The Essential Elements of Giving a Speech free essay sample

Educational level varies from high-school graduates to degree-holders. Economic background is mostly middle class, with a minority from the poorer classes, and only a few have more privileged backgrounds. SPEECH: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for attending this workshop. My name is Kerry Chin, from BBC Private Limited, and I am here to present a little speech on, ironically, The Essential Elements of Giving a Speech. . First I would like to thank my employer for giving me the opportunity to present a speech, and I would Like to thank my dear colleagues for supporting me during my reparation.I would also Like to thank the organizers for preparing such a wonderful and useful workshop, and for handling all the details so well. Now that we have the notable mentions out of the way, let us move on to the topic at hand. Since I dont want to bore any of you, Im going to keep this speech short. We will write a custom essay sample on The Essential Elements of Giving a Speech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Basically, I will talk about the three basic components of a speech: the beginning, where I will tell you how to catch your audiences attention; the middle, where I will inform you how to keep your audience engaged in the speech; and the end, where I will teach you how to make your speech memorable.Some of you may be asking: why do we need to know how to give a speech? You many think: l dont Intend to go up on podiums and address the public at large, so why should I learn about giving speeches? . But let me tell you this, ladles and gentlemen, that there Is no greater skill that can make or break your career and business better than effective public speaking. It doesnt matter whether youre In a boardroom speaking to a small committee of five decision makers, or in an arena raise, knowing how to present your point of view persuasively without being pushy an really make a difference in thriving or Just merely surviving in the competitive world of corporate business. Why do we give speeches? The basis of a speech is to create awareness for your chosen topic. From a marketing point of view, awareness is always the first goal you have to achieve in public speaking. Im sure most of you know that if you and your idea never receives exposure, there is no way you can present it to the public at large.Public speaking, when well-executed, can deliver your message better than any other medium, simply because you are talking about something that is important to tooth you and the audience. But practically any speech will create some awareness for your message. If you truly want to see the results you want, you have to go beyond that superficial first i mpression. You have to make your audience understand your message. To do that, you have to deliver your presentation of your message with skill and charisma. The stronger your presentation skills, the better your audience will remember and understand the key points of your message.Even so, it isnt enough. Your audience may understand what you are trying to say, but it doesnt mean that they would agree to your message. So you have to persuade your audience to not only remember the key points, but also to actually buy that message. You want your message, combined with your speech style to reach these people on an emotional level where they can find interest in your message. Finally, the ultimate result is to present your message so powerfully that your audience is moved to take action Suggested by you, of course.This is certainly the most difficult result to obtain from giving a speech, but this is the ultimate goal you as a speaker must have in mind. What are the benefits you can get from learning how to make speeches effectively? Lets see, how does increased credibility sound to you? Since most people are afraid of speaking to a group, the fact that you can, and do it with passion and skill, will definitely draw admiration from your peers, and theyll be convinced youre an expert if you deliver your message well. Also, if you are able to speak on a subject with authority and enthusiasm, people will regard you as an expect. After all, you wouldnt be constantly called upon to speak unless you know what youre talking about and can talk about it well, would you? Secondly, youll get increased exposure. Exposure is the very bare bones of every marketing strategy. Since most of the time youre putting yourself on a pedestal, literally or figuratively speaking, more people will start to notice you, and what better way to show off your leadership skills? With the credibility youd from the early stages, you may find yourself invited to conduct seminars or give motivational talks.A one-hour keynote speech may lead to a half-day seminar at a national convention. Who knows? You may be even asked to make videotapes or to write articles, and all those recording and printing copyrights will generate a pretty tidy sum of money. Look at Donald Trump and all those books he wrote! Okay, maybe not all of us can be hat good, but we can dream, cant we? In short, public speaking makes you visible, and can lead to other forms o f exposure that will make you even more visible, and it and business an edge above your competitors.In short, public speaking makes you visible, and can lead to other forms of exposure that will make you even more visible, and it is this snowballing of exposure that will put you on the fast track, giving your career and business an edge above your competitors. But first, how can you deliver an effective speech? First, you have to catch your audiences attention. Most of the time when you start your speech youll see people ailing about, talking with each other, eating, or even napping. So grab their attention! Ever seen how a coach catches the sports teams attention?There is a good reason why they have that whistle dangling around their neck. One sharp blow, and everyone is alert. The speakers equivalents to that whistle are humor and anecdotes. A quick Joke, or an appropriate story, or even a catchy phase, will do wonders to catch attention. In addition, little things like Jokes and stories will develop and build a rapport with your audience. This in turn allows them to become more receptive of your message. We hear what we like to hear, after all, and if you like someone youll tend to listen more. The best of stories, of course, are short ones that nevertheless are full of meaning.Using the words of the poet Cooper: A tale should be Judicious, clear, succinct, The language plain, the incidents well-linked; Tell not as new what everybody knows; And, new or old, still hasten too close. When looking for anecdotes, try to keep to personal ones based on your own experience. Not only are they original and safer, there is also less risk of repeating a story everyone else had heard before. Unless, of course, you are a well-established speaker will a massive fantasy, at that point which you should be good enough to keep looking for new material to keep your speeches from being repetitive. Your stories can be humorous, or they can be dramatic, but more importantly, be sincere about your stories. The point of using anecdotes based on your own experiences is to show your audience a little bit of yourself, and that enables them to connect with you. It isnt necessary for you to recite every detail from a certain event, but using your own experiences that are relevant and appropriate of your audience ill help you enforce or drive home a point while at the same time allowing you to build that all-important rapport between you and the audience.All right, some of you may be asking: is humor necessary for making a good speech? The answer is no, but it can be a useful tool. Some of the best speeches in the world, like Winston Churchill Iron Curtain in 1946, or Nelson Mandelas l am Prepared to Die in 1964, are some of the best historic speeches in the world, and both are perfectly serious. We also cannot forget about Martin Luther King, who was not trying to be funny at all when he said l Had a Dream at the March on Washington of 1963. But when well-utilized, humor can become a critical part of an effective presentation. As Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote: Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Proper use of humor not only maintains the interest of your audience, but also that, your audience is more likely to remember a point that is delivered with humor than with seriousness. More importantly, however, it builds more rapport between you and the audience. The downside, however, is that humor is difficult to master. Not everyone is funny, and if youre the kind that isnt, then its better not to try. Trying to be funny when youre not is intensely embarrassing to both you and the audience.So how does one utilize humor in presentations? One, it must, of course, be funny. Something that tickles your funny bone may not work with the audience. Two, it must be original. Repeating old Jokes and cliches may be easy, but might not get any reaction from the audience simply because they are too stale. It doesnt mean you have to totally come up with new material, of course. Simply putting your own original spin on a funny story thats relevant to the point youre trying to make is good enough. Three, whatever humor you want to use, make in relevant.Remember, people are spending precious time with you to learn something. If you spend half that time more on getting them in stitches than trying to deliver your message, then join a comedy club. Always remember that humor is a tool, not the whole point of your speech. Whether you used humor or storytelling, once you have the attention of your audience, only then you can start to interact with your audience. Involving your audience in your presentation is a powerful and incredibly useful way to connect with your audience, and it will drive your message home even more.Some of the techniques used include audience surveys, quizzes, handouts, and written exercises. But you must do it with a purpose in mind. Only use audience participation when you want to enforce a point or want to uncover information you need to make a presentation, not simply because you can. For example, the nine-dots-in-a-box puzzle. In a speech or seminar on thinking beyond the boundaries, this is a very effective way of conveying that message. Your goal is to connect all the dots with four straight consecutive lines, without repeating a line or lifting your pen off the paper.A reader version involves using only three consecutive lines. While this is a fun exercise, if youre presenting this puzzle in a speech on, say, preventing drug abuse, you will not only distract the audience, but you will lose credibility because the audience may think that youre trying to manipulate them. But if there is one thing that can quickly turn off an audience more than anything else, it is a boring speaker. Drone on in a monotone, with a robotic expression on your face, and most will be nodding in their seats in a heartbeat. Always remember: be lively, be energetic. Nothing spurs the audience more than an enthusiastic beaker. Use eye contact, and adjust your voice according to the importance of what youre saying. If you can put your emotions into your speech, by all means go ahead. Remember, you are in the public eye, and you are there to portray a certain image, whether you like it or not. So embrace the spotlight and be an actor, but be very careful to not become over dramatic, which will drawn snigger more than respect.A person of power knows how to restrain himself or herself, so to project an image of authority and control, use sharp, well-controlled gestures that makes you seem as if oh move with purpose; which is basically what you should be doing. Gestures, body language and voice modulation. Firstly, gestures. Gestures can be the most powerful form of non-verbal communication that you as a speaker can employ. Gestures clarify and support your words, provide emphasis, act as a kind of visual aid, are highly visible, helps dissipate nervousness, and more importantly stimulates audience participation.To use gesturing, simply allow your body to respond naturally to your thoughts, words and feelings. Natural, spontaneous gesturing that looks smooth and well-time can do wonders for maintaining your audiences attention. But keep nervous gestures like head-scratching and the fig-leaf, where you stand with your hands over your body near your abdomen, to a minimum or get rid of them altogether. They serve no point, and only conveys your nervousness. Just remember not to overdo your gestures, and you shouldnt have to worry.While gestures refer to the use of hand and arm movement, body language refers to the way you carry yourself. In other words, you posture, and the way you move onstage. Your body language reveals exactly how confident you are, and can deliver a stronger impact than merely gesturing alone. Lets say for example that if you speak with shoulders slumped, head down and eyes on the floor, while walking with a shuffling gait. You can have the most expressive gestures in the world, but the audience is only going to see one thing: lack of confidence. On the other hand, if youre bouncing around in a hyperactive manner on stage like a Durable bunny that just swallowed a whole coffee farm, donkeys and all, you are going to project an image of nervousness. Body language has a great part in influencing your audiences reception of your words, so make sure that you project positive body language. The simplest way is to give an image of confidence: shoulders back, spine straight, chest out, and chin up. This not only gives you an air of self-confidence, it also helps relieve whatever nervous tension you might have.Creating positive body language is a lot to do with practice and habit. Make sure that when you are on stage, you do not overdo any kind of movement unless you are deliberately using it for dramatic effect in a story. Dont try imitating others; let your body respond in a natural, smooth-flowing, and spontaneous way. Let yourself mirror your own feelings. You must strive to look as if oh are speaking informally with friends or family. And yes, as contrary as it sounds, you need to practice how to be spontaneous so that you make it into a habit. Again, practice, practice, practice comes to play here.Nothing builds confidence faster than good preparation. If you are prepared, the knowledge itself will translate on stage as confidence. What about voice modulation? Its simple, really; nothing kills a presentation faster than a powerful word or statement spoken in a monotone. Martin Luther King is a historical figure who has a powerful way of using voice modulation. I have a clip here n Powering showing his voice, an excerpt from his The Drum Major Instinct. As you have heard, his voice places emphasis on certain words, like wonderful, greatness, and serve.He raises his voice, or lowers it, as he sees fit to emphasize his message. To learn how to use voice modulation, start by recording your speech. Listen to that recording. Then practice, practice, practice. Once you go out onstage, have a group of listeners whose opinion you trust and respect listen to you, and later your speech, then you have a keeper. After that, you must make sure your audience remembers your speech. You may eve the greatest idea in the universe, but if two hours later everyone has forgotten about it, there is simply no point.How do we go about making an impact? First, encourage your audience to take notes on important points of your speech, and after the speech give handouts containing details. This double emphasis will let the message sink more in your audience. You can also provide visual aids, which will serve as memory Joggers. By stimulating you audience in both sight and sound, youll create a greater impact in their minds. In addition, try to use visual aids at any appropriate chance you get; they an do wonders for creating interest and variety in your presentations.Visual aids not only allows your audience to understand and retain your message better and faster, it helps keep your presentation on track and eases your nerves, since you are essentially doing no more than demonstrating and embellishing what is shown through your visual aid. Of course, make sure that the equipment provided will actually help you present your visual aids. Theres no point bringing a DVD with a killer Powering Presentation using the latest techniques when you arena doesnt even have video projectors. Always do your research before doing something.What are the best kinds of visual aid? There is no answer to this. It depends on available equipment, on available time, and on available resources. It depends on the size of the room, the number of participants, and the location of the event. Visual aids can range from simple written or printed material like flowcharts, to physical objects like props, to electronic and mechanical equipment like transparencies, 35 mm slides, prerecorded videos, and computer presentations. Each allows you to prepare them well in advance of your scheduled presentation.However, only aliphatic and transparencies allow you to create the visual DURING your presentation. This is why they are often used during parts of the talk that involves audience participation. Chalkboards and whiteboards cannot be pre-prepared and is used exclusively for on-the-spot visuals as you present your material. Take the Powering presentation, of which I am sure that all of you are familiar with. With the ever-increasing advances in information technology, most of use nowadays would have used or been exposed to Powering in one way or another.A program like Powering allows you to design screens on your computer with a omelet array of text, colors and illustrations. In fact, with slightly more advanced knowledge you can incorporate music, videos, and graphic images. Then you can arrange these screens in any sequence you which, and you can even use limited animation to create interest in your slides. But in order to use Powering to present information during your presentation, you need two pieces of equipment: a notebook and a projector, whether video or standard overhead.Both of these equipment are not only rather expensive and thus poses a bit of cost and some security risk, they are also relatively bulky and hard to transport around. Also, it is difficult to change the sequence of your screens while in the middle of your presentation, which can pose a bit of a problem when y our audience wants to move in a slightly different direction, and you might not able to bring the visuals along with you. Not to mention means that there is a margin for error, since the program can easily crash or fail to work properly.When it works correctly, Powering presentations can provide a very impressive and memorable impression on your audience. But when something goes wrong, it can easily disrupt your whole speech. In the end, the choice of visual aids lies in your hands. It very much depends on where and when are you giving your speech, as well as your own personal preference. You can also use props, which is essentially a three-dimensional object you have bought or made. When you want to use props in your presentation, make sure you plan, plan, plan. Plan how to use the prop.Plan when to use the prop. Plan where to use the prop. And make sure that when you use it, you inform your audience why you are using it. The process is relatively simple. First, go through your speech or your seminar outline and identify a point or a story where a prop can be used to enhance and enforce your message. Make or buy the prop that you need, and then practice using it in your presentation until you feel confident and comfortable using it. Then demonstrate this in front of friends who can provide feedback, and use their suggestions to modify or correct your presentation.Once youve perfected your delivery with this prop, simply repeat the process for the next prop. Props can generate impact, but used in the wrong context, can be outright distracting and may actually hurt your presentation. So chose wisely, and make sure you are confident enough to use it. When it comes to transporting props, it depends on its bulk, rigidity, and how dangerous it is. Certain props that include gimmicks like pyrotechnics are sometimes tricky to bring around, especially when you have to go through places with security measures, the airport being a good example.But I always maintain the belief that YOU are your best visual aid. An effective speech, in the end, always comes from the heart, and with the use of emotions, gestures, and a bit of acting, you can deliver a strong message on your own. How you dress, move and sound already does most of the talking for you. To impact your audience, you have to master your non-verbal communicating skills; facial expression, tone of voice, and movements all contribute to you making an effective and evocative speech. Use your hands to gesture and illustrate movement and form, and when you move make it natural and confident.Use your voice to reflect emotions. Slow down, speak distinctly without straining your voice, and use occasional pauses to catch and hold attention. Dress in proper attire suited to the occasion, and try to keep colors and accessories from being too loud. If your audience cant keep their eyes off your technicality batik shirt, for example, or the massive flower youve mined to your color, then youre definitely going to lose impact since their so distracted by your colorful fashion sense. Repetition is also an important key in getting your audience to remember you. Devices like this heightens drama, which leads to greater impact.Remember the speech from Martin Luther King youve Just heard? See? You remember his words because he uses a lot of repetition. With the use of repetition, hes driving home the point that you have to serve. But remember to limit your contents. Too much detail can be overwhelming to the average listener, and he or she will respond by immemorially tuning you out in order to process all that information youve bombarded handful of well-chosen points, illustrated with simple supporting ideas, and summed up with a powerful conclusion, will almost always be remembered better than a 50- page long speech filled to brim w ith data. Finally, review and summaries. This is the oldest teaching principle in the book, and there is a good reason why professional speakers still use it today. Because essentially, your audience is going to remember two things most clearly, the beginning of your speech, and the end of your speech. By first telling what youre going to tell, telling it, then telling what youve Just told, youre essentially using repetition. For example, you first state your thesis statement in your introduction, which is basically a summary of the main points in your speech.Then you move on to your speech, where you elaborate and embellish your main points with supporting statements and arguments. Finally, when you reach the end of your speech, you restate your thesis statement, slightly modified, and inform the conclusion of the speech. This Three Times Over method is the single most effective way to imprint our message in your audiences brain. If you are able to use your conclusion to reinstate your points As Lord Macaroon once said: A speech is like a love affair-?any fool can start one, but to end it requires considerable skill. Finish off with a strong, powerful conclusion that summarizes all your points and reinforces your thesis statement, and youll leave behind a powerful memory. Ladies and gentlemen, before I finish off I want you to remember that when all things are said and done, a speech is a speech, and a speech is nothing more than a way to deliver your message to your chosen audience. All of us, I am sure, have something of interest to say, yet do not know how to say it.The tips I have given you today are simply the very bare bones of the art of successful speaking, of how to gain trust and enhance your credibility. I have told you how to capture the attention of your audience with the use of humor an d well-chosen anecdotes, how to hold on to their interest as you deliver your message by controlling your gestures and modifying your voice tone and volume, and how to leave a great impression once youve finished using repetition and visual aids. The nature of oral communication is fleeting one, and the best way to learn how to speak is to go out and do it.

Free Essays on The Sin Is In Living

The Sin is in Living The title of the poem â€Å"Living in Sin,† alone makes the mind race. Naturally the thought that comes to mind is the idea of an unmarried person and premarital sex. Most often sin is related to being ungodly. However, the perception that should be gathered after reading this poem is that a title is just that, a title. The speakers wants the reader to acknowledge that life is not about sin in a sexual sense. The sin is not loving and living with someone you are not married to, but in living with someone you do not love. The speaker is a woman. She is expects much more out of life, but receives much less, leaving her truly disillusioned with the life she is currently living. The speaker believes that she should not have to work at a situation that is meant to be. When the poem first begins the reader is immediately drawn to the fact that she the speaker is meant for a different life. â€Å"She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love† (1-2). In believing the studio would keep itself she admits that she had the illusion that no work would be required. Her relationship should be effortless. She is now coming to the realization that she must work to keep the dust off the furniture of love. Nothing seems to be easy for her in this relationship. She is reminded of this when she looks through a dirty glass pane and listening to the drip of the faucet. â€Å"Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grime† (3-4). The speaker wishes for the faucet not to drip, and for the windows to be clean. This is the life that God has chosen for her not the one she would have chosen for herself. This is not the life the speaker would have chosen for herself. â€Å"A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl† (4-5). The plate of pears and the Persian shawl insinuates the life the speaker feels she was destined for a life with money and prestige. â€Å"Not that... Free Essays on The Sin Is In Living Free Essays on The Sin Is In Living The Sin is in Living The title of the poem â€Å"Living in Sin,† alone makes the mind race. Naturally the thought that comes to mind is the idea of an unmarried person and premarital sex. Most often sin is related to being ungodly. However, the perception that should be gathered after reading this poem is that a title is just that, a title. The speakers wants the reader to acknowledge that life is not about sin in a sexual sense. The sin is not loving and living with someone you are not married to, but in living with someone you do not love. The speaker is a woman. She is expects much more out of life, but receives much less, leaving her truly disillusioned with the life she is currently living. The speaker believes that she should not have to work at a situation that is meant to be. When the poem first begins the reader is immediately drawn to the fact that she the speaker is meant for a different life. â€Å"She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love† (1-2). In believing the studio would keep itself she admits that she had the illusion that no work would be required. Her relationship should be effortless. She is now coming to the realization that she must work to keep the dust off the furniture of love. Nothing seems to be easy for her in this relationship. She is reminded of this when she looks through a dirty glass pane and listening to the drip of the faucet. â€Å"Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grime† (3-4). The speaker wishes for the faucet not to drip, and for the windows to be clean. This is the life that God has chosen for her not the one she would have chosen for herself. This is not the life the speaker would have chosen for herself. â€Å"A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl† (4-5). The plate of pears and the Persian shawl insinuates the life the speaker feels she was destined for a life with money and prestige. â€Å"Not that...

HRD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

HRD - Essay Example One of the major roles of human resource management in an organization is staffing as no single organization is in a position to run its operations without employees, both fully functional and support staff. As such human resource development sees the recruitment and selection of human resources, read employees, into the organization. This occurs after human resource development runs planning for human resources where they determine the employees required to meet the goals and achieve set targets for the organization. Recruitment involves attracting qualified applicants for a job that exists in the organization and the qualifications should meet the job description, while selection involves human resource management selecting from the qualified applicants that are best suited (â€Å"Introduction to human†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , n.d.). The other role of human resources is orientation into an organization where after hiring; an employee is expected to familiarize himself or herself with the or ganization and its functions and operations. In this case, human resource development plays its role in orientation, where it acquaints its employees with aspects of the organizations so that the employee is comfortable in the organization and ready to work based on the information that is passed on to him or her during this process. Human resource development provides information on the basics and other information that an employee collects and creates in the process of working in then organization, but most of it is the basics that are provided at orientation (â€Å"Introduction to human†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , n.d.). The third important role of human resource development is training and development, where it provides employees with skills and knowledge to perform their tasks and fulfill their duties responsibly and as per organizational objectives. In this role, human resource development provides training for new employees who

Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism Assignment

Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism - Assignment Example The paper "Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism" examines various artists and their art styles, the depiction of different subject matter, influence of art to everyday life and history. The focus of this study is on Neoclassicism and Romanticism to Realism and Impressionism in Europe and The United States. In Goya’s work, â€Å"Third of May†, the victims are placed in the center of the canvas, and flooded with piercing white light that jumps out at the viewer. The victims are surrounded in blood red, yellow ochre and highlighting white, while the soldiers remain faceless and shrouded in subdued colors of black and grey. Artistic statements that go against the conservative grain or the status quo relating to religion, sexual and gender rights, politics, war, erotica, or portrayals of violence usually stand a good chance of offending some segment of society that wants to silence any voice that opposes them. The most memorable artist of late to embody thes e threats is Robert Mapplethorpe. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mapplethorpe had a very broad portfolio of work, but it was his images of erotica and sexual expression that caused controversy and legal scandal in the United States and abroad in England. Mapplethorpe’s graphic images were included in an exhibit that had been funded by the National Endowment For The Arts, which caused an uproar to many who claimed that taxpayer money was being used to fund potentially obscene.His images of defecation became the center of many legally heated discussions

Evaluation of Vodafones Strategic Capabilities

Evaluation of Vodafones Strategic Capabilities Vodafone is a well-known mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, England. It is recognized as the largest telecommunications network company all over the world on the basis of its turnover. Currently, the company has equity interests in twenty-five countries and Partner Networks in another forty-one countries (Vodafone 2011). It is the second largest mobile telecom group throughout globe after China Mobile. The firms success is due to its strategic capabilities and their link with significant external and internal factors. Nowadays for surviving in an intense competition, it is essential that firms must be innovative but it is also essential to identify what makes a firm innovative. As well, it is also vital to identify that what are the resources that make a substantial contribution in a firms innovation capabilities. In regard to business these innovation capabilities are also known as a firms strategic capabilities. The success of a firms strategic capabilities depends on its ability to link it with its internal and external factors that influence the setting of its business objectives and policies. In the light of resource based theory, the strategic capabilities of Vodafone can be assessed by identifying its current resources and capabilities as a successful player in telecommunication network industry (Ordanini Rubera 2008). Subsequently, the effects of its key resources on its strategic capabilities need to be identified in relation to its link with external and internal factors. Throughout company long history and success its resources are classified in two categories that are: Tangible resources: The company tangible resources can be classified into four categories that are financial, physical, organisational structure and technological resources. Intangible resources: Intangible resources can be classified into people-dependent and people-independent resources (Bakar Ahmad 2010). All these resources are not having same importance to company strategy as financial, structure, technological are highly important whereas physical resources is having ordinary importance to it. On the other hand, people dependent and people-independent resources like human and innovation resources and reputation and organisational culture all are having high importance to Vodafone strategy. In regard to these resources, the company is significantly able in developing several strategic capabilities that can be analyzed with the help of its value chain activities that are primary activities and support activities (Bakar Ahmad 2010). Activities or organisational functions direct its employees towards the development of capabilities so it is essential to identify capabilities in regard to companys primary and support activities. One of the substantial strategic capabilities developed by Vodafone in regard to its operations is providing telecommunication services at low cost with guaranteed quality. In regard to technological development, the company have become able to exploit technological opportunity and developing and applying technologies (Donaldson OToole 2007). For handling human resource management, it has developed its capabilities in concern of recruiting and training competent personnel for technological innovation and motivating compensating all employees for more and more technological innovation (Dodourova 2003). In regard to its infrastructure related activities, it has developed capabilities like recognizing and promoting the aspect of innovation, financing and planning for technological innovation, integrating all functional departments, evaluating technological innovation, legal support to it, and attaining essential government support to finance and protect its technological innovation (Dodourova 2003). The discussion of company strategic capabilities and resources depict that almost all its strategic capabilities are grounded on technological innovation that are highly supported by its innovation-friendly tangible and intangible resources. Due to this extreme association between resources and capabilities, the company have become able to handle its external and internal environment that can be understood with subsequent tools like PEST and SWOT analysis: PEST analysis Political factors: Several political factors related to regulations, infrastructure, and health issues affect Vodafone business objectives and policies but with its strategic capability of recognizing, financing, planning, integrating, assessing, and legal and government support it become able to effectively deal with these external issues and develop effective business strategy as per the industry trends and environment (Donaldson OToole 2007). Economic factors: Economic factors like high cost of licences, the bidding war for 3G and constant price wars between providers also critically affect company and its business plans but with its strategic capabilities of technological innovation Vodafone has become able to serve its customers with more surprising and advanced services (Dodourova 2003). Its technological development operations related capabilities are significantly assisting it in resolving economical issues from its external environment. Social-cultural factors: Socio-cultural factors like health issues, demographics and social trends also affects company operations that it critically handled with the help of technological innovation in regard to its human resources and technology development (Lynch 2006). Technologies offered by Vodafone are assured and approved that assist it in handling health related issues and its employees are highly dedicated and committed for technological innovation that assist in handling changing demographics and social trends. Technological factors: Technology related issues that affect company operations and business plans are excessive technological change in mobile phone industry, the introduction of 3G and several other advanced aspects (Dodourova 2003). All these external environment related issues are handled by Vodafone with its technological innovation capability that has been developed by exploiting technological opportunity and developing and applying technologies. SWOT analysis: Another contribution of Vodafone strategic capabilities is in concern to the management of its internal environment that is highly essential to link it up with external environment. With the help of its strategic capabilities, the company has become able to maximize its strength and existing opportunities like global experience, establish itself across several countries, exploring new technologies related to telecommunication and mobile, and increase its size of the market and as well as its market share (Bakar Ahmad 2010). As well, due to its technological innovation capability it has also become able to establish itself at a good global platform, standardized customer relationship management and attaining high operations margin (Dodourova 2003). In addition to this, the company has also become able to minimize its weaknesses and threats to external environment like high capital expenditure, huge RD and infrastructural costs, legal issues, selection of appropriate technologies, political and social regulations, and increasing competitors (McLoughlin Aaker 2010). It has all become possible due to its strategic capabilities developed throughout its different primary and support activities and continuous support from its tangible and intangible resources. All the above identified strategic capabilities assist firm in handling its external as well as internal factors that in turn assist it in the development of appropriate business objective and plans for present and future success of the company. Critical Appraisal of Vodafones Business Performance since 2008 Vodafone is one of the worlds largest mobile communications companies on the basis of revenue. From, its inception it is operating with a vision to become communication leader in a significantly connected world (Capon 2008). In its initial year, it confronted substantial difficulties throughout its business performance but in last some years it has attained immense success due to its several distinct strategic initiatives (Sandbach 2009). Since 2008, the company is doing quite well but still it confronted several failures related to intense competition, emergence of advances communication technologies, and continuous changes in customer preferences (Lynch 2006). For handling failures related to competition the company adopted three generic strategies for competitive advantage. For handling excessive competition and market pressure, the company made use of cost leadership strategy and differentiation in spite of focus strategy. In regard to its problem of competition, the company cost leadership strategy was highly helpful. One critical success attained by the company in this period was to become a firm with truly international customer base (Sandbach 2009). It become possible for Vodafone due to its appropriate strategies like differentiation and cost leadership strategy. In present also, this strategy is highly helpful for the company in dealing with the issues that may arise with number portability. Number portability means customers can switch to anyone who provides a reliable and cheapest service (Vodafone Annual Report 2010 2011). By competing on its cost leadership, Vodafone can direct itself towards higher unit profits that in turn will help it in attaining competitive advantage through decreasing costs. Another imperative success that company has attained in last 3 years is a good global platform which integrates its existing future network systems and heightens its ability to launch products with a concentration on both market speed and the ability to deliver it throughout all group network (Lynch 2006). It is done with a strategic initiative of differentiation. The differentiation along with marketing strategy and effective marketing mix helped Vodafone in serving its customers with added value through their wide range product features and quality that is significantly different from its competitors (Curwen Whalley 2010). The company strategic initiatives and their success and failures can also be understood effectively with the help of BCG matrix that depicts the companys market share and growth rate: Relative Market Share (Cash Generation) High Low Stars Multimedia messaging Question Marks 3G Vodafone Live Cash Cow SMS Dogs Analogue services High Market growth rate (Cash Usage) Low Vodafone BCG Matrix The BCG matrix depicts Vodafones portfolio that in turn demonstrates its products stand. Boston matrix represents the companys portfolio according to where the products and services stand in regard to market share and growth (Johnson 2008). This matrix shows that the company is operating by attaining a balance. Although, it has also confronted troubles in some last years in regard to 3G and Vodafone live that can also be depicted as a problem child or question marks. For effective future success in regard to the existing problems, the company should decrease its investments into its analogue services and in its place it should make use of money from cash cow SMS to reconstitute the problem child and maintain the star multimedia messaging in the high market share/high market growth area (Lynch 2006). In addition to these strategy models, the company performance since 2008 can also be understood with the help of different tools of financial analysis. By analysing subsequent financial ratios in terms of liquidity profitability, efficiency and return to investors it will become easy to identify that how well company managed its performance: Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio: The current ratio for Vodafone decreased from 5.40 to 5.00 in 2009 and 4.99 in 2010. It depicts that in terms of liquidity this period was not as good as throughout these years the company capability to pay its liabilities has decreased (Vodafone Annual Report 2010 2011). Quick Ratio: Vodafones quick ration fall from 5.38 in 2008 to 4.98 in 2009. This in turn also decreased slightly with 4.97 in 2010. This decrease shows that since 2008, the company ability to pay current liabilities without depending on the sale of inventory has also not attained any improvement (Luetjen Maatwk 2011). Profitability Ratios Gross Profit Margin: Vodafones gross profit margin over the three years has fallen slightly from 38.30% in 2008 to 37.00% in 2006 to a further 33.80%. It is the result of uninterrupted rise in the cost of sales. Although company margins are falling but its ratios are much better than its competitors that demonstrate that industry is at its matured stage and regularly the company is making use of new marketing strategies to bring down its cost. Operating Profit Margin: The company operating profit margin has fallen from 28.32% in 2008 to 14.28% in 2009 that in turn again rose to 21.32% in 2010. This was due to company approach towards market trends and existing competitors moves (Luetjen Maatwk 2011). Net Profit Margin: The company net profit margin has fallen initially from 19.4% in 2008 to 7.51% in 2009 and afterwards it improved to 19.38% in 2010 that was due to companys use of appropriate generic strategies and marketing strategy (Vodafone Annual Report 2010 2011). Return on Equity: The return to equity was also fallen from 8.83% in 2008 to 3.63% in 2009 but again with appropriate strategies it was increased to 9.49% in 2010. Efficiency Ratios Stock Turnover: The company stock turnover has increased continuously in the three years from 85.08 in 2008 to 99.56 in 2009 and 102.71 in 2010. This shows that throughout this three years period the company has effectively converted its stocks into revenue and as well it also made an effective use of its working capital that is critical for attaining success in present intense competitive environment (Luetjen Maatwk 2011). Debtor Turnover: The debtor turnover of the company has fallen slightly from 5.42 in 2008 to 5.35 in 2009 and 5.06 in 2010. It depicts that Vodafone is having high efficiency in regard to credit management. Asset Turnover: The asset turnover of the company is almost similar in three years as it was 0.28 in 2008, 0.27 in 2009 and again 0.28 in 2010. This ratio of company depicts its performance in generating sales from the assets at its disposition. Investment Ratios The Company earning per share has confronted both the increase and decrease from 2008 as in 2008 it was 12.56. In 2009 it reached at 5.84 and in 2010 it reached at 16.44. In addition to this, its price earning ration also confronted increase and decline. In 2008, it was 2.52 that increased to 3.14 in 2009 and again decreased to 1.35 in 2010 (Vodafone Annual Report 2010 2011). The companys use of appropriate strategies in comparison to its competitors assisted it in attaining this position. With the analysis of different financial ratios of the company, it can be said that the company performance since 2008 was a mix of success and failures. In this period the company did not confronted any severe failure in spite of just some minor business and competition related troubles (Wilson Gilligan 2005). Also, the company efforts made throughout this period were highly effective as due to this only it become able to make an effective use of its working capital. Development of a Potential Future Strategy for Vodafone With detailed discussion of company strategic capabilities and performance since 2008, it becomes apparent that company is doing very well but several times it is also troubled with intense competition and several other factors like increasing costs, emergence of advance communication technologies and changing preferences of customers (Dibb Simkin 2010). Till now, the company made use of cost leadership and competitive strategy that significantly helped it in attaining its specific business goals and objectives but it also need to be updated continuously. In regard to grow its position in international and global markets it is vital that the company operate with a potential future strategy that can be developed effectively with the help of Porters Diamond that in regard to Vodafone is as follows: Porters five forces Subsequent five forces make a direct effect on Vodafones strategic competitiveness that in turn will assist in determining a potential future strategy for the company: Competitive rivalry: In telecommunication market in which Vodafone operates competition is quite high and basically it comes from its competitors O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Virgin. In this market rivalry is high and there is no brand loyalty that exhibits that there exist little differentiation in spite of price (Dibb Simkin 2004). For handling this rivalry and growing in international markets the company should expand its operations in more and more developing nations. Buying power: In the market Vodafone is operating buying power is quite high and it could be understood with the measures of number of customers that disconnect throughout a year. This also depicts that rivalry in industry is high. Customers have several choices and new packages in regard to new tariffs and new phones (Hitt, Ireland Hoskisson 2009). For surviving in this kind of market it is vital to have continuous upgrade and expansion in developing countries for maintaining company position at global level. Power of suppliers: In addition to high buyer power, the telecommunication market also operates with strong suppliers power. In this regard, as Vodafone is a cost leader, it operates with margins higher than their competitors. This assist it to attract price increases from its suppliers more comfortably than its competitors (Dibb Simkin 2010). Being an extensive, leading competitors of the mobile telephone industry, Vodafone is able to hold its supplier cost down and attain profit but this situation would not remain in long-term if company is not able to main its position in global and international markets. For this it is vital to enter different developing countries. Threat of substitutes The company threat of product substitutes is low and it is due to its focussed cost leadership strategy. This strategy makes it difficult for others to produce similar products and services at a lower rate with same economies of scale (Fransman 2002). Threat of entry Although the threat of new entrants in industry is low but this situation need to be maintained by Vodafone by reducing its cost below of its competitors. This could be done by maintaining eminent level of efficiency and extending its place and position in different international and global markets (KÄÂ ±mÄÂ ±loÄÅ ¸lu, HNasÄÂ ±r NasÄÂ ±r 2010). With the help of this porters diamond analysis, it becomes evident that the most potential future strategy that can be adopted by Vodafone is expanding or concentrating more on developing countries. This analysis assists in identifying the suitability of selected potential future strategy. With this analysis it becomes evident that in present, Vodafone is able to maintain its position and attain significant competitive advantage with the help of focussed cost leadership strategy but the situation will not remain same in future. In future competition will get more intense and in that environment a firm that have strong international level presence will be able to operate. So, it is quite helpful for Vodafone to operate with a strategy of concentrating more on developing countries (KÄÂ ±mÄÂ ±loÄÅ ¸lu, HNasÄÂ ±r NasÄÂ ±r 2010). This strategy will also assist the company in increasing its profitability and cost-benefit that is related to the acceptability of a strategic option. Until or unless a strategic option s not acceptable it is not beneficial to use it. With this future strategy, the company will become able to reduce its costs and increase its benefits and shareholder value (Hitt, Ireland Hoskisson 2009). In addition to the suitability and acceptability of this future strategy, adoption of this strategy is also feasible. As in present also company is operating in several global locations so it is not so difficult for it to concentrate more on developing nations (Dibb Simkin 2004). It serves its customers with low prices that would also be beneficial for it to expand in developing nations. In this way, it can be concluded that concentrating more on developing markets is a quite effective potential future strategy for Vodafone and for its assured future success.

The Assassination of the Mayor of Castro Street Essay -- Essays Papers

The Assassination of the Mayor of Castro Street and the Consensus of the Judicial System It was November 27th, 1978. There was a cheerful atmosphere in San Francisco’s City Hall that morning. Supervisor Harvey Milk’s good mood was due to Mayor George Moscone’s upcoming announcement to the press. He was going to publicize that he had decided not to reappoint the ultra-conservative "voice for the family", Dan White, back to the board of supervisors. Harvey Milk was a fierce advocate of this political move, for he was the first openly gay elected official, and thus, the most important political leader for homosexuals at the time. Dan White, on the other hand, enforced family values and therefore was not someone that supported this progressive civil rights movement. Thus, the opposition towards Dan White shown by his colleges and the minorities of the community was a new victory for the homosexual rights movement and the many supporters of Harvey Milk. However, Dan White had other plans. The press did not hear that announcement, but instead saw this: [vi deo of announcement of assassinations, "As president of the Board of Supervisors it is my duty to make this announcement . . . Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect . . . is Supervisor Dan White.", Dianne Feinstein.] (Epstein & Schmiechen, 1984). Dan White abruptly and severely altered the success of the civil rights movement occurring in the most liberal city of its time. Richard DeLeon states this in his book, Left Coast City: Progressive Politics of San Francisco 1975-1991, "†¦this sad episode in San Francisco’s political history almost certainly delayed the opportunity to fulfill Mayor Moscone’s progressive agenda through the nine ye... ...duced. Their personal negative predisposition towards homosexuals was the underlying principle for their conviction. This obvious stigma associated with Harvey Milk’s sexuality was an instant and enormous step backward in all that Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk had accomplished. It is a shame that while the United States is supposed to be the most powerful country in the world, the structure of its judicial system has obvious flaws, which have not been modified for over two hundred years. To fix this problem of the oppression of minorities, one of two things needs to happen. Either the jury system needs to be modified, or society needs to be mature enough to respect each individual without discrimination towards race, gender, or sexual orientation. Until these changes occur, our judicial system will continue to allow people like Dan White to get away with murder.

Nau company

Ana Innovating for Social Consciousness By Alex Claws Can a for-profit enterprise succeed if its main innovation is valuing social consciousness as much as shareholder returns? The question is particularly relevant in a time of high gas prices and a growing sense that our current consumption of natural resources is simply unsustainable. The founders of Ana, a fledgling retail outerwear company, believed the answer to this question to be a resounding mimes. Built with an unprecedented level of environmental, social, and human-rights unconsciousness, by April 2008 Ana was an underground success on the West Coast, opening five stores and a website selling critically acclaimed clothing collections. Then, at the beginning of May, Nan's board of directors voted to shut down the company. Viewed through Insight's lenses, Nan's promise becomes clear-?along with the perils that led to its downfall. Ana had a reasonable business model built around a well-defined Job-to-be-done. But as will beco me clear, Ana didn't follow an emergent strategy.And Nan's management discovered that a business model that looks good on paper doesn't always translate into immediate profits. Ultimately, a lack of careful execution and a push for quick expansion doomed Nan's first incarnation. But the story of Ana is still unfolding. Ana 2. 0 is currently underway, and that venture appears to have a better chance of success. The Launch Ana (Maori for â€Å"welcome†) began with the dream of Eric Reynolds, an outdoor enthusiast entrepreneur, co-founder (in 1974) of outerwear brand Marmot, and subscriber to the belief that a single individual can have an impact on the world.In the summer of 2003, Reynolds conceived of Ana, a sustainable clothing company that would donate a significant portion of its revenue to nonprofit organizations. Specifically, Reynolds envisioned customers presented with a unique question at point-of-sale: â€Å"To which organization should ‘my five percent' go? â €  By giving five percent of its revenue to nonprofits, Ana would break new ground. (For comparison, the most generous corporations give away one percent of revenue, with the average corporation giving less than . 05 percent. ) In the summer of 2004, Reynolds began recruiting a management team.In 2005, he hired a number of individuals away from Patagonia, a firm commonly considered a leader in outerwear, social consciousness, ND charitable giving. Chris Van Dyke (son of actor Dick Van Dyke), an ex-Nikkei employee 1 and ex-Patagonia vice president of branding and marketing, was hired as CEO. Mark Calibrating, a successful Patagonia designer, Joined Ana as lead designer. Patagonians director of marketing, Ian Yells, Joined as vice president of marketing. Nan's commitment to sustainability framed the constraints within which Calibrating worked as he designed Nan's clothing collection.Calibrating avoided any materials that weren't renewable or recyclable while seeking a balance betwe en performance, sustainability, and style. As a result, nearly all of the 30 fabrics utilized in Nan's clothing collection were custom materials developed specifically for Ana. The fabrics -?made from corn, recycled plastic bottles, 100 percent organic wool, and recycled synthetics-?set a new standard for sustainability. Nan's clothing creation process led to a number of innovations, including the elimination of solvent-based adhesives.The efforts of Calibrating and his team were rewarded-?Nan's first collection received critical praise from such disparate sources as Men's Vogue and Rock and Ice magazines. One downside: The fabric choices greatly constrained the range of colors possible, resulting in mostly drab hues. Nan's custom fabrics also required that customers pay a substantial premium for their clothing, but Nan's management team did not see this as a problem for its target customer segments: the affluent â€Å"multidimensional outdoor athlete,† the â€Å"new activis t,† and â€Å"creative. The Ana team expected that their customers' passion for sustainability would overcome any price resistance. Nan's commitment to sustainability was enforced as carefully in its stores as in its clothing. The company eschewed traditional 4,000-square-foot retail stores for a 2,000-square-foot â€Å"Webfoot† concept. The store spaces were long and narrow, designed purposefully with limited space for inventory that would be restocked twice weekly. Ana also offered customers a 10 percent discount and free shipping if they were willing to try clothing in the store, and then purchase it online.Assembled from a modular, prefabricated design, each store featured energy-saving lighting and leveraged materials such as reclaimed timber, toxin-free fiberboard, and recycled resin (for mannequins). Customers were offered a choice of 12 carefully selected environmental, social, and humanitarian nonprofit organizations, and five percent of the purchase price was donated to the chosen group. Nan's values extended to its real estate leasing strategy as well-?Ana only leased store space that was LED-certified (LED certification indicates environmental- and health-consciousness standards).The company also set a minimum age limit for the workers at its overseas material suppliers. Nan's principles included the constraint that the highest-paid worker within the company could only earn a maximum of 12 mimes the lowest-paid employee's salary. Finally, Ana did not invest in marketing or public relations beyond a series of websites, choosing instead to rely on word-of- mouth, a more â€Å"sustainable† form of marketing in the eyes of Yells and his team.While Ana managed to be remarkably consistent in the infusion of its values into its processes, one of the key factors in its eventual downfall was that the company had a difficult time securing financing. At least one investor's legal counsel balked at a contract clause that placed the â€Å" needs of society' equal to the â€Å"needs of shareholders,† but Ana held firm. 2 Nan's business plan called for it to earn more than $250 million in revenue in 2010 and to achieve profitability in 2009 or 2010, figures based on opening four stores in 2007, 20 stores in 2008, and 150 stores by 2010.To build the necessary momentum toward these goals, Ana needed at least $51 million in funding. By the end of 2006, Ana had raised $24 million, largely from â€Å"super angels,† individual investors who included the chairman of Seagate Technology, Steve Lucid, and Stephen Gomez, Nan's chairman and a former Nikkei corporate vice president. Despite the fact that Ana had only reached half of its funding goal, the first Ana store penned in Boulder, Colorado, in January 2007, with three more successful store openings following during the year in Adulating, Oregon; Chicago; and Bellevue, Washington.Ana completed its first year of operation in 2007 with 92 employees, four clothing collections, and four stores. In March 2008, Ana donated $223,000 to its 12 nonprofit organizations, implying 2007 sales of around $4. 5 million. In mid-April, Ana opened its fifth store in Los Angels. In late April 2008, despite raising an additional $10 million in funding, Ana announced that it would scale back its store- peeing plans to a total of five in 2008, down from an already-reduced projection of 10.Finally, on May 1, Nan's board of directors voted to â€Å"wind down its business operations,† citing â€Å"insurmountable financial obstacles. † All inventory was liquidated at 50 percent off and the stores were closed. Post-mortem interviews with Nan's executives suggest that the company was approximately $5 million to $10 million short of the funds needed to sustain its operations and open additional stores towards its goal of profitability.In the days following the decision, many customers commented on Nan's blob, expressing sadness, frustration, and anger and questioning why Ana had failed. Ana: The Post-Mortem Looking at Ana through Insight's business model innovation framework and a number of Insight lenses offers insight into how Ana developed such a devoted following as well as how the management team might have been able to ensure a brighter future for their company. Insight believes that business model innovation is one of the most powerful ways for organizations to achieve new growth.By carefully adjusting business model components-?the customer value proposition (the offering itself), the profit system (how the company creates value for itself), key resources (the critical things required to deliver on the value proposition), and key processes (how the company organizes and acts to deliver on the value proposition) -?organizations can build the type of competitive advantage necessary to create truly transformation growth. Nan's business model looked good-?on paper, at least.But Nan's impatient push for profits made it hard to re ally validate whether the business model would in fact work, and shut all opportunities for learning. Ana pulled the customer value proposition lever expertly. The company created potently positive solutions to a number of emotional, social, and functional Jobs-to- be-done. The sustainability of Nan's operations and products set a new standard of satisfaction for the emotional Job â€Å"Feel good about 3 the environmental and social consciousness of my clothing. Nan's clothing also satisfied the social Job â€Å"Convey to others that I prioritize the sustainability of my clothing over its color and flash. † And, as lauded by Rock and Ice magazine, Nan's clothing also satisfied myriad functional Jobs related to comfort and technical performance. Since its sustainable materials carried up to a 20-percent price premium over more commercially available materials, Ana had to pass the premium along to customers.But Nan's management team was correct in assuming that the high qualit y and the redeeming social and environmental value of its clothing Justified that premium in the eyes of customers -?as long as the economy was robust enough that sufficient customers could afford it. And Ana broke new ground with its â€Å"Webfoot† stores by implementing a retail business model that required lower capital and operational expenditures than a traditional retail store model. But there was a significant downside to Nan's profit-system choices.Insight recommends that new ventures â€Å"be patient for growth, impatient for profit. † Nan's management expected the company to have 150 stores in operation by 2010, but did not expect profitability until 2009 at the earliest. Growth was thus essential to profitability, creating a significant risk of failure if the company could not reach its early-stage funding goals. Insight also recommends that new ventures pursue an emergent strategy, to take small steps by conducting inexpensive tests of its key assumptions a bout the new racket.When the test results are in, the venture can analyze the results, adjust its strategy accordingly, and then conduct additional tests. This careful approach helps new ventures optimize for success while avoiding huge, potentially fatal resource commitments. In Nan's case, an emergent strategy might have enabled the firm to consume its funding more slowly while developing an optimal strategy. Instead, the team decided to go straight to launching full Webfoot's rather than testing the clothing line in a department store or opening a single, test-store concept.The root cause for the failure of Ana 1. 0 seems to have been that Nan's business strategy and some of its business model decisions proved questionable. By following a more careful, emergent strategy and by focusing on profitability before growth, Nan's executives might have been able to strike a better balance between vision and execution. Ana 2. 0: On June 24, 2008, Nan's fortunes turned around. Horny Toad A ctivities, a Santa Barbara-based lifestyle clothing company, stepped in to buy Nan's assets with the goal of re-launching a modified version of Ana by late summer. While â€Å"Ana 2. † Is gust beginning to emerge, early signs suggest that the re-launch will follow a strategy more closely aligned to that which Insight would recommend for success. Horny Toad creates and sells men's and women's lifestyle and outerwear clothing. Horny Toad's tagging, â€Å"every day is an adventure,† introduces a humorous, irreverent, socially-conscious approach that lies at the core of everything the company does. Indeed, Horny Toad and Ana have much in common. Horny Toad's stated commitment to â€Å"lightening its environmental footprint† and to 4 supporting both the community and organizations that improve the world immediately suggest synergies.Much as Ana showcased the organizations chosen for customer contributions, the Horny Toad website highlights its support for causes rang ing from helping adults with developmental disabilities to supporting clean energy, with a wide range of other environmental and community-activist organizations in between. However, in contrast to Nan's commitment to sell its clothing solely through a growing number of its own stores, Horny Toad has only two stores and sells its clothing in a wide variety of online and brick-and-mortar retailers. In addition to a store inFreeport, Maine, Horny Toad runs the â€Å"Lizard Lounge† in Portland, Oregon, complete with music, wireless access, coffee, and ping-pong. Horny Toad clothing has been lauded for its hip funkiness by print publications and blobs alike. Recognizing the similarities between Ana and Horny Toad, Horny Toad felt that it would support its motto â€Å"do well by doing good† by purchasing Nan's assets and hiring its leadership to help re-launch the clothing line. In addition to providing financial support, Horny Toad will sell Ana clothing in the Lizard Loun ge and, in a break from Nan's original treated, through other retailers as well.And, with Horny Toad's support, a percentage of Ana sales will continue to go to worthy non-profits. According to Nan's â€Å"Thought Kitchen† blob, shortly after the relationship was finalized Ana leadership began working to resurrect relationships with company partners and to put together a Fall/Holiday clothing collection in time for October availability. While the Ana clothing line will continue to deliver on the â€Å"Beauty, Performance, and Sustainability' commitment through the use of environmentally friendly and socially conscious trials and methods, a quote from Nan's website gets to the heart of why Ana 2. May very well succeed while 1. 0 failed: â€Å"As we move forward with the re-launch of Ana, you'll definitely recognize us, but we intend to do some things differently†¦ We're going to start small and grow the business organically in relationship to the demand for our product. We'll continue to sell our product at Ana. Com, but we're also going to partner with select retailers who share our common goals. We will not be operating our own retail stores, at least not in the near term†¦ So stay tuned. We're coming back. Smaller and a little wiser, our ambitions tempered a bit by the experience, but our passions most definitely intact. Ana 2. G's strategy will most likely enable the brand to focus more closely on identifying the product, marketing, and channel mix that appeals most to customers, without worrying about the pressures of rapid expansion. Particularly in a new venture, vision and passion tempered by patience and pragmatism is the way to go. This approach is also particularly appropriate in these tough economic times. Satisfying social and emotional Jobs-to-be-done around environmental friendliness ND social consciousness may be enough to earn significant premiums for clothing in a strong economy.However, during an economic downturn, financia l reality frequently wins out as consumers prioritize value over the satisfaction of some social and emotional Jobs. 5 For example, since the economy began to sour, Whole Foods Market has seen some of its consumers move their food spending to more budget-friendly alternatives. Whole Foods has responded by shifting its marketing strategy from a focus on quality and environmental friendliness to an emphasis on discounts, store brands, and reduce value as it attempts to keep its customers.Even if Ana 1. 0 had received enough funding earlier in 2008 to continue operations, economic conditions would likely have pushed the enterprise to the breaking point, as has happened with many other fledgling clothing boutiques. When Ana 1. 0 launched, its management team made an impressive commitment to the company's values, taking steps such as tracing the wool used in its clothing back to the sheep to ensure that they were well-treated and implementing a â€Å"sustainable† word-of-mouth mar keting strategy.To launch the new Ana, it is clear that the team as had to compromise on some of its values, such as the control provided by company-owned storefronts, a grassroots-only marketing effort, and potentially the level of contribution to nonprofits. In the end, however, the Ana 2. 0 strategy, with the help of Horny Toad, may be the key to enabling the company's sustainable operation. Making their operations as sustainable as their values will help ensure that Ana is able to be a force for good in the world for a long time to come. For more information: http://www. Ana. Com/coming-this-fall. HTML (Accessed 8/29/08, 1 :41 pm) http:// www. Gibbousness. Com/CGI-bin/magma/article. Pl? Articled=30412; http:// gratifiers. Com/content/fullest/? Acid=50781 6 Innovator's Insight In Need of an Innovation Fill-up By Stephen Hunker Recent news that Consulship's will be selling all 600 of its U. S. Service stations for $800 million comes as little surprise. Oil companies are facing ext raordinarily attractive investment opportunities in exploration and production, and the service station business has been tightly squeezed between rising wholesale costs, inability to pass along those cost increases, and falling demand as driving declines.Clearly the station's buyer-?closely held Peterson Fuel-?sees it differently. We do too. In our view, Peterson Fuel is buying cheap assets with lots of innovation headroom. While â€Å"stick to your knitting† is a popular business maxim, it is of course common to find diversified businesses. There are several reasons diversification can make sense: ; If the new business can share costs and customers with the core business-? in this case, owning both enterprises can provide scale economies, improve distribution, create a better buying experience, and other advantages.This is why many European parameters have service stations outside their doors, for example. ; If the new business provides a useful hedge against a core with vo latile returns but a need for consistent investment. This explains why many pharmaceutical firms own over-the-counter consumer healthcare brands. ; By diversifying, a firm can hold on to a seemingly unrelated business because it sees substantial headroom for growth and a right to triumph in that arena. This is one reason News Corporation bought Namespace. Historically, oil companies owned service stations for each of these reasons.The end nonuser drove demand, and having direct access to that consumer allowed firms to exercise some control over demand levels while also gaining precise information about what products were demanded where. Profits from service stations could offset volatility in exploration and production. Also, the advent of convenience stores at service stations created a new high-margin business. Each of these Justifications for integration now seems threatened by changes such as improved information technology, more efficient capital markets, and communication of t he service station experience.With supermarket-owned service stations now coming to the United States, oil companies face new competitors who may even sell gasoline at a loss in order to drive traffic into their stores. In the I-J, pressure from supermarkets is a factor leading to the net closure of 600 service stations per year. The service station business is looking much less attractive than it used to. So, what might Peterson Fuel be thinking? We imagine two major Justifications for the investment. First, if oil prices decline, the profit margins on service stations may rise, and Peterson will have bought valuable assets for a song.Second, there may be much more innovation headroom in this business than oil companies have traditionally assumed. For instance, Fullness Media International offers local news, weather, and sports on screens at pumps at a few hundred stations. Fullness pays the retailer and shows ads to this highly captive audience. Shell is experimenting with fuel pu mps that are activated simply by a swipe of a fingerprint. Dutch inventors have created a robotic arm that finds a car's fuel cap, unscrews it, and automatically pumps gas. Regional fuel retailer Sheets differentiates itself through premium coffee and made- o-order sandwiches.Another retailer, Valier, is piloting 5,000-square-foot convenience stores with fully nonwhite of the space dedicated to fresh food and other perishables. Oil companies would be well-served by thinking through how well the jobs of their customers are getting done, and whether they can De-commoditized the service station business through new propositions or re-definition of the competitive set. Looking through this lens, we can imagine how a mother could prefer a certain service station because it offers very fast, targeted entertainment for bored children n the back seat, or how a senior might prefer one with very brightly lit displays.The advent of electric- and fuel-cell-powered vehicles opens further possibi lities for using service station real estate in new ways. Look at how Best Buy reconciled what an electronics retailer could be, and how it escaped industry communication in the process. While Wall-Mart and others cut prices ruthlessly, Best Buy rolled out Geek Squad-?a service tightly integrated with its retailing business that addressed a wide swath of unsatisfied Jobs its customers faced post-sale. It also became a place to try new videotapes. The store is even trying to become a hub for musicians buying electric guitars and other gear.In the process, the company increased revenue 92 percent over five years, almost entirely through internally generated growth. It turned out that electronics retailing wasn't a commodity business at all. Sometimes a dog business is Just a dog business. MM spun off its floppy disk and magnetic tape business in 1996, and that turned out to be a smart move. But we find it hard to believe that there is little room for profitable innovation in a retail business that hundreds of millions consumers have to visit on a regular basis.When the finance people come knocking, looking to sell downtrodden assets and invest the proceeds in high-flying businesses, lock the doors for a bit. The business may indeed have few prospects. On the other hand, it may support the core business in many oblique but important ways, and it may have far more innovation headroom left to exploit. – â€Å"Consulship's Will Sell Its Company-owned Service Stations†, by Brett Clayton, Houston Chronicle, August 27, 2008 (http://www. Chronic. Com/disk/story. Ml/business/energy/5969574. HTML) 8 â€Å"Finding the Right Job for your Product†, by Clayton Christensen, Scott Anthony, Gerald Brewster and Denies Meetinghouse, Sloan Management Review, Spring 2007 (http://www. Insight. Com/innovation_resources/research. HTML? Id=167) 9 Innovators' Update A Good Start for Amazon AMP Amazon's digital music store keeps sailing on the winds of industry change s Insight #98 from October 2007, â€Å"Handicapping Amazon's Low-Cost Music Store,† suggested that Amazon might find the results of its then newly launched music download store disappointing. What has happened since?By Renee Hopkins Callahan When Amazon launched its Amazon AMP online music download store in September 007, we were skeptical. At the time, Apple had sold more than 100 million pods and tunes had a lock on the online music market. Amazon AMP planned to sell music free of Digital Rights Management (DORM) protection-?a limited supply, since at the time only one of the four major music labels had agreed to make its music available without DORM protection. Amazon AMP seemed unlikely to succeed with a business model focused on undercutting tunes on price, selling songs for 89 cents instead of 99 cents.We were right that the low-cost strategy would not put much of a dent in the popularity of Tunes. Yet circumstances in the year since its launch have helped Amazon refine its strategy and offer a preview of possible success. According to NYPD Group research released in late July, tunes remains on top of the music retail pack. It is the largest music retailer in the world and it sells at least 90 percent of digital downloads in the U. S. However, the same research showed that Amazon AMP has grown to be the fourth-largest retailer of music in the U. S. , behind tunes, Walter, and Best Buy.That puts Amazon AMP in second place for online music download sales. And while here's still a huge gap in volume between tunes and Amazon AMP-?with Amazon's share of the market in single digits-?Amazon is in the game. However, Amazon hasn't accomplished that by stealing tunes customers. Russ Cropping, an entertainment industry analyst for NYPD, said in an April 2008 report that only about 10 percent of Amazon AMP customers used to be tunes users, with the other 90 percent likely to be people who had been using other services or were new to digital downloading.Amazon AMP attracts young adults age 18 to 25, while tunes' strongest demographic is teens age 13 to 17, another April 2008 study said. Amazon has likely benefited from winds of change blowing in the music industry. A number of analysts have speculated that the industry sees Amazon as an ally in an effort to break Apple's dominance in digital music. It would seem counterintuitive that the music industry would want to bypass its richest retail channel. But some of Apple's practices cut profits for the major labels.In late August, the Wall Street Journal reported on a growing trend in the music business: labels deliberately withholding some of their music from tunes. The article cites several cases in which albums were either not made available on Tunes or were pulled. Why? While consumers strongly prefer purchasing music by song, music label executives, managers and even some artists dislike the tunes policy that requires that music be made available by the song as well 10 as by the album, because profit margins for single-song sales aren't nearly as good as the margins for album sales.Meanwhile, Amazon AMP lets labels sell music the way they want to. If a label wishes to make an artist's work available only by the album, Amazon AMP allows it. Some of the music that the labels have been withholding from tunes is ending up on Amazon AMP. The DORM issue has worked to Amazon's benefit as well. Apple's tunes has historically sold Deteriorated downloads. Such encoding means that songs downloaded on tunes cannot be played on other AMP devices. Apple has worked to persuade the major labels to drop DORM, though it still seeks to keep tunes the only source of song downloads for the pod.At the time that Amazon AMP launched, only MIME, one of the four major music labels, had announced it would drop DORM protection on its music. By early January 2008, a few months after Amazon AMP launched, the three other major labels-universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMW- dro pped DORM. That meant their music could be made available on Amazon AMP, which does not use DORM, and which features free software that delivers a customer's AMP file directly to their tunes library.Meanwhile, according to a May 30 Macdonald magazine story, â€Å"Sony, Universal, and Warner continue to withhold the unencumbered tracks from Apple, choosing instead to back tuner's rivals. † Amazon may have more surprises up its virtual sleeve. In late July, Fortune magazine reported that Amazon was in talks with Namespace about becoming the social networking giant's download store partner hen it rolls out its highly anticipated Joint venture with Universal, Warner Music and Sony BMW in September.If the deal goes through, it puts Amazon in a good position to continue nipping at Apple's heels. According to the Fortune report, Namespace plans to let its 120 million users stream entire songs before downloading them. That potentially changes the convenience trade-off for the Namespa ce customers in Amazon's favor, because they would be able to buy a song and get it into their computer's music manager, even tunes, with one click using Amazon's software. Those who wanted to use tunes would have to leave Namespace and physically go to Tunes to accomplish the same end.Clearly, we underestimated the desire of other companies to develop a reasonable Number Two to Apple, a position that Amazon AMP seems to have grown into in the last year. If Amazon can figure out more ways to capitalize on its toehold position in the digital music business,