Software Piracy, Intellectual Property and Confucius

China and software piracy has been long be brought into relationship and the new Windows 7 gives Microsoft some new headaches with this old problem.

The New York Times article from 18 Oct 2009 reported that “Xinyang market in Shanghai…were displayed…copies of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system, a week before it officially was to go on sale“.

Further the article cites that “most experts agree that piracy in China is a long-term issue” and it will not disappear just because legal enforcement is increased or customers are threatened by “installing pirated software, which sometimes comes with viruses and spyware“.

Social Life and Counterfeit Products

Not only software products but most other products find counterfeit’s in the streets and market’s of China Mainland, Hong Kong or Shanghai where Cheung noted that “counterfeit culture is rampant and is becoming part of the social life in China” (Cheung 2009).

Confucius

The problem with intellectual property and the control of expressions over particular ideas in China has been long discussed among scholars and William P. Alford points out in his book “To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense” that Confucius himself indicates that “I transmit rather than create; I believe in and love the Ancients” in the Analects and that this behavioral pattern of engaging with the past (paintings, writings etc.) to validate the present is for him a sign of low moral resistance of copying another persons work due to the argumentation that reaching a new level of understanding for oneself through mirroring another’s is an accepted work ethic.

Chinese Apprenticeship Model

The long history of a particular Chinese apprenticeship model (students masters (teacher) relationship) as transfer vehicle for knowledge can be cited as well to the fact that is was common practice for the student to copy a teacher’s body of knowledge and incorporate new ideas into to it which of course would than be seen as a common knowledge unit out of a student teachers relationship rather a particular effort by a unique person is only accounted to this knowledge.

Contract Laws

During the 1950’s and 60’s, the missing of contract laws that would govern any trademarks, patents or royalties is also cited as reason for intellectual property infringement that continues far into the 21th century.

Political interests and Local Governments

Gordon Cheung writes that intellectual property rights (IPR) are “distorted by the intertwining political interests between local governments and business people” and to see on how the concept of IPR is being “understood by people at various levels“.

Reference

Software Pirates in China Beat Microsoft to the Punch, New York Times 18 Oct 2009

Alford W P (1997) , To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization Studies in East Asian law, Stanford University Press

Cheung G C K (2009), Intellectual Property Rights in China, Routledge

Filed under: China , Microsoft

The Effective Presentation, Kaul A (2005) (Content Review)

Asha Kaul in his book “The Effective Presentation” (Sage, 2005) (Google Books) discusses how to plan and execute presentation but with some hesitation I had to read a sentence like “Napolean and Hitler come to mind when we think of gifted orators, who had the ability to address a large crowd, without the slightest hesitation or nervousness. Unfortunately, leaders of a similar calibre are few” (45 pp.)

He earlier wrote that anyone who is in a position to hold presentation should remember stories to warm up an audience and he remind the reader that those stories should be “without any religious, political or sexual connotations” but reading the passage earlier brings doubt in his own way of presentation where the name “Hitler” is put into a connection with “leaders of a similar calibre are few“.

One can discuss if Napolean should be cited but Hitler is certainly the wrong person to make a connection between gifted orator and successful leader.

Filed under: Communication , Presentation

Feynman Lectures Online

Anyone interested in physics has probably get contact with the books of Prof. Feynman. The New York Times wrote in the article Gates Puts Feynman Lectures Online that Microsoft Research made the Feynman lectures available online.

Promoting Software formats through Content

Microsoft bundled the lectures with its proprietary Silverlight software, so consumers are forced to download the software since after all it has not yet  reached any wide acceptance among the web community as discussed in Journal Promoting Community Interests in Communications “Flash’s larger cross-platform and cross-browser support will challenge Silverlight’s acceptance in the industry” (JOURNAL PROMOTING COMMUNITY INTERESTS IN COMMUNICATIONS • WINTER 2008 • VOLUME 16, ISSUE 4) .

Filed under: Research , Microsoft, Physics

Typography matters in terms of Image and Brand Building

Part of any image building process is the search for the right typography but always seen as a minor part within the process of brand concept development . Typography as its symbolizes words and characters has its place to convey a particular image and help underline an identity (fresh, old, heritage etc.) for customers how consume mostly by “eye” .

The Case: Ikea and its Change from Futura to Verdana

In his 2010 catalog Ikea used the Verdana font type instead of the established Futura font type with the argument that “Verdana is a simple, cost-effective font which works well in all media and languages” (commented by Ikea Camilla Meiby, AP (Aug 31, 2009) posted on idsgn.org blog) and the New York Times cited Matthew Carter that Verdena “serves technology not by seeming technological but with its leanness, height and loose spacing; it is bland, but efficient” (Typography Fans Say Ikea Should Stick to Furniture, New York Times 4 Sep 2009).

Aesthetics always is a matter of opinion and standpoint, one itself can compare the version in 2009 and 2010 catalog on the idsgn.org blog and as it seems for me the Verdana conveys a message of being cheap, flat with now character, it looks tight with limit  room  for the eyes to combine design (pictures) and text or “like a paste-up job you could do yourself on a computer screen” (Typography Fans Say Ikea Should Stick to Furniture, New York Times 4 Sep 2009).

Ambrose and Harris write in their book The Fundamentals of Typography that Verdana “…address the challenges of on-screen display … clear and legible” where Futura has been developed in 1928 with “elegant ascenders and descenders benefit from generous line spacing … strong and elegant“.

But besides the discussion towards aesthetics which differ, what about visual identity that have been build over years and have been connected to Futura.  Does visual identity count less in economical difficult times that allows to scrap its  heritage and replaced with a more cost-effective solution?

Print and Online

Print and online differ and using a cost argument to align both media is seemingly short sighted and I would disagree with the New York Times article that argued that the font type change is just to deliver a “…sales pitch, bluntly delivered in difficult times…“. Font type is part of the visual identity and the identity is what gives it an edge over competitors in “good” and “bad” times.

Image Building

Image building is a conscious and subconscious process and at first consumer will not recognize the change but overtime a subconscious interpretation of catalog text space in connection with pictures will form a image how to perceive the print media.

A visual identity build over years as in case of Ikea with Futura gave its a brand item that people would recognize and using Verdana does not make it different and it feels like just one of the pictures with text you found everywhere in the internet.

If their was a need for change and modernization then why not thought it a bit through and found a more appropriate solution. Does it have to be that cheap Ikea?

Filed under: Marketing , Brand Awareness, Image Building, Typography

Mr. Hatoyama and the first Public Relations Blunders

Mr. Hatoyama and the first Public Relations Blunders

Being not even sworn in as prime minister, Hatoyama finds himself in the spotlight of unfavoruable public relations that shows a clear unawarness of a media influence either in Japan or overseas.

At first, hist published essay … that brought misunderstanding in Japan and overseas about how he personally sees Japan within the future and it is not the questions if the US-Japan relations should be kept the way their are or nor not, it is rather the … that this kind of article published in Japan in times of global information access would not reached people outside of Japan …

Sharing ideas and opinion with the public is certaily of importance for political leaders but the public view of a coming prime minister should be considered carefully and as public figure choose wisely on words (Japanese, English or Korean) that neither offend nor disgrace one’s political view.

Now at second, his wife (Hatoyama Miyuki) sparks publicity with spiritual experiences and comments about traveling to “Venus in a U.F.O. in the 1970s” (Mackey 2009) experiences as reported by the “First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks” or as “Japan’s New First Lady Not From Venus, Was Only Visiting” (Mackey 2009). For Japanese public this is not really have any effect since she is not seen as part of any infuence party within the political system but for overseas media seems more interested in her activities.

Reference

Mackey, R. (2009). Japan’s New First Lady Not From Venus, Was Only Visiting,  New York Times, 3 Sep 2009, http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/japans-new-first-lady-not-from-venus-was-only-visiting/?scp=3&sq=japan&st=cse

…First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks, JapanTimes,

Japan went for elections at the 31 Aug 2009 and not yet sworn in as prime minister, Hatoyama finds himself in the spotlight of unfavourable public relations that shows a clear unawareness of a media influence either in Japan or overseas.

A New Path for Japan

At first, he published an essay in VOICE [私の政治哲学, 10 Aug 2009 published on his blog ] that brought misunderstanding in Japan and overseas (A New Path for Japan, New York Times 27 Aug 2009) about how and where he personally sees Japan within the future.

With comments as “economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market” (New York Times  article A New Path for Japan) it is not the questions if the US-Japan relations should be kept the way their are or nor not, it is rather that this kind of essay did not really considered a potential wider audience outside of Japan and created a misunderstanding by not considering a global information access that would reach/read people outside of Japan.

Sharing ideas and opinion with the public is certainly of importance for political leaders and as Tobias Harris noted in his blog “…Hatoyama noted in his essay, Japan faces a serious challenge in the new Asia: “How can Japan, caught between an America struggling to remain a hegemon and a China wanting…” and further even if the translation of the New York Times as reported by JapanTimes a “‘Distorted’ in translation?” lead to wrong conclusions and Hatoyama himself commented that “Portions of the contents have been distorted. If the entire essay is read, one would understand that it did not express anti-American views“, the public perception should be anticipated carefully and if necessary consult with partners prior the publishing that neither offend alliance partners nor disgrace one own’s political view.

His Wife’s Spiritual Experiences

Now at second, his wife (Hatoyama Miyuki) sparks publicity with spiritual experiences and comments about traveling to “Venus in a U.F.O. in the 1970s” (Mackey 2009) experiences as reported by Associated Press “First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks” (Yamaguchi 2009) and New York Times “Japan’s New First Lady Not From Venus, Was Only Visiting” (Mackey 2009).

For the Japanese public this might not really have any effect since she is not seen as part of any influence within the political system but for overseas media it seems a particular interest to draw conclusions about Hatoyama’s political direction.

Reference

Mackey, R. (2009). Japan’s New First Lady Not From Venus, Was Only Visiting,  New York Times 3 Sep 2009,

Yamaguchi, M(2009). First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks, Associated Press published in JapanTimes 4 Sep 2009

Filed under: Japan , Japan Policy Monitor, Public Relation

Financing Strategies as Tool to Stimulate Consumer Spending

Marketing incentive programs are an important tool to stimulate consumer spending on products and services but not only marketing programs also financing strategies are important to allow consumers to stretch their spending horizon over a period of time.

Solar Panel Market in U.S.

In recent years, US solar panels market is expending its size and companies starting to allow consumers to use newly develop financing products to anticipate in price drops of solar panels and to cover lump sum expense barriers at the beginning of their installations.

As reported by Kate Galbraith (New York Times, 26 Aug 2009), the company (SunRun) allows through a lease contract that upfront expenses are paid by SunRay and later it will recover its cost through savings in the electric bill where a consumers only have “to lay out only $800 to get 15 solar panels for her home“ (Galbraith 2009).

Reference

Galbraith, K. (2009). More Sun for Less: Solar Panels Drop in Price, New York Times, Online Edition 26 Aug 2009

Filed under: Marketing , Financing Strategies, Solar Market

Seven Eleven’s Corporate Restructuring (Japan Market Monitor)

Drugstore Chain as Private Label

Due to a change in regulatory restrictions on pharmaceutical and medical products, the Seven & I Holding was fast in announcing (Kyodo News, 06-08-2009) the opening for a new drugstore chain that would allow to sell pharmaceuticals under a private label.

Unprofitable Ito-Yokado Business

The JapanTimes reported (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20091002a7.html)

Filed under: Japan , Japan Market Monitor, Private Label, Seven Eleven

Strategic Marketing, 11e, Kerin R (2007) (Content Review)

The book  Strategic Marketing – Problems Cases and Comments from Kerin and Peterson allows an easy introduction and faciliate the understanding process on how marketing can be viewed as a strategic component rather than just a tool to execute advertisement and promotional activities.

The book itself comes with 44 cases where 34 of them go into product/service issues and 10 are related to business-to-business problems.

Chapter 1 – Foundations of Strategic Marketing Management

The book and its content follows a process as outlined in Figure 1. A clear and a non jargon loaded text that makes it an “easy to handle” strategy book. Chapters are accompanied with case studies and company scenarios to illustrate particular processes and accelerate the learning process.

Figure 1: Strategic Management Process

Following the process,

Filed under: Marketing , Marketing Execution, Strategic Marketing

Seven Eleven and The Bento Box Price (Japan Market Monitor)

The Seven Eleven Group (セブンイレブン) has decided and announced (Nikket Net, 05 Aug 2009) that after the FTC demanded a review of practice to allow it’s franchise stores to slash price in case the deadline of it’s bento box products is reached soon.

In the past, Seven Eleven demanded from it’s stores to keep prices at a similar level and forced stores to shoulder cost in case the product can not be sold. Recently independent stores sold bento boxes  at price at around 230-250 Yen.

Filed under: Japan , Competition, Japan Market Monitor, Retail, Seven Eleven

Research Methods in Management, Lancaster G (2005) (Content Review)

The book Research Methods in Management: A concise introduction to research in management and business consultancy focusing on methods and descriptions to support students and managers on “How to conduct a management research” where practical managerial issues within an organization are the main focus of the book.

Chapter 1 – Introduction

In order to successfully deliver projects results the book state that, one has “to acquire skills and knowledge in several key related areas” such as:

Primary Focus

Management Consultancy Skills, skills in order to apply conceptual frameworks and an ability to facilitate consultancy-based approach.

Management Research Skills and techniques to apply into a context rather just identify its conceptual character

Filed under: Research , Management Research, Research Methodology