Topics For Research Paper Related To Hotel And Restaurant Management
Friday, January 24, 2020
The History of Guns in America Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Pa
The History of Guns in America What is the importance of the gun? The gun is one of the most important tools in the defense of our nation. Guns are responsible for a lot of death and injuries, but these things were going on before the existence of the gun. Guns aren't the reason for the death and injuries, they are just a means to it. They are tools and an engineering marvel of our age. The gun has evolved from a simple weapon that caused limited destruction to the modern gun that is so fast and powerful it is capable of mass destruction. Through the evolution of the gun, it has become a political tool. The first guns used in America were a simple machine where the person did most of the work. The user measured and put the powder down the barrel of the gun. Next some shotgun pellets were put in the same way. This was then all compacted and the gun was ready to fire. This reloading took over a minute before each shot could be fired and the guns weren't very accurate by today's standards. If too much powder was used then the gun could explode or if the powder were wet then the gun wouldn't fire. One of inventions during the Revolutionary War was a way to reload faster. The powder was already pre-measured and kept in little sacks. This made reloading faster because the user no longer had to measure the powder between each reloading. These guns were crude but in that day was a powerful modern invention that was considered very useful. The American Revolution was a political war to obtain what the people of that era wanted. By today's standards the destruction of gun was minimal so war w as used to obtain political objectives. The next real step in the evolution of the gun came during the Civil War. Rifles were invented that ... ... capable of killing in small numbers. Now, however, they are able to destroy whole buildings. Politicians can and do use the power of the gun to force others to do what they want. Guns have become such an effective killing machine that they can kill anyone anywhere at anytime and, to fulfill any political cause. Ã Works Cited * Hogg, Ian. The Story of the Gun. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. * Lavarone, Mike. "Armory." http://www.worldwar1.com/arm005.htm. July 1997. * "New Guns and Gear for '98." American Rifleman. May 1998: 38-41 an 62-63. * Professional Web Designs. "Guns." http://www.usscod.org/gun.html. December 1997. * "Tank Weapons Gunnery Simulation System/Precision Gunnery System." http://www.stricom.army.mil/PRODUCTS/TWGSS-PGS. April 1998. * "WWII Battleship Gun Data." http://www.uss-salem.org/navhist/battleships/guns.html. April 1998.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid Essay
Professor C. K. Prahaladââ¬â¢s seminal publication, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, suggests an enormous market at the ââ¬Å"bottom of the pyramidâ⬠(BOP)ââ¬âa group of some 4 billion people who subsist on less than $2 a day. By some estimates, these ââ¬Å"aspirational poor,â⬠who make up three-fourths of the worldââ¬â¢s population, represent $14 trillion in purchasing power, more than Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Japan put together. Demographically, it is young and growing at 6 percent a year or more. Traditionally, the poor have not been considered an important market segment. ââ¬Å"The poor canââ¬â¢t afford most productsâ⬠; ââ¬Å"they will not accept new technologiesâ⬠; and ââ¬Å"except for the most basic products, they have little or no use for most products sold to higher income market segmentsâ⬠ââ¬âthese are some of the assumptions that have, until recently, caused most multinational firms to pay little or no attention to those at the bottom of the pyramid. Typical market analysis is limited to urban areas, thereby ignoring rural villages where, in markets like India, the majority of the population lives. However, as major markets become more competitive and in some cases saturatedââ¬âwith the resulting ever-thinning profit marginsââ¬â marketing to the bottom of the pyramid may have real potential and be worthy of exploration. One researcher suggested that American and European businesses should go back and look at their own roots. Sears, Roebuck was created to serve the lower-income, sparsely settled rural market. Singer sewing machines fashioned a scheme to make consumption possible by allowing customers to pay $5 a month instead of $100 at once. The worldââ¬â¢s largest company today, Walmart, was created to serve the lower-income market. Here are a few examples of multinational company efforts to overcome the challenges in marketing to the BOP. Designing products for the BOP is not about making cheapà stuff but about making technologically advanced products affordable. For example, one company was inspired to invent the Freeplay, a windup self-powerââ¬âgenerating radio, when it learned that isolated, impoverished people in South Africa were not getting information about AIDS because theyà had no electricity for radios and could not afford replacement batteries. BOP MARKETING REQUIRES ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY The BOP market has a need for advanced technology, but toà be usable, infrastructure support must often accompany theà technology. For example, ITC, a $2.6 billion a year Indian conglomerate, decided to create a network of PC kiosks in villages. For years, ITC conducted its business with farmers through a maze of intermediaries, from brokers to traders. The company wanted farmers to be able to connect directly to information sources to check ITCââ¬â¢s offer price for produce, as well as prices in the closest village market, in the state capital, and on the Chicago commodities exchange. With direct access to information, farmers got the best price for their product, hordes ofà intermediaries were bypassed, and ITC gained a direct contact with the farmers, thus improving the efficiency of ITCââ¬â¢s soybean acquisition. To achieve this goal, it had to do much more than just distribute PCs. It had to provide equipment for managing power outages, solar panels for extra electricity, and a satellite-based telephone hookup, and it had to train farmers to use the PCs. Without these steps, the PCs would never have worked. The complex solution serves ITC very well. Now moreà than 10,000 villages and more than 1 million farmers are covered by its system. ITC is able to pay more to farmers and at the same time cut its costs because it has dramatically reduced the inefficiencies in logistics. The vast market for cell phones among those at the BOP isà not for phones costing $200 or even $100 but for phones costing less than $50. Such a phone cannot simply be a cut-down version of an existing handset. It must be very reliable and have lots of battery capacity, as it will be used by people who do not have reliable access to electricity. Motorola went thorough four redesigns to develop a low-cost cell phone withà battery life as long as 500 hours for villagers without regular electricity and an extra-loud volume for use in noisy markets. Motorolaââ¬â¢s low-cost phone, a no-frills cell phone priced at $40, has a standby time of two weeks and conforms to local languages and customs. The cell-phone manufacturer says it expects to sell 6 million cell phones in six months in markets including China, India, andà Turkey. BOP MARKETING REQUIRES CREATIVE FINANCING There is also demand for personal computers but again, at very low prices. To meet the needs of this market, Advanced Micro Devices markets a $185 Personal Internet communicatorââ¬âa basic computer for developing countriesââ¬âand a Taiwan Company offers a similar device costing just $100. For most products, demand is contingent on the customerà having sufficient purchasing power. Companies have to devise creative ways to assist those at the BOP to finance larger purchases. For example, Cemex, the worldââ¬â¢s third-largest cement company, recognized an opportunity for profit by enablingà lower-income Mexicans to build their own homes. The companyââ¬â¢s Patrimonio Hoy Programme, a combination builderââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"clubâ⬠and financing plan that targets homeowners who make less than $5 a day, markets building kits using its premiumgrade cement. It recruited 510 promoters to persuade new customers to commit to building additions to their homes. The customers paid Cemex $11.50 a week and received buildingà materials every 10 weeks until the room was finished (aboutà 70 weeksââ¬âcustomers were on their own for the actual building). Although poor, 99.6 percent of the 150,000 Patrimonio Hoy participants have paid their bills in full. Patrimonio Hoy at tracted 42,000 new customers and is expected to turn a $1.5 million profit next year. 8/27/10 2:14 PM Cases 3 Assessing Global Market Opportunities One customer, Diega Chavero, thought the scheme was a scamà when she first heard of it, but after eight years of being unable to save enough to expand the one-room home where her family of six lived, she was willing to try anything. Four years later, she has five bedrooms. ââ¬Å"Now I have a palace.â⬠Another deterrent to the development of small enterprises at the BOP is available sources of adequate financing for microdistributors and budding entrepreneurs. For years, those at the bottom of the pyramid needing loans in India had to depend on local moneylenders, at interest rates up to 500 percent a year. ICICI Bank, the second-largest banking institution in India, saw these people as a potential market and critical to its future. To convert them into customers in a cost-effective way, ICICI turned to village self-help groups. ICICI Bank met with microfinance-aid groups working withà the poor and decided to give them capital to start making small loans to the poorââ¬âat rates that run from 10 percent to 30 percent. This sounds usurious, but it is lower than the 10 percent daily rate that some Indian loan sharks charge. Each group was composed of 20 women who were taught about saving, borrowing, investing, and so on. Each woman contributes to a joint savings account with the other members, and based on the self-help groupââ¬â¢s track record of savings, the bank then lends money to the group, which in turn lends money to its individual members. ICICI has developed 10,000 of these groups reaching 200,000 women. ICICIââ¬â¢s money has helped 1 million households get loans that average $120 to $140. The bankââ¬â¢s executive directory says the venture has been ââ¬Å"very profitable.â⬠ICICI is working with local communities and NGOs to enlarge its reach. BOP MARKETING REQUIRES EFFECTIVE DISTRIBUTION When Unilever saw that dozens of agencies were lending microcredit loansà funds to poor women all over India, it thought that these would-be microentrepreneurs needed businesses to run. Unilever realized it could not sell to the bottom of the pyramid unless it found low-cost ways to distribute its product, so it created a network of hundreds of thousands of Shakti Amma (ââ¬Å"empowered mothersâ⬠) who sell Leverââ¬â¢s products in their villages through an Indian version of Tupperware parties. Start-up loans enabled the women to buy stocks of goods to sell to local villagers. In one case, a woman who received a small loan was able to repay her start-up loan and has not needed to take another one. She now sells regularly to about 50 homes and even serves as a miniwholesaler, stocking tiny shops in outlying villages a short bus ride from her own. She sells about 10,000 rupees ($230) of goods each month, keeps about $26 profit, and ploughs the rest back into new stock. While the $26 a month she earns is less than the average $40 monthly income in the area, she now has income, whereas before she had nothing. Today about 1,300 poor women are selling Unileverââ¬â¢s products in 50,000 villages in 12 states in India and account for about 15 percent of the companyââ¬â¢s rural sales in those states. Overall, rural markets account for about 30 percent of the companyââ¬â¢s revenue. In another example, Nguyen Van Hon operates a floating sundries distributorship along the Ke Sat River in Vietnamââ¬â¢s Mekong Deltaââ¬âa maze of rivers and canals dotted with villages. His boat is filled with boxes containing small bars of Lifebuoy soap andà single-use sachets of Sunsilk shampoo and Omo laundry detergent, which he sells to riverside shopkeepers for as little as 2.5 cents each. At his first stop he makes deliveries to a half dozen small shops. He sells hundred of thousands of soap and shampoo packets a month, enough to earn about $125ââ¬âfive times his previous monthly salary as a junior Communist party official. ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s a hard life, but its getting better.â⬠Now, he ââ¬Å"has enough to pay his daughterââ¬â¢s schools fees and soon . . . will have saved enough to buyà a bigger boat, so I can sell to more villages.â⬠Because of aggressive efforts to reach remote parts of the country through an extensive network of more than 100,000 independent salesà representatives such as Hon, the Vietnam subsidiary of Unilever realized a 23 percent increase in sales last year to more than $300 million. BOP MARKETING REQUIRES AFFORDABLE PACKAGING As one observer noted, ââ¬Å"the poor cannot be Walmartized.â⬠Consumers in rich nations use money to stockpile convenience. We go to Samââ¬â¢s Club, Costco, Kmart, and so on, to get bargain prices and the convenience of buying shampoos and paper towels by the case. Selling to the poor requires just the opposite approach. They do not have the cash to stockpile convenience, and they do not mind frequent trips to the village store. Products have to be made available locally and in affordable units; fully 60 percent of the value of all shampoo sold in India is in single-serve packets. Nestlà © is targeting China with a blitz of 29 new ice creamà brands, many selling for as little as 12 cents with take-home and multipack products ranging from 72 cents to $2.30. It also features products specially designed for local tastes and preferences of Chinese consumers, such as Nestlà © Snow Moji, a rice pastry filled with vanilla ice cream that resembles dim sum, and other ice cream flavors like red bean and green tea. The ice cream products are distributed through a group of small independent saleswomen, which the company aims to expand to 4,000 womenà by next year. The project is expected to account for as much as 24 percent of the companyââ¬â¢s total rural sales within the next few years. BOP MARKETING CREATESà HEALTH BENEFITS Albeit a promotion to sell products, marketing to BOP does help improve personal hygiene. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that diarrhea-related diseases kill 1.8 million people a year and noted thatà better hand-washing habitsââ¬âusing soapââ¬âis one way to prevent their spread. In response to WHO urging, Hindustan Lever Company introduced a campaign called ââ¬Å"Swasthya Chetnaâ⬠or ââ¬Å"Glowing Health,â⬠which argues that even cleanlooking hands may carry dangerous germs, so use more soap. It began a concentrated effort to take this message into the tens of thousands of villages where the rural poor reside, often with little access to media. ââ¬Å"Lifebuoy teams visit each village several times,â⬠using a ââ¬Å"Glo Germâ⬠kit to show schoolchildren that soap-washed hands are cleaner. This program has reached ââ¬Å"around 80 million rural folk,â⬠and sales of Lifebuoy in small affordable sizes have risen sharply. The small bar has become the brandââ¬â¢s top seller.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Dickens Oliver Twist Summary and Analysis
Oliver Twist is a well-known story, but the book is not quite as widely read as you mightà imagine. In fact, Time Magazines list of the top 10 most popular Dickens novels put Oliver Twist in 10th place, even though it was a sensational success in 1837 when it was first serializedà and contributed the treacherous villain Fagin to English literature.à The novel has the vivid storytelling and unimpeachable literary skill that Dickens brings to all his novels, but it also has a raw, gritty quality that may drive some readers away. Oliver Twist was also influential in bringing to light the cruel treatment of paupers and orphans in Dickens time. The novel is not only a brilliant work of artà but an important social document. Oliver Twist: Indictment of the 19th-Century Workhouse Oliver, the protagonist, is born in a workhouse in the first half of the nineteenth century. His mother dies during his birth, and he is sent to an orphanage, where he is treated badly, beaten regularly, and poorly fed. In a famous episode, he walks up to the stern authoritarian, Mr. Bumble, and asks for a second helping of gruel. For this impertinence, he is put out of the workhouse. Please, Sir, Can I Have Some More? He then runs away from the family that takes him in. He wants to find his fortune in London. Instead, he falls in with a boy called Jack Dawkins, who is part of a child gang of thieves run by a man called Fagin. Oliver is brought into the gang and trained as a pickpocket. When he goes out on his first job, he runs away and is nearly sent to prison. However, the kind person he tries to rob saves him from the terrors of the city gaol (jail) and the boy is, instead, taken into the mans home. He believes he has escaped Fagin and his crafty gang, but Bill Sikes and Nancy, two members of the gang, force him back in. Oliver is sent out on another jobââ¬âthis time assisting Sikes on a burglary. Kindness Almost Saves Oliverà Time and Again The job goes wrong and Oliver is shot and left behind. Once more he is taken in, this time by the Maylies, the family he was sent to rob; with them,à his life changes dramatically for the better. But Fagins gang comes after him again. Nancy, who is worried about Oliver, tells the Maylies whats happening. When the gang finds out about Nancys treachery, they murder her. Meanwhile, the Maylies reunite Oliver with the gentleman who helped him out earlier and whoââ¬âwith the kind of coincidental plot turn typical of many Victorian novelsââ¬âturns out to be Olivers uncle. Fagin is arrested and hanged for his crimes; and Oliver settles down to a normal life, reunited with his family. The Terrors Awaiting Children in Londons Underclass Oliver Twist is probably not the most psychologically complex of Dickens novels. Instead, Dickens uses the novel to give readers of the time a dramatic understanding of the deplorable social situation for Englands underclass and particularly its children. In this sense, it is more closely linked to Hogarthian satire than Dickens more romantic novels. Mr. Bumble, the beadle, is an excellent example of Dickens broad characterization at work. Bumble is a large, terrifying figure: a tin-pot Hitler, who is both frightening to the boys under his control, and also slightly pathetic in his need to maintain his power over them. Fagin: A Controversial Villain Fagin, too, is a wonderful example of Dickens ability to draw a caricature and still place it in a convincingly realistic story. There is a streak of cruelty in Dickens Fagin, but also a sly charisma that has made him one of literatures most compelling villains. Among many film and television productions of the novel, Alec Guinnesss portrayal of Fagin remains, perhaps,à the most admired. Unfortunately, Guinesss makeup incorporated stereotypical aspects of portrayals of Jewish villains. Along with Shakespeares Shylock, Fagin remains one of the most controversial and arguably antisemitic creations in the English literary canon. The Importance of Oliver Twist Oliver Twist is importantà as a crusading work of art, although it did not result in the dramatic changes in the English workhouse system that Dickens may have hoped. Nevertheless, Dickens researched that system extensively before writing the novel and his views undoubtedly had a cumulative effect. Two English reform acts addressing the system actually preceded the publication of Oliver Twist, but several more followed, including the influential reforms of 1870.à Oliver Twistà remainsà a powerful indictment of English society in the early 19th Century.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
A Comparison of Grendel in Beowulf and John Gardners...
In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardners book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasnt really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel? In Beowulf, we hardly know anything about Grendel. His name is barely mentioned and instead he is given an abundant amount of kennings. In Grendel, we learnâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦They hammer this vision of Asgard and what you will get if you die in an act of bravery so that their people will idolize the great Beowulf and want to do heroic things such as he did. That is the only reason he was even ment ioned at all. However, in John Gardners book, we are given knowledge about Grendel, exposed to his existentialism, and provided many different examples of theories that the Anglo-Saxons would violently shriek upon hearing. Yet he still portrays him as a monster? One philosophy we are exposed to in Grendel is Platos Allegory of the Cave. In this philosophic viewpoint, a man is chained to the ground all of his life facing nothing but a cave wall. The only things he will ever see are the shadows of the objects people walk by the fire with. If a vase were to be held, how would he know what it was besides knowing what the shadow looked like? If he were let out into the real world he wouldnt recognize anything because he would be ignorant to everything but shadows. In Gardners book, Grendel himself was kept in a cave representing ignorance for most of his childhood. When he finally came out he did nothing but terrorize and eat the people. Is ignorance really such a bad thing under certain circumstances? John Gardner wrote his book with a purpose, to exploit Grendel in every way and to give readers an understanding about the way he has become. The Anglo-Saxons didnt want their loyalShow MoreRelated A Comparison of Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes in Beowulf and John Gardners Grendel2146 Words à |à 9 PagesGrendel, Beowulf and the Relationship Between Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes The Wisdom god, Woden, went out to the king of trollsâ⬠¦and demanded to know how order might triumph over chaos. ââ¬Å"Give me your left eye,â⬠said the king of trolls, ââ¬Å"and Iââ¬â¢ll tell you.â⬠Without hesitation, Woden gave up his left eye. ââ¬Å"Now tell me.â⬠The troll said, ââ¬Å"The secret is, Watch with both eyes!â⬠Wodenââ¬â¢s left eye was the last sure hope of gods and men in their kingdom of light surrounded by darkness. AllRead MoreThe Sonnet Form: William Shakespeare6305 Words à |à 26 Pagesimportant sonnet sequences of this period.) Sonnets were also written during the height of classical English verse, by Dryden and Pope, among others, and written again during the heyday of English Romanticism, when Wordsworth, Shelley, and particularly John Keats created wonderful sonnets. Today, the sonnet remains the most influential and important verse form in the history of English poetry. Two kinds of sonnets have been most common in English poetry, and they take their names from the greatest poets
Saturday, December 14, 2019
The renaissance period and ideologies Free Essays
The renaissance period was highly influenced by artists who promoted religious ideologies. The word Renaissance in itself is means ââ¬Ërebirthââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëreconstructionââ¬â¢. It refers specifically to the revitalization of the early renaissance in Italy in the fourteenth century, which eventually spread to England in the sixteenth and further north in the seventeenth. We will write a custom essay sample on The renaissance period and ideologies or any similar topic only for you Order Now Christianity was the leading religion at that period of time, artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael were part of the high renaissance period that spread between 1475 to 1525, Michelangelo painted the Sistine chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, it was requested by pope Julius the second that Michelangelo would paint the ceiling of the chapel to help Rome rebuild its self to its former glory. One off the most famous sections of the Sistine chapel is the creation of Adamââ¬â¢ it is thought to illustrate the narrative from the biblical book genesis in which god breaths life into Adam. This is an example of religious, and political ideologies, because the Pope Julius wanted the ceiling to promote Rome at that time and also to promote his own name, to make the rest of the world believe that he was superior to his rival Pope Alexander. It also promoted religious Ideologies by depicting one of the most Important scenes from Christianity; In painting this ceiling they were effectively advertising their own religious beliefs making others aware of their religion. During the renaissance period Musicians and artists were servants of the rich and would be employed by the church or a rich noble to glorify god, their religion or themselves. The church and the rich wanted these artists and musicians who earned their living through people like this to promote their Faith and to demonstrate how Important their religion was. This Is an example of how the church and the rich anted to use art to document or portray their Ideologies to the rest of society. Leonardo Dad Vineââ¬â¢s Last Super This Is a late 15th century mural by Dad Vulcan; the church commissioned him as part of their renovations to depict scenes from the bible. It depicts ââ¬ËThe last superââ¬â¢ one of the most Important and key scenes from Charlatanry. I believe that this Is a way that the church have used art to promote their religious beliefs, which Is In a way an Ideology of how they want everyone to believe the world came to existence. By philanthropy that he was superior to his rival Pope Alexander. It also promoted religious ideologies by depicting one of the most important scenes from Christianity; in painting this important their religion was. This is an example of how the church and the rich wanted to use art to document or portray their ideologies to the rest of society. This is a late 1 5th century mural by Dad Vinci; the church commissioned him as part the most important and key scenes from Christianity. I believe that this is a way that the church have used art to promote their religious beliefs, which is in a way an ideology of how they want everyone to believe the world came to existence. How to cite The renaissance period and ideologies, Papers The renaissance period and ideologies Free Essays The renaissance period and ideologies The renaissance period was highly influenced by artists who promoted religious ideologies. The word Renaissance in itself is meaner ââ¬Ërebirthââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëreconstructionââ¬â¢. It refers specifically to the revitalization of the early renaissance in Italy in the fourteenth century, which eventually spread to England in the sixteenth and further north in the seventeenth. We will write a custom essay sample on The renaissance period and ideologies or any similar topic only for you Order Now Christianity was the leading religion at that period of time, artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael were part of the high renaissance period that spread between 1475 to 1525, Michelangelo painted the Sistine chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, it was requested by pope Julius the second that Michelangelo would paint the ceiling of the chapel to help Rome rebuild its self to its former glory. One off the most famous sections of the Sistine chapel is the creation of Adamââ¬â¢ it is thought to illustrate the narrative from the biblical book genesis in which god breaths life into Adam. This is an example of religious, and political ideologies, because the Pope Julius wanted the ceiling to promote Rome at that time and also to promote his own name, to make the rest of the world believe hat he was superior to his rival Pope Alexander. It also promoted religious ideologies by depicting one of the most important scenes from Christianity; in painting this ceiling they were effectively advertising their own religious beliefs making others aware of their religion. During the renaissance period Musicians and artists were servants of the rich and would be employed by the church or a rich noble to glorify god, their religion or themselves. The church and the rich wanted these artists and musicians who earned their living through people like this to promote their Faith and to demonstrate how important their religion was. This is an example of how the church and the rich wanted to use art to document or portray their ideologies to the rest of society. Leonardo Ad Vineââ¬â¢s Last Super This is a late 15th century mural by Ad Vinci; the church commissioned him as part of their renovations to depict scenes from the bible. It depicts ââ¬ËThe last superââ¬â¢ one of the most important and key scenes from Christianity. I believe that this is a way that the church have used art to promote their religious beliefs, which is in a way an ideology of how they want everyone to believe the world came to existence. By philanthropy How to cite The renaissance period and ideologies, Papers
Friday, December 6, 2019
Innovation And Entrepreneurship
Question: Discuss about theInnovation And Entrepreneurship. Answer: Introduction Innovation refers to the process of converting a unique idea or invention into a service or a product that is of value to customers who are willing to pay for it. While ideas are many, for them to qualify to become an invention, they must be replicable at an economical value that being able to satisfy the specific needs of the end customers (Pisano, 2015). Incremental advances of technology results in evolutionary innovations. This is in direct contrast to revolutionary innovations that are disruptive and abrupt in nature (Corona-Trevino, 2016). We can therefore conclude that while innovation leads to profits; it is also synonymous with risk taking. An in-depth understanding of the end user, his needs and the ability to satisfy these needs are intrinsic to successful innovation. Need For Innovation Unfortunately, despite the huge investments of efforts, time and money, many organizations are unable to capitalize on the opportunities that are presented to them (Pisano, 2015). Innovation is essential to shaping the success of any new venture. However, the innovative processes need to be managed in a proper manner in order for the organization to reap the benefits of the process. We can see several interesting examples of innovation that captured the minds of consumers and lead to a significant boost to the profitability of the organization. This includes the introduction of ATMs by Citibank; the Walkman from Sony; the introduction of radial tires by Michelin and even the introduction of text processors that have contributed to the demise of the humble typewriter. Conversely all unresolved problems are lost opportunities for organizations which tend to suffer financial losses as a result of the inability to capitalize on the opportunity presented to them. The very concept of open innovation aims at creating inflows as well as outflows of knowledge so as to initiate and contribute to internal innovation (Corona-Trevino, 2016). Relationship Between Innovation and Entrepreneurship A combination of innovation, pro-activeness and risk taking are necessary for any entrepreneurship to kick off (Pisano, 2015). Conversely, entrepreneurship may be defined as the willingness of an organization to support risk while encouraging creativity and being flexible. This process helps ensure the renewal of the organization. While there are many who argue that any change that occurs externally necessitates an internal change merely because it insists on the organizations change so as to ensure its survival. Needless to say, successful companies tend to initiate changes in not just technology or marketing; but also in the organization as a whole in response to changes in the external environment (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). The emphasis here is on proactive, innovative strategies that include an element of risk taking for the organization (Pisano, 2015). We can, in fact, state that corporate entrepreneurship is known to contribute to the survival of the firm and its consistent performance (Barringer Bluedorn, 1999). Innovation is known to have a positive effect on the performance of all organizations involved in the process including SMEs (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). Identifying Niches, Target Audiences and Innovation Innovation is all about identifying the needs of or creating needs in end consumers. In other words, we can say that need is the single component that drives innovation across industries. The need may be through the identification of consumers wants (demand pull approach) or the creation of a need in the market (a supply-push approach). For instance the introduction of ATM cards can be considered a supply-push approach, while the introduction of the word processor may be classified as a demand-pull approach. The key element to be concerned is that entrepreneurs tend to argue that the idea under discussion is unique and offers a completive edge over their rivals (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). Smaller industries can capitalize on their advantages of quick implementation and innovative practices to pose a threat to larger and more established firms (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). Innovative Entrepreneuership and Differential Thinking We an see that innovative entrepreneurs tend to think and react differently when compared to their peers who are more laidback. Some the key traits that distinguish innovative entrepreneurs are (Bessant Todd, 2007) The ability to identify potential innovations ahead of their peers Being lazy as it provides incentive to complete a task with lesser efforts and higher efficiency Constant note takers who tend to jot down minute details The ability to strike a balance between perfection and practice Channelize fear to achieve innovation Enjoy disruptive as well as evolutionary innovation Are multi-faceted and able to think out of the box Thus, entrepreneurs are self-motivated and feel the need to constantly innovate processes and goods (Huszar, Pronay, Buzas, 2016). In fact, it would be accurate to state that successful innovations exploit change for the benefit of the concerned persons. It is essential that organizations are ready to abandon the familiar and embrace change for the success of the entrepreneurship. Emerging Technologies andEntrepreneuership Systematic innovation involves an organized and purposeful approach to changes, which we couple with a systematic analysis of the impact of these changes on the economy and society. We can clearly see that innovation is intrinsic to economic growth (Corona-Trevino, 2016). In other words, the introduction of innovative products and services, through innovative technologies are essential for the continued growth of any organization (Arafeh, 2016). Thus the seeds of innovation are needed for organizations to capitalize on them so as to generate profits for the organization as a whole (Pisano, 2015). However, while innovation is essential for technology based organizations, it is not a guarantee for success (Martin, 1994). The financial constraints and the global economic forces have contributed to the need for innovation based firms in the present economic situation. Innovation starts with a strategy that cuts across all departments and hierarchy levels in an organization (Pisano, 2015) . It can also be argued that innovation and performance are closely linked with each other (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). We therefore observe the existence of two predominant approaches to the manner in which emerging technologies impact entrepreneurship, viz., the supply-push approach d the demand pull approach. While the supply push approach is a more aggressive approach; the demand pull approach tends to be more proactive. As the names suggest, the demand-pull approach is identifying a need among the end consumers and being able to cater to them though the implementation f an emerging technology. A supply-push approach however means finding a product that is found to be economically viable and then creating market for the same using aggressive marketing technologies. This tends to involve a more aggressive marketing effort for creating he need for product or service as opposed to the former approach of merely catering to an existing demand (Pisano, 2015). Steps in Creatung and Implementing an Innovative Strategy Innovation needs to be conceptualized within his organization (Corona-Trevino, 2016). We have identified four steps in creating and maintaining an innovative strategy. The first step is identifying the need for innovation so as to create value for customer and the company. The second step involves the creation of a strategic plan for resource allocation in order to encourage innovation and innovative thinking. The third step is a more economic related initiative and is concerned with creating trade off between the needs of the consumer and the company. This step involves a significant amount of customer involvement. The final step is the need to recognize and identify those strategies that need to evolve so as to continue to be innovative for the consumer and the company, thereby generating benefits for the organization a whole (Pisano, 2015). The strategy highlights the need for simple initiatives like being prepared for contingencies, providing new insights into the process, and influencing the performance of the persons involved in the innovation (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, Bausch, 2011). The question that is always faced by entrepreneurs is the extent to which entrepreneurs need be concerned about the impact of innovation on existing processes as well as the need for internal innovation in the organization. We can observe that while there continues to be a constant influx of young risk takers looking at a challenging existing processes, innovation that is both economical as well as viable is needed for the success of the organization (Zimmerer Scarborough, 2008). Conclusion All organizations that work across borders tend to be overwhelmed by the cross cultural environment in which they operate. They tend to be exposed to interesting challenges, opportunities and threats that have no precedent. The present day entrepreneur is not only concerned about profits, but is also keen on contributing to society. Therefore, we now see a new breed of innovative entrepreneurs who look at innovation as a means of contributing to society in general as compared to the vastly different nature of their counterparts roughly a decade ago. Innovation is thus a tool to exploit change, which we can achieve though a disciplined approach. Innovation has thus evolved as an adaptation of the changing business, and economic environment. We can thus safely conclude that the longevity of an enterprise is dependent on the level of innovation it is willing to embrace. References Arafeh, L. (2016). An entrepreneurial key competencies model. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Barringer, B. R., Bluedorn, A. C. (1999). The Relationship Between Corporate Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal, 421-444. Bessant, J. 4., Todd, J. (2007). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons. Corona-Trevino, L. (2016). Entrepreneurship in an open national innovation system (ONIS): a proposal for Mexico. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Huszar, S., Pronay, S., Buzas, N. (2016). Examining the differences between the motivations of traditional and entrepreneurial scientists. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Martin, M. J. (1994). Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Technology-Based Firms. Canada: Joh Wiley and Sons , Inc. Pisano, G. P. (2015). You Need an Innovation Strategy. harvard Business Review, 44-54. Rosenbusch, N., Brinckmann, J., Bausch, A. (2011). Is innovation always beneà ¯Ã ¬Ã cial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs. Journal of Business Venturing, 441-457. Zimmerer, T., Scarborough, N. (2008). Essential of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Pearson Prentice Hall: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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