Hyundai
More than ten years ago, when hyundai started its car manufacturing, the quality of the company is not reliable. Most people that bought that brand complain about the quality of the car and the reliability of the car. But a couple years ago when the recession hit the United States, hyundai was the only brand that never showed any negative number in their financial report. What makes them able to do this? How did they do that?
To answer the question above, we need to be critical about how the company works their step toward their success. As Porter’s gneric strategies explains in the text book, there are three strategies to enter the new market:
1. Broad cost leadership
2. Broad differentiation
3. Focused strategy
Hyundai has been following the broad cost leadership strategy. The company has been able to offer the lowest prices for many particular models and style that appeal large audience. Pricing has been one of the strengths of hyundai. I have seen many people chose to get hyundai because of this reason. At $9970, Hyundai Accent is one of the cars with the lowest MSRP in United States. But would that be enough to attract customers to buy hyundai? Of course not. Many people that got disappointed with the quality of the cars change their faith to other brand such as Toyota and Honda because they are known for their reliability.
The management uses the combination of the research and the evaluation of the marketing to expand the company. Hyundai realized that their questionable brand causing the after market price to fall very quickly comparing to competition. The management’s answer to this problem is to offer the best warranty they can possibly do which is 10 year warranty or 100,000 miles. By adding the warranty of the car, the company increases the switching cost to the customers. It would cost the customer if they would like to switch to another brand since they might get less warranty from the other brand.
The strategy they chose, the broad cost leadership, has been supported by their warranties and after-sales service. I think this is what makes hyundai grows, even when the market is shrinking. According Autotalk.com, Hyundai sales increase by 19 percent comparing to 2009 sales. When a new comer entering the new market, it is wise to have one of the three generic strategies by Porter.
Work Cited:
Baltzan, P. & Phillips, A. (2009). Business Driven INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Malsbury, Michelle. April 30, 2010. A Strategic Analysis of Hyundai. American Chronicle. Retrieved on Aug 30th, 2010 from: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/153345
AutoTalk.com. Hyundai Posts 19 Percent Sales Increase in July. Retrieved on Aug 30th, 2010 from: http://www.autotalk.com/hyundai-posts-19-percent-sales-increase-in-july-5541/
Wal-Mart is a huge company in the United States. Michael Porter suggests there are three generic business strategies. The three strategies are broad cost leadership, broad differentiation, and focused strategy. Wal-Mart definitely exemplifies broad cost leadership. Wal-Mart markets towards normal people looking for the best deals on clothing, home items, groceries, and virtually any life necessity. They offer a wide range of products all at low cost since they purchase the items at a low cost and are exceptional at cutting costs.
Wal-Mart has a competitive advantage in the superstore market. They really only have one serious competitor; Target. Wal-Mart does so many things well in regards to Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model. The segment of the Five Forces Model are as follows: Buyer Power, Supplier Power, Threat of substitute products or services, Threat of new entrants, and Rivalry among existing competitors. Wal-Mart does well in at least three of the five forces. They do excellent in buyer power by providing the lowest prices to their customers. It is very hard to find a price lower than Wal-Mart can provide. They also exceed in the Supplier Power segment by buying the products they sell at very low cost to themselves in which they can pass on to the customer. They also dominate along with Target in deterring any new entrants. At this point it would be virtually impossible to enter the superstore market. Wal-Mart’s only true competitor is Target. K-Mart has closed some stores recently and does not seem to be a major player any longer.
Wal-Mart displays many of Michael Porter’s ideas and they use those their products and their forces to create a competitive advantage in their market.
Retrieved From: http://ezinearticles.com/?Wal-Mart—Eyeing-The-Global-Market&id=910411
-Jake Showers
Chapter 1 Section 1.2
By: Bryant Vang
In the article from PCWorld “SSDs May Give You More Bang for Your DRAM,” Stephen Lawson describes the future of SSD. SSDs (solid-state disks) are starting to take over the hard disk segment market. What separates SSD from ordinary hard disks is that there are no moving parts and also consumes less energy. SSD hard disk uses NAND flash technology which allows a much faster reading and writing of data. This is a rather new technology and cost more per gigabyte than your standard hard disks. “Research Company IDC expects enterprise SSD sales to grow by an average of 165 percent annually until 2013” (Lawson, 2010). This new technology is still being adapted and is not for everyone.
Using the new technology for their systems seems like a good idea. The biggest challenge to adopting the new technology is the lack of software. DRAM is the current memory used for IBM’s Systems and Technology. Andy Walls, the technical lead for SSDs in IBM’s Systems and Technology division comments, “My experience is that software doesn’t change. For a long time, I suggested we change the name of software to ‘impossibleware” (Lawson, 2010). Walls also commented that it will most likely take the next two years to be able to implement the software to be useable with flash memory.
Section 2.1 in our textbook talks about competitive advantages. A competitive advantage is “a product or service that an organization’s customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor” (Baltzan & Phillips, 2009). A competitive advantage is unfortunately temporary because of competitors. SSDs are the first huge movement in the hard disk industry. They have a first-mover advantage by “being the first to market with a competitive advantage” (Baltzan & Phillips, 2009).
This article is related to the topic because of the competitive advantage it created. SSDs are still a very new technology. I have already purchased a SSD hard drive for my desktop. All I can say is wow. I am a huge computer hardware fanatic and always want to update to the latest and greatest. I can tell you that SSD is the new way to go. They are virtually quiet, extremely fast, but this comes at a price. It will create a booming computer experience.
Works Cited
Stephen Lawson. (August 17, 2010). SSDs May Give You More Bang for Your DRAM. In PCWorld. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203532/ssds_may_give_you_more_bang_for_your_dram.html.
Blog Post
By Matthew Yang
In an article from ArticleBlast.com, Yvonne Miller explains why Nike is the biggest shoe company in the world and how it has a competitive advantage over its competitors. Phil Knight, the founder of the Nike, started the Nike brand in the back of his car in the 1960s, and by the 70s Blue Ribbon Sports became Nike, and the rest is history. Nike is successful and known throughout the world, and has sponsored many great athletes and events around the world, like Michael Jordan and the recent World Cup 2010. Competitors like Reebok and Adidas, are nowhere near the success Nike has accomplished throughout the years. By sponsoring big sports events, big star athletes, having great quality shoes, and allowing customers to create their own shoe has brought Nike to the top in the shoe industry.
In section 1.2 in chapter 1, Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model, buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute product or services, threat of new entrants, and rivalry among other competitors applies to Nike’s condition in the market today. Nike has more buyer and supplier power than any shoe company today, by creating loyal customers and retailing at all most every shoe store in the world, it has the power to out shine its competitors. Although Nike doesn’t have the cheapest prices, there isn’t much threat of newer competitors or products that offer the same services because of how the big the company has gotten in the past years and the name recognition it has among consumers. Also, Nike has control of their market and is doing well with their competitors who offer the same products as them. Nike follows one of three of Porter’s three generic strategies to the fullest, being able to offer a broad differentiation strategy. An example is the ability to allow their customers to customize their own shoes to their liking, which none of their competitors offer at the moment.
From the beginning and the status it is in today, Nike has come a long way and has became very successful despite the efforts of its competitors to keep up. Nike, in my book, has accomplished all of Porter’s Five Forces and one of three generic strategies. By sponsoring more big star athletes and huge sports events, Nike will continue to dominate among its competitors.
WORK CITED
Miller, Yvonne. (2010, January 18). Seeking competitive advantage in a changing global economy. Retrieved August 30, 2010. From www.articleblast.com: http://www.articleblast.com/Advertising_and_Marketing/General/Seeking_competitive_advantage_in_a_changing_global_economy/
Porsche is one of the most famous German premium sports cars around the world. The man behind this company is Wendelin Wiedeking who becomes the CEO at Porsche in 1993. In an interview he gives us some answers how he keeps his company so profitable and recognizes where his business focus lies.
Porsche has got five different models but they all focused on one character – sporty cars. In the past Porsche was mostly known for sports-car maker. But with the Cayenne they also built a larger car for Families but still with a sporty character. With the Carerra GT they entered the market for super sports cars and where surprised to come before the competition. Its brand new Panamera model came in third place in the “Large Premium Car” category. Their secret to be successful lies in being a hard worker, have the foresight to develop future projects and offer new cars at prices and conditions where large companies have problems to achieve that. So they still have competitors like BMW or Mercedes but Wiedeking says that: “Porsche competes in their own niche with companies that aren’t making money on their products”. So he is convinced that only a brand that makes money can survive.
I choose this article because it shows one of the three generic strategies by Porter´s. He explains two different competitive scopes: a broad market and a narrow market. Porsche is not a car for everyone because it is quite expensive and not useful for families, expects the Cayenne. It is a luxuries car with high technology and their target audiences are mostly people with higher budgets who are willing to pay money for more fun while driving. So they provide just a narrow market with the sport-cars.
I took this example of Porsche because I like that car a lot. I like the way how they be aware of the smallest details in the car. They don´t produces masses of different cars just to stay in competition and offer low price cars. No it seems that they know what they are doing and following straight on their main vision – sporty cars with quality.
Posted by: Sarah Strassburger
Reference: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_51/b3863085_mz054.htm
Chapter 1 Blog Post
By Ryan White
IS 130 Section 5 8am
In an article from PC World entitled “Does $500 Million Dollars Mean That Windows 7 Phone Will Flop?,” Barbara Hernandez compares the results of previous launches of Microsoft products in order to offer insight into Microsoft’s entry into the cell phone market (2010). Microsoft has always spent a large amount of capital when promoting new products. With Windows XP and the Xbox gaming console, the marketing plan paid off; Windows XP became the top selling operating system, and the Xbox became a top seller bringing Microsoft into the video gaming market. However, Microsoft had its flops. Windows Vista, Office 2010, and the smartphone Kin cost Microsoft $1,580,000,000 and failed to product results. In a market dominated by the iPhone, Microsoft’s marketing team has a rough road ahead of them and $500 million may not be enough.
Entry into a new market should be evaluated. The Five Forces Model created by Michael Porter states that evaluating entry into a new market should include: Buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute products or services, threat of new entrants, and rivalry among existing competitors (Baltzan & Phillips, 2011). First, when consumers have a variety of choices, their buying power is high. When the iPhone first entered the market, consumers had to buy the iPhone from AT & T and Apple. Therefore, Apple had little competition, and the buying power of the consumer was low which, ideally, a company wants. Second and conversely, supplier power is high when buyers have few choices to buy from. In the case of Apple, buyers had limited choices. Third, the threat of substitute products or services is high when there are many substitutes. A company will want substitutes at a minimum. Fourth, the threat of new entrants is high when a competitor can easily enter the market place. Finally, rivalry among competitors is high when competition among competitors is cutthroat.
Given Porter’s criteria, should Microsoft enter the market? Since buying power and supplier power are interrelated, Microsoft has Apple and Google to contend with. Ideally, Microsoft would have wanted to be in the forefront of market. Instead, it comes into a market controlled by the iPhone and Droid phones, thus, affecting the buying and supplier power of Microsoft. Concurrently, Apple and Google have successfully put their cell phones on the market while Microsoft hasn’t. Thus, the threat of substitutes is high for Windows 7 phone. However, entry into this market is not easy for businesses. It requires capital for development, and Microsoft has capital at its disposal. Lastly, the competition between Apple, Google, and Microsoft isn’t fierce. The three companies have always coexisted. Microsoft’s Windows 7 Phone fulfils only two of the five of Porter’s Five Forces Model. Thus, Microsoft’s success in the market is unlikely.
Baltzan, P., & Phillips, A. (2011). Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Hernandez, B. E. (2010, August 27). Does $500 Million Mean Windows Phone 7 Will Flop? Retrieved August 27, 2010, from www.pcworld.com: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/204331/does_500_million_mean_windows_phone_7_will_flop.html?tk=twt_bizcenter
Groupon is an organization that does coupons right! Each day a local daily deal is offered to cities throughout the U.S. For example, Fresno’s August 6th’s daily deal was for Maxx’s Bistro. Ten dollars gets you Twenty dollars worth of anything on their Dinner Menu. This past weekend was a 3 day deal (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.) $20 gets you a one hour trail ride at Wonder Valley Ranch, a $40 value. Each day a new local company is featured with pretty dynamic discounts.
Here recently in cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angles the demand for local businesses to get featured by groupon has gone through the roof. This has caused groupon to continue to innovate in the coupon market. They have introduced personalized deals. This allows groupon subscribers in the aforementioned cities to have the opportunity to purchase groupons that are tailored to their individual buying behavior and desires. They are also hoping that this personalized deals move will help establish a more diverse customer base. Currently the majority of their subscribers are female. Up to this point in time, Groupon has feared they may be alienating the male customer base with many of their deals catering to female interests. This new personalized deals strategy should help in bringing more men into the equation.
Having your company featured by groupon will create massive brand awareness. Fresno has 40,000 subscribers. For a new or even struggling company, 80,000 eyes seeing your company and what it offers can make a huge difference. This has only become possible through Information Systems. The way groupon has been able to grow at the rate it has is because of E-mail, social networking sites, and their iPhone App. Each day 40,000 people in Fresno get an E-mail describing today’s daily deal. In order for the Group-Coupon (Groupon) to be valid, a predetermined number of people must purchase the deal before the end of the day. So if you want to go to Indoor Mini-Golf for only $7 instead of $15, you make sure your friends buy the groupon too. There are links in the E-mail that allow you to easily forward the deal and even post it on your Facebook. This kind of exponential exposure is only possible because of E-mail and social networking sites. I personally admire this company very much in that they took a very simple business model and basically exploited coupons through social networking. It’s incredible.
Written by: Lyle Quillin
Original Article By:
Steve Patterson. (August 1, 2010). Groupon Offers Personalized Deals. in IS Magazine. Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://ismagazine.com/Home/Blog/tabid/759/EntryId/1317/Groupon-Offers-Personalized-Deals.aspx
Located Here
References
Baltzan, P., & Phillips, A. (2008). Business Driven Information Systems (2 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The New New CIO Role: Big Changes Ahead
The New New CIO Role: Big Changes Ahead is an article about the up and coming changes for the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) as well as the difficulties that arise from being a CIO. Changes are being made that make it impossible for CIO’s to stay in the background and only take part in IT programs. If CIO’s do not start partaking in strategic planning and customer service areas they will be fired. “The CIO extreme makeover necessitated right now isn’t a mere cosmetic rehab, however. It will demand a mighty effort from those IT leaders whose comfort zone involves four walls, lots of servers and voluminous air-conditioning” (Wailgum, 2010). According to this article the new role as CIO is unlike anything ever seen.
While the article states the changes being made to the role of CIO, it also talks about the difficulty of being a CIO. Everyone acknowledges that the role of CIO or IT representative is a necessity in business today but being a CIO is not an enjoyable position. IT administrators are now being required to take part in the “strategic planning’ of their businesses as well as keeping up with all IT management and operations. “If the perception is that IT can’t even keep the trains running on time, then there’s no way that CIO will ever be considered a business leader by peers.” (Wailgum, 2010) The role of CIO is evolving and is caught between being a leader in the company and being pegged as the geeks of technology. With all of these conflicting components, it is not desirable to be a CIO. “…the CIO role continues to suffer from a multiple personality disorder of sorts. At one moment CIOs must understand and capably discuss the strategic direction of their company and, seconds later, consider a complex technical problem with costly ramifications” (Wailgum, 2010). The role of CIO or its equivalent is necessary within a company for success but the actual position is not as exciting as being a Chief Information Officer might seem.
I chose this article because chapter 1 states how important these IT positions are within a company as they try to unite the business portion and IT portion of a company. This article shows that steps are being taken to make IT administrators more involved in the business part of the company as well as showing that this job has difficult aspects to deal with. Our textbook states that the role of CIO is to “1) overseeing all uses of information technology and 2) ensuring the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives” (Baltzan, 2010). I liked this article because it stated some of the difficulties that arise from the responsibilities the textbook outlines for the CIO.
The idea of “the new new CIO role” (Wailgum, 2010) has the hope of effectively connecting IT and business aspects of any company
Baltzan, P. (2010). M Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Wailgum, T. (2010, August 20). The New New CIO Role: Big Changes Ahead. Retrieved August 25, 2010, from CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/603965/The_New_New_CIO_Role_Big_Changes_Ahead?page=1&taxonomyId=3000
What is next for iTunes?
According to Bloomberg news, the next big step for iTunes may be allowing iTunes users to rent TV shows using iTunes for 99 cents. The rumor is that Apple will announce this new feature of iTunes in a press conference in which they will state what companies they have signed a deal with and more details about the rentals. Bloomberg news stated that it is their belief that the TV shows will be available to the renter for 48 hours. Apple has not yet confirmed whether or not this is their next big project, but one can only hope. The article also states that this is not a new technology, that apple already offers this to their customers, but at the higher rate of $1.99, and the shows are not readily available after having been aired on television, nor is the option available to rent single episodes at a time.
The question should then be posed, why choose to pay 99 cents for an episode of your favorite show on iTunes as opposed to watching it free on Hulu? Hulu only has the episodes for a limited time, and one must endure commercials at 15 min intervals during the episode. I myself love Hulu, and use it often but walk away from the computer when the commercials come on and comeback in time to continue watching my show. It is rumored that the episodes available on iTunes will be commercial free, which makes it more enticing to customers. It is apparent that apple is seeking new forms to boost their sales, and earn more revenue through iTunes.
How does this relate back to chapter 1? The main goal of a business it to retain a profit during their working year, without a profit the business wouldn’t be lasting very long. Information technology helps businesses to plan and achieve their goals of making a profit. On page 7 of the text book figure 1.2 shows the benefits of information technology Customer service, finance and sales and marketing make up the top 3 benefits (Baltzan & Phillips 2010). I feel as though iTunes is using the continuing advancement of technology to profit from consumers by making the newest technology available to their customers.
Another concept that stuck out to me from the textbook was CIO. The CIO is the chief information officer. According to the textbook, the CIO is “responsible for (1) overseeing all uses of information technology and (2) ensuring the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives (Baltzan & Phillips 2010).” Figure 1.11 on page 13 states that the number 1 goal of CIO’s is “enhancing customer satisfaction” (Baltzan & Phillips 2010). While reading the article I felt like apples choice to make the TV shows available to the customers with no commercials was one ploy to “enhance the customer satisfaction.
As for myself I am really excited to see what apple and iTunes will come up with next, and I look forward to using this technology.
Sutter, D. John (2010) iTunes to rent TV shows for 99 cents
Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/08/25/apple.tv.rental/index.html
Baltzan, Phillips (2010). M Information systems. Information systems in business (Chapter 1). New York: Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin
Is Apple working on a ‘desktop iPad?’
According to this article, it states that Apple is currently working on a new touchscreen laptop that looks like the iPad. The article claims that they have seen a blueprint of the actual product but are not sure if Apple well be releasing this product anytime soon. The blog, Patenly Apple, verified that the picture of the touchscreen desktop is from Apple, a patent from Europe. The image was released back in January with the name “iMac Touch.” However, the company has not made any comment regarding this new laptop, so it’s still a secret whether the touchscreen desktop is real and whether it will be produce and market to the public in the near future.
This article relates to the competitive advantage because Apple is well known for releasing new technologies that changes the market in computers and cellphones such as the iPad they released earlier this year. If the company does in the near future make such a product and is the first one to market it to the public, this would be consider a first-mover advantage. Apple is a leading company in marketing new products to the public compare to its competitors. This wouldn’t be a surprise if the touchscreen desktop is release sometime this year or the beginning of next year.
The idea of creating a touchscreen laptop or desktop computers is very interesting and exciting because it will change the computer industry and make computers much more suitable for people especially the elderly and children. Seeing the iPad and knowing how it works, I am anxious to see how the touchscreen desktop will look like and how it will operate compared to the traditional desktop. This product will create a buzz when Apple do decide to release it to the public such as all the other products Apple recently released.
Gross, Doug. (2010). Is Apple working on a ‘desktop iPad?’
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/
Clifton Wahlberg
Having worked for several different businesses over the past five years, I have seen the wide array of different IT frameworks that companies use to track merchandise, communicate with employees, or improve employee collaboration. Choosing an IT system that is right for your business can be a very difficult decision, especially if you manage a small business with little capital to waste on the wrong one. However, our favorite Internet company has come to the rescue with their streamlined, secure, and surprisingly useful collection of online programs called Google Apps.
Google Apps' Utility Illustrated
In a recent article published in the magazine PC World, the many ways that these free apps (though they can be upgraded for a small premium) can be utilized to “supercharge your business” (Stern, 2010). Google Docs is an online office suite that can be accessed from any computer and is very familiar to users of Microsoft Office. However, Google Docs outdoes Microsoft by automatically making backup copies of every document version and stores them on the Google server; no more accidentally deleting an entire document and wasting time redoing it. Additionally, Google docs allows multiple users to alter documents and tracks what changes they make. This way a team can efficiently work together online without constantly sending revised versions using email, which can waste time.
Google Calendar is another easy-to-use tool provided by Google apps. It’s simple to create events, invite employees, set up recurring reminders, or even display when your available to meet personally with employees (Stern, 2010). This app keeps the collaboration utility as well, which allows for a more open and easy to access workplace calendar.
Google Sites can create a private network of documents online, much how a private intranet could be reproduced in an office, but eschews the costly technology costs associated with a private company intranet. This could be used to store confidential or referential documents, such as HR mandates or important messages from management.
Finally Gmail, Google’s email client, can be used as a business email client. Google allows you to change the “@gmail” to any domain you wish, allowing you to use the efficient and time tested Gmail client while still maintaining a professional image and company website. As previously mentioned, these apps are for the most part free, and can be upgraded for a small premium.
I chose this article because it gives us an opportunity to test out the efficiency metric outlined in Chapter 1 Section 1. These online apps allow for instantaneous access from any computer and most smart phones (Stern 2010), which improves the availability of the system. Additionally, by not relying on in house technology (which may be budget equipment or require full time IT technicians) you can substantially increase the speed at which your IT system operates. Group assignments can be completed easily using the extensive collaboration tools provided, which increases throughput.
The use of Smart phones increases Google Apps' usefulness
While the implementation of this system would ultimately determine the effect it had on business, these apps could increase customer satisfaction (with increased work flow and business availability) and customer confidence.
Is this collection of apps perfect? Probably not; they still have room to improve and grow. Are they for every company? No; larger companies who can afford in house systems and require more specific utility out of their IT systems will certainly overlook this tool. However, a small business with a limited group of employees could greatly benefit from these applications.
Full Article (here)
Stern, Z. (2010, August 24). Supercharge Your Business With Google Apps – PCWorld Business Center. PC World. Retrieved August 25, 2010, from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203701/supercharge_your_business_with_Google_apps.html?tk=hp_bus
Why are there no Mac Viruses
In this article Philip Elmer-Dewitt discusses the reason for the lack of Mac OS X viruses. He argues that there aren’t any viruses capable of infecting the Mac OS X system. He defined a virus as a program that infects a computer and has the ability to spread to other computers. He argued that spyware and Trojan horses, and spam are not considered viruses. He state that many people argue that the reason Mac OS X has a lack a virus is the lack of consumers. He argue that the real reason lack of viruses is hackers’ lack of interest, due to low consumer base, to some extent, the UNIX base file system and kernel is more difficult to infect, and viruses are going out of style.
He closes by stating that apple my just be lucky, or that it could infect offer better protection for its customers and that Windows 7 may offer similar protection. I like to believe the latter from, what I have heard is that since Mac builds programs specific to one type of computer they are better able to work out all the litter bug that may hinder the systems capabilities, whereas Microsoft develops programs for a wide array of computers e.g. Toshiba, Dell, HP, etc. This correlates to Chapter One in the sense that a company must decide what type of operating system to use the need to weight out what they want to accomplish and other issues such a security within that system. The Company I work (BestBuy) uses Microsoft I believe it’s because it offers a greater compatibility with external aspects of the company.
Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt September 2, 2009 10:53 AM
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/09/02/why-are-there-no-mac-viruses/
From the past 10 years technology is playing role in business updates to new system in computers, laptops, TVs and radios. Now days people have craze about having an I pod, MP3. To cover the new technology, Microsoft launched the new version of the Zune media player. They launched Zune about three years ago, which is a complete failure.
In three years Microsoft had put so many updates to their product so that they can com e closer to I pod to lead what I pod maintained from last 3 years. The features of Zune HD are 3-3 inch multi touch screen, play video with the help of an HD TV. On the other hand while I Pod Nano is trying to put new features in their product such as adding a camera and voice recording their lead overall the music players.
Zune HD is available in 2 different bind of memory. The 16 GB is available in black color and the 32 GB is available in platinum color. Customers can purchase Zune online in different color from red, green or blue too at Zunooriginal.net. The retail price of Zune HD is $219.00 for 16 GB and 32 GB will cost $289.99. ON Zune HD people can also play games, HD radios and music recommendation from music software. These are the some competition between two big companies. Some people comment on Zune D that it has bigger GB, they offer less clarity on the screen on videos you playing. You never know what might be the next step music player took to be the best among their customers.
CNN.COM/technology
In the article, Facebook Issues Privacy Upgrade, PC Magazine writer Chloe Albanesius, explains Facebook’s new changes to it’s privacy control settings. Facebook was becoming concerned about the difficulty users were having accessing their control settings. Though the security settings offered by Facebook were very good they had become extremely complicated. In the old system users had to scroll from various menus to adjust each sections privacy settings. On the new system users will be able to access their security settings for all sections on one continuous page. This action was put into effect by Facebook’s CPO, Chris Kelly, and according to early test it sounds positive.
Facebook will originally trial 40,000 users in the US and eventually expand to 80,000 globally. Facebook then will establish which one of its six functional tools will be used as the new method of selecting security settings. Another benefit to the changes is users will suffer no security losses from the new system.
The reason I choose this article was for how closely it related to the first chapter. This ties in perfectly for an example of what a CPO does for an online networking company. When I first encountered the title CPO, I was confused about what it really meant. After reading the text, I had a hard time distinguishing the difference between a CPO and a CSO. Now that I have gotten the chance to see how a CPO uses his authority I feel I have a better understanding of the certain roles in information technology.
Albanesius, Chloe. Facebook Issues Privacy Upgrade. PC Magazine. July 7 2009. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349615,00.asp
Netflix is a leader in innovation and dominate in its industry. This is no coincidence. Netflix has been able to revolutionize the movie rental industry. With the internet Netflix can reach the masses without physical rental stores located throughout select regions. Movies are sent and received by mail and/or online.
A new feature has been added to Netflixs’ arsenal: an instant streaming disc. Netflix has partnered with Related Content Database (RCDb), in a technology and licensing service agreement, to create an instant streaming Blue-ray disc. This instant streaming Blue-ray disc will allow PS3 (Playstation 3) users to pop in a disc and with a subscription to Netflix view thousands of T.V. episodes and movies. PS3 users will also be able to fast-forward, rewind, rate movies, and play movies from a quence or a personalized category.
Related Content Database (RCDb) is a new company, founded in 2006, with a fast growing reputation for providing innovative and quality software to complement Blue-ray. RCDb creates Blue-ray software and provides services to network related: discs, player, and other devices.
Netflix is a prime example of Information Systems in business. This young and successful company has built its business model around the internet. The only physical buildings involved in the company business are distribution centers that house all the movies. Distribution centers are most likely strategically placed all around the country in order to have as few open as possible while still getting movies to customers in a timely fashion. Everything from setting up an account to contacting customer service can be done right on their website.
“RCDb Licenses BD-Live Software To Netflix For PS3 Instant Streaming Disc”. Business Wire. Findarticles.com 17 November 2009. Http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_20091110/ai_n42068602/
Skype Goes Mobile- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2007/tc20071017_423595_page_2.htm
Steve Rice is a consultant and implementer of Information Systems. He has fifteen years of experience and he has worked with organizations with revenues from five million dollars to sixteen billion dollars. In conjuction with chapter one, Steve believes that organizations that understand technology thoroughly are more successful than organizations that don’t. In particular, Steve is talking about the Management Information Systems (MIS).
The MIS is a key tool that greatly impacts an organization, no matter what type of industry they are in. Of course, he is regarding large companies and organization. Steve believes “business processes, business rules and workflow management are the domain of MIS.” (Rice) Some of the functions of the MIS includes the following: provides access to information, automatically simplify calculations, track resources, and monitor costs. Since it is the place where all datas are stored, past data provides useful for managers to identify trends and help forecast the future. Managers can see areas that require improvements from the data.
Since MIS is a collaboration tool, it helps with efficiency and consistency. With the MIS, information moves quickly from department to department. MIS data provides understanding of the past and anticipation of the future for a sales department. MIS is vital because it eliminates manual processing and saves money and time.
source:www.inplantgraphics.com/article/thepowerofmis
Google Apologizes
This article is about Google’s response to customer complaints about its Gmail email service going down on Tuesday. It also demonstrates a very real problem that most successful online businesses face: how to manage customer usage with necessary maintenance.
In Google’s case, they took a few servers down for routine maintenance, but underestimated the load this would put on the remaining servers, leading to the email service becoming unavailable. But most companies that maintain their own servers have to make a decision at some point how they’ll manage downtime due to maintenance.
This relates to the efficiency/effectiveness metrics in the first chapter of our book. At one extreme, a system that is down often for maintenance or even upgrades is of little use to the company or its customers. At the other, a system that never receives maintenance must inevitably fail or become so outdated that it no longer meets customer needs (whether that is simply due to being slower or because it can’t mesh with newer software).
In my experience, companies will generally attempt one of two solutions. They will either stagger maintenance in such a way that most services or even enough machines to keep up all service, as Google tried to do, or they will schedule maintenance in advance, notifying their customers about when to expect service interruption, much like utilities do.
These strategies each has its own problems. As the article shows, staggered maintenance may require enormous redundancy and extra capacity to handle the traffic normally carried by the whole system, particularly if traffic is higher than expected. Planned maintenance may still cost the company sales and customers during the outage, no matter how clearly announced, and if a problem occurs with the work it might cause the interruption to be delayed well past the planned period, losing still more business.
Reference: Kuhn, Eric. (September, 2009). Google apologizes, explains Gmail outage. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/01/gmail.outage/index.html
