Landscape Architecture

BUILD ENVIRONMENT The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings and parks or green space to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply, or energy networks. The built environment is a material, spatial and cultural product of human labor that combines physical elements and energy in forms for living, working and playing. It has been defined as â€Å"the human-made space in which people live, work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis†.The â€Å"built environment encompasses places and spaces created or modified by people including buildings, parks, and transportation systems†. In recent years, public health research has expanded the definition of â€Å"built environment† to include healthy food access, community gardens, â€Å"walkabilty†, and â€Å"bikability†. Early concepts of built environments w ere introduced thousands of years ago. Hippodamus of Miletos, known as the â€Å"father of urban planning†, developed Greek cities from 498 BC to 408 BC that created order by using grid plans that mapped the city.These early city plans eventually gave way to the City Beautiful movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s, inspired by Daniel Hudson Burnham, a reformist for the Progressivism movement who actively promoted â€Å"a reform of the landscape in tandem with political change†. The effort was in partnership with others who believed that beautifying American cities would improve the moral compass of the cities and encourage the upper class to spend their money in cities. This beautification process included parks and architectural design. Modern built environmentCurrently built environments are typically used to describe the interdisciplinary field that addresses the design, construction, management, and use of these man-made surroundings as an interrelated whole a s well as their relationship to human activities over time (rather than a particular element in isolation or at a single moment in time). The field is generally not regarded as a traditional profession or academic discipline in its own right, instead drawing upon areas such as economics, law, public policy, public health, management, geography, design, technology, and environmental sustainability.Within the field of public health, built environments are referred to as building or renovating areas in an effort to improve the community’s well-being through construction of â€Å"aesthetically, health improved, and environmentally improved landscapes and living structures†. Urban planning The term â€Å"urban planning† indicates that much of the environment we inhabit is man-made and that these artificial surroundings are so extensive and cohesive that with regards to the consumption of resources, waste disposal, and productive enterprise, they are similar to organi sms.Public health In public health, built environments refer to physical environments that are designed with health and wellness as integral parts of the communities. Research has indicated that how neighborhoods are created can affect both the physical activity and mental health of the communities’ residents. Studies have shown that built environments that were expressly designed to improve physical activity are linked to higher rates of physical activity, which in turn, positively affects health.Neighborhoods with more walkability had lower rates of obesity as well as increased physical activity among its residents. They also had lower rates of depression, higher social capital, and less alcohol abuse. Walkability features in these neighborhoods include safety, sidewalk construction, as well as destinations in which to walk. In addition, the perception of a walkable neighborhood, one that is perceived to have good sidewalks and connectivity, is correlated with higher rates of physical activity. Assessments of walkability have been completed through the use of GIS programs.One such program, Street Smart Walk Score, is a walkability assessment tool which determines distances to grocery stores and other amenities, as well as connectivity and intersection frequency using specific addresses. Assessments such as Street Smart Walk Score can be utilized by city and county planning departments to improve existing walkability of communities. Public health also addresses additional components of built environments including â€Å"bikeability† and healthy food access such as proximity to grocery stores and community gardens.Bikeability refers to the access that an area has granted to safe biking through multiple bike paths and bike lanes. Both walkability and bikeability have been cited as determinants of physical activity. Access to healthy food is also an important component to the built environment. A higher density of convenience stores has been associ ated with obesity in children. In contrast, improved access to community supermarkets and farmer’s markets is correlated with lower overweight status. Specifically in low income neighborhoods, the presence of a local grocery store is correlated with lower BMI/overweight risk.Community gardens are also considered a part of the built environment, and have been shown to increase fruit and vegetable intake among gardeners. Scholars say that community gardens have also been shown to have positive social and psychological impacts that lead to lower levels of stress, hypertension, and an improved sense of wellness, affecting the overall health of the individual and the community. The intersection of public health with other disciplines is evident in the design process of built environments which includes environmental planning, policy development and land-use planning.Research suggests that people are more active in mixed-use communities or those that incorporate retail and resident ial and densely populated areas as well as those with good street connectivity. Those who preferred to walk and live in walkable environments often have lower obesity rates and drive less over those who preferred living in auto-dependent environments. The strength of the evidence for reducing obesity through environment has been highlighted by the Center for Disease Control in its Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention Project, which includes measures of healthy food access and physical activity environments.Landscape architecture In landscape architecture, the built environment is understood to mean a human-made landscape, as distinguished from the natural environment; for example, a city park is a built environment. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally[->0] on Earth[->1] or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species. The concept of the natural env ironment can be distinguished by components: Complete ecological[->2] units that function as natural[->3] systems without massive human[->4] intervention, including all vegetation[->5], microorganisms[->6], soil[->7], rocks[->8], atmosphere[->9], and natural phenomena[->10] that occur within their boundaries.  §Universal natural resources[->11] and physical phenomena[->12] that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air[->13], water[->14], and climate[->15], as well as energy[->16], radiation[->17], electric charge[->18], and magnetism[->19], not originating from human activity.The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment[->20], which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment. It is difficult to find absolutely natural environments, and it is common that the naturalness varies in a continuum, from ideally 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform.If, for instance, we take an agricultural field, and consider the mineralogic composition[->21] and the structure[->22] of its soil, we will find that whereas the first is quite similar to that of an undisturbed forest soil, the structure is quite different. Natural environment is often used as a synonym for habitat[->23]. For instance, when we say that the natural environment of giraffes is the savanna[->24]. PLANT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS The â€Å"Typical† Plant Body The Root System (Usually underground)  §Anchor the plant in the soil  §Absorb water and nutrients  §Conduct water and nutrients Food Storage The Shoot System (Usually above grounds)  §Elevates the plant above the soil  §Many functions including:  §photosynthesis  §reproduction & dispersal  §food and water conduction TYPE OF PLANTS Cacti (Cactus) Cactus plants are well ad apted to hot and dry weather by storing water in their succulent stems. They are also known for their spines, for which they are famous. Flowers Flowers are the reproductive part of angiosperms, also known as flowering plants. Herbs Herbs are used for culinary, medicinal and spiritual uses. In cuisine, the leaves of the herb are normally the only part used.All parts of herbs are used in various medical or spiritual practices. Shrubs and Bushes Usually under 6 m tall, shrubs and bushes are categorized as woody plants. Shrubs have multiple stems and many are covered with flowers of all shapes and sizes. Trees Trees are everywhere in the world. Trees are tall, large and some are very old. Trees are important in fighting soil erosion and responsible for the clean oxygen we breathe. Vegetables The term ‘vegetable' is not actually a scientific classification of a plant, but rather strictly a culinary term.Vegetables are parts of plants (flower buds, seeds, stems, fruits, etc) that a re edible and used in culinary dishes. PLANT Plants, also called green plants (Viridiplantae in Latin), are living organisms of the kingdom Plantae including such multicellular groups as flowering plants, conifers, ferns and mosses, as well as, depending on definition, the green algae, but not red or brown seaweeds like kelp, nor fungi or bacteria. Green plants have cell walls with cellulose and characteristically obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis using chlorophyll contained in chloroplasts, which gives them their green color.Some plants are parasitic and may not produce normal amounts of chlorophyll or photosynthesize. Plants are also characterized by sexual reproduction, modular and indeterminate growth, and an alteration of generations, although asexual reproduction is common, and some plants bloom only once while others bear only one bloom. Precise numbers are difficult to determine, but as of 2010, there are thought to be 300–315 thousand speci es of plants, of which the great majority, some 260–290 thousand, are seed plants.Green plants provide most of the world's free oxygen and are the basis of most of the earth's ecologies, especially on land. Plants described as grains, fruits and vegetables form mankind's basic foodstuffs, and have been domesticated for millennia. Plants enrich our lives as flowers and ornaments. Until recently and in great variety they have served as the source of most of our medicines and drugs. Their scientific study is known as botany. [-;0] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nature [-;1] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Earth [-;2] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ecological -;3] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nature [-;4] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Human [-;5] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Vegetation [-;6] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Microorganisms [-;7] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Soil [-;8] – http://en. w ikipedia. org/wiki/Rock_(geology) [-;9] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Atmosphere [-;10] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Natural_phenomenon [-;11] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Natural_resource [-;12] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Physical_phenomena [-;13] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Air -;14] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Water [-;15] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Climate [-;16] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Energy [-;17] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Radiation [-;18] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Electric_charge [-;19] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Magnetism [-;20] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Built_environment [-;21] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mineralogy [-;22] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Soil_structure [-;23] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Habitat [-;24] – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Savanna

Autobiography of Malcolm X report essays

Autobiography of Malcolm X report essays Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska but was raised in Michigan. His father was a civil rights activist and his mother a supportive house wife. When Malcolms mother was pregnant with him their home in Nebraska was raided by the Klu Klux Klan, who was strictly against the activism of his father. They escaped that night, but one fateful in Detroit day after Malcolms mother and father had a heated argument he stormed into town where he would be killed by a white mob who considered him to be uppity. After his fathers death Malcolms family started to deteriorate, most significantly his mother. Social Services eventually stepped in as the home literally fell apart, physically and emotionally. Malcolm and his siblings were placed under the care of some friends of the family while his mother was placed in a mental institution. Shortly thereafter Malcolm became mischievous getting into trouble at school. Social Services placed him into a home with a white woman known for ta king care of troubled children. He went to all white schools, where he was eventually adopted the white culture and fit in. He was even elected class president in the 7th grade. Everything seemed alright until one day Malcolm was asked by his teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up. After some thought Malcolm responded by saying he wanted to be a lawyer. His teacher responded by telling Malcolm that he was good with his hands and should be a carpenter. After that Malcolm wrote that something inside him had changed. He no longer brushed off the word nigger in the hallway and he wasnt the happy go lucky kid every one knew him to be. After while the white woman he was staying with (Ms. Swerlin) saw that he wasnt happy and had him move with the Lyons family where his siblings were for two months to finish middle school. After successfully finishing middle school Malcolm moved with his half sister Ella to Boston, M...

How George Westinghouse Influenced Electricity

How George Westinghouse Influenced Electricity George Westinghouse was a prolific inventor who influenced the course of history by promoting the use of electricity for power and transportation. He enabled the growth of railroads through his inventions. As an industrial manager, Westinghouses influence on history is considerable he formed and directed more than 60 companies to market his and others inventions during his lifetime. His electric company became one of the greatest electric manufacturing organizations in the U.S., and his influence abroad was evidenced by the many companies he founded in other countries. The Early Years Born on October 6, 1846, in Central Bridge, New York, George Westinghouse worked in his fathers shops in Schenectady where they manufactured agricultural machinery. He served as a private in the cavalry for two years during the Civil War before rising to Acting Third Assistant Engineer in the Navy in 1864. He attended college for only 3 months in 1865, dropping out soon after obtaining his first patent on October 31, 1865, for a rotary steam engine. Westinghouse’s Inventions Westinghouse invented an instrument to replace derailed freight cars on train tracks and started a business to manufacture his invention. He obtained a patent for one of his most important inventions, the air brake, in April 1869. This device enabled locomotive engineers to stop trains with fail-safe accuracy for the first time. It was eventually adopted by the majority of the worlds railroads. Train accidents had been frequent before Westinghouse’s invention because brakes had to be applied manually on each car by different brakemen following a signal from the engineer. Seeing potential profit in the invention, Westinghouse organized the Westinghouse Air Brake Company in July 1869, acting as its president. He continued to make changes to his air brake design and later developed the automatic air brake system and the triple valve. Westinghouse then  expanded into the railroad signaling industry in the United States by organizing the Union Switch and Signal Company. His industry grew  as he opened companies in Europe and Canada.  Devices based on his own inventions and the patents of others were designed to control the increased speed and flexibility which was made possible by the invention of the air brake. Westinghouse also developed an apparatus for the safe transmission of natural gas. The Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse saw the potential for electricity early on and formed the Westinghouse Electric Company in 1884. It would later be known as the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. He obtained exclusive rights to Nikola Tesla’s patents for a polyphase system of alternating current in 1888, persuading the inventor to join the Westinghouse Electric Company. There was opposition from the public to the development of alternating current electricity. Critics, including Thomas Edison, argued that it was dangerous and a health hazard. This idea was enforced when New York adopted the use of alternating current electrocution for capital crimes. Undeterred, Westinghouse proved its viability by having his company design and provide the lighting system for the entire Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The Niagara Falls Project Westinghouses company took on another industrial challenge when it was awarded a contract with the Cataract Construction Company in 1893 to build three huge generators to harness the energy of the Niagara Falls. Installation on this project began in April 1895. By November, all three generators were completed. Engineers at Buffalo closed the circuits that finally completed the process to bring power from Niagara a year later. The hydroelectric development of Niagara Falls by George Westinghouse in 1896 inaugurated the practice of placing generating stations far from consumption centers. The Niagara plant transmitted massive amounts of power to Buffalo, over 20 miles away. Westinghouse developed a device called a transformer to solve the problem of sending electricity over long distances.   Westinghouse convincingly demonstrated the general superiority of transmitting power with electricity rather than by mechanical means such as the use of ropes, hydraulic pipes, or compressed air, all of which had been proposed. He demonstrated the transmission superiority of alternating current over direct current. Niagara set a contemporary standard for generator size, and it was the first large system supplying electricity from one circuit for multiple end uses such as railway, lighting, and power. The Parsons Steam Turbine Westinghouse made further industrial history by acquiring exclusive rights to manufacture the Parsons steam turbine in America and introducing the first alternating current locomotive in 1905. The first major application of alternating current to railway systems was used in the Manhattan Elevated railways in New York and later in the New York City subway system. The first single-phase railway locomotive was demonstrated in the East Pittsburgh railway yards in 1905. Soon after, the Westinghouse Company began the task of electrifying the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad with the single-phase system between Woodlawn, New York and Stamford, Connecticut. Westinghouse’s Later Years The various Westinghouse companies were worth about $120 million and employed approximately 50,000 workers at the turn of the century. By 1904, Westinghouse owned nine manufacturing companies in the U.S., one in Canada, and five in Europe. Then the financial panic of 1907 caused Westinghouse to lose control of the companies he had founded. He founded his last major project in 1910, the invention of a compressed air spring for taking the shock out of automobile riding. But by 1911, he had severed all ties with his former companies. Spending much of his later life in public service, Westinghouse showed signs of a heart ailment by 1913. He was ordered to rest by doctors. After deteriorating health and illness confined him to a wheelchair, he died on March 12, 1914, with a total of 361 patents to his credit. His last patent was received in 1918, four years after his death.

Team Model Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Team Model - Assignment Example Workers may be indistinct in respect to what strengthening implies in substantial terms. The assignment includes the task to others of the power for specific capacities, errands, and choices. Strengthening is giving representatives the ability to make their employment. The idea of strengthening is nearly interfaced to inspiration and client administration. Representatives need to feel that their activities tally and strengthening are about getting this going (Boynton & amp; Fisher, 2005). Imparted choice making can enhance the quality and acknowledgement of choices, support specialist inspiration and respect toward oneself, expand the feeling of possession and enhance interpersonal relations with representatives (Lencioni, 2002). It is not simple to delegate. A rancher asked why his laborers came specifically to him with their issues and inquiries, skipping directly over the foreman. Upon further reflection, this cultivator understood that he was empowered this conduct by noting inquiries and tackling issues for the representatives. Rather, he required to help his foreman by having workers go to him with these matters (McConkey, 1974). There is a dubious equalization, here, on the other hand. While specialists ought to feel the need to work out normal issues straightforwardly with the ranch foreman, the entryway ought to be left open for laborers to sense that the rancher can hear them out, as well. In one homestead operation, the cultivator made it clear to the workers that his entryway was interested in listening on the off chance that they ever required talking. When the agriculturist would leave the field, be that as it may, the foreman would close that entryway, by advising workers that they were not to ever trouble the producer (Webb, 2002). The only way good team effectiveness can be felt is when the team work as a group to develop individual strength to maximize their

Detroit Electric Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Detroit Electric - Case Study Example He continues to claim that this kind of organisational arrangement is highly dependent of the ability of the organisation involved to clearly and unambiguously describe the specialised jobs that are required to see the organization achieve its goals. Detroit Electric Company invests in outlining what work it requires to be done, and then outsources the services of other companies. It does not do any design or manufacturing. The company maintains that this kind of organizational structure helps it escape capital expanses which may be too huge for it to afford at this point in time, bearing in mind that it is still at start up level. However, there is indication that this company may slowly stop outsourcing its operations as time goes by and as their revenues continue to build on. This is due to the fact that they attribute their outsourcing arrangement to ‘avoiding capital costs which could be fatal to its start-up’ (p. 512). The reason why Detroit Electric chose to use t his structure is to capitalize on the economic advantage that is brought by division of work into highly specialised or precise jobs. The company realised that there was already the presence of specialised vehicle manufacturing companies such as Proton Holdings where manufacturing resources could be outsourced to. Proton Holdings was chosen to do the manufacturing activities of Detroit Electric because it had a modern production facility was committed to research and development, was cost efficient, stable, and had a highly qualified labor-force. Relationship between Organisational Structure and Pace of Development Detroit Electric Company is on pace to present its electric vehicles to the market only three years after its inception. On the other hand, Ford will have taken forty years to produce a viable electric car by 2011. The pace of development in these two companies is affect by the organisational structures the two companies have deployed in their organisations. Organisationa l structure defines the manner in which the human resource are organised and their reporting arrangements. Ford, apparently, has deployed the traditional centralised approach to organisational management. Decisions are made at top management levels and little authority is delegated to subordinates as this may indicate loss of control. They review decision made by lower level management and decide on thefate of their implementation. As a result, there is a lot of duplication of functions at different levels of management.This kind of arrangement may create a conservative culture in the organization which will result to everyone wanting to maintain the status quo. This affects the success of the electric car project at Ford because the personnel ‘have become used to the routine activities they perform’. As Jacobides puts it, getting so used to routine activities in an organisation makes it difficult for them to focus on the organisation’s projects, follow schedules , and meet deadlines. It also makesit difficult for information to flow across the departmentswhich in turn makes it difficult to share resources efficiently, agree on development agenda, and implement new strategies. In addition, Ford has specialized in the manufacturing of usual cars (those powered by fuel). It was therefore reluctant to diversify into electric cars due to market uncertainties and risks. Manufacturing electric cars would also demand a huge extra investment in infrastructure and human

Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Research Proposal Example In this research I will be using Alveson’s situational approach theory as it will enable me get an in-depth view and perception on meaning of leadership sharing (Alvesson, 1997). My proposal topic is ‘situational analysis of shared leadership in a self managing team’. This topic means that some people have no leaders at their workplace thus share leadership roles among themselves especially in self managing teams (Hicks & Bone, 1990). The aim of this proposal is to identify how self managing teams define leadership in their work meetings and work plans. In addition, this proposal aims to show how self managing teams determine the direction of the whole team towards their project and also the self managing team’s relationships, team identity and individual’s team member’s identities. Furthermore, the proposal aims at identifying the constraints faced by self managing teams by different factors like social factors, gender, cultural backgrounds and ethnicity. Leadership is a very tricky affair especially for self managing teams as they are bound to be conflicts. However, according to Alvesson (1996), situational approach gives leadership the team accomplishment which does not follow the norm of doing what the leader proposes (Alvesson, 1996). What makes this proposal interesting is the idea that leaders have always had a problem with leadership. There have been cases of suicides, failed projects, lost money and dysfunctional cases in many organizations. This negative situation befalls these companies because of their leaders and their leadership skills. In this proposal I will be doing a literature review, I will formulate some research questions, discussing methods used, and a conclusive conclusion. The proposal research will take up to two months of research and two hours per day for the two months. I have narrowed my research to a particular team of family run food joint. This

Digi Telecommunications Sdn

Digi Telecommunications Sdn If there is one defining story in the technology world today, it is most likely the explosive growth of mobile communications. It is more well known that there are more mobile handsets than personal computers and that each of them has more computing power than the NASA computers that placed a man on the moon. This trend is connecting people from all around and across the world and acting as a great leveler as people are able to communicate and collaborate more seamlessly. Leading this trend in Malaysia would be Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. is a mobile service provider and provides wireless telecommunications services. The company is owned by Telenor ASA of Norway with 49%. On 24 May 1995 DiGi became the first Telco in Malaysia to launch and operate a fully digital cellular network. The company was formerly known as Mutiara Telecommunications Sdn Bhd but changed its name to Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd in January 1999. Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd was founded in 1995 and bs ed in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd operates as a subsidiary of DiGi.Com Berhad. Right now, DiGi is listed on the Bursa Malaysia under the Infrastructure category. DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. Company provides a variety or broad of mobile communication services. These services include data services to individual and corporate customers, voice under their prepaid plans postpaid plans, SMS, data plans and services, international roaming, international calling card and WAP services. Digi faced challenges understanding the status of opportunities, inputting data manually into multiple systems, tracking proposal approval status and lines activation status, and tracking the success of marketing campaigns. Other challenge faced by Digi would be its directly and indirectly competitors. Competitors which compete directly with Digi are Maxis, Celcom, and U Mobile. DiGi also competes indirectly with broadband services provider such as TM, P1, Redtone, Amax. 3.0 Situation analysis 3.1 General Environment Analysis Political Strong Malaysian Government support: In 2007, Malaysian government has set to achieve 50% Malaysian household with both wired and wireless mobile broadband penetration by the end of 2010. In order to aid service providers further, the government rolls out supplies of broadband infrastructure and services throughout Malaysia. Plus, they also aggressively generate continuous demand in 3 aspects which are awareness, attractiveness and affordability. Malaysian Government discourages the usage of cell phone among school kids: In the year of 2006, Malaysian government banned the usage of cell phone among kids in nationwide school even included the fully residential schools. The decision was taken after many groups especially parents and teachers expressed their concern that allowing the handheld tool to be used by students while in schools could lead to a lot of problems such as affecting students performance in class. Social Influx of foreign worker: Traditionally, Maxis and Celcom have neglected to provide mobile services for this segment on the assumption that foreign workers are unable to afford them. DiGi entered this full of opportunity yet neglected segment after discovering that these migrants were willing to pay for communications to connect with their loved ones back home if they were offered affordable packages without any extras and make it their stronghold. Foreign workers are important in expanding Malaysias economy as they are the ones who willing to work for long hours but only receiving minimum pay. Foreign workers will be willing to work in Malaysia if they could contact their loved ones and family anytime with low cost. Higher standard living among Malaysians: Malaysians are able to enjoy the high-tech tele communication provided. Whether it is to be in touch with their loved ones or family. Communications has improved skills and knowledge among the Malaysian citizens. Globalization The world is now borderless where by economic openness and growing interdependence between countries had spur on increase in movements of people, goods and services. Increasing in Malaysias GDP: The communications and multimedia industry contributed 6.1% in term of revenue to Malaysias GDP. While in 2009, this industry generate about RM40 billion. For 2nd Quarter of 2010, the communication sub-sector registered 8.4% growth, mainly attributed to greater usage of cellular, broadband and 3G services. Economics Offering lower price packages: As economic downturn or during recession, Digi always offer the lowest price compared to its two competitors which are Maxis and Celcom. Therefore, even in the worst economic position, Digi will not lose its market share but more users are switching to Digi for its attracting benefits. Technology Continuous technological advancement in wired and wireless telecommunication: The creation of short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), GRPS, and 3G. Demographic Population: With the help of telecommunication services, population in certain areas will be expanding as people are safe to move around since there is a way to communicate with each other. Immigrants who came to Malaysia are able to get in touch with their hometown. Physical The packages offered: There are so many promotions and cheap packages offer by Digi so that people are able to get in touch with each other without paying a large sum of amount. These benefits attracted some populations like students and people with lower salary as promotions offered by Digi could save up money. 3.2 Porters Five Forces Analysis Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development that introduced by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. This theory normally uses to determine the competitive intensity of an organization the overall industry profitability. Therefore, a business has to understand its position in the industry in order to create competitive advantages. There are 5 elements under Porters five forces which are new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products, and lastly intensity of rivalry among competitors. In telecommunication industry, Digi faces a very stiff competition which come from the main competitor Maxis and Celcom. From the aspect of new entrants, we can see that the capital require to enter this industry is very high, therefore this telecommunication industry is basically owned by 3 big companies. From the perspective of government policy and regulation, The National Telecommunication Policy encourages a healthy and orderly competition. The telecommunications sector has been opened to competition where basic infrastructure and telecommunications services are operated by private enterprises in order to provide a better quality services. In this sector, consumers have a low switching cost between these mobile telecommunication companies. Overall, we can consider a threat to new entrants is medium level. The second element in Porters 5 forces is bargaining power of buyers. In this industry, the bargaining powers of buyers are increasing in these few years. Most of the people need this mobile telecommunication service. Consumers purchase a large portion of industrys total output. Other than that, the switching cost between these companies is very low. Lastly, it is clear to see that the product between Digi and maxis is actually undifferentiated or standardized. Consumers who do not satisfy with the services from Digi can easily switch to other companies. Through these indications above, we can conclude that the bargaining power of buyers is very high. The next element is threat of substitute products. The substitute products may simply increase competition in an industry. When Maxis launch a new package to the market, Digi revenue will decrease due to the stress from its competitors. Therefore, Digi has to introduce some new services to attract consumer attention back. The products in this mobile telecommunication industry is actually undifferentiated, therefore, the threat of substitute products is high. The fourth element is intensity of rivalry among competitors which refer to the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. As mentioned earlier, Digi faces a very stiff competition in this sector by equally balance competitors especially Maxis. Basically, the products between these companies are lack of differentiation and the switching cost is low. In order to pursuit an advantage over its rivals, Digi company always adopt some new strategies on changing price and launch a cheaper package such as Digi campus to its users to make sure their customers maintain loyalty to the company. As an overall, level of rivalry that Digi faces can be concluding as high level. The last element in this theory is the bargaining power of suppliers. The bargaining power of suppliers can consists as high because most of the equipment that used to build tower cannot be sources locally, it is highly depend to export from other country. Because of the equipment is unique especially Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), so most of them are imported from other countries. There are only a few suppliers for Digi and the switching cost of Digi to change to another supplier is quite high. 3.3 Descriptive for key stakeholder In term of organizations, DiGi is doing well in preserving the environment, which was being supported and recognized by peoples that all around the world. This may help in improving their brand name and can be a part of advertising strategies too. For example, On 3 June of 2010, DiGi had donated a total of RM98, 211 to WWF-Malaysia to reforest, which is up to 12 hectares of degraded forest as part of the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life (K-CoL) reforestation project. The fund was collected under the four month DiGi Postpaid e-Billing that derived from DiGis Minus campaign, which was started from December 2009 to March 2010. For each postpaid the customer who paid for the electronic billing, which is so called e-billing, DiGi donated Rm3 for the reforestation project. Although it only Rm3, but each contribution of RM3 can help to reforest an area equal to the size of 75 pieces of postpaid bill envelopes placed side-by-side, which is about 3 square meters. In short, the e-billing campaign was one of the activities that being carried out to reduce the paper usage. This is the main purpose that DiGis Deep Green ambition for minimising the environment impact. This is proven as DiGi always try to reduce their carbon footprints; they keep on encouraging customers make payment through e-billing, moreover, they also reduced the packaging and the size of the DiGi reload cards and the SIM packs. Last but not least, DiGi also provides a total paperless personal accident insurance, which the whole procedures will be done through the mobile phone. Besides, DiGi launched the campaign of Yellow Coverage Fellow through a series of television commercials. Originally called Yellow Man, until renamed by DiGis marketing team as YCF. It entitled with the DiGi Yellow, and DiGis WIDEST Coverage always with you. The theme song is I Will Follow You. Obviously the public response to the campaign was very positive. This is because I Will Follow You had become a phrase among the Malaysian public. In term of Product, the products and the services that provided by DiGi is well known by all the peoples around the worlds and is attracting the subscribers to be one of the DiGi users. DiGi is the first to operate the full cellular network and is the first to operate their cellular network in Sabah and Sarawak Besides, DiGi is the First operator in Asia to be part of the International Roaming Platform and to launch the use of the dual-band mobile phones. On the year 1997, DiGi be the first telcomunication company that being listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Main Board under the Infrastructure Project Companies category, and at that time, DiGi is known as Mutiara Swisscom Bhd. On 1998, Digi also be the first operator in Malaysia that launched the prepaid mobile phone service. The expecting of DiGi continued, to be the first GSM operator in Malaysia to offer Automatic International Roaming service to the United States of America; to be the first telecomuncation to launch a web site in Malaysia, the introduced of e-pay system as mentioned above and the following are the awards of DiGi: Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2005,Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2006,Best Prepaid Telco Service Provider 2005 by IT publications PC.Com, received in 2006,Mobile Operator of the Year, Malaysia by Asian Mobile News, received in June 2006,Malaysias CEO of the Year by Business Times, received in 2006,Malaysias Most Innovative Company survey by the Wall Street Journal Asia, received in October 2006 Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2007, on 24 May, Mobile Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2007, on 24 May and last but not least the Wireless Service Provider of the Year by Frost Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2007, on 15 June In addition, DiGi is not only popular with their background but also with the price that they offered for their plan. For example, the prepaid package, DiGi Campus, which is highly demanded by the students that are studying in University. This is due to the low rate of calling and sms rate. Students can enjoy 100 minutes free calls to others DiGi numbers when they meet the conditions of spending RM2 per date. Besides, for the postpaid package, the user is only required to pay as low as 0.15 per minutes. 3.4. SWOT analysis based on stakeholder groups Digi SWOT analysis 3.4.1 Strength 3.4.1.1 Product Innovation Innovation is important because it exploiting new ideas to create a new product, process or service. Innovations become major strength because their research and development had always exceeded customer expectation so that increasing the customer satisfaction toward Digi. For example, innovation product such as Digi Campus for university student and Digi broadband services. Reward system A good reward system can motivate current subscribers and potential subscribers. Good reward system become a strength because Digi have a completely, effective, and efficiency system to service their subscriber. For example, birthday bonus for subscriber, a user can enjoy 50% extra bonus credit when reload before 3 days and after 3 days on the user birthday. 3.4.1.2 Organization Affiliation Telenor ASA now is Digi.Com Berhards first majority foreign-owned telecommunications service provider. Keeping good relationship with Telenor is a major strength of Digi. Affiliation with Telenor is important because Telenors will bring collective strength to Digi such as development of advanced technologies and services and maintaining the Digi status as a leader player in telecommunication sector. For example, Telenor intends to expand DIGIs business and further strengthen and improve the companys market position, with a particular emphasis on mobile product and services. (Arve Johansen, CEO Telenor mobile) Facilities Facilities are important because it bring convenience to customer and save time and cost. Facilities of Digi become strength because it provided many methods to let subscriber easily get what they want. For example, Digi center, reload credit through online banking, online payment and many more. It brings a super convenience to subscriber and will increase the customer satisfaction. Another reason is because too many competitor offering same services, so that Digi must offer facilities that other competitor dont have. 3.4.1.3 Capital Strong financial performance Strong financial performance in Digi becomes strength because Digi have stable number subscribers. An increasing and stable number of subscribers can lead strong financial performance in Digi, Digi are focusing in customer satisfaction, excellent customer experiences and keep attract new subscribers by promoting their product and services. 3.4.2 Weakness 3.4.2.1 Product Late to reach customer in latest information Latest information late to reach end user becomes a major weakness because Digi seldom promote their product and services in society. Latest information late to reach end user will cause lose a lot of potential customer and the sales will start to dropping down. For example, when new product or services release, if no any promoting activities like open booth, promotion to promote product, all the customer will dont know the latest information in Digi. 3.4.2.2 Organization Dependency on strategic sharing Dependency on strategic sharing becomes major weakness in Digi because Digi are still highly depending on product development and RD. They think try through product development can serve the customer better but it may not effectively, too focus on product development will cause the relationship between Digi and customer becomes not strong, they may will ignore the customer feeling and customer satisfaction. Lack of involvement of Digi ambassadors Ambassadors is important because they can lead a company toward successful and influence the telecommunication market. Lack of involvement becomes weakness because Digi ambassador lack of involvement in promoting product and services. Once the ambassador did not showing their responsibility, the latest information cannot be deliver to customer therefore the performances of company will be affected. 3.4.3 Opportunity 3.4.3.1 Product Rising telecommunication demand Higher demand for Digis product and services become an opportunity in Digi because it can lead Digi to produce more product and services to improve their sales and revenue. More people demand for the Digis product and services meaning that the quality of product and services offer by Digi is good and customer willing accept due to larger satisfaction. For example, low cost broadband internet services bring larger demand. Higher standard of living Recently, the Malaysia higher standard of living also becomes an opportunity for Digi Company. Higher standard of living in Malaysia cause the demand for telecommunication increase, many people will start choose the best telecommunication industry to be their communication tool due to the convenient. For example, even nowadays a 7 years old girl has their own mobile phone. 3.4.3.2 Organization Advance technology in human resource Advance technology in human resource are become an opportunity in Digi. Digi must focusing on recruiting new employee and provide training to them so that can maintaining a competent human resources in Digi. 3.4.3.3 Capital High capital investment High capital investments become an opportunity in Digi because of the ultimate holding company, Telenor. Telenor was investing a large amount of capital to expand their business to achieve profitability and enhance shareholder returns. 3.4.4 Threat 3.4.4.1 Product High bargaining power of consumer In telecommunication industry there have a lot of company like maxis, celcom, telekom Malaysia. Consumers are easily to choose and switch to another industry to use. In this case, Digi can offering higher quality of telecommunication services to customer at a lower price so that Digi wont lose their customer. Technology advancement in telecommunication Technology advancement such as in wired and wireless telecommunication becomes a threat in Digi Company. Current level of technology maybe very fast outdated because of other competitor continues offering new product with new technology. So, Digi can keep continue in improving the RD and keep at the lower price of product to compete them. For example, the lower cost of Digi broadband internet services brings a lot of business. 3.4.4.2 Organization High switching cost High switching cost becomes a threat in Digi Company. Switching to another supplier the cost is very high, so, switching to another supplier is very hard. To overcome this problem, Digi must keep a close relationship between the current supplier which is Ericsson and Trisilco Folec. Continue a good relationship with supplier Digi can save more cost in acquiring material to produce product and services. 3.5 Summary of situation analysis Strength Innovation of Digi product Good affiliation with Telenor major foreign service provider Excellent facilities convenience Innovation is very important as every competitor try to innovate in a fast pace to compete with each other. Good innovation will lead to successful or failure of a company. Keeping good relation with major foreign service provider will stabilize the investors investment on the company, which will lead to major profiting in the company for now and future. Providing excellent facilities and service will satisfy customers, and because of that, they will subscribe and be loyal. Weakness Slower in updating latest information Too dependent on strategic sharing Lack of involvement of Digi ambassadors Slowing in updating latest information will cause major loss in long term if the competitor knows the weakness of the company. Everything have to be fast when comes to telecommunication and technology. Focusing or too depending on certain department will influence the environment of the company. It will slowly abandon some important department and cause chaos or blurring of the company organization pattern. Good ambassadors deliver good information to customer, and customer deliver profit to company. Choosing a good ambassador will shape up the message of the company and deliver it to customer clearly. Opportunities Rising of telecommunication demand Higher standard of living High capital investment in expanding business There are a lot of opportunities in telecommunication. As the world moving in fast pace, from 3g to 3.5g and now 4g. The rising of telecommunication demand boost up and open opportunities for existing company to achieve better and stable their company, so that they would not beat down by the new rising advance company. People demand more and create new opportunities as well as idea to satisfy their standard of living. Fast, convenience, save time, save cost, these are the reason people influence the level of living standard. To expand business, we need capital. When we have high capital investment, it shows the how good is the reputation of the company. High investment will influence the size of business, and of course, the profit, and keeping the customers. Threats High bargaining power of consumer Technology advancement in telecommunication High switching cost to another supplier Telecommunication field is full with competitors. Each of the company is very similar to each other. Consumer holds a very strong bargaining power to make their own choice. They choose what they like and what they think it is best for them. They can be switch to A company for today, and maybe tomorrow they will be switching to B company. Current level of technology maybe very fast outdated because of other competitor continues offering new product with new technology. Consumer will go for the company who offer them better technology. Switching to another supplier the cost is very high that makes switching to another supplier is very hard. Keep a close relationship between the current supplier can save more cost in acquiring material to produce product and services. 4.0 The Strategic Option of an organisation (DiGi) Build a powerful competitive advantage The strategic option of DiGi is to build a powerful competitive advantage. DiGi became the first telco in Malaysia to launch and operate a fully digital cellular network on 24 May 1995. On the year 1997, DiGi be the first telecommunication company that being listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Main Board under the Infrastructure Project Companies category, and at that time, DiGi is known as Mutiara Swisscom Bhd. On the year 1998, Digi also be the first operator in Malaysia that launched the prepaid mobile phone service. The expecting of DiGi continued, to be the first GSM operator in Malaysia to offer Automatic International Roaming service to the United States of America; to be the first telecommunication to launch a website in Malaysia. This is the main competitive advantage due the often establishment of the first time in Malaysia. Hence it is well known throughout the world. Besides, DiGi provided a cheap Digi Plan, which is Happy Plan. This is targeted to those customers that make a lot of calls and sms, it only costs 1sen/second and up to 99sen per call to any number in Malaysia and the in year 2008, DiGi is the first Telco in Malaysia to introduce Mobile Number Selection service. This service enables the users to choose their own number rather than just following the traditional way. For example, in the traditional way, the user will purchase a new SIM that has been pre-assign with fix mobile number but now they can choose the numbers that they prefer. Sometimes, extra charges are needed for some special numbers, such as with the same digit that repeated twice or more. Operational Efficiency Besides, Operational Efficiency also is one of the strategic options of DiGi. Nowadays, many companies are focusing on IT Infrastructure .Technology can be either a great source. The applications of technology should be supported by an IT infrastructure that connects a companys users to each other. By connecting the DiGi company to their subscribers, this can help the users of DiGi always alert of the latest information and the promotions of DiGi. In term of technology, DiGi has provided Wireless, 3G and Internet Broadband services. Moroever, Facebook Zero, this is a light-weight, text -only version of the standard Facebook Mobile site and it is free and is accessible by all the Digi prepaid and postpaid users. It brings convenient to the users, as now the users can still stay connected with their fellow friends of family just by using their small device. Besides, in term of broadband, DiGi now is offering the quota of 3GB, cost RM38 per month, and the modem is free of charge. The op erational efficiency also included the peoples. This peoples is referred to those who working at DiGi departments. A current issue, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd will continue to invest in customer service amid the economic slowdown to provide better value and build brand loyalty Schnitker, Tom. (2009,February 21). Customer service still tops for DiGi. The Star. DiGi is enhancing their service level DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. provides a variety of mobile communication services, such as voice under their prepaid plans postpaid plans, SMS, data plans and services, international roaming, international calling card and WAP services. Besides that, the users of DiGi is provided with the service of friend and family where the customers is allowed to set 6 Digi numbers that they will call more often. The calling rate and sms rate for these 6 numbers are lower than the normal prepaid rate. Personal Accident Insurance also is one of the services provided by DiGi, which is the competitive advantage that will the others networks do not provided and followed. DiGi provided 1 month free trial PA insurance for their users. The PA insurance can be categorized into 3 categories which is the RM50000 personal insurance, RM100000 personal insurance and RM100000 Family Personal insurance. Customers can enjoy the 1 month trial of the RM50000 of PA insurance and after one month, they can still continue to purchase the PA insurance at RM2 for 30 days coverage. Then you will still be protecting under RM50000 PA insurance plan, but with the term and conditions applied. Moreover, DiGiRemit, this allowed an individual to transfer through mobile phones and has remittanced to Indonesia, Phillippines and with more countries are following soon. Customers can just send 2 text messages to complete their transfer. This brought high convenient to their customers due to this remittance can be transferred to anyone with or without the bank account in the destination country. Besides, it is secured due to the administering of Citibank until the money is being delivered to the beneficiary. greater shares for its stakeholders Last but not least, DiGi provided greater shares for its stakeholders.DiGi market share is currently 25.00 per share. Which is much more higher than its competitors such as Maxis, only 5.33 per share. The shareholders of DiGi can increase their wealth by invest in DiGi. 5.0 Key selection criteria Strategies Activities/Tactics Key selection/criteria Build a competitive advantage Happy Plan Mobile number selection Focus on customer Focus on low cost of product Operational efficiency Infrastructure Facebook Zero, broadband Peoples Customer service. Focus on customer Focus on product quality Enhanced service levels Friend and Family Personal Accident Insurance DiGiRemit Focus on customer Focus on low cost Focus on quality of service. Greater market share RM25.00 per share Focus on shareholder wealth 6.0 Recommendation Key Question Recommendation Decision criteria Pros Cons 1. How the Digi be the top in its game? 1. More branding and quality product. 2. Build up the quality segment 3. Potential high dividend -Research and development, innovation, creative. -lowest call rate in different segment, eg. Postpaid segment. -the growth of sales and revenue. -increase sales and revenue -more focus the need of customer in different segment. -increase shareholder wealth -compete with diversification product from competitor -too many segments may cause company hard to focus in one. -capital gains decrease due to the higher profit and tax expense. 2. Can Digi maintain strong relationship with suppliers? 1. Always place order on time. 2. Setting Digi account on time. 3. Communication between Digi and suppliers -The time to deliver the material. -The dateline of payment -the understanding between Digi and supplier -Supplier have enough time to prepare -clear payment on time can maintain the liquidation of company -establishing the relationship between each others -late submitting order will let supplier not