Sector Matrix Essay Example for Free

Sector Matrix Essay In buyer-driven commodity chains retailers, branded manufacturers and branded marketers which usually operate in labor-intensive consumer goods industries (e.g. footwear, toys, and consumer electronics) play key parts in setting up decentralised production networks in a variety of exporting countries. In producer-driven commodity chains, however, large manufacturers usually operating in capital and technology-intensive industries (e.g. automobiles, aircraft, and computers) play pivotal roles in managing production networks, usually in developed countries. Global Commodity Chains overlooks important concepts known as demand substitution and supply interaction, which occur in the motoring sector when lower income consumers rather purchase more affordable second hand automobiles from car dealerships than new automobiles from manufacturers e. g. when second-hand cars dilute the automobile market. Competition is thereby oversimplified by Gereffi’s framework as a process that takes place within an industry of firms using similar technologies to produce competing products. Furthermore, complementary goods e.g. spares and parts, repairs and servicing, fuel, tax and insurance, and finance generates a high percentage of revenue in the motoring sectors. Thus to maintain competitiveness within a sector, managers need to be familiar with the concept of demand complementarity. Gereffi, similarly to Porter, overlook the strategic importance of complementary goods, envisaging the processes that bring a commodity to the final product market. The sector matrix analysis mentioned by Froud (2006) fills these limitations; it constructs the demand side in terms of complementary and competing demands made by end users, and the supply side in terms of corporate consolidation of surplus from different activities inside and outside a specific demand matrix. Taking into account the weaknesses of Porter and Gereffi’sframework, Froud argues a need to abandon product-specific analysis for an alternative way of thinking, arguing that the firm should be seen as a unit t hat consolidates financial surplus from diverse sources of profit inside and outside an activity matrix. Rather than constructing the demand side in terms of substitutable end-products (e.g. new cars versus new cars), the Sector Matrix approach captures demand complementarity (e.g. new cars + services) and demand substitution (e.g. new cars versus used cars). Therefore, thesector matrix approach gives a better understanding of the automobile product market than the concepts of Value  Chains and Global Commodity Chains in that it captures the strategic importance of complementary services, simultaneously redefining competition. Solely manufacturing cars is financially unrewarding due to the problems associated with saturation in the automobile markets e.g. fierce competition due to competitor ability to manage product development and technology processing. For example, Ford understood that in order to continue to achieve superior shareholder returns they must sharpen consumer focus, that why their vision is to be the world leading consumer company that provides automotive products and services not just the world leading automotive company.Under this downstream vertical integration strategy, Ford purchased UK-based car-servicing company Kwik-Fit, broadening their subsidiary portfolio; already consisting of car rental company Hertz, and fi nancial services company Ford Credit. Furthermore, the Sector Matrix approach does not confine competition to the group of firms producing similar products; it extends the business relation to all the other firms that aspire to positions in the matrix. So, redefining competition may be a necessary exercise in order to effectively analyse the product market. Albeit useful, the applicability of Sector Matrix can be debated amongst academics, however. Froudrecognise that many industries (e.g. trainers and shirts) cannot be reworked as sectorsdue to their simple infrastructure. Other more complex industries e.g. health care are difficult to visualise in a sector matrix diagram due to vague demand function. Hence, while the Sector Matrix approach works well in the case of automobile industry, the universalism the framework is debatable.

Ted Kaczynski, the UNABOMBER - An Ethical Case Study Essay -- Philosop

Ted Kaczynski, the UNABOMBER - An Ethical Case Study The intent of this study is to determine exactly how much responsibility Ted Kaczynski must accept for his actions as the UNABOMBER. The essential problem of the situation is that Kaczynski claims complete responsibility, but he has been ruled mentally ill by the State. He adamantly denies his illness, stating that social maladjustment, although technically a sickness, is distinct from an organic based illness, and therefore within his realm of free will. We will also address the role his brother and sister-in-law played in the tragedy, their motives, and the impact their pleas have brought to bear on the dilemma. We will examine this ethology from an existentialist perspective, as this is the most applicable to Ted Kaczynski himself. Case Summary During an 18-year period as the UNABOMBER, Ted Kaczynski wounded 23 people and killed 3 with pipe bombs. He is a vehement anarchist and Luddite who feels that oversocialization and technology are destroying Man and strangling out any kind of Freedom he may have ever possessed. According to section 114 of his manifesto, "The system HAS TO regulate human behavior closely in order to function†¦. Bureaucracies HAVE TO be run according to rigid rules†¦. It is true that some restrictions on our freedom could be eliminated, but GENERALLY SPEAKING the regulation of our lives by large organizations is necessary for the functioning of industrial-technological society. The result is a sense of powerlessness on the part of the average person. It may be, however, that formal regulations will tend increasingly to be replaced by psychological tools that make us want to do what the system requires of us." Evidenc... ... Conclusions Existentially, David has made the dominant decision in the end, and the truly free decision. Ted, as do most ‘martyrs’ (which is how he views himself) has chosen to sacrifice his freedom by not ending his own life. Right to die? He has it every day when he looks around him. If he leaves his right to die in someone else’s hands, he accepts no responsibility and therefore does not truly exist as a free individual, and therefore does not have a right to die. The strengths of this model are that there is an intrinsic master and slave: this is also the weakness, because Ted denied the existence of the master in that all men were there own masters. Unlike Ted, who claims to accept responsibility but actually denied it by denying the inequality of existence, his brother did accept the responsibility by choosing to exist in dominance.

Lady in a Machine Shop: Margaret E. Knight

Margaret E. Knight was born in York, Maine in1838. Margaret was very interested in tools and machinery even as a young child. Woman in that period were not considered to be mechanically inclined or to be interested in machinery.   Children especially were not thought to be creative enough to invent things. Margaret, however, began inventing things at a young age and had her first success very early in life. She witnessed a horrible accident at the cotton mill where she and her brothers worked. Many people had tried over the years to make the looms safer for the workers but no one had come up with an idea that worked. Margaret spend hours and hours creating a safer design for the loom piece in question and at the tender age of 12 she had her first working invention. The covered shuttle she invented is still in use on cotton looms today. In 1868, Margaret moved to Massachusetts and began working at the Columbia Paper Bag Company. Paper bags at that time were envelope shaped and held closed by having twine or string wrapped around them. Square bottom bags were rarely used because they had to be made by hand and were very expensive. Margaret decided that there was definitely room for improvement and set about trying to create a machine that would cut, fold and paste square bottoms bags by itself. This would make the bags much less expensive to produce and do the work of many people with only one machine. She worked days at the Columbia Paper Bag Company and while she worked, she studied the machines that were in existence there already. At night, she took her ideas home and spent hours building and rebuilding models of a machine she thought would create a better paper bag machine. It took a very long time and a massive amount of work to get what she wanted from the  machine. She tested and adjusted and changed things in the plan until it was just what she wanted. Once the design of the machine was perfect, she hired some one to make the actual machine for her. The models had not been very sturdy and she wanted one made of iron that would hold up to a full days work. While Margaret was doing all this, a man named Charles Annan stole her idea and had a patent put on it under his own name. Margaret had put too much work into this machine and was not going to sit by and let someone else take the credit for it. She took Charles Annan to court over stealing her idea and her patent. Charles Annan was confident that he could win by convincing the judge that no woman understood machinery and would never be able to design and build a machine complex enough to make square bottom paper bags. Charles Annan underestimated Margaret Knight and it cost him the court battle. Margaret brought in all her drawings, plans and models of the machine. She explained how it worked and why it would improve the method currently used. Her knowledge and documentation proved to the judge that she was the rightful owner of the design and the machine. Margaret got her patent for the paper bag in 1870. She co-founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870 as well and put her invention to work. She is known as the Queen of Paper Bags and her invention is used to this day, along with the design she created for the square bottom paper bag. References: Tag Brill, M. (2001) Margaret Knight Girl Inventor Mill brook

Description Of A Sole Proprietorship - 2552 Words

Sole Proprietorship Description A Sole Proprietorship is a business solely possessed by one person. The individual owner makes all the decisions and is held accountable for any matters pertaining to the business. An example of this is a lawsuit, due to the fact that legally the identity of the owner and the business is one and same. As a result of this lack of separation often times the owner is not required to register as a business unless a fake name is in use or certain services requiring a license are being offered. Two Advantages The first advantage of a Sole Proprietorship is that the owner makes all the decisions, without the need to consult anyone else. The second advantage is that the profits belong to the owner and he decides what to do with the money or how to invest it. (Russ, n.d) ( Two Disadvantages One disadvantage of a Sole Proprietorship is that the owner is solely liable and has no protection since his identity and personal finances are not separate in this model of business. The second disadvantage in a Sole Proprietorship is that if the owner were to die or if he wanted to retire and wanted to pass the business on to his children, he couldn t in a sole proprietorship so the business would end. Liability In a Sole Proprietorship, there are no limits on liability since the sole proprietor and the business are one and the same, thus if there was a legal dispute the business would not be sued, but the owner would. When it comes to money the soleShow MoreRelatedTutorial of Enterpreneur1126 Words   |  5 Pagesbetween the founders by following the amount of initial investment between the founders. 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