Learning from the Five Laws of Martial Arts Strategy ------------------- by Robert Stevens

Hyoshi:  This means that everything in life relies on timing.  In combat, the opponent will have a rhythmic pattern that you must identify. It is important to understand what the opponent has planned against you and why has he chosen to undertake these activities. Upon possessing this insight, you have the power to change your opponent's intentions. It is also important to not allow the opponent to operate on his/her own speed or rhythm.  In the moment of their confusion, you must have already set them up in your trap and strike them down hard and/or escape.  Remember the exact second you stopped moving with an offensive attitude is the same exact second you must start defending, whether you like it or not.

Sudori:  This is momentum.  Everything that moves has momentum, and once the movement has started, it is sometimes difficult to stop or change this.  Used with the principles of Hyoshi (timing), momentum can secure your victory.  If a well-planned trap is made, the opponent will see a carefully implanted opportunity.  You show them a fake weakness and something that they have confidence in.  They will naturally commit with complete intentions.  When you seem in their reach, and in their mind they have you, you change the flow of momentum and destroy them.  These types of movements completely depend on the commitment of your aggressor.  Not only showing them a target that is accessible, it must also be a threat.  No skilled opponent simply gives up anything, and if they do, it is surely a trap.  But if you taught them with a threat, something that they must deal with, you will have their attention and will be able to control them.  To be successful with Sudori, you must have a developed spirit called Fudoshin.  This is an unmovable heart.  When they commit to the attack, you must stand there and bravely face their rage and wait until the proper moment to counter. Otherwise you have wasted a valuable opportunity that may never come again.

Tokoshi: This literally means to cross a great distance.  This can be done in two ways, one is the omote form (outer method).   This is done by physically moving your body into position to either attack, or set up a proper defense or counter.  Your movement should be an illusion, un-telegraphed and hidden.  Moving in a circle and stepping closer with every couple of steps as you move your body further away gives the illusion of distance and the surprise of a quick attack.  Many times in combat you are forced away from your enemy.  This time of separation is crucial.  It is not a time of rest or to gather your thoughts.  You must consistently show the threat of attack keeping your opponent on the defensive end, not allowing any opportunity to think about attacking and hurting you.  It is possible to close the distance between the two of you and rest or strategically plan.  But you must present a believable atmosphere of danger and threat as you prepare.  At all times until you have completely destroyed the will of your opponent to fight back, you must march forward.  By moving backwards, you surrender all confidence and raise your adversary’s.  This will happen unconsciously and will break your chain of thought and will put you in an uphill struggle to regain forward motion.  This struggle often closes the distance too fast to properly defend and you could now be in the web of their deceptions.  The second this is realized you must use momentum and timing to escape or attack with a sutemi (sacrificing attack/counter).  This will regain lost confidence and separate the distance, allowing you to show attack and put the opponent back into defensive form.  This understanding is vital with a stronger more talented opponent.  It is also important to understand the ura form (inner method).  This is to separate their mind from you or the situation.  You can do this with the illusion of words to confuse them.  Talk of things completely off the subject of what is happening.  This will allow you to see if they are listening to you.  Make them confused, and put strange thoughts into their mind.  Speak in a foreign or made up language to make them lose their will to fight.  If you confuse them correctly, they shall think about what you are saying and try to make some kind of sense out of it.  This means they are not planning any attack or thinking about hurting you.  Also acting disabled or insane or very weak can be other options to put distance in their minds.  This is obviously, a last resort, but a tool if needed.

Shikotai: This is to be very close like skin or a coat of lacquer.  This strategy is effective with a taller opponent, or a long weapon. By sticking to them as close as possible you will minimize their effective range, and frustrate them by denying them room for movement. Mentally stick close to their thoughts so you can calculate and predict their next move.  Being able to study them to find out their weaknesses is essential to survive.  If you are blind to your enemies' resources and information, you will easily be defeated.  What your opponent knows about you and what they don't know is very important.  This gives you the opportunity to change what they think they know, and maximize on what they do not.  By being so close, you do run the risk of being discovered, the truth of your plans revealed and your plan destroyed, so extreme caution must be used with this.  You must have them believe you are far away when you lie right under their feet.  This is the feeling of Shikotai.

Minari: This is using your appearance to achieve a tactical advantage.  Your appearance has a tremendous influence on your spiritual being. This in return has the ability to cause a chain reaction in every aspect of your life.  If you have dirty clothes on, or your body smells, even a bad hair cut will have an effect internally on your subconscious and confidence.  If you are well groomed and dressed with confidence, you appear strong; so you will act strong, and think strongly.  This has a cosmic effect on your daily actions and the way people treat you.  This will carry over into your business and social life, even relationships.  The way you look also has an effect on your opponent as well.  A very strong, positive spirit, with perfect form mentally and physically will make them cautious.  The result of this power will keep them at a distance and possible slow their attack or differ it all together.  This will give you more control over many situations in combat and in your life.  This image will keep you out of trouble and open many locked unseen doors for your future.  If someone has a strong self-image, a certain amount of effort and discipline was used to create self-worth.  Unfortunately today in life to be healthy and have certain things in life, you need money.  To have money you must have a job, and to get a job you need some kind of intelligence.  All this requires effort and confidence that builds self-worth.  The way you wear your emotions and your spirit must also be studied and fine-tuned.  You cannot give your opponent any clues to your thoughts or concerns.  When you have a strong self-image, it reflects a strong mind and people will respect that. So with the correct appearance, and correct thought, with correct actions all together working as one, you will have a much more complete and safe life.

Movie Promotion Strategies

A movie is declared a hit when it earns revenues which equals at least twice the sum total of the following costs:

1. The cost of promotion
2. The cost of production
3. The cost of distribution
4. The cost of exhibition

A lot of money is at stake for various people such as the producer and the movie promoters. So, promotion activities are extremely important to help the movie in generating revenues.

Let us have a look at how various movie promotion activities are carried out:

Movie Trailers: In these, the interest-arousing portions of the movies are highlighted. These are shown as short audio-visuals on televisions and in movie theatres during breaks or before the scheduled movie show begins. They give the audience an idea of what they are likely to expect from a new/forthcoming movie with an attempt to highlight the central theme of the movie.

 Trailer of Star Trek



Internet based promotion: Via the medium of the internet, a buzz or a hype is created around a forthcoming or new movie in the form of previews, early reviews, blogs and bulletin boards on online public forums. The main advantage of this channel is its cost-effectiveness and it is estimated that around 90% of regular internet users surf the net for movie related information. So this medium gives high visibilty at a low cost.

FM Radio: FM Radio is prominently used as a media partner to conduct on-air contests, to broadcast interviews with movie stars and for promoting songs/music of movies. The medium of radio generates a good deal of awareness about the forthcoming/new movies.

Merchandising: T-shirts and toys pertaining to  action movie heroes such as Superman in Hollywood and Krrish in Bollywood have served to generate greater brand recall among target segments such as children. This also serves as a connect between movie fans and apparel/ toy brands.

Print Media: This includes advertisements in magazines and newspapers, with articles associated with the making of movies so that movie-goers get an idea of "behind-the-scenes" action. Though this may be an expensive medium depending upon the publication and their advertising rates, it has the advantage of allowing the viewer to consume the advertised content at his/her own pace.

Billboards/Hoardings: These are displayed in prominent locations so that people can see them on a regular basis. The huge size of billboards/hoardings also help in conveying a larger-than-life image of movie stars.

Press Releases: These are statements aimed at the general public with the intention to convey that the movie is definitely worth watching. It also tries to communicate that all those connected with the making of the movie have put in their best efforts to make the movie a success.

Actor Visits: This is an emerging trend with actors trying to get close on a personal front with viewers so that their fans have a better emotional connect with them. (Aamir Khan attending weddings and mingling with the common public is an illustrative example.) The aim, however, is mainly to promote their movies and boost revenues from cinema-goers.



Data Privacy Issues in organizations

Hacking

Hacking is the unauthorized access of people into computer and networking systems. This is a major breach of security because it gives access to private/confidential /sensitive information which can be misused.

Normally, there are four types of hacking:

IP Hack: A hacker is hired to hack a specific IP address with little or no information beforehand.

Application Hack: It is a more sophisticated hack that can delve deep into databases and down production servers. Only experienced hackers can execute this kind of hacking successfully.

Physical Infrastructure Hack: In this type of hack, illegal users try to get into facilities to access systems or go dumpster diving looking for confidential information such as passwords discarded on sticky notes

Wireless Hack: Wireless access points are exploited from the back of a van with the intention of stealing passwords.

Data Privacy in Organizations

The various stakeholders involved are:

1.      Shareholders

2.      Employees

3.      Government

4.      Customers/Clients

5.      Society

Shareholders

The primary objective of shareholders is wealth maximization. The company has to perform well in a competitive market to reap profits and gain in terms of share value. Company related information, such as client lists, process details, management structures and procedures and whatever might be deemed as the intellectual property of the organization, should not be disclosed to outsiders, especially competitors. Any such disclosure might threaten the organization’s prosperity or even its survival. Any internal inefficiencies or shortcomings should be immediately addressed and rectified without any information leaking so that the prosperity of the organization, its market share and share value are not affected negatively.

Employees

Whenever a new employee joins an organization, he/she provides personal information to the organization in good faith. The organization should not allow this information to leak out or provide this information to third parties (except for governmental/legal reasons). Otherwise, this information can be misused resulting in blackmail/exploitation of the employee. This may also result in social stigma if the information is sensitive such as the employee being HIV positive.

When an employee leaves an organization, he carries with him the trade secrets and knowledge of the processes and management structure of the organization. This information could be of immense value to business rivals. The employee should however, maintain an ethical stand by not giving out the organization’s secrets and confidential information.

Employees may also be tempted by outsiders and rivals during their employment tenure to divulge company related information. The outsiders/rivals may be willing to provide various benefits in cash and/or kind to employees with the intention that they can capitalize on the organizations internal knowledge and weaknesses. It is, therefore important that the employees have a sense of belongingness towards their organization and remain loyal to it. So, this kind of wrongdoing may be prevented by the organization rewarding its loyal employees and recognizing its employees’ contribution.

Government

The Government should get a true picture of the firm and its performance so that taxes are not evaded by the firm. The Government should also know the demographic details of the firm’s owners and employees. This is important so that the Government has an accurate knowledge of its residents/citizens age, gender, income level, etc., which are vital for the Government at the time of formulating plans related to social and public welfare. Business performance data is also important to the Government to know about the state of industries in the country and where the business growth and development of the nation stands with respect to other countries worldwide.

Customers/Clients

The relation between an organization and its clients/customers involves the essential element of trust. The organization should be transparent in its dealing with customers. Along with reliability in terms of performance, transparency in procedures keeps the customers’ goodwill intact, which is essential for retaining customers. As a result, the company also becomes cost-efficient as the cost of getting a new customer is about ten times the cost of retaining an existing customer.          

Society

The society has the right to know of the company’s actions, especially if something unethical is being carried out to give rise to company profits. The ultimate beneficiary of ethical practices relating to security of data is the society at large. If all other stakeholders that is, the shareholders, the employees, the Government and the customers are assured that obligations of data privacy are satisfied, the society benefits from a sound and secure environment with minimal data theft such that confidentiality of individuals is not breached.

 Most customers are of the opinion that the control of personal information should be retained with customers. They are especially concerned about what companies/sellers/vendors learn about their buying behaviour and tendencies in the course of monitoring their commercial transactions. It annoys customers when they get sales/marketing calls frequently as their personal data or transaction related information is stored in the database of private companies for long-term use, giving rise to the possibility of identity theft. With the growth of data mining and data sharing, it is important that these concerns are shared with company CIOs (Chief Information Officer), managers, marketing personnel and other customers. Hence, ethical measures must be adopted to ensure that 1) the customer’s privacy is respected, 2) harm is minimized and 3) consistency in operations serve to reassure the customer that their data is secure.

Perceptual Mapping

Perceptual mapping represents consumer perceptions in two-dimensional space, so that a marketer or a manager can see and gauge where his own brand is positioned in the mind of a prospect and with respect to other brands, which may offer direct or indirect competition to his own brand. Consumers are asked to rate a brand along a given set of attributes or they may be asked to judge how similar or dissimilar two brands are. The former is used for Factor Analysis and the latter is used in Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS). The MDS technique allows representation of consumer perceptions in two-dimensional space with the X and Y axes being treated as frames of reference along which brands are compared.

Perceptual maps are visual representations of competing brands or products plotted along dimensions which cover the most important attributes. A perceptual map reveals the position of brands (as per consumer perception) with respect to each other and in relation to ideal points.

In the diagram above, points X, Y and Z are ideal points with respect to the price-quality relation for 3 different segments. “You” represents your brand position in the mind of the consumer. Competitors 1 to 5 have their positions marked with an asterisk (*). The brand in consideration is likely to draw most revenues from the target segment which has “Y” as the ideal point and it has closest competition from Competitor 1.

The role of marketing and advertising now boils down to:

Ø    Closing gaps between favourable positive objective realities and inaccurate customer perceptions

Ø    Amplify perceived importance of attributes on which the brand is close to customers’ requirements

Ø    Diminish the perceived importance of attributes on which the brand misses customers’ requirements

The brand must satisfy the customer’s question, “What’s in it for me?”. The consumer’s frame of   reference requires that the manufacturer’s claims or brand attributes be translated into consumer benefits to map consumer perceptions.

Strategic decisions may follow from mapping of “ideal points” or preferred position of target segments:

Ø    As revealed through mapping, a marketer can judge whether the perceived position of his own brand can be brought closer to the ideal point for the target segment. This may involve some change in physical features as well as advertising of the brand

Ø    The marketer may decide to change the ideal point for the chosen target segment and bring it closer to the perceived position of his own brand

Ø    An altogether new brand may be launched to satisfy consumer needs unfulfilled by existing brands

 

Where Toyota went wrong

Toyota Motor Corporation, once a name synonymous with quality cars, suffered serious setbacks with a huge number of recalls of its cars.  In November 2009, the company recalled 4.2 million vehicles followed by another 2.3 million recalls in January 2010 in the United States of America. The reason behind these recalls were that accelerator pedals were getting lodged under the floor mats of the cars, causing sudden speeding of cars. Subsequently, on February 1, 2010, Toyota suspended the sales of eight popular models and discontinued production at six of its North American car assembly plants.

It was believed that Toyota had compromised with quality to give in to rapid globalization and to aggressively pursue its motive of becoming the No. 1 car – maker in the world in terms of sales volume ahead of Ford and General Motors. In Japan, word-of-mouth could effectively spread about Toyota’s managerial and manufacturing methods by experienced Japanese supervisors of Toyota explaining and overseeing the same in Japanese plants. However, with over two-thirds of Toyota’s workforce being outside Japan by 2007, such effective and close supervision diminished taking a toll on quality. Factory workers outside Japan were not adequately trained in the Toyota Production System which had become legendary for its focus on quality.

Customer focus was lost with a view of rapid expansion. To facilitate cost-cutting, Toyota had used a number of common parts across various models. Outsourcing of parts to local manufacturers near Toyota plants also caused quality of parts to diminish. Suppliers were asked to focus on cost reduction, and were not watched closely. Adequate checks and feedback to suppliers about their performance was lacking. With heightened customer expectations, Toyota was not able to keep pace internally with the external changes. Other than self-acceleration of vehicles, there were issues of sludge build-up which caused engine damage, steering problems and defects in ball joints. Even recalls were delayed with Toyota putting the blame on human error in cases where Toyota car owners claimed vehicle defects. This also concealed the internal problems at Toyota for a while.

The way ahead for Toyota lies in monitoring quality closely, overhauling its design, manufacturing and engineering operations. Only reliable suppliers should be dealt with. Toyota should now focus on regaining trust among customers and fulfil a promise of demonstrating unmatched commitment to its customers.

 

Weird Hunting Strategies of Animals

Archerfish

To knock insects on low-hanging leaves into the water, the archerfish shoots them with a precisely aimed fountain of spit, then swims over to retrieve the new meal.

  

Amazonian Giant Centipede

From its perch on a cave ceiling, this foot-long insect uses venomous claws to stab passing bats, paralyzing them. Once its prey is lying still, the centipede can devour a whole bat in 60 minutes.

  

Mantis Shrimp

Wielding the fastest punch in the animal kingdom‚ its clubbed arms reach speeds of 50 mph‚ the mantis shrimp maims its prey with only a few blows.

Trap-Door Spider

The trap-door spider hides in a tunnel behind a camouflaged door of twigs and leaves. When an unsuspecting insect walks nearby, the spider reaches out and pulls it into the tunnel to eat.

                                                       



  

                       

Killer Whale

After driving a shark towards the surface, killer whales stun it with a swift smack. Since sharks enter a state of paralysis when upside down, the whales grab the shark and flip it over, turning a deadly enemy into an easy dinner.

  

Plethodont Salamander

To grab a quick meal, this salamander can propel its sticky tongue forward at speeds of over 15 mph, thanks to a ballistic projection mechanism that launches the tongue outward faster than muscle alone could.



Electric Eel

Nature's answer to the Taser, the electric eel can stun its prey with shocks of up to 600 volts.

Humpback Whale

After herding a school of fish towards the

surface, groups of humpback whales blow

 rings of bubbles around the fish, trapping

them. With their prey caught in a bubble

net, the whales simply lunge upward with

their mouths open, gobbling as many fish

as they can.

Turnaround at McDonald's

During the late 1990s the world’s leading fast food chain, McDonald's, witnessed a significant slump in its sales. The taste of consumers had undergone a major change with there being a shift from fries, burgers and sodas to healthy salads and sandwiches. McDonald's was perceived to be a significant contributor to obesity in the United States with unhealthy obesity causing foods such as fries, burgers and sodas. Brands like Subway and Taco Bell had made significant progress in the U.S. market and were eating into McDonald's
share of the fast-food business.

The CEO of McDonald’s at that time, Jack Greenberg, was unable to check the declining sales of McDonald’s. He was recommending a huge $1 billion investment in technology to make McDonald’s processes more efficient. Jack Greenberg was asked to resign as CEO in end 2002.



Jim Cantalupo



Jim Cantalupo, who had successfully worked on McDonald’s rapid international expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, was recalled and appointed CEO from 1^st January, 2003. Cantalupo also had a holistic view of McDonald’s as he had worked as an auditor of McDonald’s.

Cantalupo created a “Plan to Win” strategy which was put down as a one page document, which talked about People, Products, Price, Place and Promotion. One may feel that a one-page document would not suffice for a strategic purpose, but it is important to know that this “Plan to Win” strategy actually worked and brought about a significant turnaround for McDonald’s because of sound implementation. McDonald’s appeared to have been influenced by partner brands such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Donato’s Pizza. Cantalupo felt that McDonald’s needed to return to the basics of “Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value” (QSCV) which had brought success to McDonald’s.

Cantalupo felt that the old system of grading individual stores needed to be recovered. This  would make individual stores concentrate on serving customers better. New groups of  store owners with expertise in food, service, marketing and finance were recruited. Rapid opening of new outlets were curtailed. Whereas McDonald’s used to open around 2,000 outlets in a year, only 513 outlets were opened in 2003. The idea was to focus on enhancing QSCV to elevate customer experience. A concept of “Revitalization” was brought in by Cantalupo and his Chief Operating Officer, Charlie Bell, which conveyed the message to McDonald’s outlets that their No.1 and only job was to improve their restaurant and in case of any obstacles, senior executives of McDonald’s were to be called promptly. Marketing spends were cut down and an innovative menu was brought into place, consisting of healthier salads and sandwiches. As marketing spends were cut down, a system of regions bidding against each other for a limited pool of cash was incorporated and winners were chosen on the expected rate of return on investment.

Their closest rival, Burger King, which was No.2 at that point of time behind McDonald’s as a fast-food chain suffered to a greater extent because of shifting consumer tastes towards healthier food because of their smaller infrastructure which they could not adequately use to bring about a change. Burger King had to close down hundreds of outlets and previous customers of Burger King now flocked to McDonald’s.

As Cantalupo and Bell were successful in leveraging the QSCV model and were able to develop and deliver an innovative menu for customers in a short span of time, McDonald’s turnaround was realized by early 2004. In April 2004, Jim Cantalupo died suddenly of a heart attack. Charlie Bell was chosen as the new CEO, but unfortunately, a couple of weeks later he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He worked as CEO till November 2004 with conviction and belief to instill the changes that he and Cantalupo had envisioned. When he had to retire in end 2004 (because of being terminally ill), he was happy that he had a number of capable deputies in place who would continue to build upon the good work that he and Cantalupo had done to turn around McDonald’s.  



Charlie Bell