Nokia’s Luxury Mobile Phone for the Urban Rich Case Study Analysis Essay

Introduction Nokia, which is known to be a luxury cellular phone, is located in Finland and is a manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, including an extravagant mobile device. It is apparent that the cellular phone, which was originated and presented by Frank Nuovo in 1997. It appears that this luxury mobile device was directed mainly for the rich, and not the normal, everyday mobile phone user. The device is appealing to many, but is not realistically priced for the everyday individual. The manufacture of this luxury phone is Vertu, a manufacturer who aims toward luxury services, including the finest designs, engineering and manufacturing. They have put together this luxury mobile phone using innovations in the making and the technology of mobile phones, along with the normal workmanship, but at high-end prices. Vertu’s headquarters are located in England and their products are in over 500 stores, across 66 countries. Synopsis of the Situation Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop joined the company and within 5 months, on February 11, 2011, Stephen Elop proclaimed that Nokia was implementing a new mobile phone with Microsoft’s new Windows program, which was unconfirmed as Nokia’s main smart phone. After making this announcement on February 11, 2011, the stock dropped and the share price went down by 14 cents, because the market was not interested in a smart phone that had not proved itself. With the stock dropping, Elop went full force to save Nokia and partnered up with Microsoft to manufacture and introduce a new global ecosystem in a mobile phone. The partnership led Nokia to producing the Vertu Luxury cell phone. This luxury mobile device was created by Frank Nuovo. Key Issues Because of the 14 cent share drop in stock, Nokia had to implement a plan to better their company. Nokia’s market was decreasing and this is when Stephen Elop was hired, in order to make the changes to allow the company and the product to improve. Elop decided to utilize the newer Window’s technology in connection with the mobile device. This was something that was new to the market, and the market was not familiar with this sort of mobile device technology. The problems that Nokia was facing were explained in a memo as there being an absence of leadership, along with accountability and  collaboration internally, leading to the inability of Nokia to sufficiently, effectively and timely provide innovative products to the people. Define the Problem The problem that is at hand is that Nokia had decided to take on a new technology and operating system, allowing the possibility of things going negatively and the company’s shares dropping even more, because new technology and operating systems is what caused the shares to drop, to begin with. With Nokia operating with the Symbian operating system, it left it outdated because the software was one that was definitely outdated. Apple came in with a high technology and highly updated operating system, leaving Nokia in a position where they were not keeping up with the competition and having difficulty delivering innovative products quickly enough. Selected Solution to the Problem With this new luxury mobile device that Nokia was producing, it was rapidly growing and spreading around in the luxury mobile device market. This made the device look promising along with attracting new customers. Other brands joined the growing new market, such as Gresso and GoldVish and Mobiado. Elop knew he had to do something and he solved this problem by choosing Vertu Luxury Mobile Phone. Since both Nokia and Microsoft have been popular and present for a long period of time, they were able to join forces and develop a product which was an outstanding one. Although the cost is high and the product tends to serve just the rich, this was the plan that was put into place from the start, working and operating in an ever changing area. Apple’s phones are able to be affordable and dominate its area of services, and with Nokia joining forces with Microsoft, they were able to create their luxury line for the rich. Implementation There was originally an entry level luxury mobile device, which Nokia had propelled, before the subsidiary of Nokia, Vertu, was released. This luxury mobile device was the Nokia branded 8800 Series which sold for $1,300. The Nokia 8800 series special edition was announced in 2006, with Aston Martin and then the 24 karat gold plated device came along, the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold, in 2007. Nokia continued to move forward and in 2008 they presented  the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte. As long as Nokia was able to continue to enable Vertu to lead in the high-end luxury mobile device, they were able to empower Vertu.

Netflix: A Case Analysis Essay

Netflix offers a variety of product services to its customers. The company offers traditional DVD rental by mail, instant streaming of DVD content through home PCS, and streaming on Netflix-ready devices that could be hooked up to one’s TV. Netflix has a subscription based model, which allows customers to utilize their products/services through a per month fee rather than a pay as you go rate. Although the company offers eight different subscription packages, it derives its largest revenues from its $8.99, $13.99, and $16.99 subscription plans that include unlimited DVDs per month, 1-3 titles out at one time, plus unlimited streaming of online content. The Netflix Strategy Netflix’s strategy so far has been to focus on not just one or two aspects of their customer base, but to focus themselves in a number of directions in order to build upon and capitalize on a growing subscriber base. Their main strategy has been to build and maintain the most comprehensive selection of DVD titles in the industry, and they have done so by creating mutually beneficial relationships with a number of entertainment video providers. Their second main strategy has been focused on product differentiation- not only how customers receive content and consume it, but also how customers choose what to watch. Netflix’s number one competitive advantage is their unique software that takes what a customer has seen or rated, and based upon that information builds a list of suggested titles similar to ones they have just watched. While other companies like Blockbuster had begun to leak into the rent-by-mail niche category that Netflix had started, no other company had cus tomer profiling software quite like Netflix. U.S. Movie, TV, & Video Game Rental Market (2006-2009) Consumer Movie Rental Market Revenue ($ million) 2006 2007 2008 2009 In-store Rentals $7,030 $6,215 $5,674 $5,118 Vending Machine Rentals 79 198 486 917 By Mail Rentals 1,291 1,797 1,949 2,114 VOD (cable, digital, & subscription) 993 1,077 1,365 1,684 Between 2006 and 2009, the film rental market underwent a major shift. The in-store rental market declined by nearly $2 million, while vending machine rentals increased tenfold and by-mail rentals nearly doubled. However, VOD services through cable, digital, and subscription also saw major increases. All of these changes meant companies like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery had to either reorganize and make a complete business model shift- or face bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the increases in by-mail rentals and VOD subscription, two services that Netflix offered, meant that the number of Netflix subscribers more than doubled in that same time frame. Purchase decisions from customers were focused on convenient access, price, variety of DVD offerings, ease of return/return fees. Therefore, the key success factors within the U.S. DVD rental industry were quickly becoming: 1) A variety of distribution channels (mail, online streaming, streaming to TV, vending machine, etc) 2) Superior video libr aries (including new releases,  classics, hard to find) 3) Little to no fees associated with renting or returning DVDs 4) Ease of use (in terms of returning) 5) A strong network of entertainment video providers, i.e. suppliers Customers like variety; a video rental store that only stocks the newest releases will not appeal to all markets. Increasingly, customers are becoming more nostalgic in their movie preferences, searching for titles long past premiere. Customers have also become increasingly busy, often not having the time to go to a store to pick out a movie or remembering to return their rentals on time. We live in a world of instant gratification, where being able to click a few buttons and watch the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com or an old cult classic like Rocky Horror is extremely important. Customers also do not like fees. More and more companies today are offering free shipping/return shipping, and the same is true in the DVD rental industry. Five Forces Analysis of the Industry Rivalry among competing sellers: High. Buyer costs of switching brands is low and product offerings are weakly differentiated. The number of competitors is growing and rivals have diverse strategies for providing their services. Competitive pressure from buyer bargaining power: Medium to high. The cost of switching to competing products is low, as well as the level of convenience for switching. Products are for the most part undifferentiated. Competitive pressure from supplier bargaining power: Low to medium. There are a large number of suppliers within the industry and a variety of ways in with to gain access to the needed material. However, most sellers cannot self-manufacture these movie titles; whereas the suppliers could easily begin offering these services themselves. Competitive pressure from substitute products: Low. The cost per DVD to buy is greater than that to rent or stream a movie. Buyer demand for purchasing DVDs is decreasing due to the lack of disposable income creat ed by the financial crisis, as well as the practicality of owning a vast collection of physical DVDs. Potential of new entrants: High. The market is growing at an ever increasing pace and barriers to entry are low. Buyer demand continues to increase as well, and existing industry members are looking to expand their market reach. (See Appendix 1 for a visual representation). There are a number of drivers of  change affecting the movie retail industry. As mentioned previously, there has been a shift in consumer’s willingness to go out of their way for certain products or services. The consumer climate has shifted to an instant gratification model, in which if acquiring a movie to watch requires more effort than clicking a few buttons, then it is no longer worth the consumer’s time. This force is somewhat unfavorable in terms of competitive intensity because it will drives firms within the industry to compete in a never ending sprint to offer the most titles in the shortest amount of time, which will eventually hit its peak and taper off. However, this force will also positively impact future industry profitability since the more streamlined the process becomes, the more users and more uses the industry will gain. Another force driving change is the switch from buying physical DVDs and acquiring movie collections to accessing them online as needed. This saves consumers valuable time and money, and they no longer need to worry about keeping their DVDs in good condition. This force will positively affect future industry profitability because it will reduce the number of distribution plants needed to sustain video libraries, thus significantly reducing operating costs. Not having to stock multiple copies of millions of DVDS will mean that companies will no longer have to spend money on: Multiple large plants Staffing said plants with a large labor force Operating said plants in terms of rent, utilities, etc Postage (in terms of Netflix specifically) DVD maintenance Mailing and location software One more force that is affecting the movie rental industry is the introduction and proliferation of VOD services offered directly from cable networks and providers. Barriers to entry for these already existing firms is extremely low, and if all networks chose to offer these services, a large portion of profits would be cannibalized from outside companies such as Netflix or Hulu. This force will negatively affect competitive intensity, but positively affect future industry profitability. If the large supplier companies (cable networks & providers) all started offering their own VOD, competition from smaller independent renting firms would disappear. Yet  profitability would increase due to the ease of access to entire network libraries. Mapping the Movie Retail Industry The competitive characteristics that differentiate firms within the movie retail industry are as follows: Use of distribution channels Product line breadth Price Geographic coverage Ease of access/use In conducting my analysis of the strategic positioning of firms within this industry, I chose to focus on price and use of distribution channels (See Appendix 2). Netflix and VOD providers are positioned most favorably on the map because both offer moderately priced subscription packages for access to a comprehensive list of movie and TV show offerings using a variety of distribution channels. Netflix is positioned most favorably due to its relative low cost compared to the variety of products it offers access to. Redbox is priced well, but it only offers one method of distribution. Whereas Blockbuster is priced higher than average, but has begun to offer streaming and mail rental options in addition to in store rentals. A Financial Analysis of Netflix Overall, Netflix has fared fairly well over the past several years, even surviving the financial crisis. They continue to generate a profit, and their revenue has grown at a steady rate indicative of the growth of the mail rental & online streaming movie retail market. The company has been growing at an average rate of 20% over the last four years. However, from 2007 to 2008, Netflix only grew at a rate of 13.22%. This noticeable fluctuation in their growth rate can most likely be contributed to the financial crisis that swept the nation during that year. Aside from that dip, Netflix can be expected to continue to grow at a rate indicative of the continued growth of mail and digital movie rental industry. Product costs for Netflix have remained relatively stable over the last four years at over 60% of revenue, fluctuating only by 4% or less. This is  despite the fact that revenues for the company have been steadily increasing. This clearly shows an inability to control manufacturing & operating costs. As Netflix expands, so does its physical DVD inventory and size/number of distribution plants. Although one of their strategies is transition subscribers to streaming delivery as opposed to mail delivery, it is obvious that they have yet to be truly successful in that endeavor. Netflix’s ROA hit an all-time high of 17.05% in 2009, which is somewhat surprising given that the company is deriving most of its revenues from a nubile market. The mail and digital movie rental industry is still growing, so to have an ROA that high is quite an accomplishment. It is clear that the company’s investments in new assets are succeeding in generating returns. (See Appendix 3 for a complete financial analysis of Netflix from 2006-2009). SWOT Analysis of Netflix’s Standing within the Market Strengths Opportunities Netflix cornered the market on direct mail renting before anyone else offered it Has a wide geographic coverage and the fastest turnaround rate Known for its 1 month free trials The brand has a following across a wide variety of consumer segments Their strong relationship with a large network of entertainment video providers Top management realizes the importance/emergence of the digital environment and is trying to shift subscriber use accordingly Netflix has developed unique and comprehensive movie selection software that customizes the consumer experience by capitalizing on their movie tastes and making accurate suggestions Netflix offers the most detailed movie information including customer reviews, critic reviews, etc The increasing demand for digital streaming is clearly an opportunity The shift from by mail rental to digital streaming gives Netflix an opportunity to restructure its subscription packages and price them even more competitively The firm can look at joining forces with some of the networks that are beginning to offer VOD streaming Weaknesses Threats Netflix is a market leader in by mail rental, which has now capped off and started to become a declining category The company’s comprehensive DVD libraries and distribution centers are eating up a large chunk of their revenues Unlike other movie rental/streaming companies, Netflix does not offer access to newly released films Changing subscriber preference towards online streaming will affect Netflix’s current portfolio mix The increasing intensity of competition from other companies, such as Hulu with their Hulu Plus program will eat into Netflix’s consumer base Increasing number of networks that are beginning to offer free streaming of content on their websites For the moment, Netflix’s overall situation is fairly attractive. Being the first company to introduce a new niche in a market is a huge asset. A company cannot simply ‘buy’ cornering the market on a good or service. Since Netflix already offers unlimited direct streaming, that puts it ahead of some of its competitors. However, Netflix will need to restructure and reevaluate the profitability of its by mail rental service in the near future. Compared with Blockbuster and VOD Providers, Netflix has the highest level of competitive strength at 46 points. Netflix by far has the most comprehensive number of products and distribution channels, given that consumers can either rent DVDs by mail or stream them on their PC or TV. The number of distribution channels factors into the company’s ease of use, as does the fact that their DVDs come with prepaid return envelopes. VOD Providers are a similar ease of use to Netflix given that consumers can just click a few buttons on the TV and instantly be watching their chosen film. Blockbuster is ranked lowest in terms of price & fees because their prices are based on a per DVD cost, and when sales began to decrease, the company increased its prices. Not to mention that there are late fees associated with renting, whereas with Netflix you can keep a DVD for as long as you like without incurring fees. Blockbuster also scores lower in terms of the number of products because their l ibrary is limited by store space, whereas Netflix and VOD Providers can have a virtually unlimited library of titles spanning the entire duration of the movie industry. Performance Concerns Overall, Netflix’s performance is quite satisfactory. The company persevered through the financial crisis and has managed to hold on to market majority despite growing competition from rival firms. a) My main concern for Netflix is the amount of revenue that is currently being eaten up by product costs. Despite steadily increasing revenues, Netflix’s COGS continues to take up more than 60% of said revenue. In the coming years when the market shifts entirely to direct streaming, Netflix will be left with millions of  DVDs and operating costs associated with the large distribution centers required to house these DVDs. If the company takes too long to phase out this aspect of its product/service portfolio, it could lose out on major profits and potentially wind up in debt. b) A second issue I see for Netflix is that more and more companies are beginning to offer streaming of their own content either for free to the public, or free to subscribers of certain cable companie s. Since Netflix has a cost associated with it, its customer base could be cannibalized by these new entrants. Recommendations a) Given that by mail renting is on the decline, Netflix should work quickly to phase out this service from its current offerings. Right now there are still companies out there willing to take on extensive DVD libraries- five or so years from now, that may not be the case and Netflix will have lost out on an opportunity to avoid a significant loss. b) Netflix needs to look at restructuring and re-pricing their current subscription packages. The number of packages and their prices that the company offers are no longer relevant to demand. With more and more entrants into the market, Netflix is losing its competitive pricing advantage. In sum, in order to remain competitive Netflix needs to restructure both its product offerings and pricing strategy. The company should be looking ahead to see what the next big thing in movie rental/streaming will be and capitalize on that, while other firms are still entering the market and developing what Netflix already has.

MGT 501 MoD 4 Case Leaders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGT 501 MoD 4 Case Leaders - Essay Example The following entails a discussion of the problem along with suggestions for dealing with micromanagement leadership style. Discussion Stern demonstrated strong creativity skills in her job pertaining to marketing of products. At the same time, she lacked the skills required for management of production and formulation and negotiation of strategies. To this end it is important to note that the creativity in marketing (including public relations and design) that she possesses were difficult to harness and manage from a leader’s point of view. The nature of the job makes it hard to structure the work as various ideas can arise spontaneously which are beyond the supervisor’s control; in other words, micromanagement stifles creativity (Lavinsky, 2012). George could certainly not ask Stern to generate ideas as and when required simply because these ideas would flow in irrespective of time and need. Hence, this job required a greater level of diplomacy on George’s part to supervise Stern. It was crucial to give Stern the authority and autonomy with which she could feel a sense of belonging with the company and have the chance of contributing to the same through her creative ideas. However, George was doing much the opposite. Rather than empowering Stern, he was constraining her which was not conducive to her creativity. In situations where such difficult situations arise, it is the management’s job not to throttle creativity by destructive criticism but by reiterating and reinforcing the vision which provides a direction to work. It is then the task of the creative staff to come up with novel ways of and fulfilling that vision. The case depicts instances where George did not trust Shelly’s decisions and tried to influence them by bringing in ‘his’ version of things (Fryer, 2004). It seems that George wasn’t willing to let go of things; in other words, he was not delegating at all which was hindering Stern’ s creative abilities. Instances where George would abuse press releases or alleging Stern to make sales calls despite her position as the Marketing â€Å"Director† all point to George’s inefficiency as CEO (Fryer, 2004). It is surprising how (with such a mindset) was George able to rise up to this level in the organizational hierarchy. Perhaps, it was his technical skills or software skills that led him to this level. He was certainly not capable of managing the creative side of software project management. Another major issue with George is his preoccupation with and interference in employees’ activities that are insignificant. There are various examples of such trivial issues. Firstly, he was adamant at having managers incorporate his idea during the allocation of advertisements to the company’s products (Fryer, 2004). Secondly, he went as far as suggesting his subordinates to correct their sentences (Fryer, 2004). This is certainly not expected from so meone at the CEO level. George’s focus it seems was not on strategic issues but on operational and tactical issues which kept his mind preoccupied and prevented him from focusing on the bigger picture. This is one of the biggest issues of micromanagement- it does not allow managers time to focus on critical issues that desire the supervisor’s attention (Nadine Mockler, 2002). Recommendations Although Stern is easily offended by criticism, George ought to find a solution in order to control the funds that the company has

The Story of Continental Airlines remarkable turnaround in 1994 is Essay

The Story of Continental Airlines remarkable turnaround in 1994 is well known in business policy and strategy classes worldwide - Essay Example Continental Airlines is presently America’s fifth largest airline that carries around 50 million passengers a year across the globe to more than 227 destinations. But a couple of decades back in 1993, it was facing its third and final bankruptcy when the new CEO Gordon Bethune and Consultant, Brenneman created history in the turnaround of Continental Airlines. Their leadership initiatives turned the loss of $613 million in 1994 to $224 million profit in 1995 (Brenneman, 1998). The discontented and highly demotivated workforce became the major enabling elements of success that contributed to its renewal. The turnaround strategy was critical factor that was conceptualized around four simple strategic principles that required strong belief, persistence and constant motivation. The creative approach highlighted leaders’ vision which was used to inspire the workforce for higher productive outcome. Turnaround strategy of Bethune and Brenneman was mainly focused on how the firm’s falling fortunes can be turned around into success. They did not place undue emphasis on cost cutting but rather made judicious plans for building strong team of high performance members who believed in collective actions and shared goals. The leadership of new management was exemplary in their forward looking outlook and expedited the process of recovery with single focus on defined goals and objectives. The strategies that were implemented are as follows: 1. Strategic action plans for recovery Bateman and Snell (2009:132) assert that strategic plans facilitate organizations to be innovative and develop linkages to meet the needs of the markets. Flexibility of approach and well laid out plans provide firms with clear direction for the future (Montgomery, 2008). In Continental case, action plan was made with feedback from the customers and employees, which was communicated across the workforce. The recovery plan was distinct in its simple targets but strict in its timeframe so that recovery could be fast. The necessity of fast action was communicated to workforce so that they could understand and become proactive in making it a success. It worked in Continental case because the high frustration in the workforce was mainly due to unclear and frequently changing strategies of the past. The lack of concise directions and target had led to disillusionment, adversely impacting their motiv ation for higher achievement. The new plans were clearly defined by the management and communicated on regular basis to the workforce that helped to strengthen their confidence and motivated them to work towards the goals with renewed enthusiasm. 2. Leadership initiative and team building Drucker (1999) believes that external and internal environment hugely contributes to business performance and managerial leadership innovatively exploits them for the organization’s advantage. The open communication approach used by Bethune and Brenneman helped in adapting to the strategic changes that were introduced to transform business dynamics. Leadership initiative is critical factor to develop an organizational culture of proactive participation, shared learning and strong teamwork (Shapiro, Slywotzky and Tedlow, 2000). The leaders looked for opportunities and exploited them with a sense of high urgency through a team of motivated

Choose one of the following and write a two-three paragraph post Essay

Choose one of the following and write a two-three paragraph post - Essay Example The main point is that men have been forced, in the past at least, to conform to a very limiting stereotype and they have been ridiculed if they dare to step outside of this narrow concept. By defining the word with a perspective of looking back in time, I would hope to encourage people to think about a different approach for the present and the future. Robert Jensen’s technical definition of masculinity is certain psychological or social traits that inherently come with being biologically male and he summarizes this in a more informal form with the phrase the tough guy. The negative aspects of this definition are quite clear to Jensen, and he describes the â€Å"toxic† effects which prevailing ideas of masculinity have on men today. Jensen stresses the cultural values attached to gender divisions, and advises that we do not need the extremes of masculinity and femininity any more, and we should concentrate instead on humanity, which can be shared by people of any gender. I think this is quite unrealistic and that masculinity as a concept is likely to last for a very long time. Rather than banning the use of the term, I would rather see it transformed with new and more positive

The effects of different political parties on the US economy Essay

The effects of different political parties on the US economy - Essay Example Despite this, Reagan added his own brand of Big Government with the swelling of the National Debt under his watch which crippled the economy. Liberal and conservative economic ideologies cannot necessarily be connected with Democratic and Republican Parties respectively as this paper will illuminate. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually the entire industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920’s, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part of that same decade. The misdistribution of wealth in the 1920s existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920s kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the misdistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The ‘roaring twentie s’ was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation’s total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929 (Hicks, 1960 p. 110). However, the rewards of the (Republican) ‘Coolidge Prosperity’ of the 1920’s were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1 percent of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42 percent (McElvaine, 1984 p. 38). That same top 0.1 percent of Americans in 1929 controlled 34 percent of all savings, while 80 percent of Americans had no savings at all (McElvaine, 1984 p. 38).

FRANK LlOYD WRIGHT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FRANK LlOYD WRIGHT - Term Paper Example But Wright was not interested in staying at the university and left in 1887 to work for J.L Silsbee in Chicago. Wright worked under Silsbee learning architectural detail. It was here that he drafted the construction of his first building, the Unity Chapel. Wright then moved on to work in the firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, where he not only progressed to become chief assistant to Sullivan but also met and then married his first wife Catherine Tobin. Wright was He worked here until 1893 and then opened his own architectural practice where he worked for the next five years. In 1909 Wright moved to Germany but returned in 1911. He then moved to Spring Green with Mamah Borthwick Cheney to work on a piece of ancestral land his mother had given him. It was here that Wright constructed one of his famous works, Taliesin. However in 1914, one of their servants went insane and tragically murdered Cheney and six others, thereby destroying what Wright had so lovingly built, but he refu sed to allow it to stop him and to the surprise of many, ended up rebuilding Taliesin. Wright eventually began spreading his influence and in 1914 he was asked to build the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In 1932, Wright converted Taliesin into an architectural fellowship where 30 young students paid to become his apprentices and learn from him. It was also during this particular period that Wright married his third wife Olivanna Milanoff. Eventually however as Wright began getting older, he desired living in a warmer more comfortable climate and therefore, in 1937, moved from Wisconsin to Phoenix Arizona. Here, Wright built Taliesin West which served the same purpose as Taliesin, i.e. an architectural fellowship where students could pay to learn from him. Wright spent a happy 20 years here but in 1959, at the age of 92, Wright died. Fallingwater Fallingwater or Kaufman residence is considered one of the most famous works of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was constructed in 1935 as the residence o f the wealthy Pittsburg businessman, Edward Kaufmann, with construction taking a little more than two years, and the house being complete by October 1937. It is one of the most recognizable images of modern architecture, marked by the waterfall running beneath the house and strongly characterized by distinctive horizontal and vertical lines. The house is breathtakingly admired not only for its general beauty and picturesque location but rather by the seamless integration between these two things, i.e. man-made architecture and the natural surroundings it is located it. Stone and reinforced concrete were the two materials used to make most of the house. The floors and ceilings were all made from reinforced concrete but there were raised stone slabs on the floor and the walls too were made of rough, untreated stone. This gave the house a very natural yet modern look, with a mixture of natural wood, concrete and stone, complemented by glass enhancing its natural appeal. Wright understo od the balance between wanting to be with nature as well as wanting to be sheltered from it and so he made big, broad windows of glass on the exterior so that the water and the nature around the house would be clearly visible but he then made sure the