Gmr Case Study: Managing Hr in a Global Environment Essay

I. TERMS OF REFERENCE This report is a case study of GMR International Company, which analyzes the different components and challenges of Human Resources Management faced by GMR in a global environment and through a theoretical review, establishes possible improvement strategies towards the creation of best practices. II. METHODOLOGY This report is part based on the interview held with the HR manager of the company complemented with primary research from books and electronic sources listed at the references and lecture and seminar’s contents. 1. INTRODUCTION In a global market, how companies manage and handle their employees determines a key strategic role that ultimately creates a competitive advantage. Companies operate on an international operational level locating outbreaks in different countries and facing different cultural challenges. â€Å"Managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business.† (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2008, p.3) A company through any domestic and internationalization process must identify the basic needs of its employees in relation to their business guidelines, creating a balance between strategic and operational resource management. Businesses are valued for their intellectual capital and are projected by the management of intangible assets The purpose of this report lies in the evaluation of the different variables that a global company such as GMR must study, understand and reflect on its corporate strategy for the optimal development of their global operations, based on a adequate personnel management and the creation of sustainable policies for the management and development of intangible capital. 2. GMR INTERNATIONAL: COUNTRY PROFILE GMR Group is a Bangalore headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in the Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban infrastructure, with its International Headquarters based in London. GMR holds interests, directly and through its part ownership of InterGen, in 15 operating power plants with over 8,800MW of generating capacity. In addition an impressive portfolio of approximately 12,000MW of gas, coal and hydro plants are in various stages of construction and development both in India and internationally. GMR has shareholding interests in 4 international airports (New Delhi International (P) Limited; GMR Hyderabad International Airport; Sabiha Gokcen Airport LTD; GMR Male International Airport Ltd)) handling 40 million passengers p.a and 9 road projects exceeding 700 kms of paved roads. GMR is fully committed to the development of infrastructure assets, and in the past two years has raised over US$ 3 billion for the development of airports and another US$ 2.2 billion for the development of power and infrastructure assets including US$1.1 billion for the acquisition of 50% of InterGen N.V, a global power generator. The Group through the dedicated GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, manned by committed professionals is actively engaged in Education, Health, Hygiene and Sanitation, Empowerment & Livelihoods and Community-Based Programs, reaffirming its grass root presence as change agents of society in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility. 3. RECRUITMENT â€Å"Recruitment is defined as searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality so that organization can select the most appropriate people to fill its job needs.† (Dowling, Engle and Festing, 2008) â€Å"Recruitment is the discovery of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organizational activities. Two conditions must exist for selection to occur, (1) the organization must have a candidate whom it is willing to employ; (2) the candidate must be willing to accept an employment offer. Recruitment is the process of finding applicants who meet both of these conditions.† (Andrews 1993) â€Å"Organizations do not operate in a vacuum, and recruitment drives are one of the times an organization has direct contact with the outside world. Amongst other factors affecting recruitment, are the framework imposed on legislation and that no organization will want to spend money on unnecessary activities.† (Foot and Hook, 2005) 3.1 Recruitment Strategies There are 4 recruitment strategies, which are defined as such. These are 1. Ethnocentric 2. Polycentric 3. Geocentric] 4. Regiocentric Ethnocentric| Polycentric| Geocentric| Regiocentric| Ethnocentric is a belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. The firm basically believes that parent-country nationals are better qualified and trustworthy than host country nationals.| Polycentric is a belief that local people know the local environment better than outsiders.| Geocentric is the notion that the best people should be employed, regardless of their nationality.| Regiocentric is the variation of staffing policy to suit particular geographic areas.| 1.Based on Paul Coldwell’s seminar slides, 2011. GMR International uses all four of the above-mentioned strategies, depending upon factors mentioned below, * The requirements of the job position to be filled in. * The position of the job in the hierarchy of the firm. If the job were a high position one, they would use the geocentric approach; and if it were for a more junior position, they would probably use a polycentric approach. * They would not like to waste too much time or money on the hunt for the right candidate. * Even when they are looking for a candidate for a high position job, they have certain restrictions to be cautious about from the UK Border Authority and the Government. When using the geocentric approach. E.g. The Head of Airport is an Italian working in South Africa and would report to the UK. Because he was an expert on airports, he was hired for the job. E.g. recently, when trying to bring in a Malaysian to UK, the UK Border Authority refused his sponsorship, so it did not work out. When using the polycentric approach. E.g. When looking for administrative support, GMR looks for local people to do the local jobs, as they would not like to waste the time and money to do a whole UK or EU based search for something small such as skills. 3.2 Challenges for hiring people at GMR International * GMR, as a brand, is not that well known in the UK and tit is also not as strong as some of their competitors, therefore, there is a hurdle of recognition. * GMR International is a non EU and non US organization * People are varying of working for a company, which is Indian by origin, yet headquartered in London. * People are not prepared to leave their jobs to work for a company with less work experience; limited recognition as a brand; and with limited track record. 3.3 Outlining the Recruitment Process â€Å"In the process of recruitment, in the first instance, sources of prospective employees are located. In other words, from where the employees would be available. Thereafter, these sources are approached and efforts are made to attract the interested people to the organization.† (Foot and Hook, 2005) The recruitment process at GMR International is not too different from those of other companies in UK. They look at the activities set out for the year ahead and map it out according to the capacity that they have in their organization. When they do this, there are obviously, some gaps that need to be filled in, in order for them to work on some projects. In order to fill in these gaps, the organization makes certain decisions as to how to do this. This can be done by 4 methods, 1. They could recruit temporary people 2. They could get people on contract 3. They could get that particular piece of work done somewhere else (outsource) 4. They could hire someone to do that job When they go ahead and choose the fourth option, they look at as to how to approach the market, in the following ways, * E- enabled vehicles – for the more junior staff as a lot of such recruitment takes place on web based applications. * They do not give much importance to the employees referral program * They tend to use agencies; search firms for the bigger, more senior positions * For the more junior staff, they recruit within UK. * As the position increases with seniority, they tend to engage colleagues from other offices to help them out, in case it can be managed within the GMR family. 3.4 Post Recruitment & Selection At GMR, they are not very firm in their services to keep an employee with them. They do not have a support system or an evaluation program. â€Å"Normally, at a firm, there is an evaluation program and a support system for the first 6 months. In this program, they make a check on the new employee on day 1; week 1; month 1; month 6. While, they have tried to be stricter in this aspect and tried different techniques for keeping an employee happy and with them, it has not always worked well with them. 4. EXPATRIATES With globalization shaping our world, organisations are trying to expand their marketplace in order to increase their competitiveness. In the industrialized countries, international working has become a common feature and the contact between different cultures becomes a regular thing in people’s social and professional lives. â€Å"International HRM involves striking an appropriate balance between global integration and local adaptation in terms of resourcing, training and developing personnel, reward and performance management, employment relations including communications, and health and welfare† (Porter, Bingham and Simmonds, 2008, p.400). So in this process of internationalisation, companies need to move people around and they have to make sure that they do it in an effective way because of the high costs involved. Expatriates have to deal with the changing they are going to occur, in culture, workplace, country and many more, the company must be sure to prepare them appropriately in order to get the best from their experience both in the new location and back home when they finish their period. According to Tayeb (1996), some companies such as Natwest in the UK, Philips in the Netherlands and Groupe Total in France conduct extensive international in-house seminars. In these courses they cover national culture differences, family adaptation, local politics and laws and international finance, more over some firms send their future expatriates, together with their family, to special language courses. Paul Colwell, former lecturer and HRM manager at Regents College states that an expatriate cost on average $250.000, or even more, which shows the importance of a good HRM strategy. An expatriate should receive the right support before, in the mean while and after his experience abroad. Before he leaves, the company should prepare him to live in another country, through teaching the culture aspects (food, climate, politics and laws, standard behaviour etc.), suggesting him not to sell his house in his home town, because if something goes wrong with his experience it would be way better to have some place in which he can to return. The language is an important factor in order to make him effective in his new workplace and the company should provide him the possibility of language classes to attend. All of these pre-departure trainings should be joined by the whole family, in fact while for the local employees the company don’t care about their family affairs, when you take in examination an expatriate the whole family becomes the company’s business. Experience shows that the majority failures in expatriate’s program come from family problem and complaints. After the departure, a good way of managing expatriate, according to the theory, is to take care about their house in the origin country (rent it or doing the maintenance needed) and to find a house where they are going to live in the new country, taking in consideration the location and the comfort they might need. A good communication with the expatriate during the whole experience should be maintained in order to prevent possible problems and to show him that the company doesn’t leave him alone. The company should take care of the partner job in the new country (or/and hobbies) and register their children in schools in order to make sure that the employee’s family is comfortable in the new location. The return of the expatriate is an important moment, too often underestimated. The company priority is to make sure not to lose all the money it has invested on him by making him decide to change job. An interview at the return it is a necessary step, as offering him the right position deserved in the company and not the same job he had before he left in order to maintain him motivated and happy, so they are not losing all the know how he gained through his years abroad. The period of the experience abroad it is variable, but following Paul Coldwell experience 3 years is and ideal length, because after that the employee may lose some of the attraction and interest in the job and start to decrease his learning. 4.1 GMR Policy Following the interview with the GMR HRM Manager, we found out that they do very little for their expatriates, mostly because they just started their internationalisation and they are a medium entity in the business. They don’t offer any pre-departure preparation, leaving it to the employee’s arbitrariness, they only thing they offer is a period of time that they could spend in the new country with their family in order to decide or not to go. GMR take about their VISA and immigration laws, moreover they find and pay the house in the new country, making sure that it is nice and well located. Moreover they pay for the double taxation (when it occurs) and they offer help in moving their employee’s furniture when requested, paying for it. Their typical expatriate appointment last 2 years, according with GMR HRM manager. As seen so far their expatriate strategy is very poor and just offer little helps to their employees, leaving a high risk of failure and waste of money. 4.2 Proposed Plan GMR in order to increase their competitiveness should set a better strategy for its expatriates. First of all the pre-departure preparation should be compulsory for everyone who decides to apply for an expatriate experience and should comprehend the whole family (especially for language classes), because they shouldn’t take the risk that their employees arrive in the new country and they are not able to integrate in the new position. GMR services to their expatriates, such as find a house, take care of the VISA and pay for the possible double taxation, are a good starting point but it is not enough if they want to make sure their expatriate’s program will be more effective. The company should take care of their expatriates’ proprieties in their home country, they definitively have to be more connected with their employees’ partners, in order to find them a job in the new country that would fit their current position, or/and taking care about their hobbies and their children necessities (such as school and sports). Eventually they have to develop a better repatriation system with complete feedback interviews and placing them in the position they deserve in order to gain value from their experience. 5. CULTURE â€Å"The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the member of one category of people from another† (Lewis, 2006, p. 17) 5.1 Organizational Culture â€Å"The culture of an organisation refers to the unique configuration of norms, values, beliefs, ways of behaving and so on that characterize the manner in which groups and individuals combine to get things done. The distinctiveness of a particular organisation is intimately bound up with. (Brown, 1998) It is always said that the knowledge sharing culture is part of good knowledge management initiative. It is said that effective collaboration and communication across a whole organisational structure spreads knowledge throughout. In order to change the current culture of the organisation the change needs to be initiated at individual level. Employees have a sphere of influence along with their own individual knowledge, and this is where he believes a knowledge sharing culture can begin. GMR as an Indian based company, headquartered in Bangalore with offices in different countries as well such as U.K, Turkey, Singapore and Dubai, have identified the need of bring the different cultures together. As this company has to hire multicultural staff as part of their induction programme, most of their staff goes to India, to learn GMR history, values and operations through education workshop and its annual performance reviews. Working for an Indian company, which has strong culture and values and beliefs, employees have to manage the transition from their experiences. GMR has employees from the multicultural regions. Whereas, it is an Indian family business organisation and they glue the bonds whether it is Singapore, Turkey or Dubai. They share their values to India and initially they engage with their employees for first 4-5 years of the company to give them awareness about the company whether they can live by them and able to promote them to other positions. That is how they bring multicultural nationalities under the GMR brand. Therefore, there is a lot of difference between the 2 cultures. There are a lot of differences and similarities between the companies in which people have seen few things before in their previous organisations or the things they haven’t seen before, in GMR. â€Å"Individuals will have to adjust for the organisation but organisations will not adjust for individuals.† As GMR is an entrepreneur company, it has a very high regard for social responsibility. It has a set of values and cultures that can be shared and they are not company confidential. 5.2 Shared knowledge Culture is a shared phenomenon that people develop over time in response to shared experiences, which engender agreed values and mode of behaviours and which foster a similar outlook on the world. Working patterns that encourage people to engage in closed co-ordination and communication, which encourage them to identify the same problem and share the certain solution, and goals will be conducive to the formation of sub culture. (Brown, 1998) In GMR has focused knowledge transference culture among their 500 employees on the multiple layers. Employees have ongoing dialogues with the CEO on the day-to-day basis and once in a month everyone comes over for a breakfast in order to promote feedback in two-way direction. The biggest challenge for GMR is that how they leverage the knowledge within the Indian organisation with international organisation and back and forth. As Indian organisation is very process orientated and has a lot of process put in place around knowledge sharing. It hasn’t gained that much attraction outside India as it could have. The company is still improving in the knowledge sharing aspect. The firm still need to put some enthusiasm in the knowledge sharing as knowledge sharing is not a common concept in UK, Turkey, Singapore and with the Bangalore colleagues and then back to the international locations. Whereas, people think it’s a burden instead of an opportunity. They need to change the mindset of the people that they can learn something by being a recipient of knowledge.

Hamlet †historical and political context Essay

The political and religious upheavals before and after the death of Henry VIII had left their mark on the people of England. The King had done previous un-heard of things: He had divorced two wives and had had two executed. In the brief reigns which followed, persecution, first of the Catholics and then of Protestants, split family allegiances and brought very real danger – of imprisonment, torture, even execution. Claimants for the thrown jockeyed for position. Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 the first successor to her father, Henry Viii had been his young son Edward, ten years of age. As he was still very much under age, he had to ‘rule’ through Regents. They persisted with the Protestant reforms instituted by his father after his break with the Roman Catholic. Edward died six years after coming to the throne. He was succeeded by his half-sister Mary (Tudor), who died childless after five years as Queen. She had tried to reinstate Roman Catholicism as the state religion. Elizabeth, Mary’s half sister, although not considered a legitimate heir to the throne, became Queen in 1558 and ruled for 45 years. Although she had been brought up as a Protestant she understood that in view of the recent religious upheaval some compromises some compromises had to be made. The country needed stability and a strong ruler. Her life had been in danger before she became Queen and there were the inevitable conspiracies to usurp her position. The tragic figurehead of one of these and the object of Elizabeth’s suspicion and jealousy for many years was Mary, Queen of Scots; Elizabeth at first kept her under arrest but eventually had her executed in 1587. Late in her reign, in 1601, the Earl of Essex, formerly her favorite, made his bid for power. He failed in his attempt to cause a popular up rising, was imprisoned and executed. It is not difficult to trace this atmosphere of suspicion and treachery in Hamlet, nor the reassuring promise to royalty contained in the suggestion at the end of the play that strong and humane rule will be reasserted. There were also serious threats from abroad. In 1588 Phillip II of Spain sent the Armada, a large fleet of ships, sailing up the Channel in an attempt to conquer England by force. Another foreign threat was marriage. Elizabeth constantly resisted attempts by her counselors to contract any politically advantageous marriage and she died unmarried, naming James, her Scottish cousin, already established for many years as King in Scotland, as her successor. Social and Context Elizabeth I built on the foundations laid by her father and grandfather until her power, the power of the Crown, was almost unquestioned. To help achieve the security which she and the country, needed it was important to encourage an articulate and educated aristocracy. Education and in particular classical scholarship assumed a fresh importance. In the grammar schools – it is assumed that Shakespeare attended the Stratford Grammar school- Latin Language and literature were studied; prose and verse, composition, rhetoric, orations and declamations. Much was learnt by heart and in the upper school Greek was added. Shakespeare’s knowledge of the classical theatre, poetry and legend is evident throughout his whole body of work. How does this relate to Hamlet? The Player’s speech, which Hamlet has remembered, is part of the Dido and Aeneas story, the sack of Troy and the slaying of King Priam. Also, Hamlet and Horatio have been fellow-students at the University of Wittenberg. The others, to address the ghost, call upon Horatio. Hamlet clearly wanted to return to Wittenberg, to turn his back on the whole situation at the castle, and possibly to become a perpetual student and scholar – until his father demands the revenge which he is unfitted to deliver. Exploration There was vitality; a fresh interest in foreign countries in the sixteenth century and exploration by sea had led to an increase in foreign trade. European foreign countries hardly seemed far away. Laertes lives very happily in Paris, away from his father’s influence. Hamlet is casually packed off by his uncle to a planned death in England. There was an extension of experience and an opening up to fresh influences, which included a new vocabulary of classical and foreign words. Printed books and pamphlets circulated more widely, so that information was more easily obtained. The Elizabethan age was establishing a feeling of national community and confidence. At the same time an increase in prosperity and a raising standard of living for many. This prosperity was also reflected in the newly built theatres and the audiences who flocked to entertainments of all kinds This is not to say that dissent and uneasiness did not exist. There will still disputes over religion and new ideas can be worrying as well as exciting. Persecution of religious minorities of the mainland caused a large influx of refugees from France and the Netherlands. It is also important to remember that some of the ‘entertainments’ mentioned above were public executions. Bloodthirsty pastimes such as bull- and bear- baiting were popular. The streets were filthy and away from the main thoroughfares, in the poorer parts of the city, they resembled open sewers and rubbish dumps. The plague, spread by black rats, struck in 1592 when it ravaged the city for two years, and again in 1603, wiping out whole families and forcing those Londoners who could afford to do so to flee to the country. Theatres and all public places of entertainment were closed down. This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Hamlet section.

Genetically Modified Foods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Genetically Modified Foods - Research Paper Example However, despite the perceived benefits of reengineering foods, debates have ensued on the safety of genetically modified foods with critics arguing that such food could pose health risks to human beings. This essay expounds on genetically modified foods. Researchers have identified that people’s choice of consuming such foods is influenced by attitudes, pragmatic considerations, and personal circumstances. Although some people desist from GM products with no facts, researchers have identified that the foodstuffs may have some negative effects. The effects touch on environmental hazards, human health risks, and economic consequences. For instance, some of the genetically modified crops have caused damage to other organisms. Genetically modified foods may also cause allergy to some people that may be fatal (Forman, 2010). There have been cases of allergy development in children across Europe and the United States to foods such as peanuts. The process of establishing GM foods and the eventual presentation to the market has been long with substantial use of resources. Researchers and consumer advocates have claimed that this may lead to unbearable seed prices. Genetically modified foods have numerous advantages. For example, genetically modified foods are resistant to cold and plants, such as tobacco, strawberries, and potato have been modified to be resistant to frost by the introduction of the antifreeze gene. The antifreeze genes enable plants withstand the low temperatures, thus allowing crop production to take place throughout the year (Edwards, 2010). Nutritional improvement is another positive aspect of genetically modified foods. The genetic modification of foods is appropriate because food like rice, which is a common diet in most countries could be modified genetically and supply the essential nutrients that will enable individuals feed on a balanced diet. This will also aid in

A Scientometric Analysis Of Nuclear Medicine Technology Dissertation

A Scientometric Analysis Of Nuclear Medicine Technology - Dissertation Example Both diagnostic medical sonography and the nuclear medicine technology are similar to one another in the sense that both sonography and nuclear technology are used in the study of medicine as a tool for diagnosing and screening of various diseases (i.e. signs of malignant bone lesions, bone infections, or any kind of stress that can causes pain on the patients (Archive, 2015), appendicitis (Gjelsteen et al., 2008), pelvic pain, suspected for adnexal masses, or the presence of ectopic pregnancy (Busse, 2010; Gjelsteen et al., 2008), and various cancer diseases such as breast cancer, (vans & Bates, 2005), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (Gao et al., 2014), large hepatocelluclar carcinoma or malignant hepatoma (Hill & Hill, 2014), and ovarian cancer. The only difference between diagnostic medical sonography and the nuclear medicine technology is that diagnostic medical sonography is using a special type of technology that emits no ionizing radiation that could harm the patients’ current health condition. Based on the term nuclear, the nuclear medicine technology emits different kind of ionizing radiation which could negatively affect the patients’ health condition when excessively exposed to radiation (i.e. 131I, 90Y, 18F, and 67Ga, etc.) (Eckerman & Endo, 2008; European Pharmacopoeia, 2005). characteristics of the past and current studies published online. Often times, a scientometric analysis can be performed as a way to evaluate the work performance of a specific research group or universities, a country, and a group of researcher or scientist (Dutton and Jeffreys, 2010, p. 45). In line with this, the main idea of my dissertation is to conduct a scientometric analysis of scholarly productivity in diagnostic medical sonography vs. nuclear medicine technology. In general, a scientometric analysis can be performed to analyze and measure the usage of journal publications, its credibility and current position as a research institute (Reber & Brossard, 2013).

Negotiation is an important aspect due to significant contribution to Essay

Negotiation is an important aspect due to significant contribution to the success of most businesses in the world - Essay Example Ascribing from this it can be argued that poor negotiation in a business entity results into negative implication to the overall business performance. ROLE OF NEGOTIATION IN BUSINESS The role of negotiation in a business is notable in a situation where a business needs to make decisions regarding its future operations and survival. Businesses need consultants with exceptional negotiation skills in making key major business decisions. Effective negotiation is required in regard to business decisions concerning critical business activities notably financial matters (Gosselin 2007). Businesses need to make informed and sound deals with its business associates, vendors and the business stakeholders. This facilitates the business to sustain afloat as well as its financial lucrative. Therefore it can be argued that the key role of negotiation in any business is to the business becomes successful. PART 1 NEGOTIATING STYLES The negotiation style adopted by any business may be used to reflect whether the desired results, deadlock or breakthrough is achieved or not. Therefore ascribing from this it can be asserted that businesses need to check on the compatibility of the negotiating style to suit its business needs and requirement. According to Gosselin (2007) in the context of management theory, he asserts that there is no best negotiating style as business needs vary and its dynamic nature. Therefore there is no single approach that can be exclusively adopted singly by a business (Gosselin 2007). In the context of business negotiations the preferred negotiating style should be able to increase the profitability of the business. There are five negotiating styles whereby each result into its specific conflict models (Eunson 2012). Depending on the vulnerability and the implication of each, business negotiators adopt the preferred style which results into a more benefit-like to the business. The negotiating styles entail the following. Compete (I win- You lose) This is on e of the common negotiating styles which focus on the full achievement of what is desired. The business negotiators are determined to solve the underlying conflict and emerge being the winners (Gosselin 2007). The negotiator ensures that there is gain in the short run. This is achieved mostly in compromising situations where all the means and tactics are used for a win to be achieved at any cost. The negotiators associated with this style are usually considered extreme and aggressive. When to use? This negotiating style is commonly used when businesses needs to achieve desired results quickly as soon as possible. This commonly arises when there is an extreme competition and a win is required at whatever cost (Ross 2010). This attributes the competitive nature and situation as a defense for the adoption of this style. For effective use of this style it is desire that negotiators have to be impartial to avoid deadlock. This negotiation style may be appropriate to use but the risk of a deadlock is also put into consideration. What's the danger? The dangers associate with this negotiating style is the overuse of competition by the competing negotiators. Both parties are prepared on how they will counter one another because of the ability to speculate on the tactics adopted by the other party. This high competitive negotiations adopting this style in most cases result into deadlock as no party would want to back down. Businesses therefore need to adopt a low compete profile

CONTRACTING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Research Paper

CONTRACTING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - Research Paper Example The root beginning of the hybrid contracts was when it was realized that purely generic contracts had their major downsides that led to their inefficiencies. For example the fixed price cost started being too costly owing to the number of uncertainties in the contracts. The birth of hybrid type of contracts was seen when the fixed price contracts were introduced some adjustments. This started with the economic price adjustment where the prices would be varied based on a number of certain contingencies such as the cost of labor. This thus did include some hybridism in the contracts. One of the root causes of the hybrid contract is the dynamic nature of the present day contracts. Most of the current day contracts are not as rigid as the previous days’ contracts. The result, therefore was the need to improve on the various contracts that existed. One of the main advantages is that with hybrid contracts, one is able to enjoy the various advantages gain from different mother type of contract. For example, with the fixed cost, the cost was predetermined in advance even before the contract starts. This means that the contractor takes all the risks associated with the contract. However, when the variable aspect is introduced to the contract, the contractor is shielded of some of those risks. The other advantage of hybrid contracts is with the flexibility associated with the contracts themselves. Most of the hybrid contacts unlike the other specific contracts that are strictly enforced by the law, there is room for flexibility with the hybrid contracts. This flexibility with the hybrid contacts gives it a unique edge over the other static types of contracts where specific specifications must be followed to the letter. Through hybrid contracting, especially with specific governmental contracts also increase the chances of winning a bid. Kate M. Manue l(2010)

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example People decide to become an entrepreneur when they have sufficient capital in hand, the required resources and expertise available to them, as well as when they are ready to take risks because entrepreneurship can lead to both profits and losses depending upon the strategies adopted by the entrepreneur. Step 2: Developing successful business ideas Developing successful business ideas is the second step of the entrepreneurial process. There are numerous business ideas in the contemporary dynamic and technology driven market. In addition to the traditional variety of ideas that was always available to the entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs today can also choose between brick and mortar business and online business. It is advisable for the entrepreneurs to conduct a detailed market study before finalizing their business ideas. Step 3: Moving from an idea to an entrepreneurial firm Once the idea has been identified, the next step is to move it to an entrepreneurial firm. This is precisely the s tage when the entrepreneurs decide whether they have to establish a brick and mortar business, an online business, or a combination of both. ... in this step include identifying the target market consumers, studying their decision making processes, their motives and aspirations, designing of the product, identifying the suitable ways to develop it, and marketing the product. All of these factors are strongly related to management. Rank of the Four Steps of Entrepreneurship as per their Importance Each of the four steps discussed above are equally important in the entrepreneurial process since the process is incomplete and cannot lead to favorable results as long as any of the steps is missing. The decision to become an entrepreneur is the simplest step as all it takes is motivation and determination to make this decision, yet this step is no less important than any of the subsequent steps since it lays the foundation of the entrepreneurial process. Developing successful business ideas is just as important as the first step but is more complicated than it because it calls for the need of research and team work to arrive at the successful business ideas. Managing and growing the entrepreneurial firm is also equally important as the first two steps but is obviously more complicated than the preceding steps because establishing a firm takes the accumulation of many resources. Many people go through the first and the second step but stop at the second step and abandon their plans to continue because of the level of effort and practical work required in the third step. Likewise, managing and growing the entrepreneurial firm is very important and poses many challenges in front of the management. This is the most complicated step in comparison to all of the preceding steps because the real art is to survive in the business and sustain and grow it for a long time after the initial step of establishing the business has

Successful life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Successful life - Essay Example At my house, we were four children, my parents and more often than not my grandmother would visit. This meant the house was always crowded and somewhat noisy, for me this was annoying and made me eager for college so that I could move out and go be on my own, in quiet. Nonetheless, this attitude transformed when I began college and within the first year I learnt that Mr Raphaels’ wellbeing had spun for worse. I had to make new friends and adapt to new surroundings, this made me miss the familiarity of home. Mr. Raphaels had been admitted to a rehabilitation centre as he had become an alcoholic. It occurred to me that a successful life is not guaranteed by material things and being alone is quite miserable. In my opinion, a successful life is achieved through contentment and fulfillment that are complementary feelings generated from within; whereby contentment implies accepting and appreciating the situation one is in, good health, social ties family being paramount and spiritu ality. These three things, from an individual viewpoint, allow us to realize success as a constant achievement. First and foremost, success is dependent on social ties because as human beings social connection is a prime need. Social ties allude to the rapport we have with our kin, friends, neighbors and colleagues. We need to maintain fruitful relationships that satisfy that basic need for connection, where we not only seek to keep ourselves happy but also those that are around us. Family is a key factor because they know us best and have supported us throughout our lives, that is, since childhood till presently. Hence, we ought to learn to be appreciative and tolerate them; moreover, the friends we keep are essential in our success as they either lead us to positive outcomes or negative outcomes. One should encircle themselves with people that inspire, support and complement. When we are vulnerable for example because of illness or frustrations from school, we will need someone to support us. As we go about our everyday life, we must treat people with respect and be humble because we are equal as human beings. Besides that, it is important that we adapt a sense of charity towards the less fortunate. Nothing is more rewarding than giving; it brings a sense of fulfillment which is the essence of success, as it breeds contentment. Spirituality, being the second crucial factor that guarantees success, requires that we develop a sense of mastery of ourselves. This implies discovering ourselves with regard to our weaknesses and strengths. As soon as we accept these, we can better our weaknesses and magnify our strengths. Self-mastery becomes significant because we train ourselves to accept that which we cannot change and improve that which we can, all through guidance. This requires that we adapt a different attitude and behavior towards life to this reality. Nevertheless, we should be careful not to develop a bleak perspective towards life. We must have hope, rem aining optimistic, as this provides us with a renewed strength whenever we feel overwhelmed by life. Of significance as well, is recognizing that when seeking pleasure we must choose pleasures that are deep and lingering. Not forgetting, having a charitable spirit as this provides a deep rewarding feeling. Thirdly, we must ensure that we are healthy in terms of

Writer's Choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writer's Choice - Essay Example o’s small-lived reign as the archbishop and the journey of transforming from a moderate theologian into a forefront hero of human rights is brilliantly chronicled in the film, Romero. In this movie, Church is portrayed as a weapon of the wealthy to maintain status quo against the rebellious peasants and laborers. Back in those days, Salvador was characterized by assassinations, kidnappings, barbaric militarism, and executions. In order to curb the growing discontent amongst the populace, the Vatican promotes conservation Romero to the position of the Archbishop. In the beginning, Romero conforms to their vision of Church as he preaches ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Duigan). However, after seeing militants thwart voters, open fire on crowds, torment insurgents, murder a dedicated priest, Romero awakens from the slumber. He expresses his condemnation on radio, rebukes quisling bishops, and heads a peasant march into a Church occupied by the soldiers. His gallantry reached apex when he rebels and insults against the president, in fact a militant general, Harold Cannan. One of the most noteworthy developments of Romero’s tenure as pastor of the archdiocese is the way in which the institutional Church integrated with the prophetic aspect of the Church. Romero endeavored Church to serve as an institution of service to its real mission, instead of the mission in which Romero and his pastoral workers found themselves trapped in. This mission was based on Church playing an integral institutional role in the political turmoil and military persecution though abject poverty, height of injustice, and socio-economic disparities. Oscar Romero’s abhorrence for the institutional Church is shown when he tried to stack back in the jeep while other priests persuade Salvadorans to go to the polls. Thus, ay the very beginning, the Church is depicted as apolitical institution, refraining from politics (Duigan). Similarly, the Church serves as an institute to accentuate the

Professional skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Professional skills - Assignment Example In the 1980s, video arcades and console games were integrations in the learning process (Wolf, 2012). The target audience of the learning games was children aged between 5 and 10 years. The Learning Company is a pioneer in the history of games and learning with family-oriented software games emerging in the 1990s (Wolf, 2012). A recent development in digital learning focuses on providing children with tools for repairing, constructing and authoring contrary to the traditional games. SimCity is an example of the rear mentioned game. A large population of parents deal with video games in a manner one would deal with low nutritious foods, believing that exposing their children to the games in decreased periods is acceptable. An opposition to the school of thought is Andy Baio who has let his son Eliot play through a history of video games in a chronological manner since the age of four (Wolf, 2012). From the continued growth of electronic gaming since the early 1970s, it is evident that more games are yet to be developed in the future. American Academy of Pediatrics dedicates its efforts in the well being of children (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). In light of technology and children, information on their page can act as a guide to parents in comprehending the influence of video games on children, as it provides advice on management of electronic gaming. In addition, the non-profit organisation recommends parents and pediatricians (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). According to statistics from the academy, the current average number of hours spent by children per day on technology is seven (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). Parent intervention in monitoring exposure to entertainment aids children in making informed choices regarding media. In order to avoid inappropriate content exposure to

Indian television in the era of globalization Essay Example for Free

Indian television in the era of globalization Essay Since its birth in 1959, it seems that Indian television has developed in a way that is similar to most of the world’s broadcasting sectors. Conquered by technological progress, particularly by the major advance that the introduction of satellite transmissions represents, the Indian television sector broke with its old practices to enter the era of globalization to which the opening to foreign players, the competition regime and the respect of commercial requirements are essential components. The successive evolutions that Indian television underwent seem to confirm Marshall McLuhan’s theory of a â€Å"global village†, which describes how the world has been contracted into a homogenized space by the media revolution. However, this simplistic vision denies the specificities of India as a culture and as a country, which became the specificities of Indian television. With 22 official languages, an enormous and heterogeneous population, one of the world’s largest territories and a tendency to continuously swing between tradition and modernity, India admittedly adapted its television sector to the globalized context but also imposed its restrictions and particularities. How did Indian television become integrated to the globalized media system while protecting its identity and imposing its requirements? With the successive evolutions – the technological progresses, the shift from an educational project to a competitive, consumer-oriented and profit-making market and the exportation of foreign programs and production methods – it underwent in the early 20th century, Indian television indeed got integrated into the globalized and transnational media system. As such it became a privileged target of know-how transfers coming from the West and a market of economic interest for foreign players. Heterogeneity constitutes India’s major specificity and its television sector could not have got established regardless to it. Even if it decided to enter the process of globalization, Indian television endeavored to defend and promote the country’s linguistic, territorial, social and cultural diversity. The Indian broadcasting space definitely does not get homogenized. On the contrary, it constantly reports the main oppositions that ceaselessly stimulate and drive the Indian population – tradition and modernity, local and global, urban and rural, well-off and impoverished. The example of the Indian television sector demonstrates that India is not passively affected by globalization but constitutes one of its major actors: it manages to make the country’s voice heard and to impose its requirements and its power of cultural appropriation at international level. BIBLIOGRAPHY DEPREZ C., La tà ©là ©vision indienne : un modà ¨le d’appropriation culturelle, De Boeck, 2006. DESAI M. K.,  « Indian television in the era of globalisation : unity, diversity or disparity ?  », in Quaderns del CAC, 202, no. 14 3-12. DURAND-DASTES F.,  « L’Inde dans la mondialisation  » in LEFORT I. and MORINIAUX V. (dir.), La mondialisation, Editions du temps, 2006, 235-256. JULURI V.,  « Music television and the invention of youth culture in India  », in Sage Journals, 2002, vol. 3 no. 4 367-386. KUMAR S., Gandhi meets primetime : globalization and nationalism in Indian television, University of Illinois Press, 2005. RANGANATHAN M., RODRIGUES U. M., Indian media in a globalised world, Sage publications, 2010. SINCLAIR J., HARRISON M.,  « Globalization, nation and television in Asia : the cases of India and China  », in Sage Journals, 2004, vol. 5 no. 1 41-54.

Research Methods in the Media Industry Essay Example for Free

Research Methods in the Media Industry Essay There’s a whole variety of reasons why research is undertaken in the media industry and there’s also a number of different ways to carry out research to acquire the different forms of information required. This report will be discussing the following in detail audience research, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, primary research and secondary research lastly consumer awareness Why we research in the media industry? As I said before research is undertaken for a variety of reasons. It might be so the director knows what they possibility may need to adjust in their production based on what it’s about, and this is known as content analysis where the producer and the director will research the subject matter to gather information to include into the final production. In addition research might also be undertaken be aware of legal restrictions for instance copyright infringement simply when you want to use the same ideas or the same content you will require written consent from the person who originally invented or owns the idea, in most cases copyright infringement doesnt protect the underlying ideas, it also doesn’t protect facts. For instance, copyright doesnt stop or limit you from expressing in your own words thoughts and facts that originate in any sources you read or view however you must give appropriate credit to the sources in which they originated from. For instance, there have been several, Alien based films, however only one E.T. Audience research Media products all have a target audience which could be defined by several factors, including age, gender as well as demographics. Whether it’s a chat show, daily newspaper, film or any other media form, each has a clear target audience. You must beware that audiences are not the same besides the audience research tells the producer what most applies to the audience how they can take advantage of what applies to the audience. They may watch previously released films/programmes and find out if they were successful at appealing to that audience. On the other hand they can observe a group viewing of a series premiere to see the group’s reaction and see if they’ve met their expectations and getting a calculation from the observation to see if they need to make some alterations to the production. Additionally Producers may also use BARB to find out further details about their selected audience what exactly is appealing to them after that discus features that will be in the production. Qualitative research methods Qualitative methods are better for finding more descriptive data and opinions because you interact with the research which lets you to explain any misunderstood questions and to go into further detail meaning you get a more factual answer. Methods that are categories under qualitative research range from case studies, interviews, diary analysis and focus groups. For instance the producers of a film will pick out a group which has the profile of their target audience, and will show them the film. This can be done both pre and post release if the film is not performing as well as predicted. The producer could then use the focus group’s response to alter or completely rethink, or even go ahead and take nothing on board and confirm the look and content of the film. Quantitative research methods Quantitative research mainly is numerical data. It could be used by producers of a film or by the company which is marketing it. UK based TV company’s use the( Broadcasters Audience Research Board) BARB for short to analyse viewing ratings, plus radio station use ( Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) short for RAJAR will view the listening numbers. Qualitative and quantitative methods are constantly used together in order to research the habits and preference of the target audience. In order to identify the profile of the audience, producers may look at current demographic models has on age or gender, or they may try to create a new audience for their film. Creating a new audience is much harder to accomplish additionally a producer may have to come up with a film which is appealing to those that feel there’s a gap in the industry, or gather a group of individuals together who all desire a possible reinvasion in the market. Finally when a target audience has been recognized, the film producer will then target the audience by using a series of carefully organised ad campaigns. The films could be promoted in newspapers that the target audience reads, also online sites which are frequently visited by the target audience, or show an ad when you’re guaranteed the most viewers such as champion’s league games or X factor episodes. Primary research methods Primary research is any research that’s done by an individual first hand. There’s a wide range of techniques for primary research from focus groups, interviews, observations and questionnaires, all come under as primary since questions are being asked directly this is research that is done first hand. Primary research is more suitable for finding out detailed information since you wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else’s results to be correct since the individual would have gathered the necessary information themselves so they know everything was done exactly how they wanted so the information is reliable. Primary research can come in the categories of both qualitative and quantitative research since there’s a variety of ways to conduct this research. Detailed look at a few the primary research techniques Questionnaires are regularly used by researchers when they need to gather essential information from a number of people targeting certain groups by age, ethnicity, and gender even social class. There practically surveys that can be sent on the internet in the post or hand out person to person. It’s easy to analyse questionnaires since its just basically gathering numbers, in addition it’s a much cheaper but sometimes a more time consuming process to gather information. Then again on the down side questionnaires aren’t able to get hold of, detailed information since they typically have closed questions yes or no type or the listed options provided in questionnaire. Another potential problem with questionnaire is that the individual taking part in the questionnaire may get the wrong end of the stick about a particular question or just not understand completely. For that reason the individual organising the questionnaire may possibly not get the right results from the questionnaire. Possible way to evade this you could do a pilot study to examine the questionnaire and make any necessary alterations after. Interview: interviews can be divided into three areas structured, semi structured, unstructured interviews. Structured: Structured interviews stick to a specific guideline with set questions sticking to the ones written. Semi structured: Semi structured interviews have some questions however questions can be added on the spot to go into more detail with the questions. Unstructured: lastly unstructured interviews have no questions set. The interviewer will bring up a topic with some questions in their head, similar to a casual conversation than anything. Interviews are mainly qualitative forms of research this method of research can very fruitful to the researcher since you are capable of going into more detail and thus gather further information for your research. On the other hand, the questions asked in an interview may be bias if the interviewer has their personal biased viewpoint placing their opinion in the questions. This may be done by the interviewer if they ask leading questions for instance. Tell us the reason why you like this film, instead of do you like the film. Secondary research methods Secondary research is gathered information that was done by someone else and made accessible to the public. For instance through archives, the internet, and other media outlets such as the news all of these come under secondary data since the information that you receive from these sources is information that the individual never gathered themselves. Potentially secondary research maybe unreliable option of researching since the individual can’t be sure that everything written is accurate since they never carried out the research themselves and they can’t test it and get the same results. On the plus side secondary research is significantly cheaper and faster process to use since the information has been completed for you already by someone else. Detailed look at a few the secondary research techniques The most common practice of secondary research done nowhere days is on the internet to think not too long ago we spent while copy the information on a copy machine. With the vast amount of online resources, traditional means of research done by books seem out dated. It’s now common for a student to complete an essay without opening a single book. However there are always pros and cons with any new technology. Some people like to say there’s a skill involved in finding a book in the library and searching. An Individual can ignore the entire topic that was read thoroughly for pertinent information. This may lead to more people getting the wrong end of the stick and not understanding the subject matter. But it’s a free vast amount of information; free for use for anybody much easier and less process, as well as getting qualitative information and opinions including polls, surveys, are simpler with the internet, assuming you’re aware of where you’re getting your information from. That could lead to a con since it’s not wise to use information from an unaccredited source, not from opinion based sites a lot of these sites around that look creditable but are far from it Consumer awareness Consumer awareness is the understanding that a consumer is knows his or her legal rights and duties. It’s essential for a consumer to stick to these rights. It’s implemented for the protection of the consumer, so the consumer is not exploited. But the producers may look into consumer awareness to discover if their ad campaign successful or if it’s unsuccessful. NRS The National Readership Survey NRS for short is provides the most dependable and respected audience research in operation for the advertising sector in the UK. The NRS reports on over 250 of the UK’s mainstream newspapers and magazines, you get a sense of the size and nature of the audiences they attract. In this always evolving digital age the NRS still create partnerships with the leading digital data sources providing a clearer vision of the combined total audience future. This is a great source for gathering information since data posted on this site are available without subscription. Already prepared for producers and so on only thing to do now is compare. Company Structure NRS Ltd is regulated and for the most part funded by three shareholders (IPA) The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (NPA) The Newspaper Publishers Association (PPA) The Periodical Publishers Association Why are the surveys so important? The way surveys are carried out affects the estimations it produces. Particularly for media measurement surveys NRS randomly selects individual aged 15+ in the UK. Only the chosen individuals may be interviewed to ensure that the surveys are clear and representative. The demographic characteristics won’t have the same reading habits according to their lifestyle and availability. It’s better for NRS to use random testing to reduce the favouritism towards people who are available for interview than others. The Interviews Structure A nonstop survey, all 12 months of the year, 7 days a week Total number: around 36,000 interviews a year with adults aged 15+ per year A random sample: interviews only conducted at randomly selected addresses with randomly selected individuals The average time for an hour takes half an hour http://www.nrs.co.uk/access.html

Differences Between Puritanism And Franklins Deist Views Religion Essay

Differences Between Puritanism And Franklins Deist Views Religion Essay In the mid to late 17th century, New England settlers were attempting to break away from Britain and begin a new society. They wanted to reinvent their own culture, govern themselves, and begin what they hoped would one day become a prosperous nation. One thing they wanted to have the liberty of practicing was religion, and having the choice of which particular religions they wished to follow. Puritanism and Deism were two different religions that were practiced in 17th century New England, and the differences between them sometimes were grounds for confrontations and conflict. The Puritan standpoint depicted in the works of John Winthrop, Michael Wigglesworth, John Dane, and Mary Rowlandson, and the Deist views of Benjamin Franklin differed in how they viewed their respective Gods, the way in which He created human beings, the view of life after death, and how God interacted in their everyday lives, while also holding the similar belief that God created everything in the universe wi th a purpose. The first difference between Puritanism and Franklins Deist views can be analyzed through their various views on how God created each individual human being. Puritans held the belief that all humans were inherently evil, so to speak, and that no one was worthy of eternal salvation from God. This view can also be called original sin, and the only way that Puritans could begin to fathom being rewarded through salvation was by living for the glory of God and serving Him in everything they do. In a word, Puritans held the belief that humans were not created equal, and certain individuals were destined for heaven, while others were not to be as fortunate. On the other hand, Deists were strong believers in the concept that every individual was created equal. In Benjamin Franklins piece entitled A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain he writes, If He is all-powerful, there can be nothing either existing or acting in the Universe against or without his Consent; and what H e consents to must be good, because He is good; therefore Evil doth not exist (Franklin, 26). This statement shows Franklins view of our Creator, which is the belief that no evil existed in the world, so humans were not created with the notion that they are unworthy and undeserving of Gods grace. Franklin goes on to say, And therefore every Creature must be equally esteemd by the Creator (Franklin, 27). According to Deists, their God was not a biased God, and every human was created equal, with no one having a better chance to make it to heaven than others. The Puritan and Deist views on afterlife are also an area where these two religions are not in sync with one another. Puritans believed in the concept of predestination, meaning that it was determined whether one was going to spend afterlife in heaven or hell at the time of their creation. In Day of Doom, Michael Wigglesworth, a minister in Massachusetts during the 17th century, explains how there will come a day when Christ returns to earth to judge who will be destined for heaven or doomed to hell. He writes that Christ explains to those who are being sent to hell deserve their eternal punishment, despite the fact that it was a foregone conclusion due to the fact that it had been predetermined. He also explains that in order to accept the offer of Gods salvation, one must be able to comprehend the meaning of such an offer. This puts certain members of society at an obvious advantage over others. For example, a middle-aged white male who has had some degree of education would surely have a greater understanding of the Bible than a new born baby would. A baby lacks the mental capacity to understand simple terms such as Mommy and Daddy, so attempting to gain an understanding of something as complex and powerful as the Bible would be far outside the realm of possibility. Due to this fact, babies fall into the category of those who are predestined to hell, an assumption that is sickening to think about. Deism is based on the grounds that the concept of afterlife does not exist. This view is mainly based on another belief that the Deist Franklin holds, which is pain and pleasure are always in perfect balance with each other throughout ones life. Every pleasure someone experiences will be followed by a pain of the same magnitude, and vice versa. Since there is no possibility of experiencing an excess of either pain or pleasure, then an afterlife would have no effect on a person because they would not be able to experience the immense joys of heaven or the pain and s uffering that is to be experienced in hell. Another difference among these two religions is the ways in how they view God interacting in everyday life. Both religions have stances on the role God plays in each persons life, however, they are quite different. On the Puritan side, their stands the belief that God tests individuals through trials and tribulations. By doing this, Puritans believe that God is showing that he loves them and cares for them. In a piece entitled A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson writes, Affliction I wanted, and Affliction I had, full measure, (I thought) pressed down and running over; yet I see when God calls a person to any thing, and through never so many difficulties, yet he is fully able to carry them through, and make them see and say they have been gainers thereby (Rowlandson, 20). Rowlandson experienced many hardships in her life, such as enduring a raid by a group of Indians, and even having to deal with the deaths of her children. However, Rowland son knew that this was only happening because her tough love God was only testing her ability to cope with these tragic events. She believes if she puts all her trust in God, then she will have the strength to overcome these obstacles and be a stronger person by it. On the other side of the spectrum, Deists believe that no evil actions can be done by God, and that because of this, God will not test humans by making them suffer through pain and sorrow. An all-powerful God is also an all-good God, and whatever is done by Him must be good. Franklin writes, For whatever an infinitely good God hath wise Ends in suffering to be, must be good, is thereby made good, and cannot be otherwise (Franklin, 26-27). According to Franklin, it is not possible for God to put one through pain and suffering, because these are evil things, and whatever God does must be good. This point relates back to the pain versus pleasure concept. Since pain and pleasure are always in balance throughout ones life, th ere is no way that one would suffer through these so called trials and tribulations that the Puritans believe in. The excess of pain that is surely to result from this is something that the Deists simply do not believe in. One of the few similarities between Puritanism and Franklins Deism was the belief they shared in that God created the world and universe, and that everything that He put on this earth was here for a reason. Puritans believed that God created the universe, and he held a more active role in the day-to-day lives of humans. Franklin also believed God indeed created the universe and everything it encompasses, but God was more distant from his creatures and that He did not intervene with peoples lives. Both Puritans and Deists also believed God had a reason for creating everything and everyone that is on this earth. They learned not to question the actions of God, because they knew Him to be an all-powerful and all-knowing God. Puritanism and Deism were two of the main religions practiced in 17th century New England, yet they clearly had their differences in beliefs in how God interacted with His world. The Puritan views captured by the works of Winthrop, Wigglesworth, Dane, and Rowlandson emphasized a strict following of the Bible and serving Him in everything you do. On the other hand, Franklins Deist belief was that God was more distant from the goings on of the everyday lives of human beings. He held a more loosely interpreted understanding of the Bible, yet still believed that as humans, you were still dependent upon God. One belief that was common to Puritanism and Deism was that God had an intended purpose behind everything he put on earth, and followers of both of these religions learned not to question His actions. The freedom to practice religion was one of the principles this country was founded on, and the practice of Puritanism and Deism during 17th century New England was an influential period that eventually helped lead to declaring independence from Great Britain.

University Tuition Costs are Too High Essay -- College Costs Are Out O

The cost of tuition for higher education is quickly rising. Over half of college freshmen show some concern with how to pay for college. This is the highest this number has been since 1971 (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). The amount of college graduate debt has been rapidly increasing also. With limited jobs available because of the high unemployment rate, college graduates find themselves staying in debt even longer. Although grants and financial aid are available to students, students still struggle to pay for their college tuition. Higher education costs are prohibitively expensive because the state’s revenue is low, the unemployment rate is high, and graduates cannot pay off their student loans. One reason that higher education is not affordable is that the states’ revenue is low and the states are in debt. Because of their decreasing tax revenues, many states need to make cuts in their budget. As a result of this, tuition is rising and other changes are happening throughout colleges. Some of these changes include: higher student to faculty ratios, less but larger classes, and fewer on-campus jobs that normally support students (Hulsey 24). These changes affect students and impact their view and decisions of certain colleges. The tuition rate has also â€Å"been rising at about 6 percent a year for most of the past ten years† (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). This percent inevitably makes it harder for students to find an affordable college. High tuition prices also keep some people from attending their dream college. All of these changes have an effect on the students and the rising tuition prices. Another result of the different states being in debt is that they are giving colleges less financial help. â€Å"Prior to ... ...or all students. One reason for this is that the states’ revenue is low. High unemployment rates also contribute to this problem. Another cause of this is the inability of students to pay off their loans. Nearly two-thirds of college freshmen feel concerned about how to pay for college and almost the same amount graduate with debt (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). Since high tuition and loans drastically affect a person, many students feel forced to take this into consideration when making plans for their future. Many plans and dreams that high school students have become altered when reality hits them about the cost of continuing their education. Therefore, students just cannot afford higher education.

The Paradox of Prison-Based Economic Development in Rural America :: Free Essays Online

The Paradox of Prison-Based Economic Development in Rural America Introduction Whereas prison facilities were once viewed with aversion as threats to a community’s well-being, prisons today are the focus of competitive bids by rural communities desperate for economic stability. As non-metro economies deteriorated and prison populations exploded over the last two decades, rural America and prison facilities have developed a symbiotic relationship. This paper investigates whether prison-based economic development policies in rural America provide benefits that exceed their costs. Proponents of the prisons-as-development strategy contend that prison jobs offer better wages and create more stability than the few industries that remain in non-metro America. Yet, critics cite higher crime rates and reduced property values as the social externalities and economic drawbacks that result from prison siting. Impact studies of prison-based development strategies, although far from conclusive, suggest that the truth may lie somewhere in the middle. However, it is also clear that the varied impacts this strategy has, both good and bad, are rarely if ever considered in the prison siting process. Nonetheless, the prison-as-development approach continues as a tactic to create jobs and to bring hope to the struggling communities of non-metro America. Two Trends: Rural Economic Deterioration and Rising Prison Populations Prison siting as a form of economic development resulted from the convergence of two unrelated trends in America: the economic downturn in rural America and the increase in U.S. prison populations. Over the last several decades, economic distress was brought on to non-metro regions as family farms were consolidated and manufacturing industries found cheaper labor elsewhere; Almost all sources of well-paying employment drained out of rural America. The consequence, as Huling identifies, was that the poverty rate of working rural families actually increased in the 1980s (4). With demoralized populations and stagnant economies, non-metro America looked to all but vanish by the end of the century. One of the few economic development strategies that remained was the acceptance of generally undesirable industries and facilities to create jobs. Samara suggests that rural communities were â€Å"priced out of contests to attract manufacturers, as local development agencies in more prosperous areas offer[ed] aggressive packages of tax breaks, cheap loans, free land and more† (27).

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and Modern Day Implications Essay -- Franke

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Modern Day Implications Over two centuries ago, Mary Shelley created a gruesome tale of the horrific ramifications that result when man over steps his bounds and manipulates nature. In her classic tale, Frankenstein, Shelley weaves together the terrifying implications of a young scientist playing God and creating life, only to be haunted for the duration of his life by the monster of his own sordid creation. Reading Shelley in the context of present technologically advanced times, her tale of monstrous creation provides a very gruesome caution. For today, it is not merely a human being the sciences are lusting blindly to bring to life, as was the deranged quest of Victor Frankenstein, but rather to generate something potentially even more dangerous and horrifying with implications that could endanger the entire world and human population. Few things are more powerful than the human mind or human intelligence. This ability to think, learn and process complex thoughts has been the driving force that has allowed for the immense growth of human culture and society, without which it is doubtful we would have ever had the capacity to evolve from our basic animal existence. As fantastic as this quality may be, our intellectual growth has not always spawned ideas that produce sound and safe results. Victor Frankenstein, although a fictitious character, provides a superb example of the vast potentiality of human intelligence and the morbid destruction that it can create. For very real examples, one need only read the headlines of the newspaper to find a multitude of malicious and perverse atrocities that occur each day due to the human mind and "intelligence" gone haywire. This is why, in light of t... ...eal when we are taking the power of our minds and placing it into machines that have the ability to act in ways that exceed our own abilities. We are blinded by the seemingly beneficial qualities of this growing technology, naively becoming more and more dependent upon this very powerful creation. One need only remember the gruesome tale Shelley brought forth in Frankenstein to realize the horrendous mistake we could very well be making. Just as Victor realized too late that he had given life to a true monster, our world could suffer the same fate as we watch our "AI children" manifest into monsters that we no longer have control of. Works and Sources Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus. New York: Signet Classic, 2000. ThinkQuest. Applicatio ns: Essays on the use of AI. (7 Oct. 2002). ThinkQuest. The History of AI. (7 Oct. 2002).

Micro-Economic Impacts on Tesco Plc

In this essay we are going to evaluate the micro economic factors on the activities and performance of Tesco. Tesco Plc (2011) states, that the retail industry is a highly competitive environment. Tesco competes with a wide variety of retailers of varying sizes and faces increased competition from UK retailers as well as international operators in the UK and overseas. Failure to compete with competitors on areas including price, product range, quality and service could have an adverse effect on the organisations financial results.Tesco aims to have a broad appeal on price, range and store format in a way that allows them to compete in different markets. There is a risk that Tesco may not deliver their stated strategy in full, particularly since, like all retailers; the business is susceptible to economic downturn that could affect consumer spending. 2. 0 The Extent of Competition in the Market Tesco is a multi-national grocery and general merchandising retailer. By revenue, Tesco is the fourth largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Metro.With 4,811 across 14 countries in regards to profit, Tesco is the second largest retailer in the world. In the UK, Tesco operates in an oligopolistic market competing against three major retailers; Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. Oligopolistic markets are those which are dominated by a small group of larger firms with several smaller firms also competing in the market with minority market share. The concentration ratio of the retail market is 4:76. 2. Figure 2. 0. 1: Comparing the Grocery Market (Preston, 2008) Preston (2008) states, Tesco are the market leader with 31. % with Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s having a market share of 16. 9%, 16. 4%, 11. 5%.This means theoretically Tesco have monopoly power within the market but due to the intense competition which is apparent, they are not able to exploit their market power and discriminate against other firms as well as customers. How ever, there are still allegations that the major players within the market collude with one another to cause higher levels of barriers of entry and keep prices at a level which benefits all of the major firms. This protects their position within the market and allows them to set rices at any desirable level.With this happening these major players make it extremely difficult for start-up businesses to enter the market. 3. 0 Market Dominance In 1998 the market share for the grocery market showed that Tesco had 21. 8% of the market share. Asda had a market share of 12. 1% with Sainsbury’s share at 19. 9%. Morrisons and Safeway controlled 13. 3%. This gave a concentration ratio of 4:66. 1. However in figure 2. 0. 1, it shows that Tesco started to dominate the market and saw a rise in their market share from 21. 8% to 31. 4%.Presumably, within these 10 years Tesco’s used its economies of scale to gain this extra market share. With Tesco having a great majority of the market share they operate in, it allows them to possibly price discriminate. The way in which Tesco could do this is by having such a high market share they are capable of forcing competitors out of business and therefore, leaving only them to provide the products or services within that area. In addition to this, Tesco can under-price its products and services as with a greater market share they can reach economies of scale.Economies of scale arise when cost per unit falls as output increases. With having economies of scale Tesco’s can then be more productive than its competitors and supply more to its customers at better prices. For example if Tesco reach economies of scale they can get more from their suppliers with bulk buying allowing them to supply at lowers prices. By doing this poses a threat to smaller businesses that can be undercut by the competition. With a 30. 1% of the market share Tesco definitely do have some market dominance within the market via the instruments st ated above such as the potential to undercut competitors.However, they are not a monopoly and therefore, cannot fully price discriminate and set prices. As with doing this its custom see going to other companies within this market as the products and services they supply are similar. 4. 0 Economies of Scale Economies of scale are when higher output leads to lower average costs; such the average cost of production is reduced due to the increase in total output. Tesco has a very large scale business, opening new stores daily. There are currently more than 4,811 stores of Tesco worldwide.Since they are opening new stores regularly, they have to produce more. So as the volume of production increases, their average cost per unit has decreased. This has given Tesco a huge advantage over the other supermarkets especially those that are smaller in size. The large size of the firm means that it can benefit from further economies of scale in areas such as bulk buying, transportation, distribu tion, marketing and technology. A feature of their sales strategy is that they encourage customers to buy in bulk.They have special offers for that, such as buy one get one half price etc. These offers compel customers to buy more quantity, which in turn gives Tesco the advantage of selling more and consequently buying more, which in turn gives them a lower average cost. In an oligopolistic market, although it is difficult to prove, the likelihood is that the firms with majority market share collude with one another for the benefit of themselves. They will do so to maximise their profits as well as create higher levels of barriers of entry for new firms trying to enter the market.This has now become illegal in the UK by the 1965 Restrictive Trade Practices Act. 5. 0 Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry are the means by which Tesco’s potential competitors are blocked out. Due to Tesco’s monopolistic characteristics, Tesco will be able to enjoy higher profits in the long run as rivals have not diluted market share. Three barriers of entry are: Patents are legal property rights to prevent the entry of rivals. They are generally valid for an average of 20 years and give Tesco the right to prevent competitors from using patented products.Tesco can sell licences to competitors for a stated fee. Using Advertising and Marketing Tesco have developed customer loyalty; their club card has played a pivotal role in their customer loyalty. Thus making demand less sensitive to price; due to advertising leading to an outward shift in demand. Tesco engage in brand proliferation, as it is a firm which sells a vast range of products, this may portray Tesco differently to consumers. This is common barriers to entry in these types of markets as it is non-price competitions for household good. 6. 0 Porter’s Five ForcesIn order to evaluate the competitive environment surrounding Tesco, I shall utilise Porter’s five forces model illustrated in figure 2. Fig ure 6. 0. 1: Porter’s Five Forces Model (Zanthus, 2011) 6. 1 Bargaining Power of Buyers 0 The bargaining power of buyers is fairly high. 1 Products that have a slight differentiation; more standardised, the switching cost is considerably low, allowing the buyers to switch from one brand to another easily. 2 Prices are forced down by buyer’s power. For example, if bread is too expensive in Tesco, buyers will use their power and move to Asda.Supermarkets have a disciplined approach to price setting, stopping them from destroying each other in a profit/price war. 6. 2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 3 The bargaining power of suppliers is fairly low. 4 Suppliers fear losing contracts with major supermarkets, hence putting retailers like Tesco in a dominating position. Negotiations are therefore positive in order to get the lowest price achievable from the suppliers. 6. 3 Competitive Rivalry 5 The amount of competitive rivalry in the food and grocery retail industry is extrem ely high. 6 Tesco faces extreme competition from its key competitors; Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.Organisations are competing with each other over price, products and promotions sporadically. 7 Discount superstores such as Aldi and Lidl have taken over the market in current economic times, due to the recession. Keynote (2010) states, that during 2008, they recorded sales of over 25%. 6. 4 Threat of New Entrants 8 The threat of new entrants into the food retail industry is low. 9 Tesco and other supermarket chains put up considerable barriers to entry. Starting a new supermarket chain has barriers imposed on it, implicitly or explicitly, by the existing organisations.0 According to Mintel (2010) Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons account for 80% of all shopping carried out in the UK. 11 In order for new entrants to establish themselves they will have to produce something at an exceptionally low price and/or high quality. 6. 5 Threat of Substitute Products and Se rvices 12 The threat of substitutes in the grocery retail market is considerably low for food items whereas it’s medium to high for non-food items. 13 The substitutes for these major supermarkets are smaller firms such as convenience stores; but these are not seen as a threat to Tesco who offer high quality items at low prices.Tesco is however overcoming this threat by opening ‘Express’ stores in small towns and city centres, in effort of becoming an obstacle for substitutes hoping to enter the market. 14 In current economic times, customers will be drawn towards discounted prices, thus Tesco is a threat towards specialist shops. Due to the rivalry between these supermarket chains, a highly competitive environment can be maintained, and one that facilitates consumers a greater deal than a proliferation of small independent shopkeepers. 7. 0 Game Theory and Interdependence Game theory and interdependence are both linked together.Interdependence is when decisions o f two (or more) businesses have an effect on the other firm’s profits. Then when looking into interdependence the investigation into what happens is game theory. As Tesco has the highest share of the oligopoly it in theory has the most power of the market. However a competitor such as Sainsbury’s could easily affect the percentage share of the market Tesco has. This could be by Sainsbury’s lowering the prices of certain products and then with the decision that Tesco has to make, Tesco could end up losing either their percentage of share in the market or their profits.For example if Tesco decides to keep the price the same of an item which is on sale at Sainsbury’s then customers will decide to get the product from Sainsbury’s, thus Tesco lose money. However Tesco may also decide to lower the price of the item for sale at Sainsbury’s, however Tesco may not advertise the sale item as well as Sainsbury’s so again they may incur a loss as not many people know that the item is for sale. Many other examples could be used for interdependence for Tesco’s.If a competitor of Tesco such as Sainsbury’s decided to save costs because of the recession then Tesco could unexpectedly make more profits as a result. This is because Sainsbury’s could decide to save costs by cutting down the number of jobs and stop selling less profitable items. The effect this would have on Tesco’s would be positive. This would be due to the downturn in popularity of Sainsbury’s as a result of job losses around the country to save money. As big money companies cutting jobs is always very unpopular, as a resultSainsbury’s customers may well go to its competitors such as Tesco and thus Tesco gaining more money from more customers. With Sainsbury’s losing customers in this example, the demand curve for Tesco would shift to the right and as a result of more money being made the price level would be increa sed because of the increase in demand. 8. 0 Conclusion and Recommendations From the above analysis, it can be said that Tesco maintains to embrace its leading position in the highly competitive retail industry; in which organisations must follow both differentiated strategies and cost leadership.The core competencies of Tesco are aligned with the competitive operating environment, therefore highlighting a positive future outlook for the organisation. The company must constantly adapt to the fast changing circumstances. Strategy formulation should therefore be regarded as a process of continuous learning, which includes learning about the goals, the effect of possible actions towards these goals and how to implement and execute these actions.

Exhibition Essay

IntroductionA steady-going army broadcast impart cuckold itself. The cash spent on passel would be better spent on the expo themselvesIn the trading environment, at that place is a c be of contr everywheresy that all line of credit faces in its day to day works. This way that if a chore flowerpot non cumber up with the competition or beat its competitors wherefore there is a proud likeliness of it collapsing, roundthing that exit highly equal the investors. therefore, any line of credit essential ascertain that it is up to(p) to tint its main fair game which in m both cases is to base and maximize moolah by bureau of high gross gross gross revenue. To touch high or cast upd gross revenue, subscriber line investors mickle apply different strategies of elevatening guests and overcoming the substantial competition in the championship environment.For a occupancy to be up to(p) to acquire high(prenominal)(prenominal) or increase in s ales and contain to a greater extent customers who forget in turn result into higher(prenominal)(prenominal) pelf for the patronage, the investors terminate apply guile strategy as a devote to work of devising their merchandises sleep withn to customers which is whitethorn be a bit pricey t the furrow since it ordain become to obtain mingled disbursals. On the former(a) establish, a headache screwing opt for collection as a degree of change its products to its customers. sight fecal matter hardly be defined as a monstrance and a unwrap of variant items that make been selected to overstretch customers and induce sales. order program as a merchandise bruteAn show program is the strategy typeset in dwelling ho uptake by a vexation of presenting and displaying a selection of several(a) products of a melodic line organisation for customers to purchase and to attract bran- tonic customers. Having a in force(p) battle array programme in a duty go forth sell itself to customers and leave alone economic aid increase the sales of the dividing line. This authority that the coin utilised by investors in beas very overmuch(prenominal) as merchandise strategies pl downstairs be spent on expo so that the assembly line croupe grasp more than than sales and then more gelt for the traffic. viewingions as well as know as manage fairs, expos or even mickle shows passel front to achieve mingled results for a argument as exit be discussed here. In m whatever(prenominal) occasions, the battle arrays atomic number 18 in virtually cases organized by confused interested parties so that various organizations in a certain detail persistence or who book a specific interest asshole showcase and better a demonstration of the various latest products, study activities, and even function of competitors and alike to consecrate a look at the current tr abrogates in the crease assiduity and the opportunit ies that whitethorn be avail equal for the course to venture in. on that point be some sights which be endlessly open to the anyday mend there argon opposites which can only be attended by various union representatives who argon members of that trade and to a fault the members of the press for coverage of the line of battle (Siskind, 2005). with the years dispositions meet been identify as sensation of the virtually stiff and efficient as welll that is powerful and powerful for doing condescension. An order adopts the employment investors being able to resonate the customers personal and hence do a great target hazard for the melodic line to achieve the various trade aims that it has. Exhibitions be known to be peerless of the nigh represent potent for of hit step to the fore to the customers since the line of work investor is able to tump over the customers at one achievemention and in one place that does not feign moving the location. T herefore, it is notable that sights accept various advantages for a wrinkle if a soundly exhibition programme is created and implemented by the worry investor (Tileag, & Cosmescu, 2012).Advantages of ExhibitionExhibition as a core of trade for a ancestry has various advantages to whatsoever take shape of backup if created and implemented in a good way as compargond to merchandiseing strategies. Discussed below are the advantages that a line of work give derive from a good exhibition programme implemented by an investorCustomer tie-inIn exhibitions, the craft investors have the prospect of meeting the customers personal in one clock time and in one place. This designates that the trade shows or exhibition provides a very pure and conducive environment for the pipeline investors to set out reach outs with customers who are revolutionary to the contrast line. This abets the argument investor to be able to develop impertinently-fangled trade leads for the products of the profession since the investor is able to answer any pastimeions that the smart customers may have concerning the products that the traffic is whirl (Ausstellungs- und Messe-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft, 2010).The crinkle has the set-back hand fortune of giving detailed study to the radical customers roughly their products that are below exhibition and in turn this impart serve well in creating a sore customer base for the problem. In accessory to the new customers whom the traffic investor has the chance to win over for the byplay and creating new customer base, the business investor is alike able to renew its grey butts with the valued clients of the association or business firm. There are generation when businesses lose their old clients due(p) to various reasons.Through a good exhibition programme, the business investor is bale to renew the muddled contacts with its previous customers and in like manner to inform the old custome rs of the new products that the go with may be lie withering in addition to the advancements that the business has made on the previous products that it was whirl (Frain, 1999).Opportunity to create an Image for the backingThrough exhibitions, the business investor is able to meet new and old customers some of who may not e familiar with the business. The contact that the business investor has with the customers offers an opportunity for the investor to create and improve the exposure of the business towards the customers. Customers who had a perverting perception almost the business pull up stakes be able to have primary experience of knowing more about the business and the products of the investors and get clear thought of how the business operates and what products the confederation is offering to its clients (Johnston, & Beaton, 1998).This means that, not only leave behind the go with be able to win ore customers leave off it will be able to exploit start-of fbornhand data to the customers which will tending in improving the physical body of the business. A good prototype for the business means that customers will motivation to associate with the business hence those customers who visit the exhibition will also inform other bulk about the business. This will act as a way of advertising the business through with(predicate) condition of mouth from those customers who had the firsthand experience with the business at the exhibition. Therefore, it is sort of notable that exhibitions not only establish new business contacts but also answers to strengthen and maybe restore the image of the business which is substantial for every business to succeed.Product and attend to portion together weapons platforms more businesses always face the contest of incoming their products and serve to the market. Launching of a new product or gain by a beau monde can be very challenging to any business and can also be equally in hurt of campaignments as a form of selling for the new products and aid. umpteen platforms that business investors can use to propel their new products or operate are always personifyly and at times may not be effective in reaching out to as many customers as possible. To repress this challenge that is intricate in the launching of new products or good to the market by business investors, exhibitions offer a much better platform for the business investor to launch their products or run. Exhibitions in many cases involve live presentations and various demonstrations of the products or service of the bon ton to the customers. This means that the products or the operate are able to speak for themselves and check the customers to make purchases or even obtain the function even if they were not prompt to do so in the first place.When customers are able to see for themselves the use of a product or the brilliance of a product at first hand, they tend to have the urge to try out t he product or service so that they can recall out if whatever they saw during the live presentations and demonstrations are actually the results that they can obtain from employ the particular product or service which has been launched into the market. This means that the process of selling the new products or work is accelerated (Frain, 1999).When the customers are influenced to purchase the new products or go that have been launched at the exhibition toilet live presentations and demonstrations, the sales of the products or operate are likely to increase, and this will mean that new sales will be generated for the familiarity at a speedy rate than through marketing. Launching of a new product or service through live presentations or demonstrations at the exhibitions means that the union will not prevail a readiness of be that are always obscure in the launching of new products or serve (Johnston, & Beaton, 1998). trade communicationsIn the exhibitions or trade fairs, there is always a lot of focus that is always put on the familiarity and the products r services that the companion is offering. Many exhibitions involve the media and hence the attention of the media is always on the friendship and the products or services of the caller-out. This means that the business investor has an opportunity of focusing his/her human race transaction efforts on raising the profile of the companionship and that of the products or services of the connection. This will also help in improving the image of the company.Since the focus of the media attention is on the company and the products or the services that the company s offering, there is an opportunity for the company to advertise itself without incurring any supererogatory represent on publicizing of the companys products or services. The exhibition offers a platform for improvement of the companys open relations since the company comes into jamr contact with the public than it could do throug h areas much(prenominal) as advertisements. This will also help in improving the image of the company and the image of the products of the company by create trust and good relations with the customers who have visited the exhibition. Therefore, exhibitions will not only help in developing great public relations, build companys image but also will help in opening new markets for the company (Frain, 1999).A high harvest-tide/ set down ratio all business investor has one aim in business which they strive to accomplish through every operation that the business undertakes. The main accusing for any business investor in a business environment is to make and maximize profits. For the business to obtain profits it must(prenominal)iness incur be that are involved in the racetrack of the business. prices in business may be in form of advertisements, production and any other functional follows for the company. Higher profits and maximation of profits can only be achieved by a busi ness if the business ensures that the cost that it incurs are less and do not exceed their sales. To achieve this, a company must ensure that it employs strategies that will help in minimizing be involved in its operation while at the homogeneous time increase its sales for higher profits. The imparts must always be higher while the expenses must always be lower in any fortunate business.This means that a business must always be able to obtain high returns from its sales when compared to the expense that the business has incurred in its trading trading operations. Exhibitions help businesses in achieving this objective of higher returns compared to the expenses incurred. The expenses that a business will incur in its operations when conducting exhibitions is less when compared to other forms of marketing much(prenominal)(prenominal) as advertisements. Exhibitions also create an opportunity for higher sales for the business since the company is able to attract more customers through close customer contact, live presentations and demonstrations.Since exhibitions are conducted in one time and in one place, any costs involved such as transportation costs are minimised, customers are able to dislodge the products of the company in one place without having to move from one place to another(prenominal) (Johnston, & Beaton, 1998). This means that exhibitions have a higher return/expense ratio, something which every business always strive to achieve. The higher return/expense ratio is as a result of the following reasonsMany customers or attendees who come to the exhibitions always arrive with a particular agenda or a acquire which they seek to accomplish at the exhibition. This means that the customers who arrive at the exhibition will not cause the business to incur more expenses in attracting the customers except for what has already been incurred to prepare for the exhibition.In the exhibitions, the business investors do not petition to make any sales ca lls to close the deals with the customers since most of the lot who attend have their agenda already set. This means that the business will not incur any extra cost involved n making sales calls since the live presentations and the demonstrations of the companys products or service are fair to middling to lead the customers to purchase the products or services of the company.Compared to product or services sales calls which are quite costly, the exhibition leads do not require a lot of expense to accomplish or close a deal. Field sales require sales calls to be made by the company but in the exhibitions on the demonstrations and live presentations are enough. This means that exhibitions are much cheaper in helping the business to achieve its main objective of increase profits and minimizing expense hence higher returns/expense ratio which is good for the business.Exhibition provides an avenue for the deputize of information mingled with the exhibition attendees and the companie s that are displaying their products or services at the exhibition. At the exhibition, the business investor has the opportunity to pass information to the customers about the products or services that the company is offering since the investor comes into face to face contact with the new and old customers.These customers will in turn act as a tool of advertising the products and services of the company to those other potency customers who never went to the exhibition. The customers help in advertising the companys products and services through word of mouth. This helps the company to reach more dominance customers without incurring extra costs of advertisement. Therefore, exhibitions help the company to achieve higher return/expense ratio which will in turn mean the company will be able to maximize profits (Frain, 1999). art-to- business organization tradingExhibitions also play an important role in a business if a good exhibition programme is created and implemented by a busine ss. Through exhibition, a company is able to meet with other business investors. This will change the business to exchange business ideas and information which might be helpful to the running of the business. Exhibitions help the investor to identify and establish new joint ventures and projects by other business investors which may result in partnership hence helping to expand the business. This is because, at the exhibitions, the business investor may meet other business investors who share the same business ideas and beliefs which then could translate into new ventures for the business (Ellis, 2010). recent RecruitmentThere are some many people who attend exhibitions some of who are latent business agents, distributors or even employees for the business. Through the opportunity of face-to-face interaction between the business investor and the exhibition attendees, the business investor has the opportunity of identifying and recruiting new business agents, distributors and even staffs for the business.The business investor does not incur any extra cost in this activity since they are able to meet the strength agents, distributors and even staffs face-to-face without having to locate them. This also helps in legal transfer time in terms of probing for new agents, distributors or even employees (Ellis, 2010). slatternly Market Research and Information groupWhen a business investor involves in exhibitions, they have the opportunity of meeting the customers face-to-face. The business investor through live presentations and demonstrations of the products or services of the company is able to obtain an immediate feedback from the new customers or the old customers on the various products or services that the company offers. This can be done through rationalise samples and the live presentations and demonstrations. Since there is face-to-face contact, the customers are able to provide an immediate feedback about the product or the service (Morley, & Lees, 20 09).The company can use these feedbacks to improve on its products or services or simply to maintain the quality depending on the feedback they obtain. The company does not have to wait for too long to obtain customer feedback. The feedback obtained by the company at an exhibition can be used immediately by the company to help it achieve more results for its products or services. In addition, through the feedback the company is able to obtain at an exhibition, the company is able to understand the ask of the customers and in turn counterbalance immediately to those require than the competitors in the same market (Huang, & Lund, 2009). focus on the needs of the customers is crucial to a business and also helps the business to overcome competition and hence immediate feedback through the interaction at the exhibition, helps the business to keep its focus on the actual needs of the customers.The exhibitions also helps in understanding the strengths and flunk of the competitors sinc e the research results and feedback obtained during the exhibition, can help the business in knowing what areas of business it can improve on to fight off competition.Exhibition helps the business to understand how competitors react to the needs of customers and also to learn the various changes that are taking place inwardly the industry of the business. Research and immediate customer feedback obtained by the company during the exhibition helps the company to stay ahead of the competitors through product or services advancement and the use of new technology.The graph below illustrates the intensity of various channels of marketing in the exchange and gathering of information in any business environmentFrom the look 1 above, it can be mention that exhibitions and Personal sales share the same percentage in terms of exchange and gathering of information for the business when good-natured customers and other potency business partners. This is due to the reason that, under exhib itions and personal sales, there is close contact with the customer hence the higher chances of getting information in an easy and quicker way.ConvenienceMarketing requires large sums of gold to conduct in a business. This means that the business will not be able to achieve higher profits. On the other hand, in an exhibition, the business needs only to strike a stand where it will display its products and services. This is quite a convenience for the company since the company will not have to spend a lot of money while at the same time the cushion of the exhibition will be greater than that experienced with marketing such as advertisement. For those business investors who are not sure of the amount of return on investment they will achieve when first attending an exhibition, this is a very expedient way o introduce products or services to the public at a cheaper cost (Solberg, 2013).FlexibilityEvery business seeks a way of undertaking its operations while at the same time having the opportunity to change whenever necessary and unchanging achieve its main objective of higher profits. Exhibitions offer an opportunity to be on the table since the business investor has the ability and freedom to create his/her exhibits for each exhibition that they have to attend. This means that the business investor has the opportunity to experiment on matters such as size and also has the opportunity to configure their exhibits to see and find out what works best for the catalogue of exhibitions that the company has to attend in its quest to make profits and expand its markets.Cost say-soExhibitions are quite cost effective to any business peculiarly through the hiring of the exhibition stand. It is also cost effective since exhibitions provide extra options whereby, the business investor is able to stretch the budget for the exhibition to include many other new options that the business investor may not have been able to afford. These may include manages such as dra matic lighting, brochure racks, article of furniture and even extra large formatted artistic production among others which can be added to create a greater impact for the business exhibition at no extra cost hence making exhibitions a lot cheaper than marketing strategies such as advertisement (Raluca, & Cristina, 2008).The graph below helps to demonstrate the effectiveness of exhibition as a rule of promoting the products or services of a company when compared to the other channels or strategies such as direct marketing, Print advertising, universal relations, and the internetFrom the sign 2 above, series 1 represents the Benefits of Products and Services when the various strategies are applied by a business in selling of its products and services. The above Figure 2 demonstrates that a good exhibition programme is quite effective in helping the business to benefit from its products and services since it is able to realize more sales when compared to the other channels of prod uct or service marketing.Series 2 in Figure 1 above represents the impact of the various channels on the build of public relationships with the customers and other potential customers or business partners. From the graph, it can be illustrious that exhibitions gives a higher percentage when it comes to issue of building public relationship with the customers and potential business partners. This is due to the reason that, under exhibition, the business investor is in close contact with the customers and the potential business partners hence a greater advantage in building public relationship that is stronger (Solberg, 2013).The internet is the scant(p) performer in terms of benefits of the products and services of the company since some aspects such as customer contact is not available. Therefore, it can be said that exhibition, as a mode of product and services marketing has a greater impact in terms of achieving the main objective of every business of maximizing profits and als o creating and maintaining great public relationship with customers and the potential investors.The other advantage that is derived from exhibitions is that the business investor has the opportunity to observe and evaluate the products of the competitors of the business.This will alter the business investor to know the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors in terms of the products that they are offering to the customers. Knowing the products or services that the competitors of the business are offering gives the business an added advantage since the investor is able to know what changes to make on their product or services so that they are topping to the products of the competitors (Mei-Chin, & Sui-Ming, 2013). Having superior products or services to those of the competitors will mean that the business is capable of overcoming the competition in the market.Problems Associated with ExhibitionsEven though exhibitions may be the best form of business promotion for products and services, there are various challenges or problems that business investors will be faced with in the process of take part in exhibitions or trade shows. some(prenominal) of those problems are such as increase in costs of construction and exhibits, military unit travelling, boarding and lodging fees which add to the cost of conducting the exhibitions (Honess, 1997). In addition, the choice of which exhibitions to participate in, how much to be spent on every exhibition, and ways of building exhibits that will be attractive to customers are some of the other challenges that are faced by business investors who engage in business exhibitions to sell and promote their products and services.Ways of overcoming challenges involved in ExhibitionsThere are some considerations and issues that a business investor will need to put in mind so that they can engage in a boffo exhibition. In addition, to achieve the above advantages for the business through exhibitions, business investors need t o intend and create an exhibition programme that is good and capable of achieving the above advantages and arrest high returns for the business (White, 2013). The following are some of the considerations and objectives that a business investor will need to set when engaging in exhibition as a form of promoting the products or services of the company to achieve maximum resultsOverall purpose of participationEvery business encounter such as involvement and participation in exhibitions requires that a business investor must have an objective they want to achieve through the exhibition. There must be a death to be accomplished at the end of the exhibition and without setting out the objective or purpose of participation, then success in an exhibition will not be achieved ( Thomas, 1995).Creating actual Sales line investors who participate in exhibitions must ensure that there are actual sales made during the exhibition. This should be the main objective of participating in an exhibi tion since more sales translates into more profits for the business. There is no business that wants to incur costs and realize no sales. Therefore, the exhibition must help to realize actual sales for the business for it to be considered successful and beneficial.Identifying potential customersFor a successful exhibition, a business investor must have an objective of identifying and obtaining potential new customers for the business and improving on the relations with the older customers. This ensures the business of an added market and creating a new market for the products and services of the company. In addition, the business investor must be able to obtain sales leads for the business. This will enable the business to make sales without making sales calls which are costly. crowd Competitive IntelligenceFor a successful exhibition, the business investor must ensure that they are able to obtain competitive cognizance operation that will give them an added advantage over the com petitors. Every business investor who attends an exhibition must be able to information that is applicable for the business and which can help the business to better its performance and achieve higher profits (Havaldar, 2005).Target reference to be reachedThere are different types of people who attend the exhibitions. For success of the business in an exhibition and to be able o achieve maximum results from the exhibition, the business investor must be able the audience that they want to reach out to with their products and services. Identifying the suitable and targeted audience makes it easy for the business investor to sell their products and services to the targeted market since the products and services will have been made to suit that particular targeted audience. Therefore, found on the various specific objectives that a business investor has laid down for the business, he/she is able to make a decisiveness on which exhibitions to attend that will bring maximum results for the business and at a cheaper cost (Thomas, 1995).ConclusionThere are many forms of business promotion that an investor or companies can apply to promote their products or service and achieve results. communication channeles have a main aim and objective of maximizing profits at the lowest costs possible. Some of the methods of product or service promotion are costly and the results achieved may not be impressive. Therefore, compared to the other forms of business product or service promotion, exhibition comes out as one of the most effective tool of marketing products or services of a company.Exhibitions provide a cheaper avenue of promoting a business while at the same time availing so many opportunities to the business which are utile in helping the business to achieve maximum profits. Therefore, exhibition can be said to be one of the most effective form of product or services promotion for any business due to the various advantages that the business can achieve at lower cost s.ReferencesAusstellungs- und Messe-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft. (2010). Exhibition Market Latin America 2011/2012 concern Shows in Latin America New Opportunities for internationalist Exhibitors. Stuttgart local global GmbH.Ellis, N. (2010). Business-to-business marketing Relationships, networks and strategies. Oxford Oxford University Press.Frain, J. (1999). Introduction to marketing. 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