20600794-Entry-5: Web 2.0 Series #2: SaaS

What did Bill Gates could see that lead him to his success. It was software. He saw that software was as important as new hardware or new technology. Today computer software is so ubiquitous that we even take it for granted. With the development of new technology and computer processing capacity Software of what we call Desktop application has developed a lot.

But, as internet technology expands and we get more and more connected with high speed internet. There’s a new way of using software has emerged. It’s called SaaS or Software as a Service. SaaS is a software implementation that based on the Internet. The Internet is the environment for this applications. In other words we don’t need to install them on our computer. All we need to do use to just log-in to the Internet. A typical SaaS could be our email client applications such Yahoo! Mail, GMail etc. for normal consumer usage. But more sophisticated usage could be Customer Relationship management, Video Conferencing, Human Resourcing, IT Service management, Accounting etc.

The key characteristics of SaaS software, according to IDC, include:

• network-based access to, and management of, commercially available (i.e., not custom) software
• activities that are managed from central locations rather than at each customer’s site, enabling customers to access applications remotely via the Web
• application delivery that typically is closer to a one-to-many model (single instance, multi-tenant architecture) than to a one-to-one model, including architecture, pricing, partnering, and management characteristics
• centralized feature updating, which obviates the need for downloadable patches and upgradesL

KOREAN COSMETIC BUSINESS

I read some articles about Korean cosmetic business which says that Korean make-up firm The Face Shop has seen sales boom over the past several months for a line of 14 products including moisturisers, face packs and cleansers made from the grain and water drained after washing polished rice.

And CJ Lion Beauty Care in October revamped its “Enjoy Your Rice Day” line of hair care and beauty products, hoping to cash in on the beauty craze.

Beauty-mad South Korea is one of Asia’s biggest cosmetics markets, where even male conscripts spend time and money to look good. Plastic surgery is also common.

“Since the Joseon Dynasty in Korea (1392-1910), rice and rice water in particular were known to be effective for whitening and moisturising,” said Roh Suk-ji, executive director of product planning at The Face Shop.

Rice-based cleansers are among the top sellers, with some 40,000 products sold a month, Roh said.

CJ Lion is marketing its rice-based products as good for sensitive skins.

“We decided to release products based on this ingredient because our ancestors used to rinse their hair with rice water and it has great moisturising effects,” said Kim Jee-yun, assistant brand manager of CJ Lion.

The Face Shop, which has stores in 18 countries, started exporting the rice-based cosmetics to other parts of Asia.

In Asia’s biggest economy of Japan, water run-off from rinsing polished rice has been used around homes for years.

 

Surge in demand

In South Korea’s entertainment business - where looks are as important as talent - few have been as honest. But surgery is becoming more and more common.

 

 

 

Up to 20% choosing to go under the surgeon’s knife are men

 

A petrol station is currently running a promotional campaign called “Dreams Come True”, in which customers can win prizes for filling up their tanks. One of the prizes is a chance to undergo plastic surgery.

Kwan Ki Yong, chairman of SeouSeoul petrol stations, says it shows how mainstream surgery has become. The promotion has led to a 20% surge in customers.

“There is one plastic surgery clinic for every building in this neighbourhood,” he said. “I think the density of so many clinics here with top class surgeons has really removed taboos associated with plastic surgery.”

With just a few clicks on a computer, a doctor can use digital imagery to show his patients how surgery can enhance their looks.

Career boost

More men than ever before are convinced it can improve their career prospects. And as operations have become cheaper, increasing numbers are going under the knife.

Dr Choi Oh Kyu, a cosmetic surgeon, explains why. “In my clinic, about 15 to 20% of patients are men. It is a big increase,” he said. “I think it’s because they’re placing more importance on their appearance, especially after the Asian financial crisis, when it became harder to find jobs.

“Also, a lot of middle-aged men come in wanting to look younger. These days, in business, the mature look is no longer an asset. Everyone wants to look younger.”

The beauty industry is big business in South Korea. Up-market spas specialise in luxury treatments like oxygen therapy for over-worked professionals.

Chung Seung Eun, the general manager of Boon Spa, said: “More men are coming to spas like mine for their beauty treatments. Appearance is very important in South Korea. Korean businessmen are meeting many people every day and so they want to look their best.”

As Korea’s job market becomes more competitive, enhancing your looks - both naturally and artificially - can give you a cutting edge over your rivals.

POSTED BY 20700735 entry 6

 

CULTURE AND BUSINESS.

Culture refers to the totality of people’s ways of life. It is all about mental programming which shapes their ways and the way they live and perceive things. In this world of business competition, culture has an influence on how well an organization performs toward meeting its potential. Here are some of the questions one needs to Culture ask himself before initiating the business in a particular area.

 Understanding Culture

1. Who sets the style and pace?
   What kind of Role Model are they?
   “Do as we do” or “Do as we say?”
2. What behavior is rewarded, condemned or ignored?
   Is feedback constant, intermittent, at job completion, or never?
   Are improper or unethical practices condoned through silence?
3. What information is shared? (needed vs. desired information)
   Is upward information flow constrained? (Do you really know?)
4. How is superior performance encouraged?
   What type of performance appraisal system is used?
   How are the best qualified people recruited?
   Is training and development offered to everyone?
5. Are values backed up by time and money?
6. What is the relative importance of
   - bottom line results?
   - saving face?
   - Power building?

Through putting those aspects in consideration your business will have a standing point when comes to culture aspect.

      

  By 20700796   Entry 5th.

Microsoft Introduces a New Small Computer

 

Microsoft Corp unveiled a gadget that blends the functions of a PC with the mobility of a wireless handheld device, hoping to create a new product category that will capitalize on growing demand for mobile technology.

For a year, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates teased the tech world about the prospects for the device, code-named Origami, and bloggers speculated about its features. Yesterday, at a trade show in Germany, Microsoft introduced the thin gadget with a seven-inch screen and gave it a more technical-sounding name: the Ultra-Mobile PC, or UMPC.

Similar in size to a portable DVD player but with a touch screen similar to that of a tablet PC, the UMPC weighs two pounds and provides a bigger screen to browse the Web, read e-mails and view photos and video using a Windows operating system. The device will be sold for $600 to $1,000 and will be available in April from Samsung Electronics Co. and the China’s Founder Group. A version from Taiwan electronics giant AsusTek Computer Inc. is due in June.

Tech analysts expressed skepticism that the product would take off right away, and Microsoft downplayed its early projections for sales. Microsoft initially said that it hoped to capture technology enthusiasts, but both the company and analysts now say that if successful, the product have huge long-term implications — essentially a new PC market                            .

“We don’t see it as a replacement of BlackBerrys or desktops or mobile PCs as much as the ability to extend what you want to do but is not convenient or available now,” said Microsoft spokeswoman Mika Krammer.

Several analysts said the product is too expensive and lacks enough distinction because it has many of the same features as a laptop or a handheld device. Microsoft acknowledged that the product it likely to be the second or third tech gadget that a consumer would buy.

“It does seem to be a product in search of a market,” said Stephen Baker of NPD Group. “I don’t necessarily think it’s doomed to be a failure. It does need some more direction.”

Baker said one of the UMPC’s redeeming qualities is its larger screen, which could be useful for people viewing videos and photos and for Web browsing — tasks that cell phones and handheld wireless devices can do, but with limitations. The new device is a bit of a gamble for Microsoft, which has been struggling behind Apple Computer Inc. to prove that it still offers cutting-edge new technology. But if it succeeds in creating a new submarket for consumer devices, the payoffs could be huge for Microsoft and Intel Corp., which provides the gadget’s microprocessor.

 

BY 20700795  entry 5

World Economy Downturn

 

International Monetary Fund has released a report says that the United States is headed for a recession that dragging world economic growth together with it.  The US economic crisis in recent period has affected people, investors and businessmen all over the world.  Because of many different facts, the IMF predict the fall into a slump of the globe’s economy in the future. 

US did not recognize the problem like this in 17 past years.  But in this year 2008, its economy will fall 0.5 and will continue to fall to the 0.6 next year.  The economic experts think that it was the first recession the country has recognize since 2001. Even the Federal Reserve chairman said that a recession was possible.

Because of globalization, one country is facing the economic problem, and it becomes the world problem. All countries around the globe are shrinking their output, and the problem of lack of food in various countries is becoming the great burden of daily life of people.

In the countries especially those in developing economy, they are facing huge problem of increasing of food price.  In different parts of the globe, people were demonstrating the increase of food price. In Haiti people stopped their works and went to strike because food price increase about 50% since last year. People can not afford present prices; it is why they consider the present situation as battery acid.

In Africa, countries like South Africa, Cameroon, Senegal and others were protesting over food prices last week.  People who live in poor condition will recognize worse situation if the world do not do anything to prevent the increase of food price. In South Africa, the powerful labor federation COSATU on Tuesday threatened marches and possible strikes to protest against rising food prices. The federation called for the government to set up a national food price regulator to determine prices and for heads of companies found guilty of price collusion to be dismissed. However, it had not yet decided on the form of the action to be taken.

This problem of increasing food price was talked since last month but it is becoming worse day after day. It is going together with world’s economy because as fuel price increase and some developing countries’ economy is growing; there must be a great change of price. Some countries like chine are buying more compared to what they were buying in 20 years ago. As people are changing their lives style, they need more facilities and food. The world would solve this problem urgently because it will affect all people, and slow economies of many countries.

 

By 20500203 Entry: 5