Les Miserables Essays - English-language Films, British Films

Les Miserables LES MISERABLES Les Miserables is a story, a very long story, which has been categorized as a classic. The story is about 1200 pages long. It is an epic saga, which covers about three decades in the early 1800's of France. The film is about the fugitive, Jean Valjean, following his release from jail after doing nineteen years of hard labor for stealing bread. Jean Valjean is chased by the cruel and self-righteous Inspector Javert, in a lifelong struggle to evade capture. The novel, Les Miserables is internationally known. That is because of its universal themes. These themes are: how society treats its outcasts, and how it views its criminals, prejudice, justice, doing what is morally right, and people can become better persons. The theme -how society treats its outcasts- can be seen in how the poor and homeless are are treated, and that is like animals. The rich treat them as though they are inferior and that they have no feelings or any form of intelligence. They are also not given the right to vote, which makes them not citizens of that nation. This theme is universal because every nation in the world has some sort of outcasts in their land. In America, this theme can be related to the blacks. In the beginning of the twentieth century they did not have as much rights and oppurtunities as the whites. Another example of how this theme can be related to America is how a person with a southern accent is perceived as less intelligent, which is a false misconception. The theme -how criminals are viewed by society- can be seen by how Jean Valjean is treated after he is released by prison. Although, he has served a sentence of nineteen years, he is still chased and wanted. In that period of time when a person commited theft it was viewed as a crime against the community and that person should be punished to the most extremes. That theme can be seen in modern America. When a person commits a federal crime he\she cannot hold a public job or teach for the rest of his\her life. Also, when a person commits a crime, that person and that person's career is scarred for life. The theme -doing what is morally right- can be seen in many instances in the novel. One instance is Valjean gives money to free Cozzette. Another instance is Valjean does not kill Javert to save his life. Also, Javert lets Valjean go free. There are also times where people do something that is morally wrong, but lawful. One might be when the students are executed. Another might be the arrest of the prostitute. A present time situation might be soldiers killing other soldiers. It is legal, but is morally wrong. In conclusion, the novel, Les Miserables, is a universal book with themes that many people from many countries can relate to. That is why it is put in the class of classics. It is also popular because it can be related with present time situations and events.

Social Control and the Salem Witch Trials Research Paper Example

Social Control and the Salem Witch Trials Research Paper Example Social Control and the Salem Witch Trials Paper Social Control and the Salem Witch Trials Paper Essay Topic: Sociology In life, individuals form groups to obtain a desired good more effectively. This good typically cannot be produced individually, and this particular goods availability is generally limited outside the group. Thus, it seems that it is in an individuals best interest to remain a part of this group and work effectively with other members to produce their desired collective good. However, when members are faced with two opposing courses of action, one which will benefit their individual end and the other that will benefit the group collectively, there are always group members that will choose to pursue the individual end. Using the factors that affect group solidarity it is possible to explain why deviants sometimes pursue their own individual self-interest, and conversely, what causes some latent deviants to remain reputable group members committed to the solidarity of the group. In his book Principles of Group Solidarity, Michael Hechter lists several factors that effect group solidarity. According to Hechter, group solidarity can be defined as each group members willingness to contribute to the interest of the entire group, or the public. Within the group, solidarity varies for two main reasons; the extensiveness of each individuals obligations, and each individuals compliance with their obligations. Dissecting each of these reasons Hechter concludes that an individuals extensiveness of their group obligations will increase when each group member is dependent on one another to produce their desired good. Also, an individuals compliance with their group obligations will increase when the group is effectively monitored, and when sanctions are properly levied. Thus, according to Hechter, a group will exhibit solidarity when the members are interdependent on one another to produce their desired good, and an appropriate system of monitoring exists that yields sanctions to deviants. Nevertheless, group solidarity is only as strong as the group member most willing to deviate from their obligations to the group and pursue their own self-interest. Hechter explains that the rational egoist will choose the course of action that, given the information available to them and their ability to process it, they think will produce maximum utility. (Hechter, 30) If the rational egoist chooses to pursue an individual end, rather than the collective interest of the group, this decision could lead to the eventual downfall of the group. Given this account, one would be led to believe that at any time rational group members would deviate from the group in order to satisfy their own self-interests. But as we are about to see, the factors outlined earlier exist to prevent latent deviants from pursuing their individual end. Furthermore, there are some cases when it truly is in the best interest of the individual to pursue the end that will benefit the group collectively, because in turn they will benefit greater from that course of action. We will now look at several examples to show what factors influence the solidarity of a group. Initially, lets consider a rotating credit association, in which a group of individuals contribute to a common fund that is held by each individual for a certain length of time. In order to form such an organization, group solidarity must exist. Each member of the group must feel a sense of dependence on the other members to comply with their obligation to regularly contribute to the fund. Ordinarily, members of a rotating credit association know a great deal about each other; where each member lives, what each member does for a living, etc. Therefore, a high degree of visibility exists among the members, which serves to strengthen the efforts to monitor the group and sanction deviants. In addition, the notion of reputation in the group plays an important role; the individual serves to protect their familys good name by acting in a reputable manner. Yet, there always exists the risk that an individual (a rational egoist) will run off with the fund while it is their turn in the rotation to hold the money, thereby causing the group to collapse and leaving the others without access to credit. In this case, one can reason that deviation is less likely because each member of the group is highly interdependent on one another. Also, unless the deviant planned on completely disappearing from society he would have a hard time making future business transactions. Word of the deviants action would spread making it very unlikely for him to get involved with another credit association or business venture. Thus, remaining in good standing with the rotating credit association is in the best interest of the individual. Now lets turn to another example, insurance groups. We will focus on two such organizations, British friendly societies and American fraternal ethnic associations. In essence these groups were the first formalized insurance funds. Their main purpose was to offer payments to their members in the event of sickness, death, disability, a bad crop, or temporary layoff. In addition to their role as benefactors the insurance groups provided their members with other collective goods. The British friendly societies fostered a social environment in which their members would be able to have a release from their daily routine. The groups often staged their meetings in taverns, and held summer picnics and other such events for the members families. Similarly, the American fraternal ethnic associations provided a means for recent immigrants to stay in tune with their native culture through music, dance, and sporting events. Also, the ethnic associations offered educational and linguistic resources to assist their members with assimilating into their new environment in America. As one can see the benefits of being a part of an insurance group were immense. However, keeping the insurance fund solvent was an equally immense undertaking. There were myriad problems the fund could encounter. If everyone in the insurance group was about the same age depletion of the fund would occur at or around the same time period. Thus, the insurance group had to maintain a steady flow of new entrants to guard against future collapse. If one or a few individuals had sole control over the insurance fund, fraudulent members could embezzle and figure that nobody will notice. Thus, selection of trustworthy and upright officers was important in order to maintain the fund and safeguard against improper distribution. These two problems represent issues that required monitoring, and also sanctions if the situation warranted such action. In order for group solidarity to exist group members had to take a proactive role in the decision making process of issuing insurance benefits. Deviants could easily file a false claim, steal money from the fund, demand more money than they should, or even exhibit more careless behavior than they otherwise would without insurance (a phenomenon known as moral hazard). Yet, generally speaking, most insurance group members complied with their obligation to regularly contribute and enabled the insurance fund to persist. Using the examples drawn from Hechters book in the form of rotating credit associations and insurance groups one can distinguish what factors affect some deviants to pursue their own individual self-interest. If an individual in a group feels as though the extensiveness of their obligations is too comprehensive they will no longer comply with the groups rules. The deviant may decide to free-ride, in which he collects the groups collective good without contributing. The deviant may leave himself open for an unfavorable response from other group members, which will eventually result in sanctions or removal from the group. The deviant may also decide to steal, or embezzle from the group, thereby solidifying their expulsion. The deviant may even decide to start a rival or competing group with more favorable conditions. Conversely, other factors cause individuals to remain reputable group members committed to the solidarity of the group. Basing this on rational choice theory it may be the case that an individual group members self-interest parallels the collective interest of the group. In this situation the individual is acting as a rational egoist in remaining aligned with the goals of the group. Pursuing the collective interest of the group maximizes the individuals utility. Undoubtedly, this is the major reason individuals form groups in the first place, to collectively obtain a desired good more effectively. Additionally, other factors including maintaining a good reputation in the community, and fear of sanctions, guide some latent deviants to pursue the collective interest of the group. They are better off as part the group. Going against the group will only serve to subject these individuals to undue hardship and ill-feelings from people whom they share common interests with. However, without some sort of social control or peer pressure, it is likely to assume that more deviation from the pursuit of the collective good would exist. This notion is exhibited through Arthur Millers portrayal of the Salem witch trials in the movie The Crucible. For our analysis we will consider Salem, Massachusetts, a community that exhibited group solidarity. The entire town worked together to maintain a certain standard of living for their families. Salem had a carpenter, blacksmith, minister, sheriff, several farmers, and servants, all who worked together to produce a collective good for the community; a comfortable standard of living. Despite the groups interdependence on one another, the system began to fall apart in the face of a crisis. When members of the community were faced with two opposing courses of action regarding communication with the devil, some chose to pursue their individual end, while others chose to pursue the course of action that benefited the group collectively. The predominant reason that allowed such a large faction to pursue their individual end revolves around the courts decision to believe Abigail Williams and her crew. By and large, these girls did not contribute to the welfare of the community; they acted as free-riders. For the girls, non-compliance with the groups obligations was easy. They were rarely monitored, and stringent sanctions could result in their families acquiring a reputation for producing deviants. Thus, most conflicts were pushed under the table or out of sight, to save face in the community. Furthermore, even the court failed to follow proper procedure. The trial consisted of the accused either agreeing to prior communication with the devil, or denying the accusation and facing the consequence of death. There was no middle ground, no logical though process, the girls had created hysteria in Salem. Several group members were hung based on the whimsical testimony of a group of deviants. Not surprisingly, Abigail and the girls initially picked on the group members with the lowest levels of status in the community including, beggars and peasants. By establishing their accusations on these unfavorable group members the girls were able to create a snowball effect, in which more and more people began to believe that certain members did in fact participate in communication with the devil. Before too long the girls were in too deep to ever admit guilt. In turn, they created their own group, with their own interdependence rested solely on the premise of not getting caught. At this point a traitor from within would result in death for them all. When Mary Warren, under the supervision of John Proctor, attempted to rectify the girls wrongs, Abigail led a flamboyant reprisal which made Mary Warren look like she had lost her mind. Eventually, once Abigail realized these trials could not persist indefinitely she decided to flee Salem and deviate from yet another group. During her rampage in Salem, Abigails relentless pursuit of her own individual end transformed the culture of the community. While Abigail and her crew of deviants broke down the community, others including John Proctor, and Reverend Hale gave their all to pursue the collective end most beneficial to the solidarity of the group. If we look back on Hechters factors that affect group solidarity (the extensiveness of each individuals obligations, and each individuals compliance with their obligations), we can see why these individuals fostered the collective interest of the group. Proctor, despite his relations with Abigail, represented the community member who looked out for the well-being of his group members. Proctor understood that interdependence of the group, and maintaining a good reputation for his family, would benefit the community and his family in the long run. When faced with the ultimate question, death with dignity or life with disgrace, Proctor chose the course of action that would eliminate these problems for Salem in the future. He took the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the community. Similar to Proctors course of action, Reverend Hale, realized that something must be done to suppress the deviants from creating any further problems. Having prior experience in uncovering witchcraft, Reverend Hale was initially called in to assess the situation and if the need existed, eradicate the devil from Salem. Unexpectedly, once he had a chance to fully analyze the situation it became clear that the girls who were allegedly suffering from witchcraft were the source of the problem. In an effort to comply with his obligations to Salem, Reverend Hale urged Judge Danforth to see beyond the girls deviant actions. He knew John Proctor was telling the truth, he knew Abigail was lying when she alleged Elizabeth Proctors spirit stabbed a needle in her abdomen, he knew the situation in Salem was out of control. Individuals were being put to death and Reverend Hale was trying his hardest to correct the situation. Relating John Proctors and Reverend Hales actions to Hechters reasoning, one would conclude that as the Salem witch trials progressed the extensiveness of their obligations to the community increased. These two men realized that the welfare of the community rested on their shoulders. In order for Salem to remain solvent in the years to come, free from the grips of the deviants who preached witchcraft, John Proctor needed to stand up against Judge Danforth and set an example. To John Proctor, his strong personal ties within the group, the cost of moving away from Salem, and the value he placed on his familys good name, were stronger than life itself. To Reverend Hale, the pursuit to benefit the collective welfare of Salem, his original mission, was of the utmost importance. As we have now seen through several examples, group solidarity varies for two main reasons; the extensiveness of each individuals obligations, and each individuals compliance with their obligations. When group members are faced with two opposing courses of action, one which will benefit their individual end and the other that will benefit the group collectively, the individual subliminally considers each variant and chooses a course of action. Based on factors including, the interdependence of the group, the visibility of each group member, the probability of getting caught (monitoring), and the probability of facing a sanction, the rational egoist choose[s] the course of action that they think will produce maximum utility. (Hechter, 30) Hence, in each group there exist members who will always be more inclined to deviate than others. The degrees to which these factors are employed within the group determine the actual level of deviation from the pursuit of the collective interest of the group. I am particularly happy with the way that I make sure each topic/example relates to the thesis and gives examples to substantiate the claim. As far as Im concerned the paper flows well from one thought to another. I didnt necessarily have any trouble writing the paper, although there were times when I did not think that I would be able to reach about 9 pages. Based on my outline, I figured Id have to cut down, or simplify the paper, but that proved not to be the case.

Cause and Effect Essay - The Causes of America’s Social Problems

The causes of social problems exist on many levels. When we ask why social problems such as poverty, unemployment, crime, and war exist, each time we determine a cause, we can ask "why" again, as children often do until they are hushed. Poverty exists because some folks can't find jobs or the jobs pay poorly. But then why is the wage level so low? Because of the tax and land-tenure systems. Why do we have those systems? Because special interests pay to legislate it. Why do special interests get away with it? The voting structure lets them. Why does that structure exist? The voters don't demand to change it. Why not? When we dig down through all the layers to the roots of the causes, we find three fundamental causes of social problems: ignorance, apathy, and greed. The ultimate remedy for social problems therefore must confront all three root causes. It does little good to just run down the street shouting "share the rent!" or "stop war!". Uttering a slogan does no good unless it arouses sympathy. As an example of the interplay between ignorance, apathy, and greed, consider the problem of pollution. Suppose the most efficient preventative is a pollution charge based on the damage caused by each pollutant. However, the government regulates pollution instead, a policy failure that needlessly reduces employment and economic growth. One possible cause is ignorance. But suppose the best policy is known. The owners of the polluting industries seek to influence legislation to prevent the best policy. Because of their campaign contributions and other favors, the government adopts the poorer policy. The cause in this case is greed, both by the influence seeker es for social problems, including the economics, politics, and ethics of the problems and solutions. Then when they educate others, they must at the same time invoke their antipathy to the problem and arouse their sympathy with the remedy. When the masses are roused with sympathy and armed with knowledge of the remedy, the few greedy opponents will either be swayed themselves to join the righteous battle, or be overwhelmed by the greater force of the righteous revolution. To remedy social ills, replace ignorance, apathy and greed with knowledge, sympathy, and charity. Works Cited George, Henry, 1879, Progress and Poverty. New York: Schalkenbach Foundation, 1971 Henry George Foundation web site, www.henrygeorge.org Accessed on 8-26-04. Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version. Ed. C.I. Scofield. New Scofield Reference Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.

Changes in Social Lending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Changes in Social Lending - Essay Example dit permits very underprivileged people to insert themselves into projects that are focused on self-employment— with a view of generating some income. Yunus provides loans through his controversial bank, Grameen Bank—which makes him a pioneering single leader. Grameen Bank based in Bangladesh lends money through solitary groups. The bank’s approaches targets solitary groups as its prime building block. Further, the use of this technique has clearly had a significantly positive effect upon many prospective borrowers. Without Grameen, the financially handicapped wouldn’t have dared borrowing at all. I mean, to many of them, borrowing would figuratively be building castles in the air. Be that as it may, the determination to warranty that all members of solidarity groups are equally poor is inconsistent, and may not always improve the group performance at all. In all, microcredit is mere bunkum—in fact; it won’t succeed without the help of immense grants. In all, this is a reality that dents on the development of this approach. Conversely, this approach lacks clear lucidity. Glancing at it through perspectives, the overall effect of this development approach has not been to reduce poverty, but only to produce a debt gridlock for gullible borrowers—who are incredulously subjected to particularly supercilious rates of interests practical to conventional banks . It is no surprise at all that Yunus used the infused poverty in his country profitably to gain international attention. This approach of bottom of the pyramid has no capability of finally leading to long-term development, because many poor people will feel that they are being defrauded through the obviously feasible

Photograph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Photograph - Essay Example The stretching position she is holding is one that is commonly undertaken by people prior to taking a jog or a brisk walk. The common stretching techniques include taking an upright or seated position, and hold it while either stretching their legs by gently pulling the ankle backwards or touching their toes respectively. The article highlights, through evidence from studies, the disadvantages of stretching before working out. When one undertakes a stretching exercise, they should not do it for more than 30 seconds and it should not be in a fixed position for the entire time. This explains the use of the photo of the woman doing a stretching exercise while seated on the ground. In that story, the photo editor selected a photograph of a woman on the road stretching, seemingly about to take a jog, in which the road acts as the line of the photograph, which essentially creates structure allowing the reader to view the photo from one end to another. This also adds symmetry to the photo which further draws a reader to the photo, and produce shapes, that add depth to a photograph. For this photo, the shapes are created from white rails visible on the left, just off the road. These rails are rectangular and elongated in shape forming a perception of the distance to be covered by the woman when she starts to jog. These two elements go hand in hand to produce depth and structure, allowing the reader to form a perspective on the context of the article i.e. the location or surrounding environment. The young woman seated on the road provides the element of a form that brings three-dimensionality to the photo. Three-dimensionality implies length, width and depth that draw the eye of the reader allowing them to look deeper into the photograph, then develop a perception for example whether they find it beautiful. The photos value enhanced by the shadows and light within a photograph, and these further

Physical Activity by Far Provides the Greatest Demand for Energy Essay Example for Free

Physical Activity by Far Provides the Greatest Demand for Energy Essay Physical activity by far provides the greatest demand for energy. Discuss how the intensity and duration of the exercise period and the relative contributions of the body’s means for energy transfer affect performance. In your answer mention availability of O2, food fuels used, energy threshold points, enzyme control and how the fitness of the participant affect performance. 20 marks Intensity is how hard you work for and duration is the length of time you exercise for. The energy continuum is used to show how the energy systems interact, to provide energy for the resynthesis of ATP and highlights the predominance of each of the 3 energy systems related to duration and intensity of exercise. When we look at high intensity and short duration such as 100m sprinting or 1500m we say the exercise intensity is anaerobic. This is because it takes place without the presence of oxygen. This type of exercise will use ATP/PC and LA systems will be predominant systems. A threshold represents the point at which one energy system is over by another as predominant energy systems to provide the energy to resynthesis ATP. The ATP/PC also known as the alactic system has a duration of 3-10 seconds during high intensity activities. It takes place in the sarcoplasm of the muscle cell and produces 1ATP molecule with aid of the enzyme Creatine Kinase. This is why in activities such as the 100m sprint it is predominant as it is a short duration with high intensity. The Lactic acid system uses glucose as the energy source to produce ATP from ADT and Pi, through various processes (phosphorlation dehydration and cleavage). The whole system provides 2ATP molecules with the aid of the enzyme PFK, this system also takes place in the sacroplasm of the muscle cell. This system has a maximum duration of 3 minutes, as during this process pyruvate is produced eventually leading to a build up of lactic acid. Therefore this system is most predominant during activities such as the 1500m running. During the higher intensisty exercise, lactate production will start to accumulate above resting levels and this is termed the ‘lactate threshold’. When blood lactate levels reach 4mmol/l the exercise intensity is referred to as ‘ the onset of blood lactate accumulation’ (OBLA). At this point the production of lactate has exceeded the removal rate. OBLA will continue to increase if exercise intensity remains the same/ increases eventually causing muscle fatigue. During these 2 systems it is important to allow recovery time. This is because if OBLA is exceeded. The acidity of the blood rises. This will cause efficiency of enzymes to decrease and may even cause them to denature. If this were to occur there would be a decrease in break down of energy stores and rate at which the enzymes used of the resysnthes of ATP would also slow down. This would lead to a lack of energy and in turn lead to muscle fatigue. Enzyme control is therefore important as a decrease in blood pH leads to a decrease in performance due to the inhibition of enzymes. To uses these energy systems require the uses of carbohydrates as their food fuel. As a result lack of carbohydrate stores will lead to earlier on set of fatigue therefore decreasing the duration of time that you can continue to work at a high intensity. Training is used to delay the onset of OBLA; therefore the fitter you are the later the onset of fatigue. This will therefore enable you to train harder for longer. When considering medium to low intensity activities with long duration such as marathon running, we say the exercise intensity is aerobic as it is done in the presence of oxygen. The predominant energy system will be aerobic system. This system has three sub systems; Aerobic glycolisis, kerb cycle and electron transport chain. Glycolisis involves the phosphoration of glucose (which comes from carbohydrate stores) which makes the its more reactive. The phosphate molecules come from the conversion of ATP to ADP. During the 7 steps with in glycolisis a total of 2 ATP molecules we used and 4 produced with pyruvate as the by-product. During the kerb cycle Co enzyme A is used to stimulate the reaction between the reaction pyruvate to produce 2ATP molecules and the by-products carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This reaction takes place in the matrix of the cell. Finally the electron transport chain which uses the enzyme ATPsynthase. In the respiratory chain the hydrogen atoms from NADH gradually release all their energy to form ATP. In total the aerobic system produces 34molecules of ATP and has a duration of grater than 3 mins. This is the type of system that would be used for marathon running. When exercise intensity reaches a point that anaerobic energy systems cannot supply energy quick enough, it has to use the lactic acid system to continue to provide energy for the resysnthesis of ATP. During the aerobic system availability of oxygen need to be high otherwise the performer will not bale to maintain the same intensity for a long duration. Many athletes train at altitude for endurance events. This is because altitude training allows the body to naturally increase the number of red blood cells available in the blood. It must do this in order to supply working muscles with enough oxygen as the percentage of oxygen in the air at altitude is lower. This adaption will remain when returning to sea level. For this system to work efficiently it requires the both carbohydrate stores and fat stores. Carbohydrates are used first as they are easier to use. However with training your, you can make your body use fat stores earlier. This will have an advantage for long distance and endurance athletes as it allows them to train for a longer duration of time. Enzyme control should remain constant as there is little production of lactic acid as the Aerobic energy system is predomaniant. In conclusion there is never a point at which one energy system is being used, only points where on is more prominent than another. The energy continuum shows how the ratio of energy systems in use can vary between activates. It is also important to remember that energy system can only work efficiently if the have the correct availability to oxygen, the correct food stores, energy control is maintained and good fitness levels are maintained.

Snapshots of Carver and O’Connor, Pre-Mortem :: Photographs Photos Carver OConnor Essays

Snapshots of Carver and O’Connor, Pre-Mortem Raymond Carver is glaring from the other side of the table, one beefy arm dangling on a chair, the other planted firmly in front of him. His eyes are white, ethereally white, and his hair is a salt and pepper gray. He looks like someone who buys rounds of drinks for everyone at a bar downtown, or, as one critic noted, maybe he’s your son’s little league coach. He is tough but jowly, going slightly soft, like a man who had a hair-trigger temper once but has worked all these years to overcome it. Flannery O’Connor, on the other hand, is a Sunday school teacher: bookish, awkward in a necklace, looking much older than 39. She is smiling crookedly, furtively, smiling away from us. At church socials, she would be a fixture, a great conversationalist, or possibly the woman that holds everything together, flitting from table to table, cooing in a gentle Georgia lilt. You might see Carver at the hardware store, or O’Connor picking through the stacks at the library. You might spy Carver raking his lawn on Sundays; O’Connor would be trying to settle a group of eight-year olds in a church basement with colorful stories of Noah and Moses. They seem like people I know, people I have seen around town, people I wave to on Sunday mornings. Yet for all their vigor, for all their presence, their days are numbered. I know that these are snapshots of people who are going to die. In a few years, their vivacity will be undercut by mortality, their photographic presence instead marked with the great void of absence. The later pictures show a Carver who is puffy, bald, with jowls dropping to the floor, paying for all those nights at the bar and all those cigarettes, a victim of intensive radiation treatment. O’Connor deteriorated in the opposite direction, not bloating but shrinking: the sinews in her neck jut out like those of a strange, scraggly bird, her soulful eyes bulge, and her body is rigid with lupus. In the final days, she had her God and her peacock farm in backwoods Appalachia. He had his friends, his writer’s reputation, his temporal achievements. Their intensive creative lives visible across their faces in the early photographs have been replaced by tranquility, the comforting promise of death, and a final absolution.

International Human Resource Management Essay

1.0 Executive Summary The world of international HR management (IHRM) is changing. As companies shift operations abroad, IHRM is moving beyond expatriate programs. Today’s IHR managers are charged with scaling and managing overseas HR operations. This shift has not only created new opportunities for IHRM professionals, but also for companies looking to staff operations abroad. Possibly one of the greatest challenges facing the IHRMs is the fact that they are now dealing with not an individual employee but a whole family and their needs as a family in the relocation process. Some IHRMs find it more difficult than others to adjust to the added dimension of having to deal with the spouse and family on a more intimate level than before. After all, they are now relocating them halfway around the world and away from their support structures. They have to be prepared to get a lot more involved in the family as a whole and not just think they have to communicate with the employee only as is often the case when dealing with an employee here at home base. Throughout this assignment, we are examined the implications of differences in national culture for policy and practice in of the following aspects of human resource management: * Performance appraisal * Training and development 2.0 Training and Development Important components of international human resources management include both cross-cultural training and a clear understanding of the overseas assignment as part of a manager’s development. 2.1 Training Cross-cultural training is necessary for expatriates managers and their families before, during and after foreign assignments. As different countries have different culture, regardless how close of those areas, such as Taiwan and Mainland China, USA and Canada. Maybe they are talking the same language, however, their perception of social values, business practices are different. In Western, especially in USA, people are more individualism. In the contrary, Eastern people, such as Chinese and Japanese, people are more collectivism. The social system also different in Western and Eastern, the former is low power distant and the later is higher power distant. When those expatriates arrive, they are foreigners, not the host population, it is necessary to provide much cultural and practical background. Language training is an essential activity for everyone in the family. Although English is the dominant business language worldwide, relying on English puts the expatriates at a disadvantage. The expatriate will be unable to read trade journals and newspapers, which contain useful business information, and will be reliant on translators, which at best only slow down discussions in the process. Evan if expatriates manager is not fluent, a willingness to try communicating in local language makes a good impression on the business community. Foreign language proficiency is also vital for family members to establish a social network and accomplish the everyday tasks of maintaining a household. But cross-cultural training is much more than just language training. It should provide an appreciation of the new culture, including details of its history and folklore, economy, politics, religion, social climate, and business practices. It is easy to recognize that religion is highly important in daily life in the Middle East, but knowledge of the region’s history and an understanding of the specific practices and beliefs is important to avoid inadvertently insulting business associates or social contacts. All this training can be carried out through a variety of techniques. Language skills are often provided through classes and tapes, while cultural training utilizes many different tools. Lectures, reading materials, videotapes, and movies are useful for background information, while cultural sensitivity is more often taught through role playing, simulations and meetings with former expatriates, as well as natives of the countries now living in the parent countries. While all this training in advance of the overseas relocation is important, cultural learning takes place during the assignment as well. After the overseas assignment has ended and the employee has returned, more training is required for the entire family. The employee also must adjust to organization changes, including the inevitable promotions, transfers, and resignations that have taken place during his or her absence. Teenager find reentry particularly difficult, as they are ignorant of the most recent jargon and the latest trends, but often are more sophisticated and mature than their local friends. The employee also must adjust to organizational changes, including the inevitable promotions, transfers and registrations that have taken place during his or her absence. Returnees are anxious to know where to fit in, or if they have been gone for so long that they no longer are on a career path. 2.2 Development In the current global business environment, the overseas assignment should be a vital component in the development of top-executives. It is not only to achieve the advantages for the individual in overseas assignment, but also an organization can gain the competitive advantages from their overseas employee. It is also a chance to provide the host counties employees to broaden their global perspective through a post in the parent-country headquarter, and may make it easier for the organization to recruit and retain better quality managers in the host country. Development is an essential activity to the individual to improve the individual’s ability during the assignment and to well perform their jobs. 3.0 Performance appraisal In evaluating employee performance in international environments, other factors come into plays. For instance, the cultural differences between the United States and England are not as great as those between the United Stated and China, for example. Thus, hostility or friendliness of the cultural environment in which one manager should be considered when appraising employee performance. 3.1 The responsibilities of the evaluation There are also issues to consider regarding who will be responsible for the evaluations: the host-country management or the parent country management. Although local management would generally consider a more accurate gauge, it typically evaluates expatriates from its own cultural perspectives and expectations, which may not reflect those of the parent company. For example, in some countries, a participatory style of management is acceptable, while in other countries, hierarchical values make it disgrace to ask employees for ideas (for e.g. in Japan). This could vastly alter a supervisor’s performance appraisal. Confusion may arise from the use of parent-country evaluation forms if they are misunderstood, either because the form has been improperly translated or not translated at all, or because the evaluator is uncertain what a particular question means. The home-office managements, on the other hand, is often so remote that it may not be fully informed on what is going on in an overseas office. Because they lack access and because one organization may have numerous foreign operations to evaluate, home-office managements often measure performance by quantitative indices, such as profits, market shares, or gross sales. However, simple numbers are often quite complex in their calculations and data are not always comparable. For example, if a company has many operations in Fast East Asia, it must be aware of the accounting practices in each country. Local import tariffs can also distort pricing schedules, which alter gross sales figures, another often compared statistic. Evan when the measurements are comparable, the comparison country will have an affect. For example, factory productivity levels in Vietnam may be below those of similar plants in Thailand. Depending on where the supervisor’s results are compared, different outcomes may occur. Such issues complicate parent country management performance evaluations by numerical criteria, or indices – and can add to the emotional levels in appraisals. 3.2 Evaluation Format Other issues surround the question of selecting the best format to use in performance appraisals, If we have an overseas operation that includes both parent country nationals and host country nationals, we must determine if we will use the same forms for all employee. While most Western countries accept the concept of performance evaluation, some cultures interpret it as a sign of distrust or even an insult to an employee. This complicates a decision to use one instrument like an adjective rating scale for all employees. On the other hand, using different formats for PCNs and HCNs may create a dual track in the subsidiary, in turn creating other problems. The evaluation form presents other problems. If there is universal form for the entire corporation, an organization must determine how it will be translated accurately into the native language of each country. English forms may not be readily understood by local supervisors. For example, clerical and office jobs do not always have identical requirements in all cultures. As a result, some U.S. multinational may be hesitant about evaluating HCNs and TCNs. In some countries, notably those that support the Communist ideology, all workers are rewarded only when the group performs – with punishment or discipline being highly limited. For example, in the hotel industry in the People’s Republic of China. Without the ability to reward good individual performance or to punish poor performance, there is little motivation to have any evaluation at all. Although the subject of international performance appraisal continues to receive research attention, two general recommendations have been suggested as follow: * Modify the normal performance criteria of the evaluation sheet for a particular position to fit the overseas position and site characteristics. Expatriates who have returned from a particular site or same country can provide useful input into revising criteria to reflect the possibilities and constraints of a given location. * Include a current expatriate’s insights as part of evaluation. This means that non-standardized criteria, which are difficult to measure, will be included, perhaps in different basis for each country. This creates some administrative difficulties at headquarters, but in long run will be a more equitable system. Â   Bibliography 1. Peter J. Dowling, Denice E. Welch and Randall S. Schuler, International Human Resource Management – Managing People in a Multinational Context, South Western College Publishing, 3rd Edition 2. Nancy J. Adler, International Dimensions of Organization Behavior, South Western College Publishing, 3rd Edition 3. David A. Decenzo, Stephen P. Robbins, Human Resourc Management, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 7th Edition. 4. Ian Breadwell and Len Holden, Human resource management – a contemporary approach, FT Prentice Hall, 3rd Edition

Kodak Case Study

KODAK CASE STUDY SRN 162658 1. Summary 2. Brief Introduction a. Introduction of a Strategic Position b. Introduction of Eastman Kodak Company 3. Analysis of Strategic Position of Kodak a. Analysis of External Environment i. General Environment ii. Industry Environment iii. Competitive Environment of Kodak iv. Introduction of Directional Policy Matrix v. Apply Directional Policy Matrix to Kodak vi. Conclusion b. Internal Resource Audit i. Physical Resources of Kodak ii. Human Resources of Kodak iii. Financial Resources of Kodak iv. Intangibles of Kodak c. Introduction of SWOT Analysis i. Apply SWOT Analysis to Kodak i. Conclusion 4. International marketing and recommendations 5. Appendices 1. Executive summary This essay attempts to analyse the strategic position of Kodak through different models/tools of strategic audit. The first section of this essay describes the context of strategic position and introduces the background of Kodak and its strategic position in present. Three steps analysis are followed in second section to analyse the strategic position of Kodak: Directional Policy Matrix is applied to analyse the competitive environment of Kodak; different types of resources of Kodak are audited and listed in etail; SWOT analysis is applied to identify Kodak’s competences. Through above three steps, we can acquire a clear understanding of Kodak’s strategic position. In the last section of this essay, it summarises the application of different models/tools of strategic management and international marketing, and points out the disadvantages of these models/tools as well as the recommendation of further application of them. 2. Brief Introduction a. Introduction of Strategic Position Organisations vary widely. Some are simple and consist of only one business while others are complex, with the group as a whole containing many businesses. Whatever the size or complexity of organisations, they are all faced with the need to manage their survival and development over the long term. â€Å"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over a long term: which achieves advantages for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a changing environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholders expectations. † (Johnson, G. & Scholes, K. 1999: 10). Strategy exists at a range of levels in an organisation and includes Corporate Strategy, Business Unit Strategy and Operational Strategy from higher level to lower. With a clear strategy, it is essential to manage an organisation through Strategic Management. Strategic Management combines by three interlinked components: Strategic Analysis, Strategic Choice and Strategic Implementation. In looking at Strategic Analysis, its main aim is to attempt to understand the Strategic Position of the organisation. Strategic Choice and Strategic Implementation are the following steps of Strategic Analysis. Strategic Position of an organisation can be viewed in terms of its external environment, internal resources and competences as well as the expectations and influence of stakeholders. These factors, forming a view of the key influences on the present and future direction and scope of the organisation, assist us to analyse the development and survival of the organisation over a long term. In this essay, accordingly, we will analyse the Strategic Position of an example organisation through four aspects as following: †¢ External Environment †¢ Internal Resources Competences †¢ Expectations of stakeholders b. Introduction of Eastman Kodak Company Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak), based in New York, is a major player in the world’s market for photographic and imaging products and systems. With a strategy of company’s focus on pictures, new products, a strengthening market position, and investments for growth, Kodak has experienced in traditional film and photo im aging business for more than a century. As time goes by, it also suffers the threat from the overwhelming digital trend. With sales of $9. billion in 2008, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on the following businesses: Health – supplying the healthcare industry with traditional and digital image capture and output products and services; Graphic Communications – offering on-demand color and black and white printing, wide-format inkjet printing, high-speed, high-volume continuous inkjet printing, as well as document scanning, output and storage products and services; Digital & Film Imaging Systems – providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; and Display & Components – which designs and manufactures state-of-the-art organic light-emitting diode displays as well as other specialty materials, and delivers imaging sensors to original equipment manufacturers. 3. Analysis of strategic position of Kodak Success in modern world requires constant innovation and change – things most of the organisation are not known very well. This environment changes so rapidly that even the best idea can fade fast. Perhaps this is the reason that environment is so important to an organisation. a. Analysis of External Environment i. General Environment Technological Environment. The influx of technological advancements into the photographic marketplace has presented the industry with a unique set of challenges and possibilities. Technological discoveries and enhancements have hastened the growth of the traditional silver-halide market. In addition, with the onset of digital technology, the industry is faced with chance to expand its business through venturing more into digital imaging which is currently putting forth enticing opportunities. On the downside, considering the electronic nature of the products offered in line with digital imaging (eg. scanners, printers, etc. ), entry of potential competitors, particularly from the electronics group who may have equally competent resources and capabilities, is still at a height. As a result, the structure of the industry may be altered. Socio-Cultural Environment. With society’s increasing awareness over environmental preservation, possible hindrance in the growth of the players in the industry is present. The film marketed by these companies, as an example, are currently packaged in plastic non-biodegradable tube cases. As a response to environmental concerns and grievances, repackaging using nature-friendly materials may be ensued. This also holds true with single-use cameras (SUCs) which is primarily composed of plastic non-biodegradable materials. Here, companies may either reduce its margin or impose higher prices over its products in repackaging its products to be environmental-friendly brought by a possible increase in its production cost. The market’s culture may also impede the entry of global industry players. As an example, with Japan’s resistance to Western influence and its society’s higher preference over locally made products, foreign industry players would most likely have difficulty in penetrating in this geographical segment. In addition, with the fact ascertained that photographic products are usually used in instances of special occasions (eg. weddings, birthdays, holidays, fiestas, etc. ), regularity of celebration of these occasions would deeply affect the demand of the products. Economic Environment. The global scale of the photographic market presents some threats to its core business. Sales in its geographical segments would generally differ according to a country’s economic state. Sluggish economy or economies under recession decrease sales as a result of delayed spending on leisure goods. In addition to the state of the economy, tariff and foreign trade laws may render leisure good spending in lull brought by higher prices as a result of the duties imposed on the goods. Tourism economy, as a whole, has a direct effect on the industry. As the number of tourists decrease, usage of photographic materials would most likely decrease demand. Legal or Political Environment. Legal influences may hamper the growth of some players in the industry. Antitrust laws, for example, may limit expansion of industry players through its provisions. On the brighter side, however, this may protect the position of a company in the market. Foreign laws, in addition, in its move to protect local firms, may thwart the entry of global producers in its market. Furthermore, patent and proprietary rights laws would deter firms to expand, venture, and produce patented products. ii. Industry Environment Threat of New Entrants. With great barriers, the threat of new entrants in the industry is at a low level. This is brought about by the sizeable investment required in procuring manufacturing equipments for a potential entrant. Due to narrow margins, manufacturers need to rely on mass production in order to take advantage of economies of scale. This keeps start-up costs high, making it difficult for new entrants to the market. Furthermore, marketing costs are also high for these entrants for it to be able to topple down existing players or even penetrate the market. This is in view of the current industry players, which if characterized, are established and successfully positioned in the market obtaining brand loyalty. Also, with the length of these companies’ operations in mind, they have been riding down the experience curve; as a result, economies of scale and cost advantage have already been achieved. In addition, prospecting players must introduce into the market differentiated products that are more enhanced than that offered by existing players, which would require it to spend a substantial amount in research and development projects. However, with the emerged digital imaging in view, the risk posed by potential industry entrants may be shifted from a low level to a moderate one. This is in view, as stated in the earlier part, of the electronic nature of some products offered by the digital imaging technology which has the possibility of attracting electronic companies who may possess capabilities and competencies that could equal or even exceed that of the current industry players. Rivalry among Established Competitors. Firms under the photographic industry operate in an oligopolistic environment were few of the member firms share dominance such as Eastman Kodak, Samsung, Sony, Fuji Films and Canon. Competition among these firms is at a fierce level given the fact of its slow-growth particularly in the traditional photography. Here, with demand conditions at a moderate level of progress, firms closely compete to capture and increase market share through price wars. Exit barriers within the industry are at a high level as well contributing to the intense rivalry among industry players. Bargaining Power of Buyers. The influence set forth by the buyers in the industry is at a moderate degree. Though products offered by the firms in the industry have attained brand loyalty, cost advantage and economies of scale and has a lesser threat of substitute products, still, firms are forced by buyers to bargain for lower prices by the quantity of their purchase. In addition, with price wars evident among industry players, buyers take advantage on playing off with these firms to obtain cheaper costs or even present a threat of providing for a lesser shelf space. In b2b area some buyers can manage procurement through agencies that purchase on behalf of groups or organizations to secure competitive pricing through greater purchasing power. Such complex arrangements can sometimes create long lead times from tendering to delivery and that negatively affects company’s financial indicator, for example, cash flow. Bargaining Power of Suppliers. The pressure exerted by the suppliers over the firms in the industry is at a low degree. However, the production process requires diverse inputs, materials and processes, giving sometimes the suppliers increased power. Silver, for example, a major raw material in the industry is widely available. It is evidenced with the fact that in the past years, no direct relationship can be established that price of the commodity has been affected by fluctuations in the availability and price of raw materials. In fact, the photographic industry consumes about one-fourth of the global demand for silver. Furthermore, with the high level of availability of packaging materials, in this case plastic tubes and canisters, and boxes, bargaining power of suppliers is at a lesser scale. Threat of Substitute Products. Mobile phones, as they increase in power and sophistication, present the biggest challenge to the cheaper end of the market for photographic equipment. However, despite this, digital cameras and camcorders are still regarded as the preferred devices for taking quality pictures. iii. Competitive Environment of Kodak The external environment of Kodak is complex. As Kodak is focusing on imaging business, this market is the vital market for it. In digital age, more and more activities are related to digital means, same as more and more business are derived from digital technologies. Digital trend, indeed, is a long-term threat to one of Kodak’s business – silver print. At the beginning ? 2000s experts disagreed over how long it will take for digital imaging to start shrinking the worldwide traditional imaging market, but that day is already has come. Kodak operates in a number of different markets, including photographic equipment, film, electronic consumer goods, computing systems and printing. Consequently, it competes with general and specialised manufacturers and retailers across the range of its products and services. Its main competitors can be found in Appendix 1. iv. Introduction of Directional Policy Matrix ( (can be found in appendix 1) v. Apply Directional Policy Matrix to Kodak With detailed evaluation factors list in Table 1, we will find that Kodak has strong competitive strength in its core business of traditional imaging but this industry is around unattractive and average. On the other hand, digital imaging business is a promising market though Kodak is under intense competitive pressure every step of its way to the digital world. Based on aforementioned factors, we can draw up two pie charts in the matrix representing the Traditional Imaging market and Digital Imaging market as well as Kodak’s market share (Refer to Figure 1). Consequently, we can draw out the professional comments on these markets from the Directional Policy Matrix. For Digital Imaging market, Kodak should â€Å"invest to retain market share as industry grows† or even set it as â€Å"priority products and service†. While for Traditional Imaging market, â€Å"invest selectively to maximize cash generation† perhaps is the best choice to be selected. [pic] Figure 1. Directional Policy Matrix for Kodak (based on the Directional Policy Matrix of Shell) vi. Conclusion As mentioned above, it can be easily understood why Kodak selected Digital Imaging as its key business in present and in future whilst maintain its investment on the traditional Imaging market. It is apparent that Directional Policy Matrix provides a useful method to direct managers’ attention to key forces in the competitive environment, and brings forward questions about appropriate strategies for different business units and the portfolio as a whole. However, it should be kept in mind that the effectiveness of this approach depends on the precise information of a competitive nature between competitors in the market. Moreover, the procurement of the information in depth is not always straightforward. b. Internal Resource Audit Successful strategies depend not only on the analysis and understanding of external environment, but also the internal resources the organisation owns. Analysing the internal resources of the organisation involves both drawing up a list of the main resources and developing of the way the organisation operates. According to G. Johnson & K. Scholes’ classification (1999), internal resources can be grouped as following: †¢ Physical Resources †¢ Human Resources †¢ Financial Resources †¢ Intangibles As a multination company, Kodak owns huge resources to support its worldwide operation. According to above classification, we can identify the resources separately. i. Physical Resource of Kodak Kodak has its physical resources spread all over the world which include factories, laboratories, offices, land, building and equipments etc. ii. Human Resource of Kodak At the end of 2006 Kodak employed 40,900 people (full-time equivalent) of which 20,600 were based in the US. However, this was at the start of a major restructuring programme and employee numbers have been reduced significantly. In 2008, its total headcount had fallen to 24,400. In January 2009, it announced the loss of 4,500 more jobs when it posted a quarterly loss. Within these staff, there have great majority of excellent experts and skilled technicians as well as experienced marketers, salesmen, accountants and the repository of many kinds of professionals. iii. Financial Resources of Kodak The results reported in Kodak’s 2006 Annual Report showed remarkable advances towards achieving its ambitions. In comparison with the previous year, digital earnings increased from $72 million to $343 million, while digital revenue grew by $316 million. Cash generation was an important consideration for Kodak, since it had started 2006 with debts of $3,583 million and had to find over $500 million for restructuring costs. In that year, it managed to reduce its debts by $805 million. However, just as Kodak appeared to have made the transition to world leader in the digital market, the world economy took a nosedive, leaving the organisation fighting for survival. The results in 2008 revealed a fall in sales for the third year in a row and an overall operating loss of $442 million. In anticipation of the recession, Kodak made a number of changes to its structure and operations to help avoid the worst effects. Worse was yet to come. In 2009, sales fell by 24% in the quarter January to March, and a further 29% in the following quarter April to June. Kodak is predicting losses of up to $400 million and has already reduced its cash reserves by 39% to $1. 31 billion. The highest and lowest ordinary share values are tracked and reported on a quarterly basis in the 2008 Annual Report. In 2007, the shares were enjoying highs of around $30 and lows of about $22. Cyclical variation in share value is common, reflecting the timing of reporting results and dividends. However in 2008, share value did not rise above $22 and fell below $6 in the fourth quarter. More recently still, share value has fallen to an all-time low of $3 each. The sale of digital cameras worldwide has fallen by 4-5%, and their average retail price has fallen by 30%. Even so, the company has announced that its cash position is secure and it has plans to survive even if the recession continues. It has high hopes that its new inkjet printers that use silicon technology rather than individual ink cartridges will ease the company into recovery. iv. Intangibles of Kodak Kodak is one of the most famous brands in the world. This brand, come through more than one century’s worth of innovations, known by most of the customers and considered as the representation of picture. Besides this, Kodak also holds thousands of image and chromatology patents as well as its good alliance and co-operators. Introduction of SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the examination of an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to its possible opportunities and threats. The strengths and weakness of the organisation derive from the evaluation of its internal resource while the opportunities and threats depend on the assessment of its external environment. SWOT analysis represents an evaluation of how well the organisation utilises its resources to match the needs of the environment in which the firm operates and competes. According to the summary of R. Lynch (Lynch, R. 1997: 262), there have a ange of possible factors as to SWOT analysis. However, we will ignore the factors related to Opportunities and Threats analysis because they have been discussed in above section. In Figure 3 there have a list of the factors for Strengths and Weaknesses analysis. Apply SWOT analysis to Kodak (can be found in Appendix 2) Conclusion To making the best use of the strengths and negate or counter the weaknesses, it is a reasonable decision for Kodak to maintain its progress in Traditional Imaging business (Part 2 of Kodak Strategic Position) and concentrate on combining Digital Imaging and Traditional Imaging as a whole (Part 3 of Kodak Strategic Position). Moreover, Intangibles and Human Resources operate as unique resources and build up Kodak’s Core Competences: Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill in the markets Kodak operates. The application of SWOT analysis to organization as well as competitors can indicate a business its relative position in the market and again direct the firm towards appropriate strategies. However, SWOT itself provides no formal set of rules for strategic success, certain general guidelines may nonetheless be deprives from it. This analysis requires an overall understanding of both the environment and the resource capabilities, which likely will restrain the application of this analysis. 4. International marketing strategy The level of diversity of Kodak’s business helps the company to be global and take advantage of the disparate demands of consumer around the world. The company must encourage further diversification of Kodak’s business in the East. Kodak’s slow movement towards digital, coupled with the still early market demands of consumers in emerging markets have bought Kodak time by allowing it to still pursue its outdated model. It can be a result of this global reach, and ability for Kodak to straddle different technologies across locations that the company will continue to strengthen its balance sheet, reducing its debts, and generating more revenue in investable cash. That can happen largely credited to the emerging markets that may become the greatly needed cash-cows of Kodak’s business. In fact, probably the only reason why Kodak hasn’t completely dropped off the competitive landscape is due to emergent Eastern markets that offer a glimmer of hope of interim cash-flow. The key now is to recognise this reprieve and build a global strategy that can continue to exploit silver-halide technology, whilst getting the rest of the firm in shape to address the changed market in the West. Appendix 1 One way to consider the competitive position of Kodak is by means of the Directional Policy Matrix (Thompdon, L. J. 1993). This matrix is constructed above two axes: the Industry Attractiveness in horizontal axis and the organisation’s competitive position in vertical axis. By evaluating relevant factors of these two dimensions we can place appropriate positions for discussed organisation.    |   |Traditional Imaging |Digital Imaging | |Industry Attractiveness |Market Growth |Low |High | | |Supplier Pressure |Low |Low | | |Customer Pressure |High |High | | |Substi tute Products |Low |High | | |Government Action |Constraint |Support | | |Entry Barriers |Low |High | | |Competitive Pressure |High |High | |Competitive Position |Competition |High |High | | |Relative Market Share |High Low | | |Production Capability |High |Medium | | |Research and Development Record |High |Medium | | |and Strength | | | | |Financial Success |Medium |Low | | | | Appendix 2 Refer to Figure 3, there have available resources of Kodak listed in the top and their positive effects on the factors are indicated as â€Å" * †. Viewing from each row, we can obtain an overall evaluation of the resources’ contribution to a single factor and determine whether this factor is Strength or Weakness to Kodak. Furthermore, when viewing from each column, we can even acquire the contributions of one resource to different factors. In fact, Kodak has more strengths than weaknesses in Traditional Imaging market. †¢ It has strengths in Market Dominance and Financial & Cash Resource, thus there has sufficient cash provided for firm’s further activities. †¢ It also has strength in Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill, which suggest Kodak maintain its advantage in Traditional Imaging market. The weakness of differentiated product of Kodak in Traditional Imaging indicates that Kodak should extent its product lines to more areas. A rational way to do so is to combine Traditional Imaging with Digital Imaging to generate more innovation. | | Resources |Physical |Human |Financial |Intangibles | | | | |Factors |Resource |Resource |Resource | | | | |Traditional |Market Dominance |* |* |   |* |   |Strength | |Imaging | | | | | | | | Digital Imaging |Market Dominance | | |   |* |   |Weakness | | |Core Strengths & Key Skill | |* |   |* |   |Strength | | |Financial and Cash Resource |   |   | |   |   |Weakness | | |Reputation |   |   |   |* |   |Strength | | |Differentiated Products | | | | |   |Weakness | | While in Digital Imaging market, Kodak has little Strengths but more weakness. †¢ The strength in Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill recommends that Kodak continue making effort in Digital Imaging for further success. †¢ It has weakness in Market Dominance and Financial & Cash Resource, therefore Kodak still need invest more money to support its progress in Digital Imaging. The weakness of differentiated product in Digital Imaging also indicates that Kodak should combine Digital Imaging with Traditional Imaging. Seeing about the contribution of resources to factors in Figure 3, we can find that Intangibles and Human Resources represent substantial proportions in gettin g Kodak’s strengths. These two resources, together with other resource, build up the Threshold and Core Competence of Kodak. Appendix 3 Kodak Divisions The company’s products and services are categorized under the following different segments: Consumer photography: †¢ Digital cameras †¢ Software †¢ Printer and camera docks †¢ Online printing services †¢ Accessories †¢ Inkjet paper †¢ Picture maker †¢ Picture CD Film & processing †¢ Single-use cameras Professional products: Films: †¢ Colour transparency films: E-Family †¢ Colour negative films †¢ Laboratory and duplicating films †¢ Black-and-white films †¢ Advanced amateur film Papers: †¢ Professional papers and materials †¢ Inkjet photo paper †¢ Thermal printer media Chemistry: †¢ Photographic chemicals Digital Products: †¢ Professional digital cameras †¢ Digital photo printers †¢ Lab digitisation products †¢ P rofessional photoCD Medical imaging products: †¢ Digital radiography †¢ Computed radiography †¢ RIS/PACS †¢ Medical printing †¢ Mammography †¢ Oncology †¢ Molecular imaging †¢ Dental products Graphic communication products: Colour management and proofing †¢ Press, plates and printing systems †¢ Data management and storage †¢ Document management Business and government products: †¢ Document scanners †¢ Reference archive †¢ Micrographics †¢ Software †¢ Microfilm & more ———————– [? ] |#%,[email  protected]†¹Ã¢â‚¬â€ COOee? -oeYIoA? A ©?  ©?  ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢? A? z? nf^fRGh? $Ah|[3mHsHh? $Ah|[3mHo([pic]sH h? $AmHsH h|[3mHsHhYfOh? $AmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHsHh? $Ah? $AmHo([pic]sH hlVmHsHh? $Ah? $AmHsHhYfOh? $ACJmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHsHharAharA5? CJmHsHharAharA5? CJ(mHsHharA5? CJ(mHsHFigure 3. SWOT Analysis for Koda k Table 1. Evaluation Factors for Directional Policy Matrix Kodak Case Study KODAK CASE STUDY SRN 162658 1. Summary 2. Brief Introduction a. Introduction of a Strategic Position b. Introduction of Eastman Kodak Company 3. Analysis of Strategic Position of Kodak a. Analysis of External Environment i. General Environment ii. Industry Environment iii. Competitive Environment of Kodak iv. Introduction of Directional Policy Matrix v. Apply Directional Policy Matrix to Kodak vi. Conclusion b. Internal Resource Audit i. Physical Resources of Kodak ii. Human Resources of Kodak iii. Financial Resources of Kodak iv. Intangibles of Kodak c. Introduction of SWOT Analysis i. Apply SWOT Analysis to Kodak i. Conclusion 4. International marketing and recommendations 5. Appendices 1. Executive summary This essay attempts to analyse the strategic position of Kodak through different models/tools of strategic audit. The first section of this essay describes the context of strategic position and introduces the background of Kodak and its strategic position in present. Three steps analysis are followed in second section to analyse the strategic position of Kodak: Directional Policy Matrix is applied to analyse the competitive environment of Kodak; different types of resources of Kodak are audited and listed in etail; SWOT analysis is applied to identify Kodak’s competences. Through above three steps, we can acquire a clear understanding of Kodak’s strategic position. In the last section of this essay, it summarises the application of different models/tools of strategic management and international marketing, and points out the disadvantages of these models/tools as well as the recommendation of further application of them. 2. Brief Introduction a. Introduction of Strategic Position Organisations vary widely. Some are simple and consist of only one business while others are complex, with the group as a whole containing many businesses. Whatever the size or complexity of organisations, they are all faced with the need to manage their survival and development over the long term. â€Å"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over a long term: which achieves advantages for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a changing environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholders expectations. † (Johnson, G. & Scholes, K. 1999: 10). Strategy exists at a range of levels in an organisation and includes Corporate Strategy, Business Unit Strategy and Operational Strategy from higher level to lower. With a clear strategy, it is essential to manage an organisation through Strategic Management. Strategic Management combines by three interlinked components: Strategic Analysis, Strategic Choice and Strategic Implementation. In looking at Strategic Analysis, its main aim is to attempt to understand the Strategic Position of the organisation. Strategic Choice and Strategic Implementation are the following steps of Strategic Analysis. Strategic Position of an organisation can be viewed in terms of its external environment, internal resources and competences as well as the expectations and influence of stakeholders. These factors, forming a view of the key influences on the present and future direction and scope of the organisation, assist us to analyse the development and survival of the organisation over a long term. In this essay, accordingly, we will analyse the Strategic Position of an example organisation through four aspects as following: †¢ External Environment †¢ Internal Resources Competences †¢ Expectations of stakeholders b. Introduction of Eastman Kodak Company Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak), based in New York, is a major player in the world’s market for photographic and imaging products and systems. With a strategy of company’s focus on pictures, new products, a strengthening market position, and investments for growth, Kodak has experienced in traditional film and photo im aging business for more than a century. As time goes by, it also suffers the threat from the overwhelming digital trend. With sales of $9. billion in 2008, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on the following businesses: Health – supplying the healthcare industry with traditional and digital image capture and output products and services; Graphic Communications – offering on-demand color and black and white printing, wide-format inkjet printing, high-speed, high-volume continuous inkjet printing, as well as document scanning, output and storage products and services; Digital & Film Imaging Systems – providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; and Display & Components – which designs and manufactures state-of-the-art organic light-emitting diode displays as well as other specialty materials, and delivers imaging sensors to original equipment manufacturers. 3. Analysis of strategic position of Kodak Success in modern world requires constant innovation and change – things most of the organisation are not known very well. This environment changes so rapidly that even the best idea can fade fast. Perhaps this is the reason that environment is so important to an organisation. a. Analysis of External Environment i. General Environment Technological Environment. The influx of technological advancements into the photographic marketplace has presented the industry with a unique set of challenges and possibilities. Technological discoveries and enhancements have hastened the growth of the traditional silver-halide market. In addition, with the onset of digital technology, the industry is faced with chance to expand its business through venturing more into digital imaging which is currently putting forth enticing opportunities. On the downside, considering the electronic nature of the products offered in line with digital imaging (eg. scanners, printers, etc. ), entry of potential competitors, particularly from the electronics group who may have equally competent resources and capabilities, is still at a height. As a result, the structure of the industry may be altered. Socio-Cultural Environment. With society’s increasing awareness over environmental preservation, possible hindrance in the growth of the players in the industry is present. The film marketed by these companies, as an example, are currently packaged in plastic non-biodegradable tube cases. As a response to environmental concerns and grievances, repackaging using nature-friendly materials may be ensued. This also holds true with single-use cameras (SUCs) which is primarily composed of plastic non-biodegradable materials. Here, companies may either reduce its margin or impose higher prices over its products in repackaging its products to be environmental-friendly brought by a possible increase in its production cost. The market’s culture may also impede the entry of global industry players. As an example, with Japan’s resistance to Western influence and its society’s higher preference over locally made products, foreign industry players would most likely have difficulty in penetrating in this geographical segment. In addition, with the fact ascertained that photographic products are usually used in instances of special occasions (eg. weddings, birthdays, holidays, fiestas, etc. ), regularity of celebration of these occasions would deeply affect the demand of the products. Economic Environment. The global scale of the photographic market presents some threats to its core business. Sales in its geographical segments would generally differ according to a country’s economic state. Sluggish economy or economies under recession decrease sales as a result of delayed spending on leisure goods. In addition to the state of the economy, tariff and foreign trade laws may render leisure good spending in lull brought by higher prices as a result of the duties imposed on the goods. Tourism economy, as a whole, has a direct effect on the industry. As the number of tourists decrease, usage of photographic materials would most likely decrease demand. Legal or Political Environment. Legal influences may hamper the growth of some players in the industry. Antitrust laws, for example, may limit expansion of industry players through its provisions. On the brighter side, however, this may protect the position of a company in the market. Foreign laws, in addition, in its move to protect local firms, may thwart the entry of global producers in its market. Furthermore, patent and proprietary rights laws would deter firms to expand, venture, and produce patented products. ii. Industry Environment Threat of New Entrants. With great barriers, the threat of new entrants in the industry is at a low level. This is brought about by the sizeable investment required in procuring manufacturing equipments for a potential entrant. Due to narrow margins, manufacturers need to rely on mass production in order to take advantage of economies of scale. This keeps start-up costs high, making it difficult for new entrants to the market. Furthermore, marketing costs are also high for these entrants for it to be able to topple down existing players or even penetrate the market. This is in view of the current industry players, which if characterized, are established and successfully positioned in the market obtaining brand loyalty. Also, with the length of these companies’ operations in mind, they have been riding down the experience curve; as a result, economies of scale and cost advantage have already been achieved. In addition, prospecting players must introduce into the market differentiated products that are more enhanced than that offered by existing players, which would require it to spend a substantial amount in research and development projects. However, with the emerged digital imaging in view, the risk posed by potential industry entrants may be shifted from a low level to a moderate one. This is in view, as stated in the earlier part, of the electronic nature of some products offered by the digital imaging technology which has the possibility of attracting electronic companies who may possess capabilities and competencies that could equal or even exceed that of the current industry players. Rivalry among Established Competitors. Firms under the photographic industry operate in an oligopolistic environment were few of the member firms share dominance such as Eastman Kodak, Samsung, Sony, Fuji Films and Canon. Competition among these firms is at a fierce level given the fact of its slow-growth particularly in the traditional photography. Here, with demand conditions at a moderate level of progress, firms closely compete to capture and increase market share through price wars. Exit barriers within the industry are at a high level as well contributing to the intense rivalry among industry players. Bargaining Power of Buyers. The influence set forth by the buyers in the industry is at a moderate degree. Though products offered by the firms in the industry have attained brand loyalty, cost advantage and economies of scale and has a lesser threat of substitute products, still, firms are forced by buyers to bargain for lower prices by the quantity of their purchase. In addition, with price wars evident among industry players, buyers take advantage on playing off with these firms to obtain cheaper costs or even present a threat of providing for a lesser shelf space. In b2b area some buyers can manage procurement through agencies that purchase on behalf of groups or organizations to secure competitive pricing through greater purchasing power. Such complex arrangements can sometimes create long lead times from tendering to delivery and that negatively affects company’s financial indicator, for example, cash flow. Bargaining Power of Suppliers. The pressure exerted by the suppliers over the firms in the industry is at a low degree. However, the production process requires diverse inputs, materials and processes, giving sometimes the suppliers increased power. Silver, for example, a major raw material in the industry is widely available. It is evidenced with the fact that in the past years, no direct relationship can be established that price of the commodity has been affected by fluctuations in the availability and price of raw materials. In fact, the photographic industry consumes about one-fourth of the global demand for silver. Furthermore, with the high level of availability of packaging materials, in this case plastic tubes and canisters, and boxes, bargaining power of suppliers is at a lesser scale. Threat of Substitute Products. Mobile phones, as they increase in power and sophistication, present the biggest challenge to the cheaper end of the market for photographic equipment. However, despite this, digital cameras and camcorders are still regarded as the preferred devices for taking quality pictures. iii. Competitive Environment of Kodak The external environment of Kodak is complex. As Kodak is focusing on imaging business, this market is the vital market for it. In digital age, more and more activities are related to digital means, same as more and more business are derived from digital technologies. Digital trend, indeed, is a long-term threat to one of Kodak’s business – silver print. At the beginning ? 2000s experts disagreed over how long it will take for digital imaging to start shrinking the worldwide traditional imaging market, but that day is already has come. Kodak operates in a number of different markets, including photographic equipment, film, electronic consumer goods, computing systems and printing. Consequently, it competes with general and specialised manufacturers and retailers across the range of its products and services. Its main competitors can be found in Appendix 1. iv. Introduction of Directional Policy Matrix ( (can be found in appendix 1) v. Apply Directional Policy Matrix to Kodak With detailed evaluation factors list in Table 1, we will find that Kodak has strong competitive strength in its core business of traditional imaging but this industry is around unattractive and average. On the other hand, digital imaging business is a promising market though Kodak is under intense competitive pressure every step of its way to the digital world. Based on aforementioned factors, we can draw up two pie charts in the matrix representing the Traditional Imaging market and Digital Imaging market as well as Kodak’s market share (Refer to Figure 1). Consequently, we can draw out the professional comments on these markets from the Directional Policy Matrix. For Digital Imaging market, Kodak should â€Å"invest to retain market share as industry grows† or even set it as â€Å"priority products and service†. While for Traditional Imaging market, â€Å"invest selectively to maximize cash generation† perhaps is the best choice to be selected. [pic] Figure 1. Directional Policy Matrix for Kodak (based on the Directional Policy Matrix of Shell) vi. Conclusion As mentioned above, it can be easily understood why Kodak selected Digital Imaging as its key business in present and in future whilst maintain its investment on the traditional Imaging market. It is apparent that Directional Policy Matrix provides a useful method to direct managers’ attention to key forces in the competitive environment, and brings forward questions about appropriate strategies for different business units and the portfolio as a whole. However, it should be kept in mind that the effectiveness of this approach depends on the precise information of a competitive nature between competitors in the market. Moreover, the procurement of the information in depth is not always straightforward. b. Internal Resource Audit Successful strategies depend not only on the analysis and understanding of external environment, but also the internal resources the organisation owns. Analysing the internal resources of the organisation involves both drawing up a list of the main resources and developing of the way the organisation operates. According to G. Johnson & K. Scholes’ classification (1999), internal resources can be grouped as following: †¢ Physical Resources †¢ Human Resources †¢ Financial Resources †¢ Intangibles As a multination company, Kodak owns huge resources to support its worldwide operation. According to above classification, we can identify the resources separately. i. Physical Resource of Kodak Kodak has its physical resources spread all over the world which include factories, laboratories, offices, land, building and equipments etc. ii. Human Resource of Kodak At the end of 2006 Kodak employed 40,900 people (full-time equivalent) of which 20,600 were based in the US. However, this was at the start of a major restructuring programme and employee numbers have been reduced significantly. In 2008, its total headcount had fallen to 24,400. In January 2009, it announced the loss of 4,500 more jobs when it posted a quarterly loss. Within these staff, there have great majority of excellent experts and skilled technicians as well as experienced marketers, salesmen, accountants and the repository of many kinds of professionals. iii. Financial Resources of Kodak The results reported in Kodak’s 2006 Annual Report showed remarkable advances towards achieving its ambitions. In comparison with the previous year, digital earnings increased from $72 million to $343 million, while digital revenue grew by $316 million. Cash generation was an important consideration for Kodak, since it had started 2006 with debts of $3,583 million and had to find over $500 million for restructuring costs. In that year, it managed to reduce its debts by $805 million. However, just as Kodak appeared to have made the transition to world leader in the digital market, the world economy took a nosedive, leaving the organisation fighting for survival. The results in 2008 revealed a fall in sales for the third year in a row and an overall operating loss of $442 million. In anticipation of the recession, Kodak made a number of changes to its structure and operations to help avoid the worst effects. Worse was yet to come. In 2009, sales fell by 24% in the quarter January to March, and a further 29% in the following quarter April to June. Kodak is predicting losses of up to $400 million and has already reduced its cash reserves by 39% to $1. 31 billion. The highest and lowest ordinary share values are tracked and reported on a quarterly basis in the 2008 Annual Report. In 2007, the shares were enjoying highs of around $30 and lows of about $22. Cyclical variation in share value is common, reflecting the timing of reporting results and dividends. However in 2008, share value did not rise above $22 and fell below $6 in the fourth quarter. More recently still, share value has fallen to an all-time low of $3 each. The sale of digital cameras worldwide has fallen by 4-5%, and their average retail price has fallen by 30%. Even so, the company has announced that its cash position is secure and it has plans to survive even if the recession continues. It has high hopes that its new inkjet printers that use silicon technology rather than individual ink cartridges will ease the company into recovery. iv. Intangibles of Kodak Kodak is one of the most famous brands in the world. This brand, come through more than one century’s worth of innovations, known by most of the customers and considered as the representation of picture. Besides this, Kodak also holds thousands of image and chromatology patents as well as its good alliance and co-operators. Introduction of SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the examination of an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to its possible opportunities and threats. The strengths and weakness of the organisation derive from the evaluation of its internal resource while the opportunities and threats depend on the assessment of its external environment. SWOT analysis represents an evaluation of how well the organisation utilises its resources to match the needs of the environment in which the firm operates and competes. According to the summary of R. Lynch (Lynch, R. 1997: 262), there have a ange of possible factors as to SWOT analysis. However, we will ignore the factors related to Opportunities and Threats analysis because they have been discussed in above section. In Figure 3 there have a list of the factors for Strengths and Weaknesses analysis. Apply SWOT analysis to Kodak (can be found in Appendix 2) Conclusion To making the best use of the strengths and negate or counter the weaknesses, it is a reasonable decision for Kodak to maintain its progress in Traditional Imaging business (Part 2 of Kodak Strategic Position) and concentrate on combining Digital Imaging and Traditional Imaging as a whole (Part 3 of Kodak Strategic Position). Moreover, Intangibles and Human Resources operate as unique resources and build up Kodak’s Core Competences: Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill in the markets Kodak operates. The application of SWOT analysis to organization as well as competitors can indicate a business its relative position in the market and again direct the firm towards appropriate strategies. However, SWOT itself provides no formal set of rules for strategic success, certain general guidelines may nonetheless be deprives from it. This analysis requires an overall understanding of both the environment and the resource capabilities, which likely will restrain the application of this analysis. 4. International marketing strategy The level of diversity of Kodak’s business helps the company to be global and take advantage of the disparate demands of consumer around the world. The company must encourage further diversification of Kodak’s business in the East. Kodak’s slow movement towards digital, coupled with the still early market demands of consumers in emerging markets have bought Kodak time by allowing it to still pursue its outdated model. It can be a result of this global reach, and ability for Kodak to straddle different technologies across locations that the company will continue to strengthen its balance sheet, reducing its debts, and generating more revenue in investable cash. That can happen largely credited to the emerging markets that may become the greatly needed cash-cows of Kodak’s business. In fact, probably the only reason why Kodak hasn’t completely dropped off the competitive landscape is due to emergent Eastern markets that offer a glimmer of hope of interim cash-flow. The key now is to recognise this reprieve and build a global strategy that can continue to exploit silver-halide technology, whilst getting the rest of the firm in shape to address the changed market in the West. Appendix 1 One way to consider the competitive position of Kodak is by means of the Directional Policy Matrix (Thompdon, L. J. 1993). This matrix is constructed above two axes: the Industry Attractiveness in horizontal axis and the organisation’s competitive position in vertical axis. By evaluating relevant factors of these two dimensions we can place appropriate positions for discussed organisation.    |   |Traditional Imaging |Digital Imaging | |Industry Attractiveness |Market Growth |Low |High | | |Supplier Pressure |Low |Low | | |Customer Pressure |High |High | | |Substi tute Products |Low |High | | |Government Action |Constraint |Support | | |Entry Barriers |Low |High | | |Competitive Pressure |High |High | |Competitive Position |Competition |High |High | | |Relative Market Share |High Low | | |Production Capability |High |Medium | | |Research and Development Record |High |Medium | | |and Strength | | | | |Financial Success |Medium |Low | | | | Appendix 2 Refer to Figure 3, there have available resources of Kodak listed in the top and their positive effects on the factors are indicated as â€Å" * †. Viewing from each row, we can obtain an overall evaluation of the resources’ contribution to a single factor and determine whether this factor is Strength or Weakness to Kodak. Furthermore, when viewing from each column, we can even acquire the contributions of one resource to different factors. In fact, Kodak has more strengths than weaknesses in Traditional Imaging market. †¢ It has strengths in Market Dominance and Financial & Cash Resource, thus there has sufficient cash provided for firm’s further activities. †¢ It also has strength in Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill, which suggest Kodak maintain its advantage in Traditional Imaging market. The weakness of differentiated product of Kodak in Traditional Imaging indicates that Kodak should extent its product lines to more areas. A rational way to do so is to combine Traditional Imaging with Digital Imaging to generate more innovation. | | Resources |Physical |Human |Financial |Intangibles | | | | |Factors |Resource |Resource |Resource | | | | |Traditional |Market Dominance |* |* |   |* |   |Strength | |Imaging | | | | | | | | Digital Imaging |Market Dominance | | |   |* |   |Weakness | | |Core Strengths & Key Skill | |* |   |* |   |Strength | | |Financial and Cash Resource |   |   | |   |   |Weakness | | |Reputation |   |   |   |* |   |Strength | | |Differentiated Products | | | | |   |Weakness | | While in Digital Imaging market, Kodak has little Strengths but more weakness. †¢ The strength in Reputation and Core Strengths & Key Skill recommends that Kodak continue making effort in Digital Imaging for further success. †¢ It has weakness in Market Dominance and Financial & Cash Resource, therefore Kodak still need invest more money to support its progress in Digital Imaging. The weakness of differentiated product in Digital Imaging also indicates that Kodak should combine Digital Imaging with Traditional Imaging. Seeing about the contribution of resources to factors in Figure 3, we can find that Intangibles and Human Resources represent substantial proportions in gettin g Kodak’s strengths. These two resources, together with other resource, build up the Threshold and Core Competence of Kodak. Appendix 3 Kodak Divisions The company’s products and services are categorized under the following different segments: Consumer photography: †¢ Digital cameras †¢ Software †¢ Printer and camera docks †¢ Online printing services †¢ Accessories †¢ Inkjet paper †¢ Picture maker †¢ Picture CD Film & processing †¢ Single-use cameras Professional products: Films: †¢ Colour transparency films: E-Family †¢ Colour negative films †¢ Laboratory and duplicating films †¢ Black-and-white films †¢ Advanced amateur film Papers: †¢ Professional papers and materials †¢ Inkjet photo paper †¢ Thermal printer media Chemistry: †¢ Photographic chemicals Digital Products: †¢ Professional digital cameras †¢ Digital photo printers †¢ Lab digitisation products †¢ P rofessional photoCD Medical imaging products: †¢ Digital radiography †¢ Computed radiography †¢ RIS/PACS †¢ Medical printing †¢ Mammography †¢ Oncology †¢ Molecular imaging †¢ Dental products Graphic communication products: Colour management and proofing †¢ Press, plates and printing systems †¢ Data management and storage †¢ Document management Business and government products: †¢ Document scanners †¢ Reference archive †¢ Micrographics †¢ Software †¢ Microfilm & more ———————– [? ] |#%,[email  protected]†¹Ã¢â‚¬â€ COOee? -oeYIoA? A ©?  ©?  ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢? A? z? nf^fRGh? $Ah|[3mHsHh? $Ah|[3mHo([pic]sH h? $AmHsH h|[3mHsHhYfOh? $AmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHsHh? $Ah? $AmHo([pic]sH hlVmHsHh? $Ah? $AmHsHhYfOh? $ACJmHo([pic]sHhYfOh? $ACJmHsHharAharA5? CJmHsHharAharA5? CJ(mHsHharA5? CJ(mHsHFigure 3. SWOT Analysis for Koda k Table 1. Evaluation Factors for Directional Policy Matrix