Am a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation Essay Example

Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation Essay AMD  : A Customer-Centric Approach to Innovation ISEG – ISM MBA Program September 30, 2010 Professional Management Skills Assessment Word Count: 2600 This case analyzes the strategy of AMD, a microprocessor manufacturer which is a direct competitor of another microprocessor company, Intel. Between the two companies the competition has never been really balanced because of Intel’s much more Important Size and budget. AMD has found itself in a bad shape several times but has always success in overcoming difficulties resulting from its far smaller market shares and – over the years – has built a strategy to survive and strengthen its position against its giant competitor Intel. What would it take for AMD to see significant increase in its market share in processors used in corporate desktops and notebooks? How can the success of Opteron in the server segment be leveraged to other segments? It would take a lot for AMD to catch up with Intel as the gap in terms of market share between the two companies is huge. We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Except in very specialized niche markets, Intel has kept a significant leadership in every segments, including the server microprocessor market where AMD best performed. Still in the second quarter of 2010, the domination of Intel over the market was undeniable with 86. 1% market share against 13. 7% for AMD on the pc processor segment, 72. 2% against 27. 5% on the desktop microprocessor market and a 93. 5% market share against 6. 5% on the x 86 server microprocessor segment. (Michelle Maisto citing IDC, 2010). Moreover as mentioned by Ofek and Barley â€Å"Intel’s dominant market position could limit AMD’s ability to make inroads to key market segments beyond servers, such as corporate desktops and notebooks. † In order to gain significant market share in processor used in corporate desktops and notebooks, AMD should, in my opinion, focus on differentiating its products by giving them an added value that would be valuable to end users. That’s what, so far, the company couldn’t achieve for the desktops and notebooks ranges of microprocessors. Indeed, their price/performance ratio is not as interesting as the performance of their ange of servers’ microprocessors. (Ofek amp; Barley p. 11) To not have a value added on those microprocessors, that would differentiate them from Intel’s microprocessors, is definitely a big issue for opening significant inroads into this market. The product differentiation is one solution. By improving the quality an d the number of features of its desktops and notebooks microprocessors, AMD can get a competitive advantage over Intel’s product. Though, since Intel’s Ramp;D funds are much higher (Ofek amp; Barley p. 19), one good way to overtake Intel would be to perpetuate the â€Å"virtual Gorilla† Strategy presented by Ofek amp; Barley p. . Technology partnership would indeed accelerate the improvement of AMD products and would create synergies with partners that, in the case of AMD, often are potential customers too. The second solution for AMD is to differentiate its product by conceptualizing new ways of using products based on their assets. The example given on the paper is a perfect illustration of what could have been done to create a new way of using corporate desktop by â€Å"reinventing the commercial client† with the â€Å"Server based computing. † (Ofek amp; Barley p. 12). The idea was great; it was about selling to clients a computing system based on the best asset of AMD which was the server’s microprocessors. Finally the â€Å"customer centric approach† set by AMD to improve and develop its products in a way that serves the best end users is a good idea to explore. It first allows the company to create products with features that are supposed to be very close to customers’ expectations. On the other hand this perpetual communication and mutual feedback introduced between AMD and the end users contribute to build a relationship based on trust that might turn to be a long term relationship. However, even though AMD had the best microprocessor for desktops and notebooks computers, would that be enough? Indeed, to have the best product is one thing, but to convince potential customer and end users that your product is the best is another story. A great part relies in how AMD will market its desktops and notebooks microprocessors. Here the success of Opteron in the server microprocessor segment can be leveraged by using the notoriety AMD gained through the success of this product. AMD has to use this arguments to progressively gain the credibility it lacks on those segments. Then if AMD success to put itself as a credible alternative to Intel’s microprocessor over desktops and notebooks segments, they would have done half the way. The second half of the way relies on creating a change in OEMs minds, that is, to switch from to position of a â€Å"credible alternative supplier† that they can use as a threat in their bargain with Intel to the supplier they want to buy from. And this shift on OEMs customers could likely come from Intel’s strategy itself. Indeed, in the recent year the microprocessor giant has widened its range of products and now offers a larger range of hardware as well as a significant range of software (John Stokes, June 2010). As a result, OEM’s could review their buying strategy as Intel becomes more and more a potential competitor for them. Thus, if they are a credible enough alternative, AMD could take advantage of this situation in order to gain market shares. The microprocessor company is even rumored to be in talks with Apple in order to supply microprocessors for the iMac. (John Stokes, May 2010). What do you make of AMD’s â€Å"power Campaign†? Is the value proposition it highlights compelling to end users? Since AMD had an unquestionable competitive advantage over Intel regarding the performance per wattage of its microprocessors, and that, adopting AMD chips would likely result in energy savings as well as space savings for end users; which both lead to money savings. AMD was perfectly right to capitalize on this asset in order to run a powerful advertising campaign that would definitely hit Intel’s product notoriety or, at least strengthen the awareness of customers for AMD’s power efficient microprocessors. In my opinion the campaign was well thought and it brought end users to either realize or think about the potential savings they could do by switching from an Intel based CPU to an AMD one. However, the efficiency of this campaign has been affected by external parameters that AMD can’t totally control. First of all, as mentioned by Ofek and Barley in their paper, â€Å"there are some customers that focus less on technology and more on the corporate brand when making their purchase decision. Today it is easy (for us) to win the hearts and minds of the CIO and IT managers, but the CFOs and CEOs have to be willing to engage (with us)†. Some people will thus continue to buy from Intel because of the awareness they have toward this brand and not on the basis of an objective comparison of both technologies. Then we can remind that unfortunately at the time of this advertising campaign, the range of AMD based servers proposed by OEM was relatively restricted compared to the range of Intel based servers. Once again this wasn’t due to a performance matter, but to the fact that most OEMs were literally scared of giving more room to AMD based product in their offer as they feared Intel’s future reaction. Ofek amp; Barley p. 11). Finally, the timing of the campaign could have been debated has it came just before the announcement by Intel to launch a â€Å"new core architecture† that would be more energy efficient and with a better performance than any AMD chip (Ofek amp; Barley p. 14). Intel’s awareness being much bigger than AMD, this announcement might have locked AMD’s message out of th e customers’ mind. The value proposition highlighted in the power campaign is quite attracting to end users as it would allow companies to cut cost significantly by saving energy. This is confirmed as well by the result of a Ziff-Davis Media Survey mentioned in the paper which says that â€Å" power consumption and cooling in data centers were significant concerns† for data center decision-makers (Ofek amp; Barley p. 12). But on the meantime, the same survey relates that real investment decision makers didn’t â€Å"sought to lower operating costs by targeting data center power consumption and cooling†. In my opinion the value proposition highlighted – even though it was attracting- wasn’t totally compelling to end users. Indeed for most of the companies a change in the technology would probably require a big investment that would weight in the company expenses and that would turn to be profitable over the medium or long term thanks to energy savings. But why many company would choose this option since Intel announced they would launch soon a chip that would save energy too and that would be more efficient than AMD’s chips? Many companies would thus prefer to upgrade their Intel chip as it would probably be cheaper and not less efficient. How concerned should AMD be about Intel’s imminent new product plans? Will they hamper AMD’s growth plans? AMD should obviously be strongly concerned about Intel’s imminent new product line. The new chips Intel plans to launch are directly in competition with AMD products. Moreover, Intel not only plans to be competitive in the server market but in the desktops and mobile segments as well. Those new processors will, according to Intel, exceed everything AMD could launch in 2006† (Ofek amp; Barley p. 14) in terms of performance and power efficiency. The launch of those microprocessors, if t turns to be true, is a big concern for AMD that has already not a dominant position over the market. More than simply locking AMD out from desktops and mobile segments, it could reverse the servers segment in favor of Intel. Of course this remains hypothetical and this reorganization of Intel could either hamper or benefit to AMD’s growth. I would explain this thou ght by the fact that Intel’s reorganization already planned to broaden the company’s offer with software, wifi radio, chip-set and other features in order to give to Intel â€Å"a greater share of wallet than a processor sale alone† (Ofek amp; barley p. 5). But as said in the first question, this strategy might lead OEMs to consider Intel more as a direct competitor for some components and thus to partially review their business relationship with the chip maker at the benefit of AMD. Will AMD’s customer centric approach be a source of advantage over Intel? AMD’s goal to focus on customer needs could look at first as a common marketing behavior. Indeed, the goal of marketing is to assess the needs of customers in order to propose a product that fits the best their expectations. As said by Ruiz in the paper of Ofek amp; Barley (p. 13) â€Å"It is very difficult to define what is customer centric, because everyone says they are customer focused these days. † However, AMD strategy seems to go beyond the simple will to fulfill what is expected to be the need of an average customer in the industry. What AMD really intends to build is trust based, long term relationship with their customers. They want to listen carefully to their feedback and make developments that are the result of those feedbacks. AMD don’t want to make technology improvements based on what they guess is important for their customers but rather on the real accurate points that customers themselves said they should develop. To achieve this ambitious project the company has undertaken a big reshaping of their customer service processes by creating â€Å"go to market groups† such as the Commercial business group or the Commercial Channel Council which are really close from end users and brainstorm with them before reporting to technical teams, also called â€Å"product group†. (Ofek and Barley p. 3) This allows AMD to create a real added value around its product line by fulfilling end users needs as accurately as it can be. Here is definitely a source of advantage over Intel as this strategy really helps to assess customer preferences over the long term and to observe the evolution of market needs. Moreover, by doing so, AMD will likely satisfy its customers and then keep them as clients. Thi s synergy created between AMD and its customers will finally bring them to consider each other as real partners, willing to work together, and AMD won’t be seen anymore as a simple technology provider. If Intel keeps imposing guideline to OEMs without assessing further their real needs, the AMD customer centric approach could, indeed, turn to be a very worthy competitive advantage for the company. Will it yield commercially viable innovations that are dramatically different than those Intel will develop? On the big picture, innovations in microprocessor technology will remain – in my opinion – merely the same between AMD and Intel. AMD isn’t powerful enough to create a revolution within the industry. However, AMD’s customer centric approach has chances to yield commercially viable innovations. By understanding better end users, the company can optimize the technology and adapt the product’s efficiency in order it fits the customer’s exact needs. Even though Intel and AMD are likely to have comparable technologies in terms of power efficiency and performances, AMD appear to be more willing to put themselves â€Å"in the shoes of their customers. † (Ofek amp; Barley, p. 13) With same performances the difference in the product’s choice can come from how well this product can perform within a special environment. With their customer centric approach AMD tries to understand their customer’s environments, challenges, etc†¦ and they build together – thanks to mutual feedbacks – ways to implement the microprocessors’ technology at their maximum power. It results in a better efficiency thanks to a greater product’s adaptability and a better understanding of the product by end users. That is in my opinion a source of economically viable innovation that could contribute to make the difference. The perfect example is given with the Torrenza initiative that aimed to completely open to customers the architecture of AMD Opteron microprocessor. Ofek amp; Barley p. 13) This was a risky bet by AMD, but it definitely had the potential to create viable innovation by giving the keys to customers. By being able to tailor the technology to their needs they necessarily optimize the efficiency of microprocessor for the tasks it is used for. This â€Å"gift â€Å" to custo mers could be the source of some innovations that Intel won’t be able to detect as accurately, because they couldn’t detect the need for those specific innovation. Here the innovation involves several different levels. Not only innovation in performances matters, but also innovation with product’s flexibility, with feedbacks and customer relationship processes. All those innovations are commercially viable even thought they don’t give a dominant position to AMD, they contribute to strengthen the company’s market shares and to its slow but continuous growth. As a conclusion, we could say that AMD competition with Intel in the microprocessors industry is good for OEMs as, at least, they can choose between 2 companies. It is utopian to think of AMD surpassing Intel in this competition as Intel leads almost all the industry segments, far ahead from AMD. However AMD should keep going this way and take every opportunity to differentiate itself from the giant Intel in order to keep growing and to be considered as a viable alternative by every potential customer. Bibliography Maisto, Michel. Intel, AMD Lead a Rejuvenated Chip Market: IDC Desktops and Notebooks from EWeek. Technology News, Tech Product Reviews, Research and Enterprise Analysis EWeek. 19 Aug. 010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://www. eweek. com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Intel-AMD-Lead-a-Rejuvenated-Chip-Market-IDC-848326/  Ofek, Elie, and Lauren Barley. AMD: A Customer-centric Approach to Innovation. Working paper no. 9-507-037. (Boston): Harvard Business School UP, 2007. Print. Stokes, Jon. Intels Big Strategy Shift and AMDs Opportunity. Ars Technica. Ars Technica  © 2010 Conde Nast Digital. , June 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://arstechnica. com/business/news/2010/05/intels-big-strategy-shift-and-amds-opportunity. ars Am a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation Essay Example Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation Essay AMD  : A Customer-Centric Approach to Innovation ISEG – ISM MBA Program September 30, 2010 Professional Management Skills Assessment Word Count: 2600 This case analyzes the strategy of AMD, a microprocessor manufacturer which is a direct competitor of another microprocessor company, Intel. Between the two companies the competition has never been really balanced because of Intel’s much more Important Size and budget. AMD has found itself in a bad shape several times but has always success in overcoming difficulties resulting from its far smaller market shares and – over the years – has built a strategy to survive and strengthen its position against its giant competitor Intel. What would it take for AMD to see significant increase in its market share in processors used in corporate desktops and notebooks? How can the success of Opteron in the server segment be leveraged to other segments? It would take a lot for AMD to catch up with Intel as the gap in terms of market share between the two companies is huge. We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Am: a Customer Centric Approach to Innovation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Except in very specialized niche markets, Intel has kept a significant leadership in every segments, including the server microprocessor market where AMD best performed. Still in the second quarter of 2010, the domination of Intel over the market was undeniable with 86. 1% market share against 13. 7% for AMD on the pc processor segment, 72. 2% against 27. 5% on the desktop microprocessor market and a 93. 5% market share against 6. 5% on the x 86 server microprocessor segment. (Michelle Maisto citing IDC, 2010). Moreover as mentioned by Ofek and Barley â€Å"Intel’s dominant market position could limit AMD’s ability to make inroads to key market segments beyond servers, such as corporate desktops and notebooks. † In order to gain significant market share in processor used in corporate desktops and notebooks, AMD should, in my opinion, focus on differentiating its products by giving them an added value that would be valuable to end users. That’s what, so far, the company couldn’t achieve for the desktops and notebooks ranges of microprocessors. Indeed, their price/performance ratio is not as interesting as the performance of their ange of servers’ microprocessors. (Ofek amp; Barley p. 11) To not have a value added on those microprocessors, that would differentiate them from Intel’s microprocessors, is definitely a big issue for opening significant inroads into this market. The product differentiation is one solution. By improving the quality an d the number of features of its desktops and notebooks microprocessors, AMD can get a competitive advantage over Intel’s product. Though, since Intel’s Ramp;D funds are much higher (Ofek amp; Barley p. 19), one good way to overtake Intel would be to perpetuate the â€Å"virtual Gorilla† Strategy presented by Ofek amp; Barley p. . Technology partnership would indeed accelerate the improvement of AMD products and would create synergies with partners that, in the case of AMD, often are potential customers too. The second solution for AMD is to differentiate its product by conceptualizing new ways of using products based on their assets. The example given on the paper is a perfect illustration of what could have been done to create a new way of using corporate desktop by â€Å"reinventing the commercial client† with the â€Å"Server based computing. † (Ofek amp; Barley p. 12). The idea was great; it was about selling to clients a computing system based on the best asset of AMD which was the server’s microprocessors. Finally the â€Å"customer centric approach† set by AMD to improve and develop its products in a way that serves the best end users is a good idea to explore. It first allows the company to create products with features that are supposed to be very close to customers’ expectations. On the other hand this perpetual communication and mutual feedback introduced between AMD and the end users contribute to build a relationship based on trust that might turn to be a long term relationship. However, even though AMD had the best microprocessor for desktops and notebooks computers, would that be enough? Indeed, to have the best product is one thing, but to convince potential customer and end users that your product is the best is another story. A great part relies in how AMD will market its desktops and notebooks microprocessors. Here the success of Opteron in the server microprocessor segment can be leveraged by using the notoriety AMD gained through the success of this product. AMD has to use this arguments to progressively gain the credibility it lacks on those segments. Then if AMD success to put itself as a credible alternative to Intel’s microprocessor over desktops and notebooks segments, they would have done half the way. The second half of the way relies on creating a change in OEMs minds, that is, to switch from to position of a â€Å"credible alternative supplier† that they can use as a threat in their bargain with Intel to the supplier they want to buy from. And this shift on OEMs customers could likely come from Intel’s strategy itself. Indeed, in the recent year the microprocessor giant has widened its range of products and now offers a larger range of hardware as well as a significant range of software (John Stokes, June 2010). As a result, OEM’s could review their buying strategy as Intel becomes more and more a potential competitor for them. Thus, if they are a credible enough alternative, AMD could take advantage of this situation in order to gain market shares. The microprocessor company is even rumored to be in talks with Apple in order to supply microprocessors for the iMac. (John Stokes, May 2010). What do you make of AMD’s â€Å"power Campaign†? Is the value proposition it highlights compelling to end users? Since AMD had an unquestionable competitive advantage over Intel regarding the performance per wattage of its microprocessors, and that, adopting AMD chips would likely result in energy savings as well as space savings for end users; which both lead to money savings. AMD was perfectly right to capitalize on this asset in order to run a powerful advertising campaign that would definitely hit Intel’s product notoriety or, at least strengthen the awareness of customers for AMD’s power efficient microprocessors. In my opinion the campaign was well thought and it brought end users to either realize or think about the potential savings they could do by switching from an Intel based CPU to an AMD one. However, the efficiency of this campaign has been affected by external parameters that AMD can’t totally control. First of all, as mentioned by Ofek and Barley in their paper, â€Å"there are some customers that focus less on technology and more on the corporate brand when making their purchase decision. Today it is easy (for us) to win the hearts and minds of the CIO and IT managers, but the CFOs and CEOs have to be willing to engage (with us)†. Some people will thus continue to buy from Intel because of the awareness they have toward this brand and not on the basis of an objective comparison of both technologies. Then we can remind that unfortunately at the time of this advertising campaign, the range of AMD based servers proposed by OEM was relatively restricted compared to the range of Intel based servers. Once again this wasn’t due to a performance matter, but to the fact that most OEMs were literally scared of giving more room to AMD based product in their offer as they feared Intel’s future reaction. Ofek amp; Barley p. 11). Finally, the timing of the campaign could have been debated has it came just before the announcement by Intel to launch a â€Å"new core architecture† that would be more energy efficient and with a better performance than any AMD chip (Ofek amp; Barley p. 14). Intel’s awareness being much bigger than AMD, this announcement might have locked AMD’s message out of th e customers’ mind. The value proposition highlighted in the power campaign is quite attracting to end users as it would allow companies to cut cost significantly by saving energy. This is confirmed as well by the result of a Ziff-Davis Media Survey mentioned in the paper which says that â€Å" power consumption and cooling in data centers were significant concerns† for data center decision-makers (Ofek amp; Barley p. 12). But on the meantime, the same survey relates that real investment decision makers didn’t â€Å"sought to lower operating costs by targeting data center power consumption and cooling†. In my opinion the value proposition highlighted – even though it was attracting- wasn’t totally compelling to end users. Indeed for most of the companies a change in the technology would probably require a big investment that would weight in the company expenses and that would turn to be profitable over the medium or long term thanks to energy savings. But why many company would choose this option since Intel announced they would launch soon a chip that would save energy too and that would be more efficient than AMD’s chips? Many companies would thus prefer to upgrade their Intel chip as it would probably be cheaper and not less efficient. How concerned should AMD be about Intel’s imminent new product plans? Will they hamper AMD’s growth plans? AMD should obviously be strongly concerned about Intel’s imminent new product line. The new chips Intel plans to launch are directly in competition with AMD products. Moreover, Intel not only plans to be competitive in the server market but in the desktops and mobile segments as well. Those new processors will, according to Intel, exceed everything AMD could launch in 2006† (Ofek amp; Barley p. 14) in terms of performance and power efficiency. The launch of those microprocessors, if t turns to be true, is a big concern for AMD that has already not a dominant position over the market. More than simply locking AMD out from desktops and mobile segments, it could reverse the servers segment in favor of Intel. Of course this remains hypothetical and this reorganization of Intel could either hamper or benefit to AMD’s growth. I would explain this thou ght by the fact that Intel’s reorganization already planned to broaden the company’s offer with software, wifi radio, chip-set and other features in order to give to Intel â€Å"a greater share of wallet than a processor sale alone† (Ofek amp; barley p. 5). But as said in the first question, this strategy might lead OEMs to consider Intel more as a direct competitor for some components and thus to partially review their business relationship with the chip maker at the benefit of AMD. Will AMD’s customer centric approach be a source of advantage over Intel? AMD’s goal to focus on customer needs could look at first as a common marketing behavior. Indeed, the goal of marketing is to assess the needs of customers in order to propose a product that fits the best their expectations. As said by Ruiz in the paper of Ofek amp; Barley (p. 13) â€Å"It is very difficult to define what is customer centric, because everyone says they are customer focused these days. † However, AMD strategy seems to go beyond the simple will to fulfill what is expected to be the need of an average customer in the industry. What AMD really intends to build is trust based, long term relationship with their customers. They want to listen carefully to their feedback and make developments that are the result of those feedbacks. AMD don’t want to make technology improvements based on what they guess is important for their customers but rather on the real accurate points that customers themselves said they should develop. To achieve this ambitious project the company has undertaken a big reshaping of their customer service processes by creating â€Å"go to market groups† such as the Commercial business group or the Commercial Channel Council which are really close from end users and brainstorm with them before reporting to technical teams, also called â€Å"product group†. (Ofek and Barley p. 3) This allows AMD to create a real added value around its product line by fulfilling end users needs as accurately as it can be. Here is definitely a source of advantage over Intel as this strategy really helps to assess customer preferences over the long term and to observe the evolution of market needs. Moreover, by doing so, AMD will likely satisfy its customers and then keep them as clients. Thi s synergy created between AMD and its customers will finally bring them to consider each other as real partners, willing to work together, and AMD won’t be seen anymore as a simple technology provider. If Intel keeps imposing guideline to OEMs without assessing further their real needs, the AMD customer centric approach could, indeed, turn to be a very worthy competitive advantage for the company. Will it yield commercially viable innovations that are dramatically different than those Intel will develop? On the big picture, innovations in microprocessor technology will remain – in my opinion – merely the same between AMD and Intel. AMD isn’t powerful enough to create a revolution within the industry. However, AMD’s customer centric approach has chances to yield commercially viable innovations. By understanding better end users, the company can optimize the technology and adapt the product’s efficiency in order it fits the customer’s exact needs. Even though Intel and AMD are likely to have comparable technologies in terms of power efficiency and performances, AMD appear to be more willing to put themselves â€Å"in the shoes of their customers. † (Ofek amp; Barley, p. 13) With same performances the difference in the product’s choice can come from how well this product can perform within a special environment. With their customer centric approach AMD tries to understand their customer’s environments, challenges, etc†¦ and they build together – thanks to mutual feedbacks – ways to implement the microprocessors’ technology at their maximum power. It results in a better efficiency thanks to a greater product’s adaptability and a better understanding of the product by end users. That is in my opinion a source of economically viable innovation that could contribute to make the difference. The perfect example is given with the Torrenza initiative that aimed to completely open to customers the architecture of AMD Opteron microprocessor. Ofek amp; Barley p. 13) This was a risky bet by AMD, but it definitely had the potential to create viable innovation by giving the keys to customers. By being able to tailor the technology to their needs they necessarily optimize the efficiency of microprocessor for the tasks it is used for. This â€Å"gift â€Å" to custo mers could be the source of some innovations that Intel won’t be able to detect as accurately, because they couldn’t detect the need for those specific innovation. Here the innovation involves several different levels. Not only innovation in performances matters, but also innovation with product’s flexibility, with feedbacks and customer relationship processes. All those innovations are commercially viable even thought they don’t give a dominant position to AMD, they contribute to strengthen the company’s market shares and to its slow but continuous growth. As a conclusion, we could say that AMD competition with Intel in the microprocessors industry is good for OEMs as, at least, they can choose between 2 companies. It is utopian to think of AMD surpassing Intel in this competition as Intel leads almost all the industry segments, far ahead from AMD. However AMD should keep going this way and take every opportunity to differentiate itself from the giant Intel in order to keep growing and to be considered as a viable alternative by every potential customer. Bibliography Maisto, Michel. Intel, AMD Lead a Rejuvenated Chip Market: IDC Desktops and Notebooks from EWeek. Technology News, Tech Product Reviews, Research and Enterprise Analysis EWeek. 19 Aug. 010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://www. eweek. com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Intel-AMD-Lead-a-Rejuvenated-Chip-Market-IDC-848326/  Ofek, Elie, and Lauren Barley. AMD: A Customer-centric Approach to Innovation. Working paper no. 9-507-037. (Boston): Harvard Business School UP, 2007. Print. Stokes, Jon. Intels Big Strategy Shift and AMDs Opportunity. Ars Technica. Ars Technica  © 2010 Conde Nast Digital. , June 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. http://arstechnica. com/business/news/2010/05/intels-big-strategy-shift-and-amds-opportunity. ars

identity

Adoption And Identity Formation There has been an enormous amount of research conducted about adoptees and their problems with identity formation. Many of the researchers agree on some of the causes of identity formation problems in adolescent adoptees, while other researchers conclude that there is no significant difference in identity formation in adoptees and birth children. This paper will discuss some of the research which has been conducted and will attempt to answer the following questions: Do adoptees have identity formation difficulties during adolescence? If so, what are some of the causes of these vicissitudes? Is there a significant difference between identity formation of adoptees and nonadoptees? The National Adoption Center reports that fifty-two percent of adoptable children have attachment disorder symptoms. It was also found that the older the child when adopted, the higher the risk of social maladjustment (Benson et al., 1998). This is to say that a child who is adopted at one-week of age will have a better chance of normal adjustment than a child who is adopted at the age of ten. This may be due in part to the probability that an infant will learn how to trust, where as a ten-year-old may have more difficulty with this task, depending on his history. Eric Erickson, a developmental theorist, discusses trust issues in his theory of development. The first of Erickson`s stages of development is Trust v. Mistrust. A child who experiences neglect or abuse can have this stage of development severely damaged. An adopted infant may have the opportunity to fully learn trust, where as an older child may have been shuffled from foster home to group home as an infant, thereby never learning trust. Even though Trust v. Mistrust is a major stage of development, the greatest psychological risk for adopted children occurs during the middle childhood and adolescent years (McRoy et al., 1990). As chi... identity Free Essays on Adoption/identity Adoption And Identity Formation There has been an enormous amount of research conducted about adoptees and their problems with identity formation. Many of the researchers agree on some of the causes of identity formation problems in adolescent adoptees, while other researchers conclude that there is no significant difference in identity formation in adoptees and birth children. This paper will discuss some of the research which has been conducted and will attempt to answer the following questions: Do adoptees have identity formation difficulties during adolescence? If so, what are some of the causes of these vicissitudes? Is there a significant difference between identity formation of adoptees and nonadoptees? The National Adoption Center reports that fifty-two percent of adoptable children have attachment disorder symptoms. It was also found that the older the child when adopted, the higher the risk of social maladjustment (Benson et al., 1998). This is to say that a child who is adopted at one-week of age will have a better chance of normal adjustment than a child who is adopted at the age of ten. This may be due in part to the probability that an infant will learn how to trust, where as a ten-year-old may have more difficulty with this task, depending on his history. Eric Erickson, a developmental theorist, discusses trust issues in his theory of development. The first of Erickson`s stages of development is Trust v. Mistrust. A child who experiences neglect or abuse can have this stage of development severely damaged. An adopted infant may have the opportunity to fully learn trust, where as an older child may have been shuffled from foster home to group home as an infant, thereby never learning trust. Even though Trust v. Mistrust is a major stage of development, the greatest psychological risk for adopted children occurs during the middle childhood and adolescent years (McRoy et al., 1990). As chi...

Economic Colonization and a North-South Polarization Term Paper

Economic Colonization and a North-South Polarization - Term Paper Example However, the above distinction is found to be absent in the policy statements furnished by global trade and economic bodies like the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund. An analysis made on the basis of income suggests that the countries falling in the South Pole of international trade has per capita income at least less by 50 times in comparison to that of the countries pertaining to the North Pole. Further, the north-south polarization debate gained ground from the period of Cold War due to wide differences in the economic, political, and military resource conditions of the developed and developing countries. (Johnston, 2000, p. 558) The modern practice of international trade is contributing to the creation of economic colonies depending on the economic and political disparities of the different nations. This growth of economic colonization reinforces the concept of North-South Polarization. The notion of North-South Polarization earned due importance after the end of the Second World War. It is observed that the countries pertaining to the North Pole were referred to as the ‘First World’ countries. On the other hand, countries belonging to the South Pole were referred to as the ‘Third World’ countries. It is however, observed that the notion of the third world countries existed prior to the fall of the Socialist states like Soviet Union in 1980. In the previous period, the concept of third world was used in regards to geo-political ideologies in the realm of global politics. Moreover, the distinction between the North and South Polarization was also found to have relevance to the levels of industrial practice among the world nations.

Outline Plot from Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Outline Plot from Journal - Essay Example We ended up eating some pizza together because he said he wanted to make up for what he did. It was graduation day and Fitsum was neatly dressed. He waved at me with a bright smile as he held his diploma. It’s been seven months since we’ve first met and now we have been together for four months. Days passed without my knowledge because we were so in love. Fitsum seemed to be the ideal man, the best I could ever have. He introduced me to his parents and his family was lovely. Mom had known Fitsum all along as he usually hanged out at our house every weekend. We promised to communicate as often as we could. Fitsum was taking up Engineering at ---- School while I decided to take up ----. The distance between us was never an issue because we always found time to be together. My friends knew him well as he always escorted me in school activities. Fitsum, as they said, was an ideal guy. I felt proud whenever I heard this comment. Fitsum was still a varsity player in his college. Every girl in school adored him and it sometimes felt awkward for me to see girls flirting with him while he tried to get rid of them. There came a time when I got tired of his popularity and so avoided watching his games. I would see him after the game and that was how we celebrated. Things got complicated because he wanted me to watch all his games, saying I was his inspiration. I made alibis every now and then, which made things complicated. He did the same to me and never showed up when I invited him to our school activities. My friends asked why they did not see Fitsum anymore and I told them he was too busy w ith his games. Deep inside, I was hurting and could feel the end of our relationship. I have not seen Fitsum for two weeks and he did not have any new posts in his Facebook or Twitter account. I missed him so much but did not know what to do. Alas, I decided to

Functions of Norethindrone

Functions of Norethindrone Part V: Compound Summary Synthesized first in 1951, Chemists Luis Miramontes, Carl Djerassi, and George Rosenkranz blended Norethindrone to be the first highly active oral progestogen in Syntex at Mexico City. Norethindrone however is not the first oral progestogen as a use in birth control and many other variations came before, examples being progesterone, ethisterone 19-norprogesterone , and 17ÃŽ ±-methylprogesterone being in chronological order . The drug was put on the market in 1957 and was later combined with another estrogen called Mestranol to create Ortho-Novum in 1963 which happened to be the 2nd only oral contraceptive in the market. This significance of Norethindrone in history can be found that it was the first highly active oral progestogen and was used as an example to follow for later models and drugs like   norethynodrel (1952), and norethandrolone. Norethindrone consists of 3 different elements including :Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen with single, double and triple bonds occurring across the lewis structure. Norethindrone has 1 H-Bond with hydrogen and oxygen with many LDFs and Dipole-Dipole bonds throughout the structure. Being consisted of 20 Carbon, 26 Hydrogen, and 2 Oxygen elements, the total mass of each molecule per atom being contributed to the element all together is 298.41844g/mol, Carbon has 240.215g/mol weighting the most and   having the highest percentage mass with the percentage of 80.49%. The total mass contributed to Hydrogen is 16.20644g/mol with 8.78% percentage mass and lastly Oxygen has the 2nd highest contribution with it having 31.998g/mol and 10.72% of the compound. Solubility is the ability to dissolve in a specific substance as a physical property. Solubility is important in general as it determines what type of reactant will be formed from the products that are soluble. Solubility is important in my specific compound is that my compound is taking in orally, by mouth. The aqueous solubility is important to my drug to guarantee a safe entrance from dissolving in spit and saliva present in the mouth. The general rule of solubility relates to polarity and if a nonpolar substance is present, it dissolves in another nonpolar solvent and if a polar substance is present, it dissolves in a polar solvent. My compound specifically is polar thus melting in any polar solvent like saliva. This being said, my drug compound is aqueously soluble meaning that it will dissolve in water. The main function of norethindrone is to be used as a birth control to prevent pregnancy. The way it prevents pregnancy is that it prevents ovulation from occurring stopping the ovary from being fertilized. When interacting with other drugs norethindrone side effects can have various effects, most of them being moderate. An example of a moderate side effect from an interaction with Norethindrone is its interaction with Axotal, a commonly used product in Aspirin. Norethindrone effectivity may decrease when taking Axotal so using other birth control methods should be used to ensure the best effectivity. A more serious interaction is Norethindrone interaction with accutane, one of the most common medicines for acne. With the use of accutane while pregnant, accutane can cause life threatening birth defects that can form problems with their bone and internal structure including but not limited to the heart, skull, eyes and brain. Less serious effects by itself is an increase in acne , cha nges in weight, and breast pain. Norethindrone is only used as an oral contraceptive using capsules and ingestion to create the effects of the compound. The taking of norethindrone should be monitored carefully as if patients have former cases of strokes, breast cancer and miscarriages in the past, they should be given another prescription. Norethindrone as a modern day relevance is still commonly used as a birth control however the ratings for the drugs arent very good. For the birth control aspect, the reviews are very positive saying that it works, however almost all of the 49 review reflect on a constant problem in excessive bleeding during their menstrual periods as well as severe pain in the breast and pelvic area with weight gain being a smaller portion of the reviews. However, the versions combined with mestranol is not very known and not commonly used compared to Norethindrone by itself.

The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Four

Meredith tilted an ironic glance at Matt. â€Å"Hmm,† she said. â€Å"Now, who do you think Elena would call in time of trouble?† Bonnie's grin gave way to a twinge of guilt at Matt's expression. It wasn't fair to tease him about this. â€Å"Elena said that the killer is too strong for us and that's why we need help,† she told Matt. â€Å"And I can think of only one person Elena knows who could fight off a psychic killer.† Slowly, Matt nodded. Bonnie couldn't tell what he was feeling. He and Stefan had been best friends once, even after Elena had chosen Stefan over Matt. But that had been before Matt found out what Stefan was, and what kind of violence he was capable of. In his rage and grief over Elena's death Stefan had nearly killed Tyler Smallwood and five other guys. Could Matt really forget that? Could he even deal with Stefan coming back to Fell's Church? Matt's square-jawed face gave no sign now, and Meredith was talking again. â€Å"So all we need to do is let some blood and cut some hair. You won't miss a curl or two, will you, Bonnie?† Bonnie was so abstracted that she almost missed this. Then she shook her head. â€Å"No, no, no. It isn't our blood and hair we need. We need it from the person we want to summon.† â€Å"What? But that's ridiculous. If we had Stefan's blood and hair we wouldn't need to summon him, would we?† â€Å"I didn't think of that,† Bonnie admitted. â€Å"Usually with a summoning spell you get the stuff beforehand and use it when you want to call a person back. What are we going to do, Meredith? It's impossible.† Meredith's brows were drawn together. â€Å"Why would Elena ask it if it were impossible?† â€Å"Elena asked lots of impossible things,† Bonnie said darkly. â€Å"Don't look like that, Matt; you know she did. She wasn't a saint.† â€Å"Maybe, but this one isn't impossible,† Matt said. â€Å"I can think of one place where Stefan's blood has got to be, and if we're lucky some of his hair, too. In the crypt.† Bonnie flinched, but Meredith simply nodded. â€Å"Of course,† she said. â€Å"While Stefan was tied up there, he must have bled all over the place. And in that kind of fight he might have lost some hair. If only everything down there has been left undisturbed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I don't think anybody's been down there since Elena died,† Matt said. â€Å"The police investigated and then left it. But there's only one way to find out.† I was wrong, Bonnie thought. I was worrying about whether Matt could deal with Stefan coming back, and here he is doing everything he can to help us summon him. â€Å"Matt, I could kiss you!† she said. â€Å"All the girls say that,† he replied calmly at last, with a shrug of mock resignation. It was as close as he'd gotten to lightheartedness all day. Meredith, however, was serious. â€Å"Let's go. We've got a lot to do, and the last thing we want is to get stuck in the crypt after dark.† The crypt was beneath the ruined church that stood on a hill in the cemetery. It's only late afternoon, plenty of light left, Bonnie kept telling herself as they walked up the hill, but goose-flesh broke out on her arms anyway. The modern cemetery on one side was bad enough, but the old graveyard on the other side was downright spooky even in daylight. There were so many crumbling headstones tilting crazily in the overgrown grass, representing so many young men killed in the Civil War. You didn't have to be psychic to feel their presence. â€Å"Unquiet spirits,† she muttered. â€Å"Hmm?† said Meredith as she stepped over the pile of rubble that was one wall of the ruined church. â€Å"Look, the lid of the tomb's still off. That's good news; I don't think we would have been able to lift it.† Bonnie's eyes lingered wistfully on the white marble statues carved on the displaced lid. Hon-oria Fell lay there with her husband, hands folded on her breast, looking as gentle and sad as ever. But Bonnie knew there would be no more help from that quarter. Honoria's duties as protector of the town she'd founded were done. Leaving Elena holding the bag, Bonnie thought grimly, looking down into the rectangular hole that led to the crypt. Iron rungs disappeared into darkness. Even with the help of Meredith's flashlight it was hard to climb down into that underground room. Inside, it was dank and silent, the walls faced with polished stone. Bonnie tried not to shiver. â€Å"Look,† said Meredith quietly. Matt had the flashlight trained on the iron gate that separated the anteroom of the crypt from its main chamber. The stone below was stained black with blood in several places. Looking at the puddles and rivulets of dried gore made Bonnie feel dizzy. â€Å"We know Damon was hurt the worst,† Meredith said, moving forward. She sounded calm, but Bonnie could hear the tight control in her voice. â€Å"So he must have been on this side where there's the most blood. Stefan said Elena was in the center. That means Stefan himself must have been†¦ here.† She bent down. â€Å"I'll do it,† Matt said gruffly. â€Å"You hold the light.† With a plastic picnic knife from Meredith's car he scraped at the encrusted stone. Bonnie swallowed, glad she'd had only tea for lunch. Blood was all right in the abstract, but when you were actually confronted with so much of it-especially when it was the blood of a friend who'd been tortured†¦ And then, thought Bonnie, she faked her own death to get Stefan and Damon to stop fighting over her. But it didn't work. They hated each other more than ever, and she hated both of them for that. She'd gone back to the vampire who made her, and over the years she'd turned as evil as he was. Until at last all she wanted to do was destroy the brothers she had once loved. She'd lured them both to Fell's Church to kill them, and this room was where she'd almost succeeded in doing it. Elena had died stopping her. â€Å"There,† Matt said, and Bonnie blinked and came back to herself. Matt was standing with a paper napkin that now held flakes of Stefan's blood in its folds. â€Å"Now the hair,† he said. They swept the floor with their fingers, finding dust and bits of leaves and fragments of things Bonnie didn't want to identify. Among the detritus were long strands of pale gold hair. Elena's-or Katherine's, Bonnie thought. They had looked much alike. There were also shorter strands of dark hair, crisp with a slight wave. Stefan's. It was slow, finicky work sorting through it all and putting the right hairs in another napkin. Matt did most of it. When they were through, they were all tired and the light sifting down through the rectangular opening in the ceiling was dim blue. But Meredith smiled tigerishly. â€Å"We've got it,† she said. â€Å"Tyler wants Stefan back; well, we'll give him Stefan back.† And Bonnie, who had been only half paying attention to what she was doing, still lost in her own thoughts, froze. She'd been thinking about other things entirely, nothing to do with Tyler, but at the mention of his name something had winked on in her mind. Something she'd realized in the parking lot and then forgotten afterward in the heat of arguing. Meredith's words had triggered it and now it was suddenly all clear again. How had he known! she wondered, heart racing. â€Å"Bonnie? What's the matter?† â€Å"Meredith,† she said softly, â€Å"did you tell the police specifically that we were in the living room when everything was going on upstairs with Sue?† â€Å"No, I think I just said we were downstairs. Why?† â€Å"Bonnie, if you're trying to suggest Tyler was the murderer, it just won't wash. He's not smart enough to organize a killing spree, for one thing,† Meredith said. â€Å"But there's something else. Meredith, last year at the Junior Prom, Tyler touched me on my bare shoulder. I'll never forget it. His hand was big, and meaty, and hot, and damp.† Bonnie shivered at the recollection. â€Å"Just like the hand that grabbed me last night.† But Meredith was shaking her head, and even Matt looked unconvinced. â€Å"Elena's sure wasting her time asking us to bring back Stefan, then,† he said. â€Å"I could take care of Tyler with a couple of right hooks.† â€Å"Think about it, Bonnie,† Meredith added. â€Å"Does Tyler have the psychic power to move a Ouija board or come into your dreams? Does he?† He didn't. Psychically speaking, Tyler was as much a dud as Caroline. Bonnie couldn't deny it. But she couldn't deny her intuition, either. It didn't make sense, but she still felt Tyler had been in the house last night. â€Å"We'd better get moving,† Meredith said. â€Å"It's dark, and your father's going to be furious.† They were all silent on the ride home. Bonnie was still thinking about Tyler. Once at her house they smuggled the napkins upstairs and began looking through Bonnie's books on Druids and Celtic magic. Ever since she'd discovered that she was descended from the ancient race of magic workers, Bonnie had been interested in the Druids. And in one of the books she found a ritual for a summoning spell. â€Å"We need to buy candles,† she said. â€Å"And pure water-better get some bottled,† she said to Meredith. â€Å"And chalk to draw a circle on the floor, and something to make a small fire in. I can find those in the house. There's no hurry; the spell has to be done at midnight.† Midnight was a long time coming. Meredith bought the necessary items at a grocery store and brought them back. They ate dinner with Bonnie's family, though no one had much of an appetite. By eleven o'clock Bonnie had the circle drawn on the hardwood floor of her bedroom and all the other ingredients on a low bench inside the circle. On the stroke of twelve she started. With Matt and Meredith watching, she made a small fire in an earthenware bowl. Three candles were burning behind the bowl; she stuck a pin halfway down the one in the center. Then she unfolded a napkin and carefully stirred the dried flakes of blood into a wineglass of water. It turned rusty pink. She opened the other napkin. Three pinches of dark hair went into the fire, sizzling with a terrible smell. Then three drops of the stained water, hissing. Swift on the heel thou comest, Thrice summoned by my spell, Thrice troubled by my burning. Come to me without delay. She read the words aloud slowly, three times. Then she sat back on her heels. The fire went on burning smokily. The candle flames danced. â€Å"And now what?† Matt said. â€Å"I don't know. It just says wait for the middle candle to burn down to the pin.† â€Å"And what then?† â€Å"I guess we'll find out when it happens.† In Florence, it was dawn. Stefan watched the girl move down the stairway, one hand resting lightly on the banister to keep her balance. Her movements were slow and slightly dreamlike, as if she were floating. Suddenly, she swayed and clutched at the banister more tightly. Stefan moved quickly behind her and put a hand under her elbow. â€Å"Are you all right?† She looked up at him with the same dreaminess. She was very pretty. Her expensive clothes were the latest fashion and her stylishly disarrayed hair was blond. A tourist. He knew she was American before she spoke. â€Å"Yes†¦ I think†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her brown eyes were unfocused. â€Å"Do you have a way to get home? Where are you staying?† â€Å"On Via dei Conti, near the Medici chapel. I'm with the Gonzaga in Florence program.† Damn! Not a tourist, then; a student. And that meant she'd be carrying this story back with her, telling her classmates about the handsome Italian guy she'd met last night. The one with night-dark eyes. The one who took her back to his exclusive place on Via Tornabuoni and wined her and dined her and then, in the moonlight, maybe, in his room or out in the enclosed courtyard, leaned close to look into her eyes and†¦ Stefan's gaze slid away from the girl's throat with its two reddened puncture wounds. He'd seen marks like that so often-how could they still have the power to disturb him? But they did; they sickened him and set a slow burning in his gut. â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"Rachael. With an a.† She spelled it. â€Å"All right, Rachael. Look at me. You will go back to your pensione and you won't remember anything about last night. You don't know where you went or who you saw. And you've never seen me before, either. Repeat.† â€Å"Good. Do you have money to get back? Here.† Stefan pulled a fistful of crumpled lire-mostly 50,000 and 100,000 notes-out of his pocket and led her outside. When she was safely in a cab, he went back inside and made straight for Damon's bedroom. Damon was lounging near the window, peeling an orange, not even dressed yet. He looked up, annoyed, as Stefan entered. â€Å"It's customary to knock,† he said. â€Å"Where'd you meet her?† said Stefan. And then, when Damon turned a blank stare on him, he added, â€Å"That girl. Rachael.† â€Å"Was that her name? I don't think I bothered to ask. At Bar Gilli. Or perhaps it was Bar Mario. Why?† Stefan struggled to contain his anger. â€Å"That's not the only thing you didn't bother to do. You didn't bother to influence her to forget you, either. Do you want to get caught, Damon?† Damon's lips curved in a smile and he twisted off a curlicue of orange peel. â€Å"I am never caught, little brother,† he said. â€Å"So what are you going to do when they come after you? When somebody realizes, ‘My God, there's a bloodsucking monster on Via Tornabuoni'? Kill them all? Wait until they break down the front door and then melt away into darkness?† Damon met his gaze directly, challengingly, that faint smile still clinging about his lips. â€Å"Why not?† he said. â€Å"Damn you!† said Stefan. â€Å"Listen to me, Damon. This has got to stop.† â€Å"I'm touched at your concern for my safety.† â€Å"It isn't fair, Damon. To take an unwilling girl like that-â€Å" â€Å"Oh, she was willing, brother. She was very, very willing.† â€Å"Did you tell her what you were going to do? Did you warn her about the consequences of exchanging blood with a vampire? The nightmares, the psychic visions? Was she willing for that?† Damon clearly wasn't going to reply, so he went on. â€Å"You know it's wrong.† â€Å"As a matter of fact, I do.† With that, Damon gave one of his sudden, unnerving smiles, turning it on and off instantly. Damon tossed away the orange. His tone was silky, persuasive. â€Å"Little brother, the world is full of what you call ‘wrong,' † he said. â€Å"Why not relax and join the winning side? It's much more fun, I assure you.† Stefan felt himself go hot with anger. â€Å"How can you even say that?† he flashed back. â€Å"Didn't you learn anything from Katherine? She chose ‘the winning side.' â€Å" â€Å"Katherine died too quickly,† said Damon. He was smiling again, but his eyes were cold. â€Å"And now all you can think about is revenge.† Looking at his brother, Stefan felt a crushing weight settle on his own chest. â€Å"That and your own pleasure,† he said. â€Å"What else is there? Pleasure is the only reality, little brother-pleasure and power. And you're a hunter by nature, just as much as I am,† Damon said. He added, â€Å"I don't remember inviting you to come to Florence with me, anyway. Since you're not enjoying yourself, why don't you just leave?† The weight in Stefan's chest tightened suddenly, unbearably, but his gaze, locked with Damon's, did not waver. â€Å"You know why,† he said quietly. And at last he had the satisfaction of seeing Damon's eyes drop. Stefan himself could hear Elena's words in his mind. She'd been dying then, and her voice had been weak, but he'd heard her clearly. You have to take care of each other. Stefan, will you promise? Promise to take care of each other? And he had promised, and he would keep his word. No matter what. â€Å"You know why I don't leave,† he said again to Damon, who wouldn't look at him. â€Å"You can pretend you don't care. You can fool the whole world. But I know differently.† It would have been kindest at this point to leave Damon alone, but Stefan wasn't in a kind mood. â€Å"You know that girl you picked up, Rachael?† he added. â€Å"The hair was all right, but her eyes were the wrong color. Elena's eyes were blue.† With that he turned, meaning to leave Damon here to think it over-if Damon would do anything so constructive, of course. But he never made it to the door. â€Å"It's there!† said Meredith sharply, her eyes on the candle flame and the pin. Bonnie sucked in her breath. Something was opening in front of her like a silver thread, a silver tunnel of communication. She was rushing along it, with no way to stop herself or check her speed. Oh, God, she thought, when I reach the end and hit – The flash in Stefan's head was soundless, lightless, and powerful as a thunderclap. At the same time he felt a violent, wrenching tug. An urge to follow- something. This was not like Katherine's sly subliminal nudging to go somewhere; this was a psychic shout. A command that could not be disobeyed. Inside the flash he sensed a presence, but he could scarcely believe who it was. this was a psychic shout. A command that could not be disobeyed. Inside the flash he sensed a presence, but he could scarcely believe who it was. Stefan! It's you! It worked! Bonnie, what have you done? Elena told me to. Honestly, Stefan, she did. We're in trouble and we need- And that was it. The communication collapsed, caving in on itself, dwindling to a pinpoint. It was gone, and in its aftermath the room vibrated with Power. Stefan and his brother were left staring at each other. Bonnie let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and opened her eyes, though she didn't remember closing them. She was lying on her back. Matt and Meredith were crouched over her, looking alarmed. â€Å"What happened? Did it work?† Meredith demanded. â€Å"It worked.† She let them help her up. â€Å"I made contact with Stefan. I talked to him. Now all we can do is wait and see if he's coming or not.† â€Å"Did you mention Elena?† Matt asked. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Then he's coming.†

Facilitating Case Management Essay

Why is it important for a case manager to develop rapport with a client? Provide three examples of how rapport can be generated. 2. Why are statutory requirements necessary? What impact do they have on the case manager’s role? 3. What information might you need to gather from the families of clients? 4. List two elements that may be considered to be characteristics of a complex case. 5. Describe two strategies you may employ when dealing with a client with complex issues. 6. Case management plans must be developed in order to reflect the initial assessment of needs. Why is it essential that these plans be designed in consultation with clients? 7. Casework processes should be continually monitored for effectiveness. a) List two reasons why this is necessary. b) How should monitoring be undertaken? 8. If changes to a case plan are required, who should be consulted prior to the changes being made? 9. Why is cultural consideration important as part of case management planning? 0. Outline three strategies you think a workplace needs to have for including cultural awareness in the planning process? 11. You are a Team Leader in a Community Service Organisation and your organisation has just employed a new case worker. Describe two strategies that can help facilitate casework consultation between staff to maximise their performance in their new role. Best practice and promoting high-quality case management 12. What is meant by the term ‘best practice case management’? Why is best practice a significant service delivery benchmark? 13. How can case workers benefit from appropriate leadership, support, advice, supervision and challenges? In what ways might these improve service delivery? 14. Legislation, organisational policies and procedures can change over time. How might case management leaders support case managers in keeping up to date with organisational policies and procedures?