Analysing Product Development Within Dell Computers

Analysing Product Development Within Dell Computers The Product Development at the Dell Computer Corporation case can be summarized with just its name, product development. The case focuses on development of Dell’s personal computers, highlighting the area of the laptops. The personal computer industry can be dated back to the 1830’s and Charles Babbage with his invention of the first digital computer. However with limitations of materials and marketing his vision mainly stayed on what is called â€Å"the drawing board.† It was not until the time period of World War II when a factory size computer was created by army engineers, they were named Mark I and Colossus and they were 50 feet in size. Through the 1960s and the 1970s only the government, mainly for defense, and big business had the opportunity to use computers. As technology increased and microchips replaced the wires and transistors, and financial availability became friendlier for consumers the microcomputer revolution began. In the 1970s and 1980s Appl e Computer was a successful leader in a commercialized interface that was easy to use. Apple set the technological pace for cramming as much new technology in to their products as possible. IBM who was always trying to play catch up with Apple kicked off its traditional corporate based computer line, with strong direct sales and service. Dell also released its own branded personal computer in 1981. During the 1980s personal computer sales grew from nothing to $40 billion dollars. It was in 1983 when Dell Computer was started by Michael Dell, who at this point in time was a freshman at the University of Texas. He would upgrade IBM compatible computers and go door to door selling them. The success was overwhelming for Dell, and he moved off campus and dropped out of school, with the initial idea of returning back to school if there was failure with the business. However, with $180,000 in sales during his first month the idea of going back to school never entered his mind. The next ste p for Dell was to buy and assemble his own brand name personal computers and get them directly to the customers. This is where Dell’s principle to eliminate the middle man began. With this premise in mind, high growth rates and attractive margins the building of the Dell name began. Soon, Dell would start a 24 hour complaint hotline and they would offer a supply of backup replacement equipment. By 1990, Dell computers had a distinctive line of its own personal computers which won several trade magazine awards for service and products. By 1990 microcomputers accounted for 40% of all computers sold. And there was major competition the brands helping to drive down the costs of manufacturing as well the cost for the consumers. With the development and success of Dell and their direct to consumer sales as well as their laid back sales manner, imitators such as Gateway 2000 and CompuAdd began business. While focusing on the competition Dell expanded in to the retail market attempti ng to gain more revenue. However, this was unsuccessful since Dell overshot the target budget of sales, finding them in a cash crunch. It was then decided on that that needed to do something different. They needed to stand out again

Mothers abusing prescrition drugs Research Paper

Mothers abusing prescrition drugs - Research Paper Example sociological perspective of drug reality is directly inverse in definition and explanation to what majority call â€Å"chemicalistic fallacy†, which explains that a certain drug causes a certain given behavior and that what we view as behavioral effects are linked with the drug mainly as a function of the drug’s biochemical functions reacting with the organism’s certain structure of its character (Barber 27). The effects of drug and related behavior are highly contingent, variable, and complicated basing more importantly on the social and contextual nature that a person is in as its easier to tell the effects of drug on a person compared to experimenting the drug on a rat which will have very little information on human behavior hence the importance of a social context comes out clear. In defining drugs the sociological aspects focuses on both the meaning of the drug and the meaning of drug experience although the definitions differ among societies, subgroups and subcultures existing within the same society. The society views drug differently according to its current use, in that a substance can be a drug in a specific social context and are something different in another. According to Barber (39), the sociological aspect on drug believes that anything can be termed as a drug not withstanding its biological or physical component. The society draws a clear line between drug addiction and dependence, it states that the addiction-dependence equation have two separable components: the direct drug’s physical action and the behavioral response of the people to the physical action of the drug. There is no automatic translation from one component into the other. Prescription drugs are mostly currently abused by women with a purpose of getting high as a means of relieving stress. The three classification of commonly abused prescribed drugs include: The Opioids including morphine prescribed mostly as pain relievers or pain killers, depressants of the central

Managing business finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing business finance - Essay Example In a Collateralized Loan Obligation, an investor is entitled to receive periodic debt payments as interests from the underlying loans and at the same time assume the major part of the risks related to the underlying loans in the event of the default of loans. The Collateralized Loan Obligations offers higher benefits and opportunities for the investors by creating the scopes for greater diversity and the chances of returns which are higher than the average returns from other securities. Banks sell these securities with slices and tranches which reflect varied levels of seniority in respect of matching the risk versus rewards profiles of the loans. The following example can be used to understand the working of the Collateralized Loan Obligations. Assume that a corporation is willing to take a debt of USD 100 million to finance its business expansion process and that this corporation has assets which have a valuation of USD 20 million. The cost of debt for the loan is taken to be 5% per annum and the risk free rate of return is 1% per annum. The corporation issues a USD 100 million of debt structures which includes a top trance of USD 40 million and a bottom tranche of USD 60 million. The top tranche would be backed up by the assets of the company so that in the event of credit default, the investors can pay off the loan by selling off the assets to recover the investment. The interest rate in this case is 2.5% per annum. The bottom tranche of USD 60 million does not have any backing even in the event of credit default. For this case, the interest rate per annum would be 6%. For the Collateralized Loan Obligations, the rate of interest would be calculated as follows: This cost of debt is lower than the cost of debt calculated in average. Therefore, it is cost effective and attractive for investment purposes. The