Pirates of the silicon valley

1. What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a founder of Apple Inc.?

The factor that contributed to the success of Steve Jobs is the ability to see a gold through a rock.Steve Jobs was, according to his friend Wozniak, never like us. He was the kind of person who always saw things differently, so his level of thinking was never ordinary. One of the factors that contributed to his success was his level of thinking, his different approach and the way he saw things in a different way. Another factor that benefited Steve Jobs was his level of determination and the ability to focus. Steve Jobs was a very determined person. Determination is actually a great factor that will aid a person in his technopreneurial skills. It was his friend, Wozniak, that built the computer, but it was Steve Jobs’ genius that sells it. If it was not for Jobs’ determination to make a sale, Wozniak’s computer wouldn’t make it on top. Another factor is he has a great self-motivation Steve Jobs did not want to stay stagnant. He wanted a change. A change that would rewrite the history of how mankind thinks. He did not limit his self to change his country, or make impact to his local neighbors, no, Steve Jobs was never like that—he had set his mind to make a universal change. He wanted a revolution. To Steve Jobs, a change was not enough, he wanted to create a completely new consciousness. He had this thought pattern that was always one step ahead of us. And because of his self-motivation, his confidence grew like never before. Because he had so much protein in his brain, he used them up in a way that would benefit not only him but for the entire globe. One of the factor for his failure is his attitude, prideful and too confident. In the movie we had seen how Steve Jobs had become too confident and proud of his ability, to the point that he unnecessarily humiliate his employees. Steve Jobs was a proud man, and well, we all know he had the reason to become proud. But being having too much pride and confident is not good. Maybe it will result to a failure. It is said that the pride of man is also the fall of man. Another factor is lack of communication to his peoples. He failed to communicate to his people, to his employees, and he failed to understand that they were also humans capable of making mistakes. Steve Jobs looked at himself, of what he had greatly done, but he failed to look at the persons…of their feelings. And lastly, he has an attitude problem, He had the temper. And he was insanely great. His greatness did also lead him to his failure as a good leader. In fact, as I have understood it. We all have tempers. Steve Jobs had one, too. But because he was insanely great as other people describe him so, Steve Jobs’ temper was never like us. His temper and menace was one of the factors of his failures.

2. How do you see yourself as a founder of a computer or software company?

- I see myself as a responsible, admitting mistakes and determined founder. Understand that responsibility is earned. Its not something you're entitled to. Being responsible means, accepting challenges in life. It is being mature and smart to all the decisions you make in your company. It is also the practice of self-discipline. Learn to respect everyone especially their criticisms towards you Also it requires admitting mistakes. We all know that we are not perfect. We can make mistake. It is good to admit your mistakes. Making the most of a mistake is a double-whammy of responsibility. Not only does this transform time that was otherwise wasted into a valuable, course-altering experience, but it keeps you from wasting future time by ensuring that you don’t repeat yourself. If you never fess up to something you did wrong, then how can you learn from it? One of the key parts of accepting responsibility is being able to say, "I really messed up here. I won't do it again." And lastly determined. Being determined can lead you to your success. If you have determination and motivation, you have the inspiration to do your best in everything so that it will lead you to the success of your business. That's how I see myself as a founder.

3. Whom do you think is an effective founder/head of the company? Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?

- for me both of them is an effective founder/head. They just have differences. Bill Gates was a greater leader than Steve. Bill Gates was a smooth talker while Steve Jobs was most of the time rude, if not harsh. We all have tempers. Steve Jobs had one, too. But because he was insanely great as other people describe him so.Steve Jobs is a true creative thinker and technological leader while Bill Gates is the opportunity seeker. The competition and rivalry between Gates and Jobs has become one of the most enduring and fascinating in the American business industry. 

4.Would you take the same career path as Steve Jobs took? Why or why not?

-If you would ask me if I would take the same career path that Steve Jobs took, I will say no. Maybe yes if I 

have the chance or I have the factors that Steve Jobs had. Why I say no, because Steve Jobs become 

successful of his attitude of being perfectionist and I am different from him, I do not look myself so perfect 

but I do wanted to achieve my goals in life. Likewise, I want to be successful but in my own path, the path where I am comfortable with. Steve Jobs is greatly a pioneer of his ideas and innovations. I do adore him in his career, in his passion, and also his dedication in his works and everything that he have to pursue all the things that he had made and the influences he have shared to others. Though because of his being successful in life, the career path he had chosen, I will not take the same career with him because I am not him and Steve Jobs is unique and I am too. He has these distinctive capabilities that are actually rarely from now. Somehow people become successful because of their own path they had chosen and the attitude of being enthusiastic, determine on a certain goal and has  great mind, with this attitude maybe someday I can be Steve Jobs, very successful someday in my own path.

5. What is your over all reflection/reaction about the movie?

-  As what I've observed in the movie I see that Steve Jobs has an Anger Management, an attitude that you'll never want. And the precise term is, he is not a good co-employee. That's why I am not surprised why he is fired on Apple at that time. Steve Jobs is the man that has only one side decision. It is always his decision. And I think that's the reason behind Apple's success before he died. But is it really worth it? He lost his best friend Steve Wozniak on the business because of his bad attitude or behavior, the behavior exactly I saw in the movie. But he really a charismatic person. He got the attention of many people because on what he did and invented. A great he really is, but lack of responsibility to other things. He do have a family, but never took the responsibility of being a father. That's a one big issue to him. But others don't mind that. All they want is what Steve Jobs do to them. Steve Jobs did a lot of wrong things in Apple before he's been fired. Success maybe on him at that time but the real meaning of being a CEO is not at him.

The second man of the Silicon Valley is non other than Bill Gates. I great businessman with no other goal but to compete on other companies and win that competition. We saw Bill Gates in the story to be a typical businessman. But not only a businessman, I successful businessman. Actually, I like the attitude of Bill Gates in comes of work. But the only thing you will hate on him is his greediness. He made an offer to IBM with no assurance on his hand. And he take his own risk in making a deal on Steve Jobs that he will work for Apple Inc as a developer. You will see Bill Gates in the movie to be a person with no other things on his mind but to compete on Apply and win the competition. This is the Bill Gates I know. The person that faced many cases because of his business. But I know Gates is a good man. He is just obsess on matching what Apple does have at that time. But overall in the movie, Bill Gates is a fine man.

As I react on the movie, this is what came into my mind and what I conclude. That it is not enough to be a genius on your field. You should make a bad thing to achieve success. As the two gentlemen act after they become the man of their own company, issues came up and a lot of things happened between them. But the principal of all they have right now is their diligence in their work. They will not achieve what they have right now without working it hard.

Factors affecting Competitive Advantage

Factors affecting Competitive Advantage

The five-forces model:
Rivalry among existing competitors
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitute products and services
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of suppliers

Rivalry among existing competitors

Rivalry among industry players can affect industry profits through (a) downward pressure on prices, (b) increased innovation, (c) increased advertising, (d) increased service/product improvements, among others. In economics, a monopoly industry structure earns the most profit while the “perfect competition” industry structure earns the least. An increase in competitive rivalry among existing firms brings an industry closer to the theoretical “perfect competition” state. Factors that increase competitive rivalry among existing firms include:

• Large Number of Firms: If there are more firms within an industry, there is an increased competition for the same customers and product resources. There is even greater competition if industry players are equal in size and power, as rivals compete for market dominance.

• Slowed Industry Growth: When an industry is growing rapidly, firms are able to increase profits because of the expanding industry. When growth slows and industries reach the maturity stage of the industry lifecycle, competition increases to gain market share (and continue the profit growth that investors require).

• High Fixed Costs or High Storage Costs: In industries where the fixed costs are high, firms will compete to gain the largest amount of market share possible to cover the fixed costs.

• High Exit Barriers: When high exit barriers exist, firms will stay and compete in an industry longer than they would if no exit barriers existed

In addition, price competition is more likely to exist when:

• Products or services are identical and/or low switching costs: This encourages price competition to gain market share.
• Fixed costs high and/or marginal costs low: This encourages competitors to cut prices below their average costs (but not below marginal costs) to recoup some of their fixed costs.
• Capacity must be expanded in large increments to be efficient:
• The products are perishable: When a product is perishable, at a certain time it loses its value completely. This creates pressure on a competing firm to sell its product at a price while it still has value. This is true not only for food but for many industries where technology is consistently being improved (e.g. cars, computers, etc).

Threat of new entrants

 Power is also affected by the ability of people to enter your market. If it costs little in time or money to enter your market and compete effectively, if there are few economies of scale in place, or if you have little protection for your key technologies, then new competitors can quickly enter your market and weaken your position. If you have strong and durable barriers to entry, then you can preserve a favorable position and take fair advantage of it.

 

Threat of substitute products and services

The existence of products outside of the realm of the common product boundaries increases the propensity of customers to switch to alternatives. For example, tap water might be considered a substitute for Coke, whereas Pepsi is a competitor's similar product. Increased marketing for drinking tap water might "shrink the pie" for both Coke and Pepsi, whereas increased Pepsi advertising would likely "grow the pie" (increase consumption of all soft drinks), albeit while giving Pepsi a larger slice at Coke's expense. Another example is the substitute of traditional phone with VoIP phone.

Potential factors:

• Buyer propensity to substitute
• Relative price performance of substitute
• Buyer switching costs
• Perceived level of product differentiation
• Number of substitute products available in the market
• Ease of substitution
• Substandard product
• Quality depreciation

Bargaining power of customers (buyers)

The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs: the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price changes. Firms can take measures to reduce buyer power, such as implementing a loyalty program. The buyer power is high if the buyer has many alternatives.

Potential factors:

• Buyer concentration to firm concentration ratio
• Degree of dependency upon existing channels of distribution
• Bargaining leverage, particularly in industries with high fixed costs
• Buyer switching costs relative to firm switching costs
• Buyer information availability
• Force down prices
• Availability of existing substitute products
• Buyer price sensitivity
• Differential advantage (uniqueness) of industry products
• RFM (customer value) Analysis
• The total amount of trading

Bargaining power of suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of power over the firm when there are few substitutes. If you are making biscuits and there is only one person who sells flour, you have no alternative but to buy it from them. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm or charge excessively high prices for unique resources.

Potential factors:

• Supplier switching costs relative to firm switching costs
• Degree of differentiation of inputs
• Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation
• Presence of substitute inputs
• Strength of distribution channel
• Supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio
• Employee solidarity (e.g. labor unions)
• Supplier competition: the ability to forward vertically integrate and cut out the buyer.

Information system

Post 1: Types of Information Systems
1. What are types of Information Systems? Give a specific example and images on each IS.

- First type of Information System is Transaction Processing System. It is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices
used to perform and record business transactions. If you understand a transaction
processing system, you understand basic business operations and functions. Example is the Payroll System in a certain company. The inputs in the payroll are the number of employee hours worked
during the week and the pay rate.
Second type is Enterprise Resource Planning. is a set of integrated programs that manages
the vital business operations for an entire multisite, global organization. Example of this is the result of the feedback of the customers in a certain fast food chain. Third is the Management Information System. It is an organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that provides routine information to managers and decision
makers. For example, MIS systems help customers order airline tickets online and withdraw cash from automated teller machines. Fourth is Decision Support Systems. It is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and
devices that support problem-specific decision making. 

Activity

Question no. 1:
"Automating a mess will result to an automated mess."

- I really can't explain this quote but on what I'd understand it tells that when you automate a mess and still continuing that mess or lets just say still tolerating that mess, it will result to a problem that you would really regret, that it would to a automated mess. For example, i will not relate it to technology, i will relate it to daily living, like in school, for example, I am always absent in my classes sometimes late, the result of it is that, my grades failed, if I keep on doing that or lets just say tolerating that attitude and if I wont do anything about that, it will fail until the class ends.

Question no. 2:
Prominent book authors said that technology is the biggest contributor to climate change; in your capacity as an IT student how would you address this global problem? Enumerate steps and actions to be taken.

-  We all know technology helps us in many ways. It is very useful to us. It is made to help us in our daily living so that everything that we do will be more easier.  But don't you know technology also changing us, but not only us, also our climate. As a IT student I would address this global problem to everyone. First. All of us should know how to use technology more responsible. All of us should be responsible. Second. We should know our limitations when it comes in using technology. We can't really say that technology is the biggest contributor because it damaging our climate. It depends on us people who are using it. It depends on us how we use it properly that it can't damage our environment so us. As an IT student I would say that technology  should used properly and wisely so that everything will be okay. As what in the picture says, "YOU CONTROL CLIMATE CHANGE. Turn down. Switch off. Recycle. Walk. Change" It is in our hands. The changing of climate is in our hands. To prevent in avoiding climate change, we should control our self in using technologies.

Question no. 3:
How do you distinguish a professional from other kinds of workers? Does someone who completes for only a two-year course in Technical can be classified as a professional? Defend your answer

- Professional are those persons who has standards in education, that they have this particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform the role of that profession. It is also particular social stratum of well-educated workers who enjoy considerable work autonomy and who are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work. For me, it is not only those 4 years course could be classified as professional. Wanna know why? Because I know each one of us has its own expertise. It doesn't matter if he graduated two-year course or four year course because it depends on how will he deal with his  professionalism. Even though he only graduated two year course he still have the learnings that he earned through a short period of time. I know that he can enhance it more. He can enhance it more that he can be professional. But there's still an advantage if he graduated 4 year course because he has more learnings than the 2 year course and he can easily enter to a job because he has the standards what the job wants. But still, it depends on him how will he deal with his professionalism.  But do you know, being professional has more obligations.