An Introduction to the Skoda Company

An Introduction to the Skoda Company The two cyclists, who were known as Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement, are considered as the founders of Skoda Company. The two cyclists were used to design and produce their own bicycles and eventually it was established as Skoda. In 1925, Skoda was established in Czechoslovakia and gradually, it was expanded towards Eastern Europe by producing cars, farm ploughs, and aero planes other than bicycles. Skoda has to cope with hard times in company history such as war, economic problems and also the changes in the political environment. While the Skoda is grown up internationally, there was a requirement of a strong foreign partner. By, 1990 Volkswagen AG had dominated by joining Skoda. Volkswagen AG is known as the leading car manufacturer in Europe by manufacturing variety of branded products such as Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi (Skoda Auto, 2011). The remarkable thing is the Skoda UK is selling Skoda cars through its independent network of certified dealers. 1.2 Business as a transformation process In common, there is an input and output can be clearly identified in a business. Input may consist of working force, entrepreneurship, capital and land. Output may be goods and services. Therefore, the process of transformation is common for all the organizations and most of the time, output can be considered as a combination of goods and services (Oxford University Press 2007). For an example considering the hospitality as a business foods and beverage can be the goods they serve and the lodging may be the service they offer. The critical thing is to be produce outputs which may worth higher than the inputs. In financial terms, it is known as the profit in relation to the organizations which are expecting profits. But, in the case of non profit oriented organizations such as schools and hospitals other indicators are used to measure the progress. Transformation may differ from business wise. The critical thing is to implementing innovative methodologies of value addition for the pro ducts and services while cost cutting (Oxford University Press 2007). Value addition can be done by manufacturing outputs that the customers are ready to pay money more than usual price. Since the brand name may be incorporated with customers lifestyle and preferences, effective branding result in improved sales. For an example, plain pair of shoe can be marketed to a higher price by branding it with brands like Nike or Addidas. Chapter 2 Organizational audit and the business environment 2.1 Organizational Audit Organizational audit is critical for a business to meet the following objectives. To analyze the businesss organizational framework, procedures and flow chart. To investigate the contest between the job descriptions, responsibilities and the flow chart of the business.    To emphasize the unsatisfactory aspects of the current structure of the business. To define development paths for improvement of the business. To satisfy these objectives organizational audit is being done by analysis of existing data, summary reporting, individual interviewing processes and analysis of raw data gathered through the surveys. Organizational audit is crucial for a business to cope with the business environment. 2.2 Business environment It is believed that business transformation process may not occur in a vacuum. Firms are driven in particular frameworks and subjected by the business environment. Business environment can be divided in to two. Micro Macro Micro environment consist of individuals or organizations which the business deal with a regular basis. It may include customers, employees, distributors and suppliers which are known as the stakeholders. That all components may have the direct involvement of the business activities and it can be affected by the actions of the business. Therefore, it can be concluded that micro environment play a vital role in the success and the behavior of a business. The macro environment may consist of factors which are lying outside of the direct control of the business. It includes economy, policies of the government and also the social changes. Since these macro factors can primarily change the environment of a business one individual business can rarely do much on its own to shape them. Theoretically, the macro environment can be analyzed by using PESTEL analysis. (Scott, 1982) Chapter 3 The PESTEL analysis for Skoda Company PESTEL Analysis PEST analysis is the methodology of analyzing the macro environment in most of the countries. But, the expanded PEST model which is known as PESTEL is commonly used in UK (CIPD, 2009). PESTEL is stand for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal analysis. It describes the outline of macro environment in relation to the business environment. Referring to the political factors, it consists of policies implemented by the government such as the involvement in the economy. It also includes what kind of goods and services to be produced and the priorities in relation to the business support. The political decisions may play a vital role for some businesses which are related to education health and also in the infra structure facilities. Considering the Skoda Company, the changes in laws and regulations such as accounting standards, taxation requirements and environmental laws and legal power of the foreign states may affect on their business especially in the international trade. Therefore, it is critical to monitor the governments policies and regulations in a continuous manner. (Lynch, 1999) Economic factors may include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates as well as the inflation rate. Those are the factors that may have the potential to make effects on operations and decisions. Referring to Skoda, interest rate may affect its  cost of capital. Therefore, it determines the extent of the growth of the business and expansion. Exchange rates may affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods. Social  factors include cultural aspects, health perception, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Changes in social factors influence in the product demand and operation. For example, aging process may generate smaller and less-willing workforce .This may lead to increasing the labour cost. Therefore, referring Skoda to cope with these trends there should be various management strategies to be adopted. For an example, it should be more concerned on age limit of the workers when recruiting new workers. The factors such as rate of technological changes, automation and the technical inducements altogether considered as technological factors. Those factors may influence with the outsourcing decisions, market entry barriers and efficient production level of a company. When considering the Skoda, it is producing branded motor cars. Therefore, technology should be their main focus. Because, it creates opportunities for new products and product improvement in relation to the marketing. As the technology advances, new products may launch. (Scott, 1982) Ecological and environmental aspects such as weather, climate, and climate changes can be considered as environmental factors. Those factors may especially influences industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness of the potential impacts of climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer, both creating new markets and diminishing or demolishing existing ones. Discrimination law,  consumer law,  antitrust law,  employment law, and  health and safety law can be considered as the component of the legal factor. These factors can influence with the operation process, cost of production and the demand for the products. Legal aspect mainly focuses on the effect of the national and world legislation. The Skoda Company receives all the rights applicable in the nature of their business and every inventions and product developments are always going into the patented process. I.e. Audi, Skoda. The PESTEL factors are combined with external micro-environmental factors and internal drivers in relation to the business. Furthermore, it can be explained as opportunities and threats in a  SWOT analysis. Chapter 4 The SWOT analysis for Skoda Company SWOT Analysis SWOT is stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths can be described as internal components of a business that lead to its growth. Weaknesses can be identified as the attributes that will make disturbances business or make the business susceptible. The external conditions that could lead to future growth are known as the opportunities in SWOT. Threats are described as the external elements which could make negative effects on a business. (Lynch, 1999) To recognize its strengths, Skoda gathered information through researches from both customers and also from the reliable independent surveys. For an example, annual JD Power customer satisfaction survey had questioned the vehicle owners about their feelings on their vehicle for last six months by using questionnaire for about 20,000 owners. According to the results Skoda dominated in the top five car manufacturers for last 13 years (JD Power 2010). Not only that, in 2007, Top Gears survey revealed that among the 56,000 viewers Skoda dominated as the number one car manufacturer (Top Gear 2007). According to those results, Skoda found that the company excelled at satisfying its customers when focusing the owner experience rather than on sales alone. Almost all of Skodas customers would recommend Skoda branded vehicle to others, means that Skoda had a distinctive strength. As a result, Skoda manufactured cars that their customers could enjoy, rather than simply maximizing the sales. The refore, Skoda branded themselves as a quality product that satisfies its customers. Skodas analysis showed that in order to grow the business required to address issues about how the small company fit into the highly competitive market. An out-dated perception of the Skoda brand, related to the companys Eastern European origins, contributed to the business small size. By 1999, Volkswagen AG ownership had changed this negative attitude about Skoda. But, in 2006 brand Health Check revealed that the weak and neutral image in mid market range is still existing when compare to the Ford, Peugeot and Renault like brands (UK Branding 2006). Though, Skoda still deficient of a strong appeal, it is realized that the company needed to reduce the defensive campaigns exemplifying what the brand was not and begin new campaigns illustrating what Skoda had to offer. The change was simple and Skoda knew that its owners were satisfied with their cars. Skoda had realized that its rivals marketing approaches are mainly focused on the product itself. But in contrast, Skoda tends to focus its attention on emphasizing the owners experience with their cars and the customers satisfaction with Skoda vehicles. This SWOT analysis may lead Skoda to distinguish its product from its competitors. Considering the UK market, there are 50 different car makers selling around 200 vehicle models. To survive in this large and competitive market, Skoda needed to ensure that its message would not be lost or drowned out within the crowded environment. As a result, Skoda had manufactured seven different cars such as city car, luxurious car, and family car addressing different market segments with subsequent levels of pricing. Chapter 5 The planning for a business and implementation a new strategy 5.1 Strategic planning, Tactical planning and Operational planning Depending on the PESTEL and SWOT analysis, the business plan for the business should be created by the management of the business. Planning process can be identified as three phases such as strategic planning, tactical planning and operational planning. Strategic Planning can be considered as a long term planning attempted by senior management of a business. I.e. the executives. It involves making decisions which will work toward reaching an organizations mission and vision statements. Tactical planning it the mid term planning. It may range from months up to about two years. This involves middle management those who plan strategies to achieve a businesss strategic goals. In contrast, operational planning is routine planning handled by front line managers. They may report to middle management and enact the leg work of the strategies developed by middle management to achieve strategic goals. 5.2 Implementation of the new strategy Novel business strategies are designed to improve the overall utility of a business, its employees and increase profitability of the business. But change may be troublemaking and can be costly within its own context as employees deal with new procedures, information technology, products or an organizational matrix. To reduce the cost, disturbances and negative effects of implementing new strategies, it should implement a strategy for implementation. Essentially, a well planned and accomplished implementation plan may lead to reduce confrontation to the changes. The process of implementing a new strategy can be identified as six major steps (Kaplan and Norton 2010). Split the new strategy into smaller portions. Aware the employees about the map of change Create and post a scorecard for the new implementation, helping as a cheerleader to employees throughout the process that success is reasonable step wise. Acquiring the feedback regarding the new strategy at each stage by employee surveys. Request customer satisfaction. Doing the correct adjustments in the new strategy, time scale and goals based on feedback and customer satisfaction. 5.3 Conclusion With the concentrated study of the PESTLE, the Skoda Company will continue to emerge and develop if they manage to find solutions in different challenges that the entire organization might face in the future. Since the external environment is extremely complex and dynamic it is important to conducting the PESTEL in a regular basis. Practically, it may not possible to identify almost all the significant changes in the business environment. But, still they may able to find some of those critical changes through their assumptions and that will lead them to take the correct decision in the future. At present the PESTEL structure is further expanded as STEEPLE and STEEPLED by considering the ethical and demographic factors. Therefore, it may be important to stick to this latest model, because in some businesses those factors considered to be critical. To improve its performance, it may be needed to conduct a brand positioning examination by obtaining market research data from both interna l and external audits, allowing Skoda to conduct a SWOT analysis.   Skodas SWOT analysis may facilitate the company to reveal that customer satisfaction by purchasing their products. Not only that, it also reveals that the brand was no longer seen as a poor, outdated car, the company was able to operate within a position in the market, and that a change in public perception was very important to Skodas ability to expand within a highly competitive market. SWOT analysis makes the raw information which may gathered from a survey in to an order therefore, it may support managers to investigate both internally and externally. Therefore, it may also highlight the key internal weaknesses of a business, and also the strengths what the management should be alert on their business. Depending on the SWOT and PESTEL analysis, it is required to implement a new business strategy. The critical thing is to implement that new business strategy without disrupting the business.

Computer Education Technology

Back to the 1940s, the modern electronic computer was developed at U.S. universities; however, in the year, there was no computer education yet. It needed more 10 years to have computer education. The period of the computer revolution was 1950 in the U.S.. Computer education began in the middle of the 1950s with an organized body of knowledge. Also Japanese the teaching of computer science has been developed in the same period. During 1955 to 1959, some universities developed their own computers. They organized short courses. Computer technology comes from the U.S. to Japan. Usually a technology is developed in the U.S.. After that, it comes to Japan so Japanese computer education is late at all and most manuals are written in English so it is easy to lean computer for people who speak English; however, most Japanese people who live in Japan cannot understand English so they have to translate English to Japanese to understand the manuals. It needs much time. Usually Japanese universities teach computer to students in Japanese so students have to study not only computer but also English when they try to use computer even if they can use Japanese operating system. For example, the command of the computer programming languages are written in English so Japanese students have to have dictionary their hand, therefore, some students stop learning it. It is so hard for Japanese student. In the near future, computer technology will be needed and important for not only students who want to be programmers or engineers but also general Japanese people so Japanese computer education has to find their own computer educational system so that people who have no computer knowledge can learn it easily.

Shaman as a Hero

Illustrate thoroughly the essential characteristics of the shaman by referring to events in the mythical narratives about at least two ancient heroes of this type (e. g. , Gilgamesh, Herakles, and Cu Chulainn). Shaman as a Hero Traditionally, the shaman is a character in a religious position who communicates with the afterlife in some way. By altering forms of consciousness, the shaman is able to encounter and interact with the spirit world. In early myths and tales in oral literature the motif of shaman like characteristics is a trend that is evident. However, in these tales the shaman is intertwined with the stereotypical epic Hero.This creates characters that are complicated and intriguing. Tales such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Labors of Herakles display a heroic figure that is not only strong in physique but also possesses a divine connection with the afterlife and the gods. With these attributes, these heroes encounter many obstacles that require more than pure brawn to ov ercome and venture to dark spiritual places alluding to the afterlife/ underworld. A very common tradition in these oral myths is a conquest of either beasts or some type of wild force that inhibits the shamanistic hero’s culture or people from prospering.In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is faced with many challenges. One challenge particularly threatens his kingdom. Once Gilgamesh and Enkidu have returned from their forest journey, the goddess Ishtar becomes overcome with lust for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar and out of spite, Ishtar asks her father to send down the Bull of Heaven to punish him, bringing seven years of famine with it. With the help of Enkidu, Gilgamesh wrestles and kills the bull. By doing this, Gilgamesh overcomes the beast for the good of his people. Gilgamesh’s morality and greed is questioned but his ability as a leader never falters. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet th is is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute. † Nearly the entire tale of Herakles revolves on the hero overcoming some type of impending force, whether that be slaying the Hydra or obtaining the Belt of Hippolyte. None of these tasks directly inhibit his people, but they do offer atonement for his own pain/ guilt that he feels for slaying his own children. The heroes’ epic triumphs are much more than just grand acts of strength and bravery, these triumphs offer the hero a chance to grow in spirituality during their journey.Gilgamesh’s defeat of the Bull of Heaven results in the death of his friend Enkidu at the hands of the gods, which therefore sends him on a quest to discover himself and overcome his fear of death by speaking with Utnapishtim. On the other hand, Herakles’ many obstacles offer him the opportunity to put his mind at rest for his past actions. Both heroes’ journeys result in a feeling of peace, accomplishment, and unde rstanding. The Heroes in both of these epics also travel to places that seem to be of another world. By eluding to the afterworld/ afterlife these heroes share another shamanistic characteristic.In The Epic of Gilgamesh the hero travels far and wide in search for the answer to eternal life. Gilgamesh battles two large scorpions that guard an entry into a dark place between two mountains. In this journey he comes across a veiled tavern keeper who warns him of his futile pursuit and sends him onward to a ferryman. This is an allusion to the River Styx, which separates the living world from the dead. During the passage across the sea, the water is constantly referred to as death, and the environment continues to be ominous and haunting. This particular part of Gilgamesh’s journey directly relates him to the shaman.In his search for the answer to eternal life, Gilgamesh interacts with the dead and ventures to places where no mortal had been before. Similar to Gilgamesh, Harakles also ventures to places of the undead. Herakles must travel to the Underworld to take on the vicious guard dog of Hades, Cerberus. This task is the twelfth and final labor of Harakles. In this labor, the theme of the dead is very obvious. Herakles interacts with many â€Å"souls† and spirits. In particular, Herakles encounters phantoms empty of blood. This mention of bloodless creatures directly is related to the dead and life after death.This interaction displays the shaman characteristics of Herakles. Although Herakles is a brut and heroic force that is impending to any opposing challenege; Herakles also shows a great sense of wisdom and understanding of the spirit world. Both of these heroes use their wisdom and shamanistic characteristics to alleviate some type of concern in their life. Herakles’ actions alleviate his guilt, and Gilgamesh’s journey alleviates his overwhelming fear of death. After reviewing and enjoying these myths, I have come to realize tha t Gilgamesh and Herakles are much more than just a traditional hero.Gilgamesh and Herakles are quite complex characters that have inner struggles as well as physical battles/ challenges. The struggles of these heroes’ spirituality give the reader a sense of connection to the character and offer something that can be directly related to. This spirituality also can be seen as a sense of weakness; however this weakness eventually leads to an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and drives the heroes to seek out the answers that allow for the hero to become stronger in mind and physicality.

What Does Uncertainty Mean in Economics

We all know what uncertainty means in everyday speech. In some ways, the use of the word in economics is not that different, but there are two  kinds of uncertainty in economics that should be differentiated. The Famous  Rumsfeld Quote At a press briefing in 2002, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld offered an opinion that a topic of much discussion. He distinguished two kinds of unknowns: the unknowns we know we dont know about and the unknowns we dont know we dont know about. Rumsfeld was mocked for this apparently eccentric observation, but in fact, the distinction had been made in intelligence circles for many years. The difference between known unknowns and unknown unknowns is also made in economics with respect to uncertainty. As with unknowns, it turns out theres more than one kind.   Knightian Uncertainty University of Chicago economist Frank Knight wrote about the difference between one kind of uncertainty and another in his stock-market-oriented economics text Risk, Uncertainty and Profit.   One kind of uncertainty, he wrote, has known parameters. If, for example, you put in a buy order on a particular stock at [the current price - X], you dont know that the stock will fall far enough for the order to execute. The outcome, at least in everyday speech, is uncertain. You do know, however, that if it does execute it will be at your specified price. This kind of uncertainty has limiting parameters. To use Rumsfelds remark, you dont know what will happen, but you do know that it will be one of two things: the order will either expire or it will execute. On September 11, 2001, two hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center, destroying both buildings and killing thousands. In the aftermath, the stocks of both United and American Airlines plummeted in value. Until that morning, no one had any idea that this was about to happen or that it was even a possibility. The risk  was essentially unquantifiable and until after the event. There was no practical way of stating the parameters of its  occurrence—this kind of uncertainty is unquantifiable.   This second kind of uncertainty, an uncertainty without delimiting parameters, has come to be known as Knightian uncertainty, and is commonly distinguished in economics from quantifiable certainty, which, as Knight noted, is more accurately termed risk.   Uncertainty and Sentiment The tragedy of 9/11 focused everyones attention on uncertainty, among other things. The general drift of many respected books on the subject following the disaster is that our feelings of certainty are largely illusory—we only think certain events wont happen because to date they havent. This view, however, has no plausible rationale—it is simply a feeling.   Perhaps the most influential of these books on uncertainty is Nassim Nicholas Talebs Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. His thesis, which he proposes with many examples, is that there is an innate and largely unconscious human tendency to draw a limiting circle around a given reality. Therefore, you think that whatever is in the circle is all there is and everything outside the circle as an impossibility or, more often, you do not to think about it at all.   Because in Europe, all swans were white, no one had ever considered the possibility of a black swan. Yet, theyre not that unusual in Australia. The world, Taleb, writes, is filled with black swan events, many of them potentially catastrophic, like 9/11. Because we havent experienced them, we may believe they cannot exist. In consequence, Taleb further argues, is were prevented from taking preventive measures to avoid them that might have occurred to us if wed considered them possible—or considered them at all.