Compare The Metamorphosis And Its A Wonderful Life

â€Å"The Metamorphosis† and â€Å"It’s a Wonderful Life†: The Importance of Family Support â€Å"The Metamorphosis† by Franz Kafka and the movie â€Å"It’s a Wonderful Life† by Francis Copler don’t seem to have a lot in common at first glance. One is an old novella taught in literature classes, and the other is a Christmas movie, but if you look closer you can see they share common themes of unhappiness, transformation, and dependence on family support. In both â€Å"The Metamorphosis† and â€Å"It’s a Wonderful Life† the main characters are unhappy in their lives, and go through a transformation where they see what their lives are like without them. We will examine the characters, the journeys they went through, and the different outcomes of similar experiences.†¦show more content†¦Gregor’s transformation begins when he wakes up and is morphed into an insect, and watches his family’s lives progress without him able to support himself, let alone them. In both of the transformations, the two are self-sacrificing, and feel unappreciated. They are stuck in what they see as a dead end job. They are stuck in an unending cycle of work and drudgery, doing something they hate for others. Then there is a big problem in each of their lives. For George it’s the possible jail time, and for Gregor it’s morphing into a giant insect. With so many similarities between the two stories you might expect the outcomes to be the same, or at least similar, but they are surprisingly different. The difference between the two transformations can even be considered extremes. The two are opposites. George Bailey regains his humanity and enjoyment of life when he finds out how important to others and how loved he really is. He ends up a happy and wealthy man. Gregor on the other hand loses his humanity after finding that his family can support themselves and would be happier without him, and thru his family’s betrayal and neglect dies a s ad death. George’s family base is strong and sturdy, and during his time of need they all pulled to helpShow MoreRelatedThe Burial Rights Of The Dead1595 Words   |  7 Pagesforced to endure, despite everything that they have previously suffered. What the author is trying to accomplish with this passage is to make the reader realize this horrible fact. In addition, the author wants the reader to realize the complete metamorphosis that prisoners went through by being in the camps – when Wiesel writes, â€Å"Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers without a tear† (Wiesel 92), the reader realizes that the prisoners’ ‘camp’ mentality is ‘survival of the fittest’ and ‘every manRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesGlobalization 16 †¢ Managing Workforce Diversity 18 †¢ Improving Customer Service 18 †¢ Improving People Skills 19 †¢ Stimulating Innovation and Change 20 †¢ Coping with â€Å"Temporariness† 20 †¢ Working in Networked Organizations 20 †¢ Helping Employees Balance Work–Life Conflicts 21 †¢ Creating a Positive Work Environment 22 †¢ Improving Ethical Behavior 22 Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 23 An Overview 23 †¢ Inputs 24 †¢ Processes 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-AssessmentRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesSkills 25 Case 1: Work/Life Balance at Baxter 25 Working with a Team: Understanding Diversity Issues 25 Learning an HRM Skill: Guidelines for Acting Ethically 26 Enhancing Your Communication Skills 26 ETHICAL ISSUES IN HRM: Invasion of Privacy? 9 WORKPLACE ISSUES: We Are Now Entering the Blogosphere 10 Workforce Diversity 10 The Workforce Today 10 DID YOU KNOW?: Chief Diversity Officer 11 How Diversity Affects HRM 11 WORKPLACE ISSUES: Diversity Awareness 12 What Is a Work/Life Balance? 12 DID YOU

Through Deaf Eyes Review Essay - 1523 Words

In â€Å"Through Deaf Eyes† you will find a range of perspective on the question what is deafness? This film is a balanced presentation of deaf experience. I believe that the film does a good job of revealing the struggles and triumphs of deaf people in society throughout history. The documentary covers a span of close to 200 years of deaf life in the United States. You will see experiences among deaf people in education, family life, work, and social activities. Sign language is language that uses visual hand patterns to convey a meaning without using any vocal. It truly is a superb way of communication, although it was not always accepted in society. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign language develops. There was no†¦show more content†¦I wasn’t expecting that. After viewing the movie I understand better now why even if some deaf people can use their voices, they don’t because it seems like it would lead to a one-way conversation. Although the hearing person would understand what the deaf person was conveying, the deaf person would not be able to understand the hearing person without lip reading or using sign language. I laughed at the part of the movie where the deaf comedian was talking about an incident that he had while driving a car. A man was aggressively driving and beeping at the deaf man driving his car. When this man passed the deaf man, he said, â€Å"What are you deaf?† The deaf man who spoke and signed telling the story said he drove up to him and said, â€Å"Yes, I am deaf!† Although I laughed, it is offensive to the deaf individuals using the word deaf in such a negative way. People who are hard of hearing are people and should be esteemed as such. Deaf people living in a hearing world have certainly made their mark in the hearing community. Deaf people can do anything that hearing people can do. The band shown in the film called â€Å"Beethoven’s Nightmare â€Å"caused quite a stir in our class. I think that we were simply amazed that deaf musicians could play so well. By showing the audience this experience, it provides hearing viewers with the knowledge that this type of event does occur within the deaf community and that the deaf can appreciateShow MoreRelatedResearch Study On American Sign Language826 Words   |  4 Pagesarticles that focused on hearing people learning ASL but as I scrolled down I saw the word â€Å"Family† which caught my eye first. I decided to use this article because it gives the perspectives of the families on how ASL affects their lives. 2) What was the background for the study? That is, what previous knowledge did the author describe as a foundation for the study in the â€Å"review of related literature?† The background for this study that the authors mention is Dunst’s, Trivetter’s and Deal’s practicesRead MoreThe Deaf And Male And Female By Erik Erikson s Stage Of Industry Versus Inferiority1963 Words   |  8 PagesOur topic of focus will be deaf individuals, both male and female, ages six through twelve in Erik Erikson’s stage of Industry versus Inferiority. We chose the deaf because they are a vulnerable population with a small community, and face language and communication barriers which can affect development. Since we were born with no hearing loss, we felt it is important to understand how we as future Registered Nurses (R.N.) can communicate effectively with these children. 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I hope to prove through both illustration and published works how Baptism as a sacrament is both a sign and symbol of humanities desire to become closer to God by cleansing them of original sin through this ritual and rite of passage. Although tied together and related a sign is not the same thing as a symbol. It is important in the understanding of BaptismRead MoreLevel 5 Sensory Loss1911 Words   |  8 Pagesdual sensory impaired leads to difficulties in communicating, mobility and impaired people. * Deaf blindness can be due to several causes, such as Ushers Syndrome, Rubella (German measles) and problems caused by premature births. * Deafblind UK report that there are about 24,000 people in the UK who are deaf blind; some are totally deaf and totally blind, other deaf blind people have some hearing and vision. These figures do not take into account the large number of olderRead MoreUnderstanding Deaf Culture2498 Words   |  10 PagesDeaf people are often seen incorrectly. According to a legend, a Greek mythical character named Procrustes, invited tired travelers to rest at his home. Procrustes gave out special accommodations that fit everyone, regardless of the guests’ size. When the guest was shorter than the bed Procrustes owned, Procrustes would stretch the guest’s body to fit and when the guest’s legs were longer than the bed, Procrustes would chop off their legs so they would fit the bed. Aimee K. Whyte and Douglas A. GuiffridaRead MoreSocial and Traditional Models of Disability.1168 Words   |  5 Pageswheelchair, this sequence of events would take much longer. First of all, he/she would have to locate the key to the elevator from someone. Upon arriving at the third floor, he/she would then have to move through extremely narrow aisle ways that is barely wide enough for the able bodied to walk through. Once their materials are located, they will require the assistance of someone to actually get the books from the shelves. 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Remuneration and Benefit Strategy

Questions: 1.External Factors that Impact Remuneration and Benefit Strategy. 2. Devise a New Remuneration and Benefits Structure for the Position of Retail Store Manager within the Organisation .3.Prepare a Briefing Paper to provide Information about the Incentive Plan of your Proposition. Answers: 1.Three External Factors that Impact Remuneration and Benefit Strategy Remuneration and benefits are both monetary and non-monetary rewards that are provided to the employees for their performance in an organization. According to Noe et al., (2014), there are several internal and external factors that affect employee compensation. Three major external factors are Inflation rate, Cost of Living and Labor Unions. Inflation: Inflation means increase in the prices of commodities and decrease in value of the money. As a result of inflation, several things get affected which are raising prices, fall in the value of currency in foreign market, increased amount of tax by government and stagnation in the enlargement of economy (Gupta Shaw, 2014). Inflation also affects remuneration and benefit strategy. For example, in the year of 2012, due to inflation, Indian companies increased salary of the employees up to 12% to 27% than the previous year. Cost of Living: The index of cost of living also influences remuneration and benefit strategy of an organization (Noe et al., 2014). If general price level and consumer price level index increases or decreases, the wage, salary and compensation strategy will change accordingly. Labor Unions: If labor union of an organization is powerful, then it will influence remuneration and benefit strategy of that organization. Labor unions are established in the case, where demand is high and amount of labor supply is low. In these situations, employees can demand for more money. On the other hand, non-unionized organizations enjoy more amount of freedom with respect to the fixation of the compensation plan. Three types of Incentive Program Employee recognition: In a survey conducted by Michael C. Fina Recognition, nearly 300 human resource professionals confirmed that workers exceedingly value office gratitude programs that actually charge very little to execute. Nearly three quarters of the participants also said that their organizations are seriously thinking to develop their recognition programs inside the next year. As mentioned by Mone and London, (2014), some most dominant recognition initiatives are performance awards (33 percent), service-anniversary awards (20 percent) and e-cards (10 percent). Small financial incentives: According to the reports of Americas 2015 place of work reimbursement Report, nearly 70 percent employers stated that incentives are useful for their organization. However, it is also true that only few employees actually offer or consider offering solutions that provides benefits to the employees financially (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2014). According to that same report, the most famous financial incentives are gift cards or bonuses (29 percent), a point curriculum for discounts or cash (14 percent), discounts in terms of health indemnity and other goods (11 percent) and raffles (11 percent). Worker Perk Program: Recently an employee-verification organization named as SheerID conducted a survey for Google. The survey was done with more than 500 respondents and the topic was worker reduction practice inside companies. As per the results, it was found that only 20 percent of employees use their worker price cut program. However, if those programs were easy to avail, 46 percent employees would utilize them regularly. According to (Bloom Trahan, 2016), some popular employee discounts that most of the organizations use are entertainment or travel (65 percent), Restaurants (55 percent), Computer or electronics products (50 percent), subscriptions (39 percent), health or beauty products (29 percent) and office supplies (21 percent) (Huang et al., 2016). Key Considerations while Developing Remuneration and benefit Strategy Budget Allocation Remuneration and benefit strategy must include companys approach to assign recompense dollars into income and reimbursement. The organization will also have to decide how much recompense financial plan will be spent on wages and how much percentage will be spent on reimbursement and additional incentive programs. Establishing Salary Ranges Establishing salary ranges in extremely serious to make sure that worker pay is spirited with other orgaizations. According to Sparer and Dennerlein (2013), to become spirited, it is paramount to benchmark jobs inside the similar business and develop a pay configuration. Ranges for salary can be established within by executing investigation or using sites like salary.com and payscale.com. It will conclude standard wages in a scrupulous region. Salary Audits As the market alters regularly, it is significant to perform standard income audits to make sure that wages ranges reflect latest recompense trends in an business. Benefit Package Number companies are nowadays using benefit packages with the salary to attract new employees and retain existing ones (O'connor Klein, 2013). Therefore, proper health, retirement, tuition reimbursement along with other benefits will motivate current employees to stay with the organization. Performance Management System Performance management systems such as development of yearly goals and yearly performance appraisals can be included to make sure employees are meeting objectives of the organization (Campbell et al., 2012). Legal Compliance A proper compensation strategy will integrate legal requirements to make sure that the company is in compliance with all federal laws and state laws. Structured Administration It is important to establish annual review method and raise method timeline to make sure all the areas are properly managed and compensation management is a success (Cristiani Peir, 2015). Industrial Agreement All working Australians are covered by industrial or enterprise agreement. On July 1, 2009, several types of combined and personage administrative center agreements under the preceding office relation systems were replaced by a single kind of conformity that is enterprise agreement (Davila Elvira 2015). 2.Proposal After conducting a proper market research, it seems that the best remuneration and benefit strategy for our organization would be commissions, under the method small financial benefits plan. It is already mentioned that according to Americas Workplace Benefit Report, 70 percent employers have stated that financial incentives are working good for their organizations. Now in retail sector, in which our organization operates, the most important department is sales department (Davila et al., 2015). Employees of this department not only sales products but also communicate with the customers. As they directly communicate with the customers, they are responsible for developing good relationship with them. It will help or organization to attract new customers and improve profitability. For salespersons of our organization, commission would be the best idea. The primary reason behind selecting commission is it is the most common and conventional way to encourage and reward salespersons for closing big deals or meeting organizational objectives. Another chief advantage of this system is it provides major incentives to salespersons and therefore; they work harder on behalf of the company. This system will be divided into different tiers. The lowest tier will offer them smaller amount of profit for making few sales (Jiang et al., 2012). However, they will receive higher amount as commission if they can make additional sale in a particular time frame. Currently, our organization can offer 5 percent commission to the employees for selling 150 products in a month. However, if they can sell additional products, then they will gain bonus 10 percent commission. It is expected that this method will boost the performance of our sales personnel (Morley et al., 2016). Therefore, this method is recommended as the new remuneration and benefit strategy for our company. 3.Introduction For getting success, organization needs to attract as well as retain productive employees. A competitive incentive plan helps the organization to accomplish these objectives. Incentive plans help to motivate employees for exceeding expectations and business growth. These kinds of plan help to promote employees exceptional behavior during a specific period. Besides, these kind of business plans can also attract potential employees towards the organization along with encouraging the company loyalty (Ribeiro Gomes, 2016). Nevertheless, incentive plans must consist of obtainable goals, which will hold employee morale, contributing towards successful plan. Every organization needs to implement incentive plan for empowering their staffs to perform better and achieve their performance goals, thereby achieving the overall goal of the organization or the business. There are several levels of incentive plans. For instance, incentive plan for low level employees would include people at bottom of the organization and first line supervisors. The most common forms of Incentive Offerings in Organizations Small Financial Incentives (what is it?) (Strengths) Small financial incentives mean providing extra amount of money to the employees along with their regular salary for exceptional performance. Generally when employees over perform their duties or goals, then the organization provides such incentives to motivate them. This systems advantages are its biggest strengths (Singh et al., 2013). This system not only helps to motivate employees, but also allows an organization to gain employee loyalty. Besides, it makes sure that an employee is satisfied with his job that in turn reduced employee turnover. Employee Perk Program: (what is it?) (Strengths) Employee perk programs help to attract employees, these programs does not contribute to the development of organizational culture, rather, these programs are additive and improve employee morale, thereby enhancing the chance of their retention in the organization. There are different kinds of perk programs, but the organization need to choose the appropriate one for implementing in the workplace. They need to focus on the perks, which are important for employees and culture (Tarique et al., 2015). The common perk programs include profit sharing, unlimited PTO, extra time off during holidays, gym and spa memberships, maternity and paternity leave more than suggested period by law, off site events, weekly entertainments, education subsidizing, provision of technological support (i.e. mobile, tablet, laptop), sports pass, community membership, club membership, medical insurance and free food. Employee Recognition: (what is it?) (Strengths) Employee recognition is referred to the acknowledgement of the effort of a team or an individual, who has been supported the organizational goals and values. It is one of the key non-monitory tools for employee retention. Recognizing the right person would motivate the recognized employee to perform according to the higher level needs, whereas, employees who do not receive the recognition would also be influenced to perform better to gain the recognition in future (Varma Budhwar, 2013). It is important for several reasons, for instance, to improve employee morale, to enhance their loyalty, to make employees aware of their work for which they are valued, to increase employee motivation and retention as well as to help in building a supportive work environment. Organizations need to be a common practice in workplace and should not include any kind of discrimination or bias in selection. Effective employee recognition can be for both individual and group level, in either formal or info rmal manner. In this context, the formal initiative can be done on a yearly basis, whereas informal recognition can take place, when it is merited by the supervisor (Wood et al., 2014). However, the formal and informal recognition should be distinguished on the basis of employees status and organizational needs. Informal recognition can be provided at any time, for empowering the employee, which does not need formal documentation. Explanation for Choosing Commission Among several financial incentives, commission process is selected. There are several advantages of this method and that is why; this method is selected over others. Those advantages are hereby mentioned below. It helps to motivate the salespersons to deliver high performances. If salespersons are only provided direct salary, most of them will have limited motivation to exceed basic expectations. However, if opportunity of earning through commission is provided, it will drive the sales persons to set more aggressive goals to work through issues and rejections. They will continuously seek new opportunities. Thought a direct salary provides the steadiest income for workers, sales staffs who have worked on direct commission frequently welcome a higher level of definite profits and base pay. The steadiness of stability and incentive to execute at an elevated level has a nice balance of reimbursement from both direct wage and direct commission (Morley et al., 2016). The explanation is to present just adequate permanence that employees feel fulfilled with their basic monetary sanctuary but still have enthusiasm to sell more to be paid more. Salespersons, in order to sale more products to gain commission will also develop positive relation with the consumers. It is another vital thing for business. Positive consumer relationship not only develops a base of loyal consumers, but also helps to attract new consumers (Davila Elvira, 2015). Loyal consumers will automatically ask their friends and families to buy from the organization where they are getting welcomed by amicable salespersons. However, there is one disadvantage of this method. It is possible that salespersons will mislead the consumers to make sales. It will hamper the brand image of the organization. Therefore, proper monitoring is required. It will indicate that salespersons are using proper ways to make more sales. References Bloom, D. E., Trahan, J. T. (2016).Flexible benefits and employee choice: Highlights of the literature. Elsevier. Campbell, BA, Coff, R Kryscynski, D (2012), 'Rethinking sustained competitive advantage from human capital', Academy of Management Review, vol, 37, no. 3. pp. 376-95. Cristiani, A. Peir, J.M., (2015). Human resource function strategic role trade unions: exploring their impact on human resource management practices in Uruguayan firms.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,26(3), pp.381-400. Davila, A. Elvira, M.M., (2015). 17. Human resource management in a kinship society: the case of Latin America.Hbook of Human Resource Management in Emerging Markets, p.372. Davila, A., Foster, G. Jia, N., (2015). The valuation of management control systems in start-up companies: International field-based evidence.European Accounting Review,24(2), pp.207-239. Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Berrone, P., Franco-Santos, M. (2014).Compensation and organizational performance: Theory, research, and practice. Routledge. Gupta, N., Shaw, J. D. (2014). Employee compensation: The neglected area of HRM research.Human Resource Management Review,24(1), 1-4. Huang, H., Mattke, S., Batorsky, B., Miles, J., Liu, H., Taylor, E. (2016). Incentives, program configuration, and employee uptake of workplace wellness programs.Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,58(1), 30-34. Jiang, K, Lepak, DP, Han, K, Hong, Y, Kim, A Winkler, AL (2012), 'Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance,' Human Resource Management Review, vol. 22, pp.73-85. Mone, E. M., London, M. (2014).Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge. Morley, M.J., Heraty, N. Michailova, S. eds., (2016).Managing human resources in Central Eastern Europe. Routledge. Noe, R. A., Wilk, S. L., Mullen, E. J., Wanek, J. E. (2014). Employee Development: Issues in Construct Definition and Investigation ofAntecedents.Improving Training Effectiveness in WorkOrganizations, ed. JK Ford, SWJ Kozlowski, K. Kraiger, E. Salas, and MS Teachout (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997), 153-189. O'connor, R. M., Klein, T. J. (2013).U.S. Patent Application No. 14/054,956. Ribeiro, J.L. Gomes, D., (2016). Other Organizational Perspectives on the Contribution of Human Resources Management to Organizational Performance. InOrganizational Management(pp. 63-106). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Singh, D., Singh Oberoi, J. Singh Ahuja, I., (2013). An empirical investigation of dynamic capabilities in managing strategic flexibility in manufacturing organizations.Management Decision,51(7), pp.1442-1461. Sparer, E. H., Dennerlein, J. T. (2013). Determining safety inspection thresholds for employee incentives programs on construction sites.Safety Science,51(1), 77-84. Tarique, I., Briscoe, D.R. Schuler, R.S., (2015).International Human Resource Management: Policies Practices for Multinational Enterprises. Routledge. Varma, A. Budhwar, P.S., (2013).Managing human resources in Asia-Pacific(Vol. 20). Routledge. Wood, G., Brewster, C. Brookes, M., (2014).Human resource management the institutional perspective. Routledge.

Pandora Media Inc. free essay sample

During fiscal year 2011, Pandora reported $138 million in revenue. A major business line of Pandora Media, Inc. is in advertising. Pandora’s advertising products allow advertisers to pinpoint a particular market segment and consumer by talking into account factors such as age, gender, zip code and musical interests. Pandora incorporates display adds on it’s interface to maximizes exposure to it’s intended market segment. These display ads include banner ads tailored to a listener’s interaction. Audio advertising is another product that Pandora delivers through ads delivered as interludes between songs. Video advertising is also seen through in-banner click-initiated videos that automatically play while a listener is changing stations or skipping songs. Pandora also provides mobile advertising via standard banner ads displayed in the Pandora app. Mobile advertisers can also crate station playlists specifically for their branded products. The company builds and maintains the Pandora app for supported mobile devices. (Bloomberg, 2011) Competition is fierce in the radio industry and Pandora Internet Radio has many rivals. We will write a custom essay sample on Pandora Media Inc. or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Pandora must compete with radio providers, such as CBS, Clear Channel, and satellite radio providers such as Sirius XM. (Spears, 2011) Pandora also faces competition from online radio provides, such as iheartradio, Last. fm, and Slacker Personal Radio. The company also faces completion from other media content providers such as Apple’s iTunes Store, Rhapsody, and Amazon. Pandora is also in completion with other Internet advertising and marketing outlets such as Internet portals, search engine companies and social media sites. The company also competes with traditional media sources in television and print. As seen, the use of revolutionary technologies has lead Pandora to the forefront as a pioneer of Internet radio. A major breakthrough was when Pandora introduced the Music Genome Project, which, it claims is the most sophisticated taxonomy of musical information ever collected. The founders of The Music Genome Project were Will Glaser and Tim Westergren and they began in 1999. The aim of the Music Genome Project was to capture the essence of music at the fundamental level. It took over five years and 30 experts in music theory to build a database that would be useful. Each song had to be individually listened to and up to 400 musical attributes manually assessed, which required 30 minutes to complete for each song. Over 400 musical characteristics and attributes for each song are captured to identify the musical identity of the song as well as other relevant qualities. This helps understand the musical preferences of a listener. To ensure a quality blueprint and analysis, Pandora Media, Inc. enlisted top quality analyst; all possessing at least a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance and having experience in music theory from a wide range of musical genera’s. Intensive training was also given to each analyst. The database used to store this information was built using a unique methodology to include the use of specifically defined terminology, frame of reference, redundant analysis, and quality control standards to ensure data integrity. All data input was attributed solely to human intelligence. The Music Genome Project is an ever growing and evolving collection of data to remain current with new music as it become available. By utilizing this concept through its database, Pandora seeks to deliver the most robust, personalized radio experience it possibly can. Joyce, 2011) With all the information gathered, it is essential for data storage to be a top priority and focus for Pandora Media, Inc. All of the analyses for the Music Genome Project as well as the user interface is stored utilizing OpenLaszlo. OpenLaszlo is an open source platform for creating zero-install web applications with the user interface capabilities of desktop client s oftware. The programs are written in XML and JavaScript and are complied to Flash and DHTML. OpenLaszlo application programming interface‘s provide animation, data binding, layout, server communication and declarative user interface’s. The application can be created in many file types to include short or single source files, or be created via multiple files that define reusable libraries and classes. OpenLaszlo also has the ability to be written once and run everywhere. It can be developed in one location and run on multiple Web browsers. OpenLaszlo provides in a single application, the ability to support multiple deployment runtimes. OpenLaszlo rich internet applications have been used not only by Pandora Internet Radio but big name companies to include Earthlink, Verizon, WalMart, IBM, and Yahoo. Wikipedia, 2011) The most notable technology created and utilized by Pandora Internet Radio and its subscribers is the Pandora iPhone app, which was released in 2008 and accounts for nearly 70 percent of Pandora subscribers. An iPhone app is an application, typically developed by a company other than Apple and designed to be used specifically on the iPhone, iPod or iPad. Apps work much like user-installed software on a c omputer and allow the phone to perform specific tasks that the user wants or needs. Users sometimes pay a small fee for the use of an app, which is downloaded directly to the phone or peripheral. Apps helped make the iPhone and other smartphones a must-have tool for many people who want instant access to information. When the Pandora app was introduced, Pandora began receiving 35,000 new users a day, doubling the previous number of daily signups. Theses technologies are the foundation for the success of Pandora Internet Radio. Although it’s been a long journey, with many setbacks, Pandora is now recognized as the leader in Internet radio. However, the ourney to this point has been a constant work in progress. Founder, Tim Westergreen and company faced many obstacles. Issues such as industry regulations have been a major hurdle that Pandora has had to face. For example, in 2007, Pandora received news that threatened most of its revenue. A federal royalty board had raised the fee that online radio stations had to pay to record labels for each song. This put the future of Pandora in a tailspin, overnight. Pandora, Media Inc. responded by hiring a lobbyist in Washington D. C. and solicited listeners to write to their congressmen. After a two-year battle, the federal royalty board agreed on a lower rate. Fortunately, the company had the perseverance needed to not falter when facing these adversities; unlike predecessors such as SpiralFrog and Napster. And, with the emergence of the popular iPhone, Pandora was able to harness these technologies to gain its competitive advantage. Today, Pandora has over 80 million users, which tune in an average of 12 hours per month. (Schonfeld, 2011) This figure is projected to increase as Pandora service becomes more available in modern makers of cars, televisions, and stereos. Pandora reported it’s first profitable quarter at the end of 2009 with $50 million in annual revenue for the year. (Miller, 2010) It can clearly be seen how the use of technology has been vital to the rise and continued success of Pandora. Beginning with the groundbreaking collection of information stored via the Music Genome Project, to Pandora’s robust online user interface utilizing an OpenLaszlo platform, to the introduction of the Pandora smartphone app, to Pandora’s expansion into the automotive and consumer electronics industry; we can see the enormous impact innovative technology can have in business.