Core Competence Needed to Provide the Competetive Advantage Essay

Core Competence Needed to Provide the Competetive Advantage - Essay Example Company Dossier 1). Off late, R&D section of Sony had lagged behind in strides it used to make in the 1960s with such innovative products as Trinitron and WEGA in the 1990s by using the state-of-the-art technology to be the leader of the horizon of consumer electronics market. With the arrival of digital technology, Sony has lagged behind the competitors in television market. Change in people’s attitude becomes evident unlike the 1940s when brand recognition was the major reason of Sony’s better sales performance. Younger generation takes purchase decision considering a number of factors. Without presenting distinct features, Sony cannot lure the buyers and scope of presenting such features in the digital environment is quite limited. The Korean competitors Samsung and LG are leading the race for market space to Sony in television market. A comparison of the LCD television market can help in finding the causes of Sony’s lost ground (Chang 5). Samsung and LG Elect ronics have been the leading producers in the flat-screen TV market in 2010, which includes liquid-crystal display (LCD) TVs and plasma display panel (PDP) TVs. Samsung Electronics captured 18.7% market of the flat-screen TVs sold worldwide in2010, the second-in-lead LG were able to capture 13.1% while Sony could gain access to 10.3% share of total flat screen market. This scenario reiterates that Sony is losing ground to its Korean competitors in LCD TV (Asia Pulse par. 3). Analyzing the technological causes of Sony’s lagging behind Samsung is the advantage it has from its Motion Adaptive Dimming algorithm which saves 20 percent electricity through the LED brightness. Comparatively, technology at Samsung is more sophisticated than Sony’s Bravia range. Samsung has mastered the leading technologies through its R&D in LCD technologies. Such features as Motion adaptive dimming and edge-lit LED LCD TVs add to the competitive advantage of Samsung. Let us analyze the cause o f Sony receding back from the top position in the LCD television market. During the 1990s the television technology shifted from analog to digital. Sony had invested hugely on its analog technologies for the WEGA line, which was the leading product line of the time. Use of microprocessors made digital TVs more like Personal Computers rather than analog TVs. That time Samsung had gained expertise in the production of DRAM and semiconductors and were capable of introducing LCD TV. By 1996 Sony had taken advances in conducting research on flat panel display technologies in partnership with Tektronix in the U.S. It was the decision of the Sony management not to make advances in LCD technologies, which proved costly. Management at Sony was of the view that PDP and LCD panels were products more suitable to be outsourced to third party for effective supply rather than produced in-house. It concentrated efforts on developing organic light-emitting displays (OLED) (Chang 6). Sony had to pay dearly for its decision later in 2002. Samsung by that time had gained core competency in the production of LCD. It was a leading producer of flat-screen computer monitors and had the capability to gain key supplies of plasma. The technological advantage of flat-panel display manufacturing lies in making semiconductors than regular television sets. Sony made slow advances towards plasma and LCD sets, and could not leverage from its own production units. As a consequence, it has to depend on outsourced suppliers to produce its TVs. The change from

Using nanotechnology for new drug discovery Article

Using nanotechnology for new drug discovery - Article Example Drug discovery is a growing paradigm that is increasingly in need of better technologies to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the various processes involved in the drug discovery processes. For example, it is currently estimated that the full process of new drug discovery typically takes a period of not less than 10years and costs approximately $800 million. Many researchers however agree that a number of nanotechnology applications have a potential to address some of the challenges commonly met during the drug development process. One of the potential uses of nanotechnology in new drug discovery is the analysis of signaling pathways using various nanobiotechnology techniques such as proteomics which enable researchers to gain new insights regarding the disease processes. In this regard, nanotechnologies not only help drug scientists to identify more efficient biomarkers, but such techniques can also enhance their understanding of the drug action mechanisms during their drug discovery processes. Refining the application of proteomics using nanotechnologies is particularly play a critical role in the identification of drug targets as well validation phases during the drug discovery process. For instance, nanodevices such as nanotube electronic biosensors are increasingly being used in proteomics to enhance the investigation of protein –protein and surface protein binding as well as in the development of highly accurate electronic biomolecule detectors (Lynn, 128). Consequently such devices provide effective alternatives of detecting important biomolecules such as antibodies during the drug discovery process. Another important use of nanotechnology for new drug discovery involves the application of nanoparticles such as quantum dots (QDs) in tracking single drug molecules. Although the tracking of single drug molecules has been previously been done using the old

How Culture Language And Tradition Are Affected Cultural Studies Essay

How Culture Language And Tradition Are Affected Cultural Studies Essay A countrys culture, language and tradition are a very big component to the structure and well-being of the people. So, when this country has been taken over or conquered, all these factors change. The language will be destroyed and so will the culture. This might sometimes result to a bad beginning, especially looking at the factors that differs the country from the others such as the culture, the tradition and language. These factors are very important as they show the countries independency and uniqueness. In any event, colonization and the grant of lands were provincial matters. Albert Bushnell Hart. Globally, when a country is conquered, it might be very good for the country itself and also the people, looking at it in an economic perspective. Over a hundred new nations were born during the process of de-colonization. Most of these new nations, however, had not existed at all as nations before colonization, or they had not existed within the post-colonial borders. Mark N. Katz. Collapsed Empires. In Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict. Looking at it socially, the culture will be forcefully changed or altered, which will affect the people. Also a colonised country createssituations that encourage a group to its rivalry. This enabled the Soviet authorities to continuously be called upon by the people of the region to help them manage conflicts that were bound to emerge as a result of these artificial divisions.-Randa M.Slim The Ferghana Valley: In the Midst of a Host of Crises. In Searching for Peace in Central and South Asia: An Overview of C onflict Prevention and Peace building Activities. Around the world many countries are colonised, however that means that greater countries such as America and United Kingdom are having more and more power of their culture being spread out. This gives these countries an upper hand, especially when compared to less economically developed counties. Looking at the country that is being colonised perspective, this country is losing its individuality. Sometimes the country gets to keep it culture but since its colonised, some part of the culture is going to be altered or even forgotten once this new culture has been introduced. Countries under foreign command quickly forget their history, their past, their tradition, their national symbols, their way of living, often their own literary language. Slobodan Milosevic At the same time we can see that globally the western culture is spreading and many people and countries live with this culture. The western civilisation has taken over our world and this has a lot to do with the fact that globalisation and colonised countries are a root to the western countries. Whatever you see on TV, listen on the radio or even buy clothes from the store is what the western civilization wears, listen to, and even acts. All this is spreading over our world and everyone is being infected. However, if we all held on to our cultures, wherever we are, whatever we are doing it will always be part of us. So for our cultures to still be intact, we should try individually to maintain and not forget what our country was once proud to be part of. This all starts by first respecting and loving to be part of the culture. After that, we wont only not forget but teach others who have forgotten their tradition. Locally, Ethiopia has many different cultures and languages. It takes pride to its individuality of the local People. Ethiopia is one of the only countries in Africa that is not conquered by another. For this reason, its culture is still intact. Even if globalisation is taking place, the different culture of the people still stays strong. I am not implying that people still live the same as they did in the olden days, but even if children or even students live with the latest technology, they still speak their traditional language everywhere, and their parents reinforce their culture to be intact. In my experience, I live in a country where tradition contributes to the way we live, talk and even act.Your culture and language take a big part in who you are. Wherever you go in Ethiopia, there are no local people that are not culture oriented. The people also know how important that their culture is and so for this reason many people tend to hold on their heritage their parents taught t hem. Since the people in Ethiopia are one hundred per cent devoted to their culture, I dont believe that we will lose our touch. One main reason that Ethiopia is like this is that it is not colonised; the cultures that have been living for the past hundred years are still living strong. Personally I think that a countries culture and language are extremely important. This shows the tradition of the local people. Since I live in a country focused on culture, I know how important it is. My parents worry sometimes that I a forgetting my tradition because of the school I go to and globalisation, that we go visit my cultural town, Harar. They also try to speak to me in my language, Haderegna.Since my culture is a big part of me, I am interested to always know moreabout my culture. This also is because my grandmother was the niece of the last king of Harar. Knowing that my great uncle was royalty got my attention. I believe as I grow older I will tend to want to know more and will try to teach my children are family the significance of Harar. Globalisation is affecting the way people think about their cultures. Since modern technology has taken over our world, what once was thought of as a tradition is now forgotten. In the past, marriage used to be very important in someone lifes, now people are striving more to get a good education and job then thinking about settling down and starting a family. This goes for many traditions that are now not thought of as important. I understand why this is happening. These generations get that if we dont have a good job then we will not succeed in life. Colonisation brings globalisation, and so more and more people are forgetting about their culture to try to live a successful life. However, when now thought of our future, we all think the western way. Globalisation also takes a big part in this. Everything on TV, to the clothes in every modern shop is filled with westernized products. All this new ways of a better living is thought of the only way of living and so encouraging us to fo rget about our traditions. When a country is colonised with MEDCS, the will improve economically which means they will be more civilised and westernised. So globalisation would have taken place in that country, making people move further away from their original culture and tradition. The loss of national identity is the greatest defeat a nation can know, and it is inevitable under the contemporary form of colonization. Slobodan Milosevic. We all need to understand that even if globalisation is happening all around us, we will always have to try to keep our cultures intact for our own purposes. It might seem easy to fit into or live in a western civilisation, however later on we will feel as if we are missing something, like that taste of our cultural food or the sound of our cultural music even that language we didnt seem to understand in our childhood. So overall, for us to be truly happy and not live someone elses life, we will need to hold on with a strong grip on the culture that will always be a part of each and every one of us.

Five Proofs That God Exists Essays -- thomas aquinas, summa theologica

Instinctually, humans know that there is a greater power in the universe. However, there are a few who doubt such instinct, citing that logically we cannot prove such an existence. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, wrote of five proofs for the existence of God. The Summa Theologica deals with pure concepts; these proofs rely on the world of experience - what one can see around themselves. In these proofs, God will logically be proven to exist through reason, despite the refutes against them. St. Thomas’s five proofs rely on the causality of God. Causality, in simple terms, is the fact that you cannot make something greater from lesser parts; the more perfect does not come from the less perfect. In order for something to exist, there must be something greater to have caused it to exist. This means that you cannot trace back causes infinitely - there must be a first, uncaused cause. Therefore, there must be something that caused everything. This we call God. One of the first things that must be said, is that God does not exist. At least, he does not exist as a physical thing. God is not something among all the other things in this world, like a tree, building, or rock. God does not exist in that sense. Instead, according to St. Thomas, God is existence. The first way St. Thomas argues for the existence of God is with the Argument from Motion. The Argument from Motion consists of five main points. The first states that our senses prove that some things are in motion. For St. Thomas, motion didn’t just mean movement as with a car moving down the road from point A to point B or any other thing physically moving from one place to another. St. Thomas takes the Aristotelian sense of the word, which he defined as... ...potentiality to be. For example, a cat cannot give birth to a dog. Simply because it does not biologically have the potential to do it. In the same way, an object cannot suddenly become what it does not have the potential to be. On the other hand, what caused God? If everything didn’t exist, than what caused God to exist? Nothing created God, He has always existed There can only be one being that can be uncaused. If there were more than one uncaused being, then beings would have potential. They would be striving to be what the other uncaused being is. This counteracts what an uncaused being is. It’s impossible because it would make an uncaused cause no longer be a being that is pure act. The being or beings would potentially be striving to be more than it or the other is. Works Cited Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. New York: Benziger Bros., 194748.

Research on behaviour of children with stay at home Essay

It is a personal and specific decision that has its perks as well as its pitfalls. Advancements in women’s rights in the workplace have encouraged women to acquire higher paying Jobs. However, recent research suggests that more women are choosing to stay at home. It is not because of a lack of education or opportunity; they simply dont want to have someone else raise their children. A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1999 found that the more hours a child spent at a non- maternal care before age 5, the less positive the childs interactions with his/her other will be. Two studies published in 2003 conducted by the NICHD found that children in day care had higher levels of stress and were more aggressive than those cared for at home by the mother. There are millions of children, however, who have working mothers and who grow up to be responsible, sucessful adults. Benefits for children raised by stay-at-home mothers. STABILITY: This is the main benefir for your children. Knowing that you are there gives your child stability. You are able to answer your child questions, dry tears, and offer support. In addition, you will never get those year back. They experience fewer emotional and behavioural problems in childhood: want to help ensure your children turn out to be happy and socially well adjusted? Bond with them when they are infants. Thats the message from the university of Lowa, USA, which found that infants who have a close intimate relationship with their mothers are less likely to be troubled, aggressive or experience other emotional and behavioural problems when they reach school age. Bonding with your child has proven to help in a childs mental and emotional development. Consistency: Your children can rely on you. They can trust the consistency on the way you run your household. Being consistent with mealitimes, Chores, baths, and bedtimes teaches children organization and discipline. They need this consistency to give them structure and routine in their lives. Quality time: All kids need quality time with their mothers. Quality time gives them the assurance of being loved all the time. Quality time also keeps your child out of trouble, which often stems from boredom. the memories they will have of you depend on this quality time

Early Childhood Research and Practice Essay

From the heading I am able to see that the journal is going to be about â€Å"Learning Stories and Children’s Powerful Mathematics. † There are three authors in total who were part of the publishing of the journal, they are Bob Perry, Sue Dockett and Elspeth Harley. It is possible to find out a great deal of information about the authors, for example what university they attended, their current job roles and what they are interested in researching. The journal was published in the Early Childhood Research Practice, and it can only be found here. The journal has been peer reviewed. From reading the title and the abstract, I have learnt that â€Å"The approaches to teaching and learning mathematics in Australian preschools and schools can be quite different. † It is believed that different cultures are taught in different ways, however I would have to disagree with this statement, as schools today have multicultural classes, therefore every child has an equal opportunity and is taught the core subjects in the same way. The introduction made it clear that there is often conflict between this increase in formality and the play-based, child-centred philosophies of prior-to-school settings (Thomson, Rowe, Underwood, & Peck, 2005). They key to the research was to investigate young children’s mathematical experiences. The article was set out under numerous headings, separating key information into paragraphs. With-in the articles there are also tables showing how maths can be linked with play and whether it is a successful way of teaching the younger generation. Two of the authors of this paper worked with a small group of early childhood educators for two days in 2005 and two days in 2006. This paper reports how the powerful mathematical ideas and the developmental learning outcomes were brought together by a group of practicing early childhood educators into a numeracy matrix that encouraged the educators to plan, implement, and assess their practices. It also considers the use of learning stories by the early childhood educators to assess the mathematics learning of preschool children. Their list bears many similarities to other such lists (see, for example, Greenes, Ginsburg, & Balfanz, 2004; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). Learning Stories are qualitative snapshots, recorded as structured written narratives, often with accompanying photographs that document and communicate the context and complexity of children’s learning (Carr, 2001). Luke has been given the opportunity, through the provision of time, materials, and space, to â€Å"participate purposefully in spatial tasks† and to â€Å"demonstrate flexibility and to make choices. † The article was easy to follow and fulfilled all of its set aims. Through their use of the numeracy matrix, the educators are now able to see how each of the powerful ideas contributes to the DLO. One of them was able to suggest that the work with the numeracy matrix had helped them see how the DLOs were the capstones to all that they were trying to do in all learning areas The purpose of this paper was to introduce the numeracy matrix, which has been developed as part of the Southern Numeracy Initiative in South Australia. subjective evidence from the participants in the Southern Numeracy Initiative suggest that the use of the numeracy matrix and the thinking behind it have had positive effects on the pedagogical practices of the early childhood educators involved. However some educators disagreed with this and the source can’t be trusted. The article gave a to the point review of what they were trying to achieve and also gave references so if you wanted to further your knowledge on the topic or similar reports then you could do so. Unlike previous articles, this one did not relate to anything that I have previously read. It interested me as I believe that maths is over looked and there is a great amount of ways in linking it in with everyday play and practice; however some educators do not do that. With Australia now putting this â€Å"matrix† into place others may follow suit and see the positive outcomes. References Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and Early Childhood Australia. (2006). Position paper on early childhood mathematics. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.aamt. edu. au Carr, Margaret. (2001). Assessment in early childhood settings: Learning stories. London: Paul Chapman. Carr, Margaret, & Claxton, Guy. (2002). Tracking the development of learning dispositions. Assessment in Education, 9(1), 9-37. Greenes, Carole; Ginsburg, Herbert P. ; & Balfanz, Robert. (2004). Big math for little kids. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19(1), 159-166. Thomson, Sue; Rowe, Ken; Underwood, Catherine; & Peck, Ray. (2005). Numeracy in the early years: Project Good Start. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.