To survive in today’s marketplace, a company cannot afford to choose between low costs on the one hand, and high quality, innovative technology, quick delivery, or high variety on the other. A hybrid strategic approach is needed, teaming high quality or the latest technology with a strong cost position.
Mass customization is the perfect way to bridge the gap between cost pressures and customer-specific requirements. This strategy combines customer-specific products
and services with the efficiency of mass production. The customer who previously bought a standard product can now walk away with a tailored solution. Similarly, companies that traditionally produced custom-made solutions can still manufacture to order, but on a large scale, thanks to powerful new processes and product structures. Naturally, this cuts costs. Furthermore, mass customization provides the basis for successful customer relationship management (CRM)
culture and entrepreneurship
Though the economic factors influencing self-employment are clearly important, they do not address the possible impact of culture either directly on self-employment or indirectly as an influence on these economic factors. Moreover, there remains a high level of unexplained variation across countries when only economic variables are taken into account. Thus, more recently, researchers have also looked toward cultural factors to explain this variation. This section reviews the basic terminology used with respect to culture, how it has been applied to entrepreneurship research, and finally how the variable of post-materialism may be thought to influence entrepreneurial activity.
Syria Revolution 2011
Pro-democracy protests in Syria appeared to have started in earnest Tuesday, as a group of 200 mostly young protesters gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus to demand reforms and the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a ‘Day of Rage’, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe born November 16, 1930, and educated at Government College in Umuahia and at University College of Ibadan, Nigeria. He received a B.A. from London University in 1953 and in 1956 studied broadcasting in London at the BBC. He joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos in 1954, later becoming its director of external broadcasting. During the Civil War in Nigeria he worked for the Biafran government service. After the war he was appointed senior research fellow at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, of which he is now emeritus professor of English. He has lectured at many universities worldwide, served as McMillan-Stewart Lecturer at Harvard and Presidential Fellow Lecturer at the World Bank (both 1998). Since 1990, he has been Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College.
Yoruba Oba's Beaded Cushion
The royal objects of the Oba represent some of the most elegant and colorful of all Yoruba art. This lively cushion is a perfect example of the high degree of artistry the beadworkers possess; both in design and the technical, time consuming work of applying the beads. Encircling the middle panel are six faces, perhaps representing the deity Esu, guardian of the ritual process.
