Inter Firm Relationships In The Silicon Fen Economics Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6329 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The attention that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clustersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ have received from policy makers and academics has substantially increased in the last 20 years. Since Porter ´s seminal work on The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) presented à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clustersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ as one of the determinants of the international competitiveness of nations and regions, many scholars have adopted and further developed his approach. Porter bases his arguments on what he describes as the globalization paradox, pointing out that despite the logical implications that the globalisation process might have in dismissing the relevance of regional factors, the most competitive firms in world are located in groups geographically concentrated in specific locations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Inter Firm Relationships In The Silicon Fen Economics Essay" essay for you Create order That perspective contributed to attracting attention to the existence of characteristics tied to a local context that could not be accessed by firms positioned elsewhere, and more, to the positive effects that the concentration and the geographic proximity could exert on the firm ´s competitiveness. However influential, Porter ´s ideas were not the precursor to discussing the competitive outcomes originating from the geographic concentration of firms (Martin and Sunley, 2003). The roots of cluster theory go back to the industrial districts identified by Marshall (1890), who offered the first detailed description about the economic and social systems created as a result of the spacial concentrations of industrial activities. The Marshallian industrial districts were arrangements of small firms interconnected by commercial operations (buyers and sellers) and other firms engaged in the same or similar activities, that shared productive factors, such as the labour market, infrastructure and tacit knowledge (Becattini, 2004, p. 68). According to Marshalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s descriptions, a group of firms operating in one specific sector within a well-defined, concentrated and relatively small geographic area would experience higher levels of productivity and innovation, indeed t he emergence of a fertile environment for technical and organisational developments. Thus the local characteristics would enable the emergence of an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"industrial atmosphereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ that would increase the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ potential to acquire (especially tacit) knowledge, and create positive external economies accessible only to the firms located within the district (Asheim, 2003, p. 416). That perspective tried to evidence that firms geographically concentrated could accesses restricted positive exogenous benefits (exogenous to firms, but endogenous to the district), which would be an alternative to the scale economies achieved by a single (integrated) firm. Additionally, following some of the seminal ideas proposed by Marshall, it is possible to observe a significant number of economic geographers that also explored regional development using the spatial economic agglomeration to support their ideas. Some examples of concepts emerging from that theoretical trend are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"regional innovation milieuxà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Crevoisier, 2004), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"neo-Marshallian nodesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Amin and Thrift, 1992) and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"learning regionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Asheim, 1995). More examples can be found in Markusen (1996, p. 297), in which another three different types of industrial districts are described according to the firms configurations, internal versus external orientations and governance structures: a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hub-and-spoke industrial districtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, which is concentrated around one or more dominant firms; a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"satellite platformà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, formed by a group of unconnected br anches embedded in external links; and the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"state-anchored districtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, concentrated on one or more public-sector institutions. Despite the logical and robust assumptions found in many of those concepts, their influence and dissemination were not as successful as the more general cluster framework proposed by Porter. Martin and Sunley (2003) attributes the successful dissemination of the Porterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ concepts to the very general descriptions and delimitations that encompass a wide range of actors and many different structures. Following much of the concepts proposed by Porter, the description of advantages conferred on clustered firms associated with a general and structured analytical framework stimulated the development and dissemination of academic studies and subsidized the creation of supply-side competitiveness policies directed at structuring and supporting the development of clusters (Pitelis, 2010). That fact resulted in what Martin and Sunley (2003) describe as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"policy panaceaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the use of clusters as a standard (sometimes the unique) target for promoting competitiveness, innovation and economic growth. Moreover, in the last 20 years an increasing number of empirical studies in different countries and sectors have been observed, which aim to identify and discuss the competitive outcomes originating from the concentration of firms and other actors in the same location, for example: Brazil à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" shoe manufacturing in the Sinos Valley (Schmitz, 2000); Spain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the textile and clothing industries in Catalonia (Porter, 1998); Taiwan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" electronic products at the Hsinchu Science Park (Chen, 2008); and the United States à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" computer and information systems at the Silicon Valley (Saxenian, 1994). The large significant number of academic studies has resulted in a large number of definitions aiming to describe and establish an accepted cluster à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"templateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (e.g., Enright, 1996; Swann and Prevezer, 1996, Rosenfeld, 1997; Porter, 1998) to support policy makers and academics has led to intense debates and controversial perspectives. Even though the concept of clusters has been increasingly widely disseminated and used by geographers, economists and policy makers, it has suffered from some conceptual confusion. Porter defines a cluster as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"geographic concentration of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers firms in related industries, and associated institutions (for example, universities, standards agencies and trade associations) in particular fields that compete but also co-operateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (1998, p. 197). However, Martin and Sunley (2003, p. 12) present consistent arguments that indicate the vaguen ess and superficiality of the concept proposed by Porter. According to their arguments, those characteristics make the concept of cluster means different things to different researchers and policy makers, creating problems for its proper use in the guidance of academics and governments. Those highly controversial aspects of the cluster theory have stimulated the continuous emergence of new concepts and definitions for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clustersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Proposing a definition aiming to fill some of the gaps and failures found in extant cluster theory, Pitelis (2010, p. 5) defines clusters as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"geographical agglomerations of firms in particular, related, and/or complementary, activities, with a geographical dimension, that exhibit horizontal and/or vertical intra- and/or inter-sectoral linkages, which operate in the context of a facilitatory socio-institutional setting, and which co-operate and compete (co-opete) in inter-national marketsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. That definition tries offer to a more delimited approach that incorporates four major elements: geographical agglomeration, linkages, social-capital[1]and co-opetition (competition and cooperation). The use of those four elements in a single definition offers the possibility to cover the cluster characteristics using delimited criteria to identify and distinguish developed clusters from less complex geographical agglomerations of firms and institutions. Although it is possible to observe some level of ambiguity encompassing the clusterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s theory, the existence of links interconnecting local actors complemented by geographical dimensions constitute some of the main common points used to guide academics and policy makers with interesting by the competitive outcomes originating from clusters. Those characteristics have frequently been used as the starting point to understand the economic dynamics of clustered firms, putting emphasis on the levels of innovation and productivity emerging from the concentration of different actors in the same area. Suggesting conditional characteristics to the presence of competitive advantages obtained by firms inside clusters, Ketels (2004) considers that the positive economic effects originated from the geographical concentration will only take place if four critical characteristics are shared among firms and institutions: Proximity: they must be geographically close to allow the emergence of knowledge spillovers and to share the same common resources; Linkages: the necessity of similarities in their activities leading to the establishment of connections and synergies; Interactions: the social interactions developed among firms, clients, suppliers, research institutes, and so on, is what forms the social capital that becomes possible firms to achieve differentiated competitive performances; Critical mass: it is important to have a significant number of firms and institutions in order to create meaningful impacts on performance of the local actors. Those characteristics described by Ketels may be used to guide the identification and distinction between à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"developed clustersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Pitelis, 2010) from à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"incipient clustersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Schmitz, 1999) in order to dismiss some incorrect interpretations associated with the clusters dynamics. Considering that the presence of geographic concentration of firms in the same industry is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"strikingly common around the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Porter, 1990, p.120), it is necessary the use of specific benchmarks to distinguish and classify different groups of firms geographically concentrated according to their specific characteristics (Gordon and McCann, 2000; Isbasoiu, 2006). Describing how the existence of local capabilities[2]create differentiated conditions for companies within à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ clusters, Menzel and Fornahl (2010) argue that clusters are essentially formed from path dependencies (Martin and Sunley, 2006), transaction costs economies (McCann and Sheppard, 2003) and small cognitive distances originating from spatial proximity (Maskell, 2001). Thus, that set of factors are expected to create a specific regional dynamics with influence on the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economic performance. Taking into consideration the different stages of a cluster life cycle, and the misunderstandings related to the claims associated with the clusters and competitiveness, Schmitz points out that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"A group of small producers making the same or similar things in close vicinity to each other constitutes a cluster, but such concentration in itself brings few benefitsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (1999, p. 4), emphasizing that the mere pres ence of firms in a delimited area does not represent a source of value creation able to improve in a significant way the local economic performance. Following the arguments above, the differences between regional clusters and simple agglomerations (groups of firms) lie mainly on the interconnected nature and spatial proximity. Thus, clusters are characterized by intense collaborative networks and concentrations of collaboration and competition (co-opetitition) (Pitelis, 2010), conditions which offer significant opportunities and stimulate the emergence of regional competitive advantages (Steinle and Schiele, 2002). Complementarily, another critical characteristic observed within clusters is the diversity of actors. According to Porter (1990, 1998, 2000), an industrial cluster includes suppliers, consumers, related industries, governments, and supporting institutions such as universities. This way, the existence of a regional network formed by a significant group of interconnected local actors is one of the critical factors to understand the differentiated competitive performance of firms within clusters (Steinle and Schiele, 2002 ). Illustrating that argument, Saxenian (1994) observed that Hewlett Packard and other firms at the Silicon Valley had their performance improved by the development long-term partnerships with suppliers located geographically close. Moreover, based on that observation, Saxenian concluded that, especially in high-tech industries, the physical proximity represents a facilitator to the establishment of efficient collaborative arrangements required to create and manage complex products and services. 1.2 Evolutionary Stages of Industrial Clusters Despite the vast cluster literature, the number of academic works discussing the evolutionary patterns of clusters overtime is not so extensive. Some examples can be found in Pouder and John (1996), Klepper (2001, 2007), Wolter (2003) and Andersson et al., (2004), and despite the divergent perspectives, it is accepted that clusters follow a kind of life cycle comprised by different phases that significantly differ in their characteristics and influence on firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance. Regarding the cluster dynamics, Pouder and John (1996) argue that comparative analysis between clustered and non-clustered firms during the industry life cycle reveal that firms within clusters outperform those geographically dispersed at the initial stages of development, and have a worse performance at its end. That fact suggests that the cluster life cycle is not just a local representation of the industry trajectory, but is a result from local peculiarities. The comparative analysis developed by Saxenian (1994) between the computer industry in Boston and Silicon Valley illustrates how different clusters belonging to the same industry are very likely to follow different trajectories (Menzel and Fornahl, 2010). Proposing a different perspective, Klepper (2001, 2007) suggests a model to demonstrate how the clusterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s life cycle is determined by some the industry patterns. Klepper analyzed the automobile, tire and television industries and observed that at the beginning of the industry life cycle it was not possible to observe clear geographic concentrations of firms, with most of the firms spatially dispersed. He observed that in those industries clusters started to emerge and develop according to the industry growth rates. Klepper argues that the local characteristics originating from the spacial proximity (e.g., intensive spin-off process) give the stimulus for the geographic agglomeration of the whole industry, not only for specific groups. At the time the industry growth rate reduces, the attractiveness to remain agglomerated will also decrease and the industry will become dispersed again. That model proposed by Klepper represents a Technology-Product- Industry (TIP) life cycle. The logic behind this model is on the impact that the evolution of products and innovations has on the size, number, and location of firms. Wolter (2003) criticizes the model proposed by Klepper arguing that the growth rate cannot explain the agglomeration process in all industries on equal basis. Moreover, Wolter disagrees with the determinist perspective proposed by the TIP model, once it neglects that mature industries can be reinvented by radical or incremental innovations of new products and process. Analyzing the economic performance of firms within clusters Pouder and John (1996) attribute to the existence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"mental modelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and biased cognitive focus the characteristics responsible for shaping the movement through the clusterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s life cycle. Following that perspective, at initial stages the cluster dynamics creates an innovative environment that exerts positive impacts on the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance. However, overtime that initial condition is eroded by strong institutional pressures that create a homogeneous macroculture that acts inhibiting the innovative capacity of the firms within the cluster. As in the model presented by Klepper (2001, 2007), that trajectory proposed by Pouder and John may also be criticized by the determinism that ignores the possibility of adaptations or reconfigurations in order to avoid lock-ins and other negative effects. Considering the arguments proposed by Menzel and Fornahl (2010, p. 8) that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"very few clusters follow a rigid life cycle from emergence to growth and declineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, it is expected that clusters evolve overtime according to the local dynamics created by economic and social interactions among firms and institutions. That dynamics may be influenced, but not strictly determined by industry patterns (Wolter, 2003). Following a generic and stylized trajectory, within successful clusters the local network formed by inter-firm connections will tend to be intensified overtime, with an increasing number of formal and informal interactions between the long-established companies and new the ones attracted to the cluster. Even though it is more conceivable to assume that the decisions adopted by firms and institutions are shaped by specific circumstances, a generic trajectory can be described following the stages illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1: The cluster life cycle C:UsersLucasAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordSem tÃÆ' ­tulo.jpg Source: Andersson et al. (2004, p. 43) Agglomeration: It is possible to observe the existence of a number of companies and other actors (e.g. banks, government agencies, universities, accountants, and lawyerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offices) in a specific region working around the same or interrelated activities. Emerging cluster: Forming the embryo to the cluster some actors start to cooperation around some core activities, and start to realize the existence of common linkages. Developing cluster: The linkages are intensified by the emergence and attraction of new actors to the region, resulting in the creation of more interaction. In this context the development of inter-firm-cooperation becomes more evident through the development of joint efforts. The Mature cluster: This stage is configured by the presence of a certain critical mass of factors that consistently influence the competitive performance of the firms inside the cluster. The internal dynamics is characterized by the presence of an institutional environment, strong linkages, complementarities and the emergence of new firms through startups, joint ventures and spin-offs. Transformation: Indeed the process of continuous environmental change in markets, technologies, regulations and other process, to be successful a cluster have to innovate and adapt to these new conditions, other way stagnation and decay may affect the cluster dynamics. That process of change/adaptation may happen through the emergence of one or several interconnected clusters with focus in other activities, or by new configuration in terms of networks of firms and institutions. The presence of economic benefits for clustered firms described by authors like Schmitz and Nadvi (1999), Ketels (2004), Isbasoiu (2006) and Pitelis and Pseiridis (2006) are closely related to the stage of development that a cluster is experiencing. For example, an emerging cluster is not actually a cluster, since the small number of firms is not expected to present a high level of linkages and do not form a critical mass. Moreover, the absence of strong interdependencies such as labour mobility, spin-off, socioeconomic networks and intense exchange of good and services prevent the emergence of local capabilities. Thus, same considering that this stage constitutes the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"embryoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ that determines the future cluster orientation, at this point the firms are not expected to be strongly influenced by a complex local dynamics. Observing that fact, Menzel and Fornahl (2010) present a skeptical position regarding the effectiveness of any competitiveness policy intended to stimulate the development of clusters at initial stages (agglomeration and emerging), since the existence of horizontal and vertical links among firms concentrated in the same region constitutes a very common fact around the world. Thus, it is almost impossible to distinguish agglomerations with real potential to become a cluster from less complex structures. Consequently, emerging clusters are almost always only described ex-post. After the initial stages of the clusters life cycle it is expected the development and intensification of interdependencies between firms within cluster boundaries (Press, 2006). Indeed the development of those interdependencies, firms start to resemble more with each other, being observe the emergence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"convergent designsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in terms of technological models (Menzel and Fornahl, 2010), specialized labour market (Cooke et al., 2007), production systems (Pitelis, 2010) and inter-firm relationships (Blien and Maier, 2008). Moreover, developing clusters also attract a high number of start-ups that act stimulating the intensification of intra-cluster relationships. This way, that process of convergence and expansion of the number of firms within the cluster boundaries culminates in the development of self-reinforcing external economies that decrease the heterogeneity among firms at the same time that creates benefits like transactions cost economies and the privileged access to local knowledge. As clusters reach the stage of maturity, the standards and configurations originating from past decisions become consolidate and it is observed a reduction in the growth rate of firms attracted to the cluster (Klepper, 2007). At this point the cluster trajectory may take two different directions. Keep unchanged, and suffer with a homogenization process that creates bias economic activities and therefore prevent firms to adapt to external shocks (Menzel and Fornahl, 2010). That situation traps firms in previous successful development path and lead to the geographic dispersion of the local actors and to the deterioration of the interdependencies and capabilities. The other possible trajectory is observed in clusters that reach the stage of maturity and successfully sustain the local dynamics by a continuous process of reconfiguration and adaptation to the external shocks (Wolter, 2003). 1.2 Clusters and Economic Performance The extant theory offers a wide range of explanations to justify the economic and competitive benefits experienced by firms located within clusters. Krugman (1991) stress the existence of increasing returns originating from the concentration of firms in the same area, arguing that the geographic proximity puts together the main parts related to firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s activities (e.g., labours, firms, suppliers and costumers) resulting in transaction costs economies. Following other perspective, Schmitz and Nadvi (1999) argue that unintentional external economies are not sufficient to explain the competitiveness of firms located within clusters, attributing to the existence of deliberate joint actions (e.g., sharing equipments, associations, strategic alliances and producers improving components) a critical source of the competitive advantages. Pitelis and Pseiridis (2006) explain the levels of competitiveness and productivity associated with clustered firms considering the existence of specialized human resources, infrastructure and befits associated with unit costs economies complemented by the presence of an institutional atmosphere. Stressing a different point of view, Bahlmann and Huysman (2008) adopts the knowledge-based view of clusters to emphasize the relevance of knowledge spillovers among the firms to explain the advantages originated from the agglomeration process. Dupuy and Torre (2006) explains the existence of cluster in terms of the advantages originating from trust relationships that increase confidence and reduce risk and uncertainty about the intra-cluster operations taking place among the firms. Moreover, Zyglidopoulos et al. (2003), describe the positive effects that the reputation of a cluster may exert on the internalization process of small and micro enterprises through the alleviation of strategic constraints associated with factors like qualified work force, financing and reduction of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s legitimation expenses. Despite that wide range of arguments, the most traditional perspective found in the cluster literature has explained the competitive advantages of clusters in terms of productivity and innovation (Pitelis, 1998; Porter, 1998), suggesting that the special characteristics originated from the economic and geographic proximity have significant impact on those two factors. Supplementary, Enright (1998) considers that the characteristics present inside the clusterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s local environment result in pressures, incentives and capabilities that increase the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ competitiveness comparatively to dispersed competitors, explaining the clustering process in terms of geographically restricted characteristics. Moreover, Solvell et al. (2003) suggests that the competitive advantages emerging from regional clusters may be classified as static and dynamics. According to this perspective, while the agglomeration process triggered and sustained intensively or exclusively by factors like natural resources, low cost labors and government subsidies offers a vulnerable (easy to be copied, substituted or simple eroded by environmental changes) competitive position, clusters based on dynamics characteristics like multi-sectorial externalities, advantages of scale and scope and specific knowledge spillovers are more dynamics and competitive. Extending the arguments presented by Solvell and his colleagues, Andersson et al. (2004) considers that the sustainability of static and dynamic competitive advantages is not strictly determined, arguing that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"staticà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ factors are the main responsible for the emergence of clusters, while the dynamics factors are only developed along t he different stages of the cluster life cycle. Complementing the understanding about the influence of the cluster dynamics on the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ economic performance some authors like Porter (2001); Garnsey and Heffernan (2007); Karlsson (2008) and Mason (2008) describe the existence of a self-reinforcing process originating from the agglomeration externalities that contribute to create a regional virtuous-circle of increasing productivity, competitiveness and value creation. Following that argument, the economic and geographic proximity will stimulate firms to innovate more indeed benefits originating from local capabilities, which will stimulate even more the agglomeration process through the intensification of inter-firm relationships and the attraction of other firms from outside the cluster, which in turn will strength the local capabilities (Blandy, 2003, p. 101). Thus, the dynamics of clusters is expected to be self-reinforced by agglomeration benefits with significant influence on the firm ´s performance. Putting together the arguments associated with the economic impacts experienced by clustered firms indeed the existence of local factors, it is possible to identify and describe the following positive location-specific externalities: Cost savings indeed the geographic proximity with specialized suppliers, labours and distributors; Knowledge-spillovers (intentional and unintentional), since firms inside clusters can benefit from the knowledge dissemination process that may take place especially through inter-firm cooperation, specific linkages and labour mobility; Deliberate joint actions facilitated by the engagement in alliances and partnerships to achieve strategic objectives; Trust relationships, that through the geographic and economic proximity minimize the uncertainty associated with commercial operations, resulting in transactions costs economies; Pressures for higher performance, stimulated by the proximity with competitors; Specific Infrastructure and public goods that are oriented to attend the cluster demands, like roads, ports, laboratories and telecommunication networks; Complementarities, associated with firms in different activities but sharing common factors like raw material, clients and technologies that may enhance the cluster efficiency as whole. Discussing the role of regional clusters in shaping competitive patterns, Tallman et al. (2004) proposes a distinction between the types of competitive advantages emerging from clustered firms: based on traded interdependencies and based on untraded interdependencies. The concept of traded interdependencies is related to the existence of inter-firm transactions inside the cluster, and is observed in formal exchange operations that may take place in form of alliances, commercial operations and acquisitions. On the other hand, untraded interdependencies are related to less tangible effects, and are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"based on shared knowledge for which no market mechanism exists; with no formal exchange of value for valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Tallman et al. 2004, p. 261). To illustrate the mechanisms by which the untraded interdependencies take place, it is possible to mention unintentional external economies associated with tacit knowledge shared through mechanisms like labor mobility. Those different types of interdependencies, especially untraded, present at the cluster level, represent a source of competitive advantage that is likely to be causal ambiguous (for firms inside and outside the cluster) and high complex in terms of their origins, what consequently constitutes attributes difficult to be replicated by competitors. However, the presence of untraded effects, especially unintentional knowledge spillovers, is viewed Enright (1998) as a constraining factor for firms within clusters, since the establishment of an efficient information flow may limit the firm ´s capacity to obtain monopoly profits from the development of innovations. Complementing the negative effects originating from the clusters dynamics, some authors also describe agglomeration diseconomies that have a negative impact firms located within clusters. For example, congestion effects (Arthur, 1990), institutional sclerosis (Pouder and John, 1996; Pitelis, 2010), rigidities associated with labour mobility and natural resources (Krugman, 1989) and pollution (Fan and Scott, 2003). This way, the dynamics and performance of a cluster is determined by the interplay between positive and negative externalities observed during the different stages of development that a cluster is expected to pass overtime (Wolter, 2003) Limitations in the Cluster Theory Notwithstanding the advances in the cluster theory some questions still remain insufficiently explored. One of the main limitations observed in the current state of the cluster literature is the lack of comparative perspectives to explain the advantages and disadvantages of clusters relatively to other alternative models of organization of economic activities. In his very novel approach, Pitelis (2010) suggests that any perspective trying to explain clusters in terms of absolute advantages is at the very best incomplete. In this context, Pitelis proposes the comparison of clusters vis-ÃÆ'  -vis to markets and hierarchies in order to understand the reasons and conditions that lead firms to engage in intra-clusters relationships, market operations (outside the cluster) or integrate within the firm ´s hierarchy. In fact it is not necessary a great effort to conclude that most of the cluster theory has been developed following a mono-institutional approach (e.g. Porter, 1990, 1 998; Saxenian, 1994; Rosenfeld, 1998; Swann and Sennett, 1998; Schmitz and Nadvi, 1999), while some few exceptions concentrated on transactions costs (e.g. Fujita and Thisse, 1996; Iammarino and McCann, 2006; Takeda et al., 2008) and knowledge creation efficiency (e.g. Hendry et al., 2000; Tracey and Clark, 2003; Reinau, 2007; Kongmanila and Takahashi, 2009) have been drawn on a comparative approaches between clusters and open-market operations. Assuming the arguments proposed by many scholars that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clusters are engines of innovationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Davis, 2006, p. 32), the lack of comparative perspectives do not answer the question à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"whyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ clusters are more efficient than markets or the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hierarchyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ to improve the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ innovative capacity (Pitelis, 2010). Thus, despite the wide number of ramifications observed in the cluster theory such as innovative efficiency, productivity, social capit al and social interactions, its explicative power remains almost always restricted to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"absoluteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ terms. Considering that the existence of a regional inter-firm network formed by local actors is one of the critical characteristic to understand the dynamics of regional clusters, that lack of comparative perspectives represent an even more important issue. The mono-institutional approach adopted by many cluster scholars assumes that cooperation with local actors is positively associated with the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance, while more distant cooperative arrangements are usually neglected or supposed to have little significance (Tracey and Clark, 2003; Kongmanila and Takahashi, 2009). Moreover, apart from some very few exceptions (e.g., Pitelis, 2010; Best, 1999), the cluster theory does not offer a consistent explanation to justify the cluster efficiency comparatively to the firm à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hierarchyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Thus, in terms of inter-firm relationship one main gap remains in the cluster theory: what are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of clusters vis-ÃƒÆ '  -vis to markets and the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hierarchies? Inter-firm Relationships and Clusters Despite the fact that the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s productivity and innovative capacity depends immediately from its own strengths and weakness (Barney, 1991) the knowledge exchange and the extension of resources and capabilities taking place through networks formed by clients, suppliers, institutions, etc. have an important influence on the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economic performance (Lavie, 2006). Pitleis (2010, p. 3) defines inter-firm cooperation as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"quasi-stable and durable, formal or informal arrangements between two or more independent firms, aiming to further the perceived interests of the parties involvedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, stressing that indeed the specific local factors (e.g., labour mobility) clusters are characterized by the lower degree of formality of the linkages. Analysing the significance of regional networks, many scholars have developed empirical investigations demonstrating a close relationship between inter-firm cooperation, clusters and the creati on of local capabilities. For example, studying the cluster of shoe manufactures at the Sino Valley in Brazil, Schimitz (1999) concluded that clustered firms engaged in cooperative arrangements with competitors, suppliers, subcontractors and business associations demonstrated a superior competitive performance relatively to firms outside the cluster. Moreover, Knorringa (1999) observed that the presence of vertical and horizontal cooperative linkages have strong influence on the competitiveness of firms concentrated in the knit footwear industry in India, acting as an important source of flexibility to take advantage of scope and scale economies. Kongmanila and Takahashi (2009) give examples of different types of arrangements and interactions like subcontracting, market linkages with suppliers and costumers, informal and formal collaborations (e.g. joint ventures, strategic alliances and franchise), memberships associations and the movement of labours among firms to describe the possible inter-firm connexions that can be developed within clusters and shaped by the existence of local characteristics (e.g. geographic proximity, institutional environment and knowledge spillovers). Additionally, the presence of vertical linkages is described by Lazerson (1998) using a distinction between à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"backwardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ cooperation (with suppliers) and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"forwardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ cooperation (with traders and buyers) to differentiate different kinds of interactions. Nadvi (1999) stress the importance of horizontal linkages between two or more local firms in terms of collective efforts associated with purchas e operations, use of equipments and the conjunct development of marketing strategies. The relevance of joint actions using à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"multilateral horizontal linkagesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Kongmanila and Takahashi, 2009, p.6) is also described by Schmitz (1998) as one critical source of competitive advantages created by the existence of intentional collective efforts among two or more firms. This way, it is possible to observe the existence of theoretical and empirical evidences supporting the influence of inter-firm relationships on the dynamics of regional clusters. However, the overemphasis put on the internal relationships has obfuscated the relevance that cooperation with actors that are located outside the cluster may represent for the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ economic performance. Supporting this point of view, Hendry et al. (2000) argues that the clusterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s theory has à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"failed to take account of other forms of networking in which firms engage, extending beyond their immediate localityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (p. 129), considering that the complexity necessary for innovation (especially in high-tech industries) demands the development of global linkages in order to establish different sources of inputs (especially knowledge) and explore advantages inherent to different locations. Complementarily, Pitelis (2010, p. 7) suggests that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ËÅ"the argument that clusters may reduce transactions cost, because of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“trustà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, social capital, and lower cognitive distance, (vis-ÃÆ'  -vis armà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s length transactions), need not imply that clusters can do so more than à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“integrationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? by firms, thus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hierarchyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Consequently, clusters have been explained in terms of positive agglomeration economies (previously described in this dissertation) and local capabilities, using the description of absolute advantages of clustering. A Comparative Perspective between Clusters and Markets Considering the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"limitedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ adopted by many cluster scholars, authors like Hendry et al. (2000), Tracey and Clark (2003), Reinau (2007) and Kongmanila and Takahashi (2009) point out the existence of logical implications associated with the cluster ´s dynamics that imply the necessity for a better comprehension of the role that external linkages have for firms within clusters. The first implication emerges from the fact that the same traded and untraded interdependencies that present positive impacts like transaction cost economies, expanded absorptive capacity and collective efficiencies, also exert a strong homogenisation pressure that drives the firm ´s practices, resources and strategies in the same direction. Secondly, local characteristics, like access to the same pool of specialised labours, create what Hamel and Prahalad (1994) describe as lack of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"genetic variabilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of individuals, limiting the firmà ‚ ´s capabilities associated with the generation, absorption and management of new à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"bodies of knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Reinau, 2007, p. 4). Another constraining characteristic is observed in the spin-off process, enhanced within the cluster ´s boundaries by formal and informal channels, that acts increasing similarities among firms. Finally, the existence of specificities associated with the local context like roads, ports or communication systems tends to push firms in the same direction regarding strategic investments associated with structural factors. Complementarily, discussing the effects of the path dependency (Dosi, 1988) originating from the cluster trajectory (past decisions), Bell et al. (2009, p. 624) describe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"how higher-order beliefs and assumptions, which constitute the shared macroculture of a cluster, enable and constrain transaction-level governance choicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The arguments proposed by Bell and his colleagues may be used to demonstrate how institutional configurations tend to create asymmetric costs for strategic decisions. In other words, the existence of an established cluster macroculture imposes pressures that lead firms to make transactions, mimic and engage in cooperative alliances with other firms that are also part of the cluster. Consequently, the cluster macroculture constitutes a strong determinant of the governance choices adopted by clustered firms. Other characteristic that also contributes to increase the homogenization of firms within cluster is the number of redundant contacts created through the labor mobility between firms positioned in the same area (Pouder and John, 1996). Describing the local dynamics of regional clusters Grove (1987, p. 156) states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"A popular joke about Silicon Valley is that all you have to do to change jobs is turn left instead of right when you come out of your drivewayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. This way, indeed the existence of job opportunities in the same location, managers and other employees of companies located in regional clusters are stimulated to stay in the same area, even when they change their jobs. That characteristic contributes to stabilize and increase the density of the local network. Consequently, the local network of regional clusters is expected to present low knowledge diversity indeed the high number of redundant connections[3]. Considering those evidences, Tichy (2001) describes the existence of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"cluster paradoxà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, since at the same time that the high level of specialisation, strong linkages and the synergy offer a wide number of benefits, ranging from knowledge sharing to transaction costs, those same characteristics decrease the ability of firms to create, incorporate and manage new knowledge that departs from the standards incorporated to the cluster dynamics. Moreover, Pouder and John (1996) describe how the local characteristics contribute to creating similar à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"mental modelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ between the cluster members. As a result, once these mental models are formed and disseminated, they will tend to persist, even when confronted with contradictory evidences therefore firms positioned in regional clusters will have their ability to recognise and adapt to environmental changes limited indeed by the severe homogenisation pressures imposed by the local dyna mics. Consequently, the same factors that create similarities and facilitate the exploitation of synergies also limit the benefits associated with the creation and absorption of heterogeneous knowledge. Thus, strong diversity enables firms within clusters to incorporate and adapt to changes in environmental conditions, or to depart from the previous development path more easily. However, large heterogeneity among firms can also prevent exploitation of synergies and other benefits that emerge from the presence of similar characteristics and therefore limit the benefits associated with transaction costs, absorptive capacity and the access to knowledge present within the cluster boundaries. Considering the negative impacts that the homogenization exerts on the firms performance, Menzel and Fornahl (2010, p. 19) state that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The cluster declines if its heterogeneity cannot be sustainedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, describing the importance of the knowledge diversity for the competitiveness of firms within clusters. This way, considering all the aforementioned characteristics, firms are expected to be stimulated to engage in cooperative arrangements with other firms positioned within the same cluster in the case of demands that do not strongly depart from the already disseminated standards (e.g., knowledge, technologies and specialized services). In this context, it is also important to present a comparative argument to explain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"whyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ firms prefer to use the local network (the cluster) instead of establishing distant cooperative arrangements. In other words, unless the in the situation that the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ demands could only be attended by another firm within the same cluster (e.g., in case of monopoly of a technology), there would be no reasons or obstacles for the clustered firms to look for partners outside the cluster (market operations). Two complementary rationales can be used to explain that fact. First, following the propositions made by Krugman (1991); Pitelis, and Pseiridis (2006) and Takeda et al. (2008), the short geographic distances between firms contribute to create transaction costs economics that increase the cost-efficiency of the local operations, stimulating the interaction with local actors through the creation of asymmetric transaction costs. Second, the arguments presented by Dupuy and Torre (2006) that within clusters the inter-firm relationships are supported by a higher level of confidence between the parts, indicates that intra-cluster relationships are expected to be less risky and be encompassed by lower levels of uncertainty when compared to market operations. Colocar mais enfase na aboragem comparativa, ainda nÃÆ' £o ÃÆ' © suficiente LIGAR ESSAS IDÃÆ'†°IAS COM O CICLO DE VIDA, DIZENDO QUE EM ESTÃÆ'?GIOS INICIAS AS EMPRESAS NÃÆ'Æ’O CONTEM COM ELEVADOS NÃÆ'?VEIS DE CONFIANÃÆ'†¡A E POR ISSO SÃÆ'Æ’O ESTIMULADAS A INTERAGIR COM ATORES EXTERNOS Consequently, using a comparative perspective between the inter-firm relationships developed within and outside clusters, it is expected that the transaction costs economies associated with higher level of confidence between parties stimulate firms to engage in local operations. However, it is also important to acknowledge that in most of the cases that firms present demands that depart from what is already spread inside the cluster they will develop market operations indeed the limitations associated with the low knowledge diversity created by the strong homogenization pressures originated from the cluster dynamics. H: Inter-firm relationships within the cluster boundaries are characterized by low transaction costs and higher level of confidence H: The dynamics of regional clusters creates strong homogenization pressures that results Clusters and Hierarchies The transaction cost logic and trust levels can not be used to explain clusters vis a vis with hierarchy, since the activities integrated to the firm will present less transaction costs and higher level of control.

Essay On Happiness In Hamlet - 1116 Words

Individuals are often put into situations in which they must compromise their happiness to achieve what they desire. The loss of this happiness can be extremely detrimental to the individuals emotional state. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores the idea of how happiness can be conceded in the pursuit of ones’ goals and how conceding this happiness has negative impacts. Hamlet, the main character of the play, is pushed into a situation where he must murder his uncle to avenge his father. In Hamlets’ pursuit of this goal, he sacrifices his freedom, his love, and his overall well-being, leaving him an emotionally broken individual. Hamlet is a free young man who, through a series of circumstances, compromises his freedom and†¦show more content†¦Hamlet loves Ophelia from the bottom of his heart, but the situation that Hamlet has been put into forces him to break this relationship. The fact that Hamlet is the heir to a kingdom and Ophelia is of a lower social class shows that this is not just a superficial relationship. Polonius questions the sincerity of Hamlets love and argues with Ophelia over it. In response to Polonius, Ophelia explains that, â€Å"He hath importuned me with love/ In honorable fashion† (1.3.109-110). Ophelia tries to explain to Polonius that Hamlet is honourable and that the love that he expresses towards her is not fraudulent in any way. Ophelia and Hamlet have a very loving relationship, in which the two of them are happy. In Hamlets pursuit of killing King Claudius, their relationship collapses. Hamlet knows that if he is to kill the king, then he must separate himself fr om Ophelia. When Hamlet encounters Ophelia he acts very impolite and insults Ophelia so that she will not associate with him anymore. Hamlet says, â€Å"To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell† (3.1.139-140). With this phrase, Hamlet is telling Ophelia to leave and to get away from him. Hamlet purposely pushes Ophelia away to save her; he wants to ensure that she will not be hurt emotionally when Hamlet finally goes ahead with his plan, and that she will not get in trouble for having a connection with a conspirator. When Ophelia passes away we see that Hamlet is struck with grief and sorrow. AtShow MoreRelated The Tragic Hero of Hamlet Essay1049 Words   |  5 PagesThe Tragic Hero of Hamlet    Shakespeares play, Hamlet illustrates the tragedy of a young princes pursuit to obtain revenge for a corrupt act, the murder of his father.  Ã‚   As the exposition unfolds, we find Prince Hamlet struggling with internal conflict over who and what was behind his fathers death.   His struggle continues as he awaits the mystic appearance of a ghost who is reported to resemble his father.   Suddenly it appears, proclaiming, Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing / ToRead MoreA Brief Note On Indian Poetry After Islam Essay1435 Words   |  6 Pagesde Navarre, The Heptameron: Montaigne, Essays: Montaigne, thinking of his works as trials of his own judgment and capacities, succeeded in inventing the essay with a personal slant. 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Patient Record Management System Free Essays

CHAPTER I The Problem and Its Setting This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the assumptions made in accordance with the design of the project, the scope and delimitation, the significance of the study, the research design and methodology, and the definition of terms used in the study. Background of the Study There have been major progresses in the Information Technology for the past twenty (20) years especially in the field of Medicine. The vast development of technology is the evident in hospitals in other countries as they have developed and implemented different forms of Patient Record Management System making practitioners and health professionals’ work easier than the manual way of gathering patient’s record that the hospitals had before. We will write a custom essay sample on Patient Record Management System or any similar topic only for you Order Now In Philippines, only a few hospitals (Saint Lukes Medical Center, Makati Medical City and Asian Hospital and Medical Center) have implemented a fully Electronic Medical Record which includes all inpatient and outpatient healthcare information. The goal of the hospital is to share information with all the national hospitals and public healthcare facilities and at present they can share data with one branch of the hospital. Some hospitals still use the manual method which is time and energy consuming but why it is that only few hospitals in the Philippines, being a newly industrialized country may have a factor on why implementing a PRMS is impossible. The possible reasons could be insufficient funds, lack of technical expertise and computer skills and the lack of data processing facilities. In addition, the resistance of medical practitioners and health professionals generally to change from manual to electronic documentation may be a problem. Most health administrators and information managers are used to the old system and have this fear that it may take time to change or at least modify some behaviour and attitudes. The reason for wanting to change to an electronic system is important. Most health administrators and information managers expect to move from a paper to paperless environment. This is a major step to help health institutions and the environment at the same time. By having an electronic system, practitioners could improve the accuracy and quality of data recorded in a health record, enhance practitioners’ access to a patient’s record, enabling it to be shared at present and also for the future use, it could also improve the quality of care because of health information that a patient need can be immediately available all the time. At present, people rely on the information from what is electronically made since it can easily be viewed. In the modern world, communication is vital within our lifestyle. With the advent of information and communication provided within a medical institution, practitioners together with their patients within the vicinity of Baguio may use the information easily to increase good organization. Patient Record Management System may provide both useful information with the Doctor and Patient alike, providing and improving easy Doctor-Patient communication. In the advancement of technology, electronic medical records are now growing more popularity today. As stated in the definition on wikipedia. rg about Electronic Medical Records, these are a computerized medical record that is created in an organization that can deliver care such as hospital or physician’s office. Electronic medical records are intended to be a part of a local stand-alone health information system that allow storage, retrieval and modification of records (retrieved from: Wikipedia. com, November 2011. en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Electronic_health_record. Article form: http://www. prov idersedge. com/ehdocs/ehr _articles/Electronic_Patient_Records-EMRs_and_EHRs. pdf). These are medical records of patients that are encoded into the computer system of an organization for the information dissemination of medical practitioners in a particular organization such as hospitals, clinics and the like. In the global scenario, in an article by Steenhuysen J. (March 2009), the United States has less than 2 percent of U. S. hospitals that have completely accepted a fully functional electronic medical records. With U. S. President Barrack Obama has made electronic medical records a central piece of his plan to cut costs out of U. S. healthcare system that consistently ranks lower in quality measures than other rich countries. The U. S. President also allotted $19 billion to push into the increase the use of information technology in healthcare. The numbers of without electronic medical records are relatively high compared to those organizations that have adopted Electronic Medical Records. Starfield, B. (1991) postulates that Primary Care in the United States is critical to the provision of giving excellent medical care. From the research in the year 1996, the Institute of Medicine report defined primary care as the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians accountable for addressing most personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. These makes more people to receive primary care than in other clinics. These clinics have adopted the innovations of information technology giving more value to the primary care in other clinics. These clinics have adopted the innovations on information technology giving more value to the primary care of their patients. Thus obviously electronic medical records in the clinic are to be present for the ease of accessibility, storage, retrieval and modification of medical records. However, in a smaller scale of health care system. Where Everyone, being succeptible to disease needs to prioritize on prevention in odres to additional expenses on health care. This visiting the doctors clinic today is the most effecient and inexpensivr way to prevent diseases. Offering various diagnosis, vaccinations and maintenance drugs. With todays population, more patients visit the doctors clinic and health records management poses as the most time consuming activity. As keeping numerous pages on file cases and searching this file cases one by one when a patient arrives eats most of the time that could have spent treating another patient. With all of the mentioned cases which inpact the number of patients diagnosed per day. The researchers agreed to conduct a study for Dr. Nelia Bacay’s clinic at SLU hospital of the Sacred Heart, annex. The researchers will try to find ways and practices to lighten up workload and minimize time consumed by developing a system. Statement of the Problem The main objective of the study is to design a Patient Record Management System for Dr. Nelia Bacay in which seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What processes are involved within the practitioners’ medical records of their patients? 2. What difficulties are encountered regarding the processes involved with the medical records? 3. What features regarding the medical records should be incorporated with the proposed Patient Record Management for Dr. Renato Manalo to their current system? Objective of the Study The main objective of the study is to design a Patient Records Management System for Dr. Nelia Bacay that shall lighten up workload and minimize time consumed on operation. The researchers intend to achieve the following: 1. To identify the current standard operating procedure in diagnosing patients. 2. To enumerate and discuss the most tiny consuming fact in the process. 3. To design a Patient Record Management that facilitates a quick and easy way to access and view patients profile. Significance of the Study This study is important in terms of advantages or benefits that would be gained by the following entities: To the Practitioners: The Practitioners will have the main importance of the study because of its increased number of patients and services rendered. More patients are inclined to avail of medical services. This also makes the communication between co-doctors of the same field. To the patients: The best advantage of having a Patient Record Management System is for them to have an ease to research about the Doctors’ profile and their accessibility through the use of PRMS. Just by a series of clicks and filling out necessary information, an appointment can be made. To the Researchers: The development of a PRMS makes the researchers to be more aware and knowledgeable of the future trend in information and technology specifically on Medical Informatics. Furthermore, by developing a system, programming skills of the researchers are improved. To future researchers: This study can be a reference and guide to other researchers who aim to develop a Patient Record Management System in the future that can be applied to other fields of interest such as hotels, restaurants, shops and alsp other fields of medical profession. Scope and Delimitation of the Study In improving the quality of services in an organization or establishment, we make look into other options such as hiring new personnel to increase work capacity, or procuring equipmentto lessen work and human error, or to create a more stable and reliable system may it be manual or computer oriented. In solving this matter, we could consider in the combination of the available options within our grasp. To further optimize the production in our establishment, the company could combine the options of having new equipment and creating a new system or updating the existing one. In putting these two options together, it will provide a more stable, reliable and efficient system to be used in daily transactions. Our project aims to proceed in updating the pre-existing system in the establishment. Changing the format from a manual type to a computer oriented information system. Reconfiguring the old system aims that customers and employees have a more convenient. With the project be finished, the company will have a smoother flow of work, lessened human error, improved time in finishing certain processes and as a total, a very significant increase in productivity and creating a reliable Patient Record System. How to cite Patient Record Management System, Essay examples

Damodaran on Valuation Profitability Security Analysis

Questions: 1. Management Accounting Budgeting? 2. Ethical Issues? Answers: 1. Capital cost transparency is the process by which CIOs can better understand the costs associated with the services they provide. We do not mean to suggest that those exposed costs are to be shown to all stakeholders. In fact, Gartner's position is that exposing too much cost detail to stakeholders merely results in more arguments. Instead, in keeping with the move toward running Capital like a business, we recommend that Capital organizations publish Capital service "prices" for their stakeholders, even in cases where price equals cost. Moreover, Capital funding should ultimately be tied to the same business-valued service definitions (Lakshmi, 2016). Management accounting is considered to be one of the most important aspect in todays corporation. Management of the company should be equipped enough to understand all the small nuances of the management method of accounting. Many organizations have historically focused buying FA BPO on a business case, based solely on labor cost re duction. Rarely have they specified process improvement as a goal of these outsourced functions. Savvy FA BPO buyers are now crafting new agreements around improving overall business outcomes and cost reductions. Focusing on outcomes is more important than where the service provider has delivery centers. 2. Ethics is defined as "systemizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior." 1Many professions have specific ethical codes: medical ethics, legal ethics, military ethics, scientific ethics, engineering ethics, accounting ethics, educational ethics and so on. Business decision making can have far-reaching implications, including the potential for highly detrimental, unintended consequences. For most CIOs, budgeting is the first major milestone on the path to ITFM. Although it may seem mundane, budgeting has a big impact on an organization's ability to achieve its desired level of ITFM maturity. Most organizations have an existing structure for budgeting, and that structure often forms the basis of the organization's Capital financial information. Unfortunately, in many organizations, the structure of the budget is asset-centric, high-level and not particularly meaningful from a cost transparency perspective. For example, many organizations use high-level bud get categories or have separate budget line items for each Capital vendor they buy from. When developing a budgeting framework, consider what kind of information is needed to "feed" Capital financial transparency. For example, an organization seeking a service-based approach to ITFM would benefit from a budget framework that categorized costs in a way that could easily be mapped to services. Often, CIOs inherit an existing budget framework, or that framework is tied to the corporate financial system and cannot easily be changed. In such cases, it is necessary to maintain multiple "views" of the budget. Variance (INR lakh) - Apr'16 Variance % - Apr'16 w.r.t. budget y-o-y w.r.t. budget y-o-y Total Operating Income (A+B) 2.20 67.17 1% 21% Revenue in USD Mn MIS 0.01 0.07 2% 21% MA (0.00) (0.01) -2% -9% Covance 0.01 0.01 21% 63% Others Total 0.01 0.08 3% 17% Avg Fx Rate 0.34 2.98 1% 5% Non Operating Income 0.69 4.14 15% 339% TOTAL INCOME 2.89 71.31 1% 22% Expenses Personnel Expenses (5.80) 41.69 -3% 27% Administrative Expenses (3.13) (1.52) -8% -4% Other Expenses (0.67) 9.53 -3% 70% TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES (9.60) 49.70 -4% 24% OPBDIT 11.80 17.47 10% 15% OPM Margin 9% -5% Depreciation (1.92) 7.53 -8% 53% Interest - (4.57) Prior Period Exp PBT 14.41 18.65 14% 19% Closing head Count 0% 9% The format of these formal communications should be roughly 50% written communication and 50% interactive, face-to-face discussion. Management of over-recovered (implied in the profit center model) and under-recovered (implied in the subsidy model) costs is potentially the most explosive issue in the relationship between the Capital organization and the business units (BUs) it serves. Whatever funding model Capital uses, the "rules of engagement" should be formulated and socialized to resolve how to deal with these issues when they arise. Improving Capital cost transparency is a key step on the journey to running Capital like a business. Communicating the total cost of Capital in a way that is meaningful and transparent to the business is a process that is still elusive for most Capital organizations. The traditional view of Capital costs provides very limited visibility, and often the wrong detail, to support the direction in which most Capital organizations are heading. Many CIOs and Capital leaders have discovered that the journey to business value entails higher maturity budgeting practices and better financial transparency, enabling Capital organizations to more accurately create service costs the fundamental missing ingredient to business value. Service costing of shared services and continuous financial exercises that enable allocation of direct business expenses will allow business stakeholders to see the portfolio of Capital spending and expenses, using it to drive priorities, decisions and resource alloca tion to what is most important. The ability to divide the Capital estate into a mosaic of opportunities and percentages will remove the Capital "black box syndrome" a poorly understood and qualified asset allowing stakeholders to design the future of the enterprise with Capital as a valued business partner. CIOs and their corporate finance partners have not revisited their fundamental approaches to budgeting and transparency for decades. With most enterprises anticipating digital business transformation, these disciplines must be revisited with the aim of enabling business agility. Adding more funding or increasing budgets alone will be insufficient to drive creation and sustainment of new business models. Dynamic budgeting is required to meet the change needs of the enterprise; transparency is mandatory to drive accountability, legitimacy and partnership with business stakeholders. To give meaning to unstructured Capital data, and to perhaps act as a test bed for future digital business product and services pricing, all forms of transparency must be improved to provide changing organizations a form of insurance from negative and positive change. Transparency is a stress test for digital business transformation. Few businesses can manage dynamic complexities of renovating legacy businesses and raising new business models without concurrent transparency maturity improvement. Without more transparency to drive Capital-enabled decisions, stakeholders will not have the confidence and inspiration to experiment with and exploit competitive applications of technology. Many organizations have information about Capital costs scattered in multiple systems, and these various systems can expose costs in different ways. For example, most organizations have some Capital cost data that is mapped to an enterprise or Capital chart of accounts. However, this data, in and of itself, may not provide a complete picture of the total cost of Capital services. It is often the combination of information from various sources financial systems, an asset management system and the service catalog that provides the most complete Capital cost transparenc y to CIOs. Capital Budgeting Problem Responding to specific CFO questions and doing the Capital cost analysis that are essential to CIO success are challenging in the absence of systems for tracking Capital costs and allocating them back to users. CIOs must work with the finance department to develop an Capital cost tracking system that meets the needs of the enterprise. Capital executives must also "enlighten" their business executive colleagues to the challenges of capturing hidden Capital costs, such as telecommunications and other BU Capital charges that often reside outside the central Capital budget. Sr. # Description Responsibility Reference 7.1 Budgeting 7.1.1 Assist CFO and CEO in budget planning and forecasts i. Consider past year results for the framework. Conduct a trend analysis for last few years to get inputs for the coming year ii. With inputs from LoB Heads and Marketing team, forecast revenue for the upcoming year iii. Take inputs from CFO and Head Capital Infra Data Security for Capital and Non-Capital expense needs. iv. Take Manpower inputs from the LoB Heads in consultation with HR. Create the budget model based on the trend analysis and on the inputs mentioned above Send first draft of the budget to CEO and CFO. Business Planning Analyst 7.1.2 If approved, forward to board for approval. CEO 7.1.3 If not approved, note comments, make necessary changes and resubmit to CEO. Business Planning Analyst 7.2 Variance Analysis 7.2.1 Conduct variance analysis by comparing the budgeted numbers with actual for each monthly period by following the below steps: I. Gather actual numbers for the following data points: a. Revenue for the concerned period b. Expense for the concerned period from Tally. ERP 9 version, post confirmation from the CFO that the accounts for the concerned period have been closed. II. Compare the actual numbers with budgeted numbers and discuss reason of variance i. For expense CFO ii. Revenue - LoB Heads. III. Present the findings of Variance analysis in BCM on monthly basis (Lustig, 2013). Business Planning Analyst 7.3 Follow the corrective steps taken to check the variance If the budget variance is too high then some control needs to be put in to check the same. This is then discussed with CEO and CFO and necessary checks are implemented either to identify the core reason for the high variance or to reduce the variance. Business Planning Analyst 7.4 Internal Operating MIS 7.4.1 Prepare Internal Operating MIS on monthly basis by the 15th working day of each month for the preceding month and share with the business planning team of COMPANY. 1. Seek inputs from LoB Heads, HR, CFO and Head -Marketing. Various heads covered under the MIS are: Delivery Commitment: This section provides information on breach of SLA / failure of delivery commitments. on account of error or TAT, updated on Monthly basis. Order Book information: This section contains details about the order book of Data Services on quarterly basis. Renewal Rate: This section contains information regarding the renewal rate of products and services provided by ICRON, updated on quarterly basis. New Sales Tracker: This section provides information about any new sales executed by ICRON, updated on monthly basis. Cross Sales Tracker: This section provides information about any cross sales executed by ICRON, updated on monthly basis. Utilization Rate: This section provides information about the utilization rate of the manpower, updated on quarterly basis. Annualized attrition Rate Manpower Update: This section contains updated information regarding deployment of manpower across Company's project, Non Company's Project and Support Services, update on quarterly basis. 2. After collating data send to CEO for confirmation. Once confirmed, share with COMPANY business planning team. This data is collected by business planning analyst from the business operation team on monthly basis. The business planning analyst sends the previous months updated file, requesting for current data to the team members. Business Planning Analyst Most CIOs who expose copious cost details to stakeholders do so in an attempt to "justify" the cost of their services. However, this approach almost never works, and in fact tends to result in more arguments over why Capital is not procuring specific assets in a certain way. Rather than justify Capital costs through greater transparency, we recommend that CIOs focus on developing and delivering business-essential services at market-competitive prices. The best justification for the cost of a service is for that service to be of high value to consumers. Cost transparency is not simply the act of exposing Capital costs at any or all levels of detail, but rather to expose the cost of business-valued Capital goods and services supported by the appropriate level of cost detail. Similar to the purchase of a new car, as buyers we look at the total price and the top-level cost elements. Few of us want a detailed price breakdown of the fuel systems, hydraulics, drivetrain, or other subassemblies and individual parts. Most car buyers look first for a class of vehicle, then a model that fits their needs, before adding desired upgrade options. Dynamic budgeting is required to meet the change needs of the enterprise; transparency is mandatory to drive accountability, legitimacy and partnership with business stakeholders. To give meaning to unstructured Capital data, and to perhaps act as a test bed for future digital business product and services pricing, all forms of transparency must be improved to provide changing organizations a form of insurance from negative and positive change. Dynamic budgeting is required to meet the change needs of the enterprise; transparency is mandatory to drive accountability, legitimacy and partnership with business stakeholders. To give meaning to unstructured Capital data, and to perhaps act as a test bed for future digital business product and services pricing, all forms of transparency must be improved to provide changing organizations a form of insurance from negative and positive change. Many Capital organizations have multiple methods of tracking costs and allocating them to users. These methods, however, are still technology-focused, largely manual and often driven by simple spreadsheet management. The ad hoc nature of Capital cost tracking and a general lack of automation are problematic for CIOs; they can result in a poor level of visibility into Capital costs for the CIOs who must price these services. Many organizations have information about Capital costs scattered in multiple systems, and these various systems can expose costs in different ways. For example, most organizations have some Capital cost data that is mapped to an enterprise or Capital chart of accounts. However, this data, in and of itself, may not provide a complete picture of the total cost of Capital services. It is often the combination of information from various sources financial systems, an asset management system and the service catalog that provides the most complete Capital cost transparency to CIOs. References: Lakshmi, T. M., Martin, A., Venkatesan, V. P. (2016). A Genetic Bankrupt Ratio Analysis Tool Using a Genetic Algorithm to Identify Influencing Financial Ratios.IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation,20(1), 38-51. Damodaran, A. (2016).Damodaran on valuation: security analysis for investment and corporate finance(Vol. 324). John Wiley Sons. Lau, C. (2016). Financial Management. Khan, M. N., Khokhar, I. (2015). THE EFFECT OF SELECTED FINANCIAL RATIOS ON PROFITABILITY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF LISTED FIRMS OF CEMENT SECTOR IN SAUDI ARABIA.Quarterly Journal of Econometrics Research,1(1), 1-12. Robinson, T. R., Henry, E., Pirie, W. L., Broihahn, M. A. (2015).International financial statement analysis. John Wiley Sons. Hoberg, G., Maksimovic, V. (2015). Redefining financial constraints: a text-based analysis.Review of Financial Studies,28(5), 1312-1352.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. Essays - Cross-platform Software, Newark

Sun Microsystems, Inc. Introduction By 1998 Sun had become a global Fortune 500 leader in enterprise network computing with operations in 150 countries and generating $8 billion in revenues. Sun's competitors in the technical markets were primarily Intel, Hewlett-Packard (HP), International Business Machine (IBM), Compaq Computer Corporation (CPQ) and Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). The information technology industry, the market for Sun's services and products, was extremely competitive in 1998. The industry is characterized by rapid, continuous change, frequent performance improvements, short product life cycles, and price reductions. The good reputation of Sun Microsystems will continue to serve the company well. Sun was the leading provider of UNIX-based servers. Java helped increase sales. Products & Services Sun Microsystems is a company that is at the top of their game. Offering products with unmatchable capabilities, Sun has concentrated on the mission that its CEO, Scott McNealy has upheld since the beginning, "The Network is the Computer." Since its founding in 1982 and the beginning of McNealy's tenure as president in 1984, Sun has continued to grow as its products give the customer abilities that no one else offers. The vision that Scott McNealy has adopted has been the focus of the company for years. Sun aims to make all computers compatible with each other over a network. Computers, when manufactured by different companies, can run on several different operating systems yet be able to work together. The Sun products described below attempt to accomplish the mission that Sun has set to facilitate communication on a global level. Enterprise Servers Sun Enterprise servers deliver unmatched scalability so the customer can concentrate on expanding his/her business without worrying about how his/her information systems will keep up. From the workgroup to the data center, Sun Enterprise servers give their customers all the power they need to dot-com their business and gain competitive advantage. Network Storage Sun is redefining storage for the dot-com age. Today's enterprise requires the right balance of compute, network, software, and storage capability to achieve maximum performance. Sun's Intelligent Storage Network architecture offers that balance. And it provides information sharing, protection, and management across a variety of platforms. Furthermore, Sun provides outstanding scalability, investment protection, and a building-block approach for incremental growth. Desktop Systems With supercharged processors, high-bandwidth networking, accelerated graphics, and outstanding application performance, the Sun Ultra series brings supercomputing power to the desktop. Sun offers PC compatibility. Java Station network computers require no desktop administration, making them ideal for companies looking to reduce total cost of ownership. Java Technology The most talked about technology of the dot-com era has also become the most widely used. Developed by Sun, Java technology addresses many of today's most pressing problems: complexity, incompatibility and security, and has proved invaluable in cutting costs and opening new dot-com business opportunities. Sun Microsystems offers the "Road to Java" program, with more than 75 authorized Java Center service locations worldwide, can guide the user from evaluation to pilot programs to enterprise-wide implementation. Solaris Software Sun delivers the perfect platform for network computing: Solaris software. It starts with a 64-bit operating environment and extends to server products that provide mainframe-class reliability, complete PC interoperability, and comprehensive Internet services. Solaris software gives the ability to support multiple-terabyte data warehouses and thousands of users. Sun provides comprehensive enterprise management tools, industrial-strength security solutions, and e-mail that works on a global scale. This combination of qualities provides a solid foundation needed for continuous connectivity. Such a foundation is necessary in the dot-com world, where downtime can cost a company thousands, or even millions, of dollars. Forte Development Tools Sun offers a complete, end-to-end solution for quickly developing high quality, entry-level to enterprise-class applications for the Solaris Operating Environment, Linux, UNIX, and Microsoft Windows environments. It also includes a new, robust, Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that supports many languages to make you more productive than ever. Professional Services Sun offers an integrated portfolio of services to help plan, design, implement, and manage innovative dot-com solutions. Their consulting and integration experts work closely with the customer to align their information systems with their business goals. Support Services With the world's largest UNIX service organization, supporting more than one million systems, Sun delivers "mission-critical" support at all times. Additionally, Sun VIP program resolves complex problems and eliminates finger pointing through cooperative agreements with leading software vendors. Educational Services To

Cumulative Sentence Definition and Examples

Cumulative Sentence Definition and Examples In grammar, a cumulative sentence is an independent clause followed by a series of subordinate constructions (phrases or clauses) that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea. Contrast with a periodic sentence. Also called  cumulative style or right-branching. In Notes Toward a New Rhetoric, Francis and Bonniejean Christensen observe that after the main clause  (which is often stated in general or abstract terms), the forward movement of the [cumulative] sentence stops, the writer shifts down to the lower level of generalization or abstraction or to singular terms, and goes back over the same ground at this lower level. In short, they conclude that the mere form of the sentence generates ideas. Examples and Observations He dipped his hands in the bichloride solution and shook thema quick shake, fingers down, like the fingers of a pianist above the keys.(Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, 1925)The radiators put out lots of heat, too much, in fact, and old-fashioned sounds and smells came with it, exhalations of the matter that composes our own mortality, and reminiscent of the intimate gases we all diffuse.(Saul Bellow, More Die of Heartbreak. William Morrow, 1987)Her moving wings ignited like tissue paper, enlarging the circle of light in the clearing and creating out of the darkness the sudden blue sleeves of my sweater, the green leaves of jewelweed by my side, the ragged red trunk of a pine.(Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm. Harper Row, 1977)The unwieldy provision carts, draught horses, and heavily armed knights kept the advance down to nine miles a day, the huge horde moving in three parallel columns, cutting broad highways of litter and devastation through an already abandoned countryside, many of the ad venturers now traveling on foot, having sold their horses for bread or having slaughtered them for meat.(John Gardner, Life and Times of Chaucer. Alfred A. Knopf, 1977) The San Bernardino Valley lies only an hour east of Los Angeles by the San Bernardino Freeway but is in certain ways an alien place: not the coastal California of the subtropical twilights and the soft westerlies off the Pacific but a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and whines through the eucalyptus windbreaks and works on the nerves.(Joan Didion, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968)I am with the Eskimos on the tundra who are running after the click-footed caribou, running sleepless and dazed for days, running spread out in scraggling lines across the glacier-ground hummocks and reindeer moss, in sight of the ocean, under the long-shadowed pale sun, running silent all night long.(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Harper Row, 1974)He wept silently, after the custom of shamed and angry men, so that when the pursuit party came tumbling, pounding, scrabbling down the trail, past the fold in which he and Hillel stood concealed, he could hear the creak and rattle of their leather armor with its scales of horn; and when the Arsiyah returned, just before daybreak, at the very hour when all of creation seemed to fall silent as if fighting off tears, Zelikman could hear the rumbling of the mens bellies and the grit in their eyelids and the hollowness of failure sounding in their chests.(Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure. Del Ray, 2007) Cumulative Sentences Defined and Illustrated The typical sentence of modern English, the kind we can best spend our efforts trying to write, is what we will call the cumulative sentence. The main or base clause, which may or may not have sentence modifiers like this before or within it, advances the discussion or the narrative. The other additions, placed after it, move backward (as in this sentence), to modify the statement of the base clause or more often to explain it or add examples or details to it, so that the sentence has a flowing and ebbing movement, advancing to a new position and then pausing to consolidate it. (Francis Christensen and Bonniejean Christensen, A New Rhetoric. Harper Row, 1976) Setting a Scene With Cumulative Sentences The cumulative sentence is particularly good for setting a scene or for panning, as with a camera, a place or critical moment, a journey or a remembered life, in a way not dissimilar to the run-on. It is another kind of- potentially endless and half-wildlist. . . . And here is this writer Kent Haruf, writing a cumulative sentence, opening his novel with it, panning the smalltown western landscape of his story: Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where the sun was just coming up. (Kent Haruf, Plainsong) (Mark Tredinnick, Writing Well. Cambridge University. Press, 2008)

People Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

People Communication - Essay Example Failure of communication meeting the intended purpose raises suspicion and reactance. Communication takes place due to the assistance of a variety of tools and equipments. Researchers and scholars have plated a vital role in enhancement of communication by development and invention of effective communication tools and strategies. This paper discusses in depth technological change, social construction theories, political economic analysis, and the ideology of technology neutrality (Atkin 3). Change is a remarkable event in everyone’s life. Rapid change in technology has brought diverse effects to individual’s lives. Change comes in succession and is bond to happen in everyone’s life. How an individual approaches the changes in life becomes a question at hand. Changes that arise in an individual’s life may either be social, economically, or politically allied (Chandler). Change may either have optimistic or pessimistic impacts in an individual’s life. Change in technology has diversely altered the way people converse and relay message. Different ways have come up where an individual can have a discussion with another who is miles away. Change in technology entails innovation, invention, and diffusion of technological processes. Technological change aims for better and more effective technology (Cellary and Iyengar 187). In the social world, technology has invented methods of enhancing effective communication.... Researchers argue that new electronic communication media has enabled people interact and collaborate in a contemporary manner. For instance, every kind of technological change requires a little communication and training (Atkin 4). An individual is supposed to change with the changing technology and effectively adapt to it. Researchers depict that the biggest technological change in the society, encompasses communication. Communication is an extensive procedure that involves not only two people but also the society at whole. Language use is a key factor to effective communication. Therefore, it is necessary for individuals to strategize on the kind of language to use when conveying message (Birkinbine). Change in technology has greatly influenced the way people converse. Communication devices have changed immensely over centuries thus leading to the invention of mobile technology. The mobile technology has over time varied from a simple pre-paid hand phone to a small thin laptop. Mo bile technology refers to various types of cellular communication technology devices. These devices include palmtop computers, net-book computers, smart phones, global positioning devices, and wireless debit or credit cards. Mobile technology has portrayed a wide range of first modern infrastructure in the society. The use of mobile technology has boomed over years. In most cases, the level of technology in any kind of communication devices, determines whether to purchase or buy the device. Arguably, mobile technology has been a force that clears away barriers, promotes inclusiveness, and opens opportunities to all those who would otherwise not partake in the digital cost-cutting measures (Chandler). As communication technologies

Change Reseach Project part 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Change Reseach Project part 2 - Research Paper Example Significant changes will take place in this industry, since its rational property rights are being brought on course in line with those of the key economies in the world. The change from near-perfect contest with homogenous and cost controlled drugs to a market with patent controlled products is an effective domination in several sub-markets, will bring forth an extreme shift in the form of contest. This paper uses the Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. to issue a clear depiction an approach to strategic innovation management, on which to develop capabilities and from which to control change, which can form a guide for companies arranging for this change. The Management of Change in the Pharmaceutical Industry – Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc.; Part II Chapter 1 Introduction Acquisitions, mergers, globalization, outsourcing and fresh technology are the major terms used to describe pharmaceutical changes. This clearly implies that the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is experiencing extreme change. The present environment is one of joining and rising cultures as firms merge workforces and globalize processes in order to have a strong competitive advantage and compete in the global market field. Approximately 70 percent of the corporate change plans fail, writes Bill Wilder, director of the Life Cycle Institution (Greene and Podolsky 2009). This is definitely, because pharmaceutical manufacturing industry concentrates too much on products and processes, but forgets to focus on people. There is no doubt that people usually do not oppose change. They only thing they do, they oppose being changed when they do not know why. This is why there is a lot that must be comprehended and done in order to enforce change and succeed. There are a number of strategies that must be employed in order to embrace change (Lewi 2007). One of the main one is merging of firms, which has to be done through integrating both their products and their cultures. At the same time, there must be lessening of cost and maintaining control over their quality systems and authoritarian conformity. Besides, the initiation of new technologies, which little and sometimes, effective firms must also control within their quality schemes across a range of service providers and partners (Liberti, McAuslane and Walker 2011). With all these changes, the criticality of an effective change-management scheme that can track and make sure appropriate assessment and implementation of changes is done. Envision a change-management scheme as graph simplicity of accomplishment on the X-axis and the complexity on the change Y-axis, it becomes simple to visualize why certain modifications may take years to implement as seen on the figure below (figure 1). As a modification becomes more complicated –like modifications, that entails numerous products and country registrations), it becomes difficult to bring to pass (Marcia 2004). Complicated changes are hard enough for an individual firm wit h several sites, but they are even more overstated for practical firms. For the latter, multiple bond service providers