Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 59

Essay Example Economics considers resource availability, such as land and capital as well as factors of production. An economic model serves as an analysis of financial considerations. Economic models are theoretical constructs using charts, graphs, or other mathematical analysis tools to better understand how to make financial, business, or investment decisions. Such models consider many different variables, such as consumption and consumer incomes, to assist businesses in forecasting production or pricing their products; as one example. Government uses economic models to plan logistics or even create economic policy (or monetary policy) based on observable trends in the economy or environment. It can include accounting modeling to measure credits or debits in industry, or even scenario planning to guide executive decision-making related to finance and capital investment. Microeconomics involves the study of economics as it pertains to the individual. It involves studying firm finance and resources, individual consumer finance and activities, and the worker related to their productivity or income allocation. As one example, microeconomics would measure the relationship between household income and the volume of products consumed, such as household budgeting planning and banking needs. Macroeconomics is more in-depth and measures the whole of an economy. It would consider all consumers related to a national economy. Issues of consumer supply and demand, related to price setting, would be an example of macroeconomic study. For government, it might also measure the income capacity of many different urban regions to determine what area of the country would be best served for investment in infrastructure projects. Normative economics measures what should be, while positive economics studies what actually is. Normative economics is subjective and is based on value judgments

History And Industry Trends Cisco Systems Inc Commerce Essay

History And Industry Trends Cisco Systems Inc Commerce Essay As a company that started from humble beginnings, Cisco has evolved and grown into the multinational networking and communications giant of today. In 1984, Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a couple working as computer staff members at Stanford University, created the startup known as Cisco Systems (Cisco systems). The companys first product was a multi-protocol router, which would set the tone for the coming years and helped outline its direction. Although Cisco has indulged in branching of products and dabbled in various market segments, networking primarily routers and switches have remained at its core. Cisco went public on February 16, 1990 and spent the remainder of the 90s ramping up for the Internet age (Cisco systems). It acquired numerous Ethernet and switching companies. By the time the dot-com boom rolled around, Cisco had implanted itself as a world leader: in order for the Internet to grow, many of Ciscos products were crucial to its infrastructure. This foundation-laying ideal positioned the company at the apex of the wave. In the spring of 2000, Cisco became the worlds most valuable company with a market capitalization of over $500 billion. In a move to increase the breadth of the brand and target consumers, Cisco rebranded itself in 2006 (and inclusively shortened its name from Cisco Systems). While primarily a business and enterprise oriented company, Cisco began its new initiative by acquiring home user minded names like Linksys and Flip Video. While the company has achieved phenomenal growth and successes, it is of course not without moments of decline. For example, the aforementioned Flip Video acquisition resulted in a flop, and was subsequently shutdown and dissolved in 2011 (Cisco discontinues flip, 2011). With this, Cisco announced that it would exit aspects of its consumer business which suggests a shift in focus. Once the dot-com boom was over and the bubble burst, Cisco experienced a major downturn and was forced to lay off almost 8000 employees and write down $2 billion in inventory (Fryer, 2008). This demonstrates the volatility of the technology industry and how important it is to forecast new trends. At the helm of the company, CEO John Chambers emphasizes on market transitions, quoting A market transition occurs when there is a subtle but clear disruptive shiftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ A market transition gives you a glimpse of a new opportunity to take market share or move into new market adjacencies (Fryer, 2008). In the past, most businesses in the industry like Cisco followed market transitions directed by business now the industry has changed to follow consumers. Subtle discrepancies like this can spark differentiation of varying magnitude in order to capture new trends. By utilizing the VRIO framework, we can analyze Ciscos resource endowments and provide further insight on its background and competencies. While the company is differentiated in its products and services, not everyone of its resources is ranked highly on VRIO. Taking the Flip Video example, Cisco only received a temporary competitive advantage from it, and not a sustained one. The reason being, Flip cameras no longer became valuable nor rare. Smartphones were on the rise and contained built-in features that rendered Flip cameras redundant users could share videos and also capture them directly from their cellphones (Cisco discontinues flip, 2011). In comparison, Flip cameras were not perceived to be as valuable versus the time period before smartphones. Given this, these cameras were also not costly to imitate, since competitor manufacturers (market segment-wise) were implementing similar technologies already. By acquiring Flip Video in 2009, Cisco leveraged its business know-how an d infrastructure to demonstrate its capability to capture value. Flip cameras were at one point a popular commodity, but it soon tapered off once the previous 3 criterions of VRIO began to diminish. Once it came to this, Cisco was no longer able to capture its value and thus shutdown Flip. On the other hand, Ciscos router and switch resources provide the company a sustained competitive advantage and maintains high rankings in the VRIO analysis. Taking the Catalyst 6500 switch as an example, which was a key player during the dot-com boom (Cisco systems). Cisco strategically positioned itself with this switch and its other router technologies at this time, because Internet Service Providers necessitated an answer to the growing infrastructure demands. Resources like the 6500 provide Cisco with value. Over the years, Cisco has maintained a high-quality image and people equate its products as such. This increases its perceived value by consumers. For the most part, many of Ciscos resources are considered rare because although there are similar products from different competitors, the numbers are not great. Tying into the aforementioned rarity, due to the complex and continuously evolving nature of these high technologies, they are very costly to imitate. As a firm in general, Cisco has been organized to capture value on many of its products. Juniper Networks is one of Ciscos main competitors, and came out with products that siphoned away 30% of the switching and routing market share. In the end, Cisco was able to edge itself back into the leader seat by innovating and releasing upgrades to existing lines. To expand on Ciscos differentiation strategy and its diverse portfolio of product ranges, 3 market segments are targeted. The primary market for the firm is the corporate market, or large businesses. Cisco sells a multitude of products and services for this segment, ranging from borderless network solutions to collaboration suites like the IP phones and TelePresence video conferencing units (Collaboration products and,). Many of these products are sold to large enterprises like Bank of America, ATT, and General Electric. The contracts Cisco holds with these types of companies create a large bulk of its focus. Referring back to the dot-com boom case, Cisco sold its network solutions to many ISPs and ultimately catalyzed its market capitalization and proliferation to being the worlds most valuable company at the time. Aside from the corporate market, Cisco also offers less intensive and lighter scale solutions for small businesses in order to encompass a more diverse group of consumers. The company offers a variant of its routers and switches that are reduced in size and capabilities, but work for smaller networks. The WebEx web conferencing service is a popular offering (its technology was garnered through an acquisition), which allows users to seamlessly collaborate and share. Although Cisco made an effort to enter the home user market in 2006, with its The Human Network campaign, it is reassessing the scope of this venture (Cisco systems). As shown by Flip, the margins that Cisco requires to operate at a desired efficiency are not as great in the home user segment. Many of the companys pursuits in this area proved to be short-lived. While the TelePresence video conferencing suites originated as a corporate-oriented product, Cisco tried adopting it to the home users by offering Umi (Collaboration products and,). Unfortunately, this effort was not successful as the competition was too great and the offering was not valuable enough to consumers. At its heart, Cisco maintains its competitive advantages primarily through its business and corporate solutions. Macroeconomic Analysis PESTEL A firms macro environment consists of a wide range of political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological, and legal (PESTEL) factors that can affect industry and firm performance. These external forces have both domestic and global aspects. (Strategic Management Concept Textbook) Pestel stands for political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal issues that the government can act on the Companys decisions or performances. Usually most of the articles from Wall Street Journal can be applied by Pestel Analysis. Political Political consideration that affect service provider and government spending patterns( Annual Report, pg.37) is one of the reason why Cisco believes that their company can be harmed by the economic and political reasons. Economic Cisco System explained how the fluctuation in the future with their stock price could happen due to uncertain global economic environment in their Annual report. They believe there are lots of risks on uncertainty of the global economic environment. As we see in their stock chart that they have had hard time during economic crisis of 2008. Stock analysis is provided under financial analysis section in detail of this report. The explanation about the fluctuations on currency exchange rates which are making negative impact on their financial reports is an example of how the economic changes can affect the companys financial well-being. Despite the fact that reason for this fluctuation is due to big portion of global expanding. However for this problem they found a solution by entering into the foreign exchange forward contracts and by reducing the short term impact on certain foreign currency receivables, payables and investments. (Annual Report, pg.38) Sociocultural Cisco System, the Cisco Foundation, UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) and the Government of the Jordan helped women in the Jordan to get into technology study and work as IT or ICT- Information Community Technology. In 2001 and 2002 they had a program to let the women in Jordan to be trained and work as much as men. In this sociocultural issue Cisco System had a great job involving in this program. Geographic, social, economic and racial boundaries are eliminated as the program extends to 149 countries with more than 10,000 Academies across the globe. (The Women in Jordan, 2001) So the company extended that program and it affected their social, economic and racial boundaries. Technological Continuity innovation in technology of network industry and uncertainties of the legal issues Cisco depends on the innovation more than the protection needed for their products and services by patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secret marks. Innovation is the key to be successful in the networking industry and Cisco has to rapidly innovate not to get in to the market, but also able to sustain competitive advantage. Environmental Cisco proudly partners with industry-leading companies to provide our customers with highly secure, interoperable smart grid solutions and services. We understand that modernizing the electric utility infrastructure around the world-from generation at a power plant to consumption in a home or business-is a huge undertaking. It requires the skills and expertise of many people to deliver on the promise of a smart grid. (Cisco website) Legal Most of the Ciscos products has software or licensed by the third party. Legally they have been sued several times regarding violation of the federal securities law, waste of corporate asset, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duties, and violation of the California Corporation Code. In addition they also had litigations of ordinary course of business, and intellectual property. They did not able to see any effect financially in their annual report, but it might affect their mission already. That can affect their stocks as well as their financial situations. (Annual Report 126,127) Financial Analysis Stock Stock Performance Graph Analysis (Annual Report page 46) The comparison with Cisco System, SP and SP Information Technology shows us that Cisco has a return of stockholders much lower than compare to SP and SP Information Technology. This Yahoo Finance Chart also shows that Cisco Stock Price had a problem right after 2008 just like other companies due to economic crisis on 2008, and got better later on. All the competitors recovered faster than Cisco after 2009 and continue to get well except HP. As of January 15, 2013 Cisco had a price of $20.98 while Hewlett Packard $16.53, Juniper Network 21.01. Revenue Compare to 2011, 2012 Revenue is increased about 7%. Cisco had 46.1 billion net sales and 12% increase on service revenue. Most of the revenue they received last year was from switching market and NGN Routing. They believe they can increase their revenue since they are into changing their strategies and innovating. Current Asset/ Current Liability Ratio Analysis Cisco has a quick ratio of 2012 3.49%. (61,933 / 17,731 = 3.49) Since it is more than one that means they can pay their current debt easily with their current assets. Since they have good amount of cash equivalency they need to invest more to increase and expand their company. Employees

E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Essay

E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Personal communication over distance used to be laborious – considerable physical impediments slowed the process. In the 1800’s, an aristocratic gentlemen hand-penned a letter with a quill pen and bottled ink, sealed the envelope with melted wax, and sent a footman to hand-deliver the missive to his faraway love; in the midst of battle, foot-soldiers ran relays across hostile territories, rushing battle plans to waiting troops; news of the California gold rush galloped across America by horseback. Even our modern postal service takes at least a day – with numerous people, and ground and air transportation involved – to move a letter from point A to point B. In years past, knowing a personal letter could take weeks to reach its recipient increased its significance. The writer thoughtfully chose paper, pen and ink, taking time to consider the message. Guided by historically-evolved etiquette and a sense of social propriety, he created an artful object by combining written thoughts with an individualized medium that reflected personal style (Landow 221). Sherry Turkle writes in Virtuality and Its Discontents â€Å"the (letter bears) the trace of the physical body of the person who sen(ds) it† (481). A written letter has meaningful form and content. You know the recipient either personally or by public reputation, and you know their residence or workplace. Enter the personal computer: today, a dude clicks away, instant-messaging his favorite chick; complicated war strategies are instantly e-mailed across secure computer networks; chat rooms create never-ending global cocktail parties. Two PC’s with Internet connections equal instant communication, instant gr... ...igital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 62-74. Bob Dylan Website. www.bobdylan.com. Assessed 1 August 2004 Landow, G. â€Å"Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?† 1996. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 214-226. Stevens, M. â€Å"Complex Seeing: A New Form.† 1998. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 418-442. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, A. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003 Turkle, S. â€Å"Virtuality and Its Discontents.† 1995. . Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 477-499. E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Essay E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Personal communication over distance used to be laborious – considerable physical impediments slowed the process. In the 1800’s, an aristocratic gentlemen hand-penned a letter with a quill pen and bottled ink, sealed the envelope with melted wax, and sent a footman to hand-deliver the missive to his faraway love; in the midst of battle, foot-soldiers ran relays across hostile territories, rushing battle plans to waiting troops; news of the California gold rush galloped across America by horseback. Even our modern postal service takes at least a day – with numerous people, and ground and air transportation involved – to move a letter from point A to point B. In years past, knowing a personal letter could take weeks to reach its recipient increased its significance. The writer thoughtfully chose paper, pen and ink, taking time to consider the message. Guided by historically-evolved etiquette and a sense of social propriety, he created an artful object by combining written thoughts with an individualized medium that reflected personal style (Landow 221). Sherry Turkle writes in Virtuality and Its Discontents â€Å"the (letter bears) the trace of the physical body of the person who sen(ds) it† (481). A written letter has meaningful form and content. You know the recipient either personally or by public reputation, and you know their residence or workplace. Enter the personal computer: today, a dude clicks away, instant-messaging his favorite chick; complicated war strategies are instantly e-mailed across secure computer networks; chat rooms create never-ending global cocktail parties. Two PC’s with Internet connections equal instant communication, instant gr... ...igital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 62-74. Bob Dylan Website. www.bobdylan.com. Assessed 1 August 2004 Landow, G. â€Å"Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?† 1996. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 214-226. Stevens, M. â€Å"Complex Seeing: A New Form.† 1998. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 418-442. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, A. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003 Turkle, S. â€Å"Virtuality and Its Discontents.† 1995. . Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 477-499.

Tama Speed Cobra Pedals Review

Camco, DW and Ludwig have all produced such beasts, as has Japanese drum giant Tama. Its Iron Cobra pedal is truly a drum world icon, having been relied on by countless big-name artists on the world's biggest stages over many years. But now comes a new pretender in the form of the Speed Cobra, with features borrowed from its well-regarded older sibling and a host of innovative design tweaks to boot. Tama's tagline for the Speed Cobra is ‘Extreme Velocity, Serious Power'. As such the Speed Cobra's new features have two simple goals in common – to increase speed and to increase aggressive response. Tama points out that these two aims have traditionally been mutually exclusive, with fast pedals losing some power, and powerful models reacting slower than some would like. So what solutions do Tama offer? Well to start with, a quick overview of the features which the Speed Cobra shares with the Iron Cobra. Such things include the Oiles bearing hinge (as used in the aerospace industry no less), the patented Cobra Coil spring – which is located beneath the footboard to quickly return it to its default position after each stroke – and the Vari-Pitch beater holder that enables adjustment of the footboard link angle independently of the beater angle. To that already impressive mix, the Japanese company has added several significant new features. The first and most obvious of these is the ‘Fast Foot' footboard. Longer than on the Iron Cobra, the Fast Foot board is designed to increase speed of response but at the same time require less effort than previous designs. In addition, the face of the board is smooth to reduce friction, which Tama reckon will improve control. On top of this there's an impressive new bearing assembly in the shape of the Fastball bearing on the end of the drive shaft, a true round sprocket (which Tama have named, brilliantly, ‘LiteSprocket') that's evidently 40 percent lighter than the Iron Cobra's, and the new Projector Beater. The beater allows the choice of narrow or wide ‘striking surfaces' simply by changing the head angle – go for punchy, defined attack with the former or a fatter, fuller response with the latter. All this talk of new features (and we haven't touched on the chain drive's new Recessed Setting which increases the angle of attack for super speed and light action, nor the new ‘Super Spring', designed to offer less resistance at the beginning of the pedal stroke) has left us little space to discuss the actual build quality of the Speed Cobra. Fortunately, little space is required for this, as it is stunningly good. The Speed Cobra is beautifully engineered and does the Cobra name proud. If your eyebrows headed skyward at the number of clever feature names Tama has bestowed on the Speed Cobra, a word of warning. For sure, it's easy to dismiss ‘Speed Spring' or ‘LiteSprocket' as marketing waffle, but when pressed into action the Speed Cobra does a fantastic job of silencing the cynical. For starters it's an incredibly smooth-rolling pedal. An objective appraisal of the impact of the new bearing mechanisms, for example, is well out of the scope of a review like this, but subjectively it feels wonderful. .For metal drummers dishing out high-bpm double bass battery, the Speed Cobra could be your new best friend. But that's not to say Tama's newbie is a one-trick pony. It's so well-conceived and built – with the kind of near-endless adjustment that high-end pedals offer these days – that it could be pressed into service in any genre with aplomb.

An Analysis of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Essay

Nearly two centuries after Jane Austen penned Pride and Prejudice to paper the attribute that most grabs your attention is the wonderful familiarity found in the characters. You know these people. You are already acquainted with these characters because you see mirrored in Austen’s characters the very men and women you come into contact with every day. You yourself have lived through the similarities of relationships such as those that come to life within the pages of this novel. This is all too familiar territory. Pride and Prejudice is simply a look at marriage and elationships as they actually were in Jane Austen’s society, a view that still holds true today. Of the five main marriages presented in this novel each relationship is unique yet realistic. These five marriages have their own contrasting qualities which reveal some insight into the thoughts and opinions of Austen on the subject of marriage and relationships. Clearly Jane Austen views the marriage between Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley as one of two examples of a successful relationship. Austen expresses this opinion through Elizabeth in Chapter 55 of Pride and Prejudice by writing: â€Å"Elizabeth really believed all his [Mr.  Bingley] expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded, because they had for basis the excellent understanding, and super-excellent disposition of Jane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself. † (328) However, Austen does see a minor flaw in their relationship. She points out that both characters are too good hearted and too trusting to ever act strongly against anything. (Douthan, 3) Also found in Chapter 55 of this novel, Austen writes of this situation through Mr.  Bennet stating: â€Å"You are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income. † (329) The union between Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham is a portrayal of a poor marriage. The foundation of their marriage is solely based on appearances, youthful exuberance and vanity. Their marriage is based on a foundation that crumbles once these qualities are no longer visible in one by the other. This becomes apparent when the relationship begins to slowly fade. Lydia and Mr.  Wickham’s marriage gradually becomes â€Å"indifferent† and Lydia becomes a regular visitor at the homes of her two elder sisters when â€Å"her husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath. † (366) Clearly Austen illustrates through this example that marriages which are hastily planned and are based on shallow qualities often lead to unhappiness. Even though there is little said as to how Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet met and became married, it can be gathered by their various conversations that their relationship may have been similar to that of Lydia and Mr. Wickham. One similarity between Mr. Bennet and Mrs.  Bennet’s relationship and the relationship of Lydia and Mr. Wickham appears in the favoritism Mrs. Bennet shows toward Lydia. Mrs. Bennet’s comments regarding how she was once as lively as Lydia are further proof. (30) It can also be presumed that Mr. Bennet married a woman who he found to be sexually attractive without giving regard to her intelligence or their similarities in personality and compatibility. This is a fate that he evidently did not want to fall upon his daughters. His feelings on this are revealed with his comment to Elizabeth in Chapter 20 when he addresses her regarding the proposal of Mr.  Collins and Elizabeth’s decision to refuse this proposal. In this occurrence Mr. Bennet tells Elizabeth â€Å"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do. † (109-10) With this occurrence Austen divulges her stance, giving reason to believe she feels it is necessary to use good judgment when selecting a spouse and provides insight into her feelings about true love and its place in a successful marriage. Another marriage found in Pride and Prejudice, quite different in nature that the other marriages of this novel, is the marriage between Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins. Theirs is a marriage based on economics rather than emotions or appearance. Austen successfully portrays Charlotte as many women of Austen’s time period were, as one who believed that she had to marry to gain financial security even at the risk of being miserable. (Pemberley. com) Inequality between genders appears to be embellished somewhat by Austen and gives the idea that those women who submit themselves to this type of marriage often times will suffer in painful silence. A tormented silence that Austen points out Charlotte experiences in Chapter 28: â€Å"When Mr. Collins said any thing of which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, which certainly was not unseldom, she [Elizabeth] involuntarily turned her eye on Charlotte. Once or twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear. † (154) With this statement Austen reveals Charlotte’s silent misery and furthermore gives credibility to the idea that her marriage was not based on mutual feeling and admiration. The last example of marriage is that of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr.  Darcy. Theirs is a relationship that unveils the attributes that form a truly successful marriage and the second such marriage of this novel. One of these attributes is the absence of prejudice in a relationship. The development of the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy proves that feelings cannot be created due to appearances and must progress steadily between two people as they come to know one another. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were, at first, detached from one another due to their own initial prejudices that were formed up their first encounter. Austen, 13-14) Through time, however, they were given the opportunity to overcome their first impressions, understand one another and re-evaluate their feelings for the other. (Douthan, 2-3) Thus, the foundation of their successful relationship is a result of their mutual understanding and affords them a happy and lasting marriage. With the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Austen exposes another attribute necessary in a succ essful marriage and that is the importance of taking the time to become fully acquainted with a person and being certain of your feelings and compatibility before marrying. These five marriages contribute to the idea that Jane Austen felt it takes time to build a foundation for a successful marriage and that any successful marriage should be based on mutual feelings, understanding and respect. Clearly, in Pride and Prejudice, Austen condemns the social elements of marriage that she found objectionable such as marriages that were impulsively entered in to as well as those based on superficial qualities and economic reasons, but she also described those relationships in a manner that was true to life. Sir Walter Scott said it best when he wrote these words about Jane Austen: â€Å"That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements of feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. † (Bender, et. al. , 125-26) Perhaps this is why Austen’s characters seem to come alive to readers, this is not a story driven by agendas or politics; it is a story about people, drawn from true reality and one that commemorates all the chaotic details of real life and real relationships†¦ then and now.