Interpersonal Communication Essay Example for Free

Interpersonal Communication Essay I joined Eclairs Molders in 2003 immediately after I finished my studies. I had been attached to the organization for more than 3 months during my field attachment. Therefore I had a prior knowledge of the organization and had interacted with several people. When they considered my application for a job, I was happy to join an organization which I had the values oriented towards outcome achievement and had a high degree of people orientation. I was now part and parcel of the organization. When I joined the organization, I was lucky since I was put under the same department that I had served before. I was under the same supervisor who had supervised me during my field attachment. I did not have to be oriented much in the organization culture and other aspects of its operation since I had gone through the same socialization process before. But there was one person who had oriented me in the organization and who remained relevant to me even after I joined the organization for work. That was the secretary in the Production department where I was assigned as an assistant manager. She was still relevant to me as she showed me how I had to start my work and settled in my job. With time we became very close to one another. This was to end up in romantic relationship. In the development of our relationship, we had undergone the full Knapp’s relationship escalation model. I still remember the initiation stage of our relationship when I was directed to her office where she would orient me to the organization. The first 10 to 15 seconds were spent knowing about each other. There was a mutual attraction that developed between us that time as we observed each other’s appearance and manners. Our experimental phase was marked by the continuous interaction that we has as I worked with her guidance. I had a lot of uncertainties about her although I felt more attracted to her. I had to use several strategies in order to reduce this level of uncertainties. Under the uncertainty reduction theory it took on actives and interactive strategies in order to learn more about her. This helped me to gain knowledge and understanding about her. In active strategies, I enquired about her from her friends and also set up several situations under which I would observe her closely like enquiring a lot about work from her. In the interactive strategies, I talked with her most of the time often brining in other topics not related to work so that I would understand her more. Though our relationship remained at this phase when I was in my field attachment it dramatically changed its course when I started working in the company. Although I was assigned another secretary I would still rely on her most of the time and she was also supportive to orient my secretary to her work. We developed a liking for each other and she would spend some of her time in my office sometimes with no official attachment but just chatting with one another. We sure that our relationship had to go beyond business relationship but there was a sense of romance in the air. Our relationship grew and reached the intensification period. At this time we were closer with one another and we disclosed that were wanted to from a lasting romantic relationship. We knew that it would be hard for us to operate in the work place as lovers but we had to our best in order to keep our relationship rolling. Self disclosure was an important aspect that helped to cement our relationship. We developed from the hidden pane to the open pane of Johari window as we opened ourselves to one another. We came to understand our characters and helped each other to understand their characters as well. By undergoing several windows we were able to know each other. Mutual disclosure helped us to know each other well and the trust in our relationship deepened. Following the social penetration theory, we undertook several practices in order to gain closeness in our relationship. This helped our relationship to progress from superficial to intimate. Self disclosure was an important factor in this theory that helped our relationship to grow. We gave rewards from time to time. We all strived to achieve each others satisfaction to help gain stability in our relationship. At first I was not willing to disclosure myself to her. But with time she started disclosing herself and our trust grew. According other norm of reciprocity, I had to disclose myself to her since she had already disclosed herself to me. I found out that she felt better when I disclosed myself to her since she was able to know me well. In the intensifying phase we were able to disclose our love to one another. Our relationship grew and we found ourselves with each other most of the time. At tea break, she would be at my desk while I found myself entering the manager’s office more than office just to pays by her and greet her. Most of the workers around especially the manager and my secretary started noting that there was a growing relationship between us. We would go for lunch together. Slowly we started integrating with tone another. No one wanted to go for lunch or go home alone. After work, we would go to her house and we would have supper together. We started caring for one another. We were like one person. Mine was hers and hers was mine. With were simply inseparable. Most of the time we had to make personal sacrifice in order to accommodate each other. We involved several pro-social strategies in order to gain compromise with one another behavior. Like in any other relationship, we had to make sacrifices to accommodate the other. We made a lot of promises to one another in order to gain compliance. We expressed our positive and negative feelings in order to gain compliance with one another. This helped to build our relationship more and trust each other more. According to the Relationship Dialectics theory as far as connectedness-separateness is concerned with had to make a lot of personal sacrifice in our autonomy for the sake of our relationship. It is not that we did not experience conflict in our relationship but most of time we had to accommodation strategy in order to overcome our conflicts. Many times we accommodate each other but sometimes we had to compromise on a situation when it became too difficult for us to find a solution to the problem. Other time we had to collaborate with one another in order to find a mutually and completely satisfactory solution of our conflict in a win-win situation. At this stage of our relationship, we were sure that we needed each others in our life. Our parent started pressurizing us to get married and stay together. We though that we had the most romantic relationship on earth. We also felt the same need to get married and stay together. But there were other factors that we had to take into consideration before setting down for our marriage. We considered the fact that we had to take time to build ourselves and our relationship before deciding to get married. It was hectic at work to keep our relationship rolling. It was still more difficult to stay in the same department yet in different offices. I found myself delegating most of my secretary duties to my girlfriend and it was evident that she was not auguring well with it. The manager also felt that her secretary was being overburdened to handle his order and my orders as well. In most cases, it was my girlfriend who delegated her work to my secretary. It was like I had assumed her existence and her roles (West and Turner 2000, p. 32). However we did our best to manage our relationship. We had to set time to be together and time to stay at work and carry out our duties. Most of the time the manager complained we were not getting serious with our work and we seemed to value our relationship more than our work. These were some of the difficulties that we had expected from the begging when we decided to be together. Therefore we had to make a lot of sacrifices and commitment most of our time to our work rather than our relationship. But our relationship was not to stay for long. The more it became evident to coworkers that we were in love, the more it became difficult for us to handle our relationship. There were a lot of conflicts that we were able to go through but others became sticky with time. It was just one of such conflicts between maintaining our relationship and carrying out our duties as required that made our relationship difficult to continue with. The conflict As an assistant production manager, I handled most of the incoming production orders from the sales team. I had to vet those order and decide the one which had to be produced first before the others. The work of the manager was just of authorize the production of the orders. Therefore I acted as the main link between the sale department and the production department. On the other hand my secretary and my girlfriend who was the secretary to the production manager linked me with the manager. When I received the orders, I vetted them and gave them to my secretary who would then give them to the Managers secretary for them to be passed to the manager. After the manager signed them, they would follow the same route and come back to me where I would forward them to the production supervisor. This was a complicate change but there was nothing that I could do to make it simpler since that was the culture of the organization. One day, I received a call from the sales department and I was informed of orders that had to be produced within 24 hours. Although we used to handle such orders they were rare and most of our orders were produced within a period of one week. Therefore at this was an urgent order that had to be completed fast. In a normal condition, I was authorized to vet such an order and pass it direct the manager without involving the secretary so that it would be produced within the stipulated time. When I received the orders I decided to take them direct to the manager to be signed. I went to the manager office but I found that he was engaged with another client. For the past tow days, we had not been in good terms with my girlfriend but this was just a normal conflict in a relationship. Therefore when I found that the manager was engaged, we decided to talk with my girlfriend as we waited for the client to finish so that I would see the manager. But our conversation became deep and emotional and I forgot that I had urgent order to be attended to. I became very emotion as my girlfriend seemed to annoy me through the conversation. I just left the order on her table and hurried back to my office apparently very upset from the conversation we had. I did not remember about the orders again. I spent the day in my office attending to other work and I felt very low. The next day in the morning, I go a call from the sales department calling for the packaging of the products as the cline had come to collect them. This was the beginning of the conflict. I called the sales department and informed them that the manager had not signed the orders and therefore they had not been processed. According to the deception theory, I had to manipulate what had happened in order to shift the blame from my office to the manager office although I knew very well that there was a high level of apprehension about the deception in what I was saying. The sales department tried to assimilate the validity of my explanation and immediately it was clear that this as not true. There was some element of deceit in my message. Therefore the sales manager called the production managers office and enquired about the orders. The manager sought to be explained why production manager had not approved the production and yet the office did not communicate to the sales office in order to cancel the orders. The production manager was not aware of any such order and therefore he immediately called me in order to get to the bottom of what had happened. As per my explanation, I told the manager that I had taken a step of handing over the order sot here secretary so that they could be processed easily and I thought that he had not approved those orders. But the secretary had not handed in the order. Amid the conversation and conflict that we had with her, she had forgotten to hand in the order as a matter of urgency and therefore they had not bee approved. Therefore the conflict degraded to be a dyad conflict between me, my girlfriend and the production manager. I shifted the blame to my girlfriend that as the secretary of the manager she had the duty to hand in the orders. The manager on the other and blamed me since I did not treat order with the needed urgency. My girlfriend also blamed me since I did not inform her that the order was urgent and therefore she concentrated on finishing the work that was on her desk first. It ended up as a blame game but between me and her, it was more emotional and entwined to the other conflicts that we had before. Therefore it was a dyad conflict another it was far reaching as it involved deferent department. To me the conflict was more complicated by the emotional bond that I had with the person to who all the blame was falling. I blamed myself since I didn’t do what was right. I just found myself defending my position and forgot all the sacrifices that we had made in the past in our relationship in order to accommodate the other. There was power of love that was entwined in the conflict that made it difficult for me to come over it. At the same time there were office protocols that had to be followed in carrying out the needed activities. The cause of the conflict was vested in the misunderstanding in our relationship and lack of responsibility to my duties. The conflict was difficult to solve coupled with the emotional bond that was between us. In this case the more we tried to come up with solution on how the production could be achieved within hours in order to deliver the products the conflict went back to the start. With the full understanding of the relationship that was between me and his secretary, the production manager became harsher and his usual criticisms of neglecting our duties for the sake of our live escalated once again. There was just one condition that he put for us. It was either we took our relationship out of the work place or one or both of us resign from work and be left at home. His stance made it more difficult to resolve the conflict. But one again there was also the factor of my secretary who argued that she had been neglected in performance of her duties and she was considered to be under the manager’s secretary. With the full understating that both my office and the office of the manager had their own identify and freedom of operation, the manager could not understand how our relationship had fused the operation of both offices such that come of her office tasks were performed by my secretary and my work was performed by his secretary. We had to find a way out of the conflict. We were able to solve the immediate effect of the conflict and we ordered production of the order in a matter of hours. But there was still the problem our work and our relationship that could not be ignored. The manager wanted us to solve it once and for all. At the end the conflict had a destructive effect on our relationship. Coupled with the conflict that we had earlier with my girlfriend, it became difficult to go over the current conflict that we were facing. She accused me of deception and using her as a scape-goat in order to evade the responsibility of what had happened. The trust she had build on me had been deconstructed by one event and our relationship could not take off against or be the same as it had been before. We had entered into a conflict that we could hardly go over. Earlier we had revealed our conflict through accommodating each other and compromise on one situation. But this time she seemed to have taken an avoidance strategy in our conflict. She did not pay attention to what had happened and the ramification it had on our relationship but all she did was to avoid me altogether. She did not appear to pay close attention in order to match the strategies that we could use to solve the problem to the situation that was at our hand. I thought that with time we could recover from the time pressure that was affecting how we resolved our conflict. To me our relationship was more valued and thereof I was ready to compromise and sacrifice myself in order to overcome the conflict to match the situation. But I had used by relative power strategy in order to put the blame on her and I knew she would not forgive me for this. I realized that I was working and therefore I was ready to accommodate her for the sake of our relationship. But she had already reached interpscyhic phase where although she said noting she was more focused on my faults and show used may faults to withdraw from active participation in our relationship. She felt justified in withdrawing from the relationship. But it was over and our relationship entered the terminal stage. First we had differed as I had a ‘me’ stand instead of ‘we’ in the conflict. We were both responsible for the conflict but I had exempted myself from it and accused her. This had acted as the first warning sign that our relationship was just be ending. It had started to dissolve with our earlier conflict and this conflict as the last final strike that drove the nail in. Since that conflict happened we had less instance of communication. We had less interaction as we took to the workplace procedure. Suddenly we had developed different interests and what had our fun been before was not making sense to the other. Although we continued to be with one another from time to time and many thought that our relationships was normal, I knew inside myself that it was not working and non of us was working to save the situation. We reached as stagnation stage and none of us talked about our relationship again. Sometime we would be together and spend a lot of time without talking. In the office our interaction were reduced and even when we interacted, we talked about office matters most of the time. With time we started to avoid each other. There were efforts to reduce face to face conversation with the other and in case I needed something from the manager I would either send the secretary or if she was busy, I would use the office phone. I also noted that she had the same attitude and she reduced the number of trips she had been making to my office and the phone line became active as the main communication channel. At the end, the termination of our relationship was natural. We stopped seeing each. I used my secretary a lot when I wanted anything from the manager’s office. We simple ended our relationship like that and though with difficult, we tried our best to remain coworkers until the date she left the company for another. Up to date I feel that we didn’t hand our conflict the way it was supposed to have been handled. We didn’t pay attention to the fine details of our relationship and we were too emotional in trying to find a solution to it. But it was compounded by the fact that it had emanated from another conflict and this had the effect of an outsider who had more power than us. The nature of the conflict was also difficult as there were protocols or work procedures that had been overtaken by our emotional involvement.

Antenna Systems For Radar Applications Information Technology Essay

Antenna Systems For Radar Applications Information Technology Essay The project will examine a variety of beam forming techniques which can be used in order to make radar electronic beam steering feasible. Commonly used mechanical rotating antennas for a 360 degrees views coverage are difficult to operate and expensive to implement. Thus, electronic beam forming is an attractive solution. This report is mostly interested in radar applications performing in 24 GHz frequencies, which can be used by car industries, in order to avoid obstacles on the road, for example, or security radars, covering 360 degrees views. Radar 2.1. Radar Definition Radar means radio detection and ranging, determining thus the original and still significant application of radar. The main reason for using radar is to estimate certain characteristics, such as the position, motion and presence of the specific surroundings in which the user is interested. Radar is actually a sensor which transmits electromagnetic energy into the surroundings and detects energy which is reflected by objects. If a directive antenna transmits electromagnetic energy through a narrow beam it is easy to predict the bearing of an object because of the energy reflected of it. The time needed for the transmission and reception of the energy represents the distance between the radar and the object. [21] Kinds of Radar There is a great variety of radars. Some radars provide navigation aid and safety on small boats and their size might be less than 15cm. Others are widely used by the police in order to measure the speed of the vehicles. Moreover, there are some radars so large as to cover many kilometers of land, long arrays of antennas and they all work together in order to supervise the flight of astronomical bodies or space vehicles. In addition, there are many radars at airport, with a more common size and rotating antennas. Finally, there are several radars, more complex, for mobile use. [21] Radars can be classified in many categories. As much as the waveforms are concerned, radars can be classified in 2 categories, they can be either Continuous Wave (CW) or Pulsed Radars (PR). CW radars use different antennas for transmission and receiving, and they emit electromagnetic energy continuously. Unmodulated CW radars precisely determine the target radial velocity and angular position, while information about the target range have to use some form of modulation in order to be gathered. In order to search and track target velocity, primarily unmodulated CW radars are used. Pulse Radars (PR) use a series of pulsed waveforms, mostly with modulation and can be separated based on the Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) in 3 categories, high, medium and low PRF radars. CW and PR radars are both able to determine target range and velocity by using different forms of modulation. [23] Continuous Wave Radar (CW) CW radar sets continuously transmit a high-frequency signal. Then, the received signal is permanently processed. In such a system, two problems have to be solved: avoid a direct connection between the transmitted and received energy (feedback connection), conduct the received echoes into a time system capable of doing run time measurements. A feedback connection can be prevented by: spatial separation   between the transmitting and receiving antenna frequency dependent separation  by the  Doppler-frequency  during the measurement of speeds. [4] Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave Radar (FMCW) CW radars are not capable of measuring distance, because the timing mark necessary lacks, preventing thus the system to time precisely the transmit and receive cycle and exchange the measured round-trip-time into range. This problem can be solved by using phase or frequency shifting techniques. As far as the frequency shifting method is concerned, a signal is used, which continuously changes in frequency around a specific reference, in order to identify stationary objects and measure the range. In order to achieve an up-and-down or a sawtooth-like alternation in frequency, Frequency-Modulated  Continuous  Wave radars (FMCW) are used, changing the frequency in a linear fashion. By constantly changing the frequency, there will be a difference between the frequency of the echo signal and the one transmitted. Thus, the difference  transmitters frequency shift will be relative to round trip time  and so the range  of the target too. The frequencies can be examined, when a reflec tion is received, and by comparing the received echo with the actual step of transmitted frequency, a range calculation like using pulses can be done. Consequently, the range of the stationary objective is given by comparing the transmitted and received frequencies. It is difficult to make a broadcaster able to send out random frequencies cleanly, and as an alternative, this frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar, use an easily changeable ramp of frequencies up and down. If the frequency modification is linearly over a broad area, by making a comparison among frequencies within this region, the distance can be easily determined. It is possible to measure only the complete value of the difference and thus, the results with increasing frequency modification signify a decreasing frequency change at a static scenario. [4] Characteristics e of FMCW radar: measuring the distance is potential by comparing the definite frequency of the received signal to a given reference (regularly direct the transmitted signal) the time required for transmitting a signal as longer than the duration of the measurement of the installed maximum range of the radar [4] By selecting the appropriate frequency deviation per time unit, the radar resolution can be different, and choosing the frequency shift duration, the maximum range can be varied. For instance, if the linear frequency of radar increases over 1  ms duration, the time-limited maximum range might be 150  km. If the maximum frequency deviation is 65 MHz, then stay about 433 Hz per meter for the filter for analysis. It is important that the amount of frequency modulation is considerably greater than the estimated Doppler shift otherwise, the outcome will be affected. The most common and easy way to modulate the wave is by linearly increasing the frequency. In this way, the transmitted frequency will change at a continuous rate. If a single antenna is used, a ferrite circulator has to separate the transmit and receive. However, using to different antennas, one for transmission and one for reception, is easier and cheaper to perform. On a ordinary substrate transmitting and receiving ant enna are placed exactly above each other as an antenna array. The direction of the linear  polarization  is rotated against each other by 180  degrees. An extra shielding plate reduced a direct cross talk (i.e. a direct coupling of both antennas) usually. From this direct coupling, arises a signal, which is suppressed due to the same frequency, since the measurement is performed to as a frequency difference between transmit and receive signal. [4] Radar Beamforming In order to create a beam with the appropriate and desired characteristics, radar beamforming, which combines signals from a set of sources, is essential. As much as an RF antenna system is concerned, each source may be a single array element or a subarray. A steerable beam is able to control the combination process electronically. Moreover, it can be replicated so as to create various independent beams, limited by hardware difficulty, complication and losses. [22] 3.1. Analog Beamforming A feed system is a network used in order to connect the antenna input to its radiators. The main reason for using such a system is to transmit power to the elements or collect signal from them. (transmit mode, or receive mode). While being on transmit or receiving mode, the required phase and amplitude excitations needed for the radiation performance must be maintained. The feed network is able to scan the beam, select among different antenna beam shapes and communicate with active sectors, by containing several switches and other devices, appropriate to execute such processes. Moreover, the feed network may contain amplifiers and other active devices. There are also many new developments, such as Switch matrix systems, Butler matrix feed systems and Vector transfer matrix systems, but the most significant are the RF lens feed systems. [1] 3.1.1. RF Lens One of the biggest problems when using a transmission line feed network is that amount of losses. Therefore, systems which are based on RF/optical principles are preferred. There is a large variety of RF Lens and many RF/optical feed systems also incorporate different types of beam scanning functions. RF refractive lenses are similar to their classical optical counterparts, which function by using the refraction amongst different materials. When using constrained lenses, the waves are forced to follow some specific paths, like in a geodesic lens. Another type of lens is the bootlace lens which in which the signals between the input surface and the output surface are routed on transmission lines. Occasionally, a conformal array feed uses different combinations of lens types, or lenses and matrices. Small array antenna elements are used by an RF lens as input/output probes that couple to the lens region. These probes exist in an array environment which is characterized by reflections a nd mutual coupling and the associated design problems. In particular in circular lens designs, there can also be standing waves caused by reflections from the opposite side of the lens. Another problem is the variation of the element phase center with frequency. [1] Rotman Lens A Rotman lens is a parallel-plate structure used as the beam forming network (BFN) for a linear array of radiating antenna elements. It is easy to form a beam forming network suitable for use with a planar array, by stacking numerous lenses. Rotman lenses are preferred because of the advantages that they offer, such as ease of manufacture, light weight, low cost, monolithic construction and availability of many beams at the same time. Rotman lens is capable of extremely wide-band operation, because it is a true time-delay device which produces frequency-independent beam steering. Because of these characteristic, Rotman lens is a possible candidate for use in multi-beam satellite-based applications. [2] The electrical area that a Rotman lens occupies is very large (usually hundreds of square wavelengths) and because of this, an entirely precise analysis is not possible. The planar circuit approximation applies to structures which are electrically thin in one dimension, like parallel-plate lenses. The effort required for their analysis is reduced to that of solving a (line) integral equation for the relationship between the RF voltage and current at the periphery of the structure. [2] The R-2R Lens The R-2R lens feed (Figure 1) has feed ports on the perimeter of a parallel-plate lens with radius R, in order to illuminate the output ports on the opposite side of the lens. These output ports are linked to the element ports on the 2R radius circular array with cables of equal length. The number of feeding ports is half the number of element ports. This type of arrangement allows all feed points to be ideally focused, resulting in a plane-phase front. In order to scan the antenna beam at angle ÃŽÂ ¦, the feed point has to be moved an angle 2ÃŽÂ ¦. One illumination taper can be achieved, by combining three to four adjacent feed ports, resulting in lowered sidelobes. [1] Figure1: The R-2R lens feed system [1] It is essential to add several switches on the lens ports, in order to scan the beam. One has to be allowed to use numerous beam ports at the same time in order to achieve a multiple beam generation. This problem could be solved by using half the lens for beam ports and connect the other half to a 90 ° arc array. R-2R lens are considered to be a special case of the Rotman lens, which is typically used for linear array feeds. Furthermore, for circular arcs up to 90 °, the Rotman lens can be used. Actually, the curvature does not have to be circular, as the design in general, curvature of lens input and output lines, cable lengths, and so on can be optimized together with the array shape. It is possible to achieve ideal focusing in the Rotman lens only for three beam directions. [1] The R-kR Lens The R-kR lens feed system has as much ports on the lens as there are radiators on the circular array. In order to cover 360 ° views, the lens ports have to be used more than once, both as feeding points and for connecting to the radiating elements. In order to achieve this, switches are used, circulators (Figure 2), or two lenses at the same time. The radiators placed on radius R are connected by cables of the same length to the ports of the circular lens with radius kR. When k is about 1.9, a planar phase front for rays within a sector of about 120 ° is obtained. This shows that the lens is nearly two times the size of the circular array, thus, it cant fit inside the circular array if it is not filled with a dielectric with permittivity more than 4. If broadband radiators are used, the R-kR lens-fed circular array can be very broadband. The bandwidth could be limited by using switches or circulators. The phase center of the radiators is a design parameter of critical importance and must be located on the design radius R. [1] Figure 2: The R-kR lens, here with circulators. [1] In order to limit the focusing performance, several types of element have a phase center which is able to change position with frequency. [1] Mode-Controlled Lenses A radial transmission line which forms a circular parallel-plate lens is possible to act like a circular array feed. If it is excited by several probes placed close to the center, the modes generated will direct the energy toward a part of the lens periphery. Therefore, by controlling the modes using phase shifters or a hybrid network connected to the input probes commutates the excitation. Then it is easy to connect these pick-up probes to the radiating elements, via additional phase shifters if needed. [1] Luneburg lenses In order to achieve wide angle scanning, the Luneburg lens, is the appropriate and desired device. As far as land mobile operations are concerned, an antenna able to scan in a two-dimensional (2D) plane is required, particularly if the scan angle is large. The Luneburg Lenses are used in order to provide single or multiple mechanically scanned beams, at microwave frequencies. Nevertheless, because of the advent of phased arrays the lenses are now usually used for radar applications as a wide angle passive reflector. This is why nowadays there are appropriate lens configurations which can be established by permitting the inclusion of controllable dielectric material into a Luneburg Lens so as to make the lens suitable for electronic scanning at 24 Ghz. [1] Digital Beamforming When performing beamforming in the digital area, it is called digital beamforming. The realization can demand huge volumes of digital information to be processed at extremely high rates, but current improvements in processing hardware have made Digital Beamforming a useful alternative to RF combining in many ways. Moreover, it has allowed the formation of systems which were not practical with legacy technologies. Below are presented the benefits of Digital Beamforming. [22] Simplicity of hardware If the RF and analog hardware becomes a minimal device, collecting data, it would be an ideal case. Then, all the difficult and complicated process of the signal is done in firmware, which is a more flexible and gainful way of processing comparing to RF plumbing. In addition, it is possible that the overall size of the system, as long as its weight, will be reduced a lot, and this is particularly significant in airborne systems. [22 Replication Digital beamforming is the best option when many independent beams are needed. By using digital beamforming, it is easy to form each beam completely digitally, without any analog or RF hardware further required. The quantity of beams like these is then partially limited by power, speed and synchronization of the processing elements, which become even more cost-effective and flexible each year. [22] Scanning and Tracking It is not possible to steer electronically each beam (e.g., to track a moving source). However, by using the precisely same stream of digital samples from each antenna element, it is potential to turn each independent beam to a different source. Thus, it is easy to reduce extremely difficult receiver scenarios to firmware buildings blocks which are now usual. [22] Flexibility These digital systems can be adapted without any difficulty to varying requirements, such as multipath combination, application bandwidth, tracking requirements or interference rejection. A SMOP (Simple Matter of Programming) is able to perform numerous adaptations. [22] Radar An array antenna which is a low Cost Transmit/Receive one provides agile beams to track multiple targets at the same time. [22] Anything that can be done by using an analog beam forming can easily be done digitally too. Choosing to do everything digitally might lead to several difficulties because of the extreme requirements on data transmission, storage, and signal processing. However, nowadays such problems are easily solved because of the rapid growth of computer power, either software or hardware. When using an analog reception beam forming, the element signals are combined with weights determined by feed networks and/or phase and amplitude controlled receiver modules. In digital computer, it is possible to do the same operations on the element signals just by converting analog signals to digital ones. Thus, the formation of many receive beams can take place at the same time, without feed losses, which are common when using analog systems. Moreover, the element modules in the digital systems have low noise amplifiers (LNA) preceding the analog-to-digital conversion. A lossless beam forming is created as t he LNAs set the signal-to noise ratio, so that it is not affected by transmission losses. The advantages of a digital beam forming in this case are not so obvious. After the transmission of the beam, it is not possible to change the beam shape or to perform any other signal processing. Nevertheless, digital synthesis of the transmitted waveform on the element level combined with DBF on reception can offer remarkable system capabilities in terms of, for example, LPI (low probability of intercept) radar with jamming resistance. A wide transmission beam illuminating the area of interest and multiple, narrow, digitally formed receive beams has also been suggested for LPI systems-ubiquitous radar and OLPI radar (Omnidirectional LPI). There are many aspects which can best be performed digitally, such as the need for amplitude and phase control, polarization control, switching of the active sector, compensating for element patterns in the beam steering algorithms and calibration. A DBF ant enna system has a combination of numerous subsystems and components. Receiver channel imbalance, , A/D converter offset errors, amplitude and phase errors and frequency dependent errors are some of the possible imperfections in these subsystems and component which can influence the performance of the overall system. The type and requirements of each processing used influence the importance of such imperfections. Usually, array calibration and special error correction schemes are included in the antenna system design. [1] 3.3. Beamforming Transmitter Architectures Several beamforming transmitter architectures exist, suitable for integrated circuit implementation as well as many well-known topologies for separate implementations of phased array transmitters. The goal is topologies appropriate for performance in consumer products at 24 GHz. Electrical beamforming is achievable if the phase of the signal to each antenna element in the array is separately set. Moreover, a larger number of patterns can be achieved and the sidelobe level can be reduced compared to uniform power distribution if the power to each antenna element is set individually. [3] 3.3.1. Baseband Phase Shifting In the baseband phase shifting architecture the phases and amplitudes of the signals are created in the digital baseband. The phase control is very accurate, but the architecture demands an entire signal path between the baseband and the antenna for each element (Figure 3). Also, the architecture can be called digital array, because the beamforming is being performed in the digital domain. Such an architecture lead in a large hardware cost and power spending because there are many signal paths, but also in big flexibility. As a result, this architecture is perhaps very complex for radar at 24 GHz. In order to transmit individual information in various directions, in MIMO systems (multiple input multiple output), the flexibility of the architecture with parallel paths is available too. [3] Figure 3: Transmitter architecture for baseband phase shifting [3] 3.3.2 Local Oscillator Phase Shifting Phase shifting can occur in the LO path as well (Figure 4) Moreover, it is likely to use phase shifters in the signal path, at IF or RF. Whether performing the phase shift at LO or RF or place them at different places, the same amount of hardware is achievable. If they are placed in the LO path, amplitude variation among dissimilar phase settings is less significant if the mixers are driven hard. In this way, amplitude variation in the LO path will not influence the signal path a lot. Thus, it is easier to implement the phase shift in the LO path. [3] Figure 4: Transmitter architecture for phase shifting in the local oscillator path, polar modulation [3] 3.3.3. Offset Local Oscillator Phase Shifting If the power amplifier and local oscillator are used at the same frequency, injection pulling is possible to occur. It might not be easy to accomplish a sufficient isolation so as to avoid the corruption of the oscillator signal by the PA. To moderate this on an architectural level, offset LO phase shifting may be used as shown in Figure 5. Beamforming transmitters have applications like radar (24 GHz and 77 GHz) and WLAN (60 GHz) which are placed at high frequencies. It is valuable to use the lowest frequencies possible on the chip, and multiply the frequency close to the PA. A reduced VCO frequency makes allows a wider tuning range, and the increasing MOS varactor quality factor. [3] Figure 5: Offset local oscillator phase shifting for beamforming transmitter [3] 3.3.4. Ring Oscillator Based Phase Shifting A ring oscillator which has a tunable phase shift among the oscillating elements is used in such architecture (Figure 6). The tuned oscillators in the ring are separately detuned from their center frequency. The LC-loads is capable of sustaining up to +-90 degrees phase shift. It is important that the phase shift around the ring is constantly equal to 360 degrees, or a multiple thereof. The phase shift among consecutive elements is zero degrees if each oscillating element is non-inverting, and no excess phase shift is introduced in the loop. By putting an excess phase shift of KÃŽÂ ´ degrees it will have as a result a phase shift of ÃŽÂ ´ degrees in each of the equal K oscillators in the loop. [3] Figure 6: Transmitter architecture for variable phase ring oscillator in a phase locked loop [3] 3.3.5. Radio Frequency Phase Shifting The phase shifting which is the most hardware efficient, including numeral building blocks, is to carry it out just before the power amplifier. The power amplifiers are the only circuit components that have to be duplicated (Figure 7). The disadvantage is that the phase shifting is being performed at the highest frequency and signal level in the system. When an envelope modulation scheme is used, the linearity of the phase shifters may be a problem while noise is not as significant when the power level is high. It might be useful to implement the phase shifters at the highest frequency. If transmission lines are used as separate phase shifters, they become shorter with frequency. This is an ordinary architecture in radar systems. Several fixed phase shifts are in that case implemented and switches controlled by selection logic determine the phase shift. Certainly, the transmission lines are linear and thus, these phase shifters can easily be used in envelope modulated systems. Moreover, the delay is stable over a wide bandwidth. A set of fixed phase shifts is then implemented and switches controlled by a selection logic choses the phase shift. Of course the transmission lines are linear so these phase shifters can very well be used in envelope modulated systems. Another advantage is that the delay is constant over a wide bandwidth. [3] Figure 7: Transmitter architecture for phase shifting in the radio frequency path. [3] Applications for 24GHz Radar Sensors Modular 24 GHz Radar Sensor for Digital Beamforming on Transmit and Receive In order to increase the angular resolution, numerous switched transmitters are preferred, as they need less hardware effort. The FMCW radar sensor is the best solution, providing up to eight transmitters, switchable ones, and eight receiving channels which provide parallel receiving, and they all allow digital beadforming. An innovative switching technique via switchable amplifiers is preferred. [5] Four Channel 24-GHz FMCW Radar Sensor with Two-Dimensional Target Localization Capabilities Results on the angular measurements are improved when using an FMCW radar sensor, compared to standard beamforming methods, as far as the target localization is concerned. Furthermore, the determination of other characteristics required will be allowed, such as the range or velocity. [6] . 24-GHz Automotive Radar Transmitter with Digital Beam Steering in 130-nm CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) Many Pas are connected to different antenna elements so as to control the steering of the beam. The output phases of the PAs are controlled separately through 360 degrees by binary weighting of quadrature phases. The circuit has 18 PAs,and each one of them delivers 0 dBm to the antenna, ensuring an output power of 13 dBm. The antenna array, which is constituted of 18 elements, will be 11 cm at 24 GHz and will have 12 dB directivity and a half power beam width of 5 degrees. [7] Design and Performance of a 24-GHz Switch-Antenna Array FMCW Radar System One transmitter, one transmitting antenna, four receiving antennas, one receiving channel and an SP4T switch (single-pole four-throw) are the elements which compose a 24-GHz FMCW radar system. In order to increase the inter-connection loss and create a compact whole size, radio-frequency (RF) and intermediate-frequency (IF) circuits are integrated in the antennas. The receiving antennas are sporadically switched to the receiving channel. Beamforming methods are used in order to evaluate the performance of such a developed system, by estimating the angle, velocity and range. [8] Imaging Radar Sensor Front-End with a Large Transmit Array Automotive applications need medium range imaging radars, such as the 24 GHz imaging radar front-end. In this radar, a large switched transmit antenna array is combined with a coherent FM-CW architecture. It permits two dimensional electronic scanning in range and cross range with excellent crass range resolution over a wide angle of new using very low EIRP. The advantage of using such radar is that it requires just a small number of active millimeter wave components. [9] Novel Photonic Rotman-Lens Design for Radar Phased Array Antennas A new microwave photonic implementation of a Rotman-lens is proposed in this project, providing superior performance and functionality. The scanning unit presented is an optical element, where photo-detectors attached to the transmitting/receiving antennas are the interfaces, doing conversions among the RF signals and their particular optical waves. Actually, the optical module is a photonic Rotman lens, designed like its RF complement. Despite the advance of practicing the solution in a photonic module, the recommended photonic Rotman lens superior design is able to realise a linear phase profile with a varied slope at the output of the lens for any potential spot at the input to the lens. This is contrary to what is presently accessible with the usual RF Rotman lens, where output phase front linearity is achieved for a small quantity of input spots. A better performance is achieved by increasing the curves of the photonic input and output surfaces of the lens, having an off-centere d elliptical profile, and not the typically used spherical curvatures. [10] Virtual Antenna Beamforming (VAB) for Radar Systems by Using Orthogonal Coding Waveforms An original way of creating virtual transmitting and receiving radar antenna beams at the same time is to use orthogonal coding waveforms from the antenna elements and deal out digitally their echoes at the receiver. Many virtual transmitting-receiving radar antenna beams can be produced at the same time by using the same quantity of beamforming filters with no any increase on the transmitted power or antenna gain or resolution loss. Both virtually formed antenna beams and common phased arrays of equal size are able to achieve the same antenna gains and spatial resolutions. Since the antenna radiation pattern can be completed almost isotropic, the original system has low probability of intercept (LPI) property. While the transmitting and receiving beams are both virtually implemented through digital filtering, expensive radiation phase shift used in phased arrays is unnecessary for beam scanning in this actual system. [11] Compact Two-Layer Rotman Lens-Fed Microstrip Antenna Array at 24 GHz A new way of realizing a compact Rotman lens-fed antenna array is presented in this paper. The lens-fed antenna has the construction of two layers, which is an original option of reducing the Rotman lens size. This is performed at 24 GHz approaching automotive sensing radar. The lens has a metal layer on the top, a dielectric, a regular ground, a dielectric, and a metal layer on the bottom, in sequential order. The antennas are put on the top layer, while the layout of the lens body is positioned on the bottom layer. They are both connected electrically via slot transitions. This structure, composed of two layers, offers many advantages, because it reduces the entire size of the lens, as well as the total loss of the delay lines, as the lines can be as short and straight as possible. This two-layer Rotman lens-fed antenna array is evaluated in terms of scattering parameters and beam patterns. [12] Cylindrical arrays with electronic beam scanning In order to provide a continuously 360 degrees scan by the directional pattern of a cylindrical array using electronic means, there are several methods proposed. It is important that the circular aperture distribution related to the far-field directional pattern is subjected to rotation comparative to the fixed array. With the intention of synthesizing appropriate forms of directional pattern, there are various techniques describing the independent control of the amplitude and phase of the aperture distributio

Report on Sonys Case Study

Report on Sonys Case Study Major Question: Outline evaluate Sonys strategic position at the end of the case study, including its management change. What strategic changes (if any) would you now recommend to Sonys management? Minor Question: Analyse Sonys resources, Capabilities Competencies as depicted in the case, explain why it has grown successfully in the competitive consumer electronics industry. As an atypical Japanese Corporation, Comment in the role played by Sonys corporate Culture? Introduction. This report is based on Sony Corporation. The report below is structured focusing on the issues provided as question for the Case study in the seminar group. There is a brief History Culture followed by the SWOT Analysis Financial Analysis, followed by the management change at Sony. Finally there are a few recommendation followed up with conclusion references. This case study was Robin John, from London South Bank University. 2. Acknowledgement We as a team would like to thank Robin John Dr. Leslie Gadman for their support and providing excellent knowledge about the topic, the case study and presentation feedback which has enabled us to deliver this report in acceptable form. 3. HISTORY CULTURE. The Sony Corporation is now a $ 124 billion (2009) Company with approximately 180,500 employees (2008). Sony was formed in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka Akio Morita. It was initially know as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo; in English language Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company. The name Sony was chosen as a strategy which would help them to Globalise as the Co-Founder Morita had the vision to see early that there was a world rather than pure Japanese market for their Innovations. The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name didnt change to Sony until January 1958. The current Sony Corporation has a unique culture which is firmly rooted in its history especially in relationship to its two founders, Ibuka and Morita. They both were geniuses above their business talents. Both gave insights and visions in what the company should make and how it should be made. Ibuka, especially, gave constant advice and suggestions to the engineers involved in projects from the earlier on transistor radios to Walkmans. This created the umbrella strategy in which Sony operates under, where the top management gives the general direction in which the lower engineers actively learns, develops and improves on the vision/idea. Therefore, although there is a planned direction, the actual product development through launching is emergent with great flexibility. Although the research and development section of Sony differs greatly from other companies with its great flexibility, Sony, in its essence is still a traditional Japanese company in many ways. There is life-time employment, with strong norms and values which in turn create strategies through their actions. Status is given (the crystal award) instead of bonuses (not significant amount) for superior achievement. There is also the strong seniority system such as the mentor and apprentice relationship that is typical of a Japanese firm. All this can be classified as the cultural school in which strategy formation is of collective behaviour. Collective vision and stress on human resource, which is typical of many Japanese, can be clearly seen in the mission statement Management Policies. Sony Corp has retained good things of Japanese Culture hasnt been reluctant to adopt culture which is not atypical Japanese in nature, which has resulted in building these huge electronic giant sustain it for more than five decades, looks for a future which is very bright. 4. SONYS CAPABILITIES, COMPETENCIES RESOURCES Sony Corporation is considered one of the worlds most successful companies, operating in the electronics, games, music, films and financial services industry (Hanson et al, 2001). Sony is known for creating products that stimulate the senses and refresh the spirit (Sony, 2007). Effectively managing a combination of its resources, capabilities and core competencies, has allowed Sony to create a strong sustainable competitive advantage. Assessment of Sony Corporations Resources and Capabilities Sony Corporation is committed on its efforts to continuously develop original technology that generates a high appeal to the general public due to its quality and cost effectiveness. Over the years, Sony Corporation has been able to build a substantial base meant to boost the companys designing and manufacturing capabilities. This enables the company to bring to markets truly original and more importantly mobile devices that are reasonably priced. The research and development team of Sony Corporation also plays a crucial role in the achievement of this feat. The company also believes that making a positive impact in the society through their quality products is the very essence of being a manufacturer. Sony Corporations Competitive Advantage Economies of Scale and Scope in manufacturing and research and development arising from its numerous facilities situated in Japan, the United States and other countries worldwide. Unique Quality Technology owing to heavy emphasis on research Sony Corporations commitment to research development activities has always been one of its top strategies to remain competitive in the market. Differentiated Products Through the production and marketing of differentiated products originating from their research and development activities, Sony Corporation is able to create its own firm-specific advantages. The continuous pursuit of research and development processes enables Sony Corporation to produce a steady stream of originally differentiated products which makes it difficult for competitors to find substitutes. Because of this differentiated approach, Sony Corporation is able to market their products worldwide, which enables them in turn to maximize the returns on research and development expenditures. Sony Corporations competitive advantages could be sustained provided the company would continue to focus on its core competencies. However, the company also has to be aware of the latest technological. Sony Corporations Resources: Resources refer to factors that a company owns controls and uses for the purpose of creating value (Hill et al, 2007). Sonys numerous tangible and intangible resources help to determine its distinctive competency, thus leading to maintaining a competitive advantage. When identifying Sonys resources, both its tangible and intangible assets are included. Tangible resources include assets that are financial in nature, or have physical properties (Hill et al, 2007). In 2007, Sony recorded a sales and operating cash flow of $70,303 million, an increase of 10.5 percent from 2006 (Sony United, 2007), as part of its financial resources. Land, buildings, machinery, and equipment are also part of Sonys tangible resources, and are worth approximately $14 million (Sony United, 2007). Intangible resources include those non-physical assets that the company uses to produce goods or provide services, or expects to generate future productive benefits (Hill et al, 2007). The Sony brand is considered one of the worlds most recognisable and trusted brands and was ranked 21st in the Business Week/Interbred list of the Worlds 100 Most Valuable Brands with an estimated value of US$14 billion (Singh et al, 2005). The Sony brand is associated with superior quality, innovation and style (Sony United, 2007), in the minds of its customers. 5. Sonys SWOT Analysis. Opportunities Development of new technology Growing trend customer base (Focus on BRIC Nations) Target consistent profitability in core hardware businesses (TV, game and digital imaging) Diversify in game producing for its hardware. Listen to Voice of Customer. Easy to use products. Threats New substitute products emerging Price competition. Economic pressure. Losing the dominance in key product categories.(TV, P.S, D.I) Due to poor financial performance could have less money for RD. Strength Strong sales marketing capabilities Business location or product exclusivity High quality product Excellent customer service Cost advantage (Discount) Good distribution network Weakness Weak financial performance (Low Profitability Low ROCE) Lacking a customer viewpoint Products with many feature but difficult to use. Lack of hit products Development of similar products Patent problem in the whole Industry. Particular 1997 Millions of Yen 2009 Millions of Yen Total Electronically Business 3,930,292 (69.4%) 5,032,920 (65.1%) Music 570,119 (10.1%) 50,541 (0.6%) Picture 438,551(7.7%) 717,513 (9.3%) Insurance 227,920(4%) 523,307 (6.8%) Games 408,335(7.2%) 984,855 (12.7%) Others 87,917(1.6%) 471,398 (5.5%) Total Revenue 5,658,253 7,729,993 (+136.62%) 6. Comparing Sales Revenue by Business Area for 1997 2009. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE. Particular 2008 2009 Sales 8,871,414 7,729,993 (-12.87%) R D Expenses 520,568 497,297 (-4.47%) Employees 180,500 171,300 (-5.1%) Profit Margin 4.2% -1.3% R D to Sales 5.9% 6.4% Current Ratio 1.25 time 0.95 time Gearing Ratio 21.04% 22.27% Return on Equity 16.4% -5.9% Roce 6.65% -2.13% 6.2 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS. Sonys financial condition is good but needs to be better for a matured Company like Sony which is in existence since 1946 more than 6 decades. It is acceptable but should be a top priority for the Management to make it better. Below mentioned are few observations: Majority of its earning in electronic Industry. Earning from music has reduced considerably could be because of piracy issues or Late M.Js bad public city. The best diversified product is gaming, so should look to diversify more in this area. (Game MFG.) Major problem with SONY is its low profitability. Gearing ratio is 22.27% which is good as has a scope for future borrowing if required. RD has just reduced by 4% ROCE Return for share holders are major concern for SONY. 7. Style of leadership and management The leadership style of Akio Morita the co-founder of Sony Corporation included the ability to imagine, design, implement and develop new products, marketing, brand management strategies and human resources skill as well. Akio Morita resigned from the post of the Chairman, during which he positioned Sony as the worlds most successful consumer electronics company. Sony was ranked 37 on the Fortune 500 global list. Under Moritas leadership, Sony developed many new products and technologies. One of the other key success factors of Sony was Moritas people skills and his trust in his employees. Sony continued its tradition of offering innovative products after Moritas death in 1999. Sony has been a modern Japanese company as they have promoted young Idei to President of Sony when he was 57 years small according to Japanese standard. It was under his leadership that they have recovered from the 1995 crisis have posted the highest ever profit. Idei also launched Transformation 60 which was not of a much success. The main purposes of Transformation 60 were: Reduce cost by 300 Billion Yen. Decrease workforce by 20000. Achieve profit margin of 10% march 06. By the early 21st century, Sony was facing several problems due to the slowdown in the global economy, but then they recovered well under the leadership of Sir Howard Stringer who was made the CEO Chairman of the Sony Corporation. A Non Japanese to senior management position was not a typical Japanese culture but has given them the desired result. So as a whole Sony Corporation has always been under a good senior management for all the years. 8. RECOMMENDATION Building of Strategy: Sony as a much international company with major branches in Europe and the United States and stocks listed in 23 stock exchanges, the Japanese cultural school strategy is not sufficient. Becoming a mature company, the strategy should also change to more profit orientated. There should also be greater emphasis on market share, especially in Japan where Sonys market is shrinking. Strategy should be aimed at greater control and communication between manager and workers, especially the engineers in the RD Department. Diversification: One direction which is possible is concentrating more on electronic know how in non-consumer business. Currently, the buyer has much more choosing power and competition is fierce. The competitors are also able to copy the product in a much shorter time. To create larger profit margins, Sony should concentrate on the business sector and industries, supplying high technology equipment and parts. This would make full use of the RD Department. Although the Sony name is often related to expensive, high-profit end of the market, the organization should also expand its product range by offering lower priced, simpler featured products that would compete head on with others. With the lower priced line, Sony can also increase its market shares in both overseas and Japanese markets. Alliance and Cooperation: Sony should try to become a leader instead of a maverick. The difference is great, the leader, besides a great innovator, should also be a great coordinator. Internally, the different RD groups should cooperate more. The product line should also be made more compatible with one another, i.e. no more secret projects. Products should be made with higher added value and longer life rather than making frequent model changes. This is also a shift from a manufacturer-orientated mentality to a consumer-orientated mentality, which is a way to save natural resources. The brand-line compatibility also builds brand loyalty for consumers. Cost Cutting: Cost cutting is important because RD plays an integral part in the success of Sony and cannot be cut drastically although it gobbles up 10% of sales. Therefore, the only way to improve profit margins is to cut cost. Sony is not fully making use of other lower cost areas in the world, especially Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines etc. By setting up factories in these countries, Sony can take advantage of their cheap labour and also get a head start in their budding consumer markets. Products should be refined instead of reinvented so that there would be less set up cost and greater automation could be achieved. This could also be seen as a long term strategy. Integration of production, design and marketing: In many ways, designing and developing of a product is separate from the production and marketing. RD should listen more to what the consumer needs and then innovate instead of always creating new product for markets. With great freedom, the designing team should also take on greater responsibility in making the product fit to the current production pattern and marketing aims. They should also be made more responsible to the profit and loss of the particular product. Empowering these three separate groups creates conflict, but it also brings these separate efficient groups together achieving synergy. Implementation: Internally, strategy should be reviewed beginning with renewing the corporate goals. It should integrate together both the Japanese work ethic and its western counterparts. This is possible, because Sony is a multinational corporation with employees and customers in many different countries. This involves writing the importance of profits and its responsibility to shareholders in the statement. Integration of the company, the designing, production and marketing should be encouraged, with increased communication between each group and the management acting as liaison and guidance. The management should be providing the organization with specific goals and strategies for the short and long term. These changes are intended to balance business Vs engineering. Setting up alliances with fellow electronic manufacturers / competitor is crucial to mutual benefit so should be pursued as soon as possible. 9. Conclusion. The reputed brand name is one the Sonys strength, but on the other hand, many competitors start to see Sony as their target and main competitor, which will inflict various threats against Sony. Sony also needs to concentrates on improving itself.   They collect Voice of Customer (VOC), which directly reflect the responses, expectations or suggestions from end-users. It could be observed that Sony is positively dealing with its competitors, through learning from failure and looking for room to further improve. Such strategy helps minimize the probabilities that their customers would turn to other competitors. It aims at retaining its present customers and keeping their Number 1 market position. Sony made full efforts to support the environment from 1989. Sony is using blue ocean strategy on the business. Toward this end, Sony has sponsored many package redesign projects and committed to considering the environment, not only to create environmentally-friendly design but also to reduce material use. Due to this heartfelt customer service, high-quality, reliable products that Sonys customers can use with confidence. At the end of this case study Sony is not in a very strong strategic position but it is also not in a very bad strategic position. The position of Sony is in between. The conclusion is that change is needed in Sony. However, even with strategically and structure change, the Sony spirit of Technovation(technological Innovation) should remain intact because that is what made Sony grow and would make it stay strong.

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Essay -- Radioactive

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Nuclear waste disposal is a political problem, not a technical problem.1 — Dr. Edward Teller Highly radioactive waste disposal has become one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear technology. As the amount of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors and high-level radioactive waste from defense-related processing plants has continued to mount, the issue has become increasingly contentious and politicized.2 The politicization of this issue is especially evident in the site selection process of a permanent national repository for the disposal of highly radioactive waste. Paradoxically, as the need for action has become more acute, the conflict generated by the politicization of the site selection process has delayed progress on the establishment of a permanent nuclear waste storage facility. As early as 1957, the National Academy of Sciences recommended the disposal of radioactive waste in deep underground rock as the best means of protecting public health and safety.3 However, it was not until 25 years later that the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 began the process of establishing a deep, underground permanent national storage repository for highly radioactive waste. The 1982 Act mandated that the Department of Energy (DOE) would study multiple sites in the West and select one to be ready to serve as the first national repository for highly radioactive waste by January 31, 1998.4 A second site in the East, where the majority of highly radioactive material is generated, would be designated later. The site selection process was slow and arduous due to opposition generated by states identified as potential hosts for a national radioactive... ...S Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, December 3, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-18.html], 5. 29 Mark Holt and Zachary Davis, "Nuclear Energy Policy," CRS Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, updated December 5, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-5.html], 7. 30 Will Nixon, "High Energy," E/The Environmental Magazine, [http://www.adams.ind.net/Environment.html], May/June 1995, 4. 31 Associated Press, "Court: U.S. must take nuclear waste by 1998," The Courier, July 24, 1996, A1. 32 See U.S. Congress (S. 1271), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record,104th Congress, 2d Session. Also see U.S. Congress (S. 1936), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record, 104th Congress, 2d Session. 33 See U.S. Congress (S. 104), â€Å"Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997,† Congressional Record, 105th Congress, 1st Session.

Narrative- My Suppressed Wild Side :: Personal Narrative Writing

Narrative- My Suppressed Wild Side Ten years old: 1975, still in my boy body, my boy mind. Solid and strong with the endurance to play all day moving from the tangled, viney â€Å"jungle† on the far side of the pond to the secret play house in the damp dark basement of my best friend David’s house, to the high speed heroics played out on our banana-seated bikes. I was not a boy of course, but wanted to be. I climb trees, even ones sticky with sap. The smell of pine hangs on me as I lie in bed at night. I ride up the hill on Saturday, find David and set to digging a big hole in the dirt. We collect old pans and buckets from his mom’s messy kitchen and create a â€Å"hooey booey stew.† We are hobos having our meal by the tracks; we are Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone eating by the fire deep in the wilderness. The meal over, David and I pour our concoctions into the deep hole, add dirt and more water – he yells, â€Å"Get the hose!† – and then rolling up our â€Å"tuff jeans,† we stand in the muddy mix of grass and water and dirt, stomping up and down, giggling and falling over. What pleases me is to feel it between my toes and to feel the tightness of mud drying on my shins as we catch our breath lying by the hole – sun-baked. Afterwards, bellies to the ground, David and I crawl under the prickly, holly branches to get to our secret fort. It pleases me to taste the salty sweet of blood from a scrape that I refuse to get a band-aid for. Later, I ride my bike home from David’s full speed down the hill, but not fast enough to appease my full bladder. â€Å"Wonder what it would feel like to just pee as I ride my bike?† So I pee my pants and the sensation is a wonderful release – a naughty rule-breaking. And in the summer I jump with my brothers and sisters off a 25 foot high cliff down into the river where my dad waits for us. Oh†¦the force of the cold water on my skin and the strength of my father’s big hand as he guides each of us towards the rock to climb out. Summer nights I lie on the dewy grass, watch for shooting stars and try to the name the constellations as my dad has taught me.

Adolf Hitler Caused World War II Essay

As I’m sure most people know Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Germans from August 2 1934 to April 30 1945, but do you know that as Fuhrer of Germany he was the driving force behind the start of WWII. During his reign he tried to bring Germany back to the powerful country it had been before the First World War. In this paper I will prove that Hitler’s actions lead to start of WWII, and I plan to prove how his direct disregard of the Treaty of Versailles pushed the world into WWII. I will begin with a little background on Hitler and what led him to become the Fuhrer of Germany. Hitler was a member of the German army during the First World War and, according to (Kershaw, 2008) after being temporarily blinded from a mustard gas bomb he was sent to Pasewalk, it was there that Hitler learned of the German defeat in WWI. After the war Hitler and the German people held a grudge against the United States and Europe for the passing of the Treaty of Versailles, which stated that Germany was the cause of the war. The Treaty also forced the German people to pay for the damage done during the war. This pushed Germany into a depression that left millions of people without work. This was the first of many reasons that Hitler secretly wished to conquer the European countries of Britain and France. In January of 1933 Hitler was named chancellor of Germany and this marked the beginning of his reign over a country that was in hardship. Hitler began his reign by urging President Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, which would suspend basic rights and allow detention without a trial. Then after the election on March 6, 1933 Hitler brought the Enabling Act to a vote, and by using the Reichstag Fire Decree was able to garner the two thirds majority vote needed to pass the bill which then gave Hitler full legislative power. By doing this Hitler showed that he would do anything to assume the role of leader. This was just another step that was unknowingly leading Germany to war. Then in 1934 according to (Kershaw, 2008) Hitler executed the â€Å"Night of the Long Knives† which was the capture and killing of the entire SA leadership. Then a month later President Hindenburg died, which made Hitler the head of state. This allowed him to control all aspects of Germany, and also allowed him to start rebuilding the military forces that had been ordered to disband with the passing of the Treaty of Versailles. This was probably the biggest step thus far that would send Germany to war yet again. Along with that he had personally taken over as leader of the military when Werner von Blomberg had openly told Hitler that he disagreed with him about having the military ready to go to war as soon as 1938. (Shire, 1960) Over the next few months he had stripped 16 generals and had 44 more transferred because they were believed to not be sufficiently pro-Nazi. On February 3, 1933 during a meeting with German military leaders Hitler said his foreign policy was the conquest of Eastern Europe (Weinberg, 1970), also in 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations, which should have been a warning sign that they were planning something big. This along with the increase of the Wehrmacht (German Army) to 600,000 should have thrown up some red flags to Britain and France that Hitler was up to no go. This was another of Hitler’s direct violations of the Versailles Treaty, yet no one stopped him, instead they let him continue untouched. Then in March of 1936 Germany reoccupied the Rhineland. They also declared an Axis with Italy in 1936. Then in 1937 Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan, yet another red flag. If not for the wounds of WWI still fresh in the hearts and minds of the British and American people I think we might have been able to avert the Second World War. As Hitler continued to grow the military of Germany, and expand their borders back to pre WWI he was slowly pushing the west into action. Hitler did not believe that his army could be defeated and he continued his expansion by annexing Austria in 1938. After that his next goal was to take over Czechoslovakia, but he was met with some force over this one. Czech had signed a treaty with Russia, and Britain and France both said they would defend Czech from the German forces. This angered Hitler, but he knew he could not overwhelm the forces of four different countries, so instead they all met and signed the Munich Pact(library.thinkquest.org/) which allowed Germany to take 50% of Czechoslovakia and leave the other hale untouched. While Hitler was reluctant he agreed, and then after signing the pact he turned around and annexed the rest of Czech. Hitler knew that he was taking a chance by annexing Czechoslovakia, but he believed that if he could take control of Czech he could use their land as a frontline to attack Russia, because he believed that Communism was wrong, and the only way to stop them was by invading and making them part of Germany. Basically Hitler believed that he could take over the entire continent and force them into Nazism. This was a cause for much concern, but it wasn’t until 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland that the declaration of war was made official. In conclusion I believe that all of the actions Hitler took from the start of his reign as chancellor up through his being appointed Fuhrer forced the western European countries to declare war upon Germany and their allies. I believe that if Hitler did not have dreams of world domination and riding the world of all Jews that maybe Germany might have avoided the Second World War, but as we all now know that is not the case. Instead Hitler thought that he had built an unstoppable army, and if not for Japan bombing Pearl Harbor Germany might have even won the war. References 1. Hitler, Adolf (1999) [1925]. Mein Kampf. Trans. Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2. Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 3. Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster 4. Weinberg, Gerhard (1970). The Foreign Policy of Hitler’s Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933–1936. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. 5. http://library.thinkquest.org/CRO212881/annex.html 6. http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/nazi.html 7. http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/projects/hitler/hitler.htm 8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/adolf_hitler

Othello Essay

Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ is the study of how a seemingly successful Venetian general, is skilfully manipulated by the cunning Iago, who by exploiting Othello’s insecurities transforms his identity into a jealous murderer. At the beginning of the play, Othello’s identity is that of an assiduous black general who fought exceptionally hard to gain respect in a white dominated society. In marrying Desdemona, Othello adds to his identity by being a lover and husband and his identity is portrayed to be interconnected to his love for Desdemona. Iago is jealous of Othello’s high standing and greatly respected identity and therefore undermines Othello’s confidence in his wives faithfulness and turns his identity into an irrational jealously. Shakespeare utilises a number of key techniques in ‘Othello,’ to indicate the extent of Othello’s identity changes. These changes are effectively conveyed to the audience through the contrast of Othello’s outward appearance with his affable interior. They are further exemplified through the themes of love and jealously and via alterations in Othello’s language, as Othello’s confidence in Desdemona is slowly undermined. In the first Act of the play, Othello’s identity is shaped by a variety of negative images which promote the stereotype of the black African slave in a white dominated society. Although these images are not a true reflection of Othello’s identity, Shakespeare has very effectively done this in order to accentuate how Othello’s identity slowly changes throughout the play to reflect the initial images presented to the audience. In Act One, Othello is not once referred to by his actual name. Rather, he is referred to as â€Å"he,† â€Å"him,† and the derogatory terms â€Å"thick-lips† and a â€Å"Barbary horse. † Shakespeare makes use of this technique to establish Othello’s displeasing physical identity. Brabantio also describes Othello as a â€Å"sooty bosom,† whom his daughter Desdemona would never have agreed to marry without the use of witch craft and magic charms, â€Å"If she in chains of magic were not bound, whether a maid so tender, fair and happy, so opposite to marriage that she shunn’d. Contrastingly, Othello’s elevated status in Venetian society, reflected in his high naval position, demonstrates an identity that is greatly respected, so much so that not even the accusations of Brabantio affect his status. This is clearly demonstrated when the duke says, â€Å"Your son in law is far more fair than black,† thus signifying that Othello’s black skin hides an amiable interior. However, as Ot hello’s confidence in Desdemona is undermined, Othello is driven to the verge of insanity and his identity begins to reflect the negative images initially presented in the first act. This is achieved through the use of imagery, in which Othello is likened to the devil, â€Å"And what delight shall she have to look on the devil. † By the end of the play, Othello’s ‘blackness’ starts to show and his identity changes from a â€Å"War like moor,† to a man characterised by wrath and irrationality. In ‘Othello,’ love acts as a binding force between Othello and his wife Desdemona, and the initial impression portrayed by Shakespeare to the audience is of Othello as a romantic who has complete faith in his wife. Othello’s identity is shaped by his infatuation of Desdemona, â€Å"My soul hath her content so absolute that not another comfort like to this succeeds in unknown fate. † The link between Othello’s identity and his love for Desdemona is further accentuated in, â€Å"But I do love thee; and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. † However as Iago’s manipulative plan takes shape, Othello grows insecure about his relationship and he begins to question why he married, â€Å"Why did I marry? Othello changes from a confident, in control, self-assured man into a doubtful man weakened by his love for Desdemona. His wives supposed infidelity leaves Othello a tormented broken man who is unable to go on living. Jealously is the most corrupting and destructive of emotions, which when instilled in Othello, drives him to insanity and causes substantial changes to his identity throughout the play. Initially, Othello claims not to be a jealous man, â€Å"Do you think I’d make a life of jealousy, to follow still the changes of the moon with fresh suspicions? He possesses a â€Å"free and open nature,† and this exceptional vulnerability allows Iago to manipulate Othello’s trusting character and twist his love for Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy, â€Å"O beware, my lord, of jealously: It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on. † As soon as Iago launches his deceptive plan and jealously is roused within Othello, it becomes so self-intensifying that he is taken over by an uncontrollable irrationality and his ability to make coherent decisions is over-ridded. Othello’s identity is transformed from a self-assured man into an envious persona and this is cemented in, â€Å"Trifles light as air, are to the jealous confirmations, strong as proofs of holy writ. There is a significant change in identity, â€Å"The Moor already changes with my poison,† from a smart, sensible person, to one characterised by jealously. A distinct transformation in Othello’s language is used to demonstrate how Othello’s identity changes substantially throughout the course of the play. The identity of Othello is closely aligned to his marriage with Desdemona and he feels that his status in society has been elevated because he is a black man married to a high class Venetian women. As Othello’s marriage is demoralised, Othello’s identity undergoes change and these changes are strongly emphasized through Othello’s choice of language. Initially, Othello is an idealist and romantic who generally speaks in verse throughout the play, â€Å"It gives me wonder great as my content to see you here before me. † His language is quixotic and heightened conveying an affectionate persona; one profoundly linked with his flourishing marriage. However, once Othello is made aware of Desdemona’s ‘infidelity,’ their relationship is put under immense strain and Othello grows increasingly stressed, confused and angry. This is reflected in a change in language, which moves from polite and eloquent at the beginning of the play, to aggressive and exceedingly visual, â€Å"I’ll tear her to pieces. † This alteration in language portrays a character change, from a gentleman, to a violent and belligerent person. By the end of the play Othello’s identity transformation is so substantial, he is unrecognisable, â€Å"My lord is not my lord. Othello is no longer the man he used to be. Shakespeare successfully conveys changes to Othello’s identity throughout the course of the play through the contrast of his outwards appearance with his amiable inner identity. His identity changes are further enhanced by the accentuation of the bond between himself and his wife and the devastating effects the weakening of this bond has on him. The destructive force of jealously and Othello’s naive view on marriage are additionally used to show how Othello moves from a confident, strong and highly regarded naval officer to someone completely broken by his love of another.