Steve Jobs An Effective Leader Of The Company - 1325 Words

A young man, who was adopted as a child by middle-class parents, developed an interest for electronics and grew to become one of the most valuable visionaries to ever grace our electronic devices. Many other industry leaders acknowledge him as being one of the most innovative. Steve Jobs was co-founder of Apple Computer, and a successful leader in the world of technology. He was successful in, not only creating cutting-edge products but, building a company where employees were malleable to his charismatic style of leadership. According to our textbook, Steve Jobs personified Edward Ghiselli’s traits of need for achievement, intelligence, decisiveness, self-confidence, initiative, and getting the job done through others; here applies the trait theory of leadership that proves he was an effective leader of the company that he grew to be a success. Jobs sought out the responsibility to create a product that people can use. He wanted to change the world of computing and he worked hard to develop his ideas. While he was highly intelligent, his decision-making skills were not always good nor did he always use reasoning. â€Å"Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion† says Jobs when speaking about the culture shock he experienced when traveling between America and India (Isaacson, 2011, pg.48). He felt that westerners tend to think more rationally than those in villages of India who embody more power of experiential wisdom and intuition.Show MoreRelatedLe adership Is An Important Element Of The Management Function Essay983 Words   |  4 Pages1 Steve Jobs CEO, Apple Introduction Leadership is an important element of the management function. Leadership involves ability to integrate human resources and firm’s goals. Different situations may warrant different kinds of leadership. A business leader knows how to motivate people, accomplish goals, and get things done quickly. Leaders act as middlemen between employees and organization s objectives. Leaders reveal attributes of courage, creativity, and entrepreneurial energy. Strong leadersRead MoreLeadership Is An Efficient Process899 Words   |  4 Pagesleadership; in this a leader has the complete authority and control of decision making. Bureaucratic leadership; flexibility exists in this type of leadership, in such style every follower has his voice that is to be listen, authority is divided. Charismatic leadership; in this type leader inserts its power to its employees by giving them passion. Transformational leadership; in this type, communication is the main focus, leaders and employees have com mon vision, by communication the leaders try to transformRead MoreInfluential Leaders Of Todays Largest Companies1271 Words   |  6 PagesBusiness leaders of today’s largest companies are expected to produce innovative products, increase profits, and motivate and lead its employees. Leaders have different leadership styles often driven by their unique personalities. This paper will examine one of the most innovative and influential leaders of our time, the late Steve Jobs. The paper will examine his leadership style, his greatest success, and his most significant challenge, providing a peek into what made him successful. Steve Jobs theRead MoreSteve Jobs Leadership Essay1064 Words   |  5 PagesSome would say that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers Inc., was an exceptional leader. However, there are many who would disagree with that statement. Jobs could define leadership in some aspects, yet he fell short in others. Jobs’ leadership style is difficult to pin down because his position fit very many styles. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 and in 1984 he created the Macintosh, the first small computer with a graphic interface. Unfortunately in 1985 Jobs was forced to leave afterRead MoreSteve Jobs : Visionary Leader1406 Words   |  6 PagesSteve Jobs: Visionary Leader According to the Oxford Dictionary, leadership is defined as â€Å"The action of leading a group of people or an organization†. (Oxford University Press, 2016) Over the decade’s leadership has come to mean much more than its simple definition. There are many books, blog posts and theories discussing leadership along with methods on how to be an effective leader. With so many theories and methods how is one to know what works for them? Is a leadership method something weRead MoreSteve Jobs as a Visionary and Transformational Leader1165 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Introduction Steve Jobs unique approach to leadership and visionary approach to creating, producing and selling innovative products, combined with his innate ability to orchestrate increasingly complex companies have earned him many accolades. Fortune Magazine named him the best leader of the Decade and countless other publications, colleges and universities have given him many accolades and honorary degrees. All these external measures of success reflect who Steve Jobs is on a daily basis,Read MoreTransformational Leadership : The Most Important Aspect Of Management1088 Words   |  5 PagesTraditional vs. Transformational Leadership Many leaders from history have the label of charismatic, intellectual and inspirational. Leadership is labeled as the most important aspect of management because leadership what defines a well-balanced and managed organization. Leaders influence groups to reach and achieve goals that the organization has set into action. Transformational and transactional leadership are the two most prominent leadership theories. This objective of this paper is to defineRead MoreThe Leadership Style Of Steve Jobs Essay1721 Words   |  7 Pages Steve Jobs was a computer designer, executive and innovator, as well as an all-around role model for many people in both their businesses and their personal lives. As the cofounder of Apple Computers and former CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, he revolutionized the computer and animation industries, amassing a fortune worth $10.2 billion at the time of his death. Jobs intuitively understood the power of cultural influence in sustaining the strategic capabiliti es implicit in his perpetual vision ofRead MoreSteve Jobs Leadership Style Before Reading The Article1292 Words   |  6 PagesHow would I have described Steve Jobs’ Leadership style before reading the article? I have to say that I did not know much about Steve Jobs before I read the article; however, I do know that when he had an idea he took it and he developed it to its full potential. He s been hailed as a genius and the greatest CEO of his generation. I have heard that he was a high-maintenance supervisor who demanded excellence from his staff and was known for his blunt delivery of criticism. He was a very talentedRead Moresteve jobs leadership style Essay1105 Words   |  5 Pages Steve Job’s Leadership Style. Hoang Vu Dang Ha Bristol University Steve Job’s Leadership Style. Leadership style is a leaders style of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. There are many different leadership styles such as leaders in the political, business or other fields. Steve Jobs (24th February, 1955 – 5th October, 2011) is one of the most remarkable leadership people in modern history and he is well-known as the co-founder

The Side Of Getting Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Jonathan Mejia Dr. Luttrell Composition II 3/9/16 Toulmin Argument Immigration is a major topic in the Immigration presidential Race right now. I am on the side of getting comprehensive immigration reform. Reform is the term used in political discussion regarding changes to the current immigration policy. In the political sense of the word, immigration reform may include promoted, expanded, or open immigration, as well as reduced or eliminated immigration. Comprehensive immigration reform has eluded Congress for years, moving decisions into the executive and judicial branches of government and pushing the debate into the halls of state and municipal governments. Meanwhile, the fates of the estimated eleven million undocumented immigrants in the country, as well as future rules for legal migration, lie in the balance. I believe the government should provide a fair path to citizenship for the millions of people living in the United States illegally because most people come to America for better lives. Donald Trump is the leading candidate for the repu blicans in this year’s election. He is known for his extreme views and opinions on immigration. I will analyze Trump’s arguments to counter against mine to make my argument the best that it can be. Donald Trump has expressed his solution to the immigration issue is to stop it completely. I ll build a great wall - and no one builds walls better than me, believe me, and I ll build them very inexpensively - I will build aShow MoreRelatedUnited State government has tremendous problem that they continuously agitate. One of the problems1300 Words   |  6 PagesUnited State government has tremendous problem that they continuously agitate. One of the problems they are facing is immigration system. There are hundreds of thousands of immigrants move to our country every year and the number of illegal immigrants in the United State has been increasing enormously over the years. Some people may escape from political or religious oppression and others may come to pursue the American dream. However, this is unfair to those who come to United State legally. UnlikeRead MoreThe Poverty Of The United States1204 Words   |  5 Pagesfamilies because the economy and politics. In addition leaving our countries of origin it is not an easy decision to make; for me it was a dramatic change when I migrated to the U.S Cultural, language and friends wise. It is hard to just let things to the side and trying to adapt to new things. The culture of a country it’s what actually makes a country and the people who live in it. Cultures are so wonderful and different that it is almost impossible to forget them and they will be carried in our soulsRead MoreBeatriz, Salvioli . Ms. Pritchett. 9 Hon Per 1. 08 March824 Words   |  4 PagesBeatriz, Salvioli Ms. Pritchett 9 HON per 1 08 March 2017 The immigration struggle Why should America punish immigrants when they are helping the economy? William J Clinton once said, â€Å"we must say no to illegal immigration so we can continue to say yes to legal immigration.†(Johnson 1). The American dream should stop being just a dream. It shouldn’t be limited to only a few people. Immigrants shouldn’t have a rougher time coming to America, but handed opportunities that everyone else is offeredRead MoreImmigration Is A Crucial Topic For The Presidential Race1203 Words   |  5 PagesThe Nominees Immigration is a crucial topic for the 2016 Presidential race. It has been an of the issue for many Presidential races in the past. The two candidates I will be discussing and their policy views on immigration are the two that I will believe will be their party’s nominee, Donald J Trump with the Republican Party and Hilary R Clinton with the Democratic Party. Illegal immigration gets underreported and often swept under the rug. D.U.I. deaths and other incarceration statistics causedRead MoreThe Border Security And Illegal Immigration Controversy1401 Words   |  6 Pagesfor drug trafficking, and illegal immigration. There is a border fence that stretches over 30 miles in and around the El Paso area, with a border patrol agent stationed every 300 yards over the same span. With a population of close to 800,000 with over 80% of that being Hispanic, it is a very controversial subject along the border region. (Debate.org Article) There are multiple political forces that are playing a part in the border security/illegal immigration controversy. The current administrationRead MoreImmigration And The Issue Of Immigration987 Words   |  4 PagesRepublicans and Democrats have been fighting over the issue of immigration since the 1900s. Immigration has been an issue declared by both Democrats and Republicans alike over debates, elections and even the presidency. Each political party has different viewpoints of immigration and how it effects society and the U.S. as a whole. Immigration is the great division between two opinions. These two sides are: one being people that are accepting with immigrants coming in and out of the U.S., while theRead MoreThe Immigration Of The United States Government1692 Words   |  7 PagesJamie Bastide Professor Luna Mas/Hist 142-501 6 October 2015 Hispanic Immigration There was once a time when people moved freely across the border between Mexico and the United States. Though there were random patrols along this border, it wasn’t until 1924, when the Border Patrol was created, that there was any real authority over who went where. Jumping ahead to present times, people are crying out for more and more security on our borders, not only to keep out threats of terrorism, but to keepRead MoreImmigration And Immigration1358 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"the dynamic heart of a continuing American success story† But also the atrocious project that could lead the destruction of American history and future. â€Å"The proof was Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent illegal immigration and terrorism†- The Atlantic.com. Every day hundreds of people try to pass the wall, fence and/ or drones across the borders illegally by hiding inside cars or running through rivers and/ or even worse trying to cross the desert in Arizona riskingRead Morecase study immigration4147 Words   |  17 Pages The End of the Culture War over Immigration A culture War has erupted in America. The country has become visibly divided over emotionally charged topics such as: abortion, gay marriage, gun-control, and healthcare. Many Americans have chosen sides in a polarized debate which pins conservative traditionalists against liberal progressives over the direction of America’s future. One topic which has not received as much attention as the rest, yet potentially has the largest impact on the common AmericanRead MoreIllegal Immigration Is The United States1805 Words   |  8 PagesIllegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Some countries have millions of illegal immigrants. Immigration, including illegal immigration, is overwhelmingly upward, from a poorer to a richer country. The easy definition of an undocumented immigrant is someone who was not born in the United States and therefore has no legal right to be or remain in the U nited States. Not all undocumented immigrants

Competitive Strategy for Legal and Environmental-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategy for Legal and Environmental. Answer: Introduction Development tools have a great role in operating the overall activities of the company. In this paper, the development tools which will be taken into consideration are SWOT, PESTLE AND Porter five forces. The discussion will be made on the tools with the examples related to Estia which is one of the largest age care company. These tools assist the company in operating the activities so that goals and objectives can be attained. Pestle Analysis This is one of the tools which help to analyze the external factor of the company. There are various factors which are related to this analysis like political, social, economic, technological, legal and environmental. This analysis is conducted so that market situation can analyze in a proper manner. On this analysis, the managers or the top management give more focus so that proper directions can be given. In this political factor has a connection with the rules and regulations imposed by the government. The economic factor is related to inflation and deflation and the overall impact is given on the prices of the services and products which are given. Next factor is a technological factor in which latest technologies are considered so that activities can be conducted smoothly (Porter and Kramer, 2019). Next factor is related to the environment in which surroundings and environment are analyzed so that according to that operations can be completed. The last factor is a legal factor in which the emphasis is given on the rules that are implemented by the companies so that activities can be completed by considering proper policies (Weerawardena and Salunke, 2017). Example Political factor It is analyzed that organization is giving focus on maintaining proper partnership by considering both private as well as public sector. Expenditure on public health is low if a comparison is made with the developed countries. The government provides drugs and also there are many medical types of equipment which is taken into consideration so that companies who are from health sector can achieve growth. When Estia conducts the activities, proper rules related to labor law and other are taken into consideration (Tan and Sousa, 2015). Economic factor It is seen that the policies related to government policies also offer opportunities so that the infrastructure of the healthcare can be maintained. It is analyzed that private sectors give healthcare services in an effective manner. It is seen that behavior related to spending can be enhanced by the people and also, they can avail the services of healthcare in a proper manner (Wagner III and Hollenbeck, 2014). Socio-cultural factor It can be evaluated that in Estia the people are taken into consideration who is old and proper assistance and care is given to them. It can also be analyzed that in Australia the overall rate of population is high and the people who are aged are moving towards old age homes so that proper care can be taken. Technological factor Technological factor the healthcare system in Australia has to face a huge pressure just because of the technologies. But Estia focuses on considering the technologies which help the company to achieve success in the market. Legal factor The company gives emphasis on maintaining proper employment law and also health and safety law so that people who are aged can care properly. Environmental factor Estia gives emphasis in managing the overall waste and also recycling of the waste so that environment can be clean. Swot Analysis This framework is related to analyzing the overall strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats prevailing in the market. This tool assists the company to consider the strategies so that threats can be minimized in a proper manner. This tool collects the information of the company internally. In this tool, the focus is given by the managers or the directors so that in the competitive environment company can achieve growth in an effective manner. By giving emphasis to this tool the company can achieve overall goals of the company in a proper manner (Blockeel et al., 2016). Example Strength The strength of the company is related to the image of the company. The company has a good image in the market which helps to accomplish goals and objectives in a proper manner. If the emphasis is given to the overall financial position then the company is in a good position and also there are sufficient resources that can be offered to the customers. Weakness It can be evaluated that company should give focus on considering the updated technologies so that growth and goodwill can be maintained in the market. The company has also focused on the proper integration of the process and due to this issue has been faced by the organization. It is seen that major issue faced by the company is related to the challenges that take place due to the new entry into the market (Bull et al., 2016). Opportunities The organization has various opportunities but right time is required to grab that opportunity. It can be analyzed that many consumers are engaged in doing online business. So, the company is giving emphasis in focusing on investing in the online platform so that customers can get assistance from anywhere. Threats There are many problems that arise due to the fluctuation in the laws and it is seen that it has affected the standards of the company. Up and down in the currency rate has also affected the growth of the business. Porter Five Forces Analysis This framework gives emphasis in evaluating the situation of the market so that success can be attained. On this tool, the focus is given by the top-level management and it evaluates the overall need for the services (Ginter, 2018). Example Bargaining power of suppliers When emphasis is given to the healthcare sector it can be evaluated that it gives impact on the suppliers as there are many suppliers who are engaged in the activities. The threat of new entrants It can be analyzed that when new entries take place the effect is seen on the overall growth of the company. Estia has to face pressure due to low price strategy. The threat is high in this sector. Bargaining power of buyers It can be evaluated that demand is high for the buyers. They focus on the services which are best and also of the fewer prices. It can be analyzed that by giving good services the company can easily achieve large market share and can enhance the growth in a proper manner. Threats of substitutes It is high in this sector as there are many other companies who offer same types of services to the customers. The company can minimize the threat by focusing on a service-oriented firm. To manage cost one of the factors that help the company to achieve growth. Rivalry against the competitors It is also high as there are many competitors in the market of the same sector. This factor gives an indication to the firm to reduce the cost so that competitive advantage can be achieved in a reporting manner (Laszlo and Zhexembayeva, 2017). Conclusion So, it is analyzed that the company should give emphasis on enhancing the overall market share. The company should adopt innovative services which attract the attention of the customers towards the company. References Blockeel, C., Drakopoulos, P., Santos-Ribeiro, S., Polyzos, N.P. and Tournaye, H., 2016. A fresh look at the freeze-all protocol: a SWOT analysis.Human reproduction,31(3), pp.491-497. Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Bhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zhringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework.Ecosystem services,17, pp.99-111. Ginter, P.M., 2018.The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley Sons. Laszlo, C. and Zhexembayeva, N., 2017.Embedded sustainability: The next big competitive advantage. Routledge. Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2019. Creating shared value. InManaging Sustainable Business(pp. 327-350). Springer, Dordrecht. Tan, Q. and Sousa, C.M., 2015. Leveraging marketing capabilities into competitive advantage and export performance.International Marketing Review,32(1), pp.78-102. Wagner III, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R., 2014.Organizational behavior: Securing competitive advantage. Routledge. Weerawardena, J. and Salunke, S., 2017. Resolving the Market Learning-Firm Competitive Advantage Debate, an Empirical Investigation: An Abstract. InMarketing at the Confluence between Entertainment and Analytics(pp. 699-699). Springer, Cham

Borobudur Stpa Essay Example For Students

Borobudur St?pa Essay The splendiferous monument Borobudur which stands surrounded by volcanoes in the middle of the Kedu plain in central Java is indubitably one of the noblest buildings to have sprung from the Buddhist faith and is one of the worlds finest religious founda tions. It stands to convey an extraordinary impression of the ultimate tranquility which Buddhism affords to its believers. That it does so is an architectural achievement of the highest order and testifies to the successful manner in which structure and decoration have been treated together to produce a coherent whole. Great ingenuity is demonstrated in the lay-out. It is the only stupa in Java which is rich in other types of Buddhist monuments. It is a unique product of genius and it is this uniqueness which makes its interpretation so difficult. The stQpa of Borobudur goes back eleven centuries. In about 800 a.d. a king of the Sailendra Dynasty immortalised his faith in the Buddha in an unexampled monument, conceived and concretised by a poet, philosopher, and architect, named Gunadharma. Gunadharma sallied forth into the mountains of Menorch, his heart rapturous in the hope of transcreating adoration along the path of unending time. Gunadharma, after a long meditation and an indepth study of the great Buddhist Classics, conceived the Borobudur as we know it today. Tradition has it that the architect Gunadharma is integrated into the mountain range of Menorch, where you can see the silhouette of his chin, mouth and nose. The name of the Borobudur has been an enigma. Some have derived bara from vihdra meaning a complex of temples and mona steries, and budur heralds the Balinese word beduhur meaning above. Thus the word signifies a high, eminent or supreme mona stic complex.1 Prof. Casparis explains it as an abbreviation of a com pound word which means, The monasteries of the accumulation   of virtue in the ten spiritual stages in the meditation of a Bodhi sattva 2 Whatever the origin of the word, it does represent the ten stages in mans ascent from the baser world of lust and passion into the highest realms of iiinyatd, which are known as daSa-blmmi or it may also stand to mean date ku £altini* namely the ten sins: pdnalipdto (killing); adinndddnam (stealing); kdmesu mikkliaknro (impurity); musdvddo (lying); pisund-vdkd (slander); pharusdvakd (harsh language); samphdppaldpo (frivolous talk); abfiigglia (covetous ness); vydpddo (malice); mikklidditthi (false doctrine) in the Buddhist philosophy. As one approaches the Borobudur, one is in the presence of a replica of the universe which is three-fold namely kdmadhdtu, rupa-dhdtu, Ð °Ã ³Ã ¹Ã'€Ð °-dhdtu, and beyond these three wo rlds is the Sunya.5 However, the basic lay-out of the building is simple: four square terraces set upon the basement platform and surmounted by three circular terraces which support a stiipa. Each four square terraces are provided with an exterior wali so that there is an enclosed pathway around each level of the monument. A stair-case with lavishly decorated archways leads to the top of the monuments from the middle of each side of the square. The lowest base re presents the kama-dhdtu or the phenomena! world, the world of baser passions. Kdma, desire of senses is one of the four aSvas and is the first of the six factors of existence, the elimination of which is essential for liberation from re-birth. The six are kdma, vedaiid, sanita, dsvds, kamma, and dukkJia The basement has 160 reliefs which have been drawn from a religious text, the Mahakarma Vibhanga. This text deals with the Buddhist system of rewards and penalties for right and wrong actions, a system subsumed in the term karma7 which has been translated loosely as fate. Both the nature of the text and the il lustrations of it, which are found on Borobudur, make it clear that it is addressed primarily to laymen w hose function in Buddhism is to gain merit by supporting the monks. .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .postImageUrl , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:visited , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:active { border:0!important; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:active , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Craft and Art EssayFrom the world of passions or of kdma we reach the world of riipa dhdtu or Form.8 It consists of four square galleries or terraces, with a chain of large niches, which contain Buddha images, culi minating in miniature stupas.   The four square terraces in Buddhist philosophy may also re present dwthvdrydrya satydm? diatitfralokapdldh10 namely the Four Guardians of the World; dhaturattho, virulho or virulhako, virupakkho, vessavano or chatxtirobraUmavilidrah, the Four Perfect States or diatvdri saiigrahawstuni;12 the Four Elements of Popularity or diat vdki smrthya prasthdndni;13 the Four Earnest Mediations namely kdydnu-passamid, iedandmi-passafind, ki ttdtiu-passannd and dhammdnu passatvid; or dxatvdri-samyakprahandni, the Four Right Exertions. But a more complex theology emerges when we consider the Buddha figures enshrined in the niches on the facades. On each side of the monument there are 92 statues arranged in four rows which correspond with the four terraces. The figures represent: seated Mdnu$i-Buddha$ and Dhydni-Buddlias Akshobhya, Ratna Sambhava. Amitdbha and Amogha Siddhi who are associated with the four cardinal points. The legends of Maitreya and Saman tha-bhadra are also sculpted in the third and fourth terraces. Above these four-fold ranks there is a fifth line common to all sides of the monument whose niches house Vairochana. The walls of the terraces are adorned with reliefs portraying life scenes and Jatakas in exactitude to the texts enjoined in Jdtakamdla, Avaddnas Lalitavistara, and Gandavyuha. As befits , the walls are also embellished with a variety of designs of kdlamakara]4 foliage, flowers and spiral ornaments. Above the four terraces of the Ð ³Ã ¹Ã'€Ð °-dhdtu, we reach the higher domain of arupa-dhdtu, the World Beyond Form.15 Here tranquility and serenity prevails and the atmosphere indicates the realm of meditation. There are three circular terraces in concentric circles around the main stupa at the top. There are a number of stupas of which a particular type is found only at Borobudur. These stupas which are constructed with half-open walls, number thirty-two, twenty-four and sixteen on the three successive terraces. Each houses a figure of yet another Dyani-Buddha, Vajra sattva, who is generally accepted as being the highest of these Buddhas; indeed treated almost as a supreme deity in some schools of Buddhism. Again, the latticed stupas with Buddha images represent the near-highest manifestation of Ultimate Reality. There is a striking difference in this sphere and the previous one. There are no reliefs nor any ornamentations. The pilgrim is initiated into the higher sphere of ariipa, where decoration is no longer relevant and the   mysterious chairoscuro of the Buddha, in the latticed stupas, lends a sublimity to the entire atmosphere. The continuous repetition of the same truth is an affirmation of reality. Repetition is eternity. While the lower stages are material and massive, the higher ones rise in simplicity of silence.16 The very presence of latticed stupas numbering thirty-two, twenty-four, and sixteen on the three successive terraces is quite significant and has Buddhist philosophical meaning. Thus, the row of thirty two stupas, may represent dvathrim-Salakshanani. the Thirty Two Signs of Perfection17. Similarily, the twenty-four stupas in a row connote chaturvimSa-tirtlpakleidh, the Twenty Four Minor Evil Passions,18 while the sixteen stupas probably stand for the Sixteen Patimokkha , disciplinary rules binding a bhikkhu}9 The three circular terraces, in concentric circles around the main stupa, have again Buddhist ideology transmuted in them. The three circular terraces may stand for triratnas,20 the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; or Thrayovimoksha(21 the Three Kinds of Salvation namely sunnatavimoko (void); animiltavimokho (uncondi tioned), apparihtavimokho (passionless); and mahavyupt. Beyond the three circular terraces is the main stupa. Culmi nating in the centre, it forms the crown of the entire monument. Inside is an open space which is empty. It is the iiinya,22 the Absolute, the monument of silence, the highest expression of truth in the quest of the sddhaka While the sadhaka ascends the Boro budur on to higher terraces, he proceeds to higher domains of spiritual life. In a similar manner the Buddha gradually manifests himself downwards in order to be approachable to beings. It is the descent of the Divine on this earth . The pilgrimage can be seen as an account of the history of Buddhism and of the doctrine which the Buddha expounded. On the exterior of the platform are the depictions of the inexorable laws of karma. As he enters the first of the circumambulatory ter races, the pilgrim sees the way in which the Buddha prepared for his role by a succession of previous lives (the Jdtakas and avddna panels), is born to his last existence, receives enlightenment and preaches the first sermon in which he expounds the doctrine which releases men from the laws of karma; all of which this monument emphasizes. .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .postImageUrl , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:visited , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:active { border:0!important; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:active , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Art invades craft EssayAlso as a stfipa, the monument symbolizes the moment of the Buddhas own achievement of mrvdna, an event which is not   otherwise illustrated at Borobudur. But the doctrine has more esoteric truths to reveal than the simple historical teachings of Gautama; the story of Sudhanas search for these is now recounted in a stylized and restrained manner, for we are beyond the point of folk narrative and moving into the realm of metaphysics. This becomes clear on the circular terraces, where the reliefs cease, and thence at the Central Stupa where even the Dhyani-Buddhas have disappeared. Yet, if we consider the Dhyani-Buddhas upon the facades and the circu lar terraces as being in a sense the spiritual shell surrounding the whole monument, then it can be seen as cosmos, a universe of which the Central Stupa with its lofty mast, now missing, is the world axis, the Sumeru of the Indian cosmo logies.24 Thus, amazingly, the Borobudur stupa echoes the Buddhist ideologies imbibed in the architectural entities which formed part of it.

Terror Arthur P. Murrah Federal Building In Oklahoma City Essays

Terror: Arthur P. Murrah Federal Building In Oklahoma City Cause and Effect Paper It was planned for months; everything was in order for the day of April 19, 1995. Timothy had all the ingredients together in the Ryder truck, gasoline, fertilizer, and a remote detonator. The huge amounts of both could be detonated to create an explosion bigger then a small nuclear device. The target was the Arthur P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. Since the city street passed in front of the building Timothy McVeay could drive his homemade bomb right to the front doors. After parking he got out and just walked away, later when the amount of people in the building was at its maximum capacity he detonated the bomb that resulted in one of the deadliest terrorist actions in America. The number of people who died was 169, and more than a few of that number were children from a kindergarten located in the building. The effects of felt in America were far reaching from new laws passed, increased security in high-risk places like Washington D.C., and the emotional response by Americans. This act also prompted legislators to pass new laws regarding the purchase of explosive articles. Today a farmer cannot buy more than 20,000 pounds of fertilizer without having a reference check made to ensure he was using the fertilizer for its intended uses. This is so they can keep tabs on large shipments so they are not used for terrorist activities. The agency assigned to keep watch of the various purchases of fertilizer is the FBI. It is their responsibility to go out to the farms and make sure the owners are using the substances for their fields. Many people in Washington DC feel a large amount of pride because their city is the hub of all the law making in America. But lately they have been feeling a different emotion, frustration. They are frustrated with the fact that due to the Oklahoma City bombing the Secret Service has closed the street directly in front of the White House to all but foot-traffic. The Secret Service feels that there might be similar scenarios that could develop much like Oklahoma City. The third effect was the fact that the nation came together. Very few many people in America didnt feel the effects of this tragedy. Many people are used to hearing on their nightly news about terrorism in other nations, but one in their own boundaries let alone in Oklahoma shocked citizens of our nation. The people who worked in many other federal building around America were in fear of their lives. Church going Americans started prayer circles for the victims, and the injured people of the bombing. The bombing on April 19, 1995 sent shock waves through the American States, that caused our nation to pull together in its time of need, increased laws regarding the sale of large amounts of fertilizer, the FBIs responsibility to increase, and the road in front of the White House to be closed. The effects of this tragedy will be felt for long periods of times in America. History books will retell the tale about how Timothy McVeay ushered in a fear that will not leave America for a long time. Political Issues

Sample Dental School Essay Examples

Sample Dental School Essay ExamplesSample dental school essay examples are not hard to find online. When you are looking for one, remember that this is not an essay question on writing an essay. What you want to do is write a dissertation or a book review. This is not about what you have written about your school, but rather your opinion of the school.At your own school, you will find several students who feel the same way as you but have not had the chance to give the first impression. If your home school would allow it, find some of these essays online, and put them up on your wall. You will be surprised at how good you look, and at how well you communicate in front of your peers.Writing about your oral health is a critical part of school and career success. There are few better ways to impress than with an essay on why you love your oral health and what you wish to do with it. From teeth whitening to wellness programs, you will find so many ideas for what to do with your oral heal th that the course of your oral health education could be greatly enhanced. You may even want to think about further pursuing this interest in your future career.You can find sample dental school essay examples in the library or at a dental school book store. Online you can also find these from websites like Teachers.com. You will need to decide whether you want to write it for an individual dental class or a class in general. If you can start an essay immediately and then print out the results, that would make things easier for you.Your last step will be to focus on the skills that you want to develop. Write down the skills that you would like to develop, then use the examples of samples that you found online to help you in developing them. What do you feel that you have mastered? Are there skills that you wish to learn more about? These are all the questions that you will need to answer before you begin.If you are wondering how you will know if you have answered all the questions, you need to make sure that you really have. Make sure that you truly understand what is being asked for the sample essay. Some good examples that you can use are also available from schools and libraries.These samples of school essay examples will give you a good starting point for your research. However, you will need to make sure that you are well informed on your own oral health education before you start writing. It will only take you a short time to get started, but it will pay off in the long run.

Enterprise Resource Planning Essay Example

Enterprise Resource Planning Essay Example Enterprise Resource Planning Paper Enterprise Resource Planning Paper Group Project I Evaluation of an Enterprise Application : ERP Systems of Volkswagen and Nestle Executive Summary Enterprise resource planning integrates internal and external management information across an entire organization, coupling finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application, facilitating the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and managing the connection to outside stakeholders. Although ERP systems offer a bird’s eye view in the working of the company and allow users to cross-reference business functions, implementing an enterprise resource system (ERP) project in the estimated time, for the estimated cost, and with satisfying results is a rare occurrence. Most organizations do not understand the costs associated with ERP implementation when they first embark on the project. While the benefits are usually well understood, the costs do not surface until well into the implementation. When everything goes smoothly with ERP resource planning projects, the ratio of savings to dollars invested typically increases over time. As the streamlining efforts start and stall and start again, however, resulting in disastrous detours and cost overruns, savings if they come at all, occur many millions of dollars and many months later than planned. Too many executives see ERP solely as a technology project, believing that if they buy a new software system, inefficiencies will magically disappear. Unfortunately, for companies such as Volkswagen and Nestle, a hiccup in ERP implementation in the pursuit to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals can be disastrous in the short and long term. 1. Case Study 1: Volkswagen The Volkswagen Group is Europe’s largest car maker and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of automobiles. In 2009, according to data published by all three companies, Volkswagen was the third biggest motor vehicle manufacturer, with 6. 29 million units delivered to customers,  after Toyota Group with 7. 23 million units and General Motors, with 6. 0 million units. Although the company offers a variety of mobility-related services in addition to being a leading carmaker, combining all of these subsidiaries and their individual portfolios, brands, missions, and visions under one umbrella is a big challenge for Volkswagen. Through ERP implementation, Volkswagen reasoned that contributions can be made by all the brands and companies of the VW Group without compromising the individual identity of these brands. This would result in added value to the common stream of interest and help the group achieve significant milestones moving forward. Volkswagen Accessories is a VW subsidiary that provides more than 8,000 accessory parts for virtually every model in its parent company’s range of automobiles. These include communication components, car maintenance and fashion products, specially styled rim-and-tire combinations, and other optical enhancements. Until recently, Volkswagen Accessories’ 200 employees analyzed data from the company’s individual SAP ERP modules  by hand before entering them into Excel files. Due to the considerable demands of the Volkswagen group’s internal reporting, this involved a tremendous amount of effort and tied up significant resources. As Project Manager Bjorn Lange states: â€Å"Besides taking far too much time, this method simply couldn’t meet our current requirements anymore. Shorter development cycles are constantly demanding new reports that employees need available on an ad hoc basis whenever possible. † For this reason, Volkswagen Accessories decided to implement a modern business intelligence solution. â€Å"Our goal was not only to establish a uniform basis of data, but especially to ensure our ability to distribute information in a flexible, largely automated way,† Lange explains. From a macroeconomic perspective, the automotive industry has had a number of challenges to overcome in recent years, from  surpluses  in production and  plunging revenues  to  protectionism. Specifically, this means that the industry needed to get a grip on excess capacity in automobile production and the associated revenue shortfalls. As far as choosing the right ERP system, all automotive companies had to deal with three key issues. First, they needed to look at containing costs through standardization. Second, organizations had to have a clear view of all their stock. And third, companies needed to strive for innovation and sustainability. SAP Business Suite 7 seemed to be able to achieve all of these demands by improving business processes internally and across company boundaries. To support this approach, upgrades can be performed during production operation in the form of  SAP enhancement packages. By implementing a  responsive production system, companies could tackle the pressure of competition from increasing globalization. Thanks to flexible and cost-effective production, lead times can be cut and stock levels reduced. As a result, companies will spend less while increasing their ability to deliver. With an ERP system in place, Volkswagen would be able to efficiently deal with business obstacles and drastically improve service-delivery to end user and business cycle performance among many other areas. SAP was designed to make sure that the critical data, analytical tools and applications are readily available and accessible by the employee while simultaneously supporting the organization’s model for different process of shared services. From a business cycle standpoint, the complete end-to-end cycle of business processes for procurement and logistics can be managed with the ERP module available for care business operations. Furthermore, in context of the VW Group, the entire life cycle processes of product manufacturing and development in real time can be effectively managed by delivering high quality products, directly increasing customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, although SAP implementation is good in theory, if implemented incorrectly, the platform can be disastrous for the company, as Volkswagen found in 2000. In 2000, Volkswagen had trouble delivering spare parts to some car dealers in Germany after turning on SAP AG’s R/3 software- enterprise resource planning software produced by SAP AG and designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities needed to complete business processes such as order fulfillment or billing- in its central parts warehouse. The error occurred when the ERP vendor had assigned 13 employees to help Volkswagen fix the problems, which were forcing some owners of VW and Audi automobiles to wait several weeks for needed repairs. One of the main problems in ERP implementation is customization. The R/3 applications being used at the parts warehouse were heavily customized to fit Volkswagen’s business needs. The system was so complex however that what seemed like a benign change, upset operations downstream. In this case, system problems delayed shipments to customers and caused product inventories to build up. With the proper ERP implementation, however, Volkswagen could have realized the benefits of a more integrated, single, low cost system. The Future Looking ahead, Volkswagen plans to develop a set of ERP systems by 2015 in order to improve the quality and speed of information sharing between its manufacturing and management departments. The IT processes and organization strategy aims to maximize the effectiveness of the ERP system by giving IT departments a greater say in how they are used by the business. The IT function will also have a say in how staff that operate the ERP systems should be organized. Volkswagen predicts that by 2011 the strategy will allow it to design new ERP systems and integrate them with business processes much more quickly, giving it an edge over its competitors. The pressure to reduce production costs and complexity by increasing the efficiency of our IT applications is a key driver for our IT function being able to influence business processes, said CTO Stefan Ostrowski. According to Ostrowski, the IT function would become a co-designer of the business processes. Steering committees, consisting of both business and IT representatives, would be formed to take joint responsibility for IT budgets. Although companies have seen the errors of their ways in managing ERP systems and have taken small, but important corrective actions for the future, the above examples illustrate the impact that ERP mismanagement may have on the organization in both the short and long-term. As Eric Kimberling, president of Panorama consulting, states: â€Å"The amount of ERP implementations that are meeting or exceeding corporate expectations is distressingly low. To best manage implementations, companies need to plan every detail up front, focus on business operations, secure strong project management and ensure that every key staff member is adequately trained and completely committed to the process. † 2. Case Study 2: Nestle Nestle, headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland is the largest food and beverage company in the world. With 250,000+ employees, stationed in 500 facilities in over 80 countries, its annual revenue is more than $70 billion. Despite its large operation, Nestle was faced with the task of deciding â€Å"how to operate as a single unit on a global scale. † With an ERP system in place, Nestle would be able to standardize their business processes, resulting in more efficient operations for the company and greater realized benefits for the customer. IT Situation before ERP Before its ERP Implementation, Nestle ran a very inefficient, high cost operation due to the lack of standard business processes in place. Local units throughout the world conducted business operations based on their own conditions and cultures. To support this decentralized strategy, Nestle has had 80 different information technology units that ran nearly 900 IBM AS/400 midrange computers, 15 mainframes, and 200 UNIX systems, enabling observers to describe its infrastructure as a veritable Tower of Babel. Nestles management had found that allowing these local differences created inefficiencies and extra costs that could prevent the company from competing effectively in electronic commerce. The lack of standard business processes prevented Nestle from, for example, leveraging its worldwide buying power to obtain lower prices for its raw materials. Even though each factory uses the same global suppliers, each negotiated its own deals and prices. For example, Nestle USAs brands were paying 29 different prices for â€Å"vanilla† to the same vendor due to the fact that each of Nestle’s divisions had assigned a different name to â€Å"vanilla. † In order to resolve the aforementioned inefficiencies, Nestle implemented an SAP’s R/3 ERP software which enables a company to standardize and coordinate its information system and business processes. While not fully realized company-wide, Nestle is working on extending its enterprise systems to all of its facilities to make its 500 facilities act as a single-minded e-business. Once this project is completed Nestle will able to use sales information from retailers on a global basis to measure the effectiveness of its promotional activities and reduce overstocking and spoilage caused by having products sit around too long on grocery shelves. The experience of Nestle USA illustrates some of the challenges Nestle had to face in implementing enterprise systems. In 1991, Nestle USA reorganized itself and brought together the disparate rands under one umbrella with ultimate control to the parent. However, the Nestle division headquarters were still dispersed, and each division was still free to make its own business decisions, with all reporting to Nestle headquarters in Glendale, California. The arrival of Jeri Dunn in 1997 as vice president and CIO of the American company sparked chan ge. Dunn had been familiar with Nestle due to her prior association with the company, for in 1991, as associate director for application systems at Nestle-owned Stouffers Hotels, she was sent to Switzerland to attend meetings whose intentions were to establish a common methodology. Later, in 1995, Dunn was promoted to assistant vice president of technology and standards for Nestle SA, and it is during that point in her career when she fully grasped the unequivocal value of establishing common systems for Nestle worldwide. Embarking on such a wholesale change would facilitate group buying which would reduce overall costs. In June 2000, Nestle SA contracted with SAP to purchase and roll out the new version of their software: mySAP. com. The new system standardized the companys information systems and business processes, and extended SAPs enterprise software to the Web. In addition, the new system allowed each Nestle employee to log on to a personal web computing space tailored to his job function. The employees job is structured to conform to the best practices defined by SAP for 300 work roles. Nestle has created up to five computer centers around the world to run mySAP. com enterprise financial, accounts payable, accounts receivable, planning, production management, supply chain management, and business intelligence software. The SAP contract would cost $200 million, which was the largest software purchase in ERP history at the time, plus an additional $80 million for installing the software system for the global company. The Implementation Processes: Main Difficulties The major problem that Nestle faced in the United States was that both the CEO and most of the key stakeholders failed to realize how much change they had effected with the SAP contract. Their business processes would change and problems mounted atop previous resolutions. The problem began during the early planning stage of the project when the staff that would be irectly affected by changes was not included in the key stakeholders team. By the beginning of 2000 it was obvious that no one wanted to engage the new processes, and that there was resistance to change. There was no preparation or education on the new processes, and the only hope was to call the project help desk. There was frustration at every level and ultimately no one wanted to take the necessary steps to learn. Turnover among the employees who were to use the Manugistics software to forecast product demand reached 77 percent, while those who stayed found it easier to use their familiar spreadsheets. The project was halted in June 2000 as Nestle removed the project co-leader leaving Dunn as the sole project leader. Results To resolve their problems, the team focused on the technology aspect and decided to start anew by first determining the business requirements and then a new completion date. The focus was to integrate the existing components and to complete the work on the sales and distribution modules. It was all agreed upon that all employees will be briefed as to what, why, when and how during each step of the new plan of action. The project team created a detailed design and project road map by April 2001. Nestle named Tom James director of process change, giving him complete responsibility for liaison between the divisions and the Best project. The team even took surveys of the effect of the project on employees and looked for ways to better tackle the issues raised. In addition, more meetings were held with division heads and as a result of the information gathered in this way, James and Dunn determined the manufacturing users were not suited for the forecasted changes and delayed the project an additional six months. The new project seems to be a boon as all of Nestle USA are using the same software and standardized data. The company had already saved $325 million by spring 2002 and Nestle’s global organization benefitted from standardizing its data and business processes as well. By the end of 2004, about ten percent of Nestle’s global food and beverage business was operating with standard processes, data and systems. Within the next few years most of the companys food and beverage business will undergo system implementations to bring them up to these standards. 3. The ERP Market ERP software companies are part of an extremely competitive and complex market; therefore, constant change and improvements are vital in order to remain competitive. After two decades, the raison d’etre of successful ERP software companies have been: 1) Meet and exceed consumer demands and expectations; 2) Invent and enact new technologies; 3) Customer Support; and 5) Remain competitive. The Top Five The five largest ERP software companies are, in no particular order: (1) Oracle (2) SAP (3) Microsoft (4) Infor and (5) Epicor. Oracle is considered one of the biggest and priciest ERP companies and is well-known for its database and hardware solutions. Its solutions are recognized for their great flexibility coupled with the newest technologies as they claim to have the number one share of the CRM market, while holding the number two share of the ERP market. These solutions offer a variety of tasks related to financial management, Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). SAP currently has the number one share of the ERP market with customers worldwide in over one hundred countries. They also have CRM solutions and SCM solutions esteemed in high quality, which allows SAP to charge prices at the top end of the market. Their solutions cover a myriad of industries, which was once astutely focused on Fortune 500 companies. Recently, however, SAP has begun to design their solutions packages to fit mid-sized and smaller companies. Microsoft Corp. is better known for its Windows OS but is surprisingly a â€Å"normal† player in the ERP market. It has, however, like many of its successful counterparts, managed to acquire smaller ERP companies in order to boost its offerings to customers and has traditionally catered to mid-sized and small companies. Its prices range from the moderately to low-priced end of the ERP market. Infor is an ERP company with over 70,000 customers in 100 countries offering a bevy of ERP solutions over a broad range of industries. It is considered the third biggest player of the ERP software companies. Infor has products that encompass the public and private sector, CRM, ERP, finances and expenses, HR functions, SCM, and performance management but essentially competes with Microsoft in the moderately to low-priced product range. Epicor, with 20,000 customers in over 150 countries, has had a long and rich history of quality products. Its primary focus is ERP software and retail software as over 400 of the world’s leading retailers use Epicor’s solutions. It should be noted that Epicor has recently acquired several smaller companies, indicating that it is still in a growth stage. They are also well-known for their moderate to low-priced products as well as excellent after sales support. Market Trends to Watch Tired legacy code-bases and disastrous implementation projects have become standard in the discussion of the ERP software landscape, which suggests that these issues are here to stay. Recent growth has accelerated in the market, which has allowed for a few predictions for 2011. ERP vendors are faced with the reality that cloud-based computing solutions for CRM, HR and other functional areas are gaining market share. As a result, it is suggested that many ERP prospects will ask why they, too, are not able to employ a cloud-based platform. The current technologies for cloud-based ERP are PaaS (Platform as a Service) and BPM (Business Process Management), which are able to facilitate the extension and customization of cloud software. Maintenance of ERP systems is big business, as evidenced by SAP’s large dependency on this type of revenue. However, in light of the $1. 3 billion Oracle verdict in its corporate-theft suit against SAP, third-party maintenance will slow as the litigation process unfolds. As a result, ERP vendors should be forewarned of the impending reduction in maintenance spending. As is the case, with most new technologies, the ERP market will inevitably venture into social media. Social-themed ERP products will present a wealth of opportunities for vendors to capitalize on real-time information, group collaboration and sharing. The research firm, Gartner, released numbers suggesting that 14. 9 percent more will be spent on enterprise social software in 2010 in comparison to 2009. It is suggested that the figure will jump to 15. 7 percent in 2011 to approximately $769. 2 million. As intimated, acquisition of smaller companies has been the modus operandi of the top ERP market vendors. Infor’s current status was achieved through acquisitions and will not stop in 2011, as it is now led by Charles Phillips, who was pivotal in Oracle’s acquisitions in the last decade. It has been suggested that Lawson Software (LWSN) will be Infor’s latest acquisition target, and that SAP may delve into social media. 4. Case Study Analysis While Volkswagen and Nestle come from very different industries, the former being the automobile industry and the latter being the food and beverage industry, the challenges faced by them both with regards to business processes were very similar. Both are global conglomerates with several subsidiaries. Issues such as cost, inefficiencies and centralized management plagued both companies which ultimately lead them to both utilize ERP systems. Using Porter’s five force model, it is clear that using ERP to better their systems would assist Volkswagen and Nestle in thwarting the main five threats to their individual industries. Direct Competition Both companies have several competitors in their respective industries that were likely operating at better efficiencies. Volkswagen has to compete with the top American brands like Ford and General Motors and Japanese brands like Honda and Toyota, which are known in the industry for their efficient assembly lines and advanced business processes. Volkswagen lagged behind, to some extent when it came to end-to-end cycle of business processes. Nestle also has strong competitors in the likes of PepsiCo and Cadbury that are far reaching global companies. However, unlike the auto industry, Nestle might be in a strong position compared to its competitors or at the least in the same position regarding business process efficiencies. The food and beverage industry in general is known for its lack of sophistication in operations when compared to the auto industry. Nestle might actually be in a position to be leader in its industries if it can withstand the costs of ERP implementation and make use of this application in centralizing its operations on a global scale. New Market Entrants Volkswagen and Nestle are both top companies in their industries, especially Nestle which is the largest food and beverage company in the world. The threat of new market entrants into the industry is minimal due to the command these two companies have over their respective industries. However, a lack of ERP presence could lead both companies to fall behind their competitors. Lack of efficiencies and resource planning could cut profits and could allow other companies in both industries to assume leading positions over Nestle and Volkswagen. Substitute products and services Both companies’ main needs were centralized planning, which is a natural need since they are both globally based and operate across many continents. ERP systems would help in better managing their procurement and process planning in order to get products to the customer in an efficient manner. While there is no threat of alternative products or services that could arise due to the lack of ERP, there is a the strong possibility that certain subsidiaries that were operating efficiently already, would create their own individual processes, thus resulting in the mushrooming of several mini-business units, with no cohesiveness. This was already a problem at Nestle; where (as mentioned in the case section) Nestle USA was paying 29 different prices to the same vendor for vanilla. If ERP is not implemented, the companies risk uncontrolled growth of their subsidiaries which is detrimental from a global perspective when unified growth is imperative for success. Suppliers Suppliers stand to gain the most when ERP is absent. As in the Nestle example above, the same supplier received 29 different prices for the same product from the same customer. Such mistakes can add up to large losses for companies. In addition, bad ERP could also cause suppliers to terminate their relationship with companies as such inefficiencies on a company’s part could also cause large losses to its vendors. Customers From a customer standpoint, proper ERP implementation is extremely important. As noted in the Volkswagen case, ERP was improperly operated resulting in a back-log of customer parts orders. In all industries, servicing the customer is vital. Causing errors or bad enterprise resource planning could damage customer relations that could ultimately result in losses for the company. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) surround any important decision made in the business world. SWOT analysis on both cases reveal that ERP ultimately is a very important piece in managing operations, as both company operate on such a large global scale. Strengths Proper ERP planning has great strengths. It leads to greater efficiencies, better production, greater employee satisfaction, increased supplier and customer satisfaction, and most of all could lead to substantial firm profits. Weaknesses As seen in both case, lack of proper ERP can be a great risk to costs and customer relationships. In addition, implementing ERP alone is not enough. Managers need to have good foresight. Employees need to be trained appropriately. The ERP systems need to be built with intelligent design so that one small glitch doesn’t lead to a domino effect or magnified problems causing disruption in processes that the ERP was meant to aid in, in the first place. Opportunities ERP allows for great business opportunities. Not only can a firm create efficiencies for its own business model, it can emerge as a leader in its industry, setting benchmarks for its competitors and partners. Innovative ERP can also set benchmarks in areas outside a company’s own industry. Threats While the opportunities are encouraging, the threats are many. Improper use of ERP can cause great damage to processes and incur high costs, ultimately lowering revenue. Bad ERP can also lead to customer dissatisfaction, which is highly cherished in both the automobile as well as the food and beverage industries. As discussed before, both Nestle and Volkswagen are international companies operating on a global scale. It is very easy for such companies to fall into operational traps where different subsidiaries in different countries operate on different scales as well as different management cultures. It is not uncommon for some subsidiaries to embrace high operational standards, while other might prefer a more traditional approach. Such inconsistencies can be difficult to control, which ultimately could affect the bottom line for firms. Proper ERP can aid in creating the operational processes of a global firm to run more smoothly and efficiently so that the company can focus on its main business – innovating ideas for building its core business. References Cruz, Amy, â€Å"ERP Software Companies – Five of the Biggest Players You Should Know,† May 30, 2011, erp. com/section-layout/337-erp-software/10076-erp-software-companies-five-of-the-biggest-players-you-should-know. html May 30, 2011 Editorial Staff Report: â€Å"ERP Implementations Take Longer, Cost More and Yield Less Satisfaction than Expected. † January 2011. sdcexec. com/web/online/IntegrationERP-News/ReportERP-Implementations-Take-LongerCost-More-and-Yield-Less-Satisfaction-than-Expected/35$10956 May 30, 2011 Kamath, John-Paul, â€Å"Volkswagen gives IT staff bigger say in ERP system. June 2007. computerweekly. com/Articles/2007/06/18/224849/Volkswagen-gives-IT-staff-bigger-say-in-ERP-system. htm May 30, 2011 Kanaracas, Kris, â€Å"Top ERP Predictions for 2011. † December 21, 2010. cio. com/article/648524/Top_ERP_Predictions_for_2011? page=1taxonomyId=3000 March 30, 2011. â€Å"Nestle Struggles with Enterprise Systems. † http: //wps. prenhall. com/bp_laudon_mis_9/32/8212/2102272. cw/content/index. html May 30, 2011 Stedman, Craig, â€Å"ERP Problems Put Problems on Volkswagen Parts Shipments. † January 2000. schirtzinger. com/pdf/ERP_at_Volkswagen. pdf Volkel, Frank, â€Å"Processes Keep the Auto Industry Rolling. † December 2009. http://en. sap. info/processes-keep-the-auto-industry-rolling/18079 World Ranking of Manufacturers year 2009. OICA. 2010-07-27. http://oica. net/wp-content/uploads/ranking-2009. pdf. 2011-05-16. [ 1 ]. World Ranking of manufacturers year 2009. † OICA. 2010-07-27. http://oica. net/wp-content/uploads/ranking-2009. pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-20. [ 2 ]. Stedman, Craig, â€Å" ERP Problems Put Problems on Volkswagen Parts Shipments. † January 2000. schirtzinger. com/pdf/ERP_at_Volkswagen. pdf [ 3 ]. Kamath, John-Paul, â€Å"Volkswagen gives IT staff bigger say in ERP system. † June 2007 computerweekly. com/Articles/2007/06/18/224849/Volkswagen-gives-IT-staff-bigger-say-in-ERP-system. htm [ 4 ]. Volkel, Frank, â€Å"Processes Keep the Auto Industry Rolling. † December 2009. http://en. sap. info/processes-keep-the-auto-industry-rolling/18079 [ 5 ]. Ibid. [ 6 ]. Ibid. [ 7 ]. Ibid. [ 8 ]. Stedman, Craig, â€Å" ERP Problems Put Problems on Volkswagen Parts Shipments. † January 2000. schirtzinger. com/pdf/ERP_at_Volkswagen. pdf [ 9 ]. Ibid. [ 10 ]. Kamath, John-Paul, â€Å"Volkswagen gives IT staff bigger say in ERP system. June 2007. computerweekly. com/Articles/2007/06/18/224849/Volkswagen-gives-IT-staff-bigger-say-in-ERP-system. htm [ 11 ]. Editorial Staff Report: â€Å"ERP Implementations Take Longer, Cost More and Yield Less Satisfaction than Expected. † January 2011. sdcexec. com/web/online/IntegrationERP-News/ReportERP-Implementations-Take-Long erCost-More-and-Yield-Less-Satisfaction-than-Expected/35$10956 [ 12 ]. â€Å"Nestle Struggles with Enterprise Systems. † http://wps. prenhall. com/bp_laudon_mis_9/32/8212/2102272. cw/content/index. html May 30, 2011 [ 13 ]. Ibid. [ 14 ]. Ibid. [ 15 ]. Ibid. 16 ]. Ibid. [ 17 ]. Ibid. [ 18 ]. Ibid. [ 19 ]. Ibid. [ 20 ]. Ibid. [ 21 ]. Cruz, Amy, â€Å"ERP Software Companies – Five of the Biggest Players You Should Know,† May 30, 2011, erp. com/section-layout/337-erp-software/10076-erp-software-companies-five-of-the-biggest-players-you-should-know. html. [ 22 ]. Ibid. [ 23 ]. Ibid. [ 24 ]. Ibid. [ 25 ]. Ibid. [ 26 ]. Ibid. [ 27 ]. Kanaracas, Kris, â€Å"Top ERP Predictions for 2011. † December 21, 2010. cio. com/article/648524/Top_ERP_Predictions_for_2011? page=1taxonomyId=3000 March 30, 2011. [ 28 ]. Ibid. [ 29 ]. Ibid. [ 30 ]. Ibid. [ 31 ]. Ibid.