Moving Average Method: Limitations and Types of

Moving Average Method: Limitations and Types of Forecasting is very essential and important part in business planning. It refers to estimation of the demand for products and services in coming future and the resource necessary to produce these outputs. Estimates of the future demand for products or services are commonly referred to as sales forecast. In other words, forecasting is the art and science of predicting future events. Is is not mere a guess or prediction about the future without any rational basis. It may involve taking historical data or intuitive prediction in the absence of historical data. Basis of Forecasting Forecasting by its nature uses data from the past period to forecast the future projection of the company. Historical data includes your organization`s financial statements and any information you believe has relative predictive value to the future success of your company. Historical data doesnt have to solely come from your company; it can also be historical macroeconomic data, such as the Consumer Confidence Index, interest rates, housing starts or any other economic variable you believe has an effect on your business based on your business experience and observations. Moving Average Method A moving average method uses a number of most recent historical actual data values to generate a forecast. The moving average for n number of periods in the moving average is calculated as : This method uses the average of a number of adjoining data points or periods. The averaging process uses overlapping observations to generate averages. The term moving refers to the way averages are calculate the forecast moves up or down the time series to pick observations to calculate an average of a fixed number of observations. In our ten periods on the question the moving averages method would use the average of the most recent ten observations of the data in the time series as the forecast for the next period. The moving average is commonly used with time series data to smooth out the short-term fluctuation and highlights long term trends or cycles. The threshold between Long-term and short-term term depends on the application and the parameter of the moving average will be set accordingly. For example it usually used in the technical analysis of financial data like stock prices and return various stock or trading volume A moving average also called rolling average, is an average price movement indicator, showing average value of the data within specific time frame. Moving average levels are interpreted as resistance in a rising market, or support in a falling market. Here a support level means a price rank where the price tends to find support as it is going down. The price is more likely to bounce off this level rather than break through it. A resistance level is the opposite of a support level and is an upper extreme where the price tends to find resistance as it is going up. Modern graphical analytic programs calculate wide range of different Moving Average types and offer assortment of their visualization styles. A time frame for calculation could be set as short, intermediate or long term. For long term trend the 200-days average is most popular; for medium term 50-days average and for short term 10 days average. Following types of rolling averages are used more often than others: a simple moving average (SMA); a weighted moving average (WMA) and an exponentially moving average (EMA). Types of moving average method Simple moving average method it is used to estimate the average of a demand time series and remove the effects of random fluctuation. It is most useful when demand has no pronounced trend or seasonal fluctuations. In this method if we use n period moving averages, the average demand for the n most recent time periods is calculated and used as forecast for the next time period. For the next period, after the demand is known, the older demand from the previous average is replaced with the most recent demand and the average is recalculated. Weighted moving average method in this method each historical demand in the moving average can have its own weight and the sum of the weight equals one. For example, in a 5 period weighted moving average model, the most recent period might be assigned a weight 0.50, the second most recent period might be assigned a weight of 0.30, 0.20, 0.10, and for third most period with a weight of 0.05. text{WMA}_{M} = { n p_{M} + (n-1) p_{M-1} + cdots + 2 p_{(M-n+2)} + p_{(M-n+1)} over n + (n-1) + cdots + 2 + 1} The advantage of weighted average method is that is allows emphasis on recent demand over earlier demand. Exponential Smoothing Method It is a sophisticated weighted moving method that is still relatively easy to understand and use. It requires only three items of data: periods forecast, the actual demand for this period and ÃŽÂ ± which is referred to as smoothing constant and having a value between 0 and 1. The formula of the ESM is as follows: Ft = Ft-1 + ÃŽÂ ± (At-1 Ft-1) Where Ft = Forecast for the period (t) Ft-1 = Forecast for the previous period (t-1) At-1 = Actual demand for the previous period (t-1) ÃŽÂ ± = Smoothing constant (value varies from 0 to 1) Selecting a smoothing constant is basically a matter of judgment or trial and error. Commonly used values of ÃŽÂ ± range from 0.05 to 0.5. Feature Moving average method:- Smoothing data Moving average help in smoothing or smooth function on the original sequence, the original sequence of fluctuation is weakened, and the average interval number N bigger, stronger on series smoothing effect. Odd and Even Moving average time interval number N is odd, only a moving average, the moving average as the middle moving average terms in a trend representative value; and when the moving average term N is even, the moving average value represents the middle position of the even level, not on a time, is in need of an adjacent two average value of the moving average, it can make the average value of a certain period of time, this is called shift is average, also become the center of moving average. Seasonal changes When the series include seasonal change, moving average interval number should be consistent with the seasonal variation of N length, in order to eliminate the seasonal variation; if the sequence contains a cycle of change, from the terms N and cycle length should be basically the same average, cycle fluctuation elimination can be better Advantages of Moving average method: Easily understandable The moving average model assumption is that the most accurate prediction of future demand is a simple (linear) combination of past demand moving average method is easy to understand than any other method. This method smooths the data and makes it easier to spot trend.. Simple and Easy Calculation Moving average is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of a given set of values. They are easier to use than other regression models. For example, to calculate a basic 10-day moving average you would add up the closing prices from the past 10 days and then divide the result by 10. Stable Forecasts how responsive we want the forecasting model to be to changes in the actual demand data must be balanced against our desire to suppress undesirable chance variation or noise in the data. With help of moving average can achieve such objectives. Limitations of Moving Average Method Equal weighing is given to each of the values used in the moving average calculation, whereas it is reasonable most reasonable data is more important to current situations. The moving average method doesnot takes into account the data outside the average period. The use of unadjusted moving average can lead to misguiding forecast The moving average method to a large number of data records from the past; Through the introduction of new data is more and more time, continuously revised average value, as predicted value. The basic principle of moving average method is through the moving average to eliminate irregular time series of changes and other changes, thus revealing the long-term trend of time series. Solution to the Given Problem Year No. of Cars 3 Year Moving Total 3 Year Moving Average 1 1324 ____ ____ 2 1605 ____ ____ 3 1486 4415 1471.67 4 1567 4658 1552.67 5 1687 4740 1580.00 6 1021 4275 1425.00 7 1424 4132 1377.33 8 986 3431 1143.67 9 1529 3939 1313.00 10 1425 3940 1313.33

Comparative Analysis of Nike and Adidas

Comparative Analysis of Nike and Adidas Adidas is the second largest company who manufactures sporting goods all over the world. It was established in 1920.The Original founders of Adidas were two brothers Rudolph and Adi Dassler .The companys first manufacture were slippers and after that they decided to make sport shoes which went so successful that it led them to open their own shoe making factory in 1926. Then it didnt look back and today it is one of the most successful company in sporting goods. Nike was initially started in 1962 as a blue ribbon sports. The founders of Nike were Bill Bower man and Phil Knight. Nike from its modest start grown as a sporting leader in sporting goods. It is also now recognised as world s leading manufacturer, designer, marketer and distributor. Market and Literature Review of Adidas and Nike Market Share and Sales In 2009, the Market shares of Adidas was 22% of the worldwide athletic footwear while on the other end the market shares of Nike was about 33 % . In 2009 the sales percentage of Adidas reported decline in profits. In last quarter of the 2009 its sales percentage was declined by 5 % which was because of their increase in marketing costs. While in 2010 the financial report shows that there is 15 % increase in their sale because of 2010 FIFA World Cup. On the other end the sales of Nike in the fourth quarter of 2009 was decreased down by 7 %. While the first quarter of 2010 shows 53 % increase in net income. Target Audience In case of target audience both Adidas and Nike have different target audience globally. The main target audience of Adidas are between 12-34 years consumers specially involved in sports. There are various sports which are targeted by Adidas that includes gym regulars, NBA players, Football etc and also the youth who believes in living a sporty life style. While Nike on the other end has very specific target audience .It focuses mainly on males and females, who are between 18 35 years old. As Adidas, Nike also focuses on football players under its target audience. Product: Adidas The products of Adidas are divided in to 3 Categories Adidas Performance Sports shoes, perfumes, eye wear Adidas Original Superstar Sneakers, Vintage Clothing, Adicolor Trainers Adidas Style Caps , Bags , Belts , Hand Gloves Etc Nike Nike Products Sports Shoes , Sunglasses, Trainers,BodyCare,Sneakers, Hoodies , Clothes ,Caps , Bags , Perfumes etc Price : Adidas There are various Pricing strategies which are followed by Adidas according to its product. But generally it uses Market skimming strategy, that is the price of the product depends upon its colour, look etc for example: white colour shoes of Adidas is more expensive than other colour shoes. Nike As compared to Adidas , the price of products of Nike are high. It adopts different and Competetive pricing startegy than Adidas, it is based on the basis of premium segment as target customers . Nike as brand has high premium , so the price of its products is high than adidas. Place/ Distribution Adidas The most basic distribution strategy adopted by Adidas is to concentrate resources at the place where most profitable customer segment is available. So for this purpose it opened its shops all around the world. It also focuses on offering total customer service at the place where customer goes to buy its products. In addition to shop, Adidas also gives online buying service. Nike Nike on the other end had a strategy of exploring the current and developing new market, so its shops are in nearly 200 Countries. Like Adidas, it sells the products to independent distributors, licenses and subsidiaries. Same as Adidas, it also sells its products online. Positioning Adidas Adidas has its own unique brand positioning in the mind of customers. For instance one of the images of Adidas is those who want to wear light shoe should go for Adidas, rather than going for other brands. Other positioning of Adidas in customers mind is basketball shoes , this is because generally basketball players wears it because of its unique design and light weight. NIKE Nike on the other end has image of an innovative company who focuses making new innovations and designing new style shoes. As Nike s one of the main target audience are football players its key positioning in customers mind is to provide competitive edge; help athlete to perform well. Recently in order to improve its brand positioning , it made a deal with NFL by paying 1 billion dollar (approximately) , Nike will produce all the on-field apparels , it will also produce game uniforms and other side line personal apparel and fan gear. Research Method Used and Its Limitation In order to carry out research there were two main methods used Primary and Secondary Research methods. To assemble primary data a questionnaire was designed which compares both athletic brand Adidas and Nike. Sample Size. 30 While to gather secondary data internet, magazines, annual reports of the company, articles were used. Manual Method is used to get output information after analysing data. Time Schedule Total estimated time used to complete this report will be 9 week. Limitations of Primary Data Collection Method 1. The first disadvantage of carrying primary research was difference in response. Each individual has its own view. So it was difficult to generalise the information. 2. It was time consuming, costly as it takes lots of time to find a respondent who can fill questionnaire. Limitations of Secondary Data Collection Method 1. It was difficult to find data from company s website as sometimes they might not say their weakness. 2. The person who wrote secondary data might be biased. 3. The sample used by a secondary person might be small. Analysis and Discussion Key findings of Marketing Strategies Adopted By Nike and Adidas after analysing Secondary data ; Adidas There are various promotional strategies adopted by Adidas which includes television, internet, billboards and magazines. Television Advertisement Analysis of TV ad Adidas uses different media vehicles which can pop up its advertisement on television; it uses various sports channels like Star Sports, ESPN. The recent Adidas original Ad has celebrities like David beck ham, Agnes den, they used Informative Advertising because the objective of the ad was to create awareness about the launch of its new star wars collection which includes cool, funky clothes and shoes for youth, so in order to attract them they used Musical Appeal to stir up the feeling of buying. It used Peripheral Cues because it might have thought people would not be able to process information that their new collection is very cool and stylish, and so they used fashionable celebrities like Beckham and Agnes to influence target audience attitude positively. According to me the message of ad was if one wants look modish and funky as David Beckham and Agnes then should go for this new collection of Adidas. Adidas uses internet in many ways to reach its target audience, it created its own website (adida.com) exclusive digital content where one can get all information about the company including company back ground, products, sales, new launches etc. Other than this recently adidas used windows messenger game platform in order to promote its Predator and f50 boots to the age group of 15-24 years old males. Which was most effective advertisement strategy as it helped the compnay to increase 14 % brand ratings by gamers.Additionally popup ads can also be found on yahoo , espn home pages etc . According to me , the objective of using internet marketing was to attract the younsters who spends more time online than watching TV. Outdoor advertisement The organisation uses various groundbreaking outdoor advertisement such as billboard soccers, expansive wall scrappers , topiary styled billboards etc. Recently in japan adidas came with unique outdoor adverisement concept where two footballers were hung wearing hearness and have to play football for 10 mintues. The objective was to grab the attention of the people towards the billboard and adidas was successful in doing that as shown in figure , traffice around that froze for about 70 mintues. Other extremely effective concept of outdoor advertisement was made in germany in 2006 during fifa world cup , a huge arc like structure with Oliver Khan s image was putted across the road , the objective of this concept was to grab attention of the vehicles passing by road and it was successful in doing this . Sponsership And Events In addition to these it sponserd soccerex football festival for 2010 football and has confirmed four year sponsership deal with it . The objective of the deal must be to promote its products in foot ball after successfully promoting it in NBA games .Aditionally adidas have agreed to make eight year sponsership with major league soccer the objective of adidas is in to promote its products as well as to increase growth of the league and insvesment for youth development . Adidas also uses various sales promotion startegies in order to increase its sales, one of the recent sales promotion strategies is adidas coupons and coupons code in which adidas distributes coupons through dealtaker.com in which if a customers code matches with the adidas code , discount up to 30% or more than that will be given by company on various types shoes. In addition to these it also cuts down the prices of product during special festivals and events in order to increase its sales or to finish the old stock . Other than this , adidas also uses various maganizes and newspapers in order to promote its products . Nike Nike uses different promotional strategies. It promotes its products by adopting endorsement focus scheme, creating a prevailing media existence, establishing flagship stores and use of magazines, billboards, mobile etc TV Advertisement For TV ads Nike uses various sports channels to promote its products by various celebrities like Ronald no, Renaldo, and Roberto Carlos. It mainly shows its ad during football games. Recent ad was a sort Comparative Advertisement because as the title describes Nike: My better is than your better, in this ad it shows all sports games like basket ball , baseball, Running etc and try to deliver a message that Nike products are best in every game whether it is basket ball , base ball , jumping . In order to grab attention and to stir up Emotional appeal it used Fantasy and surrealism because certain images shown create fantasy. While to stir up Rational appeal it indirectly compared it s products with other products, the ad might be effective as it shows and considers its products superior in every game as compared to other companys products. Internet Nike uses various online methods in order to promote its products. It has established its own website, where customers can get lots of information about the products and company. It also uses yahoo to promote its products, according to me the objective of using yahoo and other popup ads is to make youngsters who often goes online, aware about the brand Billboards and Magazines In comparison to Adidas, Nike uses different ways of billboard advertisement to promote its products, in recent times in Hong Kong to promote its Nike s T90, a series of black and white markers were posted in local Nike stores, subways, stations and also in magazines. These markers were a kind of 3D Window Display, and to watch it, customer need to text the key word displayed on the marker and has to download the Nike application. After the software is downloaded, if one points the camera on the markers, one can see virtual 3d Nike T90 boots. These types of billboard s were specially launched for the target market of Hong Kong who is found of latest technology. Other than this Nike uses ESPN magazines to promote its product. Key Findings of Survey (Questionnaire); Recent research founded that Nike scored low rates as compared to Adidas in terms of positioning; this is because they primarily focuses on men, only 10% of female supposed that they would buy Nike sneakers again, while rest of the women likes Adidas because it focuses on both men and women uniformly.(Referred To questionnaire) 40 % of respondents prefer and gave an average rate of 6.9 to Adidas because it is cheaper and lighter in weight. For example many of the samples said I would go for Adidas because they are cheaper and also I feel myself more comfortable in the products of Adidas, particularly youngsters who are fascinated in playing foot ball because David Beckham wears it. But on the other hand 60 % of entire sample likes and gave an average rate of 8.5 to Nike, out of which 40 % sample likes it and gave an average rate of 7 because they deem its shoes are good in quality, comfortable over long distance. While other 20 % likes it and gave an average rate of 7.5 because they feel Nike provides more variety of design in shoes than Adidas and they look more stylish. For example sample 4 said I like Nike because the products are very much cool and also there are various types choices available and various types of pattern and styles are available, So it looks that People are more concerned about qualit y and comfortableness than price, so by this it can recommended to Adidas to focus more on its quality. Out of total respondents, only 70% of respondents were able to give description of recent ad of two companies out of which 40 % of respondents described Adidass new star war collection, while other 30 % of respondents described Nike s War hawk Matt Scott s No excuses commercial. 30 % of total sample remembers and likes, TV ad of Adidas because they use well-known celebrities like Beckham, Messy, Kaka etc and they are more eye-catching. For example sample 21 Said the action it shows in its ad s add attract the viewers and also the style of showing the product was awesome. 70 % of overall sample remembers and likes TV commercials of Nike because every time they demonstrate foot ball game in a unique and a bit comical way. Some people remember it because they reflect that the frequency of Nike s ad on TV is more than Adidas. After analysing primary data it can be said that, respondents like Nike more than Adidas, and Nike s communication strategies are more effective than Adidas. Conclusion Based on above analysis following Conclusion can be made ; Both Nike and Adidas are following almost same types of promotional Strategies up to some extent, both benchmarks each other, both uses internet , billboards , magazines , TV advertisement to promote their products the only differences is that they both are using different celebrities to promote their products and they also follow different endorsement strategies ,Adidas focuses on sponsoring a team and various events, while Nike bulls its eye on various stars of football, basket ball, golf etc. The other difference is their advertising message; they both use same scoop and scale but try to communicate with different messages. While the target audience of both the brands are same as well as the brand building strategy adopted by both the company seems to be same. So both companies are investing more and more in their promotional strategies, to attract more customers and at last to expand their growth.

Rome Essay -- History, Architecture

Early Rome was an architecturally diverse place. For the first centuries after its founding all the people of Rome lived in very simple huts devoid of any significant meaning. But during the rule under the Etruscans, they learned how to build more complex structures with specific purposes such as a sacred place where a god can be thought to dwell. Etruscan buildings cannot be seen though without Greek architectures’ indelible mark. Through the Etruscans, Rome learned how to build huge and complex structures where before that knowledge did not exist. This period of Roman architecture can be defined along with Rome’s governmental development. Republican Rome began in 509 B.C. and with it entered the beginning of Rome’s architectural greatness. â€Å"With the expulsion of the Etruscan kings Rome was free to shape her own destinies† (Sear 14). Since Rome was not restrained because of its conquerors it was free to create whatever they wished, however they wanted. While there was still a heavy Greek influence, a style developed that was distinctly Roman, but as Rome conquered nations across the Mediterranean Sea it absorbed their styles of building and it was shown in the buildings of their capital. Imperial Rome saw the highest and lowest point in Rome’s history. But during this time an enormous number of innovative and massive structures were built that defined Rome as the dominant power in the ancient world. During this time Rome reworked its earlier principles to be used in the government and religious buildings. Cement also played an important role in the ability to construct complex domes and ornate arches. Another major change that occurred was the extensive use of marble in construction, unlike earlier brick buildings.... ...ed the small farming village on the banks of the Tiber into a thriving city. Throughout the Republic of Rome, advances were made in complexity and design alongside the introductions to new cultures during Rome’s conquests. These conquests gave Rome the wealth and inspiration needed to create its massive buildings. All through the Empire, magnificent and colossal buildings were built which reflected the height of Roman power and wealth. â€Å"It is said of Augustus that he found Rome a city built of bricks but left it a city built of marble† (Clayton 22). This is very true of how Rome was rebuilt during its time as an empire and the dominant power in the world. From beginning to end, the Roman concept of architecture was based on shaping matter around space, and this only changed in complexity and in meaning, but never changed the foundation upon which it was built.

parsons dance company :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I went to see the Parsons Dance Company on Tuesday April 9th. It was a very interesting show. There were actually many different techniques that I observed in this performance. This company uses many different forms of dance all into one technique, which makes them a unique company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One characteristic of technique that I noticed in most of the pieces performed was fast paced movement. Every piece was very upbeat and synchronized with the music. All their movements were done to the accents in the music. In â€Å"Too Many Cooks† all the movements were in sync with the sounds in the music. In â€Å"Mood Indigo,† there were three duets and they all showed different colors of indigo by how they dancers expressed their movements. The first duet was the color purple and they showed a couple in love and the movement was very quick. The second duet was the color light purple and the movement was very slow, this was the only piece where the movement was pretty slow. Since it was a lighter color they made the movement slower which fit the whole idea. In many of the other pieces they movement was fast as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the piece, â€Å"Caught,† the technique here dealt with strobe lights. David Parson’s choreographed this piece and it was very well done. They had the dancer jumping in the air while they strobed her to give it a suspended in time look to the movement. This is not really a dance technique, but more for perspective. It’s not very often you see someone in the air for a split second suspended in the air. This is a very unique technique and many other companies should try it. David Parson’s is a genius for designing this piece.

The Divine Comedy vs. Paradise Lost Essays -- essays research papers

Full Circle – from Sin to Salvation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Great works of literature have been written throughout history. However, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost have the inept ability to stir the soul and cause a person to examine and re-examine their life. The brilliant descriptions, use of imagery, metaphor and simile give a person a vivid picture of the creation of man and the possibilities for life in the hereafter. This is done, as a person is able to see, full circle, from the beginning of time to the end of time, the consequences of turning away from God. The ability to see a life full circle is apparent through the examination of both of these poems. Although written many years ago, the morals and principles that they convey ring very true for people in this century as well as times yet to come. The Divine Comedy, written in the 14th century by Dante Alighieri, is a heroic epic. Throughout Dante’s literary work, he outlines his scientific understandings of the world, his political views and provides the reader with a moral compass and spiritual map of which to follow. This poem is written in three parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio, each of which is broken down into individual cantos. Inferno includes 34 cantos, whereas Purgatrio and Paradiso each contain 33 cantos, however, the first canto of Inferno is really an introduction to the poem. The primary characters in Dante’s poem include himself, who is also the narrator, Virgil, a poet he has admired, who serves as his guide through most of the first two sections, and finally, Beatrice, his inspiration, who greets him at Paradisio and escorts him through the remainder of his journey. Dante experiences a vision, at the age of 35, after experiencing traumatic events in his hometown of Florence. The events that are occurring in Florence at the time are associated with papal corruption and cause Dante to be forced into exile. Following the vision, which confirms to Dante that he has strayed from the right path in life, Dante begins his travel through the three realms, which contain the possible consequences following a person’s death. Dante’s journey begins on Good Friday, when he is escorted to the gates of Hell, moves to Purgatory and ends in Heaven. However, an escort accompanies him for duration of his journey. Virgil, who Dante has long admired, escorts Dante through Hell and... ...or not to obey the Father in the partaking of the fruit. Faith becomes a common theme through questions that are answered within the poems. Raphael answers Adam and reveals the meaning and importance of faith. The same thing occurs in Dante’s poem when St. Peter gives him information. In Milton’s poem we see and feel that the character of Eve is somehow not as important as the character of Adam. This is evident in the way Adam is consulted while Eve is left to herself in times of important conversations. In Book eight, Adam says that Eve is â€Å"th’ inferior, in the mind and inward faculties.† (Paradise Lost, book 8, line 317-318) Eve is a submissive character in Paradise Lost. On the other hand, Beatrice, in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is a strong character and leads Dante. The use of numbers is very important in Dante’s poem as the number three reveals itself several times as well as the number seven. This is not a characteristic found in Paradise Lost. Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.

Pharmaceutical Companies and How Their Health Information is Managed Through Clinical Trials Essay

Clinical Trials are critical to how pharmaceutical companies manage health information. Through the years the Federal Drug Administration saw many problems with the use of clinical trials and worked at fixing them. Regulations and guidance was put into place to ensure that sponsors of clinical trials; medical researchers, ethic committees and pharmaceuticals understand how they can efficiently carry out the trials while complying with federal law. Pharmaceutical companies rely heavily on these trials to determine how the health information gained is used for research and marketing on a variety of levels within the company including their main purpose of drug development. The clinical trial is an investigational product in human volunteers to examine effects from experimental drugs, medical device, or biologic, such as a vaccine, blood product, or gene therapy (Bren, 2007, 23). The main problem of many clinical trials in the past was the possibility of bias. Meaning any factor that distorts the true outcome of a study, that leads to overestimating or even underestimating the effect of a drug that was being investigated. But now with better FDA regulations stricter guidelines help to prevent this type of bias. When a pharmaceutical has a drug to market it must first submit an application to the FDA that shows data from controlled clinical trials. FDA then reviews the application to make a decision on whether the clinical trials are well-control or if they show the effectiveness of the product. It must also show that all available data show that the product is safe enough to allow it on the public market. Before 1938 pharmaceutical companies could market a drug without submitting any information to the FDA or for that fact any agency. â€Å"The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) of 1938 was passed when over 100 children died from taking a sulfa drug that had not been tested in humans† (Bren, 2007, 24). The FDA adopted the standard, after this incident, that the benefits of a product outweigh the risks. In 1962 new law created made pharmaceuticals responsible to prove that their drugs were both effective and safe if they wanted to market them to the public. Making clinical trial more efficient was needed. In an article â€Å"The Advancement of Controlled Clinical trials† Bren discusses the future of clinical trials in which the FDA see a future of improving clinical trials by standardizing and automating trial procedures, conduct and data processing. Another addition to the trials would be to use patient reported outcomes. â€Å"For systematic diseases, what really matters is how you feel, not how the doctor feels about you† (Bren, 2007, 28). Another important advancement in managing pharmaceutical companies is how they manufacture and the distribution of medication. This was called the Critical Path Initiative. This focuses on the path which medical products must travel from development to patients. The Critical Path Initiative is FDA’s effort to stimulate and facilitate a national effort to modernize the sciences through which FDA regulated products are developed, evaluated, and manufactured† (Bons, Aubert & Bonnely, 2000). Pharmaceutical companies had already recognized that there were weaknesses that needed improvement in clinical trials and that some could be easily improved while others would need a different type of organization, but in general that none of them were really difficult to address. Choosing an independent institute for conducting surveys and trial would give them an opportunity for impartial opinions in clinical trials. Human subjects is an important key in clinical development and investigators are the spokesperson for that study so improving investigator participation in clinical trials would help to improve subject participation and the quality of the whole trial. So looking at the clinical trial in itself would be how pharmaceutical manage the health inf

Airborne Express: the Underdog

AIRBORNE EXPRESS: THE UNDERDOG CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Analyze the United States small package express delivery industry in the 1990’s using the Porter’s Five Force Model. Rate each of the five forces as either weak, moderate, strong or fierce. Justify your rating by using two factors under each force and describing how these factors affect the strength of the force. The Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of the buyer was somewhat moderate-to-slightly strong due to the fact that certain corporations were so high ranked that, they could manipulate their prices to their advantage.On top of that substitutions existed with the other mailing companies which gave the â€Å"buyer† choices. Low prices were taken advantage of by consumers, for if they were too expensive, they’d switch their services over to another company who would provide the same shipping, delivery and transportation system, at a more reasonable price. High-volume corporate customer s have a great deal with more bargaining power than customers who don’t buy from them frequent enough. This meant that they could allow and demand substantial discounts.IBM made a 3-year contract with Airborne Express to pay them to carry their products that were 150 pounds or less. The only downfall about that was that Airborne Express had to offer rates 84% below Federal Express’s list prices. Approx. 80% of Airborne’s revenue came from corporate accounts such as IBM. High-volume corporate companies such as IBM have the bargaining power over Airborne Express. The Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of the suppliers, at the time, was fairly strong.When it came down to the delivering and shipping of packages in the world, there were only a few companies who operated globally. This is one bargaining power that Airborne (the supplier gained). . Data Product Corp. ; a producer of computer printers, contracted out Airborne to take care of their arrang ements and shipments of their component parts. Airborne controlled the consolidation and movement of component parts from the component part supplier through the Hong Kong assembly operation. This allowed the company to minimize inventory-holding costs for the Data Product Corp.Airborne was in control and created set prices for the company to abide by or else, they would cease to ship for the company. Airborne shipped everything by night in which they controlled when packages were delivered. They would close their drop boxes at 5pm, so any packages that weren’t ready by that time, weren’t shipped until the next day. They controlled the time of when packages were due so customers would push to get their packages put into these drop boxes before they closed. Airborne also created and built their own hub-and-spoke system capable of supporting a nationwide distribution system.They had their own planes, trucks, as well as other equipment, which meant that they didn’t have to rely on others to send out their packages. They were in control and could regulate their own price and supply levels directly. 2. List at least two strategies that Airborne implemented to strengthen each of the four building blocks of competitive advantage (efficiency, innovation, quality and customer responsiveness). Explain how the strategy strengthened the building block. r 3. Did Airborne Express have a sustainable competitive advantage? If yes, what was the competitive advantage based on.If no, why was their competitive advantage not sustainable? Yes, Airborne Express did have a sustainable competitive advantage. They provided many strategies that companies of others did not implement and/or use. One would be the usage of special drop boxes for their customers. Airborne provided multiple drop boxes in several locations for customers to send their packages along. The packages were collected from the drop boxes at 5 pm, everyday. These drop boxes were placed and located in specific locations such as; lobbies in major commercial buildings, which made access to these boxes available to many.Central drop boxes were placed in the cities as well, allowing customers up to 6 pm before collecting packages and closing the drop boxes. Another advantage that Airborne Express had over other companies was the development of their information systems. With these information systems in use, Airborne Express had improved their customer service as well as boost productivity within the company. The three information systems that were created were: the Libra II system, the FOCUS system, and also, the EDI system.Libra II was used to calculate and weigh the package at hand, while providing shipping labels and reports. The FOCUS system recorded the status of the package (such as location, shipment time, etc. ). Last but not least, the EDI system was used to â€Å"eliminate the flow of paperwork†. This meaning that forms in the form of â€Å"paper† was redu ced if not removed and instead replaced with electronic data forms. Another competitive advantage that Airborne had was the strategic alliances that were created with multiple foreign agents.These countries consisted of Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, and South Africa. With this move globally, this put Airborne into the international aspect of package shipping and delivery. 4. As Airborne Express’ customers became global, Airborne Express had to develop a network to meet their needs to deliver packages to international location. They chose a very different approach than Federal Express. Describe Airborne Express’ strategies to provide global services. Also list two advantages and two risks associated with the approach that Airborne Express adopted.