The making of a football star

Famous people often feel lonely but what makes them who they are. Rahul, a lonely sixteen year old famous professional football player has maybe too many responsibilities and expectations. Residing in Mumbai, Rahul comes from a middle class family, where his parents work very hard to give him a good education so he will have a better tomorrow and lead a better life. Rahul, however faced learning difficulties and his parents, not realizing his sporting talents, put pressure on him to perform well academically It was when he was 12 years old that the physical education coach of that school saw him playing football with friends and realized that this boy had latent talent which would probably take him to higher levels. Not losing any time the coach put him in the school football team which plays various inter-school tournaments each year. Being in the team made Rahul very happy and he felt completely charged up as he began to love the game and now aspired to become a professional football player and play for a well known football club in the future. His parents began to support him, but yet were not very content as they wanted him to become an all-rounder. Rahul tried hard but was never successful in becoming good at academics. Being twelve he thought he had it all a game he loved playing and was good at, friends in school and the respect of his teammates. At thirteen he was made captain of the football team of his school and led the team to the finals of the biggest inter-school tournaments of Mumbai and scored four goals for his team comprehensively, winning the trophy for his team. For him this was one of the best moments in his life and after the game he was surrounded by the press. The next day his name and picture came in all city newspapers and he was also featured live on many different news channels. This gave him a lot of confidence and he began to think that these were stepping stones to his future. After a year he had become very famous as his school had won the championship for the second successive year under his captaincy. All his friends as a result began to feel very jealous of him and started to ignore him and kept on mocking him when he did not play well or tried talking to them. Rahul felt very lonely and went through a emotionally hard time. This made him angry and resentful and he started loosing his passion towards the game. However, the coach motivated him to play as he could see the future in this boy. This was way too much pressure for a fifteen year old boy and he was having a tough time already in the start of a dream career. He wanted to give up football because of all the sacrifices he had to make just to be successful and famous in one sport. Any fifteen year old boy would not want to lose all his friends to become famous and successful in a sport and this is why Rahul wanted his friends back and thus wiling to sacrifice the game he loved. But, the coach, the parents and the principal of the school did not let this happen as they felt he was too talented to give up the game and they did not know about the problems he faced as he never told them. His coach to encourage him made him the captain of the under 16 team. In the first tournament itself as captain Rahul won the championship for his side even though the rest of the team was not co-operative because they were so jealous of him and did not even pass the ball to him. The performance of Rahul without the help of his team mates caught the eyes of many selectors and immediately he got an offer from the Mahindra United youth team. This was extremely prestigious as Mahindra United is one of India's best clubs. They offered him a contract of 3 years at Rs.50000 per year. He was in a dilemma as he loved the game so much but he wanted to enjoy his childhood as well. Accepting this offer meant that he would face many difficulties and could not attend school regularly and miss a lot of work and without many friends it would be very difficult for him. Any sixteen year old boy would not like to miss his school life for all this achievements and destroy their childhood but Rahul was forced to. However, Rahul made many new friends in his club Mahindra United and they constantly supported him. Later in that year he had taken time off to study for his tenth standard board exams and did well. After he returned on the football field he was back to his best, now feeling less pressure and playing for the love of the game and a year later he was chosen into the U-19 football team to play internationally for India which he thinks has been his best achievement so far. However, the childhood of his which was destroyed can never be got back with any achievement or the gain of wealth. The period of loneliness can never be forgotten by him and he questions his decisions. Children are forced to make hard decisions at a very young age without any maturity. Hence, sometimes they loose the chance to have a normal care free childhood like you and me.

Relevance of Swami Vivekananda’s Thoughts in Management Education

Management education is a great beneficiary of Indian economic reform, where transformation from state controlled market to free market is imperative. In India, MBA degree has been perceived as a way of achieving assured careers and sound wages at early stage of life. The ambition of Indian youth today is to get a job in the business, industrial or service sectors and settle down well as early as possible. No doubt management education is needed an infusion of professional ability but the given value to society is equally important. Unfortunately, Management education in India has been so distorted and diluted in its execution as to lose nearly all the social intent. In whole spectrum, the role of intuition, value and social recognition gets short shrift in the Management education. Emphasis is only on the knowledge content, on which examination is conducted. All other useful knowledge areas and skills are vastly neglected. Like spiritual knowledge does not find an appropriate place in the curriculum. Therefore students have no opportunity to know about their faith, culture and values. The knowledge they gain is mainly bookish and is not backed by practical experience. About a century ago, Swami Vivekananda had envisioned a vision on education and had categorically pointed out that true education is not the amount of information that is put into one's brain. The human mind is not a bottomless dry well, which has to be filled in with buckets of information by the teacher. He had said that education has more to do with assimilation of ideas and developing ‘a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made'. He suggested, was to be done with the help of ‘Western science coupled with Vedanta †¦ and faith in one's own Self'. What type of management education will provide this enlightenment? According to Swamiji, ‘The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education'. He wanted a man-making education ‘by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet'. Swamiji emphasized need of following points in education system. * Role of teacher * Spirituality * Accessibility of knowledge * Plural attitude Role of teacher Both the teacher and the student are active participants in the teaching-learning process. The teacher should look upon the student not as a mere physical being but as a living and dynamic mind that struggling to manifest the light of the infinite soul. The teacher should facilitate this process of self-discovery. Teacher should not try to fill the mind with information and knowledge only. Instead he should attempt to unfold the creativity within by stimulating and strengthening the mind. The teacher has to carefully nurture the conviction and faith in the mind of the students. Needless to say, teacher requires faith, patience, perseverance and firm conviction. This ideal of faith in oneself, or Atmashraddha, would be greatest gift of a teacher to the student. Spirituality Swami Vivekananda brings this out very clearly in his immortal works. He said: If there is any land on this earth that can lay claim to be the blessed Punya Bhumi †¦ the land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness, above all, the land of introspection and of spirituality—it is India. †¦ the Indian race never stood for wealth. Although they acquired immense wealth, perhaps more than any other nation ever acquired, yet the nation did not stand for wealth. It was a powerful race for ages, yet we find that that nation never stood for power, never went out of the country to conquer. Quite content within their own boundaries, they never fought anybody. The Indian nation never stood for imperial glory. Wealth and power, then, were not the ideals of the race â€Å". Swami Ji enlightened that human peace and happiness depends not on the wealth they possess, or the power they wield, or the scholarship they have acquired, but by living a life of renunciation and having the awareness that they are part of the entire universe and that all constitute one family, V asudhaiva Kutumbakam. Accessibility of Knowledge Swami Ji emphasized on accessibility of education . He said: If the mountain does not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. If the poor cannot come to education, education must reach them at the plough, in the factory, everywhere. How? You have seen my brethren. Now I can get hundreds of such [all-renouncing sannyasins], all over India, unselfish, good, and educated. Let these men go from village to village bringing not only religion to the door of everyone but also education†. Students must also be educated about the social world—the nature of the society he lives in, the laws that guide it, and the culture it has evolved. Plural Attitude In era of globalization people are coming closer than ever to each other. People of different languages, beliefs, religious faiths, political convictions and ways of life have come to live closely. Everyone has a right to his way of life. Dogmatism and bigotry have no place in globalized world. Therefore management education must instill these qualities in students. Thus, Swami Ji's thoughts on education are like an ocean. The more we ponder the more we get. We have to pursue the ideas of Swami ji with a deep sense of commitment to achieve objectives of education.

The Government And The American Citizens Stipulations...

Introduction The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the government and the American citizens’ stipulations dealing with the drug, marijuana. Additional research was also conducted in order to discover the positive and negative results associated with marijuana being legalized if it were to occur nation-wide. The underlying reason for this topic is due to the recent debates within the federal government, concerning the issue of legalization for the drug. Also, because of the popularity of marijuana with not only the urban community, but with my close affiliates. There has been consistent discussions among my peers of how close the United States is to becoming a marijuana legalized nation. Throughout this paper details dealing with the topic of marijuana and its legalization will be explained by using journal articles and information gathered from my local Lincoln Parish library. These details include the explanation of what marijuana is, the views on marijuana’s legalization regulations among citizens in states across the United States, and the government’s outlook on the use of the drug. Also, personal opinions of a few of my peers will be provided through brief interviews. By completing this research paper, I plan to discover how far marijuana legalization within America has come and the steps being taken to either fully legalized or illegalize marijuana in the future. Literature Review Within this section, a few of the sources used for research will beShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Obamacare On Health Care1239 Words   |  5 Pagescare and enhanced health care access to Americans, which hopes to put consumers back in charge of their health care. It also aims to include upgrades to government-run Medicare and Medicaid. The purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is to provide affordability to Americans. 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The Growing Issue With Childhood Obesity - 1237 Words

The Growing Issue With Childhood Obesity Carmen Solivan- Amengual American Public University The Growing Issue With Childhood Obesity Although childhood obesity is a serious issue, there has been a great decrease over the past decade, thanks to research on childhood obesity and programs that help decrease the number of children and adolescents who are overweight. Childhood obesity can have long term and lasting effects on the overall well-being of a child, including cardiovascular disease, high risk for development of diabetes, and other health issues for children and adolescents. Over the years, there have been several research done on childhood obesity and because of the research, several programs have been developed, so that childhood†¦show more content†¦The consensus on how to improve childhood obesity, is to increase the time spent daily on physical activity and to improve healthy and nutritional eating habits in children and adolescents. One research that focuses on reducing the number of children who are obese, is called The Childhood Research Demonstration Project (CORD). CORD’s main goal, on how to prevent childhood obesity, is to find out if interventions between the pediatric health care and the community, can reduce obesity in children and adolescents. CORD’s ultimate goal is to find out if children and adolescents can loss weight by increasing their physical activity and by eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking healthier beverages. Programs Already Available to help Prevent Childhood Obesity There are several programs available to help prevent childhood obesity. Programs like Fit Kids, Just for Kids, and Action for Healthy Kids are good programs that focus on helping children and adolescents stay healthy and increase their physical activity in school and childcare settings. Fit Kids is an afterschool program that promote healthy and active lifestyles, among children and adolescents, through youth fitness groups and with nutrition advice. According to fitkids.org, â€Å"By offering increased opportunities for physical activity among children, we hope to inspire an early love of sports and fitness that will serve as the foundation for a healthy

Social Media in Africa - 758 Words

Three years ago I spent five weeks in Central Africa Republic. Traveling around the countryside and visiting with nationals was rewarding in many ways. If you asked me then, I would have never foreseen what direction the country was headed. I could never have imagined the once beautiful capital of Bangui would turn into war torn rubbish, filled with refugees fleeing from harm. Central Africa Republic is in the middle of a war brought on by its own people. Muslims and Christian’s battle back and forth aggressively killing one another and inputting fear into many. Humanitarians have been risking their lives attempting to stop the chaos and bring the country back to order. Organizations like the United Nations and UNICEF are doing their part to provide for the refugees, while individuals like Peter Bouckaert and Samantha Power are meeting with rebel leaders encouraging peace. 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Saving Face Oscar Award to Pakistan free essay sample

Theory Saving face by using Face Negotiation Theory Table of contents Face Negotiation Theory2 An application of face-negotiation theory in the movie Saving face The Price Of Saving Face Narrative Essay The Price of Saving Face I received a call from my mother in January of 2008. She told me that after twelve years of marriage she was Pakistan Pakistan before the gargantuan one. We have to face this delicate issue in a ording of the preamble, to save succeeding generations from. The head of Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) General Mahmood Ahmad 22959 Words92 Pages The Price Of Saving Face even then I was not thinking particularly of my own skin, only the watchful yellow faces behind. For at that moment, with the crowd watching me, I was not afraid in Film Review the best picture of the 67th Oscar Award in 1995, film Have got six Grand Prixes fate is death in war. We will write a custom essay sample on Saving Face Oscar Award to Pakistan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, Forest Gump saved him and let him be alive. After 864 Words4 Pages Idioms is a safe pair of hands. Save face If someone saves face, they manage to protect their reputation. Save your skin If someone saves their skin, they manage to 48420 Words194 Pages Cultural Profile Of Iraq Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Djibouti, Gambia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, has changed the economical and political face of the nation, bringing with its 3360 Words14 Pages Deforestation forces in India too to face the danger from Pakistan, Bangladesh and the foreign the benevolent creation of nature that saves environment. The denudation of hill 552 Words3 Pages Pragmatic Analysis Of Selected English Jokes This Thesis has been read and approved as meeting part of the requirements for the award of a Master of Arts Degree in the Department of English of the Faculty of 28228 Words113 Pages How To Customize Your Future With The Help Of Last Experience ? on my life, I am sure I will get Oscar award for the best film. Jokes apart. experience and might regret that why we faced that last experience.

Rim Managing Explosive Growth free essay sample

In RIM’s earlier days they also were leaders in the development of wireless point of sale (POS) systems, wireless modems, software, and firmware for radios and computers. RIM was a steadily growing company until 2005, when the company took amazing strides in launching carriers around the globe and creating strategic partnerships with several major companies (BlackBerry, 2006, p. 10). From 2005 to 2008, RIM grew from 1. 3 billion in revenues to over 6 billion, and grew from 3 billion to 6 billion in 2007 alone. RIM’s explosive growth was a result of their famous product line BlackBerry. BlackBerry was one of the first corporate phones that integrated a secure process for checking and sending emails. â€Å"Document Push is said to be a unique feature not found in any other document management solution on the market† (Document, 2005, p. 11). BlackBerry dominated in business and military sales of phones, and then became competitive in 2007 with consumers as well. Summary of Culture The most essential characteristic of RIM’s culture is their ability to innovate and work in an environment that allows for creativity to cultivate. We will write a custom essay sample on Rim Managing Explosive Growth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The location of headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada has been a major focal point of RIM culture since the start of the company. RIM is comprised of a wide arrange of employees by age which allows them to remain cutting edge and knowledgeable of the wireless industry. RIM’s culture can be seen as a direct link to their low employee turnover rates and high employee satisfaction. SWOT Analysis of RIM Strengths RIM has numerous strengths that have helped them to create a competitive advantage. RIM’s main strength is their ability to innovate. RIM has been a leading innovator in wireless products since the late 80’s, and continues to grow Ramp;D alongside sales. RIM has the advantage of being located in Waterloo, Canada where the local talent pool for engineers and computer science graduates is abundant because of the University of Waterloo. Due to innovation, most of their strengths have been derived from a combination of patents, copyrights, and contractual agreements that all surround their cryptographic and software source code. The cryptographic and software source code allowed RIM to obtain a first mover advantage in B2B sales of mobile devices to businesses and military by integrating email into their mobile phones. This also allowed them to obtain significant brand recognition for creating a secure voice and data transmission solution. Once RIM was established in the business and military segments, it began to make head way in consumer markets with their new products, BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curve. RIM’s copyrights also gave them an advantage of creating strategic alliances and partnerships with major companies such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Yahoo, and HTC (BlackBerry, 2006, p. 11). Weaknesses Some of the very strengths of RIM can also be seen as some of their greatest weaknesses. RIM holds an internal pride for locating the heart of its Ramp;D in Waterloo. While this has been a great source of talent and company culture, it has also put a clamp on their opportunity for growth geographically and for expansion into other market segments. RIM’s employees are only so focused on maintaining control of Ramp;D in Waterloo they reject any change in location; therefore stunting their growth overall. RIM’s primary reason behind keeping Ramp;D centered in Waterloo is for the sake of their patents, copyrights, and contractual agreements, and so they are held captive by the very thing that makes them strong. Also, due to the notion of keeping Ramp;D located at Waterloo, RIM is having difficulty finding new talent in the already bogged down area of Waterloo. RIM did try to implement an online application process, but is unable to utilize it properly. Applicants are only able to apply to one job; creating a loss in potential employees. RIM engineers and computer scientists are becoming overworked due to the lack of employees. Not only is the stress running high from pressures to maintain innovations level of innovation held by their competitor, but space has also become an issue. RIM’s offices have become overcrowded and unmanageable, and are quickly losing efficiency. Opportunities Most of RIM’s opportunities lie where their weaknesses are great. RIM has been neglecting their opportunity to expand their core Ramp;D outside of Waterloo. By expanding outside of Waterloo, RIM will be able to expand Ramp;D without overcrowding their current facilities. They will also be able to compete more effectively worldwide. While RIM shipped 42% of mobile devices in North America in 2007, they only shipped 12% of the market worldwide. Opportunities for expansion in subscribers is limited in North America seeing as the market has a penetration rate of 87%. However, outside of North America are much larger opportunities, such as China, India, and other developing countries. In 2007, China’s market was growing at 18. 3% per year with only a penetration of 39%, and India’s market was growing 60% per year and only 21% penetration (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 75). By expanding Ramp;D globally they will not only open doors to new markets, but also new talent. Threats RIM’s major threat is competition such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google in the North American market. These competitors are starting to increase their mobile phones capabilities so that they can compete more effectively in the B2B segments that RIM once dominated. Apple recently announced that they would be incorporating the ActiveSync direct Push, into their iPhones in order to capture the business professionals. Competitors are not only are making their phones better for the business professional, but also integrating more products into the mobile device for consumers. For instance, Apple introduced the iPhone which has greater breadth in technology, and has set a new standard for usability. Zeichick reports â€Å"since the release of the iPhone 3G on July 11, Apple holds the market for high-speed consumer-friendly smartphones entirely to itself† (2008, p. 6). Another threat competition possess is their ability to attract, hire and develop their Ramp;D facilities more resourcefully than RIM. Competitors have implemented hiring strategies that are far more efficient than RIM’s â€Å"ear to the ground† policy (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 80). All of RIM’s major global competitors such as Microsoft, Motorola, and Apple all are spending far greater amounts on Ramp;D, and have an advantage over them in innovation. Competitors are expanding globally at a much higher rate than RIM, and are in better positioning for market share outside of North America; where RIM is still greatly lacking. Prevalent Issues and Solutions Provided by the Case RIM prides themselves on their ability to compete by means of innovation, and thus they have always tried to maintain a high level of Ramp;D within the firm. RIM bases their Ramp;D levels as a percent of sales, targeting around 10-12% of revenue to be spent on Ramp;D. They have managed to keep these levels by growing organically until 2005 when sales began to increase by over a billion dollars a year. According to their annual report from December 31, 2007, RIM’s Ramp;D was projected to increase by $100 million from the previous year; however as a percentage of sales they projected to drop to 5. 99% down from 7. 77% the previous year (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 77). RIM, who was once a leader in innovation, was starting to fall behind in the competitive field of mobile phones. RIM needs to take measures immediately to ensure proper Ramp;D levels. As competition heats up in the smart phone market, the competition in acquiring new talent is as well; only making the task of acquiring new talent extremely difficult. RIM management is considering the following four options for growing Ramp;D: do what we do now at greater levels, expand existing geographies, increase acquisitions, and go global. Do What We Do Now At Greater Levels Currently RIM’s approach to finding new talent for Ramp;D is based on networking through personal and professionals relationships alongside their co-op program they hold with the University of Waterloo. The co-op program currently brings on 300 grad students each semester to work alongside the engineers and computer science professionals as interns, and then RIM extends job offerings to qualified candidates. RIM can improve their co-op program by offering it to multiple universities rather than only to Waterloo. Over the last 7 years RIM has created Ramp;D facilities located in Ottawa, Mississauga, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Palo Alto, and England. All of these facilities could potentially implement a co-op program with nearby universities, or summer internship programs to increase recruitment of talented young grad students. RIM is also considering adding benefits to these programs like competitor Microsoft offers. Benefits such as housing, transportation, and paid travel could entice individuals to choose RIM as their intern destination over opponents. RIM has also taken recruitment and job advertisements to the internet; however there is great room for improvement. RIM’s online application process only allows an individual to apply for one job at a time, and sufferers a great deal of qualified candidates due to the systematic flaw. Companies, such as Apple, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson, have a more advanced system that allows applicants to create an online profile that can be stored and applied to several jobs. If RIM changes their current model to mimic some of its competitors they are likely to obtain more suitable applicants for each position, and be able to reach a more global talent pool. Another option for hiring new grad students is to implement a semi-yearly or yearly hiring wave rather than posting individual jobs. Several other major corporations have these systems in place, including competitor Symbian. Companies that are growing continually implement this strategy so that they can maintain levels of efficiency. Typically, companies will receive online applications year round, and once or twice a year they will sift through the resumes selecting the best applicants. The chosen applicants then will participate in multiple events to see if they will be a good fit with a company. This process normally includes several interviews, testing, group assignments, and case studies. Once passing the recruitment day, candidates will go through an onboarding process to help adapt them to company policy and culture. Then they are assigned as needed to different sections of the company. Grow and Expand Existing Geographies RIM started to expand product development centers outside Waterloo in 2000 opening several locations, as previously mentioned, in the United States, two more locations in Canada, and one in England. RIM could continue to push forth with this initiation of expanding within the North American region, and also expanding the scope of the locations already existing. Before a new location can be chosen it must first pass a set of stringent equirements that RIM has emplaced. The requirements for potential areas are they must already have an abundant amount of software developers with experience, the cost of living and salary for employees is reasonable, and be near universities to promote their co-op program. RIM is unlike their competition in this sense, because most competitors still rely on one major campus for all Ramp;D. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have only expanded with minor locations aboard keeping the core Ramp;D at their home facilities. Increase Acquisitions Increase by means of acquisitions is by no means a new concept to RIM, or any other software firm. In the software and mobile phone industry acquiring smaller companies has become one of the fastest ways to not only gain an experienced set of talent, but also intellectual property and location. RIM acquired high-tech startup out of Israel, for their intellectual capabilities of the display and input of Chinese characters. This acquisition allowed them to become more suitable for the Chinese market, and provided Waterloo with 11 more highly qualified engineers. Another factor for RIM to consider is the economic down turn in the United States, and the abundant amount of small firms struggling to survive the recession. RIM could purchase these firms for reasonable cost; gaining experienced talent and intellectual properties. Increased acquisitions also can allow a company to penetrate certain areas that could otherwise be hard or impossible to gain access to. For instance, Google acquired a small wireless software company in Waterloo simply for the talent, recognizing Waterloo was a place with a great talent pool. RIM could use acquisitions to gain access to several countries, which they do not yet compete effectively in. In some countries consumers prefer to buy and do business with companies from their own countries rather than foreigners. Europe is a prime example, in which RIM could acquire a business and gain access to their market. Go Global Another way for RIM to increase Ramp;D is to go global. While, RIM has expanded into different countries with Ramp;D, the core of their product development still remains at Waterloo. The different areas that RIM has expanded their Ramp;D too, are areas where laws have been put in place and are protected for patent and intellectual rights. RIM has taken measures to expand other functions of the business to globally that do not directly relate to their source code; such as customer service in Singapore, and sales and marketing staff in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Going global has been attempted by most of the software/mobile phone industry. Some have been able to achieve great things, but the cost of businesses can sometimes be seen as too much. Nokia, for example has expanded Ramp;D to China, and was able to gain significant market share in the region. However, in China â€Å"the rate of infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China is among the highest in the world† (Pangattaro, 2007, p. 632). The constant threat of employees walking out the door with strategic information, and taking it to competitors is very high due to insufficient IP protection laws and regulation. Despite Nokia’s effort to develop a relationship with China, through joint research programs with Tsinghua University had to file suit against two Beijing firms for ripping off their mobile phones. However, recent studies show that â€Å" Ramp;D units that have developed adequate measures to manage their Chinese Ramp;D staff have succeeded in making Chinese employees loyal to the Ramp;D unit†(Marcus, amp; Gassmann ,2011, p. 73). Analysis of Options and Recommendation Analysis of Do What We Do Now At Greater Levels RIM is projecting they will need to hire over 1,400 new software developers to reinstate the status quo for Ramp;D. One option RIM is considering is to continue their current hiring strategies, but at a higher level. Currently, they hire by personal and business networking, through co-op programs with the school, and more recently went to the web with job postings. . It will be quite a difficult task to complete with only increasing their current model. RIM’s method of personal and business relationships to find new employees will no longer be able to produce a substantial amount. RIM has saturated the market in Waterloo, and finding new employees has become extremely difficult. Also, competition has moved into the area making it harder and more costly to find to obtain the best talent. It is unlikely they will be able to find a great deal of experienced help within the area. As previously mentioned, RIM would extend their co-op programs to other universities in hope to allocate more talent. Unfortunately, the co-op program will only bring in inexperienced help, and would cost RIM time and money to develop the new employees. Another option regarding new grads is to hire in waves, yearly or biyearly, to help with continuing growth. While this is a great strategy for growing companies to maintain their pipeline, it will not provide RIM with the help it currently needs to dig them out of the hole in terms of Ramp;D. RIM will need most of their new hires to have an experienced skill set so that they can be implemented instantly, and relieve the staff in Waterloo. Analysis of Grow and Expand Existing Geographies RIM has been extremely careful when expanding Ramp;D to new areas, only setting up shop where their source code can be protected. One option for RIM is to continue with the process of selecting new cities and countries where IP laws are in full force, and gain a pool of talent from these areas. RIM can also focus on escalating the Ramp;D centers already implemented to take more of a central role in Ramp;D instead of keeping the core at Waterloo. A factor to consider is the cost of hiring and the standard of living in other areas. RIM follows a set of rules for choosing where to establish an Ramp;D center, which is not uncommon for competition as well. This leads to RIM in competitive locations making it harder to gain a talent pool at a reasonable price. For instance, the employees in Palo Alto require a much higher pay scale than Waterloo because of competition, and turnover rates are high. One adverse effect that can take place when expanding abroad is loss of company culture. RIM has a very strong culture, which they believe to be a product of environment of their Waterloo office. RIM would have to approach each new Ramp;D office with an abundant amount of training to ensure a shared understanding of company values, and culture. Analysis of Increase Acquisitions One route RIM could take to reach Ramp;D levels is to increase acquisitions. RIM has already been successful with this strategy, and it would be a strategy that would allow them to hire multiple engineers and software designers at once. Not only would RIM gain an experienced talent pool, but also intellectual property rights, and new locations. Acquisitions have a few setbacks though that must be considered. By acquiring different firms RIM would be able to obtain an experienced set of talent, which is essential at this point. However, acquisitions must be preceded with caution because employees of the acquired firm can sometimes react unfavorably to such situations. Another concern is whether acquired employees would be able to adapt to company policy, culture, and values of RIM. â€Å"Culture matters it can make or break a merger† (Growth, 1996, p. 29), and so RIM must be particularly careful to only acquire firms that are a perfect fit for the company to avoid major losses. Gantumur and Stephan state â€Å"the post-merger innovation performance, in turn, is driven by both the prior success of in-house Ramp;D commitment and the deterioration of internal technological capabilities at acquiring firms† (2012, p. 77). Acquisitions are also very costly and can waste time and money. In the past when RIM acquired a firm for talent and intellectual property they would send the new employees to Waterloo, striping what was left of the firm. This can be a very costly approach to finding new employees because they take on a great deal of debt to purchase the firm. It can take a profuse amount of time to liquidate a firm to receive funds expe nded back, and sometimes the process of liquating can strip away the value resulting in further losses. Analysis of Go Global RIM was well aware that over half of the new employees they would hire to reach Ramp;D levels would have to come outside of Canada due to lack of potential candidate and space in Canada. The question RIM was pondering is how far away from Canada should they go when considering their source code they must protect. While, RIM has already expanded some product development to the US and England, it had also expanded functions other than Ramp;D to other countries outside of the North American region. RIM fears of Ramp;D in developing countries are justified, but there still remain untapped markets in these regions that could be beneficial for long term growth. RIM must start to consider possibilities outside of their source code if they wish to continue to be competitive and enter into new markets. RIM could use acquisitions as more than just a tool for hiring, but also as a means to enter new markets that are otherwise hard to reach. Europe is a prime example of where acquisition could allow them to gain an excellent talent pool, but also access to the European markets where consumers are highly nationalistic. RIM could also enter China and India by the same channels; which have exceptionally enormous markets that would allow them to grow immensely. China presents â€Å"an impasse with regard to RIMs use of encryption technology and the Chinese authorities desire to monitor e-mail traffic and content† (Ensign, et al. , 2008, p. 129). However, things are starting to shift overseas â€Å"both China and India have been experiencing a historical take-off in the use of intellectual property rights (IPR)† (Godinho, amp; Ferreira, 2012, p. 99). If RIM should find it too risky they could chose not to disclose or use their source code or cryptographic software to Ramp;D facilities in areas of wariness, but use those Ramp;D facilities to explore other technologies that obtain to less confidential information. RIM also could become either a multinational or transnational company by focusing on developing products for the each market; seeing as the needs in those countries are different from the North American region. Recommendations RIM has a daunting task of hiring 1,400 new employees this year, and not one option alone will adequately give them the right mix of new employees. In order for RIM to grow to the size of competitors it must start taking actions from all angles. According to the McNielly, it is important to become an industry leader because a â€Å"powerful position allows them to set the industry’s standards and define the playing field† (2012, p. 13). RIM can employ a few tactics to hit the ground running; however most of their growth will take time to take effect. The first step RIM should take, seeing as they are a software company, is to develop a better website and job application process. This will allow them hire experienced help globally in a rather quick fashion. The second step is to begin executing co-op programs with the technological university surrounding all of their facilities to guarantee there are gaining the best and brightest young talent. By expanding the co-op program to all of the facilities it will help to expand the non-Waterloo facilities as well. Moving forward Waterloo should transfer some of their activities to other development centers and allow them to grow more. This will allow Waterloo to focus more on big picture task, and be less bogged down with minor details. They should also start hiring in waves for grad student positions; which that will allow them to be able to grow continually as a flow rather than constantly trying to play catch up when they are shorthanded. As for long term goals, RIM should transform their company from a global model to a transnational model.