Fishery Industry UAE

Operating Systems Essays - Desktop Environment, Operating System

Operating Systems Essays - Desktop Environment, Operating System Operating Systems Purpose The first thing I wanted to do for this project was to determine how the computer system I chose was going to be used. I wanted to purchase a personal computer system, with monitor and printer that I could use to do Web-based research. The research will be done out of my house. It will be primarily based on comparing different start-up companies to determine investments for the future. Since I determined that all my research was going to be over the Internet, it was important to find a system that would be fast in downloading different sites and capturing information. I will be running my new system off a cable modem with Internet service provided by Time Warners Road Runner. This is important because it will determine some of the software I choose for the new system. The Operating System Windows The first operating system to be considered was, obviously, Windows. Windows 2000 is being launched on February 17th. Windows 2000 is being called the next generation of business computing. It was designed on Windows NT technology, which should make it more reliable than Windows 95 or 98. Windows was designed to make it easier for organizations to work with the Internet. It has Internet Explorer built-in to provide users with a faster and more efficient Internet experience. It also has support for DHTML and XML. This offers a powerful platform for the development of highly scalable end-to-end e-commerce and line-of-business Web applications. The reason I would like Windows 2000 rather than 98 is because it is geared directly toward the Internet. Windows 98 would actually be more for a home computer. It was developed for easy use and setup in the home. However, since I will be using my PC strictly for Web research, I think 2000 would be the best choice in the Windows environment. Of course, the other Windows operating system to consider would be Windows NT. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 integrates the Windows 95 interface. This combines the ease of use of the Windows 95 operating system with the reliability and security of Windows NT. It would enable me to work more easily and efficiently, and still enjoy the same Windows user interface that Im used to having. However, NT has the reputation of being a business, networking environment, which is not something I will need for my system. OS/2 OS/2 is the IBM operating system. OS/2 Warp Client supports OS/2, DOS, Java and most Windows 3.X applications. It supports multitasking and multithreading and has OS/2 Crash Protection. One review I read stated that OS/2 falls short on gaming and M/Media support (DVD). However, they said it was the ultimate operating system for the corporate desktop. It is said to be faster and more reliable than most other operating systems. However, it has not been very compatible with different applications, which is why it has not been more successful. Since I am very concerned with the speed and performance of my operating system, this was definitely on my list. In all the review I read, it was rated more stable and had a higher performance rating than Windows. It also handles Java, which has been a problem with the Microsoft systems. Linux Linux is a free, Unix-like Operating System (fundamental software) that is developed by a loosely knit team of talented programmers working from all over the world. Linux works on almost every kind of computer, and provides a robust platform for a wide variety of applications. One of the features that made Linux so popular is that it gives the user complete control over the system. The GUI interface lets the user create the look and feel of their desktop. Linux has two of the most widely used desktop environments, GNOME and KDE. GNOME stands for the GNU Network Object Model Environment. The goal of GNOME is to make available an easy-to-use, yet advanced desktop environment that both beginners and experts can use to their advantage. Several programs are available which use GNOME's framework and structure to function, which in turn makes something common for many different applications. KDE, the K Desktop Environment, on the other hand, focuses more on ease of use and graphics. KDE bet ter resembles Microsoft Windows, which many

Economic Recovery of Greece Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economic Recovery of Greece - Research Paper Example The state made efforts to keep the economy going by spending a lot which consequently increased the country’s debt level in the eurozone. Further efforts were made to reduce the impact of the economic crisis where the Greek State borrowed a loan of â‚ ¬45 billion on 23 April, 2010 from the European Union and the IMF. This was in attempt to cater for its financial requirements for the remaining period of 2010. Their efforts were futile as standard and Poor’s cut the country’s debt rating to junk status a few days after acquiring the loan. The move was in fear of a possible default by the country where the investors were likely to lose 30-50% of their savings. As a result the securities market in the world and the entire euro currency went dipped low in reaction to the S & P downgrade (Stein, 2006). Below is an explanation as to why the European Central Bank must keep the level of interests low with the intention of rescuing Greece. Justification as to why the i nterest rates must be kept low to help Greece The lowering of the interest rates will give some relief to Greece particularly with its delicate Southern tier. The banks in Greece will eventually borrow heavily from the European Central Bank since the bank will find it difficult to hold more cash in the central bank when borrowing is low. Lending in the private markets will also increase which will enable the households and business free up their cash for more expenditure and investment that can improve the economy of the country. The interest rates of the loans are closely pegged on the formal policy rate hence in one quarter point European Central Bank decrease will eventually reflect into â‚ ¬2.5 billion less yearly payment of interests as approximated by economists (Stein, 2011). Efforts have been by the eurozone monetary policy through the European central bank to help in rescuing Greece which has been coordinated by several actions. This is in response to the escalating thre at of the world’s economy as a result of the crisis in Greece. First and foremost, the European Central Bank made a cut on the interest rates to a record low of 0.75%. This was an urgent move to counter the extreme run of the economic information. However, this has driven the strong shift in recuperating the State’s bond purchase policies or flooding banks with a long lasting liquidity term (Bartha, 2011). According to Butler (2010), the European Central Bank is also anticipated to make a further cut with more measures to enable the Greece economy to come back to its feet. Consequently, the Bank of England whose lending rates are currently hitting low of 0.5% has intentions of rejuvenating its printing procedures and purchasing of US$ 78 billion of its assets. This is in line with its freshly established monetary guidelines to assist in lifting the eurozone out of downturn. The reaction by the European Central Bank to ease the market tension has been implemented throug h cutting of borrowing costs for debts by 25 basis units. The interests’ rate record low of 0.75% has the main purpose of promoting the declining eurozone economy. The justification for this move was instigated by the increased pressure on European Central Bank by the investors and other stakeholders such as the IMF to take bolder steps in countering the economic downturn. Hence the European Central Bank had to buy back most of the sovereign debt securities for Greece distressed economy. Besides, the cuts and the

Depends on the facility you'll choose Assignment

Depends on the facility you'll choose - Assignment Example autiful and greatly ornamented interior, complete with a carved white marble staircase; benches and counters of carved marble alongside bronze tellers’ windows, and hardware. Formerly the Crocker-Citizens National Bank (later absorbed by the Wells Fargo in the year 1980†²s), the building has extensively been remodeled (Hume et al., 2010).It initially housed an 11 story office tower above it and was enclosed in terra cotta. One of its very outstanding features is considered to be the rotunda entrance that is supported by granite pillars, and having coffered ceiling. The building was originally a â€Å"combination bank and an office building† it is currently considered to be one of the lavish banking interior within the city. By 1960 the building’s sandstone faà §ade was crumbling. So Milton Pflueger, redesigned the faà §ade for the upper floors. Again it was proposed that a new world headquarters tower alongside galleria further west on Post Street to be initiated, the city provided air space instead of the demolition of the upper floors of the building at 1 Montgomery (Robertson, 1879). The roof of this bank is currently a garden for the Crocker Galleria Shopping Center. There are little bats on both the interior and exterior of the window. Within the frieze are wolves, mountain lions and foxes. The animal sculptures look good but their meaning left to be interpreted by the designers. The steel frame building is architecturally clad in gray granite. Its massive pediment which is 38 feet high is held by six ionic columns. The designing and sculpturing of the building was done cities highly prolific sculptures of that time. At a particular time the front was graced using bronze doors. The doors comprised of the four panels designs that symbolized the â€Å"descriptive of the historical succession of the Californian races.† That is; Indian, Spaniard, American and the San Fransciscan. Though, today the doors have been replaced with glass. The inside of the

Contractual terms and conditions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contractual terms and conditions - Case Study Example There existed a breach of this legal duty and that he sustained personal or property injury ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 79). The standard of care determines whether an individual is guilty or not guilty of negligence. However, the degree of care varies according to a case. According to the case of Thorton v Shoe Lane Parking (1971) relates to the above case. Despite the numeral notices around the premises where the plaintiff was parking his car, held that the defendant was guilty. Even though the plaintiff contributed partly to the happening of the accident he relied on the exemption clause that he was not aware of the notices put by the defendant. Thus, the plaintiff should be paid damages as he suffers personal injury. The defendant contributed to the negligence by breaching the duty of care ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 80). In addition, following the case of Interfoto Picture Library Limited v Steletto Visual Programmes Limited (1988), the court held that nothing had been done to attra ct attention of third party. Therefore, the company ought to have extended its responsibility by creating notices in strategic places and clearly pointing out of the underlying risks if any. Through this, firm will be able to avoid liabilities should an accident occur ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 80). ... The effect of breach of contract always gives the plaintiff the right to file a legal suit to claim for damages. For example, in the case of Poussard v Spier the court held that Poussard breached the contract as she was needed to perform from day one. Similarly, in this case the defendant failed to honor his part of the promise causing injuries to the plaintiff. The court will then determine the amount that should be paid to the plaintiff since it is not a liquidated contract. The defendant though not a fault of his own to fail to deliver the machine inflicted injury to the plaintiff making him to loss business (Stone, 2013, p. 254). Very Clean Laundry made their intention to the Commercial Machine Industry stating that it urgently required a new boiler. This could enable it to serve its firm and growing market. Therefore, Commercial Machine Industry had a legal duty to supply the machine within a reasonable time. This did not happen until it was five months later. As a result, the c ompany becomes liable for breach of contract. Very Clean Laundry were justified to request for compensation, and relied on this fact, to go ahead to assume more contracts. As a result, it suffered loss because it could not secure a larger dyeing contract. In addition, the business incurred daily business as customer contract could not be executed. Under the law of contract, it provides that when a person breaches a contract the injured party should seek legal compensation in a court of law (Stone, 2013, p. 256). Reference Stone, R. (2013), The Modern Law of Contract,New York: Routledge. Case Study 3 Under the law of contract, there are two terms that ought to be

Disneys Acquisition Of Pixar Media Essay

Disneys Acquisition Of Pixar Media Essay In January 2006, the US based media and entertainment company Walt Disney announced that it would acquire its animation partner Pixar for US$ 7.4 billion in stock. The deal was expected to be finalized by mid-2006. Disney had already been in partnership for producing and distributing animation films with Pixar since 1991. However, in January 2004, owing to differences with Disneys then CEO Michael Eisner, Pixar had announced that it would partner with another distribution company in 2006. But Robert Iger, who took over from Eisner on September 30, 2005, revived talks with Pixar and finally succeeded in acquiring it. Our project will examine the partnership agreement between Disney and Pixar and the incidents that led to the break-up of ties. We will discuss how the new CEO Robert Iger, who succeeded Michael Eisner, went on to re-establish ties with Pixar and Steve Jobs, who held 50.6% equity stake in Pixar. The questions we seek to answer through this case are: Is there a synergy between Disney and Pixar? Did Disney pay too much to acquire Pixar? Is the Pixar acquisition in the best interest of Disneys shareholders? Will the difference in corporate culture allow Disney and Pixar to work effectively together? Will this acquisition be successful? History The Disney Story Walt Disney Animation Studios is the subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. It was founded in 1934 when Walt Disney initiated the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was Walt Disneys first feature length animation film. The move however started in 1937, when selected animators from the shorts division were moved into the features division. Snow White was an unprecedented success when it was released in February 1938. It moved critics and audiences alike and is considered one of the true animation classics of all times. After, the viability of feature length animation was firmly established with the success of Snow White, WDAS would go on to make a series of critically acclaimed and successful animated features like Dumbo, Cinderella. They would also expand into new segments like live action features, television and theme parks. Since its founders death in 1966, The Walt Disney Company had narrowly survived takeover attempts by corporate raiders. Its shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney brought on Michael Eisner and former Warner Brothers chief Frank Wells to replace Ron W. Miller in 1984 and turn the company around. During the second half of the 1980s and early 1990s, Disney revitalized. Beginning with The Little Mermaid (1989), its flagship animation studio enjoyed a series of commercial and critical successes that helped reinvigorate the American animation industry. Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film when then Disney Studio Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg acquired Miramax Films in 1993. Disney acquired many other media sources, including ABC and ESPN. However, by this time, the competitive scenario changed again. Many new studios had risen up and were producing high quality animated features. Also there was significant tiredness and indifference from the audience who had had enough of Disneys storytelling and animation styles. The rise of new studios also increased demand for artists and stencillers, driving salaries up, causing the budgets of hand drawn animation features to inflate. The rise of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was also eating into Disneys market share. Starting from 2000 onwards, massive layoffs had reduced staff to 600. Also the Studio decided to focus on CGI animation for future releases instead of the traditional animation methods to compete with Pixar, Dreamworks and Blue Sky Studios. This led to the shutdown of the Paris Studio in 2003 and the conversion of the Orlando Studio into a theme park attraction in 2004. Michael Eisner Story In 1976, the Chairman of Paramount Pictures, recruited Michael Eisner from ABC and made him president and CEO of the movie studio. During his tenure at Paramount, the studio turned out such hit films as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, the Star Trek film franchise, and Beverly Hills Cop, and hit TV shows such as Happy Days, Laverne Shirley, Cheers and Family Ties. Diller, the Chairman of Paramount, left in 1984, and Eisner expected to assume Dillers position as studio chief. But he was passed over. Eisner then lobbied for the position of CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Michael Eisner took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in 1984 and turned it into a media giant whose interests included movies, sports franchises, theme parks and television networks. During the early part of the 1990s, Eisner and his partners set out to plan The Disney Decade which was to feature new parks around the world, existing park expansions, new films, and new media investments. While some of the proposals did follow through, most did not. These included the Euro Disney Resort (now Disneyland Paris), Disney-MGM Studios (now Disneys Hollywood Studios), Disneys California Adventure Park, Disney-MGM Studios Paris (eventually opened in 2002 as Walt Disney Studios Park), and various film projects Frank Wells, COO of Walt Disney. died in a helicopter crash in 1994. When Jeffery Katzenberg was passed over for Wells post, he resigned and formed Dreamworks SKG with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Dreamworks would go on to become one of the biggest and most successful movie studios of all time and a big competitor to Disneys animation features. Instead, Eisner appointed Michael Ovitz, one of the founders of the Creative Artists Agency, to be President, with minimal involvement from Disneys board of directors, which included many influential and respected members. Ovitz lasted only 14 months and left Disney in December 1996 via a no fault termination with a severance package of $38 million in cash and 3 million stock options worth roughly $100 million at the time of Ovitzs departure. The Ovitz episode left a bad taste in the mouth and people were very disappointed with Eisners high handedness and autocratic style of working. By 2003, Disneys fortunes had flagged and Roy E. Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney, resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation, accusing Eisner of micromanagement, flops with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning the Walt Disney Company into a rapacious, soul-less company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box-office movie flops starting in the year 2000. On March 3, 2004, at Disneys annual shareholders meeting, a surprising and unprecedented 43% of Disneys shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. This effectively ended Eisners stint at Disney. On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired. Eisners replacement was his longtime assistant, Robert Iger. The Pixar Story Pixar started in 1979 as the Graphics Group, a part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm.It is based in Emeryville, California. It was launched with the hiring of Dr. Ed Catmull from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where he was in charge of the Computer Graphics Lab (CGL).. The team at Pixar under Dr. Catmull worked on creating Motion Doctor, which allowed traditional cel animators to use computer animation with minimal training. Initially, Pixar started off as a computer hardware company whose core product was the Pixar Image Computer, a system primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. One of Pixar Image Computers biggest customers was Disney Studios. However, The Image Computer never sold well. In a bid to drive sales of the system, Pixar employee John Lasseter-who had long been creating short demonstration animations, such as Luxo Jr., to show off the devices capabilities-premiered his creations at SIGGRAPH, the computer graphics industrys largest convention, to great fanfare. This would begin Pixars journey into the world of animated feature films. Poor sales of Pixars computers threatened to bankrupt the company, And Lasseters animation department began producing computer-animated commercials for outside companies to bring in much needed revenue. Early successes included campaigns for Tropicana, Listerine, and LifeSavers. The team began working on film sequences produced by their parent, Lucasfilm or worked collectively with Industrial Light and Magic, ILM is another Lucasfilm company, on special effects. In 1986, Steve Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucas Films shortly after he left Apple Computer. Jobs paid $10 million as capital into the company. The newly independent company had 45 employees and was headed by Dr. Edwin Catmull, President, and Dr. Alvy Ray Smith, Executive Vice President and Director. Jobs served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pixar. Pixar has made 10 feature films beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and each one has achieved critical and commercial success. Pixar followed Toy Story with A Bugs Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003 (which is, to date, the most commercially successful Pixar film, grossing over $800 million worldwide), The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, and Up in 2009 (the first Pixar film presented in Disney Digital 3-D). John Lasseter Story Lasseter was born in Hollywood, California. When he was in college., he heard of a new program at California Institute of the Arts and decided to leave his current college to follow his dream of becoming an animator.. Lasseter was taught by three members of Disneys Nine Old Men Eric Larson, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. On graduation in 1978 , Lasseter joined The Walt Disney Company, as a Jungle Cruise skipper at Disneyland in Anaheim. He later obtained a job as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Since the release of 101 Dalmatians in 1961, Lasseter felt WDFA had hit its creative peak and there was no innovation coming through in either the animation or the storytelling. In 1980 or 1981 he came across some video tapes from one of the then new computer-graphics conferences, and he experienced as a revelation.He saw the huge potential of this new technology in revitalizing the creative juices at WDFA. Lasseter realized that computers could be used to make movies with three dimensional backgrounds where traditionally animated characters could interact to add a new, visually stunning depth that had not been conceived before. During this time, Lasseter tried to sell his ideas to Disneys top bosses and he got the approval to do a short test film on the famous story Where the Wild things are. However,he unknowingly stepped on some of their direct superiors toes by circumventing them in their enthusiasm to get the project into motion. One of them, the animation administrator Ed Hansen disliked it so much that when Lasseter and Wilhite tried to sell the idea to him and Ron Miller, which they at that time were already aware of, they turned it down. A few minutes after the meeting, Lasseter was summoned by Hansen to his office, where John was told that his employment in the Walt Disney Studios had been terminated. While putting together a crew for the planned feature for Disney, he had made some contacts in the computer industry, among them Alvy Ray Smith and Ed Catmull at Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group. After being fired, Lasseter visited a computer graphics conference at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where he met and talked to Catmull again. Before the day was over, Lasseter had made a deal to work as an interface designer with Catmull and his colleagues on a project that resulted in their first computer animated short: The Adventures of Andrà © and Wally B. Lasseter oversaw all of Pixars films and associated projects as executive producer. He also personally directed Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, and Cars. Lasseter has won two Academy Awards, for Animated Short Film (Tin Toy), as well as a Special Achievement Award (Toy Story). He was also nominated on four other occasions in the category of Animated Feature, for both Cars (2006) and Monsters, Inc. (2001), in the Original Screenplay category for Toy Story (1995) and in the Animated Short category for Luxo, Jr. (1986), while the short Knick Knack (1989) was selected by Director Terry Gilliam as one of the ten best animated films of all time. Corporate Culture at Pixar At most studios, a specialized development department generated new movie ideas. Pixar assembles cross-company teams for this purpose. Teams comprise directors, writers, artists and storyboard people who originate and refine ideas until they have the potential to become great films. Pixar believes in finding people who will work effectively together and ensures a healthy social dynamics in the team and this, they believe helps the team solve problems. Another important tenet in Pixar is the creation of a peer culture, where employees encourage people throughout the company to help each other produce their best work. At Pixar, daily animation work is shown in an incomplete state to the whole crew. This process helps people get over any embarrassment about sharing unfinished work, so they become even more creative. It enables creative leads to communicate important points to the entire crew at once. And sometimes a innovative piece of animation sparks others to raise their game. At Pixar, the belief is that, the most efficient way to resolve the numerous problems that arise in any complex project is to trust people to address difficulties directly, without having to get permission. So, everyone is given permission to communicate to anyone. Within Pixar, members of any department can approach anyone in another department to solve problems without having to go through proper channels. Managers understand they dont always have to be the first to know about something going on in their realm, and that its okay to walk into a meeting and be surprised. Special attention is given to craft a learning environment, this reinforces the mindset that everyone is learning and that its fun to learn together. Pixar University trains people in multiple skills as they advance in their careers. It also offers optional courses (screenplay writing, drawing, sculpting) so people from different disciplines can interact and appreciate what each other does. While many people dislike Post-Mortems of projects as they would rather discuss what went right than what went wrong and after investing extensive time on a project, theyd like to move on. So post-mortems at Pixar are structured to stimulate discussion. Pixar asks post mortem participants to list the top five things theyd do again and the top five things they wouldnt do. The positive-negative balance makes it a safer environment to explore every aspect of the project. Participants also bring in lots of performance data including metrics such as how often something had to be reworked. Data further stimulates discussions and challenges assumptions based on subjective impressions. Corporate Culture at Disney Under autocratic former CEO Michael Eisner, control rather than collaboration was the norm and unit heads became afraid or unable to make decisions. With Disney vying for a share of digital market, the timing of the upheaval could hardly have been worse. Fortunately, new chief executive Bob Iger is a completely different animal to Eisner and immediately set out to restore harmony. Achieving this involved transforming the culture rules almost beyond recognition. Unlike his predecessor, Iger: Rules by consensus Shows faith in his subordinates And is willing to keep a low profile and let others take the plaudits. No longer shackled by central control, key players in the organization now enjoy greater freedom to call the shots. And while Eisner overtly pooh-poohed any ideas he did not like, Iger values and encourages the contributions of others. Consequently, during weekly meetings the dialogue no longer flows just one way. The CEO visits rank and file to show them that their efforts are appreciated and has made his office a more welcoming place. This might seems as trivial gestures to some but the effect on morale can be priceless. But perhaps Igers most significant attribute is the trust he places in his people to get the job done. In contrast, Eisner cramped the style of others by insisting on being involved in anything and everything. In time, Disney gained a reputation of being slow to react. But Iger tells his people to go for it and will only get involved when it is absolutely necessary. Igers back seat style of leadership has allowed scriptwriters more freedom and the studio chief greater decision making power. Disney and Pixar: The Partnership During the 90s there was an explosive growth in the use of CGI in animation and live action feature films. Soon CGI animation came to dominate special effects in both kinds of features. The barrier between animation and special effects were shattered and the enhancement of Hollywood films using CGI became second nature and often went unnoticed. In 1991, due to losses suffered from their computer hardware business, there was serious financial strife at Pixar. This resulted in substantial layoffs in their computer department. Pixar made a $26 million deal with Disney to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which was Toy Story. Despite this, the company was losing money and Steve Jobs was thinking about divesting his shares in Pixar. Only after confirming that Disney would distribute Toy Story for the 1995 holiday season did he decide to give it another chance. The film went on to gross more than $350 million worldwide. Disagreements started to crop up between Disney and Pixar from their next project together, Toy Story 2. Originally intended as a straight-to-video release (and thus not part of Pixars three-picture deal), the film was eventually upgraded to a theatrical release during production. Disney refused to consider this feature film as part of the three picture deal as demanded by Pixar. Pixars first five feature films have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion, equivalent to the highest per-film average gross in the industry. Though profitable for both, Pixar later complained that the arrangement was not equitable. While Pixar was created and produced, and Disney only handled marketing and distribution, Profits and production costs were being split 50-50, and not only that, Disney exclusively owned all story and sequel rights and also collected a distribution fee. The lack of story and sequel rights was perhaps the most onerous aspect to Pixar and set the stage for a contentious relat ionship. The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement in early 2004. The new deal would be only for distribution, as Pixar intended to control production and own the resulting film properties themselves. The company also wanted to finance their films on their own and collect 100 percent of the profits, paying Disney only the 10 to 15 percent distribution fee. More importantly, as part of any distribution agreement with Disney, Pixar demanded control over films already in production under their old agreement, including The Incredibles and Cars. Disney considered these conditions unacceptable, but Pixar would not concede. Disagreements between Steve Jobs and then Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner made the negotiations more difficult than they otherwise might have been. They broke down completely in mid-2004, with Jobs declaring that Pixar was actively seeking partners other than Disney. Pixar did not enter negotiations with other distributors. After a lengthy hiatus, negotiations between the two companies resumed following the departure of Eisner from Disney in September 2005. In preparation for potential fallout between Pixar and Disney, Jobs announced in late 2004 that Pixar would no longer release movies at the Disney-dictated November time frame, but during the more lucrative early summer months. This would also allow Pixar to release DVDs for their major releases during the Christmas shopping season. An added benefit of delaying Cars was to extend the time frame remaining on the Pixar-Disney contract to see how things would play out between the two companies. Acquisition by Disney Disney announced on January 24, 2006 that it had agreed to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Following Pixar shareholder approval, the acquisition was completed May 5, 2006. The transaction catapulted Steve Jobs, who was the majority shareholder of Pixar with 50.1%, to Disneys largest individual shareholder with 7% and a new seat on its board of directors. Jobs new Disney holdings exceed holdings belonging to ex-CEO Michael Eisner, the previous top shareholder, who still held 1.7%; and Disney Director Emeritus Roy E. Disney, who held almost 1% of the corporations shares. As part of the deal, Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, by then Executive Vice President, became Chief Creative Officer (reporting to President and CEO Robert Iger and consulting with Disney Director Roy Disney) of both Pixar and the Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as the Principal Creative Adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the companys theme parks. Catmull retained his position as President of Pixar, while also becoming President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, reporting to Bob Iger and Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment. Steve Jobs position as Pixars Chairman and Chief Executive Officer was also removed, and instead he took a place on the Disney board of directors. Lasseter and Catmulls oversight of both the Disney and Pixar studios did not mean that the two studios were merging, however. In fact, additional conditions were laid out as part of the deal to ensure that Pixar remained a separate entity, a concern that analysts had had about the Disney deal.Some of those conditions were that Pixar HR policies would remain intact, including the lack of employment contracts. Also, the Pixar name was guaranteed to continue, and the studio would remain in its current Emeryville, California location with the Pixar sign. Finally, branding of films made post-merger would be Disneyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Pixar (beginning with Cars). EXHIBITS Name of Feature Film Studio Total Gross 1 The Lion King(1994) Disney $783,841,776 2 Finding Nemo(2004) Disney/Pixar $864,625,978 3 Shrek(2001) Dreamworks $484,409,218 4 Monsters Inc(2001) Disney/Pixar $525,366,597 5 Toy Story 2(1999) Disney/Pixar $485,752,179 6 Aladdin(1992) Disney $504,050,219 7 Snow White(1937) Disney $184,925,486 8 Ice Age(2002) 20th Century Fox $383,257,136 9 Incredibles(2004) Pixar $631,442,092 10 The Little Mermaid(1989) Disney $183,355,863 Exhibit 1 : Top Grossing Animated Feature Films Exhibit 2 Disney Stock Price from Aug 06 to Jun 07 We start off our analysis using Porters Five Forces of Competition to understand Disneys situation in the industry and the rationale behind its actions. Threat of New Entrants Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining Power of Buyers Threat of Substitutes Rivalry among competing firms Threat of new entrants: CGI animation movie industry is a robust industry which is urdergoing a period of phenomenal growth. This is an attractive segment for movie studios to venture into as revenues from live action movies are falling while their budget rises ever higher. CGI animation movies are an interesting option for many movie studio to increase their toplines without hurting their bottomlines. In this regard, we have seen many established movie studios partner with independent animation studios from within and outside the United States in creating CGI animation movies. While, these movies have not been able to garner the critical or commercial acclaim of that of Pixar, the quality and quantity of such outsourced CGI animation movies are increasing YoY and represent a significant threat to the market pull of existing players in the segment. So we would rate the threat of new entrants as high. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Resources needed for making CGI animation are the technology behind the animation, the story and the animators. Pixar has been a pioneer in creating the technology for animation and with its acquisition, Disney has backward integrated with its supplier, hence reducing the uncertainty in its environment. Both Disney and Pixar have a large team of dedicated scriptwriters and animators, all of whom work under short or long term employment contracts, the loss of a few of the talent will not reduce the quality of the output of either Studios. However, scriptwriters in US are unionized and have in the past gone on strike against major studios to renegotiate revenue sharing agreements from movie revenue. The strike cost studios hundreds of millions of dollars in lost opportunities, movie shooting delays and cost overruns. So the employees cannot be taken for granted and Disney will have to strike a fine balancing act to please both it employees and shareholder s if it wants to get the best work of the employees. We would rate the bargaining power of suppliers as medium. Bargaining Power of Buyers: While in the past, almost the entire revenue receipts from movies came from the theatergoing public within the US, due to the effects of globalization and technology diffusion, the receipts can now be classified on basis of geography and the mode of delivery of content. Worldwide movie market outside United States have become big movie spinners for Hollywood movies, sometimes receipts from offshore markets exceed that of the US market. The important markets outside of US for Hollywood movies are: Japan United Kingdom China Europe Studios sells distribution rights of their movie to other studios, who are often better placed to reach out to these markets. Since Disney and Pixar have a large brand following and pull, they are better placed that most other studios to negotiate for more favourable distribution contracts. Since all movies made by Pixar till now have been movie spinners for everyone associated with it, Disney has considerable clout in negotiating for contracts. The mode of delivery of movie content can be classified into: Theatrical Release DVD Release Internet Release Satellite TV Release Other than a theatrical release, the release of DVDs and the Satellite TV rights of the movie are a significant revenue stream. The reasons stated earlier regarding Disney and Pixars unique brand placement help them negotiate the best contracts in both types of releases. Internet release is a new phenomenon and is not a significant enough part of the revenue to affect the dynamics. Overall, we would rate the bargaining power of buyers to be low. Threat of Substitute Products: A big threat facing movie studios in general is movie piracy. Piracy is causing a meltdown in both movie and the music industry causing many studios to fail and others to change their business model. Piracy initially started off with CDs and DVDs, but with the advent and diffusion of broadband internet, online piracy is on the rise. Piracy since the 80s has been the biggest threat to the survival of movie studios as they lose billions of dollars worth of revenue receipts because of it. Since CGI movies appeal to all demographics, live action as well as traditional animated movies can be thought of as substitute products. However, historical data suggests that there is considerable cross selling between these genres and it is unlikely that somebodys interest in a different genre is going to prevent him from watching CGI movies. Overall, We would rate the threat of substitute products as medium. Intensity of Competition among existing players: The existing players in the segment are very aggressive and spend a lot on advertising and media to promote their movies. Further consolidation within the industry looks unlikely in the short term future as most studios in the segment have backers with deep pockets. Looking into the future as the frequency of CGI movie releases by major studios increases, the intensity of competition and one upmanship between studios will rise inflating budgets and reducing margins. So, we would rate the intensity of competition between existing players as high. We will summarize the competitive scenario in this grid. Threat of New Entrants High Bargaining Power of Suppliers Medium Bargaining Power of Buyers Low Threat of Substitutes Medium Rivalry among competing firms High As you can see, Disney is functioning within a dynamic environment with a fairly high degree of uncertainty. We have tried to analyze the reasons behind Disneys acquisition by breaking down the reasons of why companies go for MA. Given below is a pictorial representation of the same, Reason 1: To Increase Market Power When a firms size, resources and capabilities increase, it increases its ability to compete. With the acquisition of Pixar, Disney gains access to Pixars pool of talented artists and creative and technical teams. These artists and content developers are big assets in this industry as good talent is hard to find and harder to replace. With the increase in resources, Disney Pixar combine can create more movies per year potentially resulting in a significant value addition to Disney. Reason 2: Horizontal Acquisition Companies go in for acquisitions of firms competing in the same marketspace for obtaining: Cost Based Synergies Revenue Based Synergies This is an obvious case of the latter. Pixars last six movies have reportedly earned more than $ 2.5/3.2 billion in total whereas Disneys last movie Chicken Little was only a moderate success. Disney plans to exploit Pixars creative and technical teams in combination with its well established and huge distribution system to increase its revenue. Disney in recent years have been unable to connect with its audience and hence create movies that have become blockbusters to the tune of Pixars movies. This acquisition will help Disney leverage Pixars content generation expertise with Disneys distribution expertise, helping them realize the maximum amount of revenue from both the domains. Reason 3: Cost of New-Product Development and Increased Speed to Market Internal development of a new product, CGI movies, in this case is risky. From Pixars point of view, they were an independent studio without the monetary muscle of a media giant like Disney, this would mean that Pixar is likely to be conservative with the b

Justice in Oedipus the King :: Oedipus Rex Essays

Justice in Oedipus the King After reading Oedipus the King, one may think that in this story, there was no justice, and nobody could avoid their fate. King Laius and Queen Jocasta, fearing the prophecy of the Delphic oracle, had the young Oedipus left on Mount Cithaeron to die, but the father dies and the son marries the mother anyway. Oedipus, seemingly a good person, also tries to avoid the second prophecy, only to fulfill the first. But even through all this, I have done some research and feel that there was justice in Oedipus, The King, and their fate wasn't completely sealed. First, the murder of King Laius. Laius seemed to die a unwarranted death, but he was not necessarily in complete innocence, for he had done some malicious things earlier in his life, such as the attempted murder of his son, Oedipus, and the kidnapping and rape of Chrysippus, a young man Laius fell in love with before Jocasta. And Oedipus wasn't as guilty under ancient Greek law as he is under our modern laws. It was every Greek's duty to harm his/her enemies, and as far as Oedipus knew, King Laius was an enemy. Queen Jocasta wasn't exactly guiltless, either. The great Queen had also tried with King Laius to kill their son, and had no respect for the prophecies of Apollo: "A prophet? Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: no skill in the world, nothing human can penetrate the future." She was also the other half of a mother-son marriage. Greek law considered the act, not the motive - meaning that even though she nor Oedipus knew they were related, they committed the crime. Finally, Oedipus's guilt. In some ways, Oedipus was the most guilty of them all. Consider his 'hubris'. He regarded himself as almost a god, assuming that since he alone had solved the sphinx's riddle, he was the one of the gods' favorites. He was very quick to judge, and judged on the most flimsy of evidence. He calls on Tiresias to tell him what he should do, and when he doesn't like what he hears, Oedipus says, "Your words are nothing - futile", and