Google Strategic Analysis

Strategic Audit of Google Google Abstract Google was founded by two Stanford PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in 1998. The two recognized a need within the internet services industry for a search engine that would provide accurate results. The two opened Google, Inc. as an online company that provided a superior search engine, a platform for extremely targeted advertisements, and intranet solutions to internet users across the world. The company obtained the majority of its revenues by selling advertising space within the search results. Google employed an innovative system for selling this space to companies; companies would only have to pay Google for the advertising space if a customer â€Å"clicked† on their advertisement. As Google became the most-used search engine in the world due to its greater accuracy of producing relevant results, advertising revenues increased at a phenomenal rate. Google faced competition from others in the internet search services industry; specifically AOL, MSN, and Yahoo. Each competitor recognized the importance of a quality search engine to customers – as well as the opportunity to gain advertising revenues – and was attempting to develop an innovative search engine that would top Google’s. Competition from Microsoft was also a possibility. Microsoft indicated that they might attempt to add a search engine to their new operating system that was set for release in 2006. While Microsoft was not an established player in the internet search services industry, they had the technical expertise and massive resources to present a major competitive threat. The importance of the search engine to Google’s competitors as a stand-alone service was great but the development of a search engine rivaling or bettering Google’s would also attract customers to their other services. Google’s competitors offered many other services, in addition to their search services, such as email, online dating, and fantasy sports networks and were successful in doing so. Google’s success as a company hinged almost completely on the success of their search engine. Google, Inc. egan to diversify into other segments of the internet services industry in order to lessen the risk of having only one truly successful product and to build up both their customer base and customer loyalty. Google began to offer internet users the ability to search within a directory of 425,000 still images. Their collection of images tied with Yahoo’s as internet users’ first choice for image-searches. Google also began offering a directory of 50 0 million discussion topics that dated back to 1981 called Google Groups. Customers, in addition to being able to examine discussion topics within Google Groups, could add postings to a new group. Also, in 2004, Google began offering its users access to a compilation of 4,500 news sources located all over the world. Google then developed a service that would allow cell phone and handheld device customers to use Google’s search and other services on their wireless devices. In addition to these services and others, Google developed Google Catalog, a service that would allow users to search print mail order catalogs, and offered email accounts to select clients. In order to remain ahead of the competition and an industry leader in providing internet services, Google had to now make some strategic decisions. To assure the future of the company, Google’s management team knew that they would have to differentiate Google’s products from those offered by competing companies, such as Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. Google could either continue to expand the amounts of services it offered (i. e. include text messaging services, large email accounts, and others), it could work to improve the services it offered across the board, or it could focus on improving its most successful creation: the Google search engine. Each option had its merits and the company had plenty of resources to use in pursuing any of these three (or other) strategies. The difficult issue was choosing the most appropriate strategy for the company. I. Current Situation A. Performance ? Most-used website in the world ? Possesses global brand; one-half of internet users outside the United States ? High degree of user loyalty and brand identity ? Employs interface for over 88 languages ? Generally considered to possess the most accurate internet search engine ? Google network is utilized by 80% of internet users; used by 165 million people in the United States and United Kingdom per month ? Google’s 2008 revenues were $21,795,550,000, a 31. 34% increase since last year[1] ? Google’s 2007 revenues were $16,592,986,000, a 56. 47% increase over 2006’s revenues[2] ? Google’s cash increased 42. 34% from $6,081,593,000 in 2007 to $8,656,672,000[3] ? Google’s debt to equity ratio was 10. 44% in 2007 and 11. 1% in 2008. Yahoo’s debt to equity ratio was 22. 05% in 2007 and 17. 81% in 2008. Microsoft’s debt to equity ratio 50. 15% in 2007 and was 50. 7% in 2008[4] ? Google’s current ratio was 8. 49 in 2007 and 8. 77 in 2008. Yahoo’s current ratio was 2. 41 in 2007 and 2. 78 in 2008. Microsoft’s current ratio was 1. 44 in 2007 and 1. 69 in 2008[5] ? Google’s income from operations was 30. 64% of sales revenues in 2007 and was 30. 43% of sales revenues in 2008. Yahoo’s operating income was 9. 98% of sales revenues in 2007 and 0. 18% of revenues in 2008. Microsoft’s operating income was 36. 23% of revenues in 2007 and 37. 19% of sales revenues in 2008[6] ? Return on Assets (ROA) = 16. 6% in 2007 and 13. 3% in 2008. Yahoo’s ROA = 5. 4% for 2007 and 3. 1% in 2008. Microsoft’s ROA = 19. 3% in 2007 and 19. 9% in 2008. [7] ? Return On Equity (ROE) = 18. 5% in 2007 and 15. 0% in 2008. Yahoo’s ROE was 7. 2% in 2007 and 4. 5% in 2008. Microsoft’s ROE was 38. 8% in 2007 and 57. 4% in 2008[8]. B. Strategic Posture ? Mission Statement: â€Å"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. †[9] ? Objectives: ? Remain the industry-leading website in terms of internet traffic market share ? Remain the industry leader in providing the most accurate search engines ? Capture market share in the online advertising market and become the industry leader in providing directed, online advertising services ? Reduce risk by increasing market share in non-search internet services: Google catalog, Google Business Solutions, Google News, etc ? Begin licensing patented wireless technology and intellectual property to other companies ? Further diversify company from competitors C. Corporate-level strategies ? Pursue a strategy of concentric diversification by entering into other areas of the internet services market D. Business-level strategies ? Differentiate Google’s products from those offered by competitors ? Competitive rather than cooperative E. Functional-level strategies ? Google’s R strategy is to be a technological leader ? Google’s marketing strategy is to simultaneously pursue a market development strategy to gain market share for its search engine and pursue a product development strategy to increase the diversity of its product portfolio. In both cases, Google primarily uses a pull strategy to entice consumers to utilize its products. For example, Google uses Google Business Solutions to advertise the ways Google can help various businesses through the use of their products. This advertising results in businesses â€Å"pulling† Google’s products through the channels. ? Google’s financial strategy includes maintaining a low debt to equity ratio. Their debt to equity ratio was only 11% in 2008, which is much lower than that of the competition ? Google’s operations strategy includes increasing and maintaining global operations. They have offices and thousands of services in many different countries on several continents. This is more fully discussed in a later section. ? Human resources – Google’s HR strategy entails maintaining and further developing an extremely diverse work force. Its strategy is also focused on attracting employees with advanced technical skills and paying them well both monetarily and with many fringe benefits. This is more fully discussed in a later section. II. Corporate Governance A. Board of Directors[10] ? Eric Schmidt has served as our Chief Executive Officer since July 2001 and as a member of our board of directors since March 2001, where he served as Chairman of the Board from March 2001 to April 2004. In April 2004, Eric was named Chairman of the Executive Committee of our board of directors. Prior to joining us, from April 1997 to November 2001, Eric served as Chairman of the board of directors of Novell, Inc. , a computer networking company, and, from April 1997 to July 2001, as the Chief Executive Officer of Novell. Eric was a director of Siebel Systems until January 2006. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a Master's degree and Ph. D. in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley. Sergey Brin, one of our founders, has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception in September 1998 and as our President of Technology since July 2001. From September 1998 to July 2001, Sergey served as our President and Chairman of the Board. Sergey holds a Master's degree in computer science from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in mathematics and computer scien ce from the University of Maryland at College Park and is currently on leave from the Ph. D. program in computer science at Stanford University. Larry Page, one of our founders, has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception in September 1998 and as our President of Products since July 2001. From September 1998 to July 2001, Larry served as our Chief Executive Officer and from September 1998 to July 2002 as our Chief Financial Officer. Larry holds a Master's degree in computer science from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in engineering, with a concentration in computer engineering, from the University of Michigan and is currently on leave from the Ph. D. program in computer science at Stanford University. ? L. John Doerr has served as a member of our board of directors since May 1999. John has been a General Partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm, since August 1980. John is also a director of Amazon. com, Inc. , an Internet retail company, Homestore, Inc. , a provider of real estate media and technology solutions, Intuit, Inc. , a provider of business and financial management software, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. , a supplier of networking computing solutions. John holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Masters of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science nd a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rice University. ? John L. Hennessy has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2004. Since September 2000, John has served as the President of Stanford University. From 1994 to August 2000, John held various positions at Stanford, including Dean of the Stanford Unive rsity School of Engineering and Chair of the Stanford University Department of Computer Science. John has been a member of the board of directors of Cisco Systems, Inc. , a networking equipment company, since January 2002 and chairman of the board of directors of Atheros Communications, Inc. a wireless semiconductor company, since May 1998. John holds a Master's degree and Doctoral degree in computer science from the State University of New York, Stony Brook and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University. ? Arthur D. Levinson has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2004. Since July 1995, Art has served as a member of the board of directors of Genentech, Inc. , a biotechnology company, and has served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since September 1999. Prior to 1999, Art held various executive positions at Genentech, including Senior Vice President of R. Art has been a member of the board of directors of Apple Computer, Inc. , a computer hardware and software company, since 2000. Art was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Art holds a Ph. D. in biochemistry from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from the University of Washington. ? Ann Mather has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2005. Since April 2004, Ann has been a director of Central European Media Enterprises Group and serves on its Audit and Compensation Committees. She served as a director of Shopping. com from May 2004 until it was acquired by eBay in 2005 and was Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. From 1999 to 2004, Ann was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Pixar. Prior to Pixar she was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Village Roadshow Pictures. From 1993 to 1999 she held various executive positions at The Walt Disney Company, including Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration for its Buena Vista International Theatrical Division. Ann holds a Master's degree from Cambridge University. ? Paul S. Otellini has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2004. Paul became the Chief Executive Officer and President of Intel Corporation, a semiconductor manufacturing company, in May 2005. Paul has been a member of the board of directors of Intel since 2002. He also served as Intel's Chief Operating Officer from 2002 to May 2005. From 1974 to 2002, Paul held various positions at Intel, including Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Intel Architecture Group and Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Sales and Marketing Group. Paul holds a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor's degree in economics from the University of San Francisco. ? K. Ram Shriram has served as a member of our board of directors since September 1998. Since January 2000, Ram has served as managing partner of Sherpalo, an angel venture investment company. Prior to that, from August 1998 to September 1999, Ram served as Vice President of Business Development at Amazon. com, Inc. , an Internet retail company. Prior to that, Ram served as President at Junglee Corporation, a provider of database technology, acquired by Amazon. om in 1998. Ram was an early member of the executive team at Netscape Communications Corporation. Ram holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Madras, India. ? Shirley M. Tilghman has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2005. Since June 2001, Shirley has served as the President of Princeton University. From August 1986 to June 2001, she ser ved as a Professor at Princeton University and from August 1988 to June 2001 as an Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Shirley holds a Ph. D. n biochemistry from Temple University and an Honorary Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Queen's University. ? Three members are inside board members and seven are outside board members; two are female ? Committees include: audit, leadership development and compensation, nominating and corporate governance, executive, acquisition, and real estate[11] B. Top Management ? Eric Schmidt , Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer ? Larry Page , Co-Founder & President, Products ? Sergey Brin , Co-Founder & President, Technology Nikesh Arora , President, Global Sales Operations and Business Development ? Laszlo Bock , Vice President, People Operations ? Shona Brown , Senior Vice President, Business Operations ? W. M. Coughran, Jr. , Senior Vice President, Engineering ? David C. Drummond , Senior Vice President, Corpora te Development and Chief Legal Officer ? Alan Eustace , Senior Vice President, Engineering & Research ? Urs Holzle , Senior Vice President, Operations & Google Fellow ? Jeff Huber , Senior Vice President, Engineering Omid Kordestani , Senior Advisor, Office of the CEO and Founders ? Patrick Pichette , Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer ? Jonathan Rosenberg , Senior Vice President, Product Management ? Rachel Whetstone , Vice President, Public Policy and Communications ? Susan Wojcicki , Vice President, Product Management III. External Environment Analysis (EFAS, see Exhibit 1) A. General Environment[12] 1. Natural Environment ? Solar or geomagnetic storms in space could destroy or damage Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites as well as cause electric power outages on earth. In 1989, a geomagnetic storm caused a nine-hour power outage in Eastern Canada that affected millions of people[13]. The GPS satellites are used by Google to provide their Google Earth service. The power outages could affect internet traffic which would reduce Google’s advertising revenues. The power outages may also prevent Google from offering services due to a lack of power to run their equipment. Another possibility is that Google may have to use back-up power – such as generators – or purchase it temporarily at a higher rate from another source; thereby increasing their operating costs (T) ? Climate change is expected to result in an increase in the intensity and the frequency of severe storms. Weather issues that are expected to increase in both intensity and frequency are: windstorms such as tornados and hurricanes, heat waves and droughts, storms with extreme rains or snow, and dust storms. Floods and landslides are expected to increase as well[14]. This could affect Google by causing damage to the communications infrastructure – i. e. cable cuts – which would cause the internet connections to become intermittent or nonexistent until the cable cut or related issue is repaired. In the case of wireless connections, â€Å"wireless nodes† like cell phone towers may be knocked over. Other communications items such as switching networks may be damaged by extreme weather as well[15]. The extreme weather could prevent Google from delivering services to customers and could damage other businesses and industries as well; resulting in reduced revenues for Google and a slump in the overall economy (T) ? As mentioned above, storms with extreme winds are expected to increase which will likely increase the tumultuousness of the ocean. 5% of cable cuts in undersea cables are caused by ships’ fishing nets and 18% are caused by ships’ anchors. Extreme weather may increase the frequency of undersea cable cuts from ships; resulting in internet disruptions[16] (T) 2. Sociocultural Forces ? An estimated 577 million people worldwide access the internet using mobile devices. The number of people accessing the internet via mobile phones is expected to increase to 1. 7 billion by 2013. By 2014, mobile internet users are expected to make up around 50% of all internet users (O)[17] ? The pace of life is increasing for the average consumer. Due to advances in technology – like the cell phone, wireless laptop computer and email – each person with access to these technologies is pressured to complete more tasks. This increases reliance on the newest technologies to meet the demands of increasing expectations put upon consumers[18] (O) ? Consumers are worried about identity theft and privacy; especially how their information can be accessed and used by other companies and individuals online. [19] (O) ? The average American respondent spent 19 hours per week surfing the internet[20] (O) ? Email remains the most popular online activity. This is even more true with users 64 years and older. 73% of teenage users reported using email more than anything else on the internet and 74% of internet users aged 64 and older reported using email more than anything else on the internet[21] (O) ? The largest increase in internet usage can be found within the 70-75 year-old age group. Previously, 26% reported using the internet; this number has increased to 45%[22] (O) ? Internet users aged 18-34 are the largest group of internet users who use the internet for entertainment purposes. For this group, entertainment includes watching videos, playing online games, engaging in virtual worlds, and downloading music[23] (O) ? Internet users aged 12-34 are the largest group of users to read and write blogs and are also the largest group of users to engage in social networking via the computer[24](O) 3. Technological ? Internet speed is increasing[25] (O) ? Storage capacity on the internet is increasing (O) ? Internet software capabilities are increasing (O) ? Consumers are expecting a greater level of personalization in their web searches, frequently-visited websites, and internet services than in prior years[26] (O) ? Emergence of a new technology called The Internet of Things. This technology is designed to run hardware appliances – such as a refrigerator – as optimally as possible. Also, it runs sensors within appliances that can report back to the user via the internet. For example, in the case of a refrigerator, this technology would report what foods you are running low on and which foods may no longer be safe to eat[27]. e. g. , Google may want to examine providing an internet service designed to connect users with the hardware and software in use – especially via mobile device. )(O) ? 66% of internet users report using search engines when making complex decisions. (O) ? Respondents in the survey listed in the bullet above report only 25% of searches produce needed results the first time. Of these same responde nts, 30% report giving up on the search after failing to receive the desired result[28] (T) 4. Economic ? Period of American and global economic recession[29] (T) ? Fed. Chairman has declared that America’s recession is likely over and expects moderate growth for the next two years. [30] Around half of Google’s users are in the United States (see above). (O) ? An end to the recession in the European Union is expected during the third quarter of this year[31]. Around half of Google’s users are outside the United States (O) ? Federal interest rates are between 0-0. 25%, making capital more affordable for advertising customers and for Google[32] (O) ? Real GDP is expected to be -2. 6 this year but is expected to increase to 2. in the end of next year[33] (O) ? Consumer spending is expected to increase from -0. 9 this year to 1. 1 next year[34] (O) 5. Political – Legal ? Internet crimes (a component of these is copyright infringement), in one year, are estimated to have resulted in losses of $240 million dollars; as opposed to an estimated loss of $198 million dollars as a result of these crimes in the previous year. The increased amount of these crimes is likely to result in increasingly stringent regulations regarding crimes – including intellectual property-related crimes – perpetrated over the internet. The impact to Google is this: Google stores images and written works in their directory – exposing them to potential future legal liability for intellectual property related violations. Google has already been sued for this; Google was forced to remove 100,000 clips of copyrighted material from YouTube and paid out $90 million dollars to one party for a related issue[35] (T) ? Character defamation by anonymous bloggers has resulted in courts forcing companies like Google to reveal the identity of the anonymous blogger to the courts[36] (T). India is issuing subpoenas (or their equivalent) to â€Å"platform† companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft for content displayed on their â€Å"platforms. † The companies have court cases pending against them for content displayed on their sites including: copyright infringement, character defamation, hate messages, and gender selection advertisements[37] (T) B. Task Environment 1. Threat of New Entrants ? Threat of new e ntrants is medium ? Switching costs are virtually non-existent; customers can use search engines for free and can use them apart from other services offered by the company furnishing the search engine. Customers will likely try another search engine if the results they require cannot be obtained quickly and easily from the engine they are using. Google’s advertising customers are not required to sign a long-term contract; nor do they have to make a sizable investment up-front in order to place an ad with Google. Advertisers pay Google for space on their search engine results pages only when customers â€Å"click† on their ads and can therefore switch to another company without large sunk costs. ? Barriers to entry do exist, however, due to the amount of computer equipment necessary to be competitive with the likes of Google and Yahoo. Also, the large competitors within this arena have servers strategically placed all over the world. This may be difficult for a new company to this industry to replicate in a fashion that would make them competitive. Also, the large companies in this industry have vast amounts of information about their customers and online advertisers that would be difficult for a new entrant to amass. [38] 2. Rivalry Among Competitors ? Rivalry among competitors is high ? Google’s competitors (at this time) are all larger companies with large amounts of resources ? Google’s competitors offer other internet services as well as search services. The search engine attracts customers to their other services (for example, dating services, email, and fantasy sports league platforms); which raises the importance of possessing a superior search engine past its importance of a stand-alone service for Google’s competition ? Competition with Microsoft is expected to increase. Microsoft is attempting to integrate a search engine into its operating system and other products [39] ? Google considers Microsoft and Yahoo their greatest competition. These companies have greater cash resources and ability to make acquisitions, a longer operating history, and more established customer and end user relationships. They also operate internet portals and offer more products and services than Google does. In the case of Microsoft, they also have more employees [40] ? Google’s market share in the U. S. internet search market is 31%; Yahoo’s market share is 26% and MSN’s is 20%. This is very close. ? The industry is attractive and margins are high. Google’s success has increased the intensity of competition since these other companies want to share in the financial success ? Microsoft is working to develop a search engine to rival Google’s. This may be in lieu of the MSN search engine mentioned above[41]. This will definitely increase competition dramatically (in the short run at least) as Microsoft throws its resources in promoting their new product and attempting to steal market share from Google. Microsoft has a longer history of marketing than Google does, which may increase rivalry. 3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers ? Bargaining power among suppliers is low ? Google, as an internet-based service firm, requires few raw materials from outside sources. The supplies required, with the exception of electricity, are available from multiple sources ? Potential employees have some power over Google due to the short supply of qualified applicants. According to Google’s CEO, Google was having problems finding applicants that were either not technically proficient enough to complete the task at hand or of â€Å"insufficient quality. † 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers ? Bargaining power among buyers is medium ? Google has 31% of the internet search traffic market share, compared to 26% for Yahoo and 20% for MSN. This strengthens Google’s position with buyers since Google is the industry leader and is therefore more attractive than competitors to advertisers who would like to place ads on search engine results pages ? No buyer of Google’s services is responsible for larger than 3% of Google’s revenues. Because Google’s buyers are fragmented and none are responsible for a large amount of revenues, Google’s buyers do not have much power over Google[42] 5. Threat of Substitutes ? Threat of substitutes is high ? Although there aren’t any true substitutes for a search engine, there are different ways to organize information. In this case, a different method of searching might produce a substitute to the current method that may produce better results ? Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Microsoft are working to develop search engines that will either equal or exceed the functionality of Google’s search engine and have the resources to allocate to a massive research and development effort. Time will tell whether they are, in fact, viewed as a substitute by search users. ? Google’s search-engine customers value accuracy of search results. Google’s competitors already offer search engines. Google’s competitors may be able to create a comparable search engine over time . Bargaining Power of Other Stakeholders ? Bargaining power of other stakeholders is medium ? Special interest groups, like the American Association of Publishers and the Authors Guild, have sued Google and won for copyright infringement for content used by Google on their Google Print and Google Books applications. These groups a nd other groups are constantly monitoring Google’s actions for incidents of actual or perceived copyright infringement on their applications. [43] ? Google has been forced, as a result of a lawsuit, to reveal the identity of a blogger who wrote offensive comments about a Canadian model. Google may be required to release the identity of other users upon request in the future because of this precedent which may reduce their customer base. [44]This example is meant to illustrate that individuals, as well as organized groups, may have the power to influence Google’s business operations ? Google’s employees have little power to exert when negotiating with Google. Labor within Google is not organized[45] IV. Internal Environment Analysis (IFAS, see Exhibit 2) A. Corporate Structure (See Exhibit 3 for organization chart) ? Google’s corporate structure is primarily functional. 46] ? Google is broken down into five functions: Engineering, Sales, Products, Marketing, Legal, and Finance ? Underneath the overarching functional structure, Google is further broken down into product markets or geographical areas, which technically makes Google’s structure a hybrid of functional, geographic, and product structures. ? Each product market or geographical a rea element under the functional areas is treated as a small business unit. The small business unit element of Google’s structure provides flexibility. B. Corporate Culture ? Corporate culture values innovation and ambidexterity. Employees (including corporate level managers) are encouraged to devote 70% of their time on core business activities, 20% of their time to core-business related projects, and 10% of their time to unrelated new business activities. According to Marissa Mayer (see top management section for job title), around half of Google’s new products are a direct result of actions taken by employees during their free time (S)[47] ? Culture seems to have high degree of intensity and integration ? Culture values include â€Å"an obsessive commitment to creating search perfection and having a great time doing it (S)†[48] ? Other priorities for Google members are innovation and keeping costs low ? Google values ability over experience and encourages everyone to share ideas. Also, Google created an informal atmosphere where anyone can ask the CEO or top management a question and be answered. [49] (S) ? Google’s corporate culture puts emphasis on not exploiting the user of their products. [50] ? Being quirky and having fun are also emphasized. Google’s work area has foosball tables, ping pong tables, volleyball nets, and several other games present (S)[51] C. Corporate Resources 1. Marketing ? Google promotes advertising packages through Google Business Solutions. Information is available to prospective clients on how Google can improve clients’ profitability through their advertising packages (S) ? Services – Google’s advertising customers often see Google’s service team as arrogant and find it time consuming and difficult to do business with Google because Google often switches the team assigned to handling the clients’ business before the clients’ advertising submission is complete (W) ? Google is second to Yahoo in being able to finalize agreements with advertisers (W) ? Television advertising is currently not being utilized by Google. In comparison, Microsoft is showing Television advertisements for their products. TV advertisements may reach a good portion of the older audience and inform â€Å"non-tech-savvy† about their products and services[52] (W) ? Google doesn’t advertise on their home page which is attractive to search customers (S) ? Extremely strong brand. Google has been added to the Oxford dictionary as a verb (S) ? Average sales per click per month were a little under 54. 5. However, Yahoo’s average sales per click were only 53 during the same month. Yahoo is currently Google’s biggest competitor[53] (S) ? â€Å"Adwords† system employed by Google to deliver advertisements is user-friendly for advertisers. Google’s system is also easy for advertising customers to use for changing the advertisement shown on Google’s results pages. (S) ? Product – Google’s search engine is most accurate in the world (O) 2. Finance ? Google’s revenues in 2004 were $3,189,223,000. This is 117. 56% greater than their revenues in 2003, which are $1,465,934,000 (S) ? Google’s cash balance in 2004 was $426,873,000; 186. 5% greater than their cash balance of $148,995,000 in 2003 (S) ? Google’s profit margin was 12. 52% in 2004. Yahoo’s, in 2004 was 23. 49. [54]Microsoft’s profit margin was 22. 17[55](W) ? Google’s quick ratio (acid test) was 7. 18[56] in 2004. Yahoo’s quick ratio in 2004 was 3. 38. Microsoft’s quick ratio in 2004 was 4. 44(S) ? Google’s Return on Assets (ROA)[57] was 21. 05% in 2004. Yahoo’s ROA in 2004 was 11. 83% and Microsoft’s ROA in 2004 was 9. 38%(S) ? Google’s Return on Equity (ROE)[58] was 25. 97% in 2004, as compared to Yahoo’s ROE in 2004 of 14. 65% and Microsoft’s ROE in 2004 of 11. 69%(S) ? Google’s debt to equity ratio was 13. 12% in 2004. Yahoo’s was 29. 24% in 2004 and Microsoft’s was 23. 47% in 2004[59](S) ? Net income was positive in 2002-2004. Net income was $399,119,000 in 2004; an increase of 277. 79% over 2003’s net income of $105,648 (S) 3. Research and Development ? In 2004, Google spent 7. 7% of sales revenues on R&D. This is very low for a tech firm (W) ? R&D is one of Google’s strengths. They have more market share in the search engine market because of the creation of their innovative search engine (S) ? Research and Development efforts have led to the creation of the most-used search engine in the world. Another notable innovation that relates to this is their creati on of a learning search engine. The more a customer uses their search engine, the more it learns and responds to the user’s individual preferences. Due to Google having the largest market share, their engine can learn faster than those offered by the competition which reduces its imitability[60]. (S) ? Google owns 13 registered trademarks and 7 unregistered trademarks as a result of R and D efforts[61](S) 4. Operations and Logistics ? One of Google’s biggest strengths is getting a large volume of users to their websites which makes them very attractive to advertisers (S)[62] ? Google has servers and locations all over the world to improve distribution of services[63] (S) ? Google has the ability to translate their information into over 88 different languages. This improves operations and logistics control when activities are taking place in a non-English- speaking country (S) ? Google’s Adwords system is self-managing; meaning that an advertising customer can change their campaign as their budget changes. This results in quick, efficient adjustments (S) 5. Human Resources Management ? Google employed 2,700 employees in 2005; 900 were â€Å"techies† ? Employees receive many fringe benefits in an effort to make them feel they are a priority. This strengthens corporate culture to a degree. Google has been listed as the top company to work for for two years in a row by Fortune Magazine. Employees have access to free high-end on-site dining facilities, snack stations, gyms, laundry rooms, barbers, massage rooms, dry cleaning, and several other employee fringe benefits[64] (S) ? Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, stated that the company was having problems recruiting employees who were both of acceptable caliber and technically proficient (W) ? Google maintains a diverse workforce and hires locals to work in its geographically dispersed locations (S) ? Google has a long hiring process that takes several months to complete. This would be a strength, except the company reported having problems finding people that were both quality employees and technically proficient (W) ? Employees are skilled at multitasking. For example, the individual who created Google’s holiday logo also was responsible for translating Google’s website into Hangul (Korean language) (S) ? Google’s technical employees work 70% of the time on regular business, 20% of the time on new but related business, and 10% of their time on completely new and unrelated projects. This makes Google more adaptable and builds â€Å"ambidexterity† into the organization (S) 6. Information System (IS) ? Google utilizes a system called â€Å"Live Out Loud† to promote communication between employees, to create a searchable database of related projects employees are working on to promote economies of scope and transfer of knowledge, and as a control system. How it works: Google employees weekly send an email to a central source concerning the specifics of the project they are working on and their progress. Google has used the same search engine it employs on its website Google. com to search through the emails to find the relevant ones. Managers simply have to search, using the Google search engine, for the employee’s progress they wish to evaluate. The system is user-friendly for both the employees and managers and it is simple. An employee working on a project can search the system for other relevant projects and obtain useful information they can incorporate when completing their specific task[65]. S) ? Google uses a triple redundancy system to ensure errors don’t disrupt the flow of timely information. If one computer doesn’t respond to an employee’s request for information within a few milliseconds, two others provide the information to the employee. All information is stored in three places. This makes their system very reliable and efficient in delivering timely information (S)[66] ? Google uses a database system called BigTable as part of their manag ement information system. Due to the volume of information Google must manage, Google has developed this software to break apart large files that are too big for any one server into smaller pieces so they can be stored on multiple servers. This ensures that capacity is available for their information[67] (S) ? Many of Google’s basic activities are automated (S) V. Strategic Alternatives and Selected Strategy A. Growth Strategies 1. Enter market providing legal music and video downloading services (S&O) a. Pros: ? Google has the intellectual capital to successfully develop the software to provide this service. Google has already proven that they can provide the search capabilities to link users with their desired songs or videos; their search engine is the most accurate in the world and the popularity of their product YouTube suggests they possess the capabilities to develop a desirable music/video downloading service ? With a large cash balance and the capabilities to obtain financing due to an extremely low debt to equity ratio, Google definitely possesses the financial resources to develop these services and bring them to market ? By providing different but related services, Google will be reducing their â€Å"diversifiable risk†, if you will, by increasing their product portfolio from one successful revenue generating product to several ? There is a large market for these services already in place; this market is likely to grow as digital media becomes more prevalent in society and obsolete technologies such as tapes, CDs, and records further decline ? Google’s brand strength would be beneficial in this market since the music and movie downloading industry is related to Google’s area of expertise (i. . it is equivalent to an industry leader in the manufacture of small power tools diversifying into producing concrete mixers and pumps, rather than the power tool company diversifying into diapers and other baby products. A DeWalt brand logo on a pair of diapers likely won’t transmit the same message of quality and expertise that it would on another type of tool) b. Cons ? Apple iTunes owns 82% of legal music downloading market. [68] Competing with a company that owns this much of the market share and has more experience in this industry will be very difficult ? Increases the probability of copyright infringement lawsuits ? Shifts emphasis away from Google’s core product – the search engine. If the search engine is imitated or surpassed by a better product before Google establishes a dominant position and greater profits and revenues from its new endeavor, Google may lose a large part of its almost sole source of revenues ? Regulation and trends concerning royalties paid to artists and music production companies may reduce the profitability of this industry ? Illegal downloading may increase; thereby reducing the size of the legal downloading market ? Requires maintaining existing advertising business model and creating and maintaining a new switchboard model (connecting multiple buying downloaders with multiple selling digital music and video suppliers 2. Develop new search engine designed for seniors markets – â€Å"Google Golden Life†. New search engine has an option for adjusting the size of the font used on the search pages based on the capabilities of the user’s vision and allows seniors to type in a question instead of just key words. In addition, it will contain a function that completes words for the typist if he or she so chooses (like an internet browser address box does) – concentric diversification (S&O) a. Pros ? First mover advantage could be gained by focusing on this market segment. Seniors have been ignored – for the most part – in the development of online products and services. No company currently caters to the needs of older internet users ? Seniors represent the largest growing demographic of internet users and represent a large segment of all societies ? The baby boomers are aging and will want/demand products focused on their needs soon ? Google possesses the financial resources to make this happen ? Google also possesses the brand strength and awareness to appeal to older users; older individuals tend to like larger, stable, established, well-known companies as opposed to small, new, relatively unknown startups ? Creating products geared toward older users may increase their interest in Google’s existing products ? Utilizes existing advertising business model to obtain revenues from pay-as-you-click advertisements b. Cons ? Today’s older internet user’s wants and needs are poorly understood by the online industry; this makes developing products/services focused at them a risky undertaking in the short-term. Younger baby boomers are familiar with current computer software but current seniors are less familiar and use computers more infrequently and for less activities (i. e. they may email but not shop extensively online) ? Once Google enters this market and proves the market is attractive, competition will increase and profits will likely go down as the market matures ? The idea of marketing online products and services geared toward older users is a newer one but an imitable one; other companies may have a greater understanding of the older consumer than Google since it has focused on products/services for a primarily younger audience with different needs. This means that other companies may prove to be more successful with this market segment than Google because of a greater knowledge of the older consumer ? Older users may only be interested in emailing and may have little interest in clicking on advertisements; thereby lowering the desirability of placing advertisements on Google’s new products ? May be hard to reach market segment to inform them of new product 3. Develop Social Networking System –â€Å"Google Linkage†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Concentric diversification (S&O) a. Pros ? Facebook and MySpace are both very popular. Today, internet users 12-34 are largest demographic to engage in social networking. As this age group ages, they will likely continue to use social networking sites and younger individuals entering this age group will likely also engage in social networking via the computer; growth in the social networking industry is virtually assured. Why the growth in this industry is important for Google: advertising revenues will likely increase as ads are placed on social networking pages ? Creates the potential for another profitable advertising platform; reduces the reliance on advertising revenues created from one product – the search engine ? May increase interest in Google’s other products (i. e. a social networker uses Google Images to send a picture of a desert rose to another gardener via Google’s networking service) ? Could compliment Google’s existing mission of organizing the world’s information with a new addition to the mission: â€Å"Organizing the world’s information – and people – to make it and them universally accessible. † ? Google’s strong brand and reputation will likely spark interest from social networkers in Google’s new networking platform ? Google has the financial resources to create and advertise a social networking site either alone or through a joint venture ? Utilizes existing advertising business model to obtain revenues from advertisers through Google’s AdWords and AdSense ? Likely inexpensive to maintain once it is â€Å"rolled out† b. Cons ? Social networking market may be saturated. Customers may have all their needs met through Facebook and Myspace. These companies already dominate the industry and have more knowledge and experience in this market ? Google may not be able to provide any new innovations in social networking ? Doesn’t utilize their distinctive search competency ? May not prove profitable after a cost/benefit analysis is conducted since advertisements will be less focused on self-identified market segments. For example, if one conducts an internet search for Echeveria Subrigida seeds – a succulent plant – advertisements related to plants may be of interest to the searcher. However, an ad related to purchasing succulent plants online may not be of much interest to the random individual attempting to contact another individual whose interests and needs are also unknown ? Requires a different set of competencies than Google already possesses. Email is the most basic social networking method and Google did not perform well in creating a popular email system 4. Create open source network for the development of applications for mobile devices – Google Architects – concentric diversification (S & O) a. Pros ? Market is supposed to almost triple in size in the next five years ? Google already has knowledge of how to make internet applications compatible with mobile devices – i. e. connecting Google search engine to mobile devices ? It is forecasted that half of internet users will be mobile internet users ? Google has the financial resources to undertake both the product development and advertising ? Google has experience and ability when it comes to developing internet apps. ? Could be set up to accommodate Google’s existing business model – obtain advertising revenues through offering free products ? Takes advantage of innovative technical staff b. Cons ? Stiff competition – Apple already has a large market share for mobile applications that are used on the iPhone and others. Microsoft, as operating systems become more commoditized, will likely enter the mobile internet applications market ? May not generate much revenue if customers have a finite number of minutes on their mobile plan. Customers in this situation are not likely to engage in gratuitous searching for curiosity’s sake. ? While Google has proven adept at creating applications, their distinctive competency resides in search engine excellence. Developing apps for mobile users requires a different skill set and core competency. Google may not be able to gain competitive advantage in this market since generating applications may not be one their distinctive competencies 5. Create a search service designed to locate music in a superior manner – â€Å"Google Music. † The search system would allow a user to enter in any part of a song, a band name, a song name, or a CD name and the search will provide results that include not only what the searcher is specifically looking for, but also links to the band’s website, links to listening to or downloading a particular song or multiple songs from the artist, and links to other related sites (i. . sites that offer guitar tablature for the artist or song mentioned in the search) a. Pros ? Will attract more users to the Google search engine, which increases the desirability of advertising on Google’s web pages ? Google music will increase brand loyalty and strength as it meets more of Google’s customers’ needs ? Will strengthen the desirability of the search engine for existing customers ? Will capitalize on Google’s distinctive competency of creating a search engine that produces more accurate results than other search engines offered by competitors ? Will address the needs of the large segment of internet users that use the internet for obtaining and enjoying music ? May provide an additional source of revenues from bands that would like to advertise their products on Google Music’s results pages b. Cons ? Users can already find all of these items using the traditional Google search engine ? Will likely add little to Google’s revenue stream ? Doesn’t address the problem of Google only possessing one profitable product ? Doesn’t truly meet the needs of internet music users since it doesn’t allow users to download music directly from Google ? Most of the results will likely be advertisements. Users may not want to search through advertisements B. Stability Strategies 1. Pause/Proceed with Caution – Use resources to improve existing search engine until threat from Microsoft’s new search engine can be determined and countered. Then grow (S & T) a. Pros ? 99% of revenues are generated from ads placed on search engine pages – Google already dominates market for search services – this must be protected in the short term to protect the sustainability of Google as a company ? Google is currently doing well and doesn’t need to grow to stay in business in the short term ? Financial resources may be needed to counter Microsoft’s efforts to gain position in the search market ? Reinforces Google’s distinctive competencies ? Also allows for the economy to improve before expanding; advertisers may need to rest as well before further investing in ads in non-search related areas b. Cons ? Market dominance in the mobile applications market is being determined now. The opportunity to be the first to focus products toward seniors is open right now. The other opportunities presented above also are available now but may not be in the future ? Doesn’t address the problem and risk of having only one major income-producing product ? Google has the financial resources and ability to obtain further resources if necessary; there are no critical reasons not to grow ? Is only a short-term fix and may cause growth to be put off too long C. Retrenchment Strategies – Google, at this time, has no reason to retrench and should therefore stay away from adopting a retrenchment strategy. It is in good financial condition, its products are still desirable, and it has little to no chance of failing in the short term. D. Adopted strategy – Concentric diversification into mobile applications (Google Architect), music search services (Google Music), and products focused on older internet users (Google Golden Life), combined with investment in maintaining the superiority of the search engine. ? Rationale – both diversifying into mobile applications and products focused on older users deals with seizing opportunities by using organizational strengths (R&D, financial resources ,etc). Both areas represent growing markets and several opportunities to fill emerging or existing needs. Older users are the largest growing segment of internet users and mobile users are expected almost triple in the next five years to finally make up almost half of all internet users. Both allow focused advertising based on known customer needs and interests (the type of application utilized points out the interest – i. e. a customer uses an app to learn a new guitar chord; obviously the user has an interest in the guitar. Also, advertising can be focused on the users of the open forum. Both hardware and software tech companies can advertise on the forum. Elderly people have several universal needs and likely popular interests) and the use of the existing business model. By developing Google Music, Google will further strengthen their best product – the search engine – as well as utilize their distinctive competencies in search engine creation. This strategy diversifies the risk of having one profitable product, which eliminates a major organizational weakness, and is financially feasible given existing resources. The strategy doesn’t face a major threat of being derailed due to organizational weaknesses and outside threats don’t directly threaten the diversification efforts. Google would face virtually no competition by entering the market to deliver online products and services to older users and has the rare opportunity to obtain first mover advantage on a large scale (there are numerous elderly people in the world). Diversifying into these areas has a higher probability of success and is less risky than entering the social networking and downloading markets. Neither of these two areas of diversification would require major shifts in technological knowledge and would utilize the intellectual capital present in Google’s existing staff. This strategy does require an allocation of financial resources toward maintaining the superiority of the search engine because Google must rely on it for success in the short term and will aid in Google’s success over the long term. It represents their distinctive competencies and must be protected at all costs. Adding capital and effort to improving the search engine would not be mutually exclusive with the diversification strategy since Google possesses a large cash balance and a low debt ratio. Given Google’s situation, both parts – the concentric diversification and the concentration on the search engine should be focused on simultaneously. ? This corporate strategy requires a business level strategy of differentiation and functional level strategies of technology pioneer/leader in R&D and a product development strategy within Marketing E. Implementation 1. Product One (Google Golden Life -search engine designed for seniors markets. New search engine has an option for adjusting the size of the font used on the search pages based on the capabilities of the user’s vision and allows seniors to type in a question instead of just key words. In addition, it will contain a function that completes words for the typist if he or she so chooses (like an internet browser address box does) ? Product R&D should be allocated 2% of 2004 sales revenues for two years ($63,784,460/year) ? Organizational members must be chosen to head the new program and participate on R&D teams ? Required new activities must be evaluated for conflict with existing operating activities. ? At least two deadlines must be given to the teams: the first, a working beta version of the product must be created by the end of the project’s first year of existence. Second, a final product that is ready for use on the internet must be in place at the end of a year and a half. After the beta version is released, a team should be given a $1 million budget to obtain and forward on suggestions provided by older users on how to fit the program to their needs. Duration of team: 1 year. ? ROI after year two must be 6% or more and must be at least 10% by the end of year 5 ? Market share (of the existing older internet users) must be 5% at the end of year two and 20% or over after year 5 ? An updated version must be made available by the end of year two ? A flexible budget must be created for year o ne and year two. Pro forma income statements and balance sheets should be created for at least year two and five ? New product must make up at least 2% of total revenues by year two and at least 5% by the end of year five. ? Access to intranet databases must be given to staff working on both diversification products so that a. The wheel isn’t reinvented and, b. Learning can be transferred throughout the organization if relevant pieces of information are discovered during the creation of the new products ? Product must be available in at least three languages by the end of year 2 and 15 languages by the end of year 5 ? Economic value added should be positive at the end of year three 2. Product 2 (Google Architect – open source network for the development of applications for mobile devices) ? Product R&D should be allocated 1% of 2004 sales revenues for 2 years ($31,892,230/yr) ? Organizational members must be chosen to head the new program and participate on R&D teams ? Required new activities must be evaluated for conflict with existing operating activities. At least two deadlines must be given to the teams: the first, a working beta version of the product must be created by the end of the project’s first year of existence. Second, a complete product must be in place at the end of a year and a half ? ROI after year two must be 7% or more and must be at least 10% by the end of year 5 ? A flexible budget must be created for year one and year two. Pro forma income statement s and balance sheets should be created for at least year two and five ? New product must make up at least 3% of total revenues by year two and at least 6% by the end of year five. Access to intranet databases must be given to staff working on both diversification products so that cross pollination of ideas between projects can occur ? Product must be available in at least five languages by the end of year 2 and 20 languages by the end of year 5 ? After the beta version is released, a team should be given a $1 million budget to obtain and forward on suggestions provided by older users on how to fit the program to their needs. Duration of team: 1 year. ? Economic value added should be positive after year three 3. Product 3 (Google Music – The search system would allow a user to enter in any part of a song, a band name, a song name, or a CD name and the search will provide results that include not only what the searcher is specifically looking for, but also links to the band’s website, links to listening to or downloading a particular song or multiple songs from the artist, and links to other related sites (i. e. sites that offer guitar tablature for the artist or song mentioned in the search) ? Product R&D should be allocated 1% of 2004 sales revenues for 2 years ($31,892,230/yr) ? Organizational members must be chosen to head the new program and participate on R&D teams ? Required new activities must be evaluated for conflict with existing operating activities. ? At least two deadlines must be given to the teams: the first, a working beta version of the product must be created by the end of the project’s first year of existence. Second, a complete product must be in place at the end of a year and a half ? ROI after year two must be 7% or more and must be at least 10% by the end of year 5 ? A flexible budget must be created for year one and year two. Pro forma income statements and balance sheets should be created for at least year two and five ? New product must make up at least 1% of total revenues by year two and at least 2% by the end of year five. ? Access to intranet databases must be given to staff working on both diversification products so that cross pollination of ideas between projects can occur ? Product must be available in at least five languages by the end of year two and ten languages by the end of year five ? Economic value added should be positive after the year following the release date VI. Evaluation and Control A. Product 1 (Google Golden Life) ? Management should ensure a beta version is complete by the end of year one and a complete version is ready to be released on the internet by one and a half years ? Dupont Return on Investment (ROI) calculation (net profit margin x total asset turnover) should be used to verify whether or not ROI in year two meets or exceeds 6% in year two and 10% in year five. Management should audit the expenditures of the customer satisfaction team quarterly to determine if the team in charge of obtaining feedback by customers is staying within the budget and whether the budgeted amount of $1 million is adequate ? Management should determine whether or not market share (of the existing older internet users) is 5% at the end of year two and 20% or over after year 5 ? Management should ensure that a new version is available at the end of year two ? Management should evaluate product to verify whether or not it is earning 2% of revenues at the end of year two and 5% of revenues after year five. ? Product should be evaluated at the end of year two to ensure it has been translated into at least three languages and 15 or more languages after year five is complete ? Success of site should also be determined by whether or not it gets at least 10 million hits per month (eyeballs) after year two and 40 million hits per month by the end of year five ? Economic Value Added (EVA) should be positive at the end of year three B. Product 2 – Google architect ? Management should check to make sure that deadlines have been reached concerning the beta version of the product after year one and the first, complete version is completed by one and a half years after the start of the project ? Dupont Return on Investment (ROI) calculation (net profit

What does it mean to be German

German, because they feel guilty for the history Of Germany and do not want do be classified as a national socialist, but they should dare to say that, because the time changed and Germany became one of the worlds most important and known countries and not known for fascistic ideologies or cruelties, but rather for their economy or their politic, not to forget they many different cultural aspects. Let me begin with a general definition of what it means to be German. I think nearly everybody would agree to the fact, that a person who owns theGerman nationality and lives inside the boundaries of Germany is a German in general, but obviously this is just a rough description of a German citizen. In my opinion every person has to define his or her own definition of what does it mean for him or her to be German, but I will start to create my own one. Many various significant German personalities reached a high prestige in certain sections of Germany's culture. To name some of these, I can name Albrecht Dourer as one of the greatest painters of Germans history, or the great literati Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Frederica Schaller.Even if you should not adorn yourself with borrowed plumes you can be at least proud for these persons who were Germans. Politics and culture influenced the identity of the Germans and their sense of human being, but that does not mean that every person is defined by the times actual standing of these factors. The question for me is what makes me personally proud to be a German citizen? Is it the German language? No question, that German is one of the hardest languages on the earth and this makes me proud to speak this language fluently, but it is not my favorite one in point of the sound. Usage like Greek, English, or Italian are my favorite ones in this point of criticism. Is it the kind of governmental system which makes me proud to life here? For sure democracy is the kind of governmental system, many various countries aspiring for and that why this is one Of my mature reasons am proud to live here. Other countries have to contend with cruel dictatorships or prevalent health diseases, but Germany does not have these problems, which makes me proud as well. Is it the culture which makes me feel proud to life in Germany?The capacity of great prestigious German prominences is nearly unlimited. From Conrad Deadener to Conrad Use, every political, cultural or scientifically section was enriched by important German personalities. These idols make me feel a kind of patriotic. However the main actual reason I am glad to live here is the status of Germany in the eyes of the other countries of the world. Many countries actually orientating their selves towards the federal republic of Germany, which makes me love my country even more. Nevertheless Germany is not perfect.I am not talking about satirical facts, because many people had done this before, but actual problems like the debts of the state are not the most worthwhile fact I can be glad of my home country. On the other hand these debts are not the biggest in comparison to other countries, but in fact that debts are not worthwhile in general this is a negative fact against Germany. To come to a very important point, which should not be forgotten is that Germany is actually one of the most peacefully countries on the earth. Considering to this, Germany made a big development since 1 940, which make me look in the future expectantly.

Math Enquiries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Math Enquiries - Essay Example This essay will therefore evaluate various mathematical functions involving numbers, measurements as well as how math has developed overtime to get to what it is today. Just like humanity, mathematics is quite old and is said to have originated in Egypt and Greece as simple to the complex one we have today. In the historical times, mathematics encompassed arithmetic, geometry and algebra, making it get known as a science of quantity; while others referring it to as science of simplicity (Rouseball, 2010). Several developments in the field however got realized in the 19th century where mathematics spread its wings to an extent of being regarded as a science of inferences and relations to the fact that it now consisted of logic that was symbolic (Lavine, 1994). To date, mathematics as a discipline now covers a wide range of areas including numbers, geometry, algebra, calculus, set theory and mathematical logic, as well as statistics and probability that are known to be more applied aspects of the discipline. Mathematics also covers other areas like graph theory, differential geometry, topology, model theory, among many others. When it comes to number bases, we have two types; the binary and hexadecimal systems. As for the case of binary number bases, what is contained here is the ones and zeros and zero through nine for the hexadecimal system. In the base ten system, the ten stands for 1 and 0, and not a single numeral 10. In this case therefore, for one to count one more than nine, the ones column is zeroed out ant the tens column added 1 onto. If the tens column gets too big, both the ones and tens column are zeroed out and add one to the ten times ten (Stapel, 2014). Another thing worth noting is that any number raised to power 0 is 1. For instance, in conversion of base 2 numbers to their corresponding base 10, all you need are digits of the

Econmics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econmics - Essay Example These days the term often makes us bring to mind Keynesian economics or shamanic bear rituals. However these animal spirits were neither of them animals nor spirits. Exactly how ought to we process them? In English, the term ‘spirit’ refers to something from the Holy Ghost to gin. In reality, this kind of ambiguity is present all through the romance languages, deriving from the Roman spiritus animales. With similar root as inhale and run out (spiro which means ‘I breathe’) spiritus primarily means breath, after that breath of existence, hence also disposition, determination, and even ghost. In a similar fashion, the meanings of anima vary from inhale to essential theory and sensible soul. (Mlambiti, 2006, p. 82) Our animal spirits may be much better translated, then as life-carrying liquids or essential liquids. John Locke pictured all of them as â€Å"fluid and subtle Matter, transferring through the Conduits of the Nerves†. These were assumed to transfer data between sense organs, mind and muscle tissues. In accordance with George A. Arkerlof and Robert J. Shiller (2009), Keynes looked at the animal spirits as the primary reason for exactly why the economic system varies as it does and those animal spirits can be the primary factor for the involuntary joblessness. To fully grasp the economy thus is to have an understanding of how it is related to the animal spirits. In the same way, Adam Smith’s unseen hand is the keynote of the traditional economics, Keynes’ Animal Spirits are the keynote to a completely different perspective of the financial system – a perspective that describes the root instabilities of capitalism and also the various rates of financial growth within and between countries in the world. (Keynes, 1921, p. 333) As per Arkerlof and Shiller (2009), there are actually five distinct facets of animal spirits theory which have an effect on economic judgments. These are generally assurance, fairness, corruption and

Admission eassy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Admission eassy - Essay Example My vision is to provide accurate and professional work to clients. Additionally, I hope to be an internationally recognized professional and gain autonomy through offering high quality professional work that commands respect and trustworthy. Moreover, I also seek to provide both short-term and long-term solutions to my clients. Since I am an accounting major, I have great inspiration on receiving a Master’s degree in the same field. Moreover, I will be getting the skills in management and control. This has made me realize that I can do so much more with the accounting knowledge that I have within my folds. It has made me feel equipped, confident, and secure in the knowledge that the already acquired pool of knowledge in diverse fields will be put to use. My future is secured if I gain the much-needed Master’s within my folds. For my short-term plans, I wish to take the CPA exams so that my future work manifestations facilitate the experience that I have gained thus far. This will put me in a better stead than where I am at presently. It will make sure that I am in top of my educational and professional levels, which I have always thought for my own self. The most basic purpose of gaining the Master’s degree would be to let me know that I am at par with what I have planned for myself and how I need to equip myself to handle the challenges of the overwhelmingly increasing challenges and demands of modern professional field. It will make sure that I am able to merge both my experience and knowledge to good purpose because it is a much-needed proposition at the end of the day. My father has an accounting firm and a furniture store to manage. I wish to join him in the near future and be instrumental in pushing the family business to greater heights. One of my long- term plans is to be the CEO of our family business as I also endeavor, as I said before, to provide accounting and financing consulting services. I

Reflective writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Reflective writing - Essay Example As described by Belbin (1993, p. 152) â€Å"a team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them†. In the light of this description, I assumed the role of a â€Å"team worker†. This was because I thought of myself as a shy person as I do not find myself confident enough among those I do not know. It may be because of the lack of trust in my skills and abilities; I am full of brilliant ideas but I lack the confidence to express them and have lost many good opportunities in life due to my apparently shy nature. Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst, has termed people like me as â€Å"introverts† who spend most of their time alone or in the company of one or two friends (Osher 1998). I have only one close friend and I really feel comfortable in his company. Another thi ng I do not like about myself is the inability to make decisions. When it came to working in a team in the final year of PASBD, I gladly took the role of a â€Å"team worker†. ... In the first group meeting, I was overwhelmed by the confident faces around me. My only friend was not in the group and that really made me feel isolated. My confidence sank all time low and I did not participate in the discussions. In fact, I could not answer the questions directed towards me coherently. In my group, discussions were common and it was mandatory for every member to participate. Clashes of opinions were also frequent in the group and a final decision regarding tasks was reached after many loud arguments. I did not like both; however, both these factors proved to be a useful learning tool for me. The mandatory discussions meant that I had to voice my opinion while the clashes of opinions gave me confidence to speak out loud to make a point. While discussing group dynamics, Melucci (2004) shared the concept of conformity that fits well to my situation. Melucci (2004, p. 249) stated that â€Å"conformity is the maintenance or the alteration of one’s behavior to m atch the behavior and expectations of others†. I was actually trying to conform with the group expectations where every next member is eager to share and contribute. During this process of conforming to the group expectations, I found that my team members actually liked my ideas. This gave me confidence to speak in front of people. I realized that I had a lot of potential but was also terribly under confident. I started thinking why it was so. One thing that I had learnt from this experience (working in a group) was that I was not shy. This was because I was not tongue tied or my legs did not shake when I spoke in public. My lack of participation was because of my fear of being rejected and being ridiculed. As described by Freud, the human

Corporate Finance Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Finance - Case Study Example The company's other division, ALSO, provides 'information and communications technology and consumer electronics in the wholesale and logistics sectors (Google Finance 2009).' Schindler operates in 125 countries, with its 45,063 employees around the world, while most of its ALSO operations cater to European customers (Yahoo Finance). A firm's liquidity is measured by certain financial ratios which include the current ratio, quick ratio, and average collection period. Schindler Holding's current ratio is 1.45 in 2004, 1.3 in 2005, 1.31 in 2006, 1.29 in 2007, and 1.33 in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). The company's quick ratio is 1.06 in 2004, 0.92 in 2005, 0.87 in 2006, 0.84 in 2007, and 0.95 in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). As for the company's average collection period, the company collects its accounts receivable in 53.81 days in 2004, 58.29 days in 2005, 59.73 days in 2006, 52.13 days in 2007 and 47.45 days in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). Exhibit 1 in the Appendices shows the trend of Schindler Holding's current ratio and quick ratio. The company's current ratio has declined from 2004 to 2005, increased from 2005 to 2006 then declined again to 2007. From 2007 to 2008, this ratio is increasing. The company's quick ratio on the other hand has faced a constant decline from 2004 up to 2007. In 2008, the company's quick ratio has increased from 2007. The difference in the trend between the two ratios tells one thing-while the company has increased its current assets in 2006, the increase is mainly attributed to assets aside from cash, short-term marketable securities and accounts receivable. Exhibit 3 in the Appendices shows an lengthening collection period from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2008, however, the trend goes downward. This means the company has cut down on its collection period. The shorter the collection period, the shorter the operating cycle is and cash comes back to the company from its operations more quickly. ii. Operating efficiency The company's operating efficiency is measured by ratios such as the company's inventory turnover, fixed asset turnover, and total asset turnover. Schindler Holding's inventory turnover in 2004 is 22.53 times, 21 times in 2005, 17,87 times in 2006, 16.13 times in 2007, and 18.71 times in 2008 (see Table 1 in Appendices). Exhibit 2 shows the trend for this ratio; from 2004 up to 2007, Schindler Holding's inventory turnover ratio is in a downward trend before it goes up in 2008. Since inventory turnover ratio determines how fast a company disposes inventories and turn into cost of goods sold to the company. The company has become less efficient in converting its inventories into sales from 2004 to 2007, until it has improved its efficiency in 2008. The company's fixed asset turnover ratio measures how hard the company's fixed assets are employed in terms of contributing to the company's revenues. In 2004, this figure amounts to 15.42 times, 20.34 times in 2005, 22.97 in 2006, 27.29 times in 2007 and 28.83 times in 2008 (see Table 1 in the Appendices). This ratio has an upward trend from 2004 to 2008 (Exhibit 2), which means the company increases the efficiency of its fixed assets, in relation to revenue generation. The company's total asset turno

Analysis of Medical Malpractice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Analysis of Medical Malpractice - Case Study Example Mr. Smith signed a consent form but only agreed to the operation because Mrs. Smith had privately threatened to divorce him if he did not. ?As a result of the operation (which was competently performed), Mr. Smith’s tear drainage improved, but he suffered a side effect of poor night vision. The risk of night vision problems was 2 percent, but many doctors consider it a minor problem as it has a limited adverse effect (due to the fact that people are usually asleep at ? night) and the operation is highly effective at improving tear drainage. Mr. Smith is a taxi driver and insists that he would not have had the operation had he known the risk. He is no longer able to work at night and has suffered a loss of income. ?In July, Mr. Smith visited Dr. Zeus, his GP, complaining that his left eye was still sore. Dr. Zeus suspected cancer of the eyelid. The computers were down so Dr. Zeus wrote a note to his receptionist asking him to request a referral to a specialist for Mr. Smith, bu t the note got lost. As a result, the referral was delayed by 4 weeks. ?In August, Mr. Smith was seen by Dr. Foster who diagnosed an aggressive malignant eyelid cancer (which was unrelated to Mr. Smith’s previous tear drainage problem). Expert evidence is that symptoms of the eyelid cancer would have been visible to a reasonably competent ophthalmologist when the tear drainage surgery was performed. ...Here, within different realms of medical malpractice, each aspect of the case will be discussed. Mr. Smith—who seeks financial compensation and complains about his treatment—will be advised to point out all of the following elements to the General Medical Council. II. Negligence Basically, there are four components or criteria of negligence which must be met in order to establish that a patient has a case for medical malpractice (or any kind of tort) (Donoghue v. Stevenson, 2011, pp. 1). Donoghue v. Stevenson was a classic case in the sense that the plaintiff had found snails in her bottled beverage, and claimed that the company owed her damages due to negligence. In a similar manner, Mr. Smith has every right to be upset with not only Dr. Foster, but Mrs. Smith, Dr. Zeus, and Dr. Zeus’s obviously incompetent staff. First of all, Dr. Foster should have mentioned that there was a 2 percent chance that his night vision might be affected. Failure to alert him to this fact is definitely negligent on his part. In addition, Mrs. Smith, his wife, is not only involving herself in the criminal behavior of blackmailing her husband to have the surgery or else divorce him—but she is also criminally liable as a tortfeasor (a person who commits a tort) because she was a consultant ophthalmologist overseeing the surgery superior to Dr. Foster, and she did not report the fact that she saw cancer on her husband’s eyelid.

Formation and Evolution Essay Example for Free

Formation and Evolution Essay A black hole is a theoretical region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even electromagnetic radiation (e. g. visible light), can escape its pull after having fallen past its event horizon. Black holes are objects so dense that not even light can escape their gravity, and since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape from inside a black hole. On the other hand, a black hole exerts the same force on something far away from it as any other object of the same mass would. For example, if our Sun was magically crushed until it was about 1 mile in size, it would become a black hole, but the Earth would remain in its same orbit. Even back in Isaac Newtons time, scientists speculated that such objects could exist, even though we now know they are more accurately described using Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Using this theory, black holes are fascinating objects where space and time become so warped that time practically stops in the vicinity of a black hole. The former types have measured masses ranging from 4 to 15 Suns, and are believed to be formed during supernova explosions. The after-effects are observed in some X-ray binaries known as black hole candidates. On the other hand, galaxy-mass black holes are found in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These are thought to have the mass of about 10 to 100 billion Suns. The mass of one of these super massive black holes has recently been measured using radio astronomy. X-ray observations of iron in the accretion disks may actually be showing the effects of such a massive black hole as well. Formation and Evolution The primary formation process for black holes is expected to be the gravitational collapse of heavy objects such as stars, but there are also more exotic processes that can lead to the production of black holes. Gravitational collapse occurs when an objects internal pressure is insufficient to resist the objects own gravity. For stars this usually occurs either because a star has too little fuel left to maintain its temperature, or because a star which would have been stable receives a lot of extra matter in a way which does not raise its core temperature. In either case the stars temperature is no longer high enough to prevent it from collapsing under its own weight. The result is one of the various types of compact star. Which type of compact star is formed depends on the mass of the remnant the matter left over after changes triggered by the collapse (such as supernova or pulsations leading to a planetary nebula) have blown away the outer layers. If the mass of the remnant exceeds ~3-4 solar masses (the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit)—either because the original star was very heavy or because the remnant collected additional mass through accretion of matter)—even the degeneracy pressure of neutrons is insufficient to stop the collapse. After this no known mechanism (except maybe the quark degeneracy pressure, see quark star) is powerful enough to stop the collapse and the object will inevitably collapse to a black hole. This gravitational collapse of heavy stars is assumed to be responsible for the formation of most (if not all) stellar mass black holes. Once a black hole has formed, it can continue to grow by absorbing additional matter. Any black hole will continually absorb interstellar dust from its direct surroundings and omnipresent cosmic background radiation, but neither of these processes should significantly affect the mass of a stellar black hole. Properties of Black Holes According to the No Hair theorem a black hole has only three independent physical properties: mass, charge and angular momentum. Any two black holes that share the same values for these properties are indistinguishable. This contrasts with other astrophysical objects such as stars, which have very many—possibly infinitely many—parameters. Consequently, a great deal of information is lost when a star collapses to form a black hole. Since in most physical theories information is preserved (in some sense), this loss of information in black holes is puzzling. Black Hole Types The simplest possible black hole is one that has mass but neither charge nor angular momentum. These black holes are often referred to as Schwarzschild black holes after the physicist Karl Schwarzschild who discovered this solution in 1915. It was the first (non-trivial) exact solution to the Einstein equations to be discovered, and according to Birkhoffs theorem, the only vacuum solution that is spherically symmetric. The Reissner-Nordstrom solution describes a black hole with electric charge, while the Kerr solution yields a rotating black hole. The most general known stationary black hole solution is the Kerr-Newman metric having both charge and angular momentum. Sizes Black holes occurring in nature are commonly classified according to their mass, independent of angular momentum J. The size of a black hole, as determined by the radius of the event horizon, or Schwarzschild radius, is proportional to the mass through where is the Schwarzschild radius and is the mass of the Sun. Thus, size and mass have a simple relationship, which is independent of rotation. According to this mass/size criterion then, black holes are commonly classified as Super massive black holes, Intermediate-mass black holes, Stellar-mass black holes, Micro black holes Conclusion There is very good evidence from astronomical observations that the universe is full of black holes with sizes ranging from six to a billion solar masses in size. Black hole accretion power is responsible for some of the most spectacular phenomena in the universe. These phenomena are NOT well understood, however, largely because of the complexity of the physics of the central accretion flow. There is little doubt, though, that black holes exist at the heart of active galactic nuclei, quasars, and certain X-ray binaries. Accretion power is an important contributor to the overall evolution and ecology of the universe. Electromagnetic observations are currently probing the innermost parts of accretion flows, and revealing interesting effects of the relativistic space-time assuming our models of the flows are not WAY wrong. How can one prove the existence of black holes, short of a suicidal leap across an event horizon? Detection of gravitational waves ripples in the fabric of space-time itself, is perhaps the only way. Currently astronomers view black holes if they are lit up electromagnetically a very biased view! Black holes which are lit up gravitationally may offer a very differently biased view. Works cited Kraus, Ute. Step by Step into a Black Hole. (2005-03-20) Remillard, Ronald A. ; McClintock, X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. (2006) 44: 49–92. Celotti, A. ; Miller, J. C. ; Sciama, D. W. , Astrophysical evidence for the existence of black holes, (1999) Class. Quant. Grav. 16. Hawking, S. W. ; Penrose, R. , The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology, (1970) Proc. Roy. Soc. Lon 314 (1519): 529–548 Schwarzschild, Karl , Uber das Gravitationsfeld eines Kugel aus inkompressibler Flussigkeit nach der Einsteinschen Theorie(1916), Sitzungsber. Preuss. Akad. D. Wiss. : 424–434.

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay We live, as I hope you know, Mr Worthing, in an age of ideals what are these ideals in the context of the play in Act One, and how does Wilde present them to the audience?  In The Importance of Being Earnest, ideals are a dominant theme, and to that end are critical in determining the actions of the characters. Wilde is typically subtle in his presentation of these ideals, and consequently many of them come to be used as a means for satirising the society depicted. It is important to establish from the outset that Wildes presentation of ideals utilizes the different characters as bastions for the various ideals, and in doing that subjects them to scrutiny when ridiculing their respective characterizations. One of the most important ideals presented is fittingly one of the first to become apparent; that being the division of the classes and the social status that they entail. On line 1 of the play, Algernon asks Lane, after playing the piano in the adjoining room: Did you hear what I was playing. Lane? Lanes response: I didnt think it polite to listen, sir is indicative of various aspects of his position. Firstly, his butlership requires that he should abstain from partaking in any activity considered to be distracting to his duties, of which listening to the piano would be one. Secondly, his position in society, that of one of the lower classes, demands utter obsequiousness, hence any comment on Algernons playing would be risky in case it appeared to be unflattering. The ideal of social standing being absolute is immediately challenged by Wilde, as it is quite preposterous that Lane should think it not polite to listen, a distinctly ironic and seditious undertone is palpable. In this instance, Algernon represents the foppish dandy without a brain, whereas Lanes quiet obedience, representative of the downtrodden worker, whilst not perhaps admirable is at least sensible. Thus, Wilde establishes certain connections between the tenets of proper society, and its greatest protagonists, and hence weakens the establishment. The fact that this is done through the means of an implicitly comic exchange helps to alleviate any graveness associated with the matter. Connected to the ideal of status and society is the position of women, which is also a prevalent theme in Act 1. During the Victorian Age and before, it was considered proper practice that woman have an inferior position in society to men. This was effected by their disenfranchisement and their inability to ascend to high positions, whether it is in society or in the work place. It is therefore a shock to the system when Gwendolen challenges Jacks natural authority when speaking to him about their marriage. Whereas he is vacillating and circuitous in what he says: I do mean something else Personally, darling, to speak quite candidly, Gwendolen is forceful and direct: I thought so. In fact, I am never wrong I would certainly advise you to do so. By being so controlling, Gwendolen reverses the accepted patriarchy, and in doing so challenges the ideal. In this case in point, Wilde is quite prepared to dispose of any comic vignettes in order to make a point; instead the dialogue itself provides ample means for dismissing the given principle that women should be subordinate. The character of Lady Bracknell is another example of a dominating woman; a slightly more matronly persona gives some precedence for such commands as: Mr Worthing! Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent posture however her assumption of authority is still contradictory to the established social norms. Her verbose and eloquent manner of speaking is also out of the ordinary, as it challenges the demure image normally associated with women. Lady Bracknell challenges the patriarchal society in a more forceful and deliberate way than does Gwendolen, as seen from her interviewing Jack: You can take a seat, Mr Worthing. Although this matronly caricature is somewhat trite by todays standards, at the time of writing it would have served to provide an original attack on the males dominance of the running of society.

The Brief History and Background of Petronas

The Brief History and Background of Petronas Petronas is an acronym for Petroliam Nasional Berhad. It was established in 17 August 1974 as the national oil company for Malaysia. Petronas which is wholly owned by the government it is the corporation which is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources. Petronas has grown from just being the manager or the regulator of Malaysias upstream sector into a fully integrated oil and gas production. PETRONAS have been ranked among the FORTUNE Global 500 ® the largest corporations in the world. Since it was invested PETRONAS has grown to be an international oil and gas company with business interests in 31 countries. As of the end of March 2005, the Petronas Group comprised 103 wholly-owned subsidiaries, 19 partly-owned outfits and 57 associated companies. Together, these companies make the Petronas Group, which is involved in various oil and gas based activities. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading, gas processing and liquefaction, gas transmission pipeline network operations, marketing of liquefied natural gas, petrochemical manufacturing and marketing, shipping, automotive engineering and property investment. PETRONAS is doing its business with the major strategy of integration, adding value and globalization. Their major facets of business integration are Exploration and Production; Oil, Gas, Petrochemicals, Logistics and Maritime, Research and Technology and Corporate Sustainability. The market structure of PETRONAS in this context means how PETRONAS fit into the oligopoly market. I will be discussing the characteristics of an oligopoly market and see how PETRONAS match the characteristics. Just to recap oligopoly is the market structure thats has few producers that produce same type of goods and substitute with each other. Examples of oligopoly are Oil industry which I believe PETRONAS fall under this industry, car industry and cigarette industry. The market is dominated by a few large producers of a homogenous or differentiated product. CHARACTERISTICS OF OLIGOPOLY PETRONAS Type of the product is standardized or differentiated Control over price is limited by mutual interdependence, or it is considerable with collusion Conditions of entry has significant obstacles Non-price competition is typically a great deal with product differentiation. The table above clearly shows that indeed PETRONAS fit into the oligopoly market structure as it fulfils most of the oligopoly characteristics. THE MAJOR PLAYERS OF PETRONAS Petroliam Nasional Berhad  (PETRONAS) is 100% owned by Government of Malaysia via Minister of Finance (Inc.). THE CURRENT TRENDS OF PETRONAS Petronas have gained unique skill and proficiency in nation building and this, together with their technical and operational competencies have allowed it to be increasingly accepted as the preferred strategic partner by international companies and the congregation countries where Petronas operate. This really suggests that Petronas is realizing their vision of becoming a Leading Oil and Gas Multinational of Choice. Petronas has transformed from a domestic-based national oil company into a fully integrated oil and gas multinational corporation and as a corporation it has experienced significant milestones. Below are just some of the highlights of the different years. Year Achievements 2006 Signed a joint concession agreement for the North Sidi Kirir Deep offshore exploration block in the Nile Delta, Egypt. 2007 Increased its equity holding in the APA Group to become the single largest shareholder in one of Australias biggest energy transmission and Distribution Company. 2008 Signed the main principles towards a new PSC with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd that would allow the two PSC partners to continue their upstream participation in seven oil fields offshore Peninsular Malaysia. 2009 PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad marked its first biodiesel (B5) delivery to Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), an initiative in support of the Malaysian Biofuel Industry Act 2007. PETRONAS Australia Pty Ltd increased its equity holding to 17.23% in the APA Group, making it the single largest shareholder in Australias leading gas transmission and Distribution Company. (Table 1: achievements of Petronas between 2006 and 2009, source: www.petronas.com ) What can be concluded from the above table is that PETRONAS is going places; its market is growing tremendously and there is no doubt that it is not shrinking. PETRONAS have expanded its market to over 30 countries around the world. It has been accepted as the strategic partners by those countries that they are developing their petroleum industry. HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY AFFECT PETRONAS Today we live in a world that is controlled by technology. Almost everything that is done there should be technology included in the process. Petronas as well is significantly being affected by the technological changes that are currently happening worldwide. Looking upon the globalization practices that PETRONAS are currently undertaking, technology is affecting this whole process of the organization. When Petronas is producing using technology, production will be more efficient and that will result in supply being increased. That means due to the advance in technology the supply curve for PETRONAS will increase. Price P 2 P 1 Q 2 Q1 Quantity supplied Diagram 1: how technological changes affect the supply of Petronas However, technology is not the only factor of production existing in the producers plant. There exist more complex interrelationships between these factors to be able to exploit the improved efficiency of one. The most crucial of all is governing human resources. Without proper guidance from the leaders of a firm, production efficiency will not hold because of resistance, de-motivation or just a plain technological ignorance. Technology is not 100% automated and human intervention as well as errors is inevitable. Moreover, technology may also be intended for a specific segment of the industry, say, large corporations. As such, aggregate supply may not necessarily increase because small entrepreneurs who cannot afford to buy the technology cannot contribute in increasing supply. PETRONAS ADVERTISING STRATERGIES PETRONAS just like any company it needs to draw its business to its potential customers so as such there are certain advertising ways that they use to reach out to its customers and the country as a whole. The advertising strategy that PETRONAS has used is a heart strings commercials, (which of course is advertising using the television as the type of media), this means that PETRONAS has used commercials that often create an emotional ambience that draws you to the advertisement and makes you feel great and or so sad. Normally people are more attracted by products that make them feel good or even sad in some cases. PETRONAS has used one of its commercial the PETRONAS Advertisement: Raya 2006 that has touched so many and the video was uploaded on you tube. Even people who watch a lot of PETRONAS advertisements have said that they enjoy watching them and they are always eager for the new advertisements. Petronas also make commercials for every festival that are always happening in Mala ysia example could be of the 49th  Merdeka  Day. The other way that PETRONAS use to advertise is through billboards and newspapers. For billboards as you drive along the road you will find huge boards advertising PETRONAS and by such somebody can come to know about PETRONAS through this way. COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER MARKETS Petronas is collaborating with some markets and this makes PETRONAS more popular among other markets that they are interacting with. EDUCATION PETRONAS recognize the value of education and it believes that it can develop human capability through education. As such Petronas is collaborating with the education sector in the form of awarding sponsorship loans to local and international students. The Petronas unit that is responsible for handling education matters is called the Education Sponsorship Unit. The sponsorship is in the form of convertible loan. Based on the academic results, co-curricular activities, the family back ground and the assessment of the students personality PETRONAS just dont give out sponsorship but it has criteria that students should meet. PETRONAS has 6 human and capital development programs in Malaysia and abroad. These programs are Educational Training Institutions: In this program Petronas provide world-class educational and training services to people and the nation through the various institutions they have established such as University Technology PETRONAS (UTP), Academy Laut Malaysia, (ALAM )PETRONAS Management Sdn Bhd (PERMATA) and Institute Technology Petroleum PETRONAS (INSTEP). Education Sponsorship Unit: This is the unit that is responsible for handling education matters. PETRONAS e-learning: control the latest information and communication technology (ICT) to provide online training and development programs for Petronas employees. It also offers a wide range of online learning materials, online courses as well as services including eLearning courseware and portal development, designed for professionals. Petrosains: This interactive Science Discovery Centre that encourages the Malaysian public to learn more about science, and explore the infinite possibilities it offers. Schools Outreach: this is a program where PETRONAS outreach for certain schools and invests a considerable effort and resources into education-based outreach activities to inspire and develop the community. Industrial Training: this is the program in which PETRONAS grant students opportunities to partake structured Industrial training. Students that have awarded the sponsorship after they finish their tertiary studies have their convertible loans converted into full scholarship. These students have a binding contract with Petronas that after they finish school they work for the company for two years and for every year they are sponsored. MOTORSPORT Petronas was one of the main sponsors of the BMW Sauber formula one team and it provides fuel and lubricant to the team. Lately last year it was confirmed that it was moving from BMW to the newly-formed Mercedes Grand Prix. Also it is the main sponsor of the Malaysian Grand Prix and the co-sponsors of the Chinese Grand Prix. As part of its corporate social responsibility program, Petronas also brings underprivileged children to watch the race. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION PETRONAS is a company which falls under the oligopoly type of market structures. Wholly owned by the government, PETRONAS is the countrys one of the company that provide petroleum and gas for the country. PETRONAS from its previous years it has been growing nationwide and worldwide as it has some of its products being used in other countries even outside Asia and as far as Egypt in Africa. It is making a whole lot of profits from its products and as such the country benefits a lot from it. PETRONAS does not only care for the production of petroleum and gas but also collaborate with other markets such as education and provide sponsorship loans to those students which need them. PETRONAS also have established various institutions as their main aim is to enrich the nation with quality education. PETRONAS also participate in somehow entertainment market as it is one of the main sponsors of the newly-formed Mercedes Grand Prix and also main sponsor of the Malaysian Grand Prix. RECOMMENDATIONS As PETRONAS is wholly owned by the government and it has been the company that the government has been focusing on, I recommend that it merge with other energy company which is Tenaga Nasional Berhad. If the government for the next decade focuses on Biomass, PETRONAS should merge with companies such as Sime Derby which was recognized as the biomass champion, as I believe this effort coupled with reengineering technology, will reap a sustainable company that will have a good impact for both energy and food sector in Malaysia.