Differential Equation Essay Example for Free

Differential Equation Essay Assume that the resulting system is linear and time-invariant. x[n] O + r0n] D y[n] +1 3 -2 Figure P6. 5 (a) Find the direct form I realization of the difference equation. (b) Find the difference equation described by the direct form I realization. (c) Consider the intermediate signal r[n] in Figure P6. 5. (i) Find the relation between r[n] and y[n]. (ii) Find the relation between r[n] and x[n]. (iii) Using your answers to parts (i) and (ii), verify that the relation between y[n] and x[n] in the direct form II realization is the same as your answer to part (b). Systems Represented by Differential and Difference Equations / Problems P6-3 P6. 6 Consider the following differential equation governing an LTI system. dx(t) dytt) dt + ay(t) = b di + cx(t) dt dt (P6. 6-1) (a) Draw the direct form I realization of eq. (P6. 6-1). (b) Draw the direct form II realization of eq. (P6. 6-1). Optional Problems P6. 7 Consider the block diagram in Figure P6. 7. The system is causal and is initially at rest. r [n] x [n] + D y [n] -4 Figure P6. 7 (a) Find the difference equation relating x[n] and y[n]. (b) For x[n] = [n], find r[n] for all n. (c) Find the system impulse response. P6. 8 Consider the system shown in Figure P6. 8. Find the differential equation relating x(t) and y(t). x(t) + r(t) + y t a Figure P6. 8 b Signals and Systems P6-4 P6. 9 Consider the following difference equation: y[n] ly[n 1] = x[n] (P6. 9-1) (P6. 9-2) with x[n] = K(cos gon)u[n] Assume that the solution y[n] consists of the sum of a particular solution y,[n] to eq. (P6. 9-1) for n 0 and a homogeneous solution yjn] satisfying the equation Yh[flI 12Yhn 1] = 0. (a) If we assume that Yh[n] = Az, what value must be chosen for zo? (b) If we assume that for n 0, y,[n] = B cos(Qon + 0), what are the values of B and 0? [Hint: It is convenient to view x[n] = Re{Kejonu[n]} and y[n] = Re{Yeonu[n]}, where Y is a complex number to be determined. P6. 10 Show that if r(t) satisfies the homogeneous differential equation m d=r(t) dt 0 and if s(t) is the response of an arbitrary LTI system H to the input r(t), then s(t) satisfies the same homogeneous differential equation. P6. 11 (a) Consider the homogeneous differential equation N dky) k~=0 dtk (P6. 11-1) k=ak Show that if so is a solution of the equation p(s) = E akss k=O N = 0, (P6. 11-2) then Aeso is a solution of eq. (P6. 11-1), where A is an arbitrary complex constant. (b) The polynomial p(s) in eq. (P6. 11-2) can be factored in terms of its roots S1, ,S,. : p(s) = aN(S SI)1P(S tiplicities. Note that S2)2 . . . (S Sr)ar, where the si are the distinct solutions of eq. (P6. 11-2) and the a are their mul ­ U+ 1 o2 + + Ur = N In general, if a, ;gt; 1, then not only is Ae a solution of eq. (P6. 11-1) but so is Atiesi as long as j is an integer greater than or equal to zero and less than or Systems Represented by Differential and Difference Equations / Problems P6-5 equal to oa 1. To illustrate this, show that if ao = 2, then Atesi is a solution of eq. (P6. 11-1). [Hint: Show that if s is an arbitrary complex number, then N ak dtk = Ap(s)te t + A estI Thus, the most general solution of eq. P6. 11-1) is p ci-1 ( i=1 j=0 Aesi , where the Ai, are arbitrary complex constants. (c) Solve the following homogeneous differential equation with the specified aux ­ iliary conditions. d 2 y(t) 2 dt2 + 2 dy(t) + y(t) = 0, dt y(0) = 1, y'() = 1 MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw. mit. edu Resource: Signals and Systems Professor Alan V. Oppenheim The following may not correspond to a parti cular course on MIT OpenCourseWare, but has been provided by the author as an individual learning resource. For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw. mit. edu/terms.

Prostitution and Functionalism Essay -- Functionalist Theory Prostitut

Prostitution and Functionalism Works Cited Not Included Throughout America and the entire world, prostitution flourishes. Prostitution is another never ending war like abortion, which society feels is immoral. This immorality leads functionalists, who apply functionalism to this social problem, on a chase to figure out why prostitution is what it is today. Functionalism is the best theory for looking at prostitution. It allows us to see how prostitution changes along with other aspects of society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some ask why prostitution spreads like a wildfire through our cities and streets. This is an easy question for functionalists, prostitution flourishes because it satisfies sexual needs that are not able to be met elsewhere(Henslin 51). Prostitutes almost seem to serve as an outlet for sexually frustrated men. When a man is unable to find a partner he always holds the option of paying for sexual pleasure. A functionalist, Kingsley Davis, concluded that prostitutes provide a sexual outlet for men who: have difficulty in establishing sexual relationships, cannot find long-term partners, have a broken relationship, want sexual gratification that is defined as immoral, desire quick sexual gratification without attachment, are curious, and are sexually dissatisfied in marriage. From this it is shown that by meeting such needs prostitution functions as a form of social control over sexual behavior. This is beneficial because it brings men with sexual desires away from un wi...

Tiger Mom Essay

In reading â€Å"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom† by Amy Chua, I was surprised how Chua shared in detail about her life journey as a parent and raising two children. This is a book about Amy Chua’s experiences in raising her two daughters, Sophia and Luisa (Lulu), in what she believes is the â€Å"Chinese mother† style of parenting. She is quick to point out in the first chapter, entitled â€Å"The Chinese Mother,† that she uses the term â€Å"loosely† as it would be ridiculous to try to assume that every mother from China is a like a tiger mom.Just as â€Å"Western parents† would not be an appropriate label to place on every parent from Western countries. In this same chapter she references a study where â€Å"50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers† were polled on the role of parents in children’s academic success; with â€Å"70% of Western mothers believed ‘stressing academic success is not good for t he children’ or ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun’† versus nearly â€Å"0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way.† Although she states there are several studies that support this theory, I would not put too much credence in this particular study since the pool is too small and there are a lot of â€Å"Western American mothers† with different style of parenting. A â€Å"Western American mother† can be from as far west as Hawaii or from as northeast as Maine; then there is everyone in between.She also gives us a list of what a Chinese mother’s belief system entails: â€Å"schoolwork always comes first; an A-minus is a bad grade; your children must be two years ahead of their classmates in math; you must never compliment your children in public; if your child ever disagrees with a teacher or coach, you must always take the side of the teacher or coach; (6) the only activities your children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually medal; and that medal must be gold. † This list seems a little extreme to me, but I guess it just depends on what you are brought up to believe is the norm.When you do not know anything different, this is normal, expected and accepted. As I began to read the book, I quickly realized Amy Chua is very pro â€Å"Chinese† parenting style. In chapter four, â€Å"The Chuas,† she described how her and her sisters were to speak only in Chinese in the home; â€Å"drilled math and piano everyday;† and they were not allowed to attend sleepovers at friends’ homes. Yet, she also tells of the time when she forged her father signature in order to apply to a school in the East Coast after her father had already said she was going to attend the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a professor.Here I saw a bit of a rebellion, which she will come to see later in the book with her daughter Lulu. Throughout the book, I saw many examples of how Chua compared â€Å"Chinese† parenting to â€Å"Western† parenting. This is especially true in chapter 10, â€Å"Teeth Marks and Bubbles. † She tells the story of how she had called her eldest daughter, Sophia, garbage for something Chua believed to be â€Å"extremely disrespectful†, although she never mentioned the offense. She says her father had called her the same thing when she was disrespectful to her mother. However, according to her, it did not damage her self-esteem.However, when she retold this story at friend’s dinner party, she was immediately looked upon with disdain and felt shunned by those around her. She goes on stating the three big differences between the mindsets of Chinese and Western parents. First, Western parents worry about a child’s self-esteem and are more concerned with the child’s psyche, whereas Chinese parents don’t. Chinese parents â€Å"assume strength, not fra gility, and as a result they behave very differently. † Second, Chinese parents feel their children should be indebted to them for the sacrifices the parents made on their children’s behalf.Therefore, they â€Å"must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud. † Most Western parents do not feel the need to apply that same pressure on their children. Third, Chua claims Chinese parents believe they know what is best for their children and feel entitled to supersede all of their children’s choices and/or decisions. In this particular instance, I believe a most parents, not only Chinese parents, believe they know what is best for their children. Chinese parents take it a step further and do not allow choices for their children, whereas Western parents do allow their child to have choices.Although Chua argues in favor of the Chinese parenting style, she is merely stating the differences between the two approaches and the one she prefers. She lets us into her world and walks us through her trials and tribulations with the â€Å"Chinese mother† approach she elected to follow. Where this style of parenting had worked with her and her sisters and to some extent her eldest daughter, Sophia, however Lulu was not so accepting. Near the end of the book, specifically in Chapter 31 â€Å"Red Square,† everything comes to a boil as she has, yet, another fight with Lulu at the GUM cafe.After the fight, Chua runs away into the Red Square to be with her thoughts, then has an epiphany and realizes that Lulu was rebelling against her and her â€Å"Chinese mother† style of parenting. When she returns to the cafe, she informs Lulu that she had won and she would be allowed to make her own choices and quit the violin. Do I favor this type of parenting? The style of parenting Chua describes in her memoir is that of an authoritarian parenting style, which â€Å"emphasizes high standards and a tendency to control kids through shaming, the withdrawal of love, or punishments† (http://www.parentingscience. com/chinese-parenting. html).This style I do not agree with. In fact, according to Dr. Gwen Dewar, â€Å"authoritarian parenting is linked with lower levels of self-control, more emotional problems, and lower academic performance. † Dr. Dewar is more in favor of an authoritative parenting that involves the same emphasizes of high standards, but also involves â€Å"parental warmth and a commitment to reason with children† (http://www. parentingscience. com/chinese-parenting. html).There is nothing wrong with wanting the best for your children, wanting them to succeed and instilling a hard-work ethic and providing guidance, however it should not be at the expense of the child’s psychological well being. Even though it looks like Chua’s daughter, Sophia, had benefited from this style of parenting, they may just begin to realize they could have possibly achieved the same results without the extreme harassment. Only time will tell if Chua’s daughters will end up resenting her as her father ended up resenting and detaching himself from his family after disagreeing with his authoritarian mother.Especially Lulu, who was the most difficult one. As stated in the beginning, this is a book on how a â€Å"Chinese mother† style of parenting was used by Amy Chua and the results she had with this style. Although, I may not agree with all of the aspects of this style, it does have its pros; such as wanting your child to the best that they can be and its cons; such as the belittling of a child can never be good. This was never intended to be a â€Å"How to Guide† to parent your children, as Chua stated in an interview after the book was released (http://abcnews. go.com/US/tiger-mother-amy-chua-death-threats-parenting-essay/story? id=12628830).Chua has received a lot criticism from many people, but I agree with her, this is n ot a guide to parent a child. The reason being is that each child is unique in its own way. What may be a good approach for one, it not necessarily good for another. As she acknowledged in her book, â€Å"When Chinese parenting succeeds, there’s nothing like it. But it doesn’t always succeed. † However, at the end of the day you make the decision you feel is right for you and your family and adjust, as needed, as you go along.

Easy To Make Glitter Slime

Why make ordinary slime, when you can make sparkly glitter slime!  Try this easy recipe to make the slime in any color of the rainbow. Materials Glitter glueBoraxWater The recipe works with either clear or white school glue, but white glue makes opaque slime. For clear or translucent colored slime that glitters, choose a clear or translucent glue. If you cant find glitter glue, add glitter as an ingredient. Borax is sold as a detergent booster with laundry supplies, or you can purchase it online. Making Glitter Slime Slime is a polymer that forms when you mix two solutions: glue and dissolved borax. The first step is to make these solutions. Dissolve 1 teaspoon borax in 1/2 cup warm water. Its okay if the borax doesnt completely dissolve. You only need the liquid part, not any solid that stays at the bottom of the cup.In a separate container, mix 1/2 cup glue (4-oz bottle of glue) and 1 cup of water. If you dont like the color of the slime, you can add a few drops of food coloring to the mixture.When you are ready to make glitter slime, dump the two mixtures into a bowl. Use your hands to mix the slime (thats part of the fun). If you have any leftover liquid after the slime polymerizes, you can discard it. When you are finished playing with the glitter slime, you can store it in a sealed plastic bag. The borax is a natural disinfectant, but the slime will keep fresh even longer if you refrigerate it. Clean-up is easy using warm water.

The Metamorphosis The Misunderstood Of Students

In the United States of America, there are about 323.1 million people. 74.6 million of those are students. Students across the country are all basically doing the exact same curriculum, with the same textbooks, and the same styles of teaching. It is 2017, and times have changed. As Gregor Samsa, an outsider in the story â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, by Franz Kafka, is misunderstood, students in this country are misunderstood and are given things that are wrong for them. These things include standardized tests, excessive amounts of homework, and a lack of respect and trust. To start off, students are misunderstood as they are forced to take standardized tests. The creator of the standardized tests was quoted saying that they are to hard and†¦show more content†¦But for a lot of high school students, this definitely isn’t the case. If your child is looking to attend a competitive university, then her SAT/ACT score is more important than her GPA† (Patel, Shaan). So how is it fair that twelve years of going through school, matters less than three hours of your life. Some students work very hard to get above 3.5 and way higher grade point averages, and what matters more is just how well you do on one test. This also correlates to how much homework is given and how it is too much for some students. A second example of students being misunderstood is the ample amount of homework given to each student every week and every day. â€Å"High school teachers interviewed said they assign an average of 3.5 hours worth of homework a week. For students who study five days a week, thats 42 minutes a day per class, or 3.5 hours a day for a typical student taking five classes† (Stainburn, Samantha). Now, these numbers may vary, but that is a lot of homework. As stated earlier, students have different ways of learning. So only the students whose ways of learning are solitary or logical will it benefit. The only form of homework that should be given out to the five other learners would be studying for things, or not solving tons of problems. Students who learn by physically showing it through real life things, or by group work, or by imaging andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka920 Words   |  4 Pagesto a stereotypical teenage society, in the story, â€Å"The Metamorphosis,† by Franz Kafka, is a showing of how in a day-to-day â€Å"regular† lifestyle can result in the alienating of the metamorphosing of something not as typical in your self-styled day-to-day â€Å"regular† lifestyle. This also can be known as outsiders, people who do not belong to a particular group, signifying the argument that newcomers are simply those who are misjudged or misunderstood for the two reasons of. Since, the men and women thatRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Frank Kafka849 Words   |  4 PagesThe Metamorphosis is a short novella written by Frank Kafka during the 20th century Modernism period. The Modern period introduced technological advances like the steam engine; the telephone and telegraph connected humans from different regions and help improve the human experience. Although the increase of these technological devices led to an improvement of the human condition it also led to the production of dangerous weapons and modern warfare. Global conflicts ravaged modern life due to increasingRead More Mental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis Essay1428 Words   |  6 PagesMental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis The metamorphosis very possibly was written by Kafka as an outlet for his feelings of isolation and helplessness. In it, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself spontaneously transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. The story continues from there in a most realistic fashion: his family rejects him, and he stays cooped up in his room until he dies. Although interpretations of the story differ, my opinion isRead MoreThe Fall Down The Rabbit Hole3326 Words   |  14 Pagesher discovering her own identity, which is ultimately preventing her from growing up and maturing. Every attempt to establish a familiar basis of identity creates only the sense of being absolutely lost. Alice becomes to the reader a mistreated, misunderstood, wandering stray. She feels stranded between the stages of no longer wanting to be a child and not being ready to grow up. In order for Alice to recognize and comprehend her surroundings, she needs to be able to understand hersel f and her own uniquenessRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesThis online teaching and learning environment integrates the entire digital textbook with the most effective instructor and student resources With WileyPLUS: Students achieve concept mastery in a rich, structured environment that’s available 24/7 Instructors personalize and manage their course more effectively with assessment, assignments, grade tracking, and more manage time better study smarter save money From multiple study paths, to self-assessment, to a wealth of interactive visualRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagessterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. Whilst their writing is accessible and engaging, their approach is scholarly and serious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster UniversityRead MoreMerger and Acquisition: Current Issues115629 Words   |  463 PagesEconomy at the University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain. She received her PhD in Economics and Business Sciences from the University of Oviedo. Her research focuses on banking, financial markets and corporate finance. She has directed several PhD students in thes e subjects and is the author of numerous publications in national and international journals, and several textbooks. She is currently NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS xvii the Director of a Master’s program in Banking and Financial Markets

Alan Kendricks Was Recently Promoted To Medical Director

Alan Kendricks was recently promoted to medical director for Cardiology Associates at Southern Pennsylvania, University Hospital (SPUH). His first six months was a crash course in the roles of the different departments in the hospital. While balancing patients, and the duties of his new role, Alan has observed problems, and areas of improvements that he hopes to start implementing with change. Him and other senior executives and clinical leaders, know that cardiology is seen as the â€Å"pillar of prosperity† and they are exploring strategic potential. (Groysberg, Kaftan, McCalla, 2007) However, he has run into the resistance of tenured staff and physicians not wanting to change procedures. Alan is attempting to figure out the best way to†¦show more content†¦Griffiths tenure and Dr. Kendricks understood that. However, he believed that he needed to explore changes in order to lead the practice into having a successful future. Initiatives that Alan has already impleme nted during his first six months in his position was an open-door policy during his administrative hours. Dr. Griffiths was a much more â€Å"hands off†, collaborative director. (Groysberg, Kaftan, McCalla, 2007) Where Dr. Kendricks wants to be more direct, and confrontational at times. His new open-door policy is becoming a major distraction for Alan, he is finding himself taking his routine clinical work home so he is not interrupted with other issues. The change is leadership style has also been challenging for the hospital to come to terms with. The physicians and support staff have become complacent to the procedures and practices under Dr. Griffiths. Alan has been attempting to implement a new pay-for performance system, which includes electronic medical record (EMR), decision support systems, e-scribing of medications, and predefined disease management protocols for patients with chronic conditions. With the new EMR system, senior physicians begrudged Dr. Kendricks fo r telling them how to practice, and forcing them to use the new systems. Doctors are also complaining about how they are being forced to do work support staff should be preforming. Alan is having a hard time figuring out how to allocate the support staff’s time fairly.Show MoreRelatedA Cardiologist At The Southeastern Pennsylvania University1322 Words   |  6 PagesA cardiologist at the Southeastern Pennsylvania University Hospital by the name of Alan Kendricks had recently been promoted as medical director. Within this new promotion, he brought with him great change. The medical director before Alan had a laissez-faire approach, while Alan had a more interactive approach to leading. Although Alan came with great credentials, the medical staff Alan was now in charge of was timid of this new change. A few employees who were not too keen on the new changesRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall3931 64 Words   |  1573 PagesEditorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services: Ashley Santora Acquisitions Editor: Brian Mickelson Editorial Project Manager: Sarah Holle Editorial Assistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Managing Editor: Judy Leale Production Project Manager: Becca Groves Senior Operations Supervisor: Arnold Vila Operations Specialist: Cathleen Petersen Senior Art Director: Janet Slowik Art Director: Kenny BeckRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 WVR/WVR 0 9 8 7 ISBN 978-0-07-340334-2 MHID 0-07-340334-2 Editorial director: Stewart Mattson Publisher: Tim Vertovec Executive editor: Richard T. Hercher, Jr. Developmental editor: Gail Korosa Associate marketing manager: Jaime Halterman Project manager: Harvey Yep Production supervisor: Carol Bielski Designer: Mary Kazak

SAS Institute Case Analysis Free Essays

1. Basic Business Model The business model of SAS is such that it in general it offers services coupled with software. Unlike typical firms in the industry it follows an annual software subscription model. We will write a custom essay sample on SAS Institute Case Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Rather than sell its software, SAS leases to its customers – a strategy of immense importance in understanding the company’s relationship to its users. The fact that leases must be renewable annually creates a tremendous emphasis on customer satisfaction and quality in addition to stabilising its revenue. Furthermore, its products are made based on what customers require and its developmental process is almost wholly customer driven. There is also a strong focus on employee satisfaction leading to customer retention and loyalty which SAS believes is directly linked to customer satisfaction. As seen by the SAS Institute, the leasing strategy helps keep the company sharp by ensuring that technological advances are driven solely by customer needs. 2. Capabilities and Core Competencies to execute its Business Model SAS possesses many capabilities and competencies to help execute its business model effectively. These include flexibility from being a private company, an effective tacit leadership, unique corporate culture, strong brand, dedicated human capital and a considerable amount of financial resources which they efficiently allocate to certain projects whenever required. Being private, it is able to focus on the long term, continue to implement activities which have a strong focus on employee satisfaction and focus on slower but steady growth, something that would have most likely have not been possible had SAS been a public company. With a strong leadership spearheaded by CEO Jim Goodnight, coupled with a strong brand, SAS is able to recruit and retain the key talent it requires to execute its business model. Having a corporate culture which is egalitarian and based on mutual trust and respect also plays a significant role in retaining talent and keeping employees loyal and happy. With a dedicated human capital striving to continue the company’s growth, SAS does not only come up with innovative products which increase its revenue, it also saves more than $100million due to its low attrition rate. Key Success Factors The key factors are its unconventional management philosophies, customer driven developmental process and it being a private company. Unlike other software companies that focus on monetary benefits, SAS’s management philosophy is mainly employee centred with the provision of many intangible benefits. It also believes in a long term view of all issues and does not actively strive to reac h specified short term financial goals. These have led to a build up of a loyal and talented workforce and sustainable long term growth. Moreover, its products are built on customer needs and customer feedback is taken very seriously. Using the Voice of the Customer (VOC) approach, customer opinions and suggestions are compiled and used to guide the development process. Being a private company with no debt has allowed Goodnight to have a long term view of issues and also implement the abovementioned policies to provide employee satisfaction and consequently customer satisfaction as well. . Building of Capabilities and Core Competencies via People Management Practices With attraction and retention of talent central to the company’s continuing success, it has developed certain principles in its recruitment, compensation, employee benefits and outsourcing policies. It has a stringent recruitment process to ensure the cultural fit of its new hires and thereafter gives its employees as much autonomy as possible. It also actively promotes a work life balance and egalitarian culture with a promotion of non financial incentives, unlike other software firms thus creating a unique corporate culture, â€Å"One of cooperation, teamwork and mutual respect† . Moreover its flat organization structure, open door policy and informal work environment encourages communication at all levels of the organization.. This has also led to the development of a strong brand and increased employee satisfaction which not only enables the company to attract but also retain talent. As shown in the diagram above, this leads to increased customer satisfaction and thus increasing revenues. All in all, these practices have helped promote the building of its capabilities and competencies to a large extent ?Is the SAS Model perfectly in balance? With SAS focussed on long term growth and emphasizing non monetary benefits for its employees, this model has been almost perfect for them. It is not fair to say that the model is perfectly in balance as a firm’s model is largely determined by its capabilities and core competencies. A public company for instance would not enjoy the flexibility that SAS enjoys. It would not be able to provide such extensive employee benefits or focus on long term growth at the expense of short term profitability. No model can fit all organizations and be perfectly in balance and SAS is not different. For example, if its model is in balance, its attrition rate despite being low would be 0 and not 4%. 4. Difficulties in imitating SAS’s approach Being such a differentiated company compared to the rest of the industry in many aspects, it is difficult to duplicate SAS’s approach which is based heavily on intangible assets. â€Å"†¦intangible assets almost never create value by themselves. They need to be combined with other assets. † Hence, not only do these intangible assets such as SAS’s unique corporate culture take years to implement, it is also hard to imitate as the social complexity of a company’s culture is so ambiguous that it is almost impossible to find out how it works and combines with each other. ?Why few firms have tried to implement many of its People Management Practices Big companies with strong brands such as IBM could follow its stringent recruitment process but would not be able to imitate its unique culture as easily. With most companies providing incentive compensations and stock options, it would not be easy to eliminate that and emphasize non-monetary incentives. This is especially so when public companies would have to go through its board just to provide employee benefits on a similar scale as SAS. It would also be unfeasible to bring outsourced functions back in-house as it would most certainly drive up labour costs and hence be blocked by a hard-nosed board. 5. Extent to which SAS is dependent on continuation of its CEO With a flat organization structure and having 27 direct reports, Goodnight also appears o be very much on top of all the details of the organization. Conversely, he appears to give his direct reports a clear direction of where SAS Institute is going on the product or technology front, and then let them run their own areas. Even though Goodnight is no longer directly involved with most decisions related to SAS’s work culture, his original vision has spawned a self-perp etuating culture, and â€Å"new† decision makers now share his vision, which governs the variety of philosophies, strategies, and practices adopted by the company since its inception. Even though the culture looks so strong that it would survive a change in leadership, the new CEO would not only have to possess business leadership ability but also shares the same values as Goodnight so that SAS does not deviate from its current approach to its business and management. Hence, with no formal succession planning and still being heavily involved in almost all aspects of the organization, the SAS institute approach to its business and management is heavily dependent on Goodnight’s continuation. . Theory of Human Motivation and Behaviour underlying SAS’s Management Approach Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy seems to underlie SAS’s approach to people management. 7. Barriers in implementing knowledge of how SAS manages its people Firstly, a barrier in trying to implement freedom and autonomy coupled with possessing employees with intrinsic motivation is not only the lack of talent but finding talent with the required characteristics. Secondly, extensive employee benefits such as a gym, day-care and the absence of commission-based pay for its account representatives would most likely not been possible if a company is public. Thirdly, a lack of explicit support and encouragement from top management would be another barrier as this is important for the promotion of an egalitarian culture based on trust and mutual respect on top of a family-friendly atmosphere. 8. Major Challenges SAS may face in the next 5 years and its Impact Due to the changing dynamics of the software industry and increasing global competition, the company has to expand its talent pool which is already in shortage. Hence, there might be a need for the company to come out with new ways to attract talent. Practices such as providing more career advancement opportunities would be important in retaining them. Another challenge would be to develop current staff to meet future needs whilst nurturing its talent to fulfil their potential. SAS might have to change its current unstructured approach where employees are free to come up with and develop their own projects and idea. A more structured approach to its job design could be considered to help nurture and develop staff. In general, SAS’s practices have been working for them and look to be able to continue to help them succeed. However, certain aspects could be improved in the future to overcome potential future people management problems such a new generation of workers demanding a different set of benefits than the one SAS currently offers. . Lessons drawn By paying extraordinary attention to its customers and employees, the company has differentiated itself from other companies in the competitive industry, and subsequently has created this â€Å"wheel of loyalty† which resulted in both employee and customer retention. For various HRM practices such as recruitment and selection, great care must be taken to ensure all practices are designed to fit t he company’s business model and culture and at the same time also highlights its strengths, to promote a competitive advantage. For instance, during recruitment, SAS took great care to hire people to ensure a cultural fit. In addition, its job design was such to fit into its philosophy of trust and autonomy between its employees. There should also be a strong relationship between management and employees to produce competitive advantage, hence SAS’s promotion of an egalitarian culture. ?Future of HRM in firms like SAS The future of HR should be one that is committed to working with line managers to improve SAS’s bottom line, create service value for customers and create workplace value for employees. Leadership and management training should be initiated for senior managers while knowledge sharing within the HR function would be vital for SAS to move forward and expand globally. HR should also become a champion for employees while working to increase employee contributions, specifically commitment and ability to deliver results, be an agent for continuous transformation, and cultivating a culture that will improve SAS’s capacity for change. How to cite SAS Institute Case Analysis, Papers