Bicycle Frame Materials

Bicycle Frame Materials Introduction Throughout history the concept of the bicycle has been used and manipulated with materials from all over the spectrum exercised. In recent years, machining methods have become advanced enough to manipulate all different grades of metals, from the most popular being steel, to alloying titanium based alloys, however not only metal materials are being used. Carbon fibre, a generic term of the composition of carbon fibre weave and epoxy resin, is the worlds most recent popular material to be used on practically everything in the automotive industry, from gear knobs to the complete chassis on the Porsche Carrera GT for example, which is slowly expanding into the bicycle market and beyond. Nowadays bicycle manufacturers have an apparent unlimited array of materials, joining processes and finishing techniques, which should theoretically be able to produce the best bicycle frame on the market. Taking modern day complications into account, the best bicycle frame material(s) are perhaps inappr opriate in terms of manufacturing price and market sale value. Despite this, using Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES Software), by setting up engineering constraints, looking at material selection indices and loading patterns on components; a single best material is to be determined. Product Definition As not all bicycles are aimed at the same user market, with the intention to design a bike for different purposes such as; mountain bikes, city bikes, leisure bikes, road bikes, race bikes, etc. the constraints and objectives of how the bicycle frame should react under pressure during use are different. It is because of this, the best material can differ from bicycle type, and therefore a category of bike must be specified. The bicycle category to be specified is a small sub-category of road bikes called fixed gear bikes or fixies. This category of bike has recently sprung up all over the world, with its major uprising leading back to Brooklyn, New York; however a cult following has arisen in major cities around the globe. This type of bike and cycling style lends its origins back to track racing, where the same style of bike is used in the Olympics and other bike sporting events. The fixie style has become popular on the road for its agility and acceleration around town for commuting as well as its fitness affiliation for of course only having one gear. This sub category of bike is often used for part recreation, part fitness use, yet mainly as a means of transport in and around town. This recent uprising has uncovered many different materials of bike frame, from old 1980s track bikes made from steel to recently manufactured aluminium and carbon fibre composite frames which are used on this type of bike and style of riding. Materials Selection Possible Constraints The frame components will be subject to different forces, of which several will experience the same force depending on different loading conditions. The seat tube will experience constant compression forces from the weight of the rider as well reactions from road pushing back up towards the rider, whereas the down tube will experience tensional forces holding the crank area together with the fork assembly; however braking will give rise to compression. Other features such as the seat stays will experience constant compression and lateral stress from the braking mechanisms, of which stiffness is a vital property of the material. Youngs modulus or stiffness is also very important in the design of the forks due to instantaneous braking encouraging the forks to bend. Density The density of the material will affect highly the efficiency and feel of the bike when ridden. More energy is required to brake or accelerate the bike that has a high density frame, consequently making the bike hard to control and manoeuvre. A lightweight material is vital to create the ideal bicycle frame to improve manoeuvrability, braking and acceleration performance. This is why a constraint of density is to be limited at 5000 KG/M^3. This encompasses common frame materials such as aluminium and titanium alloys. [4] Youngs Modulus The stiffness of the frame is vital to prevent plastic deformation of the frame when ridden over obstacles, however if the frame is too stiff there will too much vibration from road surfaces. A constraint of materials above 30GPa are acceptable for the intended use, however materials above 400GPa are considered too stiff and will result in a harsh incontrollable bicycle. [4] Tensile and Compressive Stress Tensile stress occurs on many of the components of the bicycle frame and is a common failing property by overloading the frame which consequently makes it a high priority factor. Materials above of tensile stress value 300MPa and above are acceptable. Compression is also a major stress force abundant in the bicycle frame, in places such as the rear seat stays and seat tube from gravity pulling the weight of the rider toward the ground. Poor compressive forces will translate into a mess of buckled piping. [4] Yield Strength The yield strength determines the amount of force required to plastically deform the material of which the material is permanently deformed after yielding. This can be applied to sudden impacts or over loading of the frame which can lead to failure of the frame, perhaps resulting in injury when ridden. The higher the yield strength, the higher force the frame will be able to withstand which is favourable in frame design. [4] Elongation Elongation relates to brittle and ductile properties of a material, where high percentage elongation leads to ductile properties and low percentage elongation leads to brittle properties. If a material is too brittle, it theoretically could fracture into small parts which are to be avoided when cycling. It would be preferable for the material to plastically deform to a large extent before failure as this will prevent injury if a sudden stop is experienced. A material with a very high percentage elongation is also to be avoided as the frame will not keep its shape and deform with the weight of the rider. Materials below 40% elongation will provide favourable elongation properties. [4][5] Fatigue Strength The maximum cyclical stresses can be examined and applied to a bicycle frame directly, mimicking the repetitive stresses when ridden. This can therefore extrapolate the life of the bicycle frame given the amount of repetitive load applied when ridden. [4][5] Torsion Stress Torsion loading occurs upon acceleration of the bicycle where the frame is moved from side to side under the lateral forces applied by the rider from the torque applied. The usual lateral loading on the frame is transferred to slight longitudinal loading. The torsion capabilities of the material must be taken into account which also highly affects the joining processes of the bicycle frame. [4][5] Material Objectives Set-up and Index Selection To find the best material for a fixed gear bike frame, the main objective is to prioritise engineering performance; reducing weight, increasing stiffness. The agility of the frame is the main characteristic of which turning reactions, acceleration and deceleration performance are vital to a successful fixed gear bike to be used in and around town as well as for training purposes. The indices used to input into CES will define stiffness-limited design at minimum mass. The frame features that are tensile loaded, creating a tie between two other frame beams will use the index Youngs Modulus / Density, E/ à Ã‚ . Increasing this index will locate suitable materials that exert stiffness, combined with low density, however also giving the best tensile properties. The compression index, for components loaded in compression, is (Youngs Modulus ^  ½)/Density, E1/2 / à Ã‚  will also locate the best materials for that type of loading. For components loaded in bending the index (Youngs Modulus ^  ½)/Density, E1/2 / à Ã‚ , will also be used. For strength limited design, locating the best material for tensile strength before yielding and plastic deformation of the frame occurs, the index yield strength/density, à Ã†â€™f / à Ã‚ , is to be used. Locating the best material for compression strength will also use this index. For the seatstays and fork components, loaded in bending, the index à Ã†â€™f2/3 / à Ã‚  will be used. Maximising these indices will locate the best materials for each specified type of loading. [6] Outcomes using CES Function: Bicycle frame Constraints: Must not fail under rider weight and road reactions. Objective: Overall mass of bicycle frame is to be reduced, without sacrificing stiffness and strength. Variables: Material choice, material section shape, finishing techniques. Before inputting constraints, the graphs of Youngs Modulus over density and yield strength over density appear as follows using education level 2: Figure 5. Youngs modulus over density CES. Figure 6. Yield strength over density. CES. Inputting the constraints, CES outlines groups of materials that meet the constraints: Figure 7. Youngs modulus over density using constraints. CES. Figure 8. Yield strength over density using constraints. CES. CES software has outlined different materials from the groups: composites, metals and alloys, and technical ceramics. These materials are: Aluminium alloys Titanium alloys Beryllium alloys Carbon fibre composites Magnesium alloys Silicon based technical ceramics Aluminium alloys Aluminium alloys are extremely light and shows signs of high elongation, these factors direct aluminium toward being a good candidate for a bicycle frame, however aluminium has a low youngs modulus value and certain alloys exhibit low tensile strength values. These properties may give the bicycle frame flexibility, however current aluminium bicycle frames are certainly not flexible as they tend to have a larger diameter top tube and general radii over the frame components to counter act this. The fatigue values for aluminium alloys are very low, which indicates that after a while the frame will crack and fail, which is definitely something to avoid. Current bicycle frame manufacturers use butting technology in aluminium frames to combat this, by increasing the thickness of the tube at where the material is needed most. [4] Titanium alloys Titanium alloys are around double the weight of aluminium alloys, yet around half that density of steel alloys, making up for this are the high tensile strength and Youngs modulus values which enable to frame to be manufactured from thinner tube sections than aluminium which reduce overall weight. The fatigue values are also high which means that the frame will last for a long time. [4][7] Magnesium alloys Magnesium alloys are even lighter than aluminium alloys and have a slightly better fatigue value. Magnesium alloys also have a low Youngs modulus value, lower than aluminium which indicates flexible frame properties which will have to be yet again solved using tube section thickness design. Magnesium alloys look promising and have good properties that can be applied to a bicycle frame, however they have low corrsosion resistance which has to be overcome by surface treatments. On the current market, few frames have been made from the material as they tend to be very expensive. [4][7][8] CFRP, Carbon Fibre Re-enforced Plastic CFRP, a composite material, is lighter than all the metals previously mentioned as well as having high a Youngs modulus, tensile value, and relatively high fatigue strength values. This material is currently being used all over the bicycle market, from strictly track bikes to road racers, complete frames or part CFRP frames, and components used in mountain bike off road frames. The modulus of the epoxy resin is extremely low, resulting in a brittle material; which consequently affects the method of which the CFRP layers are applied. CFRP has good tensile properties, however not very high compression or torsion properties, so the angle at which the carbon fibre layers are applied must be taken into consideration, otherwise turning bends could turn the frame into a fractured mess. This is also evident in the extremely low elongation value, 0.032% 035% [3][4][8] Technical Ceramics, Silicon Carbide Silicon carbide, unlike ceramics in general has a good tensile value similar to that of titanium, aluminium and CFRP, and a youngs modulus value four times that of titanium. This implies that silicon carbide has a positively good outlook on a perspective bicycle frame, displaying high fatigue values and having a slightly lower density than titanium. Silicon carbide does however have a low percentage elongation at 0% [3] which boasts the potential for producing a hybrid material to increase this value. [4][11] [10] Beryllium Beryllium is often used as an alloying material to increase hardness properties, however it also has a very high youngs modulus value and is lightweight. Beryllium could not be used to solely manufacture a bicycle frame as it is poisonous, especially with inhalation. [12][5][4] It is visible to see the groups of materials commonly used on bicycle frames from the graphs produced; however there are not any specific materials shown. Enabling education level 3, the database of materials becomes more specific and materials that do not meet the constraints are ignored. By maximising the indices, individual materials can be identified. CES software has located Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina by maximising the indices as the best material for a bicycle frame. The unidirectional lamina allows the tensile and youngs modulus values to be uniform within the material, rather than have a directional flow providing room for failure by torsion. The composition of 30-40% polymer and 60-70% carbon fibre maintains a high level of stiffness and fatigue strength from the carbon fibre and reduces the brittle properties of the polymer resin. The CES outcome may have located the best material for a fixed gear bike frame, with the objective minimise the weight of the overall frame, without sacrificing stiffness and strength, however joining processes, surface treatments/coatings and shapes need to be considered. Joining processes Current CFRP frames are either manufactured by using tubular lugs of aluminium or titanium, and then pre-made CFRP tubes aligned and stuck into place with further layered CFRP and epoxy adhesives. The joining between the two different types of materials has led to corrosion and failing, which has directed manufacturers to create frames solely using CFRP. Continuous laminating can be used to cover a mandrel of which the removal of the mandrel gives rise to a shaped tube or hollow section necessary for the specified component. One method used to create low batch numbers of CFRP frames is autoclave moulding, which builds up the CFRP layers by hand, this technique creates a monocoque CFRP shell which has superior stiffness, strength and is extremely lightweight; frames lower than one kilogram have been produced. [8] Shape Factors Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina has a maximum shape factor value for elastic bending (Max à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢eB) of 12.3. By using this value, the shape efficiency can be compared against other materials determining if other materials exhibit better stiffness and resistance to bending properties. Using CES a graph can be drawn of Youngs modulus over density with the index à Ã‚  /E1/ 2, which will show the maximum bending stiffness whilst reducing weight. As the shape of the material is not fixed, in general materials used for lightweight structural objectives require low à Ã‚ /(à Ã¢â‚¬  eBE)1/2 values. The materials will be selected as they provide the best properties. [10] By comparing alloys used frequently in the manufacture of bicycle frames against the CFRP based material CES located, it is possible to see the benefits of firstly the shape factor attributed to aluminium, giving it good structural properties despite its low youngs modulus value. However the lower value of the determined CFRP material means that it has better shape efficiency and will have better in service properties at providing a lightweight stiff bicycle frame, resistant to bending forces. The titanium, given its stiffness will be able to produce a lighter frame than one made of steel and aluminium, yet does not have a better bending shape factor shown by the aluminium alloy. Magnesium, despite having the lowest modulus has a maximum bending factor lower than the aluminium alloy, which is one of the reasons why it is becoming an increasingly popular base alloy for bicycle frames. [10] Hybrid Bicycle Frame The extreme stiffness of the Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina bicycle frame will create a very stiff ride, of which the road surface will be felt through the frame to the rider. One way to prevent this is to use larger or thicker tyres, which will reduce vibration, however will significantly increase friction and reduce top speed and acceleration times. A method to reduce these problems would be to develop a frame that utilised a couple of materials and blended them together to give longitudinal damping properties yet maintain the transverse stiffness and lightweight properties. This could be achieved by using titanium on the main triangular frame due to its 5-10% elongation property, extremely high fatigue, tensile and lightweight properties; and using the CFRP on the chain stays, seat stays and fork components for its extremely high shape factor and bending stiffness value. This will also create a high fatigue resistance of the frame making it last for m any miles of riding, however problems may occur with the joining of the two materials when using acrylic based or epoxy glues to bond the two sections together as this interferes with the structure and could lead to corrosion or failure from loading. [8][7][6] A hybrid material could be answer to creating the perfect bike frame using silicon carbide, boron carbide and aluminium, also known as MMC duralcan alloys, or alumina B4C alloys. Alloys using these materials have already been created, making use of silicon and boron carbides mechanical properties and combining them with aluminiums structural advantages. The aluminium carbide composites exhibit good bending factor values as well as high Youngs modulus values, fatigue strength, tensile strength and very high compressive strength, which makes the material promising for use as a bicycle frame. Surface Treatments Surface treatments such as anodizing are common in todays current bicycle market, for example on aluminium where the reactive surface is covered with an oxide layer and the thickness controlled using anodizing. This prolongs the life of the frame by reducing the risk of corrosion. Electroplating is also used for corrosion resistance or to improve hardness, this method is usually used on metals; however non-metals can be plated once painted with an electrically conductive material. This can give metals shiny mirror finishes, synthesizing the look of commonly expensive materials such as gold or silver. For metals and non-metals, organic solvent based paints are widely used to give the frame exciting colours and finishes. Organic solvent based paints are usually applied to carbon fibre; however it is sometimes preferred to show the craftsmanship of the carbon fibre in its natural form showing the weave pattern. [4][10] Conclusion The best materials for a fixed gear road bike come in the form of carbon fibre re-enforced plastics; this is because of the lightweight, high modulus frames they create. The shape factor contributes highly to the success of the material by creating stiff tubular sections that are resistant to bending and plastic deformation also improved by their high yield strength values. The tensile and compression properties shown by the material are very high and work well at absorbing shock, distributing the stress throughout the frame. The orientation of the carbon fibre is very important as this affects the tensile and compression values that the material can take before fracture in the longitudinal and transverse directions, vital to the frame staying in one piece when turning, decelerating or accelerating rapidly. A uni-directional laminate is preferable as the fibres provide optimum stress and strain abilities. The metals mentioned provide lightweight solutions to the bicycle frame; however each has issues, whether it is low youngs modulus or fatigue limits that need to be addressed. These issues are usually solved by means of alloying or using shape factors to increase or decrease tube thicknesses or use of butting and other joining processes.

New Venture Creation

Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from New Venture Creation Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from

Geometry Homework Helper - a Short Outline

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Abbreviations for Common Business Degrees

Business degree abbreviations can vary from school to school, but most educational institutions use a standard format. However, there are so many types of business degrees available—especially when it comes to graduate options—that it can be confusing what all the abbreviations stand for, especially when some are so similar (such as the EMS for Executive Master of Science and EMSM for Executive Master of Science in Management). Read on for a compilation of the most standard abbreviations and their meanings. Bachelors Degrees Bachelors degrees are undergraduate degrees. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree is more broadly focused on liberal arts, while the Bachelor of Science (BS) has a more targeted curriculum. The most common business-related bachelor degrees include: BA: Bachelor of ArtsBBA: Bachelor of Business Administration  BPA: Bachelor of Public AdministrationBS: Bachelor of ScienceBSB: Bachelor of Science in BusinessBSBA: Bachelor of Science in Business AdministrationBSc CIS: Bachelor of Computer Information Systems Executive  Degrees Executive degree programs are commonly designed for  working business professionals who want to advance their knowledge in general business (business administration) or in a particular area such as public administration, management, or taxation. Although many students in executive degree programs are already executives, not all work in a supervisory capacity—some students simply exhibit executive potential.  The most common executive degrees include: EMBA: Executive MBAEMIB: Executive Master if International BusinessEMPA: Executive Master of Public AdministrationEMS: Executive Master of ScienceEMSM: Executive Master of Science in ManagementEMSMOT: Executive Master of Science in Management of TechnologyEMST: Executive Master of Science in TaxationGEMBA: Global Executive Master of Business Administration Masters Degrees A masters degree is a graduate-level degree thats earned after completing undergraduate-level education. There are many specialized masters degrees in the business field. The most common include: IMBA: International MBAMAcc: Master of AccountancyMAIS: Master of Accounting and Information SystemsMBA: Master of Business Administration  MBE: Master of Business EducationMBI: Master of Business InformaticsMBS: Master of Business StudiesMFA: Master of Fine ArtsMHR: Master of Human ResourcesMHRM: Master of Human Resources ManagementMIA: Master of International AffairsMIAS: Master of International and Area StudiesMIB: Master of International BusinessMIM: Master of International ManagementMIS: Master of Information SystemsMISM: Master of Information Systems ManagementMMIS: Master of Management Information SystemsMMR: Master of Marketing ResearchMMS: Master of Management ScienceMNO: Master of Nonprofit OrganizationsMOD: Master of Science in Organizational DevelopmentMPA: Master of Public AdministrationMPAcc: Master of Professional AccountingMPIA: Master of Public and International AffairsMPL: Master of PlanningMPP: Master of Public PolicyMRED: Master of Real Estate DevelopmentMTAX: M aster of Taxation Master of Science Degrees Master of Science degrees, also known as MS degrees, are graduate-level degrees with a tightly focused track of study in a particular area such as accounting, finance, management, taxation, or real estate. The most common Master of Science degrees in the business field include: MSA: Master of Science in Accountancy (or Accounting)MSAIS: Master of Science in Accountancy Information SystemsMSAT: Master of Science in Accountancy, TaxationMSB: Master of Science in BusinessMSBA: Master of Science in Business AdministrationMSF: Master of Science in FinanceMSFA: Master of Science in Financial AnalysisMSFS: Master of Science in Foreign ServicesMSGFA: Master of Science in Global Financial AnalysisMSIB: Master of Science in International BusinessMSIM:  Master of Science in Industrial ManagementMSIS: Master of Science in Information SystemsMSITM: Master of Science in Information Technology ManagementMSM: Master of Science in ManagementMSMOT: Master of Science in Management of TechnologyMSOD: Master of Science in Organization DevelopmentMSRE: Master of Science in Real EstateMST: Master of Science in Taxation Exceptions to Standard Degree Abbreviations Although most business schools use the abbreviations above, there are some exceptions. For example, Harvard University follows the tradition of Latin degree names  for some of their undergraduate and graduate degrees, which means that the  degree abbreviations are reversed in comparison to what many of us are used to seeing in the United States. Here are a few examples: AB: This is the name for the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. AB stands for artium baccalaureus.SB:  This is the name for the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.  SB stands for scientiae baccalaureus.AM: This is the equivalent of the Master of Arts (MA) degree. AM stands for artium magister.SM: This is the equivalent of the  Master of Science (MS) degree. SM stands for scientiae magister.