Posts Tagged ‘business’
Essays on Microsoft
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Microsoft’s Failure (s)-essays about Microsoft
Many product development, marketing, and project management programs in the world’s leading universities love to use Microsoft as an example of how not to develop a new product or service and then, subsequently, how not to bring that new product or service to market. While some of Microsoft’s most popular programs such as the Windows operating system and its Microsoft Office suite of business productivity software are extremely successful and extremely profitable, they are increasingly the only areas of the company’s business that are although the Xbox 360 product is somewhat of a success anomaly but only partially so. The fact remains that Microsoft is such a good pinata to use in business schools because it completely fails to understand just how integral a company’s organizational culture is to its creative DNA. For example, product managers and marketing professors love to point out just how much Apple’s success relates to its inherent ability to create and innovate in areas that are increasingly far afield from its original computing platform.
In contrast, Microsoft, which has all the money and capital necessary to create and innovate without equal in the industry continually, fails to do so. The company’s efforts to introduce new products such as the Kin One and Kin Two mobile phones and mobile phone platform which have been recently discontinued after just a few weeks on the market and some 10,000 sold are illustrative of just how much the firm’s executives do not “get it.” This is just a long line of products and services that the firm has thought that it would revolutionize the consumer markets with. For instance, did you know that Microsoft once touted a Smart Watch service it coined SPOT and which would transmit data over FM radio waves to subscribers? Right, I didn’t think so but this product was available on all major online retailing sites such as Amazon.com, among others. Of course you are familiar with Zune, Microsoft’s digital music player, the perennial also-ran in the industry? What about Microsoft Bob which was a program developed in 1995 that was designed to make the Windows platform easier to use for computing novices? Right, customers that wanted a computing platform that was easier to use just bought a Mac and the company’s executives, once again, did get that rather than develop yet another program to interface with a GUI designed to interface with the computer’s underlying OS maybe it should just redesign its GUI—whatever.
Microsoft is the stuff of legend for all the wrong reasons and business school programs love to discuss its market failures like the Playforsure technology that, as it turned out, could not play with anybody’s digital music platform because of the company’s ridiculous digital management software and, in fact, once it was cancelled none of the files could even be played on the company’s new digital music platform which was the Zune. In short, Microsoft seems be mired in endless layers of organizational bureaucracy, be controlled by a top-down mentality, have a product/service development process designed to attempt to manipulate the consumer rather than design based on consumer demand, and to be inordinately focused on maintaining its dominance through proprietary business models.
Tags: amazon, business, business productivity software, capital, computing, computing platform, consumer, contrast, development, development marketing, essays, Failure, industry, Kin, line, microsoft microsoft, microsoft office suite, money, online retailing, organizational culture, phone, pinata, product managers, project management programs, radio waves, software, watch service, windows operating system, Xbox, xbox 360
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McPhoenix University by The Apollo Group
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
The University of Phoenix is one of the most unethical companies in corporate America, and that is saying something considering that ethics and business seem to be mutually incompatible these days. The University of Phoenix is an online university whose programs have been the subject of much ridicule over the past several years as the university has focused almost purely on enrolment numbers rather than educational delivery. This has led to the University of Phoenix being referred to as the McDonald’s of higher education and an internationally horrible reputation. Because the University of Phoenix is a for-profit institution, it is clear that the ultimate mandate is in generating profits rather than delivering quality education with lasting impact. That the university adheres to this mandate is evident by the number and type of lawsuits that have been filed by the university’s parent corporation, The Apollo Group, such as its recent settlement in which it paid 10s of millions of dollars in order to settle financial aid fraud issues with the Department of Education and the Justice Department. While the settlement allows the University of Phoenix to state that the settlement in no way implies that the company defrauded students and the government by compensating enrollment counselors on a performance basis, among other nefarious practices, no company pays millions of dollars just to placate a few disgruntled students and a government investigation. Simply put, while the University of Phoenix does allow students to obtain degrees, the quality of these degrees conferred by online universities that are purely for-profit enterprises begs the question, just where do students fit into the institutions’ profit equation? The Apollo Group derives the vast majority of its revenues from the U.S. Department of Education’s various financial aid programs and thus this is a company that depends on generating as much student churn as it can in order to constantly renew its revenue stream as students apply for and obtain financial aid and, conveniently enough, the majority of which is retained by the University of Phoenix as revenue. Even from an investment perspective, The Apollo Group is suspect because of the way it books these revenues and its ongoing business practices. The best advise if you have not yet succumbed to the University of Phoenix’ marketing efforts is to pursue your education with a local community college or university that offers a mix of online and on-ground classes. If you are a University of Phoenix student, the best advice is to withdraw and ensure that it does not attempt to bill you for unpaid tuition which it will most likely attempt to do.
Tags: aid, apollo group, basis, business, corporate america, corporation, delivering quality education, education, educational delivery, enrollment counselors, enrolment, enrolment numbers, fraud, fraud issues, government investigation, Group, mandate, McDonald, nefarious practices, performance basis, Phoenix, profit institution, stream, subject, type, u s department of education, U.S. Department, unethical companies, university of phoenix, way
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Chinese RMB & US Dollar Exchange Rate
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
The exchange rate of the Chinese Renminbi or the Yuan has always been a point of contention between the United States and China and even between China and the European Union. Thus, within business schools and political science programs this exchange rate issue and trade deficit concern has now become a hot topic for research papers. The reason for this is manifold but in essence China keeps its Yuan or RMB undervalued in order to bolster its export market. By keeping the Yuan undervalued compared to foreign currencies a country’s export market benefits because its products that are manufactured in its borders and then sent overseas are cheaper than those of its trading partners. However, what makes this exchange rate issue even more contentious is the manner in which China keeps its Yuan undervalued and the outcome of this strategy. China keeps its Yuan undervalued by purchasing foreign debt or, with respect to the US, treasury bills which in turn has funded the US’ massive debt load and recent credit binge. Because China owns so much US currency it now has a great stake in how the US manages its economy but it also becomes dependent upon the US’ continued purchasing of its low-cost goods. Should the US government slap trade tariffs of any kind on Chinese goods this removes the benefit that China gains from undervaluing its currency. Presently China manages its exchange rate through a process called a managed float in which it keeps its Yuan pegged to a floating exchange rate that is pegged to a basket of currencies rather than pegged to a single currency. However, since China only publishes some of the specific currencies it includes in this basket of currencies it is difficult for outside markets to gauge currency movements. All of these factors ensure that the current Yuan exchange rate and trade deficit spat with the US will remain a complicated and complex foreign relations as well as economic issue. This is why the US-China exchange rate issue is such a popular topic not only in economics classes but also in foreign relations, international relations, as well as finance and business strategy courses. Presently many professors and instructors are assigning essays, term papers, and even theses and dissertations that discuss some aspect of the Yuan or RMB and US dollar exchange rate issues.
Tags: basket of currencies, business, business school, china, china exchange, china's foreign debt, chinese goods, chinese renminbi, currency, currency movements, currency peg, debt, debt load, deficit, economic issue, economics essays, economics papers, exchange, exchange rate, export, foreign currencies, foreign debt, hot topic, issue, managed float, market, massive debt, peg, point of contention, political science programs, Presently, rate, renminbi, RMB, single currency, strategy, tariffs, term papers, topic, trade, trade deficit, trade dispute, trade tariffs, United States, US, us china trade, us treasury bills, Yuan, yuan exchange rate
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Toyota’s Sudden Acceleration
Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Toyota’s problems with sudden acceleration are well-known. Toyota has long been an icon of quality and efficiency in terms of its production and manufacturing standards. Thus, business schools and graduate business programs have often assigned Toyota as the topic for quality based research papers about such topics like the Toyota Production System or TPS or the lean manufacturing process. Additionally, business course research papers have focused on subjects like just-in-time or related processes that are utilized by Toyota to achieve its highly touted quality. Yet, the sudden acceleration issues that have been occurring over the past few years with some of its cars have done much to undermine the company’s sterling reputation for quality. These issues have also undermined the trust that the consumer had in the company as well as led to a devaluation of its products which harms consumers yet again because trade-in values have plummeted for Toyota products. Finally, Toyota’s handling of the situation has been the subject of much ridicule as well because has done nothing but attempt to deny that a problem exists and then only came to acknowledge them first as floor mat problems and then as mechanical issues in the gas pedal and finally it is being revealed that the real issue is likely the company’s electronics. Clearly these are complicated subjects and we have writers who are very knowledgeable in this subject area who can produce clear and articulate research projects from essays to dissertations related to Toyota’s quality problems.
Tags: acceleration, business, business course, business schools, company, crisis management, devaluation, efficiency, floor mat, graduate, graduate business programs, icon, just-in-time, lean manufacturing, manufacturing, manufacturing process, mechanical issues, process, production, quality, quality problems, research, research papers, sterling reputation, sudden acceleration, system, topic, Toyota, toyota motor company, toyota production system, toyota products, toyota quality, TPS, trade in values
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Term Paper on Toyota
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Need a research paper on Toyota’s quality problems? As so much of the current research indicates, Toyota failed at the very strategy that gave the company its competitive advantage—Quality! Understanding how Toyota screwed up so dramatically is critical for the contemporary manager and the business student. Toyota’s issues are well documented and, unfortunately, have proven deadly for some. The issues with the firm’s sudden acceleration or SA problems are likely in the firm’s electronics and this will prove extremely expensive to fix as will its reputation. The evidence that Toyota was losing sight of its core values was present for all to see but few, especially within the firm, wanted to admit it because of the firm’s rapid growth and expansion. For a paper or essay on this and related quality issues in the automotive industry contact us today.
Tags: acceleration, advantage, automotive indsutry, automotive industry, business, business student, company, competitive advantage, core values, current research, electronics, ESSAY, evidence, firm, losing sight, manager, paper, quality, quality issues, quality problems, rapid growth, recal, reputation, research, research paper, SA issues, strategy, student, sudden acceleration, term paper, thesis, Toyota, toyota investigation, toyota motor company, toyota recalls, Understanding
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