Personality Characteristics Of Personality Traits

In chapter one of the textbook, it describes how to define personality. There is no single definition of the word personality. That is because it is used in so many different ways, and because one word describing someone’s personality can be interpreted many different ways. For example, if you describe yourself as a â€Å"happy person†, that could mean something different to another person who also describes themselves as â€Å"happy†. Your personality is an arrangement of personality traits that describe a consistent style of emotion or behavior. Personality traits can be recognizable in various situations of a person’s life. A personality trait can be, â€Å"shy† or â€Å"outgoing† those words are describing a daily behavior that, on average, is consistent with that individual. Personality is made up from all different parts genetics, social class, family and peers. The textbook says, some psychologists view the influence of peers on perso nality greater than the influence of family. (Cervone Pervin, 2013) This is why siblings from the same family have different personalities. Peer groups socialize individuals; they create a whole new set of rules for behavior. This can be seen especially in adolescence. Starting high school is hard, because everyone is trying to figure out where they fit in. When you are that age, you need a sense of belonging to feel complete. The people you find that you fit in with will likely influence the person you will become. I was one of the youngest in myShow MoreRelatedPersonality Characteristics Of Personality Traits1235 Words   |  5 PagesPersonality characteristics Introduction Personality psychologists define personality as the psychological traits that contribute to an individual’s enduring and distinctive patterns of feelings, thinking, and behavior, (Cervone Pervin, 2013). Now, this statement can denote that personality might be somehow fixed. Perhaps the most obligatory questions to ask in this regards are: is personality inherited or acquired. Can individual’s personality be altered? For decades, these and many other questionsRead MorePersonality Characteristics And Personality Traits1691 Words   |  7 PagesPart 1: Personality Characteristics and Motivation Character/Personality Traits: After Interviewing Tanseer, I got some really useful insights about her overall personality and how she became an entrepreneur. In her opinion, some of the entrepreneurial skills that she acquired over the time were the main reason behind her success. Throughout the beginning phase of the interview she stressed on the importance of Perseverance skills as being utmost important when launching an entrepreneurial ventureRead MorePersonality Traits And Traits Characteristics Traits1691 Words   |  7 PagesA leaders traits display certain personality traits, these traits are developed from the theories of leadership, and it is used to determine what personality an individual have. There are many approaches to leadership theories, starting with attributes and traits, also physical and personality’s traits characteristics, competencies and values. A Leader Traits mainly focuses on behavior effectiveness, Traits theory concentrates the personality of a person, it help to understand the differences andRead MoreCharacteristics Theories Of Personality Traits907 Words   |  4 Pages Traits perspectives The Five-Factor model is a condensed representation of different types of personalities. The emerging consensus is that the structure of personality may incorporate five superordinate factors (Carver Scheier, 2012). Traits, in general, have been used to denote consistent patterns of behavior, especially expressive or stylistic behavior (John Robins, 2008). Trait psychologists focus on the variety of traits. On the other hand, motive psychologistRead MorePersonality Characteristics And Traits That Define A Human Being932 Words   |  4 Pages1 Personality Abstract In this topic we will discuss about the meaning of Personality. Personality is the characteristics and traits that define a human being. Its related pattern of someone emotions, thoughts, feelings and behavior. In this discussion we will discuss how each person has a different personality and what features make up their personality. 2 Personality Personality Personality defined who you will become, who you are and who you have been throughout the years ofRead MoreThe Five Factor Model Of Personality1704 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay will firstly assess a variety of models of personality, firstly taking into account Gordon Allport’s model, followed by Raymond Cattell’s 16 trait factor model and Eysenck’s, 3 factor model. Before, critically discussing the five factor model of personality and individual traits, these are made up of the characteristics of an individual which includes their, thoughts and behaviours that make a person unique. Finally this essay will suggest one other factor which might usefully be addedRead MoreExternal Characteristics Of Personality1044 Words   |  5 PagesPersonality consists of different traits that each individual embodies. Each personality is composed of a diverse variety of traits and characteristics that are influenced by our environment, upbringing, experiences, and personal attributes we have attained throughout our lives. These are examples of both external and internal characteristics. External characteristics include the environment and surroundings an individual is amerced in. Internal characteristics include traits such as introversionRead MorePersonality Changes From Infancy And Childhood Adulthood1039 Words   |  5 PagesPersonality is conceptualised as the combination of a person’s independent experiences as well as their behaviours and actions relating to those behaviours (Kernberg, 2016). These experiences and actions result in multiple traits and characte ristics that modern society uses to define a person’s identity. This essay explores how personality changes from infancy and childhood to adulthood. It will be argued that personality has the ability to be altered due to range of factors relating to increasingRead MoreThe Phenomenology And Humanistic Approach1157 Words   |  5 PagesAfter taking this course, I now have a better understanding of who I am as a person. Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual s distinctive character. To help define behavior we used five approaches. The five approaches include the phenomenology/humanistic approach, biological approach, psychoanalytic approach, trait approach, and the cognitive approach. The first approach is called the phenomenology/humanistic approach. Phenomenology is one’s experienceRead MorePersonality Psychology- an Integrative Essay712 Words   |  3 PagesTraditionally personality has been framed largely into multiple grand theories: psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung), humanistic theories (Rogers, Maslow), social-learning theories (Bandura, Mischel), cognitive-phenomenological theories (Kelly, Laing), trait theories (Eysenck, Cattell, the Big Five), narrative (McAdams, Bruner) and so on. However Personality psychology is yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. This essay will attempt to provide a summary of

Plato s View On Democracy - 1767 Words

Democracy is often referred to as the rule of the many, but Aristotle called this definition incomplete. In his book â€Å"Politics†, he explained that in a city if the majorities are aristocrats and if they have political authority, then it is an aristocracy not a democracy. He therefore defined democracy as when â€Å"free people have authority and Oligarchy as when the wealthy have it† (1290b). Plato viewed Democracy as a flawed system with too much inefficiency that would make any implementation of a true democracy not worth it. While Aristotle viewed democracy as a system that could work if it is limited to certain restrictions and if it is the regime that best fits the culture of the people to be governed. In this essay it will be argued that Plato’s view on democracy as a flawed system is more prevalent or more compelling if the current political arena around the world is observed. Plato, according to his writings and others record of him, was an avid critique of democracy and his critiques if reflected upon rationally are very thought provoking. In the words of historian John Wild â€Å"The most serious charge against Plato from a modern point of view is that he is an enemy of democracy.†(Thorson 1963, p.105). In his book, â€Å"The Republic† Plato explains the definition of democracy as a single focus on the pursuit of freedom and social liberty at the expense of other societal goods like public order, public safety and stability both politically and economically. He explains thatShow MoreRelatedPlato s Views On Democracy845 Words   |  4 PagesRepublic of Plato, Plato, in addition to sharing his views on justice, shares his views on democracy using a fictionalized Socrates to outline the most pressing issues. Plato’s views on democracy are negative; he believes democracy to be bred from a response to inequality of wealth and to height en all of humanities worst traits. Plato believes democracy leads to unequipped leaders who hold offices and power without the necessary traits and preparation. The main issue Plato has with democracy, as outlinedRead MoreComparing Plato s And Socrates Arguments Of Life And The View Of The Athenian Democracy2091 Words   |  9 Pageshistorically and intellectually influential basis of many political theories and philosophical approaches since its first appearance. It is also crucial to mention that the book contains both Plato’s and Socrates’ arguments of life and the view of the Athenian Democracy in the ancient Greek world. Therefore, it can be confusing and complicated to decide to which philosopher the arguments belong. The main focus of the book is to find the definition and the whereabouts of order, justice and to establishRead MoreComparing Chomsky And Plato s Time1686 Words   |  7 Pages Chomsky and Plato both believe that the people in charge of the government during their times manipulate the public; they differ in what they think the replacement for the elites are. In the Republic Plato thinks the ruling class should be replaced with philosophers, in manufacturing consent Chomsky believes the rulering class should be replaced with the masses and democracy. Some of the reasons for this different mindset is the environment they were in at the time of righting their books. So firstRead MoreComparing Aristotle s 8 1455 Words   |  6 Pagesqualified compared to others. Plato outlines the different aspects of government and why he believes an aristocracy would be better form of government. In book 8 Socrates starts to wrap up his depiction of a just city. He starts to break down the four unjust constitutions of the city and man. Timocracy, which is represented by the honor-driven man who resembles and rules that sort of government. There is an oligarchy, ruled by a m an driven by his necessary appetites. Democracy, in which the man is controlledRead MorePlato And Aristotle s Views On Politics And Society1090 Words   |  5 PagesPlato and Aristotle are philosophers that both have an idea of an ideal state but they have their differences. While there are benefits to each of their views on politics and society, there are also many negative things about their views. Some of their negative views were realistic at one point in time but few are the same in today s society. Although I don t fully agree with either philosopher, I would have to side with Aristotle overall. The two philosophers had many differences but they wereRead MorePlato Was An Ancient Greek Philosopher Essay1698 Words   |  7 PagesPlato was an ancient Greek philosopher thought to have been born in 428 B.C, he was the son of Ariston and was brought up in an aristocratic way of life. Because of his social status and connections he obtained through his family, it was thought he would inevitably end up involved in Athenian political life, but this did not happen to such an extent, a friend of his, Socrates had an enormous effect on him and why he did not end up with a prominent role in politics. He explains this in his SeventhRead MorePolitical Philosophy, By Steven Cahn1197 Words   |  5 PagesIn Steven Cahn s book, Political Philosophy, The Essential Texts, philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau created the circumstances to enable the fundamental principals of philosophy and politics. These knowledgeable, astute and significant men have hel ped to achieve the structure of our past and present democracy as well as a plan of action for the rights and values that we as citizens can all relate to today. They are grounded in their thinking and tied togetherRead MoreComparing Aristotle and Plato Essays1325 Words   |  6 PagesComparing Aristotle and Plato Aristotle argues that in order for a polis to emerge, a union between man and women must convene. Later a household must be introduced which unites with other households to form a village, villages come together to form city-states. This theory is Aristotle’s natural view that an individual can not be self sufficient Plato argues that, in order to achieve absolute justice, a city-state is needed. In The Republic, Plato builds around the idea of Philosopher RulersRead More Plato on the Parthenon Essay905 Words   |  4 PagesPlato on the Parthenon The philosophical ideas of Plato that relate to the Parthenon include whether the structure is an element of the Visible World or the Intelligible World. In my opinion, Plato would view the Parthenon as an object in the Visible World. The Parthenon is a one of a kind monument that is tangible and exists in our real world. The Parthenon is an architectural project and deals with forms of science and mathematics. Platos view of science and mathematics are categorized asRead MoreThe Republic By Plato Vs. Plato1299 Words   |  6 PagesThe Republic by Plato is an vision of an utopian society established through the character of Socrates. Many aspects of Plato’s society appears utopian; however, it can also be viewed dystopian as it is mere subjectiveness. Many of Plato’s arguments apply to current day society; for example, Donald Trump’s rise to power depicts democracy degenerating to despotism. Plato’s Republic is utopian in idealistic terms because the mo st qualified individual is in charge of society who is able to extend his

Intuitive Surgical Free Essays

This paper will explore the strengths and weaknesses of Intuitive Surgical. This paper will analyze which leadership model(s) and practices would encourage innovation considering the global context of the organization. This paper will also assess how the information in the Intuitive Surgical case study does or does not exemplify the five discovery skills. We will write a custom essay sample on Intuitive Surgical or any similar topic only for you Order Now Lastly, in this paper I will assess the actions that the leaders of this organization took to shape culture and processes to be more innovative. The leadership model(s) and practices that would encourage innovation considering the global context of Intuitive Surgical Intuitive Surgical is a company that has led the country as the global technology leader in robotic assisted minimally-invasive surgery (Hoffman 2012). Their main product is the da Vinci Surgical System which is a robotic surgical system designed to perform urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, and general surgeries that are much less invasive than traditional surgeries (Hoffman 2012). This company was definitely a leader within their market. Each of the different leadership models support innovation within organizations in some form or fashion. In order to grasp how, one must first develop an understanding of innovation and leadership. Innovation has many meanings, but on a broad scale one can say that innovation is thinking outside the box. Leadership is a bit harder to describe because it is best understood when seen. To put leadership in words according to Doyle and Smith, leaders often become visible when an innovative response is needed (2001). Now that we have an idea of what these words mean, one of the leadership models that would be of great benefit to Intuitive Surgical is the transformational leadership. This leadership model serves as a role model by gaining the trust and confidence of peers and employees. By stating future goals, developing plans to achieve these goals and displaying an innovative edge, transformational leaders are generally successful (Bass, 1985). The transformation leader gets its followers to transcend there own self-interest for the sake of the organization (Doyle Smith 2001). As for any organization, for innovation to take place they need caring people who are will to commit to the greater good of the organization, as well as creative people who have the capacity to turn ideas into practical products and services. Therefore, with Intuitive Surgical patents expiring in the near future they should channel the transformational leadership model so they can have a great chance of building innovators within its organizations. The second leadership model that could benefit Intuitive Surgical and help with innovation in organizations is behavioral leadership. This type of leadership moved away from who leaders where to what leaders did. If they continue doing what they are doing and coming up with ideas that make patients happy with very minimal errors, this companies acquirement of innovative employees will rise along with its products. How the information in the Intuitive Surgical case study does or does not exemplify the five discovery skills In The DNA of Innovators, The discovery skills are the new ideas introduced by the innovator who did the five skills of: associating, questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting. Intuitive Surgical did use some of these skills very well. The first one I noticed them using was the networking skill. According to Dyer, Gregerson Christensen, the idea networker, â€Å"networks to actively tap into new ideas and insights by talking with people who have diverse ideas and perspectives. † They used this skill when they decided to merge with Computer Motion Inc in 2003. This merge helped them to cancel out their biggest competition and lead country with their technological advancements. Associating, as Dyer, Gregerson, Christensen (2011) stated, â€Å"happens as the brain tries to make sense of novel inputs. Associating helps innovators discover new directions by making connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas (pg 23). † I did not notice Intuitive Surgical use of this discovery skill from the case study. In The DNA of Innovators, â€Å"Innovators ask questions to understand how things really are today, why they are those ways, how they might be changed or disrupted (Dyer, Gregerson Christensen 2011). Intuitive surgical definitely answered a lot of questions by creating the da Vinci robot. With this robot they had to ask and answer a host of questions in order to acquire the precision of their device as they did. Innovators use the observing skill by carefully watching the world around them so that what they see can help them build ideas for new ways to do things. Intuitive Surgical used this skill also when they came up with their robot. Computer Motion Inc, who they merged with, was the first company to jump into the robotic surgical field which in turn means that Intuitive Surgical watch this method and basically grew their device from a Computer Motions initial idea. Experimenting is used by innovators when they traveling to new places, seeking new information and trying new things ideas. Given that Intuitive Surgical is a leader on a global scale, this company definitely did a lot of experimenting. Also, the fact that their invention started off being used for laparoscopic surgery and went on to be used in six other surgical procedures shows that this company had done a ton of experimenting. The actions that the leaders of Intuitive Surgical took to shape culture and processes to be more innovative Intuitive Surgical took a lot of steps to make their organization more innovative. As I stated previously, merging with their biggest competitor was genius. This move alone helped them to gain a comfortable seat at the top of the ladder as global technology leader. Also, taking the step to put patents on their work secured their spot at the top for years to come. This company has helped a monopoly in the robotic-assisted MIS market. Now that the patents are due to expire the company has had time to come up with bigger, better ideas that they can put into play after the expiration has hit which could possibly acquire new patents. That way they can continue leading their competitors and protecting their development for another x amount of years. In 2008 Annual Report Letter to the Shareholders, Intuitive Surgical emphasized that their goal is to â€Å"take surgery beyond the limits of the human hand† (Hoffman 2012). How to cite Intuitive Surgical, Papers

Htc Assessment free essay sample

Internal Resources Looks at the internal resources of the company such as employees as well as the existence of tangible and intangible assets such as building and brand image as well as knowledge in the company in terms of tacit and explicit as well analyses the activities that adds value to HTC’s products such as HTC joining with firms such as Google to give them an better operating system through their Android system. Strategy Formation This section looks at the company’s available options to implement in the future. Strategies in business level as porter’s generic forces are used to see what are the possible options are HTC to survive in the market. It also offers strategies at corporate level such as the BCG growth share matrix which allows the firms to see where their products are in the market and also helps them decide what type of strategy to use on their products. Conclusion and Recommendation Recommendation has been made as to what strategy out of the ones offered that HTC should go for. The recommended strategy for HTC was a differentiation strategy that made their product different from its rivals through acquiring the technology and capabilities of some of the companies that HTC has acquired. HTC Corporation 1. 0 Company Overview HTC Corporation is a Taiwanese based company manufacturing smart phones. Founded in 1997 as a high tech consortium along with 37 other companies such as HP, IBM and Motorola, HTC has become one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile sector being ranked the 5rd in the world for best performing Technology Company. Best being known for its innovation, HTC offers a range of high tech products mainly in the Smartphone category and has also expanded into PC tablets. 2. 0 Mission and Vision HTC’s mission is to become the world’s leading supplier of communication devices by providing value-added design, world-class manufacturing and logistics and service capabilities with a keen focus on innovation (HTC Corp, 2011). With a powerful Ramp;D focus, HTC plan to come up with new innovative designs and products particularly focusing on the Smartphone category. 3. 0 External Environment It is important to analysis HTC’s external environment in order to analysis its strategic position in the market as well the opportunities and risks it faces. 3. 1 PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL analysis can be used to analysis the market environment in which HTC operates in, they include: Political Factors and Legal Factors * Due to the high tech nature of the industry, products from various companies are heavily patented and since similar technology is used between manufacturers, infringement of these patents can lead to very costly lawsuits against the company. In 2008 as well 2010, lawsuits were filed against HTC by companies such as Apple and IPCom claiming that HTC infringed upon their patents and demanded compensation such as to prevent the company from exporting their products into certain countries (Datamonitor, 2011). * Possible infringement of intellectual property in the future which if proven would result in large compensation in money as well as damaging the brand im age. Economic Factors * Since the company operates on the global scale and since most of their revenue comes from international markets, HTC would be positively or negative affected by fluctuation in the exchange rates. Due to high operating expenses overseas, such as high cost of labour and taxation, HTC’s operating margins have dropped from 19. 9% in 2008 to 15. 8% in 2010. However, these margins are considered low when compared to their competitors (Datamonitor, 2011). Social Factors * According to several report, the demand of smartphone have amount to 300 million units being sold by the end of 2010 and is expected to rise to 850 million units by 2013 (Datamonitor, 2011). * There is also a positive growth and demand towards the tablets market with an estimate of 7% of companies giving their employees tablets. Companies are estimated and be the main buyers of tablets and its total market is said to double by the end of 2011 (Datamonitor, 2011). * The tastes and preferences have seemed to change towards to smartphone explaining the rise in demand and the increasing global population would further promote demand. Technological Factors * There are vast technological factors with companies changing Operating systems of smartphones to more advanced ones each year. * The takeover of several firms by HTC has led to an increase in the technological knowledge of the company. Environmental Factors HTC faces heavily competition in the smartphone market facing against big companies such as Apple, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. * Due to the intense competition, HTC had to reduce it prices of smartphones which decreased profitability. * Intense competition has led HTC to spend large amounts of money on Ramp;D to keep up to its competitors. 3. 2 Competitor Analysis There are several big companies in the market that are directly competing with HTC on the production and distribution on smartphones. The table below helps to identify some these competitors and their features. Competitor| Features| Apple Inc. | * One of the most popular and most widely used brands in the world. * Has a wide range of products including music players (itouch), pc tablets (ipad), smartphones (iphone) and computers (Apple Mac) * Has high brand awareness and social trend leader. * Has a robust financial performance with good margins * Has patented many of their technologies. * Keen focus on Ramp;D coming up with new products or updated versions every year. * Apple stores are located all around to world to provide services to the customer| | * One of the 2 South Korean giants in the field of lectronics and is recognised wide world. * Mainly operates in Asia, Europe and North America. * Has the most revenue from the other competitors, recording $112,803. 7 million by the end of 2008 (Datamonitor, 2011) * Has diversified business operations, producing a wide range of products from smartphones to refrigerators. * Deals in large scale operations * Recently entering markets where other competitors were un able to penetrate such as the Indian market. | | * A joint venture between Sony Corporation and LM Ericsson. Widely recognised and has a presence in 80 countries worldwide. * Has a strong financial position since it is backed up 2 companies as well as technical capabilities. * Specialises in camera phones and walkman phones. * Expanding in its service portfolio by offering users with application stores for their smartphones. * Has a wide range of smartphones such as the Xperia. | | * The other one of the 2 South Korean giants in the consumer electronics industry. * Like Samsung, LG is involved in large scale operations, a wide product portfolio and also a keen focus on Ramp;D. Widely known throughout the world as a result of many sponsorship agreements. * Have many strategic alliances with companies e. g. : Microsoft to enhance its smartphone by introducing new operating systems. * Records a revenue of $58. 9 billion by 2008 (Datamonitor, 2011)| 3. 3 5 Force Analysis Porters five fo rce analysis can be used to analysis the direct environment of the firms. * The Bargaining power of Suppliers The manufacturers of mobile phones such as HTC are heavily dependent on suppliers since they provide the software and equipment need to produce products. However, since most of the manufacturers are larger than the suppliers, they have to the ability to control negotiations. Suppliers also supply to a number of industries apart from the mobile phones industry, so manufacturers do not have much power as they think (Datamonitor, 2009). * The Bargaining power of Buyers The overall power of buyers is quite weak mainly due two reasons. There are 2 main buyers of mobile phones in the industry, network operators for example O2 and Vodafone in the UK as well as other independent buyers. The buyers do have some power in negotiations with the manufacturers due to the limited number of network operators however; this effect is off put by retailers having to stock all of the new products of manufacturers in order to stay competitive with amongst other network operators (Datamonitor, 2009) * The Threat of Substitutes The main threat of substitutes of smartphones would be the conventional 2G phone. The main reason consumers would choose a conventional mobile phone rather than smartphone would be due to financial reasons as smartphones are costly. However, some network operators are increasing diversifying into handset production which has manufacturers under some pressure. * Industry Competitors There is intense competition in the industry with a few large company dominate the market. Each one of the competitors holds their competitive advantage such as a high focus on innovative products from HTC. There are also several switching cost involved as well, for example apple’s sells complementary products with its smartphone such as their dock system which enables to insert the phone into the music system. Also due to competitive pressures there are also price wars that may erupt. * The threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is quite moderate. It is quite difficult for a totally new firm to enter into the industry due to counter measures of existing firms as well the large capital investment needed to enter into a high technology industry. However, if the company is already producing electronic consumer goods, it would be quite easy for them to enter into the mobile phones industry (Datamonitor, 2009). Also legal issues such as patented technologies along with others make quite difficult for new firms to enter. 4. 0 Internal Resources HTC has many internal resources that adds value to its products as well as provides them with a competitive advantage. Some of these internal resources a company acquires may include: * Knowledge and Innovation Knowledge and innovation is a key internal resource to have especially in the mobile phones industry where specialist knowledge is needed to come up with innovative new products for consumers. HTC would have two type of knowledge, tacit and explicit. The tacit knowledge they would have would be the solutions to the problems they would have had in the past, since they experiences are hard to copy they provide HTC with an advantage over companies who had come across the problem yet. It also makes the employees who have experienced these events an important internal resource. However, this effect is nullified, if employees from HTC joins their rivals and prevent the problem from happening in the first place. Also explicit knowledge such as patents on products is very valuable since competitors cannot copy their products. However, most of the smartphone makers have similar technology and have their own patents, this scope is very limited. These both help in the innovation of new products but are very risky and expensive. * Value Chain The value chain is made up of primary activities which directly contribute to produce products and support activities which help with the production function and can also be classified as tangible and intangible assets. Value is added to HTC’s products through various ways. HTC had introduced its applications store after joining up with Google’s Android which has similar features to that of apple’s app store. Its introduction of the HTC Sense completely changed its smartphones into easy to use graphical interface system (HTC Corp, 2011). Apart from this, HTC’s many partnerships with companies such as Google, Intel and Qualcomm which provided them with user interfaces and equipment as well as its agreements with network operators such as O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone adds to their value chain. Other factors which add value to HTC would be its brand name and reputation. HTC is viewed as a specialist manufacturer of smartphones being the 5th largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. Also its recent acquisition of companies such as Saffron Digital and OnLive will help it gain a better competitive advantage in the near future (Gray, 2011). However, since its rivals are also coming up with new strategies, so its overall competitive advantage will be lower. 5. 0 Strategy Option for HTC There are two main strategic options that HTC can choose from, Business level strategy which focuses on the stakeholders in a single market or a corporate level strategy which aims at diversification into different markets. 5. 1 Business Level Strategies One business level strategies can HTC can consider is: * Porters Generic Strategies By looking at this model, we can identify two possible options available to HTC. Either aim for Cost Leadership or Differentiation since HTC exists in the global market. Due to the intense competition and increasing demand for smartphones, HTC could make its smartphones more affordable by lowering their price through producing at a lower cost. If HTC could lower their cost of production though low labour cost by relocation to low cost sites, achieve economies of scale or having superior management who are able to generate greater efficiency then HTC can have a considerable competitive advantage since the cost of a smartphone is quite high. This strategy could also help offset some factors of the 5 force analysis such as weaken the threat of substitutes and make it more difficult for new firms to enter the industry. However, this strategy could lead to price wars between firms and also people might have the perception of low quality associated with low cost and could ruin the high quality innovative image of HTC although this would depend on how low the prices are cut by. Another option they could go for is a differentiation strategy. This strategy would mean that HTC would have change or add functions to its smartphones that would make it different from its competitors. This is a suitable strategy for HTC since they have a strong research and development function. Since rival smartphones such as the iphone and galaxy tab offer similar feature to HTC’s, they got add new functions. Some options might be to make it a more business orientated or a gaming and music oriented phone. The purchase of OnLive, a gaming company (Datamonitor, 2011) and also its newly acquired partnership with Beats Audio (HTC Corp, 2011) would help HTC take up this strategy and make HTC’s perception different from the rest. However, the main problem is high cost in production. If consumers become price sensitive or fail to see the difference, HTC could end up with major losses. 5. 2 Corporate level strategy One corporate level strategy HTC can consider is: * BCG Growth Share Matrix The BCG matrix enables a company to position their products based on their growth rates and relative market share. It enables HTC to look at which products are performing well and gives them an idea of where their resources should be properly allocated to as well as to make important decisions such as keeping or withdrawing their product. HTC should be able to categorize their products according concept. Stars are the products that have relatively high market share and also have a high growth rate. A product that would match this criterion would be the HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio. These products would need constant investment in order to maintain their current market share (Business Tools amp; Templates, 2009). Cash cows are products have being in the market for some time and acquired a high market share but now experiencing low demand. HTC’s Desire HD would be a named cash cow. HTC can use the steady revenue coming from these products to use in other areas. Question marks are products that have low market share but a high growth rate. This would often be the case if the company neglects a product due to being overshadowed by another popular product. Though growth is high, not enough resources are used on it to build it to become a star. HTC’s Titan would be seen as a question mark (HTC Corp, 2011). Dogs are products which are on the decline and have low share market and low growth due to new superior products introduced by the company. These products would be viewed as draining money where the company can use on question marks and stars. The company must decide whether it is beneficial to keep producing them or scrap them off. HTC’s Desire would be a Dog since many new and improved versions of the Desire has been launched into the market. After identifying where their products lie on the matrix, the company must choose a suitable strategy for the product (Drummond amp; Ensor, 2001). They could choose to: * Build – This is where the company might reduce its prices or offer better promotion in order to build its market share. This strategy might incur a loss in the short run but would give better profits in the long run. This strategy would be suitable for Question marks. * Hold – This strategy is good for Cash Cows where they try to maintain the current market share of the product possibly by offering product extensions. * Harvest – This strategy involves raising prices in order to get a profit in the short run. If the company sees that a product has a relatively limited lifespan, then they could try to bring in as much revenue as possible. This is a good strategy for question marks. * Divest – This is when the company might stop production of a product due to it being unprofitable. Products in the Dog category may have this strategy used on them. 6. 0 Conclusion and Recommendation The Taiwanese manufacturer through its mission to become the world’s leading supplier of communication devices by providing value-added design with powerful Ramp;D influence have laid its mark on the market becoming the 5th largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. However, many external issues such as political influences, economic changes, changing tastes and preference and also the intense competition in the market have affected the business practices of HTC. Due to this they are in need of a new strategy options to follow in the future. Between the two strategies that were formed, we a strong feeling towards following a differentiation strategy from porter’s generic forces. Consumer tastes and preferences are always changing as they look for something new and innovative. Rather than fight amongst massive companies such as Samsung and Apple who offer similar products, HTC would benefit in the long run by making their smartphone much different than the rest.