What Is an Ion Definition and Examples

An ion is defined as an  atom or molecule that has gained or lost one or more of its valence electrons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. In other words, there is an imbalance in the number of protons (positively charged particles) and electrons (negatively charged particles) in a chemical species. History and Meaning The term ion was introduced by English chemist and physicist Michael Faraday in 1834 to describe the chemical species that travels from one electrode to another in aqueous solution. The word ion comes from the Greek word ion or ienai, which means to go. Although Faraday could not identify the particles moving between electrodes, he knew that metals dissolved into a solution at one electrode and that another metal was deposited from the solution at the other electrode, so matter had to be moving under the influence of an electrical current. Examples of ions are: alpha particle He2 hydroxide OH- Cations and Anions Ions can be grouped into two broad categories: cations and anions. Cations are ions that carry a net positive charge because the number of protons in the species is greater than the number of electrons. The formula for a cation is indicated by a superscript following the formula that indicates the number of the charge and a sign. A number, if present, precedes the plus sign. If only a is present, it means the charge is 1. For example, Ca2 indicates a cation with a 2 charge. Anions are ions that carry a net negative charge. In anions, there are more electrons than protons. The number of neutrons is not a factor in whether an atom, functional group, or molecule is an anion. Like cations, the charge on an anion is indicated using a superscript after a chemical formula. For example, Cl- is the symbol for the chlorine anion, which carries a single negative charge (-1). If a number is used in the superscript, it precedes the minus sign. For example, the sulfate anion is written as: SO42- One way to remember the definitions of cations and anions is to think of the letter t in the word cation as looking like a plus symbol. The letter n in anion is the starting letter in the word negative or is a letter in the word anion. Because they carry opposite electrical charges, cations and anions are attracted to each other. Cations repel other cations; anions repel other anions. Because of the attractions and repulsion between ions, they are reactive chemical species. Cations and anions readily form compounds with each other, particularly salts. Because ions are electrically charged, they are affected by magnetic fields. Monatomic vs. Polyatomic Ions If an ion consists of a single atom, it is called a monatomic ion. An example is the hydrogen ion, H. By contrast, polyatomic ions, also called molecular ions, consist of two or more atoms. An example of a polyatomic ion  is the dichromate anion: Cr2O72-

Rosewood the Movie - 715 Words

The movie Rosewood had a lot of impact on black and white people throughout the century. Rosewood stems from a small town located in central Florida. It co-existed with 120 people, mostly blacks who owned and farmed the surrounding land. On New Years Day of that year, Fanny Taylor, a white woman in the nearby predominantly white town of Sumner, ran out of her house screaming, bruised and battered, claiming that a black man had assaulted her. In fact, the beating had been at the hands of her white lover. Fanny had lied so that her husband would not find out about her adultery. Fanny claimed that an escaped black convict from a local chain gang had done this. This led to tension and resentment to all the local townspeople of Sumner. The†¦show more content†¦The State of Florida was widely known as one of the biggest controversies Florida had to endure. Why did it take so long for them to act upon this brutal state of affairs? The problem with this dilemma is that racism is sho wn even in the Supreme Court. If we didnt live in a society where there was racism the world would be a much better place. Racism has been a problem throughout the ages of time in this world. It emerged out of the rise in the slave trade in the eighteenth century.Show MoreRelatedMovie Analysis Rosewood631 Words   |  3 PagesSubmission: Discussion Question: Rosewood (1997): Movie Analysis Rosewood is a film based on the historic events that transpired in the 1923 Rosewood massacre. The film includes fictional characters and some alterations to the historical accounts. Actor Ving Rhames plays the role of a man who travels to the city and becomes a witness of the horrific events. His character is essential for the film, because he makes the film a movie rather than a documentary. Two more charactersRead MoreThe White Lady Cries Wolf in Rosewood1495 Words   |  6 Pages Rosewood is a ghost town located in Levy County, Florida. In the early 1920s Rosewood was a developing town with churches, schools, mills and a growing population. The town was a majority black town, but that was not much of a problem until a white lady â€Å"cried wolf†. Fannie Taylor, wife of James Taylor who worked at a mill nearby, would have an affair with a white man. Fannie and her white lover got into a physical altercation that left Fannie with obvious bruises. To prevent from havingRead MoreThe Rosewood Films Depictions of the Rosewood Massacre1023 Words   |  4 Pagesin the city of Rosewood. Citizens of Rosewood, Florida were victims of racial violence in 1923, which lead to eight documented deaths in the city. The city of Rosewood took a turn for the worst on January 1, 1923 when Frances â€Å"Fannie† Taylor claimed that she was assaulted by an African American man who enter her home without invitation. Many of the African American families that became involved knew that Mrs. Taylor was not telling the truth. Fannie lied to the people of Rosewood to fabricate theRead MoreThe Incident at Rosewood Report1112 Words   |  4 PagesDocumented history of the incident which occurred at Rosewood, Florida in January 1923 is a collection of recollections from Rosewood survivors news stories/coverage. It talks about racial violence in the nation prior to the events of Rosewood. Many African Americans migrated from the south because of racial tension during/after the war. Initially, Florida government supported blacks leaving the South, â€Å"For example, Napolean Broward, while serving as governor from 1905 to 1909, proposed CongressRead MoreAn Account of the Rosewood Incident811 Words   |  3 Pagesthey got to drive them out. Anything a black person did could result in violence. An example of the violence and hatred shown towards blacks is the events of an incident in Rosewood, Florida in 1923. This incident was documented and the accounts of blacks who were children at the time were taken down. In 1923 in the town of Rosewood, Florida a white woman named Fannie Taylor who had been having an affair was beaten one afternoon while her husband was at work by her lover. Mrs. Taylor had a woman comeRead MoreFanny Taylors False Claim in Rosewood Report and Film739 Words   |  3 Pagesalleged allegations, white men of rosewood would parade the town in search for the person responsible. According to the rosewood report these angered mobs had killed about eight blacks including Sam Carter who supposedly knew where the acclaimed suspect was headed. There were numerous reports of the massacre from newspapers, citizens, and later the survivors of the rosewood events. Many if not all would offer there bias opinion as to what happen in the events of Rosewood, It was said in the report thatRead MoreEveryone Needs to Know about the Rosewood Incident797 Words   |  3 PagesHave you ever heard of the incident which occurred at Rosewood, Florida? If you haven’t I really think you should. 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A woman by the name Fannie Taylor who was beaten and attacked in her home by her white secretRead MoreComparison of the Rosewood Report to the Rosewood Film598 Words   |  2 PagesThe documented history of the incident which occurred at Rosewood, Florida in January 1923 is a group of recollections from a few of Rosewood survivors, new stories and/or coverage. Racial violence in the nation before the events of Rosewood happened. Because of the racial tension during and after the war, many blacks migrated from the south. Florida’s government soon supported black leaving the South. â€Å"†¦proposed Co ngress purchase territory, either foreign or domestic, and transport black such regionsRead MoreThe Captivating Event of the Rosewood Massacre534 Words   |  2 Pages The Rosewood Massacre was one of the most captivating events in history. It all began with racism and violence against African Americans in the united states during the post World War 1 era. African Americans were lynched for allegedly raping white women like for men in McClenny were on 08/05/20. Burned at the stake like Perry, a black man on 12/09/22. They also had their church, school, Masonic lodge, and meeting hall burned down. The Rosewood Massacre all started when a lady named Fannie

Us/101 Introduction to University Studies Free Essays

US/101 Introduction to University Studies Policies and Resources Quiz #2 1) If the University servers are down, how will you ensure your assignments are submitted on time? a. Send a copy of the assignment to your inbox or alternate email address as proof that I have attempted to post the assignment on time. In my email, I must state that I was unable to connect to the University of Phoenix server. We will write a custom essay sample on Us/101 Introduction to University Studies or any similar topic only for you Order Now I must then upload the assignment via the Assignments Link at my earliest opportunity. ) What is expected of students relative to the professionalism (formatting, spelling, proofreading, meeting assignment word-count, etc. ) of their work? b. All work is expected to be professionally presented; all written assignments must be carefully proofread and spell-checked before submitting. All assignments are to be submitted as MS Word documents, Writing in complete sentences. Ensuring that topic sentences are used to organize the document content. Adjusting margins and columns, so the document fits on the page (left to right) when viewed at 100%. Using a black, standard font face and size, either Times New Roman 12pt or Arial 12pt. The word count guideline is usually given as a range of 150 to 300 words. 3) What resources are available to help students with writing, formatting standards, grammar, punctuation, etc.? c. The Center for Writing Excellence is available to help me with writing, formatting standards, grammar and punctuation. 4) What are the most important points brought out in the University’s Policies regarding Academic Integrity? d. I am required to post a signed copy of the Certificate of Originality available in our Course Materials forum for all written assignments. The University places a high priority on maintaining Academic Integrity and ensuring that proper credit is being given for others’ words and ideas used in the development of my written assignments if an idea or words did not come from my own brain, then those are the ideas of others and they must be cited and referenced. This includes information taken from the textbook. No more than 15% of my written work, whether copied, quoted or paraphrased, should be taken from outside sources at any time 5) What must students do to ensure they are in attendance each week? e. Complete discussions questions and participate in class. My participation is graded separately from my discussion question responses to the initial three out of five discussion questions. Participation is graded on the total number of substantive responses you make to your classmates and whether or not at least 2 substantive responses were posted on each of 4 different days of the week. How to cite Us/101 Introduction to University Studies, Essay examples

Strategic Analysis of Nandi Restaurant-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Analysis of Nando's Restaurant. Answer: Strategic Management Process Strategic Management Process is essential as this helps the organization in defining their strategy. It is the continuous process wherein the organization decides proper implementation of the strategies as this will keeps on appraising the success as well as progress of the implementation through proper assessment (Yksel, ?., 2012). Proper strategic management steps have to be followed by Nandos restaurant as this will help in: Setting of goal is essential in nature for the respective restaurant as this will provide clarity of vision and this step helps in identification of three different factors that includes proper definition of long as well as short term objectives. Proper identification of the process is essential in nature to accomplish the objectives. Lastly, proper customization of process for different hotel staffs is essential in nature as this will help the restaurant in succeeding against the competitors. Proper analysis has to be done by the respective restaurant as the proper information gathering is essential in completion of the next two stages. The proper focus on analysis is required as this will help in providing proper understanding of the requirements of the respective business as the entity that is sustainable in nature. The proper identification of internal as well as external issues has to be analyzed in order to understand the affect of such issues on the objectives and goals of the business. Proper formulation of strategy has to be done by Nandos restaurant as this will help in determining the resources that are required in defining the goals as well as objectives (Yksel, ?., 2012). Proper implementation of strategy is essential as well as this will help in gaining success for the entire business. This is basically the action stage of the process of strategic management. This will help in proper analysis of the different responsibilities in the entire business as well. Lastly, proper evaluation of strategies as well as control actions has to be analyzed by the respective restaurant and this will help in analysis of the external as well as internal issues in the management process. Proper corrective actions has to be taken whenever it is necessary and define the parameters that are required as well as measured. The Porters Generic Model is properly used by the respective restaurant as this will help them in gaining proper competitive advantage and their performance will be improved as well. The generic strategies that are applied by the respective restaurant in order to provide focus on the cost leadership, differentiation strategy, focus on cost as well as on the cost leadership. Proper research has to be conducted as this will help in proper innovation as well as development. This will enhance the strategy and this will help in delivering high quality products as well as services. Similarly, proper focus strategy has been applied by the company as this will help them in understanding the dynamics of the market as well. Proper SWOT analysis has to be conducted by Nandos restaurant as this will help them in analyzing the strengths as well as weaknesses of their restaurant and apply different strategies to improve the quality of the restaurant. Competitor Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis of Nandos restaurant Force 1 Rivalry in the market The rivalry of between the organizations in the market is the most important force of the Porters five force model. The level of the rivalry between the organizations is an important factor that determines the pressure of the competition. The industry is considered to be a disciplined industry if the level of the competition between the organizations is low. The high level of competition in the market results in the extreme rivalry between the organizations. The more number of organizations of the same kind in the market increases the competition between the organizations(Afonso and Vieira 2012). The growth of the market in which the organizations are operating results in the fight of the firms for acquiring their share in the market. The higher the fixed costs of operating in the market, the greater are the competition between the firms. The barriers related to the exit of a product and the rivals who are diverse in nature increases the competition in the market as well. The service sector is the fastest growing in the recent times. This has led to the entry of many organizations in the market. The Nandos restaurant also has many rivals in the market(Agarwal, Grassl and Pahl 2012). Industry Analysis Porters Five Forces Model Supplier power - The suppliers are an important factor for Nandos restaurant. The suppliers have the power to decide the price of the raw materials that are required by Nandos. The cost of the raw materials decides the ultimate price of the products of the restaurants. The restaurant industry is considered to be in the service sector. The services provided in the restaurants are directly dependent on the prices decided by the suppliers of that restaurant. The other factor that affects this sector is the power of the staff or the labour of Nandos. The costs associated with the labour of the restaurants are another important factor that affects its operations. The power of the supplier is more if the number of suppliers of any particular product is less in the market and the costs related to the switching of the suppliers is more (Afonso and Vieira 2012). This situation makes the suppliers much more powerful. Power of the buyers The customers of the Nandos restaurant are considered to be the buyers of the services provided by the owners. The power of the customers influences the operations and profitability of the restaurants. The customers are more powerful if the same type of services is provided by the other restaurants. The customer has the power to choose and this determines the profitability of the organization. On the other hand, if the number of restaurants is less in the same sector the customer has less choice and hence the prices can be controlled by the restaurant owners. The prices are regulated by the choice of the customers if they have more choices of restaurants (Al-Araki 2013). The power of the buyer to set the price is more if the competition is less and the power of the buyers is less if the competition is more. Threats related to the substitutes The third force in the Porters five force model is the threat that is posed to the owners of Nandos restaurant due to the presence of their substitutes. The availability of the substitutes contributes to the changes in the cost related to the service of the restaurants. The threat related to the substitutes is more prevalent if the demand of the particular service changes with the change in the price of that service. The price elasticity of the services is affected by the substitutes available in the market. The increase in the substitutes of the service increases the demand for that service as well. The reason being the availability of that service is more in the market. The closest substitute of Nandos, for example in the same cuisine, contributes in the change in the prices of the services of that restaurant (Babatunde and Adebisi 2012). The threats related to the substitutes of a particular company that endangers the competition of that organiz ation arises from outer industries. Threat related to new entrants in the market The entry of new restaurants in the market is another threat for Nandos that is taken into consideration. The new entries in the market have an effect on the level of competition between the organizations. However, there are many barriers related to the entry of the new firms. The barriers to the entry in the market are the factors that define the characteristics of the industry itself. The rate of the entry of the fresh organizations is reduced due to the barriers that are present in the market. This helps the old firms to maintain their profit levels (Dimitrova 2016). This theory holds true for the restaurant or service industry as well. The barriers in the market are related to the policies made by the government. The policies made by the government sometimes restrict the entry of the new organizations. Competitor analysis of Nandos restaurant based on SWOT Framework Strengths The restaurant has global chain in many countries around the world and operates more than 750 restaurants. The countries in which the restaurant has its branches include, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Asia, UAE, Europe, including Ireland, United Kingdom. The other countries also include United States and Australia. The restaurants are spread in more than 40 countries. The most famous dish of the restaurant all over the world is the Grilled PeriPeri Chicken. This is the signature dish of the restaurant and they are famous in the market for this particular dish. The food of this restaurant is healthy in nature and the taste is also superior as well (Nandos.com, 2017). Nandos was named as the worlds topmost marketing brands by the magazine named Advertising Age. Nandos opened its branches in Ireland in the year 2008. The restaurant was opened in the technological hub of the country Dublin. The other branch was opened before this in the year 1992 in United Kingdom. The style of the restaura nt changed in the United Kingdom. The takeaway style was changed and a mixed service was started. The dcor of the restaurant in this area was changed. Nandos won the award of the best place to work in the year 2010from the Sunday Times (Abraham 2013). The sauces and the marinades made by the restaurant were sold in the markets of the United Kingdom. Weaknesses The main weakness of the restaurant includes its focus towards only the chicken related items. This reduces the opportunities of the company in the vegetarian market. The restaurant chain operates its branches only in the metro cities all over the world. The restaurant had to face many controversies during the phase of its operations in many countries (Adl et al. 2013). The advertisement that was run by the restaurant in the year 2002 in Australia had been related to a political controversy. In the year 2009 Nandos had to face another controversy in South Africa related to the political situation in the country. The restaurant faced another controversy in the year 2011 in South Africa itself which was related to the shows of a famous celebrity. Another big controversy that was faced by the restaurant was due to the Black Card that they offered to the celebrities so that they could be offered free food from the restaurant along with their family. These controversies had an adverse eff ect on the reputation of the restaurant and acted as a weakness in their expansion operations (Afonso and Vieira 2012). Opportunities The restaurant chain has many opportunities in this area as the service sector is experiencing huge growth in the recent years. This growth can be encashed by Nandos. Ireland is also a growing economy and the restaurant can plan for expansion of its operations in the other cities of this country as well. The people of the country are fond of eating and are welcoming towards any type of cuisine. This is great opportunity for Nandos to grow in Ireland. The restaurant can grow further by adding items in its menu including vegetarian items as well. The technological environment of Ireland is strong and Dublin is the technological hub of the country. Nandos needs to plan for an ecommerce expansion in the country (Agarwal, Grassl and Pahl 2012). This will increase the visibility and the reach of the organization as well. The digital platform can act as a huge opportunity for the restaurant and its growth in the next few years as well. Threats The competition in the market of Ireland has increased in the recent years, which has led to intense pressure on the profitability of the restaurant as well. The increase in the number of restaurants in the country has led to the decrease in the revenue of restaurant and thereby reducing its profitability as well (Al-Araki 2013). The competition of Nandos in Ireland include restaurants like, Kai Caf and Restaurant, Farmgate Caf, An Port Mor, County, Gregans Castle, Mourne Seafood Bar, Newforge Dining Room, The Brewers House, The Fumbally. These restaurants offer both take away as well as dining facilities, which is offered only in some of the restaurants of Nandos. The restaurants also provide a vegetarian menu which is required to increase the customer base of any restaurant. Nandos has to face tough competition of this type in the Irish market which has led to the decrease of its profitability and the revenues (Ayub et al. 2013). Industry analysis in Ireland for Nandos based on PESTLE Framework Political factors The political environment in Ireland is unstable and this has been a negative factor in the growth of the industries in this country. The establishment of a government that has stability has become an important issue even after the general elections that were held in the year 2016. This help the country to increase the cost-competitiveness. The exit of UK from the European is another factor that is likely affect the political condition of Ireland (Babatunde and Adebisi 2012). The implications of the exit of United Kingdom from EU will be quite high on Ireland. The Irish industries will be hugely affected in the process. The two main political factors that will affect the environment of Ireland in the current times are the effect of Donald Trumps new policies for the American government and the Brexit effect. The decision that will be taken by Trump regarding the trade related factors with America, will have huge effects on the rest of the world as well. The second most important issu e in this case is the decision of United Kingdom to make the British Exit or Brexit. The policies and the conditions which will be related to the exit will have an effect on the rest of the members of the European Union (Clardy 2013). The Brexit effect will thereby influence Ireland and the various industries of the country as well. The fall in the economy of the country due to this effect will influence the restaurant sector as well. Economic factors The economic factors of Ireland are heavily dependent on the international trade related to the country and it is influenced by the global markets as the economy of Ireland is of small size. The economy of Ireland was totally based on the agricultural income of the country before it joined the European Union in the year 1973. The Ireland economy was totally dependent on the UK market (Dimitrova 2016). After the country became a member of the European Union, the trade rules of the EU related to the members and the decision to build IDA or the Industrial Development Agency to endorse Ireland was a boost to the economy. The economy of the country managed to grow mostly in the 90s. The economy was strengthened with the financial assistance of the European Union. The global financial crisis from the year 2007 had led to a fall in the financial systems of the European Union as well. Ireland was also a victim of this financial crisis which had spread globally. The dealings between the banks from all around the world had stopped and the credit facilities were no more available (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). The Irish banks had invested huge amounts for giving loans to the property dealers and this had left the banking system in a huge mess. The crisis was strongest in the year 2010 and thereby the government appealed for financial assistance on an international basis (Whelan et al. 2015). The falling economy of the country had an adverse effect on every industry in the country and thereby the service sector was also affected. Nandos had opened its branch in Ireland in the year 2008, which was the time of acute financial crisis in the country. The revenues of the restaurant in Ireland after the establishment of its flagship restaurant was high, however, the restaurant had to cut their profits to remain in the market (Franek and Zmekal 2013). The economic situation of the country therefore had an effect on the profits of the restaurant. Social factors The Irish people are fond of the Italian and French cuisine. Nandos is a restaurant that originates in Africa. However, their famous dish PeriPeri Chicken is liked by the people of every culture and from any region as well. The Irish cuisine is majorly affected by the Italian and the French style of cooking. The people of this country are passionate of their food and they are welcoming towards any type of cuisine. The African style of food of Nandos restaurant has been welcomed in this country and the restaurant has flourished its operations (Frynas and Mellahi 2015). Ireland has a mix of different cultures and the people of this country represent these cultures and their style of cooking. Technological factors The technological growth of Ireland in the past few years have affected the business enterprises of the country. The analysis of the data of the customers, the systems of managing customer relationships and the communications related to social media has changed a lot. Ireland is a small country however it has become the hub of creativity of the human brain (Gander 2017). Ireland has proved to be the most important technology hub of Europe in the recent years. This feature of the country is attracting more and more foreign companies to invest in this sector. The technological revolution in Ireland started after the opening of many technology companies in the country. Dublin is now considered to be the technological capital of Ireland. The city has become the multicultural capital of Europe as well. The companies from outside the country are investing more and more in this city and it is on the way of becoming the technological leader of Europe. Dublin is almost ready to give competiti on to the technological hub of USA, that is, Silicon Valley. Dublin is a city that is becoming the hub for the start-up companies who are ready to invest in Ireland. Nandos had opened its branch in this budding city of Ireland, Dublin (Haron 2015). The restaurant had started its operations in this area in the year 2008. The flagship restaurant was opened in Dublin in the year 2011. The technological changes that were taking place in Ireland during this phase also had an effect on the operations of the Nandos restaurant. The restaurant has now opened its ecommerce website to keep in pace with the changes that are occurring in the technological environment. The management of the database of the customers, taking the feedback related to the services of the restaurant and many other factors were now linked to the technological changes (Kaikobad, 2015). The restaurant also has facilities like gift cards, membership of the restaurants, ordering food online in the website that is designed for Nandos restaurant. This way the technological environment of Ireland has affected the operations and management of Nandos. Legal factors Ireland is in a good position in the business environment of Europe. The multinational companies of USA and UK have been investing and locating their offices in Ireland. The companies related to other industries like consulting services, export companies, entertainment companies, research and development companies and companies which are into online marketing as well (Korff, De Jong and Bles 2013). These companies have chosen Ireland to be their centre of business for the whole of Europe. They try to attract foreign investors with the help IDA or Industrial Development Agency which is sponsored by the government and is supported by the European Union as well. The trading structure and the laws related to the trading in Ireland facilitates and attracts new business enterprises in the country (Lorca 2012). The requirement of share capital in the country is at the minimum of around 1 euros and this helps to start the business easily and get it started. The different types of taxes that are applicable to the new business enterprises in Ireland include corporate tax at the rate of 12.50%. The other type of tax is the interest and dividend withholding tax which is related to the payment of the interest and dividend by the Irish companies (Phadermrod, Crowder and Wills 2014). Tax credit is given to the companies for conducting development and research. Ireland also has treaties related to double taxation which eradicates the requirement to pay tax twice on the gains or the income made by the company that are similar in nature. These changes have affected all industries including the service industry as well. The restaurants of this country will also face many changes due to this effect (Shabanova et al. 2015)..Nandos restaurant will also be affected by the changes in the Irish economy and laws as they have their operations in many other countries. Environmental factors Ireland is a member of the EEA or the European Environmental Agency. The most prevalent form of pollution that was present in Ireland was the exposure to particulate matter, which had led to many deaths every year in the country. The other environmental factor was the individual choice of the people of Ireland (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015). The most prevalent problems related to the environment in Europe are the particulate matters in the air, the nitrogen dioxide levels and the ozone levels. The authorities are planning to make strategies to reduce the pollution related to noise in these areas (Yksel, ?., 2012). The restaurants also need to take care of this issue and further try to control the pollution by keeping a track of the pollution that is caused by the ventilation in the kitchens. Nandos restaurant also has to follow the norms and the regulations that have been laid to protect the environment and reduce problems related to pollution (Sarooghi, Libaersand Burkemper2015). Strategic Group Maps Strategic Group Maps is used by Nandos restaurant as this technique that will help in understanding the other restaurants that are dealing with the same kind of business and using the same model of business. Nandos restaurant require to analyze the different other chains of restaurant that are operating in the same area and this will provide them a brief idea about their competitors in the market (Yksel, ?., 2012). Proper analysis of the competitors is essential and it is done by Nandos restaurant as this will help in analyzing the key variables. The quality, advancement in technology has to be properly checked by the respective restaurant as this will help in providing a brief idea on providing better services in the market. This will help them in attracting customers as well. Critical success Factors The proper critical success factors has been properly applied by Nandos restaurant as this will help them in understanding the different costs such as sales as well as food cost in comparison to the competitors in the market (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015). The USP has to be properly understood as well as analyzed as this will help in understanding their cash flow as well as other legalities in their restaurant in comparison to other restaurants as well. Conclusion The discussion in this report is based on the analysis of the competitors of Nandos restaurant and the analysis of the environment where the restaurant is operating. The analysis of the industry is based on Ireland where Nandos operates in the city of Dublin. The industry analysis of the country is done with the help of the PESTLE framework, where the different factors of the industry are analysed based on the operation of the restaurant. The factors which are examined are mainly the political factors, economic, social, technological, legal and the environmental factors as well. These factors are analysed in relation to the operations of Nandos restaurant in Ireland. The competitors of Nandos restaurant are analysed with help of the SWOT framework. This framework is used to analyse the strengths of the restaurant over its competitors, the weakness of the restaurant, the future opportunities that the restaurant has and the threats that are posed towards the restaurant. References Abraham, S., 2013. Will business model innovation replace strategic analysis?.Strategy Leadership, 41(2), pp.31-38. Adl, A., Ashouri, M., Jamalpour, G. and Sandoosi, S.M., 2013. Overview SWOT analysis method and its application in organizations. Singaporean Journal of Business, Economics and Management Studies, 1(12), pp.69-74. Afonso, P. and Vieira, F.D., 2012. Strategic innovation through innovative services and business Models supported in electronic platforms. In IDEMi-2nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTEGRATION OF DESIGN, ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT FOR INNOVATION. Agarwal, R., Grassl, W. and Pahl, J., 2012. Meta-SWOT: introducing a new strategic planning tool. Journal of Business Strategy, 33(2), pp.12-21. Al-Araki, M., 2013. SWOT analysis revisited through PEAK-framework. Journal of Intelligent Fuzzy Systems, 25(3), pp.615-625. Ayub, A., Adeel, R., Muhammad, S.A. and Hanan, I., 2013. A conceptual framework on evaluating SWOT analysis as the mediator in strategic marketing planning through marketing intelligence. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 2(1), pp.91-98. Babatunde, B.O. and Adebisi, A.O., 2012. Strategic Environmental Scanning and Organization Performance in a Competitive Business Environment. Economic Insights-Trends Challenges, 64(1). Clardy, A., 2013. Strengths vs. Strong Position: Rethinking the Nature of SWOT Analysis. Modern Management Science Engineering, 1(1), p.100. Dimitrova, Y.P., 2016. Communication strategies for reputation management of the company. RevistaRomana de Economie, 43. Fleisher, C.S. and Bensoussan, B.E., 2015. Business and competitive analysis: effective application of new and classic methods. FT Press. Franek, J. and Zmekal, Z., 2013. A Model of Strategic Decision Making Using Decomposition SWOT-ANP Method. In Financial Management of Firms and Financial Institutions 9th International Scientific Conference Proceedings (Part I-III). Ostrava: VBTechnical University of Ostrava (pp. 172-180). Frynas, J.G. and Mellahi, K., 2015. Global strategic management. Oxford University Press, USA. Gander, J., 2017. Strategic analysis: a creative and cultural industries perspective. Taylor Francis. Haron, A.J., 2015. Tools to Use in the Analysis of Potential New Market Expansion. J EntreprenOrganizManag, 4(126), p.2. Kaikobad, N.K., Bhuiyan, M.Z.A., Zobaida, H.N. and Daizy, A.H., 2015, Sustainable and Ethical Fashion: The Environmental and Morality Issues. Korff, M., De Jong, E. and Bles, T.J., 2013, September. SWOT analysis Observational Method applications. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris (pp. 2-6). Lorca, M., 2012. The Eurozone and the economic crisis: An innovative SWOT analysis.The State of the Union (s): The Eurozone Crisis, Comparative Regional Integration and the EU Model. Miami: European Union Center/Jean Monnet Chair, pp.85-103. Nandos.com (2017).Nando's The official worldwide home of Nando's. [online] Nandos.com. Available at: https://www.nandos.com/ [Accessed 26 Nov. 2017]. Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R.M. and Wills, G.B., 2014, November. Developing SWOT Analysis from Customer Satisfaction Surveys. In e-Business Engineering (ICEBE), 2014 IEEE 11th International Conference on (pp. 97-104). IEEE. Sarooghi, H., Libaers, D. and Burkemper, A., 2015. Examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational, cultural, and environmental factors.Journal of business venturing,30(5), pp.714-731. Shabanova, L.B., Ismagilova, G.N., Salimov, L.N. and Akhmadeev, M.G., 2015. PEST-Analysis and SWOT-Analysis as the most important tools to strengthen the competitive advantages of commercial enterprises. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3), p.705. West, D.C., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press, USA. Whelan, C.T., Watson, D., Maitre, B. and Williams, J., 2015. Family economic vulnerability the Great Recession: An analysis of the first two waves of the Growing Up in Ireland study.Longitudinal and Life Course Studies,6(3), pp.230-244. Yksel, ?., 2012. An integrated approach with group decision-making for strategy selection in SWOT Analysis. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(11), p.13

A Managed or Accidental Innovation free essay sample

As you read this case story, think about the following two questions: 1. What were the critical factors that enabled 3M Post-it Notes to be successfully commercialized and what can we generalize about managing the innovation process from this case history? 2. What were the critical roles performed by some of the key individuals, including Silver, Oliveira, Nicholson, Fry, and Ramey? 1 33 3Ms Post-it Notes: A Managed or Accidental Innovation? P. RANGANATH NAYAK AND JOHN KETTERINGHAM In late 1978, the bleak reports from the four-city market tests came back to the 3M Corporation. The analyses were showing that this Post-it Note Pads idea was a real stinker. Such news came as no surprise to a large number of 3Ms most astute observers of new product ideas, for this one had smelled funny to them right from the beginning! From its earliest days, Post-it brand adhesive had to be one of the most neglected product notions in 3M history. We will write a custom essay sample on A Managed or Accidental Innovation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The company had ignored it before it was a notepad, when the product-to-be was just an adhesive that didnt adhere very well. The first product to reach the marketplace was a sticky bulletin board whose sales were less than exciting to a company like 3M. But why was this adhesive still around? For five years, beginning before 1970, this odd material kept coming around, always rattling in the pocket of Spencer Silver, the chemist who had mixed it up in the first place. Even after the adhesive had evolved into a stickum-covered bulletin board, and then into notepad glue, there was manufacturing saying that it couldnt mass-produce the pads and marketing claiming that such scratch pads would never sell. So by 1978, when the reports came in from the test markets, it seemed everyone whod said disparaging things about the Post-it Note Pad was right after all. 3M was finally going to do the merciful thing and bury the remains. At that critical moment, it was only one last try by two highly placed executives, Geoffrey Nicholson and Joseph Ramey, that kept those little yellow sticky pads from going the way of the dinosaur. To understand Silvers persistence with his innovative commercial challenge, it is necessary to go back to his moment of discovery. Silvers role in the development of Post-it Note Pads began in 1964 with a Polymers for Adhesives program in 3Ms Central Research Laboratories. The company has always had a tradition of periodically reexamining its own products to look for ways to improve them. Every so many years, said Silver, 3M would put together a bunch of people who looked like they might be productive in developing new types of adhesives. In the course of that Polymers for Adhesives research program, which went on for four years, Silver found out about a new family of monomers developed by Archer-Daniels Midland, Inc. which he thought contained potential as ingredients for polymer-based adhesives. He received a number of samples from ADM and began to work with them. This was an open-ended research effort, and Silvers acquisition of the new monomers was the sort of exploration the company encouraged. As long as you were producing new things, everybody was happy, said Silver. Of course, they had to be new molecul es, patentable molecules. In the course of this exploration, I tried an experiment with one of the monomers to see what would happen if I put a lot of it into the reaction mixture. Before, we had used amounts that would correspond to conventional wisdom. Silver had no expectation whatsoever of what might occur if he did this. He just thought it might be interesting to find out. In polymerization catalysis, scientists usually This article is a modified, shortened version of a chapter from P. R. Nayak and J. M. Ketteringhams book Breakthroughs, an Arthur D. Little international study of 16 major innovations (Rawson Press, 1986). Published with permission of ADL with additions and modifications made by Professor Ralph Katz, based on his 1996 interviews with Art Fry of 3M. P. R. Nayak and John Ketteringham are Management Consultants at Authur D. Little. Ralph Katz is Professor of Management at Northeastern University and Research Associate at MIT. 367 368 HUMAN SIDE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION control the amounts of interacting ingredients to very tightly defined proportions, in accordance with prevailing theory and experience. Silver said with a certain measure of glee, The key to the Postit adhesive was doing the experiment. If I had sat down and factored it out beforehand, and thought about it, I wouldnt have done the experiment. If I had limited my thinking only to what the literature said, I would have stopped. The literature was full of examples that said you cant do this. Highly regarded publications and experts would have told Silver there was no point in doing what he did. But Silver understood that science is one part meticulous calculation and one part fooling around. People like myself, said Silver, get excited about looking for new properties in materials. I find that very satisfying, to perturb the structure slightly and just see what happens. I have a hard time talking people into doing that-people who are more highly trained. Its been my experience that people are reluctant just to try, to experiment-just to see what will happen! When Silver went ahead with the wrong proportions of the ADM monomers, just to see what would happen, he got a reaction that departed from the predictions of theory. It was what some call an accident and what Silver called a Eureka moment. What Silver experienced was the appearance of what would become the Post-it adhesive polymer. It was the moment for which all scientists become scientists-the emergence of a unique, unexpected, previously unobserved and reliable scientific phenomenon. Each time Silver put those things together, they fell into the same pattern-every time. Its one of those things you look at and you say, this has got to be useful! Youre not forcing materials into a situation to make them work. It wanted to do this. It wanted to make Postit adhesive, Silver said. Technically the material was what the research program called for, a new polymer with adhesive properties. But in examining it, Silver noticed among its other curious properties that this material was not aggressively adhesive. It would create what scientists call tack between two surfaces, but it would not bond tightly to them. Also, and this was a problem not solved for years, this material was more cohesive than it was adhesive. It clung to its own molecules better than it clung to any other molecules. So if you sprayed it on a surface (it was sprayable, another property that attracted Silver) and then slapped a piece of paper on the sprayed surface, you could remove all or none of the adhesive when you lifted the paper. It might prefer one surface to another, but not stick well to either. Someone would have to invent a new coating for paper if 3M were to use this as an adhesive for pieces of paper. But paper? Not very likely, thought Silver, and on this point, at least, everyone agreed with him. What Silver had done was more than the usual 3M lab synthesis; it was a discovery-the sort of thing a scientist can put his or her name on. When he watched the reaction, Silver was achieving fatherhood, and he was falling in love. He knew he might never again be responsible for so pure and simple a phenomenon. Almost instantly, he personified this viscous goo, calling the stuff my baby. It may not have been very sticky, but Spencer Silver got very attached to it. As he started to present this discovery to other 3Mers, however, he soon realized that few people shared his views about the beauty of this glue. Interested in practical applications, they had only a passing appreciation for the science embodied in Silvers adhesive. More significantly, they were trapped by the metaphor that insists that the ultimate adhesive is one that forms an unbreakable bond! The whole world in which they lived was looking for a better glue, not a worse glue. And like any other sensible adhesives manufacturer, 3Ms sights had never wavered from a progressive course of developing stronger and stronger adhesives. Suddenly, here was Spencer Silver, touting the opposite of what was considered normal product virtue. Although he couldnt say exactly what it was good for, it had to be good for something, he would tell them. Arent there times, Silver would ask people, when you want a glue to hold something for a while but not forever? Lets think about those situations. Lets see if we can turn this adhesive into a product that will hold tight as long as people need it to hold but then let go when people want it to let go. From 1968 through 1973, com- CREATING INNOVATIVE CLIMATES 369 developed your first goody, your gizmo. And then youve got to go out and try to sell it. Well, everybody in the divisions is so busy that they dont want to touch it. They dont have time to look at new product ideas with no end product already in mind. Silver went door-to-door to every division at 3M that might be able to think up an application for his adhesive. The organization never protested his search. When he sought slots of time at in-house technical seminars, he always got a segment to show off his now-it-works, now-it-doesnt adhesive. At every seminar, some people left, some people stayed. Most of them said, What can you do with a glue that doesnt glue? But no one said to Silver, Dont try. Stop wasting our time. In fact, it would have violated some very deeply felt principles of the 3M Company to have killed Silvers pet project. Much is made of 3Ms environment for innovation, but 3Ms environment is, more accurately, an environment of nonintervention, of expecting people to fulfill their days responsibilities, eve ry day, without discernible pressure from above. Silver, no matter how much time he spent fooling around with the Post-it adhesive, never failed in his other duties, and so, at 3M, there was no reason whatsoever to overtly discourage his extracurricular activities. The positive side of this corporate ethic is the feeling of independence each worker experiences in doing his job. The disadvantage is that, when you have a good idea that requires more than one person to share the work and get the credit, it can be hard to convince people to postpone their chores and help with yours. As Silver pursued his lonely quest, his best inspiration for applying his adhesive was a sticky bulletin board, a product that wasnt especially stimulating even to its inventor. He got 3M to manufacture a number of them-through a fairly low-tech and inexpensive process-and they were sent out to the companys distribution and retail network. The outcome was predictable. 3M sold a few, but it was a slow-moving item in a sleepy market niche. Silver knew there had to be a better idea. At times I was angry because this stuff is so obviously unique, said Silver. I said to myself, Why cant you think of a product? Its your job! Although Silver had overcome the metaphor- pany support systematically slipped away from him. First, the Polymers for Adhesives Program disappeared. 3M had given its researchers a specified time and a limited budget to conduct that program. When the time and money were used up, the researchers were reassigned even though some, like Silver, were just starting to have fun. The adhesives program died a natural death, Silver recalled. The companys business went off, and, in the usual cycle of things, the longer-range research programs were cut. So the emphasis was diminished and we still had invented some interesting materials that we wanted to push. The members of the Polymers for Adhesives group were assigned to new research projects. Left as a team, they might have fought together to keep alive a number of their odd little discoveries. But all those discoveries were shelved, with Silvers one glaring exception, and he got little assistance from his teammates in promoting the survival of his oddball adhesive. So he did what seems to happen frequently at 3M. He shrugged at the or ganization and he did it himself He had to wage a battle to get the money just to patent his unique polymer. 3M eventually spent the minimum money possible. Post-it adhesive was patented only in the United States. We really had to fight to get a patent, said Silver, because there was no commercial product readily apparent. Its kind of a shame. I wish it would change. If 3M commits itself to millions of dollars for research, it ought to allow you to follow up with the money for a patent. People at 3M, when they fight for something, seem to do it with an understated grace, a politeness that conceals their tenacity. This is true of Silver, who quietly began the arduous struggle to capture the imagination of his colleagues and superiors. Silvers only advantage was that he was, after all, in love. I was just absolutely convinced that this had potential, Silver said. There are some things that have a little spark to them-that are worth pursuing. You have to be almost a zealot at times in order to keep interest alive, otherwise it will die off. It seems like the pattern always goes like this: In the fat times, RD groups appear and we do a lot of interesting research. And then the lean times come just about at the point when youve 370 HUMAN SIDE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION cal trap of always striving for stickier stickum, he, too, became trapped, albeit by a different metaphor. The bulletin board, the only product he could think of, was totally coated with adhesive-it was sticky everywhere. The metaphor said that something is either sticky or not sticky. Something partly sticky did not occur to him. More constraining was the fact that, until Silvers adhesive made it possible, there had been no such thing as a se lf-adhesive piece of note paper. Note paper was cheap and trivial, and the valuable elements used with these bits of paper were their durable fasteners of pins, tacks, tapes, and clips. So silver was immersed in an organization whose lifeblood was tape: Scotch brand tapes like magic tape, cellophane tape, duct tape, masking tape, electrical tape, caulking tape, diaper tape, and surgical tape, to name a few. In this atmosphere, imaging a piece of paper that eliminates the need for tape is almost unthinkable. In the early 1970s, 3M transferred Silver to its System Research group within the Central Research labs. There he met Oliveira, a biochemist who shared Silvers fascination with things that did stuff you didnt think they could do. Silver and Oliveira kept each other from getting discouraged; they were a duo that eventually presented the adhesive technology to Geoff Nicholson, which in the course of the seemingly accidental nature of Postit notes, may have been the biggest accident of all. Nicholson was, in 1973, appointed the leader of a new venture team in the Commercial Tape Division laboratory. Now venture teams were openended research and development groups formed, when funds are available, to explore new directions in one of 3Ms many lines of business and technology. Nicholson had been given a fresh budget and a free hand to develop new products in the companys Commercial Tape Division, whose new product development had grown sluggish. It is a standing policy at 3M that each division must generate 25 percent of its annual revenue from products developed in the last five years, a tall order for any division, especially those in the old, established product lines, and one on which Commercial Tape consistently had been coming up ~hort. Silver had been to see the people in Com- mercial Tape at least twice before. Both times they had rejected his dhesive. Two days before Nicholson arrived in Commercial Tape, Silver and Oliveira had been around again, trying to sell the idea to the divisions technical director, James Irwin. Irwin sidestepped them by saying there would be a new guy running research projects there in a couple of days. Two days later, Silver and Oliveira were almost the first people in Nicholsons new office. Here I am, brand-new to the di vision, and I dont know a lot about adhesives. And here they were talking to me about adhesives, Nicholson recalled. Im ripe for something new, different, and exciting. Most anybody who had walked in the door, I would have put my arms around them. Silver explained his adhesive discovery for the umpteenth time, and Nicholson, who didnt understand half of what he was saying, was intrigued. It sure sounded different and unique to me, said Nicholson. I was ripe for the plucking. Finally, Silvers unloved, uncommitted adhesive had a home. Nicholson went about recruiting people for the new venture team; Silver hoped that one of those people would arrive with a problem to match his five-year-old solution. The one who had the problem was a chemist, a choir director, and an amateur mechanic named Arthur Fry. It was Fry who eventually took the baton from Silvers weary grasp and carried it over a host of discouraging hurdles. Even before joining the new venture team in Commercial Tape, Fry had seen Silver show off his adhesive and had kept the idea turning slowly in the back of his mind. He agreed with Silver that this adhesive was special, although he too wondered what to do with it. Then one day in 1974, while I was singing in the choir of the North Presbyterian Church in north St. Paul, I had one of those creative moments, Fry explained. To make it easier to find the songs we were going to sing at each Sundays service, I used to mark the places with little slips of paper. Inevitably, when everyone in the church stood up, or when Fry had to communicate through gestures with other members of the choir, he would divert his attention from the placement of his array of bookmarks. One unguarded move, and they eiZ CREATING INNOVATIVE CLIMATES 371 and its demands, its easy to see why Spence Silver seems relieved, perhaps even grateful at the comparatively short shrift given to his role in the Post-it story. Silver is still in 3Ms basement, working out of a cramped, windowless office in a large, open, multihood laboratory, a place where experimental ferment still seems to take place. In Silver, the scientific playfulness that gave birth to the Postit adhesive still seems intact. In fact, without much prompting, he will hold up a glass cylinder of the old Post-it polymer, showing its milky white color in its restful state. He then squeezes the polymer with a plunger and, under pressure, the contents magically become crystal clear. Silver releases the pressure and the adhesive becomes opaque again! Silver doesnt know why it does that. Isnt that wonderful? he says. There must be some way you can use that! In 1974, after Silver had been making the same exclamation for many years, Fry had provided the first truly affirmative response. But with the Eureka moment at the North Presbyterian Church came many other problems. On the bulletin board, Silvers adhesive was attached to a favorable subs trate. It stuck to the bulletin board better than anything else. Move it to paper, however, and it peeled off onto everything it touched. If you couldnt change this property, you still couldnt make a future for Silvers Post-it adhesive. Says Fry, You had to get the adhesive to stay in place on the note instead of transferring to other surfaces. I think some of the church hymnals have pages that are still sticking together. The two members who invented a paper coating that made the Post-it adhesive work were named Henry Courtney and Roger Merrill. Silver said, Those guys actually made one of the most important contributions to the whole project, and they havent received a lot of credit for it. The Post-it adhesive was always interesting to people, but if you put it down on something and pulled it apart, it could stay with either side. It had no memory of where it should be. It was difficult to figure out a way to prime the substrate, to get it to stick to the surface you originally put it on. Roger and Hank invented a way to stick the Post-it adhesive down. And theyre the ones who really made ther fluttered to the floor or sank into the deep crack of the hymnals binding. Suddenly, while Fry leafed frantically for his place in the book, he thought Gee, if I had a little adhesive on these bookmarks, that would be just the ticket. Fry decided to check into that idea the next week at work. What he had in mind, of course, was Silvers adhesive. What had happened in Frys ever-searching curiosity was the creative association of two unrelated ideas. When Fry went to work on Monday, he ordered a sample of the adhesive, mixed different concentrations, and invented what he called the better bookmark. ~ Encouraged by Silvers enthusiasm and Nicholsons push for new products, Fry began to realize the magnitude of his creative activity. I knew I had made a much bigger discovery, said Fry. I soon came to realize that the primary application for Silvers adhesive was not to put it on a fixed surface, like the bulletin boards. That was a secondary application. The primary application concerned paper to paper. Fry had also coated only the edge of the paper so that the part protruding from the book wouldnt be sticky. In using these bookmarks for notes back and forth to his boss, Fry had come across the heart of the idea. It wasnt a bookmark at all, it was a note-a system of communication where the means of attachment and removal were built in and did not damage the original surface! Over the years, Fry has been ordained as the Post-it notes champion, a title which, in ensuing years, has imposed some unusual burdens on him. Today, rather than working side-by-side in a lab with old friends like Silver and Oliveira, Art Fry is ensconced in his own laboratory. To a chemist, this is the equivalent of the corporate comer officelofty among the echelons of the organization, but such loftiness often makes for a lonely job. On the other hand, Fry is often freed from the splendid isolation of his private lab to speak, as a company spokesman, to large groups of businessmen about the climate for creativity at 3M. He has been interviewed and quoted so often that business writers invariably peg him as the sole Post-it notes product champion. With Fry trapped by this role 372 HUMAN SIDE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION the breakthrough discovery, because once youve learned that, you can apply it to all sorts of different structures. Courtney and Merrills contribution was the first in a series of actions that definitely were not accidents. Although there was still organizational resistance after Frys choir book epiphany, every action thereafter, including Courtney and Merrills research, was directed toward the development, production, and market success of the Post-it note. Fry was a tenacious advocate of the product through all phases from development to production scale-up. While Silvers task had been simply to convince his corporation that his glue was not just a footnote in the obscure history of adhesives, the job Fry assumed was to overcome the natural resistance of people to manufacturing a product differently from their normal experience base. The engineers in 3Ms Commercial Tape Division were accustomed to tape, which is sticky all over on one side and then gets packaged into rolls. To apply glue selectively to one side of the paper, and to move the product from rolls to sheets, the engineers would have to invent at least two entirely unique machines. Furthermore, even though 3M is noted for its coating expertise, the company did not have the coating equipment capable of putting the necessary precision on an imprecise surface such as paper. Nor did they have a good way of measuring the coatings weight. Have you ever noticed, for example, that the pads are no thicker at the adhesive layer then at the rest of the pad? In war and politics, the best strategy is to divide and conquer. In production engineering, the reverse seems to be true. Fry brought together the production people, designers, mechanical engineers, product foremen, and machine operators and let them describe the many reasons why something like that could not be done. He encouraged them to speculate on ways that they might accomplish the impossible. A lifelong gadgeteer, Fry found himself offering his own suggestions. Although the problems bothered the production people, they delighted Fry. Problems are wonderful things to have if, in overcoming them, youve created a product that is easy for customers to use but difficult for competitors to make. Inevitably, from these discussions people started thinking of places around 3M where theyd seen machines and parts they could use to piece together the impossible machines they needed to build. And they thought of people who could help. In a small company, if you had an idea that would incorporate a variety of technologies and you had to go out and buy th e equipment to put those together, you probably couldnt afford it, or youd have to go as inexpensively or as small as possible, said Fry. At a large company like 3M, weve got so many different types of technology operating and so many experts-guys that really know all about any subject you want-and so much equipment scattered here and there, that we can piece things together when were starting off. Its the old 80:20 rule; that is, 80 percent of the equipment and materials needed can probably be found within the company and can be scrounged by an entrepreneuring champion. Then there was Art Frys basement. He had had arguments with several mechanical engineers about a difficult phase of production, applying adhesive to paper in a continuous roll. He said it could be done; they said it couldnt. Fry assembled a small-scale basic machine in his basement, then adapted it until hed solved the problem. The machine worked, and it would work even better once the mechanical engineers had a chance to refine it. But the next problem Fry had was worse: the new machine was too big to fit through his basement door. If he couldnt get it out of his cellar, he couldnt show it off to the engineers. Fry accepted the consequences of his genius and did what he had to do. He broke down an external wall in his ground-level basement and delivered his machine by caesarean section! Within two years, Fry and 3Ms mechanical engineers had tinkered their way to a series of machines that, among other things, coated the yellow paper with its substrate, applied adhesive, and cut the sticky paper into little square and rectangular note pads. All of the machines are unique and proprietary to the company. They are the key to the Post-it Notes marvelous high-quality consistency and dependability. The immense difficulty of duplicating 3Ms machinery is part of the reason few CREATING INNOVATIVE CLIMATES 73 ily identified needs for clearly defined markets, products like book binding tape for libraries and PMA adhesives for the art market. The Post-it note was just another new product, and not a highpriority product at that. While the companys marketing people had become mesmerized by Post-it Notes in their own offices, they couldnt imagine that other people would feel the same way. They said you could only sell these things if you gave them away free, because whos going to p ay a dollar for scratch paper? Although most of the marketing group had used Post-it Notes, when they created marketing aterials to present the new product they included no samples. Instead they wrote brochures describing the note pads, they sent boxes of samples separately-which people would open only if they got excited by the brochures. The 3M marketing group was trapped by its own paradigm. It was their job, as marketing experts, to explain products, not to demonstrate them. And as explainers, they had no words to overcome the scratch paper metaphor. If they couldnt explain them, they couldnt sell them. Nicholson, who had spread Post-it Notes like an infection within 3M, only had limited power to push them outside the company. When the fourcity market test failed, he alone might not have had the influence to keep the produce alive. But by this time Nicholson had a heavyweight ally in his own boss Joe Ramey, a Division vice president and General Sales Manager of the Commercial Tape Division. Nicholson and Ramey were curious as to why a product that to them had obvious appeal had bombed so terribly. Had 3Ms conventional marketing approach victimized an unconventional product? They were sufficiently curious about the trial to fly to one of the market-test cities-Richmond, Virginia. Ramey had been a marketing troubleshooter and he knew realistically that some market problems are just too far advanced to be saved. Nevertheless, he agreed to go to Richmond because he liked Nicholson, not because he liked Post-it Notes chances of survival. If Nicholson and Ramey hadnt gone to Richmond, 3M almost certainly would have ceased pilot production of Post-it Notes, retired the new machinery theyd designed for the job, and let the competitors have made it to the market with Postit note imitations. Fry and the engineers worked on their unique machines and mass-production methods in a pilot plant in the Commercial Tape lab. The project team mapped out every raw material, processing step, test procedure, and intermediate product needed to produce the final output (according to Fry, the quality is so good that there have been fewer than 75 complaints since Post-its were introduced nationwide in 1980). The pilot plant produced more than enough Post-it note prototypes to supply all the companys offices. All the sticky pads went to Nicholsons office. From there his secretary carried out a program of providing every office at 3M with Post-it Notes. Early in the program, secretaries on the fourteenth floor, where the senior managers work, all eceived Post-it Notes and became hooked. Jack Wilkins, the Commercial Tape Divisions marketing director at the time, described the process of discovery that hit people the first time they encountered the Post-it Notes. Once people started using them it was like handing them marijuana, said Wilkins. Once you start using it you cant stop. Strangely enough, the personal ent husiasm of secretaries and marketing people like Wilkins did not impress the people responsible for putting Postit Notes onto the market. For the divisions marketing organization, fear of the unfamiliar repeatedly raised its head and threatened to scuttle the program. The marketing department had got out of the habit of dealing directly with consumers. This is ironic, because that much-heralded 3M hero, William L. McKnight, had established a tradition of direct contact with consumers in 1914. That year, as the companys brand-new national sales manager, the first act performed by the young McKnight was to visit furniture factories in Rockford, Illinois, and find out from workers what was wrong with 3Ms mediocre sandpaper, which was then the companys only product. That trip to Rockford was the first instance of an executive from 3M walking in the door, approaching a user, and saying, Here! Try this! Tell me what you think! By 1978 the Commercial Tape Divisions marketing department was involved in the introduction of half a dozen new products that met eas- 374 HUMAN SIDE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION several hundred thousand note pads dwindle into dusty inventory. 3M had always been a company very skilled at developing new variations from old products and then expanding their range of activities as a result of such developments. But Post-it Note Pad was unique, a product entirely unrelated to anything that had ever been sold by 3M. The reason Nicholson made the extra effort to go to Richmond with Ramey to engineer a market reversal was that they had both used Post-it Notes. They knew how clever and irresistible they were. They also knew that their own marketing people had approached the market tests in the four cities of Tulsa, Denver, Richmond, and Tampa in a traditional style. These were tests that relied heavily on advertising to generate enthusiasm in distributors who did not themselves use Post-it Notes and who saw little sense in exerting sales efforts for a scratch pad that represented both an exorbitant price and a dubious profit margin. Nicholson and Ramey took to Richmond a bit of understanding that ~ad eluded all the marketers and distributors: Post-it Notes were just something you had to use to appreciate. Nicholson and Ramey took the next logical step: they stopped depending on the organization. They went out and did it themselves. To do this, they returned to the two things that had already sold Post-it Notes more than once. First, like Spencer Silver shuffling from one 3M division to another with his queer adhesive, Nicholson and Ramey went door-to-door. Second, they gave away the product, which is what they had been doing within 3M for more than a year. Throughout the banks and offices of Richmonds business district, Nicholson and Ramey introduced themselves and handed out little sticky pads of Post-it Notes, saying, Here, try this. And they watched as all kinds of people, from secretaries to programmers to vicepresidents, did just that. They tested Post-it Notes in the flesh and saw firsthand the excitement and addiction of first-time users. In one day of personal contacts in Richmond, Nicholson and Ramey had obtained vivid assurance, not only that people liked these things, but that they were pleading for 3M to make more and that they were going to tell their friends about them. As was later demonstrated in a massive marketing giveaway program in Idaho, now immortalized in 3M as the Boise Blitz, people loved the Post-it Notes they got free at first, and if getting more meant they had to pay a dollar a pad, it was well worth the price. Post-it Notes seem to spoil office people forever, for they do something no product ever did before. They convey messages in the exact spot you want with no after marks, dents, or holes. They can be moved from place to place and they come in various sizes (and now in colors) for different kinds of messages. Once youve used them, its hard to go back to staples and paper clips. The Boise Blitz was unusual but not unique at 3M. The company had saturated test markets before with products and ads. In addition to spending a small fortune on advertising, promotions, and free Post-it Notes, 3M diverted most of its Office Supply Division sales force and a battalion of temporary employees to the city of Boise in Idaho. The blitz confirmed the appeal of Post-it Notes, revealing that sales inevitably follow the distribution of free samples. Reorders came in at a rate of 90 percent, which is double the rate of any other wildly successful office product. But Boise notwithstanding, the real key to the market breakthrough for Post-it Notes was the first effort in Richmond, when Nicholson and Ramey did what 3M sales representatives had been trained to do since the early days when sandpaper was their only product; they talked directly to the end-user and then they showed distributors and retailers the results. Recalling the trip to Richmond, Nicholson called it an accident and an act of desperation. Neither he nor Ramey were hopeful that they could rejuvenate a doomed product by an impulsive flight to Richmond to knock on strange doors. What made me go out into the market was the enthusiasm of Nicholson and Fry, said Ramey. I just figured for their morale I should get out and find out whether we ought to kill it once and for all. My reaction when I first went out into those markets was that we probably had a dead duck on our hands. Frankly, I thought it was a product that people just wouldnt buy. Nicholson described the Richmond revelation as the last in a series of accidents from CREATING INNOVATIVE CLIMATES 375 researchers use of the 15 percent rule, and how this is done, the answer is that no one really keeps track. In fact, Fry points out that No one really has extra time. The 15 percent is time thats put in after 5:00 or in weekends. (The bootleg rule was instituted by McKnight after he had ordered Dick Drew back in 1923 to stop working on what turned out to be masking tape. It gives us a chance to shape our own careers, for McKnight recognized that people give their best efforts to projects theyre most interested in. The reward for the extra effort is that we are soon officially asked to do what we wanted to do all along. Fry goes on to emphasize that the beauty of bootleg projects is that they dont rely on top-down decision making. If you are going after an established market with existing technology, then top-down decision making is fine, but new-to-the-world things generally require perspectives and information from people scattered within the organization. While innovation starts with the initial idea for a creative product, a lot more creativity and new ideas are needed to build the idea into a business. The creative climate allows one to keep a low profile during the time when the early, tough problems arise that require creative solutions. One of the things that Fry had going for him right away was the support from his immediate lab supervisor, Bob Molenda, to charge expenses to miscellaneous accounts. This is another of the ways the corporation puts teeth into McKnights policy of giving freedom to chase new ideas. The company had provided Fry with just enough time and money to get started. Throwing a lot of money or people at the task not only wont speed it up, says Fry, it will only cut down on managements ability to afford to be patient. Things can be easily killed before they get a real chance. Silver also kept the Post-it adhesive alive for a remarkably, and perhaps unreasonably, long time because he also kept busy with other research tasks assigned by the company and didnt devote his entire energy to his funny discovery. He is also a cheerful man with an amazing tolerance for rejection. For more than five years, Silvers adhesive was a really oddball idea that make little sense either technically or commercially. It had no per- the initial invention of the adhesive technology by Silver to the invention of the Post-it note itself. Fry was around the adhesive and he had a problem that he needed to solve. Had Fry not been in an environment where people were playing around with that adhesive, he never would not have come up with his contribution. Retrospective writings about Post-it Notes refer effusively to the encouragement provided to creative people by champions and patrons in 3M management. Silver often wonders where all that management encouragement was during the first five years of his struggle to be heard. The 3M organization does not provide interesting soil for new ideas to grow, but until Nicholson listened to a presentation by Silver and his colleague Oliveira, 3M management had given no hint of support for what eventually became the Post-it Notes project. Until then, the flame was borne by researchers from below, acting largely in solitude and occasionally in defiance of the organizations implicit desires. Silvers adhesive (and the sticky bulletin board it spawned) lasted out a half decade of cold shoulders only because 3M has a tradition of internal selling; that is, anyone with a product idea can shop it around the companys many divisions for developmental support. This means that inventors never really get stopped at 3M-there isnt any central overseer saying, Cut that out and get back to work! Instead, inventors labor in their spare time, experiencing mounting rejections from managers, most of whom do not have the imagination, the patience, or the budget to take a serious look at their ideas. As in other companies, product ideas die at 3M, but their deaths are often more slow and lingering. Silver and Oliveira were chemists, working at 3Ms central RD lab to develop variations in chemical products. Like other chemists, they worked within specific programs set out by 3M to attain certain results, but they also had encouragement to follow up on interesting, unexpected results-within reason, of course! According to 3M policy, scientists can use up to 15 percent of their time pursuing interests outside their primary assignments. But when asked who keeps track of 3M 76 HUMAN SIDE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION ceptible application; it was a solution looking for a problem. And of all the ways to devise new products, probably the most difficult and inefficient is to invent some substance with novel properties and then search for ways to use it, especially when the goal is to develop a product for which people will pay. Nevertheless, seeing face-to-face the reactions of peop le in Richmond playing with Post-it Notes was so dramatic to Ramey and Nicholson that they finally had all the evidence they need to orchestrate the Boise Blitz. Its remarkable that Post-it~ Notes and sandpaper, two of the companys greatest breakthroughs, sixty-six years apart, grew out of a similar style and faith in the wisdom of sitting down with customers and asking questions, without any of the trappings of corporate protocol. It could be just a coincidence, but according to many analysts, Post-it Notes finally succeeded because 3Ms corporate culture creates a positive environment for innovation. Although corporate culture is one of those ill-defined and overused business concepts, suffice it to say that there is something in 3Ms style that tends to encourage a measure of individual ingenuity among its workers. Fry comments in his talks that if managers arent innovative, if they dont provide the climate for creativity, if they cant set aside their carefully laid plans to take advantage of a new opportunity, then intrapreneurs (entrepreneurs within a large established business) have little encouragement. 3M operates on a simple principle, Forbes magazine once said, that no market, no end product is so small as to be scorned; that with the proper organization, a myriad of small products can be as profitable, if not more so, than a few big ones. This tolerance of the small-scale certainly helped Spence Silver, and then Art Fry, to keep the company from stomping on the Post-it Notes project before the project had developed a life of its own. But there was also the benefit of big ness. Over the years, 3M has grown into a loosely integrated cluster of divisions, with senior management in the St. Paul corporate headquarters. One of the results of this corporate sprawl is that it permits the clever researcher to hide in the crevices and carry out his own version of the 15 percent principle. Silver benefited more from this neglect than from anyone overtly encouraging him to innovate. Fry also enjoyed this dispensation from scrutiny as he fostered the Post-it project through the touchy and costly labor of product development. Although Fry started out as the team leader, the projects formal coordination passed back and forth between marketing and engineering. Others were better suited to that function than I, says Fry, and I needed to be free to focus on technical problems. A more provocative issue, though, is why people at 3M enjoy such unchecked opportunity to get away with things. A hasty judgment might be that the companys senior management is consciously fostering and rewarding innovative growth. But there is ample evidence to challenge this assertion. The company tends to recognize its most successful creative people by investing them into the companys Carlton Society or, as in the case of Fry, installing them in private laboratories. After each unexpected invention emerges at 3M, the company tends to follow up by creating new programs for innovation (the latest is called Genesis) and new honors to motivate inventors. 3M also gives Golden Step Awards for products that sell $2 million, at a profit, within the first two or three years of national introduction. When Post-it Notes won a Golden Step Award in 1981, 13 other products also won the award. In 1987, 3M had over 50 Golden Step Winners. Yet there seems to have been no desire for trophies, promotions, or rewards in any of the Post-it project principals nor in any of 3Ms prior inventors. They were people obsessed with problems, not rewards, and they usually invented their own program in order to get a problem solved. Extrinsic incentives simply dont explain why 3M gets creativity from its Silvers and Frys. There might be a more credible explanation in the companys origins. Since 1910, 3M has been inextricably linked with the city of St. Paul, and some 80 percent of its employees have historically come from the upper Midwest. One of the striking characteristics of community-linked Midwestern companies like 3M is that company and community CREATING INNOVATIVE CLIMATES 377 course of action from the one assigned by the corporation. Each time, the individual got frustrated by either the indifference or the resistance of the organization. Similar accidents had occurred in the past. In 1956 a researcher spilled a tube full of totally useless fluorocarbon compound on her shoes-and from that accident, chemists Patsy Sherman and Sam Smith created Scotchguard fabric protector. In 1950, after three polite 3M requests to stop wasting money, researcher Alvin W. Boese squeezed synthetic fibers mixed with wood pulp through a makeshift comb and created one of the most successful types of nonwoven decorative ribbon ever devised. Masking tape, cellophane tape, and many other big product successes can trace their origins to a similar sequence of happy accidents. These accidents happened because when the organization, or management, discouraged people from doing something, the cancellation order didnt carry much conviction. Ego is not popular at 3M, and it is clear that the people thinking up things often have more room to express their egos than the people who are supposed to be running things. If there is an organizational key to breakthrough at 3M, a significant element of corporate culture, it is the fact that people there dont believe in placing the values of the corporation above the values of the individual. People keep the organization vital by not taking the organization too seriously. As a result, when the creative people, Silver and Fry and Nicholson, inevitably ran into the resistance of the organization, they felt the freedom to say, Well, okay. Never mind. Ill do it myself. The organization simply did not have an equal measure of persistence in response. 3M gives in to people who are sure of themselves. Just as important, everybody at 3M knows that, if someones pet project blows up in his face, it isnt the end of the world. If Silver, Fry, or Nicholson had failed, they wouldnt have been dismissed or disgraced. As long as they had their chores done, they always had a place at the table. have grown up together, and they like to think they know what to expect from each other. This bond among town, corporate management, and workers creates trust, and with trust comes an air of amiability. The ease and unpretentiousness of the highest officials at 3M is different from the formality and status sensitivity of managements in other regions, especially in the East. Nicholson and Ramey, for example, did not need to overcome a lot of deepseated conditioning in order to go out on the streets and behave like peddlers. Fry himself sold pots and pans and luggage door-to-door while he was in college. At 3M, it is simply not good form for management to watch too closely over the shoulders of its veteran employees. It is equally bad form for employees to violate the trust placed in them by a less than vigilant management. There is an honor system, and it works. The source of this heartland ethos may lie in the farms that surround St. Paul and the pioneering spirit from which they originated. A midwestern American farm is a place where-for generationseach worker has been expected to complete his daily chores before sitting down to supper. Nobody ever watches him do his chores; if he doesnt do them, the disastrous evidence will become apparent by the next days dawn. Nobody ever asks him if he did his chores, because he wouldnt be eating if he hadnt. People carry on without permission at 3M because theyre trustworthy. And theyre trustworthy because trust is a part of the larger culture that has surrounded and affected 3M for eighty-five years. In fact, one thing 3M has shown is that when it gets too structured and self-conscious about managing its innovation, it doesnt innovate any

Oasis Theory and the Origins of Agriculture

Oasis Theory and the Origins of Agriculture The Oasis Theory (known variously as the Propinquity Theory or Desiccation Theory) is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture: that people started to domesticate plants and animals because they were forced to, because of climate change. The fact that people changed from hunting and gathering to farming as a subsistence method has never seemed like a logical choice. To archaeologists and anthropologists, hunting and gathering in a universe of limited population and plentiful resources is less demanding work than plowing, and certainly more flexible. Agriculture requires cooperation, and living in settlements reaps social impacts, like diseases, ranking, social inequality, and division of labor. Most European and American social scientists in the first half of the 20th century simply didnt believe that human beings were naturally inventive or inclined to change their ways of life unless compelled to do so. Nevertheless, at the end of the last Ice Age, people did reinvent their method of living. What Do Oases Have to Do With the Origins of Agriculture? The Oasis Theory was defined by Australian-born archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe [1892-1957], in his 1928 book, The Most Ancient Near East. Childe was writing decades before the invention of radiocarbon dating and a half-century before the serious collection of the vast amount of climatic information that we have today had begun. He argued that at the end of the Pleistocene, North Africa and the Near East experienced a period of desiccation, a period of an increased occurrence of drought, with higher temperatures and decreased precipitation. That aridity, he argued, drove both people and animals to congregate at oases and river valleys; that propinquity created both population growth and a closer familiarity with plants and animals. Communities developed and were pushed out of the fertile zones, living on the edges of the oases where they were forced to learn how to raise crops and animals in places that were not ideal. Childe was not the first scholar to suggest that cultural change can be driven by environmental changethat was American geologist Raphael Pumpelly [1837-1923] who suggested in 1905 that central Asian cities collapsed because of desiccation. But during the first half of the 20th century, the available evidence suggested that farming appeared first on the dry plains of Mesopotamia with the Sumerians, and the most popular theory for that adoption was environmental change. Modifying the Oasis Theory Generations of scholars beginning in the 1950s with Robert Braidwood, in the 1960s with Lewis Binford, and in the 1980s with Ofer Bar-Yosef, built, dismantled, rebuilt, and refined the environmental hypothesis. And along the way, dating technologies and the ability to identify evidence and timing of past climate change blossomed. Since then, oxygen-isotope variations have allowed scholars to develop detailed reconstructions of the environmental past, and a vastly improved picture of past climate change has been developed. Maher, Banning, and Chazen recently compiled comparative data on radiocarbon dates on cultural developments in the Near East and radiocarbon dates on climatic events during that period. They noted there is substantial and growing evidence that the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture was a very long and variable process, lasting thousands of years in some places and with some crops. Further, the physical effects of climate change also were and are variable across the region: some regions were severely impacted, others less so. Maher and colleagues concluded that climate change alone cannot have been the sole trigger for specific shifts in technological and cultural change. They add that that doesnt disqualify climatic instability as providing the context for the long transition from mobile hunter-gatherer to sedentary agricultural societies in the Near East, but rather that the process was simply far more complex than the Oasis theory can sustain. Childes Theories To be fair, though, throughout his career, Childe didnt simply attribute cultural change to environmental change: he said that you had to include significant elements of social change as drivers as well. Archaeologist Bruce Trigger put it this way, restating Ruth Tringhams comprehensive review of a handful of Childe biographies: Childe viewed every society as containing within itself both progressive and conservative tendencies which are linked by dynamic unity as well as by persistent antagonism. The latter provides the energy that in the long run brings about irreversible social change. Hence every society contains within itself the seeds for the destruction of its present state and the creation of a new social order. Sources Braidwood RJ. 1957. Jericho and its Setting in Near Eastern History. Antiquity 31(122):73-81.Braidwood RJ, Çambel H, Lawrence B, Redman CL, and Stewart RB. 1974. Beginnings of Village-Farming Communities in Southeastern Turkey1972. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 71(2):568-572.Childe VG. 1969. New Light on the Most Ancient East. London: Norton Company.Childe VG. 1928. The Most Ancient Near East. London: Norton Company.Maher LA, Banning EB, and Chazan M. 2011. Oasis or Mirage? Assessing the Role of Abrupt Climate Change in the Prehistory of the Southern Levant. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21(01):1-30.Trigger BG. 1984. Childe and Soviet Archaeology. Australian Archaeology 18:1-16.Tringham R. 1983. V. Gordon Childe 25 Years After: His Relevance for the Archaeology of the Eighties. Journal of Field Archaeology 10(1):85-100.Verhoeven M. 2011. The Birth of a Concept and the Origins of the Neolithic: A History of Prehistoric Farmers in the Near East. Palà ©orient oasis37(1):75-87. Weisdorf JL. 2005. From Foraging To Farming: Explaining The Neolithic Revolution. Journal of Economic Surveys 19(4):561-586.Wright HE. 1970. Environmental Changes and the Origin of Agriculture in the near East. BioScience 20(4):210-217.

What is Peak Oil and what are the implications for the main transport Essay - 2

What is Peak Oil and what are the implications for the main transport modes (cars; trucks; trains; ships; aircraft) - Essay Example Geologist, M. King Hubbert had first developed the concept of â€Å"Peak oil† while he was working for Shell Ltd., an oil company. The main hypothesis of Hubbert is that production of petroleum products can only increase up to a certain point, the maximum production. After that, production will surely decline. Hubert had originally predicted in 1956 that oil production of the United States will begin to fall from the period of 70s (Nà ¤f, 2010). Though initially rejected, validity of this hypothesis had begun to gain momentum when this possibility showed signs of reality. Since then, various analysts had used the background of Hubbert to predict the peak year for world oil decline. The expected time frame for the decline is 2004 to 2008 (National Research Council, 2006). The following graph shows the initial hypothesis of Hubbert. According to current estimates, the peak year of production depends heavily on the future demand. The exact time frame has not been commonly agreed upon, but estimates claim that it is likely to happen before 2020 (Mobbs, 2005). The current estimates have suggested that assuming the world economy to grow at 3-3.5% per annum, the consumption of oil in developing countries will rise from 84 bbl/day in 2005 to 120 bbl/day in 2025. Additionally, assuming depletion of oil at 3-3.5% per annum, the current demand can only be met if 98 bbl/day is produced from sources other than the existing ones, which are almost impossible (Graefe, 2011). The peak oil debate has continued for too long and no concrete results have been reached. The ones for the notion debate that the production will always lag behind discovery and the decline is terminal (Kaufmann, n.d.). Over the last few decades, newer sites that had been discovered had shown that reserves in them are not too high and cannot be sustained for a long-term. The Kuwait oil company has also decided on using multi-cyclic models to overcome

International Terrorism as a Threat to the United Kingdom Essay

International Terrorism as a Threat to the United Kingdom - Essay Example Terrorist activities are now monitored very closely, and a significant improvement can be observed in the international cooperation of different countries for the sake of international security and safety. In midst of such opposition of international terrorism, terrorists are still at large and supported by different countries in the world. In the result, a number of countries are posing threats due to their involvement in War on Terror, and this paper will specifically discuss some of the significant aspects of international terrorism that have created threats for the United Kingdom. In brief, probabilities and possibilities of a terrorist attack are broadly identified by the creation of threat levels, and such creation is done by consideration of different factors that will be discussed in this paper briefly to understand the range of threat that is presently being posed by the United Kingdom from international terrorism. At present, a number of studies, and reports have indicated that severe threat is being posed by the United Kingdom from the international terrorists, and one of the major reasons of such threat is its closest relationship with the United States, which has been leading the combat against the terrorists in different parts of the globe. Briefly, available intelligence is one of the rare, but imperative factors that decide the extent of the threat. It is observed that fragment information is used by the experts to make their judgments related to such threats.