Essay --

Toni Morrison's â€Å"The Bluest Eye† set in post-WWI, Lorain, Ohio, narrates the lives surrounding Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl who wishes to be beautiful. Influenced greatly by her relationship with her mother, Pauline, Pecola adapts to a world of unworthiness and unattainable expectations beauty. Their mother/daughter relationship is just one of many examples throughout the novel further pinpoint its related themes of self worth and ugliness, both physically and mentally. An analysis of the relationship between Pauline and Pecola Breedloves—their contributions and conflicts—is used to highlight the theme of which the author is trying to express. A relationship, such as one between a mother and daughter, should be the last thing to be described as hateful, disconnected, or troubled—only in the case of Pauline and Pecola Breedlove, it was just that. The two were as distant as could be achieved while living under the same roof, â€Å"adults do not talk to us—they give us directions. They issue orders without providing information† (10). Pecola was merely a maid in her own house, expected to preform the daily chores whilst her mother was at work. The distance was a creation of Pauline's, even long before the birth of her children. Several unfortunate events in Pauline's life lead her to immerse herself in a fictitious world where she strove to be part of the most beautiful race around—white. Pauline frequently visited picture shows that portrayed only white actors and actresses (not uncommon for the 1930's). â€Å"White men taking such good care of they woman, and they all dressed up in big clean h ouses with the bathtubs right in the same room with the toilet. Them pictures gave me a lot of pleasure, but it made coming home hard, and lo... ...y allowed her to believe that she was finally beautiful. In summation, the relationship between Pauline and Pecola Breedlove in Toni Morrison's â€Å"The Bluest Eye† is filled with angst, hate, and disapproval. As one of the most prominent relationships in the novel, it is simple to determine the influence Pauline had over Pecola. Pecola's mental downfall, caused by her mother's constant neglect, highlights the theme of nature of beauty. It is this subjective beauty that the novel focuses on. Pecola Breedlove's constant alienation and ridicule from the people around her slowly broke her down further. Her lack of Pauline as a mother figure and the reflection of her mother's own self-hatred, spirals Pecola into insanity. From Toni Morrison, it can be gathered that beauty, mentally and physically, is carefully critiqued in the world and is the basis for judgment of others.

How successfully does tourist industry in the Canaries add value? Essay

How successfully does tourist industry in the Canaries add value? To what extent is Maslow’s hierarchy is applied to motivate staff in Souvenir Palace? Souvenir Palace, a retail outlet company started in the year 1991 by Jose Ignacio. They are specialist sellers in Souvenirs. Apart from that, they have also started to sell cigarettes, tobacco and electronics. This decision was taken a couple of years back when the company was making success in the market by opening their shop no. 5 in the last 12 months. Now, they have more than 200 employees working in the company over different 40 department stores throughout the island of Gran Canaria which is located in Spain. Now in the future they are thinking of selling perfumes as well. One of the retail outlets of the Souvenir Palace company. The key factor behind the company’s success has been the huge amount of tourism industry that is located on the island. This been a huge fact on the success of the record sale of the year that the company made (1.6 million à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ – 250 million pesetas)1 in the year 2000. Not only, tourism has helped the company grow, the motivation strategies applied by Mr. Jose Ignacio has also helped them to gain a major market share than of their competitors. This competitive advantage of years has given them a good brand image because of their excellent service and relationship with customers. A major fact that approves that tourism has helped the company to grow is that before the September 11 attacks, many people used to travel and come to this beautiful island. That was the time when the record sales were made. After the September 11 attacks, sales have fallen dramatically.2 They have had a 40% decrease since then.3 This has really affected them, which has destroyed their future plan of selling perfumes. Now they are thinking of applying other strategies of improving their sales and improving their performance like they had before the September 11 attacks. Tourism was growing from the year 1995 till 2001, suddenly when those attacks occurred and there was a major decline in the tourism industry. This has affected the whole world. However, the company is still doing well, as Mr. Jose Ignacio tries to motivate their employees. Mr. Jose Ignacio believes in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He thinks that by referring to Maslow’s theory, you can motivate the employees better. First of all, he tries to provide them with the basic needs such as food and shelter. Then, he thinks of the further stages on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These are Security needs. He does this by providing them with permanent contracts, giving a good, friendly and healthy working condition. Then he would think of Esteem needs. This is done by team working, as this would help all of the employees become good colleagues having good relationship which could result to both, formal and informal communication within the company. Finally, he would decide to go for the self-actualisation, this means that he gives his employees higher responsibility than they normally have and to praise them for their job well done as they could feel good and also that the company needs them and they are a part of their organisation. However, there are limitations for promoting employees. These limitations are that not many people can be promoted, because the company doesn’t need so many higher levels of staff, so not many people can be promoted. Also, not much responsibility could be given to any employee, because each employee has only a particular task. We can also tell that the company is doing very well by making some simple comparisons between the different companies on the island. Reports show that souvenir Palace has done far better and kept ahead of the game.4 One way to show this is that they have kept expanding their business while others have been the same. Moreover, comparisons of balance sheets have been made by many business analysts on the island who have prepared their reports for the public interest. The other main factor that has been the key for the company has been the motivation strategies that have been applied by the CEO, Mr. Jose Ignacio. In the interview, he told me that, â€Å"It has been five years now that I have been using the democratic leadership style, which has helped me to come close to my employees and to know them better†5 Surely, this would help the employee to enjoy their stay at this company better. Another type of motivation strategy they he applies are giving the employees fringe benefits. These fringe benefits could be discounts on the company’s products, other non-monetary rewards such as small free products that are promoted by other companies for their sales, etc. â€Å"Pay is not the only way to motivate the employees. One of the main ways in order to motivate the employees is just by praising them or by recognizing them for a job well done.†6 This can make any employee feel better. Moreover, he has given his employees a job security by giving them permanent contracts. This means that employees know that they have a secured job. This is very important because short term contracts dominate the employment market on the Canary Isles as the local newspaper says â€Å"Contratos a corto plazo es la causa de desempleo en nuestras islas.†7 Mr. Jose Ignacio believes in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This hierarchy tells us that employees don’t get satisfied neither by the basic needs of food and shelter nor by the security needs. They need to reach to their full potential, which is the self-actualisation. To do this one should delegate more responsibilities to their managers. This makes the managers feel that they are a part of the company and the company needs them. They will also feel that Mr. Jose Ignacio believes in them. This good belief in each other could help to build a strong relationship between the staff at the company. In conclusion, I think that the key factors behind the company’s success have been the tourism in the island of Gran Canaria as well as the motivation strategies applied by Mr. Jose Ignacio. However, I think that the motivation factor dominates more than the tourism factor. This has been very noticeable after Mr. Jose Ignacio applied the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.    1 Taken from the company’s balance sheets. 2 Taken from articles of the magazine – â€Å"Newsweek†. 3 Made from the comparisons of the company’s annual balance sheets. 4 Reports from the business analysts on the island. 5 Taken from the interview with Mr. Jose Ignacio. 6 Taken from the interview with Mr. Jose Ignacio. 7 From an article in the local newspaper, â€Å"La Provincia†.

king a Look at Cancer - 970 Words

Cancer Cancer is a disease, caused by uncontrolled cell division to form a malignant growth or tumour in the body. There are three types of cancers: 1) Carcinomas: A cancer that affects the skin and the epithelial tissues lining certain organs and glands. It may spread to other parts of the body but generally stays in the cells where it started. 2) Sarcomas: A cancer that affects bone, cartilage and muscle tissue. 3) Leukemias: A cancer that affects the blood and lymphatic system. Leukemia usually starts in the white blood cells. The Liver The reason I chose to research liver cancer, was because both my Aunt and my Grandfather passed away due to liver cancer and it may be hereditary so it would be interesting for me to see what the main liver cancer causing agents are and how to lower the risk of getting it. Normal functions of the Liver: A healthy liver is the largest gland in the body. It has many functions which include storing vitamins and nutrients, producing proteins, creating bile for digestion and undergoing the process called Deanimation, which removes the nitrogen from the excess amino acids. The liver also breaks down alcohol, drugs, poisons, solvents and pesticides. It also makes cholesterol, converts excess glucose into glycogen and convert glycogen back into glucose if needed. Liver cancer Liver cancers are malignant tumours that grow inside or on the surface of the liver. They form from the liver or structures inside the liver, for example, bloodShow MoreRelatedPreventing Cervical Cancer through HPV Vaccinations Essay examples856 Words   |  4 Pages Cervical Cancer is the second most common cancer for women yet it is the most common cancer of the reproductive system. According to the CDC in 2010 11,818 women in the United States were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,939 women in the United States died from cervical cancer. 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After doing some research it was obvious that going to this tanning salon was the cause. You have just taken a glimpse into the life of Lisa Whitehead who shared her story to prevent something like this from happening to others.Read MoreSmoking Is The Single Largest Preventable Cause Of Death And Disease1151 Words   |  5 Pagesenvironment. First, they won’t get lung cancer. Smoking is one of the main causes of lung cancer. In the article, â€Å"Smoking Ranks as Most Deadly Reason for Lung Cancer,† Daily Patriot, a newspaper article, says, â€Å"Smoking is associated with about 90 percent of instances of lung cancer, and only about 15 percent of patients in Austria are able to be cured and the remainders average life expectancy is about 16.4 months despite advances in medicine†(ebscohost.com). Lung cancer is a deadly disease, and in someRead MoreDean Martin Was a Very Inspirational Person1231 Words   |  5 Pagesboxer tape for his hands, and a bruised body. 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The Racism Of South Park - 1441 Words

Popular television shows aids to heavily influence American audiences, perpetuating, and problematic ideas about homosexuality. Not all mainstream media adheres to traditional social ideas. South Park uses satire to deconstruct heteronormative views on homosexuality. Therefore, homosexuality is accepted more widespread through use of mainstream media. South Park is about four boys and their wild adventures, as they go through elementary school. The main characters are Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski. In an episode called ‘Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride’ South Park is explaining to the audience that we should accept homosexuality and that it is ok to be a homosexual. We should accept homosexuality homosexuals. Same as we accept heterosexuals, we need to dispel of old convictions. Old convictions that the heteronormative society believe about homosexuality. As in homosexuality is not natural and immortal. Marriage should be between a man and a women only. 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Media has even started making fun of religions by making jokes about the systems of beliefs of a religion and the people who follow those religions based on the negative stereotypesRead MoreRacism Is Funny, By Co Creator Of South Park, And The Simpsons Essay2038 Words   |  9 PagesReligion is Funny.† This line once said by co-creator of South Park Matt Stone has caused so much con troversy over the years about how we treat other cultures and religions that it has emerged to become a number one topic. Even though religion has been around for many year’s people still take their beliefs very seriously. Media has even start making fun of religions by making jokes about the systems of beliefs of a religion and the people that follow those religions based on the negative stereotypesRead MoreA Brief Note On Environmental Racism Of Los Angeles1623 Words   |  7 PagesMihaela D. 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An Examination Of Cloud Computing As A Proposed Technology...

An Examination of Cloud Computing As a Proposed Technology for Education This general scope of this paper is meant to analyze, compare, and synthesize a key emerging technology related to the communication and learning features of today’s classrooms. The paper examines a decisive area of emerging technology, that being cloud computing, and how learning and communications could be impacted in varied learning settings using this technology to set the context of this paper. The relationship between the advanced technology and education, and the role of the technology on effective knowledge acquisition and communication will be thoroughly examined. Additionally, a major component of this paper will include a breakdown of the views of relevant psychological theories and how the advanced technology reflects those psychological theories. Furthermore, the emergent feature of the advanced technology, will be investigated cloud computing, in regards to how it is a recognizable issue in view of the fact that the concept has been considerably deliberated in recent years. However its capabilities have not been wholly understood until recent. As a result there is great consequence in learning more about the existence and integration of cloud computing to appropriately support the characteristics and functionalities of it as an emerging technology in to education. As a result, numerous studies have been analyzed that investigate the benefits of using the particular technology, indicating,Show MoreRelatedPursuing A Master s Degree1971 Words   |  8 Pagesmotivated towards my goals and encouraged me to aim high in life. After a good deal of self-evaluation I have decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Computer Science in my areas of interest: â€Å"Artificial Intelligence† and â€Å"Distributed Systems (Cloud Computing)†. 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The Role Of Project Portfolio Management In Increasing The Effectiveness Free Essays

string(30) " performance of each project\." THE ROLE OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PROJECT PORTFOLIO Name Institution Date THE ROLE OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PROJECT PORTFOLIO Introduction The issue of whether project managers should adopt project portfolio management in the management of multiple projects or not has raised a lot of debates in organizations. It is evident that project managers find it difficult to manage multiple projects on their own without the help of project portfolio management which provides the capacity needed to effectively handle multiple projects. Some company executives insist that portfolio managers are not necessary and yet this not the case. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role Of Project Portfolio Management In Increasing The Effectiveness or any similar topic only for you Order Now Companies initiate multiple projects each and every day with high performance standards. Project managers do not have the capacity to coordinate and control multiple projects in a project portfolio without the help of project portfolio management (Mahajan 2009, p. 78). Project portfolio management is a new concept in project management that is yet to fully explored and utilized by many organizations. The effectiveness of a project portfolio can not be achieved without the expertise of a portfolio manager. The effectiveness of a project portfolio is very vital when an organization wants to meet its organizational and financial goals (Mahajan 2009, p. 134). Some project managers feel that their job is threatened with the introduction of project portfolio management. This is not the case because project portfolio management is only meant to complement the work of a project manager. This position paper will discuss why it is necessary for an organization to adopt project portfolio management when handling multiple projects. Project portfolio management plays a critical role in increasing the efficiency of a project portfolio. Background Information It is important to first of all have some background information about project portfolio management before discussing why it is necessary in increasing the effectiveness of a project portfolio (Levin 2010, p. 93). Project portfolio management introduces a new system in portfolio management where all the technologies, methods and processes used in the management of multiple projects are centralized in one place. Each project in a project portfolio has unique characteristics that are analyzed and collectively managed by the project portfolio management office. Effective allocation and tracking of resources meant for multiple projects is not an easy task but this can be done by a portfolio manager who has the capability and tools to come up with an effective framework for managing multiple resources (Brunel 2006, p. 28). Project portfolio management is very essential in project-driven organizations and this is attributed to the fact that inter-related tasks need to be managed in a centralized manner. Project execution and decision making are the segments of project management that require the capabilities provided by project portfolio management. Project portfolio management provides project managers with the required capabilities necessary to handle multiple projects. Project portfolio management offers simple and cheap strategies that are needed in the execution of multiple projects. Some of the most important capabilities brought about by project portfolio management include pipeline management, resource management, change control, financial management and finally risk management (Brunel 2006, p. 59). The capabilities brought by project portfolio management are very critical in increasing the efficiency of a project portfolio (Rad 2006, p. 9). The work of project managers becomes simple with the adoption of project portfolio management. Project portfolio management provides the best platform for project managers to carry out their duties with minimum risks (Rad 2006, p. 49). The importance of project portfolio management can only be understood in this discussion by looking at the efforts being put in place by organizations to ensure that the project portfolio management office does its best in the management of multiple projects. There is a concerted effort by organizations to increase awareness on the importance of project portfolio management because of the critical role that project portfolio management plays towards the success of an organization (Kevin 2006, p. 143). Many organizations are now focused on improving their project portfolio by putting in place the necessary structures to facilitate the learning process. In order for project portfolio management to serve its purpose, there are certain things that need to be improved. To begin with, any initial information about a project portfolio should be gathered and reported through the recommended procedure. Organizations can also improve their project portfolio management by coming up with clear goals and objectives to guide their projects (Kevin 2006, p. 143). It is important for portfolio managers to develop asset portfolios for optimum resource utilization. Asset portfolios are normally linked to the organizational and financial goals of a project to enhance consistency when it comes to project portfolio management. The resources to be used for multiple projects are identified as early as possible to enable portfolio managers to come up with effective strategies for maximum utilization of resources. An initial assessment of a project portfolio helps portfolio managers to correct some of the mistakes that can affect the overall performance of a project portfolio (Morris 2010, p. 45). Portfolio balance is another aspect that is given special attention in project portfolio management. Portfolio managers communicate their recommendations to the relevant departments within the organization on a regular basis. It is always a challenge to choose the right projects using the right methods and this requires a professional portfolio manager who can carry out the task satisfactorily (Morris 2010, p. 9). Portfolio managers come up with proactive measures that bring high returns at the lowest risk possible. Facts about the Role of Project Portfolio Management Project portfolio management brings out the business value of a project by putting in place results oriented strategies (Grobys 2009, p. 176). All projects within an organization are directed in the right way to guide an organization to wards executing the right projects. Each project has a significant impact on the portfolio and this makes it necessary for portfolio managers to monitor the performance of each project. You read "The Role Of Project Portfolio Management In Increasing The Effectiveness" in category "Essay examples" The overall success of a project portfolio depends on the contribution of all the projects within the portfolio. Portfolio managers determine whether a particular project is likely to have a negative impact on current and future projects (Grobys 2009, p. 176). It is necessary for portfolio managers to identify projects that depend on each other in advance in order for them to come up with the right strategies. Information overload is one thing that project portfolio managers avoid at all costs (Ibrahim 2011, p. 85). Portfolio managers work with the most important data as a way of avoiding onfusion. It is not easy to work on all projects and at the same time achieve the desired results. Project portfolio management was introduced to help organizations in handling multiple projects in an efficient manner. Each project has team leaders who constantly report to portfolio managers on a regular basis about the progress of individual projects. The process of evaluating projects is made effi cient by the right portfolio management systems (Brentani 2006, p. 109). The role of project portfolio management is to ensure that project portfolios achieve the expected results in the right way. Many organizations have discovered the importance of project portfolio management and that is the reason why new systems are being put in place to simplify the work of a project manager (Brentani 2006, p. 109). Project portfolio management software systems are chosen according to the objectives of a given organization. Project portfolio management software has important features that facilitate process evaluation, measurement of benefits and costs, progress reporting, capacity planning and the tracking of benefits. This system enables the company executives to make the right decisions when it comes to finances and business. An organization that is ready to adopt project portfolio management should have the characteristics necessary for effective utilization of the capabilities brought by project portfolio management (Brentani 2006, p. 110). A portfolio manager strictly follows and implements all kinds of standardization without any kind of bias (Moore 2009, p. 156). Project portfolio management improves processes as a way of enhancing the outcome of projects. Organizations should have processes that are properly defined for portfolio managers to have an easy time when they are trying to make improvements. Project portfolio management provides the necessary framework that helps an organization in managing change (Moore 2009, p. 34). Project Portfolio Management Discussion The issue of whether companies should adopt project portfolio management can only be discussed comprehensively by looking at both sides (Levin 2010, p. 93). According to the argument in this paper, project portfolio management is very vital when it comes to increasing the effectiveness of a project portfolio. To begin with, the failure of a project-oriented organization to adopt project portfolio management disconnects information technology with business (Brunel 2006, p. 9). Project portfolio management facilitates a closer alignment of information technology with business. Companies are able to get value for their massive investment in information technology because project portfolio management enables executives to monitor the entire project portfolio and decide on the viability of each project (Rad 2006, p. 49). T hrough project portfolio management, project managers can monitor the progress of multiple projects and ensure compliance with all specifications and standard. Project managers often face challenges when handling multiple projects without the help of project portfolio management because they can not receive detailed data on current and future projects. Organizations that are yet to adopt project portfolio management incur a lot of costs and at the same time experience a decrease in production (Rad 2006, p. 51). On the other hand, project portfolio management reduces costs and increases productivity through appropriate allocation of resources and asset reuse. Project portfolio management enables project managers to make business-based decisions that improve returns and minimize risks (Rad 2006, p. 1). Project managers who work without the help of project portfolio management find it difficult to predict the outcome of current and future projects. Project portfolio management helps project managers in the identification of inter-project dependencies and prediction of project outcomes (Morris 2010, p. 71). The status of multiple projects can b e assessed by project portfolio management assessment strategies (Morris 2010, p. 122). It is necessary to adopt project portfolio management if there is need for a company to improve the effectiveness of its project portfolio. Despite this assertion, there are some arguments that do not support the idea of having portfolio managers in managing multiple projects (Levin 2010, p. 93). The first counter-argument is based on the opinion that portfolio management is only critical in determining whether the expected efficiency will be achieved or not. Poor handling of project portfolio management can lead to a situation where the level of overhead exceeds the benefits. The other reason why some organizations are reluctant to adopt project portfolio management is because it brings a cultural shift. Project portfolio management comes with new roles, processes, and corporate relationships that may take a lot of time for members within the organization to adapt to the new culture (Brunel 2006, p. 28). Portfolio management introduces the aspect of change management for effective balancing of new personnel, technologies and processes. The introduction of project portfolio management in projects that are ongoing can kill the project momentum because a lot of training is needed to familiarize the workers with the new systems. The possibility of a cultural resistance is what scares many organizations from adopting project portfolio management. The other argument on why project portfolio management is not necessary is that the business value of a project can be delayed as a result of over-engineered projects (Brunel 2006, p. 59). It is also not a guarantee that project portfolio management can deliver the desired result when it is implemented for the first time. It takes a lot of effort for project portfolio managers to make things perfect during the initial stages. Trying to change everything at once is one of the reasons why project portfolio management can end up failing (Ibrahim 2011, p. 5). Gradual implementation of new tools, processes and roles for a group of projects under project portfolio management is necessary when an organization wants to increase the effectiveness of a project portfolio (Morris 2010, p. 71). The final argument on why project portfolio management is not necessary in increasing the effectiveness of a project portfolio is based on the fact that some very important projects can be excluded even af ter the organization has spent a lot of resources and time to work on them (Rad 2006, p. 9). Despite these numerous claims against project portfolio management, it is important for organizations to clearly understand the importance of project portfolio management when it comes to achieving both financial and organizational goals. Conclusion It is important to reiterate the fact that portfolio managers play a very significant role in increasing the efficiency of a project portfolio. Project portfolio managers have a responsibility of ensuring that an organization runs multiple projects in the best way possible. Project portfolio managers consolidate projects that have similar needs and characteristics for effective planning and reporting. Project portfolio management saves the leadership in organizations a lot of money and time because it provides the highest level of management when handling multiple projects. The project portfolio of an organization can be compromised easily when a project portfolio management system is not in place (Levin 2010, p. 119). Through project portfolio management, the executive is able to receive information about all the projects that are in progress without much struggle. Portfolio managers have special attributes that play a critical role in improving the processes and strategies when an organization is in the process of handling multiple projects. An organization that is yet to implement project portfolio management is bound to face financial and organizational challenges on a regular basis (Levin 2010, p. 119). Organizations that want to improve the performance of their projects and at the same time maintain operational and financial stability should consider project portfolio management. This is can done through setting up a project portfolio management office and hiring competent portfolio managers to assist project managers in handling multiple projects. References Brentani, C 2006, Portfolio management in practice, Butterworth-Heinemann, London. Brunel, J 2006, Integrated wealth management: The new direction for portfolio managers, Euromoney Books, London. Grobys, K 2009, Portfolio management, Books on Demand, New York. Ibrahim, N 2011, Project portfolio management in philanthropic organizations, GRIN Verlag, New York Kevin, S 2006, Portfolio management, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. , New York. Levin, G 2010, Interpersonal skills for portfolio, program, and project managers, Management Concepts Incorporated, London. Mahajan, A 2009, Portfolio Management: Theoretical and empirical studies, Global Indian Publications, New Delhi. Moore, S 2009, Strategic project portfolio management: Enabling a productive organization, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Morris, P 2010, The Wiley guide to project, program, and portfolio management, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Rad, P 2006, Project portfolio management: Tools and techniques, www. iil. com/Publishing, New York. How to cite The Role Of Project Portfolio Management In Increasing The Effectiveness, Essay examples

Nintendos Success free essay sample

You might laugh at a 12 year old when he claims his Pokemon game is serious business, yet you must admit that at Nintendo, games are serious business. Ever since 1975 when Nintendo made the significant key transition from a national playing card/small scale electronic toy company to an international video game company, its business has been blooming. From the earliest GameWatch in 1976 to the Gameboy in 1989, and the Nintendo DS in 2004, Nintendo generated one after another landmark product that won the hearts of millions of video game players all over the world (History of Nintendo. In 2006, the company introduced innovative Wii to the market, redefining the boundary of video games and opening a new channel for the company’s business. From a playing card company to a global video game producer that designs and manufactures the leading products in its sector, Nintendo has achieved success through strategic thinking. The combination of clear vision, solid purpose, efficient str ucture, creative leadership, and unique strategy paved the way for Nintendo to rise as one of the top three video game manufacturers. Nintendo creates values for its customers. For example, when a grade school child screams with joy upon receiving a Nintendo DS for Christmas or when the entire family sits in front of TV to play Wii baseball on a rainy Sunday, we have evidence that customers value Nintendo products. The company’s devotion to serve its customers is its strongest motivation to constantly renovate and design products that could fit better into the consumers’ life styles, hobbies, and budgets. Nintendo’s products are widely welcomed by consumers because the company knows consumers’ needs and wants and mobilizes its capital, human, and technological resource to make different dreams come true. The design of Wii perfectly exemplifies Nintendo’s consideration for its customers. The multi-part device is elegant, compact, lightweight, and energy efficient. Gamers can purchase different parts, such as the console, the remote, the nunchuk, or the balance board, according to individual needs. Wii is especially outstanding in is its design concept of family fun. This game theme contradicts the traditional parents’ view of video games, yet it is so urgently needed by the families that have little quality time to spend together nowadays. Wii brings families together to play sports, raise Pokemon, or even sing. The unique set up of the device invites multiple players and creates an atmosphere of bonding. On the other end of the market, Nintendo creates values for its business partners. The company’s extended branches of developers and transatlantic joint ventures are at the core of its value creation through partnership. The company parcels out the design and development of new product and new versions of existing products to multiple levels of developers around the globe. These developers are composed of smaller software design companies or individuals who do not have enough resource to stand strong alone in the vast industry. The partnership with Nintendo, the well-known video game producer, not only provides the developers with monetary support—crucial for the survival of small businesses—but also allows the developers opportunities to improve by accessing a wider range technology and resources. For example, iQue, Limited, is a Chinese joint venture with Nintendo. iQue manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market under the iQue brand. With the support of Nintendo, Wei Yen, iQue’s founder, has also able to design and produce the company’s own first product, iQue (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. ) Nintendo’s effectiveness in continuously creating value for its customers and business partners is based on its delicately structured business model. The company is now a multinational corporation with multiple principal offices and distribution centers in North America, Oceania, Europe, Africa, and its home Asia (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. While the Japanese headquarter serves as the control center of the company, monitoring sales, planning budgets, analyzing the market trend, and evaluating the overall performance, Nintendo distributes the job of product design and manufacture into many smaller that specialize in software design, computer programming, or CPU manufacturing. Instead of trying to perform every step in the production process alone, Nintendo wisely chooses to build solid and long lasting partnerships that will allow the firm to reduce the cost of building design studios or manufacturing plants but still produce the high quality products. For instance, its famous developer Monolith Soft, that also worked with Nintendo’s rival, Sony, to develop PlayStation 2, delivers top selling games for Nintendo DS and Wii (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. ) The keys in its successful partnership are trust, degrees of freedom, and quality control. The company strictly controls the licensing process before it works with the development studios; yet once it builds the partnership, Nintendo encourages creativity from its developers and allows much freedom for the studios to design software that reveals their own concepts and ideologies. The company follows the same rule for the manufacturers. Nintendo takes great amount of effort to research top manufacturers. IBM and ATI, two of the best from the business, produce cutting-edge CPUs of Wii (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. ) To ensure the integrity of the products, Nintendo not only controls the quality, but also instills its own values and regulations into the production process. As a result, the products designed and produced by different partners carry the essence and spirit of Nintendo’s corporate culture. Nevertheless, Nintendo was not always as successful as it is today. Founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo started as a small Japanese playing card business based in Kyoto. The company produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. In 1956, a visit to the U. S. Playing Card Company reminded Hiroshi Yamauchi, the grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, about the limitation of the playing card business. The insight led to Nintendo’s disastrous venture into a taxi company and even a â€Å"love hotel† chain, a TV network and a food company. The fragmentation of its capital in new business venture along with the decrease in sale of playing cards caused the downfall of the company. Fortunately, the turning point came in the 1970s when Hiroshi Yamauchi wisely re-determined the direction of the company and successfully transformed it into an electronics/technology company (Nintendo. Company History. ) In 1970, Nintendo’s stock listing moved to the first section of the Osaka Securities Exchange. In 1980, Nintendo entered the North American market and established its first oversea subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc. trading on pink sheets with the ticker symbol NTDOY (Nintendo Database. ) Since its enterance of the electronic era in 1975, Nintendo’s development speeded immensely as a result of the popular game console Gameboy series. As the company gathers more and more capital from its booming sales, it expands into global market with approximately 20 major offices and distribution centers in five continents. The structure of the company greatly changed from a small firm that designs, produces, and markets its own products to a complex corporation that operates on different levels and divisions with centralized power. Nintendo owns and works with more than a hundred internal and outside first, second, and third party design studios in product development. Internally, its Research and Development is composed of three branches: Nintendo Technology Development, Nintendo Integrated Research and Development, and Nintendo Technology and Engineering. The company’s Sales and Market Research Department is empowered by professional market researchers such as HFI Inc, NES Merchandising Inc, NHR Inc. , as well as its own Nintendo Research, Inc. (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. With such a powerful and complete engine that generates new market trends, sales, and technologies, the company is able to gather sufficient amount of information that is crucial in the decision-making process. To lead this organization that has great complexity and various areas of specialty, Nintendo’s leadership team is composed of competent leaders whose intelligence and personalities have left legacies of sound practice and good stewardships for the company. The legendary CEO, Hiroshi Yamauchi, took the position in 1949 and remained the head of the company for more than half a century. He took Nintendo through major transitions in the 70s and established the company as the top three video game producers around the globe. In 2002, the former CEO broke the historical inheritance of the company and passed the torch to Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s first CEO outside the Yamauchi family. Two other major officials, Masaharu Matsumoto, the Managing Director in the General Manager and Finance and Information Systems Division, and Eiichi Suzuki, the Managing Director; in the General Manager and General Affairs Division serve as the left and right hands of the CEO, aiding him in human resource management and product distribution. Under this leadership team, Nintendo merged all software designers under the EAD (Entertainment Analysis Development) division and renovated internal development divisions into five groups: Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo Integrated Research Development, Nintendo Software Production Development, and Nintendo Technology Development (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. Working as a software designer for Nintendo for years before taking the challenging CEO position, Iwata has the insight of venturing into new avenue in video the game industry and greatly contributed to the design concept of Wii—Nintendo’s landmark product in the present market (Nintendo Database. ) The invention of Wii is the best example of Nintendo’s business strategy. This innovative game console is a major breakthrough of this sector because it turns over the traditional assumptions about video games as sedentary and visual and seamlessly connects physical activities and inter-personal bonding in one game. While the traditional video games try to appeal to visual elements by enhancing the pixels and 3D motion quality, Wii focus on move the gamers from emotional level. Nintendo focuses on the consumer’s feeling rather than its product. Wii does not equal to video games; Wii aims at the fun consumers enjoy while they play (Kjerulf. ) Thus by setting Wii apart from the traditional consoles, Nintendo is competing on completely different terms than Sony and Microsoft. Wii doesn’t intend to be a best-of-breed videogame console: Wii is cheap, has no Hard Disk, no DVD, no Dolby 5. , weak connectivity, comparatively low processor speed, but blows minds away with its innovative motion control nunchuk. The nunchuk integrates the movements of a player directly into the video game. With this feature Nintendo opens up the game console world to a completely new public of untapped non-gamers (Kjerulf. ) Such strategy of making competition irrelevant, in Wii’s case deviating attent ion from the core group of consumers to attract non-core video game players and possibly a lot more first-timers, is referred as Blue-Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in their book Blue Ocean Strategy (Nintendo’s Blue Ocean Strategy. ) While Microsofts Xbox and Sonys PS3 are fighting each other fiercly in a red ocean, the existing market, Nintendos Wii is calmly sailing in the blue ocean it created for itself. As for year 2008, Nintendo outcompetes its rivals Sony (PS3) and Microsoft (Xbox) Nintendos unit sales of 720,000 Wiis are followed in descending order by Nintendos DS platform with 698,000 units; Sonys PSP with 297,000 units; Microsofts Xbox 360 with 262,000; and Sonys PS3 with 257,000 (Emigh. Although Nintendo clearly understands the 80-20 rules in business, it dares to explore new possibilities of money-making by shifting the design concept and marketing strategy. While the main group of consumers, that is the 80% of revenue source and 20% of all its consumers, still consists of children, teenagers, and young adults who have always been active buyers in video game market, Nintendo challenges this rule b y designing and marketing Wii. The result is clear to all now: Nintendo not only successfully expands its revenue sources but also broadens the avenue for future development. In the years to come, the success story of Wii will continuously serves as an inspiration to Nintendo—a company that encourages creativity and innovation, welcomes changes and fresh blood, and focuses on people rather than tools or technologies. Innovation is big in Nintendo. In the next five to ten years, the company will consistently seek new angles and technologies in video game development including online gaming, while keeping expanding the existing trade marks such as Gameboy, Nintendo DS, and Wii (Gogia. With the mission to be â€Å"strongly committed to producing and marketing the best products and support services available,† Nintendo believes it is essential to provide products of the highest quality and to treat every customer with attention, consideration and respect (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. ) It will continuously put people first by listening closely to its customers and by constantly improving its products and services. The guiding concept of â€Å"focus on people† in the mission statement is not only revealed by its promise to all its customers to provide the best possible products and customer services, it is also revealed by its goals and visions toward its employees. As stated in their mission statement for the employees, Nintendo feels â€Å"an equal commitment toward its employees† and believes â€Å"in treating our employees with the same consideration and respect that it, as a company, shows its customers† (Nintendo. 008 Annual Report. ) The company aims to maintain an atmosphere in which talented individuals can work together as a team. Because commitment and enthusiasm are crucial to the high quality of its products, Nintendo holds high expectations for its employees to devote to the company and work with passion. Nevertheless, employees enjoy freedom of creativity and individuality, have large room for personal development, and are encouraged to propose innovative ide as. Besides the positive environment it creates for its employees, Nintendo spends efforts in building its unique corporation culture which gradually distinguishes itself from other companies in the industry. For example, outside the world of video games, Nintendo owns Seattle Mariners, an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (Nintendo. 2008 Annual Report. ) As baseball is the national sports in Japan, Nintendo’s ownership of a major U. S. baseball league shows people its love for the sport and builds up a human-like characteristic of the company that makes it closer to its consumers and employees. The company also strives to be a good corporate citizen of the community. Not only it concerns with its own profit, but also it cares about its customers and the environment. It protects the environment by designing energy-efficient game tools, such as Wii, while it helps its customers live a healthier life by introducing physical motions. The demanding yet encouraging atmosphere and the vivid and deeply implanted corporate culture become the reasons that Nintendo ranks high in its employees’ heart and in the community’s mind. As a result of continuing executing its strategy of expanding the gaming audience by offering a variety of products which satisfy both novice as well as skilled gamers over the past years, Nintendo has achieved record results in both net sales and income. Net sales were 1,672. 4 billion yen (US$16,724 million) increased by 73. 0 percent from the previous fiscal year, operating income was 487. 2 billion yen (US$4,872 million) increased by 115. 6 percent from the previous fiscal year, ordinary income was 440. 8 billion yen (US$4,408 million) increased by 52. percent from the previous fiscal year, and net income was 257. 3 billion yen (US$2,573 million) increased by 47. 7 percent from the previous fiscal year (Nintendo. Annual Financial Report. ) In FY 2008, the total revenue for FY 2008 is $1,672,423 (Nintendo Co. Ltd. Financial Times. ) An investor should definitely consider Nintendo as a profitable bet, because its clear focus and intuitive vision promise its bright future. In fact, the general market trend of video game industry is positive in the next decade. Even in a tough economy, the US market for video game hardware, software, and accessories soared 57% from March 2007, reaching a total sale of $1. 7 billion milestone in March 2008 (Emigh. ) Driven by expansion of software sales, a growing installed base of the new generation of console hardware as well as favorable handheld hardware sales over the past year, the market is projected to continuously grow. What makes the video game sector remain viable in a downward economy might be caused by â€Å"a shift in preferences for expenditures of consumer dollars as attributed by Groups David Riley. However, what makes Nintendo stand out among its competitors in today’s market is its solid concept of focusing on people, in other words, to think outside-in of what products and service consumers want and its intuitive way of thinking outside the box, as trite as it might sounds. These two factors along with its strong partnership with affiliated companies, its efficient business model, its organized structure, and its charismatic leadership and corporate culture ensure the company a promising outlook.