International business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International business strategy - Essay Example However, Anthony Salim and his executive leadership group believe that being flexible to these unpredictable and changing dynamics of international culture and business competition is the key to success. Bartlett, Ghoshal & Beamish (2008) identify the concept of the coordinated federation, which is essentially a conglomeration of pre-existing core principles that have found business success at the headquartered centre of the company and then distributed equally across international boundaries. The Salim Group takes the advice of Bartlett et al. in not taking this rather unproductive distribution of core principles and then forcing them throughout the transnational environment and the business’ multiple industries. Instead, Salim advises on being adaptable to changing market conditions. This flexibility is a success factor to be more responsive to the external market environment. For example, the Salim Group faced public backlash with perceived corruption from the Indonesian go vernment between the Salim Group about its investment banking practices (Dieleman, 2006) for divesting 107 different assets to the Indonesian government. ... Though this is only one scenario that occurred with the Salim Group, it indicates that regional government and other influencing bodies in the regulatory environment continue to change the internal dynamics of how the business is operated and/or divested. This is why Salim continues to travel, personally, to different regions of the world to gain an understanding of what is driving governmental forces or cultural forces in key growth markets or existing markets so that the business can be structured accordingly or new strategies developed based on primary data research analysis. This type of flexibility by taking a proactive stand to leadership and research is a key success dynamic. Since more than one legal basis for operations drives this transnational company, such flexibility is a predictor of future success by fully understanding the forces that will impede business success or improve its competitive or public relations position. Anthony Salim is also open to being approached by new investors from multiple regions of the world in order to seize opportunities to expand the business or put it into a better financial position over the long-run. Salim fully recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of the firm, such as his indication that the group is not fluent in technological prowess, thus not having an attitude of superiority in any one division that might not be supported by actual business realities. Salim relies on synergies produced from acquired businesses or other strategic activities involving a secondary business and allows the firm to capitalize on these strengths through acquisition. In many ways, the case study reinforces that Anthony Salim is more focused on consumer relationship management and the marketing principles for

The Disadvantages of Full Day Schools Essay Example for Free

The Disadvantages of Full Day Schools Essay Full day schooling refers to a longer day at preschool where they not only learn but are also given time for play. (Lamphere, 2009) Full day preschools run for five hours or longer for five days a week. Half day preschools run for approximately 3 hours for five days a week. (Rosamilia, 2008) Researchers have constantly compared these two types of schooling and most studies came to a conclusion that full day schools are better than half day schools. There are a few example of studies conducted to show this. Some examples include: A study conducted by Cryan et al.in 1992 in two phases on the effects of half-day and all-day kindergarten programs on childrens academic and behavioral success in school and another study by Hough and Bryde in 1996 which looked at the student achievement data of children enrolled in half day and full day schools. Both studies showed that full day kindergartens benefit children in terms of academic successes, attendance and there are also fewer cases of retention for them. (Clark, 2013) Even though full day schools has its benefits, it also has its disadvantages. This literature review would be focusing on the disadvantages of full day school, be it long term or short term and it would also look into the benefits of other schooling programmes such as half day programs. This review is important it would give a better idea to parents and teacher as to why they should carefully consider other options other than just focusing on full day schools. Due to the limited resources on full day schools and case studies on full day schools, the countries this literature review would be focusing on would be US and Canada. Disadvantages of Full Day Kindergarten According to research, there are a number of disadvantages for Full Day kindergarten. Firstly, there is a lack of spaces for children. According to an article, in Canada, there is a lack of space to accommodate the rising number of children if they change their program to full-day kindergartens. In Calgary, Canada, it is believed that 50 out of 137 elementary schools would not be able to accommodate more than their current half-day school and the implementation of full-day programs would force some grades to be reshuffled to other schools. (Cuthbertson Herald, 2012) In some other articles, in United States, there has been lack of space to set up full-day kindergarten. (Martinez, Stuber, and Snider, 2006; Haglund, n. d. ) Thus, there have been talks going on as to whether they should set up full-day kindergartens in that district. (Placek, 2012) Another disadvantage would be the high cost for full-day programs. This includes the expenses for equipment, staff and space. In the article regarding the changing to the full day program in Canada, they mentioned that the cost of funding it for a year would be around $200 million. Another article stated that it would cost $2 million annually after an initial startup cost of $505,600. And, it would have required another $7 million from the districts reserves to pay for construction of additional classrooms and multipurpose rooms. (Placek, 2012) Another article by a graduate from East Stroudsburg University also states that the amount of money spent on the teachers’ salaries are also high because they now have to hire more teachers for full-day kindergartens. An average teacher in the US would earn about $33,000 a year. Thus, in the case that the kindergarten hires more teachers, they would have to spend about $132,000 to $165,000 per annum just on salaries. This would increase the burden on the taxpayers. (Morse, 2008) This point is also further supported by research conducted previously. (Martinez, Stuber, and Snider, 2006; Hugland, N. A. ; Guilderland Central School District Early Childhood Advisory Committee, 2008) The third disadvantage of full-day kindergarten is that it requires more staff and staff aides. Many articles stating the disadvantages of full day support this point. For example, in one article, it states that when there are half day sessions, one teacher can teach two sessions: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. However, if it is a full-day session, it requires more teachers to teach. They would also need more teacher aides. In the case where the kindergarten does not want to hire more teachers, they would expand each class and add in more teacher aides to balance the teacher-child ratio. In a study conducted at the Guilderland central school district, it also states that they would require more teachers to teach and balance the teacher-child ratio. (Early Childhood Advisory Committee, 2008). Besides these, there are a few more disadvantages to full day kindergartens. They include having more time at school and less time for ‘kids to be kids’. (Circele, 2009; Brower, 2013). It also includes teaching children academic and skills before they are ready for it. (Haglund, N. A. ; Morse, 2008) One of the articles found went on to explain that the kindergarten may teach too advanced skills for children instead of teaching them minor skills which are important. In summary, even though full-day seems like a good option for everyone, it does have its disadvantages. Benefits of Half Day Kindergartens Likewise, half-day school has its benefits. Firstly, half day kindergarten programs are less stressful. According to Walsh (2013), children would feel relaxed while trying to adjust to the structured classroom environment. Furthermore, they are able to make good transitions from kindergarten to first grade. Another source states that half-day programs are viewed as providing continuity and systematic experience with less probability of stress than full-day programs. (Rothenberg, 2009) Secondly, the children also receive the same quality of education as those in full day preschools or kindergartens. (Ast, 2010;Rothernberg, 2009) The children go through similar experiences but just that one is longer and the other is shorter. These show that there are other programs besides full day kindergartens which young chidren can benefit from. Conclusion In the context of Singapore, there isn’t much of an issue about half day versus full day kindergarten. This is because Singapore has mainly focused on half day kindergartens. Some of the reasons as to why that might be the case is similar to the disadvantages stated above. Just like in some parts of Canada and US, Singapore has limited space to set up full-day kindergarten and it requires more sources, equipment and etc. Singapore’s space is already limited in space and it requires more space for other more important things thus, it can’t be used just for kindergartens. Statistics have shown that 15% of Singapore’s land has been located for housing, 17% for recreational and community needs. The rest of the land is used for commerce, industry, infrastructure, utilities and transport and reservoirs, defense facilities and cemetery and undeveloped land. (Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, department of Statistics Singapore[online], 2012) This shows that there isn’t sufficient space to build more kindergartens or expand it. If Singapore was to expand or make kindergartens full day, it would require more teachers or teacher aides. There is also a lack in kindergarten teachers now. Recently, along the roads, many jobs offers for preschool teachers were noticed. This is also supported by a Strait Times article on 20 July 2012. It stated that there is already a shortage of teachers. (Vadaketh, 2012)Thus, if full day kindergartens were established, there would not be enough teachers. Depending on these reasons, I believe that full day kindergarten programs are not applicable really in Singapore. However, if you look at Singapore’s context carefully, full day kindergarten programs are somewhat similar to childcare programmes in Singapore. In this context, Singaporeans can choose what kind of schooling programs they want to send their child to. The kindergarten programmes are standardized by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to be 3 hours per session. (MOE,2013) As for Childcare, it is a full day program and is also available for half day on Saturdays. The two main factors determining which programme they would send their child to would be whether they are working and the cost of the programme. Parents of children these days are usually working adults. They do not have time to take care of their children because they are working. Thus, they would rather send them to childcares because it is more convenient and safe. If they were working and they send their child to half day kindergartens, they have to make other arrangements for their child so that the child would not be left alone. While full day kindergartens may be more convenient for working adults, half day schools (kindergartens) are cheaper. According to the list of kindergartens found on the Investmentfriend. com forum, the pricing ranges from as low as $80 to $500. However, the costs of childcare centres are about $700 and above, depending on the childcare. Thus, some parents might not be able to afford childcare and would send their child to half day kindergartens. Thus, all in all I believe that the choice of schooling depends on each family and individual if childcare was seen as an full day kindergarten program. References Clark, P. (2013). Recent research on all-day kindergarten | education. com. Retrieved from http://www. education. com/reference/article/Ref_Recent_Research_All/? Lamphere, M. (2009). Full day kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www. slideshare. net/lamph1ml/full-day-kindergarten Haglund, J. (n. d. ). Full-day kindergarten advantages disadvantages | early childhood. Retrieved from http://ec. dpi. wi. gov/ec_ecadflpg Morse, J. (2008). The disadvantages of all-day kindergarten yahoo! voices voice. yahoo. com. Retrieved from http://voices. yahoo. com/the-disadvantages-all-day-kindergarten-1337569. html? cat=25 Placek,C. (2012). No full daykindergarten for all in dist. 203 dailyherald. com. Retrieved from http://www. dailyherald. com/article/20121105/news/711059666/ Cuthbertson , R. , Herald, C. (2012). School promise under threat. Retrieved from http://www2. canada. com/calgaryherald/news/story. html? id=c1b76975-1366-45e4-9bc2d33d7a3ab1b6p=1 Brower, C. (2013). The cons of full-day kindergarten | ehow. com. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/info_8660784_cons-full-day-kindergarten-programs. html Guilderland Central School District Early Childhood Advisory Committee. (2009). Report on full-day kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www. guilderlandschools. org/district/boe/PDFs/reports/FDKPPT110508. pdf Ast, A. (2010). Half day vs full day kindergarten: Is there really a difference? yahoo! voices voices. yahoo. com. Retrieved from http://voices. yahoo. com/half-day-vs-full-day-kindergarten-there-really-6839874. html? cat=25 Walsh, K. (2013). Pros cons of half day kindergarten | ehow. com. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/info_8502607_pros-cons-halfday-kindergarten. html Kindergarten fees list. (2011). Retrieved from http://investmentfriend. com/forum/showthread. php/25-Kindergarten-Fees-List Vadaketh, S. T. (2012). Tackling preschool challenges in Singapore. The StraitTimes. Retrieved from http://ifonlysingaporeans. blogspot. sg/2012/07/tackling-preschool-challenges-in. html MOE. (2013). Ministry of education, Singapore education system: Pre-school Education. Retrieved from http://www. moe. gov. sg/education/preschool/.

Study Abroad :: essays research papers

Going on this fourteen day Caribbean Cruise was the best time of my life! It was so much fun socially and it was extremely educational. This trip gave me the opportunity to experience things I never would have imagined. Touring the hotels and resorts made me want to pursue this major even more than I previously had. Now that I have had the behind-the-scenes and up close look at the career I am positive I made the right career decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it be swimming with Sting Rays, snorkeling with exotic fish, or even just staring off into the endless ocean, each and every one thing I received the opportunity to do on this trip I am thankful for. All are things I have not really previously experienced and really did not even expect to. Not only were these experiences incredible but witnessing first hand $125,000 dollar a night hotel rooms and touring the most luxurious resorts in the world are all experiences that not many people get to do. Those that do get to do these amazing things are very lucky. Only seeing and learning half of what we did on this study abroad would have made me content. I honestly do not think I could have asked for a more educational yet extremely great and fun experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The one day that specifically sticks out in my head was the day in Atlantis when we toured several hotels and resorts. I enjoyed this because it was such a learning experience. Comparing all of the different resorts really helped me to pinpoint what it is exactly I want to do in the industry. This tour consisted of four tours through some of the most popular hotels and resorts in the Bahamas. Actually, some of the most respected hotel resorts in the world. The hotel resorts that we explored were the, Radisson Cable Beach and Golf Resort, The Nassau Beach Hotel, The Wyndham Nassau Resort and Sandals Resort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Nassau Beach Hotel seemed to be geared more toward teens and college students. There were a lot of younger people there and there were even some other college groups there. Also the hotel had brochures and signs about Spring Break and group packages for students. Wyndham Nassau Resort I feel directed a lot of attention toward their convention area and their conference areas, so that makes me think they target some company and group markets.

Donation Behavior

Group E Group E VU University 2011-2012 VU University 2011-2012 Donation Behaviour Noortje Vlek 2500825, Danny Kornman 2500148, Nicole Prince 2163470 Business Research Methods IBA1. 04 14th of October 2010 Teacher; Maria Aladjem Table of Contents 1. Introduction and problem statement3 2. Hypothesis Development4 2. 1 Personal link to the cause and intention to donate4 2. 2 Good brand personality of a non-profit organization and intention to donate4 2. 3 Income in relation to the intention to donate5 3. Method6 3. 1 Sample & Procedure6 3. 2 Measurement instruments6 3. Statistical analyses7 4. Results8 4. 1 Descriptive statistics8 4. 2 A personal link to the cause has a positive effect on the intention to donate. (hypothesis 1)9 4. 3 A good brand personality of a non-profit organization has a positive effect on the intention to donate. (hypothesis 2)9 4. 4 People with higher income are more likely to donate than people with lower income. (hypothesis 3)9 5. Conclusion and Discussion11 5. 1 Conclusions11 5. 2 Shortcomings and future research11 5. 3 Theoretical implications12 5. 4 Practical implications12 References12 1. Introduction and problem statement Nonprofit organizations are providing many critical services (e. g. culture activities, environmental issues, education, healthcare) since the 16th century (Venable, Rose, Bush & Gilbert, 2005). But in the last couple of decades Non-profit organizations are facing a lot of difficulties. Government has decided to reduce costs and therefore a significant reduction in governmental funding of donation programs has been made. (Venable, Rose, Bush & Gilbert, 2005) For instance, in England, government has decided to cut in charity funding. Non-profit sector in England will receive ? 10m less this year. Government regulations are not the only difficulty non-profit organizations have to deal with. Due to the economic crisis, the donations of non-profit organizations are decreasing. Only 12% of the non-profit organizations in the United States of America expect to run above the break-even point this year. Non-profit organizations that think they are able to cover their operating expenses is on ly 16 percent in both 2009 and 2010. People are saving rather than spending their money. The first cost they cut is giving money to charity. This is why the economy is slowly recovering. But at the same time the number of volunteers is increasing. Number of non-profit organizations has shown an explicit growth. In 1940 there were only 12. 500 non-profit organizations, in the United States of America. Today there are over 1,500,000 non-profit organizations registered. This is an increase of 12,000 %. Which lead to much more competition in the non-profit organizations sector. Therefore non-profit organizations are receiving less money. If we sum up all the above we come to following research question: What are the factors that have an effect on the intention to donate? . Hypothesis Development 2. 1 Personal link to the cause and intention to donate To convince people to donate to a charity, it is important for non-profit organizations to understand that people who have a link to the purpose of an organization are more likely to help them realizing their goals. Previous studies have shown that when an individual has a personal link to the goal of a non-profit organizati on, he or she will probably be more likely to donate to this organization (Sargeant & Woodlife, 2007) E. g. If someone has just been cured of cancer, this person knows how it is feels how it is to go through such an experience and would be more likely to donate to an organization that does research on a cure for this disease, like the American Cancer Society (ACS). The person donating doesn’t only do so because he/she has been told what good it would do for others, but mainly because this person has gone true the same experience as the one being donated to. The impact of this experience leads to a loyal donor. Therefore we expect that the more an individual is linked to the cause of an organization, the more likely this person is willing to donate: H1: A personal link to the cause has a positive direct effect on the intention to donate. 2. 2 Good brand personality of a non-profit organization and intention to donate Another factor that plays a role in donating is brand personality. As can be read in previous studies, non-profit organizations with a bad reputation discourage people from donating to these organizations (Knowles & Gomes, 2010). For instance Greenpeace has a very aggressive way of disapproving of certain companies or even certain government policies. They are often accused of being involved in illegal acts. This puts this organization in a difficult spot. People who are thinking of becoming a donor will take this into account. That is why it is important for a non-profit to have a good reputation. This can be achieved, for example, by providing a good service quality, keeping the donor informed what the organization is doing to reach their goal, but also how their money is being spent. For instance, if a manager of a large non-profit organization has an absurd high salary, people will lose their trust in the organization because they are not comfortable with the way their money is being spent. Therefore we assume it is necessary for an organization to be clear about their mission in order to create donor loyalty: H2: A good brand personality of a non-profit organization has a positive direct effect on the intention to donate. 2. 3 Income in relation to the intention to donate People with a high level of income are more likely to donate to a non-profit organization, because these people are able to buy their necessity goods, take care of their family and are overall secure enough not have to worry about an uncertain future (Knowles & Gomes, 2010). As mentioned in the introduction, a higher level of income is defined as an income that is above standard, which is 65. 000 dollar a year. People with an income below standard are not always able to buy their necessity goods and can’t afford to donate. Let’s take students for example. They are already having problems coming around with their income and are not certain about their future, which will not lead to donating. Therefore we can posit: H3: People with higher income are more likely to donate than people with lower income. The hypothesis relationships are explained in figure 1. Figure 1 Conceptual Model Influences on donation Personal link to the cause Good brand personality Intention to donate Income Personal link to the cause Good brand personality Intention to donate Income Socio-Demographic Difference 3. Method 3. 1 Sample & Procedure When it comes to analysing the intention to donate, we are confronted with large relevant population. Since there aren’t many requirements to become a donor, it is possible for anyone to donate to a non-profit organization. By approaching our unit of analysis (18+) through an online questionnaire we would like to get a better view on the intention to donate. This was done with the use of non-probability samples, where not all elements have the same chance of being included in a sample. In our case we chose for the convenience sampling, since our population is quite vague and hard to define. This way we could be unrestricted, and it is easy to perform. The disadvantages that must be dealt with when it comes to holding a survey are that questions often remain multi-interpretable, the lack depth because of limited preparedness, and the respondents are more likely to give a socially acceptable answer. Some ways to solve these problems are that every consumer must receive an e-mail invitation to participate in a survey. This gives the company a chance to make sure that the same name and contact information isn't already assigned to another e-mail address in the system. Also a minimum time for completing an online survey can be set. This cuts down on cheaters who fly through the survey just randomly answering questions. 3. 2 Measurement instruments An online questionnaire was created for respondents to participate in the survey using the following measurement instruments. Independent variables Personal link to the cause was measured with four ways of being connected to the charity (i. e. , Someone I know has been effected by the issues dealt with by this charity, Someone I know might benefit from my support, My family has a strong link to this charity, This cause is not related to an important aspect of my life). A sum score was calculated by adding up the responses to the question whether respondents were offered these four options. Responses ranged from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree). Good brand personality was measured by the quality of the brand name, with the availability of seven options (i. e. , Honest, loving, compassionate, Reputable, Committed, Reliable, Financially stable). A sum score was calculated by adding up responses to the question whether respondents were offered these Seven options. Responses on this two sum score ranged from 1(completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree). Incomer was measured by asking respondents whether they had an income that was lower(0) or higher(1) than $65. 000. Dependent variable Intention to donate was measured with three statements: â€Å"Unlikely-Likely, Improbable-probable, Uncertain-certain†. Respondents could answer on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree). 3. 3 Statistical analyses With the purpose of testing the three hypotheses presented above, three analyses are performed. In order to test the first hypothesis (A personal link to the cause has a positive effect on the intention to do) a regression analysis will be calculated between the personal link to the cause and the intention to. The second hypothesis (A good brand personality of a non-profit organization has a positive effect on the intention to donate) is also tested via a regression analysis in which a higher good brand personality has an effect on the intention to donate. The third hypothesis (People with higher income are more likely to donate than people with lower income) is tested by means of an independent samples t-test. For all analyses, test values (r in case of the regressions and t in case of the t-test) with a significance of p?. 05 are deemed significant. 4. Results 4. 1 Descriptive statistics Before we start testing our hypothesis, there is a need to review the data obtained by interviewing the unit of analyses in order to check whether there are any outliers or undefined values. We reviewed the item range, percentages, means and standard deviation Results of this review are shown in table 1. Table 1 Variables, Ranges, Percentages, Means and Standard Deviation Variable| Range| Percentage| Mean, SD| Personal link to the cause| 1. 25 – 7. 00 | -| M= 4. 80; SD = 1. 03| Good brand personality| 2. 14 – 6. 34| -| M = 4. 60; SD = 0. 90| Income| 0 – 1| 0. (less than 65,000) = 47%1. (more than 65,000) = 53%| -| Intention to donate| 1. 0 – 7. 00| -| M= 4. 95; SD=0. 90| Seemingly, the data collected do not hold any outliers. Therefore the next step can be taken, which is to construe these descriptive analyses. As can be seen in the table above, in a general sense the respondents interpreted a personal link to the cause and a good brand personality quite h igh. The data shows that on average the respondents offered both, personal link as a good brand personality a 5. The income division is almost 50-50, and in a general sense the respondents had an above average intention to donate. Now we move on to the hypothesis testing analyze. The overall fit of the model: The 5. 9% of the variance of the dependent variable is explained by the model including the two independent variables. 4. 2 A personal link to the cause has a positive effect on the intention to donate. (Hypothesis 1) Hypothesis 1 was tested with a regression analysis. This way we can determine whether a (higher) personal link to the cause also leads also to the intention to donate. The raw SPSS output will be given in Appendix 1. As indicated by the analysis, the regression reveals a positive and insignificant effect between a personal link and the intention to donate (? -. 053 p;0. 26). Therefore, we have to reject Hypothesis 1. 4. 3 A good brand personality of a non-profit organization has a positive effect on the intention to donate. (Hypothesis 2) Hypothesis 2 was also tested with a regression analysis. This way we can determine whether a good brand personality leads to an intention to donate. The raw SPSS output will be given in Appendix 1. As indi cated by the analysis, the regression reveals a positive and significant effect between a personal link and the intention to donate (? =0. 26, p;0. 001). Therefore, we Hypothesis 2 is supported. . 4 People with higher income are more likely to donate than people with lower income. (Hypothesis 3) Hypothesis 3 was tested with an independent samples t-test. The raw SPSS output is given in Appendix 1. As indicated by the t-test, people with a higher income (M=5. 11) are significantly more likely to donate than people with a lower income (M=4. 86). (p ; 0. 02). Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported. In table 2 a summary of this study’s hypotheses will be given as well as the results of all hypothesis-testing analyses. Table 2 Summary of hypothesis and results Hypothesis| Result| H1: A personal link to the cause has a positive effect on the intention to donate. | Not supported| H2: A good brand personality of a non-profit organization has a positive effect on the intention to donate. | Supported| H3: People with higher income are more likely to donate than people with lower income. | Supported| 5. Conclusion and Discussion 5. 1 Conclusions In this study we have discussed two different factors (a personal link to the cause and brand personality) that have an effect on the intention to donate between people with higher income and people with lower income. According to the results of our regression analysis, people who have a personal link to the cause of a non-profit organization are not more likely to donate then people who don’t have a personal link to the non-profit organization. A possible explanation for this unexpected finding is that a personal link to the cause is an important factor for these organizations, but not sufficient for people to become more likely to donate. Previous studies have shown that there is a significant difference in the intention to donate and a personal link to the cause (Sargeant ; Woodliffe 2007). A possible explanation for this unexpected finding is that there were not a lot of people in our survey who had a personal link to the cause. As we expected from our hypothesis people are indeed more likely to donate to a non profit organization with a good brand personality than to an organization with a perverse brand personality. The expected difference in the intention to donate between people with a higher income and people with a lower income was found in our analysis. According to our data, people are indeed more likely to donate when their income becomes higher. With this information we can conclude that people take their income into account when it comes to making a donation. 5. 2 Shortcomings and future research One of the shortcomings of our study lies in the fact that we might have had some multi-interpretable questions with the lack of depth because of limited preparedness. A second restriction is that our analysis might be influenced by some personal bias. It could be that people were influenced to give a social responsible answer. The third limitation is based on the fact that all our data was collected at one point at the time. If we would have found for example that people with a personal link to the cause were more likely to donate, we still could not conclude that this will always be the case; therefore you have to collect data over a longer period of time. If we sum up all shortcomings, future research on the intention to donate should focus on taking the survey separately, so that people could not influence each other and therefore not the outcome of the data. The data should be collected over a longer period of time to get a better insight if people with a higher income change their donation behavior. . 3 Theoretical implications What do we learn from this study? Was existing theory confirmed or rejected? One theoretical assumption of this research is that a personal link to the cause and brand personality would lead to a higher intention to donate. This study shows however that this is not necessarily true according to the personal link to the cause of a nonprofit organization. Moreover, this researc h has shown that a higher income would have a positive effect on the intention to donate, as we expected. 5. 4 Practical implications One of the most important implications of the results we have found is that in practice non-profit organizations should not only focus on a certain group of potential donors, but also come in contact with them through information. This way the donor will feel like a part of the organization as a whole. By letting the donors know what their future plans, initiatives and successes are. These organizations should try to find active donors who will eventually become dedicated to their cause and will donate themselves. References Smith, N. 2011, August 2), Charities ‘hit by funding cuts’ BBC News UK. Retrieved 16 November 2011 from http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-politics-14366522 McKenna, T and Noble, C. (2009, March 3). Non profit Finance Fund Survey: America’s Nonprofit in danger. Non profit finance fund. Retrieved16 November 2011 from http://nonprofitfinancefund. org/news/2009/nonprofit-finance-fund-survey-americas-nonprofits-danger Rabe Thomase, J. (2010, June 21) In recession, non-profit agencies see volunteers increase as funding shrinks. The CT Mirror. Retrieved 11 November 2011 from http://ctmirror. rg/story/6460/non-profits-gaining%20volunteers bfy. (2008) Non-profits in Carlisle: History of Non-profits in the U. S. Carlisle History.. Retrieved 18 November 2011 from http://carlislehistory. dickinson. edu/? page_id=278 bfy. (n. d. ) Knowledge Base. Grant space. Retrieved 11 November 2011 from http://grantspace. org/Tools/Knowledge-Base/Funding-Research/Statistics/Number-of-nonprofits-in-the-U. S n. d. The Jakarta post,. Retrieved 23 November 2011 from: http://www. thejakartapost. com/news/2011/10/26/lawmakers-accuse-greenpeace-illegal-activities. tml Brunel, F. F. , and Nelson. M. R. (2000). Explaining Gendered Responses to â€Å"Help-Self† and â€Å"Help-Others† Charity Ad Appeals: The Mediating Role of World-Views. Journal of Advertising, XXIX (3), 15-28. Knowles, P. , & Gomes, R. (2010). Building Relationships with Major -Gift Donors: A Major-Gift Decision-Making, Relationship-Building Model. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 21 (4), 384-406. Sargeant, A. , & Woodliffe, L. (2007). Building Donor Loyalty: The Antecedents and Role of Commitment in the Context of Charity Giving. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 18 (2), 47-68. Venable, B. T. , Rose, G. M. , Bush, V. D. , & Gilbert, F. W. (2005). The Role of Brand Personality in Charitable Giving: An Assessment and Validation. Academy of Marketing Science, 33 (3), 295-312. White, K. , & Peloza, J. (2009). Self-Benefit Versus Other-Benefit Marketing Appeals: Their Effectiveness in Generating Charitable Support. Journal of Marketing, 73 (July), 109-124. Appendix 1. Raw SPSS Output Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 Regression Variables Entered/Removedb| Model| Variables Entered| Variables Removed| Method| 1| Mean_Brandpersonality, Mean_PersonalLinka| . | Enter| a. All requested variables entered. | b. Dependent Variable: Mean_intention| Model Summary| Model| R| R Square| Adjusted R Square| Std. Error of the Estimate| 1| ,242a| ,059| ,054| ,86641| a. Predictors: (Constant), Mean_Brandpersonality, Mean_PersonalLink| ANOVAb| Model| Sum of Squares| df| Mean Square| F| Sig. | 1| Regression| 17,971| 2| 8,985| 11,970| ,000a| | Residual| 289,004| 385| ,751| | | | Total| 306,975| 387| | | | a. Predictors: (Constant), Mean_Brandpersonality, Mean_PersonalLink| b. Dependent Variable: Mean_intention| Coefficientsa| Model| Unstandardized Coefficients| Standardized Coefficients| t| Sig. | | B| Std. Error| Beta| | | 1| (Constant)| 4,012| ,258| | 15,523| ,000| | Mean_PersonalLink| -,053| ,048| -,062| -1,122| ,263| | Mean_Brandpersonality| ,258| ,054| ,262| 4,780| ,000| Hypothesis 3 T-test Group Statistics| | What is your current income| N| Mean| Std. Deviation| Std. Error Mean| Mean_intention| >= 3| 152| 4,8618| ,90656| ,07353| | < 3| 135| 5,1136| ,89235| ,07680|

Premarital Sex and Euthanasia

Pros and Cons of Premarital Sex and Euthanasia Purpose: To Inform in debate form to the audience about the Pros and Cons of Sex before Marriage and the act of Euthanasia. Specific Purpose: To come to a better understanding about both topics and to sort out the main Pros and Cons of each topic individually. Thesis Statement: Sex before Marriage and Euthanasia have many fascinating facts and opinions to support one another. I will discuss the Pros and Cons, such as the advantages and disadvantages of each topic to better help my debate on each issue. Main Point 1 Pros of Premarital sex. a. The fulfillment of a sexual desire b. Beneficial to the relationship in a communcation level c. Acceptance from partner d. Fun and exciting Main Point 2 Cons of Premarital Sex a. Is morally incorrect b. The fear of pregnancy c. Guilt d. Lack of self-respect Main Point 3 Pros of Euthanasia a. Relieve extreme pain b. To terminate the feeling of a low life c. Frees up medical funds d. Freedom of Choice â€Å"The Right to Die† Main Point 4 Cons of Euthanasia a. Devalues human life and rights b. Medical degrees involved in causing death, rather then saving lives c. Mistakes can happen d. Lack of respect to religious beliefs Yes? No? Reading upon these two controversial topics statiscally the majority of society will come to agree on the rights of â€Å"Premarital Sex† and the â€Å"Right to Die† about 70% of opinions are based on the Pros and what this leads me to an unclouded understanding that society now a days main concern is receiving instant gratification. People are no longer patient and are loosing their cultural, social and self respect by agreeing to mainly the pros yet there is a bright understanding of it's Cons which supports the morally correct decision to make and the religious aspect of both topics. Contribute to this websites and help support your opinion, don't just let your idea and opinion go to waste!

Free Essays on Reasons For College

A college education and degree can open up many doors in a person’s life and career choices. In a person’s life there are many important factors, a college degree is one of them. There are many reasons why a person should attend college. College is a big learning experience for a person. A college degree can help you prepare for a particular area of work and path you will like to choose. Since college degrees are needed in most areas of work without a college degree it’s most likely a person would not be able to pursue a career in that area they are interested in. Most jobs look to see if you have a college career first. College can help expand a person’s knowledge in different areas which may be needed later on in life. Also People that have obtained a college degree are more likely to be employed and receive higher pay than a person without a college degree. College can help a person learn about their strengths, weaknesses and things that interest them in the field of careers and jobs. College can help someone can help someone learn about certain talents they might have not knew they had. It can also show a person what â€Å"the real world† may be like, and a person may have to go through. It can help a person become mature and take on bigger responsibilities in the near future. Another reason for attending college may be to be a role model and to influence family members and friends. If a person has certain goals they would like to achieve in life, college may help them achieve them. College teaches a person how to be ready for life and work. Also by completing college and earning a degree it can give a person pride feeling they have accomplished such a big task. College can also be considered fun for a person. With college people can meet new, different people, and make new friends. A person will have to do a lot of socializing... Free Essays on Reasons For College Free Essays on Reasons For College A college education and degree can open up many doors in a person’s life and career choices. In a person’s life there are many important factors, a college degree is one of them. There are many reasons why a person should attend college. College is a big learning experience for a person. A college degree can help you prepare for a particular area of work and path you will like to choose. Since college degrees are needed in most areas of work without a college degree it’s most likely a person would not be able to pursue a career in that area they are interested in. Most jobs look to see if you have a college career first. College can help expand a person’s knowledge in different areas which may be needed later on in life. Also People that have obtained a college degree are more likely to be employed and receive higher pay than a person without a college degree. College can help a person learn about their strengths, weaknesses and things that interest them in the field of careers and jobs. College can help someone can help someone learn about certain talents they might have not knew they had. It can also show a person what â€Å"the real world† may be like, and a person may have to go through. It can help a person become mature and take on bigger responsibilities in the near future. Another reason for attending college may be to be a role model and to influence family members and friends. If a person has certain goals they would like to achieve in life, college may help them achieve them. College teaches a person how to be ready for life and work. Also by completing college and earning a degree it can give a person pride feeling they have accomplished such a big task. College can also be considered fun for a person. With college people can meet new, different people, and make new friends. A person will have to do a lot of socializing...

Shell Script essay

buy custom Backup/Shell Script essay Numerous scripts implementation is often difficult and time consuming when done at different times. The task reduces the man hours and thus the cost of production within a firm. This can however be avoided through the use of an automatic backup program available in Linux software. The program consequently allows efficient and effective utilization of valuable resources within a computer. This paper will seek to analyze how backup/ shell script enhances data restoration process in a Linux Based Computer network for a productive and efficient output. Although backup system is continuous, the paper will advise on when to strategically upgrade the system. Introduction The main objective of this task is to identify the advantages of using the backup restoration program in your system. The paper will also evaluate the systems memory, storage and the unused space in all the peripherals within a computer. The information will assist the users to effectively plan on the filling systems to use and advise them on how to avoid heavy traffic filling in a single peripheral. Proper memory usage will significantly assist in the identification of the systems that needs upgrade before they cause damage or loss to the user. Main body The Linux Based Computer networks mainly provide one of the best data command systems in the entire network software. The software efficiency goes beyond what the user mainly expect but can only be attained with the relevant knowledge at hand. Companies and firms with multiple users may efficiently monitor and coordinate data transmission through the use of command system. Companies can also significantly reduce time spent in accessing data and files since the system elimiates redundancy and backup of the unnecessary files (George, 2011). The users are advised to use the four successive commands in order to have an effective memory usage reports. All this commanding facilities are available to all the users of Linux and are aimed at making sure that no data is lost due to PC fail. Linux provides this automatic restoration package called rsync, which is necessary for backing-up your computer files and thus avoid loss in case of a PC fails. The rsync command-line tool automatically copies any new file available in your computer. It can be done through Backup/home rsync -av /home/code. Alternatively, it can be done through media/Backup/home rsync av (Perdue University, 2011). It takes just a minimal time to do that unlike the other copying method that you may think of using. The creation of backup script which runs which runs parallel with the rsync to backup only what you really need and disregard what you do not need. This is mainly necessitated by the creation of a BASH script which operates as an rsync backup. This backup facility is provided well by Linux due to the compatibility issue (Negus Caen, 2008). In order to avoid the scanning of the duplicated files, FSlint application tool can be installed in your system from the Ubuntu synaptic package manager (George, 2011). FSlint is a very efficient application tool which searches through the directories and report any cases of file duplication and empty directories in your system. As a user it is important to connect an external hard drive to your system which Ubuntu will automatically connect through the use of graphical tool GParted. You can then command your GParted to create, delete or resize partitions in your system. Depending on the type of Linux you are using, different system application can be used to ease up the accessibility of the data. In some cases you may be required to skip the local/share /trash directory in order to avoid backing up your deleted files. Alternatively you can use a special tool known as the Disk Usage Analyzer in the Ubuntu application menu to scan through the directory and graphically show the space used by each directory (Negus, 2009). And with such analysis the user can identify the log files which are growing into a massive size and reduce them appropriately. Conclusion In conclusion it is advisable for you to mount a backup volume into your system, followed with a multiple commanding reports. The command applications are simple and easy to facilitate, making Linux Based Computer the best in the private and commercial markets. The reporting commands also make it suitable for monitoring process where many users are involved. That will enable you to have an effective and efficient backup restoration program which will assist you to back up your files in a re-usable form. It will also prevent data loss as it involves an entire copying of all files including the most recent ones into a new file system which is not affected by the PC failure. With such a backup system in your computer, you can be assured of data safety and reliability which is vital in both private and business use. Such a program is beneficial to both the private and commercial users since it will greatly reduce the time spent accessing data files and consequently reduce the operational cost of the system. Because it is a pre-diagnostic measure, it safeguards users from the unforeseeable conditions which may lead to system failure. Buy custom Backup/Shell Script essay

10 Best Mobile Apps to Learn English

10 Best Mobile Apps to Learn English 10 Best Mobile Apps to Learn English 10 Best Mobile Apps to Learn English By Ali Hale If you’re learning English as a second language, you might want some extra help and support beyond your regular lessons. Alternatively, you might decide to dispense with lessons altogether and learn from websites or apps. There are loads of great apps out there, whether you want an entire course of tuition or simply a bit of help. Some are free (and all will at least have a free trial), so do try out a few different ones: they all take slightly different approaches, and some are great for specific styles or learning or for different needs. These are ten of the best, ordered alphabetically: #1: Babbel (Android and iOS) Babbel offers bite-sized English lessons, which are connected to one another and work progressively to build up your knowledge. The lessons are engaging and aimed at beginner to intermediate students. Cost: Varies, but if you want to pay monthly, it’s $12.95/month. Pros: Great way to learn the basics, without spending a huge amount of time. Works by getting you to match words to the appropriate images, and will repeat words the next day if you make a mistake (or immediately if you make a mistake more than once). Has lots of conversational language that you’re likely to use in real-life situations. Cons: A bit more expensive than many other alternatives. Free trial is restricted to just one lesson, which you may not feel is enough to get a good sense of whether you’ll get on well with the app or not. #2: Beelinguapp (Android and iOS) This app is designed to help you to read English texts (and to some degree to help you with listening to spoken English). It takes an innovative approach, compared with most other language-learning apps: it shows books and other texts in your native language plus English, side by side, and reads out the English for you too. Cost: Free, but you’ll need to pay for access to many of the longer texts. (You can pay about $1 per text, or $1.99 for monthly membership, or $24.99 to remove all ads and unlock all current and future texts.) Pros:   The audio recordings are from native speakers: they’re not machine-generated. If you want to improve your pronunciation, this is a great and fun way to do so. The texts include novels, but also fairy tales, news stories, and science papers. If you’re studying English literature or other texts, this app could help you feel more confident reading in English. You might even find it helpful if you’re learning to translate from your native language into English, or vice versa. Cons: Pricing plans are a little complex, and it might be tricky to work out the best deal. Focuses on reading comprehension; you may want to pair this with another app to help you with speaking English. #3: BBC Learning English (Android and iOS) The BBC Learning English app simply brings together lots of different lessons into one place. It includes transcripts and quizzes, and you can watch the videos with subtitles. The lessons appear on the app before they arrive on the website, and there’s new content every weekday. Cost: Free, with no ads. Pros: Great way to watch the BBC’s most popular programs aimed at English learners (you can find the full list, and the publishing schedule, on their website here). If you already enjoy the BBC’s content online, this is a handy way to get it on your mobile device. Lessons are short and bite-sized (normally 2 -6 minutes), so they’re easy to take in. There are no ads or â€Å"pro† options: this app is completely free. Cons: The quizzes are scored, but there aren’t other â€Å"game† type elements, so if you’re used to apps like Duolingo, you might find this harder to stick with. Some users reported difficulties with the interface of the newest version of the app. #4: Duolingo (Android and iOS) You’ve almost certainly heard of Duolingo, which can help you learn a large number of languages, including English. It’s designed to be fun (and addictive!) with bite-sized lessons and a system where you earn points for correct answers and â€Å"level up† once you’re doing well enough. You can earn virtual coins, unlock new levels, and see your â€Å"fluency score† rise. Cost: Free, but if you want to remove ads and download courses to use offline, you’ll need to pay for Duolingo plus, which is $6.99/month. Pros: It’s designed to be fun and work like a game, so if you enjoy playing games on your mobile phone, this could be a great way to learn while you’re doing so. The interface is slick and well designed. Many, many people use Duolingo it’s hugely popular around the world and is even used in many classrooms for language learning. Cons: A number of people have criticised it for using unrealistic computer-generated sentences that won’t particularly help you in real life situations. Duolingo is monetized, in part, by selling user translations of web content you may not feel happy about this. #5: FluentU (Android and iOS) FluentU takes a different approach to language learning, using videos sourced for YouTube with captions so you can immerse yourself in hearing and understanding the language. It’s available for a number of other languages as well as English, too. Cost: Free trial, then $30/month (which includes all languages). Pros: It’s easy to use, and you can commit as much or as little time as you want †¦ many videos are just a minute or two long. You can easily pause the video player to look up words or even get example sentences. If you enjoy watching YouTube videos, then this is a great way to do so while also learning English. Cons: No requirement to speak or write the language: this is fine for passive learning but you’ll want to use another app or method to do more active learning. FluentU is expensive compared with other apps, especially if you want to learn just English (rather than several of the other languages included too). #6: Hello English  (Android and iOS) This beginner-friendly app has instructions in your native language (with 22 different languages to choose from here). It’s easy to get started with, and you can select your level of English from â€Å"beginner†, â€Å"intermediate†, or â€Å"advanced†. Cost: Free; the pro version is $59.99/year. You can also make in-app purchases for a wide range of advanced features (e.g. access to live tutors.) Pros: Like many other English-learning apps, it uses features like ranks and levels to keep you motivated. Encourages you to complete lessons and activities each day, which are assigned to you. If you complete all the lessons, you can get bonus coins from extra lessons. Helpline is responsive, even on the free version. Cons: The free version, while extensive, has a lot of ads that you may find quite intrusive. #7: Lingbe  (Android and iOS) Lingbe takes a very different approach to most other language learning apps. Instead of watching videos or matching photos to words, the app connects you with a real native speaker of the language you want to practice (i.e. English). Cost: Free, so long as you’re happy to act as a teacher of your own language too! You can purchase coins to buy minutes to talk with native English speakers. Pros: Really simple to use: press the call button and wait for someone to answer! Great way to practice speaking English if you don’t know any native English speakers. You can use it completely free of charge, so long as you’re willing to reciprocate by talking to people who are learning your language. Cons: Not ideal for complete beginners, as you’ll already need to know at least a bit of English in order to hold a conversation. Only allows voice calls: if you want video calls or the option to text, then try HelloTalk instead. #8: Memrise  (Android and iOS) Memrise is another app with a bit of a difference: it’s a learning platform which has thousands upon thousands of different courses related to language and vocabulary. Most of the courses are created by users, rather than being provided by Memrise itself. Cost: Free (and doesn’t even have ads) at the basic level. You can pay for a Pro version if you want more features, though, which is $9/month. Pros: Loads of courses available †¦ whatever your level and learning style, there’ll be something for you. Uses a â€Å"flashcard† system to help you learn new vocabulary, which is helpful when you’re just beginning to learn English and need to acquire a reasonable amount of new vocabulary. You can even create your own course: teaching English to beginners could be a brilliant way to consolidate your own learning. Cons: There’s not any quality control on courses, so you might need to look through a lot before figuring out which you want to take. Only useful for getting a fairly basic vocabulary: beyond that, you’ll want to move on to another app. #9: MindSnacks: SAT Vocab and Kids’ Vocab  (iOS only) While it’s aimed at US college students rather than people learning English as a second language, mindSnacks is a great app to try out if you’re already reasonably good at English and you want to improve your vocabulary. Like Duolingo, it takes a gaming approach. The SAT Vocab and Kids’ Vocab apps are both fun ones to try. Cost: $4.99 per app (or $19.99 if you want all the MindSnacks apps). Pros: If you’re a native English speaker but want to improve your vocabulary, the Kids’ Vocab and SAT Vocab apps are great ones to try out. There are multiple different games included to keep things interesting as you learn. Fairly cheap compared with some other apps, if you just want to focus on growing your vocabulary. Cons: The Kids’ Vocab app is designed for children, so you might find the interface a bit garish. The free level only gives you access to a small amount of content, so you can’t try it out in any amount of detail before paying. #10: Rosetta Stone  (Android and iOS) Once the most popular language learning software out there, Rosetta Stone has been displaced for many English learners by other software. Many users still find it really useful, though, especially if they’re travelling. The app links with the full version of Rosetta Stone, which isn’t cheap. Cost: Varies, but

Film analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Film analysis - Essay Example Yet sometimes, rarely, like an Aquarius where all the planets form a line, every aspect of a film that could possibly go wrong does, and goes terribly wrong. Such was the case in Plan 9 from Outer Space, a film widely regarded as the worst film ever produced. Nearly every aspect of this film has some kind of problem with it, something that is almost miraculous in film making. I would argue that one of the worst offenders in this film was set design. The fact is, the sets look cheap. This is probably because they were cheap, as the film had a budget of only $60,000, which even in its era was not enough to make a high quality movie. But when dealing with black and white, texture is one of the only things that matter, and nearly every set that was supposed to be something spectacular (like a spaceship or a cockpit) had an incredibly flat look. It made it look like the set was made out of clay, or painted wood, but certainly not metal or any of the materials that would have actually been present. In contrast to the sets, I would argue that the costumes were actually a relative high point in the film. They were far from good, but they were not as obtrusively bad as other elements of the film. Part of this was because many of the costumes were just street clothes or army uniforms and that kind of thing, and are easy to make not distracting. Some of the costumes were terrible, but on the whole, the costumes were better than most other aspects of the film. Lighting was poorly done in an obtrusive way, sometimes being overly dark, other times overly light, and sometimes making it look like a staged play, with several spot lights on each subject. This is simply lazy and unacceptable regardless of budget or era. Acting was not terrible, but it was far from good. It was generally not believable, but in such a campy film believability is not necessary. The acting was over the top, but this was not a massive problem. The dialogue, however, was. From the opening scene through the rest of the movie, it was simply obtrusive and awful, and did not sound in any way natural. Furthermore, there were frequent continuity errors. The narration was one of the worst offenders, oscillating between mind numbing exposition and supposedly shocking reveals, such as â€Å"at the funeral of the old man, unknown to his mourners, his DEAD WIFE was watching!† (Plan 9). In other instances, the speakers fell into a question answer pattern that, while common in high-school screen plays, has no place on the silver screen. This was especially apparent in one exchange between grave diggers in the cemetery. Many of the aspects of the film described so far are simply bad execution. These are poor choices, made again and again. No one of them is absolutely ridiculous, but taken as a whole they certainly make a ridiculous package. Some of the editing done in post, however, was simply foolish. This film contains clips of another film, a vampire film that Wood had been working o n before it was canceled and the star died. While Wood clearly struggled to make them fit this film, even twisting the plot of an outer-space action film to be based heavily in a cemetery, these individual scenes still stand out horribly from the rest of the action. No film maker in their right mind would ever choose to insert unrelated clips into the narrative and try to pass it off as having a

Composites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Composites - Essay Example l made by combining two or more distinct materials in order to fabricate a new product bearing desirable combination of properties that a single materials cannot achieve (Noort & Barbour, 2013). These materials range from polymer, metallic to ceramic elements (Naseem, 2010). Dental composites are wear resistant including composite resins, glass monomer cement, compomers and giomers For this case, I will design a composite that meant to replace amalgam as filler in dentistry. The composite must have a pH change as well as the ability to form a carboxylate salt. The material also has to contain fluoro-aluminosilicate glass, water as well as a polymeric acid (Brantley, & Eliades, 2011). In addition, the material ought to have improved physical conditions compared to conventional glass ionomoer. Such improvements aid reduction in water sensitivity, less fluoride release, rechargeable fluoride besides increase in thermal expansion (Naseem, 2010). Most importantly, the material has to be light cured to achieve good bonding to dentine, which depends on surface conditioning (Brantley & Eliades, 2011). The composite used should be anisotropic since forces from different directions act on them.The forces acting on the other direction enhance materials properties in one direction (Brantley, & Eliades, 2011). Properties of strengths and stiffness depend on the direction of force applied. Transverse direction will be necessary for the composite because elastic constants are similar (Brantley, &Eliades, 2011). Physical properties of the material needed for matrix include low solubility, high compressive strengths, as well as low flexural and sheer strengths. In addition, the material must have a thermal coefficient similar to dentin besides fluoride release and fluoride recharge. Glass monomer cement binds tooth and has diverse dimensions such as slight shrinking and expansion when setting (Naseem, 2010). It is also brittle and lacks translucency characterized by a rough

Virgin Galactic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Virgin Galactic - Essay Example Ever since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, it has been every man’s wish to be able to do the same. Space is one of the most mystifying and romantic locations ever and knowing how hard it is to get there has only made it more sought after. But everyone cannot become astronauts. That is why Richard Branson, with his Virgin Group decided it was time common people get the opportunity to set foot into space. And with this noble thought in mind, the Virgin Group created Virgin Galactic – a company that is dedicated to taking ‘space tourists’ to their most sought after tourist spot – space. To do this, Virgin Galactic has modeled its very own spaceships after the history-making SpaceShipOne. Virgin Galactic’s spaceship is called SpaceShipTwo and its mission is to make â€Å"affordable exploration of space by human beings a real possibility†. Market Segmentation: Market Segmentation is the bifurcation of a large group of people into smaller groups that have similar characteristics. The whole point of this exercise is so that an organization may be able to design a marketing mix to fulfill the demands and expectations of the participants in the various sub groups, in a precise manner. The market is usually divided based on geography, demography, consumer behavior and psychography. Geographic Segmentation defines the exact geographic location of residence of the target. It is often divided based on region (continent, country, state, city, etc.), size of metropolitan area based on size of population, population density (urban, suburban, rural, etc.) and climate. Based on these variables, we can define the target audience for Virgin Galactic to be living in urban areas of UK that are densely populated.4 Demographic Segmentation looks at dividing the market based on demographic variables such as age, gender, family size, income, religion, education, social class, etc. Based on these variables, we could say that the target for Virgin Galactic would be high net worth individuals with high incomes, belonging to SEC A+.5 They would be educated and probably come from small families, that is, either bachelors or just married, with no kids. Behavioral Segmentation divides the target based on consumer behavior towards the product or service. It is based on variables such as brand loyalty, user status (i.e. first time user, potential, regular, etc.), readiness to buy, occasions (holidays or other events).6 Based on these variables, the target for Virgin Galactic could be defined as first time users who are most willing to spend money to go into space. They just want to go into space, and aren’t much worried about the money they are spending. Occasions play no role in this. Psychographic Segmentation divides people based on their lifestyles, interests, opinions, values, etc. Based on these variables, we could define the target for Virgin Galactic as people who lead a very frivolous lifestyle, who are willing to spend good money on anything that will make them happy, in this case takes them to space. Their interests would include space, experiencing anything new, especially before their peers. Consumer Profile: Geographic: Region: England City: Birmingham Density: Urban Demographic: Gender: Male Age: 38 years Lifecycle: Married, no children Occu pation: Businessman Education: University graduate Income: GPB 500000 per annum Nationality: British Behavioral: User Status: First time Readiness: Very high Benefits: Going into space, making a dream come true, doing something special before peers and competitors. Occasion: None Psychographic: Social class: A+ - high income, high net worth individual Personality: Fun, ambitious, impulsive, confident, athletic, enthusiastic to experience new things Lifestyle: Tech-savvy, plays a lot of sport, fitness freak, socially active Hobbies: Sport, follows tennis, golf and cricket Mobile Phone: iPhone 5 (Contract) Consumer Behavior Factors Consumer behavior refers to the method in which a consumer selects, purchases and consumes certain products

How will climate change affect National Grid(UK) and how they do PowerPoint Presentation

How will climate change affect National Grid(UK) and how they do business - PowerPoint Presentation Example On the other hand, it is suggested by Koomey et al. (1997, 1) that ‘the common perception among many policy makers and industry leaders is that the twin objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a more competitive economy are inherently contradictory’. Many efforts have been made by the states globally in order to create a mutually – accepted plan for the reduction of greenhouse emissions; however this plan has faced significant oppositions mostly because it is against of the interests of specific parts of the population within each country globally; gas emissions and pollution in general seem to serve the interests of a specific group of people who ignore the effect of increased industrial activity on a continuous basis and promote personal interests even if they are related with severe damages on climate worldwide. Current paper focuses on the activities of National Grid, ‘an international electricity and gas company and one of the larg est investor-owned energy companies in the world’ (corporate website) in terms of their relationship with the climate changes globally. More specifically, the effects of climate changes in the international context are being identified and evaluated trying to locate the relationship between the firm’s activities and the climate change as they can be observed in the firm’s daily operations specifically in Britain. Climate has changed dramatically in all regions around the world. One of the main reasons for this change has been considered to be the extremely high percentage of carbon dioxide released by industries, households and a wide range of other sources (e.g. automobiles, fires and so on). Regarding this issue, it has been found by Marland et al. (2007) that ‘since 1751 roughly 315 billion tons of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress Essay

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress levels - Essay Example During the last decade, researches have flourished to define, measure, and differentiate emotional intelligence from other types of intelligence, and examined its value and its relation with other variables, such as behaviors, characteristic, processes, and outcome. Emotional intelligence was also used in the field of psychology, education, business, leadership, and recently health care and nursing. In nursing, the emotional intelligence is a topic of keen interest in these few years (Quoidbach and Hansenne, 2009). Several claims are reported noting that emotional intelligence does not only play a significant role in nursing but also in other areas, such as, managing emotions, regulating relationships, facilitating decision making and communication, empowering leadership, and as a guide to success and perfection. In contrast, there are some critiques that condemn emotional intelligence for being vague, poorly defined, immeasurable, and over magnified (Smith et al., 2009). Aim of the Paper The aim of this paper is to critically review the literature of emotional intelligence and its effect on improving nursing performance at individual and team levels in addition to reducing stress, burnout and health complains. The possibility and the degree of enhancing emotional intelligence, and its applicability in real life will be discussed in this paper. The Emotional Intelligence concept has been born in literature by Salovey and Mayer in 1990, who defined it as an ability to inspect, perceive, manage and employ emotions of self and others in order to achieve success. As a result of this concept, Salovey and Mayer (1990) created a model known as The Ability Model. Although emotional intelligence became scientifically noticed within the academic field, it had only bore limited publicity during that time. Not until the publication of an emotional intelligence book by Goleman in 1995 when it gained its popularity. Goleman's emotional intelligence model called Mixed or Perf ormance Model, is the most popular model, which merges personality traits and emotional domains, and pay attention to performance outcomes. Several emotional intelligence models and tools have emerged thereafter; however, even though these models have used different wordings, the four common domains were still shared by most of these models. These domains include self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management. The emotional intelligence tools from the aforementioned models varied according to its way of defining, understanding emotional intelligence and the model it’s derived from, but at the end, most of these tools have common purpose which is to measure emotional intelligence with different validity and reliability (Beauvais et al., 2010, Landa et al., 2007, Kooker et al., 2007, and Smith et al., 2009). Search Strategy To begin with, broad scope search was done via several databases and search engine, such as the Emerald, Wiley, Ovid, and Go ogle scholar, but most of the papers were found on Science direct. At first, the results were as many as 33,318 using emotional intelligence as the key word; nevertheless, the result starts to drop gradually from 10,678 to 79 papers after using more specific key words such as emotional intelligence and performance, emotional intelligence and team, emotional intelli

How will climate change affect National Grid(UK) and how they do PowerPoint Presentation

How will climate change affect National Grid(UK) and how they do business - PowerPoint Presentation Example On the other hand, it is suggested by Koomey et al. (1997, 1) that ‘the common perception among many policy makers and industry leaders is that the twin objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a more competitive economy are inherently contradictory’. Many efforts have been made by the states globally in order to create a mutually – accepted plan for the reduction of greenhouse emissions; however this plan has faced significant oppositions mostly because it is against of the interests of specific parts of the population within each country globally; gas emissions and pollution in general seem to serve the interests of a specific group of people who ignore the effect of increased industrial activity on a continuous basis and promote personal interests even if they are related with severe damages on climate worldwide. Current paper focuses on the activities of National Grid, ‘an international electricity and gas company and one of the larg est investor-owned energy companies in the world’ (corporate website) in terms of their relationship with the climate changes globally. More specifically, the effects of climate changes in the international context are being identified and evaluated trying to locate the relationship between the firm’s activities and the climate change as they can be observed in the firm’s daily operations specifically in Britain. Climate has changed dramatically in all regions around the world. One of the main reasons for this change has been considered to be the extremely high percentage of carbon dioxide released by industries, households and a wide range of other sources (e.g. automobiles, fires and so on). Regarding this issue, it has been found by Marland et al. (2007) that ‘since 1751 roughly 315 billion tons of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from

Employment Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Employment Law - Assignment Example An employee is deemed to have been wrongfully dismissed if there is no adequate notice by the employer as per their employment contract. Notwithstanding a breach of contract, unfair dismissals occur if they do not fall under one of the six fair reasons allowed by law. Besides, unfair dismissal occurs if the employer has not followed a fair procedure and has acted unreasonably in the dismissal of the employee. Under certain circumstances, employer must comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure failing which the Employment Tribunal will find for the employee. The Tribunal has the discretion to increase the award by 25 % if the employer has not complied with the Code. Employees have the right to insist on reasons for dismissal in writing under section 92(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. (ERA) since a written statement can serve as evidence in any subsequent Tribunal proceedings. If the employer has not shown lawful reasons for dismissal, not foll owed the set procedure and not given sufficient notice, the employee can claim unfair or wrongful dismissal. Requirement of a notice depends on the terms of employment contract i.e whether the employment is for a fixed period or an indefinite period. If indefinite, the contract must have a provision for the period of notice by the employer or employee. In case of notice period mentioned in the contract, a reasonable notice is a must though the length of notice can vary according to circumstances and industry norms. However, an employer is required to give a statutory minimum period of notice i.e one week’s notice if the employee has worked continuously for one month or more but less than two years. If the period of service is two years or more but less than 12 years, one week’s notice is required for each year of continuous employment. If the employee has worked for 12 years or more, employee is entitled to minimum 12 weeks’ notice. This is regardless of any sho rter period mentioned in a contract, though longer period than statutory period is allowed. A notice already issued cannot be withdrawn without a mutual consent. If there is no notice given by the employer, it will amount to wrongful dismissal entailing payment of damages equivalent to the wages and benefits for the stipulated period of notice. In case of a PILON (payment in lieu of notice) clause in the employment contract, it will not amount to breach of contract if the employer has given money to the employee in lieu of notice. However, if the employee has committed serious or gross misconduct, summary dismissal without notice with immediate effect is justified. The seriousness or gross nature of misconduct will depend upon the circumstances. Theft, fraud, physical violence, serious negligence or serious breaches of health and safety rules are instances of serious misconduct. Examples are usually illustrated in the disciplinary procedure prescribed by the employer. For claiming w rongful or unfair dismissal, an employee must have put in one year of continuous employment with the employer. The qualifying period of employment has been increased to two years from the date of 6 April 2012. This will not apply to those employees whose qualifying period commences before 6 April 2012. A fair dismissal exists in the following circumstances as mentioned in section 98 (1) of the ERA: Lack of skill or qualifications. 2. Misconduct by the employee. 3. Redundancy. 4. Retirement. 5 Breach of an Act in case of continued employment. 6. Any other reason of substantial nature. Even then, it is expected of an employer to follow a fair procedure to dismiss the employee as mentioned in section 94(4) of the ERA. Of these reasons, conduct on the part of the dismissed employees herein is of immediate relevance. In order to decide whether the employer has acted fairly in dealing with his employee’

Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay Example for Free

Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay The scenario in question gives us the portfolio of a person that likes to do things around the home and has come up with an idea that might benefit his/her home and perhaps other homes globally. Another version of this idea already exists on the market but the person believes his invention might further simplify and make the â€Å"appliance† more user friendly and safer. This person does not have available funds for the project and would therefore have to look to an outsider to complete the task at hand. The inventor has researched the market of the other â€Å"appliance† and found that it has an annual growth of 2%. He believes this invention could increase that growth because he thinks this invention might be used in many other â€Å"appliances† making the product quite versatile and therefore appealing to a wide range of markets. For the person to be able to make a wise decision about how to make his project a reality we look at three types of business, the sole proprietorship, general partnership and corporation, while considering the advantages and disadvantages. After looking thoroughly at these types of businesses, we try to make an informed decision in which type to recommend for the project, keeping in mind all the aspects of the persons â€Å"limitations†. These three types of businesses all have their advantages and disadvantages and based on those we determine that general partnership would be the smartest way to proceed, as the persons â€Å"limitations† minimize the chances of the two other options succeeding. Let us start by looking at closely at the three business types in question regarding the scenario. Sole proprietorship, a business owned and operated by one person. Advantages: He would be in full control, and accountable to no one but himself. In the case listed this could be good because he could manage his time between his business and the home equally, on the other hand it might also bring difficulties both to the home and business as one might suffer from the other. Managing a business by oneself must be a difficult task. It is easily achievable. The startup of a sole proprietorship would be easy, but does success come from ease? There must be some risks and difficulties involved. Less money to be raised for starting up the business. As written in the scenario, the subject does not have access to large funds, therefore this could be a less financially upsetting way to start. Disadvantages: He would be liable for all the debts of the business personally, there is no limit to his liability. Putting his family’s financial security at risk might not seem a good idea and hardly appealing to his spouse, but taking a considerable amount of risk would be necessary. He might find it difficult to attain funding. Being an individual with low â€Å"net worth† banks and other loan facilities might not want to take the chance of lending the money for the project. General partnership, two or more persons whom share monetary responsibilities. Advantages: Growth possibilities. As described in the scenario the idea could be usable with several â€Å"appliances† making the project likely to have considerable growth potential in time. Easier to attain funding. If two or more individuals take up partnership it is more likely to be appealing to monetary facilities to fund the project because two individuals are worth more than just one. Both partners are taxed as individuals. Only one level of taxation. Partners are taxed according to their partnership agreement and have full control over how their income is allocated in accordance to their interests as long as there is economic reason. Disadvantages: One person may be liable for all debts. If for example a person would only be letting someone use their name in the partnership agreement, that same person, even if he or she could prove never to have had anything to do with the business itself, could be liable. It is therefore extremely important to have a good, detailed partnership agreement that covers all aspects of the partnership. Conveyance of ownership can be arduous. If for example one of the partners died, the partnership would go to his next of kin or whomever is his or her heir. This could be a problem if that person is not interested in the partnership or for any other reason is unable to uphold the partnership agreement. Corporation, a business where owners have separate status from the business itself and are only financially liable at part. Advantages: The owners are only liable for the funds they bring into the business. There is an exception from this rule, if the incorporation of the company was not â€Å"up to par†, an owner can be held liable. The business is not reliant on the owners to continue. The board members can easily agree on â€Å"pushing† an owner out of the corporation, which can be become a reality in this particular scenario if the inventor or initial owner of the corporation does not have a â€Å"bulletproof† agreement and/or patent of the product of the corporation. If an owner dies or by any other means cannot uphold his status in the corporation it does not affect the corporation itself. Disadvantages: Costly startup. As written before, the subject is not a person of great means. Starting a corporation could be extremely difficult for this person. Rules and regulations. There are different rules and regulations in accordance with where the corporation is incorporated, for the subject it might be a wise decision to incorporate in another state than where he lives, which in turn could make the spouse unhappy for it would obviously make the home life difficult and/or resolve in them having to move the whole family to a new place. The owner as well as the business are taxed separately, making the income double taxed. â€Å"First, a corporation pays income taxes on company profits. Then stockholders pay taxes on their income (in form of dividends) returned by their investments.†( Ebert, R. J., Griffin,R. W. (2011), page 48) To make an informed decision regarding the type of business that best fits the person’s interests, abilities and the product, the first step for the person could be to have the idea assessed. There are several businesses that offer that kind of services and for this particular scenario it might be the best thing to do. From reading the scenario it is apparent that the persons spouse is insecure about the whole affair and by having the idea or invention assessed the inventor could get an experienced professional in this field to assess the product regarding manufacturing possibilities, consumer needs, legal aspects and distribution, before he jumps in â€Å"at the deep end† and puts his family’s financial security at risk. Having done that, based on the assessment, he could make an informed decision regarding the business type best suitable. After reading the scenario and studying the business types it would be likely that the best type in this case would be General partnership. That recommendation is based on the fact that the person is low on funding options and taking in consideration the families security, sole proprietorship seems too risky because the person would have to create large debts in the beginning to just produce the product, that is, if any type of monetary company would want to risk lending to the person in the first place. Also by opting for sole proprietorship, all obligations of the business would fall on the person, making the venture potentially minimize family time. Even though sole proprietorship could result in great personal success and money if all went as planned, the initial risk would be too great, especially when taken into consideration the fact that the person has little or no managerial skills. By choosing general partnership, the person could, after having the invention assessed, and perhaps patented the â€Å"appliance†, make detailed business plan that could be presented to one or more potential business partners with access to large funds and /or good credit, being careful in choosing someone who can bring to the table something that compensates his shortcomings, like his lack of managerial skills. General partnership also divides the risk, making the project more appealing to the persons spouse. By creating a â€Å"bulletproof† detailed partnership agreement it minimizes the risk of all factors of the disadvantages in general partnership. Choosing the corporation type at this time would not be wise because it requires large funds and could prove too large an undertaking for the person at this point. That however does not mean things cannot change in time.

The power of transnational corporations

The power of transnational corporations Footloose can be defined as free to go wherever one likes or to do as one likes. According to Taggart (2010), he said that organizations which are flexible and no national loyalties in moving their businesses or operations to anywhere quickly freely and have different nations of consumers. Transnational Corporation can be defined as a company that operates in more than one country. According to UNCTAD (2004), a Transnational Corporation (TNC) is an organizations which control the foreign assets other than its home countries, they usually owning certain of equity capital stake. Nestle and Ford is the example of TNCs in the international country. Based to Fox, Tom and Prescott (2004), they stated that globalization has lead the organizations to spread or operate widely to search for cost efficiency and to implement production strategies across states and regions. Nowadays, Transnational Corporations (TNCs) are central players in the economic environment. According to Macleod and Lewis (2004), TNCs has affect the governments policies which not only local but also include international, besides they also affect the agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Moreover, TNCs also affect the economies and eco-system in the developing world, the wage-levels set by them can influence the purchasing power and demand of goods as well. Power of TNCs According to Dunning and Rugman (1985), TNCs has the capabilities to overcome or reduce market imperfections, improving local and international markets, and to develop systemic, network-related rather than just asset-based only. Furthermore, the power or strength of TNCs also include they can support the global market in terms of survival, profitability and growth. According to Christian Aid (2001), he stated that TNCs has increased and growth quickly and dramatically over the past 30 years, there were only 7,000 TNCs available during 1970, however today there are 63,000 parent companies which operating with about 690,000 subsidiaries in the world. (Further information refers to Appendix 1 2). TNCs have involved themselves in different sectors, industries, economic activities in the global market. Most of the TNCs are mainly from Western economies, TNCs now occupy a powerful position in the global economy, which around two-third of international trade. General Electric which is one of the TNCs, had revenues of $126 billion in year 2001, which is more than the combined national incomes of sub-Saharan African countries, except the Republic of South Africa. TNCs are playing important roles in the global economies and it might be possible that they have the power to control over the economy in the future. As Michael Kitson (No date) states, TNCs are very powerful than the previously, nowadays they are playing an important roles and act as powerful players in the global economy. TNCs not only affect the local economic but it is also involve the global economic because they operate in large business which surrounding the world, it would affect the global employment rate and economics. Factors to Move As Footloose The factor that drive TNCs move and operate freely in the international country is the cost of production and also labor cost. This issue usually will be the first and most important reason for TNCs to consider with. According to Schaub (2004), he states that TNCs are profit from a division of labor, they tend to concentrates their operations in those countries which are usually allocate labor-intensive and specialized tasks to peripheral countries. They invest in different geographical areas to get multiple advantages from other countries so that they able to improve their operation in their home country. Many of the US firms are prefer to set up production facilities in the foreign market because they saw an opportunity to reduce production and distribution costs or low threat of their market position. For example, Renault-Nissan is one of the examples of TNCs which manufactures its product in China, Taiwan, and the Philippines, to profit from low-cost, high quality labor. Other than generate huge profits, resources available will be also one of the factors that lead TNCs to operate freely and globally. The resources are referring to human resource management, technology resources and also the resources to build up the products. This can be explaining by the technology advancement, human capital and capabilities, rich of the resources in a country. TNCs will consider all these factors in a country only will decide to operate or set up their manufacturing factory in a new place. Due to limited of capital resources, Intel actually relies extensively on the global manufacturing network, they set up manufacturing company at Penang, Malaysia is because they can get the resources at there and the human capabilities is high. On the other hand, political conditions will also affect the TNCs to operate freely in a country. Since China opens their market to the foreign investors and enters into the international trade, China has become the new and favorite place for TNCs and FDI to make investment and set up new subsidiaries and factories. Chinas rapid integration into the global economy has created many investment and trade opportunities between China and the rest of the world. It has created a lot of business opportunities and employment opportunities for the local people of China. China is a country which has the advance infrastructure, reasonable levels of taxation, cheap labor cost and production cost, and also the conditions that support personal security and the most important is stable political. Examples of TNCs which operate their business in China include Wal-Mart Stores, BP, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Toyota Motor, Ford Motor and many others. TNCs will rather invest in China than Middle East Count ries as they always suffer with political unstable as well as race discriminations. Barries That Restrict TNCs to Move However, there are some factors such as Trade Barriers that will restrict TNCs to move freely in the international countries. It is usually refers to the external factors that is unable to be control by them. The most common sorts of trade barriers are things like subsidies, tariffs, quotas, duties, and embargoes. While TNCs enjoy the profits they earn, governments are usually concern with the consequences of these products have produced, and these consequences is usually caused by smoking, drinking, asbestos, chemicals and fertilizer/pesticide that can seriously lead to water pollution. Many countries are suffer 80% of their water is polluted by the chemical toxic such as pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides with consequential effects and the nations have to pay higher price for their water. Besides, the other TNCs needs to overcome this entire problem before the consumer can use it or consumed it safely. In this situation, profits of TNCs will be reduce when the citizen pay for w hat an unpolluted and healthy resources or goods, they always have a human right to consumed clean, safe and drinkable water. Besides that, some of the governments argue that TNCs locate in third countries or poor countries just want to make a profit only, they usually pay low wages, especially to those innocent such as women and young children. Some of the people said that TNCs usually look after themselves rather than them. Local labors usually poorly paid, most of the profits will go overseas, and products often of little value to local people and TNCs may pull out anytime. In order to guarantee the life and also the rights of local people, government usually will restrict some rules to protect their peoples. Senegal is the example that the government and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of International concern with the workers rights and health. For your information, Senegalese workers are employed with low wage and do not provide basic social services such as social security, medical check up and health insurance. Hence, TNCs wish to offshore to Senegal must be able to fulfill the requirement of the government whereby treat the local labors fairly. Besides that, culture will be also one of the barriers for the TNCs to offshore or move abroad. Cultural issues would not affect all the TNCs, it is usually refer to the food industry. For example, McDonald is carefully selected suppliers and also producers of their ingredient. The food of McDonald is including beef, chicken, pork, egg, milk, coffee and potatoes. However, pork is not accepted by the people, who are religious Islam; they are anti-pork due to the religious. Hence, if McDonald wishes to franchise their business to those Middle East countries or Islamic countries, they could not sell pork meal and get any pork supplier at there. It is the same case in India, Hindu state that cow are a gift of the gods to human race. Hence, for Hindus do not eat the meat of the sacred cow. McDonalds is the worlds largest user of beef. Therefore, all foods are strictly segregated into vegetarian and nonvegetarian lines to conform with preferences in a country where many Hindus are vegetari an. McDonalds has had to customize its offerings to the tastes and preferences of a Hindu culture that venerates the cow, will not eat beef, and has a large vegetarian population. Cultural factor will affect McDonald to operate their business in a new place such as Islamic country and India. Next, the other barriers that TNCs might face also include customer preferences. Customer preferences are refers to the consumers buying habits, product usage and so on. Nowadays, the living standards and income of peoples have been increase and they tend to enjoy their life. As income increase, so the purchasing power has been increase as well. China would be the best example; Chinas luxury car market is mainly controlled by Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Previously, Toyota will be the first choice for the China as this is more affordable for them. China does have their own automobiles produced such as BYD, Chery, Hafei, Roewe and so on. As the income and lifestyle have been improve, many of the Chinese tend to purchase high quality and foreign car as this is the status recognition for them. Hence, in this case it is a barriers for Toyota as they have the own manufacturing in China. Customer preferences change has cause negative effect to Toyota as it will affect their profits. Customer pr eferences would change anytime and TNCs could not estimate about it, hence before they want to set up new business in a country they need to encounter this problem and think of solutions. Fact to Support TNCs Move As Footloose After analyzing the factors to drive TNCs operate freely and globally, it show that Transnational Corporation can move footloose within the global economy. However, it is not all the TNCs able to move freely, some of the industry might be difficult to move. According to Ha-joon Chang, who is a South Korean economist in Economics and Politics faculty at the University of Cambridge (UK), he notes that there are some industries such as cloth, shoes, foods and garments where the sunk costs are low and firms can be easily footloose, while for the high elements of sunk cost such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals are more difficult to move. Overall, majority of TNCs are moving as footloose in the global economic, and this is support by Dicken (1998), he outlined that TNCs are becoming global corporations, stateless, placeless and locally embedded. Many authors suggest that the ideas of transnational manufacturing investments are footloose and not tied to particular locations and regions. For example, TNCs located in the Republic of Ireland also show signs of being highly footloose. Ireland is a country which their manufacturing industry is heavily dependent on foreign TNCs. The importance of TNCs for the Irish economy is now reflected in the fact that in the manufacturing sector, foreign plants accounted for 47 percent of employment, 77 percent of net output produced and 83 percent of total exports in Ireland in 1995 (Central Statistics Office, 1997). Ikeas Successful Footloose Manufacturing Network (Ferdowsi, 2009) With a network of 1300 suppliers in 53 countries, IKEA which is a Swedish furniture company with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬14.8 billion sales in 2005 and growing at 15% annually and like to find the right manufacturer for its 9500 products. Ikea usually look for new suppliers with its own 46 trading offices in 32 countries. Major are in Europe, but IKEA want to add suppliers from other regions, especially Asia. In 2005, China, with 18% of all its purchases tops the list, followed by Poland (12%), Sweden (9%), Italy (7%), and Germany (6%). IKEAs suppliers are an integral part of this unique and intelligence system. IKEA design their products with standards modules and procures similar pieces used in different product from the same suppliers. It is a brilliant use of footloose manufacturing. IKEA simplifies what it needs from factories, hence has many potential bidders and gets competitive prices, and does not reveal design of its new products to its widespread and leak-prone supply network. Impact of TNCs to Move As Footloose Besides benefits to TNCs itself, they actually also bring benefits to the country that they operate other than home country. TNCs and the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) bring in able to improve employment rate, increase productivity, enhance skills transfer and technology transfer, increase volume of exports and also contribute to the long term economic development of the developing countries. The impact for the TNCs itself, they can earn more profits, increasing market share, becoming market leader and so on. While for the local labor, it will create employment opportunities for them, improve their living standards, opportunities for them to learn new skills and knowledge. While for the host country, TNCs actually help to improve the economy conditions, reduce unemployment rate, enhance advancement of technology and attract FDI to invest in their country. Furthermore, TNCs also improve conditions of the private sectors in the countries where they operate, a process which is very important to overall economic growth and economic health. They also bring benefits to the government as they invest money into an economy where it can supplement or free-up government revenues and development assistance funds. Many of the Government tend to welcoming for the TNCs to set up new business of manufacturing factory in their country because they can create more employment opportunities, improve the economy conditions and so on. According to Christian Aid (2001), TNCs bring benefits to the economies of developing countries and improve poor peoples living standard, invest money to build up infrastructure and facilities, provide employment opportunities, their investments can aids in local businesses and also boost up the local economic activities. As a conclusion, TNCs move as footloose has brought a lot of advantages to the community. In this free trade century, many firms tend to expand further in order to gain more profits as well as looking for the opportunities to growth. Although footloose may not suitable to some of the industry, however TNCs tend to move forward and further hence they will try to reduce threats to restrict them to expand globally. In the future, there will be more competitive in the global economics due to the growth of TNCs. (2503 words)