Qualitative data analysis report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Qualitative data analysis report - Essay Example Additionally, the ease of reading the Terms and the ability of a site to secure privacy are also influencing factors. This paper concludes with a discussion of the results and brief literature review on the topic. The aim of this study is to explore better understanding of the interaction with Term and Condition among Thai student in different digital environment. This research is intended to figure out the ease in which Thai students understand Terms and Condition. The debate about the interaction between Terms and Conditions has been on the rise. This paper will provide further literature on this topic. By listening and writing down the views of Thai young individuals, the paper examines how loyalty, trust, privacy and security, and issues of terms and conditions impact the interaction. The research was conducted with a qualitative focus. Interaction of Terms and Conditions is a social experience. Exploring the interaction of students to Terms and Conditions through a qualitative focus means the interaction can be understood from both personal and social perspective. I conducted intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents to explore their perspectives on the research question. The questions inquired the participants about their experiences and expectations related to the research question, the thoughts they have concerning online security, and about any changes they perceive in themselves as a result of their involvement in the study. In-depth interviews helped a lot when deriving detailed information about a person’s thoughts and behaviours. It offered a complete picture of the research question. It was used in place of focus groups and used to refine questions for future surveys of a particular group. In-depth interviews provide more detailed information than what is available through other data collection methods, such as surveys. It provided a more relaxed atmosphere in which to

Entrepreneurship Facing Double The Risk Marketing Essay

Entrepreneurship Facing Double The Risk Marketing Essay The flowering tea shops have market; have a benefit, few competitors, and small investment. Nowadays, entrepreneurship facing double the risk that is from the capital and competition. The flower tea shops have great market potential, such a large potential from women and a developed country such as Singapore. Woman in Singapore developed countries, daily work quite hard, Whether physical or mental, all have posed immense pressure, in the company have boss and work pressure, while back home, also are not necessarily relaxed, there are a lot of housework or children, If it is a strong devotion to women, Will be more tired, pressure is from the company task, or is by their own psychological pressure. Imperceptibly, life becomes boring at all. Even more frightening is that this pressure is not good channels and ways to relax. Not only need relax the body, mind has also need been relaxed. Flower tea shop selling not just tea, more of services, is a feeling, is a let the women get double relaxation of body and mind, and even sublimation place. Why girls will spend several hundred dollars to do SPA, these women are not necessarily to do skin maintenance, May be more to enjoy in order to get one supremacy service, let the body relax, relieve work pressure. Coffee shops and pubs also have a relaxing effect, but women go to the coffee shop is not the best choice, less likely to go to the bar to get a real sense of relaxation, only temporary physical release and catharsis. SPA high grade casual place not everyone can go feel, the price is too high, could only meet part of the population. Flower tea shop can make consumers to feel at home, comfortable atmosphere, soothing music with fragrance of flower tea, can get real on the body and mind to relax. The store will also carry out a number of limitations, in order to ensure that every customer can enjoy the perfect relaxed atmosphere of flower tea shop. Flower tea with health and beauty effect will be sought after by the female customers. An enterprise focus on should be the service and standards. GOOD TIME flower tea shop form is flower tea, spirit is the service, atmosphere and feeling. Flower tea shops are not profit-oriented and customer-oriented. Then will be able to get succeed in the rapidly developing countries of Singapore. 2.1 Company current status Flower tea shop belonging to a limited liability partnership  ¼Ã‹â€ LLP) , the registered capital of only the S $ 165. Make that choice because it can help reduce the start-up capital of the Company. 2.2 Company name and logo The company name is GOOD TIME, mean that flowers tea can bring to every consumer good mood. Take away by all day of the fatigue and stress. Get physically and mentally relax. 2.3 The location of company The GOOD TIME flowers tea shops will open in city hall areas. One reason the rent is cheaper relative to the Orchard areas, Second reason is a major consumer of flower tea shop white-collar women, Singapore the city hall region relatively more than high-rise buildings and department stores, white collar females in this area will be more than other place, the lot more consumers and relatively cheap rents is the best choice for flower tea shop. (Source: created for this business plan Adapt from Google, 2012. http://maps.google.com/) 2.4 Mission statement Vision comes from the old English word witan, means to know, as in the power of anticipating that which will or may come to be. A companys vision is an expression of the businesss aspirations going forward-what we desire to become. (Thomas, 2009 A) GOOD TIME flower tea store has an exciting ambition to become Singapores largest chain operations flower tea stores, with high-quality service and products, to provide customers with healthy and natural. In order to achieve this goal, the flowers tea store knows the company needs to nurture great people. The companies want the best talent working at GOOD TIME no matter who they are. The companies will also positive innovation and development products. 2.5 Vision statement Mission comes from the Latin word, mission meaning sending away a group to a foreign country. Companys mission (or mission statement) describes the fundamental purpose of the organization-why we exist. (Thomas, 2009 B) The mission of GOOD TIME flower tea store is to become an extension of the living room of the middle and upper class families, high quality and low overhead social spaces, the third best place to work outside the home. 2.6 Company management system In the early stage the operating area is small, small staff, relatively easy to manage. The company has one manager, one technical personnel, one waiter, two waitresses and one cashier. Requirements: Employees must work on time every day. If the employee is faced with an emergency or have a specific reason can not to go to work, needed to ask for leave to the consent of the boss agreed. Work is not allowed to answer personal phone calls, not absent without leave, at least left a staff at the front desk. Before off duty need to tidy up drinks area of tables, chairs and tea set. after the boss visits, then the staff can leaving.(Tea are glassware, fragile, if any damage to be according to the cost of compensation) 3. Indusrty Analysis 3.1 PESTLE analysis (Source: created for this project adapted from internet) One of the most common models used to analysis the macro environment is the PEST analysis, which focuses on four elements: Political, Economical, Socio-demographical, and Technological factors. The PEST analysis is sometimes expanded with two factors: Legislative and environmental, renaming the PESTLE analysis. (Poul 2010) Completing a PESTLE analysis is very simple and can be undertaken by individuals, or during a team meeting or workshop. Originally referred to as PEST analysis, the legal and environment prompts were added in more recent times. (Stationery Office 2010) 3.1.1 Political factor The Singapore political risk is relatively low, compared to other countries. Singapore is a democratic country, the elected representative of the whole country, Since Singapores independence, Politics has been relatively stable, Singapore has become a better business opportunities for countries. In order to adapt to the commercial economic globalization trends, The Singapore government has recognized that in addition to support commercial also need to support entrepreneurship. Therefore, Singapore is one of the countries with the lowest tax of the worlds, In addition to the tax rates and tax incentives, Singapore is also widely with 70 countries has a double taxation avoidance agreements .Since 2012 only 17% of the corporate income tax (2012). Tax concessions flexible and less political risk for the development of enterprises in Singapore has a good role in promoting. 3.1.2 Economic factor Singapores annual economic growth rate is 4.9% in 2011(2012). However, due to Singapores trade and financial openness, the continued turmoil in the euro zone debt crisis and other adverse external factors will have a significant impact on the economic growth of Singapore. Experts predict that, if the euro debt crisis worsens ¼Ã…’Coupled with the slow U.S. economic recovery ¼Ã…’Singapore this years economic growth rate has dropped to 1% or less. However, in Singapore the internal environment of low unemployment and low interest rates will be able to support domestic demand. Singapore has sufficient policy space to mitigate the adverse impact of the global slowdown and financial market turmoil. Although the global economic outlook is not optimistic, although the global economic outlook is not optimistic, Slowdown in external demand, Decline in trade and other adverse factors will impact on the Singapore economy. But Food, beverages and tobacco industry GDP in the first half of 2012 still an increase of 4.0%; Singapores economic growth is expected to rebound to 3.4% in 2013 (2012). So, in this light that Singapore economic turmoil for the food, beverage and tobacco industry will not be too adversely affected. 3.1.3 Socio-demographical factor Population is constitute the market most basic factors, Demographic factors of a country or region, In a certain sense to decide the countrys market size and market appeal. According to the 2010 Population Census in Singapore, the total pulsations are 5.08 million. Citizens and permanent residents is 3.77 million, a 15.3% increase over 2000.Sex ratio: 0.95:1.00. In the age group, 13.8% of 0-14 years old, 77% between 15-64 years of age, 9.2% for 65 years of age or older. Singapore citizen is use racial to distinction: Chinese accounted for 74.1% of the population, 13.4% of the Malaysian, Indians 9.2% and Eurasians 3.3%, the main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and Hinduism (2010). Singapores growing population is conducive to the increase in the Singapore market size and market appeal. Due to women, young people and the elderly is a major consumer of herbal tea crowd, the female population is more than male population is conducive to the development of the herbal tea industry. Tea culture originated in China, the Chinese people love tea, Singapore has 74.1% of the Chinese, and this will bring good prospects for herbal tea sales. 3.1.4 Technological factor Technological factor affecting the competitiveness of the products, technological innovation that can enhance the product vitality, flower tea stores itself is an innovative, in Singapore market the most of the beverage industry are tea stores, coffee stores and there are also have many herbal tea store, but this herbal tea stores is very common and have a long history , flower tea store is all use the flowers as a raw material, flower tea also call herbal tea, health, beauty and other features will attract the attention and love of many consumers. Followed by the technological innovation is the innovation of the product itself, the company will have a bold innovation for herbal tea tastes, not only ordinary single herbal tea, will also introduce a comprehensive herbal tea, fruit mixed herbal tea and flavor spices herbal tea, each quarter of the company also will launch a new herbal tea, in order to adapt to market demand progress. Finally, environmental innovation will bring physical and sensory enjoyment to the customer, the store will set up three different styles of drink tea zone, use of flower, forest and bamboo as the main theme, the chair will only appear on the form of the swing, and strive to allow customers to experience the immersive feel. 3.1.5 Legislative factor Legal factors include consumer law, antitrust law, discrimination law and health and safety law. Singapore law from strict system of is also the world famous. Strict legal system for Businessmen bring protection also brings some constraints. Singapore to amend the Consumer Protection Act in February 2012 and starting at September, The vast majority of legitimate business retailers will not have much effect; there will not be too much of the burden. Singapore is a small country and has small population, resource scarcity, so Singapore attaches great importance to food safety issues, and has been to strengthen the food safety law, intended to eliminate and reduce the inflow of substandard food. The company in order to ensure the smooth good development in Singapore, the company will comply with all laws and regulations, not only to protect the companys own interests but also to protect the interests of consumers. 3.1.6 Environmental factor Singapores population high density, more people and less land, coupled with the perennial high temperatures and rainy and other environmental problems. Just have very few people planting flowers and tea, the tea mainly relied on imports or a small part of the territory of the processing, Not only imports of Chinese tea, but also imported British tea. Therefore, due to the special environment of Singapore, flower tea generally require from Chinese imports, although the tea in China is high quality and reasonable price, However, due to imports still lead to the cost of flower tea increase. Singapore has relatively long drink herbal tea culture, Singapore is a tropical region, it is easy to heatstroke, and tea can resolve summer heat. Also, because Singapore belongs to the developed countries, the pursuit of a healthy diet is relatively high, more and more people love to drink tea. So comprehensive market environment in Singapore, flower tea for its health features will conquer Singaporeans. 3.2 Porters Five Forces à ¤Ã‚ »- (Source: created for this project adapted from internet) Michael Porter is widely recognized as the greatest and most influential thinkers of business theory, praised as the father of competitive strategy. Porters five forces model in the last two decades is one of the well-known concept of the corporate strategy makers. For the strategy makers, in the implementation of any strategy that may affect a companys strategic position, these five forces play an indispensable leverage. Collection of five competitive forces can determine the profitability of a company. The five forces energy intensity will be different in different industries, and will change with the development of the industry. (Charles and Gareth 2009) These five forces are: Rivalry among competitors Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers The threat of substitute (Source: created for this business plan) 3.2.1 Rivalry among competitors (strong) The competition will lead to in marketing, research and developments put into or reduce, the results will reduce the companys profits. Factors affecting the intensity of competition: Exit barriers, industry concentration, industry growth rate, degree of product differentiation, brand recognition, opponents difference degree and so on. In Singapore market has a dedicated sales flower tea competitiveness is few, But in the entire beverage industry competitors are more ¼Ã…’Like milk tea store (KOI, Sweat talk), herbal tea stores (the zhengzhongping, Fuhua), coffee(starbucks), teahouse. These beverage outlets are generally chain operations, strong popularity and have the fixed customer base, deeply by the Singapore people love, so those beverage outlets have strong Competitiveness. Faced with strong competitors ¼Ã…’Company should actively learn from competitors strategic approach, constantly to change the self strategy and to develop a long-term goal, flower tea stores spirit of health, weight-loss, beauty and other characteristics, must be able to build a new field. 3.2.3 Threat of new entrants (weak) The arrival of new competitors will inevitably break the equilibrium in the market, caused by the reaction of existing competitors compete ¼Ã…’it is inevitable to transferred the new resource used to compete, so make gains reduce. Factors affect of potential entrants: Price advantage, capital investment, government policy is to protect, economies of scale, brand influence, the high cost of conversion, the retaliatory confrontation and exclusive possession of the product. The flower tea store appear as a relatively new drinks ¼Ã…’Is relatively rare in China, especially in Singapore, flower tea store have a very small threat of new entrants, the biggest threat may come from and teahouse. Since teahouse and flower tea store is a similar type, flower tea belongs to a kind of tea, China is the worlds earliest discovered tea tree country, and also is the first national cultivation of tea tree. Chinese tea culture has a long history, the Chinese people in their daily life are inseparable from the tea, and more and more foreigners also had a keen interest in Chinas tea culture. Singapore has 74.1% of the Chinese (2010), so flower tea peer competition is from the teahouse. Flower tea store should actively to face competition from new entrants, and learn from each other, and continue to progress. Of the threat as a motive power, in order to remain invincible in the fierce competitive environment, obtaining à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹the largest gains. 3.2.3 Bargaining power of buyers (weak) If the buyer is have the bargaining power. They will take advantage of it. This will reduce the companys profits and its results are the impact of the rate of return. Factors affecting the buyers ability to: bargaining power, access to information, brand recognition, price sensitivity, backward integration, the selection of alternatives, incentive systems, such as government subsidies. The flowers tea industry in different regions will have different results, if in the Chinese market, the tea industry competition is very strong, This means that customers will have more choice, if the Operators want to get more benefits and customers in a competitive environment, It must reduce prices or improve the quality of products and services in order to attract more customers, and thereby gain interest. In this case, the buyers bargaining power is strong. However the flowers tea shops in the Singapore market is a fledgling stage, mainly competitors is from the alternatives industrys, Competition in the same industry is relatively small, The flowers tea stores in the spirit of the excellent quality of itself, the product owned health and beauty, slimming features, Most customers will be attracted by the characteristics of the product itself, especially female customers will be interested by the beauty and slimming function. In this case, the buyers bargaining power is relatively weak. 3.2.4 Bargaining power of suppliers (medium) The bargaining power of suppliers is contrast with the buyer, the suppliers will try to raise prices; its results will also affect the companys rate of return. Factors that influence the ability of suppliers: Concentration of suppliers, the importance of the product of the number of suppliers, invest the difference, investment cost and differentiation, alternative products inputs presence, threat of forward integration, the cost in the purchasing power of the relative industry. Singapores population high density, more people and less land, coupled with the perennial high temperatures and rainy and other environmental problems. So flowers tea is mainly dependent on imports, Currently able to supply the flowers tea shops of the products have Chinese ¼Ã…’Germany, France, UK, Australia, Canada and other countries. Due to the limited cost and China is a country has a long history of tea culture, close to Singapore, can be reduce the cost of imports. So most import source from China, due to china has many tea suppliers and its mainly distributed in South China region, however, for a single type flower tea suppliers is relatively less, flower tea in China is in the initial stage, although the development of very fast, but still there is no more tea suppliers, so the bargaining power of suppliers is middle. 3.2.5 The threat of substitute  ¼Ã‹â€ medium ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° The existence of alternative flowers tea products and services on the market that means that the flowers tea product prices will be limited. Factors affecting the substitutes: conversion costs ¼Ã…’the preference of the buyer of the alternatives, cost performance of the alternatives and alternative relationship. With the development of science and technology, appeared a growing number of substitute products. Substitutes is means the two products exists the competing sales relationship ¼Ã…’That the increase in the sales of a product that will reduce the potential sales of another product. Flower tea store in the Singapore market substitutes was herbal tea shop, like FuHua. The two stores have the same characteristics, health. Herbal tea shop popular in Singapore for a long time, Herbal tea shops usually provide customers with finished ¼Ã…’can be drunk directly, cheap and convenient features already have some loyal customers ¼Ã…’and have strong profitability. So it will bring greater pressure on some of the companys original products ¼Ã…’Sometimes had to reduce prices in order to increase sales ¼Ã…’this makes some price constraints on a lower level, the Company in a passive position in the competition. flower tea shops own start-up capital is relatively small, the conversion costs of the substitutes is small, then the herb tea shop on the pressure brought by the company will be bigger. So can be drawn by said threat of substitutes is relatively medium. Flower tea stores should be taken to reduce the price of a product, same time vigorously to promote have anti-obesity product, and this will not only improve the sales of the product, but will also reduce the sales of substitute products. This at the expense of a product, stable development of another product strategy, can improve the popularity of the product and the companies, at the same time leave a good image in the minds of customers. 3.3 SWOT analysis The SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of a company, it provides information that is helpful in matching the companys resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates .the resulting SWOT matrix contrasts the results of the internal analysis (strengths and weakness) and the external analysis (opportunities and threats) to define strategic fields of action. That application of a SWOT analysis is therefore instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. (Nadine and Anne 2009) 3.3.1 Strengths Health Beauty More innovative Price is moderate Easy to preserve, quality is relatively stable Herbal tea is known as health tea, in the West, flowers tea called Herbal Tea, A beverage based on the herb for the preparation of raw materials. Flowers tea market in Singapore is a whole new market. Has the characteristic of the return to nature, health, health and beauty, is a romantic casual drink. It does not contain caffeine, so avoid the ordinary tea make it difficult to sleep and so on. Edible natural flowers contains a variety of plant extracts and a biologically active substance, possess Nutrition, health and medicinal properties. Flowers tea join berry after brewing, colorful, overflowing aroma, ratio of traditional drink more innovative, so better able to attract more of the pursuit of female beauty. Herbal tea possess the efficacy of herbal tea, but the sweet smell taste far inferior to Herbal tea, natural majority of young people are choosing the latter. Price is moderate to possess a wide range of consumption basis, flowers tea is unlike the green tea, oolong tea, Puer tea mostly positioned in the ranks the high-end products, flowers tea product positioning in the low-end, easy to form a scale, and has the a wide range of consumption basis. Flowers tea is easy to save, the quality is relatively stable. Flower tea is relatively the green tea and oolong tea that is relatively easy is saved. The flower tea is reprocessing tea ¼Ã…’in flower tea production process, through the blending ¼Ã…’plastic and other delicate process, processing of the tea quality maintain a relatively stable, easy to formation of scale and brand management. 3.3.2 Weakness Brand awareness is small Competitor multi High Manage risk flower tea shop is an emerging industry in Singapore ¼Ã…’Singapore market are mostly packed flower tea. No one tea shop can be provided to the customer a space drinks tea and provide ready-made flower tea drinks. This emerging flower tea shop is relatively not having the brand awareness in Singapore market. Flower tea shop in beverage market possesses many competitors, such as coffee shops, herbal tea shops and milk tea shop. these drinks for Singapore consumers have a great affection ¼Ã…’These drinks shop can attract different sectors of consumer groups and have a fixed customer base. Many shops are chain management, with a strong brand awareness and competitiveness. Flower tea shop belonging the early start, have strong manage risk, improper management typically include: Arbitrary decision-making, information barrier ¼Ã…’Concept is unclear, worry about the outcome ¼Ã…’Choosing the wrong people ¼Ã…’ignore the innovation ¼Ã…’Eager to succeed ¼Ã…’Blindly follow the trend, Weak-willed so on. Especially early start by a single of knowledge, Lack of experience, financial strength and mental quality obviously insufficient, Will increase in management of risk. 3.3.3 Opportunities Huge consumer market The pursuit of health Singapore is tropical rainforest climate In Singapore, the proportion of women and men is 1:0.95, people between 15-64 years of age accounted for 77% of the total population of Singapore(2010), and Herbal tea positioned of major consumer group is women and young people. Singapore belongs to the developed countries, the relatively high level of per capita consumption. Therefore, flower tea shop in Singapore has a huge consumer market. With the continuous development of society, Consumers in pursuit of the simple life while also increasing emphasis on health issues. Consumers in the purchase of product will also pay attention to that product impact on health and the environment, natural without any additives food has become the darling of the modern society. Flowers tea without any additives also has a healthy, weight-loss, beauty and other effects will naturally by the majority of consumers love, especially female consumers. Consumer to the health commodity needs will make the flowers tea with a huge space for development. The Singapore in equatorial online, so year round in the tropical rain forest climate, hot, rainy natural environment is easy to bring heat stroke and other discomfort. Singapore people for reduce pathogenic drinks have very large demand; flowers tea has a lot of the product itself that owned have Reduce Pathogenic effect, and tasty, beautiful appearance. So the flower tea will be welcomed by the people of Singapore. 3.3.4 Threats Beauty and lose weight method is more and more Consumers have a certain degree of drinking habits In the technological advances of today, beauty and lose weight method is more and more, like skin care products and plastic surgery. People will choose the direct use of skin care products to beauty, the effect is more obvious and more quickly. but want to use the flower tea to achieve weight-loss and beauty effect that must be kept within a period of time to drink tea in every day, the effect and speed was not as good as cosmetics to the better, So this is a threat for flowers tea. Most consumers already have some drinking habits. Such as tea, milk, coffee, milk, juice, cola, herbal tea and other drinks has been deep into the minds of consumers, and these drinks are widely distributed, easy to buy , each customer will could paying for these drinks, flower tea shop wants to change the habits of the customer will be more difficult. The customers for drinking habits will generate some threats and obstacles for flowers tea sales. 3.4 Competitor analysis There are various forms of commercial competition in the market, these competitions from several competitors and the level of competition is increasingly fierce. In this competitive environment, upper policymakers main task is the precise positioning of the company, accurately locked resources as well as according to their environment to capitalize on the trend. Therefore, whether skilled business and competitive analysis will determine whether a company has competitiveness and whether it also allowed them to benefit the interests of the partners. Flower tea stores in Singapores one of the biggest competitors is KOI Cafe. In fact, the popular for pearl milk tea in Singapore has subsided awaited, but ¼Ã…’the 50 LAN from Taiwan with a unique marketing mode that won the favor of the handsome boys girls. KOI Cafe bubble tea completely the production of raw materials and methods ¼Ã…’Even shaking drinks machine is also from Taiwan. Its greatest feature and selling point is humane service. Guests can choose the beverage tastes, requirements according to their individual preferences adding 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the different sugar content. In this way, the beauty of the people does not have to be afraid of fat on the bubble tea prohibitive. KOI Cafe prices between 1.40 and 6.70 Singapore dollars of KOI Cafe Declaration: uphold service quality, health, and our insistence and attitudes, let 50 LAN in Singapore also dazzling (2012). Flower tea shop in Singapores second largest competitor is Starbucks. Starbucks is the worlds leading coffee chain, Established in 1971, Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Starbuckss retail products, including 30 variety of the worlds top coffee beans , handcrafted espresso coffee and a variety of coffee hot and cold drinks, delicious pastries fresh food as well as a variety of coffee machines, coffee mugs and other merchandise. Starbucks is not just coffee, Coffee only a carrier. It is through the coffee this vector, Starbucks to send a unique style to the customer. Coffee consumption is largely an emotional and cultural level of consumer; cultural communication needs Coffee shop to create the environment culture capable of infecting customers, and the formation of a good interactive experience. Starbucks loved by many students and office workers in Singapore. But most Starbucks shops service charge of 17% (2010), higher consumption threshold, store often customers too much, leading to congestion. 3.5 Competitive Profile Matrix Table 1 ¼Ã… ¡Competitive Profile Matrix of GOOD TIME Flower Tea Company (Source: created for this business plan) From this CPM matrix can be drawn: the competitive situation in GOOD TIME flower tea store, the company matrix weighted score is 2.75; its main competitor KOI Cafe and Starbucks weighted score is 3.2 and 3.45. From the matrix of the competitive situation, we can conclude that the strength of the order of the competitive situation in the Flower tea store market from strong to weak order: Starbucks, KOI Cafe, GOOD TIME flower tea store. This is reflects the GOOD TIME flower tea store in the Singapore market is not very strong and market share is not high. However ¼Ã…’Starbucks the indicators are more than Flower tea store, Flower tae store is in the future development of the Starbucks as the goal, and actively strive to develop. 4. Products and Services Line The old saying say that man drinking tea, woman drinking herbal tea, flower tea is a natural drink, Rich in vitamins, and does not contain caffeine and artificial coloring. Herbal tea set tea flavor and flower scent into one. While maintaining the rich refreshing tea flavor and in the same time also have deeply flower scent. The flower tea has a good pharmacological effect, long-term drinking the herbal tea for human body all kind various diseases has a certain improvement, and there also have a lot of benefit for acne, weight-loss, and defecation and so on. 4.1 Product GOOD TIME Flower Tea Company is contains four major product, are the single flower tea, comprehensive flower tea, mixed fruit flower tea and spices flower tea. Single flower tea (Source: adapted from http://image.com) <

History of the Sound Card :: essays research papers

History of the Sound Card: How it Came About The very first sound card every manufactured was a Sound Blaster card. Far West was the manufacturer of the first Sound Blaster sound card. Let’s step back a little in time to take a look back at when sound cards haven’t even yet existed. â€Å"Computers were never designed to handle sound.† Before sound cards were invented, the only sounds you would hear from a computer would be the beeps that would tell you if something was wrong with the computer. That’s all! No sounds would accompany any games, you couldn’t play music at all, nothing! Computer programmers wanted to use the beeps for games they created, and so they would program the beeps into their games. However, it would be â€Å"awful music as an accompaniment to games like Space Invaders†. Far West came up with the solution, thus the invention of the first Sound Blaster sound card. It still wasn’t good quality music, but it was a big step up from just the beeps. â€Å"It could record real audio and play it back, something of a quantum leap. It also had a MIDI interface, still common on sound cards today, which could control synthesizers, samplers and other electronic music equipment†. The first sound card was of 8 bit 11 kHz audio quality, similar to an AM radio. There are two parts to the â€Å"complicated piece of electronics†, the sound card. ADC and DAC were they. ADC is the analog-to-digital converter and DAC being the opposite (digital-to-analog converter). ADC took an analog signal from a device and converts it to digital signals for the computer to use, as DAC did the exact opposite, taking a digital signal and converting it to analog. However, in the future, there will be no use of ADC and DAC since â€Å"both speakers and microphones will be able to directly record and playback digital signals directly†. An example of ADC would be a sound through the microphone being recorded into the computer. A CD player is an example of a device that uses DAC.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Digital audio has its advantages. One would be that â€Å"no matter how many times it is copied it remains identical†. It does not degrade analogue sources. An example of an analogue source is vinyl. A leap up to 16 bit 44.1 kHz was a major development. This is the quality of a CD. This became a problem for the ISA bus.

Family Life Course Development

Family Life Course Development Focus & Scope Assumptions These are the assumptions that provide the foundation for Family Life Course Development Theory. 1. Developmental processes are inevitable and important in understanding families. – Individual family members, Interaction between family members, Structure of family, and The norms composing expectations about family roles all change over time. These changing roles and expectations for different stages of family are viewed as essential to an understanding of the family. . The family group is affected by all the levels of analysis. Social system (Institutional norms and conventions about the family) e. g. legal expectations like child abuse laws Aggregate Clusters (Families and norms structured by class and ethnicity) Social group – Family Sub-group – Relationships (e. g. Husband -Wife, Siblings, etc. ) Individual These general social norms represent the level of analysis of the family as a social institution. This institutional level of analysis is generally the one we refer to when we talk about â€Å"The Family† and is the level on which we often conduct cross-cultural comparisons (the U. S. family compared with the Japanese family). 3. Time is Multi-Dimensional Periodicity – An equal interval of time between each event on the clock. (e. g. jewel movements of a wrist watch‘s gears) However, our experience of time is perhaps not as regimented as periodicity would lead us to believe. Social Process Time- Family and personal experiences are used as a separate way to divide up time. (e. g. â€Å"When we first married† or â€Å"Before your sister was born†) Social norms are tied more closely to this social process dimension of time than to calendar or wristwatch time. Subsequently, for Family Life Course Development Theory, the family process dimension of time is critical to understanding and explaining family change because it provides the marker events for analyses. (E. g. births, weddings, deaths, etc. )

Paper of dream

Professor Jarvis The Dream Freud believed the dream to be composed of two parts, the manifest and the latent content. The manifest content can be thought of as what a person would remember as soon as they wake and what they would consciously describe to someone else when recalling the dream. That's all the stuff that literally happens in the dream. Freud suggested that the manifest content possessed no meaning whatsoever because it was a disguised representation of the true thought underlying the dream.The latent content holds the true meaning of the dream, and the forbidden thoughts and the unconscious desires. These appear in the manifest content but will be disguised and unrecognizable. Although in rare cases the manifest and latent content can be indistinguishable. Freud believed that the latent content of dreams is suppressed and hidden by the subconscious mind in order to protect the individual from thoughts and feelings that are hard to cope with. By uncovering the hidden mean ing of it, Freud believed that people could better nderstand their problems and resolve the issues that create difficulties in their lives.I dreamed that once I was an older man playing in the major leagues and was on my way to the hall of fame when all of a sudden while I was taking a flight to the particular area where my game was held the plain had a tragic crash. Freud insisted that dreams are a form of fulfilling suppressed wishes. If a wish goes unsatisfied during the dreamer's normal day, the mind reacts to this ‘internal stimuli' by transforming it into a visual fantasy, allowing the dreamer to satisfy his or her esire. The result of which is a peaceful night's sleep.This makes me think that the concept of Freud's theory is accurate because of the way the content worked when I woke up and how my thoughts worked. I was so scared but was understanding by how the dream worked. Freud's theory is completely valid because it makes sense when we fall asleep and your curtains are drawn, the dream acts as a protector to you. It calms the mind and relates to your thought and wishes and doing bad or good things while you are asleep. Freud's work was solely concerned with nternal stimuli.Essentially, for a person to continue to sleep undisturbed strong negative emotions, forbidden thoughts and unconscious desires have to be disguised or censored in some form or another. Otherwise, confronted by these, the dreamer would become distressed and they would eventually wake up. Therefore the dream, if understood correctly, could lead to a greater understanding of the dreamer's subconscious. During my dream I felt very special but the night that I fell asleep I was in a stressed mood and anger was drawn in my veins.It seemed as if the dream acted as a barrier as Freud states in his theory, I woke up feeling like a new person and it comtorted me. While the plane was talling in my dream I nad a weird feeling before that I couldn't believe the certain tragedy was about to happen but waking up and knowing I was alive changed my whole aspect of looking towards life. Freud makes me thing of when I fall asleep what dream I have a what I can do to notice what is wrong with me or what problem is running through my mind.If I have mental dream with violence I will be able to state my well being and know what wrong with me. I can help get therapy for a certain bad dream I had and why it took place. I completed agree with Freud's theory and will take it step by step each dream. We have learned many things in this analysis of Freud. We have discussed the importance of Freud's dream content theory and what their meanings include. Over the course of study in Structure of Mind and Behavior, we have learned about mental and psychological histories and incidents that relate to Freud's dream theory in a eneral way.

Street pharm essay(why you should buy this book) Essay Example

Street pharm essay(why you should buy this book) Essay Example Street pharm essay(why you should buy this book) Paper Street pharm essay(why you should buy this book) Paper and she threw on her coat and aint worked there a day of my life- but the manager owed me. He was one of my customers. Time to get down to brothers real bread-and-butter! I took out my cell and speed-dialed sonny. Ty! What the fucks going on? Whyd you turn off your cell? Mind your business. Whats going on? l need your help son. Tonight we got us some deliveries. Already got some. Well, I got more for you. Go on. I wrote the stuff on my palm pilot. Hold up, I said, whos this Schultz guy? A new customer I met last week. Told him we was getting a shipment with the hottest shit this side of the bogota. He gonna drop 5 gs.

Dictatorship essays

Dictatorship essays In modern times, no dictator can take total power by force alone. In order to gain support, they must offer something beneficial to the people. Unfortunately what is thought to be beneficial can be extremely harmful and cruel. Three specific dictators during the World War II period were Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. Joseph Stalin was the successor of Lenin after his death. He had only one goal and that was to finish what Lenin had started. Basically that was to build a classless society in which the means of production were in the hands of the people. After Stalin established power, he developed new goals to make the Soviet Union a leader in industry. He wanted to get rid of Russias backwardness. For this reason Stalin proposed several five year plans. These plans were aimed at improving industry and economic growth. He developed a command economy, which meant government made all economic decisions. Under Stalin, the government controlled all businesses. Stalin also took agriculture under control of the government. He forced people to give up their privately owned land and live on government-owned farms or on large farms that were owned and operated by groups, also known as collectives. The state set all prices and controlled access to farm supplies. (Comptons Encyclopedia, 1990, Joseph Sta lin S570) On July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Fuehrer of the Nazi Party. Fuehrer basically meant leader. By November 1923, the Nazis held approximately 55,000 followers and were the biggest and most powerful in Germany. The Nazi Party demanded action of Hitler. Hitler knew that he would lose his support if he didnt do something fast. So he and his party developed a plan to kidnap the leaders of the Bavarian government and force to accept Hitler as their leader. On November 9th, 1923 Hitler and his Nazis went to Munich and tried to take it over. At this point they were not powerful enough to ...

How to Say ___ in French - French Translation Help

How to Say ___ in French - French Translation Help If youre wondering how to say something in French, youve come to the right place. I get a lot of questions about how to say this or that in French; Ive provided links to answers to the most common of these at the end of this article. But of course I cant anticipate every question, so here are some tips and resources to help you find out how to say anything in French.1) If you speak some French, your best bet is to use a French dictionary - but the right way. French word order and syntax are very different than English, and if you just look up a bunch of different words and string them together, youll probably end up with nonsense.2) You can also try searching this site - with over 6,000 pages, its a good bet that Ive written a lesson including the word or phrase youre looking for. Just type your search in the box in the upper right corner, and click search.3) If you dont speak any French, you might be tempted to use an online translator, but this, too, is a tool that must be used w ith caution. 4) The best way to find out how to say something in French is to ask a native speaker. If you dont know any, youre in luck: our forum is filled with French speakers who are ready to answer your questions - within reason. While we wont translate paragraphs or write letters for you, we are happy to answer your questions, translate short passages, and offer corrections. Common Questions How do you say Happy birthday in French?How do you say Hello in French?How do you say How are you? in French?How do you say I love you in French?How do you say please and thank you in French?How do you say Merry Christmas in French?How do you say no in French?How do you say to be in French?How do you say what in French?How do you say yes in French?How do you say the colors in French?How do you say the months in French?How do you say the numbers in French? And if youre wondering how to say how do you say ___ in French? in French, its comment dit-on ___ en franà §ais  ? You can hear a sound file of this and other useful phrases in my essential French lesson.

NCAA Athletic Arms Race Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NCAA Athletic Arms Race - Assignment Example In 2013, the National Collegiate Athletic Association reported that the median operating expenditure for athletics increased 49% between 2010 and 2013. In this regard, the paper would discuss the athletics arms race that various colleges and universities are facing. What the aggravating factors are as well as suggestions on how to address the financial implications of the arms race. Most colleges and universities are spending millions of dollars in athletics due to the increased revenue generated from athletics. For an average athletics program, the highest spending categories include salaries and benefits, tuition-driven-in-aid, facilities maintenance and rental, team travel, recruiting and equipment supplies, fund-raising costs, and game-day expenses. According to Barr and McClellan (2011), athletics expenses are increasing a yearly rate of 7%. The arms race puts universities in the college sports business. There is a growing divide between the haves and the have-nots in college sp orts due to the commercialization of intercollegiate athletics. Since the inception of intercollegiate sports, the disparities between the poor and rich athletics have been a major concern. In the recent years, the gap has widened since large universities are chasing after television deals and corporate sponsorships to finance the new facilities, as well as lure celebrity coaches with multimillion-dollar salaries (Thomas, 2009), Millions of dollars, are being spent in construction. College sports is a carnival of construction (Brown, Raschre, & McEvoy, 2010). Schools are building bigger, nicer, and more state-of-the-art facilities for their teams. For example, Nebraska is finishing up a $63.5 expansion of its Memorial stadium while Wisconsin is renovating its Camp Randall Stadium at $86 million. It is argued that more athletic spending results in more victories thus more revenue. There are various ways of addressing the financial implications of the arms race: Reducing the size of t he travelling squads, reducing salary expenses to athletics’ employees, reducing the number of scholarships and lower tuition, renting the existing facilities to generate revenue other than building new ones, and better transparency and accountability.  

Gender and Sexual Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Gender and Sexual Violence - Essay Example Stotzer (p. 172) discusses that according to surveys of transsexuals, there seems to a significant number of sexual assault incidents, including rape, especially for the younger transsexuals. The most common forms of violence against transsexuals include unwanted sexual activity with about 60% of these incidents being forced intercourse (Stotzer, p. 172). These transsexuals are often victims due to their perceived non-conformity to the standards of society. The motivation for these sexual assaults includes hatred and negative attitudes towards the transgenders (Stotzer, p. 172). Victims are quick to declare that they are often victims of sexual assault or rape and mostly due to homophobia and hate. They also feel that they are often victims of sexual assault because of their gender identity, their gender expression, and their transgender status (Stotzer, p. 172). Abuse is also often carried out by various people, mostly strangers. Police officers, parents, siblings, neighbors, friend s, and other relatives are also often the perpetrators of the abuse (Stotzer, p. 173). Most acts of violence include sexual assaults, harassment, and in some cases, muggings. Unfortunately, some are carried out by persons known to the victim (Stotzer, p. 174). Some of these offenders include fathers, stepfathers, mothers, stepmothers, current spouse/partners, brother, siblings, or a former spouse or partner (Stotzer, p. 174). Other perpetrators not closely known to victims include landlords, tenants, ‘pick-ups,’ security personnel, and in some cases, service providers. Murphy (p. 7) further discusses that violence against lesbians and gays are the most apparent dangers which these individuals face. However, they are also likely to face structural violence and episodic violence. Structural violence against gay men is often caused by heteroxism which basically embodies a system that degrades homosexuals for their behavior and their identity (Murphy, p. 7). Psychological h eteroxism is often linked with individuals’ attitudes and behaviors and cultural heteroxism often refers to their societal customs and institutions, including their religion and laws (Murphy, p. 7). The cultural heteroxism is the most common cause for violence as it can also lead to discrimination against these lesbians and gays in their housing and employment. Murphy (p. 7) cites the cases of Margarethe Cammemeyer, a military veteran who was dismissed from the army after years of exemplary service to her country; also the case of Sherry Barone who faced opposition from a cemetery who refused to include the epitaph ‘life partner’ on the headstone of her deceased partner (Murphy, p. 7). More indirect incidents of discrimination are perpetuated against gays and lesbians; and those who often decide to reveal their sexuality end up being dismissed, demoted from their work or driven out of their homes. The causes of gender violence seem to stem from preconceived notio ns and assumptions of gender. Specifically, these assumptions are based on the expectations for each gender which often refer to extremely different behavior, mostly referring to dominant males and subordinate females (Perry, p. 417). Violence is considered to be a way by which males can impose their authority and dominance over women; and it seems to be expected for men to enforce such violence in order to keep women in line (Perry, p. 417).

Spring Framework with MVC web applications Essay

Spring Framework with MVC web applications - Essay Example It simplifies Java development through four key strategies This is the framework for the programmer or the developer who wants to develop Java application using Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs) and then non-invasively apply enterprise services (Johnson, et al., 2011). Simply put, it is a one-stop-shop solution for developers of enterprise applications. The Spring framework has several features that are categories into modules. The diagram shown illustrates the key features of Spring. This framework avoids the clutter and gives you the ability to use only what you need. The core features of Spring framework are able to support declarative transaction management, remote access to the application logic through web services, and other main options for data persisting. Spring offers fully featured MVC framework and enables the programmer to transparently integrate AOP. Its key design is non-intrusiveness, which is no dependency on the framework. When a programmer talks about Spring, dependency injection and inversion control should echo. Dependency control makes the Spring framework more popular because it allows individuals and institutions to build robust, dependable applications that are easy to maintain. Spring addresses the main problems of J2EE regarding web application development, Enterprise Java beans, Database access (JDBC, ORM), transaction management and Remote access. The primary purpose is to reduce dependencies and even introduce negative dependencies. Spring is largely built around dependency injection and aspect oriented programming (AOP). During runtime, dependencies are injected thereby preventing hard-coded object creation and object lookup. It enables loose coupling and helps the developer to write effective unit tests. As a programmer, the Spring framework does need you to implement interfaces or extend classes. Instead, it allows the developer to focus on the actual app because the framework covers these

Solar energy project at Philippines Research Paper

Solar energy project at Philippines - Research Paper Example Now I will discuss the Role of Stakeholders, project manager in relation to Project Governance in the project of BP solar energy. The project manager has the responsibility for the management of the project needs to have a well-defined process (Kenneth, 1998). In this project, the project manager has to streamline the main resources and financial aid to plan for the successful completion of this project. BP solar energy company has to make use of the local workforce and regional resources for this project to support them and this will also take less investment for the project. The government and Ministry of Finance of Philippines have to originate and establish such parameters to renovate this project development and also contact to international donors for their better support for the project. Local communities have to produce the innovation in the public and raise funds to support this project for its successful completion. The analysis I have conducted for this project has provided us a roadmap for the better project handling and management. I have identified two main stakeholders of this project, by this information we have to get the clear picture of people and instaurations those are attached, affected, influenced and take advantage for this project. This is basically a public welfare project to provide the electricity to people who do not have this facility in far from the area of Philippines. In this analysis, I have found that general public is the biggest beneficiary of this project.

See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

See Below - Essay Example For instance, the department of homeland security views immigrants as source of insecurity. On the other hand, immigration agencies consider immigrants a trade item. Consequently, policymakers and law enforcement agencies view immigrants as an economic burden. These views are related to the objectives or responsibility of each of the stakeholders. For example, stakeholders that are concerned with the country’s planning and policy have to factor the consequence of immigrants in each of their policy. In the process, immigrants will be represented as a deficit. Consequently, facilitators of immigrations such as immigration agencies will view immigrants as part of their trade (Borjas 1095). Such stakeholders will be reluctant in condemning immigration. Evidently, policymakers and law enforcement agencies will consider immigration a source of instability and hence the restriction proposal. Position of immigration stakeholders are common news items. For instance, African immigrants have always been associated with criminal activities. Although these accusations are baseless, they affects immigrants from African countries. Similarly, Chinese immigrants have been accused with economic downfall that is currently being experienced. These allegations criminalize immigration and

Materials Engineering - Career Outlook and Responsibilities Research Paper

Materials Engineering - Career Outlook and Responsibilities - Research Paper Example The research was conducted by going through written sources of information found within the Penn state university library system, the study of this engineering material leads to an occupation known as material engineering. Material engineers deal with the development, processing and testing of materials used to create a wide range of products. They employ the use of metals, ceramics, semiconductors, composites and plastics to create new materials that exhibit certain mechanical, electrical, chemical properties superior to the individual constituent materials, and they also come up with new ways of utilizing new materials. The general roles covered by material engineers in all the occupations include: Monitoring performance of materials and evaluation of their deterioration, determining causes of product failure and developing necessary solutions, supervision of the work of other cadres of employees like technicians, designing and directing the processing and testing procedures , plan ning and evaluating new projects in consultation with other necessary personnel. In order to do this they study materials at an atomic level with the aid of computers to help in replicating the characteristics of the materials and their constituents, through this they are able to solve problems cutting across all engineering fields like: chemical, electrical, civil, nuclear and aerospace. Material engineer may specialize in understanding specific types of materials like ceramics, composites, metallurgical materials, plastics or semiconductor materials. INTRODUCTION This research is based on the occupation of the various material engineers. The term material engineering stems from the word engineering materials, the in-depth understanding of materials used in engineering qualifies one to be called materials engineer. The information used in this research was gathered through written sources of information through the Penn state university library system, occupational handbook of the federal government of the United States of America and non commercial websites as indicated herein in the citations. The content of the research majorly covers the study of engineering materials. Engineering materials refer to the materials that constitute part of structures, products, devices and mechanisms that are used daily to maintain or improve life and uplift the living standards of the people. Materials engineering refers to the process of the study of engineering materials, developing, processing and testing materials used to create a wide range of products. It also entails the creation of new materials and new ways of their application (Kenneth and Michael). This research covers the career outlook of material engineers and their responsibilities in their respective fields, material engineering as a profession entails numerous carriers depending on the continuous and unending needs of the society. In every occupation discussed below in the major section covers the following ; Description of the job and responsibilities, Education

See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

See Below - Essay Example For instance, the department of homeland security views immigrants as source of insecurity. On the other hand, immigration agencies consider immigrants a trade item. Consequently, policymakers and law enforcement agencies view immigrants as an economic burden. These views are related to the objectives or responsibility of each of the stakeholders. For example, stakeholders that are concerned with the country’s planning and policy have to factor the consequence of immigrants in each of their policy. In the process, immigrants will be represented as a deficit. Consequently, facilitators of immigrations such as immigration agencies will view immigrants as part of their trade (Borjas 1095). Such stakeholders will be reluctant in condemning immigration. Evidently, policymakers and law enforcement agencies will consider immigration a source of instability and hence the restriction proposal. Position of immigration stakeholders are common news items. For instance, African immigrants have always been associated with criminal activities. Although these accusations are baseless, they affects immigrants from African countries. Similarly, Chinese immigrants have been accused with economic downfall that is currently being experienced. These allegations criminalize immigration and

Introduction to Construction Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Introduction to Construction Management - Essay Example I learned to be a creative thinker, which helps me a lot in my real life. The class increased my personal effectiveness. I enhanced my reading skills, research skills, and developed the capacity to take multiple-choice tests. I learned how to become a better note taker during lectures, and learning about personal values. Indeed, I learned how to record and differentiate main points from minor points in a strategic manner. The class taught me how to become a good time manager since I had to attend classes, discussions, extra-curriculum activities, meals, and work on part time basis. Moreover, the Ethics chapter helped me a lot in my senior project class. Indeed, college experience incorporates personal values and ethics into every aspect of life. I maintained honesty, accountability, and persistence during my college experience. I also enjoyed the visiting people for compassion. They taught us about their fields and what they do. Also, they lectured us on the safety standards they use in their companies and how they keep up with them. Also I learned new ways to find sources using the library website and some other websites. If I had taken this class in my first semester, I would have utilized all the strategies I learned in it. That would have made me a better student. I also learned to be a critical thinker where I had to make wise and independent decisions to succeed in my first year that was quite challenging. I made a critical decision of majoring in Mechanical Engineering Technology to discover new ideas in construction management, and to fulfill my graduation requirements. I believe that the class is one of the best classes, but since it focuses on freshmen, I would do more out of class activities. I would make visits to the different labs we have on campus, and teach more about the machines we have in these labs. It would have been better

Cyber attacks and digital terrorism

Cyber attacks and digital terrorism 1.a.Cyber Attack and Digital Terrorism Introduction There are various reasons why people initiate cyber attacks or execute digital terrorisms, whatever it is, the goal is to cause damage and destruction, with motivations that range from anything personal, political, economic or all. Below are list of few reasons why cyber attack and digital terrorism occurs: i.Personal Anger people who are psychologically angry at their organization, for whatever reason for example not being promoted for long time or no increment in the salaries or made redundant. The individual might plant viruses into the companys network or delete some of the important functions of a program which may create problem in the future. It can happen even a superior is pressurizing his subordinate. The subordinate may embed a virus in an e-mail attachment in a view to corrupt the superiors computer as revenge. This type of doings can be categorized as a personal digital terrorism. ii.Hired Service Occasionally individual can hired another individual (usually professionals intruders) to hack into someones computer network and steal important information or destroy the computer by wiping off all digital trails and the intruder is paid substantially. Even then the professional intruder can double-cross by inform the targeted company that the companys network infrastructure is at risk and he can solve the problem. This type of activity can be classified as a professional digital terrorism. iii.Ransom Money Sometime a person might need money desperately and nobody is there to help him, the banks also do not want to give a loan because of poor credit history, even family members do not have money to support him but this person may have special skills. He informs the bank that he have planted a logic bomb into their network which will activate at a certain time and will cause severe damage or even crash the banks networking system. He/she may ask for ransom money. Once the money is received, the de-activate code for the logic bomb will be send to the bank. This type of activity can be classified as a personal desperate digital terrorism. iv.Political War These is typically against There are some people who get politically angry because those in power do not agree with their views or wishes. They want to display their peoples power or dislike by conducting demonstrations etc. One way as a warning is planting logic bombs with a ransom note that says unless the demands are met then the logic bomb will go off. This is typical against governments or organization/union of governments like The G8, APEC Summit, World Economic Forum etc. This type of activity can be classified as a political group digital terrorism. v.Declared War There exist true terrorist organizations that have publicly declared their all out war against countries or organizations. They have named their sworn-out enemies. Conducting cyber attacks is one of their strategies to achieve their aims everything is possible in war. Each side will try to destroy or cripple each others war machineries and capabilities. For example: In the UN against Iraqi War, the whole radar system of Iraq was jammed by the US during the early phases of the war. All electronic and computer communications infrastructure of Iraq were crippled. This type of activity can be classified as an expected political digital war tactics and not really digital terrorism. 1.b. What are viruses, worms, Trojan horses, logic bombs and DOS attacks? Viruses A virus is a small piece of malicious code that attacks a computer program or file. A virus can attack a computer in different ways by attaching itself to other software programs or data files in order to be executed, usually without user knowledge or permission, which can cause clogging computer memory, destroy programs or data, reformat a computer hard disk or can cause a program to run improperly. Virus typically spreads from computer to computer when action such as sending an email attachment or copying an infected file(as we know companies are going online, so uses net is extensively in dealing ). As we know anti-virus softwares are designed to check computer system and drives for the presence of computer viruses. Antivirus programs databases are constantly being updated to combat and prevent such attacks. It is recommended Firms those uses net extensively in dealing with its branches, customers and suppliers, it is highly recommended to continually update their anti-virus softw are with recent virus signature files. Worms A worm is a type of virus that has the ability to multiply or copy itself from one machine to another, gradually over a network. The two key differences between a virus and a worm are the multiplying or copying effect and the spreading across to other computers whereas a virus may not multiply itself and may attack only just one computer. A Trojan horse This is a security-breaking program that is introduced into a computer and serves as a way for an impostor to re-enter the computer in the future. It may be hidden as something innocent such as a screen saver or a game. It can damage, delete, or destroy important files, essentially do anything it is programmed to do. The key thing here is not in the type of damage but in how it enters a computer i.e. by a deceptive way. A logic bomb This is a program that is introduced into a computer and set to take action at a certain time or when a specified event occurs. It can do anything it was programmed to do. A DOS (Denial of Service) attack These are action being implemented by invading a large number of computers on the network (usually internet) and instructing the computers to simultaneously send repeated messages to a target computer, thus either overloading the computers input buffer or jamming the communication lines into the computer so badly that legitimate users cannot obtain access to the targeted computer. The key terms here are jamming the target computer or computers so that those targeted computers can no longer provide services (i.e. users are denied of the services). Some people refer to DOS attacks as the Ping of Death or the Teardrop. Information and Identity theft in the digital world The word Theft is simply obtaining something (materials or non-materials) through illegal means.   So information theft is obtaining information illegally, for example, without the owners permission. Publicly published information is legally public and therefore, having such information by whatever means is never considered stealing or theft. Identity theft according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is someone (somebody else) is appropriating your personal information without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft. For example, an identity thief uses information about someone, such name, address, social security number, credit card number and/or other identifying information to impersonate you and obtain loans or purchase items under your credit. Information theft is simply about stealing information for whatever use the thief wants it for, whereas identity theft is the extension of information theft with the user wanting to impersonate you or be identified as you using that stolen identification information to be used for many things, good and mostly bad. A thief can use the stolen identification information for criminal activities including validating against computer software systems: the banks identification system (to steal your money in the bank), the credit card system (to use your credit card to buy things), the immigration system (to run out of the country) and many more. It all looks like it is actually you performing those activities and not the thief. A thief who is also a hacker can do more, for example, penetrate the records registry system (to hack and change your date of birth, your gender status, your parents names, etc), the police crime database system (to hack and say that you committed a crime which you never did), the university records system (to hack and change your grades from A to F, to change your major degrees etc ), the White House Security System (to visit and say hello to the most powerful man in the world), the FBI and CIA computer systems etc. Conclusion: Web application attacks are increasing drastically because there is a lack of knowledge in securing the applications, especially during the development and deployment stages of the applications. To control or avoid this menace, we must ensure that security is being implemented not only during the coding stage, but also the deployment stage. The operations of a Web application must be monitored by the administrator so any exploits can be detected earlier and damages can be minimized or avoided such as using an intrusion detection system to monitor and filter Web traffic. It is also recommended for all organizations to conduct a security audit assessment to ensure that an application is secured before it is published to the public.

Chocolate is Good for You! Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Chocolate is Good for You! Did you know that getting a daily dose of dark chocolate may be beneficial to your health? Not only is chocolate the perfect gift for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day, it also may benefit your heart. The ingredients in chocolate are not only delicious, but dark chocolate and cocoa powders also contain disease-fighting antioxidants. The key to gaining the most benefits from dark chocolate is to enjoy it in moderation. According to cnn.com (2000), in addition to antioxidants, one of the fats found in chocolate, called stearic acid, may increase healthy cholesterol (HDL), and make bad cholesterol levels (LDL) less susceptible for oxidation, which leads to clogged arteries. This is the opposite effect one might expect, considering the amount of fat in chocolate. Dark chocolate may also improve blood flow, according to webmd.com (2004). In a study of 27 healthy adults given a cocoa drink with high levels of flavonoids, it was shown that adults over the age of 50 benefited the most. Flavonoids provide protection for plants, and when we consume them, we benefit from their antioxidant power. Antioxidants help the body’s cells resist damage from free radicals (Cleveland Clinic, 2004). The reason for the benefits of cocoa is that it controls the activation of nitric oxide synthase, an enzyme, that keeps blood vessels open allowing the blood to flow. Flavonoids may also lessen stiffening of the blood vessels, which is a common side-effect of aging (WebMD, 2004). It is to be noted that white and milk chocolate do not have the same effect on the body as dark chocolate. These are unfortunately more likely to expand your waistline than improve health. â€Å"Chocoholics† are still at risk for obesity, whic... ...ust 27). Dark Chocolate is Healthy Chocolate. WebMD. Retrieved January 30, 2005 from http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/ 73/81921.htm?printing=true. Peck, Peggy. (2004, May 20). The Right Kind of Chocolate is Heart Healthy. WebMD. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from http://my.webmd.com/content/article/ 87/99509.htm. Rauch, Catherine Ann. (2000, February 2). Chocolate: A Heart-Healthy Confection? CNN. Retrieved on January 29, 2005 from http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/02/chocolate.wmd/. Somer, Elizabeth. (2001, July 16). Crazy for Chocolate. WebMD. Retrieved January 29, 2005 from http://my.webmd.com/content/article/41/1671_52404. The Heart Health Benefits of Chocolate Unveiled. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved January 30, 2005 from http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/prevention/ nutrition/chocolate.htm.

The Importance of Informal Education Essay -- essays papers

The Importance of Informal Education Informal education has for a long time been considered very controversial in the education world and looked upon as just for entertainment. Informal education is commonly defined as learning that takes outside of formal school settings. Informal education can be things such as field trips to science centers, aquariums, museums, zoos, or planetariums. All of the following places are considered to be "informal settings" because they are all outside the classroom area. An educational curator at a small museum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is as much an informal educator as a director of educational programs for the Smithsonian Institution. Often informal educators are retired K-12 teachers that have received additional training and have therefore been thrust into a more prominent role to teaching the nation’s students about mathematics and science. Many people look at field trips as pointless and unbeneficial to students at any age. But many will argue that informal education is only helpful when students have prior knowledge of the subject from formal education before going out of the classroom to learn. The role of prior knowledge in learning is considered of utmost importance in designing effective educational programs. Informal education is very common with science subjects. Most students cannot understand scientific principles by reading out of a book because textbooks and paper handouts can be very dry and boring. Going on field trips to informal settings reinforces what students learn from their teachers and help them understand the topics better. Public understanding of science is considered to be one of the most important issues facing educators in today’s technological world. It is see... ...ormal education to step up and play a more significant role. Informal education activities should no longer be looked upon as "a day away from school" but rather an opportunity to further learning and have fun doing it. Informal education settings are unique from the usual classroom location so it is refreshing to learn in a different place, just like so many students enjoy when they learn as a class outside in the warm breeze after a long cold winter. Informal education provides students with a new outlook on learning and makes them more attentive. But more importantly, informal education assists formal education; it does not replace it by any means. While it is hard to find a "perfect exhibit" to fit everyone’s needs, informal educators are doing the best they can. In the words of Frank Oppenheimer, founder of the San Francisco Exploratorium, "no one flunks museum."

Elements That Influence State Government Essay

According to the Wall Street journal 3 of the top 5 spending political groups in the 2010 midterm election were labor unions. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees spent 93 million on the 2010 election (The Lonely Conservative, 2012). The New York Times reported that Big Labor spent nearly $450 million in the 2008 election electing Obama and the democrats into office (The Lonely Conservative, 2012) possibly making Big Labor the biggest spender in the 2012 election. The Virginia AFL-CIO is involved in the full spectrum of the political and community issues Virginian face. At the local, county, and state level AFL-CIO has helped make important and beneficial legislation for Virginians. AFL-CIO monitors all legislation affecting the people of Virginia. The AFL-CIO worked to win against laws that would reduce unemployment benefits and lower compensation payments for injured workers who retire (AFL-CIO, 2012). The AFL-CIO’s legislative and political efforts is organizing the strength of working men and women to win good pay, retirement security, safe work environments, and broad access to quality education for their children. By mobilizing through union movement’s state-level and nationwide get-out-the-vote effort, union members elect candidates who support and will enact a working family agenda (AFL-CIO, 2012). In states that have newly appointed republican governors and lawmakers they seems to have an agenda to advance corporate influence and lower wages, suppress voting rights and eliminate worker protection on the job (AFL-CIO, 2012). The AFL-CIO slammed the Republican presidential contenders as being defenders of privilege and opponents of working people. â€Å"Each of the Republican presidential candidates, has pledged to uphold the special privileges of Wall Street and the 1 percent — privileges that have produced historic economic inequality and drowned out the voices of working people in America†(Tau, 3/13). The AFL-CIO indorsed Obama because according to Trumka â€Å"he honors the values of hard work, of mutual respect and of solving problems together—not every person for himself or herself. He believes that together we will get through the most challenging economic crisis in memory and restore opportunity for all,† Trumka also specifically cited Obama’s focus on the insourcing and the revitalization of the American manufacturing sector in the organization’s endorsement. He has worked hard to create good jobs; he has made the revival of the manufacturing sector a hallmark of his jobs agenda; he has moved aggressively to protect workers’ rights, pay and health and safety on the job; he has worked for a fair resolution of the housing crisis; and he put his confidence and administration unequivocally behind the workers and companies in the American auto industry—a move that saved hundreds of thousands of jobs and is helping to revive the economy now and for the future,† The AFL-CIO contributes a lot of money to the democratic campaign because they are in line with the belief of the party. They believe in a quality of life for the workers they represent along with the quality of life for the American people; whereas the Republican Party is for self-preservation. The American citizens that vote for the Democratic Party believe in fair wages, they believe in equality, and family values. The AFL-CIO wants to help achieve the American Dream for working families and they accomplish this through influencing public policies (AFL-CIO, 2012).

Disruptive Innovation

1 Introduction This assignment provides the study on Disruptive Innovation using Clayton Christensen’s framework. Apart from this, this assignment also tells how the companies should react to the upcoming technologies and what should be the course of action for the same. 1. 1 Innovation There is no specific definition for innovation as such. But, according to me, innovation is creating something new or changing the old to achieve the competitive advantage and meet the increasing customer demands.This is achieved either by introducing new products, new ideas, and processes or just by changing the design of the product or the processes as per the customer demands. Innovating and creating new products and services has become very important topic of concern for all the organizations in today’s rapidly changing world. If you are not innovative, you may never know when your products become obsolete. 1. 2 Types of Innovation There are three main types of Innovations: Sustainin g innovation: This type of innovation needs to be developed to ensure that the customers are satisfied with the products and services and to stay in the game.For example upgrading the processor from dual core to Intel core i3 to i5 and enhancing the performance of computers. Breakthrough Innovations: These innovations upgrade the level of existing category of products or services. For example I phone was a breakthrough innovation in the world of mobile market. It changed the perspective of the customers and eventually other companies started following the trend. Disruptive Innovation: In this type of innovation a new product or a sevice is introduced that creates a new market or massively alters an old one so that old players cannot compete.They are called disruptive because they disrupt the current behavior of the market. For example Introduction of computers was a disruptive innovation for companies who manufactured typewriters. According to Clayton Christensen Disruptive innovati on offers lower performance initially as per the current market demand. But, at the same time it provides some new attributes which prosper in some different market. After conquering different markets, it eventually displaces the former market. Here we will talk about the hydrogen fuel Cell vehicle a disruptive innovation.How the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will disrupt the market for oil industry, current internal combustion engine manufacturers and many others. At the same time we shall talk about how the companies are responding to this upcoming technology and how are they coping up with the new technology. Before going into the statistic part let us know in brief how the hydrogen fuel cell works, how it is different from internal combustion engine and what the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell are. 2 Hydrogen Fuel Cell a disruptive InnovationA fuel cell is an electrochemical device which converts chemical energy into electrical energy. It uses hydrogen and oxygen fro m air to produce electricity. Since no combustion is involved, it does not emit harmful gases and the efficiency of such device is much higher than an internal combustion engine. Apart from this it does not involve any moving part hence making it more silent and reliable source of energy. 2. 1 Working Hydrogen fuel cell consists of two catalysts anode and cathode, and an electrolyte. Hydrogen is fed to anode and oxygen from air is fed to cathode.At anode, catalyst causes hydrogen to split into positively charged ions protons and negatively charged ions electrons. The electrolyte, that is polymer electrolyte membrane allows only positive ion to flow through it. So the protons pass through membrane towards cathode and electrons pass through the external circuit towards the cathode. The flow of electron from the external circuit causes the current and eventually it goes to cathode and combines with positive ion and oxygen to emit water or water vapor. Hydrogen is is a fuel of great pot ential.Thought it is not an energy source, but it is an energy carrier. Hydrogen can be manufactured using renewable energy resources such as wind, solar etc. the research is still on on how to produce hydrogen on a larger scale. Following Figure show the working of a hydrogen Fuel Cell. Figure 1: Working of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell 2. 2 Benefits of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Following are the benefits of a hydrogen fuel cell Zero green house gas Emissions: As water is the byproduct of the fuel cell, the emissions of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur monoxide, etc is not there.Hence, it is a zero emission product. Though some amount of carbon dioxide is produced during manufacturing hydrogen, but research is on to manufacture hydrogen using renewable energy resources. Reduced Air Pollution: As there are no harmful gases emission involved in fuel cell, air pollution will be reduced considerably. Improved efficiency: Fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engine. A c onventional combustion egine generates efficiency up to 40% whereas a fuel cell generates efficiency more than 50% and has the potential to reach 85%.Other Benefits: the transportation will be oil independent, since there are no moving part, it is more reliable. 2. 3 Applications Fuel cells have wide range of applications. Following are the applications of a fuel cell: Transportation system: currently oil industry and internal combustion engine dominates the transportation system. But keeping environment and diminishing resources of fuel in mind it is predicted that by 2025 – 2030, hydrogen fuel cell will dominate the transportation sector. Power Generation: Fuel cell can also be used to generate power.It can be stationary power or a portable power. 2. 4 Challenges Following are the challenges that a fuel cell faces today: Cost: Cost of a fuel cell is a major concern right now. Due to expensive materials like platinum is used as a catalyst, the cost of fuel cell shoots up. bu t the research is on and it is most likely that the cost of a fuel cell will come down to $30 – $50/KW for transportation and $1500/KW for stationery power. Storage: Storage of hydrogen is again another concern especially for the transportation system since it has very low density in terms of volume.Research in this area is also going on to store the hydrogen fuel at high pressure. Infrastructure: Again to develop infrastructure for hydrogen is a big challenge cost wise. To develop infrastructure a collaboration will be required between automotive and energy companies. Other challenges include the safety issues to carry hydrogen, Durability of the fuel cell and public acceptance. But research I going on in all the areas and there will definitely be a solution to all the challenges. 3 Clayton Christensen’s Theory of disruptive technologyChristensen developed a framework that could be applied to any market at any point of time so long as the attributes to be measured qua lify for the characteristics presented in his framework. According to Christensen, companies fail because of the following reasons: Companies depend on customers and investors for resources: if the company doesn’t satisfy the customers or the shareholders, it will be difficult for the company to survive Small market cannot provide the growth needed by large companies: Large companies concentrate their efforts where the returns are high and often concentrate where the cost of sales is high.Technology supply exceeds the demand: Rapidly developing technology may often outpace the customer’s needs. When such thing happens opportunity for new entrants develop to enter into the market and come with a new product. Companies with best technology tend to improve the existing product often incrementally. And while focusing on the top end customers, a lower end market remains unserved until a new entrant comes with a potentially disruptive technology. And eventually new market be gins to grow. And once this new market starts gaining the footage, it causes the existing technology to become obsolete.Following graph will help us understand Christensens framework more clearly. Figure 2: Clayton Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Technology The market is always divided into tiers the higher end market that represents the main customers who buy the product and the lower end market represents the customers who are least to buy the products. And performance is the main criteria by which customers buy the product. Sustaining innovation: As explained earlier, it could be incremental or radical that improves product performance for the main customers.The focus is mainly on improving the performance of the existing products and satisfying the main customers. Disruptive Innovation: It enters in the lower tier of the market with lower cost and attractive value for the lower market customers. Following are the charecteristics of a disruptive technology. * Offers low performance * Targets small market * It is tied with uncertainties * It introduces a new performance criteria in a new dimension * Generally non market leaders introduce such new products in a lower tier market with attributes to benefit lower end market.Moving back to the graph on Christensen’s framework for disruptive innovation, disruptive technology with an innovation enters at point ‘a’ with a lower rate for lower end market. At the same time market leaders are improvising their product using sustaining technologies and satisfying the mainline customers. And when the sustaining technology reaches point ‘b’, it is the peak time for the sustaining technology and after that the market gets saturated. This is the time when the market leaders need to innovate something new and create the new market. After point ‘b’, supply crosses demand.On the other hand, disruptive innovation enters at point ‘a’ satisfies the lower end customers and after improvising it reaches point ‘c’ the main stream customers. At point ‘c’ now, it is very late for sustaining technology to develop a new product for the main stream customers. Here it is very important to distinguish between different types of innovation. Incremental innovation occurs when small improvements are made to products/services. These, basically strengthens the market position of the firm and entrenches the industry. Radical Innovation occurs when major improvements are made to the products/services.These changes require new marketing channels and often put other firms out of competition and at the same time make old technologies obsolete. Transformational innovation occurs when the innovation is of such a nature that it destroys whole industry and changes the nature of the market. So if we have to summarize Christensen’s framework it would be, as the sustaining technology improves along the mainstream customer, disrupt ive technology enters at the lower end market, improvises along the existing dimensions and enters the main stream market.It eventually changes the basis of the competition from functionality to reliability and from reliability to convenience and eventually to price. Now, let’s apply this Christensen’s framework to today’s automotive world that is internal combustion engine as the sustaining technology and the hydrogen fuel cell as the disruptive technology. 3. 1 Comparison of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology with the Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Technology Let us compare the performance of fuel economy and green house gas emissions of internal combustion engine and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.From the graph, we can agree that internal combustion engine is a sustaining technology incrementally improving its performance. Initially let’s say in 1980’s the fuel economy of a vehicle was around 4-6 km/l of gasoline and now it is around 12-1 5 km/l. green house gas emissions have also reduced by introducing hybrid option. But it is predicted that internal combustion engine will reach the point ‘b’ somewhere by 2015. That is it will reach the saturation level of innovation. Further development in internal combustion engine will result in more of supply than demand.This is the time when people will anticipate the change, and the change of disruptive technology in our case it is hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Initially it keeps emerging and improves the performance in new dimension and tries to attract the main market stream. During the time emergence hydrogen fuel cell through experimentation seeks commercialization. And it is predicted by 2020 it will seek commercialization. Meanwhile, the internal combustion engine will steadily grow beyond the customer demand and will start losing its hold in the main market.In 2020, at point ‘c’, the market is ready to accept high performance vehicle, in terms o f fuel economy. And beyond this point, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle keeps on improving rapidly. This will eventually bring the phase out of an internal combustion engine and forcing it out of the market by 2030 – 2040 completely and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle becoming the base technology. Beyond this it will improve incrementally until the new disruptive comes and phase out the hydrogen fuel cell technology. Green House Gas EmissionGlobal warming is one of the prime reasons fro shifting the paradigm from internal combustion engine to hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Following graph shows the global warming potential of gasoline, flex fuels and hydrogen fuel cell in various stages from manufacturing to the end of life of a vehicle. Figure 3: Global Warming potential comparison of 3 different types of Engine. It is clear from the graph global warming potential that is emission of harmful gases from a fuel cell vehicle is less than a gasoline and the flex fuel vehicle.From the grap h, it is seen that only while production for the fuel of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the emission of harmful gases is high, but it is very less compared to the gasoline and flex fuels. Apart from that, research is also going on for producing hydrogen using renewably resources such as wind, solar and nuclear. 3. 2 Conclusion It is evident that hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is a disruptive technology and will cause a phase out for the internal combustion engine. But when we compare it to the Christensen’s framework, it slightly contradicts.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in literal sense are not targeting the lower market initially. The cost of the product is not low. But all other parameters remain the same. It is focusing on the new dimension and at the same time it is threat to the internal combustion engine world. Apart from this slight difference, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is definitely a disruptive innovation, and will definitely lead to transformation of technologies and will change the basis of competition from fuel economy to green house gas reductions with the environmental pressure. 4 Current ScenarioIf we talk about hydrogen fuel cell in today’s world, it is still an emerging technology which looks solid and promising in terms of fuel economy and reduction in green house gas emission. Research in this particular area is going on all around the world since the global warming level is increasing and the environmental pressure is acting on all the governments. In this scenario, the companies who are already into research in this area will survive and the companies that are still not doing any kind of research or innovation and still trying to improve the sustaining technology might just phase out of the competition.Further we will see cases and findings of various companies in this area including oil industry, automotive industry and the industries related to this huge sector of industries. 4. 1 Oil Industry: Today, the energy sector is run majo rly by oil industry. And majorly oil after refining is consumed by transportation industry. Around 90%of the oil is consumed by the transportation industry, and out of that around 50% of the industry consumes gasoline and the rest is diesel, LPG, Naphtha etc. Major players in this oil industry today are Saudi aramco, shell, BP, Exxon Mobil and chevron.Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)is the major producer of the oil today and has the maximum exports all over the world, then it is followed by other companies. Apart from green house gas emissions and environmental pressure, the increasing rate of oil so frequently gives us an idea that even the oil reserves are diminishing day by day. Now increasing research and development in this area poses threat on oil industry as well. Even the oil industries have started doing research in this area. Basically these companies are doing research on how to produce hydrogen using the existing technologies in large scale.Following are some of the findings of the oil companies in this area. 4. 1. 1 Saudi Aramco (Source: http://www. keei. re. kr/keei/download/seminar/101117/II101118_b02. pdf, www. saudiaramco. com, www. mbifoundation. com/media/18961/final%20bpr. pdf) Following are some of the conclusion made by research and development department of Saudi Aramco. : * H2 production using existing petroleum infrastructure will be a potential economical option compared to other technologies. * Need to integrate the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies along with hydrogen production for efficient carbon management. Alternate hydrogen production technologies, such as electrolysis and renewable sources, have significant technical and economical challenges (energy intensive and high capital). * Significant progress made in the demonstration of liquid hydrocarbons to hydrogen. Apart from this, Saudi Aramco has also filed a patent in US office for the naphtha based fuels which can also be used for vehicular purpose. 4. 1. 2 Shell ( So urce: http://www. shell. com/home/content/environment_society/environment/climate_change/biofuels_alternative_energies_transport/hydrogen/, http://articles. atimes. com and http://www. thelivingmoon. com/41pegasus/02files/Alternate_Fuel_Shell_Oil_Hydrogen. html) Shell had started its research on this topic since 1999 and had anticipated the change in the world of automotive industry and power sector long back. Shell has joined hands with the leading car making companies and power companies and working on this project. Shell is already working in collaboration with Siemens, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler and has reached a long way in this area. It has also opened various hydrogen fuel stations in United States of America, Europe and Asia.And it is offering free fillips at various fueling station just to promote the upcoming technology. Following picture is one of the fueling station in United States of America where hydrogen fueling is provided. Figure 4: Hydrogen fuel Station by Shell 4. 1. 3 BP: (Source: http://www. bp. com) Like Shell, BP is also one of the world's largest energy enterprises, BP has been extensively involved in hydrogen energy demonstration projects around the world to explore feasible solutions to hydrogen economy.In China, BP and PRC Ministry of Science ; Technology have been co-working on a hydrogen energy project to set up China's first hydrogen fueling station in Beijing. As one of the world's largest energy enterprises, BP has been extensively involved in hydrogen energy demonstration projects around the world to explore feasible solutions to hydrogen economy. In China, BP and PRC Ministry of Science ; Technology have been co-working on a hydrogen energy project to set up China's first hydrogen fueling station in Beijing.Apart from this BP has joined hands with the leading companies like Daimler Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Solarex and working on various projects like fuel efficiency, CO2 management, Hydrogen Fuel Cell. Apar t from the companies all these companies also join their hands with various Universities who help the in doing their research. 4. 1. 4 Exxon Mobil: (Source: http://www. exxonmobil. com, http://www. dutchdailynews. com/air-products-and-exxonmobil-start-up-new-world-scale-hydrogen-production-plant-in-rotterdam/) Exxon Mobil again is not left ehind in the research of hydrogen fuel cell and the production of hydrogen on a large scale. Following are some of the research that Exxon Mobil is working on * It is conducting breakthrough research on Hydrogen Production Technology * It is also trying to improve its existing technology at the same time by continuously improving the efficiency of internal combustion engine and reducing the emission of harmful gases. * On 10th Feb 2012 Air products and Exxon Mobil started a large scale Hydrogen Production Plant in Rotterdam. Apart from this, ExxonMobil is also developing an innovative on-board hydrogen-powered fuel cell system that converts conven tional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline or diesel into hydrogen for a fuel cell right under a vehicle’s hood. Apart from this there are various other small industries that are into this hydrogen fuel cell research for example Reliance from India is also doing its bit in this area. 4. 2 Automotive Industry We have seen the response and reaction of oil Industry so far, Now let us see the response of automotive industry worldwide.We shall go country wise in this case to know the response of various industries and development in various countries in this specific area. 4. 2. 1 United States Of America: United States of America is spending millions of dollars every year in the research of hydrogen fuel Cell. They have demonstrations with many private companies. Daimler Chrysler Company developed its first fuel cell truck in 2000. The main aim of USA is to make Fuel Cell Vehicle available at an affordable cost. General Motors: General motors one of the oldest companies of USA is planning to get 1000 fuel cell vehicles on road by 2013-2015.Ford Motor Company: Ford is also planning to launch its commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2015. 4. 2. 2 Japan: One can say Japan is the very first to start the research in this area and it is since 1981. It was in Japan in Tokyo electric Company, Toshiba and an American based company fuel cell company manufactured and installed an 11 MW power plant (Source: www. platinummetalsreview. com/pdf/pmr-v33-i1-010-012. pdf). Apart from this the major Japanese automotive companies look promising in terms of Hydrogen uel cell vehicle compared to other companies in the world. Toyota: Toyota has promised in its recent Autocar show that it will start selling the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in USA specifically in California, since by 2015 it is predicted that there will be 68 hydrogen fueling stations in California. (Source: http://content. usatoday. com/communities/driveon/post/2012/08/toyota-to-start-selling-hydrogen-fuel-cell-c ar-in-2015/1#. UHFOcE3Mj38) Honda: CEO Takanobu Ito just announced that Honda will launch a new fuel-cell electric car in the U.S. and Europe starting in 2015. It will â€Å"showcase further technological advancement and significant cost reduction. † Honda has already been letting consumers test its fleet of FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell cars for a couple of years (Source: http://www. firstcoastnews. com/news/article/276774/11/Automakers-take-fresh-look-at-hydrogen-fuel-cells) Nissan: Nissan has also announced its interest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and has declared that it is ready to mass produce hydrogen fuel cell cars by 2015 (Source: http://www. irstcoastnews. com/news/article/276774/11/Automakers-take-fresh-look-at-hydrogen-fuel-cells) 4. 2. 3 Europe: Europe is not left behind in this research. All the major brands BMW, Mercedes Volkswagen etc have shown interest in hydrogen fuel cell, but at the same time have said hydrogen fuel cell will take at least 10 more year s to commercialize. 4. 2. 4 India: India is the place where we can say Christensen’s framework is applicable perfectly. Here the auto rickshaw for the lower end market has been made using hydrogen fuel cell. t was displayed at pragati maidan in January 2012 and is expected to hit the road by 2015. Source: http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/02/business/energy-environment/hydrogen-fuels-autorickshaws-and-dreams-of-cleaner-air. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0) Apart from this biggies like TATA Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra have shown interest in this area. Tata Motors have manufactured the bus based on hydrogen fuel cell technology known as starbus. Following figure shows the Auto Rickshaw and the Hydrogen fuel cell BusFigure 5: Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in india Following are some of the comments from various high profile executives from various companies: * Executives from Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and Volkswagen see fuel-cell vehicles as being further out, and most have not said when they'll have vehicles on the market. * â€Å"We don't see it as early as Toyota does,† said Oliver Schmidt, general manager of engineering with the VW Group. â€Å"We see it in the 2020 time frame. * Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of powertrain engineering, said, â€Å"The question is when (will) fuel-cell vehicles become affordable to customers,† specifically when the fuel-cell stack competes with the battery pack on cost. * â€Å"Within 10 years, I think they will be as affordable as full battery vehicles, and the fuel cell will have a big advantage in range,† Bakaj said. â€Å"We think it will happen in the next 10 years. † * Gary Smyth, GM executive director working on global research and development, said he sees little commitment in the U. S. to the necessary infrastructure by 2015. Source: http://content. usatoday. com/communities/driveon/post/2012/08/toyota-to-start-selling-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-in-2015/1#. UHFOcE3Mj38) Part from all this various other countries and companies have shown immense amount of interest in hydrogen fuel cell Recently Korea and Korean company Hyundai has also announced an hydrogen fuel cell vehicle launch by 2015. So the major companies all around the world and the allied companies are responding really well to the upcoming technology of hydrogen fuel cell and all of them are doing their bit to save the environment. 5 Conclusion:It is very clear from the above assignment that hydrogen fuel cell is the future of the world. It is definitely one of the biggest disruptive technologies of all time. Biggest because, once the technology is commercialized, many big players all around the world will have to change their base of technology. Technology innovation and upcoming technologies are posing threat on the current industry and are eventually forcing companies out of business. New technologies are exerting power to shape the market and change the basis of the competition. Hence, it is import ant for the companies to continuously assess the technologies and capabilities. Disruptive Innovation In order to remain afloat in this ever changing market, companies must have a sound proof strategy. According to Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble and Strickland, a company’s strategy is its action plan for outperforming its competitors and achieving superior profitability. (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble and Strickland p. 4) One well known strategy or theory of many companies is a term called disruptive innovation. Disruptive innovation was coined by Clayton Christensen.It explains the process of a product or service preliminary application initiating from the bottom of the market that replaces an already established product or service. This theory has created a significant impact on management practices in all types of industries. It has created debates of how â€Å"executives and managers are in need of research that will elevate the pursuit of successful innovations from a gut-level, intuition-driven art to something more closely resembling a science based on repeatable processes with predictable results.† (Raynor, p. 27)In doing so, it has also created a sense of conflict between entrants, incumbents and disrupters to see which organization will remain the top supplier. Innovation is always on the top mind for all CEOs. Understanding how to identify disruptive innovations before they become mainstream and take advantage of the ‘†white space† is a skill to cultivate. Disruptive Innovation patterns are always changing and sometimes are very difficult to see because of it’s rapid growth. Similarities; Raynor:Disruption theory can be used to shape existing innovation ideas in ways consistent with the theory's prescriptions. As of now the disruption theory of innovation is the only one with evidence to support the assertion that it can improve predictive accuracy. 1. Used to shape existing innovation ideas in ways consistent with the theory’s prescriptions 2. a particular perspective on innovation – is based on its superi or explanatory and predictive power 3. entrants attacked successful incumbents by adopting the incumbents' models and technological solutions – what he called a â€Å"sustaining† strategy-they tended to fail.However, driven by their desire to grow, the upstart entrants were strongly motivated to improve their initial offerings in ways that would allow them to compete effectively for the larger, more lucrative mainstream markets. This was the entrants' â€Å"upmarket march,† and entrants that marched upmarket successfully eventually captured the customers that had been the incumbents' mainstay. Differences: Whatever ambiguities might remain in making the relevant categorizations (incumbent vs. entrant; sustaining vs. disruptive) the data reveal that overall; disruption theory makes better prediction possible.In contrast, entrants tended to succeed by combining a business model tailored to the needs of a relatively less attractive market – the entrants' foo thold – with an ability to improve their original solutions in ways that allowed them to provide superior performance that incumbents were unable to replicate – the upmarket march In contrast, I make a more limited and modest claim: disruption theory can deliver statistically significant and practically material improvement in the ability to innovate successfully.Christensen and Overdorf 1. ? Difference – Managers lack thinking about their organizations capapbilities as they think about individual peoples capabilities. Pg 68 2. Our research suggests that three factors affect what an organization can and cannot do; its resources, its processes and its values pg 68 3. Differences;or similarities . As companies become large, they lose the ability to enter small emerging markets. Cause by an evolution of values. Pg 70 4.Disruptive innovation can create an entirely new market through the introduction of a new kind of product or service, one that is actually worst. Pg 72 5. Differences: Sustaining innovation are nearly always developed and introduced by established industry leaders. But do not cope well with disruptive innovations. Pg 72 6. Similarity: DI occurs so intermittently that no company has a routine process for handling them. Inconsistent with the company’s value. Disruptive Innovation (1) Catalytic innovation involves the process wherein companies and industries take actions within a particular society to create and enhance social changes on certain issues. It is said that â€Å"catalytic innovations can surpass the status quo by providing good enough solutions to inadequately address social problems. † (Christensen et. al. , 2006, p. 96) (2) One important difference and distinction between disruptive innovation and catalytic innovation is its scope.It has been mentioned that catalytic innovation mainly focuses on the issue of creating societal change. On the other hand, disruptive innovation caters to the creation of alternatives of goods and services. The two are similar due to its efforts to create changes in the status quo and market. â€Å"Catalytic innovations are a subset of disruptive innovations, distinguished by their primary focus on social change, often on a national scale. † (Christensen et. al. , 2006, p. 96)(3)There had been efforts in the health care sector to improve the services they give to ordinary people. This has been manifested by the creation of cutting-edge care facilities, insurance and walk-in clinics that offer cheaper and convenient opportunities for sick individuals. The success has been described by the article in the overall satisfaction gained by such walk-in clinics and the other two facets. One vital component of such success is the degree of patronage by the locals on such ideas.Patronage is one clear indicator of preference and satisfaction compared to the original practices. (4) Microlending involves the process of giving capital to small and medium enterprises to start up their own businesses. Since the creation of microlending facilities, it has spurred growth and development among members of the middle strata of several societies. â€Å"In turn, microlending helps sustain borrowers who are paying back loans and creates an economic environment that attracts other lenders looking to start a new business.† (Christensen et. al. , 2006, p. 96)Such benefits have paved the way for the development of social and economic status. (5) Microlending had a positive impact on KickStart because the initiative provided means and capital for small African farmers to acquire technological innovation and create better lives. By providing capital to these farmers, KickStart products somehow alleviated the way labor and work is done in the farms.In addition, due to microlending mechanisms, KickStart was able to expand its market and continued to target small scale farmers with the pursuit of improving their harvests. (6) Analyzing the article, it can be argued that catalytic innovations fall under the bottom of the technology S-curve due to its capability to create changes in society and alter the status quo. Seeing this, it can be surmised they also have the possibility and potential of ‘segment-zero’ products due to its relative ease and capability to access a mark et not envisioned by the normal competitors. References Christensen, C.M., Bauman, H., Ruggles, R. and Sadtler, T.M. (December 2006) Disruptive Innovation for Social Change in Harvard Business Review. pp. 94 – 101. Disruptive Innovation 1 Introduction This assignment provides the study on Disruptive Innovation using Clayton Christensen’s framework. Apart from this, this assignment also tells how the companies should react to the upcoming technologies and what should be the course of action for the same. 1. 1 Innovation There is no specific definition for innovation as such. But, according to me, innovation is creating something new or changing the old to achieve the competitive advantage and meet the increasing customer demands.This is achieved either by introducing new products, new ideas, and processes or just by changing the design of the product or the processes as per the customer demands. Innovating and creating new products and services has become very important topic of concern for all the organizations in today’s rapidly changing world. If you are not innovative, you may never know when your products become obsolete. 1. 2 Types of Innovation There are three main types of Innovations: Sustainin g innovation: This type of innovation needs to be developed to ensure that the customers are satisfied with the products and services and to stay in the game.For example upgrading the processor from dual core to Intel core i3 to i5 and enhancing the performance of computers. Breakthrough Innovations: These innovations upgrade the level of existing category of products or services. For example I phone was a breakthrough innovation in the world of mobile market. It changed the perspective of the customers and eventually other companies started following the trend. Disruptive Innovation: In this type of innovation a new product or a sevice is introduced that creates a new market or massively alters an old one so that old players cannot compete.They are called disruptive because they disrupt the current behavior of the market. For example Introduction of computers was a disruptive innovation for companies who manufactured typewriters. According to Clayton Christensen Disruptive innovati on offers lower performance initially as per the current market demand. But, at the same time it provides some new attributes which prosper in some different market. After conquering different markets, it eventually displaces the former market. Here we will talk about the hydrogen fuel Cell vehicle a disruptive innovation.How the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will disrupt the market for oil industry, current internal combustion engine manufacturers and many others. At the same time we shall talk about how the companies are responding to this upcoming technology and how are they coping up with the new technology. Before going into the statistic part let us know in brief how the hydrogen fuel cell works, how it is different from internal combustion engine and what the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell are. 2 Hydrogen Fuel Cell a disruptive InnovationA fuel cell is an electrochemical device which converts chemical energy into electrical energy. It uses hydrogen and oxygen fro m air to produce electricity. Since no combustion is involved, it does not emit harmful gases and the efficiency of such device is much higher than an internal combustion engine. Apart from this it does not involve any moving part hence making it more silent and reliable source of energy. 2. 1 Working Hydrogen fuel cell consists of two catalysts anode and cathode, and an electrolyte. Hydrogen is fed to anode and oxygen from air is fed to cathode.At anode, catalyst causes hydrogen to split into positively charged ions protons and negatively charged ions electrons. The electrolyte, that is polymer electrolyte membrane allows only positive ion to flow through it. So the protons pass through membrane towards cathode and electrons pass through the external circuit towards the cathode. The flow of electron from the external circuit causes the current and eventually it goes to cathode and combines with positive ion and oxygen to emit water or water vapor. Hydrogen is is a fuel of great pot ential.Thought it is not an energy source, but it is an energy carrier. Hydrogen can be manufactured using renewable energy resources such as wind, solar etc. the research is still on on how to produce hydrogen on a larger scale. Following Figure show the working of a hydrogen Fuel Cell. Figure 1: Working of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell 2. 2 Benefits of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Following are the benefits of a hydrogen fuel cell Zero green house gas Emissions: As water is the byproduct of the fuel cell, the emissions of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur monoxide, etc is not there.Hence, it is a zero emission product. Though some amount of carbon dioxide is produced during manufacturing hydrogen, but research is on to manufacture hydrogen using renewable energy resources. Reduced Air Pollution: As there are no harmful gases emission involved in fuel cell, air pollution will be reduced considerably. Improved efficiency: Fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engine. A c onventional combustion egine generates efficiency up to 40% whereas a fuel cell generates efficiency more than 50% and has the potential to reach 85%.Other Benefits: the transportation will be oil independent, since there are no moving part, it is more reliable. 2. 3 Applications Fuel cells have wide range of applications. Following are the applications of a fuel cell: Transportation system: currently oil industry and internal combustion engine dominates the transportation system. But keeping environment and diminishing resources of fuel in mind it is predicted that by 2025 – 2030, hydrogen fuel cell will dominate the transportation sector. Power Generation: Fuel cell can also be used to generate power.It can be stationary power or a portable power. 2. 4 Challenges Following are the challenges that a fuel cell faces today: Cost: Cost of a fuel cell is a major concern right now. Due to expensive materials like platinum is used as a catalyst, the cost of fuel cell shoots up. bu t the research is on and it is most likely that the cost of a fuel cell will come down to $30 – $50/KW for transportation and $1500/KW for stationery power. Storage: Storage of hydrogen is again another concern especially for the transportation system since it has very low density in terms of volume.Research in this area is also going on to store the hydrogen fuel at high pressure. Infrastructure: Again to develop infrastructure for hydrogen is a big challenge cost wise. To develop infrastructure a collaboration will be required between automotive and energy companies. Other challenges include the safety issues to carry hydrogen, Durability of the fuel cell and public acceptance. But research I going on in all the areas and there will definitely be a solution to all the challenges. 3 Clayton Christensen’s Theory of disruptive technologyChristensen developed a framework that could be applied to any market at any point of time so long as the attributes to be measured qua lify for the characteristics presented in his framework. According to Christensen, companies fail because of the following reasons: Companies depend on customers and investors for resources: if the company doesn’t satisfy the customers or the shareholders, it will be difficult for the company to survive Small market cannot provide the growth needed by large companies: Large companies concentrate their efforts where the returns are high and often concentrate where the cost of sales is high.Technology supply exceeds the demand: Rapidly developing technology may often outpace the customer’s needs. When such thing happens opportunity for new entrants develop to enter into the market and come with a new product. Companies with best technology tend to improve the existing product often incrementally. And while focusing on the top end customers, a lower end market remains unserved until a new entrant comes with a potentially disruptive technology. And eventually new market be gins to grow. And once this new market starts gaining the footage, it causes the existing technology to become obsolete.Following graph will help us understand Christensens framework more clearly. Figure 2: Clayton Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Technology The market is always divided into tiers the higher end market that represents the main customers who buy the product and the lower end market represents the customers who are least to buy the products. And performance is the main criteria by which customers buy the product. Sustaining innovation: As explained earlier, it could be incremental or radical that improves product performance for the main customers.The focus is mainly on improving the performance of the existing products and satisfying the main customers. Disruptive Innovation: It enters in the lower tier of the market with lower cost and attractive value for the lower market customers. Following are the charecteristics of a disruptive technology. * Offers low performance * Targets small market * It is tied with uncertainties * It introduces a new performance criteria in a new dimension * Generally non market leaders introduce such new products in a lower tier market with attributes to benefit lower end market.Moving back to the graph on Christensen’s framework for disruptive innovation, disruptive technology with an innovation enters at point ‘a’ with a lower rate for lower end market. At the same time market leaders are improvising their product using sustaining technologies and satisfying the mainline customers. And when the sustaining technology reaches point ‘b’, it is the peak time for the sustaining technology and after that the market gets saturated. This is the time when the market leaders need to innovate something new and create the new market. After point ‘b’, supply crosses demand.On the other hand, disruptive innovation enters at point ‘a’ satisfies the lower end customers and after improvising it reaches point ‘c’ the main stream customers. At point ‘c’ now, it is very late for sustaining technology to develop a new product for the main stream customers. Here it is very important to distinguish between different types of innovation. Incremental innovation occurs when small improvements are made to products/services. These, basically strengthens the market position of the firm and entrenches the industry. Radical Innovation occurs when major improvements are made to the products/services.These changes require new marketing channels and often put other firms out of competition and at the same time make old technologies obsolete. Transformational innovation occurs when the innovation is of such a nature that it destroys whole industry and changes the nature of the market. So if we have to summarize Christensen’s framework it would be, as the sustaining technology improves along the mainstream customer, disrupt ive technology enters at the lower end market, improvises along the existing dimensions and enters the main stream market.It eventually changes the basis of the competition from functionality to reliability and from reliability to convenience and eventually to price. Now, let’s apply this Christensen’s framework to today’s automotive world that is internal combustion engine as the sustaining technology and the hydrogen fuel cell as the disruptive technology. 3. 1 Comparison of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology with the Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Technology Let us compare the performance of fuel economy and green house gas emissions of internal combustion engine and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.From the graph, we can agree that internal combustion engine is a sustaining technology incrementally improving its performance. Initially let’s say in 1980’s the fuel economy of a vehicle was around 4-6 km/l of gasoline and now it is around 12-1 5 km/l. green house gas emissions have also reduced by introducing hybrid option. But it is predicted that internal combustion engine will reach the point ‘b’ somewhere by 2015. That is it will reach the saturation level of innovation. Further development in internal combustion engine will result in more of supply than demand.This is the time when people will anticipate the change, and the change of disruptive technology in our case it is hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Initially it keeps emerging and improves the performance in new dimension and tries to attract the main market stream. During the time emergence hydrogen fuel cell through experimentation seeks commercialization. And it is predicted by 2020 it will seek commercialization. Meanwhile, the internal combustion engine will steadily grow beyond the customer demand and will start losing its hold in the main market.In 2020, at point ‘c’, the market is ready to accept high performance vehicle, in terms o f fuel economy. And beyond this point, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle keeps on improving rapidly. This will eventually bring the phase out of an internal combustion engine and forcing it out of the market by 2030 – 2040 completely and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle becoming the base technology. Beyond this it will improve incrementally until the new disruptive comes and phase out the hydrogen fuel cell technology. Green House Gas EmissionGlobal warming is one of the prime reasons fro shifting the paradigm from internal combustion engine to hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Following graph shows the global warming potential of gasoline, flex fuels and hydrogen fuel cell in various stages from manufacturing to the end of life of a vehicle. Figure 3: Global Warming potential comparison of 3 different types of Engine. It is clear from the graph global warming potential that is emission of harmful gases from a fuel cell vehicle is less than a gasoline and the flex fuel vehicle.From the grap h, it is seen that only while production for the fuel of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the emission of harmful gases is high, but it is very less compared to the gasoline and flex fuels. Apart from that, research is also going on for producing hydrogen using renewably resources such as wind, solar and nuclear. 3. 2 Conclusion It is evident that hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is a disruptive technology and will cause a phase out for the internal combustion engine. But when we compare it to the Christensen’s framework, it slightly contradicts.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in literal sense are not targeting the lower market initially. The cost of the product is not low. But all other parameters remain the same. It is focusing on the new dimension and at the same time it is threat to the internal combustion engine world. Apart from this slight difference, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is definitely a disruptive innovation, and will definitely lead to transformation of technologies and will change the basis of competition from fuel economy to green house gas reductions with the environmental pressure. 4 Current ScenarioIf we talk about hydrogen fuel cell in today’s world, it is still an emerging technology which looks solid and promising in terms of fuel economy and reduction in green house gas emission. Research in this particular area is going on all around the world since the global warming level is increasing and the environmental pressure is acting on all the governments. In this scenario, the companies who are already into research in this area will survive and the companies that are still not doing any kind of research or innovation and still trying to improve the sustaining technology might just phase out of the competition.Further we will see cases and findings of various companies in this area including oil industry, automotive industry and the industries related to this huge sector of industries. 4. 1 Oil Industry: Today, the energy sector is run majo rly by oil industry. And majorly oil after refining is consumed by transportation industry. Around 90%of the oil is consumed by the transportation industry, and out of that around 50% of the industry consumes gasoline and the rest is diesel, LPG, Naphtha etc. Major players in this oil industry today are Saudi aramco, shell, BP, Exxon Mobil and chevron.Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)is the major producer of the oil today and has the maximum exports all over the world, then it is followed by other companies. Apart from green house gas emissions and environmental pressure, the increasing rate of oil so frequently gives us an idea that even the oil reserves are diminishing day by day. Now increasing research and development in this area poses threat on oil industry as well. Even the oil industries have started doing research in this area. Basically these companies are doing research on how to produce hydrogen using the existing technologies in large scale.Following are some of the findings of the oil companies in this area. 4. 1. 1 Saudi Aramco (Source: http://www. keei. re. kr/keei/download/seminar/101117/II101118_b02. pdf, www. saudiaramco. com, www. mbifoundation. com/media/18961/final%20bpr. pdf) Following are some of the conclusion made by research and development department of Saudi Aramco. : * H2 production using existing petroleum infrastructure will be a potential economical option compared to other technologies. * Need to integrate the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies along with hydrogen production for efficient carbon management. Alternate hydrogen production technologies, such as electrolysis and renewable sources, have significant technical and economical challenges (energy intensive and high capital). * Significant progress made in the demonstration of liquid hydrocarbons to hydrogen. Apart from this, Saudi Aramco has also filed a patent in US office for the naphtha based fuels which can also be used for vehicular purpose. 4. 1. 2 Shell ( So urce: http://www. shell. com/home/content/environment_society/environment/climate_change/biofuels_alternative_energies_transport/hydrogen/, http://articles. atimes. com and http://www. thelivingmoon. com/41pegasus/02files/Alternate_Fuel_Shell_Oil_Hydrogen. html) Shell had started its research on this topic since 1999 and had anticipated the change in the world of automotive industry and power sector long back. Shell has joined hands with the leading car making companies and power companies and working on this project. Shell is already working in collaboration with Siemens, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler and has reached a long way in this area. It has also opened various hydrogen fuel stations in United States of America, Europe and Asia.And it is offering free fillips at various fueling station just to promote the upcoming technology. Following picture is one of the fueling station in United States of America where hydrogen fueling is provided. Figure 4: Hydrogen fuel Station by Shell 4. 1. 3 BP: (Source: http://www. bp. com) Like Shell, BP is also one of the world's largest energy enterprises, BP has been extensively involved in hydrogen energy demonstration projects around the world to explore feasible solutions to hydrogen economy.In China, BP and PRC Ministry of Science ; Technology have been co-working on a hydrogen energy project to set up China's first hydrogen fueling station in Beijing. As one of the world's largest energy enterprises, BP has been extensively involved in hydrogen energy demonstration projects around the world to explore feasible solutions to hydrogen economy. In China, BP and PRC Ministry of Science ; Technology have been co-working on a hydrogen energy project to set up China's first hydrogen fueling station in Beijing.Apart from this BP has joined hands with the leading companies like Daimler Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Solarex and working on various projects like fuel efficiency, CO2 management, Hydrogen Fuel Cell. Apar t from the companies all these companies also join their hands with various Universities who help the in doing their research. 4. 1. 4 Exxon Mobil: (Source: http://www. exxonmobil. com, http://www. dutchdailynews. com/air-products-and-exxonmobil-start-up-new-world-scale-hydrogen-production-plant-in-rotterdam/) Exxon Mobil again is not left ehind in the research of hydrogen fuel cell and the production of hydrogen on a large scale. Following are some of the research that Exxon Mobil is working on * It is conducting breakthrough research on Hydrogen Production Technology * It is also trying to improve its existing technology at the same time by continuously improving the efficiency of internal combustion engine and reducing the emission of harmful gases. * On 10th Feb 2012 Air products and Exxon Mobil started a large scale Hydrogen Production Plant in Rotterdam. Apart from this, ExxonMobil is also developing an innovative on-board hydrogen-powered fuel cell system that converts conven tional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline or diesel into hydrogen for a fuel cell right under a vehicle’s hood. Apart from this there are various other small industries that are into this hydrogen fuel cell research for example Reliance from India is also doing its bit in this area. 4. 2 Automotive Industry We have seen the response and reaction of oil Industry so far, Now let us see the response of automotive industry worldwide.We shall go country wise in this case to know the response of various industries and development in various countries in this specific area. 4. 2. 1 United States Of America: United States of America is spending millions of dollars every year in the research of hydrogen fuel Cell. They have demonstrations with many private companies. Daimler Chrysler Company developed its first fuel cell truck in 2000. The main aim of USA is to make Fuel Cell Vehicle available at an affordable cost. General Motors: General motors one of the oldest companies of USA is planning to get 1000 fuel cell vehicles on road by 2013-2015.Ford Motor Company: Ford is also planning to launch its commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2015. 4. 2. 2 Japan: One can say Japan is the very first to start the research in this area and it is since 1981. It was in Japan in Tokyo electric Company, Toshiba and an American based company fuel cell company manufactured and installed an 11 MW power plant (Source: www. platinummetalsreview. com/pdf/pmr-v33-i1-010-012. pdf). Apart from this the major Japanese automotive companies look promising in terms of Hydrogen uel cell vehicle compared to other companies in the world. Toyota: Toyota has promised in its recent Autocar show that it will start selling the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in USA specifically in California, since by 2015 it is predicted that there will be 68 hydrogen fueling stations in California. (Source: http://content. usatoday. com/communities/driveon/post/2012/08/toyota-to-start-selling-hydrogen-fuel-cell-c ar-in-2015/1#. UHFOcE3Mj38) Honda: CEO Takanobu Ito just announced that Honda will launch a new fuel-cell electric car in the U.S. and Europe starting in 2015. It will â€Å"showcase further technological advancement and significant cost reduction. † Honda has already been letting consumers test its fleet of FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell cars for a couple of years (Source: http://www. firstcoastnews. com/news/article/276774/11/Automakers-take-fresh-look-at-hydrogen-fuel-cells) Nissan: Nissan has also announced its interest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and has declared that it is ready to mass produce hydrogen fuel cell cars by 2015 (Source: http://www. irstcoastnews. com/news/article/276774/11/Automakers-take-fresh-look-at-hydrogen-fuel-cells) 4. 2. 3 Europe: Europe is not left behind in this research. All the major brands BMW, Mercedes Volkswagen etc have shown interest in hydrogen fuel cell, but at the same time have said hydrogen fuel cell will take at least 10 more year s to commercialize. 4. 2. 4 India: India is the place where we can say Christensen’s framework is applicable perfectly. Here the auto rickshaw for the lower end market has been made using hydrogen fuel cell. t was displayed at pragati maidan in January 2012 and is expected to hit the road by 2015. Source: http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/02/business/energy-environment/hydrogen-fuels-autorickshaws-and-dreams-of-cleaner-air. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0) Apart from this biggies like TATA Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra have shown interest in this area. Tata Motors have manufactured the bus based on hydrogen fuel cell technology known as starbus. Following figure shows the Auto Rickshaw and the Hydrogen fuel cell BusFigure 5: Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in india Following are some of the comments from various high profile executives from various companies: * Executives from Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and Volkswagen see fuel-cell vehicles as being further out, and most have not said when they'll have vehicles on the market. * â€Å"We don't see it as early as Toyota does,† said Oliver Schmidt, general manager of engineering with the VW Group. â€Å"We see it in the 2020 time frame. * Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of powertrain engineering, said, â€Å"The question is when (will) fuel-cell vehicles become affordable to customers,† specifically when the fuel-cell stack competes with the battery pack on cost. * â€Å"Within 10 years, I think they will be as affordable as full battery vehicles, and the fuel cell will have a big advantage in range,† Bakaj said. â€Å"We think it will happen in the next 10 years. † * Gary Smyth, GM executive director working on global research and development, said he sees little commitment in the U. S. to the necessary infrastructure by 2015. Source: http://content. usatoday. com/communities/driveon/post/2012/08/toyota-to-start-selling-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-in-2015/1#. UHFOcE3Mj38) Part from all this various other countries and companies have shown immense amount of interest in hydrogen fuel cell Recently Korea and Korean company Hyundai has also announced an hydrogen fuel cell vehicle launch by 2015. So the major companies all around the world and the allied companies are responding really well to the upcoming technology of hydrogen fuel cell and all of them are doing their bit to save the environment. 5 Conclusion:It is very clear from the above assignment that hydrogen fuel cell is the future of the world. It is definitely one of the biggest disruptive technologies of all time. Biggest because, once the technology is commercialized, many big players all around the world will have to change their base of technology. Technology innovation and upcoming technologies are posing threat on the current industry and are eventually forcing companies out of business. New technologies are exerting power to shape the market and change the basis of the competition. Hence, it is import ant for the companies to continuously assess the technologies and capabilities.