Blockbuster Hbr Case Essay Example for Free

Blockbuster Hbr Case Essay One of Blockbuster’s biggest value drivers is geographic location. Most people, especiall in urban areas live pretty close to a Blockbuster location. Availability of titles is also a value driver that not all video stores can provide. Their reputation is also a value driver. Economies of scale are one of Blockbuster’s largest cost drivers. The ability to negotiate with movie studios with leverage while their competitors can’t as effectively win lower prices for inventory purchases gives a huge advantage. The aforementioned reasons are ammunition to defened against competitors. Geographic location and leveraging the brand name recognition are two of the most important advantages that Blockbuster has that none of its competitors can easily overcome. After the formation of Blockbuster, the first major technological substitute to come along was the DVD (the digital versatile disc) and the DIVX (digital video express disc). There was a fierce battle between these two rival substitutes as they waged war. Both were looking to become the sole technology that would replace VHS. Blockbuster remained on the sidelines for the first few years after these technologies were introduced even though 8 major motion picture studios had committed to either DIVX or DVD (6 for DIVX and 2 for DVD) Once Antioco had made a decsion as to back DVD for a multitude of reasons, Blockbuster’s decision would lead to the demise of DIVX. Antico decided that DVD offered the most promise. They were more widespread, DVD player units were more readily available and they were cheaper. About a year after Blockbuster decided to back DVD, Circuit City decided to give up on the DIVX technology. Blockbuster also faced competition from consumer’s decsion to buy DVDs as opposed to renting them(sell through). Antioco saw this as a potential threat and decided to sell through used DVDs at a discount at Blockbuster stores. Along with some promotions, such as a free rental with the purchase of a movie, Antioco’s plan was expected to triple Blockbuster’s share of the video sales market. In 2003 Disney developed a technology much like DIVX called EZ-D. The plan was eliminate the return of rented videos as the disc would be discared 48 hours after opening because a chemical would render it useless. The technology ultimately failed as Blockbuster did not back the technology because for just a few dollars more (EZ-D discs retailed at $5-$7) consumers could outright purchase a DVD with unlimited use. One of the newest substitutes to threaten blockbuster is online video sales. This market is cannabilizing Blockbuster’s sell through numbers and Blockbuster is countering with their own online sales. Another is home delivery service. Even though this service had promise with more than a few firms, they all failed for a multitude of reasons and never posed a real threat. Netflix, a video subscription service with no late fees is also a substitute that Blockbuster is facing. After much initial success, Blockbuster decided to start their own subscription pricing model in which consumers can pay a flat fee each month for unlimitied rentals at their retail outlets. Eventually adding the feature where consumers can opt to either receive/return the discs through the mail similar to netflix or to receive/return them at a retail location to satisfy an immediate need. This option gives them a competitive advantage over Netflix.

Michael Wigglesworths Wrathful Poetry Essay -- Michael Wigglesworth

Michael Wigglesworth's Wrathful Poetry Michael Wigglesworth was born in England in 1631. He came over to America with his family at the age of seven. He was raised in the town of New Haven, Connecticut until he went to Harvard at sixteen. He graduated in 1651 but remained a tutor for three years. He was called to the ministry and accepted a call to a church in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1655 and remained in that town the rest of his life. He had three wives and eight children. Wigglesworth was a small and extremely frail man. Due to his sickness, he went to Bermuda for seven months in 1663, and there he began to study medicine, which was his initial interest before the ministry. After this trip, he was a physician as well as a preacher. However, Wigglesworth was not known for his preaching. He was not very well liked in his hometown and turned to poetry due to his rejection in the pulpit. Samuel Sewall commenting on his death mentioned two things: the fact that he wrote "The Day of Doom" and that he was "very useful as a physician." The fact that Sewall did not comment about Wigglesworth being a preacher helps verifies that he was not well known for his preaching. Wigglesworth wrote a lot of poetry, but his piece "The Day of Doom" was by far his most famous work The poem sold 1800 copies in its first year of publication, and sold many copies after the first year as well. About one in every twenty people in New England bought a copy, and it was supposedly America's first bestseller. Children memorized verses of the poem along with their catechism, and others memorized it as well. This poem affected the people of his day and the new American culture. The poem was written in common hymn meter, which made it easy to memor... ...rtheless, it should be read and remembered for a few reasons. First, it captures the spirit of one of the main religious bodies at the beginning of this Country, Puritanism. The Puritans were one of the first peoples to come over to America and set up a colony, and for this we owe them our gratitude and remembrance. Also, the fact that this poem was probably America's first bestseller is reason enough to read it. It is important to know our heritage. So, let's celebrate America's religious and literary heritage by reading "The Day of Doom" by Michael Wigglesworth. Works Cited: Lawson, Stephen. "About Michael Wigglesworth and His Poetry." Ed. Milton Stem. New York: Viking, 1962. http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/wigglife.htm. "Michael Wigglesworth" The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 1998. 283-284.

Employee Motivation at FMC Green River and Other Organizations Essay

Organizational behavior theories are known to differ as to what motivates employees, not because the essential characteristics of all employees are varied across organizations and industries. Rather, the motivational needs of employees differ from organization to organization because separate work situations, ethics and settings, in addition to their interaction with individual personalities, teams, and managements call for different employee needs to be prioritized. Employee motivation is simply referred to as an organizational method to satisfy employees in areas where they feel unsatisfied. Whereas poor health and safety conditions might be the Number One challenge to encounter in Company ABC, it is possible that the employees of FMC Green River would be more motivated by higher salaries. Moreover, the employees of FMC Green River may hold a collective opinion that their working conditions are the best in the industry. Hence, the management of FMC Green River would not be as focused on improving health and safety conditions as Company ABC should be. Given that job performance is a function of ability and motivation, it is appropriate to inquire into the specific needs of the workers in order to employ the correct mix of employee motivation strategies to boost job performance, company-wide (â€Å"Employee Motivation,† 2007). As an example, the employees of the Piketon Research and Extension Center and Enterprise Center were asked about the main motivating factors at their particular workplace. According to the research findings, the employees believed themselves to be motivated by the following, in the order of importance: â€Å"a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems (Lindner, 1998). Contrary to these findings, a peer reviewed study on employee motivation found that most employees across various organizations believe the following to be the chief motivators at the workplace: â€Å"enjoyment of the work; work/life balance; pay satisfaction; link between pay and performance;† and â€Å"adequate staffing levels† (Katcher). Thus, it appears essential to increase employee motivation only after inquiring into the main motivators in a specific organization. Also within a single organization, the blue collar workers are expected to be more motivated by an increase in pay, while the white collar employees might believe that enjoyment of work is more important. In this case, the organization would have to divide up its employees in two separate groups to inquire into the particular motivators for the blue collar workers as opposed to the white collar employees. It is best, therefore, for employee motivation strategies to be based on group by group studies, although organizations may also apply the rule of generalization. In that event, Company ABC would believe that it could effectively use the motivators of FMC Green River’s employees to improve the job performance of its own workers.

No Compensation Means Exploitation - 2390 Words

No Compensation Means Exploitation â€Å"[T]he real scandal is not that students are getting illegally paid or recruited, it’s that two of the noble principles on which the NCAA justifies its existence-‘amateurism’ and the ‘student-athlete’ are cynical hoaxes, legalistic confections propagated by the universities so they can exploit the skills and fame of young athletes†¦The NCAA makes money, and enables universities and corporations to make money, from the unpaid labor of young athletes. (Zirin 26) The line between college and professional sports continues to blur where college sports now acts like the minor leagues for professional organizations like the NBA and the NFL. But unlike the minor leagues where players are paid to play in their respective sport, players or student-athletes in the NCAA receive $0 for playing for their school. They do however receive scholarships, some being worth up to $60,000 to pay for tuition and room and board. These athletes are able to obtain a free education through these scholarships but it is not enough. Two of the biggest sports in college athletics, football and men’s basketball, earn millions of dollars in revenue for schools around the country and for the NCAA, yet these athletes do not see one penny of it. The top coaches in these sports earn seven figure salaries with six figure bonuses depending on how well they do in the post season but the players that are generating the money are not being compensated for their efforts. In the 2014Show MoreRelatedImplicit Concerns For The Legalization Of The Organ Sale1347 Words   |  6 Pagesoverstates the monetary compensation for the organ sale and underestimates the possible role of exploitation, risks to organ sellers and other ethical questions. 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