Assignment 5 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

5 - Assignment Example After successful hiring, the next big issue is whether the organization will be able to maintain these individual’s engagement, maximize their potential for high quality work and finally be able to retain them for long within the organization. Some of the things that they mention that can assist strengthen a procurement team include but not limited to offering strong benefits package and/or flexible working conditions. The other thing that can strengthen public procurement professionals is offering training and development and making sure that their employees are professionally certified. Apart from that the modern-day procurement team will require current communication and technology tools. For instance, they also need remote access to e-mail and voice mail since the team strongly desires and relies on technology and software to perform their duties efficiently and effectively. This is because millenials are the most technologically savvy generation to date and cannot stay a single day without the use of internet or its associated devices. They have got information available to them just at the click of the button or sound of their voices (Jean, 2014). For the procurement team to be able to stand strong, it needs these professionals to have all these types of gadgets at their disposal. These are the modern-day professionals who come to the working environment with specific resource expectations which have to be met so as to satisfy their requirements. Apart from that the procurement professionals need to be equipped with knowledge of best practices and a roadmap for continuous development should be made available to them. The procurement team therefore should be equipped with tools commonly available in today’s environment. This will help fellow employees to complete tasks independently and finally want to be evaluated on the outcome versus the road

Evaluation of learning as well as teaching Essay

Evaluation of learning as well as teaching - Essay Example There are various ways through which student’s learning can be assessed, but the best way of assessing student learning is one that promotes learning. In this comparison essay, two assessment tools including the formative assessment and summative assessment tools will be assessed on the basis of definition, purpose, procedure and tools that are used while teachers use any of the two assessment criteria. Formative assessment tools are much effective as compared to the summative assessment tools as the formative ones encourage learning and development of students. Body Definition Formative assessment tools used in educational settings are those that promote learning with the assistance of generation of feedback that is of ample amount of advantage to both teachers as well as students (Marzano 9). The feedback obtained from this tool is used for making alterations to the learning procedure of students. This definition of formative assessment tools clearly exhibit that these tools are used to help make changes to the learning procedure of students in order to advance their learning activities. Student evaluation that is summative in nature is defined as conducting assessment of student learning for a particular time frame. This assessment tool is used to summarize the development of a student that has taken place in a particular frame of time period (Marzano 8). The definition of summative evaluation reflects that it does not help in advancing learning and is rather used to assess how well learning has already taken place and according to this evaluation student’s development is rated. Purpose The main aim of formative assessment tools is to advance student learning by providing feedback regarding their learning practices. When teachers use formative assessment tools they do not rate or rank how well a student has learned what is being taught. They rather analyze the methods that are used by students to learn and then provide feedback that is used by the student to make alterations to his/her learning techniques. The very fact that student’s responses in formative assessment are not marked is evidence that this tool focuses on the quality of learning, rather than the quantity of learning that has taken place. On the other end, the fundamental aim of summative learning is to rate the quantity of learning that has taken place. In summative assessment, the responses provided by students are rated and ranked by teachers which are sheer proof of the fact that this assessment focus on how much student has learned. Procedure There is ample amount of difference in which both these assessments are conducted. In case of formative assessment, first the assessment is conducted while learning is taking place, and teachers provide feedback during the process of learning, this feedback is then used during the process of learning by the student to make alteration to his/her method of learning or is used by the teacher to make changes to his/her method of teaching. This procedure of conducting formative assessment clearly reflects that the procedure is helping students learn as feedback provided within the learning process can help in making changes to the process. In case of summative learning, tests are taken to assess the quantity of learning that has taken place over a time frame. Since these tests are taken after the learning has taken place, it is quite evident that students fail to make changes to their learning process. Tools Tools used for the purpose of formative assessment are mostly those through which teachers are able to provide on the spot assessment and reflection on the learning of a particular student. For example: questions asked during classroom lectures can be

DELL Company Anlaysis

DELL Company Anlaysis Dell Computers have been the leaders in computer world for more than two decades. Dell has been empowering countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams and possiblities. Since the first Dell PC was introduced in 1986, Dell has continued to shape the industry by breaking new ground and pioneering critical developments in home, small business and enterprise computing. The Dell business connects with more than 5.4 billion customers every day with earnings of $14.9 billion comprising a net profit of $584 million. Dells continuous research and development (RD) have proven efforts to reach the globe, which is driven by some of the industrys foremost product designers and engineers. The core of Dell computers is always been in innovation approach with a commitment to deliver new and better solutions and technologies that fulfils and meets demands and customer needs. They accept Partnerships with varied industry such as software, hardware and component suppliers and by generating a uniquely broad perspective on the computing world and the accessories. Dell believes in innovations which begin in-house supported by global team of top engineers, product designers and technical experts. Along with a team effort with Dells strategic partners to formulate and implement the different strategies. Their mission is to deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions that meet todays customer requirements and innovative work seamlessly is carried out in existing environments and their products. Dell is uniquely positioned into the market which has a strong impact of and on the industry trends. They maintain strong internal and in-house development capabilities. They have a strategy to be partners, rather than to compete, with top technology suppliers and manufacturers. They enable industry standards and technologies through industry groups and strategic partners. In such a way Dell innovates and delivers value and needs of customers. Customer needs analysis for Intercontinental Hotel Group The IHG brand itself owns or services more than 4,000 hotels and also has approximate of $1bn fund to support owners who purchase a franchise from IHG. IHG doesnt own many hotels outright as it had and has a wide focus on franchising. IHG provides the back-up for others as they have an amazing network to bind up with global brands. The IHG Company specialises in mid-scale hotels, along with the Park Lane InterContinental which is a high class with a suite complete with cinema available for  £4,000-a-night. Both business and leisure customers are vital to the success of the group and the former is starting to pick up. The IHG brand has a varied brands of hotels from INTERCONTINENTAL as business class, HOLIDAY INN as resort and inns, STAYBRIDGE suites as leisure hotels which fulfils the needs of having a varied variety of customers for the business varying from leisure travellers to business class personnel. So does the IHG offer a varied variety of brands to the customer ranging from 7 brands offering varied class of service to meet the needs of customers having a pioneering strategy to achieve pioneering position in the competitive market the basic design of IHG by franchising the brands in different sectors provides a variety for different customers and fulfil their needs Corporate Strategy for INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP Being a service oriented and pioneering company the major corporate strategies can be listesd as follows: an continuous audit of the clients culture, image and communications strategy an analysis of the existing use of resources, and research into further opportunities; the development of an awareness with the client of the potential higher value through promotional strategies the provision of a brief overview for positioning, developed in the same way as a logo and design system for a same value as of a corporate identity To create a collaborative decision-making process to agree on effectiveness of channels and methods for reaching target audiences through the creation of new identity within a consistent customer satisfaction Competitive priorities of IHG Managing complexity and speeding development Delivering quality and at fast pace Managing technological changes in Hospitality sector Right tools and right people to be targeted Transformation of operating processes Building up a customer centric position With the above competitive priorities IHG should focus on being customer centric as to cope up with the increasing competition in the current hospitality industry which is a beginning step towards the quality management Customer needs analysis for DELL Computers The Dell computers have a focus on customer centric market. The Dell computers have very strong market varying of customers from home users to the official market to the corporate clientele. The each and every sector has a varied demand and need for their requirements. Dell is the first major computer manufacturer to ban the export of nonworking electronics to developing countries as part of our global electronics disposal policy building up a good brand image within the market. They offer the customers to choose to do business with more than 60,000 partners registered with Dell and certified to operate as our agents. Thus having a customer centric market focuses on the consumer needs. Dell computers believe in continuous innovation which is one of more key factors as their being constant changes in the technology and advancements in day to day life there is increase in needs of different customers which is satisfied the current operating procedures of the company Corporate strategies of Dell Computers Following up with Corporate Responsibility Considering the competition in the market along with the others computer companies the few corporate strategies of Dell Inspire innovation and innovate our team members to live company purposes : As usual dell computers have been promoting innovation since long time so as to promote the technical as well as support team and cope up with increasing needs of customers with advancements in technology Continue building up trust through the positive and meaningful differences the company is making on the communities and the planet : The commitment of Dell computers have been constantly creating a difference in technology and innovating the technology Recognize where they can make the most measurable impact and align the commitments : To recognize by the sensitive evaluation of the customers as being a customer centric strategic organization and measure the impacts would be occurring on the commitments to the specific market segment. Develop measures for reporting the progress and media to communicate that progress: The motive would be to evaluate the performance and make evaluations at timely basis and to communicate the results to compare with the expected goals to be achieved Competitive Priorities of Dell Computers: Focusing on best available solution instead of just focusing on technology Having a alternative focus the available solutions to the improvement of technology instead of also just having a focus on innovation Teaching and promoting innovative thinking Promoting in-house innovations instead of hiring and having a partnering with the technical consultants Getting feedback from customers and suppliers Getting feedbacks from the customers should be of mere importance as being a customer centric focus it will help in making continuous improvements and meeting the requirements Supply Chain management of IHG The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) outsources its management of supply chain and has signed a new five year contract with Supply Chain Management, (SCM, LLC) to manage the supply chain function at and of IHG. SCM, LLCs responsibilities will include North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. With supplying and looking over the work process of the inter brands as well as on supply chain of specific brand SCM.LLC manages the supply chain function for both IHGs corporate and owned/managed / franchised by hotel group, including the major process of sourcing, negotiating, contracting and interfacing with suppliers to maintain cost and quality control. In addition, SCM will manage the relationship with IHGs procurement service company. SCM also helps IHG with staff serving the account will be housed on-site at IHG offices in the major locations of the brand. Enhancing relations with the suppliers and standardizing products and services by following an efficient supply chain. SCM provides strategic solutions for expense management that enable clients to achieve maximum and sustainable savings through a variety of customized services. These services include cost management, spend analysis, process re-engineering, demand management, sourcing of products and services, negotiation, contract development and administration, and staff training. This outsourcing helps IHG to look onto the performa nce and evaluate it and thus follow up with the changes to be made. Constraint Management of INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP Following with the few constraints from the SCM (Supply Chain Management) review. IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has launched a new Price Optimization module globally that integrates local market demand forecasting, publicly available competitive data analysis and price and revenue management system and helps IHGs hotels determine the best daily price. While traditional revenue management systems select rates based on demand predictions, IHGs Price Optimization module has a price sensitive modeling process that allows the system to continuously balance rates, occupancy and guest pricing preferences in a way that increases revenue opportunities regardless of demand. It makes easier for the large group of hotels to make competitive pricing decisions IHG hotels with brands that include Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express which ranges from low budget hotels to hi class leisure and luxury brands which makes it important to be concerned with financing of the brands. Thus seeing positive results following the system generated price and balancing the revenues. The Price Optimization module is a proprietary system that was developed as there had been lot of leverage costs wasted up with the brands. Lean Systems followed by INTERCOTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP After the 9/11 attack there has been a considerable and resulting downturn in the hotel and hospitality business, IHG needed to cut costs significantly to stay competitive. There had been a cut down of around $100M from the Americas Region operating budget. Then IHG turned managed services consultants, to help reduce their spend on Helpdesk, Deskside and Server Support services by 33% (or $1.2M) and understand why end-user satisfaction was low and make improvements in the service with budget planning. The systems were transformed and a formulation of IT servers was lead on to cut down the costs looked at the IT challenges being faced by IHG, it seemed to migrate as many of the Desk side service calls as possible to the Helpdesk. It was to make process improvements without disrupting a live IT service and further degrading already low levels of services. Lean and Six Sigma were applied to the present procedures which allowed quantifying obvious areas for improvement and also uncovering substantial opportunities to make changes with. For example, discovering the cost savings that eliminate redundancy between service providers would bring a change in overall change in system thus saving costs and to achieve the $1.2M in savings. The following lean procedures were allowed: To reduce the average problem fixing times and to improve customer satisfaction Solve more problems at the Helpdesk instead of on-site Deskside Updated and standardized operating systems to reduce complications with the data availablity Moving of account administration off-site so it will be easy for managing and storing information Eliminate the vendor duplication for an effort to further reduce costs Supply Chain for DELL Computers The Dell Computer Corporation a leading direct computer systems company. Dell sells its computer systems directly to end customers, bypassing distributors and retailers (resellers). Dells supply chain consists of only three stages. The suppliers from whom they gain basic resources, the manufacturer (Dell) at which innovation is converted to technology, and end users. Dell has developed direct contact with customers which allows it to: Properly identify market segments, Analyze the requirements and profitability of each segment, and Develop more accurate demand forecasts. Dell matches supply and demand because its customers order computer configurations over the phone or online (Internet) where sometimes it makes use of JIT (Just In Time) process as each computer has to be configured according to needs. These computer configurations are built up from components that are available. Dells strategy is to provide customised, low cost, and quality computers that are delivered on time to make the customer feel cared for and valued for time and money. Dell successfully implemented this strategy through its efficient manufacturing operations, better supply chain management and direct sales model. Dell takes orders directly from its customers; either on phone or online. Thus, Dell reduces the cost of intermediaries and agents that would otherwise add up to the total cost of PC for the customer as well be problematic at times with misunderstanding and breaking down image of DELL. Dell also saves time on processing orders that other companies normally incur in t heir sales and distribution system. Moreover, by directly dealing with the customer Dell gets a clearer indication of market trends. This helps Dell to plan for future besides better managing its supply chain and also keeps a track with trends and surveys the customer needs in specific market. This also helps dell to get a targeted sector for the next innovative product. One more advantage for Dell is it gets by directy dealing with the customer is that it is able to get the customers requirements regarding software to be loaded. Dell loads the ordered software in its plant itself before dispatching it. By eliminating the need of a PC support engineer to load software, the customers gain both in time and cost. They can use the PCs the moment they arrive. Just by a click and no need of any separate installations are to be made with the same thus cutting down the costs of engineers for installation. Constraint Management of DELL Computers The Dell computers being innovative and efficient with the systems have to some internal constraints which can be managed while applying New single-system backup solution which combines world-class hardware and software to help customers store, protect and archive data and also Dell and Symantec collaborate to make reduplication technology accessible so customers can improve efficiency and optimize storage investments and dell could provw with the best. In accordance with innovating on working on customer needs there has to been management on constraints.To help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) more effectively respond to the challenge of efficiently storing, managing and protecting increasing amounts of business-critical data, Dell is introducing the PowerVault DL2100 Powered by Symantec Backup Exec 2010, a disk-based backup and recovery solution with available reduplication technology in a single server. With this integrated end-to-end solution, customers can easily deploy and manage backup and recovery tasks, and reduce backup costs compared to tape-based solutions. Which will be a innovative solution for managing the data efficiently and in organised way rather then having large servers being operated continuously incurring costs and adding up to the maintenance costs Lean systems for Dell Computers Dell follows to run a lean operation. Dell factory we wont get to see raw materials, except those on the production line so as we use Just In Time procedure follow-ups. There are no products, as we build to order. So it is a pull system, rather than a push system where you build to forecasts and it so often goes wrong. Often there is no much push strategy used in dell computers manufacturing systems avoiding wastes and layoffs. The other characteristic of the Dell business model is the attention to detail, and the belief in continuous improvement and continuous innovation. Dells manufacturing techniques are a margin ahead of its competitors. To keep pressing ahead to keep Dell Computer at the forefront of production methods would be the strategy to be the pioneers of the computer world There have been number of touches and a computer needs you can cut the number of people you need to build it. But the number of touches also directly relates to the number of failures in the field as it generally possesses a risk of changes in technology and the current production lying back. There is a huge cost to DELL for operating technical support and dispatching a replacement part. If on a computer system they have to do a part replacement, they have to lose the profit on that PC if we have to do a dispatch. So getting it right on quality is fundamental to prove the customers being the best in the computer world. Dell has been pulling business model from such that there were the efficiencies of Dell. Now a days Dell has been likely having the idea of outsourcing manufacturing to that of installing an ERP system. Which can cut down the manufacturing costs as the faults on hardware to be replaced back with the manufacturer just instead of producing and facing losses on the failure or breakdown of any hardware Comparative variations in Operating systems of IHG and DELL Computers Comparing a Brand from a hospitality sector such as Intercontinental Hotel Group holding 7 major brands in hospitality and service sector having a pioneering strategy achieving varied variety for the customers with choices from business class to leisure and resorts to a customer concentric computer company of DELL Computers which being customer oriented IT sector INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP (IHG Plc) IHG group has been the pioneers in the hospitality industry with more then 4400 hotels owned and franchised with 7 major brands providing a variation in meeting the requirements of the customers with varied profile and targeting different sectors. They have a plan of expanding to more of 35 properties in the coming three years. The operations being very franchised and linked up together. The supply chain management of in between the interbrands has been contracted with supply chain management SCM consultants to keep it organised as the franchising has to look over the all brand management state. To get summary of the supply chain and to know the defects and implement changes to the operations. The IHG group now is been targeting customers of varied sectors based on the different profiles offered by the properties to suit the customer profile. The pioneering strategy of the IHG is to continue with getting in customer oriented sector while making a change with the services offered. It also offers a loyalty points for the frequent customers and the loyalty card members which would create an assured clientele for the IHG group. DELL Dell has been consumer concentric and also keeping its inventory at a bare minimum. DELL recognises that the it cannot concentrate on just cost alone as it has been following a strategies to directly being in contact with the consumers. It has to differentiate and it has taken the steps to do just that. As the software services it is set to take off in the coming future along with Symantec to develop backup softwares. DELL has laid the foundation to offer the Softwares it has to build on multiple platforms. DELL intends to make available on both DELL and non-DELL systems offering customers the kind of customised support as it has done with its computer systems of hardwares and being with the support from the Microsoft system softwares. The reason being that there are too many complexities involved in the synchronizing the softwares with the various sectors in the market and would be innovating to be as google as it initially came only with search engine now linked up with varied appl ications. But Dell seems determined and has invested a lot in this new service. This could achieve a market share that was lost to HP. Dell will also have to branch out on the various channels it can operate from. The direct consumer interaction has been working well but may not be enough to sustain a more globalized presence in the developing countries. So it needs to expand the channels globally and also has plans to open more manufacturing factors in India, Brazil, and BRIC countries. To enable better delivery of customer service, Dell will have to coordinate with the channels for continuous and considerate supply.

Wood Bison :: essays research papers

The Wood Bison are the largest native land mammals in North America. The wood bison were designated as an endangered species in 1978.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wood Bison are dark brown terrestrial mammals. They feature very massive heads. They have a shaggy brown coat with long, thick, black beards. Males have short black horns, which curve inward, while females have straight horns. These bison have very large shoulders and a massive hump on their backs. Males are larger than females and measure about 3 to 4 meters long and 1.75 meters high at the shoulders. They weigh between 500 and 1000 kilograms. They are very distinctive animals, capable of running at speeds up to 35 mph.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wood bison reach their sexual maturity somewhere between the ages of one and three years old. The gestational period for these animals is about 270 to 300 days. The females usually give birth twice over a three-year period and bear only single calves, generally in the month of May. Twins are rare for the wood bison. Calves are weaned at about 7 months, but are able to graze with the herds from the time they are a week old.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wood bison spend much of their time grazing. They enjoy a diet of wild oats, rye, and wheat, lichens, horsetails and berries. They swallow their food unchewed and when they rest later in the day, they bring up this unchewed food, called cud, and chew it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main enemies of the wood bison are the wolf, coyote, and grizzly bear. Of course, their main enemy is man! This breed has also had numerous problems with disease. Anthrax was a major problem for these animals before 1978. They have also had problems with tuberculosis. Another kind of threat is from drowning. It is not uncommon for several hundred animals to drown by falling through thin ice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The wood bison was never an organism with an extremely large population. In the 1800’s, it was estimated that the population was at about 168,000 animals. They were almost hunted to extinction in the 19th century. In fact, by 1893, it was estimated that only 250 wood bison existed. By 1922, their population rebounded to about 1500 animals. It was then that Wood Buffalo National Park was established. The goal of the park was to save the wood bison from extinction and to preserve their shrinking habitat. Inbreeding and disease once again diminished the herds, but in 1957, a herd of about 200 pure wood bison was discovered in a remote corner of the park.

My Choice Is Reading Essay

By reading books, people can learn how to get through problems in their own lives by relating to characters. Readers can see what characters did to get out of bad situations, and what they learned from them. In Uglies by Scott Westerfield the reader grasps that what someone looks like on the outside doesn’t matter, and it is what is on the inside that counts. The Fault In Our Stars and Looking For Alaska by John Green both deal with death at a young age and losing loved ones. Love is a serious topic in all of these books, and an important lesson learned is that love is blind. The Fault In Our Stars is a love story between Hazel and Augustus who are both battling cancer at the same time. They meet at a cancer support group and fall in love, but then the cancer in Augustus comes back and ends up killing him. John Green does a considerable writing job in making whoever reads the book fall in love with both characters. That is why it is extremely sad in the end because when Gus dies, the reader undergoes the same sadness that Hazel has. Loosing a loved one is also a theme in Looking For Alaska. Miles decides to go to a boarding school, and while there, he makes friends for the first time. More importantly though, he meets Alaska whom he loves from the first moment he saw her. Alaska already has a boyfriend and she will not cheat, but she lugubriously reflected a secret love for him. Unfortunately she perishes in a car crash so their relationship will always be a great perhaps. Miles’ love story is a little different than Hazel’s in a way that Hazel got to really experience the love before it was torn, whereas Miles’ was an unexplored mystery. People everywhere love differently like in the books by John Green, but both stories are similar because the characters have to deal with the loss of a loved one. Everybody deals with losing loved ones in different ways. In Looking For Alaska the whole book is written in the parts before and after Alaska’s death. This shows that Miles is unable to separate his own life from her death. In The Fault In Our Stars Hazel deals with the death of Augustus quite differently. She tells her story building up to his death, and after his death skips to the present day to say that even though Gus is gone, she still loves him. Hazel was able to separate her life from his death in a way Miles was not able to with Alaska,  while still indicating that their love survived even his death. Looking For Alaska deals with a lot of growing up. Miles and his friends throughout the whole book are trying to grow up to be who they want to be. In The Fault In Our Stars Hazel has to find ways to cope with the imminence of her own death, and rather than growing up she has to deal with the process of dying. Hazel has to find her place in death while Miles has to find his place in life. In the book Uglies the theme of growing up to be who you want to be is very important. Scott Westerfield’s book Uglies is a dystopian book much like Maze Runner or Hunger Games. In Tally’s world people live by what they look like. At the age of 16 people get the transformation to turn them into a pretty from an ugly. When someone gets the pretty operation they look like everybody else, but they also get their brain changed. Tally is forced to grow up and get the operation but she rebels and runs away. Tally finally finds out who she is and who she loves just by being who she wants to be. This book deals with he subject of appearance, which is relevant to society today. Everybody thinks that in order to be happy, that you have to be perfect looking. This book teaches the reader that it is what is on the inside that counts. Just like in The Fault In Our Stars, Hazel does not think anybody will love her because she is dying of cancer. Then Gus does. This deals with the saying that love is blind. When someone loves someone they can look past all the flaws and only see perfection. All three of the books read deal with this topic. It is so important to read. Reading makes the reader fall in love, cry, and get angry or excited. Books open people up to reoccurring themes and make them learn really valuable lessons. The books The Fault In Our Stars, Looking For Alaska and Uglies all relate in different ways, and all deal with very diverse content. The most important lesson learned from these books is to be whom you want and to love unconditionally.

MP3 Player Industry Analysis

Electronic gadgets are very much popular nowadays. Both teens and adults alike are caught up in this technology wave of the present and future. Almost everyone in the US and other first-world countries have mobile phones. Even little kids have one for practical reasons, according to some parents. Yet another electronic gadget that is as popular as a mobile phone is the MP3 player. Since everyone seems to like music a lot, this little electronic device easily captured the hearts of many people around the world. Apple was the company that had big risks yet big hopes in this market when it released its own version of MP3 player called the Apple iPod in 2001. Some were not convinced of Apple’s strategy entering this line of business as the industry was not quite promising that time (Guglielmo, 2001). But even with its price tag on the upper bracket, Apple reportedly has the highest share in the market at about 80% (Skee, 2006). But with the increasing number of competitors in the market offering much more affordable digital audio players, this huge amount of market share will most likely decrease in the years to come. As all knows, technology is something that does not really stagnate at all. MP3 players would not only remain as simple music playing device forever. With continuous engineering and innovation, a third of the MP3 players currently available in the market now have video playing capability. This means that users will not only be able to listen to their favorite music wherever they want, but watch some cool music videos as well. This made a huge impact in the sales of MP3 players since the feature was introduced. Wargo, director of Consumer Electronics Association, (as cited in Slocombe, 2006) stated that, â€Å"MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion.[†¦]† The figures concerning this industry are really huge considering that this only talks about the US consumers alone. At present, MP3 players still do not lose their charm. Just for the past holiday season, MP3 players topped the survey of 1,000 US adults for their most wanted gift (Ogg, 2006). The device had outdone other popular consumer electronic devices such as digital cameras and portable DVD players. According to CEA (2007), â€Å"MP3 players continue to drive the audio market. [†¦] Thirty-four million MP3 players shipped in 2006 and an additional 41 million are expected to ship in 2007.† The toughest competitor of Apple iPod now is Microsoft’s own Zune which was just introduced in the market late 2006, just in time for the holidays. The two products have been compared by a lot of analysts. Most of the reviews and comparison reports made still think that Apple will be the leading brand in this industry for the next years to come. However, Apple is still in stand by because Microsoft is still Microsoft. Although there are not enough information yet as to how many people already own the new Microsoft Zune nor their current market share, it is well-known that the brand Microsoft itself owns about 90% of the market when it comes to operating systems which is about 300 million people. On the other hand, there are about 30 million people who have an iPod, which is about 70% of the MP3 player industry. (Elgan, 2006) In a nutshell, the MP3 player industry is still a promising and flourishing industry and will continue to increase sales in the coming years. With all the different companies trying to compete and outdo the market starter, Apple iPod still is the leading player in the market since its introduction despite the quite expensive price tag it has. References Elgan, M. (2006). Opinion: Why Microsoft’s Zune Scares Apple to the Core. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003718&pageNumber=1 Guglielmo, C. (2001). Apple Has Big Hopes for iPod. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1242682,00.asp Ogg, E. (2006). MP3 Players Top Holiday Wish Lists, CEA Survey Finds. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://news.com.com/MP3+players+top+holiday+wish+lists,+CEA+survey+finds/2100-1041_3-6126358.html Skee, G. (2006). US MP3 Player Sales Will Reach $4.5 Billion in 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/01/us-mp3-player-sales-will-reach-45-billion-in-2006.php Slocombe, M. (2006). CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales to Soar 200%. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://digital-lifestyles.info/2006/01/05/ces-2006-starts-mp3-player-sales-to-soar-200/