The bridge over river kwan movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The bridge over river kwan movie - Essay Example The main characters in the movie are military leaders from Thailand and British. Both of them command their groups towards timely and effective completion of the bridge. Colonel Nicholson is the captured British and Colonel Saito is the leader of the prison camp. The two characters show different leadership style which is critical in military commanding and any other organizational unit. At the beginning of the movie, it can be noted that there is a clash of ego and differences in opinion between Nicholson and Saito. Saito is hell-bent on ensuring all men get to work irrespective of their cadre which is contradictory to Nicholson’s strict discipline which makes him assert that his men are not supposed to offer manual labor (Allon 38). Their labor management and project execution approaches seems to differ and this can be highlighted as shown below. Colonel Saito exercises directive style of leadership while Colonel Nicholson is an indirect influencer: These styles can be supported by the fact that Colonel attempts to command and lead from the front by forcing prisoner English servicemen to work beside their men and he takes control in his hand when he fells the Engineer has not delivered desired results (Bourke 65-8). On the other hand Colonel Nicholson asserts his leadership acumen by vehemently refusing to give in to Japanese demands. He makes good his course of action by working alongside his men which is inspirational to the workers. It can also be observed that Saito acts purely from an objective leadership standpoint when he decides to give his workers off and time to rest despite the tight schedule to complete the bridge. This is a shift from Colonel Nicholson subjective approach which is exhibited when he decides to redesign the bridge although with ulterior motives to bring down colonel Saito. Both leaders show result driven leadership style in which the end justifies the means. Colonel Nicholson shows outstanding level of

Human Behavior in an Organization Essay Example for Free

Human Behavior in an Organization Essay In an organization there are lots of factors to be considered for the company to achieve its goals and objective and succeed. These factors include communication, motivation, leadership skills, personal characteristics of employees, interaction between and among employees and teamwork. Communication is significant in transferring information because the information to be transferred must be precise and accurate to avoid miscommunication. Failure to communicate proper information might cause a negative long-term effect on the company. Furthermore, miscommunication may result to personal conflicts between members of an organization. Persons or employees in the organization must feel motivated to achieve the goals and objectives that should be met. This motivation may come from personal factors, such as for family and self-competence, or external factors, such as salaries or benefits are tied to performance of doing a job. Highly motivated members are the ones who mostly done their job efficiently. Management must motivate employees for them to do their jobs efficiently and effectively so as to lessen any probable negative impacts to the organization. There is always a person or a group of persons that will initiate any activities done by an organization and we usually call these people as leaders. A leader must be sensitive to feelings of others but not to the extent that it would prejudice any undertakings made by the group. We see different kinds of leaders, there are those who are autocratic or who don’t listen to what others has to say but there are also those that listens, hears and considers the point of view of others. Conflicts may arise in an organization primarily because of the personal characteristics of each employee that are not acceptable to others. This should not be done because everyone is different in his or her own way. Conflicts between employees would result to negative effects that would cause to fail to meet the objectives. These problems between members must be resolve to build a better relationship between them and to be able to prevent this problems to arise again in the future. In any activity that an organization should do, teamwork must always be present. This is very important to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives efficiently. In a team, each one must do their part to help achieve the goal and not help prejudice the activity. In a team, together everyone achieves more, which means that if members would just work together, all of the objectives, even the least important objective will be met. There are weaknesses and strengths inside a group and this must be taken into considerations, to eliminate these weaknesses and improve those strengths. Team building activities may be done by the organization to improve the relationship between and among members so as to have a team that works together for a common goal. Hence, goal congruence arises, which is very important factor that must exist inside the organization. Thus, proper communication, motivation, leadership skills, relationships between members and teamwork must exist within an organization. In this way, any goals and objectives of the organization will be met. As long as each one of the members do their parts well, nothing could go wrong and the organization will be successful in any activities they will undertake.

Food Irradiation Essay -- essays research papers

Food Irradiation: Solution to Hunger or Killer Mutagen? People all over the world are starving for fresh, uncontaminated food. Insects, pests, and invisible microorganisms are not what the public want to find on their dinner plates. Throughout history, life has depended on ways of treating food to reduce or destroy these naturally occurring harmful contaminants and to enable foods to be stored after harvesting so that they can be saved for use at other times of the year. With increasing populations and the growth of cities, it is even more important to be able to preserve food so that it can be transported over considerable distances and stored for long periods before it reaches the consumer. The relentless pressure to supply safe foods to mass markets has led to major contamination problems arising in recent years. The food industry has responded by developing new methods to treat food, such as food irradiation. To some in the food industry, irradiation is a wonderful new technology that could solve many contamination problems without any apparent effects on the treated food. To the consumer, it is a new process that has unknown threats and benefits. Currently, 37 countries, including the United States, permit the use of irradiation and approximately 25 actually use it. Irradiation will remain an expensive and little used technology until there is general acceptance of irradiated foods by consumers. The modern food industry has to make certain choices as to how and when it treats food during the food production cycle. It can start by reducing the level of microorganisms and pests in food by using chemical treatments and pesticides during growth. For this to be effective the food must then be protected against fresh contamination during transport and storage. An alternative approach is to do very little to the food as grown and harvested, but to treat it nearer to the point of consumption. This is common with herbs and spices. The food industry will tend to choose the way it deals with contamination based on the economics of each case, in other words, the cheapest way possible. Even where food is produced relatively close to the point of consumption, it may have to be treated because contamination is inherent in the production process. This is why milk has to be pasteurized. Pasteurization is the most effective way of killing microorganisms with m... ...where the greed of people like Gustavus Swift turned meat-packing plants into death traps and sold ground cardboard, rats, and fingers to the public as ‘fresh meat’ while sweeping the floors of the plant to recover the sliced-off bits and package them as potted meat. Clearly the food industry is driven by capitalism, and not by concern for the consumer, and although I am wholeheartedly in favor of capitalist businesses, I do think federal regulation needs to come into play not just in the United states, but in other countries where most of the people have no legal recourse at all if they fall ill or die as the result of unclean food. Education of the consumer is the key to this problem, as is objective research. Governments around the world should be made to adhere to guidelines recommended by people whose main concern is the safe and healthy production of food, instead of the cheapest way to produce it, or what would be best for the businesses already irradiating fo od, as is the case for the federal government. Without measures taken during all aspect of food production to ensure cleanliness, the consumer is doomed to a lifetime of choices between dirty food, and dirtier food.

Evaluate how personal learning and development may benefit others Essay

?Evaluate how personal learning and development may benefit others Personal development is very significant as this builds and helps individuals to achieve their goals, the individual can do this by working to their full potential and as well as set themselves achievable targets that they can achieve by using their potential. Personal and professional development is about the way the individual progresses and develops in a personal professional way. In all career an employer examines this by the employee manger to know and see how she or he has developed in a professional way. An Individual who’s in their last year of college can do this unit personal and professional development. This is good unit as it helps the individual to identify their strengths and weakness and it also helps to improve theses weaknesses. If an individual is not yet aware of their strengths and weakness they will struggle to set themselves goals and achieve what they can to their full potential. An example of this is that in this unit, the individual look at many things such as influences on their studies, performance action plan, researching about theorists like Kolb learning cycle. Also Honey and Mumford and figuring out what type of learner the individual is, for example reflector, activist, pragmatists and theorists. They are a lot of things which can influence individual’s personal and professional development. Examples of this are role models, motivation, experiences in the past, time management, planning and setting goals. An individual develops in different ways as comes across different personal learning experiences. The first and the major influence is motivation . This influence individual’s personal and professional development. Motivation is what drives someone to do something. It is the underlying reason for why people do what they do. A famous quote from zig ziglar â€Å"of course is not permanent but then, neither is bathing, but is something you should do on regular basis†. This quote by American author who’s believes that motivation doesn’t last long but to succeed in life an individual needs to be motivated and keep it their mind at regular basis in order to do well. Past experiences are second influence which may affect individual’s personal and professional development. Past experience is experience which has occurred in past in individual life. This can from time to time stop an individual from personal learning and professional development. Every individual has got a past experience that may affect them from doing their full potential and from time to time this may be an obstacle. In phycology a study which was done which I will explain is Pavlov (Classical conditiontioning). What Pavlov found out that there is a human behaviour is learnt through different reflex responses and many stimulus for example unconditioned stimulus unconditional response, conditioned response and conditioned stimulus. An individual will use their past experience by using classical conditioning. For example an individual has been finding it tough find a job and this is since they haven’t got any qualification as they did not take education serous. At late stage of their individual has learnt is that in order to get good job. They will go back to college and try their best to achieve a good that they can get the qualifications which they need. I am now going to apply classical conditioning, Unconditional response: Is the individual is finding it difficult to get a job because they don’t have no qualification. Unconditioned stimulus: The conditioned response is because they never took secondary school and college serious they are suffering the consequence because they are unable to find a job. Conditioned response: The conditioned response is she is going to back to college and take it serious. Conditioned stimulus: The conditioned stimulus is this individual will remember every time what has happened to them in the past when they haven’t taken The influence that I will looking at which affects individuals personal learning development is role models. Role model is somebody who an individual look up to or someone that has inspired an individuals in their life. When an individual has role models they can great effect on an individual personal learning and development because people look up to others and do what they doing. For example a when a student has no interest for their college. But what this individual has that other individuals are doing their work and less stress. This individual may change in a very positive way by realising what other students are doing role models. An American psychologist had done a study which describes the social learning theory which as observational learning. He explained his theory by putting a giant bobo doll in a room with a child and an adult. During the experiment the adult would violently punch the bob doll, once the adult stop hitting the doll; he realised that the child in the same room as the adult would do the same t thing as the adult done to the bobo doll. This is observational learning and this is because the child witnessed a negative behaviour form seeing the adult. This psychologist has shown that do look at role models Time management is also a great influence on personal learning and development of other individuals. This is because everyone tracks the time in order to do most things work and college, work even sleeping this is clear example which that most things in life, if not all are timed. For example drake a Canada artist said† Better late than never, but never late is better†. This quote reflects the important of time keeping life.

Machinal as a Play Written in Anger.

Machinal was written by Sophie Treadwell, a woman attempting to make her mark in a male dominated society and in a male dominated work sphere (as an author and playwright). This was in a time when it was considered a tenet of social life to accept a woman’s role was to facilitate the life of the man to whom she belongs. To reach above the kitchen shelf and attempt men’s work or to enter the men’s world was frowned upon and was punished by the social system. A woman in the wrong field or operating socially as equal to a male would either have to work under a different, male, identity or be met by severe criticism and gender based discrimination, her works largely ignored or peremptorily dismissed as inferior. The playwright draws on her experience with and bitterness against the social machine (hence the name Machinal, French for machine like) and tells the tale of an average everywoman who spends her entire, short, life seeking freedom from the role society has cast her in. Her role as defined by society is that of what the society in question considers any decent well bred young woman. She is originally a caregiver for her mother’ working at a job that makes her feel suffocated to earn enough to take care of both of them. Next she becomes a companion, decoration (he chose her for her hands) and sexual partner for her husband who â€Å"buys her† by providing for her mother and making sure she no longer needs to work at the job she hates and finally she becomes a mother caring for her daughter not because of any sense of love but because society refuses to allow her to abandon the child. These separate roles give birth to her rage pushing her to outbursts of rage and anti-social behaviour and ironically in their climax lead to a murder based on pity, not for herself but for her husband. Based on the idea that the play was based loosely on Treadwell’s experiences in a man’s world and the infamous murderess †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. it can be assumed that the emotions that Helen (young woman) experiences are echoes, or perhaps rather intensified images of her feelings. Her mother speaks with the voice of society, having been the one to raise her to be imprisoned in a world where she will never truly experience freedom. Her mother is a symbol of how entrenched the rules of the machine are. Having in her time experienced, surely, the same suppression as her daughter she was still unable to conceive a life outside the machine or to offer that freedom to her child. Instead she denies her the slight pleasure she found in marrying a man who appealed to her insisting that she instead take the practical course of marrying the man with the highest income though what she is offered is a pampered but empty life. It is questionable if she in fact loves her daughter or simply nags her because it is her method of keeping her in line. It begins to seem as though she simply ensures that she herself will be taken care of, so that a rich husband her daughter is an opportunity to jump at, not for Helens benefit but for hers. This would indicate that within the machine all interpersonal relations are determined by such practical considerations as where the power, especially in monetary terms lies and this is always with the men. What is left to the women is only as much as they can wrest from each other by manipulation and deception. This may be what young woman realises causing her to threaten her mother; that she does not in truth love her and simply uses her in and for the purposes that suit her. This They inspire the young not particularly educated or intelligent woman to crystallize the comprehension of her condition though it is one that has been forced on her since infancy and is considered normal by the rest of the machine and her objection and opposition of it succinctly in her statement â€Å"I will not submit† which she repeats like a mantra. This is a role that truly does not inspire her, that of mother, wife and daughter. Though she must also endure her mother’s nagging. She is controlled even unconsciously by men who like her husband who do not recognise their domination She does not like or love him and resents him because she did not choose to marry him but was forced to by her mother, and through her mother, society’s expectations of her. Also at the time of the marriage she disliked his â€Å"fat pressing† hands which to her represented oppression. he viewed it as the lesser of two evils because it would provide the means to provide for her mother and escape her. It would also mean she no longer had to work, being unsuited (or so it seems) to any type of structure. She also marries him despite a strong distaste for him because it is accepted by society that a woman gets married and has children. This is possibly the first major capitulation in her life. The first time she could be said to have had a choice in the direction of her life and in her attempting to find or maintain her (relative) freedom. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell

Are Intake Processes in Juvenile Justice Systems Really Fair essays

Are Intake Processes in Juvenile Justice Systems Really Fair essays The many valid - and even disturbing - questions surrounding fairness issues in the processing (arrest, intake screening, assignment to incarceration) of juveniles into the criminal justice system in America are not new questions; indeed, they have been raised for a number of years. First, the disproportionate number of minorities locked up in juvenile justice systems is a glaring issue which has not really been addressed adequately since the U. S. Department of Justice, under Attorney General Janet Reno, issued a highly critical report in the year 2000; and secondly, in conducting research, one finds an abundance of statistics on the number of juveniles in trouble but little information about the screening process per se. These are issues which need to be addressed, in particular, if one believes the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) statistics that show that the number of "child delinquents" (ages 7 to 12) in juvenile courts has increased 33% in the past ten years (OJJPD, 2003), and arrests for "violent crime" among that same group has risen by 45%. Given this shocking dimension to the problem of youthful offenses, the emphasis, sadly, is likely going to be on prevention and punishment measures rather than fairness and justice with regard to intake Race: Chances of incarceration are far greater if you're a Black kid Between the years 1985 and 1994, delinquency cases brought through the Juvenile Justice System (JJS) increased by 41%; but more disturbing is the fact that in that time period, delinquency cases involving blacks jumped 78% and cases involving other non-white youths skyrocketed by 94% (Lardiero, 1997). Another key fact illustrating the institutiona...

Michael Dell and the PC Market He Created Essay Example

Michael Dell and the PC Market He Created Essay Example Michael Dell and the PC Market He Created Paper Michael Dell and the PC Market He Created Paper Essay Topic: Marketing Michael S. Dell founded Dell Computer Corporation in1984. Michael Dell started the company with a thousand dollars and a vision. Today Dell Computer Corporation is one of the main manufactures of computers and computer related services in the world. In 17 years, the companys sales have grown from $6 million to $31.8 billion for the past four quarters.1 Dell Corporation employs approximately 34,400 people globally, and has operations worldwide. Within the short duration of the company, Dell Computer Corporation has created strategic competitive advantages over its competitors in the PC market. Dell has also created respect from other industry leaders. By reviewing the history of Dell, the inventory systems it uses, the importance of its brand recognition, and Dells SWOT, it is clear that Dell has a competitive advantage and that the company has great growth potential. History of Dell Computer Corporation In 1983, when Michael Dell was eighteen years old he was faced with a question. Why does IBM sell its computers for $3000 a piece and the parts that make up the computer cost only $600? This fact help set in motion Michael Dells ambition to build customized made PCs for lower price. Michael Dell began building and selling computers from his dorm room. In the following year Michael Dell started Dell Computer Corporation. Despite objections from his parents, Dell quit collage that May. His parents probably never thought that this decision would create a billion dollar company and make Michael Dell one the most respected CEOs of the Internet Age. Dell Computer Corporation became the first company to sell custom made computers. By 1988 Dell Computer Corporation went public, raising $30 Million in its initial public offering. For a brief period of time Dell Computer Corporation sold computers in consumer retail stores, such as Best Buy. Then, as quickly as Dell entered this market, Dell exited this segment to begin selling computers directly to consumers. By 1992 Dell increased its sales by 127% to $2 billion. See Exhibit 1 for financial graphs on net income, net revenue, and diluted earning per share for the past five years (2000-1996). By 1994 Dell had operations in the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific region, and in Japan. In 1996, Dell introduced its PowerEdge server line. Dell began selling servers to enter a new and rapidly growing market. Within the first 2 years of its release, the PowerEdge server line, become the third largest server line in the world. By 1998, Dell expanded operations into the China market. Within the pa st seventeen years, Michael Dell has developed a small business idea that was envisioned and started in his dorm room to a global, billion dollar corporation. Just in Time Supply Chain Management The proper use of a supply chain can become a cost saving tool for a company. During the recent downturn of the economy, many companies are looking for cost saving solutions within their business. Dell is an excellent example of a company that has worked to continually improve their supply chain management to reduce the costs of their products. Dell deployed a new supply chain system that works in real time. By using software from both Microsoft and i2 Technology, Dell has developed a supply chain that is practical, cost effective, and has room for growth. Implementation of i2 supply chain software has allowed Dell to connect to its suppliers in real time via the web, and has allowed them to pulled materials to Dells manufacturing plants. The i2 supply chain software was deployed with the consideration of two steps of the supply chain process. The two steps are, planning and execution. Planning involves gathering the needed materials from the suppliers hubs near the appropriate Dell factories. Execution requires Dell to have the right materials on hand at the appropriate factory to build the customers order. By using these two steps, Dell deployed the software to create a more efficient supply chain. The planning process involves having suppliers connected to Dells supply chain via valuechain.dell.com. Valuechain.dell.com is a secure extranet that acts as a portal for Dells suppliers. The site offers suppliers a customized view of their materials at Dell, including reports on material quality, performance management scorecards, negotiated and forecasting cost reports, engineering change orders, supply/demand forecasting tools and views of material demand.2 By connecting the suppliers within there extranet, Dell has created a more efficient communication tool between the suppliers and Dell. Suppliers are allowed to view these reports to find out if any materials are needed, and Dell can send reports to the suppliers if they need materials. This gives both Dell and their suppliers freedom to order or deliver products without dealing with sales personnel. This saves everyone time and money. Thus, Dell has begun pulling its inventory, instead of having the suppliers push the inventor y. This has become a cost saving tool for Dell, and Dell has pasted these cost savings to the customer. Dell has required that its suppliers have materials within close range of its manufacturing plants. This allows for the reordering of parts within a two-hour window. With the new system, a computer is usually loaded onto a truck within 15 hours after the order has been taken. In order for components to be used in Dell computers, suppliers must agree to use the value.dell.com portal, and have supplies within a close proximity of their plants. This is a very fast and convenient process for Dell, allowing the consumer to receive their custom made computer within a very short amount of time. By using features such as Factory Planner, Rhythm Collaboration Planner, i2 Trade Matrix Supply Chain Planner, and i2 TradeMatrix Buy Solution, Dell can use the value.dell.com portal in a more successful manner. Factory Planner prioritizes the reordering of supplies based on the availability of the supplier. Rhythm Collaboration Planner generates reports every two hours. These reports represent the customers orders that have taken place within the two-hour window. Within the system Dell can tell the supplier the amount of a particular part that is needed and to which delivery area of the factory they need to be delivered. I2 Trade Matrix Supply Chain Planner and i2 TradeMatrix Buy Solution work together as a communication tool to the suppliers. They update the material requirements to suppliers. By having these additional features work with the value.dell.com portal, Dell can reach operational effectiveness within the supply chain. By improving the inventory system at Dell, there has been a snowball effect thought the whole supply chain. According to Mike MacKenty, a supply-chain chief at Nypro, a laptop component manufacture, Once a few remaining wrinkles have been ironed out, Nypro should be able to cut the inventory it keeps on hand for Dell by 70% from two weeks worth to three days.3 The use of the value.dell.com has benefited the suppliers as well as dell, and an additional cost savings is seen at the supplier end. In theory, if the suppliers to Dell can lower prices, then this price savings can be past on down to the consumers. Dell is also using Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 for the majority of the internal management of its IT infrastructure, as well as for its hardware and software inventory. Dells reputation across industries and among consumers is due not only to the products that ship from its warehouses, but also to the internal controls and processes that keep the company running smoothly.4 The use of this software has created cost savings within the company. For example, this software allows help desk employees to remotely install and management computer systems. This is more efficient for the help desk and is a time saving tool. This translates into a cost saving tool by having less people doing the same job as before. In the development of the supply chain, Dell has formed several partnerships with its suppliers. By reducing the inventory costs for the supplier Dell has established relationships that reputations are not able to. These partnerships have also created loyalty and trust. The supply chain could not be as successful as currently is today with out these partnerships. Supply chain management is an affective management skill for reducing costs. Technology can aid in the process. Technology can give a company a competitive advantage. The competitive advantage that is created is only temporary. However, if the company that is using the technology deploys it in manner that is more efficient and effective then the competitors, then a competitive advantage is likely to last longer. According to Eric Michlowitz, Dells director of supply chain e-business solutions, Our supply chain process was very well-executed, but we had an opportunity to increase our efficiency, make the process paperless and provide a single system of record that we and our suppliers could share.5 Anyone with a credit card can purchase a piece of software, but not everyone can install and use that software to its greatest potential. Brand Recognition When asking Joe Blow what type of computer he has, the answer will not be, I have a 1.5 Ghz Athlon processor, with a 20 GB hard drive, with a 3COM 5980B network card and it also has 256 mgs of RAM in a mini tower. The answer to the question will be a computer brand name. For example, I have a Dell. The significance of a brand name is highly important within the technology industry. Many experts look ahead to the next millennium and predict that brands will become even more important to businesses, especially as more of the economy moves to the Internet.6 Dells strives to have a strong, positive brand name which represents a dependable, customer oriented, and innovative company image. When Michael Dell first started selling computers, he realized that customers were looking for more in a computer company then just a company that manufactures computers. Customers wanted support for their computers. One of the reasons Dell began selling directly to the customer is that he wanted to develop a relationship with them. Dell has continually evolved the way that the company provides support to their customers, with each new opportunity the company has taken. For example, customers were reluctant to purchase new servers from Dell because they felt the service they needed would be meet better by IBM. So, Dell partner with Avanade Inc. to help provide support for servers running Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter operating systems in all of their markets around the world. This agreement will add to the support Dell already has, to help create a more dependable customers service to its consumers. Dells constant improvement on customer support has helped create their positive b rand name and company image. Dell has always tried to be an innovator in the PC market. Dell was one of the first companies to reach dot.com stardom. CEOs from Ford Motor Co., Eastman Chemical, and Ernie Deavenport have asked Michael Dell for council to improve their business on the Internet and to find out how Dell Computer Corporation managed to reach its stardom. Consumers and industry analysis saw this young company and young CEO making headways in the global market. As of June of 2000, Dell completed 90% of its purchases entirely online.7 Many companies would like to have the majority of its business done online. When purchases are done online, a company does not have to pay for the sales personal, or the normal labor that is involved in regular brick and mortar companies. Thus, Dell is able to offer a lower price to its customers. Being the first mover to sell PCs directly on the Internet benefited dell greatly. By being a first mover to sell PC over the Internet, Dell set the standards for this process. Another way that Dell has created a positive brand name is that Dell uses only Dell computers and parts in there company. Not even Microsoft can claim that they use only their products. For example, Microsoft has AS/400s running OS operating systems within their company. By using only products that they produce, Dell can truly say their products can be used for any aspect of a global company. SWOT of Dell The SWOT analysis reveals that Dell has several strong core competencies and strong leadership within the company. Dells supply chain management is one of the main strengths the company has. Many companies have tried to imamate Dells just-in-time supply chain, but the have not developed the success that Dell has. Dell has the benefit on having close ties with its suppliers, and the supplier compliance in the supply chain process. Michael Dell is a strength to the company. His enthusiasm and vision have guided Dell to becoming one of the main computer manufactures in the world. As mentioned above, Dells brand recognition has benefited the company greatly. Dells use of the opportunities that the market opens is also a strength. Michael Dell was the first person to realize and act on the customized built, direct marketing of computers in the 1980s. He and the company have continued to tap into technology markets and found ways to lower costs to this day. These are the main strengths tha t Dell has. Along with strengths, Dell does have a few weaknesses. Dell does not currently have the consulting or product line of IBM. Dell still has not developed a server that can match the AS/400. Furthermore, IBM began its consulting business several years ago, and is one of the first movers in this area. Also, direct selling is not the preferred approach to selling PCs in Europe. Europe has a very large market, and Dell needs to be able to sell to the customers in a manner that they approve of. These are Dells main weaknesses. Dells opportunities are as far reaching as a six year olds imagination. Dell has the opportunity to take part in the wireless technology, especially within the United States. Dell can find new way to sell their products in developing areas around the world. There are many innovations that are possible in this arena. Dell needs to be opened minded and take part in the next revolution within the tech world. Dell does have one serious threat. In order for Dell to stay competitive in the corporate world, they need to develop consulting services that IBM offers. Michael Dell has always considered IBM his main competitor. In 1983 Michael Dell declared he ultimately wanted to beat IBM.8 In order to beat IBM, Dell needs to work on its consulting and services to corporations and large buyers. There is also the possible that a new person, like Michael Dell will have a revolutionary idea and change the whole industry once again. It has happened before. Conclusion Dell is a revolutionary company. Michael Dell had a dream and he helped create a successful, global, billion dollar company in a very short amount of time from that dream. The direct selling approach was considered at one time as a niche market. Now Dell is one of the main computer companies in the world, selling custom made computers all over the world. Its not just that Dell is reshaping its industry by selling made-to-order computers directly to customers, thus bypassing the middleman and their markups. Its that Dell is leading this revolution with a run of execution and innovation that no competitor has matched.9 Along with building a global company, Dell has also created a brand image that is irreplaceable. Dell has the respect of corporate America as well as the world. Not just for its products and services, but for it business model, as well. Dell has a competitive advantage with its just-in-time supply chain, and its brand name. The company has several strengths and opportunities for the road ahead.