Nintendo’s Real Deal

When Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo on November 6, 1889, he had in mind to create handmade hanafuda cards. As the company became successful in business, Nintendo evolved to become a videos game company. Nintendo is one of the world’s leaders in the industry of video games.

Nintendo’s primary products include video game consoles. Over time, it has emerged as the leader in producing handheld consoles. Nintendo’s consoles started in 1983 in the markets of Japan. By 1985, the consoles started dominating the markets of North America, then the European markets by 1986.

Nintendo is popular for Game Boy, Virtual Boy, Game & Watch, and Pokemon Mini. The company has published more than 250 games and sold more than 2 billion copies worldwide.

Nintendo also owns the franchise of the Seattle Mariners of the Major League Baseball. It also owns majority of the stakes of Gyration, producer of gyros and motion sensors used in the controller of Nintendo Revolution.

Channeling Legal Expertise Into a Safer Earth

1978 - As much as atomic power officials executives tried to dissuade attorney Myron M. Cherry, they couldn’t. The Illinois-based lawyer, then only 39, continued a seven-year case against Consumers Power Co, a venture intent on constructing a nuclear plant in the small industry community of Midland, Michigan. In a trial that lasted months, he ultimately obtained the town the assurance they needed. The plant would implement $28 million in environmental safeguards that prevented toxic emission or other harm.

Cherry only gained momentum from there. He represented clientele including Ralph Nader and the Sierra Club, and sat at the forefront of a movement in Washington D.C. that called for the intelligent and future-minded discussion of environmental issues, effectively contributing to legislation that protects the earth for today and tomorrow. Throughout an expansive career, Myron Cherry led a number of victories on behalf of a clean environment, among them a $15 million settlement for those affected by toxic groundwater and the effective halt of a massive landfill site creation.

Myron Cherry commands a Juris Doctor from the Northwestern University School of Law. Outside of his deep engagement with environmental legislation and defense, he proves a valued member of the political landscape and previously acted as Trustee of the Democratic National Committee as well as co-chairman of the organization’s Democratic Business Council. Furthermore, Mr. Cherry sat on the National Finance Board of President Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign; Clinton later appointed him Arbitrator to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. 

Nokia Inc.: Still “Connecting People”

Nokia remains as the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. The company has saturated more than 40% of the world’s mobile device market.

Nokia has reached its peak in 2006 when for the first time, the company has registered revenues more than Finland’s state budget for that year. The company’s unprecedented growth can be attributed to the continuing innovations Nokia had over the years. They pioneered the production of GSM then reinvented the gadgets giving them the touch of personalization each mobile phone owner wants.

The company faces a tough challenge ahead; that is, to remain the leader in a business climate dominated by the likes of Microsoft and Google. However, Nokia has the cutting edge since these two technological giants do not have control over the future of mobile handsets. So Nokia continues to bundle its products and services with user-friendly applications and hardware.

What makes Nokia’s hold on the mobile phone market firm to this day? Nokia’s strength is in core innovation. Its products and services are interconnected with each other. They are quick to act on the pressing changes of time. And they continue to enhance their designs which create demands for their products.

Emphasis displaced on the importance of design. Over the years, Nokia has evolved from being feature-driven to design-driven. The company has become very keen on the consumers’ behaviors and how these behaviors are addressed in the process of designs and innovations. Nokia has intensified its research and development and has succeeded in consolidating their traditional strengths with their R&D.

One of the biggest stories of Nokia was when the company shifted to multimedia in 2007. With the creation of Nokia’s N Series, camera phones have proliferated everywhere like a craze. It seems that everyone wants to own Nokia’s camera phones.

Nokia has formed alliances with social networking sites like Yahoo’s Flickr. It has also partnered with Google and Skype when the tablet device with internet was introduced in 2006. That year, Nokia has opened its tenth factory in India. The factory is capable of producing 20 million phones per year.

Volkswagen AG: Making Germans a Proud Race

Volkswagen AG is a car manufacturer based in Germany. It produces automobile spare parts for Volkswagen brand commercial and passenger cars. The company has two major divisions: the Automotive Division leads the development, production and sale of automobiles and genuine components while the Financial Services Division takes charges of portfolio management in so far as financing, leasing and insurance services are concerned.

The company owns world-class automobile brands which include Volkswagen, Bentley, Audi and Lamborghini among others. In its wide array of models are fuel efficient compact cars, luxury vehicles, pick-up trucks, buses and heavy equipments.

To remain competitive in the automobile production and sales industry, Volkswagen focuses on enhancing profitability by reducing production costs and on increasing emphasis on core business. The company believes the goals are achievable through business development strategies and initiatives. The company will divest on non-core business segments, strategize production process by adapting modules, restructuring, and the introduction of new car models.

Ever Expanding Virgin Brand

The Virgin Group is perhaps one of the most diversified conglomerate of companies in the whole world. The company owns more than 200 private companies. Some of the Virgin Group’s industries include airlines, vacation tour operations, train operations, video, music and CD retailing, financial services, beverage bottling, music recording, publication, movie house operations, broadcasting, cosmetics, clothing manufacturing, and internet services.

The conglomerate was the brainchild of Richard Branson who has displayed his entrepreneurial skills when he was just 17 years old. At this young age, he started publishing his own magazine, Student. By the end of the 1990s, the Virgin Group is a multi-million dollar company. According to polls, 96% of the world’s consumers have heard of the Virgin brands.

Branson started Virgin in 1970 as a mail-order record company. When he was unable to respond to the tremendous demand for his products, Branson shifted strategy. In 1971, he opened small record shops which were largely accepted by his customers. Soon, these small shops became a string of Virgin Record stores.

Branson continued to seek business opportunities through the 1980s. He tried investing in the airline industry. He bought Beoing 747 jets, opened the Virgin Atlantic Airways, and transported passengers to and fro London and New Jersey. In the 1990s, his airline company has started serving other routes within the US. International flights were also opened to Greece, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Branson purchased a luxury hotel in 1984 in Deya Mallorca. This luxury hotel became the forerunner of the string of Virgin Hotels that would later invade the tourism markets of the UK and the Caribbean. To complement the hotels, Branson also opened Virgin Holidays in 1985.

In 1985, Virgin reported sales of $225 million and profits of $25 million. The amounts were contributed by 60 Virgin retail stores, the TV operations, the recording studio, and the airlines.

By the end of the 1980s, Virgin Group sales rose to $1 billion per year. Virgin Group has 150 member companies spread in 20 countries worldwide. By 1991, sales were reported at $2 billion.

In the 1990s, Virgin Group continued to expand. Virgin Megastore has opened 20 more international locations. Several small airline companies were acquired to increase its large fleet. Despite the economic slump of the 90s, Virgin’s expansion was unstoppable.

Diagnostics For All: Providing Access to Cheap Liver-Health Test

Diagnostics For All is a non-profit organization organized in 2007 by Una Ryan. Its humble mission is to transform the way health services are brought to many poor countries around the world.

The organization is into paper diagnostics. They are affordable, portable, and easy-to-produce tests that are usable in any kind of environment, even in areas with little infrastructure and few resources.

The most notable innovation of Diagnostics For All thus far is the liver-health test they have designed. The test kit is indicated for people suffering from tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. With the help of the test kit, the attending physician and immediately implement a change in the patient’s drug or dosage.

In Ryan’s vision, the test kits will reach the poor countries through partners. Initial contacts with clinics and hospitals in far-flung areas should set the infrastructure needed to mobilize the kits. NGOs will also be tapped to help in the delivery of the test kits to patients.

Diagnostics For All has also developed its own glucose test for diabetes patients and pregnancy test.