization of infrastructure was a crucial step taken by SAP, providing its salesman, consultants, and support with more clear guidelines on how to better operate and fulfill customer expectations. The new and improved structure that emerged from the alterations and evolutions of the processes began in a meeting in 1996. The two objectives were for SAP America to act more as one company, and to better leverage its size and skills. At that point in the market, SAP was the breadwinner, they had the product, knowledge, and fulfillment that trumped its competition. SAP was out performing its competition by 300%-800%, with results like that, they only had one piece of the puzzle remaining, granted it was a pretty large piece, but working as a single entity was the issue being dealt with. The new organization of lines of business became the big three; sales, consulting, and training. This was put in place to ensure the quality of its vertical organizational roles. Sales was subdivided by size of account, and by emerging markets. Changes with the ICOEs were a little more complicated, and were altered by bringing consistency and standardization to ICOE practices, and developing an integrated approach to marketing within the company by the distribution of knowledge. With the move to America SAP faced many challenges, they stepped back, looked at what needed to be changed, and took s teps to correct them. SAP AG was founded in 1972 by four software engineers. The key points within the case are, In just three years, SAP America went from a small firm to being the phenomenon of the corporate computing world. SAP AG, which is the parent company of SAP America, was the world’s fifth largest software firm and the leading producer of real-time, integrated applications software for client-server computing. SAP’s pinnacle product R/3 helped them dominate the enterprise information systems segment of the client-server market. All of this was under the Company and Industry background section. The case then shifted to Strategic Focus, and discussed SAP’s move to their America Group. Which also contained Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and Australia. Once the focus was set they needed to chart a course of action involving commissioning a sales force to sell their product, and target customers. The key point of regional organization discussed these challe nges. The next key point discussed was Resourcing Explosive growth. Once the product hit the market, it was a wild fire. With such high quality of implementation, fulfillment and results, companies were chomping at the bit to integrate the software. A vertical industry strategy was devised to penetrate markets and build the installed base, rethink and vastly expand their partnership strategy, and dramatically ramp up their service and support capabilities. Managing relationships and gaining cooperation was a crucial element within this point. Professional Services was the next key point in this case study. These were those activities provided to customers for a fee; support activities on the other hand had no fee. Consultation was the core of professional services, along with training. Within consulting SAP worked to provide its customers with the best service as possible when utilizing their product. Training was absolutely essential for all consultants or professional partners of SAP. The next key point within the case study was Support and Infrastructure. During this time of growth there was very little attention given to the licensing and contracts. Through administrative and human resource initiatives both elements were given their proper attention and improved. Also during this time the issues of organizational, systems, and infrastructure were addressed, and through several initiatives were corrected. The next key point within the case study was the Sales and Implementation Process. This point involved the discussion of Presales and Sales, and how in the beginning there was little cohesiveness throughout the company, yet that changed through time. This point also discussed implementation, in which mostly outside partners like Andersen and Price Waterhouse usually took the lead role in R/3 project management and implementation. The next key point was organizational challenges in a shifting market. This point showed challenges with internal and strategic shifts and opportunities. And the final key point was Reorganization, which involved the new structure. This also discussed the key point of challenges in professional services, both within professionalism, and with customer alternatives and involvement. Through this report on SAP America, I was able to learn more in depth about topics we have discussed in class. One thing we have talked about in Chapter 7 is the Benefits of Standards, which weren’t difficult to understand, but the report on SAP helped put it into perspective by applying it to a real life situation. Reducing consumer confusion is considered one of the benefits of Standards. SAP relates to these because part of their strategy to sell and build relationships was to offer demonstrations, test, and help out with setting up after selling to help the customer understand the product better. We’ve talked about making strategic alliances work during class, and SAP definitely puts in a lot of effort to make their partner relationships work. Through the report on SAP America, I definitely learned the importance of strong alliances and making it a goal to keep a good structure and relationship with any partner. I learned how important globalization for a company can be. Not only does a company have the opportunity to become more successful by branching out and starting up in new locations, but they can gain global alliance partners. The decision to spread SAP to America in the 1980’s was crucial to their growth. It helped SAP realize their business strategies need to be altered in order to improve their growth. From the case study, I learned a lot about changing strategy to fix current problem s within the company that may be happening from many different reasons. It seemed that SAP was constantly changing their strategy to better their growth and to fix problems inside and out. They had to do a lot of reorganizing and figure out where it was most important to focus on. I learned that even though a strategy may be working well, it is still okay to change your direction to help maximize growth and fix problems that may exist within a different part of the company. I found this study on SAP to be very understandable and easy to follow. It definitely helped out understanding some topics we have been going over in class and put them into a real world situation.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business 1. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive medical imaging modality that has emerged in the first half of 1980s and become a preferred tool in detecting a wide range of diseases (Yildirim, et al., 2015)[1]. Since its invention, MRI has undergone a continuous flow of innovations and proven itself as a versatile tool that addresses an increasing number of clinical problems and enables research in a growing spectrum of clinical and technological fields. Over the course of its evolution MRI has proven itself has a well-established diagnostic tool and enabler in particularly neuro-radiological applications, functional and anatomical imaging of the brain, imaging of the musculoskeletal (MSK) system and the spine, and a strong contender in cardiovascular imaging, breast imaging and imaging of the abdomen and pelvic region. As a result of its versatility and non-invasive nature, MRI enjoys an increasing demand (Wilson, et al., 1999; Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013) and becomes a strong alternative to less costly modalities such as X-ray and Computed Tomography (Semelka, 2004). Despite all the innovations, and the advantages it offers with respect to other techniques, MRI remains the most expensive medical imaging modality, both in terms of production costs and cost of ownership constitutes a global market that is currently about à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 5 billion, and is expected to exceed à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 7 billion by 2021 (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Figure 1 MRI, applications areas and competing technologies.   1.1. The Market Over the past three and a half decades, the MRI business has evolved into a nearly mature market, particularly in terms of number of installations and users, which mainly consist of academic hospitals and research institutes, public and private hospitals and specialized clinics and centres (Oh, et al., 2004; MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The MRI market is dominated by three vendors, namely Siemens, General Electric (GE) and Philips, which cover about 75% of the market, and followed by smaller firms like Toshiba and Hitachi as well as relatively smaller firms and new entrants such as Fonar, Alltech and United Imaging (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Geographically, the MRI market is dominated by North America and Europe, which happen to be the birthplaces of the modality (Lauterbur, 1973; Mansfield, 1977), with respective shares of 31% and 29% (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). These, so to speak, old regions are followed by a younger and dynamic region, Asia, which has a share of 25% and observes a demand that is rapidly increasing (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The remainder of the MRI market is populated by emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, the Pacific and Africa (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Figure 2 Global MRI market (Adapted from MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The industry is governed by fast technological change and substantial heterogeneity in terms of technology and implementation among vendors (Krieg, 2004; MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). While products can roughly be categorized into groups representing magnetic field strength expressed in Teslas (e.g. 1.0T, 1.5T, 3.0T) or architecture (e.g. open versus narrow-bore or wide-bore cylindrical) (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015), differentiation among products and vendors is dictated by features, clinical applications and research techniques that come integrated with a MRI system (Krieg, 2004; Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013). In recent years, the business has observed a significant development that manifested itself as a clear split in market segmentation, with premium (or high-end) products catering to the upper half of the market and value products (or low-end or low-cost) catering to the lower half (Donoghue, et al., 2012; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). This split, which was initially caused by the demand structure seen in the Asian and emerging markets, also found acceptance and support in Europe and North America, particularly in sectors where cost began to assume a primary role in purchase decisions as well as reimbursement policies (Proval, 2014; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). In older markets such as North America and Europe, and also in Japan, the business seems to have reached a certain level of maturity (AuntMinnie.com, 2013). In these regions, the market shows a declining growth rate, mostly as a result of substantial market saturation and negative environmental influences such as declining reimbursements resulting from more stringent policies implemented by governments and insurance companies (Proval, 2014; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). Another development that challenges the vendors is the increased number of brand switching, which, to some extent, can be related to market saturation (Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013). Customers moving from one vendor to another as such is observed to accelerate price erosion and hurt profitability significantly. In developing markets and markets showing a positive growth rate, like the emerging markets and Asian regions such as China and India (AuntMinnie.com, 2013), cost of investment and operation emerges as the primary factor affecting the business (Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). Additionally, the business, particularly of the incumbent firms (i.e. the big five) is challenged by governmental policies that directly or indirectly favour local competition, particularly in the low-end segment (Torsekar, 2014; Rizzo, 2016; Business Standard, 2016). Access to a larger portion of these markets is blocked by either complicated bureaucratic procedures (Torsekar, 2014), elevated import taxes (Business Standard, 2016), or by directly backing local manufacturers by means of targeted subsidies or privileged contracts (credible source needed).      Ã‚   1.2. Product Innovation Historically, MRI has been a technology driven industry, and as it is typical for high-tech businesses, product innovation has been critical to market performance and central to sustainability of the business (Krieg, 2004; Paladino, 2006). Different than most high-tech industries, however, MRI has strongly benefitted from a co-creation culture where most innovations have emerged from interactions and partnerships between vendors and key, and mostly academic, users (Figure 3). This culture led to a symbiotic vendor-user relationship that resulted into a rapid pace of product innovation, which, in turn, boosted demand for more advanced and specialized products (Krieg, 2004). Figure 3 A history of co-creation in MRI (Adapted from Philips Healthcare, 2016) However, the rate of ground-breaking and truly differentiating innovations is facing a slowdown (Holloway, 2014). In the last 10 years very few breakthroughs led to a significant or long lasting technological and competitive advantage, or have opened new areas of application and research. In the fields where MRI has proven itself as a mature diagnostic apparatus, such as neurology, MSK and brain imaging, all major vendors products are known to deliver very similar performances and adequate quality as far as general purpose use is concerned. Only in case of very specific needs, a particular vendor is seen to differentiate itself from the others and gain advantage in winning a bid or public tender. This situation, which can be defined as technological equilibrium, and relatively long presence of the modality in old markets, with an average age of about 15 years in North America, is believed to propel brand-switching (Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013), and more importantly, to move the accent of product innovation away from revolutionary breakthroughs to more evolutionary changes that particularly improve ease of use, patient comfort and productivity (Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015).   1.3. Established Marketing Strategies Almost every major MRI vendor is part of a multi-national conglomerate that is active in multiple areas of business. Therefore, the strategies followed by individual companies draw a lot from the business group they belong to, and show differences particularly in cultural background, brand positioning and messaging. Yet, over time the medical device business, and particularly MRI, has developed its own common ground and generally accepted and practiced traditions. The business commercial heart-beat is primarily set by the annual gathering of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), which is held towards the end of the year and known to be the stage for new product launches, and secondarily the annual meeting of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), which takes place in spring time and lays the emphasis more on scientific and technological advancements in the field. While aligning their annual activities with these two events, vendors seem to show little indifference in the marketing strategies they follow, resulting into an equilibrium state very much similar to that seen in product innovation. Even, marketing materials, such product brochures and whitepapers give the impression as if they originate out of same hands, aside from small nuances in messaging, branding and company culture[2]. Inferred from marketing materials and product pricing, target market definition is predominantly based on pricing, which is strongly correlated with hardware characteristics (e.g. field strength, gradient system, receiver architecture etc.) and applicatory capabilities (Figure 4). Figure 4 In practice, however, the market seems to be far from consisting of two segments clearly separated from each other, as such. In his empirical study investigating the effectiveness of marketing strategies in medical markets, Brian Smith (Smith, 2003) identified that the segments are divided into sub-segments based on varying behavioural and preferential characteristics of users. However, the study also established that, despite such variation, the market does not show a continuum of homogeneous and distinct motivator based sub-segments, as seen in most consumer businesses, but rather consists of a discrete segmentation with limited degrees of freedom, which most possibly arises from the rather rigid, dominant and costly hardware characteristics of the modality and the highly regulated nature of the business environment. Of course, the relatively low number of incumbents, and their close collaboration and interaction in determining the industry standards under the directive of the Inte rnational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), also plays also a significant role in the setting and rigidity of the boundaries of the business. Despite the constraints inherent to the nature of the modality and business environment and financial boundaries set by the customers budgetary considerations, vendors seem to seek strategic strength and competitive advantage by recognizing behavioural and preferential differences and formulating value propositions that match the specific needs of the users (Smith, 2003). In MRI, this is mainly done by fine-tuning the product composition, particularly the applicatory capabilities, which, while being very dependent on the underlying hardware platform, are defined by the software capabilities, namely data-acquisition routines (a.k.a. pulse-sequences), image reconstruction algorithms, and post-processing tools. The value-proposition is further augmented with service and support, as well as more intangible offerings and benefits of secondary and tertiary importance, such as membership of strong user network, participation in advanced research activities etc. Such customization approaches , however, are mostly left to the discretion of the local marketing and sales teams, and observed to show strong variation depending not only on the needs of the customers, but also on the specific circumstances of the negotiation and/or bidding process and position with respect to competition. From general and global marketing activities perspective, the business seems to rely on downstream activities, which centralize around new product offerings in terms of new hardware platforms and configurations, and applications consisting of novel pulse-sequences, reconstruction algorithms and post-processing methods and focus mostly on the RSNA, and upstream activities, which involve input gathering from the customer base, particularly from the so called key opinion leaders (a.k.a. key users), research collaborations with a select number of sites as well as general user surveys, feedback from local marketing and sales teams, and competitive analysis of market changes. While downstream marketing and the show to be put on stage during the RSNA help the vendors catch the attention of the market, and, more importantly, the prospective customers, it is mostly the upstream activities, and the subsequent product definition and development process, that paves the way of success, and embodi es the governing dynamics the organization. 1.4. Governing business model While exact implementation may vary from one vendor to another, it is observed that the majority of the major players follow product definition and development processes that are quite similar in the general sense. According to this, input gathered from upstream activities are converted into a user requirement specification, which subsequently is translated into one or more product definitions, and evaluated as a combined or individual business cases, with market and sales projections based on feedback from local marketing and sales teams and competitive analysis. Based on the value offered by each case product proposals are accepted to the annual operations plan (AOP), and are programmed for feasibility studies, if any needed, and product development. Most vendors, divide their annual plan into two parts, first spanning the first half of the year and catering to the installed base in terms of service releases and product updates, and second spanning the second half of the year and f ocusing on the new product introductions intended for the RSNA. 1.5. Changes in the Market Historically, the target audience of medical devices in general, and MRI in particular, has been the medical practitioners (e.g. radiologists, specialists), administrators of medical institutions and clinics and research scientists from various medical and engineering. In the earlier years of the business, the composition of this audience was mostly dominated by researchers and medical professionals with strong understanding of the physics and engineering of MRI, and driven by the desire of exploring new fields of research and application disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). However, as the modality matured, the market evolved into a state where the focus shifted more to utilizing MRI as a robust and reliable diagnostic tool, than just a research platform (Holloway, 2014). Paired with this change, the proportion and influence of the medical professionals, including administrators, started to exceed those of researchers and scientists disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). Over the years, and driven by increase in demand for clinical MR scans, the business also saw the entrance and influence of a new type of user, namely the operator, also known as the technologist or radiographer. In time, in the clinical, as well as in a considerable portion of the research settings, the day-to-day of operation of the systems were seen to be taken over from highly knowledgeable medical professionals, engineers and scientists, by operators whose sole responsibility was to operate the MRs disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). Hence, as a combined result of these changes, the practical knowledge of utilizing MR in a clinical setting increased, together with the demand for clinical MR scans, and number of MR installations, and the average knowledge of MR physics and engineering of the people sitting on the operators chair declined (Yildirim, et al., 2015). This, together with the demand for higher productivity (i.e. higher number of scans per day) and desire for shorter training investments brought new factors into the equation of product formulation, namely, workflow and usability (Holloway, 2014; Duszak, 2012). Aware of the increasing importance of workflow and usability, the vendors have implemented marketing strategies that emphasize the productivity and efficiency of their existing products, in addition to the technical capabilities. At the same time, vendors introduced product changes that focus on higher patient throughput, simplified patient handling, improved usability of the MR console etc. As a consequence of these changes the jargon governing product and marketing materials slowly shifted from a technically savvy language to a softer language expressing customer excellence, efficient workflow, easy scanning. In addition to the changes in market demographics and demand structure, which mostly arose from the internal dynamics of the market, the MR business is also observed to be influenced by external changes, particularly advancements in mobile communications, information technologies (IT), the internet and social media. As mentioned before, the MR business is based on a strong co-creation culture and close interaction between customers and vendors. As an integral part of this culture, there is strong empathy among MR users for the complexity of the technology and challenges vendors face during product development and manufacturing. However, the empathy of MR users may not last very long. In a recent survey conducted among MR users (Yildirim, et al., 2015), it was observed that the MR user becomes less tolerant to lengthy product service update cycles and new product introduction cycles that are measured in months to years. There is a significant lack of empirical studies addressing this change. However, this behavioural change believed to be an extension of the observed impact of technological advancements on consumer behaviour, particularly in e-commerce, online services, IT and telecommunications products. Studies conducted in these businesses have shown that the consumers have become more and mor e accustomed to high responsiveness from companies in acquiring goods and services, as well as prompt feedback in case of inquiries and complaints.   2. Purpose of work 2.1. Problem Statement In light of the changes and trends observed in the market, as well as the level of maturity reached in about 65% of the global market, the number of challenges the MR business is facing, and will likely continue to face in the foreseeable future can be summarized as follows: High costs associated with high-end scanners Increasing demand for low-end scanners Slowdown in ground-breaking innovations Homogenization of technology Brand-switching in mature markets Changing market demographics and declining technical proficiency of users Shifting of demand from novel applications to clinical utilization and efficiency Weakening of co-creating culture and increasing impatience of users On global scale the MR market is far from stagnation. However, challenges above make maintaining market share and gaining new grounds a difficult task. Some of these problems, particularly those related to high costs of innovation, manufacturing and ownership, are not new to the industry. But problems arising from the changes in the market, particularly those related to the maturation of the market, changes in user profile and behaviour and demand structure are new. Strategies based on technological innovations, while being helpful in preserving brand image and presence in high-end segment, will not suffice to address these issues and sustain competitive advantage and profitability. In order to stay afloat, the business, and particularly an incumbent, will need to explore new strategies and solutions to deal with the emerging problems. This work, aims at contributing to such an exploration by addressing the following problem statement: How can the MR business, particularly an incumbent, overcome the challenges arising from market changes, without resorting to costly technological innovations? Obviously, such a statement is very broad and may require a comprehensive solution, also including product innovations, and probably a total overhaul of the business strategy. But in respect to imitations inherent to a dissertation, the scope of the work presented will mostly focus on solutions that will address changes in demand structure and user profile.   2.2. Proposed Solution Reducing manufacturing costs and cost of ownership, improving robustness and usability and introducing products that meet the needs of the low-end segment will require solutions that greatly rely on innovations in product design and manufacturing. However, these issues, and specifically issues related to changes in demand structure, demographic composition, focus of utilization as well as competitive elements involving homogenization and brand-switching can also be addressed by innovations in organizational and operational approach to the business. Today MR vendors seem to focus too much on the future in terms of the next novel technology and new markets or users to be conquered. The business process is almost sole based on this focus. Next to being future oriented the business may also find benefit in focusing on the past, or more accurately, the existing installed base. This idea, encouraged largely by the level of maturity of the market, entails learning from collective experience of users, and on the larger scale, from the collective experience of the whole MRI world, and formulate product improvement, marketing and sales strategies based on this learning. Learning as such can be realized in many ways and, in fact, is not new to the MR business. Vendors, collect information from their customers through regular and structured surveys, or occasional direct contact by marketing and sales teams. Also annual events, like RSNA and ISMRM, form a viable platform for information and feedback gathering. Next to these, firms also collect information and receive feedback from third party sources like Net Promotor Score surveys and market research reports, which also contribute to the business intelligence activities of the companies. In addition to such business and market oriented feedback gathering, vendors also receive feedback from another type of source: customer complaints. A customer complaint, as the name implies, is an expression of dissatisfaction (Landon, 1980), and is a formal and regulated entity in MRI in particular, and medical imaging in general. Customer complaints, may entail actual product defects, that is, unintended behaviour or malfunction of the product or a component thereof, or annoyances that arise from the intended behaviour or design of the product. Regardless the reason, customer complaints are issued using formal tools, and monitored by regulating bodies with strict rules regarding handling and processing (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2015). While in general, a low number of customer complaints, is very much desirable, feedback as such is an invaluable opportunity for vendors to learn from their mistakes.   Sources mentioned so far, while all beneficial, have one character in common. They are, in one form another, expressions of explicit feedback, which is known to mostly capture the part that is immediately visible, and therefore is prone to being incomplete or insufficient in uncovering actual user experience and value (Vargo, et al., 2007; MacDonald, et al., 2011). As a complementary source, this work proposes the utilization of implicit feedback, which is tacit in nature and captured in various forms of data generated by the user, or more accurately, the use of MR systems. The data consists of so called machine-data, which are mostly log files that are generated by the MR systems automatically, as well as human-data, such as clinical protocols that are created by users and reflect preferred ways of system use, and scientific output in the form of publications and conference contributions, particularly generated by academic users. Currently there are about 35 to 40 thousand operational MRI systems, with a yearly expansion of 2500-3000 systems. That means that, currently, a major incumbent would have had about 10 thousand operational systems, and over the past 10 years about 7500-8000 in average. Considering has been producing at least one log file per day, the minimum number of log files estimated to have been accumulated would be about 30 million. Assuming that each file is of 100 MB ins size, such a collection will yield 3000TB of data, large enough to fill more than half a million DVDs. Adding, protocols, publications and other sources to this, the data will multiply massively in size reaching the zettabyte scale (Raghupathi Raghupathi, 2014). In information science, datasets of such size and complexity are defined by the term Big Data (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011; Madden, 2012) whereas the processes and techniques used to structure and analyse such complex data and retrieve meaningful information out of it are brought together under the term Data Analytics (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011).   Ã‚   The proposed solution relies heavily on Big Data and Data Analytics, or shortly Big Data Analytics. But rather than being an exercise of solely academic nature, the work aims at defining a framework that integrates Big Data Analytics into the operational and organizational structure of an incumbent MR vendor. The work also includes practical examples of how to utilize Big Data Analytics in identification of implicit and hidden user needs, product formulation as well as, and particularly, in marketing and sales and create value for both the company and customers. 3. Big Data Analytics Big Data is a term used for massively large data sets with complex and heterogeneous structure that cannot be handled, i.e. stored and analyzed, using conventional techniques (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011; Madden, 2012). Data Analytics, on the other hand, is a collection of techniques and procedures that are used to process and analyze massive amounts of data. Brought together under the name Big Data Analytics, the purpose of this toolset is to identify hidden correlations and patterns in data, and convert a seemingly unordered pile of data into meaningful information and insights (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011). Although the concept of Big Data has emerged no longer than a decade ago, the use of data analytics in business practices is not a new idea. In 1950s businesses were analyzing information captured in electronic spreadsheets manually in order to uncover and understand trends and changes in data (Handfield, 2013). With the advances in of computer technology, the spreadsheets have been evolved into large electronic databases and later into data-warehouses, whereas the labor intensive manual processing practices made room for computer programs capable of running complex algorithms in an automated and efficient manner. In time and with technological advances particularly in computing and communications, the number of events and amount of information worth recording increased dramatically, and with decreasing cost of electronic storage, so did the record keeping. It is even said that, more than 90% of what is described as Big Data, has been created in the past few years (Dragland, 2013), and has the potential to transform business, provided that it is processed and consumed properly (LaValle, et al., 2011). Nevertheless, handling Big Data, and converting it into meaningful and actionable insights is not a trivial task. In their field work, LaValle et al. (2011), identified that there are three levels of capabilities, or stages, in which organizations go through on their Big Data Analytics journey: aspirational, experienced and transformed. Organizations in aspirational stage are described to be furthest of achieving the analytical targets they set, and lacking some of the essential requirements such as expertise and tools. Organizations that are described to be experienced, are those have managed to lay down a basis that enable better ways to collect data, conduct analytics and act upon insights. These organizations, also look to go beyond the immediate benefits of Big Data Analytics, which is typically in cost management, and create value in other domains as well. It is however the transformed organizations that make most of Big Data Analytics. Transformed organizations are those that have passed the stage of acquiring expertise, implementing tools and exploring new uses of Big Data Analytics beyond cost management. Instead, they are deemed to be proficient in data driven resource management and optimization of tools and processes and they use Big Data Analytics to create competitive advantage (LaValle, et al., 2011). 3.1. The Five Vs of Big Data Analytics In order to progress from the aspirational stage towards the transformed stage, a business first needs to develop a solid understanding of Big Data and what makes it big and challenging to deal with. Technically, Big Data is characterized by a set of attributes, which are called the Vs of Big Data: Variety, Velocity and Volume (Laney, 2001). As the name implies, Volume represents the amount of data, whereas Variety represents the heterogeneous composition of data sources and data originating thereof. It is particularly Volume and Variety that make Big Data really big and complex (Laney, 2001; Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Velocity, on the other hand covers the flux of data inflow, as well as the rate of change. Velocity also has implications regarding the speed of processing and analysis of data, and is a source of a different type of challenge that manifests itself in constraints and complexities in operational implementation and execution (Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Beyond the basis laid down by Laney (2001), recent studies in the field have extended the Vs of Big Data further by adding Veracity (Morgan, 2012) and Value (Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Veracity mainly deals with the quality and reliability of data. Expectedly, and particularly considering the high volume and velocity, Big Data is far from being 100% correct and usable. Nonetheless, it has to be valid and of good quality at a certain level to be useful. Without Veracity inte

The Ghost of Cloudcroft New Mexico Essay -- Ghost Stories Urban Legend

The Cloudcroft Ghost Cloudcroft, New Mexico, meaning a "clearing in the clouds", is a small mountain town located to the east of Alamogordo, NM ("Cloudcroft"). The town's history is intimately tied to the building of the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway that allowed the town to be permanently settled in the late 1800s, and to the logging business that made the town and railroad successful for half a century ("Investigation†¦ Lodge"). As with many frontier towns, Cloudcroft has a number of legends that document the unique and violent events in its history, and also a fair number of ghosts that haunt its historic sites. I was told a story about one of Cloudcroft's more famous ghosts when casually lounging in the undergraduate student physics lounge at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a group of students during a lunch break before class. This occurred during early April, 2005. I inquired whether anyone knew any ghost stories or folklore. A friend of mine volunteered that she knew several ghost stories from her travels. The storyteller was a 23-year-old Caucasian female from an upper-middle class family in Baltimore. She currently lives in Crofton, MD, and is a physics and astronomy major. For a prior internship a few summers earlier, the storyteller had worked at the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, NM, studying various solar phenomena. Sunspot is located 17 miles from Cloudcroft. She originally heard her legend from a coworker at the observatory, who took her to visit the place of the haunting. After finishing a story about the ghost of the astronomer Maria Mitchell (who allegedly haunts Nantucket, Massachusetts), the storyteller began the tale of the ghost of The Lodge at Cloudcroft. .. ... Cited "Cloudcroft New Mexico, A Brief History." Cloudcroft Online. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.cloudcroft.com/history.htm. "Investigation of the La Fonda Hotel" Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 31 Oct 1998. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.sgha.net/lafonda.html. "Investigation of the Lodge." Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 07 Aug 2001. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.sgha.net/lodge.html. "New Mexico: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places." Haunted New Mexico. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://hauntednewmexico.tripod.com/id1.html. "The Haunted St. James Hotel, Cimarron, NM." Legends of America. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.legendsofamerica.com/HC-Cimarron5.html. "The Lodge" Lost Destinations. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://www.lostdestinations.com/thelodge.htm. Wood, Ted. Ghosts of the Southwest. New York, Walker & Company:1997.

Design, Ecology, and Ethics Essay -- Environment Ecology Essays Papers

Design, Ecology, and Ethics â€Å"We need to design institutions (and cars and homes and toothbrushes, etc.) that make it easy for people to be good.† (Jim Farrell) Right now, if someone in America wants to be good to the earth and good to future generations, it’s hard. It’s expensive to purchase local, organic food. In the suburbs, to get to work and practice and the store and back home again on a schedule without a car is tricky if not impossible. To think about how and where and by whom nearly 100% of products in Target are made is to most certainly become ashamed. It’s disheartening to watch tax dollars go to funding war in far away lands and, as McDonough says, on future generations. And why is it that the majority of restaurants we have to choose from degrade the environment and our bodies? This is all because of poor design. American environmentalists, people who act in ways small and large to reduce their ecological footprint, are in the minority because we are constantly trying to wade upstream against the swift current of institutions shaped by cheap and dirty energy... Design, Ecology, and Ethics Essay -- Environment Ecology Essays Papers Design, Ecology, and Ethics â€Å"We need to design institutions (and cars and homes and toothbrushes, etc.) that make it easy for people to be good.† (Jim Farrell) Right now, if someone in America wants to be good to the earth and good to future generations, it’s hard. It’s expensive to purchase local, organic food. In the suburbs, to get to work and practice and the store and back home again on a schedule without a car is tricky if not impossible. To think about how and where and by whom nearly 100% of products in Target are made is to most certainly become ashamed. It’s disheartening to watch tax dollars go to funding war in far away lands and, as McDonough says, on future generations. And why is it that the majority of restaurants we have to choose from degrade the environment and our bodies? This is all because of poor design. American environmentalists, people who act in ways small and large to reduce their ecological footprint, are in the minority because we are constantly trying to wade upstream against the swift current of institutions shaped by cheap and dirty energy...

Struggle between Good and Evil in The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth Essay

Struggle between Good and Evil in The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth It is said that â€Å"all conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil.† Indeed, the fundamental conflict of human nature is that of darkness and light; and as a mirror to life, the conflicts in literature is not different from those in human nature. The struggle of good and evil is shown in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, which portrays the spiritual battle between and evil man and a sinned minister, as well as the minister’s internal turmoil. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, similarly describes a man’s moral decay and the vengeance of the wronged good people. Both authors use various literary elements and techniques such as symbolism, metaphor, theme, and characterization to illustrate the struggle between good and evil in their works. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of damnation and redemption. Roger Chillingsworth, finding out his wife’s adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale upon his returning from Indian captivity vows to take revenge on the minister. In the process, however, he transforms himself into the minion of devil on earth. Through the mouth of Pearl (the fruit if the illegitimate union), the author metaphorically calls Chillingsworth â€Å"the Black Man.† Comparing Chillingsworth to the Devil, Pearl warns Dimmesdale â€Å"the Black man wants thy soul.† Indeed, Chillingsworth sets out to poison his rival – both physically and mentally. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is waging a war within himself. His good nature craves to confess his secret affair with Hester Prynne, yet his darker side – cowardice perhaps- stubbornly refuses. In ... ...ts stem from this eternal struggle. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter to question sin, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth gives an alarming example of moral decay. The moods of both masterpieces are gloomy, dissecting and examining the powerful darkness of human psyche. In the end, however, goodness endures and shines through the dark clouds, offering hope and testimonies for the complexity and ambivalence of humankind. Works Cited and Consulted: Brooks, Cleanth. Blame in Macbeth. London: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1987. Chase, Richard (1996). "The Lessons of the Scarlet Letter." Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne (pp. 145-152). San Diego: Greenhaven. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.

Level of Awareness of BSTM Students Essay

This chapter is divided into five parts: (1) Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study, (2) Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis, (3) Significance of the Study, (4) Definition of Terms, and (5) Delimitation of the Study. Part One, Background of the Study and Theoretical Framework of the Study, presents the rationale for choosing the problem and the Theoretical Framework upon which study was anchored. Part Two, Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses, states the main and the specific problems of the research including the hypotheses. Part Three, Significance of the Study, cites the benefits that may be derived from the findings of the investigation. Part Four, Definition of Terms, gives the conceptual and operational meanings of the important terms used in the study. Part 5, Delimitation of the Study, specifies the scope and coverage of the study. Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study Capiz is a 1st class province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. It is dubbed to be rich in sea food products, and more likely to the brilliant Capiz shell that is produced here, making them as a decorative lantern, windows, vases, etc. Aside from this, the Province of Capiz also holds good fishing grounds and a major contributor in the aquamarine industry of the Philippines. To add, there are more to this in Capiz, with protected minerals, limestones, and gold from unexplored caves. (Captivating Capiz Brochure) Capiz is known for its seafood, but apart from that Capiz has a lot more to offer. Talking of many things to offer we have cultural, we have religious, we have food or palate heritage and most all of we have our own built heritage. Traditionally, it is classified as intangible or tangible, movable or immovable, natural or cultural, personal or communal. Usually, heritage is perceived as something without use or practical value and has no return of investment. Moreover, some view its preservation as something contrary to modernization, westernization or globalization, which are concepts equated with development. (Zerrudo) Nowadays, the Province of Capiz nurtures the aesthetic beauty of the places. Several major events have been venue in the Province of Capiz and making this as a promotion to the developing province. Culinary tourism is now one of the boast of the province but to enhance the developing place several of the heritages are now open to the public for educational purposes and awareness. Apparently, the Province of Capiz also treasures the heritage of both ecological and cultural areas; it may be tangible of intangible aspects of heritage. So much of Capiz contributed to the History of the Republic of The Philippines, many of the prominent persons came from the Province that made a great change to the renewal of the country, and many of the places have been preserved for the commemoration of the history that has happened in the place. Heritage conservation is action taken to sustain the value, meaning and significance of cultural resources from the past, for the use of the present and inspiration of future generations. And all decisions of conservation are based on the significance and meaning, the core value of a heritage resource. There are various types of significance such as historical, architectural, aesthetic, spiritual or social. It is established through physical, oral and archival research and study and is embodied in the place itself, its fabric, a setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places and related objects (Australia ICOMOS, 1999). Heritage conservation is about protection and promotion of heritage significance or making heritage meaningful to the community. (Zerrudo) Heritage conservation maintains links with our past by preserving significant structures, historical and cultural sites and settings. Our built heritage is evidence of our political history and socioeconomic development; it reflects our shared values, and is tangible proof of Filipino excellence and creativity. This study is focused on examining how Tourism Students of Filamer Christian University are aware of the preservation of heritage sites in the Province of Capiz. Figure 1 shows the framework of the study. INDEPENDENT VARIABLEDEPENDENT VARIABLE Figure 1. The participants’ assessment of awareness of the heritage sites and the preservation process of the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz as influenced by certain personal factors. Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses This study aimed to determine the perceived level of awareness of the Tourism Students of Filamer Christian University towards the heritage sites and the preservation process. Specifically it sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the level of awareness towards the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz are as assessed by the participants taken as an entire group and classifies according to: (a) age. (b) sex, (c) year level, (d) district? 2. What is the level of awareness of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management in Protecting and Preserving the Heritage Sites of Capiz and participants are taken as an entire group and classifies according to: (a) age, (b) sex, (c) year level and (d) district? 3. Are there significant differences in the level of awareness towards the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz are as assessed by the participants taken as an entire group and classify according to: (a) age. (b) sex, (c) year level, (d) district? 4. Are there significant differences in the level of awareness of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management in Protecting and Preserving the Heritage Sites of Capiz and participants are taken as an entire group and classify according to: (a) age, (b) sex, (c) year level and (d) district? 5. Are there significant relationships among the level of awareness towards the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz are as assessed by the participants taken as an entire group and classify according to: (a) age. (b) sex, (c) year level, (d) district? In view of the aforementioned problems, the following hypotheses were advanced: 1. There is no significance differences in the level of awareness towards the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz are as assessed by the participants taken as an entire group and classifies according to: (a) age. (b) sex, (c) year level, (d) district. 2. There is no significance differences in the level of awareness of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management in Protecting and Preserving the Heritage Sites of Capiz and participants are taken as an entire group and classifies according to: (a) age, (b) sex, (c) year level and (d) district. 3. There is no significance relationships among the level of awareness towards the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz are as assessed by the participants taken as an entire group and classifies according to: (a) age. (b) sex, (c) year level, (d) district. Significance of the Study The results of this study may be beneficial to the following: Provincial tourism office. The result of this study may be beneficial to the provincial tourism office in developing the Province of Capiz as a tourist destination. Local government units. The local government units may use the findings from this research as a guide to develop the heritage sites in the Province of Capiz. Local businessmen. Local businessmen may find the result of the study useful in customizing products to satisfy the needs of the tourist. Colleges and universities. The results of the study may provide insights to school administrators, especially those offering hospitality management programs in promoting community awareness and helping the Province of Capiz boosts its local tourism. Researchers. The investigation may greatly help other future researchers who wish to replicates this study. Definition of Terms For the purpose of clarity and precision, important terms in this study were given their conceptual and operational meanings: Awareness — Heritage — a broad concept that includes tangible assets, such as a natural and cultural environment, encompassing landscape, historic places, sites and built environment as well as intangible assets such as collections, past and continuing cultural practices, knowledge, and living experiences (ICOMOS 1999). Preservation — is the maintenance of something, especially something of historic value, in an unchanged condition. Protection — is the act of preventing somebody or something from being harmed or damaged, or state of being kept safe. (Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved). Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature A lot has been written about heritage tourism. Richards (1996; 2000) for example views tourism as heritage – it is one of the most powerful modern traditions. In a broad view, he connects heritage tourism with the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, gives the profile of cultural and heritage tourists and explains current trends and future directions of this type of tourism. Poria (2001) challenged the present approach to heritage tourism researching specifically the tourists’ perception of the site while Chen (1988) examines travel motivation of heritage tourists. Masberg and Silverman (1996) deal with visitor experiences at heritage sites. Bauman (1995) wrote about politics of historical representation of the heritage. The importance that must be given to local landscapes in the planning of cultural and/or historical attractions is the subject of Teo’s and Yeoh’s (1997) study on remaking local heritage for tourism. The title of the Herbert’s (1995) book ‘Heritage, Tourism and Society’ reveals a broader approach to the issue although it is of a greater value to the heritage manager than the tourism practitioner since it relates mostly to exploration of the concept of heritage and its troublesome connections with tourism. Boniface and Fowler (1993) write about heritage and tourism in ‘the global village’ from the aspect of heritage sites protection assigning responsibilities to each of the actors in the chain. They also write about heritage presentation and interpretation. How museums compete with tourism in the production of ‘heritage’ is the subject of Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s book ‘Destination Culture: Tourism Museums, and Heritage. The authors of the book reviewed here have previously also written a lot about the subject focusing on some of the aspects presented in the book in a more integrative way. The previous list is only an excerpt from the existing literature on heritage tourism and shows how ‘hot’ this subject has been for more than a decade. Still, the authors mainly focus on one or two aspects of heritage tourism while the book Heritage Tourism probably for the first time provides a comprehensive review of the main issues and concepts relating to the subject. It considers the area broadly to include culture and nature in both urban and rural contexts, and presents an in-depth discussion of important global issues. Its inclusive approach to heritage as well to cultural tourism is of a great value since most of other texts focus only on one aspect of the heritage (for ex. built heritage, natural heritage). (Timothy & Boyd, 2003) Cultural heritage, whether built or living, is one of the most salient elements of the global tourism system. Many destinations rely almost entirely upon art, culture and built patrimony for their economic well-being and most devout non-heritage destinations have some elements of culture that can be shares with visitors as part of the tourism product mix. More places, such as some Caribbean islands, are beginning to realize heritage as a potential tool for diversifying their tourism economics. Heritage tourism encompasses all elements of human past and the visitor experiences and desire associated with them. Serious heritage tourist seeks meaningful, educational or spiritual experiences, or a combination of these. (Timothy, 2011) Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology This chapter has three parts: (1) Purpose of the Study and Research Design, (2) Methods, and Data Analysis Procedure. Part One, Purpose of the Study and Research Design, restates the purpose of the study, describe the research design, and clarifies the variable used Data-gathering instrument Two (2) data gathering instruments used in the study were in the Index of Heritage Sites and the Preservation and Protection process. The questionnaires were taken at face value. Index of heritage sites (IHS). The Index of Heritage sites determined the awareness level of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management of Filamer Christian University. The Index of Heritage Sites and the Preservation and Protection process contained two columns. The first column contains the statement of awareness, while the second column requires the participants indicate the importance of different measurement items related to Level of Awareness of the existing Heritage Sites of the province of Capiz. The following scores and descriptions were used: ScoreResponse 4 Conscious Competence 3 Unconscious Competence 2 Unconscious Incompetence 1 Conscious Incompetence

Skywest Inc

Case 6 : Sky West Inc. and the Regional Airline Industry 1. 3 Business Model 1. Network Carriers legacy carriers Hub-and-Spoke 2007 United, Northwest, American, Continental Delta 2005 5 82 % 10 0 25. 3 2. Low Cost Carriers low cost business model point-to-point Southwest JetBlue legacy Low Cost Low Cost United Airlines Low Cost United Ted Airlines Delta Low Cost Delta’s Song Airlines 3. Regional Carriers Jets Legacy Network (Hub-and-Spoke) short-haul flight Regional Airlines block-hour incentive Regional 95 % Regional Regional Hub-and-Spoke Legacy Regional Airlines Partner SkyWest Inc History Origins in the Early 1970s SkyWest Dixie Airline St. George Utah 1972 J. Ralph Atkin 4 Dixies Commuter Airline Atkin Fixed Base Operation (FOB) Air Charters Air Ambulance Service Mar 1972 Atkin SkyWest Airlines 1974 Jerry C. Atkin Ralph Atkin's nephew $25,000 Oct 1975 Reorganized 3 SkyWest Expansion in the Late 1970s 1976 Hughes Air West Cedar City-Salt Lake City SkyWest Navajo Chieftans 5 National Parks Transportation Company Avis Franchises 2 Cedar City St. George. 1977 Interline American Airlines ? Check-in Interline SkyWest 1978 1. SkyWest Commuter Airline ( Regional Airline) 3 Certified Air Carrier Federal Government Regulations Major Airlines 2. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) SkyWest 3 $160,000 Page Arizona Yuma, Kingman, Prescott, Grand Canyon, Tucson, Winslow Phoenix, Arizona, Blythe, Los Angeles, and El Centro, California. 3. SkyWest Fairchild Metroliner II $1. 4 ( $150,000) Growth from Deregulation, Acquisition, and Affiliations in the 1980s 1978 Major Airlines United, Western American Airlines Regional Airlines SkyWest 1983 Metros 7 Navajo Chieftans 5 Cessna 207s Charters SkyWest Reagan Reagan Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association 24 Sep 1981 SkyWest Arizona Metro SkyWest 1982 SkyWest 10 Republic's Escort 1980s SkyWest Mail, Small Packages, and Bank Documents 10 % 1983 SkyWest 2 Regional Airlines St. George 17 6 250 Customer Service Aug 1984 SkyWest Las Vegas Palm Springs, California Southern California Palm Springs Sun Aire 1968 Borrego Springs, California San Diego 90 1983 Sun Aire 330,000 1985 Sun Aire SkyWest Metros SkyWest 12 14 Sun Aire 28 Sun Aire Facilities American Airlines Los Angeles SkyWest/Sun Aire Major Market SkyWest Regional Carrier 11 Holding Company SkyWest, Inc. , 3 1. SkyWest Airlines Inc. SkyWest Aviation Inc. ) 1998 Regional Airline 5 12 Business Travelers SkyWest Commuter Airline Ski Resorts California SkyWest Airlines Delta Continental Airlines 2. Scenic Airlines Air Tours, General Aviation Scheduled Flights Grand Canyon Arizona, Utah, Nevada 3 . National Parks Transportation franchise Avis 1985 SkyWest Code-Sharing Western Airline Salt Lake 70% 1987 Delta Airlines Western Airlines SkyWest Delta Code : DL SkyWest SkyWest/Sun Aire Western Express Delta Connection. Logo Code-Sharing Major Regional Airlines 1980 United Airlines Regional United Express American Airlines American Eagle Network 1980 SkyWest Brasilia EMB-120 Turboprop Regional Airlines SkyWest California 1986 Sun Aire acquisition SkyWest NASDAQ 1987 SkyWest Air Transport World's Commuter/Regional Airline 500 Regional Airlines 988 SkyWest $2. 3 California 28 Events in the 1990s Jun 1993 Aviation Services West, Inc. Flight Tour Scenic Airlines, Inc. , Las Vegas Grand Canyon Aviation Services West Scenic Airlines, Inc. 1994 SkyWest Delta Salt Lake City 5 Casper, Wyoming; Butte, Montana; Burbank, California; Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota SkyWest Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) Bombardier, Inc. Brasilias 50 540 1,200 miles 41,000 Oct 1995 SkyWest Continental Airlines Code-Sharing SkyWest Continental Connection Los Angeles SkyWest 3% Continental Flights 1996 48% Delta 1996 SkyWest 2. 5 16 SkyWest Brasilias 50 Canadair Regional Jets 10 Metroliner 1 Oct 1997 SkyWest United Airlines United Express SkyWest Connecting Flight Los Angeles 1997 SkyWest 25 SkyWest 585 45 12 Salt Lake City Vancouver Canadair Regional Jets 19 Jan 1998 SkyWest United United Express San Francisco Hub United June 1, 1998 1998 SkyWest Connecting flight 3 Major Airlines Delta, United Continental 1 July 2002 SkyWest Tucson Arizona. 8 Dec 2002 United Airlines Partner SkyWest Chapter 11 2003 SkyWest Bombardier CRJ700 70 30 United Express 9 May 2003 SkyWest code-share Continental Airlines SkyWest regional Continental Houston, The US Department of Transportation SkyWest 2003 SkyWest DOT SkyWest 1 5 regional carriers DOT 2004 †¢ hub Chicago, IL (ORD) †¢ Colorado Springs, CO (COS) CRJ †¢ Delta Dallas/ Fort Worth Hub (DFW) SkyWest †¢ SkyWest ,000 †¢ DOT SkyWest 2004. [pic]2005 †¢ SkyWest, Inc. Atlantic Southeast Airlines Delta Air Lines. †¢ Chicago O’Hare. †¢ Sky West Inc. Partner United Delta 2006 Legacy 2 2006 †¢ SkyWest CRJ900 †¢ Dec 2006 SkyWest Inc. SkyWes t Midwest Partner [pic]2007 †¢ SkyWest Airlines Midwest Connect / Delta Connection / United Express Legacy 2 (Delta Connection / United Express) Outsource 20 SkyWest Inc. Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles San Francisco United express SkyWest Inc. Outsourcing Delta †¢ SkyWest Delta Connection Department of Transportation Cedar Utah 8 Jan 2008. Source: Annual Report 2007 SkyWest Inc. Skywest Inc. 2. : Bridging the Region Gap from West to East SkyWest Inc. Regional Airline Western Eastern SkyWest Airlines ASA artner Legacy Airlines : safety / on time arrival / service and quality / fairness and consistency / working together as a team / personal and corporate integrity and maintaining profitability & Efficient Use of All Resources. SkyWest Inc. : Partner Legacy Airline / : Developed industry-leading reputations for providing quality, low-cost regional airline service. 3. (Functional Level Strategy) [pic] Inbound Logistics: Service , , , Ground Handling Equipment, Operations: Outbound Logistics: Marketing and Sales: †¢ Distribution Legacy Airline Partner †¢ Product Design Service : (Functional Level Strategy) (Competitive Advantage) 3. 1 Superior Efficiency : Superior Efficiency SkyWest Inc. Product Design: †¢ 0. 03 USD 0. 095 USD. †¢ Partner Legacy Airline †¢ (routine maintenance) Human Resource: †¢ †¢ – 90 - Retirement Plans SkyWest Inc. – Teamwork Information System Function: †¢ Interline American Airlines Check-in †¢ Republic's Escort Marketing: Product: (Cost per Available seat mile) Place: – Code Sharing Market Share – Partner Legacy SkyWest Inc. 2006 SkyWest Inc. 3,114 2005 1,964 ( Exhibit 6) 3. 2 Superior Quality Superior Quality SkyWest Inc. Reliability: The Aviation Safety Action Program Program Stetson Quality Suite SkyWest Inc. SkyWest Airline Regional Airline 15 2004 2005 SkyWest 84. 5% SkyWest 1% 50% 2006 SkyWest Airlines 1. 2 % 1. 7 % Reliability SkyWest Airlines . 3 Superior Innovation: Process Innovation – SkyWest Airline ASA 2 – Partner Legacy Airline 3. 4 Superior Customer Responsiveness SkyWest Airlines DOT 2 2003-2004 Functional Strategy SkyWest Inc. Superior Customer Responsiveness †¢ Superior Efficiency : Product Design Upgrade 0. 103 USD 0. 095 USD. †¢ Superior Quality : Customer Service 4. (Business Level Strategy) (Functional Level Strategy) . What needs will be satisfied? SkyWest Inc. Regional Airline Legacy Airlines partnership 2. Who will be served? Connecting flight Legacy Airlines (Broad Target) 3. How will those needs be satisfied? On-time service with quality. Business Strategy SkyWest Inc. Cost Leadership Competitive Positioning Efficiency Quality – – Business Leisure (Broad Target) Legacy Airlines partner – Western Eastern – Customer Services) Business Strategy Functional Strategy Superior Efficiency Superior Quality Superior Customer Responsiveness 5. (Corporate Level Strategy) SkyWest Inc. 1. Concentration Growth: †¢ Horizontal Growth ASA Partner Legacy Airline Partner Legacy Airline Partner (Contract Agreement Term) †¢ Intensive Growth Improve Competitive Position Regional Airline 2. Retrenchment Sell-out National Parks Transportation Scenic Airlines Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) [pic] (Concentration Strategies) 1. Market Penetration SkyWest Inc. Upgrade ( CRJ 50 ) Legacy Airline (Contract Agreement Term) Legacy Airlines 2. Market Development ASA ( ) Eastern Partner Legacy Airline 6. 6. 1 (Organizational Structure) SkyWest Inc. Geographic Structure (Destinations) SkyWest Airline Atlantic Southeast Airline (ASA) Functional Structure Decision Making SkyWest Inc. Centralized ( www. SkyWest. com/about/exec. php , www. flyasa. com , www. SkyWest,Inc. htm ) 6. 2 (Organizational Culture) SkyWest Inc. Efficiency and Quality Efficiency : Part Time 3 Ticket Agents / Baggage Handlers SkyWest Airlines $40,000 $202,000 ASA Airlines Quality: †¢ SkyWest Airline Maintenance Department AMT Award 3 2004 – 2006 †¢ The US Department of Transportation SkyWest 2003 2004 6. 3 (Organizational Leadership) â€Å"Chairman, President and CEO Jerry Atkin accept the Airline Business magazine award for Regional Airlines Leadership† Efficiency and Quality 7. (Strategic Control) 7. 1 Efficiency: †¢ SkyWest Inc. ASA Delta SkyWest Inc. SkyWest SkyWest 70 90 50 †¢ 2007 SkyWest Inc. SkyWest ASA ? †¢ ASA Regional SkyWest ASA Cost per available seat [pic] 7. 2 Quality: †¢ SkyWest Inc. The US Department of Transportation SkyWest 2003 2004 †¢ SkyWest Inc. the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Stetson Quality Suite software SkyWest Inc. ? Partner Legacy Airline 7. 3 Innovation : †¢ Midwest, Bradford R. Rich , CEO Treasurer SkyWest Inc. SkyWest Midwest †¢ ASA Teamwork ? 7. 4 Customer Responsiveness : The US Department of Transportation SkyWest 003 2004 Legacy Airlines 8. (Strategic Evaluation) 8. 1 Established standards and targets : Regional Airline Partner Legacy Airline FAA / DOT TSA Regional Airline Legacy Airline Partner Legacy Airline 8. 2 Create measuring and monitoring system : Yield/RPM, Revenue/ASM, Cost/ASM Miss baggage handling rate 8. 3 Compare actual performance against the established targets : ? 8. 4 Evaluate result and take action if necessary : (Statements of Income / Balance Sheets / Air Travel Consumer Report) easuring and monitoring system 9. SkyWest Inc. (Functional Level Strategy) : Superior Efficiency Superior Quality Superior Customer Responsiveness †¢ Superior Efficiency : Product Design 0. 103 USD 0. 095 USD. Superior Quality : (Customer Service) (Business Level Strategy) : Cost Leadership Competitive Positioning Efficiency Quality – – Business Leisure (Broad Target) Major Airline Partner – (Customer Services) – Western Eastern (Corporate Level Strategy) : 1. Market Penetration SkyWest Inc. ( CRJ 50 ) Legacy Airline (Contract Agreement Term) 2. Market Development ASA ( ) Eastern Partner Legacy Airline Bridging the Region Gap from West to East Regional Airline Western Eastern Operations Developed industry-leading reputations for providing quality, low-cost regional airline service. 10. (Effectiveness of Strategies) Profitability (ROIC) Profit Growth 5 5 5 MESA AIR, ALASKA AIR, EXPRESSJET, PINNACLE AIRLINES REPUBLIC AIRWAYS 6 002-2006 : |Airlines |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 | |SKYWEST |86. 87 |66. 79 |81. 95 |112. 27 |145. 81 | |MESA AIR |-11. 27 |25. 31 |26. 28 |56. 87 |33. 97 | |ALASKA AIR |-118. 60 |13. 50 |-15. 30 |-5. 90 |-52. 60 | |EXPRESSJET |84. 28 |108. 18 |122. 77 |97. 99 |92. 7 | |PINNACLE AIRLINES |30. 79 |35. 07 |40. 73 |25. 70 |77. 80 | |REPUBLIC AIRWAYS |7. 69 |36. 14 |38. 85 |60. 65 |79. 51 | |Total |79. 75 |284. 98 |295. 28 |347. 58 |377. 05 | (Source : Annual Report year 2002-2006 ) Plot 2002-2006 [pic] SkyWest Inc. SkyWest Inc. 2005 SkyWest Inc. SkyWest Inc. ASA Delta 2005 ASM (Available Seat mile) SkyWest Inc. (Passenger Revenue) Ground Handling Service Major Airline Partner ASA 2005 SkyWest Inc. 2002 – 2006 :    |   |   |   |   |   | |   |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 | |OPERATING REVENUES: | | | | | | |Passenger | 769,427 | 882,062 | 1,139,580 | 1,938,450 | 3,087,215 | |Ground handling and other | 5,020 | 5,964 | 16,464 | 25,598 | 27,441 | |Total operating revenues | 774,447 | 888,026 | 1,156,044 | 1,964,048 | 3,114,656 | |   | | | | | | |OPERATING EXPENSES: | | | | | | |Total operating expenses | 654,892 | 779,546 | 1,011,268 | 1,743,640 | 2,775,496 | |   | | | | | |Interest expense |3,611 |9,891 |18,239 |53,330 |118,002 | |   |   |   |   |   |   | |   |   |   |   |   | |   |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 | |OPERATING REVENUES: | | | | | |Passenger |14. 64% |29. 19% |70. 10% |59. 26% | |Ground handling and other |18. 80% |176. 06% |55. 8% |7. 20% | |Total operating revenues |14. 67% |30. 18% |69. 89% |58. 58% | |   | | | | | |OPERATING EXPENSES: | | | | | |Total operating expenses |19. 03% |29. 73% |72. 42% |59. 18% | |   | | | | | |Interest expense |173. 91% |84. 40% |192. 0% |121. 27% | |   |   |   |   |   | 2002 -2003 2004 2002 – 2006 |Airlines |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 | |SKYWEST |71. 96% |-23. 11% |22. 71% |36. 99% |29. 87% | |MESA AIR |76. 56% |324. 57% |3. 86% |116. 37% |-40. 27% | |ALASKA AIR |-173. 27% |111. 38% |-213. 33% |61. 44% |-791. 53% | |EXPRESSJET |75. 31% |28. 36% |13. 49% |-20. 18% |-5. 4% | |PINNACLE AIRLINES |116. 10% |13. 91% |16. 13% |-36. 90% |202. 74% | |REPUBLIC AIRWAYS |26. 73% |370. 00% |7. 51% |56. 12% |31. 09% | |Total |190. 78% |257. 33% |3. 62% |17. 71% |8. 48% | Plot 2002-2006 [pic] SkyWest Inc. 2002-2006 2003 CRJ200s EMB120s ROIC |ROIC |= |Net Profit (After Tax) | |   |   |Invested Capital | ? Invested Capital = Total Equity + Total Long-term Debt ( http://finapps. forbes. com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/) (Annual Report) Sky West 2001-2006 ROIC : | |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 | | | | | | | | |Net Profit (After Tax) | 86,866 | 66,787 | 81,952 | 112,267 | 145,806 | | | | | | | | |Total Asset | 999,384 | 1,529,210 | 1,662,287 | ,320,646 | 3,731,419 | | | | | | | | |Total Equity | 638,686 | 709,063 | 779,055 | 913,198 | 1,178,293 | |Long-Term Debt | 125,379 | 462,773 | 463,233 | 1,422,758 | 1,675,626 | | | | | | | | |Total Invested Capital | 764,065 | 1,171,836 | 1,242,288 | 2,335,956 | 2,853,919 | | | | | | | | |ROIC |11. 37% |5. 70% |6. 60% |4. 81% |5. 11% | (Source: Annual Report from www. SkyWest. com) ROIC SkyWest Inc. ROIC 5 MESA AIR, ALASKA AIR, EXPRESSJET, PINNACLE AIRLINES REPUBLIC AIRWAYS 6 2002 – 2006 ROIC Airlines |2002 |2003 |2004 | 2005 |2006 | |SKYWEST |11. 37% |5. 70% |6. 60% |4. 81% |5. 11% | |MESA AIR |-5. 67% |8. 14% |3. 87% |6. 99% |4. 44% | |ALASKA AIR |-7. 84% |0. 85% |-0. 92% |-0. 33% |-2. 74% | |EXPRESSJET |31. 53% |39. 46% |42. 49% |27. 21% |20. 37% | |PINNACLE AIRLINES |37. 52% |48. 96% |34. 67% |18. 41% |35. 68% | |REPUBLIC AIRWAYS |- |7. 18% |3. 97% |3. 44% |3. 99% | Plot [pic] SkyWest Inc. ROIC 2003, 2005 2006 2003 CRJ200s EMB120s 005 ASA Delta ROIC 2005 ROIC 11. (Problems) SkyWest Airline : (Miss baggage handling) Atlantic Southeast Airline : – Cancel flight – – (Miss baggage handling) – (On-time) ASA 12. (Issues) 1. Partner Low Cost Airlines (South West Airline and Jet Blue) 2. Partner 13. (External Environment Analysis) (External Strategic Factors) (Opportunity) (Threat) (Attractive or Unattractive Industry) 13. 1 General Environment [pic] a) Economic segment 4 US Inflation rates | |[pic] |Current Inflation Rate | |Year | |Jan | |Feb | |Mar | |Apr | |May | |Jun | |Jul |Aug | |Sep | |Oct | |Nov | |Dec | |Ave | | | |2009 | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | |NA | | | |2008 | |4. 28% | |4. 03% | |3. 98% | |3. 94% | |4. 8% | |5. 02% | |5. 60% | |5. 37% | |4. 94% | |3. 66% | |1. 07% | |0. 09% | |3. 5% | | | |2007 | |2. 08% | |2. 42% | |2. 78% | |2. 57% | |2. 69% | |2. 69% | |2. 36% | |1. 7% | |2. 76% | |3. 54% | |4. 31% | |4. 08% | |2. 85% | | | |2006 | |3. 99% | |3. 0% | |3. 36% | |3. 55% | |4. 17% | |4. 32% | |4. 15% | |3. 82% | |2. 06% | |1. 1% | |1. 97% | |2. 54% | |3. 24% | | | |2005 | |2. 97% | |3. 01% | |3. 15% | |3. 51% | |2. 0% | |2. 53% | |3. 17% | |3. 64% | |4. 69% | |4. 35% | |3. 46% | |3. 42% | |3. 9% | | | |2004 | |1. 93% | |1. 69% | |1. 74% | |2. 29% | |3. 05% | |3. 27% | |2. 99% | |2. 65% | |2. 54% | |3. 9% | |3. 52% | |3. 26% | |2. 68% | | | |2003 | |2. 60% | |2. 98% | |3. 02% | |2. 22% | |2. 6% | |2. 11% | |2. 11% | |2. 16% | |2. 32% | |2. 04% | |1. 77% | |1. 88% | |2. 7% | | | |2002 | |1. 14% | |1. 14% | |1. 48% | |1. 64% | |1. 18% | |1. 07% | |1. 46% | |1. 0% | |1. 51% | |2. 03% | |2. 20% | |2. 38% | |1. 59% | | | |2001 | |3. 3% | |3. 53% | |2. 92% | |3. 27% | |3. 62% | |3. 25% | |2. 72% | |2. 72% | |2. 65% | |2. 13% | |1. 0% | |1. 55% | |2. 83% | | | |2000 | |2. 74% | |3. 22% | |3. 76% | |3. 7% | |3. 19% | |3. 73% | |3. 66% | |3. 41% | |3. 45% | |3. 45% | |3. 45% | |3. 39% | |3. 8% | | | |1999 | |Fiscal Year |Domestic |International |Total |% change | |2006 |660. 9 |89. 7 |750. 6 |0. 46 | |2007 |693. 3 |75. 8 |769. 1 |2. 46 | |2008 |713. 8 |79. 8 |793. 6 |3. 19 | |2009 |735. 7 |84 |819. 7 |3. 29 | |2010 |758. 9 |88. 3 |847. 2 |3. 35 | |2011 |782. 6 |92. 9 |875. 5 |3. 4 | |2012 |807. 7 |97. 6 |905. 2 |3. 39 | |2013 |833. 4 |102. 3 |935. 7 |3. 37 | |2014 |860. 5 |107. 2 |967. 7 |3. 42 | |2015 |888. 4 |112. 3 |1,007. 1 |4. 07 | |2016 |917. 7 |117. 6 |1035. 3 |2. 80 | |2017 |848. 4 |123. 1 |1071. 6 |3. 51 | Source: Forms 41 and 298-C, US Department of Transportation Forecast % Passenger change [pic] Source: RAA Industry Life Cycle †¢ Forecast % Demand Passenger change Airline Industry 2006 Life cycle Airline Industry Airline Industry Regional Airlines Regional Airlines 1970-2006 Life cycle Regional Airlines ? Industry Life Cycle Growth ) Strategic Groups [pic] Y Performance Performance Partner Airline Legacy X c) Strategic Types : Strategic Type Regional Airline Defender Regional Airline Performance Partner Legacy Airline Regional Airline †¢ Legacy Airline †¢ FAA TSA DOT Upgrade †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ d) Key Success Factors : †¢ On Time Schedule Sector †¢ Regional Airlines ? Hub Time Elasticity †¢ Destinations Regional Airline †¢ Cost Regional Airline Partner