Pirates of Silicon Valley Essay

1. How would you describe both Jobs’ and Gates’ innovation process? a. Internal: An innovation process must have a defined goal, mission, and vision to keep the innovation competitive and successful. A firm should start with internal planning and move on to the execution of their innovation once goals and objectives have been defined. Steve Jobs was a rebel who built illegal blue boxes and spent his youthful energies pulling pranks that repeatedly got him suspended from high school. He wasn’t a technical genius (that was his partner Steve Wozniak) but he had an intuitive sense of design and usability, and an almost improvisational approach to business decisions. Jobs was, in essence, a jazz musician who relied on his innate creativity, and turned his lack of formal training into a strength rather than a weakness. His vision, to create a computer for ordinary people’s use, seemed wildly far-fetched to most people at the time. Furthermore, IBM laughed at this idea and even questioned why an ordinary person would need a computer. Finally, despite being turned down by investors and laughed at for his ideas, Apple was born in his garage, and the Macintosh was born. Jobs believed in closed-systems (or fully-integrated systems), meaning that one company designed the computer, the software and all connected devices and peripherals. This belief is what gives Apple products their unique look, and also why Apple products work so well together. Jobs had a successful internal innovation process because he had the technological expertise, a clear vision guiding him to success, and a supportive team that was prepared to work late nights and long days to make this vision become a reality. Bill Gates’ internal innovation process began with the help of his friend Paul, writing code for computers. They eventually dropped out of Harvard to pursue their passion of programming and with the invention of BASIC a new vision was born. They got signed by MITS and convinced competitors, IBM, Xerox, and Apple that they needed his exper tise to write code for their computers. Once Gates had his foot in the door at Apple, he had access to new code and ideas, which got him thinking he could do it better than Jobs was doing at Apple. He was able to infiltrate and leave unscathed with Apple’s operating system. Furthermore by  pirating his competitors’ operating systems, he gained enough knowledge and expertise to start his own company, Microsoft. It appears Gates was more unorganized than Jobs in the sense that he lacked proper preparation. He had an incomplete operating system until he stole code from other systems like Xerox and Apple. Consequently, Bill Gates’ internal innovation process was largely due to replicating other companies’ code. Although this was a dishonest plan, he succeeded by tricking his competitors and ultimately joined Apples team in the end, keeping his project hidden on the side. b. External: External innovation involves enhancing or adding to something that already exists. In Jobs’ case, he is creating the first personal computer as opposed to creating the first computer. In Gates’ case, he is enhancing the computer with programming and integrating a â€Å"language† for computers that already exist. Steve Jobs’ mai n external pressures in his innovation process were his competitors. While he did not notice it at the time, his biggest competitor, Bill Gates, was pirating his software behind his back. Steve Wozniak also quit at one point because of Jobs’ poor leadership and self-obsession. Jobs demanded too much of his workers and in return his company despised working for him. Ultimately, Jobs succeeded in his external innovation process but at the cost of losing friends, and good employees. Unlike Steve Jobs, Bill Gates was more successful through his external innovation process. The Microsoft model was a product of imitating his competitors. Bill Gates convinced his competitors that they needed his talents and in return he gained invaluable knowledge. He did not collapse under pressure and stayed humble throughout his success to ultimately take advantage of his competitors and land on top. 2. For both internal and external acquisition of technology, how was implementation handled? What areas were Jobs and Gates Hardware and Software particularly lacking? Implementation was handled fairly well by both Jobs and Gates. Although they did not have much of a â€Å"written plan† they still seemed to have a plan of what they wanted to do with the information they knew, and in what direction, more or less, they wanted to go in. Jobs had a somewhat fairly  well thought out plan in the sense that he went around everywhere for loans and eventually changed his image in order to better his chances. Luck also struck Jobs’ when the investor came to his garage and offered him a $250,000 investment to help him with the Apple Computers. Jobs implemented his first innovation, Lisa through Apple. He had reputable tangible assets including capital, technology, office space, and many technicians. While the technicians were vital assets to Jobs, they were being over worked and were under appreciated. Throughout the movie it is clear that there was a negative company culture emerging, which inversely impacted his intangible assets. Jobsâ€⠄¢ narcissistic personality got him punched in the face at one point. This displays how Apple workers disliked Jobs as a leader and were constantly on edge from lack of sleep and high expectations. The film portrayed Bill Gates as a superior leader than Jobs because he remained loyal to his team throughout the film. Beginning in his garage and eventually moving towards a partnership with Apple, Gates was able to continuously motivate his team and keep morale high. He focused on engaging his team and explained to competitors how they needed his expertise to create a programming language. Gates gained all the resources he needed through gaining access to his competitors software and ended with great a implementation process for Microsoft. In both of their implementation processes, they lacked a bit of control and awareness. Gates’ had somewhat better control and awareness in the sense that he saw the flaws in Jobs’ reign. Jobs (once Apple computers became bigger than just two guys in a garage) was not fully aware of what he was becoming and what he was doing to his company internally. He had two different sides in his company competing against each other and he also treated his employees like machines rather than people. Gates (along with Jobs’ friend Wise) was aware of this p roblem and helped Jobs overcome it. 3. How well did Jobs and Gates understand the environment in which they were trying to compete? What specific areas challenged their chance of success in the environment? In understanding the environment that Gates and Jobs were competing in, they understood it very well. Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had extensive  knowledge about building and coding computers. Jobs had a vision of giving the public access to computers. He was very knowledgeable in starting Apple and turning his vision into reality. Similarly, Gates was skilled in computer programming and was able to build Microsoft with the help of his competitors. Steve Jobs’ main challenge was dealing with employees and becoming a true leader. He was forced to grow up very quickly and without the experience, his image as a leader suffered. In one scene of the movie, Jobs walks into an interview barefoot and tells the candidate that he does not belong at Apple and then makes inappropriate personal attacks. This lack of professionalism shows that Jobs did not have managerial skills or leadership experience. On the other hand, it is clear Gates had business experience or had at least studie d business topics. Gates knew how much he could get away with. His sneakiness got him the information he needed but at the expense of jeopardizing his integrity. Gates’ understood that he needed to convince people (IBM) that they not only did not have what he was offering and creating, but that they needed what he was offering. The areas that challenged their chance of success in the environment were consumers and IBM. IBM said no one would use personal computers because average everyday people had no use for one. It was key that Gates knew how to sell his ideas and products, even if they hadn’t even been produced or built yet. Finally, while both had extensive computer technology knowledge, Jobs lacked personal business skills and Gates lacked a defined plan of action. They both knew they were on to something bigger than the both of them and this is not always an easy idea to cope with.

Brave New World as a Dystopia Essay

A utopian society is a society in which everything is absolutely perfect; a society in which everyone is happy with their life. The society in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is set up by the World Controllers to be such. However, the society itself is just the opposite of a utopian society: a dystopian society. Even though everything appears to be perfect for everyone, the hidden truth reveals a different reality. The society in Brave New World is a dystopian society as exhibited by the lack of reality, freedom, and identity. A primary example of how the society in Brave New World is a dystopian society is the lack of reality in the novel. This is exemplified by the use of soma, a drug that takes the user to a different world. Mustapha Mond, one of the ten World Controllers of the society describes soma as â€Å"†Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant†¦ All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects†¦ Stability was practically assured† (Huxley 53-54). The users of this drug are put in a state where they are away from reality; they are completely unaware what is going on around them. This is significant because the users do not see the disfunction and unhappiness of the society, meaning that when something goes wrong they can hide from it instead of fixing it. In addition, the islands further prove the lack of reality. When someone does not agree with the way that the society is being run by the Controllers, they are cast off to an island, isolated from the society so they cannot cause an uprising or rebellion (227-228). This is important because it hides the reality of dissatisfaction for society. It creates an atmosphere that is filled with happiness for the society, with no glimpse of the unhappiness that is apparent. Even though this lack of reality portrays a dystopian society, there are other ways that it is portrayed as well. The dystopian society of Brave New World is further proven by the lack of freedom. In this society, people are bred in a factory to be whatever the society needs them to be (Huxley 13). This is significant in that everyone has a destiny that they cannot escape: a purpose that they did not choose to be their own. Without this freedom, nobody can truly be free and happy. Because of this, however, the society has another method to ensure â€Å"happiness. † This method involves a process known as conditioning. The people of the World State are condition to like what they were predestined to do, and to dislike other jobs and purposes that they may have wanted to pursue without the conditioning. Mr. Foster describes that â€Å"all conditioning aims at that; making people like their un-escapable social destiny† (16). This is significant in that it portrays that the conditioning cannot be escaped; the conditioned are forced to enjoy what they have been conditioned to enjoy with no freedom of choice as to whether or not they want to, creating a false happiness. Though this alone portrays a clear dystopian society, there is yet another way the dystopian society is portrayed. In addition to both lack of reality and freedom, the dystopian society is also portrayed through the lack of identity. For example, in order to populate the world, the Hatchery uses a process known as Bokanovsky’s Process. This process takes one embryo and splits it to excess of 96 new embryos (Huxley 6). This causes each embryo to have the same genes, making them 96 identical copies of one another. This is significant because it is impossible for a person to be an individual when there are 96 exact replicas of him or her. Also, from the moment of their â€Å"birth,† each and every citizen is casted into a social class: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epilsons (Huxley 6). These castes determine the person’s role in society, with Alpha being the equivalent of a noble of the society and Epilsons being the peasants. These roles are assigned during Bokanovsky’s Process by such acts as depriving the developing embryo of the proper oxygen (6-7). Because of this, everyone is thought of as a member of a caste, not an individual. An Epilson will always be an Epilson, with no chance of being a standout individual in society. This lack of advancement destroys the sense of personal achievement and self-earned identity. Overall, the society in Brave New World is clearly a dystopia. The citizens are clouded by the society into thinking that they are happy. The lack of reality portrays a fake happiness that is surrounding the citizens. Also, the lack of both freedom and individuality take away what makes a person unique and destroy any chance at true happiness. The society believes they are truly happy only because it is what they are conditioned to believe. This false happiness makes the society what it truly is: a perfect imperfection.

Marketing concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing concept - Essay Example This means they should be given the room to understand what the product/service shall bring for them more than anything else. The marketing concept aims to pinpoint the needs of the target consumers and addresses the same whilst meeting their very needs through the purchase of the product/service and its ultimate usage. If there is no selling of the product, there would be no association of the need with the target audience and hence marketing might not be needed at all. Thus marketing concept looks to solve the problems in which the consumers are tied up and even when there is no problem at all – just to satisfy one’s desires – they are asked to purchase a product/service so as to have a better standing within a particular social circle or society. In other words, this encompasses the basis of self-esteem needs if not anything else (Varey 2001). Successful examples of marketing include the campaigns that have been launched by Coca Cola all over the globe. The pr oduct exists within the minds of the target audiences but even then the company has to market it on a consistent basis (Marco, 2001). This is for the fact that Coca Cola exists and it wants to make a mark on the consumers’ minds at every possible instance.

Valuation of Shopping Centers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Valuation of Shopping Centers - Research Paper Example rom the fact that investment behaviours in shopping centres have been changed due to dramatic progress in the retail industry of Germany and it can be explicitly understood from the fact that until 2011 Germans were dominating investors in the market. However, now German retail industry has largely attracted foreign investors accounting for 62% overall investment in the retail market. Due to the desired aim of maximizing profits, owners of retail properties hire professional companies to evaluate the properties accurately by taking different criteria into consideration. However this is a complex and difficult task, especially with high investments like shopping centres. The real estate crises has shown what impact wrong valuations can have. This is why it is important that the valuation process is done correctly and with caution. The aim of this paper is, next to an introduction of the shopping centre market, the general definition of shopping centres, the different classification types and the historic development, to answer the question what factors influence the market value of a property. In this context, the meaning of valuation will be discussed, followed by an analysis of different factors incluencing the value. In order to link the theoretcial approach with practical experience these factors will be anaylsed by means of project made during an internship at Jones Lang LaSalle in Frankfurt in summer 2012. Additionally, the project will be briefly described and the outcome of the valuation will be mentioned. Trends of shopping centres are continuously changing since the development of shopping centres’ phenomenon among masses. Researchers have suggested that with the passage of time and emerging technologies it has been noticed that trends of shopping and shopping centres are gaining much attention (Coleman, 2012, pp. 6-105). Business of shopping centres is successfully going with growing populations’ needs and increasing social awareness. Intellectuals

The article review of 'Universal Jurisdiction, Universal Prescription Literature

The article of 'Universal Jurisdiction, Universal Prescription A Preliminary Assessment of the African Union Precriptive - Literature review Example Essentially, some of the issues explored by the article could be understood from the perspective of the historical differences that have affected African countries in their attempt to ratify some of the international legal principles. The article explores a range of issues that connect within international jurisdiction in ways that demonstrate the differences in approaches adopted by European and African countries. On this matter, it becomes necessary to consider the fact that most of the issues that relate to international legal practices have elicited sharp divisions in African countries, which have tended to demonstrate the fact the universalist practices are essentially biased. Basically, some of the issues raised in the article tend to promote the assumption that the international legal practices were specifically developed as tool of western powers to influence the governance of African States. The article uses specific provisions in international laws relating to matters of im munity and culpability to demonstrate this fact. Case examples of countries such as France and Switzerland show that the application of the universality principle in its narrow sense and understanding fails to connect the issues with the fundamental applications as they relate to issues of law in a universal context. The merits of this argument could be assessed from the point of view of the differences in culture which affect the manner in which different societies perceive the aspect of law. The author points out that the development of the legal structures on which some of the tenets of international law are based is essentially biased in favor of the western countries. According to the author, some of the differences that attend to the application of the rules of international law are essentially manifest in the contestations that various countries attach to the rulings and applications of various countries. In this regard, it becomes necessary to assess the manner in which vari ous countries have attempted to redefine the articles and concepts of international practice to suit some specific realities in their home countries. The author makes the case of various aspects of the law in a manner that attempts to explore the unworkable parts and the mismatch with realities that occur in the African continent. The aspect of criminality acquires new meaning when removed from local interpretations and applied in accordance with western concepts. The article cites cases such as the Rwandese massacre in which the failure by the international community to come to terms with the ethnic and cultural factors that connect to the issue have occasioned misinterpretations of the international legal practices. The central argument of the article is that the universality principle only serves the interests of western powers. The argument fosters the impression that the international law was mainly created to entrench their control and influence over the African states. The ar ticle explores the problematic application of matters of immunity in ways that seek to illustrate the unclear issues that make it difficult for countries to approach the subject from a common platform. In essence, many of the issues that apply within the issue could

Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Proposal - Essay Example In addition to wresting these native populations and lands from Mexico, the U.S grabbed itself many overseas colonies. While it reluctantly joined the two world wars rather late, the United States has started and waged quite a number of wars single-handedly since becoming a superpower. Interestingly, some of these wars have been merely military interventions whose justification some consider ulterior and therefore uncalled for. From this war-mongering nature of the United States and its leaders (presidents), it is strange that U.S citizens and subsequent presidents consider themselves as peace-loving people and continually deceive Americans that the U.S foreign policy serves their interests. One reason the U.S citizens elected President Barrack Obama is that they thought he would be different from his predecessor George Bush who not only started the foolish and unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also mismanaged these wars. It is because of Obama’s opposition to the two wars that he was endeared to the war-wary U.S citizens thus prompting his election. Unfortunately, two years into his first term in office, President Obama, who was expected to be more thoughtful on the use of U.S armed forces and the implications of crude policy tools escalated the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and even launched a new war against Libya. Because of its love for war and military interventions in countries and regions considered enemies, strategic, or of interest to it, the United States has made many enemies in the world, more so the Arab and Muslim world. In fact, the U.S foreign policy has particularly been aggressive towards the Arab world, seen to be harboring and su pporting individual terrorists and terror groups such as the Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabab. This paper explores the United States’ foreign policy, which is marred with a lot of lies not

Visual Literacy in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Visual Literacy in Business - Essay Example When putting together a communication piece through the use of visuals, there are important steps to follow. The first step is organizing the data to present. There are two fundamental possibilities in the organization of data, and they are charts and tables. Neither of these possibilities is better than the other though each has its specific purposes and strengths. The most crucial point to consider before commencing the process of designing is the main point of the presentation. The second step is highlighting the data. When designing the charts, it is important to recall that the human brain intuitively recognizes the differences in size, shape, color, orientation, and hue and attach particular meanings to them (Apkon, 2013). The visual properties are known as pre-attentive variables since the process of perceiving them is immediate and automatic and does not need the involvement of conscious thought. The designer should use this knowledge for the purpose of intentionally highligh ting the most important information. The third and last step is showing the data. It is important to display only the content that is meaningful and leave the items that are extraneous. It is not advisable to decorate the data since it may hinder and distract the audience from perceiving what is irrelevant and what is important (Apkon, 2013). Failure to follow these steps will lead to distracting the audience who will not understand the main point of presenting the visual communication