Analyzing Toonari News & Media strategy process : assessment and recommendations

There are many companies working in on-line environment that are underestimating the appliance of strategy concepts and procedures. This study, through the light of strategy, looks inside of Toonari News and Media. It is a for-profit news and media social enterprise start up with a strong cycle system combining maximization of profit and social-benefit through free education. The goals of the study are: analyze and rethink its strategy; understand the changes in the industry and how strategy can allow the company to compete and position itself in a highly competitive environment; understanding of no separation between business and ebusiness. The first part of the study is the literature review focused on understanding the strategic process of a company that works either in physical or virtual environment. The second part concentrates on the application of concepts and tools in Toonari. The results seem to be positive and are able to add value to the company. Findings suggest actions for different departments and look continuously into the strategy process which involves formulation, implementation and controlling stages. This is done in order to reach its goals and work aligned with its mission and vision. The study does not finish the company’s strategy analysis, because this must be an endless process to reach continuous improvement and growth, but it offers a valuable snapshot and corrections in the processes.Muitas são as empresas que trabalham em um ambiente electrônico e subestimam a aplicação de conceitos e procedimentos estratégicos. Este estudo analiza Toonari News and Media sobre uma perspectiva estratégica. A empresa é uma social start up com foco no lucro que desenvolveu um forte sistema cíclico que combina a maximização do lucro e do benefício social através da educação gratuita.Os objectivos do estudo são: analizar e repensar sua estratégia; entender as mudanças na indústria e como a estratégia pode permirtir que a empresa se posicione em um ambiente altamente competitivo; entender que não existe separação entre negócios e negócios electrônicos. A primeira parte do estudo é a revisão literária focada no entendimento do processo estratégico de empresas que trabalham em um ambiente físico ou virtual.A segunda parte trata da aplicação dos conceitos e ferramentas na Toonari News and Media. Os resultados se mostram positivos e capazes de adicionar valor para a empresa. Descobertas sugerem acções para a empresa em vários departamentos e uma análise contínua do processo estratégico que envolve os estágios de formulação, implementação e controle. Isto é desenvolvido com o intuito de atingir os objectivos da empresa e promover o alinhamento com a sua missão e visão. O estudo não finaliza a análise da estratégia da empresa, pois isto deve ser um processo contínuo na empresa para o alcance de constantes melhorias e crescimento, mas oferece um valioso snapshot e correções nos processos

New Media, Professional Sport and Political Economy

New media technologies are seen to be changing the production, delivery and consumption of professional sports and creating a new dynamic between sports fans, athletes, clubs, governing bodies and the mainstream media. However, as Bellamy and McChesney (2011) have pointed out, advances in digital technologies are taking place within social, political, and economic contexts that are strongly conditioning the course and shape of this communication revolution. This essay assesses the first wave of research on professional sport and new media technologies and concludes that early trends indicate the continuation of existing neoliberal capitalist tendencies within professional sport. Using the concept of political economy, the essay explores issues of ownership, structure, production and delivery of sport. Discussion focuses on the opportunities sports fans now have available to them and how sports organization and media corporations shifted from an initial position of uncertainty, that bordered on hostility, to one which has seen them embrace new media technologies as powerful marketing tools. The essay concludes by stating as fundamental the issues of ownership and control and advocates that greater cognizance be accorded to underlying economic structures and the enduring, all-pervasive power of neoliberal capitalism and its impact in professional sport

Big data reduction framework for value creation in sustainable enterprises

Value creation is a major sustainability factor for enterprises, in addition to profit maximization and revenue generation. Modern enterprises collect big data from various inbound and outbound data sources. The inbound data sources handle data generated from the results of business operations, such as manufacturing, supply chain management, marketing, and human resource management, among others. Outbound data sources handle customer-generated data which are acquired directly or indirectly from customers, market analysis, surveys, product reviews, and transactional histories. However, cloud service utilization costs increase because of big data analytics and value creation activities for enterprises and customers. This article presents a novel concept of big data reduction at the customer end in which early data reduction operations are performed to achieve multiple objectives, such as a) lowering the service utilization cost, b) enhancing the trust between customers and enterprises, c) preserving privacy of customers, d) enabling secure data sharing, and e) delegating data sharing control to customers. We also propose a framework for early data reduction at customer end and present a business model for end-to-end data reduction in enterprise applications. The article further presents a business model canvas and maps the future application areas with its nine components. Finally, the article discusses the technology adoption challenges for value creation through big data reduction in enterprise applications

Perceptions of Social Media Use Among U.S. Women Farmers

Communication networks and knowledge sharing are important for the persistence of small farms that operate outside of industrial agriculture. In past years, internet platforms have been promoted as a tool for farm businesses to connect with customers and other farmers. Social media in particular has gained attention as a user friendly and accessible tool for small business viability. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study uses examines interviews with women farmers\u27 in the United States to explore how they view the role of social media for their agricultural practice. Results demonstrate that women farmers report using social media to reach consumers, seek agricultural information, and maintain emotional connections with other farmers. Though important, women farmers are often overlooked in agricultural research and training programs. Theoretical and practical implications highlight how social media and agricultural trainings can promote media literacy and promote women farmers\u27 success in agriculture

Economic Perspective on Cloud Computing: Three Essays

Improvements in Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and standardization of interoperability standards among heterogeneous Information System (IS) applications have brought a paradigm shift in the way an IS application could be used and delivered. Not only an IS application can be built using standardized component but also parts of it can be hosted by different organizations in different locations provided it can be accessed using the Internet. This dissertation is an attempt to uncover unique aspects of this phenomenon known as Software as a Service (SaaS). The first essay examines design decision making by SaaS providers by analyzing effects of two non-functional attributes of an IS Application - modularity and architectural performance. We model the relationship of the two attributes with factors such as demand, price, and user\u27s preference. The model includes marginal cost and maintenance cost to recognize the service aspect of SaaS. Our results show the optimal values of various decision variables while taking into account user\u27s sensitivity to modularity, architectural performance and price. The service component in cloud computing necessitates that the service providers plan for requisite delivery capacity. The second essay addresses optimal infrastructure capacity planning while taking into account the opportunity cost of having low capacity and cost of unused capacity in the case of high capacity. We develop a model which provides insight to a SaaS provider on optimal capacity planning of IT infrastructure when faced with a variable demand and performance expectations. The third essay focuses on financial risks faced by SaaS providers in the context of provider\u27s risk tolerance. We analyze the financial risk of provider\u27s decision making on pricing, capacity and other factors that may lead to financial risk as they are based on incomplete information. We built a model using Mean Variance Analysis theory for investigating the effect of provider\u27s risk tolerance on infrastructure capacity planning while taking into account modularity in software architecture and operational performance. This dissertation extends our understanding of significant issues facing a SaaS provider. The models presented here can form the basis for an extensive exploration of the phenomenon of SaaS specifically and Cloud Computing in general

Solving chicken and egg dilemma in online platform startup: value proposition in focus

Objectives Over the last decade, platforms have disrupted the way that brick and mortar businesses usually operate. Their success is phenomenal with striking example of Ebay, Google and LinkedIn but their failure rate is admittedly high as well. The ultimate benefits of such business depend largely on the interaction between multiple sides of the market through a common platform. How to drive initial liquidity to the marketplace and get both sides on board (chicken-and-egg dilemma) is the very first challenge to any platform startups. Addressing the gap in extant literature which neglect the importance of what values perceived by sellers and buyers during the user retention process, this research aims to design a benchmarking system with value proposition in focus that will assist new platform owners in realizing the parallel measurements of success and picking up the best practices to solve the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Thus the study focused on the following research questions: (1) What are different types of e-marketplace based on its value proposition to buyers and sellers? (2) What are effective strategies and business tactics to overcome chicken and egg problem in each type of e-marketplace? Methodology The research utilized qualitative multiple case study approach to help yield rich data on such complex research structure. Three case companies were selected based on criteria obtained from literature review, taking into consideration its availability of data on studied topic. The data was mainly collected from companies’ resources, reputable media discussions and academic analysis. Narrative approach was deployed to analyze available information. Findings The research findings categorized platform businesses into three categories: Growth Platform, Value Added Platform and Innovation Platform. Each of these platforms corresponds to a set of business tactics and strategies that help it to overcome the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Regardless of categories, the three cases used a combination of strategies and gave high priority to testing out its services with marquee users which is in agreement with the lean methodology that has become popular among startups as well as incumbents towards innovation. In addition, the result showed that platform transition is possible between the three categories in different phrases or expectedly with different values brought to users

IT and Agility in the Social Enterprise: A Case Study of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s “Cure4Kids” IT-Platform for International Outreach

The agility literature suggests a positive relationship between IT-investments, agility, and performance for firms operating in turbulent contexts. However, agility studies have primarily focused on conceptual concerns, leaving these relationships empirically unexplored. In addition, the literature has focused on for-profit firms operating in commercial markets, thereby leaving other important organizational types unexamined; one such type is the social enterprise (SE). SEs are entrepreneurial organizations with a mission to improve complex social challenges (i.e., healthcare, hunger, education, etc) rather than profit maximization. This void leaves SEs in the dark as to how they can leverage IT to become more agile and improve performance. We draw on the agility perspective to examine how one exemplary SE operating in the context of pediatric global health utilized IT to enhance its agility and improve performance. We identify how the SE’s IT-investment decisions resulted in an IT platform that facilitated increased agility in launching new products aimed at improving survival rates of children. Specifically, we analyze how the SE’s IT platform positively impacted customer, partnering, and operational agility, and demonstrate how this led to dramatic improvements in performance. Finally, we offer evidence to support positive relationships between IT, agility, and performance in social sector contexts

Strategies Small Business Owners Use for Long-Term Existence

More than 90 of every 100 new businesses fail within 5 years. The need to explore ongoing strategies that provide low-cost alternatives can prove invaluable to cash-strapped new business owners. Exploration of relationships among a group of stakeholders essential to business success provided data in this case study. Those stakeholders include the owner, the customer service personnel and the consumer. Without the consumer, all other business activities would cease to be necessary. Five business owners and five employees from Redding, California participated in 2 separate focus group interviews. The conceptual framework for this case study was to explore the specific business problem, the lack of low-cost strategic resources, and initiatives to facilitate continued existence of new small businesses. The focus group interviews were conducted in 2 separate settings using notes and Audacity voice recordings. Through personal notes and the use of NVivo 11 data was disseminated and provided rich information on at least four themes. Major themes were customer retention, creating teamwork, building relationships, and communication to create business sustainability. Having communities in which businesses thrive allows for greater job opportunities and increased community revenue. The impact of empty storefronts in cities throughout America and the loss of community identity necessitate the need for the strategist to continue to attempt to provide resources and strategies to business owners everywhere. The social change impact occurs when SBOs who recognize their business provides structure to the community seek out ways to increase sustainability

Redescribing Health Privacy: The Importance of Health Policy

Current conversations about health information policy often tend to be based on three broad assumptions. First, many perceive a tension between regulation and innovation. We often hear that privacy regulations are keeping researchers, companies, and providers from aggregating the data they need to promote innovation. Second, aggregation of fragmented data is seen as a threat to its proper regulation, creating the risk of breaches and other misuse. Third, a prime directive for technicians and policymakers is to give patients ever more granular methods of control over data. This article questions and complicates those assumptions, which I deem (respectively) the Privacy Threat to Research, the Aggregation Threat to Privacy, and the Control Solution. This article is also intended to enrich our concepts of “fragmentation” and “integration” in health care. There is a good deal of sloganeering around “firewalls” and “vertical integration” as idealized implementations of “fragmentation” and “integration” (respective). The problem, though, is that terms like these (as well as “disruption”) are insufficiently normative to guide large-scale health system change. They describe, but they do not adequately prescribe. By examining those instances where: a) regulation promotes innovation, and b) increasing (some kinds of) availability of data actually enhances security, confidentiality, and privacy protections, this article attempts to give a richer account of the ethics of fragmentation and integration in the U.S. health care system. But, it also has a darker side, highlighting the inevitable conflicts of values created in a “reputation society” driven by stigmatizing social sorting systems. Personal data control may exacerbate social inequalities. Data aggregation may increase both our powers of research and our vulnerability to breach. The health data policymaking landscape of the next decade will feature a series of intractable conflicts between these important social values