Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Quality Management in Education

Introduction Improving the quality of education around the world has become an important activity as many institutions of higher education (colleges and universities) struggle to create better educational opportunities for their current and prospective students. According to various stakeholders in the education sector, quality management has become one of the fundamental components of higher education in the 21st century.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Quality Management in Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The access to education is no longer an important fundamental component of education as quality education continues to gain centre stage in many educational institutions. Basic education is now deemed insufficient or incomplete if it is not accompanied by quality management in teaching and learning strategies. Quality education has gained a lot of importance as it is used in the development of excellence, knowledge and expertise which are vital aspects in the growth of an economy (Ali Shastri, 2009). Many educational institutions around the world have developed strategies that will be used in the establishment of higher education to ensure that there is quality in education provision. This has mostly been possible as a result of the increasing importance and value placed on leadership and leadership skills within organizations. Gaining good leaders to be established in the world is only possible when there are developed systems of higher education that will ensure efficiency and effectiveness remain as the sole criteria of evaluating performance (Ali Shastri, 2009). The purpose of this study will be to determine what institutions of higher learning have to do so as to achieve quality in their educational objectives, missions, visions, goals and strategies. The study will first discuss the aspect of quality and quality management in a general sense and then focus on how quality management is applied in educational institutions. Quality Management Quality management is part of the management strategies that are aimed at achieving quality goals within organizations through the execution of organizational activities such as planning, monitoring, control and quality assurance to ensure quality has been achieved in the business processes and operations of an organization.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Quality management is based on principles such as customer focus, cost leadership, product/service development and the continual improvement of a company’s operations so as to achieve a competitive edge in the market. The most commonly used quality management technique in organizations is the total quality management (TQM) approach which aims at improving the total quality of business operations within an organization (Cua et al, 2001). Other a pproaches that are used in quality management include ISO performance improvement standards (ISO certification), quality management systems, quality function deployment and the six-sigma quality management technique. The main objectives of all these quality management approaches are to organize the efforts of employees within organizations so that their work performance produces outputs that are of a high quality and standard (Anand et al, 2010). The main component of quality management is quality which is defined as the degree to which a certain group of intrinsic properties satisfy certain requirements. The term intrinsic properties refer to the innate or permanent properties that exist in certain aspects, matters or situations where these properties meet the expectations of outlined standards or requirements (Dahlgaard et al, 2002). Quality applies to products, services, business operations, organizational systems and interdependent processes that exist within an organization. Qu ality within organizations ensures that the products or services developed by organizations have met the requirements set by the organization’s managers or by the ISO standards that are used to determine the quality of an organization’s products (Cummings Worley, 2008). The concept of quality is based on positive and dynamic ideas that involve achieving the design of meaningful investments rather than negative aspects that lead to product or service defects. Because quality is both a dynamic and positive idea, it has the ability to continuously evolve making the concept an endless journey that has a deliberate purpose which is that of improving the standards of an organization.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Quality Management in Education specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Quality and quality management are both customer-focused approaches that are meant to improve the processes of an organiz ation through the use of interdependent systems such as planning, evaluation, control and quality assurance (Mukhopadhyay, 2005). The current view of quality management in today’s modern organization is that it is a system made up of interdependent processes that have been linked in a lateral way meant to create a network of internal and external collaboration between suppliers and customers. These interdependent processes have been connected to represent the company’s mission and purpose so that it can be able to achieve its objectives and goals (Bilen, 2010). Another view of quality management is that the people (employees or workers) of an organization are the tools that give organizations a competitive edge over their rivals. It enables employees to contribute to the overall growth and success of the organization by allowing them to participate in leadership activities, creativity and intelligence building as well as managerial capacity building (Daft Marcic, 2008 ). Quality Management in Education Quality management in education is a fairly new concept as the main focus of education in the past has been on ensuring that there is a general accessibility to education by all. This focus has however shifted as more and more educational institutions focus on ensuring that there is accessibility to education that is of a high quality. According to Simin and Xuqing (2005), there are two views that exist on education quality with the first one stating that the quality in educational activities is usually reflected by the quality of students an institution of higher learning is able to churn out to the job market after it has measured their performance against the institutions objectives and goals. The second view of quality education is based on whether the products offered by educational institutions are able to fully maximize the potential and ability of students so that they can be contributing members of the society. These views propose the idea that education is based on the transformation of students so that they can be contributing members of the society (Sallis, 2002). Quality in the education sector is therefore measured on the type of input and output processes that take place in educational institutions. The input in education according to Ming and Hualin (2011) refers to teaching and learning strategies that are used to instill various concepts and methodologies to students while output refers to students who have actively been transformed through teaching and learning strategies.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The transformation of students does not only depend on the amount of teaching, training or research they have been given but also on their level of active involvement in the transformation process. This means that the same instructors or teachers working for the same educational institution cannot be able to produce the same cadre of students once the transformational process is over. Also, the active involvement of students in the transformation process varied in nature as every student has their own individual expectations of the learning exercise and also the type of outcomes that will be gained from once they have undergone educational transformation. Quality in education therefore refers to the type of educational activities that will be used to satisfy the requirements of the society by building and nurturing the intellectual capacity of students (Ming Hualin, 2011). Tribus (2010) developed quality principles based on the works of Edwards Deming to reflect quality in educatio n. According to Tribus, the first principle in quality education refers to the redefinition of education where the role of faculty advisors, deans, lecturers and student advisors is translated to reflect quality provision of educational services. This principle discusses how various educational providers work within a system similar to that of an organization. The job of the faculty head or vice chancellor of the institution is to work on the system so as to constantly improve it continuously with other members of staff. Constant improvement refers to finding better ways of improving the quality of education with institutions of higher learning (Tribus, 2010). The second principle of quality in education according to Tribus (2010) is that quality improvement is the answer to any educational problem that might be experienced within the educational institution. This principle involves determining the customer’s perceptions of quality and using this perception to develop educati onal programs that will meet their expectation. According to Pfeifer (2002), the quality of any process is usually defined by the type of customers included in the transformation process. Quality management views the customer as the person who is next in line to receive a service or purchase a product and quality will therefore depend on the type of process that is used to meet the expectations of the customer. This according to Tribus (2010) gives rise to an internal customer which in the education context refers to students who are customers of course instructors. The third principle proposed by Tribus (2010) in explaining quality in education is the process over product principle where attention is placed on the process that is used to develop or improve the product. In the educational context, this principle can be translated to mean that if the student’s performance is to be improved, attention needs to be focused on the teaching or learning process and not on the passin g of examinations. This means that the individual potential of students needs to be discovered so that the level of development in the student can be used to develop suitable learning or teaching strategies. Attention is therefore not focused on evaluating and defining the potential of the student but on developing learning techniques that will be used to develop problem-solving abilities. The application of this principle in the quality management of education in higher education institutions involves both the teacher and the learner working together to improve the educational process of the student (Tribus, 2010). The fourth principle of quality in education is the perversity principle which involves improving the performance of a system of people, processes, procedures and practices where goals and objectives are developed for the individual parts of the system. The most commonly used quality management technique in implementing this principle is the management by objectives (MBO ) approach where the manager and subordinate agree on what the subordinate needs to accomplish so as to meet organizational targets. In the educational context, the course instructor and student agree on the course objectives that the student needs to achieve for them to be able to excel and meet their educational requirements (Tribus, 2010). These principles demonstrate quality management in education is depicted in terms of its impact on the students who are targeted by educational programs. Quality management in education targets the improvement of teaching and learning processes so as to transform students during the learning process. Quality management is therefore an inevitable factor that will be used by institutions of higher education to shape their teaching processes so that they can be able to satisfy the various expectations of stakeholders such as parents, students and the society at large. Quality management will ensure that educational goals and objectives developed b y academic institutions have been met and satisfied (Sahney et al, 2004). Application of Quality Management in Universities The basic roles and functions of higher education include seeking and cultivating new knowledge that will enable students to engage in the vigorous pursuit of information, providing the right kind of leadership skills that will help individual learners to develop their potential, equip society with competent individuals who will be trained in various professions and also promote equality or social justice to reduce any instances of social and cultural differences that might arise without any form of education. Higher education in universities and other institutions of learning also seeks to foster teacher student relationships that will instill certain attitudes and values that are needed to develop individuals as well as bring universities/colleges closer to the society at large through the extension of knowledge (Ali Shastri, 2009). Quality management in hig her education is made up of dimensions such as consistency where the education process seeks to provide quality that is consistent in nature, fitness to purpose where quality meets the customer’s specifications, value for money where students pay for course programs in return for efficiency and effectiveness and transformative educational dimensions where education is viewed as an ongoing process that is meant to transform and empower students. Quality management in education therefore seeks to incorporate the above-mentioned dimensions to ensure that there is quality higher education (Becket Brookes, 2008). To be able to achieve total quality management in higher education, universities and colleges need to first create an awareness of the need for quality improvement in their educational programs. This will involve identifying the various segments of teaching or learning programs that are in need of improvement and then informing the relevant actors of the need for change or improvements. Once this is done, goals need to be developed and set to ensure that there is a continuous improvement of the educational programs within the institutions of learning. Once the goals have been set, the next step will involve building organizational frameworks and institutions that will be used to achieve the set out goals (Borahan Ziarati, 2002). These frameworks will include establishing quality councils and selecting project teams for these councils that will be used to achieve quality goals. These frameworks will then be used for quality training where course instructors and lecturers will be trained on how to provide quality education to students. The progress made in quality educational improvement will be monitored to note if there are any inconsistencies in the improvement exercise and also any successes in the programs will be recorded for future developments and improvements. Such strategies and steps can be used by institutions of higher learning to impro ve the quality of education so that students can be able to achieve excellence in their studies (Bogue Bingham, 2003). When it comes to determining how these strategies can be used to improve the quality of education, certain aspects need to be considered for quality management to be successful. These aspects include the inputs, processes and outputs that make up the educational system where inputs include the transformational processes used to in part knowledge to students. Inputs are used within the transformation process to be transformed into outputs that are released back into the external environment. In the context of education, inputs are the human, physical and financial resources needed to make higher educational courses successful and they include students, faculty members and administrators (Hodson Thomas, 2003). Processes on the other hand refer to various operations or actions that are used to transform the inputs into outputs that can be measured against set out goa ls and objectives. The educational process involves a series of actions that are used to train, teach and transform students through educational programs, courses and classroom sessions. The transformational process within an institution of higher learning involves activities that are meant to disseminate knowledge while at the same time conduct research which will be beneficial to the learning process. Outputs are the tangible outcomes of the transformational process and they can either be value addition outcomes which include student employment, examination results and earnings or intangible outcomes which include educated people, contributing members of the society and contributing members of research work (Koslowski, 2006). These three aspects need to be considered when designing quality management systems that will be used to improve education in higher institutions. Once the suitable frameworks have been identified for improving inputs, processes and outputs, extension activit ies will be developed to apply these frameworks in the real educational context. Since the educational system does not operate in isolation, the extensional activities have to incorporate certain factors that exist in the external environment such as socio-cultural factors, economic factors, technological and political factors. These factors need to be considered as quality education ensures that the various problems within society can be solved. Extensional activities will therefore ensure that quality management in education has been directed towards promoting the development of the local community (Pratasavitskaya Stensaker, 2010). Conclusion The purpose of this study has been to assess the concept of quality management in higher educational institutions and also what strategies can be used to achieve quality management in educational programs. The discussion has focused on the aspect of quality in the general context and also in the education setting by identifying the various aspects that are used to improve organizational operations and processes. Quality in organizations involves ensuring the goods, services and processes used within organizations have met certain requirements or standards such as the ISO quality standards. Quality in education on the other hand involves transformational processes that will be used to improve the outputs of the learning process. The study has propagated various techniques and steps that educational institutions can use to improve the delivery of educational content to their students. References Ali, M., Shastri, R.J., (2009). Implementation of total quality management in higher education. Asian Journal of Business Management, 2 (1): 9 -16 Anand, G., Ward, P.T., Tatikonda, M.V., (2010). Role of explicit and tacit knowledge in six sigma projects: an empirical examination of differential project success.  Journal of Operations Management, 28(4): 303- 315 Becket, N., Brookes, M., (2008). Quality management practice in higher education: what quality are we actually enhancing? Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and  Tourism Education, 7(1): 40-54 Bilen, C., (2010). Total quality management in higher education institutions: challenges and future directions. International Journal of Productivity and Quality  Management. 5(4): 473-492 Bogue, E.G., Bingham, H. K., (2003). Quality and accountability in higher education. Cincinnati: Praeger Publishers Borahan, N.G., Ziarati, R., (2002). Developing quality criteria for application in higher education sector in Turkey. Total Quality Management, 13(7): 913-926 Cummings, T.G., Worley, C.G., (2008). Organization development and change. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning Cua, K.O., McKone, K.E., Schroeder, R.G., (2001). Relationships between implementation of TQM, JIT and TPM and manufacturing performance. Journal  of Operations Management, 19(6): 675-694 Daft, R.L., Marcic, D., (2008). Understanding management. Mason, Ohio: South Western Cengage Le arning Dahlgaard, J.J., Kristensen, K., Kanji, G.K., (2002). Fundamentals of total quality  management: process analysis and improvement. London, UK: Taylor and Francis Hodson, P., Thomas, H., (2003). Quality assurance in higher education: fit for new millennium or simply year 200 compliant. Higher Education, 45(3): 375-387 Koslowski, A.F., (2006). Quality and assessment in context: a brief review. Quality  Assurance in Education, 14(3): 277-288 Ming, L., Hualin, Z., (2011). Research and discussion on the education quality  construction for colleges and universities. Zhengzhou, China: Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management Mukhopadhyay, M., (2005). Total quality management in education. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications Limited. Pfeifer, T., (2002). Quality management. Munchen, Germany: Hanser Verlag Pratasavitskaya, H., Stensaker, B., (2010). Quality management in higher education:towards a better understanding of an emerging field. Quality in Higher Ed ucation, 16(1); 37-50 Sallis, E., (2002). Total quality management in education. London, UK: Kogan Page Limited Sahney, S., Banwet, D.K., Karunes, S., (2004). Conceptualizing total quality management in higher education. The TQM Magazine, 16(2): 145- 159 Simin, W., Xuqing, Z., (2005). Educational quality and control modes of mass storage of higher education. Journal of Technology College Education. 10: 105-106 Tribus, M., (2011) Quality management in education. California: Exergy Incorporated This term paper on Quality Management in Education was written and submitted by user Eileen Obrien to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

During world war 2 essays

During world war 2 essays During World War 2, many children were moved from areas that were at risk from bombing. The children had to leave their families and go to live with strangers in less dangerous parts of the country. This was called evacuation. Some thought it would be fun and exciting, like an adventure. All the younger boys thought it was a holiday, but not sure why the women and girls were crying. However, many discovered that life away from home didnt turn out to be as good as they thought. The first school children were evacuated on the 1st September, 1939 which was the day Germany invaded Poland. In the first three days of September 1939, nearly 3,000,000 people were transported to the countryside, these were mostly children. Children under five went with their parents and schoolchildren went with their teachers. They thought that they would be home before Christmas. It was usually the poorer children which were not used to travelling. The more rich children were more used to travelling and being long distances away. Some parents even visited their children at weekends! Within a week, a quarter of the people living in Britain would have new homes. At the start of the war schools were moved together. The children wore identity labels, gasmasks hanging from their necks and a small suitcase full of clothes and food for the day. They left in the early in the morning when it was dark. Most of them were schoolchildren, who had been sent away were labelled like pieces of luggage, separated from their parents and accompanied by new people and teachers. They were just numbers in some peoples view! Most parents tried not to cry and some parents just couldn't let go. Parents gave instructions to their children, some of these were to look after their brother or sister and not to forget to write home. The teachers or supervisors kept the children happy and told them not to worry. Most Kids were in good moods. But that was...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Career Wheel Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career Wheel - Assignment Example Almost every organization or government agency has more than one financial managers responsible for overseeing the preparation of financial reports. There are more than 80 positions involving banking, insurance and finance. These positions are divided into six categories: accounting, banking and corporate finance, investment banking and securities, money management and supervisory agencies. Let us take the position of account executive for example. The duties involved in this position are: building broker network through networking, cold calling, soliciting residential mortgage loans originated by mortgage brokers and other financial institutions and prospecting. An alternate title which can be given to this person is Wholesale account manager, mortgage broker channel manager etc. The salary range is $50,000 to $100,000. The employment prospects are good as well as the advancement prospects (Fitch). For one to take up such a responsibility, a four-year college degree is required and three years of mortgage banking experience. The special skills required are: a detailed knowledge of mortgage origination process and a working knowledge of the pc programs. One is needed to work independently and he should have excellent communication skills. It is wonderful to shoulder the responsibilities of managing the national sales efforts of a mortgage broker network. The account executive acts as the primary liaison with mortgage brokers. The marketing industry is one that is diverse in many ways. Many people have taken up the marketing career. People like it so much because it is one of the careers that provides a good pay and it does not consume as much time as other careers such as medicine and engineering. However, this has made the industry to be a competitive one. It is hard to get a job in this sector. One has to be very determined. If one is not a

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Wireless Security Policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wireless Security Policy - Assignment Example The implementation and administration of radio communication in the wireless networks occurs at the physical layer of the Open Systems Interconnection, or OSI, model (Rus & Donohue, 2010). This paper will address a wireless security policy for a medium sized banking organization, highlighting the policy overview, purpose, scope, applicability and security requirements. It will also address wireless network requirements, device requirements, standards supported by the organization, ethical guidelines and policy enforcement. Wireless Security Policy Overview Wireless networks occur in various forms, which are wireless PAN (WPAN), wireless LAN (WLAN), wireless WAN (WWAN), wireless MAN (WMAN), wireless mesh networks and cellular networks. Devices in relatively small physical areas are connected through WPAN. WLANs link several devices over short distances via wireless distribution methods such as internet access points, allowing users connection and mobility simultaneously. WMANs link a number of WLANs while WWANs cover large geographical areas, like neighboring cities and towns. For a banking organization, policies create a foundation on which all security initiatives are built. Therefore, the bank needs to come up with standards and policies on data integrity and confidentiality while putting into consideration security levels imposed by government regulation (NIST, 2003). Purpose and Scope The key purpose of wireless network security in a bank is to allow employees freedom of mobility while accessing the network to deliver better customer service without compromising the confidentiality of both the customers’ and the organization’s information (Goldsmith, 2005). The security measures implemented should protect the wireless signals from their vulnerability to eavesdropping and meet audit requirements. Since standards for wireless network security emerge and evolve continuously with technological developments, the bank must keep abreast with the chan ges to avoid being exposed to reputation and strategic risks. The bank’s ability to avoid or manage the risks is dependent on the effectiveness of its management and board oversight; effectiveness of procedures and policies to implement and run wireless projects; the network’s capacity and reliability; the business continuity plan’s adequacy; and the actions taken to monitor undesirable events. Applicability The applicability of the security system should accord clients seamless interactions with the bank and their accounts. This means it must be structured specifically for the requirements of non-company users while prohibiting incidents such as personal use by employees or sending financial records over the network. Although WLANs typically provide unrestricted access to the Internet and an organization’s entire network, the bank should consider blocking its wireless subnets from its Intranet and intranet. It must be specified who has the authority to u se the WLAN as well as their level of access. Regardless of the way access is allowed, it is essential that the scope of access is determined and defined clearly in the bank’s wireless security policy and implementation (Pahlavan & Krishnamurthy, 2009). The CEO and the head of the technical department should be the only ones with exclusive access to critical information, and the policy should also stipulate that access by one of them should be known by the other. Wireless Network Security Requirements The internal department that will be given the responsibility of deploying the wireless access points (WAPs) and the devices, also known as stations, to be used within the network, should also be determined.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The different ways in which good is used in meta-ethics Essay Example for Free

The different ways in which good is used in meta-ethics Essay Examine the different ways in which good is used in meta-ethics Anything people approve of must be good Discuss. Meta-ethics is the part of ethics which investigates the true nature of ethical statements and its other properties. It questions what it is to be morally right or wrong. Meta-ethics goes into two categories; these being cognitivism and non-cognitivism. Cognitivists or Natrualists say that moral statements describe the world. If I were to say that murder is wrong, then the cognitivist would say that I have recognised an asset of wrongness to the act of murder. Whether or not murder has an asset of wrongness is objective, therefore this statement is either objectively true or false. However Ethical Naturalism states that good can be defined, therefore an action is able to be found good or bad by studying the empirical evidence and weighing up all the facts, hence moral statements can be verified and falsified. They also base their views on that on that good is found in fulfilling the purpose of the object, this is based on the Aristotelian views. So if we were to analyse euthanasia to see whether it is good we would have to gather the evidence and weigh out the good points and the bad points, and how it relates to everybody involved happiness. This is much like the hedonic calculus in utilitarianism where everybody is considered in the decision making process. The word good is used by Ethical Natrualists to describe a certain act that has been proven by the empirical evidence to give the highest amount of happiness and is found to have no or a minor bad effect. Intuitionists or non-naturalists believe that you cannot analyse good as a property, so therefore cannot believe in anything that people recognise as good. They also believe that if it is contradicted a duty you ought to know, as in the Prima Facie Duty. Intuitionists approve of actions as they believe it is your intuition that is telling you to make a decision, in a sense you know always what to do in moral or ethical dilemmas, we have a priori sense of moral truths. R Therefore if your moral intuition is telling them what there doing, or about to do is good then Intuitionists would approve of this act. However one could then argue that then if your moral intuition is telling you that it is good to murder then in a sense they may have to approve of this action if it is a priori knowledge that this is what they think is good. This is a main criticism of Intuitionism as everyones intuition varies subjectively according to every individual. Peoples views vary, for example some by claim that they instinctively know that that taking drugs is wrong, but others may disagree. This seems to show intuition comes from social conditioning and how one is raised, rather than having a priori knowledge of good and bad. Thus, meaning that ethical and moral intuition varies between different cultures and backgrounds. On the other hand, some other ethical theories suggest that we dont gain or have this moral intuition we learn how to deal with moral dilemmas intellectual, moral and cardinal virtues in Virtue Ethics; or in Kantian Ethics we act throughout a sense of duty and reason. Cognitivists believe that good is what we can prove to be a result of empirical evidence, so when we bring all the facts together the end result shows that it is good. Emotivism is a branch of Cognitivism which was brought about by A.J Ayer, in Emotivism he suggested that by making a moral statement one is expressing the personal feelings and within them are trying to persuade others to do as they are with that moral statement; he believed that analytical and synthetic statements are the only significant statements. Therefore Ayer thought by using the word good we are subjectively showing what we feel to be good consequently making the word meaningless and not objective. Ayer followed on his work from philosophers such as G.E Moore, David Hume and Ludwig Wittgenstein whom was part of the Vienna Circle who invented Logical Positivism which is the theory that any true claim has to be proven by sense experience therefore concluding that ethical statements cannot me true claims as they cannot be verified through sense experiences. This agrees with Ayers claim that ethical statements are a product of feelings. Non-cogntivists however make a clear difference between facts and values believing that no ethical statement can be proved right or wrong, or similarly good or bad e.g. abortion is wrong. Within Non-cogntivism lies Prescriptivism. It tells us what ought to be done and that these statements are moral because they are universal. Hare believes ethical statements to be universal because when you say, you ought to do this it relates to everyone in that or similar situation, as he considered ethical statements to be imperatives. He also saw the difference between the two types of the usage of the word good, it can be used as an adjective e.g. It is a good chair, and in the prescriptive sense; in telling others what is correct and right. Perscriptivists believe if we state something to be good that we are approving of something and therefore are saying others should approve of it too. Hare would then say that if people are approving of this action then the action is good. Overall, contained within Non-cognitivism; Emotivists and Perscriptivists both believe that the word good is subjective and is way for us to prescribe or persuade our opinions onto others, therefore giving the word no objective moral truth. The statement Anything people approve of must be good can be discussed by Cognitivists; they would look at whether or not people would approve of action as empirical evidence. They would not agree with this statement due to the fact may be seen to others as wrong, or may cause some sort of pain, and may stop the fulfilment of a purpose. G.E Moore states that by proving ethical statements commits the naturalistic fallacy, which is that the word good cannot be defined by using natural facts. This idea by Moore is based on work by David Hume who said an is cannot result from an ought, in conclusion Moore and Hume would disagree with the above statement; as we cannot define the word good. Moore believed that good is an unanalysable property in which we use to describe what we know from our moral intuition (Intuitionism).

Friday, November 15, 2019

The formation and objectives of the IFAC

The formation and objectives of the IFAC IFAC the (international federation of accountants) is a non governmental and a global organization for accountancy professional, formed in 1977 in Munich -Germany at the 11th world congress of accountants. Currently there are 164member bodies in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing over 2.5 million accountants. Source: Q FINANCE The complex world of international auditing regulation. Objectives of IFAC The main functions of IFAC are to guard the interest of the public by developing international standards, promoting international convergence and contributing to the development of the accountancy profession worldwide. Source 16th Jan 2008.Allen Blewitt, ACCAs chief executive, goes head to head with Ian Ball, IFACs chief executive, in a wide-ranging discussion of IFACs work and the added value it offers both to its members and to accountancy professionals worldwide .What does IFAC actually do for me ? (http://www.accaglobal.com/members/publications/accounting_business/archive/2008/january/3059282). Formation of IFAC From a very long period of time, it was believed that accountancy showcased itself as an international profession, but it was only during the early 1960s that initiatives regarding the international standardization in accounting and auditing practices bechanced. In the year 1962, the 8th global congress conducted in New York conceptualized the idea of setting the international standards that would govern the accounting and auditing practices worldwide. However during the year 1967 in order to examine the needs of accounting profession, the 9th global congress constituted the international working party and to report back to the next international congress held in Sydney (1972). In the 1972 congress an International Co-ordination committee for accounting profession (ICCAP) was formed, following the report of the international working party. Apparently the ICCAP had also been given the remit to recommend changes for widening its work, but opinions continued to be divided, at times there were discussions about the expansion of ICCAP to become an INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ACCOUNTANTS. Thus after due consideration the final report of ICCAP declared the proposed constitution of IFAC. Source THE FORMATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ACCOUNTANTS by Prof Christopher Humphrey, Manchester Business School, England and Anne Loft, Lund University, Sweden. (http://www.ifac.org/download/ifac_history_article_2-2007.pdf ) Setting Standards, Making History: The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), 1977-2007 by Prof Christopher Humphrey, Manchester Business School, England and Anne Loft, Lund University, Sweden. Transparency and alliance with member bodies is the main aim with which the organizational structure of IFAC has been designed. The IFAC council consists of 15 National representatives (a president, deputy president and 2 vice presidents).The main objectives of the IFAC council and the board is to look after the overall governance and the management of the organization. The council and the committee members are country representatives (if there are two or more member bodies in the country they will be collectively represented by the appointed national representative). Source http://www.ifac.org/About/2009-annual-report/ifac/structure/index2.html PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED BY IFAC INFLUENCING THE FINANCIAL REPORTING /AUDITING PRACTICES WORLDWIDE Introduction to the general standard setting initiative taken by IFAC Development, promotion and enforcement of globally recognized standards are the only fundamental way to protect public interest. The above mentioned criteria are also the only means to ensure the prospect of information upon which investors and other stakeholders rely on. The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB), International Ethics standards board for accountants (IESBA), International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) are collectively referred to as the public interest activity committee and they follow a rigorous process in a transparent, efficient and effective manner that supports the development of high quality standards in the public interest. These independent standard setting boards have consultative advisory groups which include public member and the publics perspective. Another initiative taken by IFAC with regard to the standard setting process is the Compliance program established by the IFAC board that evaluates the quality of the IFAC members and associates as to whether they use the best possible criteria to initiate a standard. The Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP) oversees the implementation and operation of the IFACs compliance program. IFAC initiates standard setting boards not only highlighting to the professional accountants (Professional Accountants in a Business committee) and public interests but also several initiatives have been taken to address the issue of the small and medium business and the developing nations. Such as the formation of Small and Medium practice committee that ensures standards produced are applicable to Small and medium practices (SMPs) and Small and medium entities (SMEs).The Developing Nations Committee which oversees the interest of the developing nations and the Transnational Audit Committee that deals with the needs of the members of Forum of Firms(FoF). BACKGROUND ON THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ACCOUNTANTS (Pg 4- 6)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦web.ifac.org/media//d/international/background-information-on-t.pdf

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Joseph Kony Essay

You all most likely have heard the name, Joseph Kony, and hand in hand, with that name you know that he is a leader of a group that abducts children and makes them act against their will. But for those who haven’t heard of him, Joseph Kony is one of the most wanted man in the world. But no one with the correct authority has even tried to stop him. And that’s why I’m here to tell you how Joseph Kony and his army can and need to be stopped. & that we need to do what we can to stop him Joseph Kony is the leader of rebels LRA, (Lord’s Resistance Army) he is not fighting for a cause, he is not at war against anyone, he is just fighting to uphold his power. Kony’s army rampages communities in Uganda, stealing all the children, training the boys to be soldiers, forcing them to kill their own parents and pushing the girls into sex slavery. Kony has not just kidnapped a few hundred children, in the past 10 years Kony has captured over thirty five thousand kids. Imagine if only one child was kid napped in Australia? It would be Breaking National News, imagine if it was your family in danger of such things. Our country is lucky and has the resources to help stop Kony, so why aren’t they. Many of you have probably seen the video that has gone viral on Facebook and twitter, it was made by a man called Jason Russell, he is the organizer and founder of the program Kony 2012, he is on a mission, alongside his own army of millions. Jason and everyone else that is trying to stop Kony are on a mission, a mission to make Kony famous, make him a household name everywhere and to stop him before December 2012. The video that was created has currently had over 87 and a half million views and has been talked about by some of the most famous celebrities around the world. You may joke or say that there are bigger problems that should be dealt with and this video and cause will die off in a month or two but to stop a problem you have to start somewhere. Millions of people are fighting for this cause and won’t give up. The US government have agreed to help arrest Kony but they will cancel the mission if it is not proven that people care about the him, as Kony is not an issue in America, people won’t care if they don’t know, so the video was made to make sure people know about Kony, You may think that you are only one person, how can you stop him, but it all starts with one person just like Jason, to sharing the link or donating to the Joseph Kony 2012 foundation. So to conclude I will just say, one person may not be able to make a difference by them self but if all those people stand up and try together, Joseph Kony will be stopped by the end of 2012.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Compare the presentation of love within the three sonnets studied Essay

The three sonnets that I studied were, â€Å"How do I love thee? † by Elizabeth Barret-Browning, â€Å"Let me not to the marriage of true minds† by William Shakespeare and â€Å"Since there’s no help let us kiss and part† by Michael Drayton. Of these three there are numerous differences and similarities. It is known that at the time of writing her sonnet, Elizabeth Barret-Browning was happily married to Robert Browning, but without the consent of her father. They moved to Italy where she began to use the Petrachan form of sonnet. At the time when William Shakespeare wrote he was known to have already established himself as an actor and playwright and was working for the leading company, the Lord’s Chamberlain’s Men. In Drayton’s sonnet we see that he was a contemporary of Shakespeare, this poem comes from a long sequence of sonnets called ‘Idea’s Mirror’. These sonnets were all inspired by his unrequited love for Anne Goodere, although he himself never married. As with Shakespeare his use of personification is extremely effective. Although their styles differ all three poets are speaking of their love for another person. Elizabeth Barret-Browning writes to her husband and as a women writing, it is written in a tender and soft tone. Her language and style used is incredibly dramatic. To begin with Browning presents her love to her husband in a very private and loving way. She uses language and expressions like; â€Å"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach,† Browning writes from a female point of view and wants to make a commitment to her husband. The ideas of love in the three sonnets differ, as Drayton’s love is unrequited and he is not writing in a reality, he has no one to write to. With Browning we know that she is writing to her husband and making a dedication to him. She writes in a serious yet, immensely loving form, we can tell from reading her sonnet that her husband is her life and the love she feels for him is described as endless. We see that Shakespeare writes in an incredibly confident manner, he is not writing to a person, as such, so his style differs from that of Browning or Drayton. Shakespeare’s sonnet is an explanation of love, he writes in his opinion and of how love can conquer all. As we know that Browning is a woman, her style and tenderness differs terribly from that of Drayton and Shakespeare. Drayton’s intention in his sonnet is to try and win over his idol of love, Anne Goodere. His efforts are useless and in his sonnet he says he wished to make himself free, so we can see that he does not enjoy the love he feels for Anne and wishes to be free of it. The name of his sonnet being, â€Å"Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part. † Meaning since they can no longer resist each other, let us have one kiss and part each other’s company. He does achieve what he’s trying to do, as when reading this I truly understood how he felt, he was trying to depart from this love. Drayton goes onto say: â€Å"And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, That thus so cleanly I myself can free. † He means that now, after this kiss, he is glad, extremely glad that he can get over the possessive love he once felt for her. We can clearly see that Browning’s intentions are to make it perfectly clear to her husband and tell him exactly how she feels about him. She achieves this brilliantly and by her use of such outrageous, yet hooking lines, detailed with words and phrases such as, death, she produces her amazing sonnet: † -and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. † She talks of her after life and hopes that she will be allowed to spend it with him. Shakespeare intends to convince and tell every one of his thoughts on love, he is so confident that he is correct and that everyone will agree with him that he ends his sonnet with the rhyming couplet; â€Å"If this be error and upon me prov’d, I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d. † Thus showing that if this sonnet is wrong and proved to be then he never writ it and noone ever loved. This can also be interpreted as Shakespeare being cocky, he is quite sure of himself and the accuracy of his sonnet that he is willing to make an extreme statement. The general tone of Browning’s sonnet is a heart felt, true expression of her love for her husband, she counts the numerous ways of how she feels and lines such as; â€Å"With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! † Showing that she loves him with the most powerful feelings of all she has experienced in her life, her tears and smiles and the breaths she take each day. This differs from Shakespeare as he has a general confident manner and is stating the feelings and meanings of love. He uses personification in the lines; â€Å"Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. † Meaning that love is not timed, it has no schedule of when to begin and cease, but reaches until the end, when death occurs. Love does not change over hours and weeks it stays constant until the brink of Judgement Day, death is it only let out. He shows how love, if true, will stay with the lovers until death. Compared to Browning’s and Shakespeare’s general tone, Drayton does not use the powerful and heart felt tone that Browning does, neither does he state a general meaning for love, as with Shakespeare. He seems to tell a story, or rather a tale, which he longs to happen between him and the one he loves, his love is not returned. He knows this and so at the end of his sonnet he uses the rhyming couplet; â€Å"Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over. From death to life thou mightst him yet recover. † This tells us that Drayton is willing to wait for his love, saying that if they ever change their mind, eh will be there waiting for them. He uses the form of a dramatic monologue and therefore does achieve a passionate sonnet. Shakespeare uses the rhyming form of abab cdcd efef gg. This enhances his poem and the rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet changes the tone right at the end. This is effective and can give a totally different meaning. This structure gives his sonnet a flow and the language used works perfectly. We can see that his presentation of love and the way it is structured means that Shakespeare is an extremely experienced poet and writer. Browning uses Petrachan form in her sonnet and gives it the rhyming form of abbaabba cdcdcd, this is also known as an eight line section, known as the octave, followed by a six line section, known as the sestet. There is also a break in the thought and tone of the sonnet between these two parts. With Drayton his structure shows us that he was around at the same time as Shakespeare and uses the same rhyming scheme and couplet to finish. This again proves to be very effective and leaves the extra statement of the end to seal the sonnet to his love. All three of the sonnets are extremely original and all excellent. However, Browning seems to use the most powerful structure, source and form as it is written purely from her heart. All three sonnets flow very exceedingly well and have a good structure behind them. In comparison to Shakespeare, Browning’s use of structure is the most varied. It lends itself well to her meaning and rhyming such lines as; â€Å"I love thee to the depth and bredth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight† Just increases the exaggeration of the rhyme, the meaning is therefore exerted and we find ourselves wanting to reach on. Shakespeare use of rhyme in alternate lines is also effective and lends itself well to his language and style used. The words â€Å"fixed† and â€Å"wand’ring† are designed specially for this sonnet, as there must be ten syllables and 5 stresses in a Shakespearian sonnet. Shakespeare’s use of language does not differ very much from Drayton as they were written around a particular period. Although in Drayton’s sonnet he is infact talking of getting rid of love and how he will feel after it has gone, he seems to want to be relieved of the feelin, Shakespeare however is talking of how great love is and how it does not alter. In comparison Browning’s sonnet is the most different out of all three in her presentation of love. Her compassionate tone and kindhearted comments rule over he sonnet and seem to guide her to all correct places of describing. The effectiveness that Shakespeare, Browning and Drayton all have is one to make us all want to experience love. The three very different sonnets are similar in their presentation of love, as they all enjoy it, apart from Drayton who now wants to be free of the hold it has on him. But as we can learn from Shakespeare, Drayton may find it hard to do so.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Marketing Concept Consumer Loyalty essay

Marketing Concept Consumer Loyalty essay Marketing Concept: Consumer Loyalty essay Marketing Concept: Consumer Loyalty essayConsumer loyalty is a feature of subjectively-positive approving consumer attitudes to a company, its brands, products and services, personnel, and other aspects, expressed through commitment. Under a loyal customer, marketers understand a person who makes regular repeat purchases, consumes a wide variety of company’s products, attracts other buyers, and does not respond to competitors’ offers. In general, consumer loyalty to a company largely determines the success of business and its assessment in the eyes of competitors and partners, as well as provides a strong foundation for stable sales. Further, we will focus on the essence of this marketing concept by studying both theoretical understanding and practical applications of loyalty mechanisms.Basically, loyalty is expressed in the fact that a consumer gives preference to company’s goods or services for a considerably long period of time (usually, over 1 year), almost w ithout asking for similar solutions from company’s major competitors. In this case, the concept of loyalty behavior includes the following categories (Reichheld Teal, 2001, p. 41): 1) action factors (purchase); 2) intention (subsequent actions; the probability of repeat purchases); 3) recommendations (the probability of recommendations of other people); 4) sensitivity (insensitivity to the actions of competitors); and 5) inertia (willingness to find other new options). The key force pushing a customer from stage 1 to subsequent stages is a positive experience after acquiring a product. For example, if a consumer is fully satisfied with the quality of a product of a particular company and service by company’s personnel, next time, with the rest factors stable, he/she is highly likely to make the same consumer choice in favor of this brand (further, we won’t consider the basic preconditions of loyalty, assuming that a company is competitive enough to provide them ). Besides, this favorable attitude will also be transferred to all the new products of the company. Furthermore, the strategy of strengthening customer loyalty is justified through the recent research results showing that the attraction of one new customer costs 5-10 times more than retaining an existing one (Reichheld Teal, 2001, p. 137), while a satisfied customer typically informs an average of 3 friends about a successful purchase, and an unsatisfied client shares one’s annoyance with about 10 friends (Reichheld Teal, 2001, p. 151).From the standpoint of company’s financial success, consumer loyalty leads to the following results (basing on Reichheld Teal, 2001; Dooley, 2011; and Velzquez et al., 2011):1) consumers become less sensitive to price, which means that a product (or service) can be charged at a higher price without the risk of losing the part of the turnover;2) the cost of sales to existing customers is lower than sales to the new ones. As a result, company’s profitability may grow up, even though the price is pulled down. In this case, a client can be offered a range of additional services (products) on the basis of cross-selling, thereby increasing the turnover of the company. Indeed, as Hallberg (1995) states, approximately 80% of their incomes companies receive from 20% of their customers, whereas the increase in the share of regular customers by only 5% results in the profit increase by 50% or even more (Reichheld Teal, 2001, p. 213).That is why, today more and more companies come to the idea of creating and implementing measures aimed at strengthening customer loyalty, primarily by means of personalized sales. For this purpose, companies provide the opportunities leaving feedback through which their consumers articulate their complaints or questions about the quality of a product/service, as well as introduce special programs to encourage consumption such as various seasonal discounts, gift certificates, birthday presents and sales on national holidays. Another effective approach is the development accumulative cards or club memberships for consumers.The latter method allows companies to not only attract new customers, but also greatly improve the quality of interaction with regular partners. One of the world’s first programs of this kind was the AAdvantage developed by American Airlines, which guaranteed passengers a substantial discount on next ticket after accumulating a certain number of miles. Today, similar programs are widely adopted in key airline services, as well as in hotel and restaurant chains. In a subconscious fear to lose alluring opportunities, consumers vigorously collect their loyalty points. As a result, Hilton clients rarely switch for Marriott (Velzquez et al., 2011). Studies have shown that loyalty programs using some type of bonus cards result in a decrease in consumer turnover by 30%, and an increase in the volume of business by 10%, while holding only 5% of t he total number of customers over time lead to 25-85% increase in profit obtained from them (Reichheld Teal, 2001, p. 183-87). At the same time, as Velzquez et al. (2011, p. 70) rightfully claim, bonus programs may be easily copied and therefore cannot provide a decisive competitive advantage.According to Garth Hallberg (1995), differentiated marketing strategy should also involve highly profitable direct communication and feedback based on efficient database systems. For instance, such large companies as Procter Gamble and Kraft Foods have already collected databases numbering more than 40 million records of individual households (Rungie et al., 2013, p. 1672), and the effectiveness of this strategy is proved experimentally. In particular, studies show a significant increase in the positive image of the brand and the volume of its purchases by those customers who have participated in direct communication programs on increasing loyalty. A typical program aimed at potentially high- profit consumers leads to an increase in sales inside this group by nearly 25% (Dean, 2007, p. 165). It is also important to mark that a substantial increase in company’s fame, image and frequency of purchases in the case of direct communication with consumers had a long-term effect. In many studies (Reichheld Teal, 2001; Dean, 2007; Rungie et al., 2013), changes were recorded even 2-3 months after the program implementation, while about 80% of the U.S. television audience cannot remember a particular advertisement they have seen the day before.On the other hand, in their long-term perspective, bonus cards turn to be unprofitable, and direct communication is often annoying. In this regard, one of the most vivid examples of an effective strategy is Apple, Inc., known for its most loyal customers. Despite several considerable declines, Apple has managed to achieve unprecedented loyalty by competently playing on â€Å"tribal instincts†. This amazing loyalty was surely bu ilt of many factors including advanced design, original products and technologies, user experience, creative marketing, etc. However, there is also an unexpected element, which, according to Roger Dooley (2011), played one of the key roles: the creation of an enemy to compete with. In its marketing fights with Samsung, Apple has been persistently building the social image of Apple users, which would differ dramatically from the rest of consumers. The result of using basic social archetypes was the emergence of Apple cult. Similar contradistinction strategy also used to be applied by such competitors as Nike and Adidas, IBM and Microsoft.Here, basing on Rungie et al. (2013) and Dooley (2011), a current trend should be stressed again: contemporary consumers react positively primarily on companies offering ideas â€Å"beyond known†, i.e. new technologies and bold features. Other non-material forms of consumer loyalty strengthening may involve company’s transparent policie s, clear corporate social responsibility policy, green and eco-saving innovations, newly discovered ways to connect on media, possibilities of the uniqueness of samples or their full compliance to individual specific requirement, as well as their multifunctionality. For instance, the Sportline Company has recently invented an interactive bottle equipped with a display. The smart vessel not only dispenses liquid, but also tells the time of the next portion, and demonstrates current indicators to monitor the level of water need in the body. The Life cycle of such products might be short, but the loyalty accompanying will be high proportionally. Attracted by markets gamification, consumers are often ready to follow their idols to the end.In sum, a loyal customer is always valuable in financial terms: he/she regularly buys company’s products, attracts new customers, requires much less attention, is already familiar with the company’s range of products and offerings, as wel l as more resistant to price fluctuations and is prone to overpay a little rather than buy unfamiliar goods. Therefore, the crucial task for any company consists in consumer retention, the inadmissibility of consumer’s departure to company’s competitor. In this regard, consumer devotion should be rewarded with an excellent service, personal attention, personalized discounts, bonuses, and gifts, in a row with relevant policies on constructing consumer’s social image, and considering personal feedbacks, interests and tastes in developing new product lines.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Essays

The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Essays The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Paper The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Paper Essay Topic: Sociology Among the many existing economic and social theories on the emergence of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and its relationship with foreign direct investment (FDI), internalisation theory has room for further development in a present day context, thus is the subject of this study. An MNE is an enterprise that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and owns or controls value-adding activities in more than one country (Dunning, 1993, p. 3). Several schools of thought exist in business literature that explain the internationalisation process of firms, such as market imperfection theory (Hymer, 1976; Kindleberger, 1969), product life-cycle theory (Vernon, 1971), internalisation/transaction costs analysis (Buckley Casson, 1976; Williamson, 1977, 1993) and OLI paradigm (Dunning, 1980). This study focuses on internalisation theory due to its great contribution to development of MNE theory. The main objective of this study is to explore the framework of internalisation theory using a case of video game industry in Japan,to further refine the theory. In the first section, the relevant literature on internalisation theory are critically reviewed. In particular, two empirical research projects are highlighted in order to determine which research method is appropriate to this area of study. Further questions are subsequently discussed in the second section. In the last section, the research design is described. 1. Literature Review 1.1 Internalisation Theory The main concept of internalisation theory is that firms grow by internalising markets through foreign direct investment (FDI) to minimise transaction costs (Buckley, 1988). If the cost of using arms-length markets are low, some form of arms-length arrangement (licensing, exporting, franchising, joint venture (JV)) would occur (Buckley Casson, 1976, 1988). Internalisation theory developed by Buckley and Casson (1976) is based on the empirical evidence obtained from their survey research. For the sample they chose 434 large manufacturing firms and collected each firms data including growth rate, profitability, size and capital-intensity in order to examine the relationship between multinationality, growth and profitability which stems from the internalisation. Through the statistical analysis, Buckley and Casson confirmed their postulate that internalisation of markets generates MNEs. Buckley and Casson (1976)s approach to research can be categorised as positivistic approach. There are mainly two different ways of approaching research which are positivistic approach and phenomenological approach (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 1997). As a definition of positivism, Benton and Craib (2001) state that in social science it can be seen as an attempt to put the study of human social life on a scientific footing by extending the methods and forms of explanation which have been successsful in natural science (Benton Craib, 2001, p. 28). On the other hand, phenominology is concerned with understanding human behaviour from the participants own frame of reference (Hussey Hussey, 1997, p. 52), PAs Hussey and Hussey (1997) explain, positivistic approach is objective in nature and uses deductive process, while phenomenological approach is more subjective in nature and inductive in the research process. The advantage of positivistic approach is that research findings possess a high level of reliability. The data produced from positivist research is usually quantitative data which refers to all data that is collected in numerical form (Hussey Hussey, 1997, pp. 150). Therefore, if research findings yielded from quantitative data were repeated by another researcher, (s)he could obtain similar results (Hussey Hussey, 1997). In the case of Backley and Casson (1976)s research, large cross-sectional samples and numerical company data made their findings reliable. The disadvantage of positivist research is that validity will likely be low (Hussey Hussey, 1997). Validity is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear to be about (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill,1997). According to Hussey and Hussey, because positivistic research focuses on the precision of measurement, often the measure does not reflect the phenomenon which the researcher investigates. Regarding Backley and Casson (1976)s research method, Kobrin (1977, pp. 138) criticised as follows: difficulties of their research are unnecessarily compounded by a very partial reporting of results; for example, statistics rather than coefficients are reported as measures of the strength of association. From a different viewpoint, Backley and Casson (1976)s research has another weakness in terms of data collection. They mention two short-comings of the data: firstly, information on RD expenditure is available only by industry and not by firm, and secondly, an international and interregional breakdown of operations by host country is available only for a very limited number of firms (Buckley Casson, 1976, pp. 84). In quantitative research, such lack of data would be a severe disadvantage. 1.2 Application of Internalisation Theory Considerable amounts of research have been undertaken in order to test the application of internalisation theory. A case study of Coca-Cola in China conducted by Mok, Dai and Yeung (2002) is an empirical tests. In their research, internalisation theory was used to explain Coca-Colas experience and success by changing modes of entry from franchising to JVs. Mok et al. concluded a key of Coca-Colas success in the Chinese market was the internalisation of its market transactions through establishment of JVs rather than wholly owned subsidiaries. The contribution of Mok et al. (2002)s research was they not only provided implications of internalisation theory but also insight into the market expansion strategy of a global soft drink manufacturer in China. For research methodology, Mok et al. (2002) employed case studies in addition to general data collection. The case study is a research strategy which focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single settings (Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 534). It involves gathering detailed information about the unit of analysis with a view to obtaining in-depth knowledge (Hussey Hasse, 1997). There would be three strengths in Mock et al.s case study. First, Mok et al.s choice of sample fully matches their objective of research. Since Coca-Cola is undoubtedly one of the biggest MNEs and has long history of investment in China since 1979, it is a good sample with which to explain the growth of MNE and FDI. In addition, China is a preferable location because its market was a typical imperfect market (Mok, Dai Yeung, 2002). Secondly, Mok et al. (2002) took advantage of qualitative data gained from interviews. Qualitative data is concerned with qualities and non-numerical characteristics (Hussey and Hussey, 1997, pp. 150). Mok et al.carried out interviews with high-level management of Coca-Cola. Their main purpose of the interviews was to obtain information about the companys business operations, especially its relationship with local partners (Mok et al., 2002). They emphasis the importance of interviews as follows: only rarely was this type of information obtainable from any other publicly available sources (Mok et al., 2002, pp. 40). According to May (1997), the advantage of interviews is that they yield rich insight into peoples experiences, opinions, aspirations, attitudes and feelings. In the case of Mok et al.s research, companies entry mode choices were made clear by examining managerial perception revealed in the interviews. Such evidence would not be found sufficiently in official data. However, there are limitations of Mok et als case study. First, since the sample came from a single industry, thus the generalisability of the results is restricted (Mok et al., 2002). Second, as Dunning (1993) claims, the information obtained by field questionnaires and/or interviews with MNEs represents the subjective judgment of the responders to questionnaires or the interviewees. 1.3 Discussion After establishment of its basic concepts, the internalisation theory was confirmed by many researchers as a general explanation for the MNE trend. However, it is questionable that internalisation theory can sufficiently explain the recent variety of activities of MNE. The emergence of global E-commerce companies could be cited as a prime example. For these companies, internalising advantage would be less of a factor since the Internet reduces both internal coordination and market transaction costs (Dunning Wymbs, 2001). Another example is Japanese video game companies which are multinationalised but less internalized to their market. Nintendo and Sony have great share in the video game industry both domestically and internationally, but they seldom have a joint venture or partnership with foreign partners and their almost all production takes place in Japan1. Their overseas subsidiaries are mainly only responsible for sales and marketing. Unlike with E-commerce, the video game industry requires a certain physical space to manufacture and convey its products, similar to other mass-production industries. Nevertheless, the fact that internalisation rarely occurs in Japanese MNEs in video game industry is problematic. It can be supposed that unique characteristics of this industry cause this phenomenon. Thus, further study is needed to examine whether internalisation theory can apply to the video game industry in Japan. 2. Research Method The purpose of this research is to test the applicability of internalisation theory and reconsider the theoretical framework of the theory. Finally, suggestions are made with regards to further research that could be carried out in relation to the discoveries made in this study. 2.1 Research Design This research takes a positivistic approach. As noted above, while phenomenological approach is concerned with generating theories, positivistic approaches focus on hypothesis testing (Hussey Hussey, 1997). In this research, the data collection is concerned with testing a theory rather than generating new theories. The research approach can also devided inductive or deductive (Hussey Hussey, 1997). Deductive research is defined by Hussey Hussey as a study in which a conceptual and theoretical structure is developed and then tested by empirical observation. Hussey Hussey describes inductive research as a study in which theory is developed from the observation of empirical reality. It is this former approach that applies to this study. As a research strategy, this research uses a case study. The research strategy is a general plan of how you will go about answering the research questions (Saunders et al, 1997) The different strategies are experiment, survey, case study, grounded theory, ethnography and action research. As Saunders et al. (1997) mentioned, case studies can be a very worthwhile way of exploring existing theory. It is the main aim of this research. In addition, a case study will be of particular interest to a researcher if (s)he wishes to gain a rich understanding of the context of the research and the process being enacted (Morris and Wood, 1991, cited in Saunders et al., 1997). This research will be effective by gaining rich and detailed information in a particular setting. 2.2 Data collection method This research utilises methodological triangulation both a quantitative and qualitative data collection method (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe Lowe, 1991, cited in Hussey Hussey, 1997). According to Hussey and Hussey (1997), triangulation is advantageous in understanding a research problem and can overcome the potential bias and sterility of a single-method approach. In this research, quantitative data are collected by survey, and qualitative data are gathered through interviews. Mail-in survey questionnaires will be sent to the Japanese video game companies that expand their business overseas including hardware makers and software providers. The objective of questionnaire is to obtain general information on MNEs profiles and performances and to explore their strategy for market entry mode. In order to complement the survey data, secondary data will also be used such as annual reports of companies and government publications The collected data will be analysed using appropriate measuring. At the same time, interviews will carried out with management level staff in a Japanese video game company or those who have knowledge about this area of study. Such qualitative interviews will be used to provide significant quantitative results.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Crime is the result of individuals making choices to commit crime; it Essay

Crime is the result of individuals making choices to commit crime; it is not the result of their social circumstances. Discuss this statement - Essay Example Due to these involvements with other criminals, the individuals view crime as desirable – something that can be used appropriately in social situations (Akers, 1998). Other people make them think that crime is something that can be condoned, and so they do it on their own, as they see it fit into their own lives. When it comes to teenagers, they learn how to engage in crime in the same way that they would learn how to conform to the needs of society (Matza & Sykes, 1961), despite that crime is not socially condoned. There are three mechanisms by which a person learns crime from others: differential reinforcement, beliefs, and modeling. The differential reinforcements are the rewards or punishments that a person gets from committing a criminal act. If a criminal is not caught, they are unable to be punished – they have only seen the reward to what they do. If they are caught and are punished, they can be conditioned to see that crime is a negative thing and is not condoned by society. A criminal might use their own mindset of beliefs on criminology to help others to see that what they are doing is not wrong. They try to get others to see things from their point of view. When modeling criminal activity, an individual does what might have been done to them: they influence others. The control theory focuses on the conformity that an individual goes through that may cause them to engage in criminal acts. Many sociologists wish to find out why people involve themselves in crime, while others want to know why people conform to begin with. Once again, we are back to the powers of influence and modeling. The control theory has to do with how much restraint a person is willing to put on him or herself to avoid partaking in criminal acts. Once a person gives in to conformity, they are no longer following their own unique rules about how to go about life and keeping to their morals. The labeling theory states that once a person is labeled a criminal, and

Friday, November 1, 2019

Movie critique on the movie Jakes women from 1992 Review

Critique on the Jakes women from 1992 - Movie Review Example The good thing about the TV adaptation was that the technology allowed the director Glenn Jordan to extend a life like veracity to the essentially phantasmagoric nature of the imaginary and psychotic conversations of the central character Jake played by Alan Alda. As evident most of these conversations take place in Jake’s head, which are readily conveyed and managed with dissolves on the TV adaptation, which makes them more realistically perceivable as compared to the stage adaptation, which bothered by the expected constraints had to convey the concept by pulling off the characters imagined by Jake. However, the direction failed to grasp that the TV screen affords a much wider canvass that needs to be filled in by much movement, change of scenery and background, over dramatization of action and emotion to make the overall impact more gripping and interesting for the audience. In that context, the movie was a big failure. Though the performance by Alan Alda was almost flawles s, yet the direction left much to be desired.