Roman Empire Essay Example for Free

Roman Empire Essay The Romans created urban centers that looked and functioned much like our urban centers do today. Pick an example of an actual coliseum, arena, or civic center in your area. Describe its style and function as if it were a Roman building in a Roman city. The term arena, signifying the place of combat, is derived from arena or harena, the sand sprinkled on the fighting field to soak up blood and facilitate cleaning. I would compare our local coliseum to the Roman urban center, it is named Hampton Coliseum and it has held numerous events such as the urban center. The Hampton Coliseum is basically the center of the city of Hampton such as an urban center in a Roman city. The Hampton Coliseum is arena like and the size of a football field. The Hampton Coliseum had its ground breaking on May 24, 1968. There were 96 exterior triangular shaped concrete wall panels poured, each weighing approximately 26 tons. Each panel was pelted with stones to give a speckled appearance. Also cast on the site were 700 concrete bleacher sections, weighing from one to three tons each. In all, 17,000 cubic yards of concrete were used for the structure, including 300 cubic yards for the arena floor alone. The floor contains nearly 10 miles of coolant coil for freezing the ice rink. The floor of the arena is almost the size of a football field. I have included pictures of the coliseum to show the comparison to a Roman building. This is the inside of the Hampton Coliseum. This is the outside of the Hampton Coliseum. As you can see in the pictures the structure is very similar to a Roman building as far as the rectangular shape of the entrance and triangular walls in a circular pattern so that the seats could be constructed on the upper floors and balconies of the surrounding buildings and erect barriers at the entry points on ground level. If you look at the Hampton Coliseum and a Roman building like the one below, you can see how much they are alike.

The Indian Healthcare Sector Erp Systems Information Technology Essay

The Indian Healthcare Sector Erp Systems Information Technology Essay The Indian Healthcare sector is rapidly expanding in terms of revenue and employment with its total value estimated about $34 billion. Some of the reasons for the same are: Growing population and economy The biggest driver of the expansion of the healthcare sector in India is its booming population, which is currently estimated about 1.1 billion. (Appendix-Figure1) Rising middle class Due to the rise in the average income, as of now, around 50 million Indians can afford to use advanced healthcare services and medicines. Increase in the spread of disease One of the significant driving factors for the growth of Indias healthcare sector is the rise and spread of various diseases, infectious and chronic degenerative in nature. 1.2 ERP need in Heath Care Industry ERP has got a huge scope of implementation in the healthcare industry since more and more hospitals are coming up and the customers are now looking for better professionalism and improved and efficient healthcare services. Key healthcare organization objectives: The specific healthcare industry objectives include: Improved productivity and efficient workflow with proper information at various care points. Integrating various systems across individual departments in a hospital and also across hospitals under the same management. Performing core hospital activities and increasing customer service to enhance Hospital Image. Implementation of SAP ERP in Wockhardt About Wockhardt Wockhardt is one of the major players in the Indian sector for Healthcare services. Besides providing the healthcare services via its chain of hospitals, Wockhardt also manufactures and markets various formulations, nutrition products, biopharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and vaccines. 2.2 Summary Name of the Organization : Wockhardt Limited Head Office Location : Mumbai, India Services : Healthcare No. of Employees : 9,000 Revenue of the Firm : Rs 26 Billion Implementation partner : IBM India 2.3 Pre-ERP Environment in Wockhardt Wockhardt had a non-integrated, non-SAP IT system The IT hardware used were of IBM P-Series IBM AIX was the IT Operating System in use prior to ERP implementation Oracle 10g database at Wockhardt Some of the challenges faced by Wockhardt prior to ERP implementation are as follows: Inability to handle the business growth due to poor existing technology Integration and formal communication among the existing systems were low. High cost dependency on independent product vendors adding to maintenance costs. Difficulty in managing and controlling disparate data. Dependency on multiple small packages and SMEs for day to day operations. Overall service levels and patient satisfaction levels were low. 2.4 Choosing an ERP vendor Some of the issues that were considered while choosing a vendor were: Data accuracy Hospitals have to supply all the essential information to the vendor at the time of making the proposals. This will help him to easily configure the required software. The mistake of not disclosing information Many hospitals do the mistake of not disclosing crucial information at this juncture. They are reluctant to disclose confidential information. Demonstrations The hospital will be able to rate the vendors suitability more so during practical demonstrations. His level of competencies and technicalities will be revealed to the company. The reason why SAP solution was chosen as the ERP vendor was: Its a robust, integrated solution with multiple customized functions and features Its positioned for future growth with global credibility Its a well defined reliable partner with assured support It strategically aligns itself with the Wockhardts business requirements 2.5 Objectives of SAP implementation The companys vision to integrate and standardize global processes was a major reason for introducing SAP solutions. Wockhardt was looking for an ERP solution that would: Establish a single, integrated ERP solution. Improve visibility and standardize the current business processes across the organization. Provide a platform for free flow of information and a central data repository. Introduce best practices of Life Science Industry for all locations. Provide a common technology platform with capabilities of analyzing business data. Meet the global business requirements, with simultaneously adhering to the country specific necessities. 2.6 SAP ® Solutions Services used in Wockhardt SAP ® ERP SAP ® Business Information Ware house SAP NetWeaver, ® SAP NetWeaver ® Portal, SAP ® Solution Manager, a tool found in the SAP NetWeaver ® platform 2.7 SAP Implementation Highlights Time-frame of implementation : 8 months (From May 2005) Top Managements support with highly dedicated team Highly successful implementation with a big bang approach in India Subsequent rollouts to subsidiaries in Europe US by the Wockhardt In-house team The average 3 year cost of a SAP deployment is shown in Appendix -Figure2. The various stages for the same were: Project Planning Business Process Study Installation Training Business Requirement mapping Configuration Modifications Data Conversion Documentation Testing Go-Live Post production support 2.8 SAP R/3 Architecture in Wockhardt SAP R/3 works on Three Tier Architecture comprising of the database, application and presentation layer. (Appendix Figure3) The Database server is solely responsible for Wockhardts data storage. The Application server interacts with the other two servers to manage user requests. The User terminal is responsible for data creation, modification and retrieval. 2.9 Benefits of SAP to Wockhardt The benefits that Wockhardt got on implementing SAP ERP were: Real-time access to higher quality information More structured data forming a basis for informed strategic and operational decisions A consolidated, single view of the business with efficient working practices due to standardized and integrated business processes Improved inventory management with better coordination of work across multiple locations Faster decision-making and improved Planning and customer service, efficiency, enhanced Visibility 2.10 Wockhardts future plans with SAP Wockhardts future plans with SAP include: SAP ® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) SAP ® Supplier Chain Management (SAP SCM) SAP ® Advanced Planning Optimization component (APO) SAP NetWeaver ® component for integration. With the SAP CRM module, Wockhardt can: Implement one, multichannel contact center to control and coordinate the interactions between patients and Wockhardt. Link the contact center directly to the appointment system so a patient can make, change, cancel, or inquire about appointments. Improve communication with patients by using demand management software to remind patients of appointments, manage waiting lists, and fill late cancellations The Vendors Perspective About SAP and IBM IBM was finalized as the implementation partner for starting the SAP ERP implementation in May of 2005. The implementation team took around eight months to complete the project. With vendors like SAP and implementation partners like IBM, it has definitely resulted in lowering the pressure on healthcare organizations like Wockhardt. 3.1.1 SAP SAP is the market leader in ERP solutions. Since its foundation in 1972, SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data processing) have helped companies of all sizes and industries run better. Currently SAP departments are located in greater than 50 nations and serving 110,000  customers worldwide. SAP for Healthcare industry helps the firms like Wockhardt in integrating their healthcare processes by providing an end-to-end portfolio of solutions. IBM IBM has world class reliable, scalable and responsive business solutions and on collaboration with SAP, both will help the firms in various industries like healthcare by providing quality, simple and customised solutions with high returns. IBM and SAP are committed to delivering affordable end-to-end solutions scaled to meet the needs of SMBs. The combined solutions of IBM and SAP enable the organizations to speed up their business operations in order to comply with the dynamic changes in the marketplace. Challenges faced by IBM, SAP for ERP implementation The major challenges faced by SAP and IBM during Wockhardts ERP implementations are as follows: To cope up with the dynamic and ever-changing business processes and consumer needs To be in-line with the regulatory guidelines To assist the hospital service with regular up gradation . Integration with Legacy Systems Integration of ERP Modules of different vendors or versions and E-Business Applications like SCM, CRM, KM. 4. ERP modules used at Wockhardt Some of the important SAP ERP modules used by Wockhardt are mentioned below: Materials Management (MM) Customer Service (CS) Quality Management (QM) Sales Distribution (SD) Human Resources (HR) Production Planning (PP) Financial Management (FM) Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) The material management module (Appendix- Figure4) comprises of the features mentioned below: Stock Reconciliation- At warehouse / item(s) level Alerts and notifications on Shelf Life Storage Differentiations for Quarantine / Approved / Rejected items. Item tracking based on Expiry dates and Serial No. / Lot numbers Bar code interface integration Patient Administration: This module handles the front office, back office and nursing station of Wockhardt. Some of the modules of front office are handling the appointments, reservations, admission and discharge of patient along with the deposits, refunds of cashier department. The back office includes the maintenance, in-patient billing and scheduling of the Wockhardts back office. Besides this, SAP ERP integrates the administrative and clinical processes of the nursing station. (Appendix Figure5) Clinical Management The clinical management of the SAP package in Wockhardt includes: Laboratory- Lab scheduling, records, kit management, etc. Operation theatre- Theatre scheduling, maintenance, medical equipments usage, etc. Medical records Visit details of Outpatient and In-Patients, etc. Blood bank Donor registration list, Blood stock, etc. (Appendix Figure6) Resource Management The resource management of the Wockhardt SAP module includes: Pharmacy In and out-patient pharmacy, central pharmacy, etc. General stores Purchase orders, material receipts, inventory control, etc. Ambulatory Ambulance and personnel scheduling. Medical equipment management Equipment and AMC details, stock management, etc. (Appendix Figure7) Financial Management The financial management module includes functionalities like maintaining the: Accounts payable Accounts receivable General ledger Doctors accounting Payroll Care contracts Federations grants, etc. (Appendix Figure8) 5. Conclusion and Findings The Indian healthcare sector can be considered to be as a glass half empty or as a glass half full. This is so because, even though the healthcare sector has improved significantly over the years but still the challenges it is facing are significant. Improvisation needs to be done by developing the existing physical and IT infrastructure in order to provide quality healthcare services. The need of the hour is to perform core hospital activities and increase the quality of customer service by integrating its various components and avoid data redundancy. Industries look for ERP solution that can provide a common technology platform with capabilities of analyzing business data. They expect to meet the global business requirements, with simultaneously adhering to the country specific necessities. Because of the availability of a single unified platform for data sharing and standardization of the various healthcare business processes, the redundancy of data entry has minimized significantly and has resulted in saving valuable administrative time. The SAP ERP implementation has assisted the Wockhardt staff in successfully updating, recovering and managing the data in real-time. Also, reports can now be produced quickly, thus minimizing the logistical headaches. The most striking benefit of implementing SAP ERP in Wockhardt has been the significant visibility in its service operations which has lead to improved planning and coordination across Wockhardt. Hence sooner or later, most of the companies need to change their traditional practices and have an advanced technology supported with state of the art IT infrastructure to support its core business activities and integrate them efficiently across the organization. Appendix Figure 1 Indian economy growth rate Figure 2 3 year cost of a SAP deployment Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Patient Administration Figure 6 Clinical Management Figure 7 Resource Management Figure 8 Financial Management

Canterbury Tales :: essays research papers

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of accounts about a journey pilgrims made to and from the Canterbury Cathedral, composed by British writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300’s. â€Å"Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of English as a literary language and extended the range of its poetic vocabulary and meters† (Encarta 1). In the tales, the host offers a contest to the pilgrims which requires them to tell four stories during their trip . Chaucer ingeniously integrates the episodes with one another and also resplendently describes the personality, behavior, and general way of life of a variety of aspects of society in the Medieval Ages. The Canterbury Tales consists of twenty-four tales, two of which are unfinished. One of these unfinished accounts is the Tale of Sir Thopas. The Tale of Sir Thopas begins with the narrator describing a fair and gallant knight who is from the far country of Flanders. It continues on characterizing this knight, Sir Thopas, as a handsome man who was skilled at hunting, horse riding, wrestling, and archery. All of the woman of the land longed for him, but Sir Thopas forsake all of them. Then one day, riding through the forest, the knight hears beautiful birds singing songs of love. Upon hearing this, Sir Thopas hurries to ride away because his heart is sore as there is no woman in the world to his make.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The knight then recalls a dream he had where his darling would be an elf-queen. He continued riding until he found a secret place called the Land of Faery. There he met a great giant whose name was Sir Oliphant. The giant threatened Sir Thopas to leave the land where the Queen of Faery resides or he would be killed. After hearing this Sir Thopas answered that when he has his armor both of them would fight to the death. This scene is an example of how Chaucer â€Å" Gives the Tale of Sir Thopas a hilarious send-up as opposed to other more serious tales that indirectly disparage English literature† (Payne 33).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Thopas returned to his kingdom where he prepared himself for his battle against the giant. His merry men cheered him with tales of old romances, they brought him sweet wine, a royal spicery of ginger bread, and fine linen to cover himself. Then he dressed himself in ornate armor. He had a spear of fine cypress wood, a saddle of rewel bone, and a shield of solid gold.

Censorship of the Internet :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Censorship of the Internet The censorship of the Internet is a big argument today in the world of computer technology. The government is trying to control something that is to many people an extension of the First Amendment Right, Freedom of Speech. Just this one point should be a slap in the face of every American anywhere, because the government is trying to take something away that has no right to be taken away. The Bill of Rights is the foundation that our country is based and built on and now the government that was created to protect that Bill of Rights, that piece that declares our rights and freedoms, is trying to change one of those twelve rights to make some conservative people more happy about how our country is and how it is run. The world is so concerned today with the petty things that are being done that they do not look to the larger picture of what is actually happening. The government is trying to censor something that they created over thirty years ago to possible send information much more harmful to humanity than pornographic materials or information on how to create bombs that do not work. The Internet was created over thirty years ago by the military for a alternative means of communications other than telephones communications in case of a nuclear strike by the Russians that rendered our great country basically helpless, this previous Internet went under such names as ARPANET, MILNET, and other acronyms similar to these. This great idea by scholars was next adopted by very well known colleges of the United States to provide a quick means of communications and data transfer, such as research information transfer or transcript transfer, between the students and college professors of diff erent city and state colleges. Some of the first colleges that took that great step into this new unknown frontier were CALTECH, MIT, Harvard, and other great prestigious colleges of the United States. During this time period of the Internet the government had no problem at all with what was happening. The colleges were putting large amounts of information on the Internet so other scholars could observe and comment on ongoing experiments, and the government was happy with the large computer network they created for their own personal dastardly deeds.

Judaism Essay -- Religion, Jews, Christians

I learned a lot of facts about Judaism that I had previously been ignorant to. I had no idea that we (Christians & Jews) maintained the same bible (The Old Testament) but that we interpreted certain events differently, such as Adam and Eve. â€Å"In Judaism, each and every human being is free to choose good or evil because each person stands before God in the same relationship that Adam and Eve did† (Esposito 77). I was unaware that Judaism did not believe in â€Å"original sin.† I had no knowledge of the fact that Jews did not believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. I found it interesting how Jews have split into separate groups – Reform Jews, who believe that Judaism is a cultural inheritance and that neither the laws nor beliefs are necessary. The Conservative Jews, who believe in strict obedience to most laws, but that belief in God is not the point. The Orthodox Jews, who believe in the literal reading of the Torah and strict obedience to the laws . Finally there are the ultra-Orthodox Jews, a radical group, that have attempted to separate from the non-Jewish and secular worlds because they refuse any type of compromise with modernity. â€Å"In the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox, their secular, Reform, and Conservative brethren are not really Jews, and Orthodox Jews are not orthodox enough† (Esposito 80). I found it amazing how the world was trying to get rid of the Jews but in doing so they helped them to survive by keeping them together. â€Å"Jews were forced to live in segregated quarters called ghettos† (Esposito 106). I was also unaware as to the horrific past Jews have suffered. I knew of the Holocaust but I was unaware of the other atrocious historic events that have marred their life such as the Crusades where Jews were forced t... ...vivid reminder of Christianity’s early hostility toward Islam† (Esposito 256-257). I found it even more distressing that the history of Christian deceit did not end their. Muslims remember hearing of freedom and independence but in all actuality, â€Å"†¦it was an independence of artificial creations† (Esposito 266). No one was really concerned with their independence as much as they were concerned with controlling their oil. Muslims also are unable to forget â€Å"†¦the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, now often called the Six-Day War† where â€Å"The Arabs experienced a massive loss of territory†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Esposito 267). It is amazing to me the history of these three religions and how completely uneducated most people are to all three of the religions. How can we be expected to be tolerant of one another and our differences if we do not fully understand and appreciate the history of each other?

Benjamin Franklin…A Misogynist? Essay

You asked us to read â€Å"Old Mistresses Apologue† to see how Benjamin Franklin begins as a solemn friend and adviser to a young man but soon reveals himself as a hedonistic lecher, then after reading you asked if we see any signs of a misogynist in Benjamin Franklin’s letter. To begin I looked up the word misogynist to get a better understanding of what it meant. According to Webster’s Dictionary, misogynist means a hatred of or hostility toward women, a women hater. After reading Benjamin Franklin’s letter, it was hard to see Mr. Franklin as a women hater. I find him being finicky about his women preferring older to younger women being almost discriminatory towards younger women in general, but not actually a women hater. If anything, he has good things to say about women as a whole. In the very first paragraph of his letter, Benjamin Franklin says great things of women in the state of union with a man. First, he states that â€Å"It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being.† [sic] Those are powerful word to say if you are a women hater. He also states in the same paragraph that man would be of less value if they were not married and they are incomplete without their better half. Hence his words, â€Å"A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles that odd Half of a Pair of Scissars.† [sic] Beginning after the first paragraph Benjamin Franklin begins stating increasingly how he would prefer an older woman to a younger one saying; â€Å"you should prefer old Women to young ones.† [sic] Then he proceeds to explain why he believes this theory with eight different reasons. The very first point, Franklin explains that older women are better because they are smarter, more experienced and can hold a conversation that is more interesting than that of a younger women. In his second point, he explains how when women get older they can do more for you and take better care of you. He even states that â€Å"there is hardly a thing as an old woman who is not a good Woman.† [sic] Therefore, if Benjamin Franklin was a misogynist I hardly think he would have stated that women were even good in any right. Benjamin Franklin’s fourth point explains how older women are less likely to stray and if they did it would be more accepted by an older woman than a younger one. Since older women are so willing to take care of younger man and help to shape his values and manners. This can be seen best in this line, â€Å"Because thro’ more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion.† [sic] Now in Benjamin Franklin’s fifth point I see him saying something that can be seen as misogynist comment, â€Å"and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know and old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey.† [sic] That comment to me can be taken as an insult to women, I don’t think that everything below the â€Å"girdle† or waist is what makes all women young and old alike, but I do see Franklin’s point. Now lastly, my favorite comment had to have been in his eighth point when he states that older women are better to marry than young ones because, â€Å"They are so grateful!!† That comment in it self should be an indication that Benjamin Franklin was not a misogynist, he may have said one or two things that can be taken that way. Nevertheless, Franklin seems to like women in general he definitely had more nice things to say about women than anything else, almost as though he couldn’t be without a woman.

Apple Price Cut Essay

To what extent the iPhone pricing strategy is similar to the iPod pricing strategy? How do you explain that the iPod price cut did not lead to such a level of customers’ protest? Answer: Both iPhone and iPod have experienced a large amount of price cut in their product lifecycle. In this document, we can find that iPod was launched in October 2001. Tough relatively high priced for an MP3 player, it was hugely demanded and remains popular till date though there was a price slash in 2005. Similar to the price cut of the iPod, two months after the launch of the iPhone, Apple lowered the price by 200 USD. However, regarding the price strategy, a big difference between two products is the timing of price cut. iPod adjusted its price after experiencing a 4-year success from its launch in 2001, whereas iPhone drop in price in only 2 month, which is the main explanation of why the iPod price cut did not lead to such a serious level of customers’ protest. Although both price adjustments were designed for the aim to further expand in the mass market and improve the sales, we can find that the main reason for price cut of iPod is to sell more products in its declining period of product lifecycle. By contrast, the objective of price cut of iPhone is to rapidly monopoly the smart phone market in its growing period of product lifecycle, which resulted a part of Apple fans’ profits since they bought the product in a high price. 2. â€Å"Market analysts pointed out that Apple had created a strong brand and customer loyalty which it capitalized on by adopting a skimming strategy in pricing. They also felt that customers accept its highly priced products with equanimity. To go a step further, they consciously expect it to be so.What does this tell you about the value of iPhone own-price elasticity, cross-price elasticity and income elasticity? Answer: The practice of ‘price skimming’ involves charging a relatively high price for a short time where a new, innovative, or much-improved product is launched onto a market. Obviously, due to the reason that Apple had created a strong brand image by its innovation of technology and creativity of design, and loyalty of c ustomers, particularly those Apple crazy fans, the price skimming strategy was able to work extremely well when iPhone was launched onto the market. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone entered the highly volatile cell phone market combining telephony, MP3, Web surfing and video watching, which completely revolutionized the tech-savvy market and was most awaited by both the technology enthusiasts and mainstream media. Therefore, the success of this strategy was largely dependent on those first adopters’ inelasticity of demand for the product either by the market as a whole. However, in the cell phone industry, where the product lifecycle is relatively short and the market is highly competitive. Before some other competing products or substitutes emerging on the market, iPhone could enjoy its high price and benefit from its â€Å"monopoly profits† in a short term where demand is relatively inelastic. Whereas in the cell phone industry, the demand from mass market is price elastic, which is the main reason that Apple needs to drop its price to increase its sales according to its mass-market strategy. In terms of cross-price elasticity, we can think about this question from two aspects: complements and substitutes. Firstly, due the reason that the demand of iPhone is price elastic in mass market, price of iPhone decrease, quantity demanded of components increases, which leads Apple to get a lower price of components from its supplier and further guarantee its gross margin of iPhone. In addition, the increase of sales also means the increase number of customer buying and renting apps from Apple’s online store. Secondly, considering substitutes, price of iPhone decrease, and quantity of competing products demanded decrease. Since the demand is price elastic, the lower production cost and increase revenue from Apple softer ware are able to recuperate the loss from cost cut. We can make the conclusion that regarding to the income elasticity, a decrease of price of iPhone has a positive impact on its total revenue. 3. Based on the information provided in the case would you say that the market for smartphone is closer to monopoly or to monopolistic competition? Justify. Answer: Yes, base on the information provided in the case, I regard the smartphone industry as a monopolistic competition. Monopolistic competition  is a form of imperfect competition  where many competing producers sell products that are  differentiated  from one another. Smartphone industry has following characteristics:* There are several producers like Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola etc. , and many consumers in the market, but no company can total control over the market price. * Consumers perceive that there are non-price differences among the competitors’ products. * There are few barriers to entry and exit.Producers have a degree of control over price. 4. Is the price cut decided by Apple two months after iPhone initial launch consistent with the smartphone market structure described above? Answer: Yes, the performance of iPhone is consistent with the smartphone market structure. Firstly, the MC firms sell products that have real or perceived non-price differences. However, the differences are not so great as to eliminate other goods as substitutes. Technically, the cross price elasticity of demand between goods in such a market is positive. In this case, iPhone perform the same basic functions but have differences in qualities such as design, style, reputation and appearance. Secondly, independent decision-making is another characteristic of monopolistic competition. The firm gives no consideration to what effect its decision may have on competitors. In other words each firm feels free to set prices as if it were a monopoly. Lastly, Apple has some degree of market power. Market power means that the firm has control over the terms and conditions of exchange. An MC firm can raise it prices without losing all its customers. The firm can also lower prices without triggering a potentially ruinous price war with competitors, which is the reason why iPhone was able to largely cut its price in two months. 5. Knowing the price cut affected negatively Apple reputation, do you believe Apple adopted an opportunistic pricing strategy initially selling the iPhone at a high price to take advantage of holiday season high spending habits and then dropping the price to stimulate market growth? Is this consistent with Apple pricing strategy in its other product lines like computers and iPod? Answer: I don’t entirely believe that iPhone lunched at a high price was due to it attempted to take the advantage of â€Å"holiday season high spending habits†. From my point of view, there are two main reasons why iPhone priced high at the beginning: Firstly, the core consumer groups of iPhone are enthusiastic fans of high-tech gadgets; and some of them are loyalty customers of Apple. These parts of people are not sensitive for iPhone’s price. What attract them are its quality, design and innovation. The first adopters’ inelasticity of demand is a good opportunity for using the price skimming strategy. Secondly, high price strategy is an effective method to build a high-end brand image. It’s much easier that a high brand image product cuts its price for promotion than a low brand image one raises it. For the tech-savvy market, the product lifecycle is short. We can often find on the market that a product of Apple or other brands cuts its price when it has been launched for a period of time. But iPhone dropped its price only 2 months after it had been introduced onto the market. This strategy is quite different from other products of Apple. For instance, iPod depreciated 2 years after it came into the market. Seeing the price of iPhone must be in line with iPod Touch, this strategy is â€Å"special† for Apple, comparing with other products. 6. â€Å"According to Apple executives the move had been planned long ago and felt that the pricing strategy was conceived in part to keep the iPhone’s pricing in line with its new iPod touch. † Explain to what extent a high-priced iPhone could be an obstacle to the success of the new iPod Touch. Based on what you know about Apple late development do you find that explanation convincing? Answer: In terms of the features of these two types of products, iPod Touch is like a simplified version of iPhone, without the function of a â€Å"phone†. This determines that the prices of these two types of products must be â€Å"in a line†, which means, for a reasonable consideration, the price of iPod Touch must be lower than iPhone but not too far away. If iPhone had not cut its price, iPod Touch must have had been priced at a higher level than the realistic one. We assume that, if iPhone 4 GB continued being sold at 499USD, iPod Touch may be sold at 400 or 450USD. As an mp3 player, it would be much more expensive than its competing brands. On the contrary, if iPhone had kept a high price level but iPod Touch had been set at a low one, the customers would have had been confused for â€Å"why a simplified version of iPhone is so much ‘cheaper’ than iPhone? † That would have had a negative impacts on the sales of both iPhone and iPod Touch, even would have had impaired Apple’s brand image. Combining with what I know about the late development of these two types of products, I found although the price cutting had a temporary harm on customer’s trust, iPhone and iPod Touch both performed well on the market. It proved the importance of keeping the price of iPhone and iPod Touch in a line. 7. â€Å"But the sharp price cut suggested that even Apple, which has long lived in a pricing bubble insulated from other personal computer makers, is not immune from the brutal pressures of the cellular phone business. † Does this statement mean that the personal computers market is different from the cellular phone business in other words, the cellular phone market is more competitive than the personal computer market? Why? Do you share this view? Justify. Answer: From this statement, I can’t make the conclusion that the cell phone market is more competitive than the personal computer market. Apple is one of the earliest personal computer manufacturers in the world. Its personal computer products are behalf of the most advanced PC technology of the world. Especially its graphics processing technology and operating system have high reputation. Thus, Apple’s PC products long lived in a pricing bubble insulated from other personal computer makers. That means Apple has definitely strong market power on PC market. Its high price doesn’t mean there is less competition. Furthermore, the technical innovation, appearance design, and function combination of cell phone products are updating so fast. So the lifecycle of a handset product is shorter than a computer. The price cutting often occurs when a mobile phone has come onto market for a period of time. The objective usually is for making price room for a new generation of product, which isn’t caused by competing activities. In conclusion, I don’t share this view. 8. â€Å"Keeping in mind Apple’s range of high priced products which gives it an â€Å"aura† of exclusivity, was Jobs decision to reduce the price a right one?†¦ With a 50% gross margin, Apple is setting itself up for aggressive price declines going forward†. Do you believe that Apple move is a sign that it is ready to enter a price war? Would this mean that Apple is leaving the niche market position it held for decades to go after mass market? What would be the pros and cons of that strategy? Do you believe it? Answer: The characteristics of Apple’s products are novel design, fashionable appearance and the combination of music, game, music, web surfing and other functions. It determines the positioning of iPhone must be high, and the main target consumer group is high income, music ; digital amateurs. This segment of consumer has low sensitive for price. Pure price war will not yield more market shares for iPhone. So, the price cutting strategy doesn’t mean Apple is ready for the price war. The product’s features determine Apple’s niche market strategy. But a cell phone product innovates relatively faster than other cargos. When a product successfully attracted some first adopters, how to sell them to more followers should be the core problem. Cutting the price and going in to the mass market is a universal method. Apple also adopted this strategy on iPhone. Pros of going to mass market: * iPhone can attract more followers. Some of them are sensitive to the price, their demands are elastic. Before the price cutting and entry of the mass market, some of the non-owners didn’t buy it just because of the high price. * iPhone can expand its market share quicker, and establish the competitive barriers. Its market power will be stronger. * The expanded customers would have had bought more online products, which would have had a big growth of income.By this strategy, iPhone can consolidate their customer-friendly brand image, and increase the loyalty of the customers. * The cooperation with AT;T can get a synergy between these two brands, and can receive a sum of bonus revenue from the carrier. Cons of going to mass market: * It made the brand image be lower than before. * Decreased the gross margin of iPhone. * Hurt some d ie-hards’ loyalty. * Increased the degree of monopoly, made the competition imperfect, and harmed the balance of the benign competition with its rivals. But a cellular phone product such as iPhone goes into the mass market is usually a temporary strategy when the product comes into the mature or declining period in its lifecycle, or when the company wants to make some price room for a new product. Apple cut iPhone’s price was just for keeping the iPhone’s price being in a line with iPod Touch’s. It didn’t mean Apple changed its main branding strategy to go into the mass market. For that time, I assume that it was a reasonable strategy for Apple to cut iPhone’s price.