Apple's iPhone sales have been sky rocketing. A whopping 467.6 million phones are estimated to be sold this year. This is a 56% increase from last year. 95.8 million of these phones are Apple's iPhone and the iPhone accounts for nearly half of Apple's sales. However, the largest surge in smartphone growth is due to Android sales rather than Apple. Android's estimated compounded growth is 43.3% while Apple's is expected to be 28.5%. Analysts say that Android is ready to grab some of the lower than average selling priced phone segment of the market while Apple is not.
It's amazing the constant battle of technology and how incredibly high the stakes are for these companies. It's a never ending battleground with the technology and rules constantly changing.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Digital Books Market
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal Apple is no longer allowing companies to sell digital media using an app on an Apple device that links the buyer to the selling company's web page. Apple will only allow the media to be sold directly from the app - not through a link from the app. This gives Apple more control and now they will take 30% of the profits from the sale. Kobo, a Canadian, e-book company was told this on Saturday and they had they had to alter their apps to accommodate this directive by Apple.
The article states that this does not seem to have deterred magazine publishers from signing up for the Apple's subscription-sales platform. I think that these companies really don't have much of a choice in this. If they disregard Apple to take a stand they are losing money. When a company like Apple is big enough, has enough power and market share the limits are pushed as to how far they will go in achieving as much control as possible.
The article states that this does not seem to have deterred magazine publishers from signing up for the Apple's subscription-sales platform. I think that these companies really don't have much of a choice in this. If they disregard Apple to take a stand they are losing money. When a company like Apple is big enough, has enough power and market share the limits are pushed as to how far they will go in achieving as much control as possible.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Missteps in Managing News Corp.'s Hacking Crisis
Another great WSJ article on the management issues at News Corp. There were a couple of quotes which sums things up really well and tie into our text.
"The penalty for missteps in the early phase of a corporate crisis—expense, lost reputation, distraction—can be brutally high."
This is talked about in our text in chapter 5. Companies need to have a solid plan for business continuity in order to address issues that come up that interrupt a companies normal business operations. One of the things mentioned was loss of a companies reputation.
Another quote from the article:
"How the company manages the next stage of the crisis will determine one of two things: Will News Corp. be able to start rebuilding its reputation? Or will the crisis worsen into a more serious attack on the leadership of the company?"
If companies don't have a solid plan for addressing serious issues that come up it can become their downfall.
Below is a video taken from WSJ web page discussing the management issues at News Corp.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304567604576456222770513148.html?industry=IND_MEDIA&isub=
"The penalty for missteps in the early phase of a corporate crisis—expense, lost reputation, distraction—can be brutally high."
This is talked about in our text in chapter 5. Companies need to have a solid plan for business continuity in order to address issues that come up that interrupt a companies normal business operations. One of the things mentioned was loss of a companies reputation.
Another quote from the article:
"How the company manages the next stage of the crisis will determine one of two things: Will News Corp. be able to start rebuilding its reputation? Or will the crisis worsen into a more serious attack on the leadership of the company?"
If companies don't have a solid plan for addressing serious issues that come up it can become their downfall.
Below is a video taken from WSJ web page discussing the management issues at News Corp.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304567604576456222770513148.html?industry=IND_MEDIA&isub=
Apple's Lion Brings Pcs Into Tablet Era
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apples-Lion-Brings-PCs-Into-allthingsd-1362548204.html?x=0&.v=1
This was a great article in today's Wall Street Journal. It talks about Apple's new operating system called the Lion. It does away with scroll bars and the mouse and instead moves the Mac towards operating more like a smart phone or tablet. All of your icons are displayed on your home screen instead of your documents being buried into files and menus. The mail app has been completely revamped and now operates more along the lines of the iPad. Some of the interesting features are as follows. It does away with having to save your work and does this automatically for you. Additionally, each auto save saves a separate version of your document allowing you to go back and forth between versions and cut and paste as needed. Anytime you go back into a previously worked on document your cursor is right where you left off. You can now double tap your computer screen to resize the web page you are viewing just as you can on your iPhone.
What I also found interesting is that the Lion is unavailable in stores and is being sold as a download only. The Lion is being described as more modern than the old types of operating systems. How long will it be till the Lion is considered old??
This was a great article in today's Wall Street Journal. It talks about Apple's new operating system called the Lion. It does away with scroll bars and the mouse and instead moves the Mac towards operating more like a smart phone or tablet. All of your icons are displayed on your home screen instead of your documents being buried into files and menus. The mail app has been completely revamped and now operates more along the lines of the iPad. Some of the interesting features are as follows. It does away with having to save your work and does this automatically for you. Additionally, each auto save saves a separate version of your document allowing you to go back and forth between versions and cut and paste as needed. Anytime you go back into a previously worked on document your cursor is right where you left off. You can now double tap your computer screen to resize the web page you are viewing just as you can on your iPhone.
What I also found interesting is that the Lion is unavailable in stores and is being sold as a download only. The Lion is being described as more modern than the old types of operating systems. How long will it be till the Lion is considered old??
Monday, July 18, 2011
Why IT Projects Fail
I just read an interesting White Paper written by Al NeimatTaimour that discusses the reason why IT proects fail. This paper states that studies continually show that companies have a lot of difficulty with IT projects. The main reasons that projects fail are; poor planning, unclear goals and objectives, objectives changing during the project, unrealistic resource estimates and time frames, lack of support from executives and lack of team communication as well is inadequate training and skills.
This paper also discusses ways in which managers can help reduce the percentages of projects failing. They can help projects to succeed by; adequate planning before the start of the project, attention to detail in completing tasks, calculate risk appropriately, have clear objectives, estimate time to complete by duration instead of time on task, executive support from management, address any reservations management may have about the project, design and implement the project through the users, use appropriate planning, communication and technology.
I think these suggestions are very logical. They are all based on using research, careful planning and providing the required support necessary for a successful project. These kinds of considerations could easily be applied to any type of project, building a house, planting a garden or starting a business. IT projects like any other project need to be approached with careful consideration, attention to detail and mapping out a plan.
This paper also discusses ways in which managers can help reduce the percentages of projects failing. They can help projects to succeed by; adequate planning before the start of the project, attention to detail in completing tasks, calculate risk appropriately, have clear objectives, estimate time to complete by duration instead of time on task, executive support from management, address any reservations management may have about the project, design and implement the project through the users, use appropriate planning, communication and technology.
I think these suggestions are very logical. They are all based on using research, careful planning and providing the required support necessary for a successful project. These kinds of considerations could easily be applied to any type of project, building a house, planting a garden or starting a business. IT projects like any other project need to be approached with careful consideration, attention to detail and mapping out a plan.
Friday, July 15, 2011
2011 Global Risk Management Study
Accenture's 2011 Global Risk Management Study indicates that executives are looking more and more to risk management to support long term sustainable growth and to head off critical risks. There is a better match up of the value chain, corporate governance and the structure of the business organization today than there was even just a few years ago. Businesses are spending more time and energy planning for risk management and it is being more closely integrated with businesses strategic planning and with a company's growth strategies.
Companies have to deal with an enormous spectrum when it comes to risks such as crime, reputation, regulation, natural disasters and supply chain operations. Information systems that are outdated make it difficult for companies to share information and in turn create more risk for a company. Businesses today should have in place a system that creates awareness of risk and also provides training on how to deal with these risks.
The majority of companies that responded to the survey felt that managing their risks helped to provide the company with a competitive advantage. In addition, 83% of the companies felt that their investments in risk management would continue to increase.
I believe that the world direction towards globalization dramatically increases the need for companies to take risk management seriously. The global markets have increased customer demand and created enormous industry changes. Developing a strategic plan for risk management and then integrating it into a company's business plan makes sense and leaves a company without such a plan at a competitive disadvantage.
Companies have to deal with an enormous spectrum when it comes to risks such as crime, reputation, regulation, natural disasters and supply chain operations. Information systems that are outdated make it difficult for companies to share information and in turn create more risk for a company. Businesses today should have in place a system that creates awareness of risk and also provides training on how to deal with these risks.
The majority of companies that responded to the survey felt that managing their risks helped to provide the company with a competitive advantage. In addition, 83% of the companies felt that their investments in risk management would continue to increase.
I believe that the world direction towards globalization dramatically increases the need for companies to take risk management seriously. The global markets have increased customer demand and created enormous industry changes. Developing a strategic plan for risk management and then integrating it into a company's business plan makes sense and leaves a company without such a plan at a competitive disadvantage.
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