The Establishment Of Authority And Influence Over Territories

1. The establishment of authority and influence over territories East India Company’s officially sanctioned monopoly over trade in the East Indies essentially gave it the power to negotiate commercial treaties, establish settlements and even wage wars if it so desired (p.185). While it may have started out with commercial intentions, it eventually diversified into revenue collection and became a ‘Mughal’ vassal, with privileges and tax-exemption. I believe that its significant influence was not just due to military superiority, but also political shrewdness. For example, it forced the ruling ‘nawab’ Siraj-ud-Daula to be the first aggressor by defying his orders. This in turn gave it moral justification to retaliate and depose him. Its†¦show more content†¦Their main goal was still to improve the imperial siphoning of wealth from Indian soil (p. 210). Each time there was widespread condemnation of the Company’s activities, they seem to have proposed shallow reforms meant to appease rather than improve, such as the banning of private trading after Clive’s first term and the reform of brutal imperial governance by Palmerston. All of these seem to have been purely superficial in nature and so they all eventually failed. 2. Reasons for its rise and decline The initial rise of the East India Company can be attributed to the complacent attitude of the ‘Mughals’, who were aware of the Europeans’ militarism, but felt a false sense of security in their own power to oppose them if the need arose (p.185). However, the actual credit for the rise of imperialism in India should probably go to East India Company’s frontline employees. These ambitious employees began gave in to their corrupt greed and basically forced the Company to become an imperial power. Especially cunning employees like Robert Clive even managed to receive funding from rivals like the Dutch East India Company (p. 191). Sporadic victories in battle by frontline employees seem to have yielded three simultaneous benefits; they repelled

Children With Asd ( Autism Spectrum Disorder ) - 2006 Words

Summary: Parron and colleagues conducted a study where children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) were asked to recognise biological motion through the use of PLDs (point light displays). They aimed to find whether high functioning children with autism showed the same specific problem with perceiving emotional material in PLDs in comparison to typically developing children. Secondly, they wanted to explore the degree performance on these tasks and whether it is comparable to high functioning adults with ASD. The use of PLDs depicted different motions depending on the four conditions which included, a person’s actions, subjective states, emotional condition and everyday objects. Participants were asked to describe the PLD as accurately as†¦show more content†¦Additionally, autistic children seem to have difficulty in recognising bodily gestures and context on an emotional level, yet seem to compare similarly to typically developing children on recognising simple actions (Hube rt et al, 2007). ASD consists of various mental disorders such as autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and childhood disintegrative disorder (DSM-IV). Autism is undeniably a part of ASD, defined as a triad of impairments, it consists of specific deficits which may be more susceptible in recognising certain types of motion (Wing and Gould in 1979 as cited in Mitchell Fenja, 2013). As Parron et al hypothesised to find differences in autistic children, the findings are more generalised to ASD rather than autism thus reducing the internal validity of the findings. Gepner and Mestre in 2002 found those with autism showed less postural reactivity in comparison to those with Asperger’s syndrome whom showed increased postural activity (as cited in Greffou et al, 2011). This suggests, regardless of the subcategories within ASD, there are variations amongst the specific mental disorders, which affects the internal validity of this study. The use of PLD is prominent in studies which have undeniably influenced Parron et als’ research, particularly when measuring recognition of biological motion (Moore, Hobson Lee, 1997 as cited in Parron et al,

Management Theory and Practices for Volkswagen Group Case Study

Question: Discuss about theManagement Theory and Practices for Volkswagen Group. Answer: Introduction The Volkswagen Group of company also known as the Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, is Germany based multinational company that manufactures automotives. The Headquarter of the office is at Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany where from the company serves worldwide. As mentioned by Reitze (2016), the company deals with the designing, manufacturing and distributing of the passenger and commercial vehicles, turbo machines, engines, motorcycles and other such automotives. The company also offers many services related to the automotives including the services like leasing, financing and fleet management. Volkswagen Group of company is the second largest company in the world in the field of automotives after the Toyota Company (Baur, 2015). The average number of motor vehicles produced by the company in the year 2015 was around 9.93 million and for about two decades in a row, has maintained the largest market share in Europe. The annual revenue of the company is above 213.292 billion. In the li st of the world largest companies by Fortune Global 500 in the year 2016, the company ranked seventh (Brooks, 2016). The Volkswagen Group of companies sells motorcycle under the brand Ducati and passenger cars under Bugatti, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Volkswagen Marques and Skoda. The commercial cars are sold by the company under the brand MAN, Neoplan and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. The Volkswagen Company which has such huge market criteria, high annual revenue and fame is in news because of the case of cheating on the diesel emission test. The Volkswagen Company marched with the Squadron of Audi TDI models on Washington and it also promoted the Clean Diesel as an alternative to the electric and the hybrid vehicles. Even after this the company stewed in on its own toxic vapours from the vehicles (Ewing, 2015). In this study the company Volkswagen Group which has been in the news for the past two years, has been taken to show the Ethical dilemma that was faced by the organization during the emission scandal that as faced by the company is the year 2015. The two of the managerial concepts have been applied to critically analyse this ethical dilemma of the Volkswagen Company. The relationship between the leadership, ethics and the decision making of the Volkswagen has been evaluated critically. In the conclusion part of the study, a reflection has been given on the ways that may ensure the leaders on the decisions that are made on the ethics of the company. According to Barrett et al. (2015) on the September 18th, 2015, the Volkswagen Emission Scandal came to notice when it was found that the company intentionally had programmed the TDI (Turbo Charged Injection) to get active some specific emission controls only during the times of emission testing of the laboratory. United States Environmental Protection Agency then issued a letter of violence of the Clean Air Act to the Volkswagen Group Company. This emission software was installed by the Volkswagen in about 0.5 million cars in U.S. itself and 10.5 million cars worldwide (Griggs-Hall, 2015). The unique parameters of the cycle of emission drive set by the Environmental Protection Agency are allowed to be sensed by the company because of the emission software that is installed in the cars. As stated by Goel (2015), this software used to sense when the car was being tested and accordingly it activated the equipments that reduces the emissions. But while the car was used during the regular drive, the software used to turn down and this would result in increase of emissions that was far above than the legal limits would allow. Due to this during the test mode the cars that are tested are fully complaint and all the emission levels are acceptable (Lane, 2016). However, during the normal drive time the software switches to another mode that changes the fuel pressure, recirculation of the exhaust gas, injection time and the amount of urea fluid that is sprayed in the exhaust. During this mode of the software high power of mileage is delivered to the car but with that there is al so high level emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx), which a kind of smog that is mainly responsible for lung cancer. This emission of the nitrogen oxide is around 40 times higher than the normal federal limit (Blackwelder et al., 2016). In the year 2015, the International Council on Clean Transportation found out in a study that there was a discrepancy between the US and the European models of the vehicles commissioned. Then different groups of research groups were set up for the detection of the case (Thompson Kottasova, 2015). The detection of this manipulation of the emission of the nitrogen oxide gas was detected by the group of five researcher scientists at the West Virginia University. These scientists detected the additional emission of nitrogen oxide in 2 out of 3 cares during the live roads test. Then two more data related on the findings were purchased by the International Council on Clean Transportation from two other sources. After that with the help of Portable Emission Measurement System Systems the data purchased and the tests data were generated and the results and the findings were then submitted to the California Air Resources Boards. Due to this the Volkswagen then became the targets for multiple investigations that were held in the different countries worldwide and the whole case of the emission fraud done by the Volkswagen came into public view. Consequently the price of the stock of the company started falling within the days after the breakout of the news (Geddes, Lindebaum, Gabriel, 2016). According to Zhang et al. (2016) it was found out that there were also different higher authorities of the company who were involved in this scandal. The CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Martin Winterkorn was found out to be the main culprit and hence he had to resign. There was also involvement of other people as well such as Heinz- Jakob Neusser, the head of the brand development of the company, Ulrich Hackenburg and Wolfgang Hatz, the researcher and development head at the Porsche. All of these people were suspended as a consequence of the scandal caused by them (Bovens, 2016). To rectify this mistake of emission issues, the Volkswagen Company planned to spend 16.2 billion on refitting the affected vehicles (Volkswagen, 2016). This scandal however raised the awareness about the higher level of pollution that is being emitted by the cars built by different rage of car makers and in the live road driving would probably exceed the legal emission limits. The case of the Volkswagen Scandal, on the contrary of the managers responsibility focuses on the point of view of the CEO of the company during the time of the scandal, Martin Winterkorn.. However, the ethical dilemma that prevailed in the company during the time of the scandal evolution and it became known to public, focuses on the different reasons and action due to which there was a scandal in the company (Babalola et al., 2016) The main ethical dilemmas of the Volkswagen Company that lead to the scandal focuses on that if to use or not to use the technological knowledge of the software so that the company could get an advantage of it that is to cheat the environmental test so that it could sell more cars. This advantage that the company got from the cheat software device does not only benefit the company but also unknowingly benefits its customers too. The cars that emit low carbon have lower tax assessments than the cars that emit more and high level carbon and nitrogen oxides. However, in the whole scandal of the Volkswagen the company has shown its CEO to be the ultimate responsible for the actions and before the ethical dilemma of the company would be analyzed, the different parties that are involved in this dilemma are required to be identified. These parties are the Volkswagen Company and its employees, the environmental testing agency, the customers and the natives of the country, who are also indire ctly effected by the scandal because the air that is influenced by the emission affected them also (Zhou, 2016). The reason why the company Volkswagen implemented the cheating software device is not ascertained but on the contrary a few reasons may be identified behind it such as: maybe the company required selling more cars, to compete in the market and to make profit. All these may be a justification for this action of the company as cheating of the environmental test would lead to all this advantages only. The main ethical challenge for any of the leader in todays world are to take decisions and engross itself in activities that put forward the self interest of the company (ethical egoism), to be culturally competent (utilitarianism) and to achieve greater profits so that it could easily compete with the organizations in the market (Kantian ethics) and that too without disrespecting or demeaning any other stakeholders and individuals (Cavico Mujtaba, 2016). This means that all of the leaders requirement and the goals could be achieved by them but that has to be done without hurting anyone e lses sentiments and morals. The CEO and the other leaders of the Volkswagen Company failed to complete this ethical challenge. However, it implemented the mortal of gaining more and more profit, in the process it cheated and disrespected the countrys safety and environmental criteria. The main mistake that the Volkswagen made was to commit such a blunder of in respect to its corporate governance with a confidence that it may carry out this without being caught. The role of the leaders of the organization is to lead the other employees, motivate them and to show the way to them. He requires teaching its employees and the other people of the organization that working and taking actions according to the morality of the business would benefit the company and the stakeholders. The role of the leader does not remain concentrated only to this. The other roles of the leader also includes to see if there is nothing illegal operating in its company and object if any such things is being detected and encompass its employees also to do so. The leaders of the Volkswagen Group of company did not even follow this role of the leadership management. They did not even try to work accordingly to the morality of the business and neither did the leaders objected about being a cheating software being operated illegally in the company. The managerial concepts states that the managers of the company must live and act according to the stand your ground rule and mus t not decline from objecting against something illegal and wrong and have strength to keep its stand on the matter (Fracarolli Lee, 2016). According to Mulgan (2014) among the different managerial concepts is the Consequentialism ethics and the Deontology ethics that could be applied in this case of ethical dilemma. The Consequentialism ethics the concepts that could be applied in the case of the Volkswagen Company would be the concept of Utilitarianism. The concept of Utilitarianism could be applied to the ethical dilemma that has been caused in the Volkswagen Company. The accomplishment that is gained by the action is whether if the result of this action is overall good for all or not. This concept is actually about increasing and maximizing the profit and with that it should be applied that the pleasure of the other people around is also raised up. In the concept of Utilitarianism, it applies that everything and every choice in life could be reduced or increased to pleasure even if there are lives at stake. This concept when applied to the case of Volkswagen applies many parties involved. The different parties that h ave been involved are the Volkswagen and all of its employers including the CEO and the other leaders, the customers of Volkswagen automotives, the Environmental testing Agency, EPA and the indirect party that is also involved is the general people who are living in the country as they are also affected by the polluted air because of the emission from the vehicle (Barrow, 2015). The concept of Utilitarianism however, does not justify the actions of the Volkswagen Groups as in this process there was no pleasure or goodness maximized. In fact, the in the end almost everyone who was involved or affected by this scandal were unhappy and as the justification for the act and the great goodness is signified by the praiseworthiness and in this case also the same is applied (Hayry, 2013). The blame for total case of the deceiving software and its instalment all goes to Volkswagen as they knew all about the system going on in the company because they are the one who invented it. The invention of this software was clearly done with an intention of deceiving kept in mind. The company created the software and installed in the different vehicles so that it could be able to easily cheat on the device that would conduct the emission test. This deceive had indeed generate utility for the company however, it did not went towards the greater good and therefore does not justifies the concept of Utilitarianism. The punishment for such act of the Volkswagen Company would be moral obligatory (Barrow, 2015). According to the concept of Utilitarianism, the punishment should be given in response for such an act so that the company does not dare to repeat anything as such again in future. However, in reality the punishment for the Volkswagen Company has been more than this. The Company is currently undergoing huge loss and a significant drop in the stock level of the company. Apart from this the company has to spent a huge amount of money as rectification amount to the customers. The company has lost a huge chunk of market demand for its diesel cars (Rhodes, 2016). From the deontology ethical concept, the concept that is of the Kantian ethics could be applied to the Volkswagen case. According to O'Neill (2013) this concept is about maximizing the profit of the company to a level where the company would become self sufficient and may be able to compete with the other competitor companies of the market so that it could easily survive in the market. In the case of the Volkswagen Company the company has however, been able to maximize its profit and has been counted on second number in the automobile industry but the concept does not justifies the act of the company because during the maximization of the profit the company did not paid attention towards the ethical and the morality of the business. From the deontological point of view the cheating of the environmental thing is not a morally right thing to do by the company and this effect the moral issues of the company as well. Therefore the company should be punished for such unethical behaviour a ccording to the deontological point of view (Arnold Harris, 2012). As mentioned by Kanabar et al. (2016) from the case of the emission scandal in one of the most famous and trustworthy automobile companies, the Volkswagen Group of Companies clearly states about the ethical and the morals of the business of such firms. Moreover it also highlights about the behaviour and the managerial skills of the earlier managers and the leaders of the company. The ethical responsibilities of the managers were totally not followed by these leaders and not even the rule of stand your grounds concepts. These leaders and the managers even after having a clear knowledge of the deceive going on in the company did not stood up against it in fact they were the ones who created the cheat machines that deceived the environmental test devices and systems. These managers of the company had totally corrupted the company in all sense. Therefore, the role of the new managers in the company would be to revise and create an ethical organization that would then support the moral be haviour and morality of the Volkswagen Company. The company at present due to such trust related and fraud of system scandal has lost its total reputation in the market. With the lost of the reputation the company has also lost its stock level and demand for its diesel cars. This would help to establish the company a personal and corporate reputation as at present the company desperately needs to gain back its lost reputation. The next leader needs to regain that lost trust with full honesty, accepting his ethical responsibilities and understand the situation of the affected parties and compensate them with best possible ways and also identify the harms to the individuals and the nature. The new leader is also expected to adopt some remedial measures regarding the matter and make genuine promises of not repeating the same mistake again ever in future (Lindebaum, Geddes Gabriel, 2016). The new present CEO of the Volkswagen Company is Matthias Muller, and the challenges faced by him in again reconstructing the companys brand name would be very crucial (Rhodes, 2016). The role and the challenge for Matthias Muller s the new CEO of the company would be to change and reconstruct the prevailing past culture of immorality, rule breaking, fraud and deceit and transform it into a culture of honesty, trust, integrity and abidance of law and ethics. even after the former CEO had many other leaders of the company have resigned but that does not gives a surety that such a thing would never be repeated. The companys new CEO was already present in the company as companys head of product planning at the time many of such scandalised cars were being developed. Therefore, he has even more pressure for reconstructing the lost reputation and trust of the company. He would also face major issues and challenges in the process. From the above study of the scandal case of the Volkswagen deceiving the emission test system by installation of the cheating software could be fully analysed. The ethical dilemmas that were faced by the company and its leaders and managers have been discussed. The different theoretical concepts of managerial ethics have also been applied to this case so that the ethical dilemma could be critically evaluated. The relationship between the ethics, leadership and decision making of the company has also been shown in order to more analyse and evaluate the responsibilities of the managers and the leaders. The role of the new leader and his requirements has also been discussed in this study. References: Arnold, D. G., Harris, J. D. (Eds.). (2012).Kantian business ethics: Critical perspectives. Edward Elgar Publishing. Babalola, M. T., Stouten, J., Euwema, M. C., Ovadje, F. (2016). The Relation Between Ethical Leadership and Workplace Conflicts The Mediating Role of Employee Resolution Efficacy.Journal of Management, 0149206316638163. Barrett, S. R., Speth, R. L., Eastham, S. D., Dedoussi, I. C., Ashok, A., Malina, R., Keith, D. W. (2015). Impact of the Volkswagen emissions control defeat device on US public health.Environmental Research Letters,10(11), 114005. Barrow, R. (2015).Utilitarianism: A contemporary statement. Routledge. Baur, D. G. (2015). Case Study: Porsche versus Volkswagen.Available at SSRN 2649141. Blackwelder, B., Coleman, K., Colunga-Santoyo, S., Harrison, J. S., Wozniak, D. (2016). The Volkswagen Scandal. Bovens, L. (2016). The ethics of Dieselgate.Midwest Studies In Philosophy,40(1), 262-283. Brooks, C. (2016). Organizing Volkswagen: A Critical Assessment.WorkingUSA. Cavico, F. J., Mujtaba, B. G. (2016). Volkswagen Emissions Scandal: A Global Case Study of Legal, Ethical, and Practical Consequences and Recommendations for Sustainable Management.Global Journal of Research in Business and Management,4(2), 411. Ewing, J. (2015). Volkswagen Says 11 Million Cars Worldwide Are Affected in Diesel Deception.The New York Times,22. Fracarolli Nunes, M., Lee Park, C. (2016). Caught red-handed: The cost of the Volkswagen Dieselgate.Journal of Global Responsibility,7(2). Geddes, D., Lindebaum, D., Gabriel, Y. (2016). Moral Emotions and Ethics in Organisations: Introduction To the Special Issue.Journal of Business Ethics (DOI 10.1007/s10551-016-3201-z). Goel, A. (2015). Volkswagen: The Protagonist in Diesel Emission Scandal.South Asian Journal of Marketing Management Research, Forthcoming. Griggs-Hall, R. (2015). What You Need to Know About the Volkswagen Scandal.Life,7. Hayry, M. (2013).Liberal utilitarianism and applied ethics. Routledge. Kanabar, V., Hefley, W., Messikomer, C., Thomas, A. (2016). Integrating Ethics and Professionalism Learning Outcomes in a Project Management Course. Lane, E. L. (2016). Volkswagen and the High-tech Greenwash.European Journal of Risk Regulation,7(1). Lindebaum, D., Geddes, D., Gabriel, Y. (2016). Moral emotions and ethics in organisations: Introduction to the special issue.Journal of Business Ethics, 1-12. Marshall, P. (2016). Issue: Technology and Business Ethics Technology and Business Ethics. Mulgan, T. (2014).Understanding utilitarianism. Routledge. O'Neill, O. (2013).Acting on principle: An essay on Kantian ethics. Cambridge University Press. Reitze, A. W. (2016). The Volkswagen Air Pollution Emissions Litigation.Environmental Law Reporter,46, 10564. Rhodes, C. (2016). Democratic Business Ethics: Volkswagens emissions scandal and the disruption of corporate sovereignty.Organization Studies, 0170840616641984. Thompson, M., Kottasova, I. (2015). Volkswagen Scandal Widens.CNNMoney, 22Sept. Volkswagen, A. G. (2016). The Volkswagen Problem.Strategic Finance. Zhang, B., Marita, V., Veijalainen, J., Wang, S., Kotkov, D. (2016). The Issue Arena of a Corporate Social Responsibility CrisisThe Volkswagen Case in Twitter.Studies in Media and Communication,4(2), 32-43. Zhou, A. (2016). Analysis of the Volkswagen Scandal Possible Solutions for Recovery.

Emerging Trends in Open Innovation Strategy †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Open Innovation Strategy Management. Answer: Introduction This paper recognizes from the outset that given emerging trends in open innovation strategy, there is the formation of alliances and licensing for the transfer of inter-organizational technology is common (Ades, Figlioli, Sbragia, Porto, Ary Plonski, Celadon, 2013). In the current business environment, there is very high competition. The high level of competition requires that companies become innovative so that they can be competitive too. Every company is striving to achieve a competitive edge over others. This competitive advantage can only be sustained through increased innovation of new products and services. For this discussion, this paper has chosen Natura and W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. for an extensive debate. This article seeks to delineate how open innovation is central to success and opening up new opportunities for companies, provide a description of innovation in light managerial inputs and the forces that drive innovation in businesses. The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. continually conducts research to ascertain the extent of application of technology. The research is focused on four critical areas that include fabrics, industrial, medical, and electronics (Brunswicker, Vanhaverbeke, 2015). The company is an American formed in 1958. It is estimated that the company has a total of seven thousand employees. The company has expanded its facilities in more than thirty countries. It suffices to mention that W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. is a company with a long tradition of innovation (Felin, Zenger, 2014; Brunswicker, Vanhaverbeke, 2015). Literature evidence shows that the company conducted product development within the organizational boundaries (Ades et al., 2013). Additionally, the research focused on the companys critical technical knowledge that was applied in-house (Hsieh, Hsieh, Huang, Huang, Lee, Lee, 2016). The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. used to pursue closed innovation processes. It is worth noting that in th e recent past, W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. has actively collaborated with other companies in the innovation process. In collaborating with other companies to enhance innovation, W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. has employed a two-pronged approach (Hung, Chou, 2013). The first approach is based on the acquisition of technology from outside sources to implement internal research development (Cheng, Huizingh, 2014). The acquisition of technology relies on strategic alliances commonly referred to as the incoming technology transfer (King, Lakhani, 2013). The acquisition of technology requires the company to have the capacity to absorb and utilize knowledge from outside (Hsieh et al., 2016). The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. for instance, formed a strategic alliance with Sefar AG. The strategic partnership with Sefar Limited was centered on the development of Architectural Fabrics Tech-textiles (Cui, Ye, Teo, Li, 2015). The second approach to enhancing open innovation by W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. is the exploitation of its technology in outbound open innovation (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013). This process is achieved through formulating licensing agreements that help in generating additional income (Brunswicker, Vanhaverbeke, 2015). The process requires W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. to transfer technological abilities outwards. For example, the W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. has licensed products that are made with Gore-Tex fabric and fibers (Hossain, 2015; Cui, Ye, Teo, Li, 2015). The innovation of W.L. Gore Associates thousands of products is virtually anchored only on one versatile polymer known as the polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. has engineered this material to produce numerous functions. W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. has been granted over two thousand licenses across the world. These patents cover a broad range of areas of production such as medical services, processing of polymer, and electronics. The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. applies open innovation and keeps control of core technologies and licenses. The company has given permission to its licensees to innovate in a particular field. The W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. uses product platform innovation (Hung, Chou, 2013). The product platform innovation entails the controlling of ePTFE and sharing it with external developers. In this arrangement, W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. remains the core provider of technology. The licensee is expected to innovate on the provided technology and consequently sell the finished product to the consumers. Additionally, external innovators and customers are allowed to transact freely provided that they are affiliated W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. which is the platform owner (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013; Cui, Ye, Teo, Li, 2015). The company maintains a considerable control on affiliates through the rules and regulations imposed on licensees. The platform design theory resembles that architect in which the W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. develops the architecture to necessitate platform design. In this case, external innovators are permitted to draw up the technology further. Natura is a Brazilian brand that is currently present in seven countries in South America including France. Natura has created a central unit that is headed by a vice-president who is in charge of the management of innovation, innovation, and, partnerships. The company is structured into three functions that include project and processes, intellectual protection, and relationship with partners (Brunswicker, Vanhaverbeke, 2015). The company exploits the process of forwarding partnerships. The three functions are organized in a manner that they enhance the productivity of the company (King, Lakhani, 2013; Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013). Additionally, the management in Natura is tasked with identifying potential areas for investment and research partners such as universities and colleges (Ades et al., 2013). The implementation process and open innovation strategy in Natura are achieved through three core undertakings (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013). First, the company is promoting internal research in addition to the search for openness. Secondly, the company lays strong emphasis on the initiatives the teams that are responsible for partnerships. Thirdly, the company employs the bottom-up style of management to promote the flow of ideas and information (Ades et al., 2013). Employees are given greater priority to enhance innovativeness and creativity. The structure of Natura is designed to enhance innovativeness. The structure lays strong emphasis on teamwork and employees having mixed roles are placed in small teams for collaboration. On the other hand, in W.L. Gore Associates, Inc., employees are placed in small teams of between one hundred and fifty and two hundred so as to create a more personal setting. The personal environment is stressed so that there could be an interpersonal relationship among employees (Villarreal, Calvo, 2015). The interpersonal relationships are essential in enhancing innovation in the two companies. It suffices to mention that the innovative core has a profound impact on managerial consequences regarding the handling of employees in the two companies (Shipper, Manz, Stewart, 2013). It is vital to point out that the absorptive capacity is dependent on the path dependency. In this case, the absorptive capacity requires that companies possess the ability to assimilate, recognize, and application of external knowledge as far as learning and innovation processes are concerned (King, Lakhani, 2013; West, Bogers, 2014). A companys adsorptive capacity refers to the volume of technology that is being transferred based on the identification and the moving a companys technology portfolio Brunswicker, Vanhaverbeke, 2015). However, it is critical to note that in many circumstances company management does not allow outward transfer of technology or licensing of a particular technology (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013). Some of the technologies that may not be allowed for transfer are core technologies. This sanction is to prevent the loss of competitive edge and the competitive threats (King, Lakhani, 2013). The most important issue is driving force for innovation in both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura. Indeed, the two companies are driven by demand-pull and a mix of technology-push to innovate (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013; Ades et al., 2013). In the case of W.L. Gore Associates, it has a long history of technology-push where it develops technology and markets it. Initially, the company saw the potential in polytetrafluoroethylene and later developed it into an expanded ePTFE. The expanded ePTFE contributed to a new application in electronics, medical, and fabric markets. The company makes a broad range of medical products that are applied in cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopedic surgeries, and plastics. Additionally, the company produces cables that are used in computers (Cui, Ye, Teo, Li, 2015). The fibers are used in the chemical processing and manufacture of pumps. Indeed, open innovation has enabled W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. to develop a broad range of product s for the market. It is imperative to note that customer taste and preferences in central to the open innovation process (West, Bogers, 2014). For both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura, customer need is a key driver. The two companies apply consumer inspired innovations so as to create new products (Lakhani, Lifshitz-Assaf, Tushman, 2013). Understanding the emerging trends in customer needs ensures that a company remains to be relevant in the market (Hsieh et al., 2016). The focus on customer needs is a clear indication that demand-pull is vital in the innovation process (Felin, Zenger, 2014; Cui, Ye, Teo, Li, 2015). Both companies extensive use lead users to develop new products. Furthermore, both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura are using new technology to turn ideas into new and unique products. The main reason as to why both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura license their technology is to generate more revenue. The increased revenue base is essential to gaining and sustaining the competitive advantage (Nyln, Holmstrm, 2015; King, Lakhani, 2013). With the expanded technology, the two companies can access a large market base which has consequently increased their revenues. Additionally, both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and IBM apply strategic drivers selling products that meet customer needs. The sale of additional products is attained as a result of increasing demand (Saebi, Foss, 2015). The companies have been licensing weaker rivals to use their technology so that they can deter stronger competitors from entering the market (West, Bogers, 2014). The two companies desire to license technology is motivated by the need to learn and leads to compression of a companys learning curve (Shipper, Manz, Stewart, 2013). The two companies are licensing their technology so that they can strengthen their inter-organizational networks (Nyln, Holmstrm, 2015; West, Bogers, 2014). Licensing of technology is critical in increasing, maintaining, and expanding the network of the companies. Both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura are capturing value from technology in the open innovation process. However, technology licensing can lead to reduced profits which might weaken competitive advantage (Pisano, 2015; King, Lakhani, 2013). Both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura have developed dynamic capabilities to aid in technology licensing. These capabilities are achieved by continuous exploration of innovation so as to capture strategic and monetary opportunities (Vanhaverbeke, Cloodt, 2014; King, Lakhani, 2013). The two companies are keen to avoid possible adverse effects through systemization in the internal exploitation of technology (West, Bogers, 2014). The Natura has developed friendly and open corporate culture to create an innovative atmosphere. Just like W.L. Gore Associates, Inc., Natura has developed systems where there are formal bosses and have mechanisms and system for self-evaluation (Villarreal, Calvo, 2015). In the case of W.L. Gore Associates, Inc., employees are provided with incentives. These employees are allowed to have shares in the company. Conclusion The two companies are striving to enhance open innovation to improve their competitive advantage. The open innovation strategy employed by the companies to aimed at providing successful transfer of technology between organizations. From the ensuing discussion, licensing and strategic alliances is central to open innovation process. Both W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. and Natura are implementing a strategy focused on exploitation and exploration in their innovation undertakings. 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