Should Marty’s Company Embrace Open-Source Software?

ZAOZAO LIU MIS500 FALL 2012 Should Marty's company embrace open-source software in its hit product? Marty Dirwey, CEO of Kalley Music Software, is facing a crucial question that whether she should open Amp Up’s source code to users and developers. Undoubtedly, the new strategy which opens source software in KMS's hit product challenges the current highly successful strategy which prioritizes holding the intellectual property of Amp Up. However, if I were Marty, I would support the new strategy. There are four parts in this paper. 1) analyze a basic but essential issue that why Marty hesitates opening Amp Up's source code; (2) further explain the reasons why the company should accept the open-source strategy; (3)give some recommendations to KMS; (4) draw the conclusion. The reasons why Marty hesitates opening Amp Up's source code Essentially, there are three things Marty is worrying about: the feelings of the team, the churn of the customers, and the profit of the company. As w e can see from the case, Marty is in a dilemma.She resists opening the source code, because she is unwilling to give up the source code which is the fruit of painstaking labor of the whole team and she is worrying about how to make money if the company shared the source code of the software which currently is the main source of their revenue. However, on the other hand, if she won’t open the source code, undeniably, she is likely to be seen as the enemy of the users, maybe not the enemy of all users, but at least the enemy of the fanatics, which must lead to be alienated by the customers who play a significant role in the music game field. ZAOZAO LIU MIS500 FALL 2012 The reasons why the company should accept the open-source strategy Based on what's Marty worried I mentioned above, I will explain the reasons why the company should accept the open-source strategy from three perspectives. Considering the feelings of the team, especially the feelings of programmers, I believe the programmers must cheer for open-source software.Obvious is that confronting the current situation that inventing and executing dazzling upgrades are becoming harder and harder, programmers who Marty really cares about are fatigue so that they lose the passion in the software so that exhaust the creativity. At the moment, open source is a savior for all the programmers. They can integrate ideas from different developers and based on the basic innovative idea from developers, the programmers are more likely to create more stable and valuable upgrades than their opponents, because the programmers, the parents of Amp Up, must be more familiar with every detail of code.Another fact we should recognize is that a new generation of programmers has grown up with open source software, and is more skilled in finding out what they need with OSS than with closed and proprietary tools and systems. What mean by this is that with the open-source software, the programmers would work more effectivel y and efficiently. As to the customer churn, opening Amp Up's source code to the external developers doesn't necessarily lead to the customer churn, while closing the source code doesn't mean that similar and better software would never show up and the customers would be loyal to the company forever.Actually, infringers with strong competences have already shown up. Thus 2 ZAOZAO LIU MIS500 FALL 2012 open source becomes a must-to-do thing. From my perspective, as long as the programmer team of Amp Up doesn't give up the innovation of the software, the opponents can hardly take away the original customers. There are two reasons. One reason is that Amp Up has sound brand which has been generally accepted. In my opinion, the code of software is similar to the literature.Famous literature must be recreated several times, but the readers usually only can remember the original writer and prefer the original work. Thus, Marty doesn't need to worry about the KMG's position in the music game will be challenged easily, leading to a large number of customer loss. The other reason is the team of Amp Up, including the programmers, CEO, COO, is professional and visionary and more familiar with the software and mass market so that the team is more likely to have a better understanding of the customers' preference and cater to the needs of the market.The strategy of open-source software in KMS's hit product has a positive impact on enforcing the business transformation from a technology-oriented company to a serviceoriented company, which can bring KMS more opportunity to get more profit. If KMS wouldn't give away their proprietary IP and open the source, to keep technology advantages in the music game field, they must invest more money in Amp Up, such as maintenance fee of hardware, so the downward tendency of KMS's profit would be inevitable. Recommendations for KMS In short-term run, KMS should open the source and then integrate and utilize the ideas from different develop ers to mprove Amp Up quality and get potential customers to the 3 ZAOZAO LIU MIS500 FALL 2012 maximum extent. That is, KMS should utilize Amp Up to capture the last bucket of gold of the music software. After that, KMS should open the platform to third-party companies and provide technical support to those companies which still have the dream of surviving or even thriving in an increasingly competitive music game field. In long-term run, a business transformation of KMS is a must. Besides, I think KMS should still prioritize the innovation, because it has a potent technology team. However, the model of technology innovation should be changed.Innovation within ecosystem should be a long-term direction. Conclusion KMS should open the source, because Amp Up has already in the open-source community and open source software can bring more potential customers and more profit to KMS. Reference Coyle, Karen. â€Å"Open Source, Open Standards. † Information Technology and Libraries 21 . 1 (2002): 33-6. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 18 Sep. 2012. Jonathan Schwartz. †Should Marty’s Should Marty's company embrace open-source software in its hit product? † Simon, Phil. â€Å"Next Wave of Technologies† opportunities in chaos (03/01/2010) , Chapter 5 4

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Equality - Essay Example While there are notions that connect equality with the similarity and sameness of identity, they identify equality with similarity, rather than sameness. However, probing further, the concept of equality is distinguished from the definition of identity, as two identical things may not be equal......(Gospath, 2007) In addition, the Marxist definitions have simplified the concept of equality as being a system of relations where every one has equal rights, privileges, and status. As per this theory, the concept of equality has been the result of development of concepts related to freedom and universality. It has cited the equality definition being not true in many societies of the world, like Afghanistan where the gender equality is still not present, as females are not treated at par with the male members of these tribal societies. The Marxist theory further propounds that due to the amassing of wealth by a miniscule percentage of the society, inequality was more evident than equality. Similarly, as per this theory, the religious equality was seen more in the form of inequality as the priests and other Godmen had more privileges and rights than the general masses....(Eq) Both of these cannot co-exist. It is often seen that with different levels of power and wealth accumulation, the real justice is not possible, as more powerful will always try to exploit the weaker section of the society. As per Friedrich Nietzsche, (Human, All Too Human, #92), justice is a trade, which has originated among those who are equally powerful. While he maintains that justice is just the payment and exchange within the characteristic of trade, everyone gives what the other person wants and each gets what he wants in return. It has been emphasized several times that fairness, being a form of justice, is possible, maybe rarely only, among equally powerful people only. Hence, justice cannot be treated at par with equality, as the basic character of justice is to trade on reasonably

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The recuitment process from an employers perspective Essay

The recuitment process from an employers perspective - Essay Example A well-written resume presents the impression that the candidate is organized and has good communication skills -which is the backbone of all organizations today. It is important to remember that as an employee you are selling yourself to the employer and his organization. An employee must be thought in terms of a brand or a product that must stress his benefits and explain why the organization should hire him. Even before organizations open up the employee’s CV, they have a look at the cover letter which precedes the CV. The purpose of a CV is to create interest in the employer to contact the candidate for an interview whereas the cover letter creates interest in the employer to read the candidate’s CV (Bovee et al., 2008). It is a common mistake to address the employer properly by using a gender-based phrase ‘Dear Sir’ (Bovee et al., 2008). Using phrases such as ‘Dear HR manager’ denote professionalism and anti-discriminatory behavior in toda y’s corporate world (Bovee et al., 2008). Likewise, it is common to set the objective of a cover letter as far too general. It ought to be specific to the particular industry that the candidate is applying in which demonstrates his/her skills of the industry’s processes or procedures. Yet another important issue is that of the use of a specific salary (e.g. $2,000) rather than a broad range (Hinds, 2005). Furthermore, it is crucial to recognize the fact that employers do not have a lot of time to read documents coming from a large pool of applicants. Hence, it is a malpractice to write a lengthy cover letter (that exceeding two pages). Ideally, the most effective cover letters span only a page (Brewer, 2010). Using internet jargon and not properly checking the cover letter for spelling and grammar is another common oversight (Bovee et al., 2008). This creates the impression of a rather slack personality of the applicant to the organization. As far as the resume is conc erned, it is crucial that it displays a â€Å"you-attitude† (Bovee et al., 2008). This is extremely important in all persuasive messages including the CV. It is useful to research into the background of the company and its operations because employers are constantly looking on how the employee can relate himself/herself to the company (Bovee et al., 2008). CVs must not be too compelling; the language that is used must not depict that the candidate is expecting immediate response of being accepted or rejected by the company. This expectation is erroneous; a good CV does not result in being accepted. It is the â€Å"gateway† to being accepted (Bovee et al., 2008). Furthermore, candidates often spend several hours detailing their experiences and interests believing that their CV will be read thoroughly. However, the truth is that most CV’s are read by the computer and screened on the basis of certain keywords; it is important to embody those â€Å"keywords†. Also, the most important issue that organizations report is the direct use of the word â€Å"I†; CVs must always be presented in terms of what is known as the silent â€Å"I† (Curtis & Simons, 2004). There are several formats for a CV at the disposal of the candidate; a chronological, functional or combination format (Appendix 1 and 2). The chronological format is most preferred by employers as it makes it easier for the employer to extract information. It is discovered that, all too often, candidates often fail to produce effective CVs due to the