Adhesives – Seven Ways to Make Paper Craft Projects Without Using Glue and Tape
It is very easy to reach for my double sided tape or any of my various glues when paper crafting. One of the things I love about paper is that there are often many ways to achieve the result you want. Adhering things with glues and tapes are just one way of making your elements stay where you want them. Come with me to look at a few other ideas for making things stick!
You can make your project without any adhesives at all. Taking a challenge to do so is a fun way to inspire yourself. Here are seven ways you could make your project without adhesives.
1. Brads
If you have been a paper crafter for awhile, you are probably familiar with brads. They are made of metal and come with a split pin backing that can be pushed through layers of paper to hold embellishments together. You often see them used in the middle of flower layers. There is no reason why you cannot use them in other ways such as to hold mats in place, to place tags where you want them, to bind together a small album or booklet, to make a swing tag to cover hidden journaling, to provide an anchor for ribbon or braid or cord, or as an embellishment in their own right. Use an odd number of brads in a row to draw the eye to a place on your page or card, make a curved line of them, or use them as corner points.
2. Stitching
Hand sewing or machine sewing can add a great deal to your pages and cards as well as being a convenient way of holding your elements together. Stitch together layers of cardstock or designer paper using straight lines or decorative stitching. Stitch around a photo using straight stitch or zig zag or blanket stitch to hold it to its mat (use a paper piercer and grid template first to make way for your needle and thread when hand stitching). Sew buttons onto your layout to hold things in place. Sew pages of an album together to bind them, with threads or yarn or string. Make a folded paper book with a stitched spine. Sew on felt or other materials to make flowers or any other shape you wish and then stitch them in place. Sew ribbon to your page.
Hint: If you use your sewing machine for paper crafting, be sure to keep a needle just for sewing paper. Stitching through paper will blunt your needle a little and may cause snags on fabric items afterward.
3. Clips and Other Hardware from the Stationers
Fossicking through stationery stores can reveal wonderful items for you to use in your paper crafting. Paper clips, little bulldog clips, pins, coloured staples and the like can all be used in place of brads or glues or tapes. Manufacturers are constantly coming out with new little trinkets for the Office. Why not incorporate them into your paper crafting projects?
4. Paper Folding, Cutting and Paper Crimping
Clever ways of folding or crimping paper can help you get by without adhesives too. Make slits in your paper to hold photos or mats at each corner. Make a row of slits and thread through ribbon, paper or a feather. Fold layers of paper together a few times and then punch through to add a brad or stitching. Use origami techniques on your project, folding flaps of paper over and tucking them under other layers of paper. Crimp papers together with a paper crimping tool. Investigate the stationers shop again to find paper binding tools that do not use staples, cleverly cutting and crimping the papers together without metals.
5. Magnets
Using magnets on a metal board or to hold elements in place can make for an interactive display. Using a magnet to hold a small book of journaling on your layout means people can pick it off the page, read it and place it back where it belongs. (Use another magnet on the reverse side of the page). Make paper pins that can be worn for special occasions and use magnets to allow people to wear them on their clothes (check to make sure no one has a pace maker before allowing them to wear a magnetic pin or it could interfere with the mechanism).
6. Velcro
Use Velcro to close your tag albums, make childrens fun books with elements that can be pulled off and placed back on the page at will. Sew Velcro to your page or element to keep it in place. Use Velcro to close a small paper box. Use it to make paper pins that can be worn on clothing, instead of using magnets.
7. Sealing Wax
Back before they manufactured glues and tapes i such abundance, people sealed paper envelopes and scrolls together with wax. There were special stamps and signet rings for pushing into hot wax to make decorative or informative pattern before the wax cooled. Try your hand at using sealing wax to make a special paper project. Use the wax to seal wedding invitations, for example. You can also use it on your cards or scrapbook pages to hold small elements in place.
And there you have it – seven ways to adhere paper together without the use of glues or tapes! There are other ways of making cards, layouts and off-the-page projects without the use of tape and glues. I encourage you to challenge yourself to find new ways of paper crafting and to share your ideas with me if you know if another way or two to make things without adhesives.
Xerox, Okidata Error Codes and How to Fix Them
Both Xerox and Okidata have taken the world by storm with their innovative technologies. However, there are still many error codes that baffle users. Here we discuss common error codes and their troubleshooting tips.
Error message: job canceled
This error message occurs when you have deleted a scan job before it could be completely transferred into the scanner’s database. Try resending the scan and make sure you do not delete the job.
Error message: failure in the remote directory’s lock
This error could happen because the folder with extension .ick was not removed properly after the scan. It could also occur if the destination disk is completely full. Maybe the directory or the volume for scan database has been incorrectly provided in the Xerox device. Try to remove the .ick folder and resend scan.
Error message: Invalid protocol
This type of error message occurs when the particular protocol has not been enabled inside the Xerox printer. You need to enable the particular protocol.
Error message: File transfer failure
This kind of error message happens when the network is down or if the disk is full or if the scan database path is incorrectly specified. You need to check the status of the network as well as amount of disk space.
Error message: system canceled job
This error message occurs when the sensors for the document handler is defective. It could also happen if these sensors have not been installed properly or if a person is lifting the edge of a large document from the trail sensor. You need to resend the scan and if the problem isn’t because of a person then it is definitely hardware or a setup issue.
Error code: 71
This error code in your Okidata device indicates it is a fuser error. Make sure to replace your fuser. Or else try checking the main board.
Error message: Error engine
This happens usually in the Oki Laser 400 series. Make sure to replace the ROM chip first. If this does not work, try replacing the circuit board of the engine controller.
Error code: 173
This error code means that the fuser temperature is low. You need to replace either the fuser or the thermistor inside the fuser.
Error message: fatal error 140
This error code 140 means the drum down and up process of the images are not functioning properly. The error code 140 means the error is with the yellow drum while 141 and 142 indicate problems with the magenta and cyan ones respectively. Try reseating the drums for image first. Then try reseating toner cartridges. You also will need to reseat the assembly for the sensor spring for the contact.
Error code: 020
This is another of the fatal error codes and indicates a power problem in the network. You need to make sure that the power cable is in direct connection with the outlet on the wall. You could also try replacing the cable or use a different network if this does not solve it.
How to Make a Rubber Band Gun
Back in the days when kids made a lot of their toys, some devious little mind came up with a way to fire rubber bands off more than their own thumbs. Thus was born the rubber band gun. Today, they’re enjoying such a resurgence of popularity, that you can even buy guns carved from wood, that replicate actual weapons such as repeating rifles, pistols and more.
But for a simply weapon to give your friends a snapping good time, try this. Gather up a piece of wood, such as a short section of 1×2″ lumber, a wooden clothespin, some Crazy Glue, a nail and a hammer.
You’re going to want to glue the clothespin at the rear of the 1″ side, which should be on top. But first, take a nail no more than 2″ long, and 1/8″ thick, and cut the flat head off, and file it down. Mark on the piece of wood, where the end of the clothespin will be, and drive the nail into the wood, sharp end down, about 1/3″ from where the mark is. Leave about 3/4″ of the nail sticking up.
Now drill a hole through the end of the clothespin, with a bit that is slightly larger than the width of the nail. Make sure you drill through both sides of the pin. Apply glue to one narrow side of the clothespin, from the open end, down to the drilled hole. Don’t get glue in the hole. Now place the clothespin on the piece of 1×2″, making sure it’s got the nail fitted through the hole. You might want to try the fit, before applying the glue.
Cut a notch in the end of your wood, just below the top, so you can hook one end of the rubber band there. Now pull it back, and hook the other end over the protruding nail. To fire, just open the clothespin. There should be enough motion to allow the upper part of the pin, to push the rubber band off.
For more zing to your gun, cut a second shorter piece of wood and glue it underneath at a 90-degree angle, to approximate the shape of a pistol. Insert your nail and glue your clothespin to the back of the “grip”. This will make for a longer stretch to the band, and more snap when you fire.
Medical Billing – Electronic Or Paper Claims
Sometimes there are things in life that are very obvious. In the medical billing world, this isn’t always the case. Many on the outside would automatically think that electronic billing of claims is the sure pick over sending paper claims via the United States Post Office. And while electronic billing certainly does have its advantages, is it really the be all and end all of medical billing? In this article, we’re going to take a good look at each method of sending claims. Sometimes the grass is greener but sometimes it isn’t.
Let’s take a look at the facts of each type of billing. With paper claims, you have to either manually fill out the claims by hand, especially if you’re a small office and can’t afford expensive software, or at best you need the software to fill out the claims as they are printed off your dot matrix or laser printer. Most software products for this industry don’t support Inkjet printing. For that matter, most carriers won’t accept anything but laser quality anyway.
With paper claims, you also have the wait. Because insurance carriers are desperately trying to move on over to electronic billing, they process paper claims at a snails pace. It could be anywhere from 30 to 60 days to get paid on your paper claim. This is not a maybe. This is indeed a fact. Paper claims get paid slower.
Another fact of paper claims is that they carry the additional cost of having to keep forms in inventory. These forms are not cheap. Even if you get them included in your software package, the cost of billing a paper claim, at least on a per claim basis, is much higher than electronic transmissions.
Another fact of paper claims is that they have to be mailed. This adds the cost of postage to the already high cost of paper claim billing. Plus, with paper claim billing, there is always the chance that a claim can be lost in the mail. While this is not necessarily a given that it will happen, it is a definite possibility.
Now, let’s look at the facts of electronic billing. For starters, electronic medical billing is faster. The claims are literally transmitted to the insurance carrier in a matter of seconds, depending on how big the claim file is. Larger files do take longer, but for the most part, this is a much quicker process.
Electronically billed claims get paid faster. There is no question about this. Insurance carriers do this as an incentive for medical billing agencies to use electronic billing methods.
Electronic billing requires software and transmission hardware such as a modem or an Internet connection. This adds an expense to electronic billing that you don’t have with paper claims. This is a fact. There is no way to send claims electronically without some kind of software and transmission device.
Those are the facts of each. On the surface, it appears that electronic billing is the hands down choice. But before you make that decision, you must realize that unless you have a large enough client base to justify electronic billing, the cost of the software alone might make it unprofitable. Plus, with electronic billing, you’re going to have technical issues that you won’t have with paper claims, meaning you’re going to have to hire a networking staff and other technical persons.
The truth is, there is no perfect world with either paper claims or electronic transmission. So please consider all factors before deciding which way you’re going to go.
How To Restore Picture Tube Without application a crt tester, restorer or rejuvenator
Picture become weak or dim usually happen after the monitor have been used for many years. Again it depends on the quality of the picture tube or cathode ray tube (CRT). Some grade A CRT can last for many years, but for the lower grade one it can only last for couples of year. Don’t be surprise that I do come across picture tube that had gone dim in less than a year! If you switch on your monitor for 24 hours without turning it off, then expect the tube to become dim fast. Besides dim (weak emission) , CRT may also develop many problems such as open filament, short between cathode and heater, G1 and G2 short, poor gamma performance, stripped cathode and focus and G2 short. In this article, I’m going to touch on the weak emission problem only and show you a possible way to brighten up the picture tube.
The cathode ray determines the brightness and sharpness of a picture tube. Its electrons are emitted from the cathode surface into the cathode ray tube’s vacuum. The electrons then strike the screen in the form of a ray and cause it to shine. Weak or used up cathodes produce few electrons and emit weak electron rays. This causes the picture to become dark and fuzzy. Sometimes the cathode emission ceased due to a layer of contamination coating covers the cathode surface. This contamination prevents the electrons from leaving the cathode’s surface thus you get a dim picture.
In order to identify whether is the tube that cause the dim or from bad components, one can always use a CRT tester/meter to check it. Some call it CRT rejuvenator, CRT restorer and others named it as CRT regenerator. These testers are designed to test and check CRT and fix it if the picture tubes have problems. I personally owned two CRT testers- the BMR 2005 Muter regenerator and a less feature one I bought from Thailand. With the help of CRT tester, I can know if a picture tube is working or not. If you do not have one, don’t worry because by checking the voltage at the CRT socket pin outs, you will have some ideas if the CRT is good or bad.
From my experienced, I noticed that the older tube can be brightening up with the help of CRT tester but not for tubes that was made in the year 1994 and above. I suspect the getter (made of barium) inside the tube have been used up. The functions of getter inside the tube are to absorb gas that was release when the cathodes are heat up. If the getter fails to absorb the gas, then there is no point to restore a picture tube. I have brightened up many picture tubes with the help of CRT tester and some looks like a new tube. But somehow after one or two days the picture tube get dim again because the getter cannot absorb the gas and the gas will travels back to the cathode surface and turn it into carbonate. Electron emission will cease again. I even have tried some home made CRT restorer downloaded from the internet and the result is still the same-the picture tube will dim back after couples of days.
After done some research and experiment, I found that the best way to brighten up the tube is to increase the heater voltage. Normal heater or filament voltage is about 6.3 volt and if you increase the voltage to about 8 to 9 volts, this means the cathode will produce more electrons and thus the screen will become brighter. Bare in mind that do not apply any voltage that is higher than 9 volts to the heater otherwise the internal filament will burn out and broken. Once it is open then there will be no way to rescue it.
If the picture tube is heading to rubbish dump then there is no harm to try to restore it. About how long it will last, I cannot guarantee it. Some will last even more than two years and some only couples of weeks. Recently there was a badge of Compaq and Hp 15” monitor that have the symptom of blur display with bright picture. No matter how hard you try to adjust the focus adjustment at the back of flyback transformer, the picture still look slightly blurs. Using the methods above I had saved lots of picture tube (I don’t need to replace a second hand one to customer).
It is a simple modification and this only applies to the 14 and 15” monitor picture tube only. First you need to find which secondary output that have output from 12 to 15 volts. Once you have locate it, then solder a wire at the cathode pin of the diode and join it to the input pin of 7808 (output 8Volts) voltage regulator. Please don’t tap from the B+ voltage which is usually 45 volts and above and this may kill the 7808 IC because this IC can only withstand voltage up to 38 volts maximum. The current drawn from the 14 and 15” picture tube is less than the 17” tube and if you use this way to brighten up the 17” tube, the power supply may go into shutdown mode and sometimes will even lead to power blink.
I do know some technicians like to use the method of turning few rounds of wire at the flyback ferrite core to restore the brightness. This method can work in Television but not in Monitor. Computer monitors runs in many resolution and the higher the resolution the higher the B+ voltage and thus making the output voltage at the wire increased. This will lead to a sudden brightness and may shutdown the monitor. Even if it didn’t shutdown, the customer may get annoyed with the Monitor brightness (raster) whenever the customer change the monitor resolution.
Now solder the pin 2 of 7808 IC to cold ground and the output of 7808 IC pin 3 to the CRT heater point as shown in the picture. Remember to cut off the 6.3 volt supply line from the power supply because you don’t need it anymore. What you need is the 8 Volt supply to the filament in the picture tube. You can also connect a low ohm protection resistor in series to the heater point. Just in case if any short circuit happens the resistor will open circuit. Make sure you attach the 7808 IC to the heatsink, preferable the heatsink at the flyback transformer.
This method only work for tube that is slightly blur and not too dim picture. If a picture is very dim even if you raise the heater voltage to 12 volt, you still would not see a bright picture. As mentioned above there is no harm trying to modify it and who knows the tube can be brought to life and serve the customer for many years. Hope you enjoy the article.
What? You Haven’t Got a Capability Statement?
What’s a Capability Statement?
As the name suggests, it tells potential clients what you, or your organisation and staff are capable of. It highlights what your future capability is and reflects on your past successes.
These are usually produced as brochures or booklets and are now increasingly appearing in online formats eg, HTML, PDF and self-executable ebooks. (The Entrepreneur Magazine section of “The Weekend Australian” of 25 Feb 2005 ran an article advising that legal and other professional firms are now using electronic media for their capability information). Include your logo, corporate colours and graphics so that your market develops corporate identity and branding recognition.
Some organisations and individuals prefer to call them Corporate Brochures, Organisational Profiles, Prospectus’ etc. This seems to be the preferred terminology and is, in my opinion, more accurate and descriptive.
The better Capability Statements produced as printed documents are graphics intense, professionally laid out and attractively produced on hiqh quality papers. The simplest form can be produced in black and white or colour on a cheap laser or inkjet printer.
Why have a Capability Statement?
When prospective clients enquire about your services or products, you send them a Capability Statement. If they visit your Internet site and don’t want to spend time reading about you and your organisation, they can download your file and read it when more convenient.
Clients may pass it to others when recommending your services. You can send one with your proposals, publicity materials, and on other occasions when the opportunity presents.
Clients may have dealt with you for years, but only buy the same service. They may have no idea you also provide other services they could use. It spells out what you can do in addition to what you do for them now.
If you don’t tell people what you do, how can you expect them to call you when they want something done?
What’s in a Capability Statement?
It’s not a dumb question! There are two trains of thought. One suggests that it should be chock full of verbage about how you can help your clients or prospective clients. The other view is that you simply tell them what you can do and let them decide whether they want your services.
The latter option would suggest you include the following topics and any others you feel are relevant, not necessarily in the order shown:
History: When did your firm commence operations and what has it done since commencement? (Keep it very, very short and succinct)
What You Do: What can you do for clients or what do you sell? Do you need any special accreditations, certificates or licences to do what you do? If so, mention them.
Our Staff: Who is your staff and what special qualifications, experience, awards etc has each staff member got that will help you provide services that are better than your competitors?
Your Equipment or Resources: If you are renting training venues, hiring out equipment, or rely on resources to earn a living, place some photos in your brochures. As some smart fellow said, ‘A photo tells a thousand words’.
Similarly if you have a special way of doing something, try to find evidence that supports it as being the best way, most economical, safest or whatever. For example, if you clean carpets for a living you’ll need to use cleaning materials that don’t cause fade, are not noxious, don’t harm animals or plants, are environmentally friendly and so on. You get the drift.
Where You Find Us: Where is your office, venue, factory, or whatever? How does your client find you? Do you need to include a map?
Contacting Us: Where can you be contacted by phone, fax, mobile telephone, letter, or email? Do you have an Internet site? Where?
Client Testimonials: You can place a list of your clients here under the heading ‘Clients’ or you can write to your clients and ask them to provide testimony to the quality, cost effectiveness, or whatever of your service. Several of your longer term clients may be willing to accept telephone calls from people who are considering buying your goods or services. If so, include their contact details so that potential clients can talk with them.
While a few, carefully chosen testimonials are good, too many can bog down an otherwise excellent Capability Statement. Don’t make it look like a testimonial contest! Nobody will read more than five or six.
Finally …
Once you have your Capability Statement, whether online, in hardcopy or both, make sure you have sufficient copies to circulate and a plan to upgrade it periodically so it remains current. After all, the last thing you want is for a prospective client to telephone you about a service you no longer provide.
Copyright Robin Henry 2005 – 2008
Mergers and Acquisition – A Case Study and Analysis of HP-Compaq Merger
Brief Description
The following is a brief description of the two companies:
HP
It all began in the year 1938 when two electrical engineering graduates from Stanford University called William Hewlett and David Packard started their business in a garage in Palo Alto. In a year’s time, the partnership called Hewlett-Packard was made and by the year 1947, HP was incorporated. The company has been prospering ever since as its profits grew from five and half million dollars in 1951 to about 3 billion dollars in 1981. The pace of growth knew no bounds as HP’s net revenue went up to 42 billion dollars in 1997. Starting with manufacturing audio oscillators, the company made its first computer in the year 1966 and it was by 1972 that it introduced the concept of personal computing by a calculator first which was further advanced into a personal computer in the year 1980. The company is also known for the laser-printer which it introduced in the year 1985.
Compaq
The company is better known as Compaq Computer Corporation. This was company that started itself as a personal computer company in the year 1982. It had the charm of being called the largest manufacturers of personal computing devices worldwide. The company was formed by two senior managers at Texas Instruments. The name of the company had come from-”Compatibility and Quality”. The company introduced its first computer in the year 1983 after at a price of 2995 dollars. In spite of being portable, the problem with the computer was that it seemed to be a suitcase. Nevertheless, there were huge commercial benefits from the computer as it sold more than 53,000 units in the first year with a revenue generation of 111 million dollars.
Reasons for the Merger
A very simple question that arises here is that, if HP was progressing at such a tremendous pace, what was the reason that the company had to merge with Compaq? Carly Fiorina, who became the CEO of HP in the year 1999, had a key role to play in the merger that took place in 2001. She was the first woman to have taken over as CEO of such a big company and the first outsider too. She worked very efficiently as she travelled more than 250,000 miles in the first year as a CEO. Her basic aim was to modernize the culture of operation of HP. She laid great emphasis on the profitable sides of the business. This shows that she was very extravagant in her approach as a CEO. In spite of the growth in the market value of HP’s share from 54.43 to 74.48 dollars, the company was still inefficient. This was because it could not meet the targets due to a failure of both company and industry. HP was forced to cut down on jobs and also be eluded from the privilege of having Price Water House Cooper’s to take care of its audit. So, even the job of Fiorina was under threat. This meant that improvement in the internal strategies of the company was not going to be sufficient for the company’s success. Ultimately, the company had to certainly plan out something different. So, it was decided that the company would be acquiring Compaq in a stock transaction whose net worth was 25 billion dollars. Initially, this merger was not planned. It started with a telephonic conversation between CEO HP, Fiorina and Chairman and CEO Compaq, Capellas. The idea behind the conversation was to discuss on a licensing agreement but it continued as a discussion on competitive strategy and finally a merger. It took two months for further studies and by September, 2001, the boards of the two companies approved of the merger. In spite of the decision coming from the CEO of HP, the merger was strongly opposed in the company. The two CEOs believed that the only way to fight the growing competition in terms of prices was to have a merger. But the investors and the other stakeholders thought that the company would never be able to have the loyalty of the Compaq customers, if products are sold with an HP logo on it. Other than this, there were questions on the synchronization of the organization’s members with each other. This was because of the change in the organization culture as well. Even though these were supposed to serious problems with respect to the merger, the CEO of HP, Fiorina justified the same with the fact that the merger would remove one serious competitor in the over-supplied PC market of those days. She said that the market share of the company is bound to increase with the merger and also the working unit would double. (Hoopes, 2001)
Advantages of the Merger
Even though it seemed to be advantageous to very few people in the beginning, it was the strong determination of Fiorina that she was able to stand by her decision. Wall Street and all her investors had gone against the company lampooning her ideas with the saying that she has made 1+1=1.5 by her extravagant ways of expansion. Fiorina had put it this way that after the company’s merger, not only would it have a larger share in the market but also the units of production would double. This would mean that the company would grow tremendously in volume. Her dream of competing with the giants in the field, IBM would also come true. She was of the view that much of the redundancy in the two companies would decrease as the internal costs on promotion, marketing and shipping would come down with the merger. This would produce the slightest harm to the collection of revenue. She used the ideas of competitive positioning to justify her plans of the merger. She said that the merger is based on the ideologies of consolidation and not on diversification. She could also defend allegations against the change in the HP was. She was of the view that the HP has always encouraged changes as it is about innovating and taking bold steps. She said that the company requires being consistent with creativity, improvement and modification. This merger had the capability of providing exactly the same. (Mergers and Acquisitions, 2010)
Advantages to the Shareholders
The following are the ways in which the company can be advantageous to its shareholders:
Unique Opportunity: The position of the enterprise is bound to better with the merger. The reason for the same was that now the value creation would be fresh, leadership qualities would improve, capabilities would improve and so would the sales and also the company’s strategic differentiation would be better than the existing competitors. Other than this, one can also access the capabilities of Compaq directly hence reducing the cost structure in becoming the largest in the industry. Finally, one could also see an opportunity in reinvesting.
Stronger Company: The profitability is bound to increase in the enterprise, access and services sectors in high degrees. The company can also see a better opportunity in its research and development. The financial conditions of the company with respect to its EBIT and net cash are also on the incremental side.
Compelling Economics: The expected accumulation in IIP gains would be 13% in the first financial year. The company could also conduct a better segmentation of the market to forecast its revenues generation. This would go to as much as 2 and a half billion dollars of annual synergy.
Ability to Execute: As there would be integration in the planning procedures of the company, the chances of value creation would also be huge. Along with that the experience of leading a diversified employee structure would also be there. (HP to buy Compaq, 2001)
Opposition to the Merger
In fact, it was only CEO Fiorina who was in favor of going with the merger. This is a practical application of Agency problem that arises because of change in financial strategies of the company owners and the management. Fiorina was certain to lose her job if the merger didn’t take effect. The reason was that HP was not able to meet the demand targets under her leadership. But the owners were against the merger due to the following beliefs of the owners:
The new portfolio would be less preferable: The position of the company as a larger supplier of PCs would certainly increase the amount of risk and involve a lot of investment as well. Another important reason in this context is that HP’s prime interest in Imaging and Printing would not exist anymore as a result diluting the interest of the stockholders. In fact the company owners also feel that there would be a lower margin and ROI (return on investment).
Strategic Problems would remain Unsolved: The market position in high-end servers and services would still remain in spite of the merger. The price of the PCS would not come down to be affordable by all. The requisite change in material for imaging and printing also would not exist. This merger would have no effect on the low end servers as Dell would be there in the lead and high-end servers either where IBM and Sun would have the lead. The company would also be eluded from the advantages of outsourcing because of the surplus labor it would have. So, the quality is not guaranteed to improve. Finally, the merger would not equal IBM under any condition as thought by Fiorina.
Huge Integrated Risks: There have been no examples of success with such huge mergers. Generally when the market doesn’t support such mergers, don’t do well as is the case here. When HP could not manage its organization properly, integration would only add on to the difficulties. It would be even more difficult under the conditions because of the existing competitions between HP and Compaq. Being prone to such risky conditions, the company would also have to vary its costs causing greater trouble for the owner. The biggest factor of all is that to integrate the culture existing in the two companies would be a very difficult job.
Financial Impact: This is mostly because the market reactions are negative. On the other hand, the position of Compaq was totally different from HP. As the company would have a greater contribution to the revenue and HP being diluted at the same time, the problems are bound to develop. This would mean that drawing money from the equity market would also be difficult for HP. In fact this might not seem to be a very profitable merger for Compaq as well in the future.
The basic problem that the owners of the company had with this merger was that it would hamper the core values of HP. They felt that it is better to preserve wealth rather than to risk it with extravagant risk taking. This high risk profile of Fiorina was a little unacceptable for the owners of the company in light of its prospects.
So, as far as this merger between HP and Compaq is concerned, on side there was this strong determination of the CEO, Fiorina and on the other side was the strong opposition from the company owners. This opposition continued from the market including all the investors of the company. So, this practical Agency problem was very famous considering the fact that it contained two of the most powerful hardware companies in the world. There were a number of options like Change Management, Economic wise Management, and Organizational Management which could be considered to analyze the issue. But this case study can be solved best by a strategy wise analysis. (HP-Compaq merger faces stiff opposition from shareholders stock prices fall again, 2001)
Strategic Analysis of the Case
Positive Aspects
A CEO will always consider such a merger to be an occasion to take a competitive advantage over its rivals like IBM as in this case and also be of some interest to the shareholders as well. The following are the strategies that are related to this merger between HP and Compaq:
* Having an eye over shareholders’ value: If one sees this merger from the eyes of Fiorina, it would be certain that the shareholders have a lot to gain from it. The reason for the same is the increment in the control of the market. So, even of the conditions were not suitable from the financial perspective, this truth would certainly make a lot of profits for the company in the future.
* Development of Markets: Two organizations get involved in mergers as they want to expand their market both on the domestic and the international level. Integration with a domestic company doesn’t need much effort but when a company merges internationally as in this case, a challenging task is on head. A thorough situation scanning is significant before putting your feet in International arena. Here, the competitor for HP was Compaq to a large degree, so this merger certainly required a lot of thinking. Organizations merge with the international companies in order to set up their brands first and let people know about what they are capable of and also what they eye in the future. This is the reason that after this merger the products of Compaq would also have the logo of HP. Once the market is well-known, then HP would not have to suffer the branding created by Compaq. They would be able to draw all the customers of Compaq as well.
* Propagated Efficiencies: Any company by acquiring another or by merging makes an attempt to add to its efficiencies by increasing the operations and also having control over it to the maximum extent. We can see that HP would now have an increased set of employees. The only factor is that they would have to be controlled properly as they are of different organizational cultures. (Benefits of Mergers:, 2010)
* Allowances to use more resources: An improvised organization of monetary resources, intellectual capital and raw materials offers a competitive advantage to the companies. When such companies merge, many of the intellects come together and work towards a common mission to excel with financial profits to the company. Here, one can’t deny the fact that even the top brains of Compaq would be taking part in forming the strategies of the company in the future.
* Management of risks: If we particularly take an example of this case, HP and Compaq entering into this merger can decrease the risk level they would have diversified business opportunities. The options for making choice of the supply chain also increase. Now even though HP is a pioneer in inkjet orienting, it would not have to use the Product based Facility layout which is more expensive. It can manage the risk of taking process based facility layout and make things cheaper. Manufacturing and Processing can now be done in various nations according to the cost viability as the major issue.
* Listing potential: Even though Wall Street and all the investors of the company are against the merger, when IPOs are offered, a development will definitely be there because of the flourishing earnings and turnover value which HP would be making with this merger.
* Necessary political regulations: When organizations take a leap into other nations, they need to consider the different regulations in that country which administer the policies of the place. As HP is already a pioneer in all the countries that Compaq used to do its business, this would not be of much difficulty for the company. The company would only need to make certain minor regulations with the political parties of some countries where Compaq was flourishing more than HP.
* Better Opportunities: When companies merge with another company, later they can put up for sale as per as the needs of the company. This could also be done partially. If HP feels that it would not need much of warehouse space it can sell the same at increased profits. It depends on whether the company would now be regarded a s a make to stock or a make to order company.
* Extra products, services, and facilities: Services get copyrights which enhances the level of trade. Additional Warehouse services and distribution channels offer business values. Here HP can use all such values integrated with Compaq so as to increase its prospects. (Berry, 2010)
Negative Aspects
There are a number of mergers and acquisitions that fail before they actually start to function. In the critical phase of implementation itself, the companies come to know that it would not be beneficial if they continue as a merger. This can occur in this merger between HP and Compaq due to the following reasons.
Conversations are not implemented: Because of unlike cultures, ambitions and risk profiles; many of the deals are cancelled. As per as the reactions of the owners of HP, this seems to be extremely likely. So, motivation amongst the employees is an extremely important consideration in this case. This requires an extra effort by the CEO, Fiorina. This could also help her maintain her position in the company.
Legal Contemplations: Anti-competitive deals are often limited by the rules presiding over the competition rules in a country. This leads to out of order functioning of one company and they try to separate from each other. A lot of unnecessary marketing failures get attached to these conditions. If this happens in this case, then all that money which went in publicizing the venture would go to be a waste. Moreover, even more would be required to re-promote as a single entity. Even the packaging where the entire inventory from Compaq had the logo of HP would have to be re-done, thus hampering the finance even further. (Broc Romanek, 2002)
Compatibility problems: Every company runs on different platforms and ideas. Compatibility problems often occur because of synchronization issues. In IT companies such as HP and Compaq, many problems can take place because both the companies have worked on different strategies in the past. Now, it might not seem necessary for the HP management to make changes as per as those from Compaq. Thus such problems have become of greatest concern these days.
Fiscal catastrophes: Both the companies after signing an agreement hope to have some return on the money they have put in to make this merger happen and also desire profitability and turnovers. If due to any reason, they are not able to attain that position, then they develop a abhorrence sense towards each other and also start charging each other for the failure.
Human Resource Differences: Problems as a result of cultural dissimilarities, hospitality and hostility issues, and also other behavior related issues can take apart the origin of the merger.
Lack of Determination: When organizations involve, they have plans in their minds, they have a vision set; but because of a variety of problems as mentioned above, development of the combined company to accomplish its mission is delayed. Merged companies set the goal and when the goal is not accomplished due to some faults of any of the two; then both of them develop a certain degree of hatred for each other. Also clashes can occur because of bias reactions. (William, 2008)
Risk management failure: Companies that are involved in mergers and acquisitions, become over confident that they are going to make a profit out of this decision. This can be seen as with Fiorina. In fact she can fight the whole world for that. When their self-confidence turns out into over-confidence then they fail. Adequate risk management methods should be adopted which would take care of the effects if the decision takes a downturn. These risk policies should rule fiscal, productions, marketing, manufacturing, and inventory and HR risks associated with the merger.
Strategic Sharing
Marketing
Hp and Compaq would now have common channels as far as their buying is concerned. So, the benefits in this concern is that even for those materials which were initially of high cost for HP would now be available at a cheaper price. The end users are also likely to increase. Now, the company can re frame its competitive strategy where the greatest concern can be given to all time rivals IBM. The advantages of this merger in the field of marketing can be seen in the case of shared branding, sales and service. Even the distribution procedure is likely to be enhanced with Compaq playing its part. Now, the company can look forward to cross selling, subsidization and also a reduced cost.
Operations
The foremost advantage in this area is that in the location of raw material. Even the processing style would be same making the products and services synchronized with the ideas and also in making a decent operational strategy. As the philosophical and mechanical control would also be in common, the operational strategy would now be to become the top most in the market. In this respect, the two companies would now have co-production, design and also location of staff. So, the operational strategy of HP would now be to use the process based facility layout and function with the mentioned shared values.
Technology
The technical strategy of the company can also be designed in common now. There is a disadvantage from the perspective of the differentiation that HP had in the field of inkjet printers but the advantages are also plentiful. With a common product and process technology, the technological strategy of the merged company would promote highly economical functioning. This can be done through a common research and development and designing team.
Buying
The buying strategy of the company would also follow a common mechanism. Here, the raw materials, machinery, and power would be common hence decreasing the cost once again. This can be done through a centralized mechanism with a lead purchaser keeping common policies in mind. Now Hp would have to think with a similar attitude for both inkjet printers as well as personal computers. This is because the parameters for manufacturing would also run on equal grounds.
Infrastructure
This is the most important part of the strategies that would be made after the merger. The companies would have common shareholders for providing the requisite infrastructure. The capital source, management style, and legislation would also be in common. So, the infrastructure strategies would have to take these things into account. This can be done by having a common accounting system. HP does have an option to have a separate accounting system for the products that it manufactures but that would only arouse an internal competition. So, the infrastructural benefits can be made through a common accounting, legal and human resource system. This would ensure that the investment relations of the company would improve. None of the Compaq investors would hesitate in making an investment if HP follows a common strategy.
HP would now have to ensure another fact that with this merger they would be able to prove competitors to the present target and those of competitors like IBM as well. Even the operations and the output market needs to be above what exists at present. The company needs to ensure that the corporate strategy that it uses is efficient enough to help such a future. The degree of diversification needs to be managed thoroughly as well. This is because; the products from the two companies have performed exceptionally well in the past. So, the most optimum degree of diversification is required under the context so that the company is able to meet the demands of the customers. This has been challenged by the owners of HP but needs to be carried by the CEO Fiorina. (Bhattacharya, 2010)
Most Popular Kodak Printers and Kodak Printer Ink Cartridges
Are you wondering why Kodak printers and Kodak printer ink cartridges are so popular? Let’s take a quick peek at the most famous among them to unveil the secret behind their fame.
Kodak EasyShare Family of Printers
Easyshare Kodak printers is an innovative line of printers that make lab-like print quality photos available to all types of consumers, even to those who are not professional photographers. Its unique stamp on the field of printing can also be found in its portability for on-the-go printing. One of the best printers in the Easyshare printer family is EasyShare 5500 All-in-One Kodak printer. Let’s have a glimpse of it to know why it is on top of the list.
The Essence of EasyShare 5500 All-in-One Kodak Printer
The 5500 all-in-one Kodak printer boasts about its quality and affordability.
- Performs multiple tasks without using your desktop and laptop-prints, photocopies, scans and faxes
- Produces high quality lab-like photos
- Has 2 USB ports
- Portable and compact
- An automatic document feeder that can take 100 sheets of paper
- Requires affordable and environment friendly inks
- Easy to use navigation buttons
- Costs $ 200
Evidently, this printer is not popular for nothing. It is an excellent find indeed, perfect for the fast-paced on-the-go lifestyle most of us have.
Kodak ESP 9 All-in-one Printer
Another popular printer is Kodak ESP 9 All-in-one Printer. The following are its top of the line features that makes it the cream of the crop:
- Is cost-efficient-at an affordable price you can avail of the following services in just one printer: print, copy, fax and scan
- Offers high quality outputs
- Saves you up 50% of printer ink for it uses direct thermal printing technology
- Has a touch screen control panel for your convenience
- Is wi-fi ready and has built-in Ethernet
- Has built in memory card slots
- Has fashionable design and is portable
- Has a document feeder that can take 100 sheets of paper
- Has a built-in duplexer that saves you time and paper
- Can store 60 phone numbers
These features are all available in one great printer. No wonder this printer is popular. It’s probably the best printer around.
Most Popular Kodak Printer Ink Cartridges
What’s unique about printer ink is its revolutionary pigmented inkjet system that lets you save up on ink supplies. Let’s review three of them to know how they can let you save money.
Kodak 10 Ink Cartridge Multi-pack
This particular Kodak cartridge can produce photos and documents with superb quality. It can either be used for personal or office high-production purposes. You can go on forever using it and it will not be consummated. This printer ink cartridge only costs $23.
Kodak 10 Multi-Color Inkjet cartridge
This Kodak printer ink cartridge has a 5-ink color cartridge that is capable of generating life-like pictures. It is compatible to various printers. Like Kodak 10, it lasts for a long period of time. It is sold at $15 only.
The Kodak Compatible #10
This specific Kodak printer ink cartridge is composed of a set of 8 ink cartridges that has 5 black and 3 colors, which can all be used for almost all printers, to ESP 3, Easyshare 5100, 5300, 5500 Printers, etc. Thus, this Kodak printer ink cartridge can be said as the best printer ink cartridge. Its lifespan is also long. This ink cartridge only costs $49.
Kodak’s Purpose and Popularity
Digital photography had slowly been overshadowing film photography in the market for the past years. This is primarily because of the never-ending creative improvements in technology made by huge companies such as Kodak. Kodak has continuously created new creative innovations in making Kodak printers and Kodak printer ink cartridges just to meet up to the demands of the consumers and to be able to produce the best printer and best printer ink cartridge in the world.
Epson Stylus NX510 Wireless Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Epson claims of the fastest printing speed with its new product, the Epson Stylus NX510 Wireless Colour Inkjet All-in-One Printer. Epson has always been and still remains a reputed name in the printing and photography industry. This time also it has been quite successful in impressing the users with a great list of features and functions. The Epson NX510 boasts of maximum print speeds of up to 35 ppm for the normal prints and up to 15ppm in case of black prints and 9.3ppm in case of colour prints for laser quality prints, which is almost twice the speed of other printers of the same class. Featuring the wireless technology, the printer lets you print from any room. Apart from printing the device also provides facilities for fax, scan and copy.
Specifications: Coming in a handy dimension, the NX510 can stack up to 100 papers facilitating easy transit of the device. The device uses 4 colour cartridges (cyan, magenta yellow and black) with the unique drop-on-demand Inkjet technology to provide you with the superior quality prints. Apart from the 802.11b/g wireless connection it also has a USB 2.0 and Ethernet port to let you connect to the wired networks and a multi card reader to let you have your photo prints directly from your camera memory card. The device comes with a unique set up that even lets you scan your documents directly to your e-mail. To speak of resolution, the NX510 provides a maximum print resolution of 9600*9600 dpi. To add more, the instant dry technology used in the ink provides you with water, fade and smudge resistant prints.
The only complaint of the device has been that in spite it features double sided printing, but rarely does that work for large documents. Apart from this, there had been no cases of complaints about the NX510 and it had earned good user reviews from around the world.
Compatibility: The Epson Stylus NX510 All-in-One Printer is compatible with all versions of windows and Mac operating systems. The package includes an instruction booklet and an installation CD with easy user interface instructions containing the pointer drivers and the printing software.
Pricing and warranty: The Epson Stylus NX510 Wireless Colour Inkjet All-in-One Printer comes at an affordable price range of about $99.99 to $149.99 and comes with a promising 1 year warranty from the manufacturer.
How To Choose A Printer That Will Do The Job For You
These days, the printer has evolved to a very noticeable extent. Printers started with the dot matrix type that was very hard to use. Dot matrix printers are the ones that print very loudly and it is difficult to feed the paper into them.
Now, laser printers and inkjet printers have replaced dot matrix printers. How do you choose the perfect printer for the job? Below are five of the most important qualities you should look for when choosing a printer.
The most important factor to be considered is the resolution. Resolution is the number of dots a printer prints in a square inch. Your old dot matrix printer could not print in a high resolution. Ink jet printers are perfect for this. A good quality printer with high resolution can produce 1440 by 720 dpi.
The operating cost of the printer should also be considered. The speed of the printer is very important especially if you are using it in the office. Laser printers are perfect in this respect, 80 to 100 page documents can be printed in a very short time. Laser printers are also very cost effective to operate since their cartridges are not replaced very often.
Printers that have photo lab quality are essential if you are looking for a printer that can print high-resolution images in photo paper. Those who often use printers for printing pictures should get printers of the dye-sublimation type. With this type of printer, the dots are softer, thereby making the images appear sharper.
The volume of printout per minute is essential if you are printing large numbers of documents in black and white. There are printers with a lower resolution of about 400 by 400 dpi that can print about 70 pages in black and white within a minute.
The size of the printout is also to be considered. There are certain printers that can print all sizes of documents, big or small. The usual paper size is the 8.5 by 11 but for these types of printers, you can print enveloped size to tabloid-sized documents.
To be able to select the perfect printer for your needs, you should first determine where the printer would be used. If you are keen on printing photos, then a photo printer is necessary, but if you are more interested in printing documents, then heavy duty printers with speed printing are appropriate to use. High resolution is important, however it should fit the speed, quality and price of the printout.
Keeping the above specifications in mind, you will be able to purchase the right printer that would meet your requirements.