Saturday, November 30, 2019

Neoliberalism and Australia free essay sample

Does globalisation imply cultural homogenisation? Your answer should consider specific and local global media examples and should include reference to the Appadurai and McChesney article in the course reader. The role of globalization has had a major influence on society and the world, and this essay will argue it has resulted in cultural homogenization. This can be illustrated through an introduction to globalization, the consolidation of media, ownership and vested interests, world standardization and neoliberalism, politics and the media and public service media. Examining the different views of globalization, including Appadurai and McChesney as well as other sources it can be clearly understood the negatives arising due to globalization, and its impact on cultural homogenization. Globalisation can be defined as the process of international integration, including the sharing of ideas, laws, economies, politics, cultures and concepts between nations. To understand globalization, it is necessary to compare the differing viewpoints. Appadurai argues that globalization is a battle between homogenization and heteroisation and that there is a series of ‘scapes’ which consist of ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes and ideoscapes. We will write a custom essay sample on Neoliberalism and Australia or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Appadurai 2011). He also maintains that as globalization is brought into other countries, they â€Å"tend to become indigenized in one or another way†. (Appadurai 2011). This claim rejects the notion that globalization leads to standardization, rather its influence is organic on a nation and not part of a controlled system, such as neoliberalism as argued by McChesney. McChesney defines neoliberalism as â€Å"the set of national and international policies that call for business domination of all social affairs with minimal countervailing force† (McChesney, 2001). McChesney believes globalization is actually neoliberalism and it has been presented on a silver platter as free trade when in actual fact, it has caused privatisation of publicly owned assets, deregulation of important safeguards in the financial markets, withdrawal of social provisions by the state, media consolidation by vested interests and the concentration of wealth, power and influence in global corporations unhindered by borders. (Ong, 2006), (Harvey 2005). Ong further states the results have â€Å"menaced national currencies and living conditions†. These alternative views contrast with mainstream academics to provide a true picture of the nature of globalization, and its relationship with neoliberalism. These arguments are directly relevant to cultural homogenization because neoliberalism or globalisation is not limited to one particular nation, but rather occurs simultaneously on a global scale, and evolve societies of these nations into a homogenized web of similar systems, processes, governments, corporations and national identities beneath the control of unaccountable global corporations. Consolidation of media or media convergence can be defined as a process where fewer individuals or corporations own the market share of media in a particular country, and a few corporations have most or all the market share. According to McChesney, â€Å"Specific media industries are becoming more and more concentrated, and the dominant players in each media industry increasingly are subsidiaries of huge media conglomerates†. (McChesney 2001). He reveals in this source that consolidation of media is a significant issue for the freedom of the press. It can be argued that due to consolidation of media, the lack of ownership diversity will lead to cultural homogenization, as populations receive crucially important news from those with the majority market share, such as Fairfax and Newscorp. Media concentration is heavily evident in Australia, with limited competition. â€Å"The Australian situation has much to do with†¦the three media dynasties of Packer, Fairfax and Murdoch. All three asserted their private commercial and political interests strongly, and used proprietorial influence in ways that flouted journalistic and editorial independence. † (McCutcheon and Pusey 2011). The source comments on why the market in Australia is so concentrated which include, favourable monopolistic laws and few safeguard regulations, decreases in funding for public broadcasting, restrictions preventing new companies from starting in media due to onerous licencing and regulations preventing new entrants and short term outlook biased toward profits rather than national interest. (McCutcheon and Pusey 2011). Media concentration also causes only certain views and information to enter the public sphere, and may be biased instead of impartially examining both sides, as large corporations follow their own views or agenda. This is why the role of a public broadcasting service is crucial, which will be discussed later. Consolidation of the media is also closely tied to ownership and vested interests. Many media companies source their information from a news agency, or news wire which is a service that provides news from journalists who provide the pipeline of stories, reports and information to media companies. This pipeline can consist of news stories that are broadcast on television, newspaper articles, magazine articles and radio stories. (Paterson 2005). In Australia, the dominant news agency is Australian Associated Press, owned by Newscorp, Fairfax and Seven West Media. This ownership of Australian Associated Press by the three major media companies reveals the true monopoly over information in Australia. This is relevant to globalization implying cultural homogenization, because what controls information through the media, controls the opinions, beliefs and ideas of a people. â€Å"The concerns with ownership relate, in the end, to whom has control over media content and how these people will use this power†. This source is critical of concentration of media, and warns that increased concentration has inherent dangers toward a democracy and an informed citizenry. In 2013, Newscorp’s The Daily Telegraph was scrutinized following publication of its â€Å"Kick this mob out† story, by ABC’s Media Watch program. It was found following an investigation, the political stories published during the first week of the election campaign included 40 out of 80 against the government, and none against the opposition. (Grubel 2013), (Barry 2013). This establishes an example of media concentration, and its power to influence opinions in the public sphere. Ownership and vested interests are not for the public good, and are motivated by profits, which focuses resources on popular stories, not those that may be unpopular, but in the national interest. This leads to cultural homogenisation as the media caters for the masses and can powerfully manipulate and encourage people to express desirable opinions or views. Neoliberalism and world standardization is another important aspect to examine in the argument of globalization implying cultural homogenization. As mentioned earlier, neoliberalism is a worldwide process of privatization of public assets, deregulation and removal of trade protections, consolidation of large corporation’s power through media convergence, and a war on the working class people. â€Å"Neoliberalism wages an incessant attack on democracy, public goods, and non-commodified values†¦As corporate power lays siege to the political process, the benefits flow to the rich and powerful. † (Giroux 2005). Neoliberalism includes the recent austerity measures imposed on European countries following the global financial crisis. The benefits to the rich and powerful, through the neoliberalist agenda include a modification of taxation from wealth generation, to a tax on work. (Collins, Hartman, Kraut and Mota 2004). Giroux states that the free market and capitalism in general, â€Å"spewed forth by the mass media, right wing intellectuals, and governments alike has found its material expression both in an all-out attack on democratic values and in the growth of a range of social problems including: virulent and persistent poverty, joblessness, inadequate healthcare, apartheid in the inner cities and increasing inequalities between the rich and the poor. † (Giroux 2005). By understanding the true role of neoliberalism, its impact on globalisation and standardisation of culture is sharply apparent, in recent times and presently, countries around the world are facing these similar circumstances. Others regard Neoliberalism as a major attack on the people and it â€Å"eliminates the very possibility of critical thinking, without which democratic debate becomes impossible. † (Buck-Morss 2003). Neoliberalism is closely tied to homogenisation, because as the world further integrates all countries become entwined in the web of similarity, where western or internationalist ideas overcome traditional cultures and beliefs. Politics and the media involves the regulations, laws and rules that govern media in Australia. Media regulation is a key aspect of globalisation and neoliberalism. According to Hesmondhalgh, the concept of four waves of marketisation, which included the privitisation of publicly owned companies, regulatory walls between ownership of differing media being abolished, cross media laws, preventing ownership of both print and television by a single owner being removed, and the advertising restrictions on television programs being eased. He expresses the changes as bringing forward â€Å"cultural imperialism†. (Hesmondhalgh 2008). The history of deregulation of the media in Australia is also discussed. â€Å"In 1987, strict limits on how many stations a company could own were considerably loosened. The main deregulatory act came in 1992, with the broadcasting services Act which weakened restrictions on broadcasters, abolished radio ownership laws almost entirely, and introduced pay television, dominated by Packer and Murdoch†. (Hesmondhalgh 2008). This was complemented in 2006, with further erosions of media protections when the Australian parliament passed laws which lifted foreign and cross media ownership restrictions. The laws resulted in furthered media consolidation, which paved the way for media moguls to have two out of three of newspapers, television and radio stations in a specific area. (ABC 2006). Other sources focus on the internet and the changes which have happened to this medium. Lessig, in Code: and other laws of cyberspace illustrates that there is increasingly commericalisation of what he calls â€Å"code†, which refers to the internets basic structure. Lessig warns about the dangers of power concentrated in a few companies. as code writing becomes commercial as it becomes the product of a smaller number of larger companies the governments ability to regulate it increases. (Lessig 1999). This statement indicates that as large companies dominate the internet, they control the code, hence the ability to control the rules, and the regulations are not favourable to democracy as protections are removed and new regulations allowing large companies to maintain their dominant market position are introduced. Public service media, for example the British Broadcasting Corporation and Australian Broadcasting Corporation is owned by governments and accountable to the public, as opposed to commercial media. â€Å"It has been argued that online public service media continue to play a vital role as institutional guarantors of media citizenship principles such as provision of accurate and unbiased information, distribution of social knowledge, providers of opportunity for deliberation, and outlets committed to diversity of representation and maximisation of participation and pluralism. On the other hand, the crucial role that public service media plays is being severely interfered with by government. In May 2013, a revival of government discussions centred around the privatisation of ABC and SBS. This would include an†operational review† to â€Å"look at the feasibility of partial or full privitisation of both†. (Gordon 2013). This is directly relevant to the cultural homogenisation argument, because with the privitisation of public service broadcasting in Australia, the diversity of content would disappear. The traditional model of public broadcasting affords the organisation sufficient political independence to defend their values and interests as well as the provision of media content to those audiences that the commercial sector would likely neglect†. (Errington Miragliotta 2012). This source reveals that public service media has a commitment to serve the common good, rather than ratings and as its audience are ‘citizens’, not ‘viewers’, it is accountable to the people. With the privatisation agenda already under discussion, the ABC and SBS future is uncertain. Public media is essential for a robust democracy, and by privatisation as witnessed through these arguments, can only lead to cultural homogenisation and the neoliberalist agenda. Throughout an examination of the topics covered, a number of conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, cultural homogenisation and globalisation are aspects in concert with neoliberalism, and their impact on society is negative. Secondly, those with alternative viewpoints to either globalisation or neoliberalism are fiercely opposed to it, regarding it as an attack on democracy.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Open Innovation Essays

Open Innovation Essays Open Innovation Essay Open Innovation Essay UNIVERSITY OF BATH, MSC IN INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT Connect and Develop PGs big stake in open innovation Limali Panduwawala Suvidha Venkatesh Pedro Parraguez Xiajing Zhang 27/11/2009 Abstract: This report explores Ps Connect and Develop open innovation initiative. Its focus is to analyse this innovation strategy in the context of the formal academic theory, other PGs programmes and the company situation. Its objective is to understand the impacts, challenges and problems of implementing a large open innovation initiative inside a corporate giant such as P. Keywords: Procter Gamble, P, Open Innovation, Connect and Develop, Innovation Networks Connect and Develop, Ps big stake in open innovation 1 Introduction Innovation is the main driver for economic growth and progress of companies. In the age of the internet, it assumes even greater importance as maintaining competitive advantage becomes tougher with technology that brings the world closer and collapses the concept of time and space. Procter Gamble is a company that has been a pioneer in this field of innovation. They are global manufacturers and marketers of consumer products with complex operational networks. PG have been able to maintain their position in the market by adopting various innovation techniques and strategies. This report looks at the innovation strategies adopted by PG, particularly with a focus on Open Innovation. The report describes the theoretical framework of the innovation model the company has used along with its Innovation strategy and its management, followed by an analysis of the PG Open Innovation model, its problems and challenges and our conclusions. 2 2. 1 Theoretical Framework Innovation networks One assumes that innovation is a stand-alone concept which works well independently. In reality this is not true. To convert a good idea into a profitable product/service a lot more input from different people and different perspectives is required. Making innovation happen is about bring people or teams together in a creative and productive manner. In the era of globalisation with access to high-speed infrastructure and with teams on the move all the time, building, maintaining and developing networks becomes the key issue in the process of innovation. Usually innovation is seen as core process with a defined architecture with external influences acting on it. However, in reality it is not such a simplified structure. It is far more complex than that. The path of knowledge around an innovation project is more complex and interactive, appearing like some kind of ‘social spaghetti’ where different people talk at different times about different issues. (Tidd and Bessant, 2008) A network can be defined as a complex interconnected system or structure, which is used to get work done. A network consists of nodes or points of action which are occupied by 2 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation individuals, companies, research institutions, universities, governments, customers and so on. These networks are greatly affected by how economic activities are influenced by the social setup and the position that the nodes or points occupy in the network. Therefore, a network can be influenced in two ways, i. e. by the interaction within the network and through the differences in position of the nodal players, which can cause power and control imbalance. Networks work best when the advantages of Co-specialisation, sharing infrastructure and standards and other benefits outweigh the costs of network governance and maintenance. (Tidd and Bessant, 2008) The above mentioned innovation networks, are the conceptual grounds where the Open Innovation (OI) model emerges, thus they are a critical structure to understand Ps Connect and Develop model. 2. 2 Open innovation In the traditional model of innovation, the focus was mainly on research and development laboratories, where invention of new concepts and technologies were carried out using internal and external sources of information. These RD labs usually concentrated on bringing out new technologies for self-commercialisation. This process can be viewed in the form of a funnel, where a large number of varied ideas and concepts can be trimmed down to few of those concepts and ideas that best meet the requirements of the company. (OECD, 2008) In recent times, companies have become more open with their innovation process, leading to revolution described as â€Å"Open Innovation† by Chesbrough (2003). This ‘open innovation’ model is a more dynamic model when compared the traditional model as there is much more interaction between knowledge assets outside the company as well as inside. Henry Chesbrough (2003) in his book â€Å"Open Innovation: New Imperative for creating and profiting from technology† defines open innovation as a concept in which companies must use ideas from inside as well as outside sources and find internal and external ways to reach the market in order to advance their technological capabilities. Open innovation combines these 3 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation concepts of inside and outside ideas into systems and structures so that there is some order in the chaos. In another book â€Å"Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovative Landscape† he defines open innovation as the flow of knowledge internally and externally such that it moves the process of innovation at a much faster pace and so that new markets can be found for the use of this innovation. Open innovation means that firms should start using ideas and technologies from external sources and knowledge assets to create new and improved products/services. In the process, they should let others use their unused ideas which in turn can become a profitable venture by itself. This process would require an open business model to be in place. 3 Innovation Strategy at P One of the core strengths of the company is its Innovation strategy. Its CEO A. G Lafley believes that innovation is at the heart of P business model. The company uses innovation to create value with retail partners, satisfy customers and to create new business models to maintain sustainable growth (Datamonitor, 2009). The company boasts of a range of industry firsts (Appendixes 7. 1 and 7. 2). P uses a unique design for innovation comprising of five major categories (Datamonitor, 2009): ? ? ? ? ? Defining innovation broadly Investing in innovation at industry levels Managing innovation with discipline Delivering innovation that builds consumer trust and loyalty over time Using global brands and an outstanding team of innovation leaders to lead innovation One unique feature in P strategy is that innovation is involved in every area of the product which makes contact with the customer, such as the packaging, the shopping experience, the in-home product usage experience as well as the product itself (Datamonitor, 2009). A good example is the company’s family care business where the innovations are customer focused rather than technology focused. This means that each product offers customized benefits to meet different consumer needs. The company also involves its customers in the innovation process on a daily basis. 4 Connect and Develop, Ps big stake in open innovation The company supports sustainable innovation, investing heavily in RD to bring better quality products to the market. PGs budget for RD amounts to nearly $2 billion an year: twice the amount spent by Unilever, PGs biggest competitor. This proves the company’s dedication towards sustainable innovation (Datamonitor, 2009). 3. 1 Managing Innovation at PG Historically PGs innovation strategy was focused on its internal capabilities. The company had minimal experience externally and was not involved with its competitors. The model used by the company was a traditional stage gate model (Heimberg, 2008). This model (See appendix 7. 5) helped PG until 2000 when the company faced major financial difficulties. With the increase in the pace of innovation, costs, fast followers, constrained resources and more consumer demands the traditional model was unable to deliver the required results (Heimberg, 2008). The company required a growth rate which exceeded the industry growth rate†. This Figure 2, Open Innovation Model (Heimberg, 2008) Figure 1, Stage gate Model (Heimberg, 2008) equired collaboration with external sources (Lafley, 2008); commonly known as Open Innovation. This initiative was named connect and develop where the company collaborates with external sources for innovative ideas and technologies. When the process began the 10-15% of the innovations at PG included ideas from external sources and today this has increased to 50%, resulting in the company achieving a 6% organic growth in an ind ustry, which is growing at 2-3 %. ( Lafley, 2008) 5 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation The company today works on a ‘proudly found elsewhere’ culture which has opened the door for many innovations. Although Connect and Develop is now considered the major Innovation initiative taken up by the company, there are several other strategies which drive the success at P. 3. 2 Complementary P Innovation Strategies 3. 2. 1 User driven innovation: User driven innovation mainly focuses on developing products based on customer needs. P carries out user driven innovation by engaging their customers as co-designers (Datamonitor, 2009). 3. 2. The Corporate Innovation Fund: This can simply be described as an in-house venture capital firm which hands over successful innovations to the relevant business units in the company. The firm carries out the initial concept, design, engineering and qualifications work prior to handing over the ideas; and specializes in high-risk, high reward ideas (Datamonitor, 2009). 3. 2. 3 Innovation Net: A knowledge sharing solution at P, Innova tion net provides access to 18,000 knowledge workers at P from the R to the Patent/Legal and Business Information systems (AskMe, 2001). The main function of innovation net is to allow users to catalogue, locate and maintain employee knowledge. This provides employees with the ability to take immediate action when required. (Haimila, 2002) 3. 2. 4 Enterprise 2. 0: This is P version of web 2. 0 which is a set of web based software service that helps increase the involvement of employees in establishing and managing data. In addition to this, the company is also allowing its employees to personalize its web portal by adding RSS feeds of news and business information (Hines, 2007). This web-based service includes the customer and the suppliers web portals, online hubs for all the interactions with supermarkets, suppliers and technology providers around the world Recent research has shown that innovation within the business can only occur if the structure of the business and the internal talent of the organization are structured to encourage collaboration between the employees and knowledge sharing (O’Hara, 2009). 6 Connect and Develop, Ps big stake in open innovation Therefore, the above initiatives indicate the efforts taken by PG to promote successful innovation within the company. . 3 PG’s Connect and Develop Model Explained From RD to CD Besides all the innovations above, PG has given great attention to product innovation. At first, like every other company, they had an RD group which is good for exploiting knowledge and doing research inside the firm itself. However, the drawbacks are also obvious. There is no guarantee that all these blue-sk y researches will be a success and it has high risk and cost associated (Bessant and Tidd, Table 12. 2, 2007). Besides, only by getting out of the lab can researchers find and listen to customer wants and needs. Initially, less than 10% of PG technologies were being used in products. Which meant that many unused technologies were being kept hidden, much like antiques-valuable but useless. What’s more, with knowledge increasing and refreshing at an exponential rate and much important innovations being carried out in small entrepreneurial firms (Bessant and Tidd, 2007), PG realized it is impossible for them to complete everything alone while at the same time create satisfactory operating results for their shareholders. Things had to be changed. Therefore, PG decided to introduce a new business model to cope with both the desire for external ideas coming in and own ideas going out. Instead of the traditional inhouse research model â€Å"Research and Development†, they formed a department called â€Å"Connect and Development† which is based on â€Å"Open Innovation†. The idea was to bring together external research institutions, customers, suppliers, individuals and even competitors to develop the market for new products. They established a web site (www. pgconnectdevelop. com) to communicate with the resources outside. The mechanism works like this: they simply put all their needs on this website in classified categories, and then anyone who is interested or has the solution could propose their ideas and get assessed by a specialized team. Payments can range from US$10,000 to US$100,000 (Bessant and Tidd, 2008). After this model has been applied, PG is able to drive new innovation through collaboration with external partners in at least 50% of the cases (Sakkab 2002, cited by Dodgson, Gann, Salter 2006, P. 6). Furthermore, this model seems to work 7 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation well: in 2004, P reported a 17% increase in volume, a 19% increase in sales, a 25% rise in earnings and a total shareholders return of 24% (ANOY 2005). Thanks to the invention of the internet, another way for P to gain more external resources is to find solutions in other technology brokers such as Innocentive, Yet2 and NineSigma. 4 Discussion: Connect and Develop problems and challenges Mixing elements from open innovation models, articulating multiple innovation networks and investing heavily in knowledge management tools, (i. . Innovation Net) P has created its own novel way to deal with the new challenges of generating growth in mature markets through innovation. Nevertheless, they are not exempt from problems and challenges. Below are briefly described some of the most critical issues identified, that if not addressed properly might put in risk P long term success. 4. 1 The dangers of â€Å"outsourcing† innovation Bein g able to access external knowledge and leveraging in this way, innovation sounds like a very reasonable strategy. Nevertheless, important risks lie behind it; Firstly Lean innovation might become fragile innovation and lead to a progressive loss of internal capabilities to develop their own innovations. This might damage in the long term their most important competitive advantage, their expertise to innovate. One example of this risk is in the aeronautical industry, were Boeing and Airbus are distributing their manufacturing and R capabilities so widely, that experts believe they might lose an important part of their critical knowledge over time. (Aron, Singh, 2005) 4. Managing the intellectual property and its negotiations in an open environment Although P believes that connect and development will become the dominant innovation model in the twenty-first century (Huston, Sakkab, 2006), the drawback is obviously about how to protect its intellectual property. Case becomes much more complicated after the open innovation model is applied. In the past, all the innovations were kept inside of the co mpany, and P only needed to decide whether to apply for the patent for a certain 8 Connect and Develop, Ps big stake in open innovation innovation or not, fairly simple. However, in this model, there are many in-licensing and outlicensing of innovation and technology, which makes the protection of the intellectual property a big problem. The company needs to consider the most appropriate way to protect their new inventions. For example if the inventor does not have good protection, they are creating something that others can have for free (Docherty, 2008). Therefore, patents should be looked at closely. Another problem that arises from this issue is how to manage hundreds or thousands of relationships with small technology providers (individual inventors, university departments, private RD labs, etc. that have no formal relationship in the long term with PG and do not share the same incentives. Internal success cases (shown in appendix 7. 3), like the Magic Eraser shows clearly the complexity of the Connect Develop programme and how it must deal in an ad-hoc way to handle every case. Thus to innovate systematically in an open environment, huge trans actional costs are usually incurred; cost that are not present when the innovation occurs in a closed fashion. 4. 3 Issues about how to select and filter really innovative ideas To cope with the complexity found in the CD model, PG tries to select technologies as mature and proven as possible (Huston, Sakkab, 2006). This is good to reduce implementation and technological risks, but it reduces the chances to customize and produce radical innovations because PGs R department intervenes only in the final stages. This filter certainly limits the potential of the open innovation model, adding a cap on it, and also generates a problem because internal R capabilities are less exercised, aggravating the issue expressed in point 4. 1. . 4 Identifying the Serial Innovators† According to the Pareto Principle (80-20 rule) we should expect that most of the valuable innovations come from a very reduced group of bright individuals. This is particularly important when the challenge is to identify the serial innovators in an open innovation environment. This is because of the high number of individuals involved and the fact that they are not inside the company. For PG identifying and nurturing this valuable group will became a key issue and an interesting potential competitive advantage. 9 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation 4. 5 Connect Develop financial results In spite of the fact that sales and profits increased over time after the implementation of CD and some of its notorious success cases (Appendix 7. 4), it is still not clear if this strategy has given PG a significant advantage compared with their traditional model of innovation before the year 2000. Stock market trends indicate that PG has followed a very similar stock price trajectory compared with its industry (Figure YYY) and so the real effect of CD is difficult to calculate in financial terms. Regardless of all the original hype, CD does not seem to be a real game changer in this business arena, or at least not yet. Figure 3, PG stock price evolution, Yahoo! Finance 10 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation 4. 6 The complexity of the system and its interactions Connect and Develop and all the other innovation initiatives inside PG, have created a complex set of structures and interactions, transforming the management of this system into a challenge by itself. At the heart of these interactions and the management of innovation, PG have two critical positions; The Technology Entrepreneurs and the Research Fellows, the first are the scouts, hunting new innovations outside of the company and later lobbying inside to bring them in. The second are in charge of the conceptual development and continuous refinement of CD, acting as the back office of this intricate system. To understand better this sort of spaghetti model of innovation and the challenges of its management a simplified overall view of the system is provided below in figure 3. PG’s Innovation Ecosystem User Driven Innovation Corporate Innovation Funds Innovation Technologies Connect Development Suppliers Networks Proprietary Innovation Net Technology entrepreneurs Research Fellows Open NineSigma (Multidisciplinary) Suppliers Portal Customers Portal YourEncore (senior RD talent) Selection usually restricted to mature technologies Enterprise 2. 0 Idea search focus: ? ? ? Top ten consumer needs Adjacencies Tech Game Boards Yet2. com (IP broker) InnoCentive (Specific problems) Figure 4, PGs ecosystem 11 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation Conclusions PG’s Connect and Development programme has become a clear business case when it comes to implementing an open innovation initiative inside a large company. They have created a completely new set of complex tools, networks inside and outside their company and invested strategically in this specific option to drive a major part of their innovation in new products. Thus, Connect and D evelop represents a big stake and compromise in the long term, with a new business paradigm that has not fully been tested yet, and involves an intricate network of activities and concepts. On the Backstage of CD, we find several interconnected innovation networks with customers, suppliers, internal staff and external innovation agents. Knowledge management tools are also embedded deeply in the structure, supported by innovation technologies based on information and communication technologies (ICT) such as web platforms like â€Å"Innovation Net† and other special software that help the work of the research fellows and technology entrepreneurs, who are the vital links in the Open Innovation implementation of PG. All this involves great complexity, new risks and challenges. So far, in terms of financial growth (Appendix 7. ) it seems that Lafley (PG’s CEO) has chosen the right path. Nevertheless, this is clearly just the beginning of a long journey that depends greatly on the skills to manage a heterogeneous and worldwide network of innovators without losing the vital internal capabilities and competitive advantages in this process, something that is yet to be proved. 12 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation 6 References ? Annon, 2005. Procter Gamble’s innovation success- new research, new products, new markets. strategic direction, VOL. 21 NO. 7 ,p. 13. Annon, 2009. Yahoo! Finance Website. [Accessed 26 november 2009]. Available from: http://uk. finance. yahoo. com/q? s=PGm=USd=. Aron, R. , Singh, J. (2005). Getting Offshoring Right. Harvard Business Review, 83(12), 135143. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database. AskMe, 2001. Procter and Gamble enhances innovation by purchasing another instalment of AskMe enterprise [Online]. 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Available from proddev. com/pdf/Succeeding_at_New_Products_the_PG_Way. pdf [Accessed last on 15 November 2009] Datamonitor, 2009. Procter and Gamble Company, The. [Online]. Available from http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/pdf? vid=9hid=4sid=6810e15d-3545-4d7b -9b0440b0f06408d8%40sessionmgr4 [Accessed last on 14 November 2009] Docherty, M. , 2008. Protection beyond patent[Online]. Available from: http://venture2. typepad. com/innovationnet/intellectual_property/ [Accessed last on 25 November 2009]. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 13 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation ? Dodgson, M. , Gann, D. , AND Salter, A. 2006, RD Management. The role of technology in the shift towards open innovation: the case of Procter Gamble, pp. 333-346. Friscia,T. ,2008. A Conversation With Procter Gamble CEO A. G. Lafley. [Online]. Available from amrresearch. com/Content/View. aspx? compURI=tcm:7-37226 [Accessed last on 15 November 2009] Haimila, S. , 2002. Procter Gamble pampers RD. [Online]. A vailable from kmworld. com/Articles/News/KM-In-Practice/ProcterGamble-pampers-RD8498. aspx [Accessed last on 17 November 2009] Heimberg, J. 2008. Open Innovation at PG from Research Develop to Connect Develop. Online]. Available from gdch. de/strukturen/fg/wirtschaft/vcw_va/heimburg. pdf [Accessed last on 20 November 2009 ] Hines, A. , 2007. Web 2. 0 inside Procter and Gamble. [Online]. Available from http://blogs. bnet. com/intercom/? p=394 [Accessed last on 24 November 2009] ? ? ? ? ? Huston, L. , Sakkab, N. (2006). Connect and develop –inside PG’s new model for innovation. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 84(3), 58-66. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database. Learning Markets, 2009. Procter Gamble down but not out; PG, KMB, CL . [Online]. Available from earningmarkets. com/index. php/200908053510/News-Feed/NewsFeed/procter-a-gamble-down-but-not-out-pg-kmb-cl. html [Accessed last on 22 November 2009] O’Hara, J. , 2009. Sustainable Innovat ion. [Online]. Available from realinnovation. com/offsite. asp? A=FrUrl= busmanagement. com/p astissue/article. asp? art=26868issue=165 [Accessed last on 22 November 2009] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2008. Open Innovation in Global Networks [Online] Available from:http://lysander. sourceoecd. org. ezp1. bath. ac. uk/vl=2368171/cl=13/nw=1/rps v/cgibin/fulltextew. l? prpsv=/ij/oecdthemes/9998010x/v2008n14/s6/p64. idx [Accessed last on 24 November 2009] Reuters, 2009. Warner Chilcott Ltd. To Buy Procter Gamble Co. Unit For $3 Billion. [Online]. Available from reuters. com/finance/stocks/keyDevelopments? symbol=PGpn=2 [Accessed last on 19 November 2009] ? ? ? ? 14 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation 7 7. 1 Appendixes General Company Profile Procter and Gamble commonly known as PG started as a soap and candle company in Cincinnati, Ohio in the year 1837. Today it is a global manufacturer and marketer of consumer products. There are three main Global Business Units (GBU), the company focuses on: Beauty, health and well being, and household care (Datamonitor, 2009). The role of each GBU is to recognize common consumer needs, develop new product innovations. By successful innovations and marketing strategies GBUs also helps build the PG brands. The other main sector of the business is the Global operations group which is subdivided into Market Development Organization and Global Business Services. Being the world’s largest consumer goods company, PG markets more than 300 brands in over 180 countries and functions in Europe, Asia and he Americas (Datamonitor, 2009). Some of the company’s major products include Tide, Pampers, Pantene, Pringle, Gillette and Ariel (Carvin, 2009). The major strengths of the company include its focus on Innovation, Leading market position, strong brands portfolio and a diversified range of products. One of the major weaknesses of the company is its dependence on Wal-Mart. This can lead to a weakness in the bargaining power of the company especially considering that fact that 15% of PGs revenue since 2006 is through sales to Wall-mart (Datamonitor, 2009). An increase in PG product recalls were also noticed in the past couple of years and this can tarnish the brand image of the relevant products. The company should also expect to face difficulties due to Global economic changes, counterfeit goods and increasing regulations on products (Datamonitor, 2009). In the fourth quarter of the Fiscal year 2009 PG faced one of the most difficult financial periods in decades (Learning Markets, 2009). The company has sold off its Folgers coffee business and in August 2009, signed a deal to sell its Global Pharmaceutical business. (Reuters, 2009). 15 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation PGs Major Competitors (DataMonitor, 2009) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Unilever Avon Products, Inc. Colgate-Palmolive Company Henkel KGaA Kimberly-Clark Corporation Reckitt Benckiser PLC Energizer Holdings LOreal S. A. 7. 2 List of PG Innovations (DataMonitor, 2009) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Tide: the first heavy-duty laundry detergent Crest: the first fluoride toothpaste clinically proven to prevent tooth decay Downy: the first ultra-concentrated rinse-add fabric softener Pert Plus: the first 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner Head Shoulders: the first pleasant-to-use hampoo effective against dandruff Pampers: the first affordable, mass-marketed disposable diaper Bounty: the first three-dimensional paper towel Always: the first feminine protection pad with an innovative, dry-weave top sheet Febreze: the first fabric and air care products that actually remove odours from fabrics and the air Crest White Strips: the first patented in-home teeth whitening technology â€Å"PG continues to be one of the few companies in the consumer product industry that create new categories and brands, new performance standards, and new definitions of consumer value. Swiffer and Febreze created entirely new product categories. Crest ProHealth, Olay Regenerist and Definity, Pampers Baby Stages of Development, and Tide with Bleach redefined high performance in their categories. Olay innovation has created new 16 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation consumer experiences that are as good as/ or better than several-hundred-dollar department and specialty store brands† (DataMonitor, 2009). PG has formed a unique design for innovation which has helped them maintain consistent innovations across the wide range of products the company manufactures. 7. 3 Successful cases Pringles potato crisps In order to make the potato crisps more fun and attracting, PG is thinking of putting animals, jokes on each crisp. One researcher suggested ink-jetting pictures onto the potato, nonetheless, it was very difficult because this need a very fast-processing printer and also provided different images and colours. For PG, they also have to negotiate with an ink-jet printer company which will take at least two years. However, they discover a professor from Bologna, Italy, has already invented an ink-jet method for printing pictures on cakes through their European network. It only takes less than a year for PG achieve double-digit growth from technology provided to market penetration. Pampers diaper Pampers diapers, with annual sales of more than 8 billion U. S. dollars, is the worlds first disposable diaper brand. Nonetheless, the none-leaking underlying coating technology was actually not first invented by Pampers. It is transferred from a U. S Navy department which researches in the submarine technology. Mr Clean Magic Eraser (The Osaka case) This interesting case shows how scattered the product development process can be. Everything starts with a PGs technology entrepreneur looking for new products in Osaka, Japan when he finds in the shelves and interesting new cleaning solution based on a novel sponge. After tracking the sponge providers, he ends up in BASF (German Chemicals manufacturer) who developed originally this solution as effective insulation for buildings. After negotiating directly with them PG starts commercializing an 17 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation innovative new set of household cleaning sponges developed in close alliance with BASF. 7. 4 Financials All numbers in thousands PERIOD ENDING 30-Jun-09 79,029,000 38,898,000 40,131,000 30-Jun-08 83,503,000 40,695,000 42,808,000 30-Jun-07 76,476,000 36,686,000 39,790,000 Total Revenue Cost of Revenue Gross Profit Operating Expenses Research Development Selling General and Administrative Non Recurring Others Total Operating Expenses Operating Income or Loss Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/Expenses Net Earnings Before Interest And Taxes Interest Expense Income Before Tax Income Tax Expense Minority Interest Net Income From Continuing Ops Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations Extraordinary Items Effect Of Accounting Changes Other Items Net Income Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments Net Income Applicable To Common Shares Figure 5, Income Statements 07-09, Yahoo! Finance 24,008,000 16,123,000 25,725,000 17,083,000 24,340,000 15,450,000 560,000 16,683,000 1,358,000 15,325,000 4,032,000 11,293,000 462,000 17,545,000 1,467,000 16,078,000 4,003,000 12,075,000 564,000 16,014,000 1,304,000 14,710,000 4,370,000 10,340,000 2,143,000 13,436,000 $13,436,000 12,075,000 $12,075,000 10,340,000 $10,340,000 All numbers in thousands 8 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation PERIOD ENDING 30-Jun-09 13,436,000 30-Jun-08 12,075,000 30-Jun-07 10,340,000 Net Income Operating Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In Depreciation Adjustments To Net Income Changes In Accounts Receivables Changes In Liabilities Changes In Inventories Changes In Other Operating Activities Total Cash Flow From Operating Activities Investing Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In Capital Expenditures Investments Other Cashflows from Investing Activities Total Cash Flows From Investing Activities Financing Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In Dividends Paid Sale Purchase of Stock Net Borrowings Other Cash Flows from Financing Activities Total Cash Flows From Financing Activities Effect Of Exchange Rate Changes Change In Cash and Cash Equivalents Figure 6, PG Cash Flow 07-09, Yahoo! Finance ,082,000 (1,265,000) 415,000 (742,000) 721,000 (728,000) 14,919,000 3,166,000 1,769,000 432,000 134,000 (1,050,000) (712,000) 15,814,000 3,130,000 921,000 (729,000) (273,000) (389,000) 435,000 13,435,000 (3,238,000) 166,000 719,000 (2,353,000) (3,046,000) (50,000) 547,000 (2,549,000) (2,945,000) 673,000 (211,000) (2,483,000) (5,044,000) (5,689,000) (81,000) (10,814,000) (284,000) $1,468,000 (4,655,000) (8,180,000) (2,815,000) (15,650,000) 344,000 ($2,041,000) (4,209,000 ) (4,079,000) (4,190,000) (12,478,000) 187,000 ($1,339,000) 9 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation Last Trade: Trade Time: Change: Prev Close: Open: Bid: Ask: 62. 87 $ Nov 25 0. 07 (0. 11%) 62. 80 62. 94 N/A N/A Days Range: 52wk Range: Volume: Avg Vol (3m): Market Cap: P/E: EPS : 62. 70 63. 48 43. 93 64. 55 8,244,877 12,486,000 $183. 25 B 14. 65 x 4. 29$ 1. 72$ Dividend: 1y Target Est: 66. 25$ Figure 7, PG Long Term Stock price, Yahoo! Finance 7. 5 PGs Innovation or Initiatives Diamond Figure 8, PGS Innovation Diamond. Cooper Mills, 2005) The initiatives diamond is used by PG to guide their new product efforts and focuses the management’s attention on the criteria important for success. The diamond can be divided into two sections where the top half involves strategic aspects which identifies the product innovation strategy such as goals, the mix of new products required to meet the goals and the essential resources(Cooper Millsa,2005). The bottom half fo cuses on delivering specific new projects/initiatives. It is more operational and helps identify how the methods to manage projects successfully using PGs idea-to-launch SIMPL method (Cooper Mills, 2005). 20 Connect and Develop, PGs big stake in open innovation SIMPL: Successful Initiative Management and Product Launch Model This is PGs version of a stage-gate model and is a method used to impel products from the idea phase to the launch and post launch phases. Figure 9, PGs SIMPL Process (Cooper Mills, 2005) As can be seen from the diagram the SIMPL model has four main stages. These

Friday, November 22, 2019

How to get the most out of your internship and actually learn something

How to get the most out of your internship and actually learn something Internships are great learning experiences. You get to dip a toe in your chosen industry, and either start working toward the future job you want, or decide that hey, maybe it’s not for you after all. (It happens.) But how do you maximize your relatively short time at your internship? What are you supposed to take from it, besides a resume point? One word: networking. Networking, or forming relationships with people in your professional field, is one of the most important things you can do at every level of your career. And when you’re just starting out in an internship, you have the opportunity to start building that network the right way. Here are 4 strategies you can use as an intern to get that network up and running.1. Don’t blow off company events.Company events can be awkward and boring, sure, but they also have two things going for them: 1) free food (usually); and 2) people congregating in one place. So if your internship company advertises any kind of g roup event that’s open to employees, you should go, even if it’s not mandatory. Company softball game, and you can’t throw? Go and sit in the stands and make friends. Book party for that executive who wrote a super-boring treatise on project management? Go, eat some cheese cubes, and chat with people from departments other than your own. Any event can be useful for networking, as long as you’re up for it. And even if you’re an introvert, don’t let that stop you.2, Organize your own events.As an intern, it can feel like you’re on the low end of the power scale, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to make inroads with the people around you. You might not want to start by inviting the CEO for drinks, but you can try to organize lunches with your fellow interns, or some kind of after-work activity where you invite some of the people you work with.3. Ask for references before you leave.Don’t be shy! Before you wrap up your internship, ask key people if you can use them as a recommendation for future jobs. This way, you’re not only cementing your network contact, but also setting up a framework for actually asking for a reference later. Most people will likely say yes, but if you get a â€Å"no,† don’t sweat it- just move on to someone who might be more appropriate or willing to provide you a reference.4. Stay in touch.Before you leave the company at the end of summer or your internship period, send a thank you to everyone you’ve worked with- everyone who’s helped you in some way. Get business cards or contact information, then make an effort to stay in touch. LinkedIn is a great way to do this, but it’s also good to drop an email once in a while, ask how things are going these days at Corporate Corp., and let them know what you’re up to as well. Maintaining network relationships isn’t that hard, unless you let them lapse and have to awkwardl y start from the beginning when you need something later.Whatever on-the-job expertise you gain from your internship, the longer-term benefits are likely to come from the relationships you form while working there. Make sure you’re making the most of your time at any company, no matter how you feel about the work.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Government & Business - the service user as the stake holder Essay

Government & Business - the service user as the stake holder - Essay Example mited to the following: roads, provision of electricity and water, health services, education through the provision of school and other social amenities. The concepts of the consumer, client, user, citizen and the general public have been used to refer to the service users. The literature examines the users of public services, how these users are positioned or perceived. Besides, it looks at how the service users are involved in the delivery of services (Barnes et al., 2008, p.401). As such it looks at them as significant stakeholder in the government and the business sector. The paper reviews the literature and presents its strength with regards to the manner in which it covers the literature. Other areas that require significant analysis and consideration are also pointed towards the end of the discussion. It has been noted that the literature misses certain significant point. The conclusion is then presented clearly on the basis of the literature analysis. It objectively brings ou t the researchers views with regards to the service users as stakeholders in the government and business sector agencies (Leadbetter, 2004, p.81). Service users as has been described can be clients, consumers, customers, citizens and the general public who constantly interact with the government and business and make effective use of the services that these two provide. In essence, it is the service users that justify the existence of a business or a government. It is very prudent to state the fact that businesses exist because of the service users and service users do not exist because of the business (Barnes et al., 2008, p.387). In the same vein, the government exists to provide services to its citizens who are essentially the service users. It is on the basis of this recognition that businesses strive to delight their customers, treat them passionately and acknowledge them as a very critical success factor. As such, the service users are the people who use the services such as

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Compare and contrast the effectiveness of the flag state measures Essay

Compare and contrast the effectiveness of the flag state measures - Essay Example Flag state, port state and trade measures are implemented for promoting responsible operations of fisheries. Flag state measures in relation to a fishing vessel, are the rules implemented by the state under whose laws the fishing vessel is registered or licensed. In the case of a fishing vessel that is not registered or licensed under the laws of any state, the term refers to actions taken by the state whose flag the fishing vessel is entitled to ply2. Port state measures refers to the â€Å"inspection of foreign ships in national ports to verify that the condition of the ship and its equipment comply with the requirements for international regulations, and that the ship is manned and operated in compliance with these rules†3. Trade measures are trade related tools for improving fisheries management, including measures to monitor and enforce compliance with Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), trade regulation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and other trade-related acts4. The issue of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is being highlighted by the international fisheries policy agenda in recent years. This is because IUU fishing not only undermines the sustainability of fisheries management methodology both domestically and internationally thereby impacting ocean biodiversity, but also has detrimental economic and social outcomes. Hence, ensuring the sustainability of fisheries by promoting responsible fishing, is now being increasingly focused on5. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a growing threat to sustainable fisheries management and marine biodiversity. It occurs in all fisheries whether they are operated in areas under national jurisdiction or on the high seas. A number of international policy instruments that address the management of world fishery resources, also cover the issue of IUU fishing. In spite of the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The perception of Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Healthcare System Essay Example for Free

The perception of Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Healthcare System Essay Introduction Public health in America has benefited from various innovations and advanced medical technology. However, these developments do not serve all Americans. Even in modern times disparities exist between whites and minorities in terms of health care. For instance the rate due to heart disease and stokes were higher for African Americans than for whites; 30% and 41% respectively, in 2002. The infant mortality rate for African Americans was higher compared to that of whites, in spite the fact that the national infant mortality rate had decreased. In 2004, African Americans had the highest diagnosis rate for HIV; 50% (Center for health care strategies). Ensuring equity in health care is necessary in order to prevent premature death, control disease, prevent unnecessary illness or disability and promote the quality of life for all citizens. An intervention by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention lead to the formation of Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH). The program’s mandate is to identify, minimize and eventually eliminate racial and ethnic inequality in the health care sector. Minority groups are the main victims of health care inequity. As a result the REACH program targets; African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, Alaska natives and Pacific Islanders. These communities need to be involved in the REACH program since, they are after all the beneficiaries. Individuals, community leaders and opinion leaders need to be consulted and empowered. REACH has developed strategies that improve health care in various communities, work sites, schools, after school settings and in health care facilities. Application of community development principles of good practice to research on racial and health care disparities. For a society to be successful then development of individual communities and organizations needs to be considered. Community development focuses on the improvement of the quality of life for an entire community. A community can be defined as a team of people who are unified due to location, common interests or ownership. For this kind of development to occur then the principles of good practice ought to be enforced. Some of the principles of good practice include; encouraging participation, problem identification and designing of solutions by community members and community leaders. Leaders in the community are also empowered and educated so that they can understand the problems that exist in their community and abstinence from practices that affect the community negatively. In other words the principles of good practice include; inclusion of community members, capacity building through management of information and resources, partnerships with all stakeholders, equity , accessibility and responsiveness in terms of action towards various initiatives (Maslow, 2003,p.19). The community should be involved in the research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The community will provide valuable information on the disparities that exist, intervention programs and the progress made in addressing the issue. Researchers need to consider vital elements in the community; trust, cultural heritage, history, expertise, community leaders, community initiatives and resources. Community based research relies highly on participation and trust. Trust is fundamental for the research on racial and ethnic inequality in health care. The researcher needs to understand the community’s history and how it relates to their current health care situation. For example the slavery and racial discrimination history of African Americans can provide insight on why the disparity in health care exists. The researcher needs to appreciate information from participates. However, this does not imply that all information should be accepted as truth without further investigation. The views of the community members should be listened to carefully, evaluated and investigated. Researchers should view the community as a partner in the research and interact with members. The researcher needs to develop a partnership with the members of the community. Together the parties define the health care disparities and needs. They also evaluate the effectiveness of programs initiated so as to reduce the health care inequality and provide recommendations on how to improve those programs. In this partnership between the researcher and the community members the thoughts and opinions of the community members need to be reflected in the publications. It is a common practice for publishers to decide what to print. Most of the times the community participates are not co-authors of the publications; they are simply acknowledged for their cooperation in the authors’ notes. As a result some of the issues that are very vital to the community may be left out. Members of a community provide superior information on their community’s views and their culture. Thus inclusion of community members as co-authors of publications will benefit both the researcher and the community. Moreover, this effort is a form of empowerment for the community since their views and opinions will be better represented thus creating a comprehensive picture. Ethical practices should be used in data collection, ownership and publication (Blythe, 2007, p.68). In order to understand the role that racial inequality has on premature deaths, infant mortality rate, disability and the spread of disease community based research is crucial. Community partners provide information on the nature of health care they receive in terms of health education, treatment, responsiveness in health care centers and the facilities that are available in their localities. Research ensures that health care delivery coincides with the needs of the community. The insight provided by community participation research is useful to the government and other stakeholders who are responsible for designing and implementing health care delivery programs. Community participants in a research usually represent the views of the community in relation to health care. Thus their views should be considered and reflected in the research. Research helps in addressing the challenges that face the health care system. Hence it provides solutions communities and policy makers which will ultimately improve the nature and quality of health care available to all citizens. For racial and ethnic disparities to be eliminated then all stakeholders need to develop strategies that will address issue. Various states and Medicaid managed organizations have developed a community based strategy to address racial disparities in health care. The strategy emphasis on community participatory research on health care racial and ethnic inequality. The community members, community based organizations are the main source of information. The health care providers and government then analyze the information and set policies on health that ensures equality in access and treatment to all American citizens. Compared to traditional research methods community based participatory research provides pertinent findings and is less time consuming. Health care providers are increasingly using this approach; the main focus is using community based approach to interact with minorities. For instance the ‘EXCEED’ project uses partnership between researchers, community member, community health care centers and the community organizations. EXCEED uses the community participatory research due to acknowledgement that it leads to comprehensive findings on the social, cultural and economic aspects that contribute to the racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The EXCEED program â€Å"Excellence Centers To Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities† is an in initiative by the Agency of Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ). Its mandate is to investigate and understand racial and ethnic disparities in health care as well as designing and implementing strategies on eradication of those disparities (Bayne, 1998, p.116). Conclusion Inequality in health care provision is evident in terms of health care access, prevalence of disease, health care setting and the quality of care. America’s minorities’ usually higher rates of disease, higher infant death rate and poorer health care compared to white Americans. Disparities in health care affect the individual, communities and the economy. Poor health care contributes to the cost of health care through complications due to poor care, avoidable hospital admission and preventable emergency cases. Community based participatory research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care provides data that reflects the extent of the situation. Information from the research is used by health care providers to design strategies provision of quality health care services to all citizens. Community based participatory research is a partnership between the community and the researcher. There is equity in power, decision making, credit and knowledge. The community and the researchers collaborate in all segments of the research; problem identification, planning for the research, actual research, data collection, analyzing of data and recommending a course of action. Data collected through community based participatory research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care is usually analyzed by the government and other health care stakeholders. The revelations made by the data are useful when goals and policies are been designed so as to eliminate the racial and ethnical disparities in health care. Health care is fundamental in every society. Therefore health care providers are advised to ensure equity in quality, access and care in the health sector for all Americans regardless of their race or ethnicity (Allan, 1998, p. 112). Reference Allan, B. P. (1998). Health care financing.   New York: Hill crest. Bayne, J. N. (1998). Strategic plans. New York: Hill crest. Blythe, R. J. (2007). Disease Prevention. Manchester University Press. Maslow, R. P. (2003). Health Management. New York: Macmillian. Porter, P. (2004). Healthy and Beautiful. New York: The free Press. The effects of community factors on Health. Retrieved August 18 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/. Reducing health disparities through focus on communities. Retrieved August 17 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/HealthDisparities.pdf

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Importance of Wearing a Seatbelt Essay -- Argumentative Safety Dri

The Importance of Wearing a Seatbelt We have all heard the excuses before, "It's uncomfortable, I'm only going around the corner", I'd rather be thrown out of a car than be stuck in a seatbelt," and my favorite, "I'm a good driver I don't need to wear one." Well you may be a good driver but there are situations beyond your control such as bad weather, road conditions and not to mention other drivers that can affect your safety. Seat belts can mean the difference between life and death in an auto accident. Wearing a seat belt every time you enter a vehicle is not only the smart thing to do it is the right thing because it saves lives, it's the law and it will save you money. Car accidents are the leading cause of death for people under the age of 35. Wearing a seat belt can prevent death in about half of these accidents. Did you know that every 15 seconds someone is injured in an automobile accident if they are not buckled up, or that every 13 minutes someone is killed in a crash. Failure to wear a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety related behavior. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration seatbelts saved nearly 12,000 lives in the United States in the year 2000. The NHTSA estimates that more than 9,000 U.S. car accident fatalities in 2000 would have been avoided if the victims had been wearing seatbelts. Sixty three percent of the people killed in accidents were not wearing seat belts. The NHTSA a...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Impacts on Social Media Essay

As we begin to discuss social media and is impact on mass communications as a whole, we must first define what it is and how it came to be. The Dynamics of Mass Communications defines social media as a set of Internet tools that encourages content sharing and community relationships. Users are able to create online communities by exchanging, distributing and receiving content information. Social media has rapidly integrated itself into our personal and professional lives over the past decade or so. Information is more available to the public today because of social media. The history of social media started with the BBS (Bulletin Board System) in the late 70’s. Most BBSs were involved in illegal or other shady practices like adult content, virus codes, and instructions on hacking and phone hacking, but BBSs were the first type of sites that allowed users to log on to it and interact with one another. This interaction was a lot slower than what individuals are used to in today’s society. Genie was created by a General Electric subsidiary (GEIS) in 1985 and was an early online service. It was a text-based service, and was considered the first viable commercial competition to CompuServe. This specific service was created to make use of time-sharing mainframes after normal U>S. business hours. Not too long after, America Online (AOL) started as an online service and made great strides with making the Internet more universally accessible within the United States. In 1988, IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was developed and used for file and link sharing and even keeping in touch with others. Readers could classify it as the father of instant messages as we know it today, though it was limiting access to most people. Touching the topic of early social networks, dating sites are sometimes considered the first social networks. Dating sites began to crop up just as soon as people began to get online with the Internet. These sites allowed users to create profiles with a photo and contact other people. Let’s not forget about Classmates.com, but dating sites and Classmates.com rarely  allowed you to keep a friends list and profiles appeared to be severely limited. The actual social networks like Six Degrees and LiveJournal were a tad bit more advanced than what dating sites had to offer. Six Degrees allowed users to create a basically-static profile while LiveJournal was created in 1999 and was a social network built around blogs that were constantly updated that encouraged other users to follow one another and form groups to interact. It wasn’t soon after that social interaction had found its way to online games. World of Warcraft is one the most famous for allowing players to interact both in the game would and on related forum and community sites. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games became popular in the early 2000’s though there were indeed other role-playing and other games prior to that. Additionally, the early 2000’s brought more advanced social networks and social media to the playing field. Some examples that most people are familiar with would be Friendster (2002), YouTube (2005), MySpace (2006), Facebook (2004), Tumblr (2006), Twitter (2006), and Instagram (2010). All these networks took a toll on millions and billions of people around the globe. People are more connected and up to date because of them. Social Media as a whole has brought a lot of positive effects to the world as we know it today. Social Networks started as a place to connect with your friends in an easy, convenient, and free from charge way. Social networks play an important role with social media. It has allowed individuals to connect with old friends from school, co-workers, and even with complete strangers. It has also provided us with the opportunity to build back a lost relationship or even better relationships with whom that are unable to meet us personally, and involve them with our lives and even take input into their personal lives with specific events that are happening with us. We are now able to communicate our thoughts and perceptions over different topics with a large number of audiences. Our voices are heard louder than ever with the help of social media and social networks. For example, with the Trayvon Martin case, people used social media to conduct marches and protests. On social networks, like Instagram, users blocked out their profile picture to show their involvement for wanting justice for that specific case. We have the option to make groups with people who are like minded and share the  related news with them and ask for their opinion or input about the topic. Far as businesses, they are using social media and social networks to promote their own products and there are a number of customized applications that are being made on social platforms, whose main and only purpose is to promote the product or brand given to them. The negative effects of social media seem to be quite questionable. Studies have shown that the extensive use of social media can quite frankly cause addition to the users. Throughout the day, people tend to feel the need to post something on their pages and check other posts as it has become an important part of everyday life. Extreme usage of social media had resulted in isolation of the individual. The level of human interaction has decreased tremendously and people appear to be less active. Individuals would rather check their smart-phones or tablets than actually picking up a book or a newspaper per say. Interpersonal communication has reduced and there aren’t many face to face communications and meetings being held because many people have lost their full ability to converse while being in the same room. Social Media is also affecting the productivity of people. Users are more distracted. Again, I must state that people are so caught up in texting, blogging, updating a status, and posting any and everything that it to the point where they cannot get specific things done. A prime example would be texting while driving or being on a social network while attempting to write a research paper or even complete homework. According to media bistro, the average person spent three hours and seven minutes online each day in 2012. It appears as online media becomes more popular; other media sources become less popular. People are not reading magazines, newspapers, listening to the radio, or watching television as much as they used to. As the popularity of social networks and online video increases, so does our time online. YouTube has more than one billion users that visit their website each month. Seventy two hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. The list just goes on and this also goes for Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Pinterest, Hulu, and Instagram. It seems nowadays that there are social and user-generated sites for just about every activity you can possibly imagine. There are social shopping sites and social financial planning sites. There are even sites to share goals and meet like-minded people. Sites to plan your travels and share them with others. There are so many apps and sites that accommodate the average person for me to say that social media has indeed made life better for people. Social media has become a huge part of millions of lives worldwide. On the other hand, social media has made everyday life harder or horrific for everyday people. Because social media has grown in popularity and mainstream, it can be used by stalkers to track their victims or even find new ones. Social networks make these privacy settings available to users to help prevent stalkers and predators from being able to see their update. In addition to stalkers, we must also consider cyber-bulling. Cyber-bulling has increased over the years and has affected a lot of social network users. These things can make it harder on individuals. One final thing that needs to be discussed is the fact that the people who have degrees to be covering the news face their job being at risk. News stations and news broadcasts are now up with competition against social media and social networks. This is because people use their mobile devices to obtain the news now a days. This is because it is more convenient to access things from your phone than to take time out to turn on the television or go buy a newspaper. This could make everyday life harder for them if they lose their job. Social media has come a long way since the days of BBSs and IRC charts and social media continues to evolve on a daily basis. With major social networks and social media sites making changes and improvements, it’s sure to keep evolving in the coming years. While in many ways social media has allowed us to share everything from the simplest to most sacred events of our lives with more people in real time, it has also taken away from the action of â€Å"living in the moment.† The one thing we can all conclude is that social media is not just a phase, and it most definitely won’t be going away anytime soon or at least until something better comes along. WORS CITED http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/how-social-media-made-me-better-person http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ View as multi-pages

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Relevance of Sociology for the study of Law Essay

If societies are based upon agreed upon laws, then they are very much interrelated subjects. They are symbiotic, interwoven, interconnected. When someone commits a crime against another person or their property, they will have to face the consequences in a court of law. Or reduce it to a smaller group such as a tribe. Even amongst members of a tribe, there are laws that may only be verbal, or perhaps not even as formal as that. They are followed because children see them in the form of examples as they grow up. Within each tribe, culture or society, some form of punishment is enforced when a cultural norm is broken. Law can be analyzed sociologically as a method of doing something. Law can be studied as a social process, instrumented by individuals during social interaction. Sociologically, law consists of the behaviors, situations, and conditions for making, interpreting and applying legal rules that are backed by the state’s legitimate coercive apparatus for enforcement. The sociology of law (or legal sociology) is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. While some socio-legal scholars see the sociology of law as â€Å"necessarily† belonging to the discipline of sociology, others see it as a field of research caught up in the disciplinary tensions and competitions between the two established disciplines of law and sociology. Yet, others regard it neither as a sub-discipline of sociology nor as a branch of legal studies and, instead, present it as a field of research on its own right within a broader social science tradition. For example, Roger Cotterrell describes the sociology of law without reference to mainstream sociology as â€Å"the systematic, theoretically grounded, empirical study of law as a set of social practices or as an aspect or field of social experience†. The sociology of law became clearly established as an academic field of learning and empirical research after the Second World War. After World War II, the study of law was not central in sociology, although some well-known sociologists did write about the role of law in society. In the work of the Talcott Parsons, for instance, law is conceived as an essential mechanism of social control. In response to the criticisms that were developed against functionalism, other sociological perspectives of law emerged. 1. Critical sociologists developed a perspective of law as an instrument of power. 2. However, other theorists in the sociology of law, such as  Philip Selznick, argued that modern law became increasingly responsive to a society’s needs and had to be approached morally as well. 3. Still other scholars, most notably the American sociologist Donald Black, developed a resolutely scientific theory of law on the basis of a paradigm of pure sociology. 4. Equally broad in orientation, but again different, is the autopoietic systems theory of the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, who sees law as normatively closed, but cognitively open system. The essential insight underlying all sociological approaches to law is that law is a social phenomenon that should, therefore, be studied sociologically. Beyond this core unifying orientation, sociology and law, otherwise known as the sociology of law, or law and sociology, consists of a variety of different approaches, assumptions, and attitudes. This internal proliferation of approaches is the product of diversity at two different levels. 1. First: sociology and law are contrasting bodies of knowledge. Sociology is a social science focused on the study of society, and like all such disciplines its overarching goal is the gathering of knowledge. Law, in contrast, is a practical activity that focuses on completing certain fundamental tasks, including promulgating and enforcing rules, responding to disputes, and maintaining order. 2. Second: each of these contributing bodies of knowledge is in its own way internally driven, with sociology divided among various competing schools of thought and law divided among practitioners and theorists (adhering to competing schools of thought). When sociology and law are brought together, the differences between them, and the internal divisions that characterize each, are manifested in the combination of the two. In the United States, the primary academic influences in bringing sociology to law were philosophical pragmatism, sociological jurisprudence, and legal realism; the key figures were Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Roscoe Pound, and Karl Llewellyn. These schools of thought and figures were leaders in the critique of formalistic approaches to the law that dominated at the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Under formalist views, law was a gapless, logically coherent self-contained system that could be discovered and applied exclusively through cons ideration of legal concepts, principles, and rules, without regard to social context or consequences. The figures identified above argued, to the contrary, that law was the product of social forces, that it was neither gapless nor  systematic, that one could not move mechanistically from principle to application (choices had to be made), and that judges were influenced by the social background in their interpretation and application of law. Most important: they argued that law, far from being autonomous and self-standing, was above all else an instrument to serve social needs. An important social-political influence on their thought was the social programs of the New Deal, which resorted to law as the key mechanism for implementing social policy. It follows this cluster of views that the efficacy of law, and its social consequences, must be carefully evaluated. Hence the call for the application of sociology to law. The early agenda for sociology ranged from studying the gap between â€Å"law in the books† and â€Å"law in action,† to discovering the social influences on the making, the application, and the interpretation of law, to learning whether law is effective in achieving social policy, and how it can be made more effective when it is not. Many sociological studies of law, from the study of crime to influences on judicial decision-making, were conducted to meet this call. Under the influence of sociologist E. A. Ross, law came to be understood as a mechanism of social control, and the thrust of many studies was to make law more efficient and effective in accomplishing this task. A backlash against this jurisprudence-dominated agenda gradually developed from the sociological standpoint, which decried the instrumental use of sociology as a â€Å"handmaiden to law.† As the science of society, the application of sociology to law, it has been argued, should take place in the context of general theories about society, with proper attention paid to epistemological and methodological concerns. The classical sociological theories about law—famously including 1. Émile Durkheim’s view of law as the essential element integrating modern society, 2. Max Weber’s ideal-type analysis of the kinds of law found relative to kinds of societies, and 3. Karl Marx’s characterization of law as determined by economic forces, serving the dominant class all possessed these qualities. 4. A modern sociological theory of this type of law is Donald Black’s view, which assumes a positivistic stance of measuring law in quantitative terms, and articulates a series of â€Å"laws† of legal behavior based upon patterns he observes relating to factors like degree of social stratification. A different current source of criticism of the  jurisprudence-influenced approach to sociology and law comes from critical schools of sociolegal theory, including â€Å"critical empiricists† and â€Å"post-empiricists,† which reject positivism and many of the epistemological underpinnings of classical sociology (including the fact/value distinction). Adherents criticize sociology and law as currently practiced as a conservative tool that serves to preserve the status quo by enhancing the efficiency of law and by failing to scrutinize and reveal the institutional structures and ideological beliefs about law circulating in society which perpetuate (class-based, gender-based, and/or race-based) oppression and domination. Sociological approaches to law, according to this view, must reject the agenda set by jurisprudence, and instead seek to expose all forms of domination perpetuated through law. Sociology and law thus encompasses divergent perspectives on law. Despite significant internal schisms, a growing community of scholars and body of discourse has developed around the combination of sociology and law, united by the shared commitment to view law as a social phenomenon that must be examined in sociological terms. Functions of law * Social control * Dispute resolution * Social change Social control: There are two basic processes of social control: 1. the internalization of group norms and 2. control through external pressures. In Chtonic societies, social control is ensured by the fact that socializing experiences are very much the same for all members. Even in larger societies, social control rests largely on the internalization of shared norms. Formal social control is characterized by: (i) explicit rules of conduct, (ii) planned use of sanctions to support the rules, and (iii) designated officials to interpret and enforce the rules, and often to make them. Law does not have a monopoly on formal mechanisms of social control. Control through law is usually exercised by the use of negative sanctions and not by positive rewards. A person that obeys the law does not receive an award. Mechanisms of social control through law: (i) Criminal sanctions, (ii) civil commitment, and (iii) administrative licenses. Criminal sanctions: the purpose of sanctions: Retribution (denounce unlawful conduct) Deterrence (both specific and general), Rehabilitation of the offender. Civil commitment: medicalization of social problems, such as drug abuse, alcoholism, etc. Administrative law: administrative regulations is used as a means of social control. Dispute resolution: Types: By the parties themselves: physical violence, family feud, lumping it, avoidance, etc. By adjudication: ADR: negotiation (without the help of any third party), mediation (third party helps disputants), and arbitration (third party makes a final and binding decision, which is enforceable). Hybrid resolution processes: rent a judge (like arbitration, but with a retired judge), med-arb (issues not solved by mediation are sent to arbitration where the mediator becomes arbiter), and mini trial (if there is no settlement before the â€Å"sentence† the adviser gives her opinion about the likely outcome if the dispute were litigated). Adjudication: a formal method of conflict resolution, where a third party –the courts- intervenes –even if not wanted by the parties- and renders a decision which is enforceable. Social change Law is both a dependent and an independent variable, i.e., an effect and a cause of social change. The question is not whether law changes society or whether social change alters law, but rather, what level or under what circumstances change is produced. Examples of social changes as causes of legal changes: Soviet Union, China, and other radical revolutions. Examples of legal changes as causes of social changes: adultery, sexual assault, etc. Problems of interaction between sociologists and lawyers Sociologists study everything about the law, except for rules –institutional structures, processes, behavior, personnel, and culture. Lawyers and sociologists don’t speak the same language. There is a special rethoric of law. It has its own vocabulary, an arcane writing style, and a form of irritating citation. There are also differences in professional culture. Lawyers are advocates. They are concerned with the identification and resolution of the problems of their clients. Sociologists consider all evidence on a proposition and approach the problem with an open mind. Lawyers are guided by precedents and past decisions control current cases. In contrast, sociologists emphasize empirical research. Lawyers and law professors tend to believe that they have a monopoly over law. This is as if physicians thought that they had a monopoly over the bodies. The pronouncements of law are predominantly prescriptive: they tell people how they should behave and what will happen to them if they don’t. In sociology, the emphasis is on description, on understanding the reasons why certain groups of people act in a certain way in specific situations. The law reacts to problems most of the time. The issues and conflicts are brought to lawyers by their clients outside the legal system. In sociology, issues and concerns are generated within the discipline on the basis of what is considered intellectually challenging, timely, or of interest to funding agencies. These differences are due in part to the different methods they use.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Our Northerly Neighbors the Inuit essays

Our Northerly Neighbors the Inuit essays Sub-zero temperatures; ghastly wind gusts; seemingly endless snowfall-not exactly the kind of place Id like to live. I suppose that is what separates me from our northerly neighbors the Inuit. The extremeness of the area in which they thrive is exactly what intrigued me about the Inuit culture, and is exactly what inspired me to research their way of life. I am going to walk you through a brief discussion of their patterns of settlement; subsistence; clothing and transportation; social organization; and lastly, their religious belief systems. When all is said and done, you will better understand the culture of a people who live (partially) on the same continent as us. To better understand the culture of the Eskimo, it is important to understand how far reaching their inhabitation is. The Eskimo call four countries home: Greenland, Russia, Canada, and the United States. Their population is highly concentrated in the regions just south of the Arctic Circle. There are more than 90,000 Eskimo flourishing in this aforementioned area. The word Eskimo was coined by the Algonquin Indians, and translates as, eaters of raw meat. The term they use to refer to themselves is Inuit, meaning the real people. The two dialectical groups are the Inupik speakers (Greenland to western Alaska) and the Yupik speakers (southwestern Alaska and Siberia). Regardless of what dialect they speak, all Inuit inhabit one of the most inclement regions of the world. Their successful survival in such an area is largely due to their material innovations. The Inuit salvage just about every part of the animals they hunt. Clothing sewn from skins, the toggle harpoon made up of ivory, the igloo, and so much more can be attributed to the Inuit survival. Courage and hardihood are instilled in the young very early on, as well as the importance of hunting. Settlement patterns varied according to the location of particular gr...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Bcg Matrixs Problems and Its Reconstruction

It illustrated two main problems (interpretation and logistical problem), which related to understanding the role of MAS in strategic sensemaking. The interpretation perspective defined strategic sensemaking as a learning process, and interactive use of MAS have positive influences. However, interactive perspective neglects the relationship between MAS use and MAS dimension. The logistical perspective just said MAS dimensions is important in this information processing, but not explain how MAS dimensions contribute to strategic sensemaking. Both information processing did not deal with these problems. Theoretical framework In the literature view authors defined strategic sensemaking as the individual process of observing, interpreting, and communicating strategic issues. Through these three successive processes to understand how managers use the management accounting system and how MAS dimensions contribute to this use. Management accounting system in the observation phase, there are two characteristic modes of observation – scanning and focused search. Scanning behaviour can provide managers with different perspectives on strategic issues and it is more likely to accommodate new information. However, managers are more likely to use MAS for focused search, which can faster identificated the problems in areas covered by the system. It is required by executives because the limited attention capacity to achieve targets. We must concerned that the statistical analysis and data mining technique can reveal the weak value information from the various kinds of data which people usually cannot find out directly. High level of formalization as the character of MAS that focus attention on selected areas, whereas potential loss at other important areas and cause constrain the information. Authors said consistent data will reduce scanning behaviour and may decrease the possibility that strategic issues are identified. We thought these situations will occur, but managers use the MAS for focused search is inevitable. How to use their MAS for scanning and focused search together and have the greatest efficiency is worth considering. In the interpretation phase, authors thought manager’s awareness is a key factor to interpret strategic issues accurately. Reliable information related to controliability perceptions and external information can reduce bias, errors and potential to increase confidence in judgement by consistent information. Therefore, MAS also can increase awareness during issue interpretation. Manager’s awareness and more extra information were useful, but managers use MAS determine strategic issues is important as well. Another point about MAS in form of short-termism have side-effects and harmful to the interpretation of strategic can balance the effect of short-term performance. Correct form and flexible MAS information style are other factors effect strategic issues. However, we felt that this point may not key point in this phase. Authors stated find more extra information with a great degree of manager’s awareness to interpretation strategic issues. In the final phase – communication phase, authors introduce a new definition about media richness, which separated by three levels. High media richness of MAS should have a positive effect on sensemaking, but did not have enough evidence to prove there have positive influences. On the other hand, managers use interactive MAS has positive impact on communication which reduced equivocality of strategic issues. The interactive use of MAS contributes to strategic sensemaking by providing directions and facilitating interactive that help to resolve equivocality of strategic issues is the biggest positive effect in communication phase. Authors further described the quality dimension of MAS, and proposed that when evaluating the MAS’s effectiveness, not only the information characteristics, but the system quality dimensions (integration, flexibility, accessibility, formalisation and media richness) should be considerate. Of course, the integration analysis of information quality dimensions and system quality dimensions will give the comprehensive assessment of MAS’s role in stagey sensemaking. Authors have given the overall research framework. Information and system quality dimensions, both impact the three phases, which in turn impacts the effectiveness of MAS for strategic sensemanking. However, in our view, the research framework is too coarse. Is there interaction between the information quality and system quality? If exist, how is its impact on the MAS effectiveness, Are there any counteraction from MAS use to information quality and system quality? All these question are not involved. Impact of MAS on Processes in Strategic Sensemaking Authors of the article use some statistics to explain how MAS influence processes in strategic sensemaking. We think they have interpreted what MAS can bring to companies. On observation, from doing some research and statistics analyzing, they get a high association between interactive use and focused search supports the notion that managers use MAS to look for specific information that is useful to discuss strategic issues. It is useful for us to understand the influence of MAS. On interpretation, they say some people suggest that the processes to prepare MAS information can also increase awareness. It is a positive impact. They also doubt whether a high level of MAS formalization negatively impacts in strategic sensemaking. But they do not say how to solve this problem. If a high level of MAS formalization has been used in companies, how to avoid changes and risks? On communication, they analyze particularly what positive impact MAS can bring in strategic sensemaking, such as on communication. In strategic sensemaking it is important that information concerning strategic issues is communicated to managers who have complementary information or are able to take action. † We all agree this point of view. Authors also tell us that there are two kinds of interaction when asked about the role of MAS information. It can help us understand what MAS information can help to companies. However, it does not say how the system can function effectively between mana gers and staff. For example, how to forecast negative problems occur in the future? How to make this system flexibility in order to be suitable for more and more companies? We think there are still more important views do not be mentioned in this article. Although they use some cases to show some positive impact, it does not mean that systems are perfect. And the article does not tell us how to avoid any other questions such as how to avoid some risks when MAS be used. We agree that there must have some unstable elementary. We find another article talks about the effectiveness of management accounting systems. It also does not mention how managers can use it effectively. Because there may have some negatively impacts if every manager use a high level of MAS formalization. From these two articles we can find that it is essential to solve this problem. We think there must have some risks if the level of management accounting system becomes too high. Although it has many positive impacts, it still cannot forecast risks in the future. Many managers try to deal with this problem through tools, but this is not sustainable. A good management accounting system should be a long-term management system not just a high level system. It should consider risks and changes for companies in the future. We suggest that do more research for this system. Asking more managers for this system is essential, in order to find some negative impacts and solve them. Research Methodology Authors focus on measurement instruments of observation communication, and effectiveness of management accounting system in strategic sensemaking to make this research. Because the limited empirical evidence, complex and broad phenomenon, the most of relationships suggested are only tentative. Therefore, the authors of the article state that: we chose an exploratory multiple-case design with 30 top and middle managers of 7 large companies in Germany. In the aspect of select sample, the authors introduce too detailed of the sample, and the range of the sample just limited in the companies of Germany. No explanation for the professional term such as replication logic. The highlight of this article is that authors collect data through semi-structured interview and a questionnaire. The diversified methods of data collection can obtain different result to be analyzed. Although the author has taken some steps to reduce hindsight bias and allow the identification of unconscious effects of MAS in strategic sensemaking, the authors do not explain why the data have to be avoiding these situations and how these data affect the result in the part of semi-structured interviews. In the aspect of questionnaire, the authors quote a large number of words to introduce and explain which methods and aspects they used for data collection and analyze of the questionnaire. However, authors do not explain the absent questionnaire whether it is influence the survey or not. Furthermore, the incomplete questionnaire might affect the accuracy of the result possibly. For analysis result, authors should explain more particularly and do not just use two number of percentages to illustrate. This paper needs some specific data to support the summary in the research. We suggest that authors can add more explanations for the professional term and reduce some unnecessary introduction such as for sample or give more detailed data in the appendix. Comparison to another article We compared this article with another similar one. The title of the comparison article is â€Å"The effectiveness of management accounting systems† by Teerooven Soobaroyen and Bhagtaraj Poorundersing. In Teerooven’s paper, Regarding that there is little consideration of other more mainstream contextual factors such as uncertainty and decentralization(DEC) applied on research of the effectiveness of MAS, in addition to the information quality dimensions, in assessment of effectiveness of MAS, they focused on the effect of two contextual variables, namely task uncertainty (TU) and DEC. They thought the absence of evidence on its actual timeliness, aggregation and integration may limit the benefits of knowing how far broad scope information has had am impact in the first place. Moreover, traditional methods usually are carried under some hypothetical conditions which often opposed to actual conditions, and this could undermine the practicality or validity of the results. Considering the impact of situational variables on the state of available MAS will be more near the practical situation. That the evidence on the influence of contingent variables in the relationship between MAS and managerial performance remains incomplete and of limited usefulness also make it reasonable. However, unlike Teerooven’s paper, the author of this paper take consideration of system quality dimensions in addition to information quality dimensions, they recognised that not only the information quality itself but also the system performance on processing information can have impact on the analysis of MAS’s role. In these two articles, both of them have their own emphasis, however, if combing their thoughts, more comprehensive, more extract evaluation of MAS would be acquired. The same aspects in select sample, there are more researchers and set out the requirements of sample selection in the comparison article. The author comments that â€Å"in this respect, the following lists and databases were used to triangulate and identify a reasonably full and reliable list of manufacturing companies†¦.. † In the aspect of research method, the choose of this article are compared as deeper discussion of this research. Teerooven comment that: MAS play a significant intervening role between task uncertainty (TU) and decentralization (DEC)†. We feel that it is relevant to make valid comparison. The author chose to conduct their research using a questionnaire survey. Although we believe that the interview of semi-structured and questionnaire are superior to just sending out questionnaires, the comparison article may produce more accurate result due to using a large amount of research objects and screening by Teerooven and Bhagtaraj. For the aspect of design questionnaire, the highlight of the comparison article is that there are total 41 questions which are divided into five parts about MAS. According to the different management structure of the companies, the authors of the comparison article design two different questionnaires which are â€Å"Sale/marketing manager† and â€Å"Production/operations manager† and give full of time to respond within three weeks. The design of questionnaire has played an important role for the research result. In the aspect of research result, authors also have clearly classified above all aspect. There are not present in the article and we feel that this is a major weakness of the article by Marcus, Utz and Susanne. On the other hand, the comparison article have put into data result and the questionnaire template in the appendix. We feel that authors can expand the range of sample selection or add another research method to analyze. Conclusion According to the knowledge what we learn and some relevant knowledge what we not familiar with, we are not sure that we propose some questions and doubt is reasonable. But we feel that the article have some questions like that the research framework is unsophisticated, there is not correlative between information quality and system quality and the problem is when the company has use the high level MAS formalized, which methods are used to improve and reduce the risk. For details of the problems, the author can deal with a more particularly and improve some shortcomings, to make the article more fluently, such as no explanation for the professional term. Bibliography Poorundersing. B and Soobaroyen,T (2008) The effectiveness of management accounting systems, published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Available at: http://www. emeraldinsight. com. libaccess. hud. ac. uk/journals. htm? issn=0268-6902volume=23issue=2articleid=1641976show=pdfPHPSESSID=lcnec7hn2ja606agg4g49si4u5 [accessed at 20 March 2012 ] Bcg Matrixs Problems and Its Reconstruction It illustrated two main problems (interpretation and logistical problem), which related to understanding the role of MAS in strategic sensemaking. The interpretation perspective defined strategic sensemaking as a learning process, and interactive use of MAS have positive influences. However, interactive perspective neglects the relationship between MAS use and MAS dimension. The logistical perspective just said MAS dimensions is important in this information processing, but not explain how MAS dimensions contribute to strategic sensemaking. Both information processing did not deal with these problems. Theoretical framework In the literature view authors defined strategic sensemaking as the individual process of observing, interpreting, and communicating strategic issues. Through these three successive processes to understand how managers use the management accounting system and how MAS dimensions contribute to this use. Management accounting system in the observation phase, there are two characteristic modes of observation – scanning and focused search. Scanning behaviour can provide managers with different perspectives on strategic issues and it is more likely to accommodate new information. However, managers are more likely to use MAS for focused search, which can faster identificated the problems in areas covered by the system. It is required by executives because the limited attention capacity to achieve targets. We must concerned that the statistical analysis and data mining technique can reveal the weak value information from the various kinds of data which people usually cannot find out directly. High level of formalization as the character of MAS that focus attention on selected areas, whereas potential loss at other important areas and cause constrain the information. Authors said consistent data will reduce scanning behaviour and may decrease the possibility that strategic issues are identified. We thought these situations will occur, but managers use the MAS for focused search is inevitable. How to use their MAS for scanning and focused search together and have the greatest efficiency is worth considering. In the interpretation phase, authors thought manager’s awareness is a key factor to interpret strategic issues accurately. Reliable information related to controliability perceptions and external information can reduce bias, errors and potential to increase confidence in judgement by consistent information. Therefore, MAS also can increase awareness during issue interpretation. Manager’s awareness and more extra information were useful, but managers use MAS determine strategic issues is important as well. Another point about MAS in form of short-termism have side-effects and harmful to the interpretation of strategic can balance the effect of short-term performance. Correct form and flexible MAS information style are other factors effect strategic issues. However, we felt that this point may not key point in this phase. Authors stated find more extra information with a great degree of manager’s awareness to interpretation strategic issues. In the final phase – communication phase, authors introduce a new definition about media richness, which separated by three levels. High media richness of MAS should have a positive effect on sensemaking, but did not have enough evidence to prove there have positive influences. On the other hand, managers use interactive MAS has positive impact on communication which reduced equivocality of strategic issues. The interactive use of MAS contributes to strategic sensemaking by providing directions and facilitating interactive that help to resolve equivocality of strategic issues is the biggest positive effect in communication phase. Authors further described the quality dimension of MAS, and proposed that when evaluating the MAS’s effectiveness, not only the information characteristics, but the system quality dimensions (integration, flexibility, accessibility, formalisation and media richness) should be considerate. Of course, the integration analysis of information quality dimensions and system quality dimensions will give the comprehensive assessment of MAS’s role in stagey sensemaking. Authors have given the overall research framework. Information and system quality dimensions, both impact the three phases, which in turn impacts the effectiveness of MAS for strategic sensemanking. However, in our view, the research framework is too coarse. Is there interaction between the information quality and system quality? If exist, how is its impact on the MAS effectiveness, Are there any counteraction from MAS use to information quality and system quality? All these question are not involved. Impact of MAS on Processes in Strategic Sensemaking Authors of the article use some statistics to explain how MAS influence processes in strategic sensemaking. We think they have interpreted what MAS can bring to companies. On observation, from doing some research and statistics analyzing, they get a high association between interactive use and focused search supports the notion that managers use MAS to look for specific information that is useful to discuss strategic issues. It is useful for us to understand the influence of MAS. On interpretation, they say some people suggest that the processes to prepare MAS information can also increase awareness. It is a positive impact. They also doubt whether a high level of MAS formalization negatively impacts in strategic sensemaking. But they do not say how to solve this problem. If a high level of MAS formalization has been used in companies, how to avoid changes and risks? On communication, they analyze particularly what positive impact MAS can bring in strategic sensemaking, such as on communication. In strategic sensemaking it is important that information concerning strategic issues is communicated to managers who have complementary information or are able to take action. † We all agree this point of view. Authors also tell us that there are two kinds of interaction when asked about the role of MAS information. It can help us understand what MAS information can help to companies. However, it does not say how the system can function effectively between mana gers and staff. For example, how to forecast negative problems occur in the future? How to make this system flexibility in order to be suitable for more and more companies? We think there are still more important views do not be mentioned in this article. Although they use some cases to show some positive impact, it does not mean that systems are perfect. And the article does not tell us how to avoid any other questions such as how to avoid some risks when MAS be used. We agree that there must have some unstable elementary. We find another article talks about the effectiveness of management accounting systems. It also does not mention how managers can use it effectively. Because there may have some negatively impacts if every manager use a high level of MAS formalization. From these two articles we can find that it is essential to solve this problem. We think there must have some risks if the level of management accounting system becomes too high. Although it has many positive impacts, it still cannot forecast risks in the future. Many managers try to deal with this problem through tools, but this is not sustainable. A good management accounting system should be a long-term management system not just a high level system. It should consider risks and changes for companies in the future. We suggest that do more research for this system. Asking more managers for this system is essential, in order to find some negative impacts and solve them. Research Methodology Authors focus on measurement instruments of observation communication, and effectiveness of management accounting system in strategic sensemaking to make this research. Because the limited empirical evidence, complex and broad phenomenon, the most of relationships suggested are only tentative. Therefore, the authors of the article state that: we chose an exploratory multiple-case design with 30 top and middle managers of 7 large companies in Germany. In the aspect of select sample, the authors introduce too detailed of the sample, and the range of the sample just limited in the companies of Germany. No explanation for the professional term such as replication logic. The highlight of this article is that authors collect data through semi-structured interview and a questionnaire. The diversified methods of data collection can obtain different result to be analyzed. Although the author has taken some steps to reduce hindsight bias and allow the identification of unconscious effects of MAS in strategic sensemaking, the authors do not explain why the data have to be avoiding these situations and how these data affect the result in the part of semi-structured interviews. In the aspect of questionnaire, the authors quote a large number of words to introduce and explain which methods and aspects they used for data collection and analyze of the questionnaire. However, authors do not explain the absent questionnaire whether it is influence the survey or not. Furthermore, the incomplete questionnaire might affect the accuracy of the result possibly. For analysis result, authors should explain more particularly and do not just use two number of percentages to illustrate. This paper needs some specific data to support the summary in the research. We suggest that authors can add more explanations for the professional term and reduce some unnecessary introduction such as for sample or give more detailed data in the appendix. Comparison to another article We compared this article with another similar one. The title of the comparison article is â€Å"The effectiveness of management accounting systems† by Teerooven Soobaroyen and Bhagtaraj Poorundersing. In Teerooven’s paper, Regarding that there is little consideration of other more mainstream contextual factors such as uncertainty and decentralization(DEC) applied on research of the effectiveness of MAS, in addition to the information quality dimensions, in assessment of effectiveness of MAS, they focused on the effect of two contextual variables, namely task uncertainty (TU) and DEC. They thought the absence of evidence on its actual timeliness, aggregation and integration may limit the benefits of knowing how far broad scope information has had am impact in the first place. Moreover, traditional methods usually are carried under some hypothetical conditions which often opposed to actual conditions, and this could undermine the practicality or validity of the results. Considering the impact of situational variables on the state of available MAS will be more near the practical situation. That the evidence on the influence of contingent variables in the relationship between MAS and managerial performance remains incomplete and of limited usefulness also make it reasonable. However, unlike Teerooven’s paper, the author of this paper take consideration of system quality dimensions in addition to information quality dimensions, they recognised that not only the information quality itself but also the system performance on processing information can have impact on the analysis of MAS’s role. In these two articles, both of them have their own emphasis, however, if combing their thoughts, more comprehensive, more extract evaluation of MAS would be acquired. The same aspects in select sample, there are more researchers and set out the requirements of sample selection in the comparison article. The author comments that â€Å"in this respect, the following lists and databases were used to triangulate and identify a reasonably full and reliable list of manufacturing companies†¦.. † In the aspect of research method, the choose of this article are compared as deeper discussion of this research. Teerooven comment that: MAS play a significant intervening role between task uncertainty (TU) and decentralization (DEC)†. We feel that it is relevant to make valid comparison. The author chose to conduct their research using a questionnaire survey. Although we believe that the interview of semi-structured and questionnaire are superior to just sending out questionnaires, the comparison article may produce more accurate result due to using a large amount of research objects and screening by Teerooven and Bhagtaraj. For the aspect of design questionnaire, the highlight of the comparison article is that there are total 41 questions which are divided into five parts about MAS. According to the different management structure of the companies, the authors of the comparison article design two different questionnaires which are â€Å"Sale/marketing manager† and â€Å"Production/operations manager† and give full of time to respond within three weeks. The design of questionnaire has played an important role for the research result. In the aspect of research result, authors also have clearly classified above all aspect. There are not present in the article and we feel that this is a major weakness of the article by Marcus, Utz and Susanne. On the other hand, the comparison article have put into data result and the questionnaire template in the appendix. We feel that authors can expand the range of sample selection or add another research method to analyze. Conclusion According to the knowledge what we learn and some relevant knowledge what we not familiar with, we are not sure that we propose some questions and doubt is reasonable. But we feel that the article have some questions like that the research framework is unsophisticated, there is not correlative between information quality and system quality and the problem is when the company has use the high level MAS formalized, which methods are used to improve and reduce the risk. For details of the problems, the author can deal with a more particularly and improve some shortcomings, to make the article more fluently, such as no explanation for the professional term. Bibliography Poorundersing. B and Soobaroyen,T (2008) The effectiveness of management accounting systems, published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Available at: http://www. emeraldinsight. com. libaccess. hud. ac. uk/journals. htm? issn=0268-6902volume=23issue=2articleid=1641976show=pdfPHPSESSID=lcnec7hn2ja606agg4g49si4u5 [accessed at 20 March 2012 ]