Ramblings of a Political and/or Scientific Nature

Transformational Leadership - Benchmark

2008-07-08T07:45:00.002-06:00

Leadership Research

Philaiporn Pugliese, Frances Mills, Ivan Ralston,
Richard Shives, Wendell Miller
University of Phoenix
MBA 520 Transformational Leadership
July 7, 2008

Introduction
Gene One has many different issues that it must face to continue to make the company more successful and even have a chance at moving itself from a private company, to a corporation that is going to sell its common shares through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). If Gene One were successful at taking the company public, this would be a way to raise capital for expansion.

This paper will discuss the scenario in which Gene One finds itself. Our team will look at companies or organizations that have had or are currently going through some of the issues faced by this company. The companies other than Gene One that we will focus on within this paper are Toyota, Google, 3M, Southwest Airlines, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Nike, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly and Company, and VISA. We will benchmark Gene One against the above companies in the areas of organizational culture change, self managed teams, teamwork, team building and ethics and values.

Some of the underlying themes and recurring problems throughout our study of Gene one revolved around the mindset of the leadership as well as the employees. Gene one must realize that one of the Board of Directors goals is to take this company public and the leadership within Gene One must be able to sell this to the employees and make them feel a part of the plan. Feedback from the employees to the Board of Directors prior to making this announcement could have been used to identify some key indicators as to why it may not be a good idea to take this company public.

A company such as Gene One cannot operate independently of each other within the company. Although they have been very successful while a private company, there are new rules and regulations that they must abide by prior to and after they become a publicly traded company. Employees’ timelines become managed at a higher level and their timelines and timetables become someone else’s. They must meet these goals set by management and the board of directors.

Benchmarked Companies/ Key Leadership Concepts
Toyota – Influence Others Through Team Interaction - Philaiporn Pugliese
A good automaker must keep up with the latest trends of vehicles in the automobile market. To achieve this successfully, the research and development manager used influencing techniques in order to persuade the designing team, the marketing team, along with the sales team with a proposal of newly developed prototypes. The sales team works independently, informally and believes that the customer is most important. Customer survey reports put together by an expert marketing consultant were presented to the team. By knowing the culture of each team, it was easier to convince them by using tactics that supported their culture. “Persuasion is described as the use of logical arguments, facts, and emotional appeals to encourage people to accept a request or message. It is also considered an important characteristic of leader effectiveness”, (McShane & Von Glinow, 2005).

Toyota is a company that follows the same cultural beliefs of the logic customer comes first. “The Toyota Way has two main pillars: continuous improvement and respect for people”, (Stewart & Raman, 2007). Toyota realizes that their success is attributed to the customers and to continually improving processes. In continuous improvement, Toyota forms long-term visions, meets challenges with courage and creativity in order to achieve their goals and dreams. They also strive to improve business operations driving for innovation and evolution, (Stewart & Raman, 2007).

As for respecting people, Toyota makes every effort to understand each other and take responsibility to build trust within the organization. According to Toyota’s president, Katsuaki Watanabe, he states that respecting people includes employees, supply partners and customers. “Customer first is one of the company’s core tenets. We don’t mean just the end customer; on the assembly line the person at the next workstation is also your customer. That leads to teamwork”, (Stewart & Raman, 2007). If the president of the company states that the customer is first, the rest of the organization knows this is part of the culture, which creates alignment and clarity.

Google—Leadership and Ethics - Philaiporn Pugliese
Two years after establishing an IPO, Google, the world’s largest search engine, still remains a very successful organization, even after the blunders that surrounded the IPO. The success of a company is mostly due to the efforts of the entire organization to transition from private to public. Employees must be managed well and educated on the importance and benefits of going public. Google’s strong management and unusual benefits, such as meals free of charge, doctors, and even washing machines at the office (Gaffin, 2004), had no problems transitioning employees through the IPO process. Most of this success is attributed to not changing the mission of bringing new or better technology to the public. Gene One should follow Google’s example in this respect. However, Taulli (2004) remarked that although Google’s “management techniques have been hugely successful for its search engine business…these skills do not translate well to the tricky business of raising billions of dollars.” Google needed help managing the entire IPO process.

IPOs are not necessarily bought; they are sold. To “sell” their shares, companies need to market themselves in a way that makes ownership desirable by investors. Investors commit because they are confident their investment will make a profit. This confidence comes from sufficient information such as business plans, annual reports. Company founders can best explain this type of information during the company’s road show. Unfortunately, Google’s executives failed to share enough information about the company during the road show, including important information about “third party relationships and expectations for future revenue growth” (Association, 2004). Google’s uninformative road show could have contributed to their lower-than-expected IPO. Google was also in violation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quiet period when Playboy magazine published the interview with Google’s co-founders just before the IPO was about to be priced (Taulli, 2004). For Gene One to avoid the same fate of violations and a low IPO return, management’s best interest is to promote and market the company and not withhold information during the company road shows.
Google used a descending-price auction more commonly known as a Dutch auction for their IPO. In a Dutch auction, investors who wish to participate are asked to meet a target price, then bid and specify the number of shares they wish to purchase. The shares will then be allocated to those bidders once the auction closes, but the price they pay for them will be the lowest successful bid price on the last remaining shares. This type of IPO benefits both large and small investors because it greatly limits the influence an investment bank has on the opening price of the stock, and therefore puts “more shares in the hands of ordinary investors” (Kawamoto, 2004). The disadvantage with this type of auction is the complexity involved as well as the uncertainty of the final share price being much higher or lower than expected (Kopytoff, 2004). In Google’s case, they set the price range a little too high at $135, which scared individual investors and resulted in a final opening share price of $85, which only raised $1.67 billion, half of what they have estimated (Weisman, 2004). The positive side is that the company was well positioned for modest gains.

Finally, a big part of a company’s success is attributed to the ethics and integrity of the leaders and the company as a whole. Google is well known for having a “do-good image” and they have proven they can be successful while remaining ethical. For example, from Google (2008), the company has found that “you can make money without doing evil.” The company prides itself on never compromising the integrity of their search results or manipulating the rankings so their partners will show higher results.

Southwest Airlines – Teamwork and Shared Culture – Frances Mills
Southwest Airlines is a company that began very small and was not highly regarded. Since its inception it has grown quickly and is now a major airlines and a model of consistency. One of the major views people have of the company is the quality of the customer service offered by the employees of the company. Many professionals believe that this top level of customer service is due to the way the company treats its employees. By offering a quality work environment and working as a partner with the employees, Southwest has created a positive work place and has allowed their employees and company to thrive. The quality of customer service and quality of the work environment are part of the corporate culture the leads to the teamwork shared by the employees, (http://www.southwest.com).

One issue facing Gene One and its CEO Don Ruiz is how to grow and still take care of their employees in the way in which they have become accustomed. Gene One has been in business for only eight years, and is trying to prepare itself for major growth and to become public. The concern of many of the employees and even the board members is how this growth will affect the company’s relationship with the employees. The issue stems from the push that will be placed on the research team to produce new concepts on a very short timeline. This has caused concern as to what the focus of the company will be as it grows. There is also concern among top executives on where they fit in and whether or not some people should be let go.
In the scenario there is no true outcome that is explained. While it seems that Don Ruiz has worked through the difficulties that the company was facing, it does not detail what was done and how it was accomplished. It seems Don Ruiz placed the relationship with his employees at a higher level than the immediate growth of the company. As the Southwest model shows, having top notch employee relationships can create long term success for a company. By giving the employees a say in the business and a feeling of being needed, companies can operate at very high levels.

3M – Organizational Culture Change – Frances Mills
3M is a company which placed its future in the hands of people inventing new procedures and products. It started in 1902 to mine a mineral deposit for grinding-wheel abrasives. This material was not profitable and the company was forced to look for alternatives. The company began working on sandpaper products and technical and marketing innovations began to produce successes. The company was in business for 14 years before it paid its first dividends for their stockholders.

From this point, the company continued to invent new products and ideas and moved into making tape and glues. As they continued to do research they have moved into many new arenas with their products and continue to grow, (http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/our/companu/information/history/).
The issue 3M and Gene One share is the reliance on products or services not yet invented, or unproven products. Gene One placed a great deal of faith and hope in the ability of their researchers to come up with new innovative ideas that will keep them at the cutting edge of their profession. The current trend has been profitable and successful, but if the innovations do not continue to come as quickly or are not as successful, the company may find itself in trouble. This is the risk a company faces when it commits to becoming and staying very profitable.
3M has been able to keep up with the challenges of a changing society and increased competition. They have been able to do this by staying ahead of everyone else and always having new ideas. Gene One must do the same thing within the company’s field of work.

Big 5 Sporting Goods - Change in Organizational Culture – Wendell Miller
Big Five Sporting Goods Corporation located in El Segundo California is based in a regional chain with approximately 275 value outlets of sporting goods positioned in ten western states. At the same time, approximately 60 percent of outlets are founded in California. Big 5 store are also located in Texas, Utah, Washington Arizona Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon. Big 5 is a niche performer that is able to effectively complete against superstores. The way Big 5 kept pace with demand was that the corporation relied on annual growth using their units in the 11,000 square foot range usually located in the strip centers as opposed to 40,000 square foot units standing alone as a big box operation. They saved money by utilizing a smaller amount of space. Big 5 was able to take a local approach and contemplate a number of stores in a particular market instead of attempting to match prices by popular brands such as Nike, Reebok, and to budget price merchandise for lesser brand such as Brooks, Pony Spalding and Riddell, augmented by inventory acquired in closeout. As a result of this approach, sales associates do not have to become knowledgeable about an unnecessary number of items, and Big 5 also reduces its display to markdowns taken on more expensive shoes and attire.

Throughout the late 1990’s, Big 5 took steps to expand its information technology infrastructure. In 1999, the company introduced a project to replace its decade old point of sale registers and software with new hardware and a system establish on a Microsoft windows application while improving system speed and stability.

In 1995, Big 5 installed and implemented a new merchandising, distribution and financial system allowing management to complete the organization’s inventory reduction strategy, a move instrumental in maintaining the company’s constant fiscal health. To preserve strong growth at existing stores, management also pursued a remodeling agenda. When California economy slowed down in the 1990’s, Big 5 cut back the tempo of expansion totaling only a few stores in 1996. Annual revenue for the year reached $404.3 million. In 2001, Big 5 entered a new market in the state of Colorado opening two new stores. For that year, sales grew to nearly $622.5 million with net income totaling approximately $15 million, (Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (2003). International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 55, St. James Press. Retrieved from Apollo Library, University of Phoenix, July 1, 2008).

Nike Corporation - Inspiration and Innovation through Technology -Wendell Miller
System and Integator, UPP Business System, working with select partners supports the Nike mission with supportive web application development in correlation with the Nike PDM or product Data Management program. The PDM supports the company’s product line management process, comprised of production merchandising, marketing and distribution of Nike footwear and apparel. Business efforts support the PDM including JAVA/J2EE, Windchill web application development of footwear Materials system in an alternate of a client server system, C+and Oracle. The footwear resource system was intended to handle the lifecycle footwear manufacture and distribution process that begins with shoe requirements design to sample submission for scientific testing. These results of evaluating this design should make a Parametric design to support a complex distribution of product development. Streamline processing can eventually improved products. It includes such tools as rational rose for rapid application development, JSP Processor and XML processor.

According to McShane and Glinow (2005,) (Pg 7) “an Effective self directed work team consists of members who share leadership responsibilities or otherwise allocate the role to a responsible coordinator.” Working with a team, UPP Business System is assisting with n-tier Web application development, including continuing development, modification, enhancement, implementation, testing debugging for performance optimization of an existing application. The applications a gateway for data synchronization and features heavy XML, abstraction layers and a flexible object oriented data model using Wind-chill Rational Rose tools, extensive XML coding, managing data objects using the XML processor, placing XML tags into JSPs. Continuing development duties entail working with Nike management and stakeholders to understand requirements, evaluate options, estimate development efforts, and design and develop solutions for application performance improvement. Optimization efforts have included the development of additional functionality, modification of existing XML and abstraction layers, simplifying data and objects models, synchronizing or reducing the number of threads, reducing tiers, and modifying resources intensive code for faster and more efficient processing.

“According to Mcshane & Ginlow (2005) (Pg.31) Path Goal Leadership Theory is base on a contingency theory of leadership and expectancy theory of motivation that relate to several leadership styles to specific employees and situational contingencies.” Nike has explicit goals, strategic initiatives and exclusive challenges that will be implemented. Nike along with UPP will offer their with expertise with the dedication to high performance solutions and high level of results. This team knows their industry because they have excelled in it for years no matter the market. UPP is resilient and successful as Nike consultants. Their reputation rests on their diversity of education and work experiences. While each brings a unique mix of skills, all thrive on challenges. Nike and UPP technology have only two assets, clients and consultants and will go the distance for both offering relocation and continuous support of corporate staff whose care and responsiveness is truly exceptional.

Eli Lilly and Company – Team Building – Ivan Ralston
Marietta Stalcup, medical liaison team leader at Eli Lilly, created a teambuilding dynamic for her team to be part of while at a company meeting. There had been some conflict among the team members due to different styles and personalities. Ms. Stalcup identified that everyone in her team enjoyed cooking and eating, so she coordinated a culinary experience that would break down barriers and create a bond between team members who usually avoided contact with each other. After the team building exercise was over, everyone convened to discuss the experience and to voice any frustrations. People were much more open with their feelings and were joking about the experience. The next day, much more time was spent in group dynamic, stating how the exercise was pertinent to forming a successful team in the office environment. Oftentimes, individuals in the office environment disconnect from one another; not always a mutually beneficial interaction or exchange of ideas and knowledge. By conducting team building and team bonding exercises, individuals with diverse skills and knowledge are placed in a situation where they need to work together to create the best possible outcome. Catherine Margles, president and founder of the Creative Cooking School, understands that “people need to get along to boost the bottom line of a company” (Amer, 2005). Ms. Margles can create competitive or noncompetitive exercises. In the end, the ultimate goal is to either dissolve conflicts, or strengthen the bond between coworkers and colleagues. Eli Lilly is not the only company to recognize the importance of conducting teambuilding or team bonding exercises for its employees. Other large corporations have engaged employees in these exercises for various reasons, whether there have been mergers, acquisitions, or expanding to be a global competitor.

One of the toughest barriers to become minimized by these exercises is communication. When people need to come together and build better working relationships, doing so in an environment that creates a level platform for everyone, enables the participants to enjoy the experience and get to know one another on a whole different level.

To build trust form senior executives, a new plan had to include soft tactics of approach and play to the personalities of the individuals to convince them to work and support the company’s goals. Group and team dynamics are part of the corporate politics that have to be maneuvered to become a successful leader. At Eli Lilly, because there were differences among skill and rank of team members, there were definite style and personality conflicts. For all team members to acknowledge each other’s capabilities, build trust, and have everyone trust that they are in a position of power, a teambuilding exercise was planned. Once team members learned of the array of skills they all contributed to the team effort, they realized a heightened success level achieved by the team. Individuals who were not necessarily “designated leaders” were given the opportunity to become fluid leaders when the skills needed might not have been possessed by the “designated leader”. Face-to-face communication was a significant factor in opening lines of communication and providing immediate feedback (Kinicki, 2004). When organizations address cultural deficiencies and barriers, creating a more dynamic culture by building strong team cohesiveness becomes possible. When employees get along and work well together, it creates a stronger commitment to doing well and achieving the best results possible.

Visa Inc. – Team Effectiveness – Ivan Ralston
Visa Inc., the world’s largest retail electronic payment network, has been at the forefront of electronic payments since its inception 50 years ago. In 1958, Bank of America launched an innovative “revolving credit” card called BankAmerica. In 1976, the Bank Americard was renamed Visa. The name was simple, memorable, and pronounced the same way in any language. From the first revolving credit card platform to neural networks and mobile payments, Visa has pioneered the growth and development of this fast-moving industry. Visa’s payment platforms are increasingly the backbone of global commerce, enabling the swift and secure transfer of value and information among financial institutions, individuals, businesses and government entities (Visa, 2008)

In November 2007, Visa filed for a $10 billion IPO. Hoping to cash in on it massive credit and debit card network, if their goal is reached, Visa would raise the second largest amount generated in U.S. history for an initial public offering. Visa’s next largest rival, MasterCard Inc., went public just 18 months prior and had raised the seventeenth largest IPO of $2.4 billion (Associated Press, 2007).

The biggest issue that Visa is facing is the timing of their IPO. Visa’s filing came just two days after they rid themselves of a lawsuit filed by American Express which alleged that Visa was engaging in illegal practices to stifle competition. Visa agreed to settle the dispute by paying American Express $2.25 billion. Visa is still fighting a similar battle with Discover Financial Services, which is set to go to trial in September 2008 (Associated Press, 2007).
Another major issue that Visa is faced with is sensitivity to consumer spending. Stocks are shaky, credit is light, and the economy may be tipping into a recession. Visa is taking a huge gamble; however, if it works, it could encourage the stock markets, and could even help to loosen the credit knot. Banks are expected to see a windfall of more than $10 billion, which might keep them from pulling back credit lines and raising rates (Read, 2008).

Starbucks – Loosing Sight of the Vision – Richard Shives
When Howard Schultz took over as CEO of Starbucks the company was content in selling whole coffee beans. Schultz had a vision of building Starbucks into a nationwide retail powerhouse. He knew the way to realize that vision was to build a leadership team capable of being independent while sharing his vision.

Schultz began to hire MBAs and corporate executives with experience running chain franchises, creating complex computer systems, and training employees nation-wide to deliver standardized consumer goods. He recruited many of them in the early 1990s from fast food companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, Pepsi, and Taco Bell, and they brought professional management to the pre-existing coffee idealism. By the end of 1991, there were just over 100 stores with $57 million in sales.

Starbucks employees, called “partners,” were indoctrinated with 25 hours of course work that imprinted company rules. Among them: Thou shalt brew a double espresso shot between 18 and 23 seconds and serve within 10 seconds of brewing it, or throw it out. The courses, called Coffee Knowledge 101, Retail Skills, Brewing the Perfect Cup and Customer Service, were taught by ultra-earnest, peppy young instructors. “Lovely! Fabulous foam!” they would burble as students created lattes. Hip, young Generation Xers had to remove studs or rings from nose, lip, or tongue, nor could any employee wear cologne or perfume that might interfere with the roast aroma. For the same reason, smoking was forbidden. (Tea and Coffee Trade Journal)

Schultz left the company in 2000 and over the last ten years the Starbucks’ leadership team slowly lost sight of his vision. The company started introducing food products in stores, discontinuing employee training sessions, and has lost most of its stock value. In 1992 Starbucks issued an IPO with an initial value of $.62, the stock grew to a high of $39.63 in 2003, today it closed at $14.95. Early in 2008 Howard Schultz regained the CEO position of Starbucks and has stated the company needs to return to the basics that made the retail store great. He discontinued most of the food products and has begun closing stores that have bloated the retail chain’s costs.

Lockheed Martin – The Advantage of Diversity – Richard Shives
In 2004 Lockheed Martin faced a major demographic problem. According to The Washington Post, “About 100,000 of the company's 135,000 workers would be retiring in 10 years. To keep its edge, Lockheed would have to replenish a workforce heavily recruited from the military with young engineers, scientists and managers drawn from all backgrounds and able to think across traditional borders.” Bob Stephens took over the CEO position facing this problem and set about solving it as all engineers do, with precision and calculated risks.

Stevens rethought the issue of diversity from the ground up, commissioning the expected studies of best practices but also trying to move beyond a philosophy that treated race or gender as an end in itself. The first result was a mathematical model meant to measure such seeming intangibles as how effectively managers create an inclusive atmosphere. (The Washington Post) Bob Stephens knew that talented engineers were the key to Lockheed Martin’s future success. Because of the limited pool of engineers within the United States and the diverse locations of Lockheed Martin’s locations he knew that future engineers would be a diverse group and that they, along with the current employees, would need well rounded and well thought-out training to become cohesive teams working toward Lockheed Martin’s vision.

According to The Washington Post, “The notion of "inclusion," not numbers of diverse hires, is gaining prominence. Executives say that they can hire thousands of people from diverse backgrounds out of college but that if the company's management cannot really listen and respond to their unique voices, those employees will move to a company whose management can.” (The Washington Post)

Bob Stephens created the Diversity Maturity Model which is a program the measures improvements in governmental compliance, employee satisfaction and culture training. Lockheed Martin uses this model as a core management tool and its top executives’ bonuses are tied to how well they rate on the scale. These measures have allowed Lockheed Martin to continue its competitive edge in the engineering industry and will continue to serve its employees with cultural understanding and team cohesiveness.

Conclusion
Researching and benchmarking how dynamic companies have embraced the task of changing an organization’s culture to become more competitive has provided insight and direction on how to implement leading-edge business management concepts. Creating natural work teams and managing knowledge and skill development helps to retain experienced employees, cross-train, and allow the enterprise to continue growing. Without engaging employees and mentoring to encourage leadership potential and developing managerial capabilities, company leaders become stagnant and must rely on external resources when internal resources are no longer viable. Discovering the strengths and weaknesses that subcultures play within the organizational structure can aid in the decision making process and if maneuvered skillfully, can alleviate internal competition which otherwise might prove detrimental to the organization’s profitability and viability. New and innovative leaders and managers must use the business management concepts that can increase productivity, maintain or raise employee morale, and lead to cost cutting advantages. Successful companies already engaging these concepts have paved the way and have demonstrated how to achieve these results with the highest levels of success. By conducting through research and learning about best practices, companies struggling to make the next step in growth can implement learned strategies and achieve their corporate goals.

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Strategic Issues

2008-05-12T11:43:00.002-06:00

Introduction
Sailing Hawk Car Wash faces several important issues. It wishes to expand its current location by adding new bays and a possible tunnel. Sailing Hawk is also looking at expanding to a second location. Increasing environmental governmental regulation and increasing traffic flow are also important issues facing Sailing hawk. Increasing competition is also an important issue because car washing season if quickly approaching.
Borders
The book store Borders is facing declining profits and fierce competition from online book sellers. Borders implemented an ambitious strategic plan to deal with the threats. They closed nearly half its Waldenbooks stores, sold international stores, and strengthened superstores by cutting back on music sales but adding more cafes and stationary offerings. It is also implemented an online bookstore in 2008. Sailing Hawk should include methods in its strategic plan in case it expands too quickly and begins to loose profitability.
Grainger
Grainger is an Illinois-based industrial distributor and in 2006 it crafted strong expansion plans and pruned costs. The company uses a multi-channel business model to provide customers with a range of options for finding and purchasing products through a network of branches, field sales forces, direct marketing (including catalogs), and a variety of electronic and Internet channels.
Grainger holds a 4% share of the estimated $140 billion North American facilities-maintenance market. We believe a trend toward consolidation emerged during 2005, as acquirers had more excess cash available for acquisitions. In addition, some distributors became more willing to sell their businesses based on their improved results. In late March, 2006, Home Depot (HD) acquired Hughes Supply, a distributor of construction, repair, and maintenance products, for $3.2 billion. We see this trend continuing for several years.
Grainger has four strategic growth initiatives: selling customers on their value proposition as they seek ways to reduce time and costs to purchase facilities-maintenance products, enhancing their presence in local markets, increasing the number of available products, and making acquisitions to complement their Lab Safety business segment.
By following this model, Sailing Hawk can author its strategic plan so that it can capitalize on growth trends and position themselves for future growth.
Google
According to Google’s strategic plan Google's short-term objectives are to expand the workforce for anticipated growth, expand further into international markets, and
continue developing new products. Expanding the workforce will help achieve the long-term objective of delivering new advertising technology. One key to the success of Google is the culture of the organization. Google employees are the best of the best and treated as such. The atmosphere is relaxed, fun and laid back which fosters creativity.
Google provides free lunches every day for employees and encourages participation in the weekly roller hockey games. The company regularly sponsors employee outings such as picnics and skiing trips. Finally, Google is generous in its rewards to employees by offering bonuses, stock options and profit sharing. Strategic controls can be largely affected by environmental factors. Consider the negative consequences of a significant power outage. Google systems are vulnerable to any electrical service disruptions resulting in service being impacted. "For example, in November, 2003, [Google] failed to provide search results for approximately 20% of traffic for a period of about 30 minutes" (Google, 2005a, p. 40). Additionally, any disruptions in service will tax the entire Google system and result in lost revenue (Google, 2005a). Another environmental concern is new technologies that do not compliment Google's current operating systems. For example, "the number of people who access the internet through devices other than personal computers, including mobile phones, hand-held calendaring and email assistance, and television set-top devices, has increased dramatically in the past few years" (Google, 2005a, p. 45). Expanding Google's product offering to meet all user needs will limit the threat of alternative internet devices.
Sailing Hawk can address environmental concerns and employee valuation in similar fashion. Although Sailing Hawk’s environmental concerns deal more with water restrictions and conservation, it can still improve its plan based on Google’s model.
Yahoo
Yahoo is a company fighting for its life. Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to buyout the company. Since then Yahoo is struggling to revitalize its business. CEO Jerry Yang made his earnings conference call debut on Tuesday and said the next “100 days or so” will be spent mapping out the strategic plan for the company. “The next 100 days or so will be spent mapping out Yahoo’s strategic plan,” said Yang. “We’re well underway in our review of the business. We will move fast in a focused way.” Yang, who noted that he took the CEO post “not out of obligation but desire,” said he will be taking a “fresh look” at Yahoo’s assets and deemphasizing parts that are not performing well or don’t fit in. Yang acknowledged that he didn’t have all the answers today, but said he intends to get them. He said: “I believe Yahoo is too often defined by the competitive landscape. Yahoo is a deep and active market place. The way we will strengthen Yahoo is to strengthen the market place. There’s a gap of where Yahoo is and where Yahoo needs to be.” In the short run, here are Yahoo’s priorities pending the strategic review:
• Insight: Yang said Yahoo wants to leverage data across the advertising platform for advertisers and publishers. For users, this means better personalization.
• Faster decision making: Yang said Yahoo will focus on differentiated products.
• Set a new bar for Yahoo culture: Yang said he intends to prioritize teamwork, leadership and the will to win. Yang also noted that the search for a new CTO is underway and he plans to “bring on additional leaders to the company.”
Yang also noted that Yahoo will coalesce around key principles such as insight and openness for its partners and users. “We will accelerate transformation and invest heavily,” said Yang. “We are in investment mode.”
By using Yahoo’s example Sailing Hawk can structure their strategic plan so that they are positioned to deal with competitors expressing desires to buy them out.
References
Steverman, Ben, 2007, Harry Potter Gives Borders a Boost, http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/aug2007/pi20070829_783055.htm?chan=search retrieved April 25, 2008
Scharf, Stewart, 2006, Grainger: Tooled Up for Growth, http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/apr2006/pi20060425_988642.htm?chan=search, retrieved April 25, 2008
Brent Hummer, Greg Jones, Audre Wilde, Steve Ellison, 2006, Google Strategic Plan, http://www.dailyspeculations.com/google-paper-ellison.html, retrieved April 25, 2008
Dignan, Larry, 2007, http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5684, retrieved April 25, 2008

Walk for MS

2008-04-21T16:24:00.003-06:00

Dear friends, family and co-workers,

Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with MS. That's why I registered for the Walk MS and that's why I'm asking you to support my fundraising efforts with a tax-deductible donation.

Any amount, great or small, helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS. If every walker were able to raise $20 more for the 20th Anniversary of the Walk MS in Colorado, we could meet our $1.5 million goal. I appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know when I reach my goal.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to ending the devastating effects of MS but they can't do it without our help. It's faster and easier than ever to support this cause that's so important to me. Simply click on the link at the bottom of this message to donate today.

P.S. If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from the MS Walk are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit www.cureMScolorado.org

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/COCWalkEvents?px=4391404&pg=personal&fr_id=8923&s_tafId=72710

Click here to view the team page for Christin's Team
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/COCWalkEvents?team_id=124988&pg=team&fr_id=8923&s_tafId=72710

Forces and Trends in the Car Wash Industry

2008-04-15T09:11:00.005-06:00

Introduction

Sailing Hawk Car Wash is an independently owned car wash. The current owners have operated this business for four years. The business was established about 15 years ago. Upon purchasing this business, the current owners upgraded the plumbing and replaced other structural components. One of the largest changes that were made to this business was the addition of an automatic car wash stall. Prior to the current owners, this business only supplied two self-serve bays. Now it is one self-serve bay and one automatic bay. The business is slowly growing and posted a gross income of $36,000 for 2007. The current owners would like to expand this business. In addition to adding new locations, the owners would like to add a tunnel bay which would offer the customer the very latest in car wash technology. Car washes are somewhat green companies. They are capable of recycling water, and it has long been established that when citizens use car washes the amount of water consumption is greatly reduced. On the other hand, the chemicals that are used in car washes are harsh and not earth friendly. The owners would like to make changes to the car wash so that the effect on the environment is negligible (Mills, personal communication, 7 Apr 08).

Although this is a small business, it would benefit from an analysis of the trends and factors that might affect it (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Since the owners are looking to expand this business, knowing the potential issues and opportunities will only help the owners determine the best way to expand.

The three areas that are going to be addressed for this business are Industry Trends, Remote Trends and Operational Trends. In examining these trends the owners should have an insight as to what challenges and favorable conditions they are facing.

Section 1: Richard Shives: Industry Trends

The industry factors or trends are associated with Michael Porter’s five forces that shape competitive strategies. These five forces include Threat of Entry, Supplier Power, Buyer Power, Substitute Products, and Competitive Rivalry. This section will focus on the power of the buyer regarding the car wash industry as a whole and specifically Sailing Hawk Car Wash.

According to Market and Research, the car wash industry in the US includes 14,000 full-service car washes with combined annual revenue of about $5 billion. Large chains include Wash Depot, Oasis Car Wash, and Autobell Car Wash. The industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest chains hold just 15% of the market. Chains are local or regional. A typical firm has one location. A large location has 35 employees and $1.5 million of annual revenue. (Car Washes - Industry Profile, 2008) Because of the high fragmentation and standardized products the purchaser power force of Porter’s five forces is very important to this industry.

According to Ryan Carlson, author of Wash Ideas, a recent car wash industry trend is that consumers have been changing what they want, how they want it, and how they want to pay for it. This is the number one variable in whether business is good or bad. It comes down to the buying trends of the customers themselves. Successful car wash operators are quick to point out that by making the necessary changes to their own wash business they have been able to capitalize on competitors that have become complacent and fail to keep their appeal with their local customer base. (Carlson, 2008)

This indicates that the consumer buying power is a major industry force Sailing Hawk Car Wash will have to strategize for. According to Porter, customers can force down prices, demand higher quality or more service, and play competitors off against each other—all at the expense of industry profits. (Porter, 1979) Sailing Hawk’s ability to meet this trend and strategize ways to adapt will determine how successful the company will be. The owners have introduced upgrades to the present operation by adding an automatic stall, upgrading the pluming and making structural enhancements. In order to stay ahead of the trend in customer power Sailing Hawk should consider adding various ways to purchase their service and adding high margin miscellaneous products.

Consumers pay for services in various ways, credit/debit card machines, cash, bill changers, and with additional services or products. Sailing Hawk should consider implementing one or all these. High margin, miscellaneous products include drying towels, vacuum cleaners, floor mats, and air fresheners, among others. By adding a vending machine with these products Sailing Hawk can differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Section 2: Barbara Carpenter: Remote Trends

The factors or trends that are associated with the remote environment include social, economic, ecological, technological and political. Usually these trends are independent of any given business, however, they are sometimes linked and changes in one factor will cause changes in another (Pearce & Robinson, 2004)

As Sailing Hawk Car Wash looks into expanding, and even now, the company is going to have to take into consideration which, if any, of these trends impacts the business. For this business, social, political and ecological trends are going to be interlinked. As environmental concerns increase, these trends could affect this business and industry. Changes in regulations could impact the business as it did in Georgia. In 2007 carwashes were put on the list of companies that could not use fresh water in Georgia. Since then carwashes has been reinstated due to conservation programs and willingness to use new technological processes (Whitney, 2008). Knowing what the trends are will allow the owners to plan accordingly and make changes. Technological improvements may help the company comply with any regulatory changes and may also help the company become greener.

As the current economy slides into recession, the company is going to have to monitor customer spending trends on a local and an industry wide level (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Knowing why customers come to the car wash as well as why they may stay away are key questions the owners should already have the answers. If additional capital in the form of a business loan is required to expand the owners must keep abreast of the current economic trend related to business loans. Recent trends show a tightening of standards and loans in every industry. The slowing of the economy has caused a shortage of funds, and it may be harder to obtain the loan, or the interest rate may be especially high (Haubrich & Zaman).

By monitoring the remote trends, the owners of this company will have an excellent idea of when to expand how to expand and what areas of expansion to put their funds (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). No matter what the remote trend is, if a company is going to continue to survive and to grow, owners and shareholders alike must analyze them to see what will potentially affect the company.

Section 3: Frances Mills: Operational Trends

A car wash that wants to stay in business must watch operational trends and avoid sticking their heads in the sand. Some of these operational components are the composition of its customers, its reputation among its customers and suppliers and its ability to attract employees. Sailing Hawk car wash must keep track of its customer profile and know the demographics, buyer behavior, and the psychographic details, (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). One way to accomplish this is through a website. The car wash can use a well designed website to advertise the business, keep track of customer purchases and learn what the customers want through customer comments and customer surveys, (Carlson, 2008).

In addition to credit cards, Sailing Hawk can offer the “wash card” which is a card only for the car wash. Customers can purchase in advance and use the card as a credit card in the wash. Using the website, those customers can update the cards on line and save time at the wash. Most car wash customers want fast, reliable, consistent service. The cards can be used for all of the wash services, so they provide convenience for the customer and on-line information about their spending habits for the business, (Carlson, 2008).

In addition to the website, the business needs keep up with technology in the equipment area. The most popular car washes today are the express washes. They offer more specific cleaning equipment than an in-bay automatic and are less labor intensive and faster than a full service car wash. One thing that customers want is consistency. The better the operating technology on any of the equipment, the more consistent the wash will be, (Essenburg, 2008).

Employees are also part of the equation. While, Sailing Hawk does not have employees now, there is a possibility of adding some part time employees to provide better service for the customers. Happy employees equal happy customers. When Sailing Hawk does add employees, the company must look for employees who will see the value of the customers. That translates to training and rewards for the employees and time spend up front by the owners to find the right employees, (Gorgos, 2008).

Conclusion

Sailing Hawk needs to be in touch with the environment. New equipment on the market, new requirements from the customers and new regulations from the government all affect the success of the business. A successful car wash must be proactive. Sailing Hawk cannot wait until business is waning to start looking at new equipment, new marketing techniques, and ways of being more environmentally friendly. In the world today, an organization cannot wait until government regulations are put into play. If a large portion of the industry is doing things to protect the environment now, those government regulations may not become necessary.

The company must be actively seeking new customers and looking for ways to attract and keep them. The website is an excellent say to advertise, sell and to collect key information about its target market. The owners must invest in state-of-the-art equipment and convince its market that the quality and consistency is there. If they do provide that quality, the ROI is there.

If Sailing Hawk is going to expand with a tunnel wash, the owners will need to seek a new location and research the best areas. This will be a huge project, but the rewards can also be huge if the research and planning are done appropriately. The elements of operating, industry and remote trends will be the basis of the research to find the best location and determine what the customers are looking for.

References

Carlson, Ryan, (2008), Trends of the Self Service and In-bay Automatic market for 2007-2008, http://washideas.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/industry-trends-of-2007, retrieved April 10, 2008.
Carlson, Ryan, (2008), Your Carwash Website, Professional Carwashing and Detailing, January, 2008.
Essenburg, Ryan, (2008). Tunnel Technology, Professional Carwashing and Detailing, January, 2008.
Gorgos, Debra, (2008). Happy Employees = Happy Customers, Professional Carwashing and Detailing, January, 2008.
Haubrich, J., Zaman, S., (2008) Economic Trends, Business Loan Markets, Retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Website: http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/trends/2008/0308/01banfin.cfm
Pearce, J., Robinson, R., (2004), Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control, 9e, Ch 3, The External Environment, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, New York
Porter, M.E., (2008) “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, March–April 1979 retrieved from Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control April 9, 2008
Research and Markets, (2008), Car Washes - Industry Profile, http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c26702, retrieve April 10, 2008
Whitney, D., (2008) Georgia Removes Carwashes from Outdoor Water Use List, Retrieved 8 April 2008 from http://www.moderncarcare.com/hotnews/georgia-carwashes-removed-from-outdoor-list.html

Mission, Vision and Values

2008-04-08T22:14:00.002-06:00

Introduction

Lockheed Martin is a corporation that provides a variety of information technology services and products. They create customized software solutions and integrate software applications and computer systems. Lockheed Martin’s main customer is the United States Department of Defense, but they also create solutions for government entities outside of the United States.

Vision Statement

The following vision statement for Lockheed Martin was compiled from two separate web pages from its external website.

Mission Statement

Our Vision: Powered By Innovation, Guided By Integrity, We Help Our Customers Achieve Their Most Challenging Goals.Our Values: Do What's Right Respect Others Perform With Excellence Business Areas: AeronauticsElectronic SystemsInformation Systems & Global ServicesSpace Systems 2007 Sales: $41.9 Billion Backlog: $76.7 billion Stock ticker symbol: LMT, on the New York Stock Exchange. Ranked 52nd on the 2006 Fortune 500 list of largest industrial corporations Employees: 140,000 employees in the United States and internationally Operations: 1,000 facilities in 500 cities and 46 states throughout the U.S.; Internationally, business locations in 75 nations and territories Headquarters: Lockheed Martin Corporation6801 Rockledge DriveBethesda, MD 20817U.S.A.(301) 897-6000

Community Outreach

As a responsible corporate citizen, Lockheed Martin plays an active role in helping to strengthen the quality of life in our country and the communities we call home. The Corporation contributes generously to initiatives and non-profit organizations nationally, regionally and locally. Our employees also donate countless volunteer hours to advance a wide variety of causes. Lockheed Martin strives to be a valued partner to our neighbors and our nation. To this end, our community relations program reflects the values that are embodied in our employees and intrinsic to the Lockheed Martin culture. Stated simply, our employees care. They are talented professionals, many are leading experts in their fields, but it is their genuine concern for others that helps make Lockheed Martin an exceptional contributor to the public good. Lockheed Martin commits 50 percent of its philanthropic contributions, outreach initiatives and volunteer hours to education, 30 percent to local community programs, and 20 percent to outreach programs that positively impact our customers and constituents. We developed an overarching strategy that helps guide community relations decisions at Lockheed Martin locations across the country. This coordinated approach helps ensure that our efforts are truly making a difference. Our strategy provides philanthropic and volunteer support for initiatives and organizations that: • Improve the quality of education, enhance academic performance, or support teachers and students in the areas of math, science, engineering and technology; • Strengthen our communities through their civic, cultural, environmental, or health and human services programs; • Recognize the achievements of our customers and sponsor educational initiatives that support the next generation of engineers and scientists. At Lockheed Martin, we’re committed to community involvement, because we believe that giving back is the very best way forward.

Customer Outreach

As the nation’s largest systems integrator for defense, aerospace and government customers, Lockheed Martin is keenly aware of the unique importance of its customers’ missions. From our corporate offices through each employee in the field, we have a deep respect for our customers’ contributions to national security and the United States’ scientific and technological leadership — and we show it. We show our appreciation for our military customers through our United in Gratitude initiative, which provides support that improves the quality of their lives and honors their sacrifices. And we show our support for the vital work of our National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) customers through activities that recognize their achievements and by sponsoring educational initiatives that are helping produce the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists. Every day, we stand side-by-side with our customers through the products we design and build, through the services we render, and through the product support we provide wherever our products are in use around the world. We believe it is only fitting that we also support their interests. Corporate Wide Focus ProgramsAt Lockheed Martin, we care about our customers. We demonstrate our commitment through our support of initiatives such as: • Lockheed Martin Employees Care — a program that supports Operation USO Care Package, which is approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to provide care packages with a variety of personal items to deployed troops. The packages remind troops that Americans back home support them. • United Through Reading — a Family Literacy Foundation program that brings the comfort of a serviceman’s or woman’s presence back home by enabling troops to read stories aloud on videotape to a son, daughter, grandchild, or younger brother or sister. • Education and Training Support — financial support for organizations that supplement education at the four U.S. military academies, which train America’s future defense force leaders. • Honoring and Remembering — financial support for commemorative ceremonies, museums and memorials such as the National Air Force Memorial and Visitor’s Center in Northern Virginia, National Museum of the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation Museum. These contributions support organizations that help preserve the history of our armed services and tell the story of the remarkable sacrifices that America’s military personnel have made for their country. • The Space Day Education Initiative — a yearlong effort that excites children about math, science, engineering and technology through hands-on activities and interaction with astronauts and other aerospace professionals in partnership with NASA.

Reaching Desired End State

Lockheed Martin’s vision statement aids the organization by emphasizing the importance of the quality of life, education, and community outreach. Lockheed Martin realizes that in order to continue to grow and innovate it will need educated employees who want to continue to support their community. By providing community outreach programs Lockheed Martin sets itself apart from its competition and makes itself highly visible within the community. This visibility will allow Lockheed Martin to recruit highly educated engineers which, in turn, will allow Lockheed Martin to continue to offer new and innovative services and products to its customers.

Components of the Strategic Management Process

The components of the strategic management process that will need to be re-analyzed are the external environment and the internal analysis. The external environment will need to be re-analyzed regarding the industry environment and the operating environment aspects. A new industry-wide scan should be conducted to determine if competitors are attempting to stand up community outreach programs of their own and if they are what types of programs and how far they intend to reach into the community. This analysis will allow Lockheed Martin to evaluate the success of their own outreach programs and if they need to adjust to meet the competition. The operating environment will need to be analyzed to ensure employees recruited via the community outreach programs are meeting the engineering needs of the company and happy with their employment.

Effects of New Strategy

The effects on the leadership and culture of Lockheed Martin regarding its vision statement require leaders to realize the importance employees place on supporting their community and provide reasonable resources to implement support. The culture within Lockheed Martin must be open to change. As new employees join the company they will see the benefits of an evolving company and should not closed off to the community.

Conclusion

Lockheed Martin’s vision statement encompasses the understanding that supporting the community and its customers benefits the company in highly educated employees, satisfied customers and a welcoming community. Lockheed Martin must understand that any changes made in its vision statement will perpetuate an industry scan along with an internal analysis. This could also mean that new data uncovered by normal environmental scans will determine new changes to the vision statement.

References

Pearce, John A, Robinson, Richard B, 2005, Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control Chapters 1, 2 and 10, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, New York
Lockheed Martin, 2008, http://lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/at_a_glance.html, retrieved April 5, 2008
Lockheed Martin, 2008, http://lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/community/CommunityOutreach.html, retrieved April 5, 2008

Marketing Recomendations

2008-04-01T07:49:00.002-06:00

This is the final paper my team wrote for my MBA 570 Course. The authors are Frances Mills, Ed Ralston, Barbara Carpenter, and Richard Shives. It was writtne for the University of Phoenix.

“Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (Kerin, 2005). Marketing is a fundamental key to any businesses success and involves determining the needs, wants and desires of consumers and satisfying them to the best ability. The context of the paper will examine the case study of Classic Airlines and provide an in-depth situation analysis starting with a brief background of the scenario, identify the issues and opportunities, explore stakeholder perspectives and ethical dilemmas. Continuing through the problem definition guidelines, a problem statement will be developed and end state goals will be identified which will provide the foundation for proposed solutions and analysis of the solutions. A risk assessment and mitigation will help to identify the optimal solution, which will lead to the development of an implementation plan and finalize with a gap analysis.

The terrorist attacks that rocked the United States on September 11, 2001 and others which have occurred around the world have heightened international awareness to the dangers of terrorist activity and had serious repercussions on the economy and business (Johnston, 2005). Sharply rising and declining stock prices, uncertainty about flying, and increased prices have left investors skeptical of the viability of investing and concerned about higher risks due to an uncertain future. Despite this, the airline industry has been fighting back and many companies are undergoing dramatic changes to find their competitive advantage as competition on a global scale within the industry is increasing with each passing year. As the economy picks up and technology continues to be a prominent driver of business, the consumer base is becoming more demanding for full circle travel providers.

Classic Airlines, the world’s fifth largest airline, has been in business for 25 years and employs over 32,000 people. Currently Classic Airlines has a fleet of 375 jets, serving 240 cities and operating over 2,300 flights per day (Anonymous, 2007a). Declining sales, market share, profitability and membership in their rewards program has Classic Airlines facing an industry of consolidation and extreme competitiveness. According to their financials for the past year, Classic Airlines would have been losing money if it were not for the $15 billion aid package passed by Congress for the airline industry (Kaye, 2002), which is resulting in a $22 million Income Tax Provision credit for the company. Based upon this and the latest Customer Loyalty Report, Chief Executive Officer, Amanda Miller, has tasked members of the leadership team with improving their frequent flier program with methods that will demonstrate a measurable return on any investment while still meeting the cost reduction goal and without discounting fares. In addition, the Board of Directors recently mandated a 15% across-the-board cost reduction over the next 18 months (Anonymous, 2007a).

There are a number of issues Classic Airlines needs to address and the primary issues the senior leadership team needs to address in turning the Classic Rewards program around are: declining Classic Rewards membership as a result of low customer satisfaction, inefficient use of the Customer Relationship Management system and not having an alliance agreement in place. Classic Airlines has faced a number of challenges between the terrorist attacks, rising fuel prices and higher labor costs to increased security measures and declining membership in the Classic Rewards program. They have tried discounting fares in order to remain competitive and recruit new customers, but these attempts have been to no avail. In addition there has been a severe decline in customer satisfaction as evidenced by Kevin Boyle’s conversation with existing customers and the recently released Customer Loyalty report. Customers are unhappy with a number of items including the service they receive when calling the help desk and the rewards they receive as part of the Classic Rewards program.

The second issue is inefficient use of the CRM system. Classic Airlines’ CRM tool is one of the most powerful in the industry but has been ineffectively implemented. Classic Airlines has failed to totally integrate the CRM tool thereby compromising the level of customer service representative are able to provide to customers. In addition, the data being collected by the system is not a true representation of their customer base. Classic Airlines needs to update their segmentation strategy in order to realign with customers.

The third issue impacting Classic Airlines ability to meet customer need is the fact Classic Airlines is the only airline without an alliance agreement. The lack of an alliance agreement is limiting the flight options available to customers and thereby restricts their ability to earn and redeem reward miles. This also has the indirect effect of creating more work for customers when shopping for flights; in so far as, the customer has to visit multiple website and conduct multiple searches to obtain flight information versus having a single point of access.

Despite the issues Classic Airlines faces, there are a number of opportunities to focus on in resurrecting their rewards program. The first opportunity is to redefine their segmentation strategy by leveraging and fully integrating the existing CRM tool. By fully integrating the CRM tool across phone and web portals, Classic Airlines will be able to obtain more accurate data about their customers. In addition this information will enable the customer service representatives to provide better service to customers regardless of the media used to make reservations.

This data will help Classic Airlines better identify with the customer’s perspective creates another opportunity, which is to redefine the reward program parameters to better meet, the need of customers.

The third opportunity is to further explore an alliance with other carriers. Forces in the global marketplace increasingly require companies to collaborate with local and overseas partners for market efficiency and responsiveness (Ohmae, 1989). This trend is echoed in the development of alliance activities within the airline industry (Ohmae, 1989). “Alliances in the airline industry allow carriers to enter markets indirectly where cost and regulatory barriers would foreclose direct entry. They are a means to link multiple markets together, such as North America, Europe and Asia” (Ghobrial, 2007). By entering into an alliance with Skyway Airlines, Classic Airlines will further expand their ability to meet the needs of their customers and position themselves as an industry leader.

Situation:
Classic Air is the 5th largest airline in the United States; it operates 375 aircraft and serves 240 cities with 2300 daily flights. Classic Air employees 32,000 people across the board from baggage handlers to top management. The last year reported profit was $10 million on $8.7 billion sales. Classic Air is facing a reduction in customer confidence with a loss of customer rewards enrollment and a decrease in current use of customer rewards. This is somewhat due to a lack of confidence of the general public, but the main cause is a lack of specific customer confidence with Classic Air’s own customers. This loss of revenue has caused a 10% decrease in Classic Air’s share price. Classic Air is also facing rising fuel and labor costs and a 15% reduction in costs this year, mandated by management. Classic Air implemented the hardware and software of a Customer Management System, but has not implemented the complete strategy. The system is utilized poorly with only the call center using the system. Management is hesitant to approve a new marketing strategy due to previous perceived marketing failures. It is also reluctant to enter into any alliances stating that they believe no one else can provide the level of service that Classic Air can. The marketing team is aware of the problem facing them and determined to create a solution.

Strengths:
Classic Air is a large and profitable company and has resources that can be used to solve many of its problems. Classic Air employs intelligent people who have a passion for the airline industry and Classic Air in particular. Classic Air has a newly negotiated contract with its union workers, which will be in effect for the short term. Classic Air has the hardware and software pieces of a customer management system in place, which can improve the customer experience if used properly. The customer management system has store of good customer feedback data. Because of the initial CMS installation, Classic Air is in a good position for a marketing alliance with Skyway.

Weaknesses
The size of Classic Air is not only one of its strengths; it can also be a weakness. Important decisions cannot be made in a timely manner and conflicts between the departments can stifle good ideas before they can be implemented. Although Classic Air has implemented a customer management system, they have only implemented the hardware and software portions. Classic Air does not have an effective customer management strategy and, therefore, the customer management system is not utilized to its fullest potential. Classic Air resists alliances with other firms. They believe no one else can provide the style of service that they can. This may be true; however their lack of alliances has hindered their ability to provide service cost effectively. The customer management system has a wealth of customer feedback data, however, Classic Air has not used this data to improve its service, nor have they realized its potential.

Opportunities
Classic Air’s short-term opportunities include creating a marketing alliance with Skyway. This will provide a cost effective way to provide a customer rewards system. Currently Classic Air enjoys a large customer base, and has an even larger base of previous customers who would likely come back if the proper incentives were introduced. This creates an opportunity independent of aligning with Skyway. Classic Air has the initial stages of a customer management system in place and if utilized properly has the opportunity to increase customer satisfaction. Analysis of the customer feedback data store currently held in the customer management system Classic Air can better determine customer needs and make changes to address these needs.

Threats
One of the main threats to Classic Air is other airlines providing a better customer experience causing customers to use them instead of Classic Air. If Classic Air does not get involved in the newly forming marketing alliance it could be threatened by the companies that do. Because of the low morale within the company, Classic Air could start loosing its general employees. A bigger threat would be the loss of key employees due to the lack of teamwork Classic Air is experiencing. There is a threat of competitors utilizing their customer management system to better understand customer needs and to provide a better experience than Classic Air should Classic Air refuse to fully embrace their customer management system.
The key issue marketing must solve is; with declining consumer confidence and a mandatory cost reduction, we must market a new program, or an improved current program, to retain current customers and bring back previous customers.

The “End-State” Vision
The goals of the Classic Airlines stakeholders are:
1. Classic Airlines will be profitable.
2. The stakeholders will be united in their vision and their work toward the ultimate goal to be profitable.
3. The use of the CRM system will be expanded to take advantage of the information and services the system can provide to both management and customers.
4. Customers will feel valued by Classic Airlines.
5. Employees of Classic Airlines will feel valued by the customers and the company.

Some of these goals will be achieved as a result of others being achieved. If Marketing can formulate a plan and sell it to the officers and board of directors, they will need the support of those groups in order to put the plan in motion.

The base of any plan to increase profits is to make customers want to fly on Classic Airlines. In today’s economy, there is not much room for cutting prices. In order for Classic Airlines to increase business, they must find a way to make passengers want to fly Classic instead of other airlines. Research of other successful airlines indicates that one of the strengths they share is a successful loyalty program. However, the survey conducted recently by the Vice President of Customer Service shows that Classic’s customers are dissatisfied with their rewards program (Classic Airlines Scenario).

Alternative Strategies
Classic Airlines used their interviews of 500 Gold and Platinum level Classic Rewards members to learn that Classic’s advertising is accurate and meaningful and the customer service they receive is satisfactory. But they are very dissatisfied with the miles they earn, the service upgrades they receive and the reward redemption options they receive, (Classic Airlines Scenario). The airline has to beef up the rewards and attract customers back to them while attracting new customers.

Classic already has a CRM system that they use mostly as a customer service tool for phone calls. This system can be used with the rewards program to give the customers quicker access to their own information and to book their own travel when possible. It can also be used to consolidate customer information in a more usable form to provide information helpful in tracking customer information for marketing. Customer surveys should always be available for customer feedback. This will provide great information for the management team to use to see what is working and what is not working. Better use of the system lays the groundwork for improved service, (Business Wire, 2006). Upgrading the system comes with a price tag but the infrastructure is already there.

Classic has determined that the Business Elite customers are the major source of their revenue. Therefore, the focus of rewards is on that segment. Some additions to the rewards system can be accomplished in-house by upgrading perks to the Business Elite customers such as pre-boarding and concierge service for their luggage. Some airlines such as Delta Air Lines have offered full-flat bed seats for these customers on some international flights, (M2 Presswire, 2008).

The customers want more air miles and more times to use them. Delta doubles or triples the miles earned for various categories of customers during specific periods, (M2 Presswire, 2008). Classic could use this offer for special promotions to bring on new rewards customers and to encourage existing rewards customers to travel on Classic during periods when air travel may be down or other companies are offering special rates. This could allow Classic to offset some losses by filling the planes while increasing the loyalty of their customers. Offering more air miles is not necessarily an expensive proposition. It brings customers back more often and the miles are not redeemed until later.

Delta also allowed all of its customers who were affected by winter weather in the Ohio Valley this year to change travel plans without penalties or fees, (M2 Presswire, 2008). This is a great service to customers for an inconvenience that was not in the control of either the air lines or the customers. It keeps customers coming back to a company that looks out for them.
In order to make its SkyMiles more valuable, Delta has marketing alliances with several partners that allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles even more easily. Delta’s award-winning program is a model in the industry.

Other airlines such as Air France and KLM have allied with Delta on transatlantic joint ventures, (Financial Times, 2008). Lufthansa plans a link with JetBlue in New York by linking booking systems and frequent-flyer programs, (Financial Times, 2008).

On the side of cost cutting, Classic will have a major problem with the unions if it tries to cut pay or benefits, (Classic Airlines Scenario). One way to approach a request by the unions for pay increases is to offer the employees a share of profits in exchange. Delta uses this plan of profit sharing to recognize employees for their roll in achieving financial and operational goals. The bonus is linked to profits, (M2 Presswire, 2008). This plan can be tied in with improved service. Each employee would have a stake in how the customers are treated. The savings in pay and benefits can be used to improve the CRM system and the payback would be rewards for all—employees and customers alike.

Decide the required upgrades to CRM and how much this will cost. The best plan for Classic that involves the least direct cost is a combination of these suggestions. Classic must decide which customer segments are the most important in terms of the greatest return to the company. The first is the Business Elite because they are the largest group of users. Service is #1. Train employees. Offer specific services as part of the rewards—faster check-in, early boarding, special baggage check.

Form more alliances with hotels, rental car companies and other travel related companies to improve the ways to redeem miles. Offer better earned miles on Classic flights. Hook up with Skyway or other airlines that can offer flights to compliment Classic’s schedules and destinations as well as miles redemption.

Marketing Recommendations
Classic must offer the flights to the destinations that are most popular with the customers and strive for the best on-time records. This is the service that customers want, especially the business travelers since they are the key segment that needs to be targeted. The price must be competitive, but it does not have to be the lowest price if the other parts of the equation are in order. They will want to offer promotions for double or triple mileage to kick off and advertise its new improved rewards program and use this as part of the price. They should do their best to make the customers comfortable in the airports and in the planes.

Training is part of the marketing plan. Classic must train their employees to understand that service is inseparable from the product and the best service is consistently good, (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz & Rudelius, 2006). One of the things that attracts customers to branded products is the expectation of service and quality that comes with that brand. Classic must make its mark on that service and come up with inventive ways to offer services that do not cost a lot of money as Delta did for a vast number of travelers that were inconvenienced by weather.

The alliance with Skyway will be investigated further to determine the benefits Classic can reap through the alliance. It will offer some additional flights and increase the hotels and other travel services for Classic’s Rewards.

The Classic Rewards system must be improved to meet the needs of the travelers. Marketing will propose a plan that includes improved miles earnings and improved miles redemption options. Increased numbers of seats per flight will be available for redemptions and more flights will be included for customers with a high level of miles. In addition to plane tickets, the places, (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz & Rudelius, 2006), that miles can be redeemed will be improved with alliances with more hotels and car rental companies. The Marketing Group can be inventive with promotions for extra miles and other bonuses at times when travel would normally be slow or passenger loyalty is waning, (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz & Rudelius, 2006).

Make a plan to improve the use of the CRM system and present the cost as part of the package. The system must be more usable for customers and track the rewards program.

Strategic marketing has three key stages. These include planning, implementation and control. The control phase is the process that compares the results of the marketing plan with the goals that were established. Depending on the company these goals are varied. Established goals could be increasing profit, sales, market share, quality, customer satisfaction, employee welfare, or social responsibility. The goal may be any of these individually or a combination of one or more (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, & Rudelius, ch 2, 2006). During the process of identifying goals, the company must determine how those results are going to be measured. Some sort of metric gathering tool should be used. If the goal is to increase customer satisfaction, the use of questionnaires or surveys could be used. If the goal is to increase profit, financial records and statements could be reviewed. Whatever method is used, the information must be clear and unbiased. It should not be subject to bias or subjectivity.

For Classic Airlines, the goals of the marketing division are clear. The marketing department has been given a goal of reducing their cost by 21.5% over the next six quarters. The expected results from the change in the Classic Rewards Program are a 15.1% increase in program membership and a 28.9% increase in total flights by classic rewards members. These increases are the percentage change expect over the totals from 2004 (MBA570Classic_Airlines_Datasheet(1), 2008). In addition to these mandated goals, a review of customer and employee satisfaction surveys shows that work to improve satisfaction levels with both of these groups should be done. Classic already has established metrics for the rewards programs, total flights taken by members and numbers of rewards members, simply tallying these results for the upcoming quarters will determine if the processes and marketing plan implemented are working. Classic should not wait until the end of the quarter to review these metrics. The company needs to monitor these metrics. Early review will be able to determine if the process is beginning to work. In the event that a trend is found that will not allow marketing to meet the goal, changes can be made early.

Classic already has an established survey program for exiting employees and customer calls are monitored and recorded. The employee surveys should be given to all employees, not just the ones that are leaving. By providing this survey, and addressing the concerns, employees may be retained at a greater number, and overall they will be happier. Changes need to be made. The questions need to be answered. Why indeed, if the company is concerned with customer satisfaction does it matter how long a phone call lasts? There may have to be a complete change in the corporate philosophy. Once the initial surveys are processed, and any changes identified have been made, after surveys can be done and reviewed in 3 and 6 months increments to determine if there has been an increase in employee satisfaction. These surveys are not quantitative so a number will have to be assigned to each response and a goal established. As an example, a question which asks employees, “Would you recommend Classic Airlines as an employer?” The goal for this could be an increase in yes answers by 25% (MBA570Classic_Airlines_Datasheet(1), 2008).

Classic Airlines is in a situation that requires changes in the philosophy of management, the way the company handles its CRM process, employees and its rewards program specifically. An excellent place to start this change is by reviewing comments of exiting employees. As one employee mentioned, “Either get rid of the supposed CRM system, or get it straightened out fast. We spent an unbelievable sum of money to implement one of the best platforms available, and we couldn't (or wouldn't) spend the extra little bit to fit the system around the needs of our customers. I was in the dark in the early stages of the implementation, and by the time my input could have changed the way things came out, the software was too far along to be changed. For starters, you've got to capture customer contact at all points of interaction with the company to provide the proverbial "360-degreee view of the customer". Until that is addressed, all you've really got is an expensive reservations system, and not even a good one at that.” (MBA570Classic_Airlines_Datasheet(1), 2008). This is a very telling comment, and one that directly addresses a wide ranging issue with Classic Airlines and their CRM program. Another area that the company can get insightful information is from the call monitoring transcripts. Some of the customer comments show a disparity between the rules of the frequent flyer program and what is being advertised. They also give some ideas for opportunities the company might consider. One customer mentioned that perhaps a rule could be changed since he flew twice a month on average (MBA570Classic_Airlines_Datasheet(1), 2008). This might be a way for the company to implement an additional reward that would make other frequent flyers move to this company. The bottom line is this is an opportunity for the company to increase their customer base. All it has to do is truly listen to the customer. The future of travel is bright. Airline travel is expected to increase dramatically, and double by 2017 (Future of Travel, Plunkett, 2007). Classic Airlines is still competitive. However, if the company does not start listening to the customer, if they do not in fact, implement and use the CRM process, it will not remain that way and could very well face eventual bankruptcy.

Reference
Anonymous. (2007a). Scenario One – Classic Airlines. Retrieved March 12, 2008 from University of Phoenix, Week Four, rEsource, MBA 570.

Business Wire, (2006, April 20). After Aeroflot and SkyTeam: Sabre Airline Solutions in Alliance Push. Business Wire. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.
Done, Kevin, (2008, February 20). Air France seeks tie-up with merged carrier. Financial Times. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

Ghobrial, A. (2007). A Perspective on Global Air line Alliances. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from http://www.touchbriefings.com/pdf/12/avia031_p_ghobrial.pdf.

Johnston, Barry R. and Nedelescu, Oana M. (2005). The Impact of Terrorism on Financial Markets. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/ 2005/wp0560.pdf

Kaye, J. (2002). Aide for Airlines. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/ transportation/jan-june02/airline_aid_2-12.html.
Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., Berkowitz, E. N., & Rudelius, W., (2005). Marketing. (8th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill Company.

Kerin, Roger A., Hartley, Steven W., Berkowitz, Eric N. & Rudelius, William (2006). Marketing 8e, Ch 12 . Organizational Markets and Buyer Behavior. New York, The McGraw Hill Companies.

Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W., Berkowitz, E.N., Rudelius, W., 2006, Marketing, 8e, Ch 2, Developing Successful Marketing and Corporate Strategies, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, New York.

MBA570Classic_Airlines_Datasheet(1), 2008, Retrieved March 18, 2008, from University of Phoenix, rEsource, MBA570 Web site

M2 Presswire, (2008, February 12). Delta Air Lines: Delta Employees Share $158 Million this Valentine’s Day. M2 Presswire. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

M2 Presswire, (2008, February 6). Delta Air Lines: Delta Invites BusinessElite Customers to Relax in Its New Full-Flat Bed Seat on International Boeing 767-400 Flights Beginning Spring 2009. M2 Presswire. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

M2 Presswire, (2008, March 20). Delta Air Lines: Delta SkyMiles members see double and triple with mileage bonus offers.M2 Presswire. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

M2 Presswire, (2008, March 5). Delta Air Lines: Delta Customers Affected by Winter Weather in Ohio Valley May Change Travel Plans Without Penalties or Fees. M2 Presswire. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

Ohmae, K. (1989). Global logic of strategic alliances, Harvard Business Review,
March-April, reprinted in Global Strategies, A Harvard Business Review Book,
USA.

The Future of Travel (2007), Plunkett’s Airlines, Hotels & Travel Industry Research Center, Retrieved from http://www.plunkettresearchonline.com/ResearchCenter/Trends/display.aspx?Industry=17&index=5, 19 March 2008.Wiesmann, Gerrit, (2008, March 13). Lufthansa plans JFK hub link with JetBlue. Financial Times. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from ProQuest Database.

Even Newer Project

2007-12-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

So I was trying to find some new podcasts to listen to using iTunes last night while downloading my currently subscribed to podcasts. While trying to sync to my iPod one of the files didn't sync, said something to the effect of not being able to find the file. So I tried to figure out how to re-download the file but couldn't figure out how. This is not the first problem I've had with downloadin podcasts using iTunes. I can't re-download files, it's hard to maintain the lists in iTunes are just a couple. So what should a programmer do besides create an application himself. This new project is going to be a podcast aggrigaor to start off, and then morphing into a full-fledged rss/xml feed reader. I've done this kind of app before, but of course I've since switched away from it. This time I'll finish, I promise.

New Project

2007-12-13T10:14:00.001-07:00

My wife suggested I create an application on my website mimicking Backpack. So I started designing the page and decided I'll go a slightly different direction. My page will look like a page from a paper planner. It will have entry locations mapped to times of the day, incremented in 30 minutes. It will have a calander object on the right where you can pick the day, and the number of any day for which you have an item listed will be bolded. I decided to use ASP since I already know a little ASP and enjoy using it. But then I got into work today and saw some of the WPF applications out there and got the idea of a resume application. I'm in the initial design stages but think I'll use WPF for this one so that I can learn how to use it.

What Can I Say?

2007-12-13T10:13:00.002-07:00

So, as I was working on the Backpack application I started another project. What did I tell you? Anyway, the new project is along the same lines so I don't feel too bad about it. And to make it even better, I actually finished it. It's a Backpack API viewer. It shows you names and ids of pages, lists, and notes. It will make it easier to finish the other project because I'll be able to find out ids for the items I need.

The Finisher

2007-12-13T10:13:00.001-07:00

I have a problem finishing projects. I'm great at starting projects and working on them for a while, but then I get started on something else and put the current project aside. I'm going back to one of the projects I started a while back, an application that interfaces with Backpack. Backpack is a web application from 37 Signals for lists. Lists like todo lists, shopping lists, whatever. This application will sit on the desktop and show the list items from my Backpack account. I'll hopefully convert it to a sidebar application when I figure out how to do that.

A Lot Going On

2007-11-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

So there's been a lot going on in my life. Nothing blog-worthy though. My wife is going through an MS flare-up so I've been dealing with that a lot. I've been doing a lot of work for my MBA classes as well. And I've actually been doing some actual work. Getting more into C# development for the current project I'm working on. I got a new laptop for an early Christmas present. It's an HP, nothing real fancy but I just wanted one so that I could write code and have something that's "mine". That may sound selfish, but sometimes you just need something that's "yours". This laptop has Vista Home Premium on it and it's taking a little getting used to. It's crashed on me a few times, but so far I'm liking it. I'm getting it set up the way I like it and will be working on my website soon.

2007-11-12T17:28:00.001-07:00

Mobile post sent by richards using Utterz. Replies. mp3

2007-11-12T17:24:00.001-07:00

Mobile post sent by richards using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Blogger Account

2007-10-26T13:30:00.001-06:00

Wow, I've had a blogger account since September of 2004. geeze.

Page Layout

2007-10-26T13:29:00.001-06:00

Seems I just needed to reselect the template and reload. Hope it works.

Page Layout

2007-10-26T13:27:00.000-06:00

Looks like I need to revamp this page's layout. Seems as if Google doesn't like to old blogger styles.

The Last Few Posts

2007-10-26T13:24:00.004-06:00

Okay, I've decided there is no use in re-creating the wheel, or in this case, blog software. So I've copied some of the more important (to me) posts from my website. I'll use the website space to continue to learn about development, but I'll use this space as it is intended, to blog.

About Me

2007-10-26T13:24:00.003-06:00

My name is Richard and I've been designing and developing software for a number of years. I wrote my first program when I was in high school, during a business class. We had a Radio Shack TSR-80 and my first program printed a derogitory remark about one of my classmates to the screen. Of course I was just kidding around and he was sitting right next to me when I wrote it. Since then I've been hooked on computers and writing software. During my college year I taught myself how to write C programs using an Aztec compiler on my Amiga 1000 when I wasn't playing text based RPGs. I then did something any geek would do, I joined the Army. I spent 10 years in the Army, well actually the United States Cavalry. About as far away from computers as you can get. After I retired medically from the Army I started working for MCI. At MCI, before WorldCom bought them out, I wrote telephony software everybody loves. "Press 1 to go here, press 2 to go there". That's where I learned about the Software Development Life Cycle, and met a great man named Hank. Hank taught me a lot about designing, developing and testing software. Too bad he wasn't my manager. After MCI I went to Technical Support for the United States Olympic Center. This was just before the year 2000 and we were upgrading all the systems to become Y2K compliant. While working at the USOC I went back to college to get my Bachelor's degreee. This time I actually studied Computer Science. One of my math instructors at Colorado Technical University mentioned that his company, Lockheed Martin needed database designers and developers. After talking with him about it and with the hiring manager I got the job and have been working for Lockheed since. So what's this website about? This website is about my keeping current with the computer software trends. Right now, as far as I can tell, the big thing is distributed applications. Specificly internet distributed applications. Most of the work is done on a big server and you and I connect to the server to get information, or to get something done. I think the next big thing, if it's not already, will be mobile applications. Basically the same idea as internet applications, except you connect to the server using your mobile phone, PDA, or internet device. So that's what I'm going to be focused on. Building applications where most of the work is done on a big server and you connect over the internet. My wife also has a some pages here and you can get to them in the links to the left. You can also get to all my prototype applications in the links to the left. There is some earlier work I've done using style sheets, not too impressive, but I'm learning. There is my Music Collection application. And my newest is my 2006 NFL Schedule Application.

From my website

2007-10-26T13:24:00.001-06:00

As you can see I have re-vamped the whole site. I've built this website using Visual Studio Codename Orcas, with a SQL Server backend database. I've implemented site user account functionality, but you can get to any page except the database maintainance pages. Pretty soon I'll be locking down some of the pages and you'll need a user account to see them. It won't cost anything for an account and I'm only doing it so that I can learn how to administer user accounts. So help me out and sign up for a new account.

From my website

2007-10-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

(8/22/07) I've been fairly busy this last month. Been applying for different jobs, working on new areas of the website, a few events for the Riders, and gearing up for football! Speaking of, I've finished the NFL schedule. You should be able to see all the games for the 2007 season as well as all the games for your favorite team. I've done a lot of work on the Productivity Suite, which you can't see unless you ask me for access. I'm still thinking about how to format the entries on the front page. Not sure how to go about it since it's a straight pull from the database. I'm also thinking about how to incorporate media, such as pictures, audio, and video. That's all for now.

From my website

2007-10-26T13:22:00.004-06:00

Started a new job today. (October 1st)

Info about my website

2007-10-26T13:22:00.003-06:00

October already?!? Wow, did September fly by or what? My birthday is at the end of this month, geeze. About my new job, it's still with the same company, just a different program. I'll be actually doing some engineering, software engineering, so I'm really looking forward to it. My wife is working again, which is a good thing. She is a bit sore and tired today after working all day yesterday, but hopefully she is taking breaks and taking care of herself. Last week on my vacation, we went to Navajo State Park in Southwest Colorado. What a great place. Very beautiful. We had a cabin on the lake, cooked hotdogs and marshmellows over an open fire, went to four corners, and to the Anasazi museum. I was simultaneously in four states for a couple of seconds. We had a great time. Finished up my MBA 510 course last night, now just waiting for my grade to be posted. No rest for the weary though, the next class starts today. It'll be over soon, I keep telling myself.

Info about my website

2007-10-26T13:22:00.001-06:00

Having problems with the LogIn stuff. Trying to find out what I broke.

Info about my website

2007-10-26T13:21:00.001-06:00

Added some Highrise stuff. Still haven't figured out the Login problem. Going to do some research and study up on website security so I can understand it. Weekend went okay. I went to the ER on Friday I think. Heart was going weird, but hasn't since so don't know what that was all about. So I'm using Highrise and Backpack. Both are web applications from 37Signals. 37signals.com is thier website and they have really good applications. Highrise is a contact management system and Backpack is a project management system. I'm still figuring out how to use both apps in conjunction but I think they will work together pretty nicely.

The Challenges of Doing Business Overseas

2007-05-24T15:09:00.000-06:00

Introduction
Steve Kafka, an American of Czech origin and a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza, has decided to expand his business into the Czech Republic. Steve anticipates he will face some difficulties at the new location in Prague, Czech Republic. This paper will define the major cultural differences, and major business risks because of these differences between, the United States and the Czech Republic and will discuss some ways to mitigates these risks. Analysis of the comparative advantages the Czech Republic has is another topic of this paper. This paper also discusses Hofstede's four primary dimensions and how they help Steve evaluate the business environment in the Czech Republic. An analysis of the demand for pizza and how to assess the cost structure ends this paper.

Cultural Differences Between the United States and the Czech Republic
The culture in the Czech republic emphasizes conformity and cooperation. The economy has transitioned from a planned to a free market economy after the spilt of Czechoslovakia in 1993. To show respect people in the Czech Republic use a person's title and last name. The workdays begin between 7am and 8am and end between 3pm and 4pm and during the work week most adults eat at work. Most stores and businesses do not stay open late and people in the Czech Republic do not dine out very often. Young couples live with parents but work hard to gain independance and children are encouraged to belong to organizations but prefer to watch TV or play video games. Usually women prepare meals and recently a healthier diet that is easier to prepare has become popular. Most meals are eaten using utensils and very few items are eaten with hands. Plates are prepared in the kitchen and carried to the table. Recently hotdogs and pizza have become popular snack foods that can be purchased from sidewalk vendors. During leisure time Czechs frequent local forests, fields, mountains and lakes and soccer, tennis, and ice hockey are popular sporting events.

Opening a successful pizzeria in the Czech Republic will be difficult because of eating habits and because pizza is considered a snack food. Because meals are eaten at work or prepared at home and most businesses do not stay open late there won't be much business for a pizzeria. But because Steve is opening this business in Prague, the capital city, and eating habits are trending toward dining out business may be slow at first and should steadily grow in the future. Steve can mitigate these risks by positioning his business as a family oriented establishment. Because beer is commonly consumed Steve can serve it in his restaurant. Steve can also place utensils on his tables at the place settings.

Comparative Advantages in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic grows most of its own wheat, hops, sugar beets, potatoes, barley, rye, onions and fruit, however it imports more vegetables than it exports. There may be an advantage in pizza crust dough and beer, but there are no other advantages. There are no comparative advantages Steve can take advantage of.

Hofstede's Four Primary Dimensions Model
The elements of Hofstede's four primary dimensions modes are:
1. Power distance
2. Uncertainty avoidance
3. Individualism
4. Masculinity

Recently Hofstede added a fifth dimension to his model named Long Term Orientation. The following chart compares the models of the United States with the Czech Republic.

PDI Power Distance Index
IDV Individualism
MAS Masculinity
UAI Uncertainty Avoidance
LTO Long Term Orientation

Power Distance Index is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.

Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world.

Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values.

Uncertainty Avoidance deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions.

Long Term Orientation versus short-term orientation: this fifth dimension was found in a study among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with Short Term Orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'. Both the positively and the negatively rated values of this dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius, the most influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.; however, the dimension also applies to countries without a Confucian heritage.

As seen in the graph citizens of the Czech Republic have a greater feeling that power is distributed unequally than in the United States and they have more ability to deal with uncertainty. Their culture has a greater feeling of community and a greater willingness to help a fellow citizen out than in the United States and the distribution of roles between the genders is close to that in the United States. The Czech Republic has a shorter term orientation that the United States which suggests the citizens have more respect for tradition, fulfill their social obligations and attempt to protect their reputations. There is a wide difference in all the elements except masculinity which suggest the culture of the Czech Republic is much different than that of the United States. With this analysis Steve can plan for these differences and armed with this understanding of the culture be better prepared for the change.

Trade Barriers Within the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a member of the European Union and a member of the World Trade Organization. There are few trade barriers that would affect Steve's attempt to open a pizzeria in Prague.

Assessment of the Demand of Pizza
To assess the demand of pizza at different prices Steve would research any current restaurants serving pizza. He would survey the vendors that sell pizza on the street to determine their prices and the demand for their products. Steve would analyze the cost of ingredients, labor, and overhead for the restaurant. Once he had this data he could evaluate the per pizza cost and compare that with the demand for pizza to determine the business sense of opening a pizzeria.

Conclusion
This paper has defined the major cultural differences, and major business risks because of these differences between, the United States and the Czech Republic and has discussed some ways to mitigate these risks. Research has shown there are no comparative advantages of the Czech Republic regarding Steve's pizzeria . This paper also discussed Hofstede's four primary dimensions and discovered there has been one added and how they would help Steve evaluate the business environment in the Czech Republic.

The success of a pizzeria will depend on the growing cultural influence of the west within the Czech Republic. Business will be slow until Steve establishes a family oriented atmosphere and until the culture of the Czech Republic accepts dining out at a pizzeria.

References
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/s05020.htm#TRADEGLOBAL
http://www.countrywatch.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/cw_topic.aspx?type=text&vcountry=47&topic=MAOVR
http://online.culturegrams.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/secure/world/world_country.php?contid=5&wmn=Europe&cid=41&cn=Czech%20Republic
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=95&culture2=22#compare

Environmental Analysis

2007-05-18T11:19:00.000-06:00

Introduction
The cyclic nature of the business cycle is clearly demonstrated by the defense contracting industry. The industry is at its peak when republicans are in control and in a trough when democrats are in control. There are other factors that affect the defense contracting industry such as military conflict, the state of the labor market, and technological turnover. This paper will analyze the labor market and the technology turnover variables for the last five years relative to the information technology segment of the defense contracting industry. It will provide insight as to the challenges and opportunities that exist for the operating environment of the defense contracting industry.

Key Macroeconomic Variables
There are very few major defense contracting companies and many smaller, supporting companies. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup Gruman, and Raytheon are some of the major defense contracting companies that compete for defense contracts. Some of the key macroeconomic variables that affect all these companies are the policies reflected by the controlling political party, military conflict involving the United States, unemployment rates, the education and skill levels of the available labor force, and technology turnover.

Both political parties have innate policies regarding the defense of the United States. The democratic party feels resources would be better utilized in areas other than defense and therefore attempt to cut the budget for defense when they are in control. The republican party, on the other hand, feels national defense is a critical need for the nation and attempt to raise the defense budget when they are in control. The companies in the defense contracting industry must closely monitor the political landscape of the nation and try to forecast which party will win elections. If our nation is involved in military conflict defense spending is increased and more money is available to the companies in the industry and demand for their products raise. The defense contracting industry employs skills from all sections of the labor spectrum. The information technology segment of the labor force is limited and competition for those skills is heavy. When the industry is in a trough of its business cycle it is hard for it to compete for highly skilled engineers it needs to produce its products. Furthermore once companies do employ highly skilled workers at the peak of its cycle it is equally hard to maintain those workers as the cycle moves downward toward the trough. Companies must analyze the need for technology improvement regarding the benefit versus cost. In the defense contracting industry this analysis is even more critical. Usually defense budgets are not flexible enough to keep up with the latest technology and the contracts the defense offers are usually long term, greater than five years, so the contracting industry must analyze the state of technology and provide the best equipment available.

Labor and Technology
Taking a closer look at the labor and technology variables will provide better insight to the challenges and opportunities for the defense contracting industry. According to Country Watch the United States general unemployment rates for the years of 2001 through 2005 are 4.7%, 5.8%, 6.0%, 5.5%, and 5.1%. And according the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rates for the information industry for the same years are between 3% and 3.5%. This indicates a very low amount of available, highly skilled workers for the defense contracting industry and because this industry depends on the national defense budget it is difficult to provide a comparative wage to attract these workers. The difficulty level also changes as the political party in control changes. Because of republican control of the congress and the current military conflicts the national spending on defense has risen between 2001 through 2005, however, the democratic party took control of the congress in the last election so the expectation is that national spending will decrease in the coming years. The following chart depicts the employment rates in the general and information sectors compared to defense spending.

Technological advances in the information sector has grown at a rapid rate. A new generation of integrated circuits is introduced approximately every 18 months along with a cost increase. It is impossible to continuously upgrade information equipment as rapidly as new equipment becomes available. It is even more critical to plan technology turnover in the defense contracting industry. The budget limitations in this industry along with relatively long contract time-frames enforces a technology planning process so that products produces are not outdated before they are deployed to customers. The following chart shows the costs of technology upgrades compared to defense spending.

As the chart shows the cost to upgrade equipment rises each year. The challenge for the industry is to find a point at which technology will support the requirements of the customer and plan for future upgrades.

Challenges and Opportunities
The challenge for the defense contracting industry regarding employment is recruiting highly skilled workers capable of producing highly complex information technology products, retaining these workers once recruited, and planning for the future budgetary constraints imposed by the changing political climate. The opportunities in this area is the ability to provide highly skilled workers producing a highly complex product. The labor force employed in this industry is highly competent and motivated to provide the highest quality products for the defense industry.

The challenge for the industry regarding technology turnover is defining a point at which the equipment meets the customer's requirements while staying within the limited budget constraints inhierant in defense spending. Another challenges is planning for future technology turnover and incorporating this turnover into future budgets. The opportunities in this area is the ability to quickly adapt to budgetary constraints and implementing a complex, high quality product regardless of the constraints. All defense contracting companies strive to provide the highest quality products allowable within the constraints of their budget.

Conclusion
The defense contracting industry must to analyze general macroeconomic variables, but it must monitor even more closely the variables pertaining to the political environment of the United States. It must plan for changes in its labor force depending on projected defense spending which cycles depending the the political party in control of congress. Planning for its labor force also involves monitoring of the general labor force and the available highly skilled workers it must compete with the other technology industries. Planning for advances in technology is a critical analysis for the defense contracting industry. Because contracts are relatively long compared to advances in technology, the industry must carefully plan for technology turnover.

References
Macroeconomic Data, Unemployment Rate. Retrieved May 15, 2007 from Country Watch. http://www.countrywatch.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/cw_topic.aspx?type=data&vcountry=182&disc=1&tableid=1

Us Department of Labor, Industry at a Glance: Information. Retrieved May 15, 2007 from The Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://stats.bls.gov/iag/information.htm

Macroeconomic Impact on Business Operations

2007-05-11T17:09:00.000-06:00

Introduction
One of the methods the United States government uses attempting to control the economy is its monetary policy. The United States Federal Reserve Board is responsible for monitoring the economy, advising the President, and setting monetary policy. This paper analyzes monitory policies available to the United States Federal Reserve Board and discusses how these policies affect macroeconomic indicators and the monetary supply. This paper will identify tools used by the Federal Reserve Board to control the money supply and explain how these tools influence the money supply and in turn affect macroeconomic factors. It will explain how money is created relative to the economy and discuss recommended monetary policy combinations that best achieve a balance between economic growth, low inflation, and a reasonable rate of unemployment.

Tools Used by the Federal Reserve Board
The three main tools used by the Federal Reserve Board to control money supply are open market operations, manipulating the reserve ratio, and manipulating the discount rate. Open market operations are the most common tool used and signify the buying and selling of securities from and to commercial banks or the public. Securities are government bonds that have been purchased by the Federal Reserve Banks. They consist largely of Treasury bills, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds issued by the United States government to finance past budget deficits. When the Federal Reserve Board wants to expand the economy it will use the buying of securities method. This increases the excess reserves of commercial banks while reducing of commercial bank holdings of securities. This allows them more money to inject into the economy through loans to the public. There is a slight, but important, difference in purchases of securities from the public. When the Federal Reserve Board purchases securites from the public, commercial banks excess reserves increase, but only by the amount of the reserve ratio, which will be explained shortly. This is because the public deposits the payment from the Federal Reserve Board into their bank accounts and only the portion required by the reserve ratio is put in reserve. In contrast, when the Federal Reserve Board wants to contract the economy it will use the selling of securities method. Commercial banks purchase securites by drawing from their reserves. This will decrease the amount of money available for them to loan to the public. Also by selling to the public, commercial bank reserves decrease, but only by the amount of the reserve ratio.

Commercial banks are required to keep a percentage of their checkable-deposits in reserve, to cover withdrawals by their customers. The reserve ratio is the specified percentage of checkable-deposit liabilities that a commercial bank must keep as reserves, it is the ratio of the required reserves the commercial bank must keep to the bank's own outstanding checkable-deposit liabilities. Commercial banks will keep their reserves above the reserve ratio, the amount of reserves above the reserve ratio is considered excess reserves. Excess reserves are what commercial banks use when they loan money to customers. By lowering the reserve ratio the Federal Reserve Board would, in effect, expand the economy because it would increase the reserves held in excess and increase the amount of money available to the commercial banks for lending. When the Federal Reserve Board wants to contract the economy it could raise the reserve ratio, which would decrease the amount of money commercial banks have in excess reserves which would decrease the amount of money available for lending. Currently the Federal Reserve Board sets the reserve ratio based on net transaction amounts. The reserve ratio for transaction amounts of 0 to 8.5 million dollars is zero percent, for amounts of 8.5 to 45.8 million dollars the ratio is three percent, for amounts more than 45.8 million dollars the ratio is ten percent. These ratios went into affect on December 21, 1996.

One of the functions of a central bank is to be a lender of last resort. When commercial banks loan out more money than they have in excess reserves, they need a place from which to borrow the necessary amount to cover the difference. Commercial banks can borrow from other banks or from the Federal Reserve Bank. The rate of interest the Federal Reserve Bank charges for loans is called the discount rate. This type of transaction increases the amount of excess reserves that the commercial bank has available. These loans are short-term and are usually from the Federal Reserve Bank in the lending commercial bank's district. By lowering the discount rate the Federal Reserve Board will encourage short-term lending by commercial banks which increases its excess reserves and increases the amount of money available for lending. By raising the discount rate the Federal Reserve Board discourages lending from Federal Reserve Banks and commercial banks will turn to each other to borrow the necessary funds needed to cover their reserves. When commercial banks borrow from each other there is no increase in over-all reserves because the excess reserves of one bank becomes the necessary reserves of another.

The Creation of Money
After a commercial bank is formed it expects the public to deposit its money into the bank for safe keeping. As per the previous section, the commercial bank is required to keep a specified percentage of its deposits in reserve with the Federal Reserve Bank in its district. Commercial banks usually expect to grow its holdings of checkable-deposits in the future, so instead of instead of sending just the required minimun to the Federal Reserve Bank for reserves it will send a higher amount. This allows the commercial bank to avoid constant shipment of money to the Federal Reserve Bank, however it also provides a way for the commercial bank to create money. One of the other functions of a commercial bank is to loan money to the public. The transaction of a loan allows the public to swap something that is not accepted as money, an IOU, for something that is, cash. Normally the public will exchange the money for goods, which will put the money back in the banking system. The money will be put back into the banking system as a checkable-deposit and only a portion of it will go back into the reserves. The amount of money that was not put back into the reserve is the amount of newly created money. If there were no controls on these types of transactions the amount of money held in reserve would decrease to zero. The public would soon realize that the commercial banks had no money to cover their checkable-deposits and create a "run" on the banks to try and receive the money it had deposited. This happened quite often in the early history of our banking system, however modern our modern banking system has numerous controls. One such control is that a commercial bank is not allowed to lend money above the amount it holds in excess reserves. Once a commercial bank has loaned an amount equal to its excess reserves it is considered loaned out.

Recommended Monetary Policy Combinations
In order to find recommended monetary policy combinations the current state of the economy must be determined as well as the current economic trends. The goal of the Federal Reserve Board is to achieve and maintain price-level stability, full employment, and economic growth. If the money supply is low and the real GDP is far below the full-employment output, the economy must be experiencing recession and substantial unemployment. In this case the Federal Reserve Board should institute policies that make it easier for the public to obtain money. It should increase the money supply by purchasing securities from commercial banks and the public, lowering the reserve ratio, and lowering the discount rate. This combination of methods is called an easy money policy. The intended outcome will be an increase in excess reserves in the commercial banking system which increases the amount of money available for lending. This increase in money supply will lower the interest rate, increase investment, aggregate demand and equilibrium GDP.

If, on the other hand, the money supply is high, interest rates low, and aggregate demand is high, the economy is experiencing inflation. The methods the Federal Reserve Board will use to curb spending is selling of securities to commercial banks and the public, increase the required reserve ratio, and increase the discount rate. This will reduce the amount of excess reserve holdings of commercial banks, which will decrease the amount of money available for lending. Because money will be hard to get these methods are said to be a tight money policy.

Monetary policy has two main advantages over fiscal policy. One is speed and flexibility and the other is isolation from political pressure. Compared with fiscal policy, monetary policy can be quickly altered. Congressional deliberations may delay the application of fiscal policy for months, however the Federal Reserve Board can buy and sell securities on a day to day basis. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board are appointed and server 14-year terms, this isolates them from lobbying and allows them to not worry about being re-elected.

Conclusion
This paper identified the most common tool used by the Federal Reserve Board to control the money supply as open market operations, which is the buying and selling of securities from/to commercial banks and the public. The affect of these tools on the money supply and macroeconomic factors is the expansion or contraction of the monetary supply. by explaining how money is created a better understanding is gained on how the Federal Reserve Board is able to control the economy. Recommended monetary policy combinations depend on the current state of the economy and the current economic trends. To achieve a balance between economic growth, low inflation, and a reasonable rate of unemployment, monetary policies are instituted according to the current economic needs of the country.

References
McConnel-Brue (2004) Economics: Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The Federal Reserve, Reserve Requirements. Retrieved May 8, 2007 from http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/reservereq.htm

Forms of Industrial Organizations

2007-05-03T08:39:00.000-06:00

Abstract

The authors’ purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with and understanding of different types of market structures as well as pricing and non-pricing strategies used in the various market structures. First, the authors’ explore the pure competition market structure. Second, the author will discuss the monopoly market structure. Third, the authors’ explain the oligopoly market structure. Fourth, the authors’ describe the monopolistic competition market structure. Last, the authors’ explain how a virtual industry evolves through the four market structures over the lifecycle of the product as well as changes in the aggregate number of suppliers and consumers.

Forms of Industrial Organizations

Pure Competition

Pure competition is defined by Investorwords.com as, “A market characterized by a large number of independent sellers of standardized products, free flow of information, and free entry and exit. The sellers are "price takers" rather than "price makers" (Investorwords.com, 2007). The term “price taker” is used to describe the sellers in this market because the large number of sellers and the homogeneous products make it nearly impossible for one seller to charge higher prices than the competition. The fact that the products are standardized means that the consumer has many choices of sellers and the entry into and exit from this market are relatively easy. An example of a purely competitive industry is the bottled water industry. Bottled water is an industry in which there are numerous sellers, many consumers, standardized products, and relatively stable pricing across the industry. Because of the aforementioned, the sellers in the bottled water industry must try to differentiate their products from those of the competition in an effort to gain market shares. An article in Beverage Industry, lists some information from Beverage Industry’s Product and Development survey. According to the survey, “efforts for the bottled water category will be directed toward flavors, sweeteners, and vitamin and mineral fortification” (Bubbling with, 2007). An interesting example of a company that is doing very well for itself in this purely competitive environment is, Roll International, the company that sells Fiji bottled water. According to Grace Jeon, vice president of marketing and national accounts, their main focus has been to educate the consumers as to the intrinsic value of Fiji water. “Those values include the virgin ecosystem of Fiji, the product’s flavor and health benefits” (Theodore, 2007). According to the company, the primary benefit of Fiji water is the amount of silica present. President and CEO, John Cochran, admits that there is pressure to, “stack it high and sell it cheap” (Theodore, 2007). However, he has seen Fiji expand its audience by sticking to its principles. “The higher margins and quick turn rates on Fiji often persuade retailers to provide space for the product” (Theodore, 2007). Roll International is a prime example of how companies differentiate its product from its competitors; how to make a profit in a purely competitive market.

Monopoly

A pure monopoly exists when a single firm is the sole producer of a product, which there is no close substitute (McConnell & Brue, 2004, p. 438). Pure monopolies are characterized by the following: (a) Single seller of a product or service, (b) no close substitute of the unique product or service sold, (c) a price maker by maintaining control over quantity supplied thus control over price, and (d) blocked entry to the industry in the form of economic, technological, legal, and other types (McConnell & Brue, 2004, p. 438 – 439). Microsoft Corporation fits nicely in the realm of a monopoly by controlling 90% of the software operating system market (Schonfeld, 2007, p. 23). Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports software products for many computing devices. Microsoft uses the profit-maximization rule by producing the MR = MC output; the economic profit lay between the demand and average total cost (ATC) curve (McConnell & Brue, 2004, p. 445). Microsoft’s non-pricing strategies are licensing, research and development (R&D), and branding. Licensing protects Microsoft against firms entering the software industry and using Microsoft’s technology. Microsoft’s flagship Windows 95 operating system (OS) and subsequent OS improvements have secured Microsoft’s vitality; effectively blocking potential rivals’ entry to this industry. Interestingly, Microsoft’s suppliers are computer manufactures such as Dell, Compaq, and lesser-known computer manufactures which sell computers with Microsoft’s OS. Furthermore, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) manufacture their microprocessor chips, the brain of the computer, to take advantage of Microsoft’s OS. Moreover, Microsoft’s “strong brand image makes Microsoft a preferred operating system over its competitors. In addition, strong brand image promotes greater trust in the company's product and services, which could boost the demand for the company's products” (Datamonitor, 2007). Microsoft effectively uses pricing and non-pricing strategies to maintain its monopoly status.

Oligopoly

An oligopoly market structure is dominated by a few large producers of a homogeneous or differentiated product. Because of their fewness, oligopolists have considerable control over their prices, but each must consider the possible reaction of rivals to its own pricing, output, and advertising decisions. Although the most common oligopolies are national, the beer and automobile industries are examples; there can be regional or local oligopolies. The retail automobile parts industry is one such local oligopoly.

In the Colorado Springs area, there are few retail automobile parts companies, Pep Boys, AutoZone, Checker, and Advanced Auto Parts, that control the market. Although these companies sell products to consumers and repair shops, Pep Boys tries to differentiate itself by marketing to the Do-It-Yourself consumer. Because of the mutual interdependence between the companies, Pep Boys must use methods other than pricing strategies to maximize revenues. One way Pep Boys reduced labor costs, in 1996 Pep Boys implemented a new slotting plan for the distribution centers, modeling the new plan on retail stores pegboard hooks. They categorized products by family groups and created store shipments consisting of reusable totes packed with aisle-specific, family groups. This reduced the store-stocking time by 30%, from 18 hours to 12 hours per delivery (Pep boys, 2007). In 2004, Pep Boys implemented a voice-directed system in its distribution centers. This system allowed the warehouse workers to replace handheld devices and printed instruction sheets with headsets that are connected to belt-worn computers. This frees up the worker's hands, keeps his eyes on the job, and speeds up the time it takes him to complete each task. This new system gained Pep Boys a 12% increase in productivity and a 50 percent increase in accuracy (Sowinski, 2005). By finding creative ways to reduce costs and improve productivity, Pep Boys is able to compete in local markets while still maximizing revenue.

Monopolistic Competition

Monopolistic competition is a market structure characterized by a large number of independent sellers with a small percentage of the total market share. Firms in this environment differentiate their products or services with slightly different in physical characteristics, the degree of customer service, convenience of location or special qualities of their product (McConnell & Brue, 2004). There is widespread non-price competition in this market structure as well as easy entry into or exit from the industry (McConnell & Brue, 2004). Grocery stores or supermarkets are prime examples of monopolistic competition, as their products and services are similar. Safeway is a good example of a firm that exists within this type of market structure. Historically, market forces that influence grocery stores were local demographics and location. However, this changed when traditional retail stores, like Wal-Mart and Target, started carrying groceries. These firms challenged competitors in the grocery industry by offering consumers low prices and one-stop shopping (Business & Company, 2006). Since Safeway realized that they could not increase revenue by lowering prices, they focused on one of the other factors in monopolistic competition, differentiation. Safeway knew it needed to stand apart from other grocers to compete and remain profitable in the market. Safeway invested in a marketing strategy to create an environment that would enhance their products, this lifestyle format, incorporates large images of delicious meals, welcoming lighting, and a customer friendly atmosphere (Wilson, 2005). Another marketing strategy was the addition of gasoline pumps. Safeway added gas pumps on supermarket property to maximize convenience and offer discounts for frequent customers of their store (Hamstra, 2007). Safeway also began selling gift cards redeemable at restaurants in the area of their supermarkets (Coupe, 2007). These non-pricing strategies were successful in this industry of monopolistic competition. Safeway made a full-scale recovery from the storm of 2001-2002 when Wal-Mart had its big expansion into the supermarket industry. Indeed, in 2006, the stock market overall slowed Safeway and Kroger to be the biggest gainers; their stock prices rose by double digits (Hamstra, 2007).

Simulation Explanation: How the Industry Evolved through the Four Market Structures

Quasar computers is the company portrayed in the market structure simulation located on the University of Phoenix rResources secure website. Quasar computers developed a groundbreaking all-optic notebook computer, named Nutron, making it almost five times faster than existing microchip-based computers. Quasar computers patented the all-optic computer technology and enjoyed a monopoly market for three years. Quasar set its price using the profit-maximization rule MR = MC; however, Quasar’s Nutron laptop was not well known. Quasar initiated a branding campaign resulting in record sales for the second year. As demand increased for Nutron laptops, Quasar had to find a way to streamline manufacturing to meet demand. However, streamlining production results in added cost; therefore, Quasar had to determine how the change in production costs would affect price, demand, revenue, and profits. Profits were being eroded by the current production process and machinery; therefore, upgrading the production process and machinery was targeted. After streamlining the production process and upgrading the machinery, the price per unit was set at profit-maximization resulting in lower cost per unit thus increasing demand and total revenue. Conversely, had Quasar decide to pass on cost to the consumer, the price of the laptop would increase and demand would decrease resulting in reduced quantity sold and lower profit. Therefore, to improve profits, even monopolies have to advertise, improve production, and cut costs.

The patent Quasar’s enjoyed on its all-optic laptop expired and Orion Technologies has entered the market with a similar optic computer giving Quasar stiff competition. Quasar’s monopoly has now evolved into an oligopolistic market.

Conclusion

The authors’ purpose of this paper was to provide the reader with and understanding of different types of market structures as well as pricing and non-pricing strategies used in those various market structures. First, the authors’ explored the pure competition market structure. Second, the authors’ discussed the monopoly market structure. Third, the authors’ discussed the oligopoly market structure. Forth, the authors’ described the monopolistic competition market structure. Last, the authors’ explained how a virtual industry evolves through the four market structures over the lifecycle of the product as well as changes in the aggregate number of suppliers and consumers.

References

Bubbling with potential. (2007). Beverage Industry, Retrieved April 28, 2007, from the Business Source Complete database.

Business & Company Resource Center. (2007). Grocery Stores. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from Business & Company Resource Center on University of Phoenix Website.

Coupe, K. (2007). Compete is a verb: A rallying cry for 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from Business Source Complete database.

Datamonitor Business Information Center. (2007). Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved April 30, 2007, from Marketline Business Information Center on University of Phoenix Website.

Hamstra, M. (2007). Reversal of fortune. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from Business Source Complete database.

Investorwords.com website. (2007). Retrieved April 28, 2007, from http://www.investwords. com/ 3962/pure_competition.html

McConnell, C., & Brue, S. (2004). Economics: Principles, problems and policies (16th ed.). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Pep boys revs up its distribution: the focus of any slotting program is to reduce employee travel time and increase productivity. How that is accomplished will vary widely. (Slotting). In Material Handling Management 62.3 (March 2007): 38(5). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. 1 May. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&amp;amp;type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A161600874&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=uphoenix&version=1.0>.

Schonfeld, E. (2006). How Microsoft is finally taking the living room. Business 2.0, 7(11), p. 23. Retrieve April 30, 2007, from ProQuest database.

Sowinski, L. (2005). Talk about getting more out of your warehouse! Voice-directed technology is taking warehouses to new levels of productivity while improving the bottom line for shippers' supply chains. World Trade 18.8 (August 2005): 54(3). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. 1 May. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&amp;amp;type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A135338665&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=uphoenix&version=1.0>.

Theodore, S. (2007). A taste of the tropics. Beverage Industries, 98(2), 30-33. Retrieved April 28, 2007, from the Business Source Complete database.

Wilson, M. (2005). Every picture tells a story. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from Business

Source Complete database.

Oligopolistic Market Structure

2007-04-30T11:38:00.000-06:00

Maximizing profits through the stages of market structures is challenging and different techniques are used in each stage. During the monopoly stage Quasar's profits are maximized using pricing, advertising and production improvements. Because there is no competition prices are set at the point where the demand is highest relative to the average total costs. Although setting the price lower to gain more demand may position the company for a higher market share in the future there are other techniques for gaining market share in future stages. Advertising budgets are set so that consumers are informed about Quasar's product and production improvements are implemented to reduce the costs associated with producing the product. During the Oligopoly stage profits are maximized by setting the price at a point where the company can maintain market share. The company must also predict the competition's reaction to it's price change. As more and more companies move into the market during the monopolistic competition stage, the company's market share decreases. To continue to maximize profits the company must strongly differentiate its product. Quasar's best strategy would be to introduce a new brand into the market. This will reduce the unused capacity in the manufacturing plant and improve demand for both products. During the perfect competition stage Quasar should maximize profits by continuously improving processes. This will reduce costs, which is the main strategy used in this stage of the market structures.

An oligopoly market structure is dominated by a few large producers of a homogeneous or differentiated product. Because of their fewness, oligopolists have considerable control over their prices, but each must consider the possible reaction of rivals to its own pricing, output, and advertising decisions. Although the most common oligopolies are national, the beer and automobile industries are examples, there can be regional or local oligopolies. The retail automobile parts industry is one such local oligopoly. In the Colorado Springs area there are few retail automobile parts companies, Pep Boys, AutoZone, Checker, and Advanced Auto Parts, that control the market. Although all of these companies sell products to consumers and repair shops, Pep Boys tries to differentiate itself by marketing to the Do-It-Yourself consumer. Because of the mutual interdependence between the companies Pep Boys must use methods other than pricing stratagies to maximize revenues. One way they've done this is to reduce labor costs. In 1996 Pep Boys implemented changes in the business plan to reduce labor requirements across the enterprise. Pep Boys implemented a new slotting plan for the distribution centers, modeling the new plan on retail stores pegboard hooks. They categorized products by family groups and created store shipments consisting of reusable totes packed with aisle-specific, family groups. This reduced the store-stocking time by 30%, from 18 hours to 12 hours per delivery. In 2004 Pep Boys implemented a voice-directed system in its distribution centers. This system allowed the warehouse workers to replace handheld devices and printed instruction sheets with headsets that are connected to belt-worn computers. This frees up the worker's hands, keeps his eyes on the job, and speeds up the time it takes him to complete each task. This new system gained Pep Boys a 12 percent increase in productivity and a 50 percent increase in accuracy. By finding creative ways to reduce costs and improve productivity, Pep Boys is able to compete in local markets while still maximizing revenue.

"Pep boys revs up its distribution: the focus of any slotting program is to reduce employee travel time and increase productivity. How that is accomplished will vary widely.(Slotting)." Material Handling Management 62.3 (March 2007): 38(5). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. 1 May. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A161600874&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=uphoenix&version=1.0>.

Sowinski, Lara L. "Talk about getting more out of your warehouse! Voice-directed technology is taking warehouses to new levels of productivity while improving the bottom line for shippers' supply chains." World Trade 18.8 (August 2005): 54(3). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. 1 May. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A135338665&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=uphoenix&version=1.0>.

Income Elasticity of Demand

2007-04-25T22:42:00.000-06:00

Income elasticity of demand measures the degree to which consumers respond to a change in their incomes by buying more or less of a particular good. The formula to determine the coefficient of income elasticity of demand is Ei = % change in quantity demanded / % change in income. Normal goods are defined as those goods whose income-elasticity coefficient is positive. As income rises these goods are in more demand. Inferior goods are those goods whose income-elasticity coefficient is negative. The demand for these goods are lower as income rises. The study of income elasticity coefficients help explain the expansion and contraction of industries in the United States. As incomes in the United States rise, industries producing products for which demand is quite income-elastic have expanded their outputs. Automobile, housing, and restaurant industries have shown strong growth outputs because, on average, the total income in the economy has grown 2 to 3 percent annually. When recessions occur and people's incomes decline, grocery stores fare relatively better than stores selling electronic equipment. Engel's law is an observation stating that, with a given set of tastes and preferences, as income rises, the proportion of income spent on food falls, even if actual expenditure on food rises. In other words, the income elasticity of demand of food is less than 1. For normal goods, the Engel curve has a positive slope. That is, as income increases, the quantity demanded increases. For inferior goods, the Engel curve has a negative slope. That means that as the consumer has more income, they will stop buying the inferior goods because they are able to purchase better goods.
Although food is considered a normal good, restaurant meals are considered a luxury good and the income elasticity of demand for food is less than 1, the demand for restaurant meals is much more elastic.

References
McConnell, C.R., & Brue, S.L. (2004). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Income elasticity of demand. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_elasticity_of_demand
Engel's Law. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engel%27s_law

GB Update

2007-03-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, it's been about 5 months since my surgery. I usually weigh in on Saturdays and last Saturday I was down to 262. From 351 on the day of surgery. I feel great. I'm over the fried food cravings and usually eat healthy foods. I am back in the gym trying to gain my strength back and I'm actually back to playing raquetball.
The first day I got back on the court I was laying on the floor more than I was standing. My sense of balance was way off and my foot speed was so slow it wasn't funny. But I get better every time I play.
I'm not in any kind of pain from the surgery although I have this nasty torn muscle in my right lat. It doesn't hurt unless I'm in a specific position, and then it feels like someone is sticking a knife in my side and twisting it. It's strange because I can poke and push around without any pain, but if I move my arm a certain way it hurts like crazy.
I'm back taking classes at UOP. Class starts on March 15th and I already have a >700 word paper due. This should be interesting.
All in all I'm doing great, much better than I thought I would.

Zune

2006-09-22T11:48:00.000-06:00

I've been following the launch of Microsoft's new DAP called Zune. It seems like a very cool device. It'll play most of the popular audio formats. It'll also play movies and show pictures. And the coolest part of it is that you can send songs back and forth between your friends wirelessly.
I've had my iPod for quite a while, but it's pretty annoying to use. I thought it would be a cool device, but it's hard for me to slide my finger just right to get the track I want. I always seem to go right past it.
The Zune will be a cool device to watch for this holiday season.
Zunerama a cool blog about it.

Date Set

2006-09-22T11:40:00.000-06:00

My surgery date is October 24th. I know in my previous posts I seemed pretty excited about having this surgery, but since then I've been waffling quite a bit about it. I've actually started changing my eating habits and exercising, and I've actually lost a few pounds. So that got me thinking about whether I really need this or not. Right now I'm still planning on going through with it, but we'll see.
I have my personal website up where I show off my l33t coding skills... It's
C & R Solutions I designed and built the website and all the applications. My wife is going to help me with the graphics and stuff so it'll be changing every so often.

GB Update

2006-08-02T15:20:00.000-06:00

So I went to my follow up appointment on Tuesday. I have everything I needed to do, done. It looks like my surgery will be mid - end September. Now I have to go back over all the information I received and make sure I remember what I can eat. Need to start buying and taste testing stuff, get in the habit of taking vitamans, and learning how to drink in sips.

GB Update

2006-07-05T09:36:00.000-06:00

I had my ultra-sound appointment last Friday and everything seemed to go okay. My next appointment with the surgeon is on August 1. We'll go over any last minute things and make sure all the preliminary stuff is done and then I'll get put on the list for a surgery date. Looking forward to it.

New and Exciting Changes

2006-06-27T10:36:00.000-06:00

It's been a couple of months since I've been back to write and when I signed on I saw my picture. Wow my face looks fat. Not for long though! I am in the process of getting a gastric bypass surgery. I have one thing left to do, an ultrasound of my gall bladder, before I am able to schedule my surgery date.
I've been in the process for a little over a month. I've gone through a psyc exam, two support group meetings, and a nutrition class. I've had a lot of time to think about this to be sure that it is what I really want. Since I am retired Army and having the surgery done in a military hospital, by military doctors, there is no financial cost to me. Because of that fact the Army wants to be dang sure that I really need this procedure and that I will stick to the guidelines as well as continue to eat properly and exercise so that I will keep the weight off.
I should have the surgery in the month of September if all goes as planned. I want to chronicle the progress here, with pictures. The title of those posts will be appropriately written so that if you don't want to read about it or see the process you won't have too.
I have been overweight for quite some time now, but I've been able to carry it fairly well. Recently my back has deteriorated to the point that I can hardly stand for more than a few minutes before it starts screaming in pain. I also developed a pain in my chest. It turned out to be a torn muscle, probably from lifting my considerable weight out of chairs, but it sure scared me.
I currently weigh over 360 pounds, exact details will follow, and hope to loose 50 pounds within the first 2 months after the surgery. I hope to loose 50 more pounds the following two months. I hope to loose 50-75 more pounds during the year following. That may seem high, but people have done it. I am very excited about this and am very much looking forward to this change. I can't wait to buy clothes that fit, walk up a flight of stairs without loosing my breath and my back screaming in pain, getting outside and working in the yard without ensuring there is a chair close at hand. All the things I used to take for granted.

College

2006-03-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

I'm half way through my second class. The first one was a nightmare. Not the classwork, I breezed through that, but the administration. I signed up with them with the express understanding that my company was going to be paying for the class. I was told that all my charged would be defered for 30 days past the last day of class, allowing me to have time to turn in all statements to my company for payment. If it's one thing I'll learn going through this MBA course it to read the fine print and never believe anything the salesperson says...

Only the first and last day of class are held in a classroom setting. The other "classes" are online. The class week runs from Thursday to Wednesday, but the first day you attend the classroom class is Wednesday, the last day of the class week. So I attend the classroom class, posted as I was supposed to Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday I went to work and found out I was being laid off. I wanted to drop the class because I wouldn't be able to pay for it, but was told I couldn't. You can only drop a class within the first two weeks... To me I hadn't attended class for two weeks, not even one week, but technically the way the run the class I had... Luckily I got an extension at work and have more time to find another job, but I was close to calling the whole thing off.

The Race is On

2006-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

I heard my first political radio spot today. It was for a local Senatorial race but still. Colorado passed a ban on smoking this week. It wasn't even put to a vote by the citizens. It was all done quietly by the politians. More of our freedom taken away by the few whiners instead of the majority. It's going to be a long election cycle.

Employment

2006-03-17T09:56:00.001-07:00

I am nearing the end of my current employment. The project I am working on is nearing the sustainment stage so the company is de-staffing people. There was a big round of de-staffing in February and I was on the chopping block. I was lucky enough to catch a break because a couple of people on my team that were not on the chopping block moved to different projects. So was able to fill one of their slots.

I have until the end of May to find another position within the company, otherwise I'll be transitioning to the unemployment lines by the end of June.

I'm kind of want to move into a different line of work. I sitll want to develop software, but if I could develop accounting software or business management software that would be great.

Development

2006-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Over the next few days I'll be posting some of the applications I have developed. None of them are ready to be published, and most of them were created out of the neccessity to learn about a particular programming technique. The first one is called CRStore. I was developing this one for my wife. She wanted an application to store her different website usernames and passwords. Here are some screenshots of it.

Main Screen

Edit an Item

Add a New Item

About

What I was trying to do is use an XML file to store the website, username and password data. I used an XML parser to parse the XML file and display the data in a tree object. I was also trying to find a way to encrypt the data in the file. This proved daunting and I'm still trying to figure out how to do it.

Now all I need to do is find some place online to store the files so anyone can look at them.

CRStore.zip

Updating

2006-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

As you can tell I've done some work on this. I plan on posting regularly.

Going back to College

2005-12-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I know it's been a very long while. I'm going back to college. Going to the University of Phoenix to get an MBA. I'll post often on my progress.

Living in the Past

2005-01-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

How many times have you heard someone say, "he or she's living in the past"? How many people do you know live in the past? On the surface these questions are usually figures of speech. But when you think about it the answer to the second question should be, everyone I know is living in the past.

Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second. Sound travels at approximately 347 meters per second. On a human level this seems instant, but if someone is standing one meter away from you everything they say takes 0.002881844380403458213 seconds to travel to your ears. When you flick on the light switch the light hits your eyes 1 / 299,792,458 of a second later. In our immediate surroundings this delay seems insignificant, but lets take it outside our immediate surroundings.

The light form the sun travels 149,668,992,000 meters, so it takes approximately 500 seconds for it to get here. So the sun could have exploded 500 seconds ago. Our world could already be destroyed and we won't know it for 500 seconds. People wonder how astronomers find new stars. Some of it is technological improvements, but some of it is that the light from a newly discovered star is just now getting here. So now that you know I'm not looney let's bring it back down to our immediate surroundings and think about just much we live in the past.

I wrote the words you are reading some time ago. The sound coming from the radio you are listening to took 0.002881844380403458213 seconds to reach your ears. Your kids started fighting 0.0057636887608069164265129682997118 seconds ago.

So, how many people do you know live in the past?

Three Questions

2004-12-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

THREE SCREENNAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
sooner
Zagora
swgZagora

THREE THINGS YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF:
My inability to communicate clearly
The fact that I worry about what other people think of me
The way I procastinate

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
Unknown, I was adopted

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
My wife getting hurt
Being arrested for something I didn't do
A large paddle

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
A kiss from my wife
Copenhagen
Coffee

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
Blue jeans
Knit collar pullover
My new SPOT watch

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
An overnight trip on my motorcycle
Make at least one new friend
Get my body into better shape

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (LOVE IS A GIVEN):
Respect
Ability to talk openly
Laughter

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
There are three kinds of people in the world,
those that can understand binary code and those that cannot.
I'm not wearing underwear
The grass is always greener on the other side

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
Large Breasts
Soft Skin
Large Legs

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
Draw
Let someone in on the interstate until the dashed lines appear
Keep money in my bank account

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
Riding my motorcycle
Playing computer games
Reading

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REAL BADLY RIGHT NOW:
Find some clothspins
Ride my motorcycle
Exercise

THREE CAREERS YOU ARE CONSIDERING:
Computer Programmer
Configuration Management
Rock Star

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
Hawaii
Sturgis
Spain

THREE KIDS NAMES:
Billy Joe Bob
Mary Beth
Rover

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Publish a scientific work
Write a computer program other people can use
Join the Iron Butt club

Dream Car

2004-11-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have a few dream cars such as Lotus, Ferrari, Lamborghini. Those are unrealistic dream cars for me, but I saw my realistic dream car on the road the other day. I couldn't believe it. I've been waiting for this car and didn't even know it. I've always loved the older Mustang and the styling of this car takes me back to those days.

When I was growing up my dad was a Chevy man, so I grew up a Chevy man as well, but the Mustang was always in the back of my mind. The older style coupled with the latest technology is a big hit for me. This one has a V8 and 300 horsepower. It'll go from 0 to 60mph in 5.1 seconds. My wife would say that those specs don't matter, what good is a fast car if you can't drive faster than 55-75mph... I would guess that most ladies would agree with her. But it does matter to us men. It's not that we would drive fast all the time, it's that we could if we wanted, or needed, too.

If you look at the gallery I think the yellow one looks best in pictures. I'll have to see if that holds true for the real thing. I may go test drive one just to see what's it's like. A co-worker of mine has one on order and I'm looking forward to seeing it when it gets in.

Symphony

2004-11-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

My wife won tickets to the symphony from a local radio station, Peak 95.1 for Saturday night and we had a great time. Friends from Denver came down and went with us. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic played at the Pike's Peak Center and had a special guest. Ani Aznavoorian played an orchestra written specifically for her by Laderman. She also played Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky.
Ani is a world class cellist and was amazing. She's been playing since she was three years old and has played all over the world. We had gone a couple of weeks before, again with tickets won by my wife, and heard the orchestra play Beethoven.
I liked listening to Tchaikovsky much better than Beethoven. It seemed to be more rhythmic. Beethoven seemed more hard to follow because it changes directions often.
It was amazing to hear Ani play the cello. I really enjoyed it.

Election Results

2004-11-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

George W. Bush (i) Republican 58,319,499 (51%) 269 Electorial Votes
John F. Kerry Democrat 54,805,359 (48%) 242 Electorial Votes
Ralph Nader Independent 390,461 (0%) 0 Electroial Votes

CO - U.S. Senate
Ken Salazar Democrat 942,472 (50%) Winner
Pete Coors Republican 890,338 (48%)
Douglas Campbell American Constitution 16,805 (1%)
Richard Randall Libertarian 8,629 (0%)
John Harris Independent 7,519 (0%)
Victor Good Reform Party 5,667 (0%)
Finn Gotaas Unaffiliated 1,523 (0%)

CO - U.S. House - District 1
Diana DeGette (i) Democrat 159,979 (73%) Winner
Roland Chicas Republican 53,561 (25%)
George Lilly American Constitution 4,676 (2%)

CO - U.S. House - District 2
Mark Udall (i) Democrat 140,787 (65%) Winner
Stephen Hackman Republican 69,842 (32%)
Norm Olsen Libertarian 4,540 (2%)

CO - U.S. House - District 3
John Salazar Democrat 148,618 (51%)
Greg Walcher Republican 137,203 (47%)
Jim Krug Unaffiliated 8,465 (3%)

CO - U.S. House - District 4
Marilyn Musgrave (i) Republican 143,849 (52%) Winner
Stan Matsunaka Democrat 124,039 (44%)
Bob Kinsey Green 11,411 (4%)

CO - U.S. House - District 5
Joel Hefley (i) Republican 188,032 (70%) Winner
Fred Hardee Democrat 72,340 (27%)
Rob Roberts Libertarian 6,415 (2%)

CO - U.S. House - District 6
Tom Tancredo (i) Republican 199,271 (60%) Winner
Joanna Conti Democrat 129,657 (39%)
Jack Woehr Libertarian 3,590 (1%)
Peter Shevchuk American Constitution 1,144 (0%)

CO - U.S. House - District 7
Bob Beauprez (i) Republican 114,505 (55%)
Dave Thomas Democrat 88,218 (42%)
Clyde Harkins American Constitution 5,246 (3%)

CO - Amendment 36 - Amends the state constitution to allocate Colorado's nine electoral votes proportionally in accordance with the popular vote.
No - 1,181,363 (66%)
Yes - 613,090 (34%)

Source: FoxNews.com
As Of: 8:05 Mountain Standard Time

Praying for a Democratic, not a Socialist Government

2004-11-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today's the day. Election Day. I'm so praying the President wins and we are able to hold on to a democratic government a little while longer. I'll be posting updates throughout the day.

Google Ads

2004-10-29T23:59:00.000-06:00

As you can see along the left column I've put Google Ads. It was really pretty easy. Let me know what you think.

Abbreviation in the Periodic Table

2004-10-27T09:58:00.000-06:00

If you've ever wondered how the abbreviations in the Periodic Table are determined.

Scientific American

Lunar Eclipse

2004-10-27T09:50:00.000-06:00

The lunar eclipse is happening tonight. According to the weather forcasters it should be a clear night here in Colorado, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Or not seeing it, depending on how you look at it... Okay, I'll stop.

Interesting Site

2004-10-25T15:42:00.000-06:00

The hack-a-day site is reall cool. The entry about fun with microwaves was pretty funny. Something those of us in my generation would never do. The fear of God was instilled in us when microwaves first came out.

Podcast Aggrigator

2004-10-25T13:44:00.000-06:00

My second post explained why I got started with this blog. Over the last couple of weeks I picked up a book about the Python programming language. I decided to write a podcast aggrigator as my learning application. I have something that I'd like people to see and use. I need to do the documentation and then I'll put it out there for people to try.

Google Ads

2004-10-25T13:40:00.000-06:00

I applied with Google a few days ago to put ads and a search app on my blog. I'm kind of interested in seeing how it will work.

And You Wonder Why...

2004-10-22T13:51:00.000-06:00

And you wonder why prescription drugs are so expensive?

During lunch with my wonderful and beautiful wife, a commercial came on the radio: Attention former Vioxx users due to Merck's recall you may be entitled to money... Contact us and get in on our lawsuit against Merck. Not those exact words of course, but that's the gist. And it was from some law firm in Georgia I think. My wife said she heard a local law firm offering the same chance.

The same people who will get in on this lawsuit will be the ones complaining about the high cost of prescription drugs. Even if Merck wins the lawsuit, they will have to pay for the cost of defending themselves. And guess what, Merck customers will be the ones paying that cost.

So thank you trial lawyers for raising the cost of prescription drugs again.

Where

2004-10-19T13:10:00.000-06:00

I did a bit of work on my settings. Actually my wife did it. So if you've read my blog before and couldn't leave comments, you can now. So please do...

What

2004-10-14T08:49:00.000-06:00

I started listening to the debate last night but I didn't listen very long. We switched over to Mythbusters after a few minutes. The domestic agenda is not as important to me as foreign policy. President Bush inherited an economy that was sliding quickly into recession and has done a great job stemming the slide. Unemployment is going down. The accusation that President Bush lost jobs just doesn't hold water if you look at the statistics from the labor department. Health care costs are rising, but not because of anything President Bush has done. I think the insurance companies and the trial lawyers are at fault. But don't get me started on insurance companies...

There's one thing you liberals should keep in mind. If Kerry wins this election Hilary won't be able to run in '08...

AudBlog

2004-10-13T11:57:00.000-06:00

Direct MP3

Why

2004-10-07T10:33:00.000-06:00

I've been brushing up on my programming skills the last few days. Researching RSS and learning more about XML. I've also started learning about Python. I learned about Perl a few years ago and enjoyed writing Perl code. I've been in the programming world for quite a while. Started back in the 70s when the math and "business" departments in my high school got computers. The math department got a Commodore 64 and the "business" department got a TRS-80. I learned a few bits of BASIC, enough to print out denigrating remarks about my classmates... The first time I "officially" learned programming was at a Tech school in Kansas. I learned BASIC, RPG-3, and CoBOL on an IBM System 36. I also taught myself the C language using an Aztec C compiler on an Amiga. After that I took a break from it during the 10 years I was in the Army. Now I've recently gotten "officially" taught computer science again, earning my BS in Computer Science.

I've also been listening to a lot of podcasts and am finally caught up with them all, I think. Got turned on to a lot of new websites and blogs listening to the podcasts too.

What got me started

2004-10-05T09:04:00.000-06:00

My wife has kept a diary on Open Diary (http://www.opendiary.com) for a very long time. I think I even have one on there. I've started several journals, made a few posts then lost interest. I heard a lot of talk about blogs, and figured they were just new forms of diaries. Which I suppose they can be that but many are being used for a lot more. They are used to express one's opinion, share one's knowledge, and organize events. But what made me decide to start one is podcasting.

According to Dan Gillmor podcasting is delivering audio to MP3 players like the iPod (http://www.ipodder.org). It uses RSS, which is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html).

Podcasting is very new. Like a month new, if that, and I have a feeling it is going to take off. Some of you may see a small orange rectangle with XML text . That is the link to the RSS feed. You'll have to install an aggrigator to pull the audio. I use iPodder (http://www.ipodder.org), which uses iTunes to store the podcasts and then I can transfer them to my iPod and listen to them whenever I choose.

Right now I'm subscribed to Adam Curry's, Evil Genius', DotNetRocks', three from itconversations, and Scripting Secrets' podcasts. Very cool stuff and a very cool, new emerging technology.

On the Upcoming Presidential Debates

2004-10-01T08:18:00.000-06:00

I think President Bush will win all three upcoming debates. My opinion is based on his previous performances as well as his vision for the future of America. In the debates of 2000 President Bush soundly defeated Al Gore, not only in my opinion, but in the opinion of the informed, intelligent citizens of the nation. President Bush has an optimistic view of America's future. He is a leader. Good leaders do not provide the followers' every need. They provide a solid foundation in order for the followers to succeed on their own. The rules of the debates were set during negotiations and both the campaigns agreed to them.
Senator Kerry's campaign is already trying to break the rules. The rules say that the signaling lights that warn the candidate his time has run out are to be mounted on the podium. Senator Kerry's campaign agreed to this rule, but today they want them mounted somewhere else. They don't like the fact that the audience can see the lights when they come on.
Some in the media are saying that the Presidential election will be won in the first thirty minutes of tonight's debate. In that time I expect Senator Kerry to change his position at least four times.

First blog

2004-09-30T15:18:00.000-06:00

There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the world and I wanted a place to write down my thoughts on them.

Quick Edit.