Sony Play Station - Essay Example

Number Technology In answering this question, the shall focus on the Sony Play Station. It isbasically a series of video game consoles created and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. What are some of the factors that aided the Play Station in its dominance? Some of the factors include; technological superiority- this is where the technology in use is superior to that of its competitors. (Suarez, 2004) During its inception, the Play Station was rivalled by the Nintendo but over the years the former has come out on top. This has been partly due to the technological superiority that the Play Station has had. For instance; it introduced the use of CD-ROMs over cartidges and it also enabled its users to play DVDs or audio CDs in this machines. Nintendo users did not have a similar advantage. Another factor that immensely constributed towards its dominance was complemenatry assets and credibility. This refers to other factors that may aid the brand to become stronger and more dominant for instance reputation and manufacturing capabilities of the company. The Play Station was a product of Sony a well established techonological company that had over the years, prior to the developement of the Play Station in 1994, manufcttured high qaulity electronic products in TVs, radios among other products. (Suarez, 2004) This therefore means the company was well-known and customers had confidence in its products. The firm’s startegic maneuvering is another factor that contributed to it dominance. This is in referrence to entry timing, marketing, pricing etc. Sony released the Playstation one week after the Sega Saturn and at the time it retailed at around $299 this was $100 less than the Sega Saturn. Initially, the Playstation was intended to target the older generation however over time Sony realised its error in this and instead targeted the younger generation. Its sales over the years have justified this strategy. (Suarez, 2004) In describing the dominance process, we are going to look at some key milestones with each milestone marking the beginning of a new phase in the dominance battle. The first step is when a firm starts doing its R&D aimed at producing a new product. The research and development of the Playstation was headed by Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi. (Suarez, 2004) Initially, Sony and Nintendo intended to work together and develop the Super Disc however the two companies parted ways and the Playstation was born and it was a modified version of the Super Disc. The second milestone is marked by the unveiling of the first working prototype. In the case of the Playstation this was in Japan in the year 1994 December 03 before the product was launched into the market in 1995. (Suarez, 2004) As previously stated, the Playstation was released into the world and this is the third milestone. In most cases, such new products retail at very high prices however in the case of the Playstation, it retailed almost $100 cheaper than the Nintendo. The last milestone is in achieving market dominance. Since its introduction, Sony has sold millions of Playstation consoles and it has become the most sought after video game. (Suarez, 2004) Public Policies What is public policy? Public policy is a purposive and consistent course of action produced as a response to a perceived problem of a constituency, formulated by a specific political process, and adopted, implemented, and enforced by a public agency. The evolution of the computer industry began in the 1940s with the early experimentation with computers in a few companies, universities and public research laboratories, culminating in computer designs suf?ciently attractive to induce the production of the ?rst computers and their purchase by large ?rms with massive computation tasks, as well as by scienti?c laboratories. (Malerba, Nelson, Orsenigo, Winter, 2008) This opened the era of mainframe computers. The methodology of “history-friendly” involves both establishing some runs that match the qualitative features of the historical patterns that the analysis is about and some runs that do not match these historical patterns.This model can be used for different purposes. First, it is necessary to verify that the model is able to reproduce the history of the industry, using parameters' settings that reflect the main hypotheses on the determinants of stylized facts. Second, one has to test the robustness of hypotheses, checking that different values of parameters effectively lead to results which are quantitatively and qualitatively different. After that, the model can be used to analyze different hypotheses concerning agents' behavior, or to investigate the effects of different policies The history-friendly model has contributed to the growth of computer technology in different regions. One, the semiconduct has allowed major improvements in mainframes and contributed to create new computer types. Instead of vacuum tubes, transistors had been used in mainframes since the early 1950s. They were produced by both new specialized ?rms and large existing electronic producers. (Malerba, Nelson, Orsenigo, Winter, 2008) Two, the developments enabled signi?cant improvements in mainframe performance with some reduction in cost. The invention and development of integrated circuits allowed even further improvements in mainframe computers. With this major technological discontinuity, several new merchant semiconductor ?rms entered the industry, particularly in the United States Fowever integrated circuits opened the possibility of designing computers that had a considerable amount of power and that could be produced at a much lower costs than mainframes: minicomputers. Minicomputers opened up a new demand class that had not been tapped by mainframes, which included medium-sized research laboratories, manufacturing ?rms, and some small businesses. The introduction of the microprocessor in the mid-1970s marked another advance in the history of the semiconductor and the computer industries. (Malerba, Nelson, Orsenigo, Winter, 2008) Microprocessors allowed for signi?cant improvements in mainframes. In addition they permitted the design of reasonably powerful computers that could be produced at low cost: personal computers. With microprocessors a wave of new merchant ?rms entered the semiconductor industry. Some of them grew very rapidly and became large international ?rms such as Intel. (Malerba, Nelson, Orsenigo, Winter, 2008) In conclusion we can say that public policies on the supply side have different effects on the various policy targets. We have shown that support for basic research increases industry technological performance while policies that favour the diffusion of knowledge reduce the gap between the best and the average practice in the industry as well as the growth of the best design in the industry. Policies that favour the entry of new producers have the effect of decreasing concentration only if they take place on a continuous base Social Entreprenuership The proposed business is a college or an institution of higher learning. What is social entreprenuership? It contains two words that are usually not used in the same sentence. In the same way that entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as agents of change for the society; inventing new approaches, seizing opportunities others have missed, improving systems, and providing solutions to change society for the better. (Phills and Denend, 2005) Individuals who practice this are referred to as social entrepreneurs and are characterized by a shared determination in finding practical, innovative solutions addressing problems in society. It can be practiced across various fields such as education, health care, human rights or the environment. The college would be called UniteUs College and it will offer basic courses that are needed in the work environement. Therefore it will not exactly focus on one aspect. This will include; Basic Computer packages- Microsft Word, Excel, Power Point among others, General Professional Ethics, Work Place Etiquette. This college will be located in Africa, Kenya. A third world country that has been riddled with poverty and lack of quality education. The college will seek to impart knowledge and skills to the youth so as to give them a cutting edge while seeking employment. The world is becoming a global village and with this comes an increase in competition. Most candidates nowadays have the proper qualification therefore the question is what do you have that makes you different from the rest? Why should you be employed? It is important to appreciate the fact that being a thrid world country the services ought to be affordable. How will this be achieved? The services can be charged at fairly low prices in order to ensure that the prices do not lock potential clients out. Differential pricing is also one way of making services affordable. This refers to a situation where a product has different prices based on various aspects for instance; the type of customer. It is also referred to as discriminatory pricing or multiple pricing. (Phills and Denend, 2005) Certain clients will be charged certain fees while others pay different fees. This is also another way of ensuring affordability. The college will also source for inexpensive facilities for instance; computers, white boards, desks as this will reduce the costs and therefore maximise on profits. On the issue of self-sustainability, the college can include in its terms and condition before joining the college that upon completion of ones studies there, those hand-picked by the administration should teach the students for a period of one year at low pay. This ensures that the college’s alumni do not loose touch with the school upon completion and it also acts as a source of motivation for the students. How will the college compete with other like-minded colleges? UniteUs College could link up with secondary schools in the country and publicise the school in such places. This is a form of advertising which is very cheap. In order to endear itself to the society, it could offer scholarships to those that come from needy families. Ensuring that the skills and knowledge offered are quality and upto date. Quality is the one aspect of every venture that ensures fair competition. Some of the secondary benefits of such a business include; acting as a source of revenue for the govrnment also, it provides employment for the locals. (Phills and Denend, 2005) Works Cited Suarez, F. (2004) Battles for technological dominance: an integrative framework. Research Policy. Volume 33, Issue 2, pp. 271-286. Malerba, F., R. Nelson, L. Orsenigo, S. Winter. (2008) Public policies and changing boundaries of firms in a “history-friendly” model of the co-evolution of the computer and semiconductor industries. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 67, Issue 2, pp. 355-380. Phills and Denend. (2005) Social Entrepreneurship: Correcting Market Failures. Stanford University. Read More