Product Offering

Product Offering IntroductionMicrosoft plans to introduce new software products to China and other developing nations. Strategies need to be developed to develop Microsoft into Chinese culture. Brand image and potential will need to be evaluated. The Chinese market needs and risks are analyzed in our paper. In our introductory product launch, we show Microsoft's potential for software sales in China.Market Needs and GrowthMicrosoft is globally recognized to be a high quality brand. The company has dominated the market in retail software sales, driven by advertisements and successful marketing strategies. To increase their market share in developing countries, Microsoft faces several challenges, including high pricing for the demographic, piracy of the software, and loose government regulation on illegal software systems. Microsoft will need to overcome these challenges by marketing information to its customer demographic. Xiaobai (2005) has suggested that working with the Chinese government officials to show the importance of product licensing can lead to increased piracy enforcement.Microsoft BuildingWith high brand equity in Asian countries, Microsoft will likely be able to expand its market and financially succeed.As any company looks to offer new products or expand into new territory, understanding our market and acting on that knowledge is essential for sales and marketing success (Primary Intelligence, 2007). The Chinese market is expanding; however the business profits are lower than the United States and other countries. Microsoft has experienced an unfortunate start in China. Software prices were extremely high for Windows operating system and office applications. The organization learned the Chinese population pirated Windows and the Chinese government started using Linux, a free open-source operating systems.Product Offering DefinitionThe product offering is a subscription-based copy of Windows 7 for emerging countries. Despite preventative measures, piracy rates of software in developing nations exceed 90% (Gopal Sanders, 1998). The product is bit...

Muhammad Ali Becomes World Heavyweight Champion

Muhammad Ali Becomes World Heavyweight Champion On February 25, 1964, underdog Cassius Clay, better known as  Muhammad Ali, fought defending champion Charles Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight title in Miami Beach, Florida. Although it was nearly unanimously believed that Clay would be knocked out by round two if not earlier, it was Liston who lost the fight after refusing at the beginning of round seven to continue fighting.  This fight was one of the largest upsets in sports history, setting Cassius Clay on a long path of fame and controversy. Who Was Muhammad Ali? Cassius Clay, renamed Muhammad Ali right after this historic fight, had started boxing at the age of 12 and by 18 had won the light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games.   Clay trained long and hard to be the best at boxing, but many at the time thought his fast feet and hands didnt have enough power in them to beat a true heavyweight champion like Liston.   Plus, the 22-year-old Clay, a decade younger than Liston, seemed a bit crazy. Clay, known as the Louisville Lip, was constantly boasting that he would knock out Liston and calling him the big, ugly bear, riling up both Liston and the press into a frenzy over his wild taunts. While Clay used these tactics to unsteady his opponents and to garner publicity for himself, others thought it was a sign that he was afraid or just plain crazy. Who Was Sonny Liston? Sonny Liston, known as the Bear for his giant size, had been the world heavyweight champion since 1962. He was rough, tough, and hit really, really hard. Having been arrested more than 20 times, Liston learned to box while in prison, becoming a professional boxer in 1953. Listons criminal background played a big role in his unlikable public personae, but his hard-hitting style earned him enough wins via knockout that he was not to be ignored.   For most folks in 1964, it seemed a no brainer that Liston, who had just knocked out the last serious contender for the title in the first round, would pummel this young, loud-mouthed challenger. People were betting 1 to 8 on the match, favoring Liston. The World Heavyweight Fight At the start of the fight on February 25, 1964, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Liston was overconfident. Although nursing an injured shoulder, he expected an early knockout like his last three big fights and so had not spent much time training. Cassius Clay, on the other hand, had trained hard and was thoroughly ready. Clay was faster than most other boxers and his plan was to dance around the powerful Liston until Liston tired out. Alis plan worked. Liston, weighing in at the slightly heavy 218 pounds, was surprisingly dwarfed by the 210 1/2-pound Clay. When the bout began, Clay bounced, danced, and bobbed frequently, confusing Liston and making a very difficult target. Liston tried to get a solid punch in, but round one ended without much actual hitting. Round two ended with a cut under Listons eye and Clay not only still standing, but holding his own.  Round three and four saw both men looking tired but determined. At the end of the fourth round, Clay complained that his eyes were hurting. Wiping them with a wet rag helped a little, but Clay basically spent the entire fifth round trying to evade the blurry Liston. Liston tried to use this to his advantage and went on the attack, but the lithe Clay surprisingly managed to stay up the whole round. By the sixth round, Liston was exhausted and Clays eyesight was returning. Clay was a dominant force in the sixth round, getting in several good combinations. When the bell rang for the start of the seventh round, Liston stayed seated. He had hurt his shoulder and was worried about the cut under his eye. He just didnt want to continue the fight. It was a real shock that Liston ended the fight while still seated in the corner. Excited, Clay did a little dance, now called the Ali shuffle, in the middle of the ring. Cassius Clay was declared the winner and became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.