Analysis of the Hungarian Mobile Market Essay

Introduction The mobile market is still one of the most rapidly expanding business sectors in Hungary. Openness to new technologies and society’s need for swift communication, have elevated current statistics to show that the number of mobile telephones in Hungary exceed that of landlines. And it appears that the balance continues to shift more in favor of mobiles. This is characterized by the occurances of the previous years. At the end of 1999 the proportion of landline to mobile use was two to one, by the end of 2000 the number of landlines was only 25% higher than that of mobiles. Recently, over the course of the past few years dramatic changes have taken place. The country’s leading mobile provider, Westel Mobile Rt., reached 2 million subscribers by June 12, 2001; at the same time Pannon GSM reported 1.5 million subscribers, while the number of Vodafone subscribers was around 260,000.According to a recent report of the Telecommunications Supervisory Office, the number of opera tional mobile telephones in October 2003 amounted to 7,614,256. Given the tendencies of previous years, this number is expected to increase. Therefore, we can observe that mobile penetration has increased by nearly 100% over the course of the last few years. Growth shows no sign of slowing with the market. This makes it one of the highest growing markets in eastern Europe. But how will the Hungarian mobile-market develop further? Can the sharp increase of recent years be maintained, and when can we expect signs of market saturation? The Main Market Players Westel Mobile On 16 June 2000 Westel’s analogue and digital divisions, Westel Radiotelefon and Westel 900 GSM, officially became known as Westel Mobile; the company required a name change to reflect the fact that it was scheduled to introduce a GSM-1800 service. Westel was granted a GSM-1800 licence in mid-1999 when the government awarded Hungary’s third digital concession to Vodafone. In the interest of promoting fair competition, Vodafone was afforded a year-long period of exclusivity before Westel was allowed to launch its own GSM-1800 offering. Westel began sales of dual-band handsets in January 2000 in preparation for its November launch. Westel’s GSM subscriber base almost doubled during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, growth which the company has attributed to the popularity of its pre-paid service Domino. The sale of Domino packages accounted for 76% of total revenues in 2000 and by the end of the year pre-paid users outnumbered post-paid customers, ac counting for 52% of the total subscriber base; this had risen to 57% three months later. By the end of March 2001 Westel had signed up a total of 1.8 million subscribers and in mid-June 2001 it registered its two millionth customer, by which time 60% of its customers were pre-paid. Westel launched its WAP service in early February 2000 and by the end of the year claimed that 100,000 customers were using WAP-enabled handsets. According to the company, there will be a boom in its WAP services once access times have been cut by GPRS. In spring 2001 Westel launched GPRS to a couple of hundred users and has scheduled full commercial launch for 1 August. It is aware that the technology could be slow to take off, however, and has already indicated that initial growth could be affected by the lack of handsets. A major development for Westel customers in 2000 was the introduction of the GreenZone tariff package, which allows customers living in rural areas to make lower cost calls. The GreenZone covers around 80% of Hungarian territory. In addition Westel has roaming agreements in place in 87 countries with 196 networks. It has also highlighted the popularity of SMS services; 200 million were sent during 2000 and in the first half of 2001 Westel customers sent more than 30 million per month. Westel Mobile retained its dominance over the market having almost doubled its subscriber base during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, giving it a market share of 53.1%. By March 2001 the number of subscribers had reached 3.39 million, equivalent to a penetration rate of 33.7%. estel Mobile is owned by Matav (51%) and Deutsche Telekom (49%). Pannon GSM Although growth was steady during 2000, Pannon gained little ground on Westel; at the end of March 2001 it claimed a market share of 40.4%, up slightly on the 39.3% it recorded a year earlier. At the same date its subscribers numbered 1.37 million, 38% of whom were signed up to its pre-paid package Pannon Praktikum, which was launched in November 1997. By May 2001 Pannon announced that its customer base had reached 1.5 million. It has offered WAP services since early March 2000 and claims to have signed up several thousand users in the first four months. Majority shareholder KPN announced in June 2001 that it was seeking to offload its stake in Pannon as well as its minority stakes in the Ukraine and Indonesia. Interest in the stakes has been high and at the time of writing KPN confirmed that talks with potential buyers were well under way. Analysts have suggested that Vodafone may show interest in acquiring Pannon to strengthen its position in the country; it is not believed that Vo dafone will be deterred by the fact that Pannon is likely to be sold in conjunction with VoIP operator Pantel. Pannon is owned by KPN (44.66%), Telenor (25.78%), Sonera (23%) and TDC (6.56%). Vodafone Hungary When the VRAM consortium launched Hungary’s third digital mobile network under the Vodafone name in November 1999 it stated that its aim was to achieve a market share of 10% by the end of 2000. It failed to reach this target, signing up 200,000 customers, equivalent to just under 6.5%. Nonetheless, growth has been rapid. By March 2001 Vodafone had signed up 223,000 subscribers, up 374% from the 47,000 it claimed a year earlier. At the beginning of 2001 Vodafone announced that it would invest USD60 million in Hungary to build 400 base stations nationwide in addition to the 800 it has already installed. Vodafone has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the inception of its Hungarian project to fund infrastructure, marketing and technological advances. The VRAM consortium consists of Vodafone (50.1%), RWE Telliance (19.9%), Antenna Hungary (20%) and Magyar Posta (10%). Market Share Development in Hungary Total Subscriber Development in Hungary Market Analysis This market is characterized by severe price discrimination implemented by all the participating firms. All three members of the market have pre paid and post paid packages available to their customers. It is observable that more users choose the pre paid packages in general. This can be derived from the price discrimination of the competing firms on the market. The following diagram also illustrates this tendency. Since the slope of the two lines is determined by the cost per minute it is obviously the lower envelope that represents the line according to which buyers should base their preference-based decisions. A customer who does not uses his or her mobile a lot will choose one of the pre paid packages. Controversially someone who is willing to talk much on his or her mobile will choose the post paid package, which implies to pay more for getting the started and costs less to use. In the intersection point of the two lines is the point where the customer is indifferent between the two. The market had witnessed unprecedented growth during 2000. At the end of the year it was home to 3.1 million users, this constitutes a 92.5% increase on the previous year end of 1999. This also beat the government’s forecast of a target of 2.5 million by a considerable margin. Also noteworthy is that mobile penetration reached an impressive 30.7% in December 2000, up from just 15.9% twelve months earlier. The market is growing indeed. according to analysts, 2002’s tendencies were easy to predict. The fast growth continued in the mobile market. However, it seems harder to foresee the development of the market later on. The only fact evident is that in the long run, there will be more mobile terminals in the country than the number of people living in it. Hungary’s new telecommunications act, which is currently being debated in Parliament, is also expected to further boost competition in the mobile phone market. With three competing mobile phone operators the Hunga rian market is probably the toughest in the entire region. Mobile Penetration Development in Hungary The second year of liberalized telecommunications in Hungary was marked by a decline in the number of fixed-line subscribers, but a persistently growing mobile market. In the first quarter of 2003, the number of mobile subscriptions (including active SIM cards and analogue subscription) rose to over 7 million for the first time, says a telecommunication market quarterly report compiled by the National Communications Authority (HIF). A comparison of 2003’s summer figures with those from the summer of 2002, shows an increase in mobile phone subscriptions of 22%. The numbers illustrate a major trend in the telecommunications sector of, let’s not forget, a country of only 10 million inhabitants. Westel leads the sector with a 47.5% market share, while Pannon GSM ranks second at 36.94%, followed by Vodafone, the smallest player, but one that is quickly growing with a 15.56% share of the market, according to HIF. Prices appear to increasingly level off, and the competition is speeding up. Therefore the mobile companies react faster to each other’s steps. Several years ago it took mobile operators almost half a year to counter each other’s marketing actions, but today it is a matter of days. This type of price war competition was started by Vodafone, Hungary’s third mobile phone provider, which entered the market in 1999. Vodafone’s Vitamax pre-paid cards became an instantaneous hit. Initially Vodafone’s prices were some 15-20% lower than anything offered on the market, but in the time since Westel and Pannon have lowered their prices as well. Pannon’s new campaign: â€Å"De-Juice† was a response to Vodafone’s younger image, and offers prepaid options along side Pannons already existing Praktikum service. Since March this year, Westel has introduced three new pre-paid Domino packages that offer competitive and unified tariffs on calls mad e to fixed-line or other mobile networks. There is also a considerable amount of price competition in the post-paid sector. Similarly to the post-paid packages, there is a very large array of package allocation possibilities. Of these assortments Westel’s cheapest offer for subscribers is its ‘Tà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rsalgà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ M’ package, under which users can call within the network for 36.75 Hungarian Forints per minute in peak hours. Under Pannon’s ‘Horizont’ package, subscribers can choose between three different categories (Bà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nusz, Plusz, Extra) that offer economical prices for calls made at different times of the day. In the meantime, Vodafone has come forward with its Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Csà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cs Plusz’ subscription package, which offers a tariff of 6 Forints per minute for the first 10 minutes of a call made to any network. So competition is fierce among mobile operators for post-paid subscribers and pre-paid card users. Although companies believe they will win customers by advertising the lowest prices, we have ascertained that many pre-paid packages hide additional charges for calls made after prime time hours. Many analysts say that even after Hungary’s new telecom law takes effect, price competition will continue since there are still significant reserves in pre-paid card rates. Although mobile operators are extremely careful about detailing their strategies, we believe that telephone equipment prices, along with regular subscribers, will remain the main campaign elements in the future. One aspect of the new telecom law states that from May 1, 2004, customers may keep their mobile numbers even if they switch providers. It seems that this will greatly rearrange the market. It can be expected that pre-paid phone customers will probably have to pay much more for the mobile handsets (as opposed to being relatively cheap, as is the case right now), as it would not be in any company’s interest to give expensive, modern phones cheaply to customers who could change providers at any moment. Meanwhile, the value of regular subscribers is expected to grow and those customers who sign a long-term contract will probably be the most important ones. Pannon GSM, for instance, seems to put more focus on the post-paid customer segment instead of the SIM card market. The current price competition, mostly focused on pre-paid card users, is seen spreading to subscribers who would be able to make cheaper calls as well. Vodafone is also pursuing a similar strategy. Telecom Policy Director Pà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½l Marchart says: â€Å"I expect that the new regulation will stimulate market competition even in those markets that show monopolistic signs today.† In reality however, the new regulations are being carefully scrutinized and opinions vary. It is questionable whether they will fulfill the function of creating real market competition. Prices would radically drop if real market competition existed in the market. This question was first raised by Hungary’s Competition Authority (GVH). The office made headlines recently with its inquiry into the telecommunications services sector, which resulted in imposed fines for Westel and Pannon. The sector inquiry enabled GVH to achieve a more accurate view of the mobile phone sector. The office found several problems on the mobile market, mainly with the pricing of calls generated from mobile phones to fixed-line networks. GVH accused mobile operators of utilizing restrictive practices in-order to increase mobile use in Hungary. The inquiry alleged that there is a mobile phone cartel in Hungary. But of course in the end it accused mobile service providers of little and did not prove that there were coordinated actions taken on by the mobile firms. GVH could not even prove that call fees to other networks were too high, but only stated that some contracts among mobile providers could distort competition. Westel was fined HUF 210 million and Pannon GSM HUF 150 million by GVH. The fine is not substantial, however, and accounts for a mere fraction of mobile operators’ turnover. Westel and Pannon said they will appeal the GVH decision in Hungarian courts. Vodafone did not have to pay any fines. The mobile companies agreed that fees for calls to other mobile service providers would cost less than calling fixed-line operators. In Summary then, we believe it is safe to say that continued competition and occasional price-wars will continue to surface among the three mobile conglomerates in Hungary. We have just recently perused in the latest issue of the Budapest Times that the new telecoms legislation has just been officially approved in Parliament. The new telecom act will come into force January 1, 2004 for fixed-lines and May 1, 2004 for mobile networks, just in time for the EU entry. We are yet to see what real effects this law will have on market competition, and if predatory and limit pricing attempts will be detected and penalized by the GVH. Also of note for future developments is Hungary’s ensuing EU absorption. Although it is expected that new fixed-line operators will enter the Hungarian market after EU integration, in the mobile market, the situation is quite different. Given the considerable number of active mobile phone users in the Hungarian population, it seems inconceivable that a potential new entrant firm could operate efficiently next to the incumbents. They would need a lot of resources and a good financial background, since return on the investment would probably take a good number of years. The fact that the number of mobile providers is not bound to increase in the future is one issue that all three firms seem to agree on. However, we believe that eventual new entrants will or should make their way on the market, since this would further promote competition which is an obvious goal of the Hungarian Competition Office (GVH). What we, consumers can do is to hope that at some point in time prices and minimum average costs will tend to meet, setting an end to the presence of dead weight loss. This way welfare as well as consumer surplus will be maximized on the Hungarian mobile market. Bibliography Sources Consulted and Referenced: Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) official website; www.gvh.hu Hungarian National Communications Authority (HIF) official website; www.hif.hu Pannon GSM Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.pannongsm.hu The Budapest Times Newspaper. Issue: Nov 28. – Dec 4. 2004; www.budapesttimes.hu Vodafone Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.vodafone.hu Westel Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.westel.hu

Typography and Professional Nursing

N3645 Transition to Professional Nursing Part A Week 2 Assignment Instructions: Personal Philosophy of Nursing Submit by 0800 Monday of Week 3. NOTE: You will create a new Word document for this Assignment instead of typing directly into this document. Overview: â€Å"Personal Philosophy of Nursing† In this week’s Assignment, you will draft a formal paper expressing your personal philosophy of nursing. In this paper, you will provide a framework for your personal practice of nursing and reflect on why you chose nursing as a profession.Your paper will define how you interact with patients, family members, other nurses, and other health care professionals. Since this is your first formal paper for the program, be sure to use the resources listed below to ensure you are using the proper formatting, scholarly language, and saving and submitting procedures as you write and submit your assignment. Resources ANA Code of Ethics, 2001* APA Module* http://isites. harvard. edu/icb /icb. do? keyword=apa_exposed (This is also printable. Follow instructions in the tutorial. Scholarly Writing Tips* (*Available in the Resource section of this week) MS Word Help and How-To Word 2007 – http://office. microsoft. com/enus/word/FX100649251033. aspx? CTT=96&Origin=CL100636481033 Word 2003 – http://office. microsoft. com/enus/word/FX100649261033. aspx? CTT=96&Origin=CL100636481033 Review your course readings, lecture, and your Week 2 Resources before completing this week’s Assignment. Performance Objectives †¢ Compose a personal philosophy of nursing. †¢ Correlate historical, ethical, and/or political factors influencing professional nursing practice with what you believe the core of nursing is and should be. Apply professional practice standards. †¢ Use correct grammar, punctuation, and American Psychological Association (APA) format in writing professional papers.  ©2008 UTA School of Nursing Page 1 of 6 N3645 Transition to Profess ional Nursing Part A Rubric Use this rubric to guide your work on the Week 2 Assignment, â€Å"Personal Philosophy of Nursing. † Tasks Accomplished Proficient Needs Improvement ? Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper Format (Total 40 points) Title Page No mistakes in APA format (5 points) Headings and References Uses APA format for headings and to cite 2 references. 25 points) Writing Conventions Professional grammar, spelling, and punctuation; paragraphs of at least 3, well-written sentences (10 points) Title Page Errors in APA format (4 points) Headings and References Cites 1 reference and includes headings in APA format. (20 points) Writing Conventions No more than 8 grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in the entire paper. (8 points) No Title Page (0 points) Headings and References Does not cite references and/or include headings. (0 points) Writing Conventions More than 8 grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in the entire paper (5 points)  ©2008 UTA School of NursingPage 2 of 6 N3645 Transition to Professional Nursing Part A Tasks ? Accomplished Introduction Writes a comprehensive overview of the paper in 1-2 paragraphs. (5 points) Choice of Nursing Clearly answers question in 2-3 paragraphs. (10 points) Essence of Nursing Clearly answers question in 2-3 paragraphs with correlations to historical, ethical, and political factors. (10 points) Beliefs and Values Answers each of the 4 questions in separate paragraphs. (15 points) Vision for the Future Answers question for all 3 time periods listed in separate paragraphs. (10 points) Summary Answers both questions in separate paragraphs. 10 points) Proficient Introduction Writes an overview of the paper in 1-2 paragraphs. (4 points) Choice of Nursing Answers question in 1 paragraph. (8 points) Essence of Nursing Answers question in 2-3 paragraphs without correlation to historical, ethical, and political factors (8 points) Beliefs and Values Answers 3 of the 4 questions in separate paragraphs. (12 points) Vision for the Future Answers question for 2 of the 3 time periods listed in separate paragraphs (8 points) Summary Answers 1 question in a separate paragraph. (8 points) Needs Improvement No Introduction (0 points) Content (Total 60 points)Choice of Nursing Does not answer question. (0 points) Essence of Nursing Does not clearly answer question. (5 points) Beliefs and Values Answers 1 or 2 of the 4 questions in separate paragraphs. (5 points) Vision for the Future Answers question for 1 of the 3 time periods listed in separate paragraphs. (3 points) Summary Does not directly address either question. (4 points)  ©2008 UTA School of Nursing Page 3 of 6 N3645 Transition to Professional Nursing Part A Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper †¢ Use the following outline to guide composition of your personal philosophy of nursing. Follow both the content and format criteria in completing your composition. †¢ Open a new Word document, and save it to your Desktop with the filename, â€Å"yourname_Personal_Philosophy,† inserting your name in place of â€Å"yourname. † †¢ Begin your paper by setting the margins, font, and Header. (See MS Word Help. ) †¢ Click â€Å"Save† often to keep from accidentally losing your work. Content Criteria Section or Section Title Entire paper Description †¢ 1† margins all around †¢ Font – Times New Roman, 12 pt †¢ Double-spaced †¢ â€Å"Header† with short title and page How-To and Tips Select File – Page Setup†¦ †¢ Select Format – Font†¦ †¢ Select Format – Paragraph†¦ †¢ Select View – Header and number, right-justified Footer†¦ (Refer to the MS Word â€Å"Help and How To† links if you need help with any of these tasks. ) The short title should be in upperand lower-case, or â€Å"Title Case. † †¢ Professional grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and paragraphs compose d of at least 3 well-written sentences each Title Page †¢ Just below Header, include a â€Å"running †¢ See â€Å"Scholarly Writing Tips† head† as shown below, left-justified: (Replace â€Å"CAPITALIZED ABBREVIATED TITLE† with an abbreviated version of your paper’s title. See guidelines in section 5. 15 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition Running head: CAPITALIZED ABBREVIATED TITLE †¢ Title in upper half of page, centered, The running head appears only on the title page, and includes the words â€Å"Running head. † You can access the UTA directions and an example title page by looking in the Resources tab on the left menu of the course in Weeks 1-6. upper- & lower-cased letters (Title Case) o Title is content of unique paper, not assignment title; add your name or a unique descriptor to the title so not everyone’s is â€Å"Philosophy of Nursing. †¢ Student name, with â€Å"Un iversity of  ©2008 UTA School of Nursing Texas Page 4 of 6 N3645 Transition to Professional Nursing Part A at Arlington† underneath †¢ The following information centered, 1† from the bottom: (Fill in course, faculty details. ) Your finished Title Page should resemble this snapshot: In partial fulfillment of the requirements of Course name and number Faculty name, credentials Submission date Online RN-BSN (Introduction) Overview of the paper (1-2 paragraphs) Put title of paper at the top, centered, in Title Case. No section title, just start paragraphs (Remember to indent each paragraph! )Choice of Nursing Why did you choose nursing? (2-3 paragraphs) Insert Section title, centered and Title Case. Then start paragraphs. Essence of Nursing What do you believe the core of nursing is and should be? Correlate historical, ethical, and/or political factors influencing professional nursing practice. (2-3 paragraphs) Insert Section title, centered and Title Case. Then start paragraphs. (Do not start a new page; just continue in regular double-spaced body. ) Insert Section title, centered and Title Case. Then start paragraphs. (Do not start a new page; just continue in regular double-spaced body. ) Beliefs and ValuesWhat do you believe about patients? ( 1 paragraph) What do you believe about the patient’s family and significant others? (1 paragraph) What do you believe about your fellow health care providers? (1 paragraph) What do you believe about your own  ©2008 UTA School of Nursing Page 5 of 6 N3645 Transition to Professional Nursing Part A health? (1 paragraph) Vision for the Future What do you want to be doing in 2 years? (1 paragraph) 5 years? (1 paragraph) 10 years? (1 paragraph) Insert Section title, centered and Title Case. Then start paragraphs. (Do not start a new page; just continue in regular double-spaced body. Summary What strengths do you have that will support your achievement of your professional goals? (1 paragraph) What li mitations will you need to overcome to achieve your professional goals? (1 paragraph) References †¢ Title of this page is Insert Section title, centered and Title Case. Then start paragraphs. (Do not start a new page; just continue in regular double-spaced body. ) â€Å"References† should be centered at the top of the page just below the header. Be sure to left-justify the first line of each citation, but indent subsequent lines 5 spaces. References centered on top of page †¢ At least 2 professional references. Put references in alphabetical order by author’s name. Submitting Your Assignment †¢ Click Open at the bottom of the Assignment screen, then click Browse and navigate to the Desktop where your paper is located. Select the final version of your paper to upload. (Look for the file â€Å"yourname_Personal_Philosophy†. ) †¢ When you’ve selected your paper, click Open in the â€Å"Choose document to submit† dialogue box to att ach the file. The path and filename should then show up in the â€Å"Attachment:† space. Click Close, then click Submit at the bottom of the Assignment screen. †¢  ©2008 UTA School of Nursing Page 6 of 6

Expectations of Customers and Management-Perceptions Gap Assignment - 2

Expectations of Customers and Management-Perceptions Gap - Assignment Example Therefore, it is important for an organization to do enough research on what the customers expect and later implement according to the high demand in the market. The company should also practice the centralized kind of organization since it is easier to be implemented. Meeting the correct expectations is usually an important task, but not good enough to achieve superior quality service. The performance standard is important for improving high service quality products (India, 1968). The biscuit organization seems not to meet customer expectation since they consider their expectations as unreasonable, the demands of customers are at times difficult to be predicted, and lastly, some organizations are inflexible in the way it operates. Several factors have contributed to the failure of meeting the service quality. These are the presence of inadequate management among the employees, which reduces the service quality. Lack of standardization of extreme cases where hard and soft copies of technology are used to standardize the services. They work with much laxity since they have no target to meet in places where the organization fails to make goals. Lastly, is the perception of invisibility, such that managers do believe that the customers’ needs can be met (India, 1968). All this should be changed so that the company would improve its management and service delivery. Some of the factors that have resulted in this gap include; the workers are not qualified, use of poor technology, ambiguous employees who always have conflicts among themselves and inappropriate supervisory control systems. For efficient work, the goods not only should they meet the customers’ expectations, but should also be backed with adequate and appropriate resources (India, 1968). The standard of good should be ensured to be effective this can be enhanced by ensuring that the employees are measured and compensated depending on the basis of their performance. Management should also have standardized technological gadgets and qualified employees for them to meet their goals.  

Select from one of the topics below Select a new technology or Essay

Select from one of the topics below Select a new technology or technological invention, which is not yet in the market and anal - Essay Example urce 3D printing can effortlessly counterbalance their principal expenses (Dx.doi.org 2013). The 3D printing technology is employed mutually i.e. distributed manufacturing & prototyping with applications in construction (AEC). It is also used in architecture, automotive, industrial design, military, aerospace, civil engineering, engineering, medical industries, dental and biotech (also known as human tissue replacement). It is also applicable in places like footwear, education, eyewear, fashion, jewelry, food, geographic information systems and many other fields. This technology is still in alpha stage of processing and is not commercialized yet. Even then according to Wohlers Associates, which is a consulting firm, the market of 3D services and printing is worth 2.2 billion dollars (The Economist 2012). 3D Printing: The advancements in technology have attracted people towards owning glamorous items of daily use. One such technology is 3D machines. Gaming industry has excelled in it a lot and commercialization of 3D screens has led to awareness in common public regarding graphics and advancements in this industry. 3D printing is also attractive for people to use as it reflects real life imagery. The printing seems as good as if it is real. This is a positive point while marketing the 3D printing. Since the services are limited to industrial level alone, it is not much accessible to common people from every walk of life. Introducing it to the common market will already be easy as people are eager to experience new technologies and latest printing techniques in it for their everyday use. 3D printing if made commercially available will immensely help in research as well. Currently research is limited as 3D printers are not off the shelf available to common people. Technological enhancements in biotechnology, medicine and engineering will become aggressive once design ideas and research floats. Challenges in Commercializing 3D: 1) Making it economical: There are va rious approaches used in 3D printing including granular materials binding, extrusion disposition, lamination etc. The commercialization of 3D printing is dependent on the technique used for it to a huge extent. Printers that do not work directly with metals can be made cheap. Similarly specific shapes that can be printed easily can be made commercial and restricting other shapes due to expensive technology can be done. This way 3D printing can be commercialized to some extent. Hardware is not the only issue in 3D printing. Appropriate software’s need to be designed for it as well (Friedman 2012). These softwares are naturally complex due to complex graphics and its algorithms. Commercialization in this respect can be immensely improved by inviting third party vendors and making the original commercial softwares open source. This will invite young enthusiasts to come forward and work together to develop short applications that could be integrated to support maximum 3D printing capabilities in a single hardware. 2) Enhancing

Quiz two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Quiz two - Essay Example The average cost of repairs under warranty is $45 for labour and $75 for parts per unit. During 2012, 2,500 exercise machines were sold at an average price of $800. During the year, 60 of the machines that were sold were repaired at the average price per unit. The opening balance in the Warranty Liability account is zero. 30. Taylor Companys payroll for the week ending January 15 amounted to $50,000 for Office Salaries and $120,000 for Store Wages. The following deductions were withheld from employees salaries and wages: On January 1, 2010, Andrews Corporation issued $900,000, 8%, 5-year bonds dated January 1, 2010, at 100 (this value was assumed as it was not given in the document) to yield 9%. The bonds pay semi-annual interest on January 1 and July 1. The company has a December 31 year end. On January 1, 2010, Callahan Corporation issued $600,000, 9%, 5-year bonds, dated January 1, 2007, at 104. The bonds pay interest semi-annually on January 1 and July 1. The company has a December 31 year end. Assume amortization of $1,700 and $2,100 respectively for the first two semi-annual interest periods. Hanna Manufacturing Limited receives $240,000 on January 1, 2010 when it issues a 6%, 3-year note payable to finance the purchase of equipment. The terms provide for annual payments each December 31. The first payment is due December 31, 2010. (a) Hillman Corporation purchased $150,000 of its bonds on June 30, 2011, at 102 and immediately retired them. The amortized cost of the bonds on the retirement date was $137,700. The bonds pay semi-annual interest and the interest payment due on June 30, 2011, has been made and recorded. (b) Dalton, Inc. purchased $200,000 of its bonds at 96 on June 30, 2011, and immediately retired them. The amortized cost of the bonds on the retirement date was $196,500. The bonds pay semi-annual interest and the interest payment due on June 30, 2011,

How Children Learn Mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How Children Learn Mathematics - Essay Example To help the students with such problems, teachers and parents should provide various representations with meaning and be positive in their approach to discussing mathematical issues. There are strategies in teaching mathematics that may reduce some of the problems. All authors believe that teachers should use a variety of representations and even some relatively unconventional tools. Mental mathematics, linking cubes, drawings, mental images, concrete materials, equations, base-ten blocks, computer programs can all be used with the goal of students to find the representations they personally can manipulate (physically and or mentally) with most ease and meaning. By choosing the representation that represents how they personally think, students can attach meaning to the situation and it becomes more accessible (Fennell, 2001, 288). Parents should also learn their childrens learning style even if it differs from their own. Parents are also encouraged to "pretend" they enjoy mathematics and can do them "as well and anybody" (Dedyna, 2002, Press). For Thompson, one of the simplest ways of teaching vocabulary is to explain the concepts first, and then attach the term to it. This strategy can be used in conjunction with etymologies (word origins) because when students know these roots, they can make connections between common English words with which they are familiar and mathematics terms. Many students from elementary to high school have the same problems with understanding mathematics. One of students biggest problems is the inability to represent their thinking. Representations can be oral, numeric, drawn, concrete, on a computer, etc. A student may understand a problem in its oral form, for example, but the written version of the same problem may stump the student because they incorrectly make the transition from the words and symbols on the paper to their mind when they attempt to

E-waste Dumping - A Challenging Legal and Ethical Choice in Global Essay

E-waste Dumping - A Challenging Legal and Ethical Choice in Global Business - Essay Example This fast growing waste stream is accelerating because the global market for PCs is far from saturation and the average lifespan of a PC is decreasing rapidly - for instance for CPUs from 4-6 years in 1997 to 2 years in 2005 (Culver, 2005). PCs comprise only a fraction of all e-waste. It is estimated that in 2006 approximately 180 million mobile phones will be retired. Similar quantities of electronic waste are expected for all kinds of portable electronic devices such as PDAs, MP3 players, computer games and peripherals (O'Connell, 2002). A lot of this waste (approximately two thirds) ends up in Asian countries, mainly China and India. There this waste is dismantled by bare hands, by low paid workers. This is a very serious environmental and health hazard for those nations. This paper shall consider the ethical and legal aspect of e-waste dumping in different countries, mainly China. Unfortunately, largely for economic reasons, the developed world has used primarily one method of dealing with this crisis-exporting their e-waste to less developed countries that are unable or unwilling to protect their citizens from the resulting harm to the ecology or public health. The minute quantities of reusable minerals contained within these electronic products have value only in places with paltry wages and where health codes for their extraction are nonexistent or not enforced. As a result, studies estimate that 50% to 80% of all e-waste amassed for "recycling" are shipped abroad to countries such as China, India, and Pakistan. Researchers found that approximately 13 million computer systems were channeled to recyclers in the United States during 2002, suggesting that up to 10 million of these units moved offshore to parts of Asia. In response to the growing concern over how China will manage its increasing piles of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste), central government departments have drafted a number of interrelated legislations. A national pilot program has also been initiated by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to determine the most suitable model for a Chinese e-waste management system. Growing interest in the e-waste recycling business from the private sector is another indicator of the significant changes in store for China's largely unregulated and environmentally unsound e-waste processing industry. The rationale behind these legislative and market developments is clear, driven by factors such as the environmental and health impacts of e-waste recycling and disposal, and the incentive of complying with international environmental standards. Discussion America discards thousands of tons of e-waste annually. Most of this e-waste consists of computers and electronic items. Computers and electronic equipment contains toxins. The toxins in computers aren't harmful while the computer is intact. The problems start only after the computer is discarded and breaks apart, leeching its ingredients into the environment. In China, e-waste is becoming an important waste stream, both in terms of quantity and toxicity. E-waste refers to discarded appliances, such as televisions and refrigerators, as well as a variety of associated waste products, such as electrical wiring, printed wiring boards (PWBs),