Personalize Music on the Road with Pandora Radio

Pandora is a custom-music machine which allows the possibility of listening to music and ordering the songs online from various retailers. The user can provide feedback for their chosen songs, which later on are considered in future song selections.

Pandora Radio was created by a musician named Tim Westergren. He was composing musical scores for films when he realized different directors liked different kinds of music. He thought of a way to “codify” the directors’ tastes to make them predictable.

What began as a curiosity eventually led to the establishment of a company which decodes music – the Music Genome. Listening kiosks were integrated in music stores to help consumers choose the best kind of music. This gave birth to the “Music Genome Project” in 2000.

The Music Genome Project works like a library and database of songs. The library contains more than 700,000 and about 10,000 new songs are added each month.  Musicologists analyze the songs and break each one down to almost 400 attributes like soulfulness of vocals and rhythm.

Four years into the Music Genome Project, Westergren launched Pandora Radio. The station streams music similar to the song or band chosen.

Pandora Radio has grown very popular that over 35 million listeners tune in to it every day. About 65,000 new users are recorded in a 24-hour period. As Pandora is being attached to electronic gadgets like the iPad, its popularity continues to increase with the passing of time.

Samsung: Producing Cutting-Edge Electronics

Samsung started out as a small export business in Taegu, Korea. Its founding Chairman, Byung-Chull Lee, started the company on March 1, 1938 with an initial investment of 30,000 won. The business primarily focused on exporting dried fish, vegetables and fruits to Manchuria and Beijing in China.

Lee named his business “Samsung,” which means “three stars.” Within more than a decade after its inception, Samsung owned flour mills and confectionery machines. Early on, its operations already included manufacturing and sales.

Samsung diversified its businesses in the 1970s by investing in heavy and chemical and petrochemical industries. This was a part of the strategy to secure the growth of the business. Samsung started to play in the textile industry to secure its competitive position. These diversifications led to the opening of other companies like Samsung Heavy Industries Company and Samsung Shipbuilding and Precision Company.

Its electronics business also saw tremendous growth during this time. Samsung Electronics became Korea’s major manufacturer of electronics. Its position in manufacturing semiconductors was secured by their acquisition of 50% interest in Korea Semiconductor. With the business of electronics and semiconductors beginning to grow in leaps and bounds, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Semiconductor became separate entities.

Samsung also launched its aerospace capabilities with the launching of Samsung Aerospace Industries in February of 1987. Samsung Data Systems was also established in 1985 to provide the company’s IT services, which included systems integration and management, networking services and consulting.

The speed in technological advancements led Samsung to deploy two research and development institutes that would spearhead the company’s potential expansion in electronics, semiconductors, genetic engineering, aerospace, high polymer chemicals and optical telecommunications.

The death of Samsung’s founding Chairman Lee in 1987 after being in the helm of the business for more than five decades put his son Kun-Hee Lee as the new chairman. The young Lee restructured the company to become one of top five electronics companies in the world.

The 1990s saw Samsung produce 17 new products. Some of Samsung products climbed to the top five products for global market in their respective areas. Twelve other products were in the top ranking products in their own respective categories.

Samsung’s commitment to innovation has earned them a respectable position in the world of electronics.  Their products are recognized among the bests in the world.

David Jorgensen: Leading Katun Corporation’s Late-1990s Global Expansion

David Jorgensen co-founded Katun Corporation in 1979 with nearly two decades of technology and business experience behind him. He had gained technical and  entrepreneurial insight working with The Boeing Company, Stanford Research Institute, Computer Synectics, and Dataquest Inc.

In establishing Katun, David Jorgensen focused on providing office equipment dealers with OEM-performance toner and photo-imaging parts and supplies at substantial discounts from traditional OEM prices. The company quickly gained traction beyond the American market by acquiring the European copier supplies and parts distributor Bedford International. Initially establishing a French sales presence to complement its UK distribution center, Katun subsequently developed corporate facilities in Germany and the Netherlands. By the late 1980s, the firm served a global customer base in over 100 international markets.

In the late 1990s, Katun expanded its operations throughout the world. Shortly after opening a major distribution facility in Singapore, the company launched subsidiaries in Brazil, Australia, Uruguay, and Argentina. The company also pioneered a Internet sales base. Offering online ordering from the mid-1990s, Katun launched an online catalogue in 1999.

David Jorgensen took the position of Chairman of Katun in 2000, overseeing the strategic acquisitions of fax product supplier EBS and high-speed printer provider D&R Products. He also led Katun’s partnership with Parts Now!, a leading international presence in the computer printer parts distribution business. These efforts successfully diversified the company, enabling its transformation from an analog copier parts supplier to a digital parts-focused company. Following the of Katun Corporation in 2002, David Jorgensen shifted his activities to the charitable David & Annette Jorgensen Foundation.

Knewton Creates an A+ Innovation

For industries to survive, adapting to modern technology is a must. However, some traditional sectors, such as the education, struggle to depart their old ways. Knewton teaches education a thing or two by presenting practical and personalized learning to students in a digital setting. 

Knewton’s Adaptive Learning Platform is a customized educational tool that is designed to meet particular needs of each student. Four years in the making, this software allows students to work at their own pace and select content, to make the learning experience more suited and comfortable for them. This technology has spread to tens of thousands of students at different schools, including Penn State University and the State University of New York. 

Knewton is recognized as the only business in education that was included as one of the most innovative companies in 2012 by Fast Company. The World Economic Forum also named them a Technology Pioneer, joining the ranks of Twitter and Paypal. 

For its innovative approach in education, Knewton gets an A+.

Narayana Hrudayalaya Makes Cheaper Health Care Possible

Commercialization has affected all industries, including health care. In specific parts of the world, only the wealthy can afford to recuperate from illness, since the medical industry has become a business for profit. Offering low-cost yet high quality care for impoverished countries, Narayana Hrudayalaya tells us a different story. 

The company – composed of an organized group health centers – started its operations in 2001 with a cardiac center located in Bangalore. From one hospital, founder Dr. Devi Shetty has expanded Narayana into what he calls a “health city”. The first center in Bangalore now also specializes in trauma, cancer, and eye care. Narayana health centers are also found in 14 other cities in India. This is just the beginning though, for the founder wishes to create more health cities that could accommodate 5,000 patients. 

Because of their services, Narayana is described as a model for accessible, affordable health care. But with such low returns, how does the company make economics work? 

They found that the secret to cheaper health care is hindered by routine inefficiencies and mechanics of delivery.  For one, the doctors in Narayana’s center work on a fixed salary, instead of being paid a hefty fee for every surgery. The company also has a micro-insurance program that gives farmers coverage – for a little over $2.50 dollars annual premiums.  Dr. Shetty describes their creative ways of cutting down costs “the Walmart way”. True enough, Narayana has brought a bargain deal to all of its patients by bringing medical care to the masses. 

Narayana was recognized as one of the 50 most innovative companies this year for its milestones in health care. Dr. Shetty was brave enough to test an untested model, and time has proven it effective. Many patients, especially the poor, owe their health to Narayana Hrudayalaya, the hospital made especially for them.

Huawei: Building the Future of Telecoms

China’s Huawei Technologies is the second largest telecom equipment supplier in the world. This is not a very known fact since more than 75% of its revenue comes from China, India and Latin America. Huawei works on increasing its branding by introducing an affordable smartphone that will eventually make Huawei a household name.

Huawei’s R&D have been working hard to make the company the leader in wired and wireless broadband access, optical transmission and data communications. They help global telecom operators increase their efficiency and revenue by providing open application environments, smart operational platforms and efficient services. On top of that, their continued innovations help operators build cloud computing platforms. Huawei continuously optimizes its service solutions so that clients can increase their total value of ownership and improve their return on investment.

Huawei offers a wide range of network devices to help fulfill the consumers’ diversified device requirements. Operators can take advantage of the resale market when clients are allowed rich and convenient communication experience.

To meet the growing needs of the consumers, Huawei focuses on customer-centric innovations. Forty-six percent (51,000) of their workers are engaged in R&D in 20 research institutes in USA, China, Germany, India, Sweden and Russia.