Strategic Innovation and Technology Management

The Innovation Case Introduction The audio music industry is a diverse and dynamic environment where innovations take place rapidly. The record music labels found themselves faced with fierce competition when Fraunhofer in Germany developed an algorithm that enabled music to be compressed and distributed as MP3.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic Innovation and Technology Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Later, Shawn Fanning, a student, developed Napster that enabled people to share music files through the internet. This led to high levels of music piracy. The record companies had to delve into the technology using iTunes where customers would purchase and buy music legally. The record companies had to decide whether to make iTunes technology open for use by other companies. Innovation There were certain audio innovations that took place in the industry. These innovations were spurred on by the customer’s increasing demand to share music. In 1991, a German called Fraunhofer IIS invented the MP3, a technology that enabled music to be compressed to a tenth of its size. The compression did not have an adverse effect on the quality of the record. This enabled the people to share and distribute music easily. As people shared their music online, the use of the MP3, grew by huge numbers. Many other companies aiming to cash in on the innovation decided to produce different variants of the MP3. Fraunhofer had two choices, to patent the innovation in order to prevent other companies from cashing in on his profits or let the companies use the innovation. The consumers are the major stakeholders who benefited from the innovation as they were able to share music online. In 1999, Shawn Fanning, a student at Northeastern campus of Boston, came up with a software program that enabled customers with internet access to share the mp3 files. The software was very friendly having a sea rch box enabling someone to look for another person in the network with whom to share music. The software did not have a database filled with the mp3 music rather it was filled with people who were in possession of different kinds of music. The consumers demanded the interchange of music over the net. People had started trading the copyright materials via the internet. When Napster was shut down through legal action by the record companies, parallel companies cropped up. The music companies had no choice but to respond to market demand.The music labels teamed up to provide Music tunes and Press play. These services enabled people to download music from the net legally.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However the people preferred the illegal sites that had cropped up after Napster was shut down. The music labels did not have a great selection of music like the unauthorised s ites. Furthermore the music labels used digital rights management systems that were not user friendly. ITunes came to be developed where the people could play music in MP3 formats in iPods made by the Apple Company. Later other companies wanted to play ITunes in their iPods. Apple had to decide whether to work with other companies. By entering into contracts with these companies, they would get to sell their music and receive some commission from the companies. In playing non-iTunes music the Apple Company gets to get exposure to other markets and in the process they may get to sell their music. The success of the iPod and iTunes will depend on how the company keeps innovation, providing different and improved products as the market demand changes and the frequency of competitors offering different and improved products. The musicians by selling their copyright rights allowing their music to be downloaded and freely distributed see the advantages of getting a fan base and publicity as better than retaining their copyrights. Podcasting has had a great impact on the radio industry. The consumers now have the power of choice to determine what they will listen to, either traditional radio stations or podcasts. This will definitely cause the radio stations be more innovative in order to retain their customers. Lessons Learnt A firm in any technological market must make a decision whether to protect their innovation or not. There are advantages in protecting the innovation as one gets rent from its use. However not protecting the technology can also be advantageous since other companies in using the technology market the firm’s products((Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Ritala, 2010). It is wiser to protect technologies that are not easily copied. The company has to analyse whether protecting the technology is appropriate for protection or not (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Puumalainen, 2007) A company may use patents, copyrights and trademarks and trade secret to protect its innovation (Karjala, 2011). In Patenting, other companies are prevented from using the innovation or technology. Getting a trademark prevents other companies from using the symbol or name that the firm uses in its trading activities. Copyrights on the other hand helps artists protect their music, writings or art from illegal use and distribution (King, 2002).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic Innovation and Technology Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In a trade secret, the firm decides to conceal their manufacturing process or details that usually would be mandatory to reveal while registering a patent. Fraunhofer in Germany decide to work with other companies in the marketing and selling of MP3. He did not patent the technology recognising that other companies could easily produce their version of the software. Sometimes it is better when other people imitate the innovation since they c an make software that is an improvement (Shenkar, 2011) The music record companies worked with other companies enabling their non-iPods to support the iTunes music. At times open innovation markets turn out to be profitable in terms of marketing and sales (OECD, 2008) .The musicians decided to sell their copyrights in open forums to their fans to get publicity and cut marketing costs. Defining Strategy Introduction Genzyme is a huge company in the biotechnical industry. In 2008, it had revenues of over $4,6 Billion. It has over 10,000 employees in over 40 countries. Its portfolio of companies includes 17 manufacturing and several genetic laboratory testing facilities. The reason for the company’s success is its choice to focus on the production of drugs that treat very rare but life threatening diseases. The company’s strategic choice made it grow and earn high profits. The work before them was hard but they managed to do it and excel to get very high returns. Defining Strategy Genzyne strategic decision has enabled it to face few or hardly any competitors. There are very few companies that are willing to focus on the research and sale of drugs that can be used to treat rare and life threatening diseases. Secondly the company will be able to do target small scale marketing since the patients were few. The company would be able to cut the marketing costs considerably. Pharmaceutical companies incur high marketing costs in large sales labour force and promotion costs while selling their drugs. The number of physicians who treated these rare diseases are also few so the company can market and sell the drugs directly to the customers therefore cutting costs. The insurance companies would also not be able to resist at all on any grounds the reimbursement of the costs to its patients since the patients are few. First of all since the process of developing a drug in the industry took around ten to fourteen years. The research costs were more than $800 t o conduct trials in the clinic, get the approval of FDA and bring to the customers the drugs. Most companies wanted to focus on the common chronic diseases since the sales would be in billions. The companies wanted a mass market. The customer do have less or no bargaining power when buying orphan drugs since the companies that sell such drugs are very few. Focusing on the orphan drugs definitely affects the kind of resources and capabilities that a company may need. The highest costs will be research since it will take a longer time to develop these drugs. The company need also highly skilled engineers and bio technicians to develop the drugs.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The biggest investment will be research and labour costs. Genzyme strategic focus on orphan drugs is a great idea and sustainable in the long term. The statistics for their drug, Cerezyne is astounding. The patients in the country who take the drug pay over $ 170,000 in a year. 4,500 patients take the drug for life leading to sales of over $800 million. Competitors and marketing costs are reduced efficiently ensuring they will always have high sales for their products. The company diversified into other areas of medicine so that they could remain independent and get all the profits from the sale of their drugs. The company therefore decided to do its own testing, manufacturing and sales of the drugs. To fund the costs the company strategically started a genetic counselling centre, chemical supplies and diagnostic testing businesses. The company went public to raise money through the stock exchange and they were able to get over $27Million. Ever since the orphan drug act was passed, more companies have entered into this market to take advantage of tax allowances offered by the government. The company in the future will need to analyse and develop drugs for diseases that are extremely rare so as to be able to have few competitors and survive. Lessons Learnt For a company to have a competitive advantage in the industry, it must appraise its market and the competition. It has to appraise its core capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, competitive advantages, threats and opportunities. It has to carry out a SWOT analysis. Porter has proposed five things that a company needs to look at. This is the degree of existing rivalry, threats of potential entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, threats of substitutes and bargaining power of the buyers (Mindtools Editors, n,d). There are three generic models a company can use. The company may differentiate products, target to lower costs of production or do both in a niche market(Proven models Editors, n,d) Genzyme opted to pr oduce differentiated products. Genzyme was able to analyse its market and its sustainable core competencies. It chose a market where the competition was low, the entrants in the market were also consistently low and the buyers did not have high bargaining power to affect the sales prices. Their strategic analysis and actions paid off. Comparison of the two cases The two case studies focus on innovation management. The audio companies are forced with choices on innovation management while Genzyme has to choose which technology to invest. In whatever category a company is in, it has to be strategic in making decisions. References Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, P Ritala, P (2010) â€Å"Protection for profiting from collaborative service innovation†. Journal of Service Management, Vol. 21, Iss 1, pp.6 – 24. Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, P Puumalainen, Kaisu (2007) â€Å"Formation of the appropriability regime: Strategic and practical considerations†.  Innovation,Management, Poli cy Practice Journal, Vol 9, Iss 1,pp 28-45. Karjala, D (2011) â€Å"Protecting Innovation in Computer Software, Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology†. Virginia Journal Of Law Technology, Vol 6, No1. Web. King, K (2002).†The Value of Intellectual Property, Intangible Assets and Goodwill†.  Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, Vol 7, No 3, pp 245-249. Mind Tools Editors (n.d) â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces: Assessing the Balance of Power in a Business Situation†. Mind tools. Accessed from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development (2008) â€Å"Open Innovation in Global Networks†. Web. Proven Models Editors (n,d) â€Å"Porter’s three generic strategies†. Proven Models. Accessed from https://www.provenmodels.com/27 Shenkar, O (2011)†The Challenge Of Imovation†. Ivey Business Journal. Web. This report on Strategic Innovation and Technology Management was written and submitted by user Bryleigh Z. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Inside a Foster Childs Head Professor Ramos Blog

Inside a Foster Childs Head Why does it seem that foster kids have behavioral problems? It seems as if they may not come with them, but later develop them. I’m a member of a family that has opened our home to numerous foster children, and this matters to me because people need to be aware for the benefit of the children.  They need to know that there are some disadvantages with behavioral problems and we need to know how to handle such things. This is important because not everybody knows what to do or how to properly treat children with behavioral problems. They may have already had them, or they may have come later on while in the foster system, but foster children with behavioral problems are very common. ‘Trauma can be caused by any number of things, some of which reach back even to the child’s time in the womb: a very difficult birth or a mother being physically abused when she is pregnant. If a mother smokes, drinks alcohol or takes drugs when pregnant this is also likely to have a deleterious effect on her unborn child and can result in anything from poor birth weight to brain injury† (Thomas and Philpot 25).  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Children who are placed into foster care are often at high risk for problematic outcomes. First, they have often experienced a range of adverse conditions prior to placement, including neglect, abuse, and exposure to domestic violence† (Kohl, Edleson, English, Barth, 2005) 768. Dozier et al stated Children who have moved from foster home to foster home, or from foster home to birth home experience an unstable foundation (768). A child’s sense of identity, development, trust in others, ability to manage behavior can be affected by tra uma and can cause different types of behavioral problems. Even adults may be affected by trauma with the same severity as children, a child’s vulnerability can cause them to be affected by trauma in a much more far-reaching way because, since they are still developing physically and emotionally, their general social and individual functioning may well be seriously impaired (Thomas and Philpot 26). â€Å"Children entering foster care have high rates of emotional, behavioral, developmental, and physical health problems and are in need of many specialized services† (Taussig et al 1). Studies have shown that children reunited with their birth parents have a higher chance at developing behavioral problems. â€Å"Results. Compared with youth who were not reunified, reunified youth showed more self-destructive behavior (0.15 vs 20.11), substance use (0.16 vs 20.11), and total risk behavior problem standardized scores (0.12 vs 20.09). Reunified youth were more likely to have received a ticket or have been arrested (49.2% vs 30.2%), to have dropped out of school (20.6% vs 9.4%), and to have received lower grades (6.5 vs 7.4). Reunified youth reported more current problems in internalizing behaviors (56.6 vs 53.0), and total behavior problems (59.5 vs 55.7), and lower total competence (41.1 vs 45.0).† â€Å"3 studies have found better outcomes for children who were not re unified including gains in intelligence scores, greater overall well-being, and less criminal recidivism than children who were reunified with their families of origin.† (Taussig et al 1). Children who have been abused are also very likely to have a confused view of family relationships (Rose and Philpot 2005), as well as an ever-changing group of people in their lives (Thomas and Philpot 27). My little brother who we adopted at the age of nine and is now 18 still struggles with this. He feels he must switch up girlfriends to get a new love or switch up friends monthly. Even after all that he will completely isolate himself and not talk to anybody, because now he can’t trust anybody. â€Å"Events like this on top of trauma can lead children to feel that they have no control over their lives. Attempted solutions to this problem can have disastrous consequences, for example, by their becoming suicidal or, at very least, self-harming and self-abusing; by, for instance, taking drugs, or engaging in promiscuous and potentially harmful sexual relationships. The child may develop serious anti-social behavior to defend her against feelings of vulnerability, but these o ften only exacerbate her difficulties.  A state of helplessness may also be reverted to. Children may avoid intimacy, feeling that they need to be in control, and acting in ways that deter relationships and closeness with others. They can experience flashbacks, hyperactivity, and dissociation. (This term is what Hunter (2001) calls ‘an internal psychological state which we assume is present when a usual or expected involvement of emotion is absent’ (p.98).) These, in turn, can affect their education and lead them to be diagnosed with various behavioral disorders† (Thomas and Philpot 26). Four major effects of trauma are: a persistent state of fear, disordered memory, avoiding intimacy, and dysregulation of affect.   For these reasons many children are either placed on medication to â€Å"help† the child ease the pain or rid it all, or they are sent to therapy to try and open up their wounds to help heal them. I have conducted two separate interviews one on a teen male who has been adopted, and one on an adult female who has been through the foster care system to give some insight on their experience. How long were you in foster care? I was in foster care for 5 years. What was your experience like? It was not the greatest. I moved around a lot, and I was placed in homes that were not conducive to my well-being. The last home in which I lived only wanted me for financial gain. I refused to move because I wanted to graduate from 1 high school. Do you believe children in the foster system have behavioral problems? Why or why not ? I believe some children have behavioral problems that are exacerbated once they are placed in foster care, and others develop behavioral problems while in foster care. It is exhausting, painful, and takes a toll mentally, emotionally, and physically. Do you think they develop these behavior disorder before going into the foster care system, during or after? Why? I t hink it all depends on the situation, the child, and the way the child was removed. It also has to do with resilience, and how the child can process such information. What are some reasons you believe children may or may not have behavioral problems? As mentioned prior, resilience has a lot to do with the start or cause of behavioral problems; also, attachment plays a major role in how the child views the foster parent as helping and not hurting. If the child sees that the foster parent is not a threat, there may be some reconciliation for appropriate emotionality and decreased behavioral issues/problems. Another factor to consider is the number of homes in where a child is placed. After moving into many homes, self-worth and identity is questioned, and thus causes problems with behavior, which incentivizes behavior problems, causing the child moving once again into a new foster home. It becomes and is a very nasty cycle. A rule of thumb is to remember that â€Å"bad† behavio r is a cry for help. Do you feel therapy or medicine can make it better or worse? Can you grow out of it? I believe that children should not be medicated, however negative their behavior is displayed. Medication has side effects, and it has to be counteracted with other medication. Unless it is of a medical concern, children should not be medicated. What do you believe is the best way to deal with a child with behavioral problems? Therapy, either play or psychoanalytical, is one of the best ways to combat behavioral problems. Empathy can release anger within a child and having a real connection can be helpful. I also think physical involvement can help as well. When a child is busy-playing a sport, karate, taekwondo, I know it makes a tremendous difference. What did you struggle with and how did you handle it? Or how would you have like to be treated to help you? I was angry because of not having family. I also had issues of abandonment and rejection; being placed in so many homes m ade it worse. It all changed when I got a new social worker who understood my pain and wanted to genuinely help me. She saw the scared, broken, rejected girl I was behind the hard exterior and she worked hard to show me I was loved and important. She advocated to get me off medication. I knew she cared, and because of that, I wanted to be the girl she saw. She changed my life in ways word could never describe. In your opinion is there any way to help children with behavioral disorders? Have empathy, let them express their trauma, give them a safe space. See them past their angry exterior and understand that their behavior is a cry for help, however they express it. I know it gets better, but they need help seeing it. This interview was conducted with Flowers, Tanisha on October 3rd, 2018. The second interview was conducted with Moses Lindo on October 6th, 2018, I asked the same questions to see how similar or different their answers were. Lindo was in the foster care system for three years before he became adopted. His experience was extremely scary even though being so young he was the oldest of five and he had to make sure his younger siblings were okay in their new environment before he could consider himself alright. Lindo stated he believes children in the system may have behavioral problems because they don’t want to be in the foster care system and don’t know how else to act but lash out. He also stated that he believes the children who had behavioral disorders before they entered the foster care system may have been removed for that reason, because the parents did not know how to be able to deal with their own children. Children develop behavioral disorder by they way he/she was raised or the different struggles they face in life but don’t know how to deal with them. Therapy does not help all Lindo says it depends on the person and the trauma they have went through. It definitely takes time and patience, but therapy did not work for me.   The main thing I was struggling with was not knowing why I was not with my real parents, that they were not apart of my life because of the bad choices they decided to do. Another was seeing my brothers going through scary times because of all the people they kept on having to meet going through the foster system. A way I thought I could handle it was just knowing we will get better and I tried to be happy to make my brothers happy. Lindo concluded with a way we can help children with special needs is just show them love and always try to make them smile, to be there for them every day. And never forget to show them right from wrong. Each child who enter the system will have completely different outlooks on their experience, not one will be the same. All children rather blood or not need love and affection. This essay will benefit families who are looking into fostering kids as well as the foster kids themselves. This will allow them to learn from it and help the children to adapt to it, and possibly avoid it. Foster children are amazing, and they bring an excellent eye opener to your life they allow you to look at things differently, but do not assume that it is as easy as saying hello to a stranger. There are many things you will gain from this and to be able to help the children benefit to accept what is going to take place in their life is the challenge and you must be willing to face the difficult days that may come such as behavioral disorders. It is ultimately a cry for help, look for the many different signs and find the best aid for your child. Not foster child but child because when they come into your home you must treat them as your own to make it a great experience for you and them. Annotated Bibliography   Dozier, Mary et al. â€Å"Developing Evidence of a Randomized Clinical Trial with Infants and Toddlers.†   Journal of Social Issues, vol. 62, no. 4, Dec. 2006, pp. 767-785. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0sid=d034471c-a3e9-4ef6-a774-cebb90325e81%40sessionmgr4008bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9hAN=22853072                                                                                                                                                                                                This article talks about the risk for problematic children who are put in the foster care system. Scholarly. I will use this source to show reasons why children may develop behavioral problems. Flowers, Tanisha Personal Interview October 3, 2018 Lindo, Moses Personal Interview October 6, 2018 Taussig et al. â€Å"Children Who Return Home From Foster Care: A 6-Year Prospective Study of Behavioral Health Outcomes in Adolescence† July 2001, VOLUME 108 / ISSUE 1 ELECTRONIC ARTICLE pp 1-9 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/1/e10.full In this article they speak about the behavioral levels in children who have returned back to their birth parents opposed to those still in the foster care system. Scholarly source. I will be using this source to bring awareness to the behavioral change in the foster care home and out of the foster care home. Taylor, Chris. â€Å"A Practical Guide to Caring for Children and Teenagers with Attachment Difficulties† London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2010 pp 54-111 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=16sid=9916ea12-08ed-45c4-a7fc-b5861314df32%40sdc-v-sessmgr05bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=e000xnaAN=339488          This article states the different types of trauma a child may face while in foster care or before entering foster care. It shows different ways to communicate to help break those barriers. Scholarly source. I will use this source to help identify different ways to cope with trauma in children. Thomas, Mike. Philpot, Terry. â€Å"Fostering a Childs Recovery: Family Placement for Traumatized Children.† London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2009, pp. 25-56 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6sid=9916ea12-08ed-45c4-a7fc-b5861314df32%40sdc-v-sessmgr05bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=e000xnaAN=278616         This article goes into detail about children and their history to let us know what may be factors to cause trauma.   Also, it will show us the loss that affects children. Scholarly source. I will be using this source to show more about the children background to help determine behavioral problems.

What issues of discrimination regarding Women in America since the Essay

What issues of discrimination regarding Women in America since the 1920's have been successfully resolved -- and which issues have not yet been resolved - Essay Example This has seen the inclusion of women in politics, educational and economic settings among many other clusters in society. Discrimination and the fact that it was a global scenario affected all women all over the world. In the American setting, in the 1920’s, women faced discrimination as a result of the innate capacities that patriarchal societies had imposed on them. In this era, women were to run home affairs and nothing more. It became worse for women who had other vulnerabilities. African American women, those disabled or from â€Å"inferior races† among other clusters faced severe discrimination as compared to their accepted counterparts. This paper aims to dissect all aspects of discrimination in the American society since the 1920’s that have been successfully resolved. It will also discuss those aspects that have not been actively dealt with in the society. This is with the view of ensuring that there is room for advocacy and agitation with the view of ac hieving a global society free from discrimination against women. One issue that has been successfully resolved is the opportunities given to women in political participation. Women are today given equal opportunities as men in politics. Women are allowed to vote for their preferred candidates to hold various political offices. Women are also allowed to contest for elective political posts. They compete equally with men for such positions. Even after achieving the right to vote, very few women were elected to hold political positions. Currently, women are being allowed to hold powerful and influential leadership positions. During those days, women were barely allowed to hold any positions. In the past, women’s roles were only confined to traditional roles such as working as teachers, domestic workers, nurses, secretary workers among other roles associated with women. Today, many women hold powerful leadership positions such as CEOs, secretaries of state and managers among others (Gregory