Chapter 2 HW P2-35A

The accounts of Cascade Consulting, Inc., follow with their normal balances at December 31, 2010. The accounts are listed in no particular order.

Prepare the company’s trial balance at December 31, 2010, listing accounts in the proper order. List the largest expense first, the second largest expense next, and so on.

Prepare the financial statements: income statement, statement of retained earnings, and balance sheet. The retained earnings balance of $9,700 is the beginning balance for the year; it has not been updated for the current year’s income or loss.

I cannot figure out why the total and the total liabilities and stockholders Equity do not match up

please properly paraphrase in your own words this paragraph ;

Technological Innovation

With refining the methods used of fossil fuel like coal or petroleum production to reduce and lessen the impact on climate , and biofuels, an important area of investigation and investment to be mentioned are new offshore wind parks (solar energy has been abandoned as a major R&D area in 2008). An offshore wind farm with a generation power of 108 MWh has been developed with energy provider company Nuon, which is 10 km west of the Dutch coast at Egmond aan Zee (5). Shells offshore has a lot of technical knowledge and background related with oil and gas platforms which helped ensuring the  115 tonne turbines to withstand the harshest weather.

New ways of Stakeholder Engagement

The company has started to create a close relationships with their external stakeholders.This way communication of shell with its stakeholder will help in maintaining conatcts with the academic world, the governmental bodies like states department and NGO’s ( Non government organization) . This  relationships/Communication  will provide two-way information (informing NGOs about latest Shell related news and guiding information of NGO into the Shell organisation). Shell is also regulalry performing the impact assessments to see the impact of this strategy and setting up engagements and involvement with NGO’s and local communities to investigate check the impact of new upstream and upcoming projects,so that sustainable cooperation with local communities can be held . One of the  example is the project in the Arctic region which prooved to be very successful and highly impacted the local communities . Corporating with IUCN and Wetlands International, Shell is studying implications of construction of new upstream projects on tundra and permafrost environments and trying to analyse it overall and generalized impacts . For this the convenient and Traditional knowledge of Eskimos about ice seasons, whale and seal movements is therefore very crucial. It helps Shell to plan better its offshore production, not to disturb traditional fishing and hunting for the sake of the sustainability .

Describe the “innovation environment” at Adobe systems during the time the Kick Box program was developed.

2. a. What are the most important elements of the kick box program?

b. How do they affect the participants’ abilities to learn about the ‘Intrapreneurship’ process and to launch new business concepts?

3. a. Should Adobe work to expand the reach of the Kickbox Program?

b.What re the benefits and potential risks of doing so?

c. How long should a program like this be continued?

4.       Should Adobe change the way in which it supports and sustains high potential business concepts identified by the Kick Box process ?

5.       How would you assess Adobe’s goals and ambitions for the Kick Box program overall?:

For incremental innovation, customers’ needs and wants are or can be known, hence more traditional marketing research methods can be used, such as surveys, focus groups, customer visits, and joint technology disclosures, etc. This is “easy” marketing way.

Opposed to this, for highly innovative products and services the needs and wants of potential customers are harder to pin down and clearly define, as customers themselves find it difficult to articulate them. Thus, non-traditional market research methods are required in this case involving probe-and-learn processes and customer-driven innovations.

in at least 300 words (probably taking more to fully address this situation) how you as a young member of a high technology product marketing group would convince other group members who are comprised of traditional marketiers regarding an all-new, highly innovative product, the engineering development team has suggested.

WIKIPEDIA, leverages technological innovation afforded by the Internet combined with a crowdsourcing approach to content development and maintenance. Beyond the technical challenges of web interfaces, servers, and bandwidth for delivery is a sometimes-overlooked capability: the Wikipedians themselves. Over 32 million people have registered accounts to contribute edits to Wikipedia. More than 300,000 users provide edits to the website at least once a month. These volunteers build the content for the site, using a creative commons license that ensures free access to any of the 500 million unique visitors each month. This crowdsourcing and its legal underpinnings are successful only as long as individuals are willing to spend their own time contributing to the site for no pay or other extrinsic benefits. The ability to attract and utilize legions of interested individuals is vital to the success of Wikipedia both today and into the future. Moreover, Wikipedia is a nonprofit, free-of-advertising social entrepreneurship venture that is exclusively financed by donations. Wikipedia runs regular calls for donations using slogans such as: “Please help us feed the servers,” “We make the Internet not suck. Help us out,” and “We are free, our bandwidth isn’t!” Calls for donations also come in the form of personal appeals by co-founder Jimmy Wales. The question arises whether the donation model is sustainable given not only the increasing demand for Wikipedia’s services, but also the emergence of competitors. Wikipedia might not be as error-prone in science topics as shown in the Nature study mentioned earlier, because most entries on Wikipedia are not about science. Wikipedia maintains that it fosters a “neutral point of view.” A recent research study tested this claim. In particular, a study of 28,000 articles about US politics revealed a significant bias. On average, Wikipedia entries lean left of center. Initial entries arrive with a slant, and change little over time. This bias is more pronounced in earlier Wikipedia articles. The authors call this the “vintage bias.” Although the degree of slant in Wikipedia articles changes little over time, more recent political entries are more balanced. One reason the authors put forth to explain the vintage effect is that in the early days of Wikipedia only technology enthusiasts and early adopters participated, and this demographic tends to lean left. The shift toward a more “neutral point of view” over the years has arisen from the growth of Wikipedia, bringing in the early and late majority as contributors. Questions

a. How can Wikipedia maintain and grow its ability to harness the crowdsourcing of its “Wikipedians” to maintain high-quality (and quickly updated) content?

b. As Wikipedia keeps growing, do you think it can continue to rely exclusively on donations (in time and money)? Why or why not? What other “business models” could be considered? Would any of those “violate the spirit of Wikipedia”? Why or why not?

c. What, if anything, should Wikipedia do to ensure that its articles indeed present a “neutral point of view”? Shouldn’t the crowdsourcing approach ensure objectivity? Does a “neutral point of view” matter to Wikipedia’s sustainability? Why or why not?

d. How has the “long tail” affected Wikipedia?

Week 7 Discussion

"The Necessity of building and Managing Innovation Networks" Please respond to the following:

Describe three methods of building a formal network and then discuss the benefits of each strategy. Next, discuss the formal network strategy you would utilize for your business model and explain the implications of this decision. Provide examples to support your rationale.

Discuss how you could utilize formal network structures to develop new products and services for an organization Next, evaluate two success factors that would contribute to the success of your new product development strategy. Provide support for your response.

WIKIPEDIA, leverages technological innovation afforded by the Internet combined with a crowdsourcing approach to content development and maintenance. Beyond the technical challenges of web interfaces, servers, and bandwidth for delivery is a sometimes-overlooked capability: the Wikipedians themselves. Over 32 million people have registered accounts to contribute edits to Wikipedia. More than 300,000 users provide edits to the website at least once a month. These volunteers build the content for the site, using a creative commons license that ensures free access to any of the 500 million unique visitors each month. This crowdsourcing and its legal underpinnings are successful only as long as individuals are willing to spend their own time contributing to the site for no pay or other extrinsic benefits. The ability to attract and utilize legions of interested individuals is vital to the success of Wikipedia both today and into the future. Moreover, Wikipedia is a nonprofit, free-of-advertising social entrepreneurship venture that is exclusively financed by donations. Wikipedia runs regular calls for donations using slogans such as: “Please help us feed the servers,” “We make the Internet not suck. Help us out,” and “We are free, our bandwidth isn’t!” Calls for donations also come in the form of personal appeals by co-founder Jimmy Wales. The question arises whether the donation model is sustainable given not only the increasing demand for Wikipedia’s services, but also the emergence of competitors. Wikipedia might not be as error-prone in science topics as shown in the Nature study mentioned earlier, because most entries on Wikipedia are not about science. Wikipedia maintains that it fosters a “neutral point of view.” A recent research study tested this claim. In particular, a study of 28,000 articles about US politics revealed a significant bias. On average, Wikipedia entries lean left of center. Initial entries arrive with a slant, and change little over time. This bias is more pronounced in earlier Wikipedia articles. The authors call this the “vintage bias.” Although the degree of slant in Wikipedia articles changes little over time, more recent political entries are more balanced. One reason the authors put forth to explain the vintage effect is that in the early days of Wikipedia only technology enthusiasts and early adopters participated, and this demographic tends to lean left. The shift toward a more “neutral point of view” over the years has arisen from the growth of Wikipedia, bringing in the early and late majority as contributors. Questions a. How can Wikipedia maintain and grow its ability to harness the crowdsourcing of its “Wikipedians” to maintain high-quality (and quickly updated) content? b. As Wikipedia keeps growing, do you think it can continue to rely exclusively on donations (in time and money)? Why or why not? What other “business models” could be considered? Would any of those “violate the spirit of Wikipedia”? Why or why not? c. What, if anything, should Wikipedia do to ensure that its articles indeed present a “neutral point of view”? Shouldn’t the crowdsourcing approach ensure objectivity? Does a “neutral point of view” matter to Wikipedia’s sustainability? Why or why not? d. How has the “long tail” affected Wikipedia? 5. The chapter discussed the Internet as a disruptive innovation that has facilitated online retailing. It also, however, has presented challenges to brick-and-mortar retailers. How might retailers such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, or Macy’s need to change their in-store experience in order to continue to attract a flow of customers into their stores to expand sales using direct selling and store displays of the actual merchandise? If the Internet continues to grow and sales of brick-and-mortar retailers decline, how might the retailers attract, train, and retain high-quality employees if the industry is perceived as in decline?

Alighting Innovation in the Utility IndustryThere are 3,200 utilities that make up the U.S. electrical grid that sell $400 billion worth of electricity per year. However, that’s slowly changing. Companies such as Comcast, NineStar Connect, and Vivint have started selling their customers electricity along with their services. Comcast offers its XFINITY customers in Pennsylvania the opportunity to purchase electricity as well as phone, Internet, and TV services. NineStar Connect offers electricity, phone, broadband and home security to customers in central Indiana. Vivint, an alarm system company on the East Coast, installs solar panels on alarm clients’ homes for free and then requires the homeowner to purchase the electricity that is generated. Any excess is sold to the local power company. Google, while it has not formally entered the market, has its own wholesale power license and has purchased Nest, which makes a “learning thermostat.” Industry experts speculate that it will only be a matter of time before Google formally enters the market.

With this influx of new competitors, utilities will have to start learning to compete. Michael Peevey, the president of the California Public Utilities Commission, states that these days utilities “hold their own fate in their hands. They can do nothing but complain or moan about technological change or they can try to adapt.”56

Utilities lose revenues when businesses and residential customers switch to solar and wind power and lose additional money from having to buy any excess electricity generated. Utilities have to maintain the power transmission lines across the grid. Customers often are assessed fees in their bills that help cover line maintenance, but those who are selling back power don’t pay these fees while still using the power lines.

Further, utility companies face a number of regulations and are limited in their actions. For instance, utilities in Louisiana, Idaho, and California want to impose fees or taxes on solar users but have been rejected by regulators. It is unlikely that U.S. regulators will ever completely do away with electric companies as there will always be a need to have a secure supply of power. Thus, these companies will always have to incur the expense of maintaining the power lines with a dwindling customer base.

Additionally, most utility companies are behind the times on technology. While there are smart meters, most utilities have a limited presence in customer homes with programmable thermostats. They could have a greater presence if they were to invest in developing better in-home energy management tools (like the thermostats offered by Nest). Nor have many utilities looked into apps for phones or tablets that can help consumers manage

Finally, the utilities themselves have been getting in the way of their own success. Over a decade ago, Peevey recommended to the California utilities to enter the solar power business. He suggested they put solar panels on people’s homes and then build the cost of installation into the rate base. CEOs of the utility companies balked at Peevey’s calls for change. Most CEOs replied back to his innovative ideas: “It’s not our culture.” This is true, as most electric companies didn’t have a need to innovate its production processes or products for decades.

4. What cna you do to help overcom employees' resistance to change both before the changes are implemented as well as during the change process? Is it simply behavior that will need to chnage, or will attitudes need to change as well?

1) Human history is full of examples of adaptability and innovation. Some observers believe that predictions of climate impact do not take human adaptability into account, and so climate impacts tend to be overestimated. Do you agree?

2) As other countries rush to compete in the global market, their greenhouse gas emissions rise rapidly as well. Leaders in developing countries argue that they should have the same opportunities to grow and compete that the developed world enjoyed. What strategies and approaches could induce developing nations to reduce their emissions?

3)Material continually cycles in the natural world, where waste from one organism or process becomes food for another. If that is so, what prevents humans from taking advantage of the potential value in human biological waste?

4)List several human impacts on the health of the oceans. Describe how elements of your life connect to each impact.