Monday, September 30, 2019

Case Study Disneyland Resort Paris

1) The Disney resorts and parks were aiming for a market that focused on creating images, experiences and products to customers that emphasized fun, imagination and service. It aimed to provide a place where customers could escape the cares of the real world through the â€Å"magic† of legendary fairytale and familiar Disney characters. The market targeted families and children and the company had already built a popular brand that was associated with wholesome family entertainment. 2) Was Disney's choice of the Paris site a mistake? Yes, the choice of the Paris site was a mistake because the lifestyle, culture and ideas of Paris were very different from the culture of the Americans which caused many of the people of Paris to be in opposition with one critic referring to it as â€Å"a horror made of cardboard, plastic, and appalling colors†¦ taken straight out of comic book written for obese Americans†. The site initially seemed ideal because of the location could provide access to millions of people. Paris was a highly attractive destination and Europeans generally take more vacation time than Americans. Disney however did not anticipate the backlash they faced due to significant cultural differences such as eating behaviors were different, French visitors were highly intolerant of long lines, Disney's grooming standards for employees were deemed too strict and excessive by the French and were met with protest and the area that Disneyland Paris was built did not have sufficient housing for employees which caused Disney to have to build its own apartments and rent rooms in local homes. 3) What aspects of their parks design did Disney change when it constructed Euro Disney? Disney changed certain aspects of their designs such as having both their rides and hotel designs to emphasize the â€Å"wild west† theme which research showed was a view most Europeans had of America. They also gave the park a flavor that stressed European heritage of many Disney character, Snow white and her dwarfs were located in a Bavarian village. Cinderella was located in a French inn. Euro Disney also introduced more variety into its restaurants and snack bars, features foods from around the world. 4) What did Disney not change when it constructed Euro Disney? Disney did not change its principles of safety, courtesy , show and efficiency. Employees were trained in their strict service standards. They also did not change their grooming requirements that insisted on a â€Å"neat dress code†, a ban on facial hair and an insistence on appropriate undergarments even though the dress code was in opposition of the French. They also did not change their policy of all Disney parks being alcohol free which was very unpopular with French visitors who liked to have a glass of wine or beer with their food. 5) What were Disney's main mistakes from the conception of the Paris resort through to 2006? Some of Disney's main mistakes were that they underestimated the significant impact of cultural differences would have on the success of their park, inadequate accommodation available for their staff. They had a hectic pace of work and long hours which the staff was not used too, and the conditions were chaotic when the park opened. They also did not anticipate the lackadaisical attitude of some of the cast members. Poor planning and inadequate research before constructing the park also lead to the park being on the verge of bankruptcy which also caused a decline in visitors due to the negative publicity.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

According to Raymond Vernon theory Essay

According to Raymond Vernon theory (Product life theory) and the examples of the developing countries performance in the international market that where shown. These nations permit the increase of foreign firms in their market who take a huge portion of the national firms market, as a result, of their poor competitive skills to preserve their customers.  Moreover, national firms tend to participate in international markets at a moment where they are all ready saturated, for that reason it is difficult to profit from it. Under these circumstances, it is relevant to developing countries to be able to innovate (product and service) and to recognize new potential markets where they can profit. In that order, developing nations should consider what they have, in order to determine what they should produce. The theory of comparative advantage states that â€Å"a country should produce and export those goods and service for which is relatively more productive than are other countries, and import those goods and service for which other countries are relatively more productive than it is†. (Mahoney, Trigg, Griffin & Putstay, 2001, p. 102) Under this theory, a country should produce those goods and services that it is able to produce relatively well, and buy other goods and services from those countries that can produce them relatively well. According to these facts, the country may specialize in specific goods and services taking into account international standards of productivity and quality.  However, this is not the only issue that developing countries governments should take into account if they want to solve the economic (devaluation, current account deficit, foreign debt), social (unemployment, income equality), political and environmental problems that the economic growth process may cause. In addition, they have to add value to the resources they have, creating a competitive advantage (Doryan, 1993, p.451), that help them in sustainable growth.  As previously stated, the export expansion would help economic growth, and if a country is able to create a competitive advantage that would help them to get an important position in the global market. Under these conditions, they can avoid problems such as devaluation, foreign debt, unemployment, income and equality, political instability and environmental problems. According to Porter’s theory, governments must ensure the development of four elements in order to get the nations continued competitiveness, they are:  Ã‚  Productivity: Governments should veal for the industry efficiency creating a macroeconomic and financial dynamism, adequate infrastructure and a competitive domestic market with the participation of international firms. Socio-political Stability: It is necessary to build an environment that allow freedom of expression, human rights and were exist a confidence toward the judiciary system and the government, and good living standards. (Doryan, 1993, p.453)  Human resources: â€Å"The human factor may ultimately come to represent the new competitive edge for the global corporation, more than physical and other resources† (Kedia & Mukherji, 1999, p.235). Government should be conscious of the important of human resources, for that reason it is important to create accessible educational and training opportunities. Environmental Conditions: In order to obtain Environmental sustainability governments should control the adequate management of natural resources, establish rules and procedures to control waste and pollution, and create a social consciousness of the importance of environmental conservation at firms and citizens levels.  Furthermore, Porter states that in order to obtain economic growth through great international trade, the government should be able to promote the creation of international clusters. For example, this is what Mexico is doing by linking with the United States. This is a situation, where Mexico can obtain many benefits in the growth of import and export. In addition, this country can gain access to their technology and human resources and incorporate them into their own country in order to maintain its economic growth and development and internationally competitive strength. (mirar bibliografia mexico) Reference List Aybar & Milman, (1999), † Globalization, emerging market economies and the currency crisis in Asia: Implications on Economic Reform and Development. Multinational Business Review. Vol.7, No. 2. pp. 37-44.  Balassa, B. (1998), â€Å"The Lesson of East Asian Development: An Overview†, The University of Chicago, pp.273-289  Doryan, Eduardo. (1993), † An Institutional Perspective of Competitiveness and Industrial Restructuring Policies in Developing Countries†, Journal of Economics Issues, Vol.28, No. 2. pp. 451-457.  El Pais (2001), Dossier Documental,  www.elpais.es

Saturday, September 28, 2019

MSAT Compare and contrast three old testament kings Essay

MSAT Compare and contrast three old testament kings - Essay Example The first king of the united kingdom of Israel was Saul. Saul was born in 1079 BC, at Gibeah in Judah (History of Israel Kings, n.p). He was a farmer from the tribe of Benjamin, and was not expecting to be king of Israel because he was a Benjamite, the least tribe of Israel, and his family was the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin (1Samuel 9:20). Saul was a tall handsome young man (1Samuel 9:2). He was appointed the king of Israel when the Israelites demanded for a human whom they could physically approach and relate to (1Samuel 8:5, JKV). Saul reigned in the period between 1050-1010. David on the other hand was a heard boy from the tribe of Judah the Judah; David was born at Bethlehem in Judah. David was born in the year 1040, when Saul was the king of the united kingdom of Israel (History of Israel Kings, n.p). Just like Saul, David was not expecting to be the king of Israel because he was a little boy, and Saul was still in power as the king of Israel; David was t he youngest of the eight sons of Jesse and he was handsome (1Samuel 16:11-12). King David ruled Israel between 1010-1002. Un like King Saul and King David, King Solomon was raised in a royal environment and he was a prince; King Solomon was the son of King David (1 Kings 2:12). King Solomon therefore was destined to be king of Israel unlike Saul and David. But just like King Saul and King David, King Solomon was from Judah, he was born at Jerusalem in Judah. Solomon reined Israel between the years 970 -931 BC (History of Israel Kings, n.p). Having analyzed the historical background and the beginnings of kings Saul, King David and King Solomon, let us now look at how these three kings of the united monarchy of Israel were loyal and faithful to God. When Saul was appointed the king of Israel, he was loyal to God and God had destined him to liberate the Israelites from their enemies, the philistines (1Samuel 9:15,

Friday, September 27, 2019

Our Town Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Our Town - Essay Example The organizing of acts around the stages of life and reality brings out this theme. This paper primarily focuses on describing how the theme of how humankind does not appreciate the present is brought out in the play. The first act, of the play, depicts the everyday life of people living in a fictional small town, in New Hampshire. Normal people, their daily routines, family relationships and times of growing up, characterize the act. It depicts Gibbs and Webb’s childhood experiences, and how they grown in the same town and became neighbours. The narrator gives a vivid description of the town, houses and people living there, by saying, â€Å"We all know that something is eternal. And it is not houses and it is not names, and it is not earth, and it is not even the stars† (Wilder 15). He further says, â€Å"Everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you would be surprised how people are always losing hold of it† (Wilder 15). This excerpt describes how the narrator of the play gives a clear picture of the theme that even the many years, Mother Nature is still eternal, but human perception of it will never change. Wilder, in another quote, says â€Å"do any human beings ever realise life while they live it?†(Wilder 23), which also describes the main theme of the play.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Inquiry 1 creative nonfiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inquiry 1 creative nonfiction - Essay Example fellow classmates at school due to an unfortunate birthmark appearing on her forehead while at home, she receives less support from her kleptomaniac and alcoholic mother together with her absentee father. Her only sources of comfort and refuge comes from her pet rooster coupled by her favorite meals which us sweetened condensed milk. She prefers ti watch a murfs-like cartoon show known as The Noblets. One day as they had gone to the post office with her mother, Mary stumbles across a New York City telephone book and her curiosity drives her into wanting to know more about the Americans. She decides to write to one of the addresses in the book in a bid to establish more facts about the Americans. She randomly chooses Max Jerry Horowitz and proceeds to write him a letter with a hope that they would become pen friends. The letter is well received by Max who is a 44 year old Jewish atheist and he decides to reply back to Mary owing to the fact that they have some shared interests. This leads into the two becoming very good friends which does not go well with Mary’s mother. Max becomes extremely anxious at the point collapse when Mary asked him about love. Upon his release from the hospital, he hesitates to write back to Mary for a long period of time. As a result Mary becomes despondent thinking that Max had completely forgotten about her. There are a number of themes that have been highlighted by the movie upon close examination. Some of the major themes include neglect that is evident by the manner in which Mary is being treated by her parents. They are less concerned about her and do not care about her happiness neither do they seek to understand their only daughter. I think the producers of the film wanted to offer some life lessons to parents all over the world to watch out on how they are playing their roles as parents. This is a wakeup call to all parents to develop an understanding of their children. The theme of depression is made evident in the film in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Company Strategy and Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company Strategy and Structure - Essay Example In a recent report cited by the Wall Street Journal, sales of Macintosh compatible computers to businesses have risen significantly since November. [Berry] By one account, there has been more than a 40% increase from November to January in the Mac-compatible market share among business-oriented personal computer buyers. Bolstering the Mac-compatible position in the business market are the new machines recently released by Apple. The Power Book 3400 is the worlds fastest laptop computer. There is also the new series of Power Macintosh computers, including the 9600, which runs as fast as 233 MHz. Recent surveys indicate that the Mac OS has over 50% of the market for Web authoring and CD-ROM content creation. Apples new line of computers is ideally suited for the demands of power users, such as high-end designers and Web authors who work with graphics, digital movies and sound. In addition to offering new products, Apple continues to revise its own management and structure. In order to become more efficient and nimble, additional corporate changes are necessary. Over the past year, Apple has seen a growth in the overall Mac OS market. The decline in its own sales can be directly attributed to the success of the Macintosh clone makers. Apple can take advantage of the clone makers success by reducing the number of models it produces, focusing its marketing on high-end users and focusing hardware development on better-equipped, higher margin products. Clone makers have become a significant factor in Apples rebirth. By competing for buyers in markets where Apple has had difficulty, clone makers allow Apple to reduce the number of models it manufactures (and its costs) because it no longer needs to "carry" the entire Mac OS market. As Apple reduces its presence in a particular market, clone makers can compete more with Wintel machines than with Apples products. As a result, Apple may choose to raise the licensing fee paid by the clone makers on each unit sold when

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Critically examine the media regulation in Russia Assignment

Critically examine the media regulation in Russia - Assignment Example Russian print media was faced with extreme volatility during the first fifteen years of Russian independence. Owners of the print media were forced to withdraw from their ownership to the government. They faced huge aggression by the Russian government and other political bodies for unknown reason. According to estimation by National Association of TV and Broadcasters, there is an estimated amount of 2168 TV in Russia along with other radio companies (Compulenta, 2009). On the other hand, 161 have a TV and radio license with 799 TV companies and approximately there are 888 radio stations. Similarly, the number of cable operators running in the country is estimated to be 1,511 nationwide (Compulenta, 2009). Media Regulations: Russian media is controlled through strict regulations and control. Russian media does not enjoy a free state in running its operations. Russian media is run under three major laws: the law enforced on mass media during 1991, the law imposed on communication duri ng 2003 and the law on Information Technologies with respect to Protection of Information and Information in 2006. The Law on Mass Media is the only law which has been updated and changed constantly. It was last updated in 2009 (Compulenta, 2009). There are some other federal laws as well which are imposed on other media activities. These laws have defined that how would media project the state government and the political parties nationwide. Russian media is a controlled media with limited freedom given to them. However, at the same time, Russian media is prohibited to project anything that depicts terrorism, violence or nudity in any case. Media is given restricted limits to cover any anti-terrorist operations, if occur. Accountability Systems: During the year 1994, the Congress of Russian Journalist outlined and approved a specific Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics defined the same laws and implications which were adopted by the press media all around the world. It was been argu ed that the Code of Ethics are least practiced or respected by the Journalists. It is just the formality that they have fulfilled by outlining a law. Also, these laws state the moral responsibilities and duties of a journalist in a very comprehensive manner. It has also been seen that state-owned or privately-owned media and print outlets are somehow influenced and, they are obligated to answer for their projections either to any federal body or to any local authority. Russian Media: An Analysis: Russian media is under continuous change. Different regulations on Information have been imposed. More recently, the current government of Putin has reinforced new impositions on Information and Communication by equally tightening the Internet and other news agencies (Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1075556.html). It has been observed that internet is the only media which is free of any regulation and to some extent; we can call it a â€Å"free-media†. The freedom of spe ech and expression has gained popularity in the Russian masses. Despite the concerns raised by the Putin and his government, authorities have implicated no restrictions against this form of media. However, Putin has raised concerns that authorities should keep a regular check on the information being displayed on the internet. We cannot undermine the control as maintained by the government on the digital and print media. It is believed by the authorities that if country

Monday, September 23, 2019

Impact of the proposed smoking ban on the restaurant trade Essay

Impact of the proposed smoking ban on the restaurant trade - Essay Example The strongest opponents of restrictions on smoking in public places have been bar and restaurant owners. Many restaurant and bar employees claim that say they've lost customers. Despite such opposition, some recent state legislation and local ordinances have banned smoking in restaurants and required strict ventilation systems in bars. These laws represent a key test in the continued expansion of clean indoor air laws and policies, and remain highly contentious; we treat them separately in this section. (Robert L. Rabin, Stephen D. Sugarman, 2001: 230) However, Studies examining implementation show that the law had little impact on the dining out patterns of consumers, did not result in job losses for the city's restaurant industry, resulted in high rates of compliance, and did not have a detrimental effect on business. (Robert L. Rabin, Stephen D. Sugarman, 2001: 230) The initial studies of smoking bans in restaurants suggest that there are no economic upheavals when smoking is banned in public places. Summarizing the existing data, Glantz (1999) notes convincingly those studies of sales tax data from 81 localities in six states (67 of which are entirely smoke-free) demonstrate that ordinances restricting smoking in restaurants have no adverse effect on revenues. In an important and related finding, Glantz and Charlesworth (1999) extend Glantz's previous work to consider the effects of restaurant smoking bans on tourism, which the tobacco industry has used as another argument against smoking bans.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Italian renaissance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Italian renaissance - Research Paper Example Chronology accounts that the renaissance marked a drastic change in the society since artists, rulers, and other groups of elites intensified their activities towards improvement of the existing novices in different fields. Notably, Leonardo Da Vinci presumed an abundant role in propulsion of the renaissance activities since his works affected various disciplines that included art and painting, architecture, science, and engineering (Fisher, 2006). The following discussion shall evaluate Leonardo’s influence in the disciplines of history, art, and architecture in the ancient Italian society, and the prevalent influenced that activities continue to decipher in the modern society. Leonardo’s activities harness him to global recognition. History cites that 1452 was Da Vinci’s year of birth at an Italian city called Vinci. This intelligent artist concentrated on matters that influenced the entire world. Debatably, he had a passion to nature and science, factors that extensively influenced his artwork (Riding, 2006). The Italian renaissance period would not have been a success in the absence of artists such as Leonardo holding to the fact that he was the first person to paint a picture that bore a landscape (Pernis & Adams, 2006). This approach influenced a major change in artistic painting since all his predecessors started incorporating landscapes and shadows in their pieces of art. History indicates that his artwork bore abundance in delivering the desired perspective in each image. Through his paintings on Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Flying Machine, Da Vinci was able to create knowledgeable to the human society such that his predecessors were able to contemplate how the world would be with a set of realism in the various aspects employed in the paintings (Austen, 2006). Further, Leonardo was able to influence his successors’ artistic designs including those of Ambrogio Lorenzetti who embarked in the profession and

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Love is Love and Nothing Less Essay Example for Free

Love is Love and Nothing Less Essay In reflecting on my life as a child, adolescent, and adult, I have experienced love and lack of love on many occasions in the relationships I’ve experienced with others. To me, love is something that is present or is not present and cannot be split into various differing forms. I have never met the perfect, most ideal person who has loved me unconditionally, unendingly, and without interruption. The closest I’ve come to the ideal love has been through my religion, my spirituality, in my faithful relationship with God and Jesus Christ. However, even in this relationship, I have had my doubts, even if Jesus Christ, God, has never had them, so in this case as well, love has been interrupted. However, many of my relationships have incorporated loving actions, and it saddens me to recall the situations when love has been absent and hatred has crept into its place. Robert Sternberg has an interesting theory in regard to his attempt to separate out love and dissect it into varying forms, however, it is obvious that he often misses the mark in regard to what love means. The two categories which I consider to be rational evaluations of the presence or lack of presence of love are Sternberg’s two categories of nonlove and consummate love. To me, it’s always either one or the other, and one cannot assume to have a portion of love but not really, as if love has a grey area. In assuming that love has a grey or midrange area, one has to admit believing that badness mixes with good or that right and wrong are somehow united in a mesh of reality, however, in my opinion, good and good and bad is bad, wrong and right are separate, and ethics has to assume a position in regard to defining a loving way of being or loving action. Sternberg assumes that liking someone is only intimacy, devoid of passion and commitment, and in my opinion, this is illogical, as many loving relations with other people who I’ve considered friends or strangers, people who I’ve liked, have contained passion and commitment as well. Loving actions are filled with many aspects, and liking a person includes love, passion, commitment, respect, kindness, and many other values. To like someone most certainly includes having passion and commitment towards this other person. If we as a community and culture don’t have passion, commitment, and intimacy towards all members, then something is surely going wrong. Perhaps Sternberg is trying to imply that relationships with one’s spouse or family members are in some ways different from other relationships? If this is so, then he should focus on the unique attributes of playing the role of wife, son, father, or friend, and not focus on attempting to separate love into differing categories. The way one loves a person may vary, but love itself is constant. The idea that infatuation, fatuousness, or emptiness has anything to do with love is also unreasonable. How can love itself incorporate anything negative? Obsession, falsity, and voidance are certainly not aspects of love, passion, intimacy, or commitment. Has there ever been a time when being loving and kind to another person has incorporated elements of negativity? In and of itself, love is positive. It raises people up and makes them feel wonderful. In Sternberg’s attempt to triangulate love into three arenas, intimacy, passion, and commitment, he attempts to inject love with a poison of hatred or malevolence. If love is always good natured and good acting, then love cannot be split apart. People may, at times, at many times, cease to treat one another lovingly, cease to demonstrate the goods of intimacy, passion, and commitment, but that is simply the fault of the person and not an aspect of love itself. It is refreshing that Sternberg categorizes some of his love categories positively and not negatively, such as liking, romantic, companionate, and consummate, however this does not adequately explain or do justice to the fact that his other four supposed categories of love, nonlove, infatuated, empty, and fatuous are negatively termed. In my opinion, nonloving, infatuated, empty, and fatuous ways of behaving are part of hatred or evil and absent of love. If love is the right action in the right time and place with the right person, then love is fully good and absent of any mistakes. When Sternberg attempts to justify a divorce by claiming that the reason for the divorce is that one or both of the partners were loving one another, just loving one another differently, then he has certainly fallen prone to bad logic (Sternberg, 331). A divorce or a split is never caused by love, but rather by hateful or wrong actions by one person against another. It may be difficult to voice and communicate these wrong actions, however, a split, a lack of love, cannot be caused by love itself, but rather only by its absence. Although love shown towards one person or another may by expressed differently from one situation and person to the next, love itself is never aversive, yet rather uniting. The only culprit of divorce is the person behaving in nonloving ways. Sandelands very adequately states that the business of business is the human person. Everything that people do, everything that people were created by God to do, involves the spirit of the human person. Anyone believing that actions are just actions, that business is just business, devoid of the human person, has lost touch with the meaning of the high moral element of right action (93). In my own life, there have certainly been times when I acted in unloving ways towards other people, when I was empty of goodwill, false in my intentions. I remember lying to my mother, hurting my sisters, screaming at my father. My past boyfriends were often disgusted by my lack of fidelity. My daughter and husband are equally reviled by my bad manners when I overeat or eat sloppily. However, I also thankfully know that I have exuded love towards others. My father, mother, and sisters enjoyed it when I created a restaurant at home and cooked for everyone. My past boyfriends were often amused by my sense of humor in playfully lightening the moment. The caresses and kind words I offer to my husband and daughter are filled with benevolence, peace, and goodwill. It is in the interests of the whole of society to recognize that â€Å"caring as a virtue and an act of ethics is †¦ a natural †¦ point of view inseparably related to love as a universal †¦ value† (Arman Rehnfeldt, 4). When a person decides to love another person, any other person, then one consciously decides to do well towards another person and to not do badly toward another person. The sense that there is any type of human inaction proves false the fact that the universe is in constant motion. Every act or ceasing to act is directly related to cause and effect and can be categorized as fruitful or harmful. Although my mother may believe that being silent towards me is effectively loving and appropriate, I may believe that she does not love me. However, if I change my point of view and see that she is simply being silent and loving me by doing so, we come into agreement with one another and I cease to be negatively resistant to her goodwill. Also, if I loudly kiss my husband and he believes that I’m being sarcastic or hateful towards him, then I may very well be being sarcastic toward him in my actions. However, if I am aiming to love him in my kiss, then he himself is being paranoid for believing that I am not. We human beings are such sensitive creatures and it is often difficult to recognize and show love, however, the clear definition of love as a positive, ethical, valuable, and universal presence is vital in being able to correctly identify, demonstrate, and evoke loving actions. Erikson, a leader in the study of psychosocial human development, believes that people moving through the stage of young adulthood will pass through a phase of either attaining intimacy with a romantic partner or a friend or failing to achieve intimacy and becoming isolated (Goodman Mukulincer, 396). Although intimacy is important throughout the entire life of a person, perhaps it is good to note that young adulthood is primarily the time when people are selecting romantic partners and mates. Despite the fact that people from about puberty onwards toward death may seek romance with another person, many people on the search for romance are indeed young adults. However, it is very important, as in the case with Sternberg’s theory, not to box people in too much. Erickson’s ideas about intimacy and other issues related to life development are valid and worthy of consideration, but human beings crave and need intimacy from birth until death. Romantic love may be a special kind of love involving sexuality and more physical and deep interaction, reserved for one’s mate and life partner, however, love in general is necessary for every person, from conception until natural death. It would be good for people to open their hearts and minds up to the constancy of love and to make it a personal life goal or a life decision to work on demonstrating true self giving loving acts to everyone around them. Even though love may look different in varying situations between varying people, the underlying genuine goodwill is always there, love as a purposeful gift of positive and uplifting interaction. References Arman, M. Rehnsfeldt, A. (2006). The Presence of Love in Ethical Caring. Nursing Forum 41(1), 4-12. Goodman, G. Mikulincer, M. (2006). Dynamics of romantic love: attachment, caregiving, and sex. Guilford Press. Sandelands, L. (2009). The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition. Journal of Business Ethics 85, 93-101. Sternberg, R. Triangulating Love. The Altruism Reader, 331-333.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Automotive Industry IT Requirements

Automotive Industry IT Requirements Total Cost of Ownership Objective: The objective of this analysis report is to study and analyse the present IT needs of the company and compare the economic benefits obtained when the company shifts to cloud solution as compared to the traditional On Premise IT configuration setup. The company chosen for this analysis is XYZ from the automotive industry. Company Description: XYZ is a global automobile manufacturing company and is a sub division of the Indian company ABCD. The company is known for its luxurious automobiles, buses, motorcycles and trucks. The headquarters of the company is in Dublin, Ireland. The company first gained its reputation back in 1990 and traces its origin to the founders of the company AB and CD. XYZ was first financed by PQR in the initial days. The first automobile launched by XYZ was regarded as the first CNG powered automobile. The slogan for XYZ is Just the best. Since 1998 XYZ is the top growing brand with the growth rate of 20%. Son of AB joined XYZ in 2001 after completing his MBA from a very reputed university in the UK and has been bringing a unique approach to branding and creativity in design ever since, which in turn has helped XYZ in achieving great heights in the respective industry. A Chinese automobile entrepreneur, DEF who worked with a Chinese automobile company created the trademark for XYZ in 1991 and the first automobile by XYZ was named after him which had a power of 30 hp. The first XYZ brand name luxurious vehicle was produced during 1992 with the merger of AB and CD. Throughout the 1990s XYZ produced a car named XYZ 123 which was supposedly the best luxurious car in those days and was used by the Queen of the UK. XYZ 123 was known for its exquisite design and bullet proof windshield. Other similar models were sold to private buyers only at auctions in the initial days. By 1995, the automotive division of XYZ was in financial difficulties because of the internal conflicts among the board of XYZ. It was during this period a shareholder meeting was held to decide whether to find an alternative to the issues or to go into liquidation. It was then decided to carry on, by trying to get funds from the current economy booming cars and it exploited so successfu lly that it also got the rights to manufacture the German car The FGH. After few modifications to the motorcycle engine XYZ started manufacturing mini cars as well. The success of these mini cars was sufficient to get XYZ back on its feet. Today, XYZ is a leading automobile company which also deals with cars in Formula 1. XYZ produces supercars under the XYZ supercar subdivision and motorcycles under the XYZ moto sub-division. The company has got over 20 showrooms in Europe with over 5000 employees. The purpose of the company is to deliver luxurious engineering to its customers. Thus, they make the customers feel better than they ever thought they can be. Customers are the heart of XYZs business and they have made it a point to provide exceptional customer care. Today, about 40% of the shareholder of XYZ is the Gerrard family of UK while the rest is in public float. By 1996, XYZ acquired the JKL company of Italy. JKL was briefly batched with the brand of XYZ until it was completely absorbed in a years time. The reason XYZ purchased JKL was that it was interested in the development of JKL in the overhead camshaft in automobile applications. The factory thus obtained from JKL was outmoded and XYZs immediate gain was, a s tock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel. JKL continued manufacturing their existing cars for a short period of time with the front and rear axles of XYZ till was closely incorporated into XYZ. In 1994, XZY acquired a large stake in the European based industrial design studio The Classic Designs, which they fully acquired by 1995. Also, by 1997 XYZ acquired the RALF group and owned it for some 3 years and then sold it when it was incurring huge loss in the automotive industry. After serving on the design team of XYZ for 7 years Mr. Lampard announced his departure from XYZ. He was replaced by Mr. Cole. Mr. Cole was known for his radical design contribution such as the XYZ 456 and XYZ 789. In 2001 production rights of the Mourinho Motorcycles was purchased by XYZ for 20 million euros. The company brings great value to their customers in a lot of ways like including promotions throughout the year, expert car care and maintenance advice and 4 points per ‚ ¬100 with their famous ADVANTAGE CARD. The customer can also subscribe to for extra benefits such as more treat for over 40 schemes by XYZ. On Premise IT As the company is evolving as a big brand day by day in the European automotive market, they need to have a proper IT setup too. As of now, the company has an on premise IT setup with its main office in Dublin 1, Ireland. Being an automotive company, there are not much departments in XYZ that need the servers or software. The servers are required only for running SQL databases to store all the company data related to the customers, inventory, employees, sales and purchases. Tape storage system is used for the backup purpose. To have the replicated copies of the data, XYZ makes use of RAID 10. Currently, XYZ is using a 25 Mbps bandwidth connection to connect all the servers and to ease out the networking. It includes hubs, switches and bridges for providing seamless networking. The hardware and the software configurations and other aspects related to the on premise IT setup of XYZ are as mentioned below: On Premise Hardware: Intel ® Xeon ® Processor: The company chose the Intel ® Xeon ® Processor to run and support the business applications and also to reduce the response time of the servers. Dell PowerEdge R910: Dell PowerEdge is a tower server having Intel E 7510 chipset. This chipset is popularly known for its key features like reliability, data protection and to improve the business productivity. It contains 16 GB ram with SATA connected to 8 TB storage. On Premise Software: Microsoft SQL server: XYZ is currently using SQL server for maintaining its database and keeping all the records of the customers, employees, sales and purchase, inventory management etc. Kaspersky Antivirus Operating System: Windows 10 is running on the front-end computers of the company while Ubuntu 16.04.01 server edition is used for servers. Storage: Currently, the company has 8 TB storage for storing its data. For backups, the company makes use of tape storage backup system. IT support Team: Currently XYZ has a small team dedicated to IT support. This team is in charge of configuring, administering and handling the IT systems present in the company. Also, the support team is responsible for managing the centralized server as well as to ensure that the complete data of XYZ is being properly managed and secured. As XYZ is expanding its business gradually, the current IT setup of the company is not enabling them to scale up. To scale up, they must increase their current on premise setup by adding more number of servers and increasing the storage space to incorporate the large amount of data onto the systems. With the increasing number of customers, there is a need for XYZ to have proper databases as well as additional softwares like ERP, CRM, Security Suite, LogMeln etc. Thus, the company is looking forward to opening new offices within Dublin. Also, there is a need for the company to increase the storage from 8 TB to 500 TB for data storage and backup purposes. Hence, the company also wants to eliminate the tape storage system, as it seems to be a costly option. The company thus, needs to take steps towards the IT sector and keep increasing it with the growth of business, so that it becomes easy to manage the daily and continuous needs of the company and the employees as well. Thus, this case study is to provide XYZ with the best economical solution for them to setup their new IT office in Dublin by making sure to cover all their needs and eliminating all the problems the company is currently facing and also, reducing the expenses as much as possible. On Premise Cost Analysis: No. of Servers No. of Cores Processor No. of processor per Server RAM (GB) Power (kW) Unit Cost Units (U) Unit Discount % Total Cost of 16 units 8 16 2 128 4.5 ‚ ¬7227 16 30 ‚ ¬45,530 Total Server Hardware Cost:‚ ¬45,530 Server Hardware maintenance: ‚ ¬34,148 Cost for 5 years(@ 15 %/year) Total Server hardware + maintenance: ‚ ¬79,678 Total Peak Power consumed in kW: ‚ ¬4.5 kW Rack Infrastructure Cost: Assuming 1 rack can accommodate 42 units; XYZ would require 1 rack. Rack Chassis with PDU cost *‚ ¬4000 per rack:‚ ¬3590 PDUs, dual 280V per rack cost *‚ ¬620 each, 2 per rack for higher availability: ‚ ¬1240 Top of Rack Switch (48 port 10/100/1G, 2 per Rack for higher availability, ‚ ¬6000 each): ‚ ¬12000 Development Cost of Rack and Server* ‚ ¬350 per server: ‚ ¬2800 Total Rack Infrastructure Cost: ‚ ¬19630 Total Cost ( Racks + Hardware): ‚ ¬ 99,308 Software Costs for Server: Being an automotive company XYZ uses Microsoft Dynamics GP software as their ERP software, Microsoft Dynamics CRM as their customer relationship management software and Microsoft SQL as their database software solution. Microsoft SQL Server:‚ ¬3717 Microsoft SQL Server Licence, ‚ ¬2000 per core: ‚ ¬16000 for 8 core processors Kaspersky Antivirus: ‚ ¬725 per user = ‚ ¬18,125 per user Total Server Software cost: ‚ ¬37,842 Total Server Hardware Software Installation, maintenance and updating cost: ‚ ¬22,500 TOTAL SERVER COSTS (HARDWARE + SOFTWARE) FOR 5 YEARS: ‚ ¬159,400 On Premise Facilities Cost: Total Power Consumed by Servers:4.5 kW Metered Cost per kWh:‚ ¬0.19 Estimated Power cost/month:‚ ¬589 Total monthly facilities cost:‚ ¬2173 Total facilities cost for 5 years:‚ ¬130,380 Storage Cost: SAN type storage: 500TB XYZ currently is in need of about the raw capacity requirement of 500 TB memory HDD. Also, XYZ currently makes use of RAID 10 with SQL servers for backup. Raw Storage (GB) Remaining Storage after OS recognized (~7%) Usable Storage on RAID 10 configuration (GB) Purchase price per raw GB after 50% discount Final SAN storage price 512000 GB 476,160 GB 238,080 GB ‚ ¬1.94 ‚ ¬991,232 Storage Backup Cost: Amount of Storage to be backed up (GB) Backup Window Time (Hours) Backup Window Processed TBs per drive No. of tape drives required for backup window (*~0.83 tape required for 1 TB) Cost of tape library per drive Backup cost for 5 years (Cost of tape drive * no of required tapes) 512000 GB 8 3.85 262 ‚ ¬1584 ‚ ¬415,008 Number of Racks required to host storage: 1 (Single rack can be used to 1000TB) Operating Rack Monthly Cost: ‚ ¬1320 Total data center space, power, cooling costs for 5 years: ‚ ¬79,200 Hence, total storage costs for 5 years would be:- Total Storage Cost = Raw Capacity cost + Backup Cost + Overhead Cost + Final Cost = ‚ ¬991,232 + ‚ ¬415,008 + ‚ ¬79,200 Total Storage Cost = ‚ ¬2,476,672 Bandwidth Costs: Size of Network Pipe Peak per Average Ratio On Premise Bandwidth Cost per Mbps Bandwidth Cost per month Total Bandwidth cost for 5 years 25 Mbps 3 ‚ ¬9 ‚ ¬75 ‚ ¬4500 Total Bandwidth Cost: ‚ ¬4500 IT Labour Cost: NETWORK ADMIN STORAGE ADMIN 2 ADMIN ON 1 SERVER % total admin effort 10% 80% 400% Monthly Salary ‚ ¬2500 ‚ ¬4000 ‚ ¬5000 5 Year Salary ‚ ¬150,000 ‚ ¬240,000 ‚ ¬1,200,000 Total IT salary cost: ‚ ¬1,590,000