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

Motorola - Case Study Example Furthermore, the increasing demand of products and services it offered from the start proves to be a remarkable opportunity in its part. This means that if this has to be applied in the present context, since Motorola has long been established in its industry, the opportunity is that it has the chance to cater the increasing and ever changing market needs. Another opportunity for Motorola is the vast demand for products and services it is in tune with at present. The existence of LG, Apple Incorporated, Nokia and other related companies is a proof that the industry where Motorola belongs is competitive and is a good venue to conduct business that will last for long. Apple Incorporated is known for its highly innovative products. This means that there are more things to be discovered in the industry where Motorola is engaged at present time. This means an opportunity for Motorola to discover and rediscover things on its own and introduce them to the market. The above mentioned opportu nities are very important for Motorola. However, there are also corresponding threats that move against it. The first significant threat is a struggling economy. The 2008 economic downturn proved to be a remarkable threat in the case of Motorola. Economic condition is outside the bound of Motorola’s control and it definitely has significant impact on its part. Its financial stability has been quiet affected by this. This resulted to Motorola’s struggling mobile device business which further frustrates its stakeholders at the bottom line. Another significant threat is Motorola’s competitors. The varying strategic moves of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, LG Electronics, Apple Incorporated and others have tremendously created varying competitive advantage in Motorola’s industry. Each competitor is trying to create their own competitive advantage because they want to be a cut above the rest of the key players in the industry (Porter, 1990 ; Porter, 1998). For instance, the reason why Nokia was not completely harmed by the 2008 economic downturn was due to its ability to effectively use its strategic acquisitions, partnerships and industry leading in research and development. Apple Incorporated on the other hand is aiming to be the top and leading company of products in their latest innovation. LG anticipates customer needs. Samsung is very aggressive in its expansion into developing markets while enhancing strong brand awareness for its high end products. However, it did not overlook the fact that it needs to significantly manage its mid-to-low range products to cater a wide range of customers. It is important to consider that the competitors of Motorola are significant threats because they know what they need to do in the market and they are certainly good at creating strategies that will push them up to their competitive advantage. B. Describe the company's most prominent strengths and weaknesses. Motorola’s strengths involve its ability to understand fully the entire industry and the changing needs of the market. This is due to the fact that it is the pioneering company in its industry. Thus, it has remarkable ideas that could be turned into profit. It has sufficiently created a name and has long been established compared to its competitors. In this, there is no way that it could not surpass the competition. Thus, what it needs to do now is observed what the competitors

Synthesis Techniques for Fabrication of Nanofibers

Synthesis Techniques for Fabrication of Nanofibers Chapter # 02 Synthesis Techniques Introduction The different synthesis techniques for fabrication of nanofibers and nanoparticles will be discussed briefly in this chapter. The selected techniques and the experimental procedure for the synthesis of the nanoparticles and composite nanofibers will be discussed in detail. Synthesis Techniques for Nanoparticles Synthesis method being used for the preparation of nanomaterials is one of the most important factors that affect the different properties of the nanomaterials. There are two major classes of synthesis techniques used for preparation of nanoparticles Bottom-up approach Top-down approach Bottom-up Approach Bottom-up approach refers to the synthesis techniques in which nanoparticles are created from atomic scale to nanoscale. There are different techniques which refer to bottom-up approach Co-precipitation technique Sol-gel technique Wet-Chemical Methods In these methods the precursor solutions with appropriate stoichiometric ratios are mixed together and processed through heating resulting in the desired product. Wet chemical methods are advantageous because the particle size and shape is controllable and also the homogeneity in particle size distribution can be achieved by these methods [ref]. these factors play a vital role in enhancing the different properties of the material such as structural properties, thermal properties, electrical properties etc. The given examples of the bottom-up method are categorized as wet-chemical techniques. In co-precipitation method, the precursor solutions are mixed together and are heated at an appropriately selected temperature. The nucleation occurs precipitates are formed. The by by-products are washed away and the resulted powder is further processed for the different desired characterizations. Both the methods are advantageous in their own ways but sol-gel method is more convenient and efficient method for the preparation of nanomaterials at appropriately selected conditions. Also the major drawback of co-precipitation method is the non-uniformity of particles due to the intense agglomeration during the synthesis [ref] Top-down Approach In top-down approach, the material is processed from bulk state to nano regime by a number of methods. Solid state reaction method is one of top-down methods. Solid-state Reaction Method In solid state reaction method the precursors are directly mixed and ground into fine powder. The powder is further processed through hydraulic press and is pelletized for high heat treatment generally said to be sintering. The sintered pellet is characterized to check the desired properties of the sample. The process occurs at the interface of the solids (precursors) at higher temperature. The appropriate processing temperature and reaction time is selected particularly for the precursors used. At higher temperature, the diffusion of reactants starts causing the reaction to begin. For faster reaction, high surface contact area of the solids and small diffusion distance for the reactant is required which is attained by the well-mixing of the precursors [ref]. Although this is a low-cost method but the major drawback of this method is the non-homogeneity in particle distribution and size. Impurity in desired phase is also introduced during the grinding procedure of the precursors. The desired nanostructure is also not easy to achieve by this process [ref 54]. Sol-gel Synthesis Technique for NaxLi1-xCoO2 (x=0.0,0.5,1.0) Sol-gel method is one of the wet-chemical methods for the preparation of the various nanostructures. The variety of nanostructures can be produced by controlling the various parameters of sol-gel process such as the type of precursors, solvent type, processing temperature etc. the major advantage of the sol-gel process over other methods is the phase purity of the product as well as the homogeneity in the particle size and particle size distribution. This process involves two major steps Hydrolysis Condensation Hydrolysis of the selected metal oxide precursor occurs forming the particular hydroxides. The condensation occurs to form a network of linked hydroxides in the form of dense porous gel. In sol-gel process the precursor solutions are mixed together with a suitable gelling agent in appropriately selected ratio. The solution is then mixed homogeneously and heated until the gel is formed. The temperature is further raise to burn the gel which results in powder formation. The powder is heat treated and characterized to study the desired properties. Experimental Procedure Sol-gel method is used for the preparation of composition NaxLi1-xCoO2 (x=0.0,0.5,1.0). the precursors used are: Li2SO4.H2O (99.99% purity), Cu(NO3)2.6H2O (99.99% purity) and NaNO3 (99.99% purity). The selected precursors were added in appropriate stoichiometric amounts into ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol was used as gelling agent. The molar ratio between the total mass of precursors to the volume of the gelling agent was kept 1:14 to achieve the homogeneity. The solution was initially magnetically stirred at room temperature to get the homogeneous solution. The solution was then heated at 100Â ±2Â ºC until the formation of the gel. The temperature of the gel was further increased upto 150Â ±2Â ºC which caused the gel to burn. The resulted powder was hen processed through hydraulic press to prepare pellets of dimensions 13mm x 3mm. the sintering of the pellets was done at 550 Â ºC for two hours to achieve high phase purity. The flow diagram of the experimental procedure is given in figure 2.1 Synthesis Techniques for Nanofibers There are a number of techniques used to fabricate nanofibers, some of them are mentioned Drawing Template Synthesis Phase Separation Self-Assembly Electrospinning Brief detail of all these techniques is given below Drawing Drawing is the techniqus to fabricate long single nanofiber one-by-one from the droplet of polymer. Following steps are involved in this technique a substrate material is applied a millimeter drop of polymer solution a micropipette is moved towards the drop. When micropipette comes in contact with the drop, it is pulled back with a certain rate. which depends upon the nature of the polymer solution. A long nanofiber is drawn from the liquid. The diameter of the resultant nanofiber depends on the type of the polymer, its composition, drawing velocity and speed of evaporation of the solvent. The major drawback of this technique is that only a strong viscoelastic material that can undergo strong deformation during this process when stress is applied while pulling the nanofiber, can be used in this process. So, choice of material is limited in this process. Template Synthesis In template synthesis, a metal oxide membrane having pores of nanoscale diameter is used. The metal oxide membrane is placed over a solidifying solution. Polymer solution is extruded by the membrane by applying high water pressure over it. Polymer solution after passing through the membrane comes in contact with solidifying solution which converts the polymer solution into nanofibers. The diameter of the nanofibers depends on the diameter of the pores of membrane. Fig. 2.2 show the different steps involved in this process. Phase separation In this mechanism, separation of phases is involved due to the physical incompatibility. Following are the steps involved A polymer is mixed with a suitable solvent Gelation occurs in this mixture The final step involves the separation of phases. One of the phases-which is that of the solvent- is extracted leaving behind the other remaining phase. The remaining phase is the nanofibrous structure. Self-Assembly Self-assembly processing involves the smaller molecules as basic building blocks to build-up the nanofibers. Molecules are spontaneously organized into an individual and stable structure with preprogrammed non covalent bonds. Nanofibers of very thin diameter can be fabricated using this process but it requires very complicated procedures. The low productivity is another limitation of this method. Electrospinning This is the selected synthesis technique for the current research work. Electrospinning is the most efficient and simple technique to produce ultra-thin nanofibers. There are different components of the electrospinning setup which include High voltage source Syringe Needle Metal Collector Schematic of electrospinning process High voltage source is used in this procedure. The positive end of the source is connected with the needle while the metal collector is grounded by connecting it with the negative end of the voltage source. This creates the potential difference between the two ends which accelerates the polymer solution from the needle towards the collector in the form of solution jet. Before the solution jet reaches the collector surface, the solvent of the solution is evaporated and is collected as an interconnected web of the fibers. The polymer solution in the needle is held due to its surface tension, which induces a charge on the solution surface. The charge repulsion and contraction among the surface charge and its counter electrode causes a force that is directly opposite to the surface tension. As the intensity of the electric field increases, the hemispherical surface of the solution at the tip of the needle elongates to form a conical shape called Taylor cone. As the electric field is further increased, the repulsive electrostatic force overcomes the surface tension of the solution and jet of the solution is ejected from the Taylor cone. The ejected polymer solution undergoes instability and elongation process which allows the jet to become very long and thin. Meanwhile the solvent is evaporated from the polymer solution, leaving behind a charged polymer fiber. In electrospinning technique there are different processing parameters which affect the diameter of the nanofibers. These parameters include voltage, needle tip to collector distance, feed rate and the concentration. This method is advantageous over other methods due to its versatility, cost effectiveness and also by controlling the different processing parameters; the dimensions of the nanofibers can be controlled. Sol-gel Combined Electrospinning Technique Combining sol-gel method with electrospinning is the most convenient technique to prepare composite nanofibers.the different precursors involved in the sol-gel technique have different hydrolysis rate which leads to the in homogeneity of sol. To avoid such probles, electrospinning is combined with the sol-gel process. The problem is solved by electrospinning procedure due to the confinement of the different sol-gel reaction stages (hydrolysis, condensation and gelation) withing extremetly small space i-e the spinning jet and the final nanofiber [ref]. Experimental Procedure: Sol-gel combined electrospinning technique is used for the preparation of composite nanofibers with NaxLi1-xCoO2 (x=0.0,0.5,1.0). The precursors used are: Li2SO4.H2O (99.99% purity), Cu(NO3)2.6H2O (99.99% purity) and NaNO3 (99.99% purity). The polymers selected for this purpose were Poly vinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) with a molecular weight of 40,000 g/mol and Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) having a molecular weight of 89,000 g/mol. Polymer Solution Preparation Polymer solution was prepared by firstly selecting the appropriate solvents for the selected polymers. The solvent used for the PVP polymer was Ethanol and that for PVA polymwer was DI water. The molarity of PVP and PVA polymer solution were calibrated as 0.008M and 0.0006M respectively. Both polymers were separately added to their respective solvents and the solutions were magnetically stirred for 1 hour at room temperature. After acquiring the homogeneity, both solutions were mixed together and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. Precursors Solution Preparation The precursors solution was separately prepared. The precursors were added to their respective solvents separately and magnetically stirred at room temperature. DI water was used as a solvent for Li2SO4.H2O while ethanol was used for Cu(NO3)2.6H2O and NaNO3. 0.2M solutions were prepared for each precursor separately. After acquiring the homogeneous solutions, all three solutions were mixed together and magnetically stirred for 45 min. After achieving a homogeneous precursors solution, the polymer solution was added to it. the final solution was heated and stirred at 100Â ±5Â ºC for 1 hour. The resultant solution was then loaded to the syringe and was further processed through electrospinning. The figure shows the flow diagram of the discussed method

The Maasai Culture And Ecological Adaptations Essay -- Maasai Culture

Introduction The Rift Valley in East Africa has been the home of pastoralists for over three thousand years. A number of different tribes migrated to Kenya, grouped by language they include the Cushites derived from Southern Ethiopia, the Nilotes, which include the Maasai, from Southern Sudan, and the Bantu. The Maa speaking people are the group from which the Maasai originated; their expansion southward into the Great Rift Valley began about 400 years ago. The second stage of Maasai expansion involved the emergence of a central Maasai alliance as well as the expansion and differentiation out of the Central Rift Valley. There are numerous Maasai tribes, and we will be primarily discussing the Arusha and Central Maasai. Environmental Aspects The Maasai live throughout north central Tanzania and southern Kenya. Kenya Maasailand is presently located near the coast in the Narok and Kajiado districts. The territory in 1981 measured approximately 39,476 square kilometers. Details on the environment in this area are necessary in order to understand the Maasai people who depend upon it for their survival. The region is typical of arid and semi-arid lands. The Maasailand area has an extremely low amount of surface water, and shallow alkaline soils which proves to be a difficult problem for their cattle-raising practices, and the main reason why they have adapted pastoralism rather than agriculture. The amount of rainfall varies greatly (usually less than 500 mm a year) , with occasional violent storms erupting. The location of the rain may be very specific, effecting a very small area without touching a nearby location. The amount of rainfall fluctuates every year and droughts are frequent. The Maasai have adapted to their livin g co... ...1963 5. Irons, Eugene â€Å"The Pauperization of the Maasai in Kenya† Africa Today pg. 57-65 6. KenyaWeb http://www.kenyaweb.com/people/nilotes/nilotes.html 7. Saitoti, Tepilit Ole The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles 1986 8. Sindiga, Isaac â€Å"Fertility Control and Population Growth Among the Maasai† African Studies Review v.27 (Mar. ’84) pp.23-39 1984 9. Spear, Thomas and Richard Waller Being Maasai: Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa James Currey Ltd. London 1993 10. Spear, Thomas Kenya’s Past: An Introduction to Historical Method in Africa Longman Group Limited London 1981 11. Spencer, Paul The Maasai of Matapato: A Study of Rituals of Rebellion Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis 1988 12. Tigner, Robert L. The Colonial Transformation of Kenya Princeton University Press 1976

No Promises in the Wind

Irene Hunt is a prominent American writer who wrote primarily for children's and young adult audience. The remarkable feature of her style of writing is a presence of historical details which help to create a unique atmosphere of her works. Hunt represents a historical fiction genre. I. Hunt was born in Illinois in 1907, in the family of Sarah and Franklin Hunt (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). When her father died, she was a seven-year old girl. The family moved to a farm where she spent the rest of her childhood.Her grandfather’s tails about the Civil war period had a great influence on a child’s imagination and, probably, influenced her style of writing. In 1939, I. Hunt graduated the University of Illinois, and in 1946, she received her Master degree in the University of Minnesota, and continued her study at the University of Colorado (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). For 15 years, Hunt worked as a teacher of French and English in a public school, and then in the Univ ersity of South Dakota where she taught psychology. In 1965, Hunt decided to come back to Illinois where she has spent most of her life.Irene Hunt received many awards including American Notable Book Award and a Newbery Medal. The most interesting fact is that Hunt published her first book in 1964 only, when she was about 57 years old. The first book called â€Å"Across Five Aprils†. The other two books are â€Å"Up a Road Slowly† and â€Å"No Promises in the Wind†. Hunt has a unique style that appeals to children and adults. To convey a message of the stories, Hunt appeals to emotions of readers and their imagination using specific techniques and different stylistics devices (metaphors, comparison, etc).It is possible to say that Hunt is a keen observer of people, historical and war events which is manifested in her style. The most important is that she feels what children need supposing that even â€Å"the troubled child will often receive the message in a go od book that he cannot accept from an adult† (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). In the book â€Å"No Promises in the Wind†, Hunt depicts the period of the Great Depression and struggle of population to survive. The main characters of the book, Joey and Josh, are two brothers who leave their home in Chicago looking for better life.The narrator, Josh, tells that: â€Å"the year 1932 was not good one in which to be fifteen years old and in close quarters with a hopeless father† (Hunt, p. 4). Feels that his father does not love him and understanding that there is no enough food for the whole family, he starts his journey with his friend Howie and little brother Joey. Great love to music is the main thing which joins Howie and Josh. Two friends decided Howie could play his banjo to earn for leaving, while Josh is looking for a job.During their journey, they are faced with casualties of life suffering form the lost of their friend, Howie. The most impressive thing in the story is their struggle for existence and food. Hunt depicts that a hunger was the most terrible thing for people during recession. In this novel, she portrays the futility of sufferings of people who are still alive, but know that hunger is â€Å"around the corner†. The message of this story is that fight is senseless bringing only grief and constant tension. Then, the brothers meet a man, Lonnie, who helps them to find a job and earn for leaving.Suddenly, Josh becomes sick, and someone who found Lonnie’ address in his pocket brought Josh to Lonnie. For a long time, they cannot find Joey, and when Joey appears the brothers decide to back home. The story appeals to me very much depicting very interesting and discrepant historical period. I like the characters of the story who are courageous enough to escape from home and start new life. In spite of all the negative life lessons two brothers understand what it is to be an individual, because it is the only way for them to survive during Depression.At the end of the story, Hunt creates a strict ethical code which functions as the defense against the overwhelming chaos of economic instability. This book is very impressive depicting real life situations and struggle for survival. Hunt depicts growing-up of the boys during the depression period and described events which caused their maturing. References 1. â€Å"Biography: Hunt Irena†. Educational Paperback Association. (N. d). Available at: http://www. edupaperback. org/showauth. cfm? authid=82 2. Hunt, I. (2002). No Promises in the Wind. Berkley.

Book Response Burned by Ellen Hopkins Essay

Burned written by Ellen Hopkins Is a great novel, and worth the time to read. Burned is about a teen girl who was born and raised a Mormon; Pattyn Von Stratten she is like most teenagers growing up. Her family is extremely religious but in the same prospective her father is a drunk and very abusive. Pattyn is tired of living the fairytale of a Mormon lifestyle and ready to be energized with her own free spirit and way of life. Pattyn slowly starts to rebel against her family, school, church. While her father spends most of his time drunk; its left up to her mother to take care of the house hold and make sure everything is all in perfect running order to not upset Pattyn’s father. Pattyn begins rebelling even more so than she thought it would go. She gets suspended from school and gets sent to live with her aunt who she doesn’t even know. This is the beginning of it all the worst mistake her father could have made and where Pattyn makes decisions that are about to change her life completely. Pattyn soon falls in love with a boy names Ethan who she is bound to be attached to. Pattyn doesn’t see it but she is headed down the complete wrong path and when all she wanted is attention she’s going to get much more attention that she has intended to get. Ellen Hopkins is showing the themes of abuse and dysfunctional relationship, Pattyn’s father is an abusive drunk. I also think Hopkins is showing the theme of growing up and finding your destiny and who you are, when Pattyn is sent to live with her aunt in Nevada and basically create a whole new agenda for herself. Along with dysfunctional relationship, she’s displaying what love is like, too, when the character falls in love. I think she’s trying to prove that life doesn’t always go as planned and you have to work yourself around the problems that you find in life, and bad decision could change your life forever. I believe the main purpose of the novel is to reach out to teens. Ellen Hopkins expresses many different themes in her novel but one main theme I believe is im portant is physiological. Pattyn goes through many different stages of growing up and expressing her true self. She becomes more social with guys and becomes more of a social butterfly then the Mormon nerd she used to be. Pattyn lashes out and rebels against her family and church in many different ways. When Pattyn is set to live with her aunt she meets a boy and which she ends up in a relationship. Pattyn starts growing up and learning more about her sexual self and starts dreaming about all the what if’s. Pattyn starts to experiment with her new boyfriend Ethan and when she goes back home she shares the secret to her family that she is pregnant. Attempting to escape her father’s wrath, Pattyn and Ethan take off for California, unaware that Trevor, a â€Å"perfect Mormon child† who loved Pattyn, has written down the car’s license plate number. When her father finds out, he calls his â€Å"Highway patrolman friend† to track them down, to find them on an icy road. Ethan speeds up in attempt to lose the patrolman, but loses control of his car and crashes. Pattyn wakes up in the hospital, to find out that both Ethan and their baby are dead. Her father disowns her, unable to bear the recent events. Pattyn is left with a life changing decision in the end; shoot and kill all those who caused her pain and Ethan and their baby’s deaths, or move on? Pattyn states that if her father would just say he loved her she would spare him. Ellen Hopkins is an amazing author and has a unbelievable way of relating to teens. Burned is just one of her fabulous novels all having a great meaning to the lives of teens. If I was asked if I would recommend Ellen Hopkins novels I would say she has a great way of reach out to teens in her books and educating them in a non-boring way and I enjoy reading and looking forward to any novel she creates.