Steps of Coducting an Audit

I sincerely hope that this assignment meets your approval and demonstrates my ability to resent assignments. If you require further clarification, I will be happy to contact you according to your convenience. Sincerely, Ishrat Nahid ID: 0930183 Executive Summery An auditor is an official whose Job it is to carefully check the accuracy of business records. An auditor can be either an independent auditor unaffiliated with the company being audited or a captive auditor, and some are elected public officials. Auditors are used to ensure that organizations are maintaining accurate and honest financial records and statements.In this report I have written about the plan of audit and the importance of ndependence of auditors. Planning the audit is an important step to conduct the audit. Auditor uses different planning methods to determine risk assessment, assessment of internal controls etc. The auditor either internal or external cannot complete all the aspects of the audit in one year. The auditors plan the audit is such a way they can cover the audit over a period of time. Auditor independence is one of the most important issues in accounting practice today.Independence increases the effectiveness of the audit by providing assurance that the auditor will plan and execute the audit objectively. High-quality audits enhance the reliability of the financial reporting process by investors and other users. Topic 1. Planning of audit 15- 163. References Page no 5-14 2. Independence of auditor 17 audit report Planning refers to the process of deciding what to do and how to do it. Planning involves selecting mission and objective and the actions to achieve them; it requires decision making that is, choosing from among alternative future course of actions.Plans thus provide a rational approach to achieving reselected objectives. Planning is an intellectually demanding process; it requires that we consciously determine ourses of action and base our decisions on purpose, knowle dge and considered estimates. An audit plan is the specific guideling to be followed when conducting an internal or external audit. Internal audits are usually conducted by a company's accounting staff and are primarily used for a management review of accounting process.External audits are conduct by external public accounting firms or private certified accountants (CPA) to ensure outside stakeholders that the company's financial information is prepared in accordance with that Jurisdiction's accepted accounting principles. External audit usually use a formal audit plan for auditors to follow when conducting audits. Audit planning improves the quality of audit work. It is necessary for an effective, efficient and timely audit. Adequate audit planning establishes the right means to achieve the objectives of audit.It helps in identifying potential problems and ensures that work is completed expeditiously. An audit plan does help the auditor not only to understand the scope of audit but also facilities smooth conduct of audit. Auditors use five types of test to determine whether financial statements are fairly stated: rocedures to obtain understanding of internal control, tests of controls, substantive tests of transactions, analytical procedures and tests of details of balances. All audit procedures fall into one or more than one of these five categories.By these tests detection risk reduces and effectiveness of internal control has increase. Five types of tests are firstly, update and evaluate the auditor's previous experience with the entity. Secondly, make inquiries of client personnel. Thirdly, read client's policy and systems manuals. Fourthly, examine documents and records. Fifthly, observe entity and operations. A meaningful audit plan considers some basic steps. If these basic steps are the minimal possible time. Step 1: Talk to the client The auditor discusses the nature of the engagement and the client's business and industry trends at the beginning of planning.Insights gained from this discussion help the au ditor navigate through the remainder of the audit planning procedures. These insights set the stage for an active two way communication process that result in a fully engaged audi tor. Step 2: Obtaining background information An extensive understanding of the clients business and industry and knowledge bout the company's operations are essential for doing an adequate audit. The auditor asks about recent developments in the company that may cause the audit to differ from prior years.Developments such as mergers, new locations or new product lines may have a significant impact on the audit plan for the current year. These discussions take place at the client 10 cation. Going on site provides the auditor the opportunity to meet with key employees or new employees and to see for him or herself any changes in the overall operations of the client. Step 3: Prepare A Complete list of items needed from the client Before starting uditi ng auditors require samples, documents and many other papers those auditors need to audit.A meaningful audit plan pro vides an updated list of client-prepared items that considers the following: New schedules because of changed risk profiles at the client New schedules resulting from a change in audit ap proach Example schedules and templates so the client prepares them in the auditors desired format Insertion of due dates for each schedule that has been agreed to by the client For larger clients, insert the name of a person respon Sible for the completion of the schedule that has been agreed to by the client

Effects of Social Networking Sites Essay

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Technology – driven school reform has overcome education, and advocates hail the huge number of advantages to reap. It comes with promises to push us into the future and cause dramatic improvement in student proficiency and worldwide understanding. Our computer- driven society demands that students develop the ability to operate in a technological environment, acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to be productive. In addition, so much of our planet rapidly is becoming connected via the Internet so that social protocol has become an intrinsic part of technology- based curriculum. But increasing reports connecting psychologically addictive characteristics to internet use, along with speculation of its negative influence on social functioning, have brought to question the enduring effects of its reform. Read more:  Negative Impact of Social Media on Students Educational systems around the world are under increasing pressure to use the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to teach students the knowledge and skills they need in the 21st – century (UNESCO, 2002). Thus the key concern driving the policy and community interest in the pedagogical integration of ICT is the premise that ICT is important for beginning changes to classroom teaching and learning so as to foster the development of students’ 21st – century skills. Specifically, these skills include the capability to become lifelong learners with a context of collaborative inquiry and the ability to work and learn from experts and peers in a connected global community (Law, Pelgrum & Plomp, 2008). Social computer use is widespread and growing. Current estimates indicate that 149 million people are social worldwide, and that number is increasing at the rate of 12% a month (Suler, 2008). Integrating the Internet into classroom activities allows teachers to move beyond classroom walls. Far from being an â€Å"add on† or a burden to carry into instruction, this technology provides support for teachers as they move into new roles as facilitators of learning (Cooper, 1995). Since the present society is fast changing especially in the realm of computer technology, educators are beginning to wonder about the influence of the Internet on the ICT capabilities and physiological well – being of youths. Investigation is especially timely due to the widespread establishment of Internet shops along the school environment. Background of the Study The Internet provides some of the most effective means of communication. Emails and instant messages have made social communication possible. Social network and blogging websites and social discussion forums have proved being popular platforms of expression. People in different parts of the world can collaborate over the Internet. It was the development of the Internet that made social education and distance learning possible. Professionals working in physically distant locations can collaborate their efforts (OAK, 2008). With the advent of the Internet, the debate over the effects of new media reemerged. While some envisioned a â€Å"virtual community,† which lower the costs of collective action and expand individuals’ social networks (Delli Carpini, 2000; Rheingold, 2000), others worried about new addiction, which would reduce social ties and draw users into cycle of depression and loneliness (Nie and Erbring, 2000) . A decade after the popularization of the internet, neither scenario has emerged. Instead, research reflects a medium that has some positive influence on users’ social ties, but where only certain Internet uses positive influence on users’ social ties, but where only certain Internet uses to social capital (Zhao, 2006). Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of internet users who search on a typical day grew 69% from January 2002 to May 2008. During the same six-year time period, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52% to 60%, for a growth rate of just 15% ( Heisler, 2008) With the increasing information, there is a debate among psychologists as to the prevalence of a psychological disorder associated with social use. Labeled by some as â€Å"Internet Addiction Disorder† (Goldberg, 1997), studies suggest the existence of addictive behavior patterns among heavy internet users (Greenfield, 1999). Based on criteria that psychologists often use in defining the types of addiction, social surveys estimate that the incidence of addictive patterns of behavior among heavy Internet users’ ranges from 6 % (Greenfield, 1999). Children’s exposure to electronic media, such as television, video games, the Internet, and music has increased enormously in recent decades. More than 100 studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between exposure to violence on television and aggressive behavior in children (Kidsdata.org,2006). Identified symptoms of the disorder include : (a) using the computer to pleasure, gratification, or relief from stress; (b) feeling irritable and out of control or depressed when not using it; (c) spending increasing amounts of time and money on hardware, software, magazines, and computer – related activities; and (d) neglecting work school, or family obligations (Gawel, 1998) Neilsen (2008) stated that â€Å"Today’s youth don’t know — or don’t remember — a time when they weren’t going online, so their adoption of online video has been seamless.† The video consumption in the workplace increases usage metrics among adults, the ‘at home’ data show how kids and teens are driving usage and claiming their territory. The Web provides another platform for their interest in TV shows, toys, movies and music, and offers an interactive element that children especially enjoy. Among the top sites for the younger demographic we see are publishers that are integrating video into games, music and other content to drive engagement with this multi-media generation.† Likewise Bugeja (2008) said that â€Å"students might misuse technology, and about how Facebook and MySpace are all simply about revenue generation for their respective companies.† Educational pedagogy has swung over the years between focusing on individual-centered learning, group learning, and peer-to-peer learning. If you take a peer-to-peer learning approach, you are inherently valuing the social networks that youth have and maintain, or else you are encouraging them to build one. These networks are mediated and reinforced through SNSs. If there is pedagogical value to encouraging peers to have strong social networks, then there is pedagogical value in supporting their sociable practices on SNSs. (Boyd,2008) When it comes to socializing with friends, youth prefer in-person (unregulated) encounters. They turn to Social Network Sites when they cannot get together with their friends en masse or when they cannot get together without shriveling adults. By and large, there are few free spaces where youth can gather with their friends en masse and, even then, inevitably a chunk of parents refuse to let them, thereby destroying cluster effects. So, of course, they turn to Social Network Sites. School is one of the few times when they can get together with their friends and they use every unscheduled moment to socialize – passing time, when the teacher’s back is turned, during lunch, bathroom breaks, etc. They are desperately craving an opportunity to connect with their friends; not surprisingly, their use of anything that enables socialization while at school is deeply desired. This is why they text during classes. They go onto SNSs during the day to write to friends who have diffe rent schedules or to write to the whole group if a portion of them are on a different lunch. Given how regulated youth are, any open space where socializing is possible will be taken up by socializing; it is often the only place they can see their friends. This is not something that the schools can fix, but they also should not be surprised when group time turns into gossip time (Boyd, 2008). By mid-2005, MySpace was a popular destination for high school students throughout the United States but teenagers from other countries were on a variety of other social network sites. Friendster had lost its grip on 20/30-something urbanites but it had become popular amongst teenagers in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Social network sites like Orkut and Hi5, which were initially popular among adults in Brazil and India, began attracting the attention of younger audiences in those countries (Boyd & Danah, 2007). Social network sites, such as the wildly popular, are rapidly becoming a problem for schools in Sapang Palay , City of San Jose Del Monte. It has been observed that even during schools days, students from Sapang Palay National High School are staying in computer shops. Based on the interviews conducted by the researcher recently to the fourth year students, they reasoned out that they were staying in internet shops because they wanted to browse and post comments on their social network sites. According to them, they felt fulfilled if they regularly viewed their social network site account. This study will be an eye opener for the education opportunities and possibilities with social network sites. This research will greatly benefit in one way or another the following: The Department of Education, as an agency that draws and sets the education program for the secondary level, may use results of this study reference for the curriculum makers in the creation of acceptable guidelines in proper use of social network sites . School Administration will serve as springboard for an action plan for computer laboratory teachers and personnel on the use of internet and issues with social networking sites in their code of conduct. A policy may be formulated that will educate parents on the negative and positive effects of exposure to social network sites on students’ achievements in Information Communication Technology subject and behavior. Information Communication Technology (ICT) teachers will become aware of what students are accessing and why they are using the web for research or socializing. This study will increase awareness among students on the dangers in social networking sites. Parents, who must be primarily concerned with their children’s behavior, must be involved in their child’s networking lifestyle. Parents need to inform children of the potential dangers of social networking sites and how they can protect them. Students who are the most important concern of this study, who use social networking sites, are made aware of the potential dangers relative to social networking sites, and gain to knowledge and abilities to use social networking sites as tool in learning Information Communication Technology skills other than time wasting. This would also enjoin the students to utilize and take advantage of the skills and learning experiences that maybe acquired in browsing social network sites to develop their Information Communication Technology skills to the fullest with appropriate behavior. The study would contribute added relevant facts and issues in formulating, implementing and evaluating the curriculum and instruction so as to include Educational Technology in the Mast er of Arts in Industrial Education Program. This may be lead to the development of teacher leaders with strong commitment to the philosophical foundations of technology. Statement of the Problem This study attempted to investigate whether exposure to social network sites communication was related to the achievement in Information Communication Technology subject and behavior in terms of study habits, socialization, and home responsibilities of selected fourth year high school students at Sapang Palay National High School Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions. 1. What are the social network sites browsed by fourth year high school students? 2. What is the frequency of students’ exposure to social network sites? 3. What is the level of respondents’ browsing skills on social network sites? 4. What is the level of achievement in Information Communication Technology subject? 5. How do respondents perceive their behavior in terms of 5.1 study habits; 5.2 socialization; and 5.3 home responsibility? 6. Is there any significant relationship between social network sites exposure and students’ achievement in Information Communication Technology subject and behavior? 7. Does sex affect the relationship of the social network sites exposure to achievement in Information Communication subject and behavior in terms of 7. 1study habits 7.2socialization and home 7.3responsibilities Scope of the Study The research study was conducted to determine the exposure of communication by fourth year high school students, the level of achievements in Information Communication Technology subject and their behavior. It also sought whether significant relationship could be seen between social network sites exposure and students’ achievement in Information Communication Technology subject and behavior. It also aimed to determine whether the sex of students could make significant difference in affecting achievement in Information Communication Technology subject and behavior. The techniques of gathering data were questionnaire and interviews. Involved in this study were 200 fourth year students at Sapang Palay National High School during school year 2013-2014, City Division of San Jose Del Monte. Around fifty percent of the total numbers of students who are taking up Information Communication Technology subject were included in this study. They were classified according to their sex.

Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literacy Narrative - Essay Example Formative assessment plays an important role to both readers and communicators. First, before undertaking a journey to communicate, a communicator has a goal in mind or a message he would like to drive home. To achieve goals, it is important that a communicator understand the persons being communicated to through formative assessment. For instance as a communicator, formative assessment helped me to understand the gap between the desired goal and the current knowledge of the people I was addressing. On the other hand, learners get to gauge their extent of understanding. After assessing the gap, both learners and communicators can now allow this knowledge to guide them through actions necessary to obtain their main goal. An effective feedback will provide suggestions for closing the gap. Some of the methods communicators can use to assess learning include giving assignments, group discussions, and tests. Secondly, formative assessments motivate learners to improve on their understandi ng of the subject other than just getting the right answers. For instance, assignments and tests helped me as a learner to get specific comments, errors, and feedbacks on my level of understanding about a topic. Formative assessment encourage readers that each of them have great innate potential to perform better that they currently perform. More so, the feedback given from the tests encourage readers that they can do better. According to Ames, formative assessment helps support the expectation that all readers can give great performances and counteracts the notion that poor performances on some readers result from their lack of ability. Such readers may get discouraged and become unwilling to invest further in learning (Ames 262-270). A communicator can help improve the understanding of the students through several means. For instance, I can ask my discussion group members to summarise a topic or main points after a discussion. A communicator can also give related questions on the topic of study and mark them. In this, the communicator will test understanding of some vocabularies or concepts in the topic. Searching for meanings of vocabularies and answering questions proves quite helpful to me in learning. Thirdly, formative assessment plays an important role where readers can perform self-evaluation. Statistics reveal that readers who are governed by certain goals in their learning and opt to do self-evaluations are much better that those who do not. They have time to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and filling in the gap through further learning. Additionally, formative assessment enables students with disabilities to train on how to evaluate themselves, helping them to improve. As a communicator, I assist readers to self-evaluate themselves through group discussions. Here, learners have an opportunity to receive a challenge especially where i mix the slow learners with the fast learners. A communicator can float a question and ask readers to writ e down what they think about it and read their answers around to the rest of the readers. He can also separate the students in small groups, give them time to brainstorm and have one of them present the groups work. All these will help instil the habit of self-evaluation to the students. Fourthly, formative assessment effects on teachers quality. Statistics reveal that a communicator’s quality has the highest influence on a reader’

Nestle Corporate Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nestle Corporate Strategy - Case Study Example (Porter, 1985:15) Nestle's growth strategy is what porter called as focused differentiation variant. Nestle's strategic business units concentrate on market entry in emerging markets to achieve sustainable growth. They analyze potential host countries; anticipate the shift in the competitive forces and exploits change by creating appropriate strategies. In this way, the company establishes itself and defends its position by capitalizing on its strengths and capabilities. The product based SBUs The regional organization of Nestle, on the other hand, aims to penetrate the market and establish its presence by promoting several products. They achieve this by maintaining manufacturing facilities in the host country as well as importing other goods produced from another country. Differentiation provides Nestle insulation against competition through brand loyalty by customers. Through this local strategy, the company earns remarkable returns on capital employed and creates a defensible market position. A strong coordination between the R&D, product development and marketing departments helps local Nestle firms achieve sustainable profitability and increase market share. Hill mentions in his book that brand management is one of the most important aspects of companies doing international business. Product recognition while entering a new market is considered to be one of the most important strategic strengths of a company. Many researchers have tried to extrapolate this view resulting in the one-brand one-world school of marketing. According to this view the best strategy for a company is to go in to a new product segment or market with an already established brand name. This is considered to be one of the most fundamental principles of international brand management. However, the success of Nestle and its branding strategy are a contrast to this popular belief. Nestle prefers its brands to be local and people regional, with only the technology being a common global factor. The company has pored billions of dollars into local acquisitions like Ralston Purina pet products in US. Nestle complete portfolio consists of a staggering 8,500 brands that are organized by geographical status and role. Together these brands create a hierarchy of brands in which each product is associated with at least two bands at different levels in the hierarchy (Kapfere, 2008:413). The geographical criterion allowed three groups of brands to be distinguished - international, regional and local brands. These brands fulfill different functions and roles depending on the customers and represent the principal families of brand architecture (Mhlbacher, Leihs and Dahringer, 2006:482). Nestl's brand strategy is organized into two categories: The corporate brand - Nestle has formulated a basket of corporate brands under the umbrella of Nestle itself and others often acquired like Blackwell, Friskies and Buitono. The corporate brands are there to give the image of a company that is a reliable specialist in some area. The product ranges like Nescafe and individual product brands like Kitkat and Crunch (Mazur and Hogg, 1998, 133-134) To control the branding of the products, Nestle maintains a tight control from the centre on the policy towards the strategic

Discuss the importance of the rule nemo dat quod non habet in s.21 of Assignment

Discuss the importance of the rule nemo dat quod non habet in s.21 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Use examples to support your arguments - Assignment Example Commonly refered to as nemo dat, this concept stems from vision of a series of transactions whereby a current owner of property is required to be able to trace back ownership to reflect a chain of legitimate transfers. Further, the chain of transfers should originate from legitimate original possession. With examples, this paper will discuss the importance of nemo dat as well as applicable exceptions as per the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Nemo dat is mainly concerned with the issue of which of the two parties, the legitimate owner and the innocent buyer, must pay the price of the fraud of a third party (Yap 2008, p. 254). It is a familiar occurrence that legitimate owners of goods are swindled into parting with the goods and, similarly, innocent buyers deceived into buying the goods from a third party. Therefore, the fundamental importance of the nemo dat rule is protecting the true and legitimate owners of property. Then, it also protects property by stipulating that no one can give a title that is better than he himself has (MacLeod 2012, p. 27). The usual scenario of the sale of property is that it is carried out between a willing buyer and either the legitimate owner or their duly authorized representatives. However, situations also occur in which the seller is selling property that does not rightfully belong to him or he does not possess the required right to sell. At that point, the significance of nemo dat is that it will form the basis on which the law will decide whether to favor the original owner or the bona fide buyer (Elliott 2004, p. 382). The rule of nemo dat remains legally binding even in situations where buyers are not aware that the sellers have no right to allege ownership of the property being transacted. In most circumstances, the buyer of property from a seller with no ownership rights will not get the title of ownership but, legally, there are exceptions that can actually grant such buyers the title. Meant to protect

System thinking- Soft system model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

System thinking- Soft system model - Essay Example The losses of misunderstanding between urgent & important very from situation to situation, if one has misjudged between two at leadership level in an organization the cost bear might be in total loss of customer and finally organization might be out of business in long term. The benefits accumulated at short term cannot be compared at benefits in the long term, its just like to differentiate between the two is URGENT & IMPORTANT. Sometime we follow urgency at managerial level in an organization ,the tasks like telephone ,mails, urgent inquiries, unexpected customer problems, some employees emerging issues compel even a wise manager towards urgency. Whereas the most important and long term tasks are neglected at the expense of urgent tasks. Keeping in view the all emerging situation and keeping an eye on future the wise leaders of five hundred top multinational companies not only spent an isolated time for planning, long term setting of goals, different roles, models, forecast time e stimation and calculating risk factors (Gomez, 2008, pp.20). Even top leading companies in business plan a certain period for their managers at recreational place where they come closer to leading work force and help them to understand the long-term and important goals and roles to achieve these goals. It has been observed that cost of this trip at organization and the result achieved due to this recreational trip was one of important factor for understanding the difference between urgent & important tasks, Major one- important, minor one - urgent In all the areas of business universe one has to clear cut make a difference between urgent and important, so he/she should set in his mind in such a wise way giving IMPORTANT as major one and URGENT as minor one. This coding in back of his mind will act as driving force in certain crucial situation, which normally appears as tough or hard situation for others .It has observed that world leading lot in the world of business or in the world of politics apply same coding in their mind that's why tough is not tough for this minor lot of leaders. Gardening is one of important example to understand between URGENT& IMPORTANT, ONE WHO SOW SEED,WATER THEM, REMOVE HERBS,USE PESTICIDE HAS GOOD PRODUCE WHEREAS ONE WHO NEGLECT THESE FACTOR HAS BAD PRODUCE. Similarly one who has been brought up in a principled way or harbored these traits in himself is one who will be in a capacity to make clear cut distinction between urgent and important tasks in life. One cannot focus these tasks at business l evel, we have to distinguish at all level what is urgent and what is important in decision making. Choice of metaphors and relevance of important and urgent : Both the situation are important but some are of urgent need, depending upon end result requirement of the organization. The managers and even supervisors have to deal all these important as well as urgent situations at daily basis level, keeping in view the long

Technical Analysis of Financial Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technical Analysis of Financial Markets - Essay Example I shall keep a target of $470 as it is the major resistance level for this. RSI - Relative Strength Index Model has the most effective results as in the past this method has yielded the best results in terms of identifying the trends and making profits. The other methods are not so effective to guide the investor for making the right trading strategy. Thus using the RSI model it would be advisable to go long on Q.CRB as it is close to its support level and has good potential for good returns. Also its RSI is around 40 which is an indication that it is a good buy. One can look for decent returns around 20-30% gain in a time span of 3 months and shall keep a stop loss of $210, which is major support for Q.CRB. One shall also keep a filter of $200, as this is being suggested by the weekly charts the turning point for the stock. Thus to conclude, It is advisable to use the RSI model for any investment decision. Out of given commodities investing in Q.CRB is advisable, by buying at the current levels and keeping a time horizon of three months. A return of 20-30% can be expected. References: htt

School Media Centers as Instructional Resources Research Paper

School Media Centers as Instructional Resources - Research Paper Example In order to realize this noble and challenging task, three major hurdles have always been on the way to successfully attain this mission. One, the ability and capacity of capturing information at its ‘rawest’ and at the appropriate time, so that it is not tempered with, for this the more the raw the data the better and more accurate it is, a proven fact. Because the reverse is very true, that when information is left unattended then it is prone to destruction if not getting lost. Secondly designing and developing systems that are able to store the data in the best form. The best form meaning been able to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the data. This includes provision of enough space of storage and the necessary media that is able to contain the huge and expanding volumes (Yetter, 1994). The last and not the least challenge is coming up with a methodology that is convenient and effective in accessing the information with ease. The above highlighted challenges can be collectively be addressed by the idea of an effective library media center. In the recent times, notably the role of library media has exponentially increased and tangible results are now clearly been witnessed. As we speak, one of the recurring matters of concerns especially in institutions is how to fully utilize the precious resource found in the library media to greatly impact student achievement (Crowley, 1995). This paper critically analyses the evolving role of library to improve student achievement for a brighter tomorrow. ... As a matter of fact they can collegiality show improvements, attitude and behavior of the students. Library media specialists are better placed to consider fresh ideas and are able to support one another for the benefit of the student (Gehlken, 1994). Research studies have showed that the integrated library programs positively impact on leadership, collaboration and student achievement when the library staff has the same experience as the classroom teacher, with the same qualification, information and learning resources, and problem solving and strategies in the ongoing job instructional plan. In deed library media specialists can exhibit leadership skills that can improve school forward in tackling some of the complex issues of this age of information (Crowley, 1995). They possess strong vision and values for their schools and area of specialization. They are positive models for the students and even other teachers as they understand the curriculum and the school very well. They own contact and influence with administrators and teachers and can extensively promote communication within and without school for the well being of the student. The preparation and recruitment of qualified and competent library workforce is a critical procedure in the success of the library media. This is because no matter how heavy investment is channel to other resources if human capital is not competent then this means that they will be a major loophole in the process and the required achievement among the students would not be achieved. The library staff shall be responsible for the daily operations of the facility as well as enactment of the various changes that need to be implemented so that the

Implementing the Budget Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Implementing the Budget - Essay Example The overall aims of budget analysis entails ensuring organizations are efficient and also financially solvent. The revenue variance will be analyzed based on the actual first month income and also actual third month income values. The variance after the first month is calculated as $130,000,000-$11,700,000. This translates into $118,300,000. Likewise the revenue variance after the third month is calculated as $130, 000,000-$41,400,000. This translated to variance of $88,600,000. All the revenue sources of the Transport Department are aids. The annual foreign aid was budgeted at $30,000,000. The annual budgeted state aid was valued at $80,000,000. The annual local aid was valued at $20,000,000. The total aid revenue, therefore, translates to $130,000,000. The revenue variation illustrates difference between the budgeted amount and the actual revenue amount received. The expenditure variance is also calculated based on the first month actual expenditure, and the third month actual expenditure values. The actual first month expenditure value is $9,910,000 while the budgeted annual expenditure value is $129,961,759. The variance is calculated as 129,961,759-9,910,000. This gives $120,051,759 variance. The variance calculation after the third month is $129,961,759-$25,020,000. This gives variance value of $104,941,759. The transport Department faces a lot of challenges during implementation of the budgeting process. These challenges include; time delay, standard setting and variance source information. The Transport Department faces time delay in relation to compiling variance at every month end (Kiego, 2007). For instance, in our analysis, variance was calculated at the end of the first month and at the end of the third month. This compilation of financial data takes a lot of time. The compilation must be adequately done before submitting the results to the department’s management team. In a

The supreme law of the State Essay Example for Free

The supreme law of the State Essay The supreme law of the State assures protection of citizens against unlawful intrusions against their constitutionally guaranteed rights. One such confirmation of this assurance is the establishment of the exclusionary rule. Said rule prohibits the use or introduction of any evidence that has been obtained in violation of the rights granted to citizens by no less than the Constitution. Under this rule, regardless of the materiality or relevance of a certain piece of evidence to the prosecution of a crime or an offense, it cannot be admitted by the court if the same was acquired through the use of means which constitute unlawful intrusions against the rights of the accused or the person being investigated for the commission of an offense. Some would argue that the existence of said rule makes it difficult to prosecute individuals who are guilty of transgressing the law due to the fact that a quantity of evidence would have to be excluded in view of irregularities attendant in procuring said evidence. It must be noted however, that regardless of the difficulty in prosecution brought about by the exclusionary rule, said difficulty cannot be considered as enough justification for the abolition of said rule. It is opined that the exclusionary rule should not be abolished as the same does not only recognize and respect the rights of the citizens, but it also endeavors to strengthen the policy of gathering evidence within the bounds of law. Without the exclusionary rule, prosecution of offenses may be unproblematic and uncomplicated yet this could also lead to giving the authorities unbridled discretion in bringing together evidence and proof implicating an individual to the commission of an offense. In such a case, there exists a huge possibility that the rights of the person being investigated will be disregarded as the process of obtaining evidence for purposes of prosecuting an individual would be open to abuse by the authorities. This would clearly run counter to the protection granted by the Constitution to the rights of the citizens. In upholding the exclusionary rule, individuals are assured that evidence put together may only be used against them if the same was acquired in accordance with law. It is noteworthy that the law provides for the proper procedure in seizing evidence which is material to a particular case. As illustrated in the 1968 United States case of Terry vs. Ohio (392 U. S. 1, 88 S CT. 1868, 20 L. Ed 2d. 889), absent circumstances which would necessitate obtaining evidence or searching the accused without following the proper procedure laid down by law, the same cannot be considered as reasonable, and hence, any evidence gathered is deemed excluded. It thus appears that the exclusionary rule serves a dual purpose of ensuring respect for the constitutionally guaranteed rights of every citizen and making sure that lawful means are observed by authorities in obtaining evidence for the prosecution of a certain crime or offense. It is believed that there exists no cogent reason for abolishing the exclusionary rule. True, said rule may have made evidence gathering a grueling task for officers, but the rule also proved how the State values the interests and rights of its citizens.

Development and Future of the Apple iPod

Development and Future of the Apple iPod The iPod is perhaps the most talked about technological product in recent times. It has set sales records that have lave literally destroyed the predictions of all analysts by superseding everyone’s expectations. The interesting issues concerning this topic is how the iPod impacted not only the digital music electronics industry, but was also responsible for the turnaround of a company on the brink of bankruptcy. It is this very fact that makes the growth and life cycle of iPod an experience in itself and one that creates a sense of wonder at its success. But how did all this come about and just why did the iPod do so well? These are questions that we look to find answers towards whilst shedding light on the internal pressures faced by the parent company Apple. The paper takes the reader through the history of the parent company Apple and its declining fortunes until the introduction of the iPod. This revolutionary innovation then dictated the pace at which the organisation was able to turn itself around to become one of the more successful computer companies in the world today. The report also looks at how Apple as a company defines itself with the onset of the iPod boom – can it still call itself a computer company in the literal sense of the word or does it now see itself entering a diversified phase of business operations and hence, would need to re-think it’s overall business strategy and core competencies. The views of different writers expressed through the paper help in building an understanding of the pressures the company has undergone over the last decade and why it has taken the decisions that it has. The paper revolves around the growth of the iPod as the key driving force for all major business and technical decisions, it understand how it had to be re-modelled and adapted to the market needs and demands. The paper also paints the competitive landscape at different stages of the growth cycle and how this impacted or did not impact the iPod. Finally, the paper looks at the varying consumer tastes, the positives drawn from the product itself and what lies in store for the future of the product and the company. The methods used to create a deeper understanding of the iPod environment were through a variety of primary and secondary sources. Some of this is discussed in greater detail in different section of the paper. However, for the purpose of this report, the researcher took great care in trying to put together different pieces of work by various writers so as to be able to provide more holistic and all-encompassing view of the real scenario that surrounded the iPod boom. On a more generic note, most writers and experts within the industry agreed that the success of this product was unrivalled by others of its kind in recent times. Introduction Background Success stories always find their way to centre-stage. But what makes a journey even more interesting is when accompany that finds itself in some level of difficulty turns the tide and jump starts its engines to climb to the top of the success ladder. Apple’s is one such story. Whilst the problems that affect it lie in the background, the phenomenal success of its iPod has people fascinated. Marketing gurus swear by the growth of this innovative product that provided the perfect solution to a generation that was technologically familiar and defied competition to control every conceivable bit of the market that it entered – the digital music space, and made it its own. How and why is what we attempt to discover. History The history of the iPod dates back to the January of 2001. Apple had just introduced ‘iTunes’ – a programme that enabled Accusers to burn music off audio CD’s and convert them into music files on their computer systems as digital audio files. This provided users with the flexibility of creating libraries for their music files, clubbing favourite songs in order and in time to come, download them to portable devices. This natural extension saw the introduction of the iPod in the month of October 2001. Unlike other portable devices in the same range, the iPod was the first of its kind to store music files on a hard disk similar to a computer. Other devices used flash cards and detachable storage devices that could not hold as many bytes of data as the iPod did. Infect, the first few iPods had a 5GB storage space, which equated to the storage of approximately a 1000 songs. The question to be asked at this stage was if the software for writing music to the computer was developed keeping the iPod in mind? However, sources within the company maintain that the iPod was only conceptualised 6 months before its release date. Whatever the truth might be, the two scenarios complemented each other beautifully giving consumers the best of both worlds and a logical extension to the process of listening to music. In November 2001, the first iPods were shipped to waiting buyers and byte end of the year, 125,000 iPods had been sold for a price of $399.Within a year, other computer companies as well as large retailers were selling iPods as value-adds. Dell, Best Buy and Target were some of the more prominent names at this stage and had dedicated sites and sales teams pushing for iPod sales. By June 2003, Apple had managed to sell 1 million iPods, which could download music from both Macs as well as PCs. Interestingly, by the end of 2003, one of its largest resellers Dell; had decided not to sell anymore iPods and instead launch its own version of the iPod called the DJ(Digital Jukebox). In order to download songs from the Internet, Dell partnered with a company called Music Match that offered that service. By mid-2004, 6 months after it hit the 1 million mark, Apple crossed the 2 million mark in iPod sales but the peripheral market was just getting warmed up to the portable devices segment. In addition to thud by Dell, HP announced that it was repackaging the 4G iPod and selling it as a PC friendly device. Motorola launched its next generation phones that would be iTunes compatible. In one of the more recent statistics of the iPod wave collated in October 2004, there were some interesting findings. Apple held 82 per cent of the digital market across all music players and 92 per cent of all hard-disk based music players. The nearest competitor to the iPod was the device launched by Creative. They had a 3.7 per cent market share. In addition, 2 million iPods are being sold every 3 months. The music industry too has gained immensely through these sales. The total number of downloads have been clocked at a 150 million which equates to 4 million per week. The latest iPod has a mechanism that enables the storage of digital photographs as well as music. Today, Apple figures have registered total of 6 million iPod sales. That’s a fascinating growth path, which would make any marketing professional envious of replicating that kind of success. On careful consideration though, it took very long for iPod to really drive its sales figures to the kind that it was able to achieve in the years 2003 and 2004. Until then, the figures were good, but not something to write home about. The turning point for Apple came with the introduction of the third generation iPods. This is apparent since it took almost 2 years for iPod to register its first million in sales and soon after the launch of the 3G iPod in Tokyo less than 6months later; Apple was able to register its second million in iPod sales. Interestingly, the sales figures recorded over the 3-year period were averse to any form of competition from companies such as Creative, Dell, river etc. They sold cheaper products but not for a moment, did they encroach upon the market share that was and is still monopolised by iPod. Apple has also utilised an aggressive marketing strategy towrope in different age groups by using the draw of celebrities and song choices. For instance, in late October 2004, Apple unveiled what was called the U2 iPod. Apple conducted a promotion exercise in sync with the release of U2’s song – Vertigo. The new iPod was designed with black casing, a red wheel and a back cover that had the engravings ofU2 with the band signatures. It is little things such as these that have made the iPod such a role model for marketing strategists. The unique blend of having a great product and infusing the right level of awareness and visibility to sell it to the masses. In the chart below, the growth path of the iPod from its inception, to the end of 2004shows how sales surged in 2003 after the release of the 3G iPods as mentioned earlier. Not to mention, as the iPod sales soared, so did the number of downloads for music. Initially, the software iTunes needed tube bought in order to write songs from audio CD’s to the computer, following which they could be downloaded to the iPod. In 2003, Apple introduced an online music store that enabled iPod users to download music directly from the Internet. This worked in 2 ways – it provided users with an increase in choice of music that they would like to have downloaded as well as simplified the procurement of iTunes. No more dada user have to buy a software, install it onto the computer and then use it to burn music off a CD and finally onto the hard disk of the iPod. Simplifying this process for millions of users had its positives as can be seen from the graph above. The first big jump in sales was in October 2003 when the PC version of the music store went live. This enabled far more users to be able to download songs onto their computers and diluted the monopoly of Accusers. 2 months later, in December 2003, following a lot of media hype and attention being given to the iPod and a corresponding increase in Christmas sales, more and more people began downloading songs from iTunes. And in between July 2004 and October 2004, Apple registered growth of song sales from a 100 million to a 150 million. (http://www.ipodlounge.com/articles_more.php?id=4280_0_8_0_M) It must be noted that in many instances within the paper, the use of iPod and Apple is synonymous. After much deliberation, the researcher decided that it was important to approach the paper from the perspective of the parent company Apple. Any impact that the environment would have on Apple would be reflective in the iPod strategy. At the same time, in circumstances that would affect the company both positively and negatively, would subsequent effect the iPod and vice-versa. Aims and Objectives The aim of this paper is to understand the growth of the iPod through the years. It all began in the year 2001 and it has been a short journey to success. But how long will this be able to continue, what is the future for the product, how will it fend off competition and how will it impact Apple in the longer run. We all know that it has been apathy-breaking journey for Apple as it picks itself up from the doldrums of declining computer sales with its innovative invention that saw it spring back into the limelight. It is also the endeavour of this paper to highlight how important an impact the iPod has had on Apple alone and why can’t other company’s model the same success story. Literature Review The Success of the iPod According to Haddad, Charles (2002),the iPod is one of the most revolutionary products to hit the computer and electronics market place. He believes that the only way forward for Apple is to diversify its product range and move from being a niche computer manufacturer to providing technology that understands the gap between technology and entertainment. He quotes how the market share for Apple in 2002 had remained at 3 per cent for a number of years. In order to move it from there, it was imperative that they looked beyond the computer industry since it was reaching a saturation point in most developed markets and the level of competition from across the globe was making it extremely difficult for large computer manufacturers to survive. Digital handheld music players were a growing market in 2002. There were few players in the market place and industry experts such as ID Chad stated that demand would grow by 74 per cent over the next 3 years. In retrospect, they weren’t right – but only because the demand has recorded triple digit growth since 2002. In addition, the anticipated sales for 2002 were pegged at 12 million units of all kinds of portable digital music devices. Haddad brings up an important point about how the level of competition within the digital handheld music products industry was still at a minimalistic stage in comparison to other industries where companies such as Microsoft and Intel who had taken over the PC market. He believed that the next generation of buyers were more interested in a product that was different, satisfied their requirements and at the same time, was ‘cool’ and suave to have. Especially in the case of handheld devices where consumers would cart it around with them, this need for trendy and sophisticated gadgets was of the utmost importance. At the time of writing his article, Haddad had researched the iPod when music files were downloadable only from a Mac. The iPod sales were still consistent and looking positive during that stage but Apple had not introduced downloading files onto PC’s at that stage. Once that happened, iPod sales grew dramatically. The iPod was never intended to lift the flailing computer business of the parent company but overtime, Haddad statements would hold good, as the iPod would grow to become one of the most successful products ever launched by a computer company. (Haddad, Charles, iPod, You Pod, Will We All Pod? Business Week Online; 7/3/2002) Teething problems with Strategy? With the degree of success that the iPod has seen over the years, there have been few instances that writers have been able to find a chink in the armour of this hugely successful product. One such writer is Salk ever, Alex (2004). In the first of his articles – ‘Apple’s slow boat to China’, he discusses how the Chinese economy is one of the most lucrative investment decisions for businesses the world over and how Apple has failed to take advantage of this huge opportunity. He begins by using the views of consultants who have worked within the Chinese market place for decades now and seen it evolve over the years. He quotes Merrill Weingrod who works with a marketing consultancy – China Strategies. When Salk ever asks Weingrod how lucrative the Chinese market is for product such as the iPod, he answers saying that the market potential for men’s electric shavers is $300 million annually. Weingrod believed that the Chinese have the buying power to spend $200 to $250 on luxury shavers today which are not a necessity by any standing. This was just an indication of their mind-sets and how much they were willing to spend and for what. He reiterates this by stating that the Chinese population measures 300 million in terms of the number of cell phone subscribers across the country. They pay an average of $200 for their handsets and connectivity. In addition, the average Chinese employee earns far less than his / her American counterpart and yet, he / she is willing to pay larger proportion of their salary towards buying luxury goods. This equates to the buying potential and eagerness amongst the population and above all – a prospective consumer. One who is constantly on the lookout for the infusion of luxury goods into the market so that he /she can go ahead and purchase it, provided there is a need of course. In addition, the Chinese economy is the fastest growing economy in the world with its GDP growth rate pegged at 9 per cent annually. It has one of the largest middle-class societies in the world with disposable income that is growing as fast as their growth rate. With every factor in the book of marketing pointing towards the Chinese market, Salk ever is dismayed at Apple’s strategy to stay out of this market and not undertake an aggressive marketing strategy that would tap it’s he potential. The only real steps that Apple has taken towards entering this economy is to ensure that iTunes Music software is downloaded onto every Manufactured by China’s second largest computer manufacturer – Founder Technology. It is an ironical decision considering the consumer who would purchase the machine would have little access to the iPod on which he could have downloaded his / her music. Besides this decision with the Chinese industry, Apple hasn’t taken any more steps towards making any investment decisions in this region. There was one instance when they almost toyed with the idea of opening an iTunes Music Store but then retracted any steps made in that direction. The figures that Salk ever quotes are astounding to the reader. According to him, at least .3 present of the population of China has disposable income that equates to that of an individual in the US who would earn approximately $25000 to $30000 annually. That figure translates to approximately 60 million people today and will grow to 3to 4 times that number over the next decade. With the increasing middleclass and the ability to buy products that others around the world can afford, very soon the Chinese middle class would equal the entire population of the United States. So what do the Chinese see these new gadgets in the market place as? According to market analysts Bryan Mama company that tracks the buying of cell phones in Asia, but based in Singapore, the number of cell phones that are replaced are astounding. The Chinese people like to replace their cell phones 6 to 12 months earlier than consumers in North America and Western Europe. Gadgets are seen as a status symbol of sorts. Owning the latest models makes individuals feel like they are popular and wanted, according to the company. Chinese consumers also tend to go for gadgets that are sleek, suave and trendy. According to Salk ever those are the kinds of words that would define the iPod but they don’t find any place in the market. He tries to look at the picture from Apple’s perspective. As a company, Apple’s strategy is to consolidate and preserve its position in the markets that it is strong in. In the bargain, it would not look to invest in new markets such as China. In fact, Apple has a miniscule presence across the entire length and breadth of Asia. If Japan is taken out of the equation, Apple draws less than 10 per cent of total sales from this region. Naturally, it is not an area of too much interest for the moment. Whilst Apple takes a back seat to proceedings in this region, competition in the form of Sony, Motorola and Creative have made inroads into the Chinese market. As an example, Motorola entered the Chinese handset market early and in the first quarter of2004, it was proud to declare that it has achieved a market share of 40per cent. It had the first mover’s advantage introducing a technology that few others were brave enough to take into this country many years back and today it has paid off. The Chinese market is known for its penetration problems. The researcher agrees with the insights that Salk ever has provided into this untapped region and understand the problems that Apple faces in the future lest it not take steps in this direction. The level of investment required at a later date where the market is abuzz with competition would be significantly higher. It makes completes sense for companies to invest in C hina at this stage and there is no reason why Apple should not be one of them. (Salk ever, Alex, Business Week Online; 7/22/2004) In another article by Salk ever albeit on a different issue, he adopts similar stand on the problems that will plague Apple. In his article, ‘iPod: Leader, but Not Ruler’, he states that the sales figures by Apple are either over-exaggerated or are inaccurate since there isn’t enough evidence that the data being collated is validated. Apparently, data in countries in Latin America, India, South Korea, Eastern European Taiwan are difficult to validate and not easy to obtain. There are also other areas across Asia, including China where data retrieval and collation is not as accurate as it is made out to be. So when Apple boasts of global sales and achieving market shares across the world in excess of 50 per cent across the electronic market (MP3 players), they may very well be over the top. To evidence his findings, Salk ever looks at the various methods that companies use to collate market data that can be passed onto consumers and other business prospects. On one hand, they can utilise the services of US market research companies such as the NPD group that solely dedicates its efforts to the US retail economy. On the other hand, companies such as Apple can resort to asking OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and component manufacturers how many pieces they are taking to the market place. Whatever may the case be, according to Salk ever, Apple doesn’t quite have accurate information omits global market share. He confirms that Apple is certainly a global leader but not dominant. This could have been a very interesting report but the only flaw with his research is that he fails to document enough evidence either through statistics or through credible sources that can allow him to judge with some level of certainty that Apple’s iPods are infect facing tough times ahead. To be fair to Salk ever though, he does introduce the subject of the growing competition of iPods outside the borders of the US from Asian electronics companies. In the coming years, cheaper labour costs of the Asian companies will allow them to create inexpensive models of the iPod and compete on price aggressively. In addition, Salk ever states that the Asian consumers who are growing to the largest consumers of entertainment products, prefer smaller sized iPods. This is not in sync with Apple’s strategy since they plan to introduce larger and heavier models of the iPod in the coming few months. And even if iPod does take the cue and invests in smaller models in time, it would have lost outing comparison to other digital music manufacturers. But Salk ever does summarise his studies by admitting the dominance of iPod within the digital market place, yet cautions against rising competition and price sensitive market in the near future. (Salk ever, Alex (2004) Business Week On line; 5/27/2004) Curzon (2005) has an equally interesting point of view. He believes that the iPod boom would not be able to sustain the success that it has experienced for much longer. His rationale is based around stock prices and other statistics that he discovers about Apple which point towards changing tide in the coming years. Curzon promotes the concept that Apple as a company is on the decline once again and encourages people to sell their shares now since they would lose money in the coming few months lest they hang onto them. He begins by mentioning the usual success stories of the company – the last 2 years have seen iPod sales rise more than twenty times from 219,000 units towards the end of 2002 to over 4 million units at the end of last year. In fact, Lehman Brothers had initially projected iPod sales to be approximately 3million units at the end of 2004. They had to revise their figures closer to the end of the year and pegged it again at 4 million units for the year 2004. Apple on the other hand clocked 4.5 million units for the year ending 2004, ahead of anybody’s expectations. Another indication of the progressive rate of success is how the number of downloads from the iTunes rose from 50 million to 200 million. Finally, the biggest turnaround statistic lies in how the company almost went bankrupt after the dotcom era a decade ago and last year, recorded sales figures in excess of $3 billion with no debt on their financial statements. What makes very interesting reading is how Ken Curzon describes the decline in the demand of iPods and correspondingly, with the parent company as well. He states that after the Christmas rush for buying iPods, in all probability consumers will not be willing to spend as much money on it. As he puts it – â€Å"Holiday shoppers are more enthusiastic about higher prices, but once the holiday season ends, they usually don’t like to spend money on products that are priced at a premium†. In keeping with the same, Curzon predicts that in the first few months of 2005, the rate at which consumers buy iPods would drop gradually at first and then, more drastically later in the year. Lehman Brothers too have declared that they expect a 14 per cent drop in sales figures over the course of the year. In another case, Curzon talks about how on one hand, the sales of iPods have certainly been increasing in conjunction with an increase in market share, but the parent company Apple has seen a decline in its market share from 2 per cent to 1.9 per cent. The ‘Apple Stores’ are an over-riding success because of the iPod and its driving consumers tithe stores. But although the number of footfalls across these stores has doubled, the number of consumers buying Apple PC’s has remained constant. Additionally, Apple’s revenue figures in comparison to other computer companies are very average. For a company that is on the biggest ride of its business life, it records a growth rate of 33 present in comparison to HP’s 29 per cent. And what makes this look more dismal according to Curzon is that the operating margins for the previous year were declared at 3.94 per cent. This was far lower in comparison to HP’s 5.2 per cent and Dell’s 8.56 per cent. (Curzon, Ken, Esquire; Mar 2005, Vol. 143 Issue 3, p112) Somehow, Curzon does shed light on certain statistics that project Apple’s performance in a questionable light but on closer observation, it appears that the facts have been manipulated to project a negative perspective to the progress of Apple. The researcher believes this tube the case since there are many individuals who constantly try and influence the market forces through published writing such as this to ultimately try and manipulate the performance of the stocks. For every negative statement that Curzon was able to highlight, there appears tube an equally positive explanation for the same. For instance, decline in market share by .1 per cent is not necessarily a negative impact on the company. It depends on the marketing strategy of the company – is it trying to move out of certain markets and invest in others. Additionally, in saturated market places such as the US, any form of product diversification would have an impact on the market share as well. So there are considerations that need to be taken before any conclusions can be made. At the same time, the researcher believed it important to include Curzon’s work since it was one of the most recent articles on the iPod that sounded warning bells and tries to get the reader to see the success story from a different perspective. So where exactly is Apple headed towards now? According to Murphy(2004), a significant contribution of Apple’s success can be attributed to the iPod and hence, any future success parameters would also be defined by the iPod. The competition amongst the computer industry is very intense with players such as Microsoft for software, Dell, HP undim for hardware and a host of other system integrators and competitive channel partners. Due to a diminishing market share as mentioned earlier of under 2 per cent, the total business worth of the company has fallen to half that of its sales revenue. The only light in this dark tunnel is the fact that the stock price at Apple has almost doubled over the past 2 years. But can the parent company depend on single product offering and expect to piggyback ride it all the way tithe bank? It’s not possible says Murphy. There will come a time in the near future when sales of iPods begin to decline, competitive forces take over with lower priced products and existing markets begin to get saturated. Some of these products would come from companies such as HP,Dell, Sony, Creative, Gateway and Rio, each offering a product that is significantly cheaper and has greater memory storage in comparison tithe iPod. For instance, Creative has launched a new product that also has a longer battery life and also has white earplugs similar to those of Apple, taking a leaf out of Apple’s trendy design. At the same time, it has been seen that consumers have complained about the lack of availability of iPods in the stores. And to make matters worse, Apple hasn’t been able to confirm a deadline by when they would be made available. Times will change gradually. As Murphy mentions – the pricing of the iPods over time will fall significantly and Apple would need to sell more and more iPods just to maintain the revenue figures. For instance, there is an assumption based on pricing that Apple would need to sell at least 20 per cent more iPods in the coming year to be able to sustain the same level of growth over the year. This should not be a problem currently considering growth is predicted to rise to 70 per cent but in time, this could certainly become an issue. If looked at differently, Murphy argues that falling prices of products are fine as long as business efficiencies were rising. 4 years ago, when the sales figures of Apple were 4 per cent higher than they are today, the operating profits of the company were at 9 per cent of total sales. Today, that figure has come down to 3 per cent. In addition, the number of employees added over the past 4 years has gone up by 32 per cent and the sale per employee has significantly decreased from $930,000 to$674,000. For apple to be able to sustain its growth and maintain a leading position in the market place, it cannot depend wholly on the iPod revolution. Its notebooks and desktop products account for 64 per cent of its current sales as a company. But except for the month of June that recorded a 14 per cent increase in revenues, the rest of the year remained much the same in terms of sales. This is worrying for Apple since it doesn’t have too many back up measures to fall on should they land in trouble. To tackle some of this problem, Apple had introduced a series of Apple stores across the US, UK and parts of Western Europe. These stores hosted the latest introductions by the company including all models of the iPod and its peripherals. The rationale lay in ensuring that consumers would walk into these stores with the excuse of looking at the iPods and at the same time, browse around and take look at the range of other Apple products as well. Unfortunately though, this move didn’t bring in the kind of sales that Apple management had predicted. When Apple was asked about this stagnancy that was creeping into their product lines, they said that 50 per cent of all buyers at their new stores that they have introduced are new consumers and they propose to build relationships through their product quality and peripherals and increase their market share of repeat buyers. Interestingly, Murphy is one of the only writers on this subject who believes that the main fault of Apple’s moderate performance lies with its CEO Steve Jobs. Over the course of its business history, Apple has always ensured that its software configures only with its hardware and no others. For instance, the Mac operating system can only be run on Mac computers. In comparison, the Windows Operating systems can be used on a variety of different hardware systems making it a more universally accepted operating system. The time for niche solutions in not the way forward. Apple must realise that the money lies in the numbers and they can in no way get to those numbers by limiting access to their software. It really is a Catch-22 situation for them. In much the same way, the iPod can only play music that has been downloaded from iTunes. What happens when the iTunes faces intense competition from other music download software companies in the near future? Are we saying that the iPod would only have limited access to music and perhaps, not the entire range of mus Development and Future of the Apple iPod Development and Future of the Apple iPod The iPod is perhaps the most talked about technological product in recent times. It has set sales records that have lave literally destroyed the predictions of all analysts by superseding everyone’s expectations. The interesting issues concerning this topic is how the iPod impacted not only the digital music electronics industry, but was also responsible for the turnaround of a company on the brink of bankruptcy. It is this very fact that makes the growth and life cycle of iPod an experience in itself and one that creates a sense of wonder at its success. But how did all this come about and just why did the iPod do so well? These are questions that we look to find answers towards whilst shedding light on the internal pressures faced by the parent company Apple. The paper takes the reader through the history of the parent company Apple and its declining fortunes until the introduction of the iPod. This revolutionary innovation then dictated the pace at which the organisation was able to turn itself around to become one of the more successful computer companies in the world today. The report also looks at how Apple as a company defines itself with the onset of the iPod boom – can it still call itself a computer company in the literal sense of the word or does it now see itself entering a diversified phase of business operations and hence, would need to re-think it’s overall business strategy and core competencies. The views of different writers expressed through the paper help in building an understanding of the pressures the company has undergone over the last decade and why it has taken the decisions that it has. The paper revolves around the growth of the iPod as the key driving force for all major business and technical decisions, it understand how it had to be re-modelled and adapted to the market needs and demands. The paper also paints the competitive landscape at different stages of the growth cycle and how this impacted or did not impact the iPod. Finally, the paper looks at the varying consumer tastes, the positives drawn from the product itself and what lies in store for the future of the product and the company. The methods used to create a deeper understanding of the iPod environment were through a variety of primary and secondary sources. Some of this is discussed in greater detail in different section of the paper. However, for the purpose of this report, the researcher took great care in trying to put together different pieces of work by various writers so as to be able to provide more holistic and all-encompassing view of the real scenario that surrounded the iPod boom. On a more generic note, most writers and experts within the industry agreed that the success of this product was unrivalled by others of its kind in recent times. Introduction Background Success stories always find their way to centre-stage. But what makes a journey even more interesting is when accompany that finds itself in some level of difficulty turns the tide and jump starts its engines to climb to the top of the success ladder. Apple’s is one such story. Whilst the problems that affect it lie in the background, the phenomenal success of its iPod has people fascinated. Marketing gurus swear by the growth of this innovative product that provided the perfect solution to a generation that was technologically familiar and defied competition to control every conceivable bit of the market that it entered – the digital music space, and made it its own. How and why is what we attempt to discover. History The history of the iPod dates back to the January of 2001. Apple had just introduced ‘iTunes’ – a programme that enabled Accusers to burn music off audio CD’s and convert them into music files on their computer systems as digital audio files. This provided users with the flexibility of creating libraries for their music files, clubbing favourite songs in order and in time to come, download them to portable devices. This natural extension saw the introduction of the iPod in the month of October 2001. Unlike other portable devices in the same range, the iPod was the first of its kind to store music files on a hard disk similar to a computer. Other devices used flash cards and detachable storage devices that could not hold as many bytes of data as the iPod did. Infect, the first few iPods had a 5GB storage space, which equated to the storage of approximately a 1000 songs. The question to be asked at this stage was if the software for writing music to the computer was developed keeping the iPod in mind? However, sources within the company maintain that the iPod was only conceptualised 6 months before its release date. Whatever the truth might be, the two scenarios complemented each other beautifully giving consumers the best of both worlds and a logical extension to the process of listening to music. In November 2001, the first iPods were shipped to waiting buyers and byte end of the year, 125,000 iPods had been sold for a price of $399.Within a year, other computer companies as well as large retailers were selling iPods as value-adds. Dell, Best Buy and Target were some of the more prominent names at this stage and had dedicated sites and sales teams pushing for iPod sales. By June 2003, Apple had managed to sell 1 million iPods, which could download music from both Macs as well as PCs. Interestingly, by the end of 2003, one of its largest resellers Dell; had decided not to sell anymore iPods and instead launch its own version of the iPod called the DJ(Digital Jukebox). In order to download songs from the Internet, Dell partnered with a company called Music Match that offered that service. By mid-2004, 6 months after it hit the 1 million mark, Apple crossed the 2 million mark in iPod sales but the peripheral market was just getting warmed up to the portable devices segment. In addition to thud by Dell, HP announced that it was repackaging the 4G iPod and selling it as a PC friendly device. Motorola launched its next generation phones that would be iTunes compatible. In one of the more recent statistics of the iPod wave collated in October 2004, there were some interesting findings. Apple held 82 per cent of the digital market across all music players and 92 per cent of all hard-disk based music players. The nearest competitor to the iPod was the device launched by Creative. They had a 3.7 per cent market share. In addition, 2 million iPods are being sold every 3 months. The music industry too has gained immensely through these sales. The total number of downloads have been clocked at a 150 million which equates to 4 million per week. The latest iPod has a mechanism that enables the storage of digital photographs as well as music. Today, Apple figures have registered total of 6 million iPod sales. That’s a fascinating growth path, which would make any marketing professional envious of replicating that kind of success. On careful consideration though, it took very long for iPod to really drive its sales figures to the kind that it was able to achieve in the years 2003 and 2004. Until then, the figures were good, but not something to write home about. The turning point for Apple came with the introduction of the third generation iPods. This is apparent since it took almost 2 years for iPod to register its first million in sales and soon after the launch of the 3G iPod in Tokyo less than 6months later; Apple was able to register its second million in iPod sales. Interestingly, the sales figures recorded over the 3-year period were averse to any form of competition from companies such as Creative, Dell, river etc. They sold cheaper products but not for a moment, did they encroach upon the market share that was and is still monopolised by iPod. Apple has also utilised an aggressive marketing strategy towrope in different age groups by using the draw of celebrities and song choices. For instance, in late October 2004, Apple unveiled what was called the U2 iPod. Apple conducted a promotion exercise in sync with the release of U2’s song – Vertigo. The new iPod was designed with black casing, a red wheel and a back cover that had the engravings ofU2 with the band signatures. It is little things such as these that have made the iPod such a role model for marketing strategists. The unique blend of having a great product and infusing the right level of awareness and visibility to sell it to the masses. In the chart below, the growth path of the iPod from its inception, to the end of 2004shows how sales surged in 2003 after the release of the 3G iPods as mentioned earlier. Not to mention, as the iPod sales soared, so did the number of downloads for music. Initially, the software iTunes needed tube bought in order to write songs from audio CD’s to the computer, following which they could be downloaded to the iPod. In 2003, Apple introduced an online music store that enabled iPod users to download music directly from the Internet. This worked in 2 ways – it provided users with an increase in choice of music that they would like to have downloaded as well as simplified the procurement of iTunes. No more dada user have to buy a software, install it onto the computer and then use it to burn music off a CD and finally onto the hard disk of the iPod. Simplifying this process for millions of users had its positives as can be seen from the graph above. The first big jump in sales was in October 2003 when the PC version of the music store went live. This enabled far more users to be able to download songs onto their computers and diluted the monopoly of Accusers. 2 months later, in December 2003, following a lot of media hype and attention being given to the iPod and a corresponding increase in Christmas sales, more and more people began downloading songs from iTunes. And in between July 2004 and October 2004, Apple registered growth of song sales from a 100 million to a 150 million. (http://www.ipodlounge.com/articles_more.php?id=4280_0_8_0_M) It must be noted that in many instances within the paper, the use of iPod and Apple is synonymous. After much deliberation, the researcher decided that it was important to approach the paper from the perspective of the parent company Apple. Any impact that the environment would have on Apple would be reflective in the iPod strategy. At the same time, in circumstances that would affect the company both positively and negatively, would subsequent effect the iPod and vice-versa. Aims and Objectives The aim of this paper is to understand the growth of the iPod through the years. It all began in the year 2001 and it has been a short journey to success. But how long will this be able to continue, what is the future for the product, how will it fend off competition and how will it impact Apple in the longer run. We all know that it has been apathy-breaking journey for Apple as it picks itself up from the doldrums of declining computer sales with its innovative invention that saw it spring back into the limelight. It is also the endeavour of this paper to highlight how important an impact the iPod has had on Apple alone and why can’t other company’s model the same success story. Literature Review The Success of the iPod According to Haddad, Charles (2002),the iPod is one of the most revolutionary products to hit the computer and electronics market place. He believes that the only way forward for Apple is to diversify its product range and move from being a niche computer manufacturer to providing technology that understands the gap between technology and entertainment. He quotes how the market share for Apple in 2002 had remained at 3 per cent for a number of years. In order to move it from there, it was imperative that they looked beyond the computer industry since it was reaching a saturation point in most developed markets and the level of competition from across the globe was making it extremely difficult for large computer manufacturers to survive. Digital handheld music players were a growing market in 2002. There were few players in the market place and industry experts such as ID Chad stated that demand would grow by 74 per cent over the next 3 years. In retrospect, they weren’t right – but only because the demand has recorded triple digit growth since 2002. In addition, the anticipated sales for 2002 were pegged at 12 million units of all kinds of portable digital music devices. Haddad brings up an important point about how the level of competition within the digital handheld music products industry was still at a minimalistic stage in comparison to other industries where companies such as Microsoft and Intel who had taken over the PC market. He believed that the next generation of buyers were more interested in a product that was different, satisfied their requirements and at the same time, was ‘cool’ and suave to have. Especially in the case of handheld devices where consumers would cart it around with them, this need for trendy and sophisticated gadgets was of the utmost importance. At the time of writing his article, Haddad had researched the iPod when music files were downloadable only from a Mac. The iPod sales were still consistent and looking positive during that stage but Apple had not introduced downloading files onto PC’s at that stage. Once that happened, iPod sales grew dramatically. The iPod was never intended to lift the flailing computer business of the parent company but overtime, Haddad statements would hold good, as the iPod would grow to become one of the most successful products ever launched by a computer company. (Haddad, Charles, iPod, You Pod, Will We All Pod? Business Week Online; 7/3/2002) Teething problems with Strategy? With the degree of success that the iPod has seen over the years, there have been few instances that writers have been able to find a chink in the armour of this hugely successful product. One such writer is Salk ever, Alex (2004). In the first of his articles – ‘Apple’s slow boat to China’, he discusses how the Chinese economy is one of the most lucrative investment decisions for businesses the world over and how Apple has failed to take advantage of this huge opportunity. He begins by using the views of consultants who have worked within the Chinese market place for decades now and seen it evolve over the years. He quotes Merrill Weingrod who works with a marketing consultancy – China Strategies. When Salk ever asks Weingrod how lucrative the Chinese market is for product such as the iPod, he answers saying that the market potential for men’s electric shavers is $300 million annually. Weingrod believed that the Chinese have the buying power to spend $200 to $250 on luxury shavers today which are not a necessity by any standing. This was just an indication of their mind-sets and how much they were willing to spend and for what. He reiterates this by stating that the Chinese population measures 300 million in terms of the number of cell phone subscribers across the country. They pay an average of $200 for their handsets and connectivity. In addition, the average Chinese employee earns far less than his / her American counterpart and yet, he / she is willing to pay larger proportion of their salary towards buying luxury goods. This equates to the buying potential and eagerness amongst the population and above all – a prospective consumer. One who is constantly on the lookout for the infusion of luxury goods into the market so that he /she can go ahead and purchase it, provided there is a need of course. In addition, the Chinese economy is the fastest growing economy in the world with its GDP growth rate pegged at 9 per cent annually. It has one of the largest middle-class societies in the world with disposable income that is growing as fast as their growth rate. With every factor in the book of marketing pointing towards the Chinese market, Salk ever is dismayed at Apple’s strategy to stay out of this market and not undertake an aggressive marketing strategy that would tap it’s he potential. The only real steps that Apple has taken towards entering this economy is to ensure that iTunes Music software is downloaded onto every Manufactured by China’s second largest computer manufacturer – Founder Technology. It is an ironical decision considering the consumer who would purchase the machine would have little access to the iPod on which he could have downloaded his / her music. Besides this decision with the Chinese industry, Apple hasn’t taken any more steps towards making any investment decisions in this region. There was one instance when they almost toyed with the idea of opening an iTunes Music Store but then retracted any steps made in that direction. The figures that Salk ever quotes are astounding to the reader. According to him, at least .3 present of the population of China has disposable income that equates to that of an individual in the US who would earn approximately $25000 to $30000 annually. That figure translates to approximately 60 million people today and will grow to 3to 4 times that number over the next decade. With the increasing middleclass and the ability to buy products that others around the world can afford, very soon the Chinese middle class would equal the entire population of the United States. So what do the Chinese see these new gadgets in the market place as? According to market analysts Bryan Mama company that tracks the buying of cell phones in Asia, but based in Singapore, the number of cell phones that are replaced are astounding. The Chinese people like to replace their cell phones 6 to 12 months earlier than consumers in North America and Western Europe. Gadgets are seen as a status symbol of sorts. Owning the latest models makes individuals feel like they are popular and wanted, according to the company. Chinese consumers also tend to go for gadgets that are sleek, suave and trendy. According to Salk ever those are the kinds of words that would define the iPod but they don’t find any place in the market. He tries to look at the picture from Apple’s perspective. As a company, Apple’s strategy is to consolidate and preserve its position in the markets that it is strong in. In the bargain, it would not look to invest in new markets such as China. In fact, Apple has a miniscule presence across the entire length and breadth of Asia. If Japan is taken out of the equation, Apple draws less than 10 per cent of total sales from this region. Naturally, it is not an area of too much interest for the moment. Whilst Apple takes a back seat to proceedings in this region, competition in the form of Sony, Motorola and Creative have made inroads into the Chinese market. As an example, Motorola entered the Chinese handset market early and in the first quarter of2004, it was proud to declare that it has achieved a market share of 40per cent. It had the first mover’s advantage introducing a technology that few others were brave enough to take into this country many years back and today it has paid off. The Chinese market is known for its penetration problems. The researcher agrees with the insights that Salk ever has provided into this untapped region and understand the problems that Apple faces in the future lest it not take steps in this direction. The level of investment required at a later date where the market is abuzz with competition would be significantly higher. It makes completes sense for companies to invest in C hina at this stage and there is no reason why Apple should not be one of them. (Salk ever, Alex, Business Week Online; 7/22/2004) In another article by Salk ever albeit on a different issue, he adopts similar stand on the problems that will plague Apple. In his article, ‘iPod: Leader, but Not Ruler’, he states that the sales figures by Apple are either over-exaggerated or are inaccurate since there isn’t enough evidence that the data being collated is validated. Apparently, data in countries in Latin America, India, South Korea, Eastern European Taiwan are difficult to validate and not easy to obtain. There are also other areas across Asia, including China where data retrieval and collation is not as accurate as it is made out to be. So when Apple boasts of global sales and achieving market shares across the world in excess of 50 per cent across the electronic market (MP3 players), they may very well be over the top. To evidence his findings, Salk ever looks at the various methods that companies use to collate market data that can be passed onto consumers and other business prospects. On one hand, they can utilise the services of US market research companies such as the NPD group that solely dedicates its efforts to the US retail economy. On the other hand, companies such as Apple can resort to asking OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and component manufacturers how many pieces they are taking to the market place. Whatever may the case be, according to Salk ever, Apple doesn’t quite have accurate information omits global market share. He confirms that Apple is certainly a global leader but not dominant. This could have been a very interesting report but the only flaw with his research is that he fails to document enough evidence either through statistics or through credible sources that can allow him to judge with some level of certainty that Apple’s iPods are infect facing tough times ahead. To be fair to Salk ever though, he does introduce the subject of the growing competition of iPods outside the borders of the US from Asian electronics companies. In the coming years, cheaper labour costs of the Asian companies will allow them to create inexpensive models of the iPod and compete on price aggressively. In addition, Salk ever states that the Asian consumers who are growing to the largest consumers of entertainment products, prefer smaller sized iPods. This is not in sync with Apple’s strategy since they plan to introduce larger and heavier models of the iPod in the coming few months. And even if iPod does take the cue and invests in smaller models in time, it would have lost outing comparison to other digital music manufacturers. But Salk ever does summarise his studies by admitting the dominance of iPod within the digital market place, yet cautions against rising competition and price sensitive market in the near future. (Salk ever, Alex (2004) Business Week On line; 5/27/2004) Curzon (2005) has an equally interesting point of view. He believes that the iPod boom would not be able to sustain the success that it has experienced for much longer. His rationale is based around stock prices and other statistics that he discovers about Apple which point towards changing tide in the coming years. Curzon promotes the concept that Apple as a company is on the decline once again and encourages people to sell their shares now since they would lose money in the coming few months lest they hang onto them. He begins by mentioning the usual success stories of the company – the last 2 years have seen iPod sales rise more than twenty times from 219,000 units towards the end of 2002 to over 4 million units at the end of last year. In fact, Lehman Brothers had initially projected iPod sales to be approximately 3million units at the end of 2004. They had to revise their figures closer to the end of the year and pegged it again at 4 million units for the year 2004. Apple on the other hand clocked 4.5 million units for the year ending 2004, ahead of anybody’s expectations. Another indication of the progressive rate of success is how the number of downloads from the iTunes rose from 50 million to 200 million. Finally, the biggest turnaround statistic lies in how the company almost went bankrupt after the dotcom era a decade ago and last year, recorded sales figures in excess of $3 billion with no debt on their financial statements. What makes very interesting reading is how Ken Curzon describes the decline in the demand of iPods and correspondingly, with the parent company as well. He states that after the Christmas rush for buying iPods, in all probability consumers will not be willing to spend as much money on it. As he puts it – â€Å"Holiday shoppers are more enthusiastic about higher prices, but once the holiday season ends, they usually don’t like to spend money on products that are priced at a premium†. In keeping with the same, Curzon predicts that in the first few months of 2005, the rate at which consumers buy iPods would drop gradually at first and then, more drastically later in the year. Lehman Brothers too have declared that they expect a 14 per cent drop in sales figures over the course of the year. In another case, Curzon talks about how on one hand, the sales of iPods have certainly been increasing in conjunction with an increase in market share, but the parent company Apple has seen a decline in its market share from 2 per cent to 1.9 per cent. The ‘Apple Stores’ are an over-riding success because of the iPod and its driving consumers tithe stores. But although the number of footfalls across these stores has doubled, the number of consumers buying Apple PC’s has remained constant. Additionally, Apple’s revenue figures in comparison to other computer companies are very average. For a company that is on the biggest ride of its business life, it records a growth rate of 33 present in comparison to HP’s 29 per cent. And what makes this look more dismal according to Curzon is that the operating margins for the previous year were declared at 3.94 per cent. This was far lower in comparison to HP’s 5.2 per cent and Dell’s 8.56 per cent. (Curzon, Ken, Esquire; Mar 2005, Vol. 143 Issue 3, p112) Somehow, Curzon does shed light on certain statistics that project Apple’s performance in a questionable light but on closer observation, it appears that the facts have been manipulated to project a negative perspective to the progress of Apple. The researcher believes this tube the case since there are many individuals who constantly try and influence the market forces through published writing such as this to ultimately try and manipulate the performance of the stocks. For every negative statement that Curzon was able to highlight, there appears tube an equally positive explanation for the same. For instance, decline in market share by .1 per cent is not necessarily a negative impact on the company. It depends on the marketing strategy of the company – is it trying to move out of certain markets and invest in others. Additionally, in saturated market places such as the US, any form of product diversification would have an impact on the market share as well. So there are considerations that need to be taken before any conclusions can be made. At the same time, the researcher believed it important to include Curzon’s work since it was one of the most recent articles on the iPod that sounded warning bells and tries to get the reader to see the success story from a different perspective. So where exactly is Apple headed towards now? According to Murphy(2004), a significant contribution of Apple’s success can be attributed to the iPod and hence, any future success parameters would also be defined by the iPod. The competition amongst the computer industry is very intense with players such as Microsoft for software, Dell, HP undim for hardware and a host of other system integrators and competitive channel partners. Due to a diminishing market share as mentioned earlier of under 2 per cent, the total business worth of the company has fallen to half that of its sales revenue. The only light in this dark tunnel is the fact that the stock price at Apple has almost doubled over the past 2 years. But can the parent company depend on single product offering and expect to piggyback ride it all the way tithe bank? It’s not possible says Murphy. There will come a time in the near future when sales of iPods begin to decline, competitive forces take over with lower priced products and existing markets begin to get saturated. Some of these products would come from companies such as HP,Dell, Sony, Creative, Gateway and Rio, each offering a product that is significantly cheaper and has greater memory storage in comparison tithe iPod. For instance, Creative has launched a new product that also has a longer battery life and also has white earplugs similar to those of Apple, taking a leaf out of Apple’s trendy design. At the same time, it has been seen that consumers have complained about the lack of availability of iPods in the stores. And to make matters worse, Apple hasn’t been able to confirm a deadline by when they would be made available. Times will change gradually. As Murphy mentions – the pricing of the iPods over time will fall significantly and Apple would need to sell more and more iPods just to maintain the revenue figures. For instance, there is an assumption based on pricing that Apple would need to sell at least 20 per cent more iPods in the coming year to be able to sustain the same level of growth over the year. This should not be a problem currently considering growth is predicted to rise to 70 per cent but in time, this could certainly become an issue. If looked at differently, Murphy argues that falling prices of products are fine as long as business efficiencies were rising. 4 years ago, when the sales figures of Apple were 4 per cent higher than they are today, the operating profits of the company were at 9 per cent of total sales. Today, that figure has come down to 3 per cent. In addition, the number of employees added over the past 4 years has gone up by 32 per cent and the sale per employee has significantly decreased from $930,000 to$674,000. For apple to be able to sustain its growth and maintain a leading position in the market place, it cannot depend wholly on the iPod revolution. Its notebooks and desktop products account for 64 per cent of its current sales as a company. But except for the month of June that recorded a 14 per cent increase in revenues, the rest of the year remained much the same in terms of sales. This is worrying for Apple since it doesn’t have too many back up measures to fall on should they land in trouble. To tackle some of this problem, Apple had introduced a series of Apple stores across the US, UK and parts of Western Europe. These stores hosted the latest introductions by the company including all models of the iPod and its peripherals. The rationale lay in ensuring that consumers would walk into these stores with the excuse of looking at the iPods and at the same time, browse around and take look at the range of other Apple products as well. Unfortunately though, this move didn’t bring in the kind of sales that Apple management had predicted. When Apple was asked about this stagnancy that was creeping into their product lines, they said that 50 per cent of all buyers at their new stores that they have introduced are new consumers and they propose to build relationships through their product quality and peripherals and increase their market share of repeat buyers. Interestingly, Murphy is one of the only writers on this subject who believes that the main fault of Apple’s moderate performance lies with its CEO Steve Jobs. Over the course of its business history, Apple has always ensured that its software configures only with its hardware and no others. For instance, the Mac operating system can only be run on Mac computers. In comparison, the Windows Operating systems can be used on a variety of different hardware systems making it a more universally accepted operating system. The time for niche solutions in not the way forward. Apple must realise that the money lies in the numbers and they can in no way get to those numbers by limiting access to their software. It really is a Catch-22 situation for them. In much the same way, the iPod can only play music that has been downloaded from iTunes. What happens when the iTunes faces intense competition from other music download software companies in the near future? Are we saying that the iPod would only have limited access to music and perhaps, not the entire range of mus