A Cultural Diversity Training Program - 1213 Words

With many organizations expanding and becoming more global organizations, whose businesses deal with other countries, cultural diversity becomes more challenging. That is why it is important for organizations to create a cultural diversity training program to encourage employee from different backgrounds to come together and learn each other s belief system which can enhance the organization s ability to problem-solve. To do this successfully an organization needs to create an organizational climate that promotes a learning organization. Which learning organization was first coined by Peter Senge (Kopp, 2014). According to Kopp (2014), Senge defined a learning organization as â€Å"an organization where people continually expand their†¦show more content†¦By having a training program in place of cultural and diversity areas can help prevent the organization in getting sued or prevent a major lawsuit. That is why organizational leaders are charged with making sure they are in compliant with Federal and State laws. If an employee feels they have been treated differently, because of their culture, age, color, religion, or physical disabilities, this could lead to legal trouble for the organization (Kesee, 2010). One of the organizations that prohibit organizations from discriminating against workers for any reason is the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Human resources can do research on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website, who does provide information on ways for organizations to avoid discrimination for employer and employees (Keese, 2010). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website also contains information on employment laws. Along with reviewing U.S. law, human resources will also have to look into the legislation of the country the organization has offices in those countries. That is why it’s essential for management and employees to be aware of the different cultures within the organization, and culture values. An example is knowing other ethnic holidays, and not just American holiday’s and making sure they get the same attention as American holidays likeShow MoreRelatedDiversity Training And Its Effectiveness1240 Words   |  5 PagesDiversity may be defined as recognizing and respecting the similarities, differences and unique characteristics an individual employee contributes to the workplace. Diversity training and its effectiveness in the workplace has been met with differing conclusions as to the positive or negative impact this type of training may have on an organization. Today, change in the workplace is inevitable and diversity training in the workplace has become common across the globe. Companies now realize thatRead MoreCross Cultural Leadership And Diversity975 Words   |  4 Pages8.4.CM - Leadership Concept Map Chapters 14 Cross-cultural Leadership and Diversity Globalization and changing demographic patterns are making it more important for leaders to understand how to influence and manage people with different values, beliefs, and expectations. There has been more leadership research on cross†cultural aspects and gender differences than on other types of diversity (Ospina Foldy, 2009). Importance of Cross-cultural Research Leaders must also be able to understand howRead MoreTo Resolve The Insensitivity Complaints Of Key Employees,1127 Words   |  5 PagesTo resolve the insensitivity complaints of key employees, which relate to diversity, particularly gender, ethnicity, and religion, Air Aces hired Tyrone Williams (CEO) after airport clients filed numerous complaints regarding airport employees who lack cultural awareness while interacting with diverse groups of customers. Consequently, this insensitivity affects the hiring process and promotion within the Air Aces. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to develop methods of addressing these sensitiveRead MoreThinking About Diversity and Inclusion808 Words   |  4 PagesThinking about diversity and inclusion 1. What are the dimensions of cultural diversity? Identify and briefly explain the dimensions by referencing both textbooks. The dimensions of cultural diversity consist of in the diverse cultures in the world. The diversity is the different race, gender, age, ethical, language, religion, education, and more. The geographic region and the social roll are the result of the cultural diversity in the world. The diversity is variable and depends of the human’sRead MoreGlobal Leadership And Organizational Behavior Effectiveness1671 Words   |  7 Pagesstereyotypes, leaders need to be culturally intelligent. Cultural intelligence. With the increasing globalization of organizations and diversiï ¬ cation of domestic workforces, understanding why some individuals function more effectively than others in culturally diverse situations has become more important than ever (Gelfand, Erez, Aycan, 2007 as cited in Van Dyne et al., 2012, p. 295). Earley and Ang (2003) introduced the concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) deï ¬ ned as the capability of an individualRead MoreThe Manager Conducts Team Building Activities1694 Words   |  7 PagesAccording to Cox and Blake (1991), the management of diversity involves a whole diversity philosophy and this includes the establishment of a sound organization culture that values inclusion. The effectiveness of the activity begins with sound aims and objective. In this regard, the manager had instituted a companywide team building initiative that is aimed at changing the employees mind set about diversity; address intersections of diversity, influence o n culture, gender as well as age differencesRead MoreEmployee Training Plan For Employees1716 Words   |  7 Pages Employee Training Plan Executive Summary ï‚ § The Employee Training Plan creates a strategy to provide employee-training resources with its organizational priorities. ï‚ § This plan establishes a standardized plan to meeting the training needs for all employee in the organization. ï‚ § Training is linked to the mission, goals and outcomes of organization. It is developed in partnership with the stakeholders and CEO’s requesting the training. ï‚ § There is a shared delivery system consisting of facilitiesRead MoreDiversitys Impact on Organizations1630 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Diversity must be created and maintained with in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of diversity onto an organization in addition to explaining the legally mandated and stakeholder driven explanations for mandatory diversity. Diversity’s Impact on Organizations Diversity within an organization is a blending of people from various cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Diversity has challenged organizations to setRead MoreHealthcare Management and Article Critique709 Words   |  3 Pagesorganizational productivity. As the Chief Executive Officer of a hospital, I would design an incentive compensation program for my management team by aligning the financial rewards with business objectives and people costs. This will involve the use of a comprehensive approach that examines basic pay, health benefits, incentive opportunities, and retirement programs. The alignment of the compensation program is geared towards promoting organizational productivity and employee motivation. 2. The healthcare workforceRead MoreAddressing Cultural Competence For Improving Healthcare Quality1605 Words   |  7 PagesAddressing Cultural Competence for Improving Healthcare Quality Improving diversity in health care setting is important in patient care. Cultural competence is approach to enhancing healthcare delivery that has been promoted broadly in recent years. By definition cultural competence in health care describes the ability of systems to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs (Betancourt

Grove street Advisor Example

Essays on Grove street Advisor Case Study Case Study Questions – GSA How does Grove Street Advisors propose to create value for its investors? Are these arguments plausible? Grove Street Advisors propose to create value for its investors by using the funds-of-funds approach to manage customized private equity portfolio of funds for its clients. The company addresses specific needs of customers through a customized approach of managing funds and provides them with access to exclusive funds. Grove Street Advisors proposed to use funds-of-funds to aggregate many small investments in order to solve the problem of diversification because investors can just contribute a small amount of funds which is then spread across different firms using the fund-of-fund approach (Rhodes-Kropf and Leamon, 2010). Fund-of-funds also uses its expertise to collect information about multiple private equity funds available. It also allowed investors to have access to private equity organisations of high quality. Fund-of-fund is used to manage a large amount of money and channel it to different firms. It may also be used to handle everyday details of private equity organisations including monitoring and reporting. Another way that Grove Street Advisors propose to create value for investors is by providing customized funds tailored to the needs of clients. For instance, larger clients can be provided with private equity program support so that GSA can manage part of the programs which may be inefficient for the clients or investors to do. Factors such as scale, geography, or sector make it difficult for investors to do some parts of private equity program or investment. GSA may handle the entire program for its small clients in order to create value for them. GSA also allocates funds by sector, geography, and year in order to create a good program vision for its investors (Rhodes-Kropf and Leamon, 2010). GSA invests in a particular fund on behalf of its clients based on their needs and the existing fund relationships. 2. Why would private equity firms be interested in having GSA as a potential investor? Private equity funds would be interested in having GSA as a potential investor because it would connect them to customers. GSA allocates funds through program visions and funds-to-funds vehicles. GSA has the willingness to transfer its relationship with the private equity firm to the client over time. This takes different approaches that allow the private equity firm to access a wide range of clients. According to the Grove Street Advisors, its clients are the clients of private equity firms. As a result, private equity firms can be interested in having Grove Street Advisors as a potential investor because it links them to its customers. First, uses a client’s account to invest in a good fund which allows private equity firms to know GSA’s clients through the GSA (Rhodes-Kropf and Leamon, 2010). In this case, the fund generated by Grove Street Advisors comes from the account of its clients. These funds are to be used by the private equity fund; hence the private equity firm will know and acquire GSA’s clients through the fund established by the GSA. Secondly, if the private equity firm raises another fund, Grove Street Advisors may use the funds of its clients and allow the client to invest in its own money alongside GSA (Rhodes-Kropf and Leamon, 2010). This allowed the private equity firm to know the client more. This essentially means that the Grove Street Advisors acts as an intermediary to link its clients with private equity investors. The entire money to be invested may also come from the client, which is then used to create a core portfolio. The private equity investor can benefit by getting access directly to the funds provided by GSA’s client with GSA benefiting from it because it does not receive compensation in this stage. 3. What do you think of GSA’s willingness to let its clients bypass them and invest directly in the fund managers located by GSA? Grove Street Advisors is willing to let its clients bypass them and invest directly in the fund managers located by GSA. This benefits private equity firms more than the GSA. In this case, the relationship is transferred to the clients of Grove Street Advisors. This allows small clients who do not wish to manage their private equity portfolios to avoid contributing to the funds pooled by the Grove Street Advisors. This does not look beneficial to the GSA because the Grove Street Advisors does not get any compensation through the process. However, the company can act as an intermediary through which clients can develop relationships with large investors. Allowing clients to bypass them invest directly in the fund managers enables GSA to add value to both LP and GP in the relationship despite not receiving compensation. In this regard, it is plausible for Grove Street Advisors to allow its clients to bypass them and engage directly with fund managers because as the clients becomes able to invest directly due to increasing GP, it no longer adds a lot of value for GSA to be engaged (Rhodes-Kropf and Leamon, 2010). Therefore, GSA gets out of the way at this point. This decision by GSA also allows for the continuity of a long-cycle business whereby larger clients stay fresh as clients renew their justification to work with GSA. The main purpose of Grove Street Advisors in its business is to add value to clients by providing funds and managing clients’ funds as they invest. However, if the company does not achieve this value addition, there is no need to continue with the relationship. Instead, it becomes correct to pass the relationship from the fund manager to the client so that the client can decide how to invest his money. 4. How should GSA proceed? As the business grows, Grove Street Advisors should proceed by identifying specific private equity firms that can match specific funding requirements of its clients. In order to achieve this, the company should categorise its clients according to the amount of funds that they can raise. Clients with small funds can then be linked to the private equity firms that require small amount of funds. Going forward, GSA should also enhance uniformity among its clients. This can be achieved by allowing all clients to contribute the amount of funds they can afford and then bringing in other investors and partners to bridge the gap between the least contributors and the largest contributors. This ensures that both small and big clients contribute towards the compensation of GSA regardless of whether they can engage directly with the fund managers or not. It will also bring equality and efficiency in resource allocation in the financial market and the economy in general. References list Rhodes-Kropf, M. and Leamon, A. 2010. Grove Street Advisors: September 2009. Harvard: Harvard Business School.

Fuzzy Topsis Method Free Essays

Fuzzy TOPSIS method This is an approach based on the TOPSIS technique (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and the fuzzy set theory. The TOPSIS method is based on the concept that the optimum option has the least distance from the positive ideal solution. It is a linear weighting technique, which was first proposed, in its crisp version by Chen and Hwang(1992), with reference to Hwang and Yoon(1981). We will write a custom essay sample on Fuzzy Topsis Method or any similar topic only for you Order Now Since then, this method has been widely adopted to solve MCDM problems in many different fields. Because decision information is uncertain instead of certain in most environments, further extension for group decision making problems under fuzzy environment was published by Cheng(2000),known as Fuzzy TOPSIS. The selection of the third-party provider is a typical MCDM problem. In this method firstly we screen out providers that have not minimal qualifications by the selection criteria. Then closeness coefficient of contractors to each proposal will be computed by Fuzzy TOPSIS method and finally these coefficients as successful indicators for each provider will be fed in to a linear programming to select most profitable projects and providers with respect to the constraints. The stages are described blow: Stage1: Eliminate contractors that haven’t minimal qualifications. For the purpose of analysis, selection criteria need to be rationally selected at first. There are a lot of researches with respect to the decision criteria for evaluating the supplier. Such as the study of Dickson(1966), Ellram (1990),Weber et al. (1991), ,Grupe (1997), and Akomode et al. (1998). According to an empirical survey, the top four selection criteria are responsiveness to service requirements, quality of management, track record of ethical importance, and ability to provide value-added services. The less important selection criteria are listed in a descending order as below: low cost, specific channel expertise, knowledge of market, personal relationship with key contacts, willingness to assume risk, investment in state-of- art technologies, size of firm, and national market coverage. Keeping the outcomes of the supplier selection literature review as a guideline, we derived the relevant factors to evaluate in the provider selection process based on the outsourcing view. However selection of criteria is totally industry specific and based on each case and the criteria are changed and replaced. Then opinions of decision makers on criteria were aggregated and weights of all criteria have been calculated by organizing the expert meeting. Meanwhile, the outcomes of the supplier selection literature review should be kept as a guideline. Stage2: Computing closeness coefficient (CC) for each project by fuzzy TOPSIS method So after we have obtained the important evaluation criteria and the qualified provider candidates to form the MCDM problem,the ranking of the shortlisted vendor providers will be done using the fuzzy TOPSIS approach. First,choose the appropriate linguistic variables for the importance weight of the criteria ,asses the importance of each contractor in each project with respect to each criterion by DM, using linguistic variables. Convert these evaluation into triangular fuzzy numbers with fuzzy weight for each criterion. Fuzzy weight wj of criterion C j are obtained with regard to DM’s opinions. Then the importance of the criteria and the rating of alternatives with respect to each criterion and the aggregated rating Xij under criteria C j can be calculated as: Wj=1K[Wj1+Wj2+†¦+Wjk] xij=1K[xij1+xij2+†¦+xijk] Wjk is the importance weight of the kth decision maker. xijk is the rating of the kth decision maker. Construct the normalized fuzzy decision matrix. If we describe the linguistic variables by triangular fuzzy numbers, xij=(aij,bij,cij) and wij=(wj1,wj2,wj3)then we can get the fuzzy decision matrix denoted by R, and R= R=[rij]m? n. rij=(aijcj,bijcj,cijcj) rij=(aj-aij,aj-bij,aj-cij) Next, the weighted normalized fuzzy decision matrix is constructed by : V=[vij]m? n, i=1,2,†¦,m j=1,2,†¦,n Where vij=rij(. )wj After all of these analysis and calculation ,a positive-ideal solution (PIS, A+) and a fuzzy negative-ideal solution (NIS,A-) as the criterion are chosen. The best alternative solution should be the closest to the Positive Ideal Solution (PIS) and the farthest from the Negative Ideal Solution (NIS). A+=(v1*,v2*,†¦,vn*) A-=(v1-,v2-,†¦,vn-) vj*=1,1,1 vj-=0,0,0 Calculate the total distance of each components from the fuzzy positive ideal and negative ideal: ? If A and B are two fuzzy numbers as follows, distance between these fuzzy numbers is calculated by equation below: A=(a1,b1,c1) B=(a2,b2,c2) Equation : DA,B=13[a2-a12+b2-b12+c2-c12] Given the above description on how to calculate the distance between fuzzy numbers, the distance of components from positive and negative ideas can be derived respectively as: di*=j=1nd(vij,vj*), i=1,2,†¦,m di-=j=1nd(vij,vj-), i=1,2,†¦,m In the end,the relative closeness coefficient (CC)of each contractor-project in each criterion can be calculated as: CCi=di*di-+di+, i=1,2,†¦,m Stage3: Selecting the best projects and related contractors Select the best projects and related contractors by ranking options based on the descending cci. An alternative with index cci approaching 1 indicates that the alternative is close to the fuzzy positive ideal reference point and far from the fuzzy negative ideal reference point. A large value of closeness index indicates a good performance of the alternative. A case study: The proposed methodology for supplier selection problem, composed of TOPSIS method, consists of three Steps: (1) Identify the criteria to be used in the model; (2) weigh the criteria by using expert views; (3) evaluation of alternatives with TOPSIS and determination of the final rank. The case is that of a major company operating in the dairy products field. In the first phase, the project team operated mainly through roundtable discussions on developing their main selection criteria. After identity the criteria attributed under consideration, five alternatives suppliers are written in the list. There are several criteria need to be considered, and each vendor’s information under each criteria are collected, calculating each vendor’s overall rating weight, shown in Table 2. (Mohammad Saeed Zaeri,2010) Finally, the closeness coefficient was calculated to rank alternatives. The results obtained are shown in Table 4: (Mohammad Saeed Zaeri,2010) The order of rating among those vendors is Supplier3;gt; Supplier 4;gt; Supplier 1;gt; Supplier2;gt;Supplier5, the best vendor would be Supplier3. To conclude, the TOPSIS method had several advantages. First, TOPSIS makes it possible to appraise the distances of each candidate from the positive and negative ideal solutions. Second, it allows the straight linguistic definition of weights and ratings under each criterion, without the need of cumbersome pairwise comparisons and the risk of inconsistencies. It evaluates the projects and each provider more precisely by expert decision makers in each stage of the whole process. Moreover, the method is very easy to understand and to implement. All these issues are of fundamental importance for a direct field implementation of the methodology by logistics practitioners. However TOPSIS is proved to be insensitive to the number of alternatives and has its worst performance only in case of very limited number of criteria. In order to apply fuzzy TOPSIS to a MCDM problem, selection criteria have to be monotonic. How to cite Fuzzy Topsis Method, Papers

Economics Economic Theory Bulletin

Question: In mentioned cases provide a neat diagram to explain your answer. Make sure to label axes properly. Else points will be deducted. The maximum possible points is 40. A local firm in Abu Dhabi is operating under a perfectly competitive environment. If price in market is 4 AED and their total cost is 500 AED (including the fixed cost of 200 AED) for output of 30 units, then should they continue to produce or shut down in short run? Provide your answer with a relevant diagram and explain your answer in few words. (10 points) Recent research has documented the fact that Coke is something different compared to other soft drinks. In fact related literature states that Coke has already attained the monopoly status. If we assume the research is correct and coke is a monopolist, then a) Do you think that coke actively engages itself in price discrimination? B) If so, what type of price discrimination they are engaged in? Discuss your answer with a relevant diagram. (10 points) Etisalat and Du are duopolists. If they form a cartel between themselves, then what will happen to price and output in the market. Discuss your answer with a relevant diagram. (5 points) 4). In a recent conversation a policy maker argued that since DEWA is monopolist, they are charging higher price and lower output is produced. He further mentioned that government should split the entire unit into small pieces so that competition can drive down prices. Do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer in few words. Provide a relevant diagram. (5 points) 5) Consider the following pay-off matrix (Numbers in the matrix reflect their respective profit levels) for two gas stations. Gas station A Gas Station B High price Low price High price 200,000 AED; 200, 000 AED 50,000 AED; 400,000 AED; Low price 400,000 AED; 50,000 AED 80,000 AED; 80,000 AED; If each firm follows their dominant strategy, then what will be their respective profit levels? And if they collude then what is their new profit level? (5 points) 6) A cosmetic firm operating in a monopolistically competitive market environment spends a lot of money in advertisement and ends up with super-normal profit even in long run. Is it possible? Explain your answer in few words. (5 points) Answer: 1. The market price at Abu Dhabi is 4 AED. The total cost of the firm is 500 AED. The fixed cost incurred by the firm is 200 AED. Therefore, the variable cost of the firm will be (500-200) =300 AED. The output is 30 units. Therefore, the Average Variable Cost is Total Variable Cost Total output; i.e. 300 30 = 10 AED. According to the theory of perfect competitive market, a firm will shut down its production if the market price is less than Average Variable Cost (P AVC) (Shepherd 2015). Here, the market price 4 AED is far below than the average variable cost (10 AED). Figure 1:Shutdown Point of Production Source: Created by Author A firm in the competitive market continues its production even if the price is below Average Cost. This is because; still the price is exceeding average variable cost and firm will operate in the short run to cover its variable cost. At this situation, if the firm shuts down its production, there will be no variable cost but firm has to pay fixed costs. Fixed cost has to be paid by the firm, regardless of the decision of the firm. Hence, instead of AC, the decision will be based on looking into AVC. As long as the price is greater than AVC, the firm will cover all variable cost along with some part of fixed cost. Therefore, below the point where price is equal to AVC, firm is unable to cover its cost of production. At this point, the firm will shut down its production (Rubinfeld and Pindyck 2013). 2. Coke enjoys monopoly power in the market, so it can actively engage in price discrimination. This will enable the company to maximize its profit. Price discrimination can be of three types namely, first degree; second degree and third degree price discrimination. In the first degree price discrimination, the monopolist charges maximum price that each consumer is willing to pay. This type of price discrimination involves maximum exploitation. In the second degree price discrimination, the monopolist charges different price different quantities. Here lower price is charged for bulk purchase than a single unit. In the third degree price discrimination, monopolist divides the entire market into small groups and charges different prices for different groups of consumers (Aguirre and Cowan 2015). The coke is the most preferred soft drinks producing company. The demand for coke increases during summer season and falls substantially during winter. The elasticity of demand is high during winter and demand is inelastic during summer.Therefore, the firm can engage itself in the third degree price discrimination. The company can divide its market on seasonal basis and charge different price in different market. It will maximize its profit in summer by charging high price and in winter it will charge low price, as people might become price sensitive during winter. Moreover, Coke is an international company with numerous branches; manufacturing sector and retailers all over the world. The demand for soft drink is higher in the tropical region, where it is mostly summer, for example, in Kenya (Euromonitor.com 2016). The demand for Coke is significantly lower in the temperate or polar zone, where it is mostly cold. The company divides its market according to the climatic zone and charg e different price. In the polar zone, it cannot raise its price too much as demand is very elastic in nature. In contrast, the Coke company can maximize its profit by charging high price in tropical climate, s demand is highly inelastic. Figure 2: Third Degree Price Discrimination Source: Created by Author In the above diagram, it has been presented how different prices can be charged for different market. Coke will charge P1 where demand is inelastic in nature and P2 where demand is elastic in nature to maximize its profit. Hence, Coke will engage itself in the third degree price discrimination by dividing its market. 3. Etisalat and Du form a cartel between themselves, it implies the two firms decides to collude rather than competing with each other. There can be made an explicit collusive agreement, where they together decide their price and market sharing. The cartel can be implicit in nature, where collusion is secretive. By trusting each other these two firms create monopoly (Fonseca and Normann 2014). In this case, the firms decide to divide the monopoly output equally between themselves and sell it at the monopoly price. Here, both the firms will earn same amount of profit. Figure 3: Cartel in Duopoly Source: Created by Author However, the output of cartel is not on their best response curve. Therefore, it is possible that a firm cheats and produces best response output. Here, the total output will be best response output of firm 1 plus the cartel output of firm 2, which is more than total monopoly output (shared between these two firms). The market price will be lowered as well. The firm who cheated will earn higher profit and the firm who did not cheat will lose. If both firm cheats, the total output will be best response output of firm 1 and best response output of firm 2 that is greater than before. However, in such case, the price will be so low that the both firm will earn lesser profits than profits earned by forming cartel. Individual firm will be benefitted by cheating if another firm is not cheating. So cheating is better option for each firm. However, it is better not to cheat because, as cheating by both firms will lead to lesser profits earned by both firms. Therefore, price and output of cartel depends on trust (Bernheim and Madsen 2013). Figure 4: Best Responsive Function Source: Created by Author 4. DEWAis charging high price and producing lower output. By splitting the entire unit will improve its production efficiency; improved product and will lower down the unit costs. However, as DEWA is the Electricity and water supplier, this is a case of natural monopoly.Splitting may not increase competition in the traditional way. However, there will be a type of cost competition as each unit would be encouraged to be more efficient than others (Moszoro 2014). While DEWA charged high price for low output the profit of the firm is very high. After splitting into several units, it produces or supplies high level of output but faces loss due to low price. In general, splitting of production increases competition traditionally, as different units are less likely to share their information with other units. However, as DEWA is providing essential goods like electricity and water, the information cannot be kept secret. Hence, units might not achieve competitive advantage over other goods. Therefore, it can be concluded that, government decision of splitting DEWA into small units in order to increase competition, cannot be fully agreed. The following diagram represents the case of natural monopoly. It has illustrated the fact that, high price and low output indicates inefficiency in the market but the firm is earning high profit. However, low price and high output is efficient for society but there is no incentive for the firm as it will suffer from losses. Therefore, it can further be concluded that there is no improvement in the competition by splitting the firm as there is no incentive for the firm to produce at lower price, when it is operating in natural monopoly. Figure 5: Consequences ofNatural Monopoly Source: Created by Author 5. Gas station A Gas Station B High price Low price High price 200,000 AED; 200, 000 AED 50,000 AED; 400,000 AED; Low price 400,000 AED; 50,000 AED 80,000 AED; 80,000 AED; A strategy is said to be dominant for a player if he gets better payoff by selecting that strategy, regardless of what another player has chosen (Myerson 2013).From iterated elimination, the dominant strategy can be obtained. Gas station A Gas Station B High price Low price High price 200,000 AED; 200, 000 AED 50,000 AED; 400,000 AED; Low price 400,000 AED; 50,000 AED 80,000 AED; 80,000 AED; From the above pay-off matrix, the pay-off for Gas Station B is higher when it adopts low price regardless the choice of Gas Station A. If A choses High Price strategy, then B will be better off by choosing low price strategy, as 500,000 AED is greater than 200.000 AED. Similarly, if A selects Low price strategy, then also B will be better off by selecting low price strategy again, as 800,000 AED is higher than 400,000 AED. Therefore, low price strategy is the best possible choice for Gas Station B. Now, as B will always select low price strategy, Gas Station A will be better off by selecting low price strategy as the profit level will be higher in this case (800,000 AED 400,000 AED). The respective profit level will be 800,000 AED for both the firms When the firms collude with each other, it implies that it aims to maximize their joint profit. When the strategy is (Low Price, Low Price) then the joint profit of both firms will be maximized and the profit level will be 800,000 AED for both of them. So, there will be no change in their profit level. 6: In the short run, the monopolistically competitive firm, the firm maximizes the profit where MR=MC. The average cost is lower than this level, and thus the firm earns super-normal profit. This is represented in panel (a) of the following diagram. However, in the long run, the supernormal profit attracts new firm and the demand (AR) curve becomes more elastic (Roberts 2014). Therefore, at the point where MR=MC, the firm faces neither profit nor loss. This is represented in the panel (b). However, the cosmetic firm spends more money on advertisement.This has helped the firm to differentiate its product from other companies and establish significant brand loyalty. As a result of this, the AR or the demand curve does not become inelastic for the product of this company. Hence, in real world example, through advertisement, it is possible to earn super-normal profit even in the long run. Figure 6: Supernormal Profit in Monopolistically Competitive Market Source: Created by Author References Aguirre, I. and Cowan, S.G., 2015. Monopoly price discrimination with constant elasticity demand. Economic Theory Bulletin, 3(2), pp.329-340. Bernheim, B.D. and Madsen, E., 2013. Business Stealing in Imperfect Cartels. Working paper. Euromonitor.com. 2016. Soft Drinks in Kenya. [online] Available at: https://www.euromonitor.com/soft-drinks-in-kenya/report [Accessed 10 Aug. 2016]. Fonseca, M.A. and Normann, H.T., 2014. Endogenous cartel formation: Experimental evidence. Economics Letters, 125(2), pp.223-225. Moszoro, M.W., 2014. Public-Private Monopoly. Myerson, R.B., 2013. Game theory. Harvard university press. Roberts, K., 2014. The limit points of monopolistic competition. Noncooperative Approaches to the Theory of Perfect Competition, 3, p.141. Rubinfeld, D. and Pindyck, R., 2013. Microeconomics. Pearson Education. Shepherd, R.W., 2015. Theory of cost and production functions. Princeton University Press.

Wharton To Ask Rec Writers For ‘Essays’

Wharton School operations and innovation management professor Christian Terwiesch teaching class After a major review, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has decided to ask recommenders of its MBA applicants to effectively write two short essays on the candidates they are recommending. The changes, effective with the upcoming 2017-2018 admissions cycle, occurred after the school surveyed more than 1,200 writers of recommendation letters and asked about their experience with the process. Vice Dean Maryellen Reilly, who deemed the overall â€Å"significant,† said they were being made â€Å"in an effort to get a deeper understanding of a candidate’s personal characteristics and their impact on others throughout their career.† It’s a major changeup, in part, because business schools have been reducing the number and the length of essays for MBA applicants for several years now. At least on the surface, it seems ironic that a school would now decide to essentially ask recommendation writers for a pair of 300-word essays. The move also comes not long after several schools have moved to a common rec letter format to make it easier for recommenders to provide support for their candidates to several schools. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK FROM ADMISSION CONSULTANTS MIXED But Wharton ostensibly thought it could improve on the current system after asking rec writers for their perspectives. â€Å"Utilizing their valuable feedback, in conjunction with conversations with writers at a variety of companies and Wharton stakeholders, we have revised and improved how recommenders provide information on who a candidate is both personally and within an organization,† wrote Deputy Vice Dean Maryellen Reilly in a blog post about the change. Several MBA admission consultants, however, weren’t nearly as enthusiastic about the change, largely because they saw it as an additional burden on recommenders. That could encourage more recommenders to ask applicants to write the essays for their approval. â€Å"For the personality traits, the good news is that Wharton is trying to get authentic and thoughtful responses from recommenders, rather than literally ‘check-the-box,† says Betsy Massar, founder of Master Admissions. â€Å"Because there are truly no right or wrong answers, hopefully, students won’t be as anxious about not being top at everything. For the qualitative questions, It’s great that the essay question specifically says up front, â€Å"give examples.† Maybe that will bring more substance into some of the high-praise-but-fluffy recommendations that don’t differentiate candidates in the least. â€Å"On the downside,† she adds, â€Å"moving away from the common application questions that have been asked by other top schools really does put more of a burden on the recommender. That has all sorts of repercussions that increases anxiety for the student and might even mean that Wharton loses some applicants. Not sure that’s an optimal outcome for anyone.† APPLICANTS MORE LIKELY TO SUCCUMB TO ‘YOU-WRITE-IT-I’LL SIGN-IT’ Linda Abraham, founder and CEO of Accepted.com, agreed. â€Å"Even those inclined to write their own recs are more likely to succumb to the time-saving temptation of you-write-it-I’ll-sign-it if they have to write two additional, distinctive responses to the open questions posed in the Wharton rec,† she says. â€Å"This would be especially true for applicants applying to more schools.† Jeremy Shinewald, founder and CEO of mbaMission, sees an upside and downside to the change. â€Å"Unquestionably, relative to other schools, Wharton will get more thoughtful and colorful letters from those who take the recommendation process seriously – the questions almost force that outcome,† he says. â€Å"Unfortunately, they may also serve as a catalyst for those recommenders who may not want to put the time in and who may not put the time in and decide to shirk their responsibilities altogether. Because a truly excellent letter of recommendation can be a very powerful differentiator for any applicant, we strongly advise our clients to meet with their recommenders and discuss the process and more so what it means to write a standout letter. â€Å"In doing so, we always advise our clients to be ready to diplomatically push back against a boss who says â€Å"write it yourself.† There is a reason why the schools want recommendation letters – they want insight that an applicant just can’t objectively and compellingly state about themselves. So, we may emphasize an extra level of preparedness for pushback to our Wharton applicants, because it will serve them well. They will have a better chance of getting in if they can persuade their recommenders to embrace the process.†

Free Essays on Impacts Of Information Technology On Society

Information Technology has become more and more popular in the last 10 years. Information technology is surrounding us everywhere in our daily lives, from telephone networks, product scanner, and computers of all kind. They are permitting us to reshape our lives, jobs, businesses, and entire societies. Even global political and economic affairs are subject to the influence of information technologies (Kenneth C. Laudon, Carol G. Traver, Jane P. Laudon, 1994). Information technology is an integration of computing technology and information processing (Long, L they don ¡Ã‚ ¦t need to be at work in the office, as long as they have a computer or a PDA. People can now access information more efficiently. The recent history of information technology has traditionally been broken down into four or five distinct stages, each marked by the technology used to create the main logic element used in computers during the period. The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes as their main logic element. Although vacuum tubes represented a great ad... Free Essays on Impacts Of Information Technology On Society Free Essays on Impacts Of Information Technology On Society Information Technology has become more and more popular in the last 10 years. Information technology is surrounding us everywhere in our daily lives, from telephone networks, product scanner, and computers of all kind. They are permitting us to reshape our lives, jobs, businesses, and entire societies. Even global political and economic affairs are subject to the influence of information technologies (Kenneth C. Laudon, Carol G. Traver, Jane P. Laudon, 1994). Information technology is an integration of computing technology and information processing (Long, L they don ¡Ã‚ ¦t need to be at work in the office, as long as they have a computer or a PDA. People can now access information more efficiently. The recent history of information technology has traditionally been broken down into four or five distinct stages, each marked by the technology used to create the main logic element used in computers during the period. The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes as their main logic element. Although vacuum tubes represented a great ad...

Recycling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Recycling - Essay Example Whether recycling as the scheme, is more efficient in environmental conservation is an issue that require further study, and this paper explores how the United States government can make sure the recycling process becomes more efficient. The government, as part of ensuring a more efficient recycling process need to consider all packaging processes and increase campaign awareness among consumers to enact change. At the present, Americans continue to bury millions of products they consider as waste in landfills and which, however, can be remanufactured. Further, as cities become more efficient in terms of recycling measures, the government needs to do away with the landfills that pose a danger to health and the environment. Recycling in essence requires appropriate civic behavior and people need to take personal responsibility to make recycling more efficient. Recycling at the moment, may account for only one-third of the wastes not dumped in the landfills. This is because many people are not participating in recycling everything and the responsible authority such as the municipalities who, clear the bins are not meeting the objective required for an efficient recycling process (Briscoe 43). The government need to engage in the process of establishing new markets or processes suitable for remanufacturing the wide range of plastic materials that end up in the bins or the landfills. Further, as Griff (4) posits in his article the government needs to tighten regulations where, more emphasis is focused on the manufacturers recycling waste rather focusing attention only to consumer waste. While recycling presents a noble idea in terms of conserving the environment, it should not be viewed as a reward for consumption. People should participate in recycling waste by looking at the wider picture of contributing to a sustainable future. A trend among American consumers involves a mentality where individuals do one thing and views that, as making a contribution to conservi ng the environment. For example, a consumer may recycle a plastic soda and views that single act to contribute in solving global warming (Kohn 20). Recycling is a continuous process and every time consumers engage in recycling used products, they contribute to minimizing environmental degradation. In terms of improving efficiency, the government needs to view recycling of wastes as an alternative among other measures appropriate in enhancing the recycling process. In this sense, the government needs to consider switching to other measures that assist in environmental conservation. Other than recycling waste, there are many other pollutants that impact negatively and at higher magnitude compared to the plastic waste. In order to implement a more efficient environmental protection program. The government needs to switch to other efficient measures such as the use of renewable resources and energy and consuming locally grown food (Cooper 73). On another note, a reasonable measure that the United States governments needs to take to improve recycling efficiency involves shifting the responsibility to the producer. This entail a government policy approach where, the responsibilit

Final Assignment Chapters 9 & 10 Research Paper

Final Assignment Chapters 9 & 10 - Research Paper Example ees as an opportunity to belittle her boss by stating it was too early to make such an early assessment yet she had not fully understood how politics had been used by Kathryn. It was very clear that everyone was trying safeguard his wellbeing but not the work of the organization’s development (Lencioni, p.25). The tech decision team also lacks significant communication in the sense that when Nick the chief operating officer suggests they acquire the green banana firm in Boston. Upon being questioned by Kathryn about the timing of the project, he responds with arrogance about her role in team building and not industrial technology (Lencioni, p.56). Another essential attribute missing from the tech Decision team that was a necessary for its effectiveness was lack of extensive collaboration. Lack of collaboration is when JR the sales head resigns and cities wasteful meetings as his reason for calling it quits with the company. Also by Mickey deciding to leave as a result of direct criticism for her focus in personal reputation rather than contribution to the team further exhibited lack of active collaboration (Lencioni, p.36). The Decision tech team experienced only the first three of the four stages of team development since we don’t see them working in respect to performing. Kathryn was effective in enabling the team moves through each phase in the following ways. In the forming stage the dominant human relationships are silence, dependence, self-consciousness, and superficiality. These are during the first week upon taking her new position as the C.E.O. She spent most of her early week walking in the halls, holding brief conversations with staff members and direct contacts and maintaining silence in majority of the meetings she attended. Since she was not well accustomed to her new job and proved her dependence by requesting Jeff Shanley to proceed with the weekly staff meetings as the head. She only maintained brief contacts with other employees and walked

CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS ISSUES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS ISSUES - Essay Example ASDA is a supermarket chain with direct focus on its customers and suppliers. It purchases goods from its suppliers and sells them to its customers. It does not have direct influence on its profitability by any other stakeholders. Although customers and suppliers are the main components of ASDA’s profitability, various other stakeholders also have to be considered and taken into account before arriving into any decision. These variables have an indirect effect on the working and profitability of the company. a) Shareholders: The aim of the company should be to maximise the return of the shareholder as they have invested their wealth and time in ASDA. Company should decide that whether the decision taken by the company would be right for the shareholders and their wealth or not. b) Customers: Customers are another important component which should be considered before arriving at any decision. Customers basically want good quality products at the lowest possible price. Company must see that they generate profit meeting the needs and wants of its customer at the most efficient price. Profit should be generated from customer satisfaction and not by their exploitation. ASDA assured its customers regarding the products it made was not an outcome of exploitation but behind the scene its workers were even not getting enough wages. c) Management and employees: These are the pillars of any organisation or company. In ASDA the condition of its employees was worst. If worker’s interest is not checked by the company, they will not work to the best of their capability making the company incompetent. No proper attention was provided to the needs and comforts of the workers. ASDA must check that their profitability motive does not overlook their employees. d) Government: Government is another party who does affect the profitability of the company. Many a times, government intervenes into the working of the business through the formulation of new

Burger King Market Analysis

Burger King Market Analysis Burger King known as Insta-Burg King was established in 1953 but then company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by David Edgerton James Mclamore. Today it is headquartered in Florida (Miami).Burger King serves Global with 12,200 outlets in 73 countries. Part 1: The product and market According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary fast food is designed for ready availability, use, or consumption and with little consideration given to quality or significance. Basically fast-food is gaining momentum due to the busy lifestyle prerelavant nowadays. This type of food is served to customers in short span of time on order made. The product: Food like Burgers, French fries,Veggi etc. Product type: Fast food Type of Involvement: According to worldwatch.org, Indias fast-food industry is growing by 40 percent. Post liberalization 1991 Fast food industry has developed in India as many multinational providers have set up their business. McDonalds, Dominos, Pizza Hut and Nirulas are well-liked fast food joints in India. According to the findings of the recent online survey from AC Nielson [7, 8] India being At the seventh place, is among the top ten markets for weekly fast food consumption  among the countries of Asia-Pacific region.Over 70% of Urban Households consume outside food fast food from take-away restaurant at least once in a month or more. As per the survey conducted Pizza Hut is the most preferred fast food brand in India. India is one of the top ten countries among the 28 surveyed consuming fast food. Segmentation Types of Segmentation. Geographic segmentation-Urban Locations in India. Two main cities of India Delhi Bangalore. The reason to choose to Delhi is because it is a cosmopolitan city people are open to embrace new ideas lifestyle. It is also becoming a major Information Technology destination of India. Here many major multi nationals like IBM, Microsoft, Google, Sony etc. Many Business process outsourcing industries are there. Delhi is the symbol of old and new growing India. Bangalore city is the nerve of industrial city. It has the IT Park which has gained the popularity of being the Silicon valley. It is ranked among the ten fastest growing city. Today Bangalore is the fifth largest fastest growing city in Asia. Demographic segmentation- Urban Middle class Urban Upper Middle class The Urban % of Middle class income group is 21.7% from 2009-10 The Urban %Upper Middle class income group is 16.3% from 2009-10(Based on data from the Market Information Survey of Households survey of the National Council of Applied Economic Research Targeting Targeting-First Concentrate on Initial focus on Delhi Bangalore customers. Higher income groups. Exposure to western culture and open minded to variety Middle class Upper middle class customers. Positioning On introduction of Burger King it would be initially introduced in the capital city of India, Delhi Banglore.It would be a place for upscale strata consumers mainly to visit relax. It would be positioned differently unlike from its competitor Mc Donalds for family to come along with their children and have fun. An individual earning Rs.30K to 40K a month is expected to indulge in having food from Burger king. The age group mainly targeted on 25-35 year old individuals. Competitor Analysis- Direct competitor- Mc Donalds would be the competitor for Burger King. Indirect competitor-Fresh homemade cooked food localized restaurants Mc Donalds business is profit making in the fast food industry compared to its competitor Burger King by gross margin 38% of its rival by 33%. Mc Donalds is having a strong presence in United States and it is gaining international presence in the fast food industry. Mc Donalds has been a strong performer in 2009 in terms of market share. In comparison to other food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut the overall performance and a liking towards Mc Donalds has been very positive and commendable. Mc Donald marketing mix: think global, act local. However, Taylor (1991) supports the view that companies should use both internationalization and globalization elements to create a competitive advantage: it is important to heed the maxim: think global, act local. The firm must ensure that its structure fits in with its international environment while at the same time have the internal flexibility required to implement its strategic goal (Taylor 1991).McDonalds efficient supply chain in India ensure s delivery on time with reduction on cost maximizing profitability maintaining highest quality standards of products. McDonalds has separate production lines and processes for its vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings. Marketing mix adopted by Mc Donalds- McCarthy (1975) formulated the concept of 4Ps- Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Moreover in case of service marketing in recent years theorists have identified 3Ps given by Fifield and Gilligan (1996) variables as an integral part of the marketing mix process, physical and people. Product- Concept of think global, act local has been clearly adopted by Mc Donalds. To support this concept there are many examples like in India as Hindus do not consume beef, Muslims do not eat pork and Jains (among others) do not eat meat of any type. To suit the majority food interest of the Indians Mc Donalds been innovative to serve customers with Vegetable McNuggets a mutton base Maharaja Mac (Big Mac). Pricing-Pricing decision is a vital factor taken care by McDonalds. The formulation of different pricing decisions has been made differently based on different geographic locations. The right price selection needed to be made for the right market. Various factors needed to be considered researched for the same. Some elements considered by McDonalds to determine the price for a particular market. The process, as described by Vignali et al/(1999)is listed below: Selecting the price objective; Determining demand; Estimating costs; Analyzing competitors costs, prices and offers; Selecting a pricing method; Selecting a final price. The process listed above is the basic framework that allows Mc Donalds localized pricing. McDonalds has highlighted pricing policy in the mission statement where it states that the most fundamental element of determining price was: McDonalds to remain in touch with pricing of our competitors allows them to price our products correctly, balancing quality and value. When Mc Donalds was looking to penetrate into New Delhi India, it determined the price and set it looking at Nirulas, a local food chain as a guideline. McDonalds was formed in India to have toll free number for customers to place the order. Part 2: The consumer Influence on the behavior of consumers for purchase of Burger King. Food consumed by a countrys citizen is a vital part of their culture. In India post liberalization in the economy there are many changes in the country. India being a democratic country all religions beliefs are considered equal with no discrimination. India known for its rich cultural heritage strong belief has witnessed some new developments. As compared to past more percentage of Indian women are employed today. A rise in the womens economic status in India has taken place making them independent and ensuring more of disposable income to spent on leisure and recreation, eating out and health and fitness. Recent expansion of service industry call centers, travel agencies airlines and hotels have led to more of employment opportunities. Therefore rise in employment is offering individuals to indulge in more than the basic need, allowing them to spend and save both. With hectic lifestyles, timesaving products are increasingly in demand. The basic Indian culture is of consuming homemade food. Its not very easy to bring changes to their eating habits as there are many different religions cultures. Reference group are also influence to a persons behavior of eating food outside. Like a family indulging in Non-veg food outside the hom e often, then it is passed to children also. Social class would also be a determining factor depending on Income education occupation. Balancing all these three elements influence the purchase behavior of an individual. Culture is an important element from the view point of the marketer. This influence the consumption behavior of individuals. In India beef is not consumed by Hindus due to religious reasons. Hindus constitute the major population in India. Muslims do not consume pork meat. For Jains they do not consume meat.It is completely prohibited. Therefore chicken is preferred. As the barriers to eat out entrenched in certain sectors of Indian society. The influence to purchase fast food are due to factors such as environment at home, availability and accessibility to fast food providers, social environment and surroundings. Some other additional some of individuals who are living alone have independence in their eating habits, sometimes opting for a new variety of food than t he traditional home cooked food. To spent time socializing in an ambience making them comfortable also affects the visit liking of fast food outlet. Indian consumers are of the view that hygiene conditions are to be provided in an around the kitchen. This model is an essence helping consumers to respond in decision making process. Its known as black box as we still know how human mind works. Some other influences also will be discussed like motivations, perception, perceived risks etc. 1) Problem Solving- a) When an individual is hungry and search of instant fulfillment. b) Target to consumers who are having open mindset to try a new variety of food. c) Target to Middle Upper middle class consumers who wish to visit out and socialize. d) Convenient to carry looking out for a change from the traditional Indian homemade food. 2) Information Search-The factors determined by consumers to recall the Fast food Brand Burger King. Internal Factors for Consumers to search. Recall of advertisements broadcasted on National Television. Hoardings Worldwide Brand value of Burger King for good quality and food. Some External factors which would influence-Colleagues, public sources, friends family. Some articles from product rating organizations as Consumer Report. 3) Alternative Evaluation- Mc Donalds, KFC, Nirulas, homemade food and other local restaurants. 4) Purchase Decision-The purchase decision when made in Burger King would be backed by many factors like a) Social Surroundings-The kind of people around as in India it would be targeted on Middle class and Upper middle class segment. The people present and included while making the purchase. b) Physical Appearance-Such as dà ©cor, ambience of the place, hygiene factors, speedy service offered some music. c) Antecedent States-The target being on individuals who earn Rs30,000 to 40Kper month. Including consumers mood and cash in hand. 5) Post-Purchase Behavior-In case of fast food joint it becomes bit difficult to known the customers opinion towards the food consumed by them as consumers are generally not very keen to provide. But sometimes it can be actively put into action to gather the feedback through some questionnaire which is not lengthy. Some point of contact for customers where an individual is appointed in the store to learn what consumers feel about the Fast-food served. Even through word of mouth if consumers are satisfied they would convey it to their near and dear ones too. Some internal Influence on Consumer Behavior. Motivation-Some people are food lovers who enjoy having food indulge in variety of cuisines. These individuals are internally motivated. Perception-The perception of the brand worldwide. The taste quality of food served is determined based on international standards and reports. Perceived risks-These risks in case of fast food would be related to health hazards which it can bring in the long run. The hygiene factor can be a cause of concern. Personal factors-These factors also influence the consumer behavior like economic situation, age, occupation, personality lifestyle. a) Economic situation-The economic situation in India is on a growth stage. With more people joining the labour force day by day and middle class and upper middle class population able to spend for their leisure, food and entertainment nowdays.People are having more of means to save for their future too additional to the disposable income to spend. As individuals with a monthly income of minimum Rs.30,000 it would targeted for. b) Lifestyle-The change in the lifestyle of people have also under gone a change. Most of the individuals are working and busy with their hectic schedule so hardly find time to cook and have homemade food. So fast food offers them convenience, taste and easily available at good price suiting the pockets of the individuals. People are nowadays governed by education, income, intelligence energy level. Mindset of people are undergoing a fast change ready to try different kind of food and a manner in which one can go and enjoy good tasty food outside. Part 3: Plan to Launch the Product Brand Name-Burger King Product Type-Fast food Burgers Campaign-Urban Regions Campaign-One King, Burger King Global companies like Burger king face the problem of initiating a global product launch, as the characteristics of varied culture, beliefs and multicultural situation of nations today. Cost increases and public relations support across multiple markets makes it more complicated. Food is an essential element of societys culture and ethnicity. Even during globalization and having a cosmopolitan outlook some basic ethnic taste, local preferences and market specifications in food industry of a particular country cannot afford to be forgotten. A proper market research need to be undertaken or it would negatively harm the product launch of the brand hurting the beliefs of the target market. Understanding the nerve and pros and cons of the local food market of a country would avoid making expensive mistakes. Burger King is known worldwide for its burgers which mainly serves beef pork as the ingredient in Burgers. But in a country like India which has people of different religious beliefs and cultures were Hindus and Muslims are prohibited from consumption of beef and pork. Burger King needs to introduce products customized for the Indian Market keeping in mind the Indian taste preference. Around 40% populations of Indians are vegetarians. This constitutes a fairly good number of populations. Moreover during some religious occasions, as India is land of festivals people do not consume non-veg products during that period too. And even during some fast period when observed by the people in India non-vegetarian food product consumption is low. Therefore Burger King needs to come out offering a proper blend of western basic food taste with some Indian spices some healthy options in Burger itself. As now many Indians are open to try the new variants of food but are also health conscious too. Brand Name-Burger King Product Type-Fast food Burgers Campaign-Urban Regions Campaign-One King, Burger King Pre-Launch Scenario Renowned worldwide for its Have it your way The challenge Competition with Mc Donald, KFC, Pizza Hut To establish a monopoly of Burgers is difficult Mc Donalds is wide spread in majority of locations To penetrate into the market with more tasty options to the target market Low level of customer commitment because of large number of options available in fast food outlets Continuous improvement to be made in value added technology services Health related issues to be sorted Target Audience Middle class and Upper Middleclass Individuals Target Locations Capital city of India, Delhi and Silicon valley of India, Bang lore. Four Ps of Marketing Place- The place to target would be urban areas like the Airports, Offices some shopping, malls. Price-The price would be affordable to Upper middle class and middle class customers individuals earning an annual income of Rs.3, 60,000 per annum. Promotion-Like in Delhi collecting points for seasonal travelers of metros would enable them with a coupon to treat them with Burger King. Product-Burger King to introduce the product suiting to the Indian taste offering variant options to the vegetarians, healthy options in form of drinks along with tasty non-vegetarian food. During some major festive seasons burger king can launch some new products to attract the target customers. People-The Burger king staff needs to be well trained and their uniform while catering to the customers can be a combination of indo-western attire which would be attractive. The staff needs to be efficient in undertaking tasks and right people to be recruited for the different nature of jobs. The staff should greet customers not by saying hello or Hi instead with NAMASTE as this would showcase the traditional culture of greeting the guest. Process-The process of delivering the food and service should be communicated well to the customers. As a large population is vegetarian lovers so food should be cooked keeping in mind the religious beliefs and norms of Indians. The food served should be quick and tasty suiting to the Indian consumers taste. Customers need to be informed in case of some wait period of the product been delivered. Proper communication need to be made. Facilities such as cleanliness and proper ambience need to be created for customers to enjoy. Burger king should try to engage with customers to receive the feedback on the service delivered by them. This can be filling some short questionnaire or by introducing something similar like A huge bell placed in Indian Pizza Hut to ring so that customers can exhibit their satisfaction towards the product. Physical Service-Service cant be experienced before its delivered. So choice made to use the service is risky as its intangible in nature. The uncertainty can be reduced in the mind of customers prior of consumption of the product if the features are well communicated to the target consumers. Promotion of Burger King done by marketing communication mix Advertising Sales promotion Direct marketing Public Relations Phase-1 Launch the Product The product launch of Burger King needs to be associated in a manner the perception which is associated of having burgers from other competitors of its. The product being aimed at Middle class and Upper middle class should be positioned in an upscale manner where Burgers are being offered of Kings taste and treated like King making them feel relaxed and enjoy the experience of eating the burger in an excellent ambience. Also the communication of Quality, speedy service and cleanliness needs to be communicated well. Burger King should introduce options for vegetarian lovers as this would help them to penetrate, into the market more easily. The religious sentiments of Indians need to be taken care in case of non-vegetarian burgers. The company needs to establish a trust on consumers about the method in which product is been prepared without harming any religious sentiments. Phase-2 Brand advertising The advertising of Burger king can be effectively done through Print Media, Television advertisements and hoardings. This should include making customers aware about the product, helping them for easy recall and relating it to them personally. The television advertisements to be broadcasted on news and business channels like CNN IBN, TIMES NOW and some other channels like MTV. The advertisement needs to effectively convey to the customers the place is for relaxing and to enjoy the Burger in Kings style. During this phase it needs to concentrate on building the brand and product relevance. It would be launched not for mass audience but segmented as niche market with high on quality, service and price. The brand should leverage the central theme of Have it your way. The DAGMAR philosophy model 1961(Defining advertising goals for measured advertising results). 1. From unawareness to awareness-To make the target potential customers aware about the product. 2. Comprehension-Customer able to recognize the product and having knowledge about the product. 3. Conviction-Customers holding a firm attitude of the product brand compared to others and can be based on emotional or rational basis. 4. Action-Move made to purchase reflects the advertisement has been effective to communicate with the target audience. The Unique selling proposition of Burger King needs to be highlighted. HAVE IT YOUR WAY Other Communication Channels- On introduction of Burger King in Metro like Delhi some coupons can be offered to the commuters travelling on monthly passes. In the silicon valley bang lore food coupons to the MNC offices like Google, Sony can be provided to promote Burger king. To advertise through social media campaign. To promote through electronic media. To promote in some Business seminars like Retail Association of India through offering vouchers and hoardings exhibiting Burger King finally in India. To advertise in events like, Common wealth games. Internet connectivity can be used as an effective medium of channel.

Graduation Speech: Its All About the Good Times :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As we leave the comfort and familiarity of our home, school and community, we are vulnerably subjected to a wide array of new experiences. We are happy to be graduating but at the same time sad to leave our friends and nervous for what's ahead. Advice is the key necessity in this time of change, and who better to listen to than the peers who have been by our side for the past 13 years of schooling and are going through the same thing as you are right now? I asked many of you, the students of the class of 2012, this question, "If you could tell the senior class one thing at graduation, what would it be?" Take a moment to listen to their answers and advice as we branch out and go our separate ways. Megan reminds us to "Enjoy your youth." Her advice is well-needed to remind us that although we are now bombarded with a plethora of new responsibilities, we are still young; take advantage of it, have fun, and don't grow up too fast. And to keep us looking young, Tom advises us to "always wear sunscreen." It is also important to set goals, follow your dreams and reach for the stars, which Alma put most eloquently when she said, "Be bold about your dreams, and work hard for them." She is right in that we need to pursue our visions, as well as take risks that may be foreign to us. Ashley puts it simply, "Take every chance or opportunity that comes your way, because they go fast, and regret is the one thing that can never be made up for." Amanda's theory is simple, but its importance cannot be stressed enough. She said, "In everything you do, think about it and how it affects you and everybody around you." Expanding on this idea is Adrianne's quote to "stay safe and realize that the choices you make today will affect the rest of your life." They both really hit on how important your every move is, and how your life can strongly impact those around you. Kelly Gorr also touches on this subject as she reminds us to "wear deodorant or stop smelling." Similarly, Jay advises us to "clip your toenails or leave your socks on." Willow truly inspired me with her quote to "always be true to yourself and never apologize for who you are.

Introduction to Sociology Essay

Essay Questions 1. Develop the differences among the three theoretical approaches by applying each to the family. In each case, how do we understand a family and its operation? 2.Imagine that you were asked by another student, â€Å"What would be the benefits of taking a course in sociology?† Explain how and why sociology can transform the way someone sees the world. 3. The sociological perspective helps us recognize that the lives of individuals are shaped by the forces of society. Explain, in a short essay, how the sociological perspective reveals â€Å"the general in the particular.† To illustrate, explain how society plays a part in your own decision to attend college. 4. Outline the ten steps in the process of carrying out sociological investigation. You may use the format presented in the text; that is, what specific questions must be answered as a researcher moves along? 5. How and why is gender important in research? What are some of the problems in research that involve gender? How about race and ethnicity? Why might a researcher need to take race and ethnicity into account when planning research with a specific category of people? 6. How does ideal culture differ from real culture? Illustrate your essay using three examples of how ideal and real culture differ in Saudi society. 7. Drawing on the ideas of Lenski, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, cite ways in which one might claim modern society is better than societies in the past. In what ways might any of these thinkers see modern society as getting worse? 8. What would Marx propose as a solution to the problem of alienation? What would Weber propose as a solution to the same problem as he understood it? What would Durkheim propose as a solution to the problem of anomie? Which of these three problems do you think is the most serious in today’s world? Why? How might you address these three issues? 9.Explain the nature-nurture debate. How did Sigmund Freud and George Herbert Mead take different position in this debate? 10.Based on everything you have read in this chapter, write an essay in which you state your own position on the degree to which human beings can claim to have freedom. Provide specific references to chapter material in your essay.

Coke Zero Essay

1. Some industry analysts think soft-drink companies should develop products that will bring new customers into the market rather than just creating variants on the old. They warn that products like Coke Zero will cannibalize lost market share from other soft drink categories instead of increasing the number of consumers overall. Which Coca-Cola products are most likely to lose customers to Coke Zero? Since Coke Zero is targeting Men, I think that regular Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Diet Coke Plus will all lose some of their customers to Coke Zero. Coke Zero has the word â€Å"zero† in it which already sounds a lot better than â€Å"Diet Coke† or â€Å"Diet Coke Plus†. â€Å"Coke Zero† is straight to the point and automatically has the potential customer thinking he (or she) will not be consuming any calories. 2. Why do you think that the hidden-camera videos used to promote Coke Zero were an effective way to reach its target market? Do you think a similar strategy with a viral marketing campaign on the Internet would appeal to the target market for Diet Coke Plus? I think the hidden cameras were a good idea, but not completely original. I also disagree with Coca-Cola company targeting only men – I think they should promote it to women as well. They really do have a great affect when the word â€Å"zero† is in it’s name. Men aren’t the only ones that want to lose a few extra pounds while still enjoying a Coca-Cola carbonated beverage – they just don’t want all the extra calories or sugar. 3. Do you think Diet Coke could have been repositioned to change consumers’ perceptions of it enough to be considered a drink equally appealing to men? Why or why not?

Free Essays on Teen Suicide

According to Dr. Phil Devons a psychiatrist affiliated with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suicide among young people nationwide has increased dramatically in recent years. Each year in the United States, thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 to 14 year olds. I have worked as a counselor for fourteen years, two years on the high school level, two years on the middle school level, and ten years on the elementary level. In all my years of servicing youth and teenagers, I have come to realize that not only adults, but teenagers experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainly, and other fears while growing up. For some teenagers, divorce, the formation of a new family with step-parents and step-siblings, or moving to a new community can be very unsettling and can intensify self-doubt. For some teens, suicide may appear to be a solution to their problems and stress. In working with troubled teens, I have learned that depression and suicidal feelings are treatable mental disorders. This treatment is possible if the symptoms are recognized, diagnosed, and the appropriate plans are put in place to begin the treatment. It is necessary that a psychiatric examination be done if a parent is in doubt and she notices drastic mood changes and serious problems. The students I have worked with came from several social backgrounds. Some students had two parent households and financially stable. Some students had one parent households, female or male, some students were being raised by their grandparents, some by uncles or aunts, some by siblings and some by foster parents. In all of these families, no matter what the make up or support system was, there was a failure in the process of the child’s development. Each child I had the privilege to... Free Essays on Teen Suicide Free Essays on Teen Suicide According to Dr. Phil Devons a psychiatrist affiliated with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suicide among young people nationwide has increased dramatically in recent years. Each year in the United States, thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 to 14 year olds. I have worked as a counselor for fourteen years, two years on the high school level, two years on the middle school level, and ten years on the elementary level. In all my years of servicing youth and teenagers, I have come to realize that not only adults, but teenagers experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainly, and other fears while growing up. For some teenagers, divorce, the formation of a new family with step-parents and step-siblings, or moving to a new community can be very unsettling and can intensify self-doubt. For some teens, suicide may appear to be a solution to their problems and stress. In working with troubled teens, I have learned that depression and suicidal feelings are treatable mental disorders. This treatment is possible if the symptoms are recognized, diagnosed, and the appropriate plans are put in place to begin the treatment. It is necessary that a psychiatric examination be done if a parent is in doubt and she notices drastic mood changes and serious problems. The students I have worked with came from several social backgrounds. Some students had two parent households and financially stable. Some students had one parent households, female or male, some students were being raised by their grandparents, some by uncles or aunts, some by siblings and some by foster parents. In all of these families, no matter what the make up or support system was, there was a failure in the process of the child’s development. Each child I had the privilege to... Free Essays on Teen Suicide Some people think the only way out is to end their life. They aren’t realizing how badly they will be missed. It can be started by just cutting but that is not enough soon, they just want to end all of the hurt, pain, and anything else in their life. There have been more teens committing suicide than that anybody being killed by AIDS, smoking, drunk drivers, crashes put together. That is pretty bad that teens were brought into this world and they do not even value or care about their lives. Suicidal people, like all of us need love, understanding and care, you can not just say, â€Å"Well if your thinking about suicide or going to do it, then, I am not going to get in the middle of it or even be around you anymore.† Then they are more likely to do it when no one will talk to them or be friends with them. People usually do not ask â€Å"others if they are considering suicide† directly to their faces, but, they may behind their back. Isolating suicidal people increases the isolation they feel and they likelihood that they may attempt suicide. Asking if they are feeling suicidal has the effect of giving them permission to feel the way they do, which reduces their isolation. If they are feeling suicidal, they may see that someone else is beginning to understand how they feel. Do not try to â€Å"rescue† them or take their responsibilities onto yourself, or be a hero and try to handle the situation on your own. You can be the most help by referring them to someone equipped to offer them the help they need, while you continue to support them and remember that what happens is ultimately their responsibility. Get yourself some support too, as you try to get support for them. Do not try to save the world on your own shoulders because then chances are you might start to feel the same way they do and not realize it. If you are wondering, no you are not at risk. Having thought beforehand of several people to approach would hel... Free Essays on Teen Suicide Teenage Suicide Our future depends on our young generations. When the world looses such smart, innocent and pure souls, it is always a tragedy. Suicide is defined as â€Å"the act of intentionally taking one’s own life† (Hayward and Sparkes, 1984). It is almost impossible to explain an action such as suicide, but the research shows that the psychological answer mostly lies in the person’s mind. Teenagers often have difficulties going through the phase of developing and maturity during which they might experience stresses, depression; therefore, mental problems. These factors might lead some teenagers to commit suicide. The most important questions in these cases would be: What kind of influence can the society bring to teenagers’ inner world to make them feel suicidal and what can the society do to prevent it? What are the links from depression to suicide? How can the factors of non seriously taken treatment and/or a mental illness lead to suicide? The biggest influences on a child’s brain are the parents and friends. Teenagers require a lot of attention, care and support. It is always difficult to grow up in the house with divorced parents. According to one study â€Å"90% of suicidal teenagers believed that their families did not understand them†. It is also known that â€Å"women, who were physically or emotionally abused as children were most likely to have mental problems, suffer from depression and to have attempted suicide†. (American Psychiatric Association) Another fact is the relationship with people of the same age whether in or outside of school. Out of all the people, friends can help the most in the situations of suicide. It is necessary to talk to the person and not to be afraid to say the word †suicide†. By being open with a friend it is easier to show care ness, love and support. As for the suicidal teenager it’s important to feel that no matter how terrible the situatio n is, somebody will be always there... Free Essays on Teen Suicide Teen Suicide Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens overall (2). Kids, no matter color, size, or shape may become a victim of suicide. Today in our society, teens are not getting the help that they need before they consider the thought of suicide. To help you realize how important this issue is, think about this, for every two homicides in the U.S. there are three suicides (2). In high school a kid can look or act like nothing is bothering him but nobody can really tell what he or she is thinking. Maybe they’re sick of their lives, or nothing good is ever happening to them and that is when a kid can become a danger to himself or herself. Kids will not think about getting help from a teacher or counselor because they don’t know how to talk about it or their afraid of the outcomes. A kid should not have to commit suicide to show that his or her lives are not going right. In one recent survey of high school students, 60% said they had thought about killing themselves for a numerous reasons, and almost 9% said they have tried at least once (1). Yes, 60% said they only thought about it, but what keeps it only a thought and not reality? So what causes a teen to commit suicide? On major thing that could push them to the edge are family problems. The divorce rate today is roughly around 50% and it is hitting kids harder and harder. Each child will take their parents divorce a different way. Some may just be sad but gone on with their life, others will take it so hard they feel they have no ambition to live anymore. Maybe it isn’t divorce in the family, maybe its lack of love from the parents. A kid can build emptiness in them when their parents don’t make time for them or aren’t involved in their children’s lives. All of that emptiness can grow into a reason for suicide. Another important reason is the pressures of high school. Some kids can receive so much pressure to get good grades, be a ...

Accident victim interview report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Accident victim interview report - Essay Example Rubinow (1969) states that, â€Å"One has only to think of the peculiar dangers which a structural iron-worker must face daily in the construction of modern skyscrapers† (p.71). The victim clarified that steel bars must be handled by skilled ironworkers. Usually, most of the construction companies make use of safety measures while handling steel bars. For instance, structural ironworkers make use of cranes to lift steel bars. To be specific, co-ordination and mutual understanding among the ironworkers reduce the scope of accidents. The victim’s co-worker pointed out that the victim was in a hurry because he was asked to complete the work within deadline. So, the victim was forced to ignore safety measures and it resulted in the accident. While hoisting a steel bar, one of the cables happened to get loose and the victim’s hand was trapped under the steel bar. The safety officers started rescue work and the victim was transported to the hospital in no time. The doc tor’s diagnosis proved that the victim’s left hand was fractured. The timely rescue measures adopted by the safety officers saved the victim from further injury. The victim was forced to discontinue his work for more than 2 months to deal with the fracture. But the injury was not so severe to keep the victim away from his job for a long time. The company authorities and the doctors provided ample importance to the victim’s treatment because the accident and related issues may weaken the company’s reputation. The doctors pointed out that the fracture is not that much severe and can be cured within 2 months. The victim further added that he feels much better and is expecting an early recovery. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) authorities visited the site, investigated the case, and the company was forced to pay reasonable fine. Besides, the company authorities agreed to provide

Exploratory Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Exploratory Paper - Essay Example The only drug that has the potential to depress these symptoms is marijuana. However, because of its illegality, it cannot be given to patients. This paper seeks to explore the various viewpoints regarding medical marijuana issue and its legalization. Doctors believe that marijuana is an appetite builder, a great painkiller, and reduces nausea. Many patients in California, which legalizes medical marijuana use, claim that it relieves symptoms related to chemotherapy (Beau 12). Patients even report enhancement of prescription drugs by marijuana. However, not all doctors believe in the use marijuana, in the treatment of cancer patients. Dr. Hiebert, a hypnotist who helps people kick marijuana, claims that marijuana worsens glaucoma and increases MS symptoms (Beau 13). The final decision on marijuana use for medical purposes lies with the judicial system and lawmakers (Beau 21). The US Supreme Court has opened hearings into whether marijuana distribution for medical use should be legalized under federal law. This case was prompted, by legislation, to legalize marijuana for medicinal use in California. This shows that some courts are becoming lenient towards the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Federal courts, however, are very serious on the illegality of marijuana and aim to keep it this way. A judiciary panel resolved that marijuana should not be legalized for medical purposes. They labeled it an addictive and dangerous drug as it is under the Controlled Substance Act. Because of this, marijuana has been labeled as psychologically and physiologically damaging without reference to the manner of its use. The federal judicial branch prefers not to legalize it, according to the annual report on alcoholism, as they consider it just as dangero us as cocaine (Beau 23). Law enforcement and government’s approach have a lot of influence on the possibility of legalization of medical marijuana. In states that have

Online Newspaper Industry in Hong Kong Research Paper

Online Newspaper Industry in Hong Kong - Research Paper Example With the advancement of internet, electronic businesses have boomed in the recent years. Online newspaper has been beneficial not only by proving news and information for the internet users, rather providing the same for the overseas readers (SooperArticles, n.d.). Electronic press has the ability to attract the readership from both the domestic and the overseas readers leading to no geographical limitation for the online newspapers. With the increased internet usage, the newspaper has also become online to attract the customers by getting involved with some popular technical ground such as internet. This reports aims to offer an insight into the online newspaper industry of Hong Kong. Research Question and Objectives The research aims is an effort to look into the online newspaper industry in Hong Kong. The following are certain research questions which are required to be investigated in this paper. 1. What is the present status of newspaper industry in Hong Kong? 2. Has online news paper emerged as an opportunity for the newspaper industry? 3. What would be an effective and successful marketing strategy for the online newspapers? To investigate the above questions, one would require setting his or her research objectives which are related and linked with the above research questions. While framing up the objectives care has been taken to frame up the objectives to be either measurable or observable and at the same time, these must be limited to the scope of the research arena. The research objectives are realistic and viable to offer effective recommendations for successful marketing strategy framework for the online newspaper industry in Hong Kong. The objective... To investigate the questions, one would require setting his or her research objectives which are related and linked with the above research questions. While framing up the objectives care has been taken to frame up the objectives to be either measurable or observable and at the same time, these must be limited to the scope of the research arena. The research objectives are realistic and viable to offer effective recommendations for successful marketing strategy framework for the online newspaper industry in Hong Kong. The objective of this research paper is to offer an effective marketing strategy for the Hong Kong online newspaper industry with an appropriate analysis of the industry, the customers and the prevailing marketing strategies. This report makes a conclusion that this project will analyse the online newspaper industry in Hong Kong and on the basis of this analysis, some recommendations for the marketing strategy will be formulated. Before conducting the research, a literature review has been done to gather some basic information regarding media industry in Hong Kong, different types of online marketing models suggested by the researchers and its advantages as well as limitations. In the later part of the literature review, some of the strategic models will also be discussed as these will be used in later part of the project while analysing the data. The newspapers can arrange some portion of the papers dedicated to these kinds of news. This would enable the companies to increase their customer base. In the recent years, the youth may be interested in some fashion related news or news from the campuses.

The statement of purpose Essay Example for Free

The statement of purpose Essay Being an international student is a major learning curve. Miles away from Hong Kong, I’m way out of my comfort zone, navigating a stormy sea of emotions unique to international students- the excitement of seeing new things and places, the pride of being an international student, the fear of dealing with home sicknesses, the frustration of not being able to fully understand everything in this country, the embarrassment of even the minute faux pas I do. Academic challenges are nothing compare to the emotional battles one must face. Â   While there is no harness that I can latch to, my experiences back home can steer my journey here. As a school prefect, I was in charge of keeping order and discipline in my school. I can use it to keep my perspective balance on everything that comes my way, to be able to open my eyes to the world in a new way. I am proud to say that I am an international orientation leader in my community college now. Being a leader has kept me sane, kept my feet on the ground. I know that I am responsible to my fellow international students and I’m doing my best to do so, by combining studying hard and being a good example to them. My current GPA is 3.9. I know having good grades are not everything to a student. Believe it or not, students also need to have a life that does now involve memorization and algebraic equations. Being a leader has expanded my network, exposed me to other students who I now call friends. In HK, I was in our ping-pong team, played saxophone and piano. I hope to continue my hobbies here, perhaps enlist in the school band. HK is a fast-paced environment. Everybody moves quickly, as if on a race. By studying here, I hope to do the opposite. Don’t get me wrong. Fast can be fabulous. Email and YM are a godsend solution to instant conversations. But there are some things that can’t be rushed, such as readying yourself for the future. Adapting to a new environment can be daunting but capitalizing on my personal experiences is something I can rely on to survive this journey.

Accounting Information Systems

Accounting Information Systems 3-1. The text provides seven reasons why documenting AISs is important: (1) depicting how the system works, (2) training users, (3) designing new systems, (4) controlling systems development costs, (5) standardizing communication with others, (6) auditing, and (7) controlling end-user support costs. Additional reasons include: (1) to help evaluate the performance of system personnel, (2) to help evaluate the adequacy or efficiency of an existing system, and (3) to provide design specifications to outside vendors who might be proposing new systems. Accountants are interested in system documentation for all these reasons. For example, inadequate documentation makes it difficult to use an integrated accounting package effectively, design one for others to use, or audit a system intelligently. Flowcharts and similar systems documentation are also important to auditors. These charts can help auditors spot internal control weaknesses that are not apparent from prototypes or not obvious when observing a system in use. 3-2. Document flowcharts are a type of system flowchart. Whereas system flowcharts are process-oriented, document flowcharts focus on the flow of physical documents through the processing system. Document and system flowcharts are similar in that they use similar symbols in their construction. A few additional symbols, such as envelopes and hand trucks to depict movement of goods, are more likely to appear in document flowcharts than system flowcharts. But system flowcharts contain more detail about processing logic. Accountants can use data flow diagrams (DFDs) to depict the physical flows of data through an AIS (like document flowcharts), or the logical flow of data through an AIS (like system flowcharts). Like document or system flowcharts, their main objective is to document data flows in an orderly, graphic, and easily-understood format. But DFDs use fewer symbols than either document or system flowcharts, and do not require columns (like document flowcharts). Program flowcharts are really the lowest level of system flowcharts because they outline the logic sequence for a particular application program. Thus, they are more used by programmers and system analysts than by accountants and auditors. Still, auditors will need to understand these program flowcharts when looking at program logic and program controls. Program flowcharts use many of the same symbols found in system flowcharts, but also use some special ones such as the decision symbol. 3-3. A document flowchart is a pictorial representation of the physical data flow through the various departments of a business. A document flowchart is used in designing or evaluating an accounting information system. 1. A systems analyst uses it when evaluating a system to see if each department is receiving the necessary data and that unnecessary data are not transferred. 2. A system designer uses it when there is interest in improving or replacing an existing system. 3. A computer programmer can use a document flowchart when preparing system flowcharts. 4. An auditor uses it to help define, follow, and evaluate an audit trail. 5. An internal data security expert uses it to indicate weaknesses in internal control and data control. 3-4. Guidelines for creating document flowcharts, system flowcharts, and data flow diagrams are listed in the text. See relevant chapter sections for document flowcharts, system flowcharts, and data flow diagrams. 3-5. Data flow diagrams use a square symbol to show the source or destination of data. A circle symbol indicates a process. An open rectangle symbol indicates a store of data. Finally, arrows depict a data flow or data stream. 3-6. Data flow diagrams are created in a hierarchy called the top-down approach to systems development. In this approach, developers create these diagrams in levels, beginning with the broadest, least-detailed level, and exploding (working towards increasing refinements of) each piece of the preceding level until the system is completely specified. The rationale behind this approach is to keep major system objectives in view at first, and to worry about details later after major system components are specified. However, the process is reiterative, revisions are common, and little is considered final until the lowest diagram levels have been specified and approved. The broadest DFD is called a context diagram. The next level (a level-0 diagram) is also called a physical data flow diagram. Lower levels are numbered level-1, level-2, and so forth, and are commonly termed logical data flow diagrams. 3-7. It is usually easier to follow logic with a chart or figure than with a written narrative. For example, when reading a long narrative description of a process, it is often difficult to visualize relationships between system elements and a readers attention can wander. In contrast, graphical depictions of the same logic are usually easier to understand because most people grasp the use of arrows to show connections or data flows. 3-8. Decision tables outline the set of conditions that a given processing task might encounter and indicate the appropriate action to take for each condition. Decision tables can therefore help system designers plan data processing functions and create written records of the processing logic for later reference. The major advantage of decision tables is that they can summarize a potentially large number of conditions and actions in a compact format. Decision tables are also useful as planning tools to system analysts and related individuals who are charged with the task of helping create new AISs. Finally, the accountants who audit AISs rely heavily upon internal documentation, and decision tables can help them verify the processing logic and control procedures that were built into these AISs. 3-9. Just as word processors enable users to create, store, modify, and print word documents, CASE tools enable information technology and accounting personnel to create, store, modify, and print system documentation. The term CASE is an acronym for computer assisted software engineering. CASE tools automate the development of program and system documentation. Thus, developers use them to create data flow diagrams, entity relationship diagrams, record layouts, data entry screens, report formats, screen menus, system flowcharts, and program flowcharts. Most also include generators for developing data dictionaries. CASE tools are computer programs that typically run on microcomputers. The user selects a particular type of document to develop or modify, and then works on it in much the same way that a secretary uses a word processor to work on a word document. It is not necessary to use CASE programs to develop AIS documentation, but it is difficult to imagine why anyone would not use such capable and time-saving tools. 3-10. End user computing refers to the computer activities of non-computer employees, especially the development of large spreadsheets and databases. Although such activities are commonplace today, they also create problems. For example, when non-IT personnel develop important computer applications, a company becomes increasingly dependent upon such individuals to answer questions, or to explain how to use the software. Documentation is also important in end-user computing environments because it provides the training aids, user descriptions, tutorial manuals, and reference materials that other users need in order to run the applications effectively. Problems 3-11. Process Alternate Process Decision Data Predefined Process Internal Storage Document Multidocument Terminator Preparation Manual Input Manual Operation Connector Off-page Connector Card Punched Tape Summing Junction Or Collate Sort Extract Merge Stored Data Delay Sequential Access Magnetic Disk Direct Access Display Storage Storage 3-12. Mark Goodwin Convenience Stores Garcia-Lanoue Company 3-15. Ron Mitchell Manufacturing Company 3-16. Amanda M Company 3-17. Winston Beauchamp Company 3-18. LeVitre and Sweezy Credit Union 3-19. Jeffrey Getelman Publishing Company 3-20. The Bridget Joyce Company The decision table is shown below. Note that alternate decision rules would also be reasonable here since the case does not specify exactly what action is to be taken for each set of conditions. DECISION TABLE RULES Account Status: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Not past due X Less than 30 days past due X 31-60 days past due X X X 61-90 days past due X X X More than 90 days past due X X X Account Activity: No activity X X X X X Written communications X X X Partial payment X X X Action: Do nothing X X X X X X X Send first letter of inquiry X Send second letter of inquiry X X Collection agency referral X This exercise requires some creativity on the part of the student. One possibility is to give each customer a rating on the following: a) no prior delinquency history b) only one prior delinquency c) only two prior delinquencies d) more than two prior delinquencies Mr. Smith can now make a decision based upon this categorization of customer account history. It might also be pointed out that many companies handle delinquencies on an individual basis. Most small companies, for example, will try to work with their customers whenever possible instead of writing to them impersonally because written confrontations rarely produce desired results. 3-21. This problem requires students to draw the flowcharts in Figure 3-20. In a later part of the problem, students are also asked to recreate the flowcharts in Figures 3-3, 3-6, 3-8, 3-11, 3-12, 3-13, 3-14, and 3-15. Because these flowchart are already shown in the text, the outputs are already known. Teaching notes: Students should follow the directions provided in this case to create the two (program) flowcharts shown as well as the link that connects the two flowcharts together. Students can document their links by printing a copy of their formulas. Finally, although using Excels drawing tools is straightforward, it still takes time to create even small diagrams with them. Thus, we recommend that instructors do not assign all parts of this case (a through h), but only assign a selection of these diagrams. Case Analyses 3-22. The Berridge Company (Drawing Document Flowcharts) 1. A document flowchart for the Berridge Companys inventory control system may be found after #3 (below). 2. The company can eliminate one or more copies of the retail store requisition (RSR) form. The document flowchart (and case description) indicate that a retail store prepares three copies of the RSR form. One copy is retained in a file at the retail store, and two copies are forwarded to the warehouse. When warehouse personnel fill the order, they file one copy of the RSR form in their own files, and forward the last copy of this form to the inventory control department for use in updating its records. The end result of this effort is a lot of paperwork. One way to reduce it would be to allow the warehouse personnel to create the computer record that indicates a disbursement to an individual store, thus eliminating the need for the third copy of the RSR form currently sent to inventory control. The company could eliminate all copies of the RSR form by computerizing its warehousing operations completely. In this new system, a retail store would create a computer record for each requisition, which the system could then display onscreen or print on a report of similar requisitions for the warehouse each day. When a requisition order is filled, personnel in the warehouse could indicate this by entering the required data into the computer system. This entry would trigger an inventory update in the inventory file and eliminate the pending requisition record from the file of active requisitions. 3. The company currently creates five copies of each purchase order. These copies are sent to: (1) the vendor, (2) accounts payable, (3) inventory control, and (4) the warehouse. The purchasing department retains the fifth copy. This seems excessive. It is obvious that the company must send one copy of the purchase order to the vendor. In addition, it makes sense for control purposes to send one copy of the purchase order to the receiving department (for use in comparing against the subsequent bill of lading), and to retain one copy of the PO to document the purchase itself. It is less obvious that the company needs to create the other two copies of the purchase order. In fact, the document flowchart indicates that both the inventory control department and warehouse personnel perform the comparison function when goods arrive a duplication of effort. Similarly, the company can probably eliminate the copy it currently prepares for accounts payable. Instead, warehouse personnel can attach its copy to the receiving report, and the accounts payable department can use the warehouse copy to prepare a check to the vendor. A document flowchart for the Berridge Companys inventory control system. FreezeTime, Inc. (Drawing System Flowcharts) The systems flowchart is valuable because it shows the flow of activities and documents within the sales/collection process. The flowchart is particularly useful for identifying redundant, unnecessary, and risky activities. 3-24. The Dinteman Company (Document Analysis) 1. a) Data items which should be included on a repair/maintenance work order document are as follows: 1) Job identification à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ department (or plant) for which work is to be done, machine or work station, and general description of job. 2) Starting and completion dates à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ both estimated and actual. 3) Materials and supplies data estimated and actual quantities and costs. 4) Labor data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ estimated hours, actual hours cost, and employee number for each job or person completing the work. 5) Applied overhead. b) At least four copies of the work order would be required with a possible fifth copy needed if a work order summary is not prepared. The work order would be prepared in the R M Department and given to the supervisor for review and scheduling. The work order would then be used by the person responsible for the work by recording the actual hours spent on the job and the actual materials and supplies required to complete the job. After the job is completed, the work order would be forwarded to accounting for costing and charging. The distribution of each copy of the work order would be as follows: Original (Copy 1) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ Once the job is completed and all data has been recorded on the work order, this copy is forwarded to the Accounting Department for costing and then filed in the Accounting Department. Copy 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ This copy is also fully completed and is filed in the R M Department in a completed work order file. Copy 3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ This copy would be kept by the R M Department in a file of scheduled jobs until the work is completed. A reference file is needed for all work orders while the job is in process. Once this job is completed, Copy 3 would be attached to Copy 2 and filed with Copy 2. Copy 4 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ This copy would be sent to the Production Department where the work is being done to acknowledge the actual scheduling of the job. An evaluation of the performance of the R M Department would probably be done in three departments as explained below: The department which requests the work should compare the estimated charges indicated on the Work Order Request with the actual charges and the timeliness of the work, (e.g., the estimated and actual starting and completion times on the Work Order). If the work is not timely or if the actual charges vary considerably from the estimate, the management of the Production Department would contact the supervisor of the R M Department for an explanation. The supervisor of the R M Department would conduct a selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœevaluation by comparing the Work Order Request and the completed Work Order. The supervisor would want to be sure the actual times and charges were close to the original estimates. Such a comparison would be important for evaluating the staff in the department and also for preparing future estimates. The Accounting Department (or some other appropriate department) would probably conduct a review of the R M Departments work. The estimates and actual results shown on the Work Order would be compared. Types of repair and maintenance jobs which have standard times for completion would be compared with actual times required for the work in order to evaluate the departments performance. 2. See document flowchart on following page. 3-25. Lois Hale and Associates (Drawing Data Flow Diagrams)