MAI Systems Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MAI Systems Corporation - Case Study Example Recently, Softbrands purchased the Company back in August 2006. Since its inception in 1957, the Company has gone through significant changes. Being an opportunist and thanks to IBM and the Justice Department in 1956 when the entire computer industry was under the monopoly of IBM, Walter R. Oreamuno and his associate came up with an idea of re-purchasing the computer equipment from IBM customers and leasing it back to the customers at a lower rate than what was being offered by IBM. This idea was a great boast to the MAI's growth but did not last that long. During this time, the Company opted for an IPO with an Not realizing IBM's strategy of depreciating its punch card equipment and the innovation of 360 third generation computer, MAI invested substantially in the older equipment that resulted in MAI's growth to stall. During 1967, a major setback on merger plans with Transamerica, Oreamuno stepped down as the CEO and was replaced by Luther Schwalm an ex-IBM veteran. With a shift in strategy, the earlier investment in the older IBM equipment did not prove to be fertile, Schwalm decided to write-off the outdated older equipment. MAI's cash flow was impacted so substantially that its net worth in 1970 was negative $ 28 million. Oreamuno's decision proved out to be so wrong that even Schwalm was unable to bring the Company out of trouble. It was that when in 1971 MAI's CFO took over as the President. With a new strategy, Kurshan reorganized MAI into a holding company with various subsidiaries. Basic/Four and Sorbus subsidiaries of MAI did well in bringing MAI back to life. Sorbus took advantage of MAI's existing 1,200-person maintenance staff as its core, and expanding from there. Basic/Four was a major success instantaneously. In 1972, Basic/Four introduced the first multi-user transaction-processing mini-computer to use the Business Basic language. Basic/Four's revenue grew up to $43 million, and it was contributing around two-thirds of MAI's tot al earnings. Focused on software products, MAI in 1977 took over acquired Word stream Corporation. This company was producing word processing systems and IBM-compatible CRT terminals. MAI shipped its 10,000th computer system in the year 1980. The market for these computers began to shift drastically at this time, and small companies were turning to cheaper, newly available personal computers instead of the mini-computers that had been Basic/Four's forte. In 1983, the company introduced its MAI 8000, a super-minicomputer nearly as powerful as a mainframe computer, which was proficient enough of servicing up to 96 users at one time. In 1984, a New York-based investor Asher Edelman purchased 12 percent of MAI's stock. Edelman by means of a proxy war for control of the company won four seats on MAI's ten-member board of directors. In the course of the proxy battle, Edelman received a settlement in the $1 million range following a libel suit filed against MAI concerning company advertisements. During April 1984, MAI International Corporation, the company's worldwide marketing arm, was folded into

Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contract Law - Essay Example In equity, injunctions may be administered or sometimes exact contract performance. Both solutions offer the party that has incurred losses an upper hand in terms of the bargaining benefits or in other words expectation damages that may be of higher value as compared to just reliance damages with regard to promissory estoppels. Generally, one may define a contract in nonprofessional’s language as a promise or responsibility that is legally enforceable to oversee the occurrence or no occurrence of something. However, a contract may not be equalized to a legal promise especially when the agreement larks consideration. Several elements validate a contract as stated below (Richard, 2007). Elements of a contract 1. An offer: This is the willingness expressed by the offering party, on a given set of terms, with a motive that in any case the other party accepts that offer; a contract will bind him or her. It is optional in that it may be written, or it can be orally done. 2. Acceptan ce This is the willingness expressed by a party, to absolutely and unconditionally, accepts all the terms that have been set out in the offer. It can either be done orally or written, and the approval must be a reflection of the initial offer that was made. 3. Consideration A consideration is a valuable offering exchanged between the promisee and the promissor with a reciprocal as an assurance. An act or a payment may be regarded as the valuable thing also an act of forbearance is acceptable. 4. Mutual assent Mutual assent is normally achieved by offer and acceptance under common law, in that, here an unqualified party and that accept an offer causes no variance to the terms of the offer. A counter-offer A counter-offer cannot be equalized to an acceptance. It extinguishes the initial offer. In this case, one is not eligible to accept the initial offer after making a counter-offer. However, asking for more information or clarification may not be regarded as a counter-offer and thus does not render the offer extinguished but the party is still eligible to accept if it so desires. Max-Eco Ltd case study In this project, I will assess Max-Eco Ltd, which has been involved in a business deal with Jack’s company to supply timber according to Fred’s set standards. Fred is the director of Max-Eco Ltd. However, after six months, Fred discovers that Jack was not meeting the standards set in their previous deal and feels like the other party had breached the contract they set together. According to the agreement, Jack was supposed to supply Max-Eco Ltd with timber only from the U.K and that they must be treated with only plant-based varnish. Instead, Jack decided to treat the timber, which sometimes he ordered from South America due to its unavailability in the U.K, with chemical-based varnish. Now Fred wants compensation from Jack for failing to meet the set standards. Contract terms Prior to making a contract agreement, often variety of statements are mad e by either party with an aim of enticing or encouraging the partnering party to sign into the contract. The two parties are required to agree as to which of the made statements qualifies to be a part or a term of that particular contract agreement. At the same time, they must identify which statements should be considered as not a part or a term that make up the contract and should be regarded as just pre-contract talks. Therefore, terms server a pivotal role in the establishment of a contract as they bind the

Muslim World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Muslim World - Essay Example In other words, Muslims are not at liberty to re-interpret the meaning of the Quran in order to support a religious reformation which embraces the modernization dictated by the twenty-first century. Indeed, as Schuon stresses, the Quran is eternal and its meaning transcends time and space (45). Its meaning does not change subject to our lifestyles or trends but, is unchanged throughout time. The implication, therefore, is that the methodology for interpreting the Quran is consistent, irrespective of the century for which and in which it is being interpreted. Consequently, Muslims today, as in the past and the future, should not question the method by which they can interpret the Quran for greater consistency with a particular century but, the correct methodology for uncovering both the esoteric and exoteric meaning of the Quran, irrespective of any particular century. Moslems should not try to delude themselves into believing that the meaning of the Quran can be adapted to suit the d emands of any specific time but should have faith in God and abide by the timelessness and eternity of His Message through an acceptance of the interpretations of religious scholars. The Quran is the basis of Islam and, as Schuon explicitly states, it is the Furqan (39). The implication here is, and as may be inferred from Schuon's discussion, the Quran is a book of Divine Laws and, as such establishes the difference between the moral and the immoral, the correct and the incorrect paths and, more so, differentiates between believers and non-believers. Indeed, as the Furqan, the Islamic laws and principles which it clearly communicates, and fully explicates, cannot be regarded as subject to flexible interpretations which are dictated by the lifestyles of a particular century. They are timeless and applicable to all ages. For greater emphasis on the virtual impossibility of justifying the modernization of Quranic interpretations for the establishment of greater harmony between the principles, lifestyles and believes particular to the Muslim and the Western worlds, Schuon emphasizes three points. Firstly, the Quran is eternal, written for all times and equally applicable to the past as it is to the present, and shall continue to be in the future. Secondly, the Quran is not subject to modernization, implying the imposition of new trends upon the Quran. Thirdly, given the first two, it is incumbent upon Moslems not to adopt practices that are un-Islamic and subsequently seek their religious legitimization through their supposed Islamicization. Such Islamicization efforts are dependant upon the re-interpretation of Islam in light of modernism and its demands (Schuon). The point that Schuon is making here is that the eternal and Divine nature of the Quran effectively de-legitimize any efforts to argue its irrelevancy to the twenty-first century or to re-interpret it in light of the values and practices that the Muslim world is constantly borrowing and adopting from the West. Largely agreeing with Schoen, Corbin adds his voice to the strictures against Quranic interpretations according to the whims and desires of a people and a particular time. It is, as Corbin emphasizes, the Word of God and, therefore, by the very nature of its Being, Eternal and timeless. It is the basis, the very heart and core of Islam and, more so, is the foundation upon which the unity of the Muslim people is built upon. Attempts to

Business History - coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business History - coursework - Essay Example In Britain ownership is much less concentrated, with almost half of all shareholdings-generally by the financial sector-amounting to less than 5 percent of company stock. (2) In Germany-in contrast to Britain-the network of interlocking directorates is closely related to the capital network, i.e., it serves to enhance the power of the owners. (3) In Germany-in contrast to Britain-both networks are concentrated within the same industry, i.e., potential competitors are associated with one another. Germany thus illustrates 'co-operative capitalism' whereas Britain exemplifies 'competitive capitalism'. According to Porter (2006), "He found a relatively consistent pattern of basic changes in strategy being followed by major adjustments in organizational design. The changes inorganizational design roughly matched the needs for information and decisions called for in the new strategy. Chandler called the organizational design that emerged during this period the multiple division form, replacing a unitary/functional form. The three key elements of a multiple division design are, first, activities must be divisible into relatively elements of a multiple division design are, first, activities must be divisible into relatively independent bundles of activity. Second, there is a central guidance group which is supported by an analytic staff and which has the power to discipline the actions of the various divisions. And third, there are summary statistics that make possible interdivisional comparisons for purposes of evaluating the performance of divisions." Summary performance measures and their development strongly led to the success of the M-corporation. The fall of the system can be explained relatively simply, too. According to Porter (2006), "Implementation of this new strategy requires, I argue, substantial changes in institutional structures. This project traces the emergence of this new strategy and suggests institutional design changes appropriate to more effective implementation of the new strategy." The advantages of the 'networked' firm in the modern global economy. Networked firms can obtain significant competitive advantage in the modern global economy. Their products and services are hard to copy. In the beginning, networked firms rely on their partners for comparable assets. One must be careful to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of such boundary-crossing in a networked firm, however (Jones and Zeitlan, 2010). In networked firms, open innovation can occur. This means that networked firms can use open ideas to benefit one another. They should use both internal and

Constipation (Advanced pharmacology) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Constipation (Advanced pharmacology) - Assignment Example It is given in a low dose initially and later increased to the maximum dose for effectiveness. However, in cases where the individual does not respond to Aricept and the dementia worsens, doctors begin prescription with Namenda which has been approved for the treatment of advanced forms of the disease. In some cases both the drugs are also given in combination. Screening of dementia in a primary care setting initially utilizes a rapid screening tool for memory loss such as the Mini-Cog or Family Questionnaire which are easy and can be administered by nurses or a medical assistant. If these initial tools are indicative of memory loss the patient is then subjected to a second cognitive assessment using tools such as Mini Mental State Examination which also take about 10-15 minutes to administer. Based on the scores the person is referred to a dementia specialist. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics properties of the four drugs used in dementia are different. Donepezil selectively inhibits acetylcholinesterase with a half-life of 70 h, Galantamine is also a selective inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase but also has a modulating effect on presynaptic nicotinic receptors and has a half-life of 6-8 h. both these drugs are metabolized by specific cytochrome oxidases in the liver. Rivastigmine is an irreversible inhibitor of both acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase with a short half-life of 1-2 h. It is metabolized by esterases in the liver and intestine. Memantine is a low-affinity antagonist of NMDA class of receptors and has a half-life of 70 h. It is mainly eliminated unchanged via the kidneys. The most common adverse effects of acetylcholinesterase are nausea, vomiting diarrhea, muscle cramps, fatigue, headache, pain, common cold, and urinary incontinence. Rare side effects include bradycardia and sinoartrial and atrioventricular blocks. In case of Memantine, drug hypersensitivity, dizziness, hypertension, constipation and headache are common.

FRACKING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FRACKING - Essay Example cess of Fracking is excused from primary environmental laws, as well as the Safe Drinking Water Act, and gas spills and mishaps are very common (McKenzie, et.al, 2012). People have played an immense role in this environmental issue; it starts from the process of extracting the gas to the transportation of the waste materials. This puts the water bodies and the general health of the human beings a very significant risk. In fact, most individuals who close to the fracking sites have acquired severe illness from drinking water that is contaminated. The tap water has so much methane such that it can even light a fire (McKenzie, et.al, 2012). All this has been caused by the fracking activities and the poor methods of disposing of the waste products. The industries are not allowed to reveal the chemicals used in the process of fracking, and this is an implication that they are aware that they use dangerous materials. Societies with fracking have witnessed deteriorations in the value of property, growths of the crime rate, and decline in local tourism and farming (Finewood & Stroup, 2012). Over 70% of the elements used in this process are likely to be harmful to the eyes, the skin, as well as the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. Roughly 50% of these materials are likely to have an impact on the brain cell structure, immunity and cardiac systems, 25% of these are liable to cause cancerous diseases and other body related mutations. Nonetheless, most hazards of the pollutants used in the fracking procedure do not appear instantaneously, and they are long term and entail studies observing into long-standing health effects. Methane is a key constituent of natural gas and it likely to trap heat in the atmosphere 20 times than carbon dioxide; this leads to air pollution (Finewood & Stroup, 2012). The fracking process uses chemical additives in the procedure of drilling mud, and the fluids are vital to this process; this leads to major water pollution. The United

Astronomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Astronomy - Essay Example If earth’s internal activities are related to solar energy, then other planets also should have such internal activities. â€Å"The earth grew from the accumulation of planetismals (meteorites and asteroids), over a period of 1-200 million years about 4.3 to about 4.5 billion years ago. All of the geological activity on the earth today is driven from this initial source of heat at the earths formation, aided and abetted by continued radioactive decay of elements in the earths interior.† (The Heat History of Earth) The construction of earth is not homogeneous and different parts of earth have different types of layers and even the materials are different at different locations on earth. For example the soil structure of India and that of America are entirely different. Earth is blessed with so many radioactive elements like Uranium, Radium, and Plutonium which are decaying continuously liberating huge amount of energy. More over these elements are not distributed uniformly on earth’s surface and even then earth’s internal activities are distributed evenly everywhere. So we can concl ude that the internal activity of earth is not because of radioactive decay of elements alone, but it was due to the initial source of heat at the earth’s formation also. It is an accepted fact that earth’s internal activity has risen in the recent past. It is evident from the increased number of earth quakes, and volcano eruption. Once the earth’s internal activities finished, there will be no more earth quakes, tidal waves and volcano eruption and the earth becomes cooled to alarming levels so that its biological activities will also be ended along with the geological activities. â€Å"There is much evidence that indicates geological vitality of a planet which has played a fundamental role in the development and evolution of life.† (Frias) It is evident from the fact that no other