Role of ETCs in Directing First Responders to Disaster

Role of ETCs in Directing First Responders to Disaster Vishesh Sudhir Emergency Telecommunications professionals (ETCs) play a vital role in the quality of care of the residents in the communities in which they serve. This includes preservation of life, property and equipment during critical incidents which may involve unfavourable outcomes. Critical incidents are events of an unfavourable nature that include deaths in the normal course of work, multiple casualty incidents, natural disasters, power outages, and emergency events involving a large number of people. Critical Incident Stress is the ETC’s reaction to these events which could interfere with one’s ability to function normally during or after the event. The reactions could be physical stress on the body, cognitive impairments in thinking and emotional change in behavioural patterns, feelings, and personality. Immediate reactions include nausea, dizziness, increased heart rate, muscle pains, confusion, memory loss, difficulty in problem solving and making decisions, anxiety, fear, guilt, and hopelessness. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental conditions which is caused by distressing events such as rape, assault, murder, kidnapping, automobile collision, or serious injury to oneself or others. These are the triggering events for PTSD which includes symptoms such as re-experiencing the event, nightmares, flashbacks, and anniversary of the triggering event could cause it. Later severe symptoms can include becoming withdrawn from family and friends, losing interest in activities previously enjoyed, or have difficulty feeling emotions, and being intimate with one’s partner. Treatments exist for both CIS and PTSD and there are services available in one’s area of residence to manage the onset of these conditions. The First Responder in the video was an experienced ETC professional who was able to help as many people as he possibly could with the severity of the natural disaster that struck the town being a tornado which required a mass response on the part of the town. He went to each victim that he was able to help with their injuries, bruises, and abrasions all the while keeping in constant communication with coworkers on helping the victims, superiors on calling in additional units and supplies, and the general public on staying safe. The survivors were in a traumatic event and had feelings of being scared, anxious, in fear of their safety and security of themselves and their loved ones. The First Responders felt the same way but with more control and experience since they work as ETC’s for a living, and if I were one during a tornado I would also feel scared, anxious and want to keep all of the victims in the area safe and treat their injuries using the established guidelines. The crisis that occurred in the video could be classified as a natural disaster, which living in Southern Ontario have not had any personal involvement in since tornados, hurricanes, and tsunamis are rare occurrence here. There was the Toronto snowstorm in 1998 caused by La Nina weather patterns which brought record snowfall. My family and I were driving back from my uncle’s house and our car kept getting stuck in position in the road which then required me to get out of the car to shovel near the snow tires in order for my mom to get the car moving further down because they didn’t plow the smaller neighbourhood roads that that time which was late at night and it required constant shovelling of the roads just to get the car moving closer to our house which we eventually got to as the snow dissipated. Personal approaches I would use to overcome the lasting effects a First Responder might suffer include getting CIS Debriefings and PTSD treatments. The debriefing is a regular series of meetings done by the organization the ETC is employed for, other coworkers, superiors and experts in the conditions of CIS with the purpose of the meetings being to get the ETC professionals to express their feelings on the events they were involved in, what impact it made on them physically in the form of injuries, psychologically in their cognitive patterns, emotionally in their relationships with others, and general behaviour both at home and in public. These meetings are a good approach for First Responders as it allows them to get more information about how to deal with their reactions to the above listed traumatic events, utilize support services that are available, and talking to trained experts such as social workers, psychologists, and therapists. For survivors the approach would be to use PT SD treatment that is provided through government services such as CMHA, services provided by their employer if they are employed such as a helpline, and services provided by private organizations such as Canadian Red Cross. The treatments these services offer include a combination of individual discussion, group discussion similar to the CIS Debriefings, and medication. Methods I would use to increase awareness of CIS and PTSD to coworkers, family, and the public include through word of mouth such as discussion with these interested individuals who inquire about it what CIS and PTSD are, provide them examples of each so they have an idea of the types of events surrounding them such as using the videos watched in class or finding a similar event to it on the Internet. I would use social media websites to educate the general public on CIS and PTSD with information pages about the conditions including what they are, symptoms, and treatment options available and contact information of the organizations that offer assistance to those who have CIS and PTSD. Other approaches include starting an outreach company which provides informational sessions to the general public in places such as malls, parks, schools, libraries, and community centres and provide the public brochures, pamphlets, booklets and contact information to organizations which offer assistan ce. I can also use media sources such as the local newspaper, radio station, and popular Internet destinations and present to these media sources information on CIS and PTSD in a presentation style that can accommodate their schedule. The complexity of CIS and PTSD means there is much research to be done on these conditions by the established medical community and so for those with these conditions the chance to increase awareness about it doing their own research, being more proactive and by being an advocate for finding cures for these conditions. The best method is the method the individual uses in their own personal circumstance. (Reference for CISD: Emergency Medical Responder 3rd Canadian Edition; Pearson Canada; Limmer, Karren, et. Al.; 2010 Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Ch. 2 pg. 16-17 in textbook) PTSD from CMHA: http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/ CISD: http://www.info-trauma.org/flash/media-e/mitchellCriticalIncidentStressDebriefing.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_incident_stress_management

Literary Analysis: The Storm :: essays research papers

The plot of the story "The Storm" by Kate Chopin is a conventional everyday plot. The story would not be so interesting if it weren't for the last line of the story; "So the storm passed and everyone was happy." What did she mean by the closing line? My interpretation of the story is that she meant the rocky part of both Calixta and Alcee's mariage had passed along with the storm. Both Alcee and Calixta cheated on their spouse, however, they both knew that when the stor was over they would return to faithfulness with their mates. Alcee obviously felt regretful, as indicated when the author writes; "It was a loving letter full of tender solicitude." He then went on to say "although he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longer-realizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered." These quotes were taken from the letter Alcee had written to his wife. The storm had passed and it looked as if everyone in Alcee's situation was going to be happy. As for Calixta, she was extremely happy to see her son and husband return home safely, as indicated in the story; "She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively." Calixta then went on to Bobinot and "Felt him to see if he was dry, and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return." Calixta had also withstood the storm of her marriage and everyone seemed to be happy too. Alcee and Calixta both seemed to realize they were blessed with loving spouses. In their moment of passion they did not realize how lucky they both were. I feel they both came to grips with the fact that what happened between them was an act of lust and there were no feelings involved. The moment was very arousing to each of them but when the storm was over so was the act of lust and betrayal. My opinion is, this act was going to help both Alcee's and Calixta's marriage rather than hurt it, as long as their respective spouses do not find out what happened during the storm. I bring this up because both guilty parties involved seemed to come away fromthe incident loving their spouses more and realizing that their choice of who to

The Phenomenology of Fodor or the Modularity of Merleau-Ponty :: Psychology Psychological Papers

The Phenomenology of Fodor or the Modularity of Merleau-Ponty ABSTRACT: In 1983, Fodor’s Modularity of Mind popularized faculty psychology. His theory employs a trichotomous functional architecture to explain cognitive processes, which is very similar to Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception. Each theory postulates that perception is a mid-level procedure that operates on transduced information and that perception is independent of our cognitive experience. The two theories differ on whether perception is informationally impenetrable. This difference is essentially an empirical matter. However, I suggest that Merleau-Ponty’s allowance of cross-modal communication within perception explains our ability to identify features in noisy backgrounds better because his theory offers a more definitive ontology that matches human substantive behavior. Likewise, evidence within cognitive science suggests that Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology is a more accurate depiction of human cognitive processes. Introduction (1) Fodor’s modularity thesis popularized faculty approaches to cognitive psychology. This theory bears a striking resemblance to the phenomenological theory that Merleau-Ponty proposed two decades earlier. Both theories employ a trichotomous functional architecture to explain cognition and view perception as a mid-level processing of information that lies between the world and consciousness. The key feature that differentiates the views is whether that middle level of processing is completely impenetrable by consciousness. If Fodor was to relax his strong position of the impenetrability of information in modules, modules could both be somewhat encapsulated and maintain a general independence from consciousness. Then only the degree of perception’s independance from consciousness would distinguish his theory from Merleau-Ponty’s. Currently, both theories can account for the substantive, outward, behavior of humans. Only the procedural behavior, the internal process, differentiates the theories. The conundrum of deciding between the theories is resolvable by an empirical critical experiment. While this will require more knowledge of cognitive psychology, current evidence suggests that Merleau-Ponty was correct and the mind is less encapsulated than Fodor's original claim. The Two Theories and Their Resemblance Merleau-Ponty distinguishes three aspects of the psychological process; basic sensations, perception, and the associations of memory (Merleau-Ponty, 1994). Basic sensations receive raw information from the world and transduce them for our perceptual processes. Perception unifies the infinite amount of information about our environment, from our environment, into a meaningful structure. Perception is interpretive, but its presentation of the world is as distal and objective. There are three central features of perception for Merleau-Ponty. First, perception is synthesized independently by the body and not by the mind (consciousness).

Oxidation of Cyclohexanol to Cyclohexanone :: essays research papers fc

Oxidation of Cyclohexanol to Cyclohexanone   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The oxidation of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone involves the removal of hydrogen from the OH group. After separation and purification, an Infrared Spectrum will be run to determine the composition of the recovered material.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Infrared Spectroscopy is a very powerful technique used in the determination of molecular structure and the identification of unknown organic materials. The infrared spectrum yields direct information about the presence or absence of key functional groups. â€Å"The region of the infrared spectrum which is of greatest interest to organic chemists is the wavelength range 2.5 to 15 micrometers which correspond to approximately 4000 to 600cm-1†(Young). â€Å"When atoms or molecules absorb light, the incoming energy excites a quantized structure to a higher energy level. The type of excitation depends on the wavelength of the light. Electrons are promoted to higher orbirtals by ultraviolet or visible light, vibrations are excited by infrared light, and rotations are excited by microwaves† (Tissue).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  IR spectroscopy is the measurement of the wavelength and intensity of the absorption of infrared light by a sample. The wavelength of IR absorption bands are characteristic of specific types of chemical bonds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An IR spectrophotometer is an instrument which is designed to obtain an infrared spectra of a molecule. An IR spectra is obtained by first irradiating a sample with an IR source of light. The light passes through the sample, which can be in solution or contained within a salt plate, and then onto an IR light detector. The spectrum is analyzed by examining at which frequency the peaks occur. Different peak frequencies indicate different types of vibrational motion and hence, different types of chemical bonds. The peak intensities are usually noted as percent transmittance which compares the amount of light absorbed compared to the amount of IR light that was not absorbed. The frequencies are normally listed in wave numbers (in units of reciprocal centimeters). Experiment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The oxidation of cyclohexanol by dichromate occurred in the presence of sulfuric acid which yielded cyclohexanone according to the balanced redox reaction below: 3 + Cr2O7-2 + 8H+ -- 3 + 2Cr+3 + 7H2O In the presence of excess dichromate, cyclohexanol oxidizes to adipic acid. To maximize yield, the following reaction was prevented: 3 + 4Cr2O7-2 + 32H+ -- 3HOOC(CH2)4COOH + 8Cr+3 + 19H2O The addition of methanol reduced the excess dichromate according to the balanced redox reaction below: CH3OH + Cr2O7-2 + 8H+ -- CO2 + 2Cr+3 + 6H2O Recovery of the ketone was by steam distillation; collecting all

Juvenile Detainees Essay

Criminal Justice and the juvenile justice systems are almost the same but are different. When corrections’ officials have to deal with juvenile detainees, such a situation needs to be dealt with care. In identifying such situations, we will look at child development, punishment and deterrence. Juvenile detention officers work with incarcerated youth. Although juvenile detention officers deal with many of the same realities as other corrections officers, juvenile detention officers have the opportunity to assist young offenders in their attempts to be rehabilitated into responsible adults. In a sense a Juvenile detention officer is the perfect blend of a jailer and social worker. While the Juvenile detention officers must be alert and tough enough to work with young criminals, he or she must also be committed to helping troubled youngsters change their life. Since Juvenile detention officers work with youth, they have to see to it that young offenders receive all the services they need and that they are meeting their legal and therapeutic obligations. As such, Juvenile detention officers are responsible for making sure that inmates arrive on time to appointments within their facility and outside of it. According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, a juvenile detention officer, â€Å"Prepares detained youth for court appearances, transports and escorts detained youth to medical, criminal justice, social services and judicial facilities as needed according to departmental and facility policy and procedures.† Of course, this implies keeping track of incarcerated youth and not letting them flee. Aside from insuring that juvenile offenders receive proper care and keep appointments, juvenile detention officers teach wayward youth how to function in society by acting as models of proper adult behavior. For instance, juvenile detention officers in Kitsap County, Washington are expected to † Assist juveniles in cultivating appropriate social, behavioral, and interpersonal skills and attitudes useful in community living; lead recreational activities and give instruction in games.† Juvenile detention officers may also lead the youngsters in cleaning and maintenance activities in order to model good hygiene and to demonstrate proper adult housekeeping habits. Although there is an emphasis on rehabilitation and inmate care in juvenile correctional facilities, juvenile detention officers are subject to the hazards of working in a locked facility with young criminals. In addition to rehabilitation and treatment related activities, juvenile detention officers may have duties similar to those of any other corrections officer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that the duties of detention officers include searching for contraband, weapons and drugs, resolving conflicts between inmates, and â€Å"enforcing discipline.† This means monitoring vehicles and packages coming in and out of locked facilities as well as frequent personal and room inspections. Juvenile detention officers are, of course, responsible for knowing the whereabouts of all inmates and preventing them from leaving the locked facility. Laws we have regulated the way we have set up punishment for juveniles. The punishments we have in tact usually serve to rehabilitate the juvenile to do better in the future. Our laws have extended that to sealing juvenile records for the sake of protection. Juvenile crime and punishments can be different from the types of punishments that are ordered in adult criminal cases. The first court established expressly for juveniles was built in Chicago in 1899 to address the issue of juvenile crime and punishments. Juvenile crime and punishments peaked in 1994. The 1990s saw a swell of public scrutiny over the perceived juvenile crime epidemic. In an effort to crack down on juvenile crime and punishments, many state legislatures have adopted harsher laws regarding juvenile crimes. In my opinion, the best two ways to prevent juvenile crime is strengthening families and education. In American Samoa, a block grant was introduced and tested from 2002 to 2004. This block grant was for Preventing Substance abuse targeting the families and children. The idea behind the program was to seek if a problem existed, what the effects of substance abuse and how it can be fixed. The interesting factor and I suppose the most important was how the Samoan family evolved from closely knit and knowing every aspect of their children’s whereabouts to children becoming simple renters in the parent’s homes. Long story short, American Samoa was awarded funding for 10 years or so long as the program is needed. The theme of the program was strengthening families. I believe that it is an important part in anyone’s life. Sociologist’s believe that one’s environment affects one’s way of life. However, in some unfortunate cases, not everyone has the chance to grow up with a traditional family. The idea is, one’s family should be the biggest and the most important supporters in their lives. We define our familes different, whether it is a mother, a father, brother, sister, grandparent or even your best friend’s family. The point is having the sense of strength in one’s home is important to one’s success or failure. Strengthening families can be accomplished by offering help to those that need it through information and education. Which leads to my second point is education. Juveniles feel lost as do most of us that don’t know what to do or which direction to head to. Through education we get an idea of where we would like to go in our lives. Some juveniles do not have access or do not see the importance of education until there is support, programs, and resources available to them. We promote education through the media and all sorts of things, but are we really making it available for everyone? My mother in law always tells us, children are like cameras, they take images of everything around them. The product of these images are the problems we face today. Reference: Seiter, R. (2011). Corrections: An introduction (3rd ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc

Different causes for leg pain in children

There are many different causes and diagnoses for leg pain in children.   Developmental stage or age groups   many of these causes.   Some, however, can occur at any age.4The numerous causes of leg pain in children include Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, sports injuries, toddler’s fractures, Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis(here forward referred to in the medical jargon of SCFE), and leg length differences. 4 Related article: Identify Circumstances When Children and Young People Might Require Urgent Medical AttentionLegg-Calve-Perthes is also referred to as Legg-Perthes, here forward to be referred to as LCP.   LCP is rare, and in the United States only occurs at the ratio of 1:1200 children under the age of 15.  Ã‚   The developmental stage when LCP becomes clinically evident is between the ages of 3-12 years of age, with 7 yrs being the median age.1   However, other sources site the specified age range as between 4-8 years, which actually is a representation of the median 7 years stated earlier. 3LCP is characterized not just by developmental age, but by sex, familial, and racial factors as well.   Most LCP patients are Caucasian; in addition, most have a parent or close relative who suffered from the disease as well.1   Males are affected 4-5 times more frequently than females, but this is not a sex-linked trait.   A genetic factor is implied, but with no identifiable gene as of yet.1LCP is defined â€Å"as the idiopathic avascular osteonecrosis of the capital femoral epiphysis of the femoral head.† 1What happens in the case of LCP is this:   due to unknown etiology, the head of the femur, which contains the epiphysis and epiphysial plate, becomes necrotic.   Necrosis, meaning dead or dying tissue, in this case means that no further bone growth can occur, owing to the fact that blood supply has been cut off. 3,4Since new bone cells are produced primarily at the epiphysial plate, no bone growth in the affected leg means that, until treated, it will become shorter than the unaffected leg.  Ã‚   Soon afterward, a noticeable limp occurs due to pain and compensation for the self same pain.   Children suffering from LCP may also have pain in the groin, knee, and thigh as well. 1,2,4Necrosis in the femoral head leads to inflammation, thus being the initial cause of pain.   Activity, especially excessive hip-leg activity such as running or ju mping, will irritate the femoral head and increase the pain level.   The pain can be relieved or lessened by rest. 4X-ray films arrive at definitive diagnosis, but doctors suspecting the problem will look for clinical signs that LCP is present.   These clinical signs include difficulty rotating the knee.   If LCP has existed for some time and gone undiagnosed, other clinical signs will be indicative of its presence, such as atrophy of the buttocks, calf, or thigh muscle.1, 2Those afflicted with LCP receive a myriad of treatments. The treatment plan is most likely individualized for each child depending on the severity of pain, atrophy, and gait difficulties.The treatments used most commonly are â€Å"leg exercises, crutches, casts, bracing, and occasionally traction and surgery.   With proper treatment, the bone will grow back and the child will be able to walk normally without pain.† 4Toddler’s fractures can occur quite easily with a simple fall.   Signs to look for are irritability of the child, persistent complaints of pain, and refusal to walk. These should be relied on heavily as a parent’s diagnosis of a problem, for inflammation and redness are minor at the site above the break. 4The bone fractured in these cases is typically the tibia.   The above-mentioned symptoms warrant immediate medical attention and typically reflect that a fracture has occurred if the child is between 2-4 years old. 4Sports injuries can occur at any age of the active child.   When a sports injury has occurred, pain and limping may result due to , i.e., ankle and knee sprains, or muscle strains.   However, if limping persists after a few days of rest, or if the child refuses to bear weight on the leg,   immediate medical attention is warranted. 4Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis, with the medical acronym of SCFE, â€Å"is a common hip disorder in overweight adolescents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚   4  The symptoms resulting from the slipped epiphysis are severe pain occurring in the hip and knee.   This, in turn, results in limited movment of the affected hip, and limping.   Diagnosis is by x-ray. 4Treatments would include pain relief as prescribed by the doctor; a usual program of alternating Tylenol and Ibuprophen might be prescribed.   Included in the treatment plan would be immediate counseling of the family and adolescent on proper diet, and allowable exercise considering the ailment.Sickle Cell Disease(SCD) is the severest form of the sickling syndromes; this is because it is homozygous recessive.   In other words, the child carries both recessive alleles on the chromosome.   In all sickling syndromes, the problem results from the genetic error of the red blood cell design.   In the United States, it is estimated that 1:12 Blacks   are carriers of the sickle cell trait, and 1:65 develop sickle cell anemia.   Though predominantly affecting Blacks in the U.S., other   races are susceptible as well:   peo ple from the Mediterranean, India, Asia-Minor, and the Caribbean.Rather than the normal shape of RBC’s, the genetic disorder causes sickle-shaped cells that do not allow oxygen to attach to the protein heme in an effective manner.   This reduces oxygen available in the blood.5The prognosis for children with SCD is poor, in that death occurs during the middle-aged years.   â€Å"Anemia usually is severe, chronic and hemolytic.† 5  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both acute and chronic exacerbations will occur, the frequency of which is most likely tied to emotional and environmental factors.   These environmental factors include emotional upset, situations that lead to dehydration, change of oxygen tension in the body(by infection, which is common, i.e.,), and weather changes – in particular cold.   Environmental factors that can be eliminated altogether to help reduce the recurrence or severity of attacks are alcohol and tobacco. 5The worst-case scenario, which does occur wi th these patients, is vaso-occlusive episodes. In these episodes, circulation is greatly hampered, resulting in pain concentrated in areas of localized necrotizing bone marrow, i.e., the sternum, ribs, long-bones, spine and pelvis.   The occlusion is from clumped, sickle cells that cannot flow out of the area. 5No specific therapy exists for SCD.   However, depending on the type of crisis, be it the need to lower Hb S during an infarction, too little oxygen and RBC’s, severe dehydration, etc., transfusion is a frequent treatment – usually packed red blood cells are the blood component used. 5â€Å"Transial Synovitis of the hip is a cause of hip pain in children.† 7   Ã‚  The adjective ‘transial’ is used because the condition does not last long – approximately a week.   Symptoms of pain occur in one hip, but pain may also be felt in the medial aspect of the knee and thigh.   The pain occurs in the tissue surrounding the hip, not in t he bones themselves.   7The pain increases with different rates in children; some are in the doctor’s office within 1-3 days of onset, some a few days later as the pain peaks.   The child may have a limp, or have trouble standing and walking by the time he’s seen.   Once again, boys are affected more than girls.   The age range affected is from 3-10 years of age. 7Treatment is bed rest for 3-4 days and use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for pain relief, reduction of inflammation and swelling.   The child returns to normal after this time period.   If a temperature is present, the doctor may order x-rays and blood tests to rule out other hip conditions.7Leg Length Differences.   The name is self-explanatory.   â€Å"Some children are either born with or develop a difference in the length of the bones in their legs.† 4     Ã‚  No etiology is given for either scenario, and both situations receive the same set of treatment choices.   Diff erences in leg length between 0-2cm require no treatment most of the time, but shoe lifts may be used.   If the length difference is between 5-15cm, surgery to lengthen one leg or to shorten the other is necessary, unless a prosthesis is chosen for the shorter limb. 4In summary, there are many conditions and diseases that add to the suffering and cause of leg pain in children.   The hip disorders and diseases discussed that are accompanied by knee and/or thigh pain, can be misdiagnosed as injuries originating in the knee, other than compensational pain as the symptoms really are.   Though many affect children at different stages of life and bear different severity of diagnosis and prognosis, all are significant.BIBLIOGRAPHYwww.mrsci.com/Orthopedics/Perthes_disease.php, 10/26-27/06www.hopkinsmedicine.org/orthopedicsurgery/perthes.html, 10/26-27/06Hall & Brody:   Therapeutic Exercise:   Moving Toward Function, 2nd Editionc 2005, Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins.www.keepkids healthy.com/symptoms/legpainlimping.html, 10/26-27/06Phipps, Cassmeyer, Sands, Lehman, Medical-Surgical Nursing,Concepts and Clinical Practice, c 2005, Mosby.Shiel, Jr., William C., MD,www.medicinenet.com/ankylosing_spondylitis/article.html, 10/26-27/06www.familydoctor.org/181.xml, 10/26/06DIFFERENT CAUSES FOR LEG PAIN  IN CHILDREN2006

Apple Case: The Evolution Of Industry Structure Over Time Essay

1. What is the evolution of the industry structure over time and its implication for strategic positioning? PC buyers can be classified in to home,small- and medium-sized business (SMB),corporate, education, and government. Home consumers represented the biggest segment, accounting for nearly half of the worldwide shipments. Evolution : Though the first commercial computer (UNIVAC) was released in 1951 the credit of mass marketization of computers should be given to Apple-I computer in 1976. Though it was released targeting common man, majority of the Apple users used it for commercial and educational purpose. Due to inconsistence performance and hardware issues this was not a huge success. Four years later IBM with MS Dos revolutionized the concept of personal computer. Due to its consistence performance, user friendly GUI and more importantly affordable price made IBM pc a huge hit in market. IBM – Open source — evolution of IBM clones Too many market players lead to price war, cost leadership Apple restricted itself to it’s MAC ecosystem, there by following differentiation. Post steve job’s exit from Apple, Sculley tried to move Apple into mainstream – cost leadership. It failed; Amelio proclaimed that Apple would return to its premium-price differentiation. 2. What is nature of sustainable competitive advantage? CA rests on the notion that cheap labor is ubiquitous and natural resources are not necessary for a good economy. â€Å"Competitive advantage occurs when an organization acquires or develops an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. These attributes can include access to natural resources, such as high grade ores or inexpensive power, or access to highly trained and skilled personnel human resources. New technologies such as robotics and information technology either to be included as a part of the product, or to assist making it. ‘ Information technology has become such a prominent part of the modern business world that it can also contribute to competitive advantage by outperforming competitors with regard to internet presence. From the very beginning, i.e. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, the central problem of information transmittal, leading to the rise of middle-men in the marketplace, has been a significant impediment in gaining competitive advantage. By using the internet as the middle-man, the purveyor of information to the final consumer, businesses can gain a competitive advantage through creation of an effective website, which in the past required extensive effort finding the right middle-man and cultivating the relationship.† (This is a generic question so answered it from wiki) 3. What performance was obtained over the different leadership styles? Steve Jobs : setup the company, Autocratic,innovative. He paired up with Woznivik in 1976 and founded Apple. His mission is to bring an easy-to-use computer to market, which lead to APPLE-II in 1978. He grew it to a 1 billion sales in less than three years. BY 1980, Apple sold 100K computes. Between 1981 – 86 net come fallen by 62% , steve jobs was fired Steve Jobs Part –II : Reshaped Apple. $150 million to invest on a 5 year plan to develop core products. Stopped Apple license sales to the clones for new Mac OS. Introduced website to open direct sales. He want to recover IBM’s imagem retained Pixar CEO position. Launched multi-million dollar marketing campaigns such as â€Å"Think Different† Sculley : He pushed the Mac into new markets (mainly in desktop publishing and education). The main focus is on proprietary software like Aldus Pagemaker and peripherals such as laser printers. He evolved apple as a customer friendly systems that’s just plug and play. Analysts noted that this approach made Apple’s customers ‘love’ their Macs. He tried to move Apple into mainstream by becoming a low cost producer of computers. During his tenure Mac classic was introduced at $999 to compete head-to-head with low priced IBM clones. He tried to forge an alliance with IBM to develop a develop a new OS. He tried to develop a new chipset in collaboration with Novell and Intel to run on Mac OS. His main ambition is to bring a â€Å"hit† product every 6 to 12 months and capture the whole PC market. Inspite ofall these efforts Apple’s gross margin dropped to 34% which is an all-time low which lead to replacement of Sculley with Michael Spindler. Spindler era : Cuts 16% of work force. Globalisation – lead to 45% of sales outside US. JV with IBM to develop new OS failed leading to $69 million loss. Which lead to Amelio as CEO Amelio era :Back to Premium-price differentiation. Macintosh sales still fallen which lead to recruitment of Steve jobs as the interim CEO. Timeline Apple| Year| Event| +ve| -ve| 1976| Apple computer started| Jobs and Wozniak’s technology and Markkula’s financing abilities| NA| 1978| Apple II released| $1 billion in sales, Apple becomes industry leader| | 1980| IPO launched| Sold 100,000 Apple IIs, Era of fast growth for Apple| | 1981| IBM enters PC market| IBMs open approach, horizontal and vertical integration, Apple’s refusal to license hardware| Apple’s closed approach.| | | | Apple’s net income fell 62% between 1981 and 1984| 1984| McIntosh is launched| ease of use, good industrial design, technical elegance| Macs slow processor speed, lack of compatibility caused limited sales| | Jobs fired, Scully comes in| | | 1985-1993| | | | 1990| Apple’s complete desktop solution| Apple’s focus on desktop publishing and education, â€Å"plug and play†, unique chips, disk drives, monitors.| IBM narrows the gap in ease of use| | | Design versus compatibility| | | | Love for Macs| Just putting up with IBM machines| | Apple’s premium price strategy| Premium Macs sold for as much as $10,000, Gross profit hovered at 50%| IBM compatibles lowered costs| | Apple tries to move into cost leadership with Mac Classic| | Moving to cost leadership from differentiation| | Joint venture for new OS and multimedia applications| Working towards making Macs compatible, joint project with Intel| Dropped gross margin to 34%| 1993| Michael Spindler replaced Sculley| | | 1993-1997| Spindler & Amelio years| | Reverse trend, Apple lost momentum, Apple and IBM parted ways| | | | $69 million loss| | | | Cost cutting| 1996| Amelio appointed as the new CEO| | | | | | 1.6 bn loss| 1997| NeXT is bought by Apple| Jobs takes over as CEO in September 1997| | | Microsoft’s investment of $150 million in Apple| Five year commitment to develop MS office products for Mac| | | | 15 product lines slashed to 4| | | | Operational efficiency through improved distribution systems, direct sales, focus on innovation, Increased R&D| | Mac and Apple’s digital Hub strategy Shift to Intel CPU’s – With Intel inside Mac also became a machine that could natively run a Windows OS along with Windows applications * Operating System – Mac OS based on UNIX with ugrades at greater frequency than what Microsoft does * Application – Building programs on iLife suite – iPhoto, iTunes, iWeb. Web browser Safari, and iwork productivity applications * Distribution – The Apple retail experience. Retail division 280 stores in 10 countries. Partnership with ‘Best Buy’ – World’s largest electronic retailer