Management report on Intel Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management report on Intel - Case Study Example It is essential that Intel move fast to close the gap in embedded segments in order to compete effectively and take advantage of the growing mobile and tablet segment. A company’s strategy should be directed at availing a product or service, which is distinctive from what the competitors are offering or establishing competitive capabilities that the rivals cannot match. Intel has also developed expertise and resource strengths, which have provided the company with competitive capabilities that are hard for the competitors to imitate. Intel has appreciated that winning lasting competitive edge over the rival necessitates that the company build competitive valuable expertise and capabilities, instead of merely having a distinctive product. Intel enjoys high reputation, economies of scale, and capability to innovate technological processes at low cost. Intel has encountered difficulties in its attempt to redefine itself in an era typified by stagnating desktop and net book PC unit. Although, AMD can be regarded as the only major competitor within the PC microprocessor market, Intel encounters intense competition from established firms using ARM technology such as Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Broadcom. Moreover, the number of processors within the devices are set t rise as the devices becomes more capable (Haberberg, 2014). Besides, Intel can no longer depend on the relationship it has built over the last two decades with firms such as HP, Dell, and IBM; hence, Intel will now be required to forge fresh relationship with cloud service providers (known to be aggressive and cost conscious). Intel has adopted a differentiation strategy as a mode of competition. This is manifest in the products and services possessing high to moderate prices since the majority of clients are ready to pay the premium so as to get the best, most efficient, the fastest, top of the line PC components. The campaign â€Å"Intel Inside† has helped to

Oracle Corporation Essay Example for Free

Oracle Corporation Essay The Central Intelligence Agency had commissioned the project to build a commercial database management system for IBM mainframe computers and code-named it Oracle. Software Development Laboratories took the Oracle name in 1982. After completion of the project, Ellison, Miner, Oates, and Scott had a vision of developing and distributing their database software as a profitable business opportunity. From 1982 to 1986, Oracle had achieved 100% growth. On March 15th, 1986, Oracle went public, one day after Microsoft’s initial public offering. From 1986 to 1989, revenues skyrocketed from $55 million to $584 million, making it one of the largest independent software companies in the world, employing over 4,000 people in 24 countries. The Oracle Corporation’s objective of becoming a profitable database software company had been achieved. Market and industry growth continued until the third quarter of 1990. Oracle suffered a $15 million dollar loss on $240 million in revenues. Between 1988 and 1991, operating margins had plummeted from 23 to 3 percent. During this time, the company’s stock value also fell. Oracle responded by letting go of 400 employees in the United States and reorganizing its senior management team. This business problem was the direct result of something the company simply overlooked. As the company was focusing all of its energies on growth during the late 1980’s, they were losing sight of their internal operations and infrastructure. They also planned their expenses based on the 100% annual growth rate they experienced in the prior years, causing them to lose money. In addition, they delayed the delivery of their latest product, which allowed the competition to draw closer to them. However, the release of their next product would see Oracle quickly rebound and turn things back around. In July of 1991, Oracle was working on a new database software that had the ability to manage text, video, audio, and other data through a set of loosely connected servers. This database software was called Oracle 7, and was one of many IT solutions that would put Oracle ahead of the competition and save the company. 996 saw database sales grow by 20 percent and then to 10 percent in 1997, the year Microsoft released its rival SQL server, which was a cheaper alternative database release with aspirations of stealing Oracle’s market share. During this time, Oracle attempted to expand beyond databases and entered into the two largest application software markets, enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management. Ellison saw this as a lucrative business opportunity, considering the fact that the ERP market was estimated at $20 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $65 billion by 2003. The CRM market was estimated at $4 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $16 billion by 2003. Ellison recognized that CEO’s wanted to understand profitability per costumer and to be able to detect dissatisfaction before the customer leaves. He realized that ERP and CRM software would allow CEO’s to do that by turning database information into knowledge about consumers. Ellison’s vision of internet-enabled software began to take shape in 1999 with the release of Oracle8i. It was followed by internet-enabled versions of all the company’s key software products. A key IS solution in the development of Oracle Corporation would be Oracle e-Business Suite, which would include a collection of ERP and CRM applications that automated many necessary business functions. This would be the beginning of the high impact IS solutions to follow. In June of 1999, Ellison declared that Oracle would attempt to save $1billion dollars by the end of 2000 by transforming into an e-business. Ellison then eliminated all non-e-business options from the company. This bold move was an incredible success and a brilliant IS solution to some of the company’s business problems. The changes were easy and smooth to implement. An example given in the case was that of an expense report. In the past, a sales rep would fill out an expense report and manually send it to headquarters. Now the sales rep just completes the forms on the web where the report can be tracked. Not only did this create $6 million dollars in direct savings, the reports were easier and faster to complete. This solution did not only benefit employees, but customers, too. In the past if a customer wanted to demo Oracle’s software, a sales rep had to set an appointment to do the demo in person. Now, the sales rep can gain access to the customer’s browser and, over the phone, can do the demo over the browser at Oracle. com. The shift to self-service was a very necessary and profitable solution for Oracle. They began saving millions of dollars and hours of time. Another business problem Oracle had was a lack of centralization in the business. One clever way they did this was by changing incentives for country managers. Country manager’s incentives were originally based on revenue. This was to be changed to shift their incentives to be based on margin. In the past, 97 e-mail servers existed with almost 120 databases in over 50 countries. This was dramatically reduced when Oracle gave each country CEO a choice. They could receive free e-mail through Redwood Shores or pay to service an e-mail server, which would directly impact their margin, and ultimately, their variable pay. This was a very effective IS solution to the lack of centralization problem the business had. Oracle would continue to centralize the business by pulling human resources, legal, sales administration, and marketing out of each country office and consolidating them at Redwood Shores. Oracle now had a single system that served everything. Oracle saved a lot of wasted money by centralizing its marketing department. The products were the same in every country, so the centralization made sense and was absolutely necessary. By June of 2000, Oracle had gone from 63 to 17 company websites worldwide. By August 2000, the company was down to one website, Oracle. com. This solution saved the company a lot of money that was being wasted operating multiple websites for multiple countries and confusing the brand with different languages, colors, and logos. The transformation to e-business saved Oracle a ton of money, but this wasn’t the only benefit of the move. The switch also generated marketing pull. Oracle’s customer base grew as a result of having better information about their customers’ and sales outlets. The pull strategy came to fruition by two combining factors. The story of the company’s transformation combined with the new gained credibility the company received by performing this transformation so publicly. Now instead of sales reps attempting to sell the CEO of another company their software, CEO’s were going directly to Oracle technology to transform their own businesses. This pull allowed Oracle to open an online store, as opposed to hiring more sales people to handle the increased demand. This latest IS solution, in turn, created more sales. In 1999, Oracle began streamlining its Oracle University, which supported 2500 full-time employees in 143 countries while enrolling about 500,000 students annually. These Oracle courses led to the certification of developers and programmers that the company needed to continue growth. This business solution was yet another great move designed to farm their own employees. iLearning technology was then created as a means of a continuing education extension to Oracle University’s certification process. This software would be hosted online and could be updated daily without patches. Oracle Corporation is a great example of a company who had the ability to predict the future of technology and make innovations to lead the industry. They took risks, and they paid off. Larry Ellison took a big risk when he eliminated all non-e-business elements out of his business and made the transformation to e-business, and his company was rewarded with tremendous cost savings and higher revenues. He also predicted at the end of a June 2000 press conference that the software industry would vanish and be replaced by a service industry. This remains to fully be seen, but it appears there could be truth to this. Cloud computing has been the next innovation in computer technology, as we say many companies now providing services that used to require us to install software on our computers.

Characteristics of Phobias Depression and OCD

Characteristics of Phobias Depression and OCD Phobias A phobia is an extreme, irrational fear of a particular situation or object, and is an example of an anxiety disorder. There are several types of phobias but three include agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. The characteristics of phobias can be divided into three categories: Behavioural there are two types of behavioural characteristics and they are avoidance and panic. Avoidance is the key behavioural characteristic and this is because when someone with a phobia is presented with an object or is put into a fearful situation, the first initial thing they will do is avoid it. A prime example of this is if someone has a social phobia, they will avoid being in big crowds, and if someone who has arachnophobia they will avoid being near spiders. Panic on the other hand is the other behavioural characteristic and this happens when they come face-to-face with their fears and cannot avoid it. This results in panic and causes a high level of stress and anxiety on the person. What can also happen is it can result in the person freezing due to the fear being so intense. This is part of the fight or flight fear response. This freezing response is an adaptive response to make a predator think that their prey is dead. Emotional The main emotional characteristic of phobia are unreasonable and excessive fear, panic, anxiety, and a feeling of dread. An emotional response is set off by the anticipation or the presence of a specific situation or object, which is excessive in relation to the danger actually posed as. Cognitive there are also two types of cognitive characteristics and they are irrational beliefs and selective attention. A persons phobia is defined by their irrational thinking about the stimulus and this causes them to fear. An example of this is a person who suffers from arachnophobia may think that all spiders are deadly, despite the fact that no spiders in the UK are deadly. On the other hand, if a person with a phobia is presented by a situation or object they fear of, they will find it hard to concentrate because they are preoccupied by anxious thoughts, and will therefore direct their attention elsewhere. This means that because of their selective attention, it will cause them to become fixated on the object they fear due to their irrational thoughts and beliefs about the danger. Depression: Depression is one of the most common mood disorder, and mood disorders can be characterised through strong emotions, which can affect the way a person functions normally in their daily lives. A mood disorder can affect an individuals behaviour, perceptions and thinking. There are different types of depression such as manic depression known as a bipolar disorder, and major depression known as a unipolar disorder. There are a range of possible symptoms people who suffer with depression can experience. In order for someone to become diagnosed with major depression, sufferers are required to show at least five symptoms every day for at least two weeks. Characteristics are then divided into three groups which are: Physical/behavioural symptoms there are many behavioural characteristics of depression including pain especially headaches, muscle ache and joint ache, change in appetite, lack of activity, and insomnia. First of all there is often a change in the persons activity level, with sufferers constantly feeling tired. Leading on from this, sufferers then often experience sleep disturbance, with some people sleeping more, or less, or experiencing insomnia. Finally, sufferers whose appetite changes may have significant weight changes too due to them eating less than usual or more, and losing or gaining weight. Affective/emotional symptoms the key emotional symptoms of depression include extreme feelings of sadness, despair and hopelessness. Sufferers will also experience feelings of worthlessness and anhedonia which is no longer having an interest in activities that used to be pleasurable. Diurnal mood variation can also occur and this is the change in mood throughout the day, for example feeling worse in the morning time. Even though experiencing a depressed mood is the most common emotional symptom of depression, some people experience anger that can be directed towards others or themselves. Anger can also lead to self-harming behaviours sadly. Cognitive symptoms along with the behavioural and emotional symptoms of depression, there are also cognitive symptoms. Cognitive symptoms are things such as experiencing persistent negative beliefs about their abilities and themselves. Along with this it involves suicidal thoughts and finding it difficult to maintain or pay attention. Sufferers are often slower in responding at making or to decisions.   Furthermore, they are also more inclined to just focus on the negatives and not identify the positives and in some cases this can lead to them experiencing recurrent thoughts of death, suicide or self-harm. OCD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has two parts which are obsessions and compulsions. The majority of people who suffer from OCD that experience obsessions and compulsions that are linked together. The three types of characteristics for OCD are: Behavioural compulsions of OCD are the behavioural aspect and for people who suffer with OCD, compulsions have two properties. One of these properties is that compulsions are mental or physical repetitive actions. Sufferers will often feel the need to repeat a behaviour, for example repetitive hand washing. The second property is compulsions are used to reduce anxiety or prevent a feared situation from occurring but in reality they would not actually stop a dreaded situation and are excessive. For example with the excessive hand washing being caused by an excessive fear of bacteria or germs, it is therefore a direct response to the obsession. Emotional the emotional characteristics of OCD are usually characterised by anxiety caused by the obsessions. However, some of the sufferers of OCD also experience depression due to the anxiety they go through. As the obsessions for the sufferer are persistent, this causes a high level of anxiety for them. This anxiety can result in them having low moods and a loss of pleasure in everyday activities, because these everyday activities are being interrupted by the repetitive compulsions and obsessive thoughts. Cognitive Obsessions are the cognitive part of OCD and are the reoccurring and persistent thoughts, impulses and images.   Examples of these are the fear of safety by leaving windows and doors open, perfectionism a fear of not being the best, and fear of contamination by germs and dirt. For people who suffer from OCD, these thoughts keep happening over and over again. The sufferers tries to ignore the thoughts, impulses or images however it unable to. In most people these thoughts cause stress and anxiety. Some sufferers of OCD try to deal with their obsessions by introducing cognitive strategies. An example of this is sufferers with religious obsessions might pray over and over again in order to reduce their feelings of being immoral. Furthermore, sufferers of OCD realise that their compulsions and obsessions are irrational, so they experience selective attention which is directed towards the anxiety-generating stimuli. This is similar to the selective attention people with phob ias have.

Science and Technology in Reflections and Enemies of Promise :: Reflections Enemies

Science and Technology in Reflections and Enemies of Promise      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The controversy over science is the central argument in both Max Born's "Reflections" and J. Michael Bishop's "Enemies of Promise." Science and technology have greatly influenced and improved the way people live in a society. However, while Born argues that science is the essence of the "breakdown of human civilization" (208), Bishop strongly disagrees with Born's views: that scientists must take responsibility for their inventions and discoveries. Born's essay partly portrays a negative view towards scientists and science. It shows examples of inventions along with their negative effects towards nature and the world. For example, "medicine has overcome most plagues and epidemic diseases and it has doubled the human lifespan within a single generation: the result . . . catastrophic overpopulation" (Born 209). On the other hand, Bishop believes that science has a more positive impact on the world. To him, "We live in an age of scientific triumph. Science has solved many of nature's puzzles and greatly enlarged human knowledge" (237). Bishop's view is right. But a point of similarity between the two works is   that to be a true scientist one needs a complete education, which includes humanistic subjects like literature, art, philosophy, history, religion, and music. For instance in Born's words, "Scientists should not be cut off from humanistic thinking" (212), for it has "insights to offer into the human condition" (Bishop 238). Here both agree.    Another strong argument is that society's judgment of science is clouded by ignorance. "It blames science for what are actually the failures of individuals or society to use the knowledge that science has provided. The blame is misplaced" (Bishop 239). For example, the government spends millions of dollars on the tobacco industry even though it is a proven scientific fact that tobacco kills. This shows that some people only want to misuse scientific products, so they should be prepared to take responsibility for their action and not blame it on science as Born implies.    Although Born's "Reflections" and Bishop's "Enemies of Promise" share some similar points the main focus of each work is quite different. In "Reflections", Born "confesses a sense of responsibility for the break down in human civilization" (208).

Identity of African American Men Essay

â€Å"No metaphor can capture completely the complexity of ethnic dynamics in the U. S. ‘Melting pot’ ignores the persistence and reconfiguration of the ethnicity over the generations. ‘Mosaic,’ much more apt for pluralistic societies such as Kenya or India, is too static a metaphor; it fails to take in to account the easy penetration of many ethnic boundaries. Nor is ‘salad bowl’ appropriate; the ingredients of a salad bowl are mixed but do not change. ‘Rainbow’ is a tantalizing metaphor, but rainbows disappear. ‘Symphony,’ like ‘rainbow,’ implies near perfect harmony; both fail to take into account the variety and range of ethnic conflict in the United States. The most accurately descriptive metaphor, the one that best explains the dynamics of ethnicity, is ‘kaleidoscope. ’ American ethnicity is kaleidoscopic, i. e. ‘complex and varied, changing form, pattern, color†¦ continually shifting from one set of relations to another; rapidly changing. ’ When a kaleidoscope is in motion, the parts give the appearance of relationships. The viewer sees and endless variety of variegated patterns, just as takes place on the American ethnic landscape. †- Lawrence Fuchs (Literature for Composition 1032) â€Å"Identity in America† was the theme chosen by my English 201 study group. This theme was taken from chapter twenty two of the Literature for composition: Reading and Writing Argument text book. However, I focused the broad theme of â€Å"Identity in America† to the more narrowed theme of â€Å"The Display of African American men in the media. † I chose this theme or topic because I felt that I can relate to it and as a matter of fact, it was also interesting to me. But in order to conduct my research on the particular topic, I came up with the following question, â€Å"How has the identity of African American men been displayed by the media: negatively or positively? † This question was chosen in order to provoke an argument for discussion. I conducted several interviews in order to acquire information about my selected topic. The media’s display of the identity of African American men can be discussed or looked at from two angles: negatively or positively. First, from my experience I can say that the media displays African American men in both lights, negatively and positively. But after conducting interviews with several individuals, my opinion has somewhat changed. I was always aware of the negative images of African/black men in the media. But I was not aware that this display had evolved overtime. My first interview was conducted with April T. Glasgow, a communications major at the University of the Virgin Islands on Wednesday 20th February 2008, at approximately ten o’clock in the morning. We conducted the interview at her dorm’s lobby. I had explained the topic prior to meeting with her, so she already had an idea about what issue the discussion would be addressing. Generally, her opinion was that black men were being exploited and portrayed negatively by the media. She also stated strongly that black men were too often portrayed or given the roles of thugs, gangsters, and pimps in films and magazines. In addition, a suggestion she made on how we could resolve this stereotype was that black people must unite and stand up against these negative portrayals especially those in rap music videos. The second interview was carried out that same day with Professor Alex Randall. His general statements were that the media has changed over the years. â€Å"The negative portrayals of the 1960’s and 1970’s have changed,† Randall stated. Randall felt that in modern times, people of color were treated more fairly and given a more positive portrayal in the media. Randall stated that there were many positive images in the media of African Americans, such as Denzel Washington, Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, and Bill Cosby. In addition, Randall said that in previous years no such image could have been seen in the media. â€Å"We are rational human beings and it’s our choice to choose what part of the spectrum of negative and positive images we would want to emulate,† said Randall. This statement impacted me and slightly changed my opinion on the topic. At that point in conducting my primary research for the paper, my position on the topic has somewhat been altered. After conducting the interviews with April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall I have become more open minded to the issue. I would admit that I was initially a bit biased and reserved on the topic prior to evaluating the topic from both sides; negatively and positively. In order to decide which position I was going to take I would have to do more secondary research on the topic. Since I started this research paper my observation and assessment of the media have taken a different turn. I now compare and contrast men of other races in the media to African American men. My secondary research was, for the most part, completed using internet sources. The articles that I discovered on the web were very useful and contributed greatly to my research. Three internet articles were analyzed to achieve the secondary data for my paper. The first article I examined was â€Å"The Media’s Bias against black men in America. † The article was basically a discussion of a piece written in the New York Times about the plight of American black men. The author, Armstrong Williams, stated that the New York Times article was another example of major media outlets using negative statistics to consistently cast black men as the scourge of this country. Williams made several strong and interesting statements throughout the article that I thought was beneficial to this research paper. For example, according to Williams, â€Å"The continual coverage of the black man’s plight instead of his progress only hinders his growth, holds back our country from true equality, and hides the truth about the opportunities and challenges that we all face†(Williams  ¶4). Williams also suggested that the American public should challenge the lack of coverage of American black progress in this country (Williams  ¶5). â€Å"In the last century black men have literally gone from being slaves to business owners, government leaders, lawyers, doctors, firemen, generals, entertainers, and educators. No other oppressed class of people anywhere else in the world has advanced its standing in a society this quickly† (Williams  ¶6). I was really impressed by the way Armstrong used this statement to present his argument. In addition, Williams stated that the incidence of drug use, crime, scandal, divorce, and other social ills have increased dramatically for white men, but these statistics are not reported as problems about ‘white men’ in America (Williams  ¶6). â€Å"Approximately 9 out of 10 serial killers are white males between the ages of twenty and thirty five. Yet we never hear these statistics repeated over and over again in the mainstream press, making these crimes synonymous with one particular race as in this case with blacks† (Williams  ¶9). Later in the article Williams explained the image the media is creating internationally. The overseas media continuously places black men in negative positions such as school dropouts, irresponsible fathers, and victims of perpetual racism. The manner in which these stories are constructed and then, displayed to listeners and readers eliminates the possibility of believing that black men do not have positive roles (Williams  ¶10). Therefore, I agree with Williams that the repetitive negative articles can create a vicious cycle of harmful images and low expectations of black men. â€Å"The Black Image in the White Mind† is the title of the second internet article that I examined. The article was useful in constructing my opinion on the topic of how African American men are displayed in the media whether negatively or positively. The article presented some useful statistical data that was quite interesting and yet shocking to me. In this article by Robert M. Entman, he stated that a mug shot of a Black defendant is four times more likely to appear in a local television news report than of a White defendant (Entman  ¶2). He went on to say that the accused is two times more likely to be shown physically restrained in a local television news report than when the accused is a white man (Entman  ¶2). According to Entman, â€Å"The name of the accused is two times more likely to be shown on screen in a local TV news report if the defendant is black, rather than white† (Entman  ¶2). In addition, he stated that while black actors are now more visible in media, it is an open question as to how well they are being represented (Entman  ¶2). The Third article that I examined was â€Å"Black youth and mass media: current research and emerging questions† and I found it to be the most interesting of the three. This article was written by Craig Watkins, an Associate Professor of Sociology and Radio-Television- Film at the University of Texas at Austin. The article was basically an outline of some of the important research findings and emergent issues that examine the changing relationship between black American youth and the mass media industry (Watkins  ¶5). Watkins stated that for most of its history the mass media industry has produced images that distort and misrepresent the complexities of the African American experience (Watkins  ¶9). He stated that contemporary media representations of African Americans can be best described as paradoxical because blacks are simultaneously underrepresented and overrepresented in American media culture (Watkins  ¶9). According to Watkins, â€Å"blacks are underrepresented in many areas of mass media they are over represented in television sports broadcasts and crime and violence related portrayals† (Watkins  ¶13). Watkins said that images of blacks in magazines have increased but they are predominantly portrayed in athletic roles. According to Watkins, African American men are more likely to appear as athletes or musicians (Watkins  ¶14). The strongest statement throughout the article was when Watkins stated that the ‘athleticization’ of the black men in the media reproduces and popularizes long-standing myths about biological and intellectual differences between blacks and whites (Watkins  ¶15). Further analysis of Watkins’ article indicated that when African Americans are portrayed in television news it is generally in aggressive, violent, or criminal roles. Also, a recent analysis of the film industry asserts that blacks tend to be restricted to low budget features that focus disproportionately on crime, violence, and youth delinquency. The repetitious display of blacks in athletic roles creates a limited range of adult and professional role models for young black males being that they are faced with only few media images of successful African American men. The internet articles that I examined clearly showed that there is strong evidence to prove that African American men are negatively and unfairly displayed in the media. After examining these internet articles, I felt that even though they were some positive images of African American men in the media the majority of images are in some way biased or negative. After evaluating and examining my internet sources, I turned back my attention to my English 201 text book, Literature for Composition: Reading and Writing Arguments to get some more insight on the matter. While reading through chapter twenty-three, I came up on a quote from Lawrence Fuchs that I found to be tied in well with my overall all theme of identity in America. I decided to place this quote at the beginning of the research paper a sort of introduction to the overall theme. I chose this quote because it describes the complexity and internal conflicts of identity in America. Speaking of conflicts between identities, Hotel Rwanda is a film that displays such conflict to the extreme. This film was shown in class by my English professor because she said that it was in some way related to our theme and that it could also be used as a part of our secondary research. I did not really understand the connection with our theme until I saw the film. Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama about the hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina played by Don Cheadle during the Rwandan genocide and was directed by Terry George in 2004. The movie is actually based on the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994 where almost one million of both Tutsi and Hutu individuals were killed. In the movie which is a reflection of what actually took place, the media was used to instigate conflicts between the Tutsi and Hutu. Throughout the actual conflict the media was used as a tool to falsely display Tutsi’s as the scourge of Rwanda. For example, the radio station, RTLM was used to spread negative and hate messages about the Tutsis such as â€Å"Why do we hate the Tutsis? They are cockroaches†¦Rwanda is Hutu land. †(United Arts. Dir. Terry George. United States, 2004) All in all, it is quite evident from the primary and secondary research that there are both negative and positive displays of African American men in the media. Since the interviews I am more aware that the display of African Americans has changed over time for the better. However, from the Internet articles I have discovered that there are still a lot of negative images of African American men in the media. In addition, I learned that there are still many biases when presenting African American men in media whether on radio, television, or magazines. Overall, the research was very interesting and informative. April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall were very helpful in making my research paper a success. From carrying out this research paper I was able to conduct some interesting interviews, especially with Professor Randall. I was truly able to critically interpret and analyze the investigation in addition to improving my overall research skills. The research process was a learning experience that I will never forget. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan, Burto William and Cain E. William. Literature for Composition. New York: Longman, 2007. Entman, Robert and Rojecki, Andrew. â€Å"Media and its Portrayal of Black Americans. † racerelations. about. com. New York. 2008. . Glasgow, April T. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Hotel Rwanda. Dir. Terry George. Lions Gate Films and United Artists, 2004. Randall, Alexander. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Watkins, S. Craig, â€Å"Black Youth and Mass Media: Current Research and Emerging Questions. † < http://www. rcgd. isr. umich. edu/prba/perspectives/winter2000/cwatkins. pdf>. Williams, Armstrong. â€Å"The Media’s Bias Against Black Men in America. † 31 March 2006. .

Decision Making Essay

Managers are constantly called upon to make decisions in order to solve problems. Decision making and problem solving are ongoing processes of evaluating situations or problems, considering alternatives, making choices, and following them up with the necessary actions. Sometimes the decision-making process is extremely short, and mental reflection is essentially instantaneous. In other situations, the process can drag on for weeks or even months. The entire decision-making process is dependent upon the right information being available to the right people at the right times. The decision-making process involves the following steps: 1. Identifying the problems 2. Identify decision criteria 3. Allocating weights to criteria 4. Develop alternatives. 5. Analyze the alternatives. 6. Select the best alternative. 7. Implement the decision. 8. Establish a control and evaluation system. 1. Identifying the problems In this step, the problem is thoroughly analysed. There are a couple of questions one should ask when it comes to identifying the purpose of the decision. * What exactly is the problem? * Why the problem should be solved? Who are the affected parties of the problem? * Does the problem have a deadline or a specific time-line? 2. Identifying decision criteria The most obviously troubling situations found in an organization can usually be identified as decision crietria of underlying problems (Table 1). These citeria all indicate that something is wrong with an organization, but they don’t identify root causes. A successful manager doesn’t ju st attack the decision criteria but he works to uncover the factors that cause. TABLE 1| Identifying Decision Criteria| Criteria | Underlying Problem| Low profits and/or declining sales| Poor market research| High costs| Poor design process; poorly trained employees| Low morale| Lack of communication between management and subordinates| High employee turnover| Rate of pay too low; job design not suitable| High rate of absenteeism| Employees believe that they are not valued| | 3. Allocating weights to criteria Assigning a weight to each item places the items in the correct priority order of their importance in the decision-making process. 4. Developing alternatives Time pressures frequently cause a manager to move forward after considering only the first or most obvious answers. However, successful problem solving requires thorough examination of the challenge, and a quick answer may not result in a permanent solution. Thus, a manager should think through and investigate several alternative solutions to a single problem before making a quick decision. One of the best known methods for developing alternatives is throughbrainstorming,  where a group works together to generate ideas and alternative solutions. The assumption behind brainstorming is that the group dynamic stimulates thinking — one person’s ideas, no matter how outrageous, can generate ideas from the others in the group. Ideally, this spawning of ideas is contagious, and before long, lots of suggestions and ideas flow. Brainstorming usually requires 30 minutes to an hour. The following specific rules should be followed during brainstorming sessions: * Concentrate on the problem at hand. This rule keeps the discussion very specific and avoids the group’s tendency to address the events leading up to the current problem. * Entertain all ideas. In fact, the more ideas that comes up, the better. In other words, there are no bad ideas. Encouragement of the group to freely offer all thoughts on the subject is important. Participants should be encouraged to present ideas no matter how ridiculous they seem, because such ideas may spark a creative thought on the part of someone else. * Refrain from allowing members to evaluate others’ ideas on the spot. All judgments should be deferred until all thoughts are presented, and the group concurs on the best ideas. Although brainstorming is the most common technique to develop alternative solutions, managers can use several other ways to help develop solutions for example: * Nominal group technique. This method involves the use of a highly structured meeting, complete with an agenda, and restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision-making process. This technique is useful because it ensures that every group member has equal  input in the decision-making process. It also avoids some of the pitfalls, such as pressure to conform, group dominance, hostility, and conflict, that can plague a more interactive, spontaneous, unstructured forum such as brainstorming. 5. Analyzing alternatives The purpose of this step is to decide the relative merits of each idea. Managers must identify the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative solution before making a final decision. Evaluating the alternatives can be done in numerous ways. Here are a few possibilities: * Determine the pros and cons of each alternative. * Perform a cost-benefit analysis for each alternative. * Weight each factor important in the decision, ranking each alternative relative to its ability to meet each factor, and then multiply by a probability factor to provide a final value for each alternative. Regardless of the method used, a manager needs to evaluate each alternative in terms of its * Feasibility  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Can it be done? Effectiveness  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ How well does it resolve the problem situation? * Consequences  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ What will be its costs (financial and nonfinancial) to the organization? 6. Selecting an alternatives After a manager has analyzed all the alternatives, she must decide on the best one. The best alternative is the one that produces the most adv antages and the fewest serious disadvantages. Sometimes, the selection process can be fairly straightforward, such as the alternative with the most pros and fewest cons. Other times, the optimal solution is a combination of several alternatives. Sometimes, though, the best alternative may not be obvious. That’s when a manager must decide which alternative is the most feasible and effective, coupled with which carries the lowest costs to the organization. (See the preceding section. ) Probability estimates, where analysis of each alternative’s chances of success takes place, often come into play at this point in the decision-making process. In those cases, a manager simply selects the alternative with the highest probability of success. 7. Implementing the alternative Managers are paid to make decisions, but they are also paid to get results from these decisions. Positive results must follow decisions. Everyone involved with the decision must know his or her role in ensuring a successful outcome. To make certain that employees understand their roles, managers must thoughtfully devise programs, procedures, rules, or policies to help aid them in the problem-solving process. 8. Evaluating decision effectiveness Even the most experienced business owners can learn from their mistakes. Always monitor the results of strategic decisions you make as a small business owner; be ready to adapt your plan as necessary, or to switch to another potential solution if your chosen solution does not work out the way you expected. Conclusion When it comes to making decisions, one should always weigh the positive and negative business consequences and should favour the positive outcomes. This avoids the possible losses to the organization and keeps the company running with a sustained growth. Sometimes, avoiding decision-making seems easier; specially, when we get into a lot of confrontation after making the tough decision. But, making the decisions and accepting its consequences is the only way to stay in control of our corporate life and time.