Hawkins Business Model example essay topic

Leadership Profile Paper This paper will profile Jeff Hawkins, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Palm One, Inc. examining qualities that Mr. Hawkins exhibits that make him influential leader. The paper will also examine details of the business strategy that make this man an exceptional innovator and his contribution to e Business technology. Vision Jeff Hawkins a graduate of Cornell University is best known as "the inventor who, in 1994, took blocks of mahogany and plywood into his garage and emerged with a prototype for the Palm Pilot" (PC Magazine, 2000). Joining forces with friend Donna Dubin sky, Jeff "pulled off one of the most successful new-product launches in consumer electronics history, selling 400,000 units when they debuted in 1996. Now Palm Computing owns 80% of the handheld market" (PC Magazine, 2000). Mr. Hawkins vision combined with his personal commitment and desire to constantly improve processes, efficiency, and develop new technologies has proved Jeff to be a leader in innovation.

According to Mr Hawkins, 'The future of computing is mobile,' The PDA is going to be the way people access Internet data and integrate that data with everything else they need to keep track of. This will be most people's PC and Web terminal' (PC Magazine, 2000). Experience Jeff has nearly 20 years of technical expertise and is often credited as the designer who "reinvented the handheld market". According to Jeff, 'We didn't get enamored with the technology, we just kept simple goals low price, small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, faster to use than paper, and an effortless sync to the PC ' (PC Magazine, 2000). He co-founded Handspring in 1998, and created the Visor, "whose thrift and expandability forced other makers to be more competitive. Visor, is among the fastest-selling computer hardware products ever" (Willis, 2001).

Strategy When examining Jeff Hawkins business model during his time as CEO with handspring there was no definitive answer. Hawkins Business model seemed more like a question. "How do you make an exciting product that's pushing the envelope in some ways, but on the other hand is usable and accessible to a very broad populace?" (Barnett, 2000). Hawkins had a business model that relied on strategic partners to perform business tasks such as manufacturing and distribution. Hawkins strategy is to generate ideas to promote increased efficiency and cost reduction while striving to predict future consumer needs. For example, the Visor "can morph into just about any handheld device you can imagine, from a pager to an MP 3 player to a global-positioning satellite receiver, simply by replacing a small module on its back" (Time, Inc., 2005).

Leadership Successful leaders continuously show connections between vision and strategies. Mr. Hawkins exhibits many leadership qualities that inspire confidence and belief in the future. Jeff is able to articulate a vision depicting where he wants his organization or team to be. During earlier business project failures Jeff remained calm and projected optimism by turning the project liabilities into assets. For example Jeff and his "colleagues pounded the pavements in the mid-1990's in search of venture capital funding" and today Jeff currently holds nine patents for various handheld devices and features.

It is obvious from the research that Mr. Hawkins exhibits an attitude that embraces change. (Meyers, 2000) Technology Today the personal digital assistant or PDA are pocket-sized computing devices that are rapidly gaining popularity. Advancements and rapidly maturing technologies offer the handheld industry significant growth, both in terms of market size and in powerful new uses for handhelds. With add on modules PDA's come complete with a cell phone, organizer, MP 3 player, still and video cameras, Web browser, E-mail reader, game player, usable keyboard, and still and video cameras. In fact, "Palm One recently announced a clever GPS package that enables PDA's to give oral turn-by-turn directions to drivers" (Clark, 2004). There is no doubt that the wireless technology combined with the add on modules and other applications at a small cost and small size will create competition in the market.

However the cell phone market alone has consumers in the billions. "If Palm One gets only a small percent of that market share, the future is huge" (Clark, 2004). Conclusion It is apparent that Mr. Hawkins vision combined with his personal commitment and desire to constantly innovate new ideas with simple goals has made him a success. He has proven himself to be an exceptional innovator and his contribution to e Business technology has opportunities that are endless.

Bibliography

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Handspring's Hawkins Tells Audience he is an "Accidental Entrepreneur". Retrieved January 13, 2005 from: web Magazine, (2000).
Lifetime Achievement: Jeff Hawkins. Retrieved January 13, 2005 from: web Inc.
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